Fire Station Field Trip

We went on a field trip to a fire station yesterday. All the pictures are pretty self-explanatory. Our group was so big that the station asked if some of us could come a little earlier so they could try to get us through faster & easier. So, right after P.E. we went up there. Our group was very small as many parents still had kids in the 2nd P.E. group & couldn't get up there early. Yeah for us. Both kids have visited fire stations before -twice each in preschool. The only new thing they experienced was the safety trailer. They learned fire saftey rules & smoke was blown in . They had to escape out the back window & down a ladder.
Only problem with this type of field trip is Hannah is a worrier. She had trouble sleeping last night because she was afraid our house would catch on fire. I'm pretty sure she'll want to get to Home Depot to price escape ladders.

On another note, we are still waiting for that real estate deal to go through. It's an almost agonizing wait (for me anyway).

Hannah will start playing basketball with the homeschool league next Wednesday. After that she'll play hockey-no, not ice hockey.

There's not too much exciting to report.

Happy Birthday Fred

We want to say happy birthday to our brother-in-law. If you are reading this we wish you a great day. I've been thinking how I want to remember everyone's birthday by saying so here on our blog. I'm thinking it may be hard to cover everyone on their actual birthday so I may just list once per month with everyone I want to send best wishes to. I would feel bad if I couldn't post for some reason. I'll start in February. Okay? All right then...

Above is a picture of Boba Fett aka Joshua. I don't have many new pictures. And above that is a picture of my souvenir from Disneyland. Since both sets of parents pitched in and paid for most of it I thought you guys would like to see it now rather than waiting till your next visit. Can you make out our last name in it? I love this kind of lettering. When we were on our honeymoon I got an ocean themed one that says "Todd (heart) Kathy". It's in our bedroom. I thought having a Disney themed one for the whole family would be appropriate. I specifically asked the artist for pirates,Cinderella,Ariel, & Tinkerbell & this is the end result.

Happy Birthday Hubby!

Today is Todd's birthday! He's lucky my mom is coming over otherwise he probably would not get dinner at one of his favorite restaurants this year-Texas Roadhouse. Birthdays will be suffering cutbacks this year. I usually have a problem getting him a present because his "want" list is stuff like a new Mac. Yeah,right. Both the Steelers & Cardinals have given me great birthday ideas just in time! Hard to believe. I think I need to buy division championship shirts for both teams in bulk so I have extra when they wear out. When will both of his teams go to the Superbowl together again? I think the chances are pretty slim. Oh, and the Penguins won on Sunday too so it was a hat trick of sorts even though it was just a regular season game for them. Still, all 3 of his teams won. I guess it was an early birthday present. Just in case any of you are unclear about this-Todd will be cheering for the Steeleres first, Cardinals 2nd. The Cards making it to the Superbowl have me thinking my Blackhawks could overcome their curse someday in my lifetime! Impossible things CAN happen.

No pictures today. Next Monday we have a field trip to a fire station so I hope to get some good pictures from that. We tour the station & the kids get to go in a fire safety trailer that teaches them what to do in case of a fire & how to get out. I think they blow fog in so it's "smokey".

We are thankful for the people who have been praying for Todd's job situation. The one really good prospect unfortunately did not pan out. The city of Phoenix has sent a rejection letter as well as a couple other companies. I know I'm pretty discouraged & am trying really hard not to worry. One of my favorite verses is in Jeremiah 29-For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord....plans to give you hope & a future...
I believe it deep down but it's certainly hard to remember in the midst of trouble. God has a plan. I just don't know what it is & it drives me nuts. I'm a good planner-why wouldn't he share it with me? Apparently He's a better planner. We're approaching 9 months of unemployment so we are still in need of prayer. I'd appreciate prayer for my job as well. I want to keep my blog fun & not bog it down with my complaints/frustrations there so I just ask for prayer for me to be able to "deal with it".

More Family Snow Day

Joshua having fun.

Last year any pictures I took had lots of other people in the background. Notice what's behind them this year? We loved a weekday after school starts. The only problem was not having some stranger take a family shot of us. A problem I'm more than willing to have when I know Todd can photoshop one of us into another picture!

And Hannah having fun!

Joshua, Frosty, & Hannah


We went up to Flagstaff on a Tuesday to play in the snow & then went to Strawberry to spend the night with my parents. The snow where we went sledding was too soft to make a snowman or snowballs but it was perfect for snow angels. When we got to my parents house there was some snow around & it happened to be very good for making a snowman and some snowballs. I actually found a twig that shape for the mouth. The kids had a ton of fun & wore themselves out. I'm looking forward to the next field trip wherever that might be.....

Our Flagstaff/Strawberry Trip

Playing in the snow is fun.

Being able to drive back home in 2 hours to enjoy the warm sunny weather is priceless!

Happy New Year!

All of us at the Narnia exhibit at the Science Center. I'd have had a lot of pictures of the very cool stuff inside but video & still photography was a no-no in here. Don't know why & it was disappointing but we could get our picture before we went in. At least they let us have that.

Mother's Day 2008

Letting our butterflies go. That was a fun project that I hope we can do again this spring.

Hannah caught the bouquet at Paul & Cami's wedding. She was excited about that.

Joshua at a Roadrunners game.


Happy New Year to everyone. We hope 2009 is loaded with blessings for you all!

I have been sick for four days but started to feel better yesterday. I'm spending today cleaning everything that was let go while I was too tired to do anything-plus washing everything I coughed all over. Fun, huh? I'm glad to be getting better & really hope the rest of the family doesn't get it. We want to take the kids to play in the snow next week when all the other kids start school again.

We are still waiting to hear from the City of Phoenix. The bad news is if they even call in January then Todd probably won't be able to train until March. At least that's what we've heard. Good news is one of Todd's clients finally got an offer accepted. They did an inspection yesterday & close of escrow is supposed to be next Friday. Thank you Lord!

Anyway, I thought it would be fun to post just a small tiny handful of some of my favorite pictures from last year. This was really hard to do since there are literally hundreds of pictures to choose from. I pared down our Disneyland pictures to just 250.
I admit I like to take pictures of my family. I'm even good at printing them right away. I'm an absolute failure at scrapbooking them. I'm hoping to get better at that.

Happy 1st Birthday Brendan

Hannah & Joshua with 2 of their Arizona cousins-Ashleigh & Robert

Christmas Day

The kids with Grandma & Papa

This day after Christmas we want to wish a Happy Birthday to our nephew, Brendan, who turns one today. Don't worry, when I wish the adults happy birthday I won't put the age! Can't wait to meet you some day-maybe October 2009 in Anaheim, CA???? Hint, hint to your parents.

We went to my sister's house for Christmas and had a nice time & dinner. The kids are enjoying all their gifts right now. It was pretty much a Star Wars Christmas for Joshua. He has decided he wants another Star Wars birthday party in May. I got a globe I have been wanting for a couple years now. It is awesome but I don't expect anyone other than homeschooling moms will understand my excitement over a globe. Part of our Disneyland annual passes were gifts too & that gift will keep on giving too. Thanks to both our sets of parents for your gifts-they rock!

It rained most of the day & night which I quite enjoyed. After we got home we watched one of the many movies we got. Sometime when I wasn't looking Todd posted the entry below mine. I told you you'd be able to tell the difference between our postings. I hate to push his down more so please read on after this one. For someone who doesn't always have a lot to say it's worth a read. I have to add it's pretty darn nice to have a hubby who puts up with me day after day as well. I thank God for that Roadrunners hockey game we both attended in 1994....

Todd's Holiday (holy-day) Thankful List

I'm thankful this year for everyone who has chosen to replace "Merry Christmas" with "Happy Holidays". Thanks for reminding us that these are "holy" days, especially the one set apart to celebrate God Himself becoming flesh and blood in a little stable in Bethlehem a couple thousand years ago.

I'm thankful that God has taken care of us through 8 months of unemployment. I've had a perfect opportunity to prove my trust, and I sure wish I'd done a better job of it. I've seen God miraculously provide, I know He will work everything together for good, and yet I am still plagued by doubt and worry. Which makes me thankful for God's unrelenting grace and forgiveness.

I'm thankful for all the time I got to spend with my family this year (an upside to unemployment).

I'm thankful that I have no clue what I will be doing in 2009. Will I be working a city job, delivering pizza, mowing lawns, graphic design, prepress, or just relying on real estate? Or something I can't even imagine yet? I'm certainly not stuck in a dead-end job or even a boring life! God is keeping things fresh and exciting (in a scary kind of way).

I'm especially thankful for my family. They are a gift I could never have deserved or earned. A wife that can put up with me every day is pretty special, and kids as smart, healthy and loving as Hannah & Joshua are a blessing beyond words.

Happy Birthday Jesus. This is a holy day, I pray that everyone who reads this will stop to thank you for coming to earth and dying that horrific death to pay the price for all of our shortcomings. Please grow our faith and be at the center of our lives, and thank you in advance for whatever 2009 brings our way!

Merry Christmas Eve

We get a private Meet & Greet with a character because of our Disney Visa card. We did this twice during this visit. Once with Pluto & the other with Chip & Dale. You get a free 5x7 photo each day you do it. Those were the only characters they had lined up otherwise I'd have wanted to do it every day. One year we got Mickey & Goofy.

This was one one several goofy pictures of the kids on the sailing ship "Columbia". It sails around Tom Sawyers Island/Pirates Lair. We also went on the Mark Twain Riverboat. It was the first time we did either one of those in all our visits.

This picture is in front of Santa's Reindeer Roundup aka Big Thunder Ranch. It was a contender for our Christmas card picture. Inside the ranch was not as fun as I imagined. The kids did not want to wait to see Santa & only Hannah would stand with Mrs. Claus (who had no line). They charged ($5 each) to decorate cookies which I remember as being free around Halloween time & that included a craft too. They had at least one turkey that had been pardoned by the President. They had live reindeer which as you can imagine did not give the place a lovely smell. 10 minutes and we were outta there. Good photo op out front though!

Hannah & Joshua with the Walt & Mickey statue & Sleeping Beauty's castle behind them.

Another picture from Santa's Reindeer Roundup

We want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas tomorrow. Hopefully you all got your cards but I know some of you may be getting mail a little slower than usual. Stay safe as you prepare for Christmas. I'd glady take a little of the weather from you if I could. Todd had to work part of today but the kids and I have been busy making cookies,fudge, & birthday brownies. We usually make a birthday cake for Jesus and eat it for breakfast on Christmas morning & sing Happy Birthday to Him before presents. This year we picked birthday brownies because we thought Todd would prefer it over cake. We usually open one gift on Christmas Eve so we'll probably do that after dinner. We will be at my sister's house tomorrow & are praying there's not too much snow to keep Grandma & Papa from coming.

Wherever you are tomorrow we hope you enjoy your time with family and remember the reason for the holiday. Don't leave Jesus out of His birthday celebration!

Happy Birthday Jim! and some more Disney:)

I'd like to say Happy Birthday to my brother if you ever visit here. Just know I hope you had a good day.

The family picture above is on Hannah's favorite ride-Grizzly River Run. We only went on it once this trip because no one likes to be wet AND cold. We went without a stroller this year so my plans of always bringing a change of dry clothes along could not be upheld this visit. Hannah was disappointed but the nice Australian family across from us took our picture before we went down the river. My speculation that "they" can control the rapids so you don't get soaked in the winter months was off base. While I only got a little wet Todd did not fare as well. Hannah was pretty wet too but her silky Jasmine costume dried a lot faster than jeans. A cast member confirmed it as well. We will make up for the lack of rides on it next year when it's warmer.

Joshua with Chip & Dale.

Don't ask me which chipmunk is which. Todd told me how to tell the difference but I forgot-something about their teeth.....

Hannah as Tinkerbell with Tink herself

Meeting Tinkerbell in Pixie Hollow is new this year so it's our first time to "see" her other than on a parade float or flying over the castle. You also get to meet one of her pixie/fairy friends. We got to meet Silvermist which happens to be Hannah's favorite pixie next to Tinkerbell. Joshua has a favorite pixie too-it's Fawn if you want to know. Tink's home is where Ariel as a mermaid in her clam shell used to be.

I love this picture of the kids. So cute. It was a tree outside the Disneyland Hotel. We didn't stay there but I have no problem using their tree for my photo ops.

Grandma & the kids-another cute picture!

This was at a pizza place in Downtown Disney. Yummy pizza. Thanks to Grandma we ate there twice!

More Fun Pictures

Here's Todd & the kids with their fancy cookies Grandma bought. When cookies cost as much as they do at Disneyland then I take pictures to remember the moment-not to mention my good looking family in the shot! I opted for a Mickey shaped ice cream bar later while Todd, Hannah, & Grandma went on California Screamin'.

The kids with Donald Duck. Donald is a hard character to find. This is only our second time seeing him in our 5 visits.

Of course we need a picture with Mickey & Minnie.

A teacup the whole family can fit in!

Every year we get a picture in this Dumbo. It's something I have to do-like a "Disneyland growth chart". This is the first year we didn't all fit in it. Sad.

I just wanted to post a few more pictures today before going to work. I have so many pictures I'd like to share. Keep in mind I won't be updating like this all the time. Todd worked on our vacation video this week & of course we've watched it several times. We started school back up yesterday but will be doing more fun stuff next week for CHRISTmas.

Hannah Rocks the Jedi Training Academy

Hannah got picked for the Jedi Training Academy & got to fight Darth Maul. I have no idea how to make the pictures come up in the order I want them so here they are anyway:

Hannah after she got her certificate.

She was so nervous that she wouldn't get picked before the show. I was so glad when the Jedi Master said "the girl in the blue shirt & pink hat". She didn't need too much training as she and Joshua fight all the time (with lightsabers I mean). Joshua was still not brave enough to try to get picked but maybe next year. They are outside right now playing "Jedi Training". One of them is the Master Jedi & they pick students from the imaginary crowd as well as their sibling. Then the Master teaches all the right moves to fight the imaginary Darth Vader & Darth Maul. They already have a plan to wear matching Obi-Wan costumes if they still fit in October. Hannah has a Padme costume that might be too small by then. I figure that Jedi Master won't be able to resist picking a Padme out of the crowd. Not many girls come dressed up for that show.
I remember a couple years ago when we were watching it when Darth Maul came out to glare at the crowd & Joshua was wearing a Vader cape & red lightsaber sticking up. Darth Maul walked by us and tapped his lightsaber to Joshua's lightsaber in something of a bad guy high five. Joshua thought that was cool and how it "didn't even kill me".
Good times, good times.

More Disneyland pictures

Me,Grandma,& Hannah

Me & Hannah on It's a Small World

Todd & Joshua-this picture was taken at Joshua's request. It was during lunch at the Jazz Kitchen Express in Downtown Disney. My handsome guys!

Joshua & Grandma on the new Toy Story Mania 3D ride. We love that ride. It's too bad the lines are so long since it's new otherwise I could ride it over & over again.

Todd & Joshua on our first ride of the trip-Big Thunder Mountain. It is also Joshua's first time on this coaster. He said he didn't like it but later in the week went on it again. He did the same with Splash Mountain & now likes all the mountains-yeah! This picture was obviously "before" the ride started.

Disneyland 2008!

We made it to Disneyland for our 5th annual family vacation. We got annual passes through a special deal in California Costcos thanks to some help from 2 very special friends-Amanda & Belinda (thanks again!). We have wanted to upgrade our hopper passes for a couple visits now in order to get 2 years out of the passes but have never done it. Costco had a deal if you bought the Deluxe Annual Pass (the pass we'd need)you got a $50 gift card to spend in the parks so buying 4 passes got us $200 in gift cards. This became our lunch money all week. So my 2 wonderful friends picked up the passes for us when they went to CA a couple months ago. Our next trip is planned for October before these passes run out.
We had a blast-of course. It was nice to see the Christmas parades & snow but we enjoy the less crowded fall time better. Todd's mom met us out there for 4 days of our visit. Hannah has now gone on every ride because she was brave enough to try the Maliboomer this year & liked it. Joshua was much braver this year too except he waited till the last 2 days to get really brave. He likes all the mountains-especially Space Mountain. By our last day he was brave enough to try Tower of Terror & California Screamin'. He says he did not like those but maybe he'll try them again next year. He hated Mulholland Madness last year but loved it this year so there's still chance. I do not prefer CA Screamin so I was slightly disappointed when he was tall enough to ride & I had to go too. I can't let a 5 year old be braver than me. I actually like every part of that coaster except the upside down part. Everyone says it's so quick but it seems like forever to me.

This was in front of a tree in the California Adventure Park

Thanksgiving 2008

We had a yummy Thanksgiving with my parents (Grandma & Papa) and a couple friends. Todd cooked. I cleaned. Then we went to watch the Cardinals lose at a friends house. I got up early to get some deals at Wal-Mart for myself & friends. Nothing terribly exciting. Hope your Thanksgiving was blessed. We have been very thankful this year for God's hand in our lives.