Adam and Erin

 So, Adam went on a ride a couple of weeks ago and ended up in Jerome!  I guess he wasn't planning on going there, but he said he couldn't find a good place to turn around and before he knew it, he was in Jerome!  He called to tell me that he was there and would be home soon!  

I was not too happy, but since he won't be riding for a while (because of the cold) , I am glad he had fun!  

Me, well, there are no impromptu trips to Jerome to tell of, just one quick trip to the ER for treatment for the MOTHER of all bladder infections!  I was in and out in about an hour, so it wasn't too bad, it just put a damper on all my day after Christmas shopping, which I think Adam was grateful for!

Riley

Riley is just as crazy as ever...he is still my helper in the kitchen and will try just about anything!

Classic Riley...always going for the SUPER POSE!!!

Nikolas

I realized that I never posted anything from Nikolas' baptism.  It was such a nice day and we were so happy to have all the family that came; they made it so special for Nikolas.

Nikolas' favorite part about turning 8 and getting baptized...SCOUTS!!!  His first activity was at the police station...how cool!

Nate

Nate was so happy to get his bike for Christmas...he rides it EVERYWHERE! But he tries to ride it while holding his blocks in both hands, it doesn't always work out and sometimes he falls, but he is so stubborn.

Traditions and Home Alone!

So we spent Christmas Eve as a family and enjoyed some of our own traditions and a few from Adam's family.  

We enjoyed Granny's Jalapino Poppers (Adam said they were the best ever, but that was just because the bacon was REALLY cooked!), lil smokies (the boys' favorite), Adam had an assortment of cheeses and sausage logs courtesy of Hickory Farms, and lots and lots of Christmas treats from our wonderful friends.  

We ate while watching Home Alone...the boys hadn't seen it and they laughed throughout the entire movie.  I am not too thrilled that we have the movie because Riley quotes from the movie all day!  

I hear him saying,

"Look what you did you little jerk!"

 or

 "Keep the change you filthy animal!" 

all the time and I just want to put soap in his mouth!  I never realized all the sayings in the movie before.

We had the annual Elf Hunt and unfortunately, it was uneventful, but the nice elves left some comfy PJ's.  Nate got Kung Fu Panda jammies and was so excited, but he kept trying to put the pants on his arms, it was really cute!

After the elf hunt, we watched the Polar Express and talked about the meaning of Christmas and read the Christmas Story.  

I am happy to say that Adam waited patiently to open his Christmas presents until Christmas Day (it was 12:01 a.m.), but I managed to get him stuff that he loved and surprised him (I think that is a first for our marriage!).

We woke up at like 7:30 on Christmas morning to find the boys in their room patiently waiting, fully dressed for the day!  I don't know where they got their restraint from, but it was cute, they wanted to let us sleep in.

The boys got lots of Lego sets and Nikolas just zoned out listening to his new iPod and just put all the sets together singing the whole time!  It was really cute.

Riley played Lego Indiana Jones on the Wii and watched movies on his iPod the whole day!  

Thanksgiving

1- 23lb TURKEY, 1 YUMMY HAM (I know, did I say yummy ham?), 2 1/2 lbs of MASHED POTATO DAMNS AND GRAVY, STUFFING, 1 SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE, 1GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE, 1 CHEESECAKE, 2 PUMPKIN ROLLS, AND LOTS and  LOTS OF ROLLS!  

What more could you ask for on Thanksgiving? 

 (Unless your Adam and would rather have Mexican food!!!)

I think most of us ended up in a FOOD COMA, but it was well worth it!

We had a great time with all of our family that came and were so sad to see them go!  We miss them dearly and can't wait to see them soon.

Nate and his Granny (I think they were looking for the dog or maybe a bird!)

Adam and Kyle, SCHEMING!

Trey and Riley really bonded...they had so much fun!

Why We LOVE our DAD!

BECAUSE HE PLAYS WITH US!!!

Nikolas and Riley demonstrate their SWEET SKILLS!!!

Essentials for Turning 8 and a Side Note!

I have recently come to the conclusion that life goes by WAY TOO FAST!  I know that EVERYONE says it, and I have even rolled my eyes occasionally, because I always thought we were making the most of our time with the kids.  Well, this upcoming milestone of Nikolas' has put all that "time" I thought I had into perspective.

Last week, Adam and I made our fav drive down to the the Valley.  We LOVE it down there and are even teased about how we go there ALL the time like it's no big deal, but we don't care because we love it, even in the Summer.  

So, back to my story...

 we went to get ALL the essentials for a boy turning 8!  

The shopping excursion for essentials began at the book store.  First on the list, Scriptures, black, a triple and Bible, and a case "Just like Dad's".  I can't begin to put into words the emotions that I felt when we got his scriptures back, with his name engraved on them...I about cried, but then my D.H. made a joke, that we won't get into, and instead, I laughed so hard I cried.  What would I do without Adam to make me laugh!?!? 

Second,on the list Scout Stuff!  Nikolas is sooo excited to start scouts and, even though I am less than thrilled, I am glad that he's so excited.

There is no better place to get Scouting Stuff than at the Boy Scout Store and let me tell you, I felt a little, who am I kidding, A LOT overwhelmed, but I survived.  There was a nice lady who, when I told her

 "I want whatever a boy needs to start cub scouts",

managed to get me out of the store in 15 minutes!  It was a good thing my D.H. was there to help...whatever, he made me laugh again, only this time I laughed so hard that I'm sure the lady thought I was going to pee my pants!

After surviving the Scout Store, we headed home.  We were hoping to save all of of 

Boy Turning 8 Essentials

for Nikolas' birthday, but Riley saw the bags and wasted no time telling Nikolas that we got his scriptures and scout stuff!  That Stinker!

This led to a discussion about his scriptures, how long he'll have them for, if he can write in them, all of that stuff and then, Nikolas spent the rest of the night reading his scout book!  He is now more excited than ever to turn 8 and start scouts.

I, on the other hand, am left wondering where the time has gone?  My son is almost 8 and I am turning into "the Mom".  It's like my name has become a 4-letter-word.  I am not "COOL" anymore...he has his buddies for that!  I thought that I would have more time, but I was wrong. Sometimes, I feel like all I'm just the taxi driving, homework helping, snack making, MOM!  And just when I feel like he's getting too old for his mom, he stays home from the hockey game to spend time with me or wants me to tuck him in at night (not every night, just every once in a while!).  So, I take my time with him in bits these days, but I cherish every bit he gives me!

Happy Halloween!

Dressing up can be a SCREAM,

And playing TRICKS is dandy,

BUT when it comes to HALLOWEEN

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE CANDY!

We hope that everyone had a fun, safe Halloween!

We began our night of 

Trick-or-Treating with a Trunk-or-Treat 

at the church, then

after a quick stop at home for a Monster (the drink) for mom 

and a COSTUME for dad (I know Adam wearing a costume?!?!?, unheard of and I DON'T have a picture!) we went around the neighborhood at our friends house.  Every time the boys rang a door bell, the people who answered said, "Look at ALL your candy!"  We didn't realize how much candy they had until we got back and they proceeded to dump it out everywhere!  

Six boys, 2 Darth Vader's, 1 Anakin, 1 Obi Won, 1 Jango Fett, & 1 Boba Fett...we were our own Star Wars show! 

 We had so much fun!  The highlight for the adults was the 

HOMEMADE ROOT BEER...SO DELICIOUS!

Here are my BOYS!!! 

Nate did a pretty good job of keeping his hat on, but

 all he wanted to do was hit everyone with the light saber!

Isn't he the 

CUTEST little Darth Vader EVER?!?!? 

Nate's little friend, Easton (2 yrs old) was Darth Vader too, they looked so cute together!

High School Musical 3

Well, we went and saw 

HSM 3, OPENING DAY.  

It was a sight, 

me, my friends and 5 BOYS, Nikolas, Riley, Griffin, Jax, and Alex...

that's right, 3 moms and 5 BOYS!!!  

What a sight! And, actually, the boys ended up seeing their friends there, so there was a whole row of boys sitting there watching the movie!  I laughed because a few weeks ago, I told my friend that I would not go watch it in theaters, but there we were, on opening day, watching the movie.  I have to say, the boys loved going and I actually really liked the songs and dancing.  Way to go Disney!  Also, 

I am missing my niece Camryn right now, because she is so Sharpay!

7 KIDS, 1 SHOWER, SCHOOL NIGHT!!!

ENOUGH SAID!!!

We survived showers tonight 

AND had some HOT WATER left over!!!  

I have never done showers so quickly before in my life, but one right after the other, the boys and Anna,

hopped in, shampooed, soaped ALL OVER, rinsed and got out!  

I was a 1 woman assemble line, handing out towels, shorty's, pajamas, combing hair (I get to do little girls hair!!!) and lotion to the poor dry skinned boys, and 1 dainty little girl, while Adam tended Nate, sometimes, that 1 little boy feel like 7 kids!  After it was all said and done, I think we accomplished all of this AND brushed teeth in about 40 minutes!   

What else could we do but take some pictures to show mom and dad how 

CLEAN we all are and how HAPPY we ALL are

...except for Koby, he said he doesn't know how to smile, but I think I managed to get him to crack on before it was all said and done!

Cameron and Riley are two PEAS IN A POD!!! 

They are always the first one's to be 

OFF THE WALL...but also the first one's to GIVE KISSES!!!  

POOR ANNA!!!  

This 1 little girl and 6 boys...how does she survive it all?

Where's Nate, you ask, well, he's off with DAD looking at motorcycles or swinging a golf club...who ever knows where that kids is, not me, I'm just his MOM!!!

One SILLY FACE look for the camera...it was Koby's idea...AND...

...I think he found his smile!

I know it's only Tuesday, but this week has been pretty good...

check back on Friday to see if I'm still alive...

who knows!  I will say this though, 

it has been so much fun to have a little girl in the house, 

but, I can definitely see the differences between girls and boys even at this young age...

totally different ways of handling things...I'm not sure I could handle it!  

It's Official...

We walked into the event center and felt the chill of the ice and we were overpowered by that familiar aroma coming from the Cinnamon Roasted Almonds...we immediately knew

IT'S HOCKEY TIME!!!

We went to the first regular season game last night and it was brutal!  Sundogs LOST 7-2...I can't remember the last time they lost, especially THAT badly!  We didn't even get out of the arena until 10:20, that's about 1 hour later than we usually get out because of all the penalty stoppages.  

It was a neat night though because they unveiled the teams 2 CHAMPIONSHIP BANNERS from last year...the 

SOUTHWEST DIVISION CHAMPIONS

&

PRESIDENTS CUP NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!!!

The boys were so excited...as usual, Riley shows his excitement in the picture!

A FAN and FAMILY FAVORITE...team CAPTAIN, CHRIS BARTOLONE!!! 

These are the 2 banners...it was really cool because they had fire and sparklers shooting up from the ice...

Afternoons with Nate...

First, I would like to say that this POOR KID is ALWAYS getting dragged around to wherever I am going, even if it's in the middle of NAP TIME!  Yesterday, was REPORT-CARD day, and the boys did so well last quarter and Nate was really good while we were out, so we went for SONIC SLUSHES...2-4 is 1/2 priced HAPPY HOUR and my favorite 2 hours of the day, sometimes!  Well, Nate decided to take the lid off his blue coconut slush and got it all over his face and chest.  He had a blast making the mess, but I didn't have fun cleaning up after him.

Today, we found some PUPPIES up by Target and we spent about 20 minutes just playing with them.  They kept trying to lick Nate and he wasn't sure how he felt about that.  He screamed when we left, but the promise of popcorn at Target settled him down right away.

If only we could bring one home...the puppies were 3 month old lab/border collie mix, so cute!

How We Spent Our Fall Break!

First of all, I would like to say that I HATE Fall Break.  So, this year, I decided to put the kids, and my Dear Husband, to work.  We spent the week covered in paint or sawdust or both, the boys were bed-less for 6 days (Riley got in trouble and I told him to go to his bed, he yelled back,  "I DON'T HAVE A BED!"   

I couldn't help but laugh), and when it was all said and done, all the boys wanted to know was:

 "How much money did we earn?"  REALLY!?!?!

This is how my week went:

MONDAY:  Prep the boys furniture for new paint...clear out room...clean out boy's closet...take ALL pictures off walls...  the boys cleaned out their drawers and toy buckets.  

TUESDAY: Paint furniture...this quickly became the bane of my existence this week because even with a primer, it took 7 coats of paint to cover completely...clean carpet and walls in boys room, Adam patched holes and touched up the walls with paint...

  WEDNESDAY:  Continue painting furniture...get LUMBER for BUNKBEDS...the boys were very excited to go to the hardware store and get the wood for their new beds. 

THURSDAY: Finished PAINTING!!!...Start sanding the wood...clean out closet in Nate's room...get rid of clothes that is TOO small (this seems to happen often with him...he's getting too 

big too fast!)...organize closets.

FRIDAY:  Organize the boys room...put clothes in dressers...get the MOUNTAIN of laundry washed and put away...Adam started the BUNKBEDS!

Saturday:  Finish BUNKBEDS!!!  My D.H. stayed home from the soccer games and put the beds together, with a bit of help from the boys.

Sunday:  On the 7th day, He rested!

As you can see, we had quite the mess in our garage all week...

 Nikolas is using a mallet to help push the screws through the holes...

 My D.H. COVERED in sawdust...it took 3 showers to get him clean and 3 washes to get all his clothes clean!

 Adam is sawing the excess off the top of the bunkbeds...he is using a circular saw, but it is only a 2 inch blade and the wood was 4x4, so he had to get creative and saw around all 4 sides, not as easy as it sounds...I was a bit nervous!  Thankfully, there were no lost limbs!

The FINISHED PRODUCT!!! 

I have to say that I am so proud of my Dear Husband...I can't remember when the last time was that he used a drill or saw and I don't think he'll be doing any kind of Handy Hubby projects for a LONG time, but the beds look great and we have so many memories of working together.  I don't really even mind the fact that I couldn't feel my right arm for a few days because of all the sanding, priming, painting, staining, and lifting.  

Now comes the task of re-decorating the boy's room...SHOPPING!!! 

Amazing Jakes!!!

We finally got to Amazing Jakes, after our Unexpected Delay (see previous post) and we were all thirsty, hot, and hungry.  After getting a snack and drinks, Adam and the 2 boys turned into 

3 Laser Tag Playing, Go Cart/Bumper Car Driving, 

Mini Golf Playing, Tea Cup Spinning, 

Arcade Game Playing, Rock-Wall Climbing, 

All-You-Can-Eat Buffet Eating MANIACS!!! 

 It was a little hard to tell who was having more fun, Adam or the Boys!  

They had tons of fun on the Tea Cups with Dad and it was pretty funny because they could barely fit in there...it didn't matter to them because of how fast dad spun them.

What a DAY!!!  After 5 hours, two buffet trips, and about 30 minutes spent trying to use up all the ticket that the boys won, we were all pooped and ready to head home.  

 

Unexpected Delay!

We went to Amazing Jakes in Mesa the other day and on our way down, 

we got stuck for 2 hours on the highway (I-17) just outside of Happy Valley.  

There was an accident about 1/2 a mile up the road, nothing too bad, but this

 truck towing a trailer flipped over and was completely blocking the highway.  There was a lot of construction equipment along the highway, because of the highway widening that they are doing right now, so they brought a big front-end loader over to move the truck and trailer.  

Adam, being the CURIOUS GEORGE that he is, got his skateboard out of the car and rode down to the accident to check things out.  There were people giving him thumbs up and clapping for him,  I, on the other hand, thought that he was

 going to get a ticket from the mean motorcycle cop that drove by and yelled, 

"No skateboards in traffic!"

Nikolas and Riley were really good...they just thought that it was fun getting to stand on the highway!

Nate was at home in the back of the car with the skateboards...but he 

was really HOT!!!

This is the accident...it is hard to tell exactly what you're looking at, but you can see the bottom of the truck, it was on it's side.  It was amazing to me that the woman driving was fine, she was really lucky!

The boys thought that our delay was fun because the big construction equipment that kept driving by and every time the water truck drove by, they got sprayed with mist from the water.  I kept telling them that the water was gross, but they didn't mind.

My Shower Buddy

So yesterday I was going to take a shower with Nate, so I turned the shower on to warm up.  I went to get Nate's clothes, so that I could get him dressed right away, and then realized that Nate was gone.  I couldn't find him anywhere, so I went to turn the shower off and found Nate in the SHOWER, pajamas and all.  He just stood there smiling like I was the one with the problem.

Our Trip To Wisconsin

So, this past week, Adam and I went to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for Adam's business meetings.  Any way, we flew in on Monday and got home Thursday night and I think, Milwaukee is Adam's new FAVORITE city.  We LOVED being downtown and we were only about a 15 minute walk from Lake Michigan.  We walked there every night...

Adam ate cheese curd and I ate my carmel apple.   

As you can see, the weather was not very good the day we got in.  It was about 60 degrees and raining.  The hotel gave us an umbrella and we walked to the lake.  There wasn't too much to see because of the rain, but it was still a lot of fun.  I had only packed sandals, so we had to find a mall so I could get some shoes.  We found this really neat mall that went throughout 3 different buildings.  

Here is the Pirate Ship (as the boys like to call it).  I was walking along the lake one day and this ship was out in the harbor.  It was so neat looking and I found out, on my last day, that you can actually pay to go for a ride on the boat.  It was so pretty to see...I love boats.

I spent most of my time walking around the city...I think that I probably walked about 8 - 10 miles a day!  My favorite place was the lake.  I loved to watch the boats and I think that these boats are part of a local sailing school.  I would love to learn to sail...it just seems like so much fun.  I walked to Milwaukee's Third Ward, which is just on the other side of the freeway from downtown Milwaukee and was more artsy.  I thought that it reminded me a lot of Prescott and the artsy stores and it had an eclectic feel.  Aside from the Lake, I think that the campus and surrounding neighborhood of MSOE (Milwaukee School of Engineering) was BEAUTIFUL! There were these overgrown trees that were tall enough to cover the street with shade and the old style homes and cobble stone streets made you feel like you weren't in a big city at all.

...just another picture from my exploration of Milwaukee! 

The smaller building is actually apartments.  It was such a beautiful old looking building that overlooks the lake.  Not a bad way to wake up every morning.