{Christmas Eve}

Christmas Eve Day is a little different at our house.  Its not only Christmas but Garrett's birthday as well.  We actually celebrated his birthday a few weeks ago with friends and family because its too hard to celebrate it on his actual birthday.

He is now 16 years old and will be getting his license in the next few weeks.  I made him a cake for his birthday and we all sang him happy birthday.  We got him a radio for his car.

That night Santa came to our house and left lots of goodies.  One of my kids favorite things to get from Santa is banana baby food.  You might think eww gross but its actually very good.  Everyone likes it except Garrett and Darian.

The stocking are all filled with goodies for the kids.

All ready for Christmas morning.

Santa left some stuff for Garrett...

and for Chase.

{the rivalry begins}

When a new high school opens up its bound to have a rivalry. In our case our rivalry is with Colton High School.  Garrett attended Colton High last year and Chase for the last two years.  Most of the kids that go to Grand Terrace High School came from Colton High School.  So on Thursday afternoon we knew that it was going to be an intense game.  Our boys were nervous and excited.  In the end we lost but it was a very good game.

During the 4th quarter it started getting really dark and you could see lightning in the distance.  Luckily we were able to finish the game and as we were walking to the car it started raining.  Talk about good timing.

{supporting the cause}

With October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month I'm sure you have seen alot of pink.  Whether its on a professional sports team or on a billboard.  Chloe's soccer team has joined in as well.  Here they are sporting pink sock and pink headbands.

They have these socks as well an some all pink ones.

Garrett's football team is wearing them too.  It looks really cool to see these tough boys wearing pink on the field while hitting and tackling each other.  Garrett is number #53.

I have not been personally affected by breast cancer in my family but I do know people that have been.  I love that we can show our support in simple ways like this.

{GTHS vs Jurupa Hills}

Grand Terrace High School's JV Football Team won their game yesterday! We played Jurupa Hills High School from Fontana. They are a new high school and this is their first year with seniors.

This awesome catch ended in a touchdown for GT.  I can't believe he was able to hang on to the ball.  That other guy was all over him.

Now you will have to excuse that coach on the right but I loved this picture too much to let him ruin it for me.  I am so proud of this JV team.  They played great.

Garrett #53 plays offensive line.  Here he is blocking.  He had a great game and played almost every offensive play.

A picture of him after a touchdown with his helmet off.

Tony Carrington is the JV quarterback.  He had several great passes in the game.

This picture was a surprise to me when I downloaded the pictures from my camera.  This was a point after kick and we did make the point but in this picture it looks like it got blocked.  It didn't but it looks like it was very close to being blocked.

Antonio Ramirez #80 plays every position on that field.  Its crazy.  He plays offense, defense, and he's the kicker.  He must be extremely tired after the game.

Final Score GTHS 20 Jurupa Hills 14.

{we were on the news}

I am here still I really am.
But with Football season underway
that means I am super busy.
Our new High School is finally open
and Friday nights are all about
High School Football games.

I might of forgotten to tell you
that I am the new High School
Football Booster President.
So I am very bust during Football
Season.

Here are some of our players.
I had the wrong lens on my camera
so I couldn't get everyone in the picture.
Garrett is playing both Varsity and JV.
He is in the crown somewhere.

Last Friday we had our first game.
We lost 23-42.
But our boys have nothing to be sad about.
We are a new school.
No seniors.
We didn't get shut out.
Our future looks promising.

As part of the days festivities.
Channel 5 news came to our school.
Gayle King was quite funny.
Here she is dressed as our opponent.
Notre Dame Titans.
I had to be at the school with all of my kids
dressed and ready at 6:15am!
I was afraid it wasn't going to happen
but as you can see it did.

Kaidee and Jaycee talking to the cameraman.
He was showing them pictures of Ryan Lochte.
He had just interviewed his the week before.
The girls were quite amazed.
Especially when Ryan took his shirt off.
Silly girls.

Avi is the sports reporter.
He predicts who will win or lose.
He predicted we would lose.
Sadly he was right.

It was a long fun day.
I can't wait to to it every Friday.
Well except the waking up early.
Tonight we have an away game.

I do have some good news.
Yesterday Garrett played in the JV game.
They won 20-0.
GTHS's first win!

{Beauty and the Beast part 2}

Here are some pictures of my kids and some of the other characters. Can you guess what my kids are?

Here is the Prince, Cogsworth, and Maurice (Belle's Father)

My kids standing in front of the fireplace and the enchanted rose.

This year Garrett was able to help backstage.  It was fun having four of the kids involved.

{new years interview with the kids}

{Paisley}

What is your favorite…

Cereal:  orange

Vegetable:  peas

Drink:  soda

Toy:  horsey

TV Show:  Elmo

Thing to do:  watch tv

Game:  ball

Book:  Elmo

Restaurant:  food

Place to go:  fire

If you could change your name, what would you choose?  baby

What is something Mommy says to you?  Kaidee's mean

What do you want to be when you grow up?  be a cow and wear makeup

What are you going to do different this year than last year?  Elmo and cookie monster

Who are your friends?   Kaidee, Chase, 

What do you wish for this year?  

What do you love about each person in our family?

Dad  name

Mom  shhh

Chase  

Garrett

Chloe

Kaidee

Cole

Paisley

{Cole}

What is your favorite…

Cereal:  Capn Crunch

Vegetable:  Cucumbers

Drink:  Sprite

Toy:  Video Games

TV Show:  Gold Rush

Thing to do:  Clean with mommy

Game:  War

Book:  Cat in the Hat

Restaurant:  In n Out

Place to go:  My friends house

If you could change your name, what would you choose?  Brody

What is something Mommy says to you?  Clean

What do you want to be when you grow up?  Fireman

What are you going to do different this year than last year?  no playing with baby toys

Who are your friends?  Michael, Liam, Chance, and Nick

What do you wish for this year?  a game for xbox

What is your goal for 2012?  play soccer better and juking

What do you love about each person in our family?

Dad  He takes me to the market

Mom  She takes me places

Chase  plays soccer with me all the time

Garrett  is nice to me

Chloe  plays DS with me

Kaidee  plays Uno with me

Paisley  she plays baby toys with me

{Kaidee}

What is your favorite…

Cereal:  Life

Vegetable:  broccoli

Drink:  Dr Pepper

Toy:  American Girl Dolls

TV Show:  Good Luck Charlie

Thing to do:  play soccer

Game:  Phase 10

Book:  Love You Forever

Restaurant:  Sayaka's

Place to go:  Disneyland

If you could change your name, what would you choose?  Ashley

What is something Mommy says to you?  Is your room clean

What do you want to be when you grow up?  A Doctor

What are you going to do different this year than last year?  Be a good girl

Who are your friends?  Megan, Juliette, Natalie, and Amanda

What do you wish for this year?  I will be safe

What is your goal for 2012?  Be a good soccer player and make the all-star team.

What do you love about each person in our family?

Dad  He takes me shopping

Mom  Everything she does for me

Chase  He plays soccer with me

Garrett  He is always there for me

Chloe  She is a great example to me

Cole  He plays board games with me

Paisley  She is so cute

{Chloe}

What is your favorite…

Cereal:  fruity pebbles

Vegetable:  cucumbers

Drink:  Dr Pepper

Toy:  my phone

TV Show:  Once Upon a Time

Thing to do:  play soccer

Game:  headbandz

Book:  Judy Moody

Restaurant:  In n Out

Place to go:  Utah

If you could change your name, what would you choose?  Hazel

What is something Mommy says to you?  Clean your room

What do you want to be when you grow up?  a nurse

What are you going to do different this year than last year?  change my attitude

Who are your friends?  Anissa

What do you wish for this year?  to get the iphone 4s

What is your goal for 2012?  dribble better in soccer

What do you love about each person in our family?  

Dad  he lets friends come over

Mom  she laughs when I do something funny

Chase  he lets me play soccer with him

Garrett  he likes to watch movies with me

Kaidee  she helps me not be scared at night

Cole  he loves me

Paisley  she likes to play kitchen with me

{Garrett}

What is your favorite…

Cereal:

Vegetable:

Drink:

Toy:

TV Show:

Thing to do:

Game:

Book:

Restaurant:

Place to go:

If you could change your name, what would you choose?

What is something Mommy says to you?

What do you want to be when you grow up?

What are you going to do different this year than last year?

Who are your friends?

What do you wish for this year?

What is your goal for 2012?

What do you love about each person in our family?

Dad

Mom

Chase

Garrett

Chloe

Kaidee

Cole

Paisley

{Chase}

What is your favorite…

Cereal:  Marshmallow pebbles

Vegetable:  corn

Drink:  Gatorade

Toy:  soccer ball

TV Show:  Chuck

Thing to do:  play soccer

Game:  Headbandz

Book:  Hunger Games

Restaurant:  Cafe Rio

Place to go:  mall

If you could change your name, what would you choose?  Fabio Sanchez

What is something Mom says to you?   Your sexy

What do you want to be when you grow up?  Dentist

What are you going to do different this year than last year?  Have more fun

Who are your friends?  Jake, Toby, Jonah, Isac, 

What do you wish for this year?  April to come faster

What is your goal for 2012?  To get a good GPA

What do you love about each person in our family?

Dad  He is always there for me 

Mom  Knows whats right

Garrett  he is cool

Chloe  plays soccer with me

Kaidee  her personality

Cole that he wants to be just like me

Paisley  she is fun

{made with love}

When Garrett had his bar mitzvah I knew I wanted to do something special for him.  I asked my Aunts if they would help me make a blanket for him to remember his special day.  My Aunt Debbie made my drawing a reality.  Now Garrett will have this special reminder of his special day.

{high school football}

I can now officially say that one of my boys plays football.  Garrett is playing offensive line for Colton High School.  His team has won 3 games and lost 1.  They are doing very well.

{Garrett's Graduation}

I now have two kids in High School.

Isn't that crazy.

Garrett had his Advancement Ceremony today.

It was long and boring like usual,

but I love Garrett enough to spend my birthday with him.

In one week he will be starting football at Colton High.

I am so proud of him.

He worked hard this year and it showed on his report card.

Congrats, Garrett We love you!

{new colors}

Today at our house we added lots of color. I have had this dresser in the kitchen for a while now but I was unsure of what color to paint it. I finally decided on a teal blue. I woke up early went to Home Depot to get the supplies then started this project. I don't know why but whenever I have to host a party at my home I want to do a project. Usually its organizing but today was different. It took several bottles of spray paint to get the right color and then I just glazed it to make it look more aged and not too bright.



Darian and Paisley added color to the front planters. Darian planted 6 iceberg roses and lots of red and yellow pansies. Paisley held onto Rally as she picked the pretty petals off a few flowers. Darian also planted another plum tree in the backyard. We have a plum tree already but it only produces fruit every other year. We did some research and in order to get fruit every year you need at least two plum trees. Hopefully this will help.



Today was also a very sad day. Garrett's Grandmother Penny passed away this afternoon. We only knew she was sick for about two weeks. Penny was such a loving grandmother not only to Garrett but to my kids as well. We will all miss her dearly but we now know that she is in a much better place and we will see her again. Please keep Garrett in your prayers.

{spring soccer}

Our family used to to be at the baseball fields this time of year. Now that our city has spring soccer the kids wanted to play soccer instead. Its actually nice because they only have one practice a week and I lucked out that all 5 of the kids only practice on Tuesday or Thursday. Here are some pictures of their first games.

Kaidee was put in the goal during the last quarter. She usually plays forward but because we had a good lead the coach put her in the goal. She wasn't in there very long when the other team got a penalty kick. They ended up scoring the pk. Her final score was 7-4.

Cole could hardly wait for his game. He asked me everyday if today was the day for his soccer game. When he started the game he acted like he had never played before. He warmed up in the second half but he still didn't play like last year. Hopefully he will be a little more aggressive next game. The coach did say that he listened to him very well. He said he told Cole to stand on the line and he did...lol

Garrett played goal for his game. He also had a penalty kick but he blocked it! His game ended in a tie. This year in Spring we are playing 7v7 to make more teams. Because the fields are shorter Garrett cannot punt it. He has to just throw the ball to a player.

Chloe did really well in her game. All of the teams are coed this year so she is playing against boys for the first time since u8. Her team won 4-2. She played against her best friend and fall teammate Alexis. It was weird not having them on the same team.

Chase had an exciting game against one of his good friends. He played forward and he even scored on a kick off. His team won 6-4.

{Chase and Garrett}

Chase and Garrett have been playing nonstop since we've been here. The yards are so big here that you can ride in your backyard. The boys have been hanging out with Tad's neighbor's son Cade. They are having a blast and I know that they are going to have a hard time when its time to leave.

{christmas gifts}

This is not the Christmas post but because this is our family journal I am posting the gifts that the kids each got for Christmas. For the past three years we have been doing the "3 gifts" for Christmas. I love the simplicity of it and that the true meaning of Christmas still can be felt without piles and piles of gifts under the tree. Here is how it works. The kids each get a stocking from Santa for Christmas but only those that believe in Santa get a big gift from him. Santa knows if you believe or not so this year Chase only got a stocking. Garrett was with his mom this Christmas so Santa did not leave a stocking for him at our house. Then we get them each two more gifts. We don't get them clothes unless they specifically ask for clothes. We buy our kids clothes as they need them.
Chase - Nixon watch and a Fifa Soccer 11 for the PS3 in his stocking he got treats and an itunes gift card.
Garrett - Levis, cologne, Madden 11 for his PS3, shoes, and a football. It was his birthday on Christmas eve so he got more than two gifts.
Cole - a dsi xl from Santa, cars play mat and cars characters, and a Toy Story 3 game for his PS3.

Chloe - an ihome from Santa, a camera, and an ipod amplifier with microphone for her and Kaidee both.
Kaidee - Bitty baby twins from Santa, webkinz, and the ipod amplifier.
Paisley - a baby doll and stroller from Santa, and this ball toy from mom and dad. She isn't quite old enough to care that she was shorted one gift.

{becoming a man}

Have you seen Garrett lately? He just turned 14 and we felt that it was about time he shaved. He had a lot of peach fuzz going on under his chin. So tonight Darian gave him a razor and showed him how to get rid of it. I must say it looks so much better.


These boys are growing up way to fast.

{set, hike}

Garrett had his first Flag Football game for his school today. In this picture he made the catch for a two point conversion. His team won 27-20. He did so good and it was really fun to watch. Next year Garrett will be playing for his High School. I can't wait to watch him play the real thing.

{saturday's.......}

Soccer has officially begun. Today everyone had a game but Chase.
Chloe won 4-2 and she scored two goals.....

Garrett's team lost 2-7 but Garrett had some amazing kicks from the goal......They even put him in the game as a forward and he had a shot that hit the post....

Kaidee had to be held back from scoring. She scored 4 goals in the first quarter! Her coach put her on defense in the second quarter, goalie in the third quarter, and then let her back on the field as a forward in the fourth quarter where she scored another one. I lost track of her score.

Cole had his very first game his team lost 2-6. If you ever are in need of a good laugh you have to come and watch his team play!