On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

...three Apple ipads, two Apple itouches, one Leapster leappad...and an empty checking account!!! What can I say, it was the year of electronics!

So this year we set out not to plan any family vacations during the month of November or December because in years past it has felt like we missed out on part of the holiday season (and shopping season) doing this. Lesson learned was that it made no difference. I still found myself frantically shopping up until Christmas eve even though I've had 365 days to prepare...

We always kick off the season with our annual photo with Santa at Belle Square. Again we enjoyed next to no line, a few free wallets that they throw in for spending the obscene amount they charge for the 5x7 and stuffed animals for the kids. (And yes, our two nine year olds still get excited about the stuffed animal!):



Next it was on to figuring out which photo we'd use for our Christmas photo. You'd think between a couple cruises and a trip to Utah that we could come up with at least one good photo of the family but no such luck. This resulted in me screaming to the kids one day after school to quickly get dressed in some sort of button up shirt and meet me down by the tree...



Each year I tell myself I will capture just as great a photo as a professional would and each year I am reminded there is a reason I could never charge for my work...

Next it was the countdown to the soon to be full house which would include my parents and my brothers Steve, Paul, and Sean! The kids could hardly wait and I'm pretty certain that from Thanksgiving on they asked me daily how many more days until their arrival. Mom, dad, Sean, and Paul flew in on the Wednesday before Christmas with Steve arriving the next day. Unfortunately they all had to take off the day after Christmas but thankfully Steve was able to stay a full week which helped with the empty nest withdrawals. We missed not having Gary, Kelly and the boys but understand how difficult it can be traveling with small children for the holidays and we also missed not having Teagen and Chaz around but unfortunately they were at their mom's for Christmas this year. There is never a dull moment when you have Jack as the head of household. He kept the boys busy (and in shape) going golfing, playing in a couple basketball and football games in addition to some wiffle ball and speed mitton.

Some of the other activities going on with some or all included a trip to the Space Needle and Snoqualmie Falls, a trip to Jack's office to taste test all sorts of hot cocoas, a shopping trip with mom to update her wardrobe, a Seahawk/Niners football game, Christmas day church, opening presents, and of course lots of eating! Mrs. Clause spent most her days making certain Santa had plenty of toys purchased and wrapped, food on the table, a clean house, and all other loose ends tied... (Santa will be taking Mrs. Clause on a trip to make up for all her hard work in the coming months...) haha! Here are a few shots from the week:




Sean taking dad to his first NFL game on Christmas eve, a Seahawk/Niners game...hmm, wonder who they are rooting for?!?



A few of my favorite men... (minus a couple others)



Not a creature was stirring not even a mouse...



And finally the BIG day had arrived...



Jack and the boys cooking breakfast...



The traditional photo on Christmas morning...



And finally at around 11:30 a.m. we began ...



I'm always so happy to see the kids so appreciative for the gifts they receive. Ty continues to always want to have something for Sage and Connor. This year he picked up something at the book fair for Connor. He had also purchased something for Sage but she had done something to disappoint him so he decided to keep it for himself. A couple days before Christmas when we were at the Falls gift shop, Sage was crying because she wanted a bag of these special polished rocks. I refused to buy them but Ty begged to buy them for her for Christmas. That's our Ty...always looking out for his brother and sister. Sage had also been very thoughtful spending many afternoons drawing pictures for everyone and wrapping them up. Connor continues to show his love by his kind words which we cherish just as much!



Always love looking down at the family I've been blessed with...



Enjoying presents...



This year we had a nice prime rib and New York roast on the menu and of course the meal ended with our traditional after dinner gifts...



And the three women who probably put the most effort into making the day a success... :)



What a fantastic Christmas it was. A special thanks to my family for flying out to spend this holiday with us. We feel so blessed to have such a fabulous family, good health, great friends, and of course our faith which allows us the opportunity each year to pay a special tribute to our savior. We hope 2012 turns out to be another year we can look back on and be proud of! Happy New Year!

C-Rod and T-Rod = Hot rods on the field...

It's sad to think since the season is over, so are the boys' rookie days. Player #6 and Player #19 will graduate to cubs which means they are turning into young men on us.

It would have been next to impossible to beat last year's record but the boys still worked their hardest to achieve their 6 wins, 2 losses and 1 tie record. Sadly Ty got injured on the last regular season game but nonetheless, it was a great season full of touchdowns, extra points, tackles, blocks, sacks and a sprained ankle! Ty also must have the loudest voice on his team because in addition to being a team captain he was the one who did the yell before kickoff which made my throat hurt after each time he did his chant. We all cracked up on the sidelines listening to his raspy loud voice yell "...let's hit somebody!"



Highlights of the season included watching the excitement on Connor's face the first time he sacked the opposing team's quarterback and watching Ty score the first touchdown for the team at the jamboree. Unfortunately because we had a few night games, I wasn't able to capture all our favorite moments which included some points scored by Ty and some amazing sacks by Connor but they are permanently engraved in our minds. Ty was one of three kids who played both sides. Aside from a couple games where they had him play linebacker instead of nose guard, his primary duties were that of full back and nose guard. Connor's primary position was defensive end but if someone was injured or sick he filled in on the offensive line as the "Connor of all trades".

Each year I've tried to have our boys wear something that makes it easier for us to spot them on the field. This year Ty had new cleats there were primarily white so it was very easy to spot him. We couldn't talk Connor into getting new cleats (how crazy is that?) because he was certain his from last year were good luck and assured us they still fit so we continued to look for the black and BLUE on his cleats which although did not fit with the spirit of Wildcat red were easy for me to pick out in a crowd of red. For one game he attempted some new black cleats but he didn't like the way they felt and I couldn't find him so back to his blue ones we went...



The season wouldn't be as successful for the family if Sage wasn't such a trooper about coming to the practices which took place three times a week for 3 hours each in sun, clouds, rain, and freezing temps at times. Of course what's not to like about spending your afternoons with such a great group of friends and I have to say some of my closest friends are friends I met through football as we all sat together on the sidelines chatting away during practices.





Introducing our Rookie Red Wildcat team from beginning to end:



Here are a few favorite shots from practice and as you can see as the weeks went by so did the seasons...





The boys with some of their buddies:



A few highlights of Connor from the season:




A few highlights of Ty from the season:




I love this picture of Con and Ty working with Marco to take down this player:



And finally the season wouldn't be complete without an end of season celebration. This year's was held at the club house and the boys loved watching videos of themselves, eating cake and of course getting their trophies!





Until next year...

Halloween...check! Let the holidays begin...

It's a true test of patience making the kids wait until a day or two before Halloween to carve their pumpkins since they look forward to carving their pumpkin almost as much as they do selecting their costume and trick or treating. Once again Ty outlined and carved his pumpkin from start to finish. Connor is still trying to get comfortable with the idea of doing the whole thing by himself and so he stuck to doing the outline and Jack took over with the carving. Sage attempted to do her outline too but about halfway through determined it would be best if dad did it! I think it's pretty easy to tell which pattern Sage selected. Ty chose the skull and Connor chose the spider. Well done boys!!! My job continues to be to sort through all the gunk to find all the seeds that the kids LOVE to eat...




The weekend festivities began with Jack and I attending an adult only Halloween party. I wanted something original so this is what we came up with...the Prize Patrol and the unsuspecting housewife. It got a lot of laughs and I'm pretty certain I was the most comfortably dressed one there!!!



Since I'm the class photographers for Sage's class I got to participate in their class Harvest Party which took place on Halloween. Here are a couple shots from that. They spent the day moving from table to table doing different crafts and finished the morning eating some yummy, creepy snacks. I have to vent though and just say I hate that we live in a world where we are supposed to be so politically correct and tolerant of all things yet in our desire to be tolerant of others we end up sacrificing or having to downplay our own values, beliefs, etc. Heaven forbid we call it what it is, a Halloween party, as that would be not politically correct so instead they call it a Harvest party... LAME!




Beginning last year we decided to make a deal with the boys that if they chose to come up with a costume that we didn't have to pay for (something from around the house, etc) that we would pay them $20. The point was that I much prefer to pay my kids than some store and truth be told, buying one at the store usually sets us back around $40 so it's a win win. I also think it's a great way to inspire and stimulate their creativity. Again, Ty who is always motivated by money took the deal and decided he was going to be a "Mexican". We told him the correct title was a Mexican Mariachi. Of course when he ran into a lady on the street trick or treating who happened to be wearing a sombrero, the first thing out of his mouth was "Hey, are you a Mexican? So am I!" He LOVES the sombrero he picked out in Cabo earlier this year and was going to do anything to come up with a costume that worked around it.

Connor had again decided to turn down the money offer and had selected a costume at Target. Unfortunately he had a situation at school where he had been late getting a couple assignments turned in and this was noted on his weekly report. Feeling confident it would never happen again I threatened to return the costume if it did. Completely uncharacteristic of Connor it happened the week before Halloween and so you can see that he had to come up with something quick and a football player it was! I can say he was one of at least a half dozen 'Wildcats' we saw roaming the streets on Halloween!

Sage was very excited to pick out a costume this year. We had pretty much exhausted all the "home made" ones from around the house that included Tinkerbell, a cowgirl, witch and pumpkin. She selected Super Girl and boy did she look SuPeR!!!




Sage again spent the first hour running from house to house making certain to outrun her brothers to the doorbell. She ended up paying for all this running later in the night when she decided she just was not up for the task of staying out as long as her brothers. She was completely satisfied with her haul and I'm sure her belly will be too... The boys on the other hand stayed out about a half hour longer and were happy with their end result! Again Ty managed to come home with a bit more candy than Connor but this time it was because several homes had offered him extra candy if he played a tune for them on his guitar...




Bring on Thanksgiving and Christmas!!!