And the Thunder Rolls.....

It's been two years since the Air Show, now known as Thunder and Lightening Over AZ,  was here and we were super excited. It fell on Brody's birthday weekend, which was also the weekend of the crappy weather. We decided to forgo the Air Show on the windy, cold day and decided to brave it after Brody's birthday party. My dad came with us which we love, because he knows all about the jets (he used to fly A-10s and F-16s, both of which we saw there) and Delaney loves to hear all about them.

The last time we all went to the Air Show, Delaney was NOT a fan of the Thunderbirds, so we came prepared with big ol headphones this time.

Waiting in the security line with Granddaddy.

Delaney: "Here. Do this with your foot."

So they do.

And....we're in!

Checking out the 747

Sitting in the helicoptor. She was lovin this

So did he!

The kiddos shared some Dippin' Dots and chilled for a bit in the jogger

Then my dad saw an A-10 and they all went over to check out the pilots plane. and of course, he bought a sticker:)

The weather was wonderful! Brody was tired, which I knew he would be, but I really thought he would try to make it. He didn't. Little man was passed out.

Whoa....flashback....

I dunno why, but I just love this picture. This is Delaney and Granddaddy checking out the flag that is on the F-16.

Checking out more planes

She decided that the A-10 fly bys were a bit too loud, so she put on the headphones.

And continued to wear them in the potty, while she walked, and whenever she didn't want to listen to what we were saying, she would say, "I can't hear you" and then proceed to do whatever she wanted

Trying to figure out the best place to watch the Thunderbirds, close to the exit to escape the mass exodus as soon as the show finished.

Awake, but oh so grumpy. I am pretty positive, I even put Coke in his water bottle to try and wake him up. That' s right people, Coke- judge all ya want.

We had some ice cream, looked at planes, met a Thunderbird pilot whose uniform was quite well tailored, just sayin', learned some stuff and made some memories. Next time the Thunder rolls...the kids will be 5 and and almost 7.....:( Holy smokes that's a crazy thought.

Christmas blessings and struggles

Christmas is BY FAR my most favorite time of the year. I LOVE it! I love the decorations, the smells, the family, the movies, pretty much everything. I am excited for this year! Brody and Delaney are at such a fun age! Just walking through Costco or Target is exciting with them as we saunter through the Christmas aisles. I have been jammin' the Josh Grobin's Christmas CD and the Very Merry Christmas Kidz Bop for the kids and they LOVE it- btw,when does the "Holidays and Happenings" channel start happening on DirecTV? Totally annoying. Anyway, this year were are determined to have a way less stressful Christmas season. I don't want to stress over the gifts, over how much we spent and how many presents are under the tree. I have a lot of shopping done- I like to buy clearance items throughout the year. I don't have everything done so what's remaining, I want to be fun. I want to have a date with Eric where we go to dinner and then shopping. I want to have a lunch date with my mom (and my dad if he wants to come) and then have a peaceful afternoon of shopping. I am bummed that I have so many gifts already because I am struggling with 'the true meaning of Christmas'. I want Christmas to be about family and memories, not about the quantity of gifts.
 Growing up, we were blessed. We always had big Christmas'. BUT, while the gifts we received were wonderful, I remember the things we did, more than what we got. Watching White Christmas each Christmas Eve is our family tradition. I will always remember different years doing it. One year, we thought our grandpa (my Granddaddy) was sound asleep when all of a sudden the song "Snow" came on and he belted it out! Scared the crap out of, but initiated the sing a long. My sister and I LOVE to sing the "Sisters" song and we drink hot chocolate, have popcorn and Grandma Ann's delectable chocolate Christmas cookies. I remember moments- like one year, my brother, sister and I got my parents a new coffee maker and being the sneaky sneaky kids we were, we snuck out in the middle of the night (after Santa had visited) and set up the coffee maker with the timer set to come on first thing in the morning. We even bought them new mugs and special holiday creamer. I loved that.
When we were younger (not last year, I promise) my sister (who is 7 years younger) would always sleep with me on Christmas Eve. We would set our alarm for some ridiculous time, like 3:00 am, go wake up our brother and then tip toe to the living room to see the goods. Then , we would excitedly run back to our rooms and re-set our alarms for 6:00. We would wake our parents and go out to the living room- where we were allowed to open our stockings until they had had their coffee. My mom ALWAYS made a big breakfast. We're talking eggs, bacon, toast, biscuits, everything. So yummy.
I also remember that we were pretty bummed one year, that we were not going to be able to have our normal Christmas Eve tradition because my dad had a trip. We ended up watching White Christmas a couple days early and to our complete surprise, Santa ended up coming that night! We woke up the next morning and had Christmas early, so my dad could be there.

Last Christmas

I want our kids to be excited about the traditions and the family time. That's why I feel like tons and tons of gifts take away from that. My friend's sister only give three gifts- like the wise men did. Something you need, something you want, and something to read. I also saw another version of this which was, something you want, something to read, something to wear, something you need. I dunno.... I feel conflicted!! Ahhh! Maybe we will adopt some version of that next year.... after we think about it and figure out how it will work. But this year, I will try my hardest to soak up every moment I can and make as many memories as possible.

The birthday continues......

Delaney's birthday party was on Sunday, but her actual birthday was the following Thursday.We have made it a tradition to put a bunch of balloons all over the kids rooms while they are sleeping so when they wake up they have a happy moment! Delaney did not disappoint with her reaction. She immediately wanted to know who put them in her room and when I told her that Daddy had done it, she dramatically yelled, "Daddy is my best hero ever!"

We quickly got dressed and out the door for our busy day. Our first stop was to see their friend Braydon. Braydon is only one day older than Delaney so they were both confused when they gave each other a gift. It is hilarious listening to them communicate.

Playing in the fort

Still can't believe she is four

Braydon

Braydon pushing Delaney.... so cute!

He looks so big!

After we left Braydon's house we went and picked up my mom and headed to Little Anthony's for lunch! Eric was supposed to be working and told us he couldn't come, but surprised us by showing up and he brought Delaney a bouquet of flowers. Her expression was priceless! She got a delicious ice cream sundae after lunch and we went made the trip home for a nice long nap and finished the day off with spaghetti (her favorite) and then had a calorie free (whatever) Oreo ice cream cake.

 

It was very sunny....

The day after her birthday, she came stumbling down the stairs in the morning, still half asleep, looked up at me and said, "Mommy, am I still 4?" I said, "Yes babe, you will be four for a whole year."

 She says back, "Oh good, thanks Mommy, I am not ready to be five yet."

(I am not ready for that either...)

Memories....Part 1.

5 years. 5 years ago  we were in Rocky Point, Mexico with 70 of our closest friends and family for our wedding! I can hardly believe it has been that long! I decided to post a bunch of pictures from that crazy day because who knows how long I will blog?? So sit back, relax, have a margarita or Tecate and take a walk down memory lane with me, won't you?

 Eric and I met in 2004- Meet Your Teacher night to be exact. It was my first year teaching and I was so nervous! That fated evening, Eric walked in with Daylen (and his ex) and I assumed they were married. He talked to me for awhile and I was polite, just making conversation. Eric told me that when he left he called his friend Ronny and told him that I had a nice butt (to this day he remembers what skirt I was wearing). I like that little detail. Fast forward to Saturday, after the first week of school. Let me make something very clear. First year teacher + first week of school + first graders= one teacher who is READY to let off some steam! We headed to our favorite bar, The Cactus Moon, and my awesome friends, also teachers, bought me a shot. As I put it to my lips, Eric walked up and said, "Hi Miss Kelley". I was MORTIFIED. Here I am in a less than modest shirt, with tight jeans, heels on about to take a shot like a champion and one of my NEW parents is about to witness this sinful act! Yikes! I come to find out that he was NOT married and thought he was pretty Darn hot! BUT, as his son's teacher, I knew better. Plus, I never wanted to date anyone with kids again- been there, done that, got the t-shirt. Every Saturday the girls and I would go the Moon and I would secretly be anticipating 'Mr. Mikkelson's' arrival (I didn't actually know his name, I had to look on Daylen's emergency forms to find out). We would dance once or twice through out the night, harmless- he is an awesome dancer.Then one night in December, we decided that we didn't want to wait until Daylen was out of my class to date, so we began our "secret relationship".

This was our first picture (Thanks Mary). We are at the Moon of course!

Our first party- even though we were in 'secret mode'. (It's a picture of a picture, sorry)

James, Sarah, Ami, me and Eric at our Red and Black New Year's Eve party!

Mary, my roommate and fellow teacher, of course knew and so did all my close friends,as well as my parents. Daylen never knew. He would sometimes ask if I saw his dad at the Cactus Moon and once he even told me that I should marry his dad. Fireworks were going off inside my belly!! It was hard, but we did it. After Daylen finished the first grade, Eric asked Daylen and Kaylie if they would mind if he asked out Miss Kelley and they didn't hesitate with a positive answer. Thus began the relationship- for real. I ended up moving in to his house because I needed to know if I could handle being a step-mom before we got married. Eric talked to the kids about getting married and even talked to my parents, to which my father said, "No returns". Then one day while I was reading to my class (I was teaching kindergarten then) the song "I'll Be" by Edwin McCain came on the loud speaker, followed by "I Wanna Grow Old With You"- you know the one. The one Adam Sandler sang to Drew Barrymore on the airplane in "The Wedding Singer". And then, Eric came into the room (he had been hiding in the bathroom) and got down on one knee and proposed to me in front of all my kinders and friends.

Eric waiting in the bathroom

I was shocked!

And completely irritated that I had my glasses on!

Kaylie was there for the whole thing, Daylen, sadly, was home sick

The kids were able to spend the rest of the afternoon at recess:)

 Of course the kinders were excited! One of them asked if I was having a baby and that's why were getting married. Hilarious! From that moment on the wedding planning started!

Growing up, I always wanted a HUGE wedding, with the big, flowing dress and tons of people. One thing that I was certain about was having my wedding INSIDE.  I never understood why people would want to take the chance and have it rain. So imagine how surprised pretty much everyone was when we decided to have it in Rocky Point, on a beach. Eric and I went to Rocky Point a lot when we were dating. It was always such a good time and we wanted it to be a party. So six months after we got engaged, we were of to Mexico! A huge caravan made their way to the border and on into Puerto Penasco. When we arrived at the hotel, we all checked in and then headed across the street to a small restarautn and had a blast! We must have have like 30 people there, just hanging out.

The morning we left!

That eveing, instead of tratitional rehearsal dinner, Eric and I decided to charter the Rey del Mar, which is the Pirate Booze Cruise there. Just the people that were there for us went! I was so excited!! I couldn't wait.

Boarding the ship... too bad it couldn't have just stayed docked!

Some of the girls

Me, my bro, my sis

Me and my Mimi

Holly, baby Josh, and Eric rockin the beads

Out on the open sea, starting to feel a little queasy

Kaylie was a champ! She played this game where she had to run in circles and back and forth- maybe it was musical chairs or something, all I know is it made me want to puke just watching her.

Tom, Stacy and Dad- watching the horizon.

Eric, Ian, Emilio, and Uncle Trev sitiing with chairs. Magic I tell you!

 Turns out, my family and I get a tad sea sick. And by a tad, I mean chumming for sharks off the back of the boat. Who knew?? The majority of the people had fun. The pirates had games for us to play and music, but I was just really ready to be on dry land. Good lesson. The rest of the evening was spent having some crazy adventures and fianlly resting, knowing that the next day... was THE day.

Stay tuned.............