Something Fischy is Goin' On

MCC Magic of Musical Theater

2011-06-30T19:52:00.000-07:00

As usual, a good portion of June is devoted to WORKSHOP. This year the kids had shows two night in a row, which was kinda fun. After the show the first night we went to celebrate with their #1 fan (daddy) at Nielsen's Custard. He was VERY good and brought them flowers and chocolates and all the things that adoring fans SHOULD be bringing! Ü You don't ever see me, but thats me on the piano as the musical director. My good friend Sanya came to our show the 2nd night. Afterwards the 4 of us went to Mimi's Cafe and went CRAZY trying almost EVERY dessert in the place!!!

Daddy was tasked with videoing WHILST Miss Waverly was on his lap. These are the songs that the kids had solos in or they were most PROUD of...

Let's Play Music Symposium

2011-06-18T19:41:00.000-07:00

My Let's Play Music duties don't end at summer with our recital. I actually am the Director of Advertising and Events for the Administrative Board for Let's Play Music and June 17th- 18th we had our annual Convention Weekend incorporating our 2nd and 3rd year trainings with our big Symposium. Teachers from ALL over the United States flew in, and carpooled in to join us for a day PACKED with classes, workshops, presentations, motivational speakers, announcements, goodies, give aways, and of COURSE LOTS of prizes. A LOT of blood, sweat, sleepless nights, and tears went into the planning and execution of this event, and thankfully I had the amazing members of the Administrative/Advisory Board as well as our LPM Team Leaders to help bring the whole event together. All photos are provided by our event photographer Cherie Mask

The Attendees

The Administrative Board

(from l-r Marci Flowers, Melissa Lunt, Julie Fischbeck, Shelle Soelberg, Sanya Fenn, Jenny Smith)

Random Fun Throughout the Day--including a newborn, my own brother, AND thats right, our very first male teacher!

Swimming Lessons with Miss Sharisse

2011-06-16T19:43:00.000-07:00

We had the HARDEST time trying to find someplace for swim lessons this year. We finally got in contact with Miss Sharisse (who we went to TWO years ago) only to discover that the time of day that worked for us was at her location over by Westwood High School--YIKES! But my kiddies are worth it, right? Swim wasn't until 5:00 will actually was 'delightful' as i found i wasn't melting NEAR as much as I have remembered whilst waiting for the kids to get done. I FINALLY remembered to bring my camera the last day, which ended up being more of a fun day, but at least I got some video of Waverly's 1st year (and some understanding of why she isn't really interested in getting in the water anymore Ü)

UN-Happy Memorial Day

2011-05-30T14:36:00.000-07:00

Delainee and I decided we should make a cake for memorial day. We had a fun time making the stripes with red strawberries.

Apparently Laetner wasn't too Happy about it! Ü

Goodbye Miss Green

2011-05-26T13:52:00.000-07:00

The end of the school year meant a sad goodbye for Delainee to her special 3rd grade teacher Miss Green. Miss Green had called and asked if Delainee could come at the end of school on the last day, so she could award her a special present. Apparently Delainee was the ONLY student to have completed an entire math workbook, that Miss Green herself had created. She presented Delainee with a special necklace.

Delainee will be hard pressed to find another personal supplier of Three Musketeer candy bars and tether ball partner at recess (even if she DID play with her left hand so as to make it easier on Delainee)

Waverly's End of the Year Preschool Program

2011-05-24T12:30:00.000-07:00

It's the day of the show, ya'll! Ü We have had such a fun (albeit) short time in Miss Kami's Preschool class this year. They invited the parents to come join in the celebration of finishing out preschool.

First and foremost we had to get ready...

Then we showed off a few of our BEST moves..

Alright, maybe our ONLY move!
Posed with the BEST group of ladies..

And did what apparently Waverly came to do..

Cuz the performance wasn't our 'best' performance. Let's just say the video below should be entitled from good to WORSE! Ü

Now i knew that Waverly hasn't been in the 'classroom' setting for very long. AND that she is one of the younger kiddies in the class. But after this performance I REALLY felt sorry for Miss Kami for putting up with Waverly's shenanigans! *sigh* WHY of WHY does it always seem to be MY child...

California Girls Trip

2011-05-16T17:42:00.000-07:00

My BEAUTIFUL friend Jen Williams is enagaged and will SOON be Mrs. Forest Peterson. Time for a girls trip before the big day! Eda and April commandeered the front seat (along with our Australian talking GPS man) and Jen and I were stuck in the backseat for a weekend of shopping, pedicures, picking/purchasing fresh strawberries, going 2 hours out of our way for chapstick, getting lost, yummy food, moonpie, Jen having a hunger melt down, Eda drinking LOTS of diet coke, Eda having to stop to pee no less than 64 times, Eda and April getting attacked by a dog, and Jen and I exchanging LOTs of looks in the backseat!

Aaah... Jen sums it up in this shot! Ü

Thanks Eda for being chauffeur and for MAKING this trip happen!

Waverly Show and Tell

2011-05-13T14:31:00.000-07:00

Laetner's LPM Recital

2011-05-09T23:46:00.000-07:00

After teaching Laetner the 1st year of Let's Play Music, I came to 2 realizations. #1 Laetner is NOT Delainee. Which lead to realization #2 of: Laetner needs someone OTHER than Mom to be his LPM teacher. Luckily Miss Jodi is close and teaches on the days I don't. I begged her to make room for Laetner in her 2nd year class, and the boy has 'changed completely overnight!'Miss Jodi helped me at MY recital, so I helped out at Laeter's recital by playing most of the accompaniments and leading the kids in the puppet show. Which meant i didn't get to watch most of it from the FRONT. But he did SOOOO good.

Here he is waiting in anticipation for his show to start!

Multi Tasking by playing the chords in the beginning, the intervals on the 2nd verse, AND mambo-ing from his keyboard in Turtle Shells!

Do is HOME!Ü

Showing off his prizes at the end..

Posing with his adoring fans....

Standing by the Indian Drum. Laetner had the role of playing this big drum while the REST of the 2nd years sang I'm an Indian. He was soooo excited to do this, and he didn't seem nervous at ALL as he kept the steady beat for the ENTIRE ensemble to sing to. You RAWKED it Laetner! Ü

Last but not least, Miss Jodi. Laetner LOVES her. Often he will come home and tell me that Miss Jodi knows some of the same songs that I do, or that she knows the same puppet shows as me. It takes everything in my POWER to not reply with some snide remark, that we BOTH teach Let's Play Music. He seems comPLETELY oblivious to the fact that he was once even a 'prisoner' in mommy's LPM class--**sigh***I am just so greatful for the turn around. He does AWE-SOME!!!! And no longer do i have to fight him to practice or do homework. He is SOOO motivated by not being able to get a treasure that he will say to me, "Mom, i HAVE to practice for Miss Jodi!" LOVE IT!!!!

Delainees 9th B-day

2011-05-05T14:48:00.000-07:00

Aaah my teeny baby is growing up!!! So much so, that it is like pulling TEETH to get her to smile for a picture for me. Aaah well... She was VERY specific on what she wanted for her cake this year. I have to say that when she explained the colors and the design, i had my doubts. But it turned out FANTASTIC! Ü

My Let's Play Music Recital

2011-05-02T20:27:00.000-07:00

For FULL details (including video)check out my official Let's Play Music blog..

But I was so proud of my 27 1st and 2nd year students this year. I WISH i had a shot of the WHOLE group performing, but alas, i only have so many hands. Ü But luckily I have a niece in my 1st year and a nephew in the 2nd year, so momma Shelby snagged me a few shots!

Some things I did this year that made it GREAT:

Got t-shirts for the kids
Made my own risers so every kid could be seen
Cut out MY talking during their recital and just let the kids perform
Put my keyboard on the floor so I could conduct from the front
Kept the WHOLE thing start to finish to 1/2 an hour

Delainee Cello Recital

2011-04-25T11:57:00.000-07:00

Delainee TRULY is a budding musician. She has been taking cellos lessons for almost a year now, and she is doing amazing. As this recital was approaching, Delainee actually asked me to wake her up 10 minutes earlier each morning so that she could practice--WOW!!! She is truly dedicated to her craft and it shows.... She had a solo performance and then the WHOLE group performed together. I LOVE the smile on her face in the last shot...

Easter

2011-04-24T11:52:00.000-07:00

He came, hopping into our living room in the middle of the night, bringing his usual springtime spoils...

Thanks Easter Bunny!

Laetner Show and Tell

2011-04-12T14:29:00.000-07:00

Book Club Minute to Win It

2011-04-09T11:41:00.000-07:00

Last year i did the Amazing Race for our BookClub couples party, and THIS year Julie Spilsbury put together a fun night of Minute to Win it. We were supposed to have the event in the Cunningham's back yard, but due to inclement weather, we moved it inside to the church. I was taking video MOST of the night, so i actually don't have a ton of still shots. But good times were DEFINITELY had by all. I think the GOODMAN's win the prize for being the most competetive with each OTHER, Rachel wins the prize for the best winning 'pose', Shelly wins the prize for the best game face, but the BROADBENTS win for the most exciting event of the night!

We started with dinner hosted by Steve's Krazy Sub of course--since the KRUMMENACHER'S were in the house. And finished it off with a soft serve ice cream bar.

We ended up splitting up into boys against girls so that each person could compete against their significant other. Those boys played down right DIRTY!!!! Despite their cheating and attempts at sabotage, the girls held their own. Jen and Forrest weren't QUITE engaged yet when we put them through this torture.... Ü

The contestants in order of appearance...

BROADBENT's,CUNNINGHAM's,FISCHBECK's,GLOVER's,GOODMAN's,JENSEN's,KRUMMENACHER's,LOMU's,MILLETT's,the future MR and MRS. PETERSON,SPILSBURY's,WHITE's,

not in attendace... the CLARKSON's, the THOMAS', and the BLACK's

Go Take a Hike

2011-04-02T11:27:00.000-07:00

Not often that i devote a post to Court, but as i was uploading the pictures off my camera, I found some of him and some old high school buddies from a hike they took the other morning up flat iron--syphon trail...

Best of Friends

2011-03-18T18:44:00.000-07:00

On our way out of the mall we stopped real quick for some cheap thrills! Ü

AMOCOCO

2011-03-17T11:12:00.000-07:00

Amo-what-what???? Thats what i thought when my mother called and asked if my kids wanted to go see an art exhibit at the Mesa Arts Center. I truly wasn't sure what she was talking about, but I needed to go downtown to help our with some shirt order for LPM at Shirtail Silkscreen. So while i worked, my kiddies got to play with granma and papa, and once i was done we met up at Amococo.

You start by taking off your shoes and you enter the first chamber of cool plastic. You get a brief intro from a volunteer, and then you walk into the second chamber (and beyond) of a whole new experience. Different colors of light played on all the chambers and corridors, and was truly a surreal experience. There were MANY people just laying down against the inflatable walls, or meditating. Who KNOWS how long they had been there. I am sure they didn't appreciate the noise my kiddies brought into the space. But we paid for our tickets just the same, thank you very much annoying amococo worker that kept giving us warnings! Ü

Since it really IS an experience of lights and colors, by pictures don't really do it justice...

Zoo Trip with the Stewarts

2011-03-14T10:53:00.000-07:00

It's Spring Break! We have zoo passes, so I called up Jenny Stewart and BEGGED them to come to the zoo with us! Ü

Jenny is MUCH nicer than I and bought ALL the kiddies a sno cone. Half way through the trip one of the kiosk ladies offered to add MORE syrup for free!!! The kids were in HEAVEN. WE spent some time at the petting zoo, and of COURSE finished off the day at the splash pad. But the BEST part of the day was getting to play with our good friends!

Soccer

2011-03-12T10:34:00.003-07:00

Our neighborhood put together their own soccer league this year. It was the BEST!!! No stress. Right around the corner. The kids got the experience to play, run around, learn about soccer, and even compete. Practices were one day a week and then every Saturday we had games. Just show up and get handed a colored jersey that would designate which team you were gonna be on for the day. This particular day (which WAS the last day) worked out REALLY well for pictures as both Delainee, Laetner, AND cousin Crew ended up on the same field.

We had a man 'down' in the shot

Delainee really worked that jersey, FLASHDANCE style! Ü Finley and Waverly were on site to be cheerleaders, and we got medallions to show off for a season well done. Plus a few PRECIOUS moments between cousins AND siblings.

And we ALWAYS finished off the games with the parent tunnel 'o cheers!

We hope we get to play again next year.

Laetner turns 7

2011-03-09T10:23:00.002-07:00

This will be shocking!!!!! But Laetner wanted a Mario cake for his birthday. Whew! That i can deliver on! Ü At least this year we didn't have a trip to the doctor or a flaming cake on our hands. Just a normal Birthday celebration to honor our not-so little Laetner growing up. A few new games for the wii, some mighty beanz (that Courtney drove ALL over town to find) and a star wars lego kit. It was a great day.

I just LOVE that last shot of Laetner with Waverly. You can SEE the gears churning in her head as she figures out SOME way to be naughty with that fire!

Wavee Show and Tell

2011-02-24T17:35:00.000-07:00

Happy 3rd Birthday Waverly

2011-02-22T09:51:00.001-07:00

We have to thank Miss Kami for the crown that just HAD to stay on her head for the REST of the day!

Waverly is so easy to please. Some new food to add to her kitchen, a dora ball pit. And the girl was in HEAVEN! But nobody better get near her cupcakes! "My Dora Cupcake!" she squawked as Laetner DARED to try and get a closer look! I don't know what our lives would be without the character of Wavee woven into our family. She constantly fights with Laetner (no wonder, they are twins) refuses to ever let Delainee help her with ANYTHING, is Daddy's little girl, and mommy's lunch buddy. Now that she is finally learning to express herself, it is so fun to really see who she is. WE LOVE YOU WAVEE GIRL--HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Waverly's Valentine's Day Party

2011-02-14T09:39:00.003-07:00

Wavee's preschool teacher (Miss Kami) had sent home a note saying they could use a little help at their Valentine's Day Celebration at school. So I decided i would spend the day with her at school. So GLAD i went, cuz not a SINGLE other parent showed up to help.

We frosted cookies...

Made Love-Bug Hats...

Had a little Love Punch...

And of course handed out our valentines to each other...

This last shot isn't very Valentin-ish, but I went ahead and stayed for the whole day and took a shot of her playing (by herself--shocking) during recess.

No WONDER i see sand POURING out of her shoes everyday--**sigh***

Wavee Show and Tell

2011-02-12T09:49:00.000-07:00

Love is in the air, and Wavee keeps bringing home some CUTIE PATOOTIE art! Ü

London's Run

2011-01-29T10:05:00.003-07:00

2nd time around. Technically this is now the 3rd 10k i have run. Of course it wouldn't have happened without Shelby their to talk me through it and pump me up. This one felt tougher. I was REALLY nervous. I got a really weird leg cramp at about mile marker 3 and figured this was NOT gonna end well. But at about mile marker 5 it was GONE (which should be a learning experience for ALL of us, that if you persevere through something, it will be WORTH it.)

At the end of it all i did what i came to do---run the whole thing without stopping. Whew! I guess i SHOULD start making goals to quicken my pace, but their is time for that, right???

Thank you Shelby for 'making' me run with you. And for always letting me cross the line first...

373 1159 JULIE FISCHBECK F 33 1:05:54 10:37 F3034 MESA, AZ

Biosphere 2

2011-01-14T23:14:00.000-07:00

I couldn't make it on this field trip with Laetner, but LUCKILY for me my 'personal' event photographer WAS able to make it while I watched her little one! Ü

Waverly Goes to School

2011-01-12T14:11:00.001-07:00

Well we already established that Waverly was working with a speech therapist. So it was NO surprise that JUST like all my other kiddies, she 'passed' all the tests to make it into the amanacer preschool through Gilbert Public Schools as a speech qualifier. But there weren't any openings at Meridian, so Wavee got assigned to Miss Kami's class at Augusta Ranch. LOVE her!!!! The first couple of days I actually drove her to school, but then the day came. TIME FOR THE BUS! The waiting was apparently excruciating!

But then it finally came!

And miracle of miracles it brought her back at the end of the day!

These were her first day efforts at preschool...

Now i jsut have to decide how to spend my 'alone' time from 8:15-12:15!!!! Ü

Shrek: The Musical

2011-01-09T14:52:00.001-07:00

When I went to New York last time, I went and saw Shrek The Musical all by myself. When I came home I promptly bought the cd and started letting the kiddies listen to the music. It is a fun cd for ANY car ride, especially the giggle wrenching dual of the burches and belps in I Think I Got You Beat!!! Everytime Wavee would squeal, "again, again" was simply too precious. Anyhoo, I swore that when it came to town I HAD to take Delainee. Then I forGAWT about it! Ü

At bookclub on Thursday night I overheard Kylie talking about Shrek and how it is playing at Gammage and that it is ONLY there until Saturday night--HORROR!!!! I went online to buy tickets and everything said it was sold out--DOUBLE HORROR! What to do, we HAVE to see it!! So on Saturday I tell Delainee to get in the car, we are just gonna go to Gammage and take our chances.

I walked up to the window to purchase tickets only to be told what i already knew--the show is sold out.
"Is there a chance that ANYTHING will open up??"

"Maybe," he says. "If you want to wait over there I will let you know if SOMETHING comes available."

Then we wait, and we wait and we wait. I start to get nervous, cuz the start time is fast approaching.

And wouldn't you know it he DOES call us up.

"Two seats opened up. Row 11 RIGHT in the middle!" he says

"Great, I will take em," says I.

"That will be $69 a PIECE," says he.

"Gulp!" says I. Ü

I am SURE the sick feeling I had in my stomach was showing across my face, as I considered actually spending that amount on the tickets, and trying to figure out how much Court was gonna kill me when he found out!

I shook my head, "I just can't spend that much.. :(" (and you better beLIEVE I gave him a poopy face)

"You know what? How about I ring em BOTH up for $75?" he says

"Let's DO it!" The seats were a-MAYzing. The show was so stinking cute. And it was fun to see the lights going off for Delainee as everything she had been listening to was LITERALLY coming to life on stage. That??? Priceless!

Afterwards me and my 8 year old hit Yogurtland at like 11:00 at night. I am sure all the hip college kiddies thought I was a freak for keeping my kid up. But it was a night to remember for us BOTH!

Living with a Pterodactyl

2011-01-05T16:20:00.000-07:00

It has taking me two full days in my jammies, but about 15 posts later I think I am finally caught up on this blog.

This particular post requires a few segments:

My dear Waverly (like all my children) is a little slow in the speech department. When Delainee was born 3 months premature, we expected speech delays, but when Laetner followed suit, my MIL fessed up that not only did Courtney not speak til he was 3 years old or so, but that she didn't as well. Delainee and Laetner responded very well to sign language, Waverly not so much. She is a different breed altogether. We have been working with a speech therapist who comes to the house every Friday, and we have DEFINITELY made quite a bit of progess on Waverly being able to at least label items, but when it comes to actually communicating she mostly does alot of pointing, pouting and grunting. The grunting has actually gotten worse as of late and she CONSTANTLY makes this screeching sound that I can only describe as what I think a pterodactyl would sound like. She KNOWS that is bugs Court to death, and I swear does it more often when he is around just to spite him. So at lunch today I figured I should try and document it. Pretty much you if you say anything directly to her, she will do it.

While I was at it I tried to get her to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. She has learned this song in nursery at church. I heard her singing it for the first time about a month ago---or at least I finally figured out what she was singing about a month ago. I recognized the rhythm and the melody was pretty spot on, but the words were abolsutely unintelligible. We have come a long way in a month. You can definitely hear almost all the words---bear in mind that she turns 3 next month. Not sure what the rap intro is all about, but it just gives another glimpse into the weirdness that is Waverly.

So without futher ado, here is Waverly singing Twinkle Twinkle

and Waverly screeching like a pterodactyl (the very last one is what I am talking about)

Now I have another story that I will call "Creepy Courtney" that is directly related to Waverly and her speech.

Creepy Courtney

2011-01-05T16:15:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned above, Waverly spends time with a speech therapist every Friday morning for an hour. We work not only speech but behavior and transitioning as well (since she doesn't communicate too much, she tends to get pretty frustrated pretty quickly since we don't know what she wants) Mary (the speech therapist) has been coming at 9 am on Friday mornings for about six months now, and pretty much it is ALWAYS the same thing. Waverly is VERY much a creature of habit. Mary rings the doorbell, Wavee screeches at the window until you open the door, and then Waverly runs IMMEDIATELY back to her bedroom where we always play and work with Mary for an hour. Pretty much ALWAYS happens like this.

Well... on our last visit we had been a little off schedule so when Mary rang the doorbell as usual, Waverly did meet and greet but then she ran back to the kitchen and sat down at the counter to continue munching on her breakfast. Mary thought this was great so she could see Wavee in a bit of a different setting and we sat and chit chatted about schedule for the next year a little bit while Waverly ate.

This went on for about 10- 15 minutes. Wavee decided she was done and started running around the kitchen. She runs up to my pantry door that was closed, but wasn't completely shut. She throws her body against the door so that it does slam shut, and then it immediately bursts back open. I was freaked for just a split second when out walks Courtney from the pantry. Ummm... cuckoo! He walks out in his jammies (thank heavens this consisted of more than just his G's,) claimed he had been playing hide and go seek with Waverly and then acted like nothing happened and heads down to our bedroom and shuts the door.

It took everything in my power (and I am sure Mary's as well) to not say something. We hadn't moved from that spot for 15 minutes, which meant the psycho was just standing in there the WHOLE time.

At that point we did head down to Wavee's bedroom and I caught a peak of Court sneaking out the garage door and he left to run some errand or something. He didn't return until after Mary had left and I just started laughing at him when I saw him, asking "What in the world???"

He knew the drill, he knew that as soon as Mary comes that the party always goes straight to Wavee's bedroom. He was still in his jammies and didn't really want her to see him that way, so he figured he would duck into the pantry real fast and wait for the three of us to make our way down the hall and then pop out and get on with his morning. He says he was HORRIFIED with indecision the moment he realized that we did not follow the plan. He had just about decided to come out, for fear that we would conduct the entire session in the kitchen when Waverly knocked the door shut and he figured it was now or never.

I can still picture him coming out, and still feel the awkwardness, but boy howdy I wouldn't trade that memory for ANYTHING. Ü

The Great Wall O' Cheer

2011-01-04T17:26:00.004-07:00

I love getting everyone's Holiday greeting cards each year! We got a Thanksgiving one, and just received a Happy New Years! Did you make it to my wall???

Shame on you if you didn't!

(this post is CLEARLY sponsored by Costco!)

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T14:38:00.000-07:00

Fuller tradition is to have a HUGE crepe brunch on New Years day. We happen to be crepe connoisseurs over here! Ü Ooh, i SHOULD have taken a picture of the spread from the special crepe shmear, to the orange drizzle. We mean bid-nezz!

After breakfast we all had fun taking a round at Just Dance. But the BEST was when the 'big' boys took their turn! Meaning my father and brothers! A little less conversation a little more action, takes on a WHOLE new meaning! Ü (I think the view is BETTER from the back)

Christmas Morning 2010

2010-12-26T13:34:00.003-07:00

Our kiddies gave the first present of all by not waking Court or I up until 8:00 am to begin the festivities. And shockingly they were so patient as they waited for mommy to grab her camera to take pictures before the choas begins!

So here it is BEFORE the unveiling. Of course Santa's gifts were left out unwrapped with their tags....

To: Delainee
From: Santa
"What a good girl you have been this year!"

To: Laetner
From: Santa
"Woot, woot you stayed on the nice list!"
(laetner had been very concerned that he wouldn't make it)

To: Waverly
From: Santa
"You don't know how close you came to being on the NAUGHTY list!"

Down the hallway 1st was Waverly, who seems to have the same reaction as last year---she just doesn't get that Christmas morning is a good thing...Luckily daddy is always there to help her see the light.

Then came Laetner...

and finally Delainee

we spent some time reading the tags and enjoying all that Santa had left us(including the stockings,)

See this last shot??? That is the only PROOF that I was even in attendance on Christmas morning. At least I brought my candy cane inspired pedicure to the party...

and then we began into the 'rounds'

Outside of our gift from Santa, each family member gives everyone one gift. This makes up the four rounds of Christmas. In each round each person gets to open one gift. To help keep track of things each person wrapped their gifts in their own special wrapping paper---thank you Target Dollar Bins.

All presents that Delainee wrapped were in the polka-Dot paper. Laetner's were wrapped in the striped/Lined paper. Waverly's had the Words on it. Mommy's were snowflakes, and Daddy had the 'crazy' paper. I know it seemed cheesy, but it was so cute when the kids would immediately recognize who it was from and already be thanking them or being excited to see what a certain person had given someone else. Seemed to help it be a little less about, me, me, me and more about EVERYONE!

Laetner was especially happy with a little tent that Delainee had given to him. He immediately gave the box and Delainee a great big hug! Ü

and I missed my oppurtunity to have on record the words "You are the best mommy ever!" to actually come out of his mouth. **SIGH** He still wins the prize for showing the best Christmas spirit and excitement!

As usual, Court and Waverly steal the show...

Outside of EVERYONE having a bit of a cold, Christmas was aboslutely wonderful. We spent the rest of the day playing card games, board games, putting together puzzles, tyring out a new waffle maker, enjoying our new spoils, and of course a 'little' bit of wii playing--Elfis had taken our wii to Santa and he returned it to Daddy on Christmas morning with a 'few' modifications.Ü

What a great Christmas! Only 364 days left until next year right??? Ü

Phew!

2010-12-25T18:35:00.002-07:00

Luckily Elfis DID gain his magic back, and he continued to report back to Santa until Christmas eve. On Christmas morning we found him near the scene of the the 'crime' and he had found his way back into his box, ready to put away until next year.

Not sure if he went back into his box on his own accord or if he was ordered there by the big guy after his devouring of milk and cookies.

Christmas Eve

2010-12-24T19:36:00.002-07:00

We invited my parents over for a small Christmas Eve dinner. My first try at a ham and basically Thanksgiving all over again. We ate dinner, opened up pillow cases from grandma, played a few rounds of chicken foot dominos, and then Delainee gave her first solo performance on cello--accompanied by her mother of course!

What a nice evening. Papa and Grandmas headed home and the kiddies opened up the traditional Christmas Eve jammies to nestle all snug in their wee little beds to await St. Nick and his ELVES!

Tangled

2010-12-23T18:27:00.002-07:00

So stinking cute!!!

Thank you Disney for finally bringing us some cute songs and a fun story!!! Best---Day---EVAH!!!! Ü Delainee, Laetner and myself decided to head out to the movies on Chrismtas Eve, Eve. Court told us we better get to the theater EARLY or there was no way we would get a seat. We did as we were told, showed up a half hour early, and FOUGHT the one other family sitting in the theater for our seats!

Near the end of the movie I got a little teary, so I looked down at Delainee to see how she was handling things. She was trying to hide her face with her hair so noONE could see her crying---but I caught her in the act. Once the movie was over she asked if I had cried. I told her that yes I got a little teary, and she admitted that she had indeed cried a little bit as well. "But don't worry mom, I only cry when I watch it the first time in the theater, I won't cry when I watch it again on dvd!"

Good to know....

Christmas Lights Traditions Part II

2010-12-22T12:00:00.002-07:00

Of course we have to hit the Temple Lights as well, and oddly enough (just like last year) it was raining. But our night devoted to the Temple Lights also has a few other must sees.

First stop the house of the inflatables. There is this random house just off of Lindsay between Baseline and Guadalupe that has the most inflatables on the planet! We found it by accident last year and it is now a must see. Just south of these houses is a neighborhood we always drive by as well becuz the whole block is pretty spectacular. Then we also have to run by 2540 to see the huge snowman. 2540 is our first little house that bought, and in that neighborhood there was this house that would put up this HUGE snomman with a twinkling eye that you could see from Baseline. It now appears that the other houses in the circle have caught on to the Christmas spirit, cuz now along with the snowman the houses in the entire circle outdo themselves, there is a huge star, and a live Santa. Like I mentioned previously it was raining that night, and not many people were actually getting out of there cars, but there were 4 elves (dressed from the green outfit to the striped stocking) that were coming out to people's cars with umbrellas.

Next stop: Cherry Tree Lane in Gilbert. Yet one more neighborhood where an entire circle seems to outdo themselves. This one (sad to say) was a little sad this year. Not sure if it was becuz of the rain, but while we could see that decorations and lights did exist, not everyone had remembered to actually turn them on--BOOO!

Then comes the annual stop for hot cocoa. We stopped at QT, where everyone filled their cups and then the kids went CRAZY with all the flavor add ins. I think Delainee ended up with a french vanilla, butter pecan, and I went for the french vanilla with a shot of cinnamon hazelnut AND amaretto.

Finally we made it to the temple, where the rain had FINALLY died down a bit, but still was drizzling.

(Poor Wavee looks like a mental patient with that bandaid on her head)

Christmas Card Greetings from Our House!

2010-12-20T17:40:00.009-07:00

I had this great idea for our Christmas card this year. Well, actually Shelby (who takes the BEST pictures) had found some SUPER cute templates ---one of which was a circle, double sided, BEAUTIFUL card. Only problem was that they were a wee bit expensive. "Okay, I will order a few doublesided beauties for family, and then the rest I will go the Costco route and just cut the circles by hand"---great idea, right????

Ummm, NIGHTMARE!!!!

But after much wailing and gnashing of teeth, my VERY nice hubby offers to cut the circles for me if I will just 'hurry up with the addressing and stamping and get them sent out already!'

He did, and I think he did a much better job on his 100 than I did on my measly 25---I ruined 3 in the process.

Thank you Court, and please remind me next year how FUN this was so I don't make the same mistake TWICE!!!! Ü

A Whole Lot o Huggin' Going On

2010-12-19T18:54:00.003-07:00

Sunday December 19th was one JAMMED pack evening o fun! We started off with homemade chicken noodle soup---a Mama Maurio specialty. After dinner came the grandkid gift exchange. We were all just gathering around on the couches to watch the kiddies begin their exchange when we hear a ruckus coming from behind the couch, and then a child start to sob uncontrollably. The child??? You guessed it---Miss Naughty Pants. Someone had opened up the window to let some cold air in and Wavee was pushing against the screen with enough force that it popped out and she went through the window head first to the cement below.

Daddy picked her up and just held her on the couch, but the sobbing would not stop, and then suddenly she was OUT!

I have NEVER had this child fall asleep on me ANYWHERE outside of her own bed. Slightly frightening. Luckily Court's brother Dr. Fischbeck was in the house to take a quick look at her and he said she was fine, no concussion---WHEW!

Picture doesn't do it justice--the swelling was the overwhelming part. And the poor thing was sick for the next three days following, she just could not catch a break, poor thing! But she was especially pleasant when she woke up an hour later as we were beginning to assemble our candy trains.

While Wavee took her nap, we went ahead with the gift exchange without her. Laetner had Chandler, Delainee had Kennidi, Chandler had Delainee, and Kennidi had Laetner. It was all VERY confusing. But of course we got the obligatory HUGS! (Wavee missed out on her chances for hugging Pace and Kayla)

This was the only shot we could manage with Kennidi, she was very papparazzi wary!

Luckily we were just about finished with our candy trains when Waverly DID awaken from her not so peaceful slumber, cuz she was NOT interested in hanging around any longer.

Christmas Lights Traditions

2010-12-18T10:52:00.002-07:00

There are a few standards that our little family does EVERY year when it comes to Christmas, and the McCormick Ranch Railroad Park is one of them.

Now this place can be a MADHOUSE! And here is a word to the wise---the Big Train just ain't worth it. But what not everyone knows or realizes I guess, is that at the eastern edge of the park is the Little Train. You don't have to wait in a seperate line to get you ticket for the Little Train. And if you are unwise with your evening planning and show up too late, then yes the Little Train line can get long, but it moves. The Little Train is also technically 'free' but that just isn't nice, so of course we always pay in the donations accepted bin. The Little Train ALSO gives every kid a candy cane when they are done---which happens to be one of the few words that Waverly can say, so it's reception was especially cute.

But along with the Big Train and the Little Train, you can also visit Santa (which we chose not to do this year) or take pictures with the fun cut outs and various characters wandering around the park (like elmo, scooby doo, clifford etc)

and it is a park after all, so after waiting in any line the kids were happy to just roam free on the playground...

by the time it was time to go, the kiddies were exhausted--hooray!

But of course they had to pose one last time for me when we found these cool bikes.

Teacher Gifts

2010-12-13T19:16:00.002-07:00

Most years I try to come up with what I THINK are pretty creative ideas for teacher and neighbor gifts.

This year, the inspiration just wasn't coming!

What to do, what to do?

Someone dropped us a plate of goodies, one of which was a very yummy chocolate dipped oreo. Hmmm... I should be able to reproduce that, right? It was a group effort, Delainee and Laetner each had their own bowl of little candy melts---a very UNNATURAL looking green, and we busted out quite a few little teacher gifts.

Waverly was especially helpful once the older kids had gone to bed and it was time to package everything up!

Hey at least it was semi-homemade!

3rd Grade Musical

2010-12-09T20:00:00.003-07:00

No theme, no strory. Just different Christmas songs from around the world. Delainee really liked "Children Go Where I Send Thee" and she knew where I was, so she WORKED that camera all night.

For the closing number, Delainee (along with her cello teacher April Thomas, and April's son Mason) played Silent Night while the kids and then the congregation joined in.

She was AWESOME--not to mention VERY serious!

Of course she had some avid fans!!!

Elf on the Shelf---DRAMA!

2010-12-05T21:32:00.004-07:00

Have you heard about "The Elf on the Shelf" ???? I started hearing about it last year at Christmas and knew that I wanted to start the tradition. We found the book at Barnes and Noble and on the Monday after Thanksgiving we read the BOOK.

In a nutshell, your elf (who you must name) has very magical powers. He watches you during the day, and then every night he flies to the north pole to report to Santa what you have been up to. When he comes back to your house he finds a new place to hang out and watch you for the day---so there is also the added fun of finding his new spot every morning. If you hit your baby sister, then the elf will report it to Santa. If you help mommy with the dishes, he reports it to the big guy, etc.

RULES:

No touching the elf.

The elf can't talk to you.

This provided a bit of a dilemma to myself the first night since you cannot touch the elf or he will lose his magical powers. I wasn't sure how to get him out of his packaging without 'touching' him so he hid with his box the first couple of night. Luckily a 'friend' informed me that once you register his name online, then your elf gains the ability to sneak out of his box as well... WHEW!

We headed on over to elfontheshelf.com and officially adopted Elfis as a member of the Fischbeck family. And would you believe it??? Sure enough that night Elfis snuck out of his box. He shows up in all sorts of fun places around the house! Yesterday Daddy was wrestling with Laetner when Laetner informed him that "Elfis just saw him hurt him and we would go tell Santa!"

Well this morning, Elfis showed up in a bit of a precarious spot in our kitchen.

He wasn't aware of the seriousness of his situation until we started making dinner. But when we would open up the spice cupboard, it knocked Elfis down.

This wouldn't have been the complete end of the world, as we have already discussed that in rare instances, MOMMY can pick up Elfis as long as she is wearing a glove and doesn't actually touch him. But apparently Daddy did NOT get the memo, cuz as he was preparing chicken parmigianna for dinner, he simply picked up Elfis when he dropped next to the stove and tossed him to the island behind him. You should have heard the gasps of HORROR that escaped from both Delainee and Laetner as they witnessed what their father had just done.

What to do, what to do?

We decided that a letter was our best course of action. Laetner dictated it and Delainee penned it and my job was to scan it in and email it Santa....

Technically:

Dear Santa
Our Daddy touched Elfis because Elfis was about to fall in a pot of boiling tomato sauce. Please give Elfis new magic if you can.
Love Fischbecks

ps please don't put Daddy on the naughty list
WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS

The last line Delainee added all on her own. Trying to butter up Old St. Nick! We will just have to hope and pray that Elfis can get his magic back!!!!

10 K

2010-11-23T09:50:00.003-07:00

The last time I actually ran an entire 10k was a 'few' years ago when my SIL Shelby and I ran London's Run down in Queen Creek.

We have been talking about working up to do the Turkey Trot this year, and asked ourselves why drive and pay the money? But we really wanted to train and have our own 'Turkey Trot-ish' on Thanksgiving morning. No t-shirt, no everybody and their dog AND their stroller, no guy dressed up in a Turkey costume. Just 6.2 miles mapped out. We even put out feelers to see if anybody wanted to come run it with us, we got a few 'maybes' but no one seemed interested.

Still that did not deter us, and we have continued to train. I am ''slightly' scared of the sunshine, and so my running partner is VERY accommodating (she allows me to set the pace for what I can handle) and we run at nights---9:00-10:30 ish. And let me tell you, it is COLD at 10:00 at night!!!!! Ü

We were starting to feel like I just wasn't gonna get my endurance up by Thanksgiving morning, and then last night out of nowhere---we did it!!!! No big thang-- ran the entire 10k (and then some on the stretch home) We might need to drag a hubby to our finish line to get us an actual finish time, but considering we met at the corner at 9:00 and I was walking in my door at 10:15, I am thinking it was somewhere in the 1:05-1:15 range . Shelby?

Now I know this is nothing compared to all the marathon and half marathon times that are being posted up and down facebook these day, but for me---this is impressive! Just the fact that we ran the whole time---I am TOTALLY tooting my own horn!

Now I just got to do it again on Thanksgiving morning! Ü

She's Back!

2010-11-22T15:59:00.004-07:00

(yet another installment of the Semi-Monthly Misadventures of Miss Naughty Pants)

Just cuz I haven't been posting doesn't mean she isn't up to trouble. Just means I have been busy working. So wouldn't you know it, that on the day I am actually catching up on the blog, that she manages to find SOME sort of trouble???

So today Daddy went outside to change the water for the chickens. He left the hose on for a bit and things got a bit muddy. That wasn't his mistake. His mistake was coming back inside and not realizing that Waverly had stayed outside...

I couldn't get her to look up and admit her guilt..

But I will say that just last week, Court had taken all the screens off the house and done a little 'Spring Cleaning' on all the windows.

Might have to do this window over....

And it wasn't until washing her off that I even REALIZED that her feet were a match set to her hands---thank you Waverly, my now muddy lap truly appreciates it.

Thanksgiving Week

2010-11-21T15:44:00.004-07:00

I absolute LOVE Thanksgiving. That is the one holiday meal, start to finish, that I can do---and I do it well. I can't take all the credit. It took the Iron Hand of my Mother in Law who insists that EVERYTHING be made from scratch, and a 'few' years of being married to my hubby, but from the picture perfect turkey to the homemade pies, I got it covered.

Anyhoo, we figured we should start off this festive week with our standard Sunday dessert showdown, and what better way to do that then TURKEY style.

We had chocolate fudge frosting, and milk chocolate frosting, and candy corns galore. And they all turned out pretty cute, although when it came time for this picture there were quite a few 'beaks' that were mysteriously absent.....

WA-VER-LY!!!!!

Halloween

2010-10-31T15:06:00.000-07:00

I have to say that this year (with the old Halloween on Sunday thing) that things felt really low key---and that definitely wasn't a bad thing!!!

Here was our cast of characters for this year...

A cupcake...

(complete with side view)

GI Joe...

And of course you have already met Little Miss Ladybug...

..who was ever so dainty and every so BOSSY! She couldn't be bothered to walk a few steps from house to house, she would come back and climb into her 'chariot' and be pushed to the next house.

Here they are in action...

We went out for a short walk down our block and up the street behind us and called it DONE!!!

What a nice night!!! of course the rest of that week was HELL as Miss Waverly wreaked HAVOC on everyone's candy buckets everyday. One lick of anything and then it made it's way to the floor---NICE!!!

Trunk or Treat

2010-10-27T14:43:00.002-07:00

Trunk or Treat was on Wednesday this year. It was Waverly's first real experience at the old 'trick or treating' thing. She was pretty darn cute. At each vehicle she wouldn't let the person put the candy in her pumpkin (I think she thought they were trying to steal things out) but insisted that they hand the candy to her and then she would 'daintily' place the candy into her pumpkin herself. She would sit and stare at any car that had brought jack-o-lanterns---she serisously is memorized by puh-kees. One van had little orange lights and a guy in a creepy mask lying down in the back of the van. He would lay really still, and then scare the kiddies as they got close. I though Wavee was gonna FREAK, but she walked up really close to get a better look at the lights, and when he went to scare her she kind a looked at him cock-eyed and just gave him a high five.

I wasn't very on the ball in the photo department, but I mangaged to snap a few near the end of the night.

Court looks REAL excited to be here!!

As usual Laetner was a 'natural' poser!

And Wavee started gettting bored---FAST!

(especially love the look of the white diaper through the black tights)

Here is the last shot I have of her before she wanders between two parked cars and then VANISHES!!! Talk about panic!!! She is a wanderer, and our church parking lot sits on a very busy street (with no lighting). I frantically searched the outside and then ran inside hoping she might have wandered in there. Someone noticed my panic-stricken face and asked if I was looking for a little Ladybug by chance?? They had seen her on the other side of the building. Near her nursery classroom---trying to get into the toys no doubt!!!!

Fall Break

2010-10-13T11:10:00.002-07:00

We were tempted to head up to Pinedale for Fall Break this year, but Court had a few appointments in town so we decided we could stay busy here!

We ended up at the zoo---two days in a row. Crazy, I know. On Tuesday we went for for fun and then we were talking about how Court had an interview on Wednesday in the same area, and we decided to have him drop us off at the zoo while he did his interview. Worked out great. We have a zoo membership, and it came with some free safari tickets, so we finally took a ride on the train!!!

Of course the kids stayed COMPLETELY glued to their maps as usual. Such nerds---where do they get it from????

But by far, the most fun for all was at the petting zoo. Who knew that Waverly would love the goats so much???

What are my children doing to that poor cow????

This shot is actually from the 2nd day, but this was one of the first times that we were at the zoo in the morning. (I personally like to wait til after lunchtime) And for ONCE the elephant was out and about. (as were most of the animals Ü)

Of course we ended both days at the splash pad, which I have to say is the smartest 'exhibit' that the zoo has EVER added. No pictures....

Easter Egg Hunting in October???

2010-10-09T13:23:00.002-07:00

You heard me. The 'Ladies' are laying their eggs in full force now. Only some of the 'Ladies' don't like to use the nesting boxes so graciously accommodated for them. In the beginning they would lay ALL their eggs right in the nesting box. But September was sooo stinkin hot, that we started opening up the chicken coop and just letting the chickens roam free in the yard. They are masters at finding the shadiest coolest spots. Then all of a sudden their daily egg production seemed to drop and we coudln't understand why. One day I was heading out to the coop to change their water when I heard a bush make a sound! How could the bush make a sound. I walked up closely to the bush and couldn't see anything, but as I turned to walk away I heard it again. "What in the world?" This time I crouched down behind the bush and sure enough, tucked way up in the bush there was one of my chickies. I had to wait for her to be done with her business, but sure enough---a whole nest of eggs.

So now when we go check for eggs and things seem a little low in the nesting box, we send the kids on an easter egg hunt to search under and around all the bushes to make the chickens aren't leaving their presents elsewhere around the yard.

When all eggs are accounted for, we end up grossing 5-7 eggs DAILY. So if you are interested in some farm fresh, organic, eggs, send me an email and we might be able to work out an 'arrangement'. We seem to have a few for sale! Ü

Cupcake Wars

2010-08-29T19:45:00.004-07:00

Have you seen this show on Food Network?? Laetner is OBSESSED with it! He begs every week if we can have a cupcake war. Soooo, the last two Sundays we have obliged.

Last week: RED VELVET with cream cheese icing (aka Red Velva if Laetner is talking)

We used of recipe off of Food Network from Cooking with the Neely's and baked 1/2 of our cupcakes in the regular muffin cups and 1/2 in ice cream cones.

The verdict: The ice cream cones actually kept the cake moister---although the cones didn't have a whole lot of crunch left in them. But the presentation (with a dollup of cream cheese frosting) was so stinkin cute that they won HANDS DOWN!!!

Tonight: Mom's Heath Bar Cupcakes vs. Laetner and Delainee's Reese's Peanut Butter and Caramel Cupcakes.

The cupcake itself was an AMAZINGLY moist concoction of yellow cake mix, eggs, water and instant milk chocolate pudding. The frosting was a mixture of butter, egg yolks, pwd sugar, and a cup of whipped cream---YUM! I then drizzled crushed up Heath Bar Candy Cars, for just a splash of toffee flavor and a little crunch! While Delainee and Laetner piled on chopped up Reese's PB Cups and drizzled with caramel---talk about RICH!!!!

Laetner had been trash talking me all day and CLAIMED that he was gonna squash me. I am not so sure about that! Ü

We made both flavors for Daddy to judge, and Court had us all giggling as he critiqued each cupcake with an 'OUTRAGEOUS' french accent just like the judge on the t.v. show.

I lost!

Don't suppose we have an unbiased judge out there ready to judge our throwdown???

Mr. and Mrs. Stewart

2010-08-28T17:56:00.002-07:00

On one of our last weekends of Summer we headed up to the cabin with our good friends Jim and Jenny and their posse of kiddies that match up PERFECTLY with our kiddies. Delainee and Addi are best of buds and Laetner and Benjamin could pretty much be brothers. These 4 pretty much took care of themselves all weekend playing the wii, slip'n'sliding on the lawn, and even creating their very own bouncy ball.

With the older kids off keeping each other busy, that left our 2 1/2 year olds to their own resources. So meet the FUTURE Mr. and Mrs. Stewart!

We had an utterly delightful weekend, with PERFECT temperatures, and light rainfall nearly every day. One day we looked out the kitchen window to see this perfection off the back porch...

Do you see the double rainbow??? If you look closely, there is an entirely seperate (much lighter) rainbow that runs through the very top of the photo.

WOW!!!!

Good Face Discount

2010-08-24T14:28:00.004-07:00

The very 1st Semester of Let's Play music is known as the Red Balloon semester and we have a fun song about a balloon that floats up and down on the staff and it 'almost' floats away at the end, but the children pretend to catch it at the last moment and exclaim "I got it!" They love this.

So as a gift, on day one of the 1st Year of Let's Play Music, each child receives their very own helium filled Red Balloon to leave class with. Very fun. This week we will have a little girl in class who could not make it to class last week, but she HEARD all about what went down in class last week, and so I figured I better get her her own balloon to take home.

Court was so nice last week to go to Party City and get 13 Red Balloons filled for me. Not normally a task my hubby would relish! And I must admit that I actually thought he would shoot me down when I explained that this week I needed one more single balloon. "No problem," he says. He is "running to get his haircut and can stop by after."

He walks in the door with his single red balloon and tells me he got a 'good face discount'. Say WHAT???? The girl helping him remembered him from last week, and told him the balloon was on the house---no charge--FREE!!!!

That NEVER would have happened to me!

She must have REALLY liked his new snazzy haircut!!!! Ü

Back to School

2010-08-21T16:41:00.003-07:00

I am a little out of sequence with my posts as I have been trying to catch up. We made it back to school, and the very 1st Week is when Miss Naughty Pants took a nesquik bath in my bed---apparently she is bored with Delainee and Laetner gone to school all day, and mommy ignoring her while she gets ready for a new year of Let's Play Music to start. As much as I HATE getting up in the morning, I am already loving being back on a schedule!

We took our obligatory 'by the seasonal bear' photos....

Here they are 'faking' an action shot---as if they are actually walking to school---HAH!

You might notice that Delainee doesn't look so well in this photo. No sooner did I take this shot than she completely broke down into tears. I couldn't believe it! She has never cried before on 1st day. She knew absolutely NO ONE in her class and I could understand her feelings.

Only when she got home from school and I went to figure out if she was okay, I found out that the reason she was crying was becuz she was completed embarassed by my taking her picture in front of all her new classmates.

We had to have a chat.

Cuz, "the pictures aren't gonna stop, my dear!" As long as you are my baby, I WILL be there with the camera, and I WILL be embarassing you!!!! Doesn't mean I don't love you of course, but I WON'T be stopping! Ü

Now that is what I call a good looking car pool!

Last Minute Summer Fun

2010-08-20T16:20:00.000-07:00

With school starting the next week, we just HAD to get one last swim in. We packed up our lunch and headed over to Uncle Jaron's house to swim in his pool.

Talk about TRUST!

The best for last....

The Semi-Monthly Misadventures of Miss Naughty Pants!

2010-08-19T22:47:00.000-07:00

Man alive does the girl ever quit. She just seems to move from one substance to the next. But why, why WHY did she have to do it on MY bed?????

Can you figure out what it is this time????

At first she started to smile when I got out the camera, and I started wondering what was the 'worse' reaction? Getting all mad and yelling at the child, or getting out the camera and documenting it like it is the best thing ever??? I met her halfway and told her "NO" in my most stern voice. The smile quickly turned to unsurety and then she lost it....

There's your answer---Pink Nesquik. NICE!!!

Friday Night Fun With Daddy

2010-08-18T23:07:00.000-07:00

"I get to have BOTH beaters????"
"
Daddy is the best!!!"

Fuller Family Reunion

2010-08-12T13:58:00.000-07:00

So we are already gathered up north. We might as well cram all the activities in at once, right??? The Sherwood Reunion ended at noon, which gave us just enough time to rush back to the cabin in Pinedale and give Wavee a quick nap before showing back up at my Aunt Kathy's house at 3:00 p.m. for just our Fuller Family Reunion. The bumpy ride up the Pinedale rode made for some funny pictures in the car. It looks like Wavee is sleeping, when in fact she is caught in the middle of saying, "Ah--choo!"

For this portion of the 24th of July weekend, my sister Jennifer was in charge. And nothing says family reunion like watermelon and sticker wars, right?!?!?!

Who dared go after my baby???

The kids played a game of wooferball and jumped on the tramp.

As usual for MY family gatherings, Court just made faces at me...(and I will give you three guesses as to what he is saying!)

And then came time for the pinata...

Waverly didn't seem to get in on the excitement of the mad dash for the candy once it busted open.

But instead preferred to rely on Daddy for her sustenance...

We were lucky to not lose her to the main highway. That kid NEVER slows down.

We finished things off with a Mexican Horseshoe tournament---I was beat out 'promptly' in the first round of elimination! And then everyone skedaddled to make it to a showing of Beauty and the Beast. Delainee spent the night in town to see the show and we met up with her again the next morning at the parade in snowflake. Now that is what a small town parage should be. Way cute!

After the parage we headed back to the cabin to clean up and we headed back home from our jam packed week in the mountains!

Aaah, I cannot tell you how happy I was to be reunited with MY bed!

Sherwood Family Reunion

2010-08-10T10:38:00.000-07:00

So after our fun camping adventure we headed up to Pinedale to TAKE a shower first of all!!!! But then the jam packed 24th of July weekend began. Thursday evening kicked off the Sherwood Family Reunion at the Taylor rodeo grounds. My mother is a Sherwood. One of 12 kiddies. I have 72 1st cousins--72!!!! I don't normally take the time to head up to Snowflake/Taylor for this thing since I have been married. But this year my mother was responsible, and so we were STUCK!

Thursday night festivities included dinner and a dance. The girls thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Laetner, on the other hand, was merely suffering through until time for COOKIES--which we then sat and ate double fisted.

Friday festivities included a grave site prayer at Grandma and Grandpa Sherwood's gravesite, followed by a carnival of sorts. We had prizes and guessing games, and raffles, and booths of ALL sorts of crazy activities. That portion of the 24th of July Weekend ended after lunchtime, but that was NOT the end of the fesitivities for that day....

Camping at Woods Canyon Lake

2010-08-07T14:11:00.002-07:00

Admittedly we are NOT campers. But for some reason, we have been getting the itch for it and talking about just DOING it. So since we had got Court a snazzy camp stove/ oven for Father's-Birthday, we figured we should put it to use.

We left Monday morning (July 19th) and headed up to Woods Canyon Lake for our 1:oo pm check-in. Camping has check ins???? We had a great little campsite that backed up the national forest and was VERY strategically located near both the bathrooms AND the potbable water spigot---NICE!

We had quite a sweet set up, and Waverly had NO inhibitions about becoming one with nature around her!!! While the other kids tended to gravitate to some of their 'usual' habits.

Although, Wavee wasn't really cooperating when it came to the nap department.

Can't blame her, it was actually pretty warm in the tent during the day. I was pretty cold the first night in the tent, but the 2nd night was much more manageable---mainly becuz we made daddy sleep on the floor and the rest of us cuddled together on the air mattress. My kiddies are space heaters!

On one of our little nature hikes, Laetner found this cool little fort that had been created against a big rock.

Here is the other side of it--holy cow!

We hiked down to the lake, and the dam, and even went crawdad fishing.

We found some huge rocks that looked like turtle shells, and Laetner insisted we needed to go on TurtleShell a'ventures' in order to find more.

Court decided it might be a good time to ponder the real meaning of life...CUCKOO!

We had a lot of fun, and definitely will be doing it more often. Next time, we just need to pack our bikes!

Aaah, the joys of 2 year olds and camping! Ü

Swim Lessons with Miss Briley

2010-08-07T11:48:00.004-07:00

Last summer Miss Judy and Miss Briley decided they weren't doing swim lessons anymore and we were DEVASTATED.

This Summer Miss Briley had a change of heart and opened up her Beach Club to us! Waverly was ESPECIALLY lucky and got to spend two different sessions with Miss Briley (one was while Delainee and Laetner were still doing workshop with me) It worked out perfect for Court to take her everyday. And per ALL my other children she cried EVERY day. Luckily she broke the trend of throwing up in the pool everyday as well--- a trend I am certain that Briley was happy to see broken.

Wavee would NOT stop crying if Daddy stayed to watch, so he was asked to leave the premises! Ü Luckily Aunt Shelby was one of the helpers in the pool and she would give me the lowdown on how Wavee was doing during this first session. Apparently she was told that she could only cry when it was her turn, so she would wait patiently on her pool step, and then sure enough when it WAS her turn she would start squawking. And she just didn't seem to understand the task of going under the water to retrieve a ring at the bottom of the pool. She would just go under water with her eyes WIDE open and just GRIN!

By the 2nd Session, when Delainee and Laetner were able to come, Wavee was "a big girl now!" She never cried, she made it down to get the ring, she walked like a monkey, made it to the side after diving in, kicked and pulled, splashed everyone on the pool step, waited her turn on the diving board, played "wake up Wavee", tasted the water, EVERYTHING! (although she would sneak out of the pool and run around in circles---that naughty thing!)

We don't have a pool, and I am a little shy of the sun, so we don't always get a lot of practice swimming, but this was the summer that EVERYTHING finally came together for both Delainee and Laetner. We had big strokes, and big kicks, and finally seem to have mastered the side breath.

Thank you Miss Briley!

Octa-Mom (Minus One) Over Here

2010-08-06T09:23:00.000-07:00

When you look on the side of our house, you would get a glimpse of what you see in many backyards.

A garden caddy.

Pretty straight forward.

Or IS it????

Meet the Ladies...

Big Red, Little Red, Blacky, Spotty, Mario, Luigi, and Sabrina!
(we won't speak of Medium Red---may she rest in peace)
And we have a gnawing suspicion that Big Red is NO lady!

We purchased these chickies as wee little babies during Spring Break and have been loving and doting on them ever since. Court and his brother Dan made them their luxury condo and 8 ft run to hang out in on the side of our house, and we have been waiting around for the end of August beginning of September (the obligatory 6 months) for them to start laying their eggs.

Except two of these ladies must not have gotten the memo, cuz they are laying em at 4 months.

Almost the size of our store bought white eggs, but everyday they look a little bit bigger so I think we will get there.

The proud egg gather-ers...

Laetner was HORRIFIED when we actually cracked them open and ate them as scambled eggs! Ü

Poor Delainee

2010-07-29T09:42:00.006-07:00

We are Star Wars fans (as well as Indiana Jones.) This is something I have explained in previous posts. So of course we LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Lego versions of Star Wars and Indiana Jones for the wii. Lots of fun to play together as a family. Only problem is that only TWO players can play at a time.

We are sitting around as a family watching Court and Laetner take their turn at Star Wars when Laetner says he wants to be "Bon-kee Ahn-ta" I don't seem to remember a character being named that but I assumed that it must be someone from episodes I thru III---cuz Laetner is definitely a man that pays attention to details. But when he chooses his character it in none other than Boba-Fett.

Mom: Ummmm... Laetner, I hate to break it to you but that guy is NOT named Bon-kee Ahn-ta.
Laetner: Yes he is
Mom: No he isn't.
Laetner: Yuh-huh. When Han Solo gets frozen, Darth Vader says, "He's ALL yours Bon-kee Ahn-ta!"

To which I have to laugh a little bit. Cuz I know EXACTLY what scene he is talking about. (I told you I am a NERD!)

So I try to explain to Laetner that the guys name IS Boba Fett and that his job is that of a BOUNTY HUNTER, and that Darth Vader is ACTUALLY saying, He's ALL yours BOUNTY HUNTER!"

Laetner STILL insists that his name is Bon-kee Ahn-ta, and it drives my nerd self CRAZY everytime he calls him that!

So with this in mind I am not too confused when Court comes down the hallway the other day and asks what a "Heart Mee-uh Bon-chee" is. Court, Laetner, and Delainee had been playing the wii together while I had been making dinner, and I figured it was just one more thing that Laetner was 'mis-interpreting.' I simply smiled and said I had no idea. But then when I walked down the hallway I was surprised to find Delainee's bedroom door shut with this SIGN posted on it....

Apparently Daddy and Laetner had HURT her feelings a BUNCH by laughing maniacally when she would die in the game.

Poor thing.

Had to be born into a family of competetive trash talkers... Ü

4th of July

2010-07-13T18:41:00.002-07:00

What better way to celebrate the 4th of July weekend then by getting out of the heat and heading up to the Fischbeck Cabin in Pinedale. We arrived on Thursday, and Court volunteered to be in charge of food for the weekend---of course we were VERY well fed from his famous homemade pizza to crepes on Sunday morning, to homemade ice cream sandwiches. Between his chef skills, and my Martha baking skills, we make QUITE a pair!

THe parade in Heber on Saturday morning was LAME! Apparently someone in an electric wheelchair got WET at last years festivities, and ALL water was OUTLAWED---LITERALLY! Needless to say, we won't be doing THAT one again any time soon.

It wouldn't be a 4th of July without Heber fireworks. Only this year we drove all the way into Heber, set up our spot, got ready for the show to start, and no sooner did it start, then the rest of the group we were with decided to pack up and LEAVE---LAME!!!! I did not even get to see the grand finale. Slightly disgusted with the situation. Four words--- MY IN LAWS STINK!

Sister in Law Jill and Kevin were there with her family (the Jackson's) and as usual Marsha (Jill's mom) was spreading the love and had glow sticks for all the kiddies. She took care of me and my kiddies at LAST years celebration---LURVE her! Maybe I could get adopted into THOSE in laws!!! But we got a few fun shots of the kids playing with those at least...

The night wasn't a COMPLETE wash, however. The women managed to sneak into Showlow to catch a LATE showing of Eclipse---YUM!

These two little ladies have turned into the bobsey twins!

On the ride home on Monday I asked Delainee what her favorite part of the weekend was and she immediately responded with, "the baseball game!"

WOULDN'T be the 4th of July without BASEBALL, right???

At least we did SOMETHING right....

Magical of Musical Theater

2010-07-12T18:15:00.000-07:00

a.k.a WORKSHOP!!!! This year Delainee and Laetner BOTH got to participate in the big show with Mom!!!! The Purple Workshop hit the stage promptly at 6:30 to a sold out audience---and they were AMAZING!

Just HAD to get a shot with Miss Linz as well!

And we had the funnest car pool EVAH---including our dear friend Addi!

Each child is in 6 different numbers by the time it is all said and done, and just about EVERYBODY gets a solo SOMEWHERE! Such a great experience for these kids.

It's a "Hard Knock Life" for Delainee!

Here is Laetner in "Mother Doesn't Want a Dog"---becuz they smell, right????

He is sporting some MAJOR attitude in "Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day."

Entire Company in their final pose---can you find Delainee and Laetner?!?!

Entire Company in our Inspirational Number---"The Climb"

Laetner was super excited to finally receive flowers after a show---he had seen Delainee get them so often, that he couldn't wait for his performace so he could get some of his own. These were bestowed on him by Grandma and Papa Fuller.

Delainee really outshone with her 'special' solo in our inspirational number--THE CLIMB!

If you look closely you can see Laetner down on the floor on the right during the opening solos---look for the glare off his glasses..

But as usual, the boy number seems to always steal the show! Laetner plays a mad guitar in "One Last Kiss!"(he is in the front on the left)

Special thanks AGAIN to Aunt Shelby for getting Delainee ready for her big night---since I had been in rehearsals at MCC from 9:00 a.m. until the opening curtain! And thanks to Summer Driggs as well for taking pictures and being willing to share.

Who is gonna join us next year???

Best of Friends

2010-07-11T16:28:00.000-07:00

They really are best buds!!!

Maybe we should get one for Waverly....

March, April, May, June, July, Aack!

2010-07-07T15:43:00.000-07:00

What used to be a JUNE thing has spilled over into a NEVER-ENDING one event to the next!

Laetners Birthday Party, Amazing Race Night, Purchasing 8 Baby Chicks, Bunco at My House, Playing in the Orchestra Pit for Pirates Of Penzance at CGCC, Let's Play Music Recital, Delainee's Baptism/Birthday Celebration, Building a Chicken Coop, HCG Dieting, End of the School Year This and That, Event Coordinator for Let's Play Music Symposium, Let's Play Music Arizona 3rd Year Training, Orchestrating for MCC Workshop (Big Kids), Helping Run MCC Workshop (Little Kids), Court's Birthday/Fathers Day, Let's Play Music Utah Workshop Weekend, Let's Play Music Utah 3rd Year Training, Performances for ALL Workshops (8 TOTAL), Food Committee for Fischbeck 4th of July Celebration!

I QUIT!!!! Please, just let me sit and stare at the wall already!!!

So don't bother asking me to help with anything---the answer will be NO until I catch up with this blog!!!! Ü

(Allyson I am still anxiously awaiting WORKSHOP pictures from you)

Court's Happy Birth/Father's Day!

2010-06-13T17:14:00.000-07:00

Court's Birthday was on June 12th. The big 36! We have previously discussed how he should REALLY look into legally changing his birthday out of the month of June due to its tendency to get overlooked by all the June going ons. But this year was REALLY bad. See, Saturday June 12th was a very busy day. I was working a matinee AND an evening performance at MCC and he had to attend the baptism AND a baby blessing for nephews in the same family. Wasn't a lot of room in the day to actually celebrate his birthday. And shame on his family---they were all gathered together and not a SINGLE one of them wished him a Happy Birthday---POOR GUY!!!

We couldn't just wait for the next weekend either, becuz not only was Father's Day the following weekend, but I had to go out of town to Utah for some Let's Play Music trainings---so he pretty much got worked over TWICE!!! But I had looked ahead at the calendar. I knew that things wouldn't be ideal, but I had thought this one out, paid attention to things he had hinted at wanting, and on SUNDAY JUNE 13th we had a dual celebration!!!! Cuz pretty much Sunday June 13th was the ONLY day we could dedicate to the guy we ALL love the best!

I had pow wowed with the kids on ideas for gifts that they wanted to give to him, and especially on what we should do for the cake!!! Of course Laetner wanted to do SOMETHING to do with the wii, leaning toward something super mario bros-ish. But we came up with a VERY cute idea that pleased everyone---even Waverly since she was SUPER excited to help MAKE the cake!

Among the great ideas was a camping stove/oven (he has been wanting to go camping lately)

The best part was that he really had NO idea what ANY of his gifts were!

Can you GUESS what Waverly gave to Daddy???? Ü

And the cake....

...Two Wii Remotes stacked up with all sorts of layers of chocolate and cream!!!

Wii REALLY do love our Daddy! Court is the BEST thing that has happened to ANY of us!

2010 Let's Play Music Symposium

2010-06-05T20:12:00.007-07:00

More details to come, but my go at Event Project and Coordinator was a success!!!