Chico Challengers

My parents help start a little league for children with varying special needs about 6 years ago. They now have 6 teams and over 80 kids playing baseball each year and it is quite fun to watch. I took individual and team pictures of them last week and enjoyed watching them play ball. It was a real good opportunity for my girls to see kids on crutches, in wheelchairs, or with other mental/emotional needs playing baseball. These kids are all smiles and just LOVE to play ball! After 2 hours of picture taking, I had over 400 pictures to edit and organize, but here's just a few of their infectious smiles!

Danny

My mom and I took some pictures of Danny when I was in Chico last. He is graduating from high school and getting baptized next week.

He was all smiles!

What I Found When I Got Out My Shower...

I thought she was watching a show with a small bowl to snack on...guess she finished it and was still hungry! It's just a good thing she can't get the milk out yet!

Tangled Party!

The fabulous invitation that my sister-in-law's sister made for me! I love it!

Megan really wanted a tower cake and I told her we would try. So, 3 rounds on the bottom and a 15 inch rice krispie tower molded around a pvc pipe is what she got! I LOVE how it turned it out! Fake flowers and figurines made the decorating easy and thus was born a Tangled cake.

Flynn Rider, Pasqual, and Mother Gothel made an appearance down below.

Megan loved her cake too.

Blue jello boats like when Rapunzel and Flynn were on the water seeing the floating lanterns.

We had fruit, veggies, crackers and brie, jello boats, and cake.

I also made Rapunzel banners with the golden sun and had them strung around the house in a few places. I'm bummed I forgot to take a pic of the lanterns we had hanging from the ceiling and the fun goody bags, but oh well!

We started off the party with some painting. Rapunzel loved painting the walls of her tower, so we painted the "walls" of the backyard.

Then we decorated crowns.

We made necklaces. I had made shrinky dink charms with clipart from the movie and each child got a charm with their name on it as well. Punched a hole, added a jump ring, and it was ready for stringing onto a necklace.

A few of the MANY charms I made.

Megan loved all her presents and was SO good about saying thank you to everyone. I was quite impressed and pleased by that as sometimes she can be quite shy.

Little party-goers decked out in crowns and necklaces.

Blowing out her 4 candles!

The obligatory picture with Mom and Dad.

Megan was lucky to have 4 of her great-grandparents at her party.

Magaw and Papa were able to come share the fun too.

We had a great time at the party and fun was had by all. I love planning parties and this was no exception. Megan wanted a Rapunzel party since seeing the movie in January and I was surprised she never changed her mind! Happy Birthday My Little Princess!

Megan Turns 4!

We went to Megan's preschool on her birthday and Megan let Kendra crawl up on her lap to eat lunch together.

Megan and Miss Noel. We LOVE our preschool teacher and will miss her next year!

The class sang Happy Birthday to Megan and then it was cupcake time! Somehow, I turned my back for an instant and Kendra swiped a cupcake! She immediately shoved her face into the frosting and laughed as if she knew she was getting away with something!

Megan asked me to make Funfetti cupcakes with sprinkles and a pink number 4 on them. So, naturally, what does Mom do at 10pm the night before? Happily oblige her new 4 yr old's request. Happy Birthday sweet girl! We sure love you!

I Love My 6 Year Old

I love that she can read and wants to help read to her sisters at bedtime. Megan loves listening to her read, and I was able to clean up from dinner while Mikayla took over bedtime stories for me! So helpful!

First Swim Meet!

Mikayla swam in her first meet and LOVED it! They wrote her name and what event, heat, and lanes she was in on her arm in Sharpie marker.
She jumped off the blocks with the other girls and was off! They had dive practice several days this week, so hopefully no more sprawled out jumping!

She placed 4th in both freestyle and backstroke among the 20 girls her age. I'm pretty proud of her for trying something new and doing so well. The 3 that placed higher than her were on swim team last year. I can't wait to see how the rest of the season goes!

My New Mantel Piece

was given to me by a neighbor. Okay, well, not actually given to me. More like, crazy-lady neighbor who was high on marijuana hurled it and it's glassy, green twin at my house narrowly missing my bedroom window, leaving a quarter-sized hole in the stucco.

Now, this isn't just any crazy, high neighbor. This is Tina the Latina who was evicted from the property behind us for nonpayment of rent and in an act of incredulity actually moved out of the rental behind us and into a rental directly across the street from us. She sits in her driveway or on her porch and stares at our house for seemingly hours on end. She does a lot of strange, freeform, totally drug-induced dances in her driveway too. Awesome entertainment.

We have had no verbal contact since the eviction, but some pent up aggression 4 months later caused her to throw 2 glass elephants at my house.

So.... I called the cops. I didn't think they'd care or take me seriously. I was wrong. They came to my door within 10 minutes and after I explained that I "thought" they may have come from her as she has a motive and collects many items like that, I couldn't be entirely sure, and could they please just ask her if they belong to her. I am so non-confrontational that my heart was pounding and I got really nervous and was glad to have the cops dealing with her instead of myself.

The female cop politely obliged my request and walked across the street to where Tina the Latina was standing and asked if she recognized the figurines. "Um, well, they kinda look like some I had...I'm not sure....maybe they're mine, no, I don't know.... they don't have proof that I threw them. I know they don't have video cameras, no one can prove anything...." and on and on and on.

Another cop arrived to assist the female cop and they both walked back over to my place and said, "Well, she is pretty much denying it, but she's nuts. She is a looney toon." They asked me for her complete name, birthdate, and any other information I had on her and ran her name through the system. "It's your lucky day!" the female cop said to me. "She's got a warrant out for her arrest in another county." A few more calls later and a little paperwork and the next thing I knew, the cops were handcuffing Tina the Latina and 'helping' her into a cop car. And just like that, off to jail they went...

Moral of this story. Don't throw things at my house, or I will have you arrested. Also, I will most likely keep whatever you throw at my house on my mantel so I can tell my story to all who enter my home. Oh yeah, and don't smoke pot. It makes you crazy sauce.

Happy Mother's Day

For some reason, it comes as a complete shock to my children every night that they need to put on pajamas, brush teeth, and get into bed.

For some reason, it is new information to my children that they are to eat their vegetables and at least try the food that I serve them.

For some reason, I have to ask my children 17 times to put their jackets in their room or their underwear in the hamper before they do it.

For some reason, my children cry when I announce that they actually need to shampoo and conditioner their lovely, curly locks.

For some reason, my floor needs to be vacuumed daily even though we all take our shoes off in the house.

For some reason, my children act as if they cannot hear me utnil I am nearly yelling.

For some reason, I still got beautiful flowers, cards proclaiming never-ending love, and a brand-new fabulous vacuum for Mother's Day.

For some reason, I have an awesome husband who doted on me today and made all 3 meals and made me feel fabulously special. I have 3 children who love and adore me and smothered me with hugs and kisses and cute cards proclaiming that I weigh 60 lbs. and my favorite food is waffles.

I love my children and I do love being their mom.

Big Changes Are a Brewin...

So.... where to start....


I have many mixed emotions.


FIRST, the good news...
Trent got a job! YAY!! He is a full-time RN at Biggs-Gridley Memorial Hospital in Gridley and loves it. He first got hired on per diem and was working a few days a week with the understanding that if he does well and they like him, that after a few months he could be hired on full-time.

Well, it wasn't even 2 days later that they were offering him a full-time position! Yes, that's how awesome my husband is.


Okay, brag time over. He's working full-time, doing well, and loving it.

Soooo.....

here comes the bad news....
We're moving to Gridley. I am having a hard time with this. We've lived here over 7 years now and in 2 different wards in the same stake at church. We have great friends, great schools, and a great gym which provides me with a great job. I go to the gym every day. I either take classes, teach classes, swim with the kids, take Mikayla to swim team practices, or do my own cardio workout in the gym. It is such a big part of my life that I get a huge lump in my throat when I think about leaving.

I have had to place all my faith and trust in my Heavenly Father to know that this is the right decision for our family. We are so happy that Trent has a job and it's selfish of me to have these feelings. I know that as long as our family is together, all will be well. I will make new friends, I will find great schools, I will find a new gym. I know that.


But why am I crying while typing this...


We have placed an offer on a house this week and will see what happens there. All this big, exciting adult stuff is happening all at once and I am trying hard to be happy about it.

Trent works 5 days a week and until the end of June, he goes Monday through Friday and stays the night with my parents and comes home on the weekend. So, I am here with the kids all week long and I'm stressed and tired and wishing that I could enjoy my job as Mom more than I am right now.


So... mixed emotions I tell ya. I just hope and pray that we will grow to love Gridley and the small-town life and will find enough there to keep us happy. The other day we were explaining all the new changes to the girls and we said we'd have to find a new school, and a new church and Mikayla said, "Oh. I hope it's LDS." We assured her that we only meant a new church building and new ward, not a whole new religion! It was cute nonetheless.

But yes, this is the big news for our family.

I keep telling myself that people move all the time and we will be fine.

Sacramento, I will miss you....

Our Trip to Utah! Part 3

Megan feeding Bailey again.

Bryson and Kendra are 2 wks apart in age and had fun playing together and giggling with Magaw.

Papa holding Bailey.

sweet sleeping baby. She's amazingly quiet, content, and pleasant for a 3 month old and we just loved meeting little Bailey.

Megan even learned to change baby diapers.

We went to an indoor children's amusement park. Only in Utah can two 1 yr. olds ride a jeep around a track with a thin canvas strap on their laps and no adults in sight! They loved it! I couldn't stop laughing about how that could never happen in CA!

They had an amazingly fast roller coaster that went around in circle and then stopped and spun around backwards. Kendra and the girls loved that too!

Look, I did go on the trip!

Does this picture say Magaw and Papa have their hands full or what?! We were only missing Bridget from the fun, crazy bunch of grandkids.

Kendra enjoyed eating the food straight off the table at Golden Corral and mashed her cupcake into the table before cramming it all in her mouth. What are you gonna do?!

Mikayla and Megan loved slamming into Mom on the bumper cars.

These girls love spinning--the faster, the better!

Another crazy pic just after Bailey spit up all over Papa's shoulder and cheek and just before Megan fell and cut up her arm and we had to deal with the blood. Never a dull moment here!

We had a great trip and it was so fun to spend time with family for Spring Break. I'm glad the girls have cousins on both sides of the family to play with, I just wish we could play together more often!