My Prayers Have Been Answered!

FINALLY a ward FAMILY Christmas party. Don't get me wrong I love adult only thing but church + Christmas = family. Am I missing something? This was our first ward family Christmas party and I was so excited. I have to make sure that I thanked everyone who made it possible and praise them for their efforts. The kids had a blast, so did we and now I have confirmation that I was right all along. Boycotting adult only Christmas activities was A - OKAY

The main cast was preselected and everyone else were Sheppard's. Harrison was not going to have it. He was Joseph and nobody was going to tell him different. Elizabeth keep telling him back stage he was a Shepard and he would reply No I am Joseph. On stage he main sure he was as close as he could be to center stage and took his self appointed position very seriously.

Emma tried to snag baby Jesus.
My Three Blessings
Emma warmed up to Santa after candy was involved.
Emma was not really into Santa, this was as good as it was gonna get! Do you just love the flips in the middle of December? Yes we live and love California.

Follow the Star

We enjoy attending Follow the Star every year to kick off the Christmas season. We usually invite a friend to dinner and the event. This year we ended going on our own and it was nice.

Jog a Thon

I am not a big fundraiser fan. I would rather just write you a check and give you my time and not peddle a bunch of crap. Sorry but that is the honest truth. Jog a Thon is something I don't mind. All the money goes to the school, you get some good running in and to top it off you get to enjoy a Popsicle with friends.

Preston you take the task at hand very seriously! Its all business, I hate to break it to you but I just write a check and you are not running for pledges! I will keep that to my self and let you run your heart out.

Harrison on the other hand loves to have fun! The highlight was sticking your bum in front of someone to check off your lap and laughing!

Have fun boys and be proud of your efforts for your school!

WARNING

This years house decorating was not so great. Maybe after the seventh year you guys are just over it, maybe you were tired, maybe you were into eating it. I had to finish them which did not warrant in "after" photos. We will see what next year bring. I suggest you get a little more excited or this will be a tradition that I cross off my list of Christmas to-do.

Trunk or Treat 2010

The annual Trunk or Treat, it is one of my favorites and the kids too. The cutest little witch ever!Jeremy set up a crime seen in the back of the car and wore a DOC jump suit.
Fun Friends
Mario and the Vampire that went around trying to suck everyone's blood.
My Mighty Trio

Thirty Three

Yep he turned 33 and we celebrated!Emma was not feeling good so she and I stayed home while everyone else headed out to dinner and then back to the house for cake. Emma had to participate so she had a small piece of one of the cakes after dinner. The birthday boys didn't mind.
The birthday boy requested a GOOD cake so off to Cinderella Cakes I went! I could not decide between Chocolate and White with Lemon mouse so I got both! Its his birthday and all. Notice Emma's cute little piece missing on the purple cake, she wanted chocolate.

Life As I Remember

Football Season Is OVER!!! I am so excited to get my life back and a little sad that my Saturdays and Evening will not be spent watching my boys play ball. This is Harrison's year end party. It included the Mom's against the Boys! Look at those mad blocking skills. They were a lot hard than I anticipated. They hit HARD. I wanted to just pick them up and run with them on my hip! A whole lot of smack talk went on while on the line! It made me wonder what went on during the games. If I remember he was tell me "Your going down, and doing down hard"! He was not kidding!
Preston and his head coach Coach Hickman. All the coaches fell in love with Harrison and they had a lot of patience with him. He was the youngest on the team. Harrison was very luck to have a great coaching staff, Hickman also played NFL for the Detroit Lions. Harrison was described by the coach as the future president of the US because of his personality and smile. I guess he does have a lot of political personality traits. He also said that Harrison helped keep the whole season in perspective for the coaches. Have fun and play clean.
Some action shots of Harrison!

Our favorite Cheerleader!

Summer Reading Pays Off

The boys received free dinner at the Rain Forest Cafe from their Summer Reading Program. We finally got around to putting them to good use. I made reservations which turned out to be a great thing because you get the best tables. We had an awesome both that was attached to a huge fish tank.The kids picked balloon's as their "thing". The boys wanted octopuses and Emma a cute flower.Can you see the boys excitement.
The volcano desert, Man was it good. It came with a sparkler sticking out of it which made the night complete.
Good job reading boys!

My Little Lollipop

Sandman Where Are You?

For the last three weeks this girl has not sleep in her bed! She always loved to go to bed, many babysitters say I can't believe how easy it was to put her down. You gave her kisses, told her good night, turned on violet the bear and turned the lights off. You would hear he in the morning talking to herself and life was beautiful. Screams were hear coming from her room one night immediately after we put her down. What the heck? She screamed like she was in danger and afraid it was not a mad cry. She would even vomit, something was wrong very wrong. So we loved got her and loved on her, she slept with us that night. The next night the same thing so I let her cry. That's what "they" say. She SCREAMED for 2 hours straight. I finally gave in and picked her up, she was asleep with in 10 seconds of me holding her. I felt so bad for her. The next night she screams for 1 1/2 hours, repeat of the night before. I was not up for a battle, she laid in our bed for the next THREE WEEKS. The worse part is that she would not go to bed until I did. I would spend time cleaning up and she would be right behind me making a mess. I was so aggravated and not a very good mom. One night I had enough and threw (literally) her crib mattress on the floor next to my bed. First night was great, second night she rolled under our bed, third night she is rolled out our bedroom door and I had thoughts of her rolling down the stairs. To say the least I was not sleeping very well because I had to rescue her a few times in the middle of the night. Seriously was this really happening. Something needed to change. I put her in her bed after we chatted and I walked away. She threw up over the edge of the crib so I had to clean the carpet. She apparently was smarter than vomiting in her own bed, leaning over the edge was a much better choice. Then I would go in every 20 minutes and give her a kiss, tell her she was okay and walk out again. She cried for about 40 minutes or so and this is how I found her after the crying stopped. I had to pry her hands from the crib bars.

Violet was no help. When she woke up we had a little party to celebrate her sleeping back in her bed. When I asked her if she was going to sleep in her bed tonight too, she replies "No Mama". Night Two, crying for about 20 minutes and asleep! I also am putting her to bed at the same time at night and making sure I wake her up at 8:00. I hope we are over this little battle and am really grateful I won!

Just between you, me and the fence post....I really miss snuggling with her or holding her hand in the middle of the night.

Boring Days Begin

That was the fastest summer ever! A part of me was dreading the summer, I like structure and the idea of trying to keep the kids entertained all day everyday was little scary. It turns out we did great, had a lot of fun and the summer flew by. Harrison was very excited to start Kindergarten this year. He was more than ready for the change. We drop Preston off at 7:45 and then Harrison at 9:30, Preston gets picked up at 2:00 and Harrison at 1:00. Emma walks around the house calling thier name all morning "Harrison where are you" she calls. She misses them terribly. Until Preschool next year, emma and I will figure out something to do while the boys are gone.

Preston and his good buddy Dylan. He was very lucky this year his class has most of this friends, he is only missing Hallie. Which is actually a very sad thing.

The four amigos. These guys have shared a classroom since K, they do lots of play dates, almost sleepovers and outings. They really enjoy each other and each of them have so many different things to offer each other. I love that he has good friends that some are girls too. I look at this photo and can't help but think of "Breakfast Club". I hope they remain friends for a long time.

Right before they were going into their classroom Preston got teary eyed and was trying everything to hold back the tears. This is not like him at all, so I knew something was wrong. I know Preston better than I know myself, I think its because we are so much alike. We would not explain to me what the matter was because that would just push him over the edge. I gave him a big hug total him to remember the blessing dad gave him the night before and that I would be there to pick him up in a few hours and we can talk then. Turns out that the classroom was right by the lunch area and Preston explained to me that he heard the teacher yelling at her kids last year while he was waiting in line for lunch. He then exclaimed that "She must of just had bad kids last year because she is really nice". Preston follows rules so he should get along just fine.

Harrison was in the classroom before I could even snap a photo! Max is on his football team and were pretty comfortable with each other. They were ready for the day.

Here he is coming out his first day, full of papers. I asked him what he did and he replied "I can't remember". His standard answer when he doesn't want to talk to me about his school day. I then have to start the suddel interrogation.

After school we gathered at yogurtland for a little treat and let the kids chat about there first day.

Fabulous Football

We live at the Football Field! Preston enjoys it so much. I have tried to talk him into trying a different sport like water polo, lacrosse, or basketball and he wants nothing to do with it. He loves Football. My gentle giant, I have been told that he has the biggest heart on the field. Keep up the hard work Preston! You look great out there.

Pimp The Pup

Yep, we pimped Otis out! We took the kids to see the puppies, they were adorable. They tried to talk us into taking one home but it didn't work. There is a crazy story behind the whole thing we'll save that for another day.