Girls Day!

Lucy and I have  been planning a "Girls Day" for a long time.  Ever since she started doing pedicures  at home, she has been wanting to get a real pedicure.  Yesterday was the perfect day to do it.  Max got invited for a sleepover at his friend Connor's house.  So Pancho and Sam decided to have a "Guys Day" together.  They went to the batting cages, played baseball outside, then went to the EMS Game. I forgot to send a camera with them, so I have no pictues . . . darnit!  BUT, I do have pictures of Girls Day, it was so much fun to just spend time with my fabulous little girl.

 . . .getting her first REAL pedicure.

We were taking notes the whole time about how a real pedicure is done, so that we could perfect our technique at home!

. . .showing off our beautiful nails!

Then we got frozen yogurt afterwards.

Lucy picked rainbow sherbert instead.

Uh - you've got a little something on your face there sweetie!

Our Fabulous Toes!

We got matching "Barbie Pink" toes.  The ladies at the nail place were so nice, and they put little flowers on Lucy's big toes and on every one of her Barbie Pink fingernails.  I opted for french on my fingers, the Barbie Pink was really bright!

. . .and finally, we ended at Claires (my idea, not hers) and she did not have much interest in it.  We looked at the jewelry, the hats, and the awful fake make up, and then she was ready to go.  She didn't even ask for anything!  Isn't it funny what kids are intersted in, and what they aren't. 

 Pedicure - YES!  Claires - NO!

Our intent was to go to Ruthie B's for a tea party next, but the guys (Sam and Dad) called and wanted to meet us for dinner, so we are putting the tea party on hold for another day. 

 I had so much fun with Lucy today,  she is so happy and always laughing and full of fun.  We have our own little jokes that make us giggle.  She is growing up way to fast for me, so I cherish these times with her so much!  I love you Lulu!

OMSI with the Cousins

My brother Sean had to work in Portland, so my sister in law Francine, called me up and asked if I wanted to meet her in Portland with the kids.  Portland is the perfect half way point between Eugene and Seattle (well maybe a little better for the Eugene people).  Since Sean had a hotel room in Portland for work, it would be a great outing for her and the kids.  Of course we jumped at the chance to spend time with cousins!  We decided to meet at OMSI. . .

Lucy and Annie

had so much fun pretending to be chipmunks.

Sam and Will

Will loves to folllow Sam around and copy his every move.  I just wish Sam was a better example to his little cousin sometimes. . . we are working on it.

They all played in the water for about an hour!

Max always seems to come up with some kind of "project" in these types of situations, and he gives everyone a job.  In this case, they were all carrying water from one water feature to another, trying to fill this one up.

Then it was off to the "Ball Room"

The kids all had so much fun  here!  Lucy, Will and Annie were all so intrigued when they found a way to make these ball float in mid air. 

(Hey Kate, I am tempted to make a blue ball refernce here as well - Pancho has gotten into all of our heads AHHHHH!)

Sam and Will tossing their blue balls - I just couldn't help it!

My two little geeks!

The Science Laboratory is so much fun.  There was a CSI exhibit and we all did some very cool experiments with fingerprints, blood types, etc.

 . . .  speaking of geeks!

Francine and I were "rockin" the safety goggles too!

We had to play in the earthquake simulator!

and finally, the OMNIMAX Movie about Mars!

I actually really enjoyed it, it  was very interesting!

 

Dinner at Applebees

The day ended at Applebees, where we ate outside.  Isn't eating outside as the sun goes down on a warm summer day the best feeling ever?  It was the perfect ending to a fun day with our cousins and Aunt Francine.

This is about the best picture that we have gotten of these five together - EVER!

If only Finn would have been there . . . then we would have finally achieved the elusive "perfect cousin picture" for mom.

 . . .after dinner the kids started jumping off the brick planter by our table, for fun!

I started taking pictures of them in mid flight and they LOVED them.  After each jump they would come running over to look at my camera, and laugh and laugh!

The death defying, high-flying, fabulous Fulton Brothers!

Max, looking a little gangsta . . .(with the peace signs),

just wish I wouldn't have cut off half of his head.

Sam and Will . . . 

proving white men CAN jump!

Will could really catch some air for such a little guy!

Annie looks like she is flying!

This was the best ones that I got of Lulu.

Most of hers had hair flying all over!

One last shot of Max looking so cool!

Thank You Francine, for inviting us to share in your Portland visit.  We had so much fun!

Fathers Day 2010

Our Fathers Day (and Mothers Day) tradition always starts with breakfast in bed made completely by the kids.  Well, they have actually only been able to do it by themselves for the past 2 years, before that we had to help them, but still its a tradition . .

This year Max made hot cocoa, Sam made cereal (he forgot the milk) and Lucy made toast with jelly and butter.  Lulu also went outside and found flowers to put into the Slurpee cup "to make it look nicer".  Gotta love girls!!!

I plan on doing a little bragging about my awesome husband and baby-daddy in the post, but let me begin by showing off the tray that is always used for this tradition.  Pancho had the boys make this for me for Mothers Day the year before Lucy was born (or else she would be on here too)! The boys were ages two and one that year.  It is one of my most prized possessions.  What a great Dad!

Sam got to carry the breakfast up to Dad this year!

Max, showing off the card that he made for Dad.

Lucy, showing one of the 3 cards that she made as well as the gift that she made for him.

It was a rock painted like a ladybug to be used as a paper weight.  It was really cute and she was so proud of it!

I will spare you the pictures of Pancho and I in our "just woke up" look. 

Its not pretty! Sorry for the visual . . .

Lets just say he loved his cards and gifts and of course his appetizing breakfast in bed!

As if that wasn't enough, the day got even better!  We picked up Grammy and Papa and we all headed up to Portland to see the travelling Broadway version of The Lion King!

 

I have seen the Disney Movie at least 100 times with the boys when the were little.  I realized though, that Lucy had never seen it, Sam didn't remember it and Max only remembered parts.  Isn't it weird when stuff like that happens?  I guess that we just haven't watched it much in the last 5 or 6 years.

I was so glad that we got to spend the day with my dad too!  I got to spend Fathers Day with the two best Fathers in the whole world (at  least to me)!

The kids were a little skeptical at first, because they weren't sure that they were going to like the whole "play thing".  They also thought The Lion King might be a little babyish for them.

They all three ended up loving it though!  The sets and costumes were absolutely AMAZING!  The story had them on the edge of their seats, the actors were so funny, and the music and African drums were very cool.

We all talked about how much we loved it on the way out of the theater, and then my parents just happened to have the video tape of the movie in the van, so the kids watched the movie version on the way home.  They all agreed that they liked the play better though.

We stopped at Chevy's for dinner on the way home (funny how we went to Mommy's favorite restaurant on Father's Day).  Then we opened presents at our house.

The kids were so excited to give Daddy and Papa their presents.

Lucy tried on Pancho's Fathers day gift from Mom and Dad.

(Kate, I know that you were probably worried about whether Pancho got a blue polo shirt.

This picture is proof that you can rest easy tonight!)

*family joke - Pancho ALWAYS gets a blue polo shirt from someone and he is usually wearing a blue polo shirt when he opens his new one!

Lucy put on his Sponge Bob "Best Dad" sticker that he wore proudly!

My Dad (Papa)

Where do I start?  I love this guy so much and I feel so lucky that I got to be his daughter!  He is always fun, funny and the life of the party.  He is always kind, helpful and thoughtful.  But these aren't the reasons that I love him the most.  I love him so much because he has always been my number one cheerleader.  From an early age, he made me believe that I could do anything!  He has always been there for me, encouraging me, teaching me and listening to me.  Now I get to see him doing the same thing with my kids.  I watch him play sports in the backyard with them and I listen to him pumping up their little egos until they think they can do anything too!  How lucky are we all to have this wonderful man in our lives cheering us all on? . . . Thank You Dad for being the BEST DAD EVER!  I love you!

Pancho (Daddy)

 . . . and now on to this guy!  He just makes me smile!  He makes us all smile, he has the kids and I laughing all of the time.  Life is never EVER boring with Pancho.  I admire him for so many reasons . . .  #1 is for how much he loves our little family.  He probably tells me he loves me at least 10 times a day, as well as how "smokin hot" I am ha ha!  He tells the kids how much he loves them too, but even better,he shows them.  Which leads me to #2- he loves to play and laugh with the kids.  You can find him throwing a football or baseball or playing basketball in the driveway almost every night.  He's also not one to shy away from a tea party either.  He constantly has Lucy in stitches, she thinks he is the funniest person on the planet!  #3 - This man is hard-working and there aint no one who can deny that!  Not only has he always worked full time, but he has built a commercial building AND a car wash while doing it!  He often travels 3-4 nights a week, and I know that he is tired when he gets home, but  he still helps with the kids, goes grocery shopping, fills my car up with gas and more!  Ok, I am starting to feel like I could go on and on, so to try and wrap this up, I just  want to say that I am so grateful that I get to go through life with this crazy guy, he makes the fun times more fun and the difficult times less difficult (well most of the time - I guess that I could tell you some stories but most of you have already heard them).  I Love You Pancho and I want to Thank You for being the best husband and dad, Happy Fathers Day!

Celebrate!!! The Last Day of School . . .Yipee!

Have I mentioned that I LOVE the people that I work with?

OK, I know, probably a few too many times, but I just feel so lucky to have this whole new group of people in my life, who share the same successes and failures, ups and downs, laughs and tears, and especially FAITH to make it through it all!  God is good to me!  I don't know how I would have made it through the last year without them.

This picture includes teachers from almost every grade level preschool through 8th grade and some of our awesome office staff too!  By the way, the woman on the far left is our new principal!  She is so great and I can't wait for her new ideas and leadership next fall!

OK, so my school staff is really fun to say the least!  We are always getting together to do fun things.  We decided that for the last day of school we would all go play some Laser Tag together, then go have a nice dinner, and end at Karaoke!  Some staff members only made it to one or two parts of the evening, but the die hards (like me) were there from beginning to end!

I took this picture in the room where they give the directions on how to play Laser Tag.

For a group of teachers, we were terrible listeners and did not learn a thing about how to play!

There was a lot of laughing and jokes about "Depends".

We all decided that if you have had children and are near or over 40, and you are doing anything involving hysterical laughter . . .  someone needs to be in charge of bringing the Depends!

This group included "the guys" and "the young uns", they were mostly just laughing at us!

OK, the two on the left were in agreement with the "Depends" thing though.

Next we put our gear on and tried to look intimidating. 

Ha ha ... nice try!

Leslie and I had the intention of doing the Charlies Angels Pose with Christine, but the person taking the picture cut Christine out.  Oooops!

 . . . and finally it was Karaoke time!

I am never one to shy away from Karaoke, and luckily neither are Leslie and Heather!

We sang a mean "Love Shack" and then later "Celebration".

The rest of the staff was cracking up at us!

We weren't the only ones from our group to sing though, I won't mention names,but there were quite a few brave (or stupid, however you want to look at it) souls!

Just when we thought that this evening could not get any more hilarious (to us anyway).

I saw a sign on my way to the bathroom announcing that there was a Sasquach Convention going on at the cheesy hotel we were doing Karaoke at!  Sure enough, the room was full of old men and lets just say interesting looking people wearing Big Foot Badges!  Whoo Hooo, right up my alley. I bet everyone at our table I could get a Big Foot Badge before anyone else could. A few of us set to work. I met some very intersting people who were VERY into Sasquach, some who had actually seen him even! I am embarrassed to report however that I could not get one of those stinkers to part with their badge. I guess I'm losing my touch! In the old days I would have walked of with 20 of those badges huh Christy and Liz? You know that you have hit rock bottom when you get denied badge wearing rights by a Big Foot Convention member in a cheesy Karaoke Bar!

I'm not letting it get me down though!  It sure made for a LOT of laughs, and a whole new slew of one liners to cheer eachother up when we are back in the trenches next fall!

Can He Really Be 11 Years Old?

How can it be?  Where does the time go?  I swear he was just my little baby, and with the blink of an eye, he is almost a teenager (or at least starting to act like one). 

Max's actual birthday is this Monday, June 21st, but with it being Fathers Day this weekend and the first weekend of summer, we decided to celebrate it a week early! Max wanted to invite a few close friends and go see the New Karate Kid movie.  We added pizza and lazer tag too to make it a birthday to remember!!!

Max has grown to be such a responsible, funny, smart, talented, happy, young man.  He is very into sports, especially basketball, football, soccer and then baseball (in that order)!  He is getting straight A's in school and he still has never gotten in trouble at school (I wish we could say the same thing at home).  His has his own business, he owns 3 vending machines, that he checks and restocks monthly.  He has more $$$ than me or Pancho ever do, because he is a true saver!  He  is also trying to outbid my cleaning lady right now.  When he found out that I pay her $60.00 he told me he could do the same thing for $30.00.  He has been cleaning my house for about 3 months now and he does an excellent job!  He fully takes care of all pets in our house (2 tortoises, 2 hamsters and a cat) because he knows that if he doesn't, they would probably go to heaven fast  (plug your ears animal lovers).  I could care less about our pets and refuse to take care of them.  Thank goodness for his kind heart :).

I love this boy more than words can say, and I thank God every day for giving him to me!

I feel so honored to be his Mom!

Max and his friends (and his brother and sister) so excited to be going to the Karate Kid Movie.  By the way, it was a good movie but about an hour too long.

Then it was over to Putters for some lazer tag!!!!

Will Ficek, Colin McCarthy, Max and Ben Hakala

The Hakalas, Ficeks and McCarthy's met us out there, for pizza and cupcakes.

So fun to have these families who have known Max since he was born!

Connor and Max

best buddies from school

Colin and Sam, also best buds!

The  "blue team"

before the Epic Battle!

waiting to find out their scores, and which team won

Grammy made her special "from scratch" cupcakes.

They are truly the best cupcakes ever!

blowing out his candles on his 11th birthday (tear)

OK, so 11 year old boys are very hard to buy for, especially Max, because he is not really into much these days.  So he ended up getting a lot of gift cards and cash.  I asked him what he wanted to buy with them, and I was actually not suprised at all when he said "I want to go to the bookstore and get some books and then I want to save the rest".  He is an avid reader, he has read the whole 39 Clues series (9 books), Percy Jackson series (4 books),and he just finished the first book in another series called The Red Pyramid.

 

Connor, Spencer, Max, Ben, Brendan and Joey

One last picture of the guys!

On the ride home, the boys all ageed that it was a "super fun" party.  I liked it because it was very easy for me and involved very little planning (especially with Grammy in charge of cupcakes - thanks mom).  Next to Christmas, this is the absolute busiest time of year for me, and most stressful.  The end of the school year is just so crazy!!!  I was just glad that Max had so much fun with his friends. He is an awesome young man that desrves to be celebrated.

P.S. I figure the Birthday Blog is a good time to brag about your child. 

Thank you for indulging me :)

PSS I conveniently left out the countless "fighting with his brother" stories . . .