FHE with the Cousins

Have I mentioned that I love my family? I have the best extended family-the best aunties and uncles and cousins! My cousin Jamie and her family were down camping for the weekend and we spent our FHE with them tonight! As an added bonus, we got to see my cousin Tim and his family, as well as my cousin Trish! We sat by the campfire and got to watch the fireworks at Sea World!

The Ladies: Beth, Me,Jamie

Zac, Tige, Gavin, and Jarrod back from swimming

Jamie and Trish

Spring Break 2010 - Day 1

This is our first day of Spring Break and we are going to try and do things this week that cost little or no money! Today we ventured to Kit Karson Park in Escondido to see the "Queen Califia" mosaic art park. I have always wanted to take the kids here. I didn't tell them where we were going. They kept trying to guess the whole way there! It was so much fun to see! It was also FREE!

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THE Decision...

Gavin received Acceptance Letters for both HTH Middle and Vista Magnet Middle. AND he has decided that he wants to go to High Tech Middle North County! Both Schools offer just the right mix of what he's interested in, and both are very good schools. But he is thinking long term, and knows that by attending HTH Middle, he automatically will be accepted to High Tech High. We are all excited!

Mommy Daughter Road Trip-Clogging Competition

So Much Fun! I picked Cali up early Thursday from school and we headed for St George, Utah for her very first Clogging Competition. We stopped in Vegas to get dinner and gas and Cali was not at all impressed with the yucky, casino. Of course, we had to stop at the "Flying J" travel plaza to pee and get gas (tradition). We got to our hotel around 9:00 PM and collapsed into our beds.
We woke up Friday morning and started our day with a swim in the indoor pool. Then it was off to explore the town. That lasted about 30 seconds...so we headed to Denny's for lunch. I was so excited to have fry sauce with my lunch! We spent the afternoon hangin' in our room and then it was off to meet the girls at the Dixie Spectacular!
Cali was so nervous and scared that she said she almost puked during the first dance! (So glad that didn't happen) They did so well and came away witht TWO 1st place wins and ONE 2nd Place. We celebrated with dinner at some "fake" mexican food place and then Cali got her reward....a pack of Tic Tacs. Then our friends Angie and Sophie joined us for the night. The girls swam in the pool until they were worn out! Then we played in the room, playing hide and seek and jumping on the beds!
Woke up this morning, got in some breakfast and swimming and headed to Vegas for lunch at the Rainforest Cafe! We had a great seat and yummy food and got dessert at M&M's World!
We made it home by 7:00 PM-just in time to watch the Kids Choice Awards! What a weekend! I had so much fun with my little girl and can't wait to do it again!

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Movie Review....

LOVED IT! Fantastically Crazy, Weird, and Wonderful!

The Boys...

While Cali and I were away, the boys got to play all day! This book is awesome! I got this for Gavin a couple of years ago. We've done some things out of it and learned some cool history. Yesterday they broke it out and made some hats, boats, water bombs, and learned how to play table football.

A Girls Day...

Yesterday was a wonderful day! My SIL Becky is getting ready to have Baby Girl #3! So, Cali and I headed up to Rancho Cucamonga with my SIL Mishelle, for a Baby Shower! I didn't get any pix of Becky, but she's looking like she's ready to pop! After the shower, All of us ladies (minus Ady), went to lunch, did some shopping, and went to see "Alice in Wonderland". We had a great time and got some fun things (thanks Nana!) Here are some snapshots of our day...

TWINS!!

Do you ever get everyone dressed for the day and realize that everyone matches? I seem to do this a lot! Like Thursday, I noticed that I got these two dressed pretty much the same...

38 years ago today...

Carl (w/ Gav) & Karen (w/ Cali), were married 38 years ago today! They are the most wonderful In-Laws and we Love them So much! Thanks for keeping the Love alive all these years! And thanks for giving us Jeremy, Mikey, Becky, Benny, and Scrac! The Best Husband, Father and Sibling-In-Laws I could have ever asked for! Congratulations and Happy Anniversary!

Erin Go Braugh! 2010

Happy St Patricks Day 2010! I love St Pattys Day! Because everyone wears my favorite color! It's just a fun day....I usually go all out and have "green" or Irish themed meals, but this year I totally dropped the ball. No Lucky Charms for breakfast (I forgot to buy them), forgot to throw the shamrock cookies in the kids' lunches (was hurrying to fast this morning)...but we had a crazy, fun day with the daycare kids.
When my kids got home we celebrated with the Shamrock Cookies, Rainbow fishies, and green lemonade.



For dinner every year, we order a shamrock shaped pizza from Round Table. When I called to order it, they told me they were no longer doing that! We were so bummed....so we ended up having regular old pizza for dinner. Hopefully I can make up for all my short comings next year-Lo and Begorra!

"Look Mommy"...

I hear these words a hundred times a day (it feels like)...It's usually Brody with some silly thing to show me. And so here is his "hot dog with a mouth"-

My heart is happy...

When Gavin got his guitar and wanted to play music with Cali and wrote his own song, that MADE MY HEART HAPPY. Last night Jeremy and I went and did Sealings and went out to dinner-and that MADE MY HEART HAPPY. We got home to find the kids still awake and having a blast with their babysitter and cousin Sarah-THAT MADE MY HEART HAPPY. And today, Luke had a play date with his new friend Ben. They played so well together and had so much fun together. Watching them laughing and playing MADE MY HEART SO HAPPY!
Just thought I would share...

The "Pizza Blues"...

This week, we purchased a really nice acoustic guitar for Gav. He is going to start lessons in 2 weeks. He's been sitting next to Cali while she practices the piano and trying to strum out the notes with her. It's pretty cute to watch! (Kind of hard to listen to!)
Last night, Jeremy brought home the kind of pizza that Gavin does not like. He threw a fit and was sent to his room. When I went in to check on him a while later, he was sitting at his desk, holding his guitar and had a pad of paper and a pen. When I asked what he was doing, he said he was writing a song. It was called, "The Pizza Blues". I was so proud of him! He was finding a constructive way of dealing with his anger and frustration! He won't let me publish the lyrics at this time, because it is still a work in progress. He does have the tune pretty nailed though! We'll keep you posted!

"Read Across America"...

Today was Read Across America at school. The kids love this day because they get to rotate to different classrooms and hear different stories. The teachers and volunteers dress up like characters from the stories, and sometimes the kids do too! Here is Cali and Emily, painted like cats from "If You Give a Cat a Cupcake". Lukey is wearing the Cat in the Hat hat as a tribute to his favorite books!

The last few days...

I do not know this young lady or her family....but I have been hit so hard by this tragedy. I am sickened that something like this can happen, and does happen more than it should. Maybe it's because it hits so close to home, but my heart aches for the King family. And I'm ANGRY! This was a preventable death. The monster that did this should have never been allowed to be near this girl. I hope that this will be a wake up call that the ONLY places suitable for these monsters are prison or death.
There is comfort knowing that she is with her Father in Heaven. No one can hurt her again.

Goodbye Cub Scouts...Hello Boy Scouts!

Saturday night was our troops' annual Blue and Gold Dinner. This one was extra special because 2010 is the 100th anniversary for the scouting program. It was also the night Gavin got presented with his Arrow of Light. If you don't know what this is...it is a special award given to those cub scouts who completed all their requirements prior to turning 11. Gavin actually got it in November, but waited until now to go through the ceremony, so that he could do it with his cousin Carter and some of the other boys. It was really cool!

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