Corey and the Rhythmics Dance Party Moves On

Ava is a mermaid!

2009-07-03T17:18:00.000-07:00

I had a ton of fun in Washington this past week with Brianne, John, Alex and V. The Washington girls are both growing up so fast! It was sad to say good-bye to them!! Look, won't be long until Alex is taller than Brianne!
The week I left for Washington, Ava decided she could swim. Well, she gave her mom a heart attack when she jumped in from the side of pool and swam to the steps. CRAZY!

She also played a little game where she swam to save her hat.

The girls LOVE to play "Streaker" where they lap the downstairs naked yelling, "Go, Streaker, Go!" (Corey came up with it...) Well, the new style of the game was "Crazy Underwear Heads." Yes, they both have on 3 pairs of panties, on various body parts.We are having too much fun this summer! Who can beat swimming and streaking?

Happy Birthday, Corey!!

2009-06-18T23:39:00.000-07:00

Make sure to wish Corey a HAPPY BIRTHDAY on June 19th if you get a chance! Corey has been working so hard (LOTS of hours!) but still making time for fun stuff like quick trips to the water parks here in town. Ashlyn thinks it's so cool that he used to be a lifeguard at Big Surf! Makes me wonder if he gets the urge to tell people to "walk!" or to do some after-hours trips down the slides to re-live the good ol' days! The girls in this house are super proud to get to hang with the cute lifeguard at the waterpark and are so proud of our man!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SALLY!!!!!!!!!

2009-04-10T10:24:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SALLY!!!!!!!!!

From everyone that loves you!

Training Schedule

2009-03-24T21:05:00.000-07:00

Here's Ava training to fly.

And a little time under the stack.

Training in the kitchen, training on the Wii, training, training, training.

And the un-photo'd dad in this house training on the nachos. It's how we do it.

Very few words, lots of pictures!

2009-01-04T12:33:00.001-08:00

We've been busy working and playing. -We definitely have enjoyed the playing part more!

Rachel can fly!

Madilyn is so hungry that she ate a fake watermelon slice!

Ava living the good life south of the border!

When can we go back?

The Christmas morning camp-out with new sleeping bags!

Ashlyn is so BIG! She got her ears pierced just before going to see Santa.

OK, I enjoyed the working part because of the company! Thanks for the days and days and days of help Dad!

Ahhhhh!!! Sugar rush!!!!!

A tale of two blogs... The Good!

2008-11-16T20:42:00.001-08:00

The week of Halloween 2008 had a very decisive two part tangle of emotions that are being shortly split into two blogs. So here we go with the good!

I think I look great in Mom's jacket. That's all I'm saying. I look good. Real good. That's it. Nothing else to say. Except that I look good. So good.

I got to spend a weekend with my family in Utah and had the best weekend ever! It started off with a journey following the rough riders Dad & Grandpa. My forearm is still sore from pulling the throttle back trying to keep up. Thanks for the great time! Good picture though, huh? I look good in Mom's jacket, no?

Why'd that guy on the right have to ruin this photo? It's like a photo of a rosebed with a cockroach on one of the flowers. Adrie is so CUTE! Alaina (also cute) is such a good mom and I'm glad we got to see each other.

Here's the gang, centered around Mom and Dad's "yellow" flavored shake. That's right... yellow flavored.

I was proud of Ryan when he slipped a bite of peppermint milkshake to Trenton! Way to go!

Trenton is my favorite youngest nephew, by far. He looks like he's trying to figure a way out of that towel in this picture. Can you see it? He is such a good baby. Ryan and Erica are awesome parents and made me proud.

Again with the cockroach? Rahcel has such a pretty smile! Trent-dog is perfect!

You three make a great family! Trenton's lucky to have you guys as parents. You're lucky to have Trenton as a son! A match made in heaven!Thanks to everyone for making my weekend so great!

And now.... scroll down for the flip side of good emotions.

A tale of two blogs (cont'd)... and The Bad

2008-11-16T20:19:00.000-08:00

And now for the bad....

A little unexpected renovations to our house. We had a toilet water line (into the reservoir tank) come loose and spray water into our house all night. We woke up to an unfolding nightmare, where the clean-up company found a ton of black mold growing in the wall behind our kitchen sink. The water damage from the toilet caused damage to most of the walls and flooring to the downstairs part of our house. The mold caused our kitchen to be remodeled.

Here's a picture... it's kind of like that ABC show "Extreme House Makeover". Here's a photo where we were waiting for the "big unvail."

These people will do ANYTHING to keep you in suspense! Ha ha! So funny....

Ta da!!!!! Here's what you get Williams family! McDonald's cheeseburgers for a month! Yeah!

Here was our old entryway. So 1990's. It had to go.

Slip 'n' slide anyone?

4th Picture in the 4th Folder

2008-10-17T09:54:00.000-07:00

I got tagged! So, your supposed to go to the fourth folder and use the fourth picture, post it and explain it. The rest of you bloggers (who haven't already been "tagged") are tagged now and are supposed to do the same.

It's Ashlyn and Avery when they were probably less than 2! Becky took this picture at the zoo. For reference, the shirt Ashlyn is wearing is a size 9 months! Aren't they sweet? And they're still buddies! This little exercise made me realize how unorganized my pictures are on my computer!

What happens when mom goes running.

2008-10-12T09:24:00.000-07:00

This looks like a future police mug shot. Our angel.

A beautiful secret trip to the salon! With water-proof makeup! Yeah!

This video's title is: Playing Firefighter.

The dialogue in this video is: "That's enough. OK. Lets stop playing firefighter."

Ding ding ding! Round Two!

2008-09-21T07:47:00.000-07:00

Sally made it through the surgery part of round 2 and is at home doing well! She's been a great patient, keeping a smile on throughout painful moments. Everything went well. Friends and family have been great in giving support (and my favorite.... food). I've tried to have Rapunzel locked away in her room upstairs while me and the girls have been busy making sure my fantasy football roster is set up for the week. I think Ashlyn and Ava had more fun with Grandma running the show after round 1. We miss you Mom! Here's Sally's pretty smile!

So strong......

Poor Sally is stuck with me.......

Here's what happens when Dad is in charge.... Sorry Ava.

Here's Ashlyn helping trim back the palm trees in the back yard. Scary!

The road to recovery!

We love you Sally!

We've been busy!

2008-09-09T15:50:00.000-07:00

We have had a busy month! Ashlyn has been adjusting to kindergarden really well and her teacher tells me everyday how great she is in class! She likes going and we can tell she's really learning some great stuff.

We've been trying to take advantage of the hot weather and swim (minus mom! I haven't been getting in the pool all that often) but the pool is starting to cool down! We had some friends from Corey's work come over a couple of weekends ago and the Babb family helped make it a full on party! The boys had a heated game of basketball in the pool that the kids kept bravely swimming through. I wouldn't have been that brave! They were throwing elbows! Corey had a blast with his friends over! Ashlyn's friend, Brelyn, whose dad works with Corey, came all the way from deep in Queen Creek last weekend to swim and this weekend for Ashlyn's party, which was so nice! They already have drive far to work every weekday, so two weekends in row was extra special!

Ashlyn had a 3 day birthday extravaganza! She had a few friends go with her on Friday for a tour of the firestation, where her favorite girl firefighter works, Jody. It was really nice of Gilbert Fire to entertain us! They showed us all around where they "live" and Ashlyn liked Jody's dorm room because she had girly sheets on the bed. They let the kids go into the firetruck and turned the lights on for us.
The next day, Ashlyn had her birthday party at Freestone park. At 4pm in Arizona in Sept. Can I just say my brain isn't working at full capacity right now and that's why I take the blame for lousy party planning! Thank you to all who risked heat stroke to celebrate Ashlyn's birthday! You can see all the pictures of the red-cheeked children on my Picassa site! Sorry! We played with water balloons, ate pizza and cake and played at the playground. Ashlyn has been asking for a firetruck cake with a princess candle for about 6 months now, so she got it! I was pretty happy with how the cake turned out!

The next morning, we took Ashlyn to McDonalds for breakfast AND took her to Olive Garden for dinner. We have a tradition of having Olive Garden the night before Ashlyn's birthday because Corey and I ate there for our "last supper without children!" In past years, it's been take out, but we braved the sit down and it turned out ok! On her actual birthday, she got to take suckers to her class and have the Babb family over for cake and ice cream... and more presents! Happy Birthday, Ashlyn! Thank you, everyone, for making her birthday "the best day EVER!" (A direct quote from the birthday girl!)

Our Tree!

2008-09-09T15:01:00.000-07:00

A storm took out part of the tree in out front yard (half of the tree fell over in April and almost fell on Corey!) and we decided it had to go!
It was diseased in the middle, anyway!
So we had it taken out and our front yard looked so big but so empty!
Well, handy guy that Corey is, he spent some time researching the best tree to replace our old one. He went down to Lowe's, bought a Sissoo tree and planted it himself, all while having the girls "help," which we all know meant a lot of extra work!
Ashlyn was very proud of her new tree and loved showing it off and telling people she helped plant it! I'm proud of Corey for knowing how to do that himself and doing a great job!

Forget breakfast in bed...

2008-08-19T17:59:00.000-07:00

Corey had the girls have breakfast in the pool!

Ashlyn's First Day of School!

2008-08-11T22:14:00.001-07:00

First, Daddy woke her up...
Than she got in touch with her peeps...
She's pretty important around these parts!
A BIG smile for her first day...
The teacher told her to take a seat anywhere and that big smile started to look a little scared!

When mom and Aunt Mary came to get her...
She let us know that she liked it but she got tired because they didn't give her a break!
Good Job, Ashlyn! We're so proud of you!!!

Feeling good!!!!

2008-08-09T15:41:00.001-07:00

I know I've been bad at blogging lately (sorry!) but I thought I'd hop on and give Corey a break from his new duties. Doesn't he do a good job? Speaking of jobs, a week before my surgery I got laid off! This turned out to be actually pretty good because I had no pressure to return back to work and could heal on my own time. Well, when one door closes... I'm going to start working for a friend as a "virtual assistant" meaning I'll do all the office work for her child therapy office. It's mostly from home and the insurance billing work will be very similar to what I'll be doing as a physical therapy assistant. Plus, my friend is a super smart, super great lady and I'm happy I'll get to spend more time with her! I've been LOVING having Corey's mom, Cheri, staying with us to help me recover. She is a whirlwind and can give my kids attention, clean my entire house from top to bottom, cook dinner, wait on and entertain me, walk 3.55+ miles every morning AND read that vampire book that everyone is talking about! She leaves tomorrow to go take care of Erica, Corey's sister, who just had a handsome baby boy (Congrats Erica and Ryan!). Isn't she amazing? Thanks everyone for the get well wishes, they worked!! I'm feeling so great! Everyone has been so helpful, so thank you! Ashlyn starts school on Monday. She was orginally going to a school right by Mary's, that Mary did all the leg work getting info on the different options in Mesa (thanks so much Mary!). Well, I picked a school and enrolled her but failed to notice it was an afternoon program that wouldn't work. For about a day, it looked like Ashlyn wasn't going to do young learners kindergarden, but Becky called every number she could for Mesa, Chandler and Gilbert schools until she found an opening at a school 3 miles away! She was so amazing to put aside that kind of phone time while she's got a household of kids and daycare kids, so Thank you so much, Becky! Ashlyn got to meet her teacher and see her school and seems excited. Little does she know that she's starting a VERY long career as a student! Ava has been LOVING being a princess (see pict below!) and is so sweet to me. I wake up in the morning to the sweetest kiss from her. Isn't that the best alarm clock ever? Before I open my eye's, I feel her sweet little lips! It's the BEST! I hope everyone is doing great. How many parents are secretly a little glad it's that back to school time of year?

My dad and his family ( and Meiko!!) came by to visit after I got home from the hospital. What?

These are three luckiest ladies around to have Cheri taking care of us! Thanks, Cheri! My little princess! She LOVES the wedding dress. I've decided she should be a bride for Halloween.

We took this picture of Ashlyn at her new school at her orientation. Think she'll stay that excited?

Back from the brink

2008-08-01T09:45:00.000-07:00

I've received orders from Sally to send out the good news that everything is going well! Surgery day was a bit scary, and turned out to be longer than planned, but Sally has come through like the champ that she is. The nurses kept commenting on her low heartbeat, especially under stress. Nurses would say things like, "that's the runner in her doing that." Everyone should be proud of your friend/family/loved-one that Sally is. She is so incredibly strong and she is an inspiration to me and those around her I'm sure.

What Sally chose to do was a complicated decision. It made me very happy and proud of her seeing her resolve leading up to surgery. But what is even better than being with her through her research, decision making, and planning phases, is seeing the point of view she now has after going through the biggest hurdle. She 100% feels that she made the right decision. Even though she knew what she was getting into, there is no way to really know how you'll feel after going through something like that. I could not have married a stronger woman and mother for the girls.

So without further adieu, here's some tangible proof of the current state of Sally. Looking good, huh?!? On behalf of everyone who knows and loves Sally, thank you for being such a good friends and family to her right now.

Just before going in.

Ashlyn wanted to rest with Mom.

Who's the ugly guy messing up the picture?

Plenty of love to go around at this house!

Time for hospital discharge!

We love you Sally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dog days of summer

2008-07-13T10:14:00.000-07:00

Summer is always so much work!

Here's Ava navigating on her own terms.

Floating on your back?!?

We're going to have to be a dog family. We babysat Meiko for a weekend and it was a big hit. We kept asking Ava if we should get a dog. Her answer: "We already have one." It was disappointing for her when Meiko disappeared.

Mmmmmm! Cold cereal in the morning.

A work in progress.

Hijacked!!!

2008-06-15T19:22:00.001-07:00

Sally got a job and has given up on blogging... so the creative responsibility torch has been hijacked! Just a quick update. We went to the zoo. Ashlyn got her hair cut and couldn't hold in her pride. Remember hole in the rock? Ashlyn doesn't grasp the concept yet of a slippery slope and the effects said slope has on a stressed out Dad. Dangerous times..... Ava loves snow cones, but Mom loves them more!

I got a job!

2008-05-02T16:15:00.000-07:00

I start working at Countrywide on Monday! I'll be on the opening team, which means I help start the loan process. It's supposed to be very repetitive and boring and I'll be in a cubicle. I'm actually pretty excited. I'll have to dress up a little for work! I think Corey's more excited about that than me! That means I won't be wearing a ponytail EVERY day! At least not at first! The girls will be going to Mary's house, which Ashlyn is practically fainting over! She'd move in with them, if she could! It's part-time, so it hopefully won't be too upsetting for the girls.

I had my 10 year high school reunion last weekend and went with my good friend, Valerie. It was fun, although I think the 20 year reunion will be more interesting (Tom will have to let me know if this is true, I think his is this summer). After ten years, people don't seem all that different. It was fun to visit with Valerie and I can't wait until she gets married! They are in the process of looking at buying a house and they are looking far, like Peoria! I tried to tell her my neighbor's house is for sale, but no dice! That's all fun stuff coming up for her! I'll be so excited when it's her turn to have babies! She's going to be an awesome mom, and it won't be all too long before she's at that point!

Corey has been working a little more, which is a good thing for him. That means there is enough work to keep them in business! I haven't gotten to a football game in a few weeks so I'm glad I get to go to tomorrows game. He's devastated over the Sun's playoffs performance, so please don't bring it up! Hope everyone is doing better than our basketball team is!

*The pictures are from my reunion, painting with Ava, Madilyn and Trace, the splash park at the Zoo, and Me, Mary and Tami celebrating Mary's birthday (Happy Birthday, Mary!).

A good read! Just thought I'd pass it along!

2008-04-20T17:10:00.000-07:00

My friend, Becky, got me a book for my birthday that was very special to me. I started reading it right when I got it and have been slow going through it (for those of you who don't know, I'm a greedy reader and don't usually take more than a day or two to read a book) but am very impressed with it. It was just featured in Newsweek and has been getting a lot of press. It's called, "Pretty is What Changes" by Jessica Queller. I am almost done and will be passing it on to Bob next, but if anyone else wants my copy to borrow, let me know. The author is in a different situation than me, but I found it helpful to read her story. It's full of information in a very honest and intelligent way. The author is VERY smart! Let me know if anyone gets a chance to check it out!

Pat's Run!

2008-04-19T12:00:00.001-07:00

I just got back a bit ago from Pat's Run and I couldn't be prouder of Mary and Tami! They did so great! It was awesome to see them cross the finish line with HUGE smiles on their faces! The official race results can be seen at http://www.patsrun.com/ or http://results.active.com/pages/page.jsp?eventID=1472467&pubID=3

They both finished with a pace of 9:50/mile! My first race, I had a 12 min. mile and it stayed that pace for forever! They are too fast! It was so nice to see Becky at the finish line. She pushed her THREE kids in a triple jogging stroller! I'd have a hard time just walking the block with that kind of resistance! I don't know how she does it! The weather was beautiful and I'm so glad we all did it! Corey and Ed, Tami's husband, met us at the finish line with the kids. There should be awards for spectator support! They have a pretty challenging job! Why don't they get a shirt? Maybe I'll have to get one made for Corey. Any design ideas? Well, good job at Pat's Run!

I also made a cake for my nephew's birthday party tonight and tried out my friend, Valerie's, fondant recipe. It's actually yummy! It tastes like a tootsie roll! It's supposed to be a barn, if you can't tell! They are having a farm theme in light of all their new animals (sheep, goats, chickens, pigs, turkeys...and so on). I am pretty happy with how this one turned out. Thanks, Val, for the recipe! Yay for all that Crisco!

Happy Belated Easter! And March update...late!

2008-04-08T11:13:00.000-07:00

I've been pretty busy so I just haven't blogged. We had Corey's parents visit over Easter and had a really fun time! We loved seeing them and also got to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa "Grape" (that's what Ashlyn calls Corey's grandparents!). We had a fun easter egg hunt with the Babb's and Grand-Bob had fun pushing Ava around the backyard in the jogging stroller. Landen was so funny! He'd find an egg, open it and ditch it if it was chocolate! I was right behind him to scoop up his unwanted eggs. Hey, somebody had to do it! We also got to celebrate Grandma/Cheri's birthday, which was really nice.

Corey's back to playing football and is LOVING it! His team is really awesome! Check out their stats at www.cutyourmullet.com

We have the Babb kiddos for the next week while Mary and Tom go to a wedding in SC. Ashlyn is SO excited to have Landen "come live at our house for a week!" SLUMBER PARTY!

I had a job interview last week at Countrywide and hope to start working with Corey starting in the middle of April. I was so nervous at the interview that the guy who interviewed me told Corey I made HIM nervous! YIKES!

We have the Pat Tillman run on the 19th and I'm excited that Mary and Tami are running in it! Anyone else in? 4.2 miles! For a good cause! Run into Sun Devil Stadium! Come on!

Ragnar Relay

2008-03-02T21:59:00.000-08:00

The Ragnar Relay was this weekend and it was so fun! I was worried about spending two whole days with a bunch of people I didn't know, but everyone was really nice. It was weird to send our first runner off at the start at 1pm on Friday and stay pumped up until we finished on Sat at about 4:30opm. It was also weird how motivating it was when it was your turn to run because your van mates meet you every couple of miles to cheer you on and most of it you are running alone (runners really spread out over the 182 miles) so when you see them, it really gets you going. I actually put up some of my fastest runs on this race! My first leg was 7.56 miles and was very hilly. It was considered a hard leg and I started it at about 10:45pm. I ran it in 1:00:49 with a 8:02 average a mile. My second leg was 2.9 miles at about 8:15 am (we got about 3 hours of sleep which is actually good from what I've heard about these relays!) and was actually hilly as well. I ran it in 20:52, which is about a 7:11 mile. My third leg was the second to last run before the finish line and was through Mesa. They couldn't shut down traffic for the race because it could have shut down a huge area all day, so we had to wait at traffic lights. It was so annoying to stop and than try to pick up the pace again. I got stuck a LONG light (it felt like 5 minutes!) right before my last mile. Good thing my team was waiting a few yards after I crossed the street to help get me motivated again! My last leg was 4.2 miles and it was very hot. I did it in 33:17 which is about a 7:55 mile average (although I actually logged my first two miles at a 6:15 per mile pace which is a first for me). It was really fun to finish and Corey, the girls, Bob, and the entire Babb family were sooo nice to meet me at the finish line. I felt bad because they all came out to celebrate the race finish and I think I said two word to everyone because I went back to the team manager's house with my team to clean out the vans. So, thank you so much for coming out to see me cross the finish line! If anyone ever gets an offer to do one of these relays, even if you don't run, my advice is to do it! It is such a cool experience!

Florida...

2008-02-26T21:05:00.000-08:00

It's taking me awhile to recoup from being away and am scrambling to play catch up. I was ahead of school when I left for Florida but the funny thing is, you don't stay ahead when you don't get anything done for a bit. I came home and quickly had to get back into homework mode. The trip was awesome! Corey and I had a blast and have decided we could definitely live in Jacksonville if the need ever came up. We got in Sat. evening and made a friend on our flight who was running in the half marathon, so she rode with us to the expo to pick up our packet. She also happens to be very involved in all the breast cancer events and is putting a team together for the 3 day walk, which I've been very interested in. Anyone else want in? The marathon was at 8:30am on Sunday but they warned that the parking would be near impossible and recommended the shuttle system that they offered. So, I got up at 5am (3am, Arizona time!) got ready and had Corey drop me off at the shuttle pick up (and Starbucks didn't open until 6:30am, so no early morning treat!) The run was beautiful and I got to see Corey about 8 times! I got this little jump of excitement the first time I spotted him on the beach cheering me on and it really helped those four miles where the "hard packed sand" was loosened a little by a couple hundred runners! It was hot and humid and I can't say I actually enjoyed much of the run and had some painful moments but finished in a little over 4 hours and one minute (the GPS I was using said I ran 27.3 miles so I kinda stopped checking my time and didn't really know how my run was pacing.). If I'd known I was that close to breaking four hours, maybe I'd have picked it up a little somewhere! Or maybe not! I was tired, sunburned and had welts in my armpit from my ipod armband (which is now a pretty scar!) but so glad I ran it. The whole town came out and showed their support and there was so much pink! It was really inspiring how important this run was to so many people. I was very glad to see lots of "survivors!" After the run, Corey and I took a long nap that didn't have to end when kids are done sleeping (thank you so much Bob and Babb family for taking care of our ladies! You are too wonderful to us)! We spent every day at the beach after the run and just loved driving around the city without worrying about answering obscure questions from our kiddos. Tom got some certificates for 2 nights at the Marriott from work and was so nice to give them to us so we have the Babbs to thank for our first two nights! That really was so thoughtful of them! When we got home, the girls barely missed us and were quickly asking when they could hang out with their cousins again. Really, we had such a good time. I recovered fairly quickly and am now gearing up for the Ragnar relay this weekend. The run starts this Friday at 1pm, but I don't start my first leg until around 11pm or even later, depending on the prior 10 people. I think it's going to fun... I hope! Thanks so much for every one's support and well-wishing for this marathon!

Ashlyn is four and a half!

2008-02-10T22:31:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Ashlyn's four and HALF birthday on Friday and she was soo excited! She always makes a point of telling people that she's four and Landen is four and half, so this half birthday was very special to her! ( I didn't have the heart to point out to her that while she's finally hit the four and a half point, Landen kept growing up, too and is older than four and half.) She told her whole class at school and just was so happy. She wanted to know where her party was! I didn't throw a party but she blew out a candle on a oreo cookie cakester. In light of her growing up, (which totally goes against our deal with her NOT to grow up!) I decided to post some older, baby Ashlyn pictures. It's so weird, I barely remember a time as a mom without Ava, but when I look at baby Ashlyn pictures, I am struck with how much Ashlyn taught me about everything- life, parenting, patience, love, and even myself! Poor first kids! They're the test runs! Oh well, I think she's turned out pretty great, so far!

Some fun video clips!

2008-02-10T10:32:00.000-08:00

We just uploaded some video clips on our computer of the girls. Brianne and Alex are in town from Seattle for Alex's gymnastics meet at Rawhide. She did awesome and made us all so proud! She placed second place on bars with a very clean routine, although my video clip is horribly fuzzy. She looked so grown up! Ashlyn loved watching her compete.

Ashlyn hurt her finger!

2008-02-03T21:02:00.000-08:00

Ashlyn got her finger slammed in the spare bedroom door. It hurt her a lot.

The Sassy Fairy came to visit!

2008-02-02T21:18:00.001-08:00

Ava has been growing by leaps and bounds and is very motivated to be a big girl. The one thing we've been holding onto is that pacifier! She calls it her sassy. Well, we've been telling her for awhile that she needs to give her sassy to the babies (you know, the needy babies who don't have a sassy of their own, of course!) and that she needs to go to sleep without it. A couple of nights ago, I just threw out an idea. I told Ava she should put all her sassies in a basket we had in the hallway and the sassy fairy would come and take her sassy to the babies and leave her a treat. Wouldn't you know it, she bought it! She dumped her sassies in the basket and said, "bye-bye, sassies! Bye-bye, sassy fairy! You give my sassies to the babies!" She went to her big girl bed and I realized how big my little baby has become. I mean, I can bribe her! With fairies! After about ten minutes, she did start calling out for some comforting assistance. I went in there and told her she had to be quiet she'd scare the sassy fairy. And that was IT! So, mom ran out to the store to get sassy fairy prizes! The next morning was the best! I think Ashlyn was more excited than Ava! She grabbed my hand and with eyes as big as golf balls, said, "Mom, there really is a sassy fairy! Good job, Ava!" She was very impressed! Ava has done great, with a little bump in the road for her first nap post-sassy fairy (she just didn't take a nap, but has done with a sassy, so I'll take it!). She loves telling people that the sassy fairy came and gave her a treat and has been going to bed without it! Even with a terrible cough! Ashlyn has the leftover cough. I just took my last antibiotic for bronchitis tonight but am still hacking a little. Corey is feeling a little low but swears he isn't sick. He was great today and got both girls and Landen up (we had a sleep over last night, although we missed Talia!) and still made it to Talia's second basketball game (heard she rocked the first game and got some key points!) while I ran with the relay group for the first time. I was gone all morning and still got to go and visit one of my oldest friends, Valerie, in the afternoon/evening for some great catching up time. I got home and he was giving the girls a bath! What a great dad! By the way, Valerie is doing a hike for the American Cancer Society this Feb. and I'm really excited for her! She did a 15 mile hike last weekend with her Mom and sister. She also makes beautifuls cakes and actually has been doing some cakes on the side for a little extra cash! She made an awesome 2 tier chocolate fondant (homemade, her recipe/experiement!) baby shower cake for this weekend! It was amazing and very professional looking! I LOVED catching up with her! I told her and Corey I'd post a picure of my bloody sock from last weekend on here, so that's the picture you see. It's actually only a little blister but it rubbed for a quite awhile. Now, everytime I run, I get a bloody sock, even with band-aides and tape! But, it doesn't hurt and it's really tiny! We also did rollers in the girls hair but Ava wanted hers out right away. Ashlyn's hair turned out really cute, so check out her picture!

Ashlyn and her Firefighters!

2008-01-25T15:33:00.000-08:00

Ashlyn had her firefighter picnic today and LOVED it! When you ask her what her favorite part was, she says she liked riding in the firetruck (she got to sit in the cab, but it didn't go anywhere) and meeting "Tony, the firefighter!" Yes, one of the firefighters caught her attention. She said he was goofy (and she giggles when she says that! Um... she FOUR!). I am begining to think we'll lock her up in the house when she's 11 instead of 14, like I had originally planned! The Chandler Fire Dept. did a great presentation and were so nice to all the kids. Ashlyn wanted to know what she needed to do to become a firefighter woman and one of the firefighters was very informative. He gave all kinds of tips about doing good in school and eating healthy so she can be strong enough to be a firefighter. She was so cute when he was telling her all this, with a serious look on her face and she kept nodding intently like she was taking mental notes. She decided that's the career for her and her friend, Avery, wants to be a policeman... or a princess, she's still not sure. They talked about it all the way home from the park and decided they want to save people for their jobs! My cheeks hurt from smiling after that drive! They were so serious, discussing their future life plans! Oh, and she decided not to tell the firefighters that they're handsome. I'm not sure if she didn't think they were or not but she told me as soon as they showed up that she wasn't going to. She's a funny kid, isn't she?

"Ava-My-Wava" is growing up!

2008-01-24T21:19:00.001-08:00

Ava has just been blowing us away with her talking for last little bit. She communicates so well (sometimes, too well. She can get a little sassy!) But her crowning achievement has got to be her potty training. She has it DOWN! She LOVES her Dora panties and does a great job of keeping them dry with no help from her lazy-on-potty-training-mother! She has a crazy bladder and can hold it longer than Ashlyn! She also is sleeping in her big girl bed. She just gets up a lot to go potty at night which makes Mom and Dad tired and cranky. And believe me, we don't need help in that department! She really is so fun, though! Ashlyn is excited about her Firefighter picnic for school tomorrow and can't wait to tell the firemen she thinks they're handsome! She has a thing for firemen, I guess! She spots them in the grocery store and can tell it's a firefighter before the rest of us can! She wants to be a "fire-woman" when she grows up! Corey says as long as she can pass the physical, she's in! I'm still pushing for her to be doctor of some kind. Corey's been working hard! CYM football starts in march and I know he can't wait! I finished my hours at CRH and LOVED the experience! I have 7 classes going right now and am loving it but am really looking forward to being a PTA, especially after the observation hours! I really think this is my niche!

R.I.P. Cuddles!

2008-01-18T22:21:00.000-08:00

So, today I ran over my cat! How many days can you say that? Well, today a bunch of new things happened! I actually cried (no, sobbed!) in front of total strangers! I'm not usually very comfortable crying in public and today was no exception. So, I was very uncomfortable when I rushed my mangled cat to the vet down the street and tried not to feel weirded out when I burst into tears while trying to tell the receptionist I needed help for my poor little cat! Well, I was already uncomfortable so I went with it and just bawled the rest of the time I was there. The vet was so nice and even cried along side of me when she had to put poor Cuddles to sleep. So, here's some things I learned today. It's OK to cry in public if you're a cat murderer. A four year girl KNOWS what C A T spells, especially if you spell it out in a sentence that explains that a car rolled over it's head (when you're on the phone with your husband, who feels bad for you but is also SO glad not to be facing murder charges!). The same four year old will also politely ask you why you ran over the cat with the car in a very innocent but crushing way (no pun intended!). Also, it's amazing how much an annoying, always nipping, never moving out of the way for cars (DUH!), furniture scratching but always ready for attention and cuddling little cat means to a family until it becomes a lesson about life and death for kids! Ashlyn definitely doesn't grasp the concept of the death, which makes me take a step back and realize what a sweet place she in life. Her talks about Cuddle's demise are both innocent and so straight forward... too straight forward! I keep caving from the guilt! Well, sorry Cuddles! Under the wheels of a caravan is no place for such a nice kitty!

Ragnar Relay

2008-01-03T11:58:00.000-08:00

OK, so I just checked out what I'll be doing for that 180 mile relay in Feb. I just got really nervous! I'm runner number 11 (you can see the map of what I'll be doing on http://www.ragnarrelay.com/ ). My first leg will be 7.7 miles and is categorized as "hard." Um... what does that mean? Why do they use the word hard? That's not very nice! I think "challenging" or "rewarding" sounds better to me! My second leg sounds much happier. Listen to this... 2.9 miles and "easy." Doesn't that have a nicer ring to it? My last leg puts me as the second to last runner and is 4.2 miles and a "moderate" course, although after close to 24 hours of this race, moderate may be understated. I wonder if everyone is supposed to run into the finish line. Maybe that is the plan for the first runner who hasn't ran in a while. Hmmm... I hope I don't embarrass Corey because of this run! (His boss is how we got into this.) Actually, I hope I can walk after this!

Welcome to Blogging?

2008-01-02T11:56:00.000-08:00

I'm new to all this so hopefully I'm doing this right. Happy New Year! I'm so excited for all that 2008 is promising! Corey's family headed home yesterday. We were sad to see them go. Ava keeps asking for grandma and grandpa. It was nice to see everyone. Corey is doing a great job at work. So great that his boss dropped him a friendly e-mail before our Mexico trip just to praise his great work ethics. Ashlyn is going back to preschool on Monday, the 7th. I'm really excited...she's not as excited. Ava is talking up a storm. She is taking the plunge and sleeping in a big girl bed for naps these days. Maybe tonight we'll brave no crib walls to confine her...maybe! I start a few classes on the 12th and am setting up my observation hours at Chandler Regional Hospital's physical therapy office so I can start my PTA (physical therapy assistant) program in May. I can't wait! I'm one of those weirdo's who LOVES going to school. Hope everyone had a safe and happy new years day!