Pink Eye

Yep, that is how he got off the plane.. Seriously?? At least I am able to get meds and get them fast... He was a tropper though. Just wanted a hot shower and to scrub. :)

Christmas 2010

We didn't have Toby with us this holiday on the actual day, but the kiddos didn't complain. That meant 2 Christmas mornings. Well one morning, one night. The kids had a lot of fun. Toby did come home with lovely pink eye and a cold, but hey he is a trooper. He was very happy to be home!

2010 Christmas Card

A rainy day of fun!!

So, I am trying to catch up by the end of the year.. whew! So much has happened and so little time. Now we are into basketball and karate! Where does the time go?? We had a great time bowling.. and plan on going Thursday as it is $1.00 a game!! How can you beat that? And the kids LOVED the cheesy fries (go figure!)

Christmas 2010 letter to the kids

It doesn't have all the effects, as it's done in a printshop program that is very difficult to copy and paste, but the gist is there. :)

Playing with the camera at the park

I love this new lens.. It was a bit $$ but sooo worth it. What do you think?

End of the Season

Toby had a great time this year playing football. His siblings were totally into it and supported all the games! We had a great time, and he is more than ready for basketball. We are trying to enjoy the time before that starts (dual practices with his brother!)

Christmas Tree Decorating 2010

So, Larry hates to decorate the tree. He will totally let me do all that. He did put it up and had the decorations ready for me. So, the kids and I tackled this endeavor and they did really well. We had Christmas music on and their ornaments got put up for the last several years. It was funny to hear them say, "I remember this one." And, Wow! Was my favorite. They had fun at Canterbury Gardens picking up mom some new ornaments. So, the tree was very pretty this year. More to come.

2010 Thanksgiving Turkey Trot

So, we went with out great friends Denise and KC (who runs iron mans) and did this great race with the kids. Denise and I did the 5K. Toby had a 1 miler that he thought he could run no sweat. ... (ha ha.. ) and then Zack and Emma had the little 1/2 mile. They all did great. Emma swore she was gonna die. Reilly rode along in the stroller laughing wondering what the heck we were doing on a bright sunny day at the beach. This is in Oceanside, and the money from our race went back to the kids school. They had a really good time, and we gobbled the turkey up later in the afternoon. He started off way to fast, thought he was all that.. and literally dragged himself across the finish line!! LOL!

Family photo after the race.. I was warm by the end, but it was a chilly morning let me tell you..

Emma swore she was dying.. How much further??? You would think this was her first race. But, she hung in there and finished like a champ. She said, "Do I get a banana now?" Maybe next year I can dress them like turkeys for the race?? HMMMM? :)

Pre race showing off their numbers!

Great Days Like this!

So, we took a chance this am and headed out.. Rain coming down. We (okay Emma and I) checked out new camera lenses I am drooling for and a new flash, and then off we headed. I promised them apple pie after lunch if they were patient. So they watched their movie, and we headed off.

http://www.julianca.com/dining/index.htm Totally recommend checking it out if your in CA!

It really wasn't that bad of a drive minus the rain. Then we got there.. DOWN POUR!! The kids were great sports, and thought it was a hoot. I had seen this place that had "famous" sandwiches on their web site. Yeah, like I remembered to grab it this am on the way out the door. When we tried to eat lunch in one place and the waitress was so rude we left, we stumbled on the restaurant with the famous sandwich. I was so excited. So we ate like pigs, then had hot apple pie and hot chocolate and watched the down pour. On the way out, kids covered in garbage bags thanks to our great new waitress :) they begged me to do this. They laughed, giggled and had a blast. The guy was really cool. His camera was 1/2 of mine and he had to soft flashes set up. His printer and software are what made this photo. (not a bad enterprise). They giggled, and laughed.

So this may not be appropriate, but the kids were like mom, look.... it was so hard to get them to not laugh in this photo we just went with it. Also, trying to get 4 kids look at one spot at the same time.. Yeah, good luck with that. 3/4 isn't bad.
Emma laughed the whole time and kept saying, my gun is bigger than the boys!! It was hard to get them to make mean faces.. they were giggling so much. My only regret.. no photos with the garbage bags.. No way was I taking my 5th baby out in that down pour.. plus, I was soaked (no garbage bag) and didn't even want to grab my handy phone!

Cowbella Ranch Cafe is the restaurant we ate. It is not seen off the main road but it's in a little nook around the corner. This is their bio:

Welcome to the new Cowbella Ranch Cafe, formally known as Cowgirl Cafe.
We are a family restaurant with a flare of western fun. We are known for our grilled turkey sandwich with pesto, our great meat loaf sandwich, prime rib burgers, baked potatoes and 1/4 or 1/2 lb. hot dogs. We are also Vegan and Veggie friendly with a lot more to choose from. Come on back, say "howdy" and take a peek at our menu.
(760) 765-2167
2116 Main Street, Ste. 1F, P.O. Box 1273, Julian, CA 92036

Baby shower

So, we had tons of baby showers this past fall. Everyone is either pregnant or getting pregnant.. So, I had them take a picture of my last baby! :)

School Photos

So, this is the reason, you buy the CHEAP package for their photos for school. I was like really guys? But, hey it's what they do. I cannot get over how much their ears look like their grandfathers ears. It's kind of scary! Toby 2nd grade photo

Zack K photo. I really need to edit the big "healing scrape" on his forehead. He ate the pavement about 2 wks prior to the photo riding his skateboard.. and yes he had a helmet on. We still aren't sure how he got the scrape...

Rainy Days

So, what do you do with little kids on rainy days?? Lol.. let them play. For some reason, Reilly loves the dishwasher.. She loves to climb on the door. So afraid she will break it. I guess it's good she really isn't that heavy.. She also LOVES the cloth napkins. Here I am trying to be earth friendly and not "throw" away napkins, but I cannot keep them folded. She loves to walk around with them. She is so funny. Make cocoa crispy treats.. They like the bowl more than the actual treats. (I have such weird kids)
And, throw down some paper and crayons. Even Ry got into the coloring party..

Veteran's Day

So, we had a great day at the school celebrating Veteran's Day! The kids planted new plants in the school garden, planted flowers and painted flowers, enjoyed cooking with the healthy chefs and celebrated the day together. It was awesome!!

Halloween 2010

They had a great time!! Lots of candy... *sigh*. Extra scrubbing of the teeth for the next week..

Fall Festival

So, this was the kids school the Friday before Halloween. They had games, activities, etc. The kids had a blast. It was a little overwhelming. There were a lot of kids running around. But we did it, and the kids had earned a bunch of tickets, and were totally excited to use them for their "prizes" this was one.. hair coloring.. Face painting..
Balloons... (yes Emma's and Zack's lasted for about 10 min) then popped... I thought she was going to cry her heart out.. Over a balloon?? Really?

This was the best though. I had to work on the deck, so I didn't get out until 5 pm which was getting close to "night ops". I showed up right as these beauties were taking off. It was loud, and windy. But, the reason I am so proud.. Emma goes it's loud!! and Zack says, "Emma really? That's the sound of freedom!" and looked at me. I thought my heart would burst. Sappy, silly, maybe. But, hey my kids know what those cobras and 46 flying over us every day mean. People who are protecting us. Felt soooo proud! :) Cobra- literally 25 ft from us..

46 the transport bird.. The kids had a blast climbing in and out of it.

Emma's hair

Inside the cobra.. couldn't get her out of it.. uh oh?? Pilot in the making??

Toby and the cobra.

Science Museum

During Christmas break we took the kiddos to this great science/discovery museum. They had a blast exploring and finding cool things to do. It was a great afternoon!!

Halloween 2010

So, the kids wanted to go hog wild this year.. we have lots of cobwebs, and yes there are lights... I need to take a photo at night, but have gotten to wrapped up in finishing books, homework and baths lately! Hopefully this week. They had a blast decorating. I am going to back fill with lots of pictures from pumpkin picking and Zack's birthday later this week.. Easier to post to facebook at the moment! More to come with costumes!!

Birthday Boy!

So this year was AVATAR!! Kill a mother now? Really?? So, I started looking high and low and believe it or not, it wasn't until October that they finally had plates/cups/etc. for Avatar.. Like how long has this movie been out? So, I managed to get them.. Now, dilemma what to do with the cake?? Had to improvise. Now, I have only seen the movie 1x. so it was a little hard to figure out what to do... So here is b-day boy with his big brother... The big 5!

Soooo tell me this is not what is to come??? Like his grandfather huh??

Opening presents, bug wars and zu zu pets??

Takes a lot for me to do balloons. I sooo don't like them.. yet, they were waiting for him when he woke up.

The cake. This was the tree of life. Yes, I used the boys "dudes" to make it. I was like, no way, I am not making people as well. So, we had the tree of life. He loved it. That's all I cared about!

"best cake ever mom!!" made it soo worth it.