Soccer for One

Ryan has started soccer on Monday afternoons with an "Itsy Bitsy Soccer Team." Yesterday was supposed to be her second practice. Well, as you all know, Steve and I are Horrible (with a capital H) at checking our home phone voicemail in a timely manner... and turns out practice was canceled because of all the rainy weather and muddy fields. Ryan was so sad so I let her run around and practice on her own for a while. She did great. I am so impressed with how well she can dribble the ball and can kick it so far. I had to miss the first practice because of a work commitment and I was devastated not to see her play. I can't wait until next week even more now!

Choo-Choo

Last weekend, the girls and I went to one of my girlfriend's son's birthday party. It was a train theme. All the kids had so much fun. As part of the party festivities, they had a trackless train come to the house and take the kids (and some adults if they wanted) on rides around the neighborhood. What a great idea!

At first Charlie was a little nervous about the ride. She wasn't quite sure she wanted to go!

But when I asked Ally to sit with the girls, they quickly changed their tune. Ryan did great sitting by herself with other kids her age. And Ally watched Charlie so that she wouldn't try to climb out! Charlie kept saying "Choo-choo" the whole time making the motions with her hands.

Then Genny, the hostess, brought out conductor ensembles for the kids to wear. Charlie could not have been happier!

I don't get to see these friends all too often so it it always great fun when we get to hang out!

Princesses Everywhere

Oh my goodness, my life is being taken over by princesses!! LOL... truly it has been so much fun getting into the "princess thing" with the girls. They love it. And I love watching them love something so much. Seriously, this princess costume that we bought at Disneyland (which was difficult to give in to at first), has turned out to be the best purchase ever! She is in it nonstop! Today, one of Ryan's preschool friends had a princess birthday party. Here are a few pics of her and her cute princess friends.

P.S. The mom actually MADE this cake herself! I was so impressed! Wow!

A Trip to the Dentist

The dentist visit started out great! As you can see, the waiting room is a lot of fun...

The girls get called back to sit in the dentist chairs to get ready for their cleaning. Still fun for Ryan. Not so much fun for Charlie...

After coaxing Charlie to stay in her chair, we almost got her to enjoy herself a little bit...

And thennnn, not so much enjoying herself anymore...

Ryan's an old pro! She loves the dentist...

Daddy sat with Charlie the whole time (...Which is step up for mommy! Last time Charlie went to the dentist she had to sit on mommy's lap the whole time. P.S. Mommy's back side was feelin' a little squished last time sittin' in those kiddie chairs!)

Truly, we have found the best dentist in town. He is so great with the kids! And I even think Charlie will look forward to it next time because she keeps talking about the "place with all the toys."

Turning a Corner

After just about a year at swim lessons, Charlie finally seems to be turning a corner. Woohoo! Now if we could only get her actually swimming by summer, it would be the best thing ever! Here she is with Nathan at her Friday morning lesson. This one combined with her lesson the night before with teacher Christina, she had her first two "no cry" lessons under her belt (still some sad faces, but no tears!). Way to go Chuckles!!

Charlie insists that this swim suit makes her look just like Ariel, the Little Mermaid. I'm certainly not going to disagree if it means that she is a happy camper in the pool!

Charlie is loving the "crown" Nathan put on her head. She sang him the Ariel song several times.

Fight On!!

Mommy and daddy's day out! Yeh! Liz and Steve graciously watched the girls for a long, long day (even after attending a NYE wedding the night before, what troopers!!) so that Steve and I could enjoy a day at the Rose Bowl.

"The Tailgate" Ryan and Michelle met us for some hair-of-the-dog cocktails with all the other USC fans but were a little late and missed the photo op. :-(

Just a little couple time!

The game was amazing. So much fun. Sunkist hosted us in the suite so it was wonderful to be able to stay toasty warm! I gotta say... I'm gettin' pretty good at talkin' produce with all Steve's work associates. Haha

Steve was embarrassed that I had my camera out but indulged me in a half smile. I try to tell him that people just don't understand that I have a blog to update so the camera HAS to go everywhere!

Is this really what has become of us?

I remember a time when New Year's Eve was a night filled with fancy outfits, endless dancing, and drunken-full-of-life moments! Well... life has changed a bit hasn't it? You know what though? I wouldn't change it in a million years! We had a great "casual east coast NYE" with the Travers and Smiths (that means we rung in the New Year at 9pm instead of 12am... we're getting old). We made a fantastic meal, enjoyed conversation, and watched our little ones interact. I'm pretty positive you don't want to see pics of us grown ups being boring but here are some pics of all the cute kiddies...

Celeste loves to talk. She added her thoughts during dinner conversation.

Baby Sydney never stirred! She slept through all the noise! Amazing!

A tornado hit the playroom. I don't think Sydney and Celeste were responsible for this one!

Ryan was silly with Celeste's snow hat.



Carson and Charlie got in big trouble by Big Steve for jumping on the couch. Uh oh!

We couldn't get a pic with all four of the big girls looking forward so I posted two!

Wishing everyone a blissful 2008!

Disney on Ice

On December 27th, Steve treated the family to see Disney Princesses On Ice at the Honda Center. The girls had no idea what to expect and they were absolutely thrilled during every second of the show. After the show started, taking pictures was "forbidden" but everyone else was doing it so we finally gave in too. However, I was too scared to just outright hold my camera in the air so I didn't always get the best shot. Anyway, Here are some moments we captured before the show with "legal" pictures and then some that were "illegal" during the show.

We allowed the girls to wear their princess dresses to the show. Daddy was such a trooper to do the "princess thing" with all his girls.

We had the most amazing seats right in the front row center!! Thanks Daddy! However, this meant the girls were FREEZING! They spent the entire show on our laps!

We got in trouble for sitting on the side for a photo op. Oops!

Princess #1

Princess #2

They did scenes from every Disney Princess movie. It was incredible. Disney sure knows how to put on a good show.

Sebastion from the Little Mermaid LOVED Ryan! He must have skated right up to her 4 or 5 times. This is the best "illegal" pic that I could capture.

Charlie spent a little time being scared throughout the show. This was the fire remaining after the dragon breathed it at the evil witch. It was amazing what they can do out there.

The last scene had all the princesses out on the ice together. Ryan was going nuts waving and saying hello to each and every one.

There was even a firework spectacular! it was awesome.

Ryan generous excitement level during the show was this.

Charlie's general excitement level was a little more like this!

We did coax another princess loving father at the show to take this "legal" picture of our family when it was all over. It was the best family Christmas present ever!!