Christmas Morning

Good morning Everyone! Here is how we started our day!

Merry Christmas!



And here are some pictures too!

FINALLY!!!!

Wow - Have I been remiss in posting! Nov. 29th was the last one! We have been plugging along!


Taylor has finished her first semester finals and is out of school. English is the only grade in so far and it was passing! Now 5 more to go! She went to Cali with her friend Amelia and spent the day at Universal Studios. She had a great time!


Reagan W\\\\\\\\\\\\\` - ok - I am skipping to Matthew for a moment - as I went to get a cup of coffee, Matthew decided to post a few characters to the blog - Here is what I returned to find...

Just LIKE his Daddy - tongue sticking out in concentration and everything! And then he was not happy at me taking it away!

He is still creeping around - he gets up on all fours and then lays forward on his tummy and then back up again. He is growing so fast! His 8 month birthday was on Sunday!

Now back to Miss Reags. She was invited to Vail's birthday party at the Ice den. What a great time! Here is a video of her first ice skating experience! She did so great!

Santa is much anticipated! With a list 2 miles long. We are trying to get things worked out for her to begin a new montessori preschool in January and she is very excited about that as well. Keep your fingers crossed that we can get it worked out!

Rod and I have been sneaking around working with Santa on a BIG Christmas surprise. All will be revealed shortly!

Merry Christmas everyone!

What we are thankful for.......

It's two days after Thanksgiving, and I am behind in posting what we are grateful for.....

Reagan is thankful for "Mom, my whole family, my momma Bonnie Willingham (yes, she said first & last name), Sissy, and nothing else."

I am thankful for my life, my children being healthy and happy, my husband, all of my family, my circle of friends, LLI for changing our thinking and outlook for the better almost 4 years ago! Being in beautiful Sedona for a week!

Taylor is thankful for "My whole family, all of my friends, my life, texting, food, a warm home, and and of course the little man that is always cute and kind to me Matthew!! And I am thankful for all the smiles and hugs i get from everyone! :D "

Rod is thankful for "My wonderful wife and kids, my family, friends, being able to work at home, LLI and all of the opportunity that it represents, and being able to travel the world."

Party, party

This has been a busy weekend for birthday parties!  Our friend Raven had her 5th birthday on Saturday and we went over to her house for dinner and cupcakes.  It was a fun night for the kids and the adults!  Today was celebrating Olivia's 3rd birthday at the Train park.  Matthew, Reagan and I got to ride the train!  It was Matthew's first train ride.  You can see our friends Kristen in the blue, Lisa in the jersey, Skye is in the camo and you know the rest of us!

Taylor has had a full weekend of hanging out with friends!  She is happy to have lots of free time with no soccer.  

So today I was pushing Reagan on the swing.  Matthew found great humor in this for some reason.  Please excuse the video and know you are playing the video for the audio more than the picture!  I had a camera in one hand, pushing with the other and Matthew in the carrier - enough said!  Enjoy though!

And now for the really fun news...... Drum roll please......

I shaved Rod's head!  He wouldn't do it earlier because of concern of sunburn during the summer, so now that it is not summer.  I was the instigator and he can blame me, but I like it and all of our friends agree that he looks good.  What do you think?

Drama, Drama!!! Enough ALREADY!

I am not very in love with desert living after last week!

Poor Little Miss Reagan got stung by a scorpion!  It was under a pillow on the couch.  I do not like AZ wildlife - bugs included!  So a call to the pediatrician and poison control let us know to just wash with soap and water and put a cold wash cloth on it.  You don't have to worry unless she starts drooling uncontrollably.  And it takes 6 hours for the effects of the poison to peak.  ARGH - information that I wish I did not need to know!

And that was after Jill (our occasional babysitter) got stung last Thursday while playing with Reagan on the floor in the family room.  She was OK too, but enough is enough!

Rod has become the scorpion hunter!  He has purchased a black light and searches through the house after it's dark!  Last night was the first night he didn't find one!  The exterminator explained that they come out during the day when it warms up from where they are hiding in the walls - makes me feel great!!!!  

Taylor had a trip to the ER after heading 3 balls in her final soccer game Sunday.  They only played 4 last weekend (yes, that was heavy sarcasm!)  She was OK and took Monday off school to rest and recuperate!  No child should have to do that!  2 back to back games each day left her exhausted and disgusted at 3 losses and one tie.  We have had a welcome break from practice and have one more tournament this weekend for the season to end.  I guess there won't be enough girls to play this next season since we have reached the high school age and most schools have teams that they will play with - we don't so Taylor is HAPPY to take a break.  Now to figure out what to do next......

We had a great Halloween!  Reagan and Matthew went trick-or-treating with Reagan's boyfriend Chance and his sister Vail.  We made it about an hour and headed home.  Taylor went with Amelia and her mom Jen to trick-or-treat.  They had fun and Jen and I have decided that this year was it - they are too OLD to go without the front of Reagan :)))

Here is also a picture of our pumpkin!

And a quick little video of just good clean fun (excuse the corny pun!)

Recovering from last night.... not the parents, the kids

Well Reagan and Taylor both had a big night last night!  Both had Halloween parties!  Reagan went to Lifetime Fitness for their parent's night out Halloween style. She was in costume and had a great time!  Her favorite part of last night was "the bouncy house"  and nothing else!  They had pizza and watched Monsters, Inc.  

Reagan had school pictures on Thursday and I am so grateful that Rod has the flexibility to be home and help with running everyone here and there!  I had a class at the gym (more on that later) and he got Reagan ready and took her for the pictures!  Last year's were really great - can't wait to see what she's done this year!

Taylor and Amelia went to a school friend's Halloween/Surprise Birthday party.  It was a little unnerving turning her loose at a party like that, but Jen - Amelia's mom - did the due diligence with Conor's mom and approved!  I tried, but never got my message returned!  They got to hang out until 11:30!  And Rod went to get them.  Of course I am waiting for the dead to arise and get all the details!

The soccer team did not do so hot yesterday, but Tay was very excited to get to play forward.  And they did score (go Nicole)!  So while it was tied for a while the other team got another one in and we lost 1-2.  Next weekend is a tournament!

Matthew is really mobile these days!  He rolls, rocks, lunges forward and can get to anything he wants.  It is just a matter of days that he will crawl for real!  And the second tooth is almost here!  This is going by tooooo fast!  He is really a little boy!  

We had our 6 month doctor visit - he is 27.5 inches long, 16.4 pounds.  That puts him in the 80% for height and the 30% for weight.  Tall and skinny can work!  We have slowed down on eating solids - he is not that into it right now.  

Here is a little video of our creeping this morning!

I have been working really hard at the gym the past two weeks!  I have joined the cardio O2 club where you work with a trainer in a group setting to achieve running goals.  I have discovered how much I like running and hope this will make a big difference!  Plus I need the cardio to burn off the baby fat - 8 pounds to go to pre-baby weight!  Rod is in search of a new trainer - Brian is leaving for a better job in Nebraska!  So I might drag him along with me until he figures that out!  He looks great and I am really proud of him!

No, I haven't forgotten about my blog!

We are moved!  The new house is great and the location is even better.  10 minutes to school and 15 minutes to the soccer carpool.  Life is good.  We are finally settling into a routine and beginning to relax.  This moved kicked our booty!  All in all it took 16 days to complete everything and return the trailer.  I have informed Rod that we will be in this house until we are clear and can afford a packing crew, moving company and a designer & organizational specialist for the new house.  We will call everyone in and leave for vacation - then when we are home, everything is moved, unpacked and perfectly organized!   

Taylor is plugging along in school.  Quarter grades were so so and she has much room to improve.  It was fun to chat with some of her teachers at a fund raiser this weekend - all are in agreement that she is very, very capable and can do great things.  Now to convince her that it is true :)  Her soccer game this weekend was lost 4-1 and they are all going to get a couple of months off this year from Nov to Feb.  We are all looking forward to that!

Reagan is now going to school 3 days a week instead of 5.  5 days was way too much and was making her a grumpy butt!  And add that on top of her precociousness and it was not pleasant for anyone :)  She is loving her new room and is sleeping better in this house than she did at the purple house.  Knock on wood, she has slept through the night since we moved in!  

Matthew is beginning to eat solids - his favorite is baked sweet potatoes!  He does not like oatmeal at all and spit out every bite!  Avocado and bananas work and I am thinking we are going to try brown rice next.  I am proud to declare that we have not bough any baby food (yet HEE HEE).  All has been cooked or mashed up fresh.  I am sure that won't last too long!  He got his first tooth this week and I suspect he is working on the second already.  He is not too bad when teething - just a little runny nose and a couple of restless nights.  

We had family hot tub time this afternoon.  We are really enjoying going out and having the hot tub.  Here is a video of the kids playing.

Hugs from all of us to you!  Have a great week!

Hello All!  

We are celebrating finally finding a new house to lease!  We are moving on Tuesday and this has been a crazy ride!  We decided at the close of summer break that where we are living is too far for all the activities the kiddos are in.  Both Reagan and Taylor go to schools that do not offer bus service, soooo the 20 miles or so one way to school really, really add up fast!  So our new house eliminates about 10 miles to school.  It is beautiful and has some GRASS in the back yard!  

Taylor played in a soccer tournament last weekend and they won the last game on Sunday.  She did a great job playing goalie and sweeper!  She and Rod are at a game now - luckily there is only one this weekend.  

Reagan's social calendar is packed with parties, parties and more parties!  We went to Morgan's 4th birthday last Saturday and she got to ride a horse!  Today we head to Briyanna's princess pool party!  

Sense of Accomplishment

I had a very intense Mommy in charge of all 3 day yesterday!  Rod was at a one-day training for our home business and Reagan had a 4 hour birthday party!  I drug Taylor and Matthew because Tay had a soccer game and hour after the party and wouldn't have time to get home and back in time (can't wait to move!) The party was outside - jumpy castle, clown, horse - the works.  And did I mention it was hot as hell!  So we blew that off early and went home to cool off for 45 minutes before we had to leave again.  Then on to soccer.  The game itself is about an hour and 15 minutes total, but the 45 minutes you have to be there before makes it kinda long.  So we made it on time, I successfully got the double jogging stroller out, kids loaded and chair stacked on their heads.  After, we loaded up and went to dinner  - we had 45 minutes to were had to be back for the last game at 8:00!  At 9:40 we were in the car heading home with Rod calling and telling me to come to Greasewood to say hi to everybody.  Everyone was asleep before we got back to Dynamite!  I got the two little ones in bed without waking up (thank god) and changed to go hang out and have a beer with the LLI gang.  It was a very full day and I crawled in bed at 12:45!