Great Student

Spencer has always been a great student and a high achiever. So I was not surprised when he received student of the month this week at his awards assembly. He would have probably gotten it a little sooner in the year, but he also loves being the class comedian.

This is what his teacher wrote about him on the back of his award..."Spencer is a kind hearted, clever, considerate, and fun young man to have in class. He sets high standards for all to work towards!" Ms. Custis
All the boys wanted to jump into the picture...way to go Spencer!

Dog Pile

I just love when we have a little down time to just be a crazy silly family. Saturday was a lot of fun for everyone. Spencer's team won their first basketball game and both Brookes soccer and basketball teams won. So it was a very successful happy day for all. When we got home everyone decided to jump on Mike and start a good old fashioned dog pile. Of course my camera is never far away and I was able to get some cute pictures.

3 Pointer

Brooke has become such a good basketball player and really fun to watch. Now soccer will always be her first love, but basketball will always be mine. So it's especially fun for me to watch my kids play basketball. Brookes team is doing pretty good. I think they started out as an average team but they are improving so much with every game thanks to their GREAT coach Mike. Yesterday was the last regular season game and it went into overtime. The game was becoming very physical with a lot of fouling. Both teams really wanted to win this game. In the final 30 seconds of overtime with the score still being tied Brooke dribbled the ball up and shot a 3 pointer. As she shot it I covered my eyes wondering what she was thinking taking a 3 pointer she has never taken one in a game before. You guessed it SWISH! Nothing but net it was such a beautiful shot and they won the game.

Now a 3 pointer is a very hard shot at any age, but especially for a little 5th grader. It was so exciting...now its time to get ready for playoffs this week.

Party

I took Brooke and some of her friends out for a little birthday party last night. Brooke has been wanting to see Bedtime Stories and luckily I found a theater that was still playing it. On the drive Brooke brought a cute 20 questions book that Jen had gotten her for her birthday and all the girls had a fun time playing that in the car. Before the movie we all went to dinner and all the girls ordered the exact same thing "chicken tenders" it made me laugh. They were having a very fun and goofy time.

After dinner we had some time to kill so we ran into petsmart and Brooke fell in love with the chinchilla. Mike and I had one when we were first married they are a very fun pet. So now she is determined to save up her money and buy one. I would be ok with that they are very cute and pretty low maintenance pets as long as they stay cool enough.
Then we made it to the theater and got our seats. I brought all the girls glow in the dark bracelets to wear during the movie. They had a lot of fun playing with them making all sorts of things out of them. I love all the giggling and goofiness. Brooke tends to be a little serious so it was great to see her act like a kid and just be silly. Of course I brought a huge bag of candy and that was gone in seconds nothing like a good sugar rush.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

Yummy

I just made the yummiest

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

All that you need is one Betty Crocker Brownie Mix and one Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip Cookie mix. Follow the directions on the box for making the brownies and pour into a greased 13 X 9 pan. Make the cookie mix as directed on the pouch and drop by rounded tablespoons into the brownie batter. You'll want to press the dough down lightly. Bake for 35-40 minutes in a 350 degree preheated oven. When they're done, take them out and let them cool completely. For about an hour. Once cooled frost with the Chocolate Ganache.

Chocolate Ganache
12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate morsels
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
6 Tbsp butter

• In a small saucepan, heat cream and butter until just before the boiling stage.
• Pour over the chocolate morsels.
• Let stand about 20 seconds and stir until smooth.
• Pour over brownies and let set before cutting.

This might not be anything new for a lot of you, but we all really enjoyed it. So if you haven't tried it you definitely need to give it a try. Just thought I would share a sweet treat.

Happy Birthday Brookie

Where has the time gone...

4 years old

5 years old6 years old7 years old8 years old9 years old10 years old11 years old

Where do I begin. I love this little girl more than anything. She has been such a dream daughter. Everyone should have a chance to raise a daughter like Brooke and I count my blessings everyday that I was given this privilege.

Brooke has always been very mature for her age. I have never had to worry about her behavior, grades, or friends. She has always been a straight A student who thinks of every ones needs before her own. She has been such a great example not only to her brothers, but also her parents.

Some of Brooke's favorite things right now:
Sports: soccer, basketball, flag football, and tether ball
Activities: art, computer, music, games, reading, and friends
Food: baked potatoes, steak, and anything sweet

For her birthday Brooke got an ipod. She has been asking for one for a while so she was very excited. She also got some scrapbook stuff, clothes, books, and some new cooking supplies. She is always so grateful that it is very easy to spoil her well as much as we can.

Cute Boys

I had to get my camera out today. Now I am like most everyone who has a hectic schedule and there is not not much down time. Don't get me wrong I love my crazy busy life filled with kids, school, and sports. So when there is a little quiet time I love it especially when everyone is happy. Spencer and Tyler are great big brothers to Jake. I know there are many times that he drives them crazy, but they are very patient. Jake loves to spend every waking minute with them. He wants to be big enough to do everything they do. He looks up to them so much and I love the examples they are for him.

Star of the Week

Most kindergarten classes have a star of the week and of course Tyler's class is no different. This was his week to be recognized and he loved all the attention. So as I sat down with Tyler and put his poster together I learned a lot and thought I would share a little of what Tyler loves. His favorite color is red, favorite food is pasta, and his favorite animal is a monkey. Tyler's favorite place to go is Lake Havasu. Which cracks me up we have only been once with Mike's family for a little reunion and now that is all he talks about. No exaggeration he asks me weekly when we can go back to Lake Havasu and go on Uncle Ricks boat. When Tyler grows up he wants to be a Jedi. I think that my family has single handedly kept George Lucas's bank account rising with all of our star wars purchases. One of Tyler's favorite things to do is play basketball except he calls it shooting some hoops. He is out in our front yard daily for hours on end having a full game between himself and the other team. Now the other team consists of Darth Mal, Darth Vader, and any other star wars character. So since I watched him play these crazy basketball games I decided it was time to introduce him to the Lakers. He now loves to watch every game and gives you the score after EVERY basket. I'm hoping the next time I watch him play he is playing against Kobe, Bynum, and Ariza instead of star wars guys. If he had one wish he said he would wish to be able to play with his friends all the time. Tyler is a great friend and he loves playing with his friends and cousins.

Champions

This past weekend Brooke's coach handed out the first place medals for being undefeated and winning the championship. It was very cold a rainy as you can see from the pictures, but the girls loved every minute of being recognized. Now that being said this season should bring a new challenge to the team. Since we came in first we are now moving up to next level of harder teams. Our team was in the bronze division and now they will be in the silver should be fun! Brooke loves everything about soccer and we all enjoy watching her play.

Pine Wood Derby

Spencer and Mike had their first pine wood derby race last week. I thought it was going to be so much fun for the two of them. Little did I know that Mike was dreading it. The only reason I think that Mike didn't want to do it was probably all of the pressure to win and not let Spencer down. So as soon as they started building Mike asked Spencer what his expectations were about the race. Spencer just said I don't need to come in first, but I just don't want to come in last place. After that being said they went right to work because Mike new for sure they could come in somewhere in the middle. I had no idea all the pressure that was put on this race, but I guess thats what you get when all the Dads try and out do each other.

Spencer had a ton of fun building and painting the car with Mike. He loves to build and create so this was perfect for him. That night at the race I was home with the other kids and Mike texted me that in the first 4 races his car had come in first twice and second twice. So in the end Spencer's little car came in fourth place. He was thrilled and so was Mike it was definitely a successful night. This is only the first of MANY pine wood derby races to come with 3 boys.