Happy Birthday, Cory

 Here we are, nearing the end of November, and I've come to realize our life lesson of 2014:

Life Doesn't Always Go As Planned

Let's be honest, we've been learning this in one form or another over the past few years, but truly this year we have had so many plans that simply don't go as expected.  And finally, I'm ok with that.

For quite some time, November 4th on my calendar marked our Ventura camping trip.  Well, it quickly approached, as everything does these days, and nothing was quite falling into place.  We went from camping in a trailer, to maybe grabbing a hotel a couple nights, to maybe a hotel for one night to not even sure we were going at all.  But, being that it was Cory's birthday, we still wanted to make it out there Friday night for dinner.  Once Andrew got home, we loaded up bikes and jackets and made our way to Ventura - a place that NEVER gets old.  The kids were stoked!

Just as we have had to learn over, and over, and over, AND OVER again our 2014 life lesson, we have also been reminded of our 2014 BLESSING.  That is that our kids have learned to roll with the punches and be grateful for what we do get to do.  I'm not saying there isn't a sigh or a huff when we don't get to do all they want to do, but in the end, they are grateful for what we did do and don't even complain once it's all said and done.

So, long story short, we spent a few hours with some of our best friends riding, talking, eating, running, hiding, and celebrating "Amazing" Cory.

 Hide-N-Go Seek is always fun at a dark campsite!

Park Play Date

There was once a time in my life where the park was apart of my everyday routine.  If not every single day, pretty darn close to it.  I had all these little kids and the park was the perfect way to meet up with friends, mine and theirs, and quickly pass two, three, four hours of the day.  Since the kids have gotten older, the park isn't really something we do.  Poor Cole.

The day Tristan invited us to the park and lunch just so happened to be a free day.  It was great having a chance to visit with Mandi and Tristan and give Cole the chance to run around and experience a new park.  Psh, any park for that matter.  And the icing on the cake - Mandi's mad photography skills!

How does one choose? Hockey? Soccer? Baseball? Basketball?

 Ever since Jackson's soccer coach told us he could go all the way in soccer, we've been doing a lot of thinking about his future.  He loves hockey.  He's now really enjoying soccer (a good coach makes all the difference).  He loves basketball although he hasn't played competitively just yet.  He also enjoys baseball.  So what do you do?  I'd hate to make him settle just yet.  But we also want to try to give him the very best shot at maybe one day earning a scholarship.  So many sports, so little time.

The day after Halloween he played an incredible game.  He scored twice but the impressive part was the skill and logic he demonstrated in the rink.  The way he thinks out there is exactly what will lead to his success.  The fact is, it's the same on the soccer field.  Andrew and I are both competitive so it's so exciting to be at this stage in the game.  We've enjoyed watching the younger years but we're just as excited to be entering the competitive ones.

 

 And to make it an even better day, it rained the night before, it was stormy all morning and yes, we wore jackets.  Love it!

The chilly weather continued through Monday and Cole and I lived it up in our hoodies and hot chocolate after music class.

 That afternoon though brought a different kind of surprise.  The kids found a giant tarantula in the backyard and moments later an alligator lizard in the living room.  Seriously, too much!  Luckily Jackson took care of it for me while I stood on the table and took a picture.

 In other news, I tried running the Poppy loop for the first time in a long time.  Yes, had to make a pit stop.  But, I ran more on that path than I have in a couple years.

 And in preparation for a gift from Santa this year, we're going to have this tree removed, some sod removed and add some bark.  Stay tuned...

Halloween 2014

2006-2014

To kick off Halloween, we attended our ward party on Wednesday night.  One of these days I would love to not have this during the same week as Halloween.  I'd prefer a week or two before.  But that's just me.

One of the things I don't want to forget about this year is how simple my children are.  They aren't demanding or stubborn when it comes to costumes.  They wear what we can get.  Jackson's I scored second hand for $10.  Ryan's I got with my birthday gift cards at H&M.  Andi's I scored at TJ Maxx again for $10.  And Cole fell in love with the dino at Target, one of the few costumes they actually had left.

 I was so focused on finding things for the kids, I was left without.  And let me tell you, I always want to dress up.  Halloween has been one of my favorites since I was a child and man, it was so much more fun back then.  Now it's stressful!  Thankfully Becky is awesome and loaned me a costume she made a few years back.  This girl has mad skills!

 I think the kids finally guilted Andrew in dressing up.  He called me from the church, where he was there early setting up, asking me to bring him a wig.  Yup, baby steps, baby steps!

The party went well and it was nice because it was a good turnout but not super crazy.

 Go figure, the year I get Andi a costume without much coverage, it's chilly.  I think I put three or four layers on her under than thing.

 Totally random - flashcards on Halloween.  Jackson desperately needs to work on his math facts and so here he is, his first set of flashcards.  This is only the beginning kid!

 Belated birthday gift from Esmeralda - pretty flowers.  I loved having these in my living room.

 The trunk-or-treat aftermath.

 Andi didn't make the rounds with us this year.  When I called her over she told me she was put in charge of Sohpie.  She took this job seriously and I loved it.

 Kenna took Cole on his first round in the junior and senior spook alleys.  While he loved them both, he chose to spend the remainder of the time in the junior one.  Good choice!

 It's so great seeing the youth take charge of the games every year.

These three - best buds.

 Did I mention Halloween would not be complete without spotting a tarantula on your running path.  Ewww!

 Thursday morning Cole had his preschool Halloween party.  He knows these songs and loves these songs and out of all my three year olds, he did the best.  He performed more like a four year old.  Crazy kid.  He does have the advantage of attending three parties before his time ;)

After the party Fran and I took the boys to grab lunch and run an errand.  These lucky little men scored a giant dino from Aunt Fran.  

Halloween landed on Friday which was actually really nice.  The kids didn't have school that day and that actually worked out better than I expected.  I had purchased a costume for Andrew and he did not approve.  He thought long and hard of another costume so he wouldn't have to wear my choice.  He came up with the Blue Man and thought he was brilliant.  I highly disagreed when I had to get all four kids ready, then myself, and then load up the car because Andrew couldn't touch anything without covering it in blue paint.  About forty-five minutes into his costume, he realized the error of his ways.  We'll see if he complies next year!

 The morning of I had to run some errands but needed to swing by Fran's first.  My kids took it upon themselves to jump out of the car and this lead to Fran taking them for me.  I'm not going to lie, I needed that that morning.  Those two hours of freedom were quite uplifting.  While in her care, she took the time to paint Andi's and Ryan's face.  I am so very impressed.  I'd never have the patience to do it.

 The past few years we have headed to MacMillian Ranch and have had a lot of fun.  This year the kids were pushing more to go with their friends.  Lauren decided to host a block party with a bbq and all.  We all had a great time eating, talking and playing.

 The fog machine was a huge hit!

The festivities before were fabulous.  I'd love to do that again.  As for the trick-or-treating, I'd prefer where we used to go.  It was crazy and stressful off Abelia so I'm not so sure we'll do that again.  It was also difficult to stay with friends so the kids were bummed.  But, in the end, we all had such a great night.  Afterwards we hung out by the fire while the kids watched some movie and then we were home, showered, and costumes washed by about 8:30pm.