Zoe's fun day!

Zoe had a fun day today. Since she had won the silent auction (thank you Grandma!) at the carnival, she got an art lesson with Miss Upshur and Mrs. Siptroth along with a few friends. After the modified day today they got together and did 2 watercolor pictures of day and night. It was a great group of girls that had a lot of fun giggling and being crafty!
Also, every year on the anniversary of Zoe's baptism, we celebrate with dinner and cake. With a very busy day and in the middle of a crazy staff appreciation week at school, we didn't have time to do anything fancy. We had "white spaghetti" for dinner (pasta with a romano cheese sauce and some turkey sausage) and Zoe was excited to eat her red velvet cake!
We are so blessed to have Zoe for a daughter!

STORM Game!

It was American Little League Day at the Diamond in Lake Elsinore today. So we spent the day tailgating with Cooper's baseball team and watching the Storm Minor League game. The morning was spent hanging out in the parking lot, with a BBQ to grill some chicken and carne asada. We made fresh tacos and lots of great food and fun. The kids played catch and frisbee too.

(Giants team lining up for the parade)

(Zoe and Marley waiting to go in)

(Parade of Little League teams)

(The boys cheering on the Storm...they had a great time!)

(Cooper enjoying his afternoon snack of cotton candy!)

(Lining up to run the bases after a long game!)

(They all ran around the bases and got high 5's from some the players)

It was a long day, but a lot of fun! Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of all of us parents in the stands...oh well, maybe next year!

and so it begins...

Cooper jumped out of bed this morning and said, "It's Football today!" So he wakes up with pure excitement and I wake up with anxiety! Today was actually just the first day of evaluations, so it really wasn't a big deal, but being that this is new to us, I wasn't sure what to expect. So we left Zoe's soccer game halfway through and headed over. We got Cooper's number (#140) taped to his chest and off he went into the group of Jr. Mighty Mites. I was so impressed with how well he did. He stayed focused and watched the other kids so that he would know what to do in the drills. He finished with a big smile on his face and can't wait for next weekend for round #2. Somehow I don't think he'll be quite so excited when he's doing practice for 2 hours a day, 5 days a week when it is 110 degrees in August! But for now, he's a happy guy!

Sports Day!

We had 2 games early this morning. First, I took Zoe to her 8 o'clock soccer game. She played really well today. After going down pretty hard after a trip in the 2nd quarter and leaving a little blood on the field, she spent the 3rd quarter playing offense and did great! She also had a great save playing defense in the 4th quarter. Good job today Zoe!

(Going down!)

Then we raced to another park to meet Joe for Cooper's baseball game. I just missed Cooper's big hit of the day, but I could hear the cheering from the parking lot. I did get to see a few other great plays though. They didn't win today, but they played fantastic. Great job Coop!

Rocket Words

Cooper got called up at today's Friday assembly for knowing all of his Rocket Words. He's been working very hard each week to pass all his levels. It was even more fun because he got to be up there with his friends Nicholas and Jakob! Way to go Cooper!

Happy Easter!

We had a nice Easter today. Cooper was up at 6:20am ready to go and hunt for eggs. He is my cynical child, and is convinced that there is no Easter Bunny, but he is still ready and eager to reap all the benefits! He had a tough time waiting for Zoe to wake up, but it gave us some time to cuddle and have a long discussion about the true meaning of Easter.
By 7:00am they were ready to go!
They started the hunt inside by searching for all the eggs we dyed last night. Once they found all those, they headed out to the backyard to search for all 55 plastic eggs that were filled with coins, m&m's , and jelly beans!
They were excited to open their baskets too, which were filled with chocolate bunnies, webkinz bunnies, smelly pencils, egg splat toys, frozen yogurt gift cards, and snorkel/mask sets that they can use in the pool.


We then got ready and met Grandma, Grandpa, Poppe, Uncle Jeff, Cole and Jax for a yummy brunch.

Back at Grandma and Grandpa's house it was time for yet another egg search and Easter presents to open!

(searching everywhere!)
(counting their $ findings!)
(these 2 are so sweet together!)
(so are these 2!!)

(Zoe helping Grandpa put together some Legos)
(Grandma serving Cooper some yummy dessert)
(Joe and Poppe chatting...probably about politics!)
(me and my sweet baby girl)

We are so grateful that we got to spend this day with our family and that Joe was feeling well enough to join us . (Even though we think he broke his toe this morning walking into a door! ) Although life is never easy, we really do have so many blessings. Happy Easter to all of our family and friends!

time to dye our eggs...

After a very long week, it was already time to dye our Easter eggs. The kids still love doing this, so we spread out our newspaper, get out our vinegar and color our hard boiled eggs.

(Zippy didn't feel like participating!)

Disneyland (Day 2)!

Since our annual passes were still good this week we decided to head back to Disneyland. It wasn't as crowded as last week, so we had even more fun, although the first ride of the day didn't go over too well. The kids had both been begging to go on Space Mountain. They had never been on it before, but I thought they were ready since we'd conquered all the other roller coasters. Well, I was wrong. At the end of the ride, I had one about to throw up, and the other in tears. Oh well, maybe next year!
After a few more mellow rides, and then to the Matterhorn, we were ready for a quick lunch break.
Zoe was still on a quest for more autographs for her book, so while we were waiting for Grandma, we found the Fairy Godmother. She was so sweet and spent a lot of time talking with us!
Grandma showed up and decided to take Zoe to the Princess area so she could get some of their autographs too. She ended up meeting Ariel, Belle, and Jasmine.
Since Cooper had no interest in meeting any of them, I took him on some rides and then we took the Railroad around the park.

The kids convinced Grandma to go on Thunder Mountain. What a trooper she was! I think her eyes were closed most of the ride, but she made it through!
Overall, we had a great day. Lots of fun rides, good food and snacks, and more autographs!

Birthday time...

Sonya's 22nd birthday is next week, but we needed to celebrate tonight due to her busy schedule. So she came out with Martin and Kariann so we could all celebrate together. Sonya requested sloppy joes and mashed potatoes followed up with the oreo "dirt" cake she's gotten every year since she was 8. She was also very excited to get lots of gift cards, perfumes, flip-flops, an exercise ball, purse, and suitcase. Grandma had sent her gifts early too!

(Reading the cards that Zoe and Cooper made for her)

Happy Birthday Sonya! We hope 22 is the best year yet!!