The Best Week Ever (2011)

So every year before school we have 'The Best Week Ever'. This started when I was watching Spongebob with the kids a few years back and he sings this really annoying song "It's the best day ever....." Anyways, long story short I got the idea from the cartoon for the song. Every day we do something fun that the kids decide they want to do. I got sick of doing fun things in June and then they never remember it when they go back to school and have to write about it! So, if we do fun things the week before school starts, then they'll remember it.....and that's how 'The Best Week Ever' got started. So this is our third year to do it and it was a fun filled week!

Day One started out at The Jumpy Place. One of those places where the kids can jump for hours and hours! I loved it because the kids get all sweaty and they have a blast! I convinced them after 3.5 hours that it was time to leave (sorry, no photos, I forgot my camera in the car)!

Day Two was a fun filled day at Austin Park and Pizza.

We definitely got our money's worth that day between eating lunch, riding go-carts,

teacups, bumper boats, snack, more go-carts,

teacups,

laser tag, bumper boats and then dinner. Throw in some rock climbing...

...and some arcades in between all that and we had 6.5 hours of pure fun! Livi tried really hard on the rock wall but her wall was pretty difficult. Ethan, seeing as he's part monkey, scaled the wall quickly to the top where he hit the bell (that didn't ring), came back down and was almost to the top again when the guy told him to come down. Eli was too busy shooting people on an arcade while the littler kids were rock climbing! To say the least, they had a blast!

 

 

Day Three was supposed to be roller skating but that got bumped since it wasn't open on Wednesday. Instead, we went to see The Smurfs. The kids loved it! We did the whole movie experience. We got some candy, popcorn, and soda and the kids ate (I helped of course) almost every bit of it! All I can say is, wow, movies have sure gotten expensive! The kids liked the movie; I thought it was a little long but that's not what counts!

 

 

Day Four was fun in more ways than one! We registered Eli for middle school, yes, middle school. I told him about how I still have friends from middle school (yes, I'm old and I tell stories about 'when I was a kid...'). We walked his schedule going back and forth from one side of the school to the other. I then timed it while he walked his schedule twice, to make sure he knew where he was going! He is super ready and excited. He gets to ride the bus and he's excited for that too! I don't really worry about him since he seems pretty confident and ready to go to junior high! After registration we all went roller skating. If you haven't been since junior high, you need to go; it's pretty darn fun! This day was fun minus the sauna in the roller rink. It was 94 degrees inside where you skate and almost made you want to pass out. The kids noticed the heat a little but not much. Ethan brought his own roller blades from home and was skating around on those while Eli, Livi and I rented skates.

For those of you who haven't seen a 5 year old roller blade, namely Ethan, picture chaos on skates. You think he's going to fall and lose control and eat it but somehow he stays up and rarely falls. It's a pretty funny picture. Since we've skated a few times in the past couple of months, the boys are getting more daring. Eli was going around corners on one skate, so Ethan thought he would try it, along with jumping while skating.

Usually two hours is more than enough time to skate but with the rink being a sauna we left just shy of two hours. After skating we go to a place across the street that has frozen custard--it's super yummy! Then we headed home so we could walk over to Livi and Ethan's meet the teacher night. Livi has Mrs. Elkins for 2nd grade and Ethan has Mrs. Sandoval for Kinder. They both seem really nice and the kids are super excited for school. Actually, I think mom is more excited than them. It truly is a bittersweet situation. Now that all of my kids are in school, it's going to be pretty weird not having them around, at least one of them! Now is the time I have to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. I've applied for several jobs and haven't been successful so I think my plan is to sub in the schools and work on my alternative teaching certification and eventually be a teacher. It's a good mom job!

Day Five was scheduled to be a movie day since the kids wanted to see 'Spy Kids' and it didn't come out until Friday. We got to the show 30 minutes early since I figured it'd be packed on the first showing of the first day it came out. Turns out I was wrong and most people got there 10 minutes before it started. Oh well, we were able to pick where we wanted to sit! The kids loved the movie and thought it was super funny since it had all the great poop and vomitting jokes in it. If I were you, I'd wait until it came out for $1 rental!

Here's to another school year! It'll be over and I'll be writing about our next 'Best Week Ever' before I know it!

Another Year!

2010 has come and gone and now onto the new year! Things have started out really well here! We ended 2010 with Miguel's 33rd birthday and another year of a chance to wise up, I mean become wise!! After many nights of practicing good table manners, we finally took the kids to Bennihana's for a chance for them to show off their ettiquite and a chance to eat some GOOD Japanese food!

January brought lots of basketball.... and a lot more basketball....

and a mariachi band!

What??? Not really a band but a solo artist! Livi just likes to pose for the camera so anytime she can get in front of it and act silly, she will!

February brought....

a snow angel and a dog attacking.....

and some really cold weather, including SNOW!!!

Getting Older!

School is back in session and things are back on schedule! Eli has started the 5th grade (I know, I can't believe it either)!

Livi started first grade and Ethan is in Pre-k.

Can't believe how time flies and the kids grow so fast! I feel like it was yesterday, wishing my kids would grow up, at least be a little independent, and now it's already here!

For all those moms out there that have little ones (you know, where your goal for the day is to shower or not feel so tired all the time) enjoy your time with your kids! They grow up so quickly! Although they aren't so little anymore, I'm really enjoying their ages! All the kids are at such a great age where we can do family things together and it doesn't have to revolve around nap time or who needs to eat! We go on family bike rides and have adventures that can last the whole day! I'm so grateful for my wonderful family! I am truly blessed!

School has come to an end----SUMMERTIME!

School has come to an end and so now summer has begun! Elijah completed the 4th grade,

Elijah and Mrs. Mize--his 4th gr. teacher

Alivia completed kindergarten,

Alivia and Mrs. Redburn-her kinder teacher

and Ethan finished his mother's day out! I can't believe how fast they are growing!

Ethan's last day of school with Mrs. Monique and Mrs. Diane--his teddy bear parade!

Next year Alivia will be in 1st grade, Eli 5th grade and Ethan in pre-k (at Mother's Day Out program). Just trying to enjoy every minute with them; especially the sleep in late mornings (around 8 or 9 am) and the late nights!

Our summer consists of a lot of pool time, going to the library and trying to wear out the childrens' energy!

Here' to summer!

Summer turns into School Time!

(at the Rainforest Pyramid in Moody Gardens-Galveston)

So, the summer flew by, again. Don't you remember how time used to be so much slower when you were a child? Why is it that it gets faster and faster the older you get? We had a good summer. It went quickly because I was working about 60+ hours a week, for two months of it. I finally quit and was able to spend the last part of the summer with the kids.

(in Galveston at the Rainforest Cafe)

Alivia went into Kindergarten and Elijah started 4th grade today.

That left just me and Ethan. When I asked him what we should do today, he replied "let's play Bingo!" We never got around to Bingo, but we did have a blast at the jumpy place (indoor bounce house place).

(Ethan climbing on the school playground after we dropped the other kids off at school!)

I would say it was a good summer, but glad for school to start! I start school on Wednesday--I'm finishing my last class (2nd comp. science class) and will graduate in December from my very long college career. Ethan will go to Mother's Day Out program on T/Th and that leaves me to find some new freedom!! To another great school year!

Charlie's Angels, almost!

Life has been as busy as ever, but I still managed to get in some paintball action with my friend, Shonna! We 'work' together at school, but really hang out all day! She invited me to go play paintball with her and her family and a bunch of people I didn't know, and I was all over that! If you haven't ever tried, you should. IT's Totally FUN! If it wasn't so expensive, it would be my new hobby!





Besides school, working, being a wife/mom, things are good. Eli's doing well in school, loves scouts and still likes to tease his siblings! Livi is growing up, learning her alphabet (Thanks Mrs. Bonnie & Mrs. Denise) and becoming a pro on her bike! Ethan is my last child for a reason--precious, but has no fear! After all, he's just trying to keep up with Eli and Livi. He likes to do anything that involves running, jumping, kicking or throwing. He's all boy to put it simply. Miguel is as busy as ever! He started club volleyball and that takes him away on weekends! It's a good thing he still loves it!

Ethan and Livi with Marge's dog, Guiness. No, Livi's not homeless, and yes, she did pick out her own outfit and brush her own hair!

UPDATES!!! HALLOWEEN 2008

We had a great time for Halloween this year! We went to the Trunk-or-Treat at church on the Wednesday before Halloween. This worked out well, because Eli got sick on the actual Halloween night!

Miguel was dressed as a coach, who would have thought? This is him in action--sitting in the trunk of our van handing out candy!

Eli, a.k.a. Mr. Incredible, was kind (mostly) to take Ethan, a.k.a. Tigger, around to all the cars and teach him how to load up on the candy!Althought Livi, a.k.a. Sunshine Bear had a lot of fun, apparently it was painful to take this picture!!This was the actual Halloween night! Livi was Sunshine Bear, I was a clown (check out the long rainbow eyelashes I had--they were fun!) and Ethan was a dinosaur! We had a good time going house to house. Eli stayed home, since he was sick, and passed out candy.

Just some precious kids!

I haven't posted in awhile, so I thought I'd post some pictures of my kids! They're having fun in school, soccer, piano, and just being kids!

Ethan snuck in my room and fell asleep. He looks like such a big kid! My baby is already 3!

Livi was at Tara's birthday party at a dance studio. She had a lot of fun!!

Eli (and Alayna) swimming in the pool the last week before school started!

They're getting older and older by the day! Eli's already 8 1/2, Livi's 4 1/2, and Ethan just turned 3!

"Having children makes you mature more quickly – for each of their years you age by two!"

-Stuart Macfarlane

Research ROCKS !!!

I know this sounds pretty nerdy, but if you got to wear a lab suit, shoe covers, gloves, safety glasses and a hair net, you'd think it was pretty cool! I got to go into the cleanroom lab the other day and work with my professor.

(this is a clean room--you have to suit up before you enter and then you go through other doors. normally there's a high power fan that blows air on you to make sure you don't come into the lab with anything on you! the one i went into wasn't this fancy but it still looked cool!)

I'm doing research with a physics professor and so far it's awesome. It counts as a senior level physics class, I don't have any tests, and I get to do cool things and put it on my resume! How much better can it get?

We went into the fabrication lab and I got to use a PVD (physical vapor deposition) machine.

(this isn't the exact machine, but it looks kind of like this!)

We put some SiO2 wafers (what they use in semiconductors--don't know what that means) in the machine and then some high quality aluminum on a tungsten coil. We took out the air (made it like a vacuum) and then melted the aluminum. After it evaporated, we had to pump air back into the instrument (so we could open the door), and then removed the wafers. They were all shiny (looked like a mirror) since the aluminum evaporated onto them.

(an aluminum wafer--looked like this but didn't have the neat pattern on it!)

Pretty interesting stuff. Hopefully next week we'll go into the photolithography room and be able to put a picture on the wafer or some sort of design!

10 Long Years Ago, I was......

Last weekend I had my 10 year high school reunion. It was pretty fun! It was neat and weird to see people I hadn't seen in 10 years and to see what they look like and what they were doing. It was also interesting to see people's reaction when I told them I had 3 kids!

This is Erin and Kristen. Yes, they're twins and after knowing them since 6th grade, I still can't tell them apart! They're a total hoot!

L to R: Some of the original 'Goffer Girls!' Julie, Margarita, Dana, and me!

L to R: Dana, Julie, Me, Margarita, and Amber. We (ok, just me) was showing my school spirit!

It was a pretty fun time! I did miss my sister (not biological), Ashley, but I heard she's successful and super skinny, so I guess she's doing well! j/k I did miss her, my husband, and some others, but got to talk to people I didn't really hang out with in school! I also stayed out until 2:30am that morning and paid for it all week. There's a reason why mom's don't stay out late---b/c their children wake up at 7:30am the next morning!!!

BEST WEEK EVER!

Since I'm such a great mom (there's sarcasm in my writing, but you can't hear it!) I decided we'd have the best week ever before school started. There's really 2 reasons why I did it: first, because I've been lame all summer and we haven't really done anything, and secondly, I wanted to make sure Eli had something to write about when he went back to school. If we did it too early in the summer, they'd forget. So, why not do it the week before school and they totally remember? I made them take pictures as proof of our fun!

Monday: we went to Olypmic Hills Gymnastics where they have open gym for toddlers! Ethan and Livi love it (Eli is a super big helper!)

Tuesday: we went to the mall and ate lunch (I did a bunch of errands) and the kids got a cookie!

Wednesday: we went to Goin' Bananas (our neighbor, Katie, came with us!)

Thursday: we went to Gattitown. Kids even got to play some games (I didn't just pretend they were playing!)

Friday: we went swimming and had a lunch at the pool!

On top of the fun things we did all week, I reminded the kids frequently we were having "The best week, ever!" I sang the song to them (changed the words from 'best day ever' to 'best week ever.' It's from Spongebob--any of you who have watched this with their kids know what I'm talking about!)

I've Been TAGGED!!

My dear friend, Chrissy, 'tagged me!' So, here's a whole lot more info than you probably wanted to know about me!

What Were You Doing 10 Years Ago? Packing up to go to BYU!

Things On My To-Do List Today: Finish painting furniture to put in boys' room, buy paint to paint their room, do dishes, take a nap (my favorite!), pick up house

What Are Some Snacks You Enjoy? blueberry yogurt, apple, animal crackers

What Would You Do If You Were A Millionaire? pay off debt, start my business, help family members, travel

Name Some Of The Places You Have Called Home: Tucson, AZ, Houston, Provo, UT, San Marcos, Austin, and Buda, TX!

What Are Some Of Your Bad Habits? Yelling at my kids (and husband), procrastinating, starting a new project when I haven't finished the other 10 I've started, falling asleep with the TV on at night

What Are Some Jobs You Have Held: (these are all a long time ago) Lifeguard, Waitress, Checker at a grocery store, Pharmacy Tech, worked in the bakery and floral dept. at Randall's, Teller, Nanny

Who Are You Tagging? my sister Amy, Ashlee, Kinsey and Kristi!

A Trip Down Memory Lane!

I am stealing this from Ashlee who stole it from Stacy, who stole it from Ali...It sounded fun!

Here are the directions:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

3. Keep it clean---no dirty secrets!! j/k

SUMMER FUN!

I decided since I'm such a lame mom, to do something fun with the kids today. I thought it might be fun, but ended up being torturous to me! We went to the free movie at Westgate and saw....Mr. Bean's Holiday. Ok, I've never seen Mr. Bean, but I thought he was hilarious in Rat Race so I didn't think it would be that bad....boy, was I wrong. Eli really liked it. Livi kept asking when we were going to see Stuart Little 2 (that was the other option for the free movie), and Ethan...well, let's just say he's 2. The popcorn we had lasted Ethan about 5 minutes, and the cookies lasted about 2, so the rest of the movie he was pretty bored. He ran down the stairs once and Eli caught him. We went to the restroom twice just to kill time! My advice: See a movie that will catch a 2 yr.old's attention, bring enough snacks for an hour and don't go by yourself with 3 kids!

We then joined Miguel for some lunch at Chick-Fil-A and the kids got to play. We headed home for nap time. It finally rained really good this afternoon--thank the Lord! I figured since I'm being a good mom today, I could continue that and do something different. Instead of our gourmet dinner of grilled ham and cheese at the table, I thought we'd have an indoor picnic. The kids really liked it! I made little name cards for the kids and set out their plates. I asked them to all wash their hands and then wait for me in the bathroom. The kids were great! They waited just outside the bathroom in a line from youngest to oldest. I told them we were going on an adventure---an indoor picnic!

After posing for the camera a couple of times (first time I used the timer) we all cleaned up and got ready for bed! I'd have to say that today was a success!!! (besides Eli being grounded and Ethan in time-out for the rest of the night for climbing on the piano, AGAIN!)