Good night!

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The end...

Sunday has come to the end... Birthday party at the roller rink, a visit to Papa's house so daddy could eat a little crab, and then to see Noni. We rounded out the day at Kome for sushi. The girls were tuckered out!


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Location:US-101 N,Myers Flat,United States

Daddy is the trooper who braves putting skates on! Not me! They scare me!!









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Let's try this again!

Headed to Karlee Gipson's 9th birthday in Fortuna :-)







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We had a great time at the community park Easter Egg hunt. Anna was full throttle in the 8-12 age group area and the twins were in the 5-7 age group.




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I'm baaacckkkk!

Hello everyone, it's been a year, but I am going to start blogging again, if for nothing else_ to be able to remember daily life! Life seems to be flying by at an alarming rate and I feel a little like I am choking on the dust, blinking my eyes trying to catch glimpses of what is happening around me! Life is great though... so here we go, let's start to keep up with that dust bowl I live in, and remember to blog the big things in life and itemize and cherrish little moments!

I am back!

I am going to start sending frequent updates, I hope I still have current emails! It has been two years since i have! Hope everyone is well. Happy New Year!

Wow.... I've slacked terribly! We have been busy, busy,busy! The twins turned 2 in January, Anna turned 4 in February, Easter was pretty non eventful because we were all in the middle of being very sick, Connor turned 9 in April, and Karlie just turned 12 last Sunday! I just returned from a 10 day trip with my mom and sister Chiara to Ireland....such a great trip and a beautiful country! Troy stayed home with the kiddos and two of my friends helped while he worked... yup I have great friends and a pretty brave hubby! :) Here are a some pics that go with our events listed above!

Been ages!

Soph loves her new baby
Twins are so into Anna's new dress-up
Us, on Christmas Eve @ Reco's
The New Year photo for our card
Not so happy!

Okay, wow it sure has ages since I took a few minutes and got in touch! Troy went back to Colorado the day after Thanksgiving, for 9 more days, but this time he came back very satisfied! I wish I had all the stats to share with you, but I don't. He'd love to talk about it though! 707-498-9839 ! =)

Other than that December flew by with the kids in Christmas performances at school, Christmas break, shopping, and of course the big morning of presents! All went well, other than the twins and Anna wanted nothing to do with 'Ole Mr. Jolly! Yes, I was the mean mom that made the twins get their pic taken...not Anna though! They were fine 2 minutes later!

Troy and I went to a wedding on New Years Eve... and are planning the twins 2nd birthday on the17th of January. Time sure does fly.

A couple new favorite pictures...

This is the look of pure intensity!

Sophie-Cate...what a face!

Here are a couple recent pics that I have fallen in love with! All the girls love to wear my shoes. They drag their feet around, and our hard wood and slate flooring, it is quite the circus! Surprising enough, they all have really great balance!

My grandma had a closet full of shoes when she lived in Santa Barbara. My sister Serena & I both loved the gold strappy ones... we would fight over them every time! The girls make me think of that when they play with these pink shoes!

Still trying...

"We tried!"

Wow, well the potty training is still in progress. LuLu is much more interested than Soph, and it can be exhausting because every time she thinks about potty or I say "let's change your diaper..." LuLu starts taking off her clothes and says "potty, potty..." They love to unroll al the paper, flush and wash their hands. However the amount of effort we go into to take all the clothes off, etc. compaired to the amount of time they actually really try to sit and go... is very small. They usually sit for 5 to 10 seconds, and then get up, want to flush ( or pretend to empty the small potty) & say "hands, hands..." over and over- we wash hands, and then they say " Tried, tried", to let us know that they know that they 'tried' to go. And although I totally know it is part of the process, the interest of trying & realizing the feeling of wet and uncomfortable...it is so hard to manage two at a time learning! I do have to say, they are so proud of themselves when the do try... clapping and smiling! What a huge hurdle this will be to move to the next stage!

hello!

such little love bugs!
ready to run, however not ready to let go of her sis!

An afternoon walk

The twins and I took a walk today, and let me just say...they either love, love, love each other or drive each other crazy! Today they didn't want to be separate... even bounced in their bed and chatted amongst themselves for almost an hour before they finally fell asleep. Such little cuties...although they did fall down running more times then I could count, during our little stroll!

Mid-November Update

The twins with their remotes... they love to change all the channels and mess things up!
Karlie and Sophia
My oldest, Karlie, and my youngest...Olivia
After the nail finally fell off!
The day after the tow incident

Okay, so Troy was gone for 8 full days to Colorado with his family and friends to hunt, however... the weather was too warm the first few days and too cold the last few days, so the guides offered them to be able to come back for a free hunt. So he is leaving the day after Thanksgiving for another go at it! So hopefully he will be able to get a 2 monsters and fill our freezer and have a great story to go along with it! I will keep you informed as to the outcome of his next trip. Although I am bummed for us that we will be without him for another week, I am so glad that he can take the opportunity to get out and spend time with those who mean the most to him, and spend some quality time. Also, it gives him time to get back to what he loves to do. We both have given up things in the last few years, having three kids in 23 months makes life change a bit. But one of the qualities that I have always loved about Troy is he has a passion for the outdoors, and although we both have benefited from having the girls and all the love that comes from that, I have often winced at how often he used to go fishing and hunting, and how rarely he has the opportunity to go now. However, the twins are getting older and I tell him often, he needs to get out do what makes him who he is, so he can feel whole, as well as remain "himself". He is an amazing father to our girls, but he is happier for all of us if he can just get out and get "dirty" every once in a while!
One thing that happened when Troy was gone, is Sophie dropped, & broke a bottle on her toe, the nail has since fallen off, but it was a crazy week!

Other than that, here are just some random pics from the last few days...
hope everyone is well:)

So Cute!

AAWWWWEEE...they love each other!!!

Halloween Pics

All ready to go & get way toooo much candy!
The whole gang...Karlie was a Vampiress and Connor a skeleton
Our sweet little Flower Fairies
Anna the Butterfly Princess

My Birthday Trip

Me and me big kiddos at my Birthday Dinner
Chiara - Isabel - and me
At the concert...13th row!!
Me and Chiara the night before the concert...her 26th birthday (Nov. 3rd)

So I am officially 31, kind of a weird thought, however I am totally fine with it! Two of my three sisters (Chiara and Isabel) have birthdays that are within 15 days of each other, so we decided to go to see Madonna in San Diego. The trip was awesome, and to make it better--it was on election night. I was on cloud nine with Obama winning the election (sorry all Mcain fans:)!) ...and had a blast with my sisters! We came home on my birthday, Nov. 5th... and had a family dinner at a Mexican restraunt. A great birthday! Troy was in Colorado, so that was the one bummer :(

2008 School Pictures

Here are our 2008-2009 school pics of Karlie & Connor for 6th and 3rd grade

Here are the pictures of Anna doing her fashion show for Troy since he will be gone on Halloween. The other is Karlie getting one of her two first quarter awards - one was for excellence in mathmatics and the other in excellence in language arts, for the sixth grade. We are so proud of her! We also recently had parent teacher conferences: Karlie is soaring in all areas... tends to be slightly moody sometimes, but hey, what's new...we love her just the was she is! Her teacher loves her witty humor as well as the way she challenges herself. She got all A's with a B and a B+...to which her teacher said that there was no reason that she should be anything other than a strait 'A' student, but she see's noticing that if it is a subject that she doesn't find completely interesting...she does just enough to get it done, instead of going above and beyond, like with the areas she really likes. But we are fine with A's and B's, she has a competitive edge that probably won't allow herself to be too lazy! :)
Connor is also doing great academically, he sruggles in other areas: focus and socialization - or trying not to be so social! Talk, Talk, Talk...too much for the classroom. It is something I try to work on at home too, so it's no surprise that it's a issue in school. His teacher says that his mind is processing so much at once, it is almost impossible for him to not talk some of it out! She wants him to try out for the GATE program (Gifted & Talented Education), it starts in 3rd grade, so he will be able to take the test this year. Karlie has been in GATE for 3 years now, as well. Connor is also in a once a week art class in Eureka, and is loving it. I think it is a good outlet for some of the millions of things he thinks and sees!
Anyhow, the kids are doing amazing in school, and I suppose there will always be something to work on! We are so proud of them!

Well, October is almost over, and the holiday season is fast approaching...just check out Costco, where most of the aisles are covered with giant Santa's, ten feet worth wrapping paper (per roll), and every toy that my kids see on T.V. & usually scream "I WANT THAT!" :)
I say every year that I will start my shopping early, and this year is no different, other than I already have! Good feeling.
I recently was able to go on a scrapbooking trip that happens twice a year...and completed two albums! One was a super simple candid summer photos album...but hey, it's done! I always have so much fun, this year was no different. Good people, good adult conversation, good food... and time away always makes you appreciate what is waiting at home. My mom and Troy stayed with the kids, and they deserve a vacation for allowing me to get away for 4 days!
The other happening we have in progress is potty training! The twins are showing every sign of wanting to be "big girls"...they take off their diapers every chance they can, yelling "potty, potty!".
Olivia went once for my mom, and is a little more interested than Soph, but Sophie follows along side her sis. Not ususally is she the one who follows, but with this- she is letting LuLu (our nick-name for Olivia) take the lead! It is a daily stuggle to allow them to sit whenever they say they need to, but yet still stick to our schedule. It will be worth it in the end, and hopefully we can be buying them undies for their 2nd birthday in mid-January!
Troy left for Colorado this morning at 5am, for his hunting trip with his grandpa Reco & Dennis, (as well as another friend of theirs) so Annabelle did her little fashion show of possible Halloween costumes, for him! She is loving the costume side as much as the idea of all the candy! Photos of the rest of the kids in costume will be on my next post! My birthday is Wed. the 5th of November...for which two of my sisters and I are going to San Diego to see a Madonna concert! Isabel, Chiara & my birthdays are all with in a couple of weeks of eachother, so it's the 1st annual sisters birthday trip...pics to follow as well! Hope everyone is having fun getting ready for their own holiday season :)

October Events

Scrapbook retreat - scrap room
Potty training has begun...it's a crazy job, with two kiddos!
It will be a whole new world once they figure it out!
The babies just adore their daddy, and what a great dad he is, they are lucky!
They like me too a little bit!

Our trip to the Pumpkin Patch

So we decide to take the girls to the Pumpkin Patch in Blue Lake, and it was a tad bit windy, but the girls had a blast. We rode on the tractor, took lots of time to pick the perfect pumpkin...and then finished the day with dinner out! All in all it was successful! Soph kept wanting to run off and go to the far end of the patch, Olivia fell several times and hated that her hands ended up dirty... Anna thought she could pick up the largest pumpkin she could see...they were all having fun, and that's what counts!

The girls on the way to the Pumpkin Patch
Such a windy day!
Anna is all smiles
Pastori's... minus two
LuLu, Anna & Soph