Batter Up!

Hey Batter Batter SWWWIIINNNGGG Batter! Cole's first T-ball game was today. It had to be one of the cutest things I had ever seen. Charlie got him suited up and ready to go.

Daddy was so excited, he even bought eye black for Cole...He looked absolutely ADORABLE!

The whole family made it to the game including Grandma & Grandpa Syrros, Aunt Julie, even Aunt Laurie and Ken who were in town from Montana.

Coach Bryan gave the kids a good pep talk and then it was time to get started!Love this picture of him :)Ready and waiting for the hit down the third base line. He played third just like daddy does.Charlie hardly left his side.I loved the fact that there was part of the Vegas skyline (S. Las Vegas Blvd.) in the background.After the game we all headed to T-Bird for lunch. Cole put his eye black on me and told me, "Mommy, you boo-ti-ful!"

He is Just Getting So Darn Big!

Chance continues to grow!

Bring Your Child To Work Day - 2010!

Being in the line of work we are in our office is rather iffy about the "Bring Your Child to Work" day. This year was no different, we didn't get the word if it was okay or not until the last minute. I had so much going on at work that I thought, "we'll just skip this this year."

We headed into work and didn't mention anything to Kadence. We haven't brought Cole before because he is still a little to rambunctious to last all day with us in a somewhat quiet atmosphere. When I got to work the guilt of not including Kadence really started to eat away at me. I just had a lump in my throat all morning because I was on the verge of tears. How could I not include her on this day she loves so much because, "I am too busy!" I always have told myself that I would never allow myself to be that mom that is just "too busy". Yet here I was allowing int to happen. The sinking feeling in my gut just got worse and worse until I couldn't stand it anymore. I walked into my bosses office holding back the tears and explained that I just had to go get her. Of course he obliged and out the door I went.

I walked into the front school of her office and explained to the secretary that I would like to pull my daughter out of class to take her to work with me. She gave me a smile as if to say, "what a good mom!" I finally realized I was doing the right thing. Whatever was going on at work would have to wait one more day.

The second Kadee walked into the front office and saw me standing there she lit up and had a smile from ear to ear. "Mommy, what are you doing here?" she asked. I told her it was Take Your Child to Work Day and that I couldn't stand being at work without her.

We headed back into town and met Clarice and Kaitlin at Jason's Deli. It was packed with proud parents and even prouder kids who were accompanying them to work that day.

From there we headed into the office where we did our tour of the office. The jail cells are always a helpful reminder for us to hammer home the point that if you are bad enough, you might just end up here!

Erin and Tony stocked the kids up with lots of "Company Propaganda" supplies. Kadee had a blast and I was so glad I went and got her.

She asks me about this day all year long, and to think I almost deprived her of something she looks so forward to. Thank goodness my mommy instincts kicked in and told my work instinct to cool it for the day.

Next year I will bring Cole in as well...

Have I Mentioned That I LOVE Raspberries!

Thanks Grandma for the yummy raspberries...

In the Mood to Plant Some Flowers

Kadee and I got a bug this weekend to plant some more flowers. We headed to the nursery down the street, picked out our red wagon and spent about 45 minutes strolling through the aisles looking for just the right flowers and shrubs.

We got a special surprise when we ran into Kadee's friend Reena and her family. We caught up with them for a while (they were buying rose bushes for their yard) and then made our final selections.

While in line at the cashier's we were amazed to discover that they sold live ladybugs in a tub. I was going to throw Chance a bug party for his first birthday party, instead decided to just do a small celebration and to postpone bugs till next year. Anyway, I found a website where you could buy ladybugs. They would send them in hibernation (basically frozen) and then you defrost them when you are ready to release them. Dallas was not sure if "frozen" lady bugs were ethical or not, now I can set her worries to rest and ensure that I will by warm, live lady bugs for the party next year :)

We got home and planted away. I bought some red geraniums (my favorite outdoor flower - but they have a tough time in the Vegas heat). I couldn't resist putting a couple in my red buckets.

Next we replanted the center circle of our front yard. We picked good old hearty marigolds and a couple different bushes. We added one of my cute little yard signs and voila!

Cheerios Anyone?

I came down the other morning to find this.

The box of Cheerios was pretty much gone so I put it beside the trash can to throw out. Well Chance found it and decided he was going to finish every last one. He loves his food!

Lake Havasu Here We Come...

To go or not to go??? That was the big question this week. It seemed like everything that could go wrong was going wrong. We had planned a long weekend camping trip to Lake Havasu with our friends the Prossers and the Millers. We had been looking forward to it until...Chance came down with yet another ear infection; Charlie hurt his back to the point he couldn't even stand straight (he was hunched over so bad he looked like the hunchback of Notre Dame - he was in MAJOR pain; we lost the keys to the camper (we tore the ENTIRE house apart looking for them and in doing so finally got our garage straightened up a little); and when we were sure nothing else could possibly go wrong my closet fell down on me and Cole while I was packing. All I could think is that somebody was trying to tell us that it was not a good idea to go on this trip. We cancelled our reservations, called the Prossers and told them we just weren't going to make it and were pretty much set on not going until...Charlie found the keys in his jacket pocket. We made a last minute decision that we were going one way or another. We had been looking so forward to it and were pretty bummed about not going. Hey you only live once! I made a mad dash to the store to get food for the weekend. We hurried and packed everything up and pulled out of town late that afternoon. We couldn't get a hold of the Prosser's to let them know we were coming so it was a pretty big surprise when we pulled into the spot next to them at about 8:00 pm that night! We got set up and tried to relax a little!

Our campground was Awesome. There was nice big shade trees and the lake was just a few yards away!
The next morning we rented a pontoon with the Prossers. Everyone else had their own boats but we figured the pontoon would be the best for all the little ones. We enjoyed Wayne's DELICIOUS bloody mary's and then headed out on the boats to find a nice cove to stop and play in. Chance hung out in the boat where he practiced his "Look how cool I am" look.The girls had none other than an Oreo eating contest.Cole worked really hard to make a sandcastle.And we played and we played and we played in the water!Kadee trying out the boogie board.Kadee and Cole and the girls ventured over to the island not far from us.
Our misfortunes seemed to follow us on the trip unfortunately. It was pretty windy on the lake and while we were cruising along the shade cover of the pontoon snapped in half and whacked Charlie right in the head. I joked with him that whoever had a voodoo doll of him must have been pretty angry and really taking it out on him!

Regardless, we had a lot of fun. There was a lot of relaxing time. I snapped this cute pic of all the kids hanging out in the camper watching a movie. It makes me think of how times have changed, when I was their age the thought of watching t.v. while camping was crazy!I am so glad we didn't let our string of bad luck get in the way of going. It was worth getting out of town and just kicking back a little.

Happy Birthday Gia!

Our niece Giavanna turned two today! She is absolutely adorable! We miss not being their to share her special day but hope she knows how much we lover her!

Happy Birthday Gia.

Happy Easter 2010!

This year the Easter Bunny came in grand fashion. He gave the kids a little different gift this year. Instead of little toys that will just end up in the trash or in a yard sale down the road the kid's baskets were flower pots. They were filled with shovels, rakes, gloves and of course a little candy. Grandma & Grandpa Syrros and Grandma & Grandpa Neilson also spoiled them a little bit with lots of goodies.

The Easter Bunny also brought some flowers and potting mix so the kids could plant their very own flowers and have something beautiful that lasts! When the kids woke up in the morning they raced down and were pretty excited over their Easter "baskets"! After breakfast we headed out to do a quick Easter Egg hunt. This hunt was for the hard boiled eggs. Kadee and Cole raced all over the front yard while Chance watched laughing. He thought they were pretty funny.

After the Easter egg hunt it was time to get down to business and plant some flowers. We got everything laid out and ready. The kids put the flowers in themselves and I helped them fill the pots with dirt.

Then it was time to water. We added my cute little yard stakes to each pot which made them look so darn cute!

We headed over to Julie's for Easter dinner. The kids were surprised with more goodies. Grandpa Syrros insisted on getting each of them these HUGE but absolutely adorable bunnies. Each one of them loved them so much!Then it was time for another Easter egg hunt (they are so fun to watch we have multiple!). This time it was for the plastic eggs full of candy and best of all $$$$$! Kadee and Cole got set, got ready and were off!Uncle Pete helped Chance look for eggs.Cinnamon watched Kadee open all of her eggs to see what she got.Julie got Cole the coolest bubble set. Usually these things just don't work but this one worked and was amazing. The bubbles were enormous.
We had a wonderful Easter Dinner (HoneyBaked Ham - my favorite!) and a wonderful day just relaxing and watching the kids have fun!