End of the School Year Happenings

May is crazy!!!!!! I really don't know how we made it through all of the events with our sanity intact!

We had the big boy's band concert. They did great!






Nick received a 4.0 gpa this past quarter



He is getting money towards his prescription sports goggles and a cell phone as his reward for all his hard work.

He maintained a 3.96 gpa for the whole year and was honored at our school's Principal's List banquet. Way to go Nick!



Nick and Mrs. White. We love her!



Kind of bittersweet for us as this was his last year at school with me. He has a few weeks to decide if he wants to go to the neighborhood school or the middle school my district feeds into. He is leaning towards the neighborhood school because they have a GATE program. I am having a little bit of separation anxiety just thinking about him not near me.

Jared finished the year on honor roll. Yay Jared!

We don't have honor roll for Kindy kids, but if we did, Oli would be on it. She is one of my top readers and is reading at a high first grade reading level. She is quite the smarty pants! She tells me often that she never ever wants to leave my class and wants me to be her teacher forever. Could someone please hand me a box of kleenex?!

I am so proud of all my children!!! I am a lucky mom!

Happy Bday Oli!

We celebrated Oli's special day with dinner at IHOP, a giant cookie, and a present. She chose to have her party at a later date so that her grandma could come. My baby girl is growing up way to fast!!!

Disneyland & California (Part III)

Just a few highlights from our trip:

Snapped a few pics while waiting for the big boys and Sugar Granny to get off of Indiana Jones ride. Aren't they cute???


We assumed our trip would be chock full of rider switch passes and then we realized...Jack is over 40 in. !!! Only two rides he and Olivia couldn't get on the entire trip! Yay! Rider switch, a thing of the past!

Yes, we took him on Space Mountain and Tower of Terror and he loved it!!! He asked to go again!

Not only was this a first for Jack, but our shrimpy dude had a first also! Nick was FINALLY tall enough to drive his own Autopia car!



Jared!!!



Jack and Oli were dying to see Rapunzel. We seriously waited like 20 minutes to see her. We usually wait 45-65 minutes to see characters on their turf. Jack kept yelling in line outside her tower "Ra-punzel! Let down your Hai-r!". As soon as we were let into the tower, Jack pushed past his sister and ran to Rapunzel to give her a big bear hug.



This could be a family picture, right?


Jack kept calling Flynn, Eugene. Flynn didn't get it. I think I need to call and complain to Disneyland P.R. that Eugene didn't do his homework!

Olivia declared that she is never cutting her hair ever, ever, again!

A quick ride on the carousel


and then the teacups. I don't do teacups!



The following day was spent at California. We had a short wait for "The Mouse"



and met a nice man who had the same camera as me-SCORE! Family picture!


We made Sugar Granny Ride California Screaming. Look at her face! Bwahaha! We told her it wasn't that bad! She called us liars afterwards! Score!!



Can't wait to go back!!!

Music in the Park-Disneyland (Part II)

So here is the reason why the park closed at 4:00pm



Shut Up!!! Right????

Here's the kicker, They actually let us stay in the park as late as we wanted, but once we left we couldn't get back in. So if we left to go to the awards presentation in California, that's it for the day. So of course, we stayed! The only restricted area to us was the west side of the park after 3:00 pm. We walked onto every ride and saw movie stars throughout the park all day!!! I am not one to be star struck...really! I think that premier parties and awards shows are like high school proms and the celebs are the cool kids. "Look at me!!! I am so cool, Don't you wish you were me??". It just seems kind of stupid! I am rationalizing here, but at Disneyland, it's magical and quite easy to get caught up in the hoopla! People had been waiting in line to get a seat on the red carpet since the previous night. No, thanks people. I'd like to leave my seat to eat or pee.

Around 5:00 ish the party started. Since we were lucky enough to get onto every ride we wanted (several times), we headed over to check out the red carpet fun.

No lie! We saw Kristie Alley, Maks, and Louie from Dancing with the Stars, Jodie Foster, Steven Tyler, David cook, Blake Lewis, Lisa Rinna and Harry, the monkey from the movie, the tall guy last season on dancing with the stars who used to be married to Vanessa Williams, his girlfriend that used to be on Buffy the Vampire Slayer (we loved that show!), Joey Lawrence, Teri Hatcher, and some Disney Kids the kids knew but I could care less about.



Johnny Depp!!!I really, truly saw him!!! Now, he truly is cool! Yes, he is weird! But he in my humble opinion, does not give off the "Look at me! I am so cool! Don't you wish you were me?" vibe. So therefore, he is worth being star struck over!

After we saw Johnny, we left because we were hungry and really needed a bowl of broccoli and cheese soup from the Wharf Cafe in California. Best broccoli and cheese soup! You must try it!

One of the top three best Disneyland trips evah!!!!!

Music in the Park- Disneyland (Part I)

A few weeks ago, Jared had the opportunity to attend the Music in the Park Festival with his school. When the family heard this year's trip would be to Disneyland, EVERYONE said they would be joining him, including the Sugar Granny! We were a little bummed to find out the park closed early, until we found out the reason why. I'll explain why in part II of the post (especially if you are star struck). Part II will be exciting and not just a boring recap of our life's events, pinky promise!!!

We decided to go up on Friday evening rather than go on the bus on Saturday so we could make a weekend of it.

So while the Sugar Granny, Damian and the little one's went to the park in the morning, Jared and I headed over to the high school where the competition took place.

They did a fantastic job of course receiving excellent as their rating. But we had to hear the news the following Monday since we didn't go to the awards assembly (will explain why also in part II of post).

Yes, it is June and I am just now blogging about Easter!

How about I say nothing and let the pictures explain it all!!

Jared's Drumline Competetion

Has it really been 3 months since my last post??? The end of the school year really kicked me in the behind this year! Add to my school/work commitments the photography stuff, band, baseball, and dance, well you can see why I have been absent from the bloggy. Here is a clip from Jared's PPAC drumline competition for the year. After 9 years of placing first, they placed second this year, always the school to beat. Honestly, they were robbed!!! These guys are amazing. Jared is the snare drummer on the end in red. Enjoy!!! Oh, sorry about my loud screaming!!!

The Toothless Wonder!!!

Baby girl lost her first tooth today!! I tried to get her to clean her room a few weeks back so I told her the tooth fairy doesn't visit kids with messy rooms. Her room is all picked and she wants to go to bed so the tooth fairy can visit. My little white lie could prove to be a good thing!

OMGEE!!!!! I Have A Teenager!!!!!!!

Somebody pinch me!!! I can't believe it!! Jared is 13!!!! Yesterday he was in my kindergarten class. Now he is the same height as me and has bigger feet than me! I think I might cry! Before I know it, he'll be going on a mission and getting married. In the meantime I'll be looking for a third job to cover the ever growing grocery bill.

I love this kid crazy!!! He is a wonderful son and an excellent example for his sibs.
He continues to work hard and do well in school, attend scouts, and go to an extra band period every morning. But wait, here's the best part...BABYSITTING!!! Now I can go to Zumba when Damian is not home! Woot! The perks of having a teenager (there aren't many so I gotta milk this one)!!

Tonight we had cake and he opened his card (con un gift cardo). In our not so copious spare time this weekend we'll be shopping for video games and a new backpack (RIP old one), and ordering an old school N64 game system (his bday wish, weird I know!). Love you tons Jared! I hope your day was fantastic!!!

Happy 2011!!!!!

I'd like to tell you all that my New Year's Eve was exciting, but really it was mellow. We had China Bistro for dinner (yumm-o). Nick and Damian played Starcraft and Jared continued to make his ipod playlist. Jack played Sly Cooper(he is obsessed with that game). I had hoped to ring in the new year with some bubbly(Martinelli's of course)and had wanted to play some skip-Bo as a family. However, Olivia and I fell asleep watching Hairspray (newer version). Yes, we were the party poopers! I told Damian that my crashing out was from the sheer exhaustion of 2010!

I vaguely remember hubby kissing me on the forehead wishing me a Happy New Year, the sound of fireworks outside and the jerky neighbors screaming "Happy F*&%^$# New Year!" We ended up having an impromptu slumber party in the front room.

We did want to start 2011 off with a new do



and a sweet picture of my boys.



Well, at least my big boys were willing to humor me.



Olivia got a party hat also!



Despite the tough times brought in 2010, there were some fabulous moments! I'll admit I won't be missing 2010 a whole lot, but I am hopeful that 2011 will be better to our family! Hoping this new year has wonderful things in store for you and your family as well!!