Nutcracker

We are certainly finding ways to celebrate the holidays this year.....our latest party happened to take place in San Francisco.  The Reese women and girls went to see the Nutcracker at the War Memorial.

I decided to suprise my girls with the news so I didn't tell them anything about it until the day of the show.  Ryan picked them up from school at lunch time and I had their fancy clothes out waiting for them.  I made them get dressed and ready to go before I told them what we were doing.  This is their reaction.  They were so excited!

When we made it to San Francisco, the first stop was the mall to see Christmas decorations and get a bite to eat.  We chose Nordstrom's Bistro and shopped around while we waited for our tables to be ready.  (The girls all fell in love with sequined dresses there.  One of them was a mere $170 for little girl's dresses.  Oh, to be rich!)

Sydney (friend), Rachel, Lexi, Anna, Kendri, Katie

 Here we are just about to go into the dance hall.  There was snow (fake) falling right outside building.  It felt like it was snowing!  So cool and such a surprise.  I felt like we got our money's worth before we even got inside!

 We planned our night for Family Night (which is why we went in the middle of the week) and reaped the benefits!  The kids were able to meet some of the ballerinas before the show and at intermission they served cookies and juice to everyone.  Kendri told me a couple of days later that she could feel the Rat's hand on her back and it totally "freaked her out!" 
She managed to smile through the terror.....:)

We had balcony seats.  I thought they were good and the girls were able to see the show.  I loved all of the scenery and backdrop changes.  My favorite part was the snow falling on stage.  It was practically a blizzard! (not to be confused with the fake snow outside.  Which was at best a small flurry:)  I kept wondering how the ballerinas could breathe without inhaling the snow.  But even as I was wondering about the breathing issues, I was still completely enthralled with the beauty of the stage and the dancing.  Everyone loved it and they are already asking about going again next year!

Kyson was in tears about being left out.  I know he never would've been able to sit through anything remotely like a ballet.  But I promised him a treat when I got back and I couldn't help but fall in love with all the different Nutcrackers they had in the gift shop.  There were tons of different colors and sizes.  I got this Lil' Drummer Boy Nutcracker for Kyson and he loves it (almost as much as I do!)

O Christmas Tree

She's up and ready to guard the presents!  Actually, my tree went up right after Thanksgiving.  Along with all my other Christmas festivities. If you think my tree looks over the top, you could be right.  But I can't do it any other way.  (Sorry, for all you Charlie Brown Christmas Tree lovers.  And I'll spare you the pictures of the rest of the house.  Jingle all the way!)  But now we are on the count-down so it really is starting to feel like Christmas around here! 

 

And we've been doing Christmasy stuff to add to the spirit.  We just finished our annual sugar cookies tonight not to mention our giant chocolate covered pretzels that we were delivering last night. I timed the cutting out and decorating of the sugar cookies during Shayli's nap.  So much easier!

 

But I did need a picture of Shayli with some cookies.  This is the closest I could get them to her without regretting it!  I must say, it was a bit of a tease and I had to give her one after flaunting them under her nose.....Hope you get your baking done!

Thankful

 The holidays are here and going strong! We had a nice Thanksgiving in Angel's Camp.  We skipped the traditional meal and decided to go to the clubhouse for our family dinner.  It was nice not to have any cooking or dishes to do!  Very relaxing.  In fact, so relaxing that I don't have a picture of the actual day.  Imagine that! I'm not very good at documenting holidays....:)

But we have been doing a thankful list for the month of November.  One thing per day.  (It certainly could be prettier but hey, it still holds our list!)  The kids did awesome and it really helped us remember to recognize our every day blessings.

This year our tree has held on to its leaves far longer than usual.  Typically they start to turn colors and then a huge rainstorm comes and all the leaves get blown away.  This year we were able to enjoy our big birch tree with all the beautiful colors for a long time.  And the maple trees in the neighborhood turned red and kept their leaves for a long time, too.  In fact, it is just now getting bare around here.  And I felt like we got to experience fall! 

Gobble, gobble! Hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving!

Thirty-something

Is anyone else sick of coming to my blog and seeing Tahoe still splashed all over??? No need to fear.  I'm back and catching up. 

First thing's first.  I had a b-day.  Happy birthday to me!  I turned 33.  The end.  Oh wait.  It's not the end.  My husband thought I was 34.  Puh-lease.  Could I look this gooood at 34?  :)

Anyway, I got lots of phone calls from family and lots of facebook wishes.  I made myself a birthday cake, Tres Leches, and it was delicious!  (Don't feel sorry for me because I make my own cake.  I actually prefer it that way.  I'm not a big fan of the store bought cake. Trust me.  It's just easier.)  I refused to make dinner so I took myself and my kids out to Subway.  Ryan missed out.....he had to work late.  Boo!  Overall, being 33 ain't too bad. (Other than a few more wrinkles and few less eyelashes, that is.)

So, what have I been doing with my old self?  I decided to try a new recipe.  It's a caramel and marshmallow delight!  It turned out delicious and I'm thinking of tweaking the caramel recipe to make it a little softer.

 

But then Ryan told me he'd read an article on the internet.  Something about sugar causing wrinkles. Blah, blah, blah.  And then I remembered my new 33 year old wrinkles which were probably there 5 years ago but I'm just now noticing them. (Just play along, please.) And all of a sudden I have to rethink my lifestyle.  (I'm talking about the lifestyle where I like to eat sugar because it's fun. And yummy.) 

 

Sigh.

 

 I take it all back.  Thirty-three isn't the easy street I thought it was.  Thirty-three is full of heartbreak and harsh self-introspection. 

 

Alas.  I will survive.  To make myself feel better, I'll talk about Black Friday.  Which always gives me goose bumps.  I am not a die-hard Black Friday shopper, but I do feel the need to join in.  My friend and I started at 5:30 am and shopped until around 4:00 pm.  The beauty of starting early in the morning is the fact that all those other crazies have dropped dead in their beds by then and I am left with empty stores and great deals.  Still.  Which is exactly what happened.  And I managed to get everything on my list - and then some.  (Don't judge. You have to pick a little something up for yourself.  I like to think of it as me paying myself for my hard work and good taste. ;)  And if we want to really be honest, I gave it all to Ryan to wrap up for me and stick under the tree.  But I may or may not have snuck up to the attic, where Christmas and all it's glory is hiding, to "borrow" a few things. Oops.) 

 

Hope November was as good to as it was to me!

 

 



Tahoe

We spent a week in Tahoe a couple of weeks ago and were lucky enough to see some snow!  We stayed at the Marriott Grand Resort and we certainly had some fun.  Here's the recap....

Snow, shopping, and snowball fights.

We made a snowman......

 

and happened to get on the front page of the newspaper.  Famous!        

 

 

Snowball fight #612 featuring the world's largest snowballs.

 

Shayli watching the rest of the kids soakin' in the jacuzzi.  All I can say about that is, brrr!  Feels nice while you're in the water but is rather torturous getting out.

 

And snowball fight #765.  Notice Lexi just hammered Ryan with a huge snowball....right in the shoulder, neck and face. Ouch.  :)
 

 

 

Shayli liked to keeps tabs on the weather.

And I think it's sufficient to say, we wore 'em out!

Happy Halloween!

We made it through another year of pillage and plunder.  And if you live in my neighborhood, you know what I am talking about.

 

 

Our neighborhood is the go-to neighborhood for trick or treating.  I'm talking all Valley Springs.  The streets look like Disneyland during spring break.  I'm not joking people.  I only wish I'd taken a picture of the chaos.  Next year.  Anyhoo, I only captured a few pictures this year.  The one above I took right before we headed out to trick or treat.  I had just handed out candy to a mob of children and was attempting to keep the rest at bay while a I forged ahead to get a picture.  Just one.  That's all  I wanted.

As you can see, we have a Giants fan (Ryan), a little octupus (Shayli), a vampire (Lexi), a witch (Kendri), and ninja (Kyson).

Kyson was a pirate for two Halloween pictures and decided he'd had enough.  So he put on a ninja costume he already had.  :)

 

 The jack o'lanterns.  Spooky!

And here is the whole family at a friend's Halloween party.  I really wanted to do a deep sea theme.  Lexi and Kendri were supposed to be mermaids.  They rebelled. And FYI, my sign does not just say "booty."  I did not go as a butt.  I went as the treasure chest for the pirates.  You can't really tell from the crummy picture, but I was drenched in all my very expensive jewels. My sign actually says Pirate's Booty. 

We had a house up the street do a haunted house this year.  It was a fundraiser for the boys soccer team.  Our kids begged us to take them.  Even after some of their friends came out and said how scary it was.  I went home with Shayli and Ryan took the rest of the kids to get their Haunted House tickets.  Hahahahaha.  They went through the front door, Lexi and Kyson's eyes went as big as saucers and Kendri started crying.  They turned around and left as the chain saw started up.  Apparently, they thought "scary" meant Harry Potter scary.  Oh well.  Luckily there were no nightmares at our house that night!  They only saw about 5 seconds of it.  I guess it was meant for older children. :)

And just to make husband happy, here's my shout-out to the World Series Champs.  I am not a bandwagon fan.  In fact, I am not a fan.  But in honor of Halloween and the coincidental colors of the Giants, I pulled out my Christmas present from about 3 years ago.  It's seen the light of day only a handful of times.  Generally, at Halloween. :)  Go Giants!

Scrub, A-Dub, Dub

It all started on fall break......

Shayli had her doctor's appointment scheduled for the morning.  I had foolishly scheduled the appointment right during her nap time.  (Who doesn't like to take their cranky 15 month old to get shots right when they are supposed to be going down for their nap???)  So I was hoping she wouldn't wake up before 8, so I could still possibly salvage the nap time by just putting her down a little later.

Anyway, I misjudged the time that morning.  I was busy trying to help the other kids get ready and do a little cleaning while Shayli slept.  When she did finally wake up, I realized I wasn't showered or dressed and now Shayli needed to go through the same routine I had just taken the rest of the kids through......breakfast, dressed, and teeth brushed....eh, er teeth brushed. 


This is where it starts to get good.  As I was rushing through my morning, I spun around to use the toilet and had to stop myself.
Why was there toothpaste smeared all over the toilet seat?  I let out a tiny squeak as I thought back to 15 minutes earlier......

 I had grabbed the toothpaste and slathered it on my own toothbrush.  And only briefly considered why the toothpaste tube might be soaked.  After all, it wasn't totally unusual.   Toddlers liked to put almost anything under running water.  I continued on with my teeth scrubbing.  Never thinking twice about it.  Until that very moment.

At that point, I took a few precious moments as a horrible realization began to dawn on me. 

Toothpaste.  Toilet. 

Me.

And then panic set in.  I frantically began looking anywhere and everywhere for clues to explain what had just happened.  And to my horror I found more.  Like the toothpaste that wasn't only on the toilet seat but was also splattered inside and under the rim of the toilet.  (I may have dry heaved a little upon this discovery.)  My brain could only process one thought. 

Kyson.

Questions flowed through my mind, "Was the bottom of the tube the only thing wet?"  Nope.  I vividly remembered water spilling from the top of the lid.  "How tightly was the lid screwed on?"  Didn't have a clue.  "Was the toothpaste in any way......runny?"  Now I was just grasping at straws.  I feared the answer to that particular question was a watery yes.

I couldn't ask the kids because they had just walked up to the neighbors who was going to watch them while I was taking Shayli to the doctor.  I had only my imagination left to soothe me.  Which wasn't much because each possible scenario I came up with only ended with the same result.  Me, brushing my teeth with nasty toilet water.  My one consolation was, I had just cleaned the toilet the day before.  Which didn't help much as I reflected over the use the toilet endured in one days time.  I briefly considered rinsing with Clorox but my better judgement quickly took over.

So instead, I did the only thing I could.  I smiled brightly and left for the doctors. 

Let's Talk Life

Some happenin's in the last few months.....

Shayli is a pro walker now.  Actually, she walks all the time but is still a little wobbly.  I call her my Lil' Drunken Sailor. 

Lexi has started training as goalie for soccer.  She seems to like it. (Probably because there is not as much running involved.) She also has a chronic ankle problem.  And can't run.  Fake or real?  I'm still figuring that one out.

Kendri has been practicing with her own team and then when her practice ends she runs over to Lexi's practice and plays for another hour.  Lexi's coach likes to have her play and Kendri feels pretty cool. :)

Kyson has been practicing his jumps on his scooter.  He just had a major wipe out.  He tried 3 little hops in a row and on the last one he fell.  And then proceeded to bounce and barrel-roll.  He knocked his mouth on the way and ended up with a fat lip.  But no broken bones!  Just a few chipped teeth.  The picture doesn't really do it justice.

Ryan and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary on Labor Day.  I gave him a car.

Just kidding.  Sort of.  He did get a new car - a Honda Accord.  But it wasn't just because I am a rockin' wife.  Which I am.  In case there was any question.  It was because his Civic finally died on us.  There was something like 298,000 miles on it.  It's been all over the country with us.  Colorado, Utah, Georgia, California.  It was time to say good-bye.

I started a new routine so I can be slim and trim.  It has lots of different plank workouts so I can firm up my core and flatten my tummy. (The picture of the girl, who wrote the routine, is on the beach holding a volleyball.  In her bikini.  With her six-pack.  I tell myself she has no children, much less four.  It's how I cope.)  Anyhoo, I borderline hate her it.  It hurts.  And I still can't do the full workout. And I still don't have a six-pack.

Shayli has started sleeping through the night!  Woot!  Woot!  At a mere 14 months we are halfway there.  I still get up 50% of the time but we are making progress!  And no teeth, yet.  I know you were wondering.  I'm starting to wonder if perhaps she is just uber-efficient and has decided to skip the whole baby teeth thing.  She's prolly just going to jump right into permanent teeth.  Miss smarty pants.

I got some new Coach sunglasses.  And my vision insurance paid for them!  I know.  I hate me too.  Apparently there are perks to getting vision correction surgery.  I now have an allotted amount of moo-la (that would normally go toward contacts or eyeglasses)  to put toward designer sunglasses!  Every year.  Thank you, VSP.  (I am in mourning realizing I have had these same benefits for the last 5 years and this is the first year I have actually used them.  Imagine all of the awesomeness that has just gone to waste!)
 
I've been a bit under the weather lately.  I missed church a few weeks ago.  Three people asked Ryan if I was pregnant.  Not to break any hearts, but the answer is no.  It does bring me to one of three conclusions.

1.  People think I can actually handle 5 kids. (hahahahaha)
2.  They assume if I did go for 5, now is the time I would do it????    OR
3.  I look pregant.  Which is why I continue to suffer through my plank workout.

And for the record, I have never missed church (or anything for that matter) because of first trimester yuckiness.  Can't a girl get sick once in awhile?

Lexi and Kendri love Taylor Swift.  LOVE.  Tonight after soccer practice Lexi plopped her little self down in the passenger seat, threw on my old sunglasses and proceeded to belt out Taylor Swift.  It was a little glimpse of what the teenage years will bring.....I guess I'm on board whether I like it or not!

And one last thing.http://hahasforhoohas.com/the-fart-that-almost-altered-my-destiny

Ryan showed me this article.  I literally almost died laughing.  I haven't laughed that hard since the Chicago trip.  (I'll just say this, there was a Rice Krispy Treat, a male flight attendant and two twins involved.  But that's for another time.)  Anyway, tears were rolling down my cheeks and Ryan was dumbfounded.  He kept asking why I was crying.  I couldn't answer due to the lack of oxygen to my brain.  Ahhh, laughter really is the best medicine!

 

 

Discovery Museum

 

We also went to the Children's Discovery Museum at the Gateway Mall while on our trip to Utah.  This is where we discovered tons of fun!

This helicopter had an intercom system hooked up in the cock pit.  It blared out over the patio.  Kendri got on it and said, "And the bad news is.......we're coming in for a CRASH landing!"  I dare say she threw the children into a panic....Talk about dramatic. :)

 

I tried to get a picture of all the kids in the barn area.  Shayli was on her way to the horse, she just didn't make it for this particular picture!

 

 

Kyson and Pa had a good time building the tallest magnet tower EVER.  I won't mention how many times it came crashing down before it managed to stand for a little while.....In fact, I thought we might get tossed out after some of the magnets narrowly missed some other guests. Who were sitting 20 feet away.  Oops. :)

 

And of course the news room was  a great place to give the latest updates on everything....

 

.......including the weather.

Uncle Philip helping Kyson build a magnetic track.

 

And finally, the super market. Kyson played cashier while the girls manned the bakery.

 

 

 There was actually a lot more that we did but I figured you've suffered through enough!    My cousin Laney just happened to be getting married the same weekend we were in Utah.  Lucky coincidence!  I was able to see my family at the same time. 

 Okay.  I lied.  Just a few more pictures. (What? I need to document it for posterity's sake....)

 

Shayli spent much of her time at this water table.  What 1 year-old doesn't love to splash around?

 

 

And this is how I spent my time on the way home.  Shayli needed mommy to keep her company.  And she didn't feel the need to be gentle with me.  I could only tolerate the hair pulling and lip yanking for so long.  I eventually went back to the front and little Miss Shayli had to work it out on her own. Too bad, so sad!  ;)

Utah trip

We recently made an unexpected trip to Utah.  Ryan's sweet Aunt Charlie passed and we went out for the funeral.  While the circumstances were sad, we decided to make it a fun trip for the kids.  After all, Aunt Charlie always loved a good party!  And so we did. 

 

 

We went to a place called Jump on It.  And jump we did!

 

There was also a fun foam pit to jump in.

 

And trampolines lining the walls . 

 

And rock walls and rope swings.  This place had it all!  This area was actually only supposed to be for ages 9 and up.  Lexi pretended to be 9 for a half hour.  Poor Kendri only got to watch.  Boo!

 

I think Kyson needs to go to this place on a daily basis.  He certainly expended plenty of energy!  Needless to say, we had a blast!

Back-to-School and Super Heroes

We started school a few weeks ago.  July 28, to be exact.  It always feels way to soon to be going back to school in July, but I certainly don't complain when all of our breaks show up!  Here are the girls getting ready to head to 1st grade and 3rd grade.  Whew.  When did that happen??? 

 

While the girls were having a great first day of school, Kyson and I decided it was time to get some more boy costumes in our house.  It is time pack those princess dresses away!  So Super Hero Kyson was born!

He's been practicing his flying technique.  He's just not sure how to get his feet up and behind him......;)