Halloween Happenings, 2012

Happy Halloween from Julia (the Queen of Hearts), Bella (the Olympic gymnast) and Camille (the Monarch butterfly)!

We had a great Halloween this year! My brother and sister in law, Kyle and Melanie, came to visit this last week and joined in the Halloween fun (and helped eat Bella's candy with nuts). :-)

TOTing at one of the 'fun' houses!

Kyle, Mel and the girls

Goofy Uncle Kyle!

Our week in pictures

Julia before her 'tween' Halloween dance

Julia and Ashlynn and their new BFF necklaces

Cousins' dinner! This was the only shot where camera hog Camille was not directly in front of the lens!

Since my mom could stay home with Camille, I surprised the girls with a Taco Bell lunch at school.

Bella loved sitting with me at lunch. Julia on the other hand thanked me for the lunch with a hug and kiss and skipped off to her friends' table. :-)

Both girls were recognized at their school assembly for their straight A's!

To finish our our fun week, we met up with Melody (my friend since 2nd grade) and her family for a BBQ. It is so fun to see our kids play together! Their kids are Julia's age- Ashley's twin brother quickly ran off to a friend's house in order to avoid playing with 4 girls! 

Camping 2012

Camping is not my favorite activities- I'm more of a running water kind of gal. :-)  BUT, the girls and Chet love camping so I tag along for the memories. We recently went camping in Oak Creek Canyon with the Lamis' side and as usual had a blast.

 

If I have to camp, this is the ideal camp spot. What a way to wake up in the morning!

Brennan and Bella

The kids wanted nothing more than to explore....

 

"chop" wood, 

(Issac and Bella spent a lot of time carving this fallen tree!)

hike 

 

Cuties! Camille and Keeley waiting for s'mores!

  

 and sit by the fire!

Nanny with the 'baby" grandkids

And just to prove that I am not void of all outdoor skills, here I am contributing to the wood cutting for the fire!  

More camping fun....

My tiny tumbler

Bella is constantly in full gymnastics mode- she talks about it, is always tumbling and learning new skills. She LOVES her team and finally (I think) found her 'thing" for the next few years. Her passion and ability come naturally to her- I wish I could say they were inherited. 

 

 Bella is the one in her full splits, on the left. We joke that she may be missing some of her ligaments!

Can't wait to see watch her compete starting in January. Go Bella!!

The good

 I miss pictures like this!! 

And yes, that is an adult size Razor scooter- Chet didn't want to miss out on the fun!

There is a lot of good in our life right now!

The weather is changing and we are getting a head start on welcoming the Fall!  I am ready to put out the fall decor NOW and we already bought all 3 girls' costumer for Halloween. I am done with summer and ready to move on!

The weather was so nice this weekend and we finally got out to the park. I cannot describe how nice it felt to run in the grass, practice soccer drills with Julia and just get some exercise!

 This picture shows how BIG the soccer field is for Julia's division this year. It's a full size field- this picture was taken at mid field only. She was SO sore after running back and forth during her first game this last weekend. 

 The "kids" on their scooters.

 JOY!!!

 Bella and Chet doing cartwheels. Did I mention how happy we were to be outside?? ;-) 

 I think I need to work on my back bend form a little!

And this added 'good' to a rough day for Julia. Despite putting in so much work and effort into her campaign, Julia was not elected Student Council Secretary this year and was devastated. At 10 years old, its a little hard to understand that there is a life lesson in all experiences (good and bad) and that she can try again next year. After seeing her visibly upset after school, these 2 neighbor boys, Tyler and Cody who just moved next door this Spring, came by with this bouquet of flowers for Julia. They truly have been wonderful neighbors and have shown such kindness to us.  It really brightened her day and she was so honored.

Life as we know it

Life with older kids is a whole new experience! Fun and VERY busy! While Camille is content with play dates, trips to the park and morning cartoons, Julia and Bella have definitely found their own passions and interests. We are committed to something 6 nights a week but it's exciting and forces us to be more organized and do everything as a team. I think my kids are tired of my "team" speeches!

Julia ran for Student Council class representative again and was elected! Her next goal is to be elected Student Council Secretary. She prepared another speech to be videotaped and aired to the entire school- happening today! I am so proud of her- she knows what she wants, puts in the time and effort and doesn't let her nerves stand in her way. GO JULIA!

 

Julia is also playing soccer again this season and practices/plays 3 nights a week. This is the year where the teams get more competitive. She even had to try out for this team of 10-12 yr old girls. As one of the youngest, Julia was definitely wide eyed when spotting her older team mates for the 1st time! :)

 *This picture is from a soccer clinic and not of her actual team. 

Bella is still loving her gymnastics team. She has improved so much over the last 2 months and is getting ready for her first competition! From where I sit on the 2nd floor, all the girls looks the same size but I had to laugh when the coaches lined up the girls by height- Bella is in the red leotard, 2nd from the right. :-) With her size and agility, this is the perfect sport for her!

Looking forward to enjoying all these moments with the girls at their different stages right now. 

It's a good balance for us!

Just for fun

After a long, tiring week with the kids that made me joke to Chet about boarding school for all 3 kids (!), I welcomed these sweet moments in the last few days.

 

Camille dressed herself this morning to match Bella- down to the headband and sweater buttoned at the top. Truthfully, still not sure why Bella is even wearing a sweater and jeans in August! 

 Bella's ADORABLE note to the tooth fairy (for her 2nd lost tooth) that brought tears to my eyes. 

Her tooth was very loose but Camille accidentally knocked it out.

Bella was happy to find $1 under her pillow and a reply from the tooth fairy. In case you wanted to know, the TF said that she makes magic fairy dust with the teeth.

 A boy and his cat enjoying breakfast! Since Chet will be embarassed if I share that he LOVES this cat and vice versa, I won't say anything. ;-)

Finally, a husband who is never too busy or late for work to make us laugh. Here he is 'posing' with Piper. Piper may not love him as much after seeing this candid shot!