Swing Time.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thoughts of Thanks:
I have so much to be thankful for that it's hard to think of just one thing. That being said, the one I shared at the dinner table this year was, "My kids - and no I'm not being sarcastic." I added that last part because I was holding Robbie who was screaming his head off... But I truly don't know where I'd be without my kids. They have helped me to grow and learn more than I'd ever imagined. They teach me something new everyday. Even though they are crazy and can be a great challenge - I wouldn't be who I am and where I am today without them. I love you two!

Lucky

I am so very lucky to have kids that get along so well and love each other so much. The other night, for example, I couldn't even put Robbie to bed because he was hysterically laughing at Mariah. I still have no idea why. She kept trying to kiss him goodnight and right before she could kiss him he'd start cracking up again... Those types of moments are some of my most favorite.

The Thing About Robbie...

Robbie is the funniest kid. He's wild, he's crazy, he's stubborn, he's sweet... he's a boy. I have discovered one thing about him: if he's doing what he wants, when he wants, with what he wants; he's the happiest kid on the planet. But if not, look out.

Pictures

After we took pictures of the kids with Nona, we all went and had lunch at the cheese factory. Afterwards, the kids were running around playing so we attempted to take a few more pictures. It's nearly impossible to get them both looking in the same direction, let alone smiling. But we tried. Doesn't Mariah look happy?

Under the waterfall!

They're best friends...

The kids both LOVE the Hilmar Cheese Factory. The grounds are beautiful as you can see, and the food is awesome! Plus there's always yummy cheese samples to taste... my personal favorite.

Pictures with Nona

Nona (aka: my mom) came down this past weekend to hang out and help out. We've been wanting to take some pictures with her and all three grandkids for a while so we finally picked the date! The kids were dressed, we had plenty of candy, the weather was great...

What felt like ten hours later, through lots of tears, sweat and laughter we finally got what we were shooting for:

They're All Looking!

A quick look at some of the others...

Notice Mariah's hands... (no babies were harmed)

The only other possible winner.

The Zoo

Taraleigh and I took the kids to the Merced Zoo today (11-19-08). I have no doubt that this is the smallest zoo I've ever been to, but it was perfect for the little ones. In fact, we got to walk around the entire zoo twice and all in about an hour! Their favorite part was feeding the goats, even though one of them bit Robbie (Taraleigh took care of that one...)! There were monkeys, bears, tons of birds and a mountain lion. They love animals so much - they were in heaven!

They were both fearless - Robbie stuck his entire hand in along with the goat food.

Mariah belongs on a farm. Maybe one day...

In heaven.

Checking everything out. Mariah likes to go as fast as possible and Robbie likes to take it all in.

Sweet Taven sticking out his tongue at me.

Even though it was pretty expensive to get in ($.50 for the kids and a whopping $1.50 for me) we've decided to try and come twice a month because everyone had such a great time. We stopped at the gift shop and I picked up some stocking stuffers for the kids... Can you believe Christmas is around the corner? Especially with the weather we've been having - it was hot today and it's the middle of November!

Bad Day Huh?

Robbie was throwing a HUGE tantrum before lunch the other day (a daily occurance) and Mariah was sitting right next to him. In the midst of his loud screams and flailing arms, Mariah leans over to him and says, "Bad day huh?" It was hilarious... I ran to get my camera to take a video, but only got the last bit of the tantrum...

What a great perspective children have.

Santa in November

This past weekend the Hilmar Cheese Factory had their annual Holiday Open House. They had delicious h'ors deurves to taste, Santa and Daisy the Cow came to visit the kids and there was even a quartet walking around singing carols. It was a fun way to welcome in the holiday season. The kids loved it. Mariah was so excited to see Santa (who was so ghetto by the way - but they didn't care or notice) and she wanted to tell him what she wanted for Christmas. So we get up there and get the pictures taken and then let the next people go. But then Mariah remembered that she hadn't told him what she wanted!
So she ran up in front of these kids having their pictures taken to tell Santa her Christmas wish list. He was sweet and say "Okay!" and then she was satisfied. It's so fun that she's old enough to really get excited about Christmas this year. Robbie just wanted to grab the cow and jump off Santa's lap. But he loved trying all the food! We went with Trent, Taraleigh and Taven. I included a pic of cutie pie Taven on Santa's lap.

My Attempt.

This was my (and Taraleigh's) attempt at getting some pictures of the kids together. Mariah is no problem; she's sweet, she listens, she smiles,... then there's Robbie. He runs, he yells, he wont stand or sit still for more then .008 seconds... he's a boy. So that's my explanation of why almost none of the pictures feature their sweet little faces. After we got in the car both Taraleigh and I were sweating and out of breath. At least we could count it as a workout too...

Reflections of Christ

These pictures are absolutely amazing... it's worth checking out.

http://www.reflectionsmg.com/

Kids Say the Darndest Things...

Mariah and I were in our office and I had just made up the couch. She was playing pirates or something (who knows what it was...) and asked if she could mess up the couch. "No thank you" I said. "Please can I mess up the couch?!" she asks again. "No." "Just let me do what I want to do..." "I said no, Mariah." Pause. "Well Jesus said that you have to let me do what I want." Muffled laughter from me. Then I went on to explain that we shouldn't pretend to be Jesus and that He sent her to me to be her Mommy and help her.

Is she too smart for her own good or what? What four-year-old comes up with this kind of idea?!? I have to give her credit though... she got a good laugh out of me. And I had to share it, it was too good not to.

Car Stolen

Were you wondering about the random poll question regarding stolen vehicles? I was just curious if anyone else had experienced the same surprise we had last week when we opened our garage door to find that our car was gone! We did (accidentally) leave the garage open and the keys inside the car, but still - we never thought that would happen! The police found the car and it was just fine aside from a couple little dings and the fact that the thiefs stole almost everything out of it including our keys and garage door opener. So that meant that we had to have our entire house re-keyed and the garage door re-programed.
The car is still in the process of getting re-keyed also, so at the moment I'm driving a Ford Focus rental car which I thought would be one of my worst nightmares (no offense Ford lovers). Turns out it's actually a pretty neat little car. Don't get me wrong - I can't wait to have my Accord back, but for the time being, it's not too shabby. My favorite feature: it has a little spot that I can plug my ipod right into which is awesome!
It was a big bummer, but I'm just glad we'll be able to have our car back and hopefully soon. We'll definitely be much more careful in the future! Make sure you close your garages and keep your keys in your house!!
From your poll votes - 33% have had a car stolen, 55% have not, and 11% have stolen a car themselves...

Halloween

This year for Halloween we (at the LAST minute) decided to be the Wizard of Oz crew. Mariah was Dorothy, Robbie was the Lion, Josh was the Scarecrow and I was the Wicked Witch of the West... The Duffey's and the Davidson's
Swat Pest control w/ Taven the Bee and The Wizard of Oz

Robbie and Mariah, getting ready for the party...
Beautiful Dorothy

Robbie, the hungry Lion.

We took the kids to a church Halloween party. It was out on a friend's ranch and it was a blast. They had a chili cook-off, hay rides, a spook house, trunk or treat, a bonfire and much more! The kids had a great time and got lots of candy to share with Mommy and Daddy!
After the church party, we took the kids and a babysitter home, put all the kids to bed and went out with the Duffey's to another friends' party.

As you can see, it was pretty late and we were away from the kids... so things got a little crazy! We didn't get home until 1:30 which these days, is pretty late for me. I'm still recovering...

My Crazy Kids

Mariah wearing Papa's glasses

This is what I find after leaving Robbie in his room for 2 minutes. These were ALL folded when I left the room, and this is what I saw when I came back. These are the types of tasks that mothers do all day, every day that go unseen. The ones that we end up doing 23 times in one day. This is just one of the many reasons why God made kids so cute, so we don't kill them.

Basketball

We went and played basketball with Trent and Taraleigh a while ago. These pictures are actually from my phone and I finally got them onto the computer... so this was probably at least a month ago. They were just so cute... they had a good time.