Pics from Michael's visit

Mario Kart Racing all weekend

Michael going for it

His love, rocket launching. His first ever, dirt devils!

They even got hit by one! He loved every minute of it!

Nice shot by Marco ;-)

Camel Riding!

At the Zebra's

The only picture Riordan would take :(

Michael showing the turtles and fish in the lake

My 'first' boys ;-)

Pics from Ailsinn's birthday party

Birthday Princess, she is just so yummy!

Yo Gabba Gabba Cake

She's been practicing blowing her candle for weeks and she did it in one shot!

First time I have ever seen her like cake!

Sweet Marcie made this tu tu for her

Cousin's

and more pics here

SO much!

To update on!

We had a wonderful visit with my nephew Michael this past weekend. He was truly such a joy to have and I am just amazed at his intelligence and what a wonderful young man he is turning into! How neat it was to have him without his siblings and how wonderful it was to see him smiling and laughing all day long.

He's so into astronomy, following satellites and the planets, and taught us so much and how to see them in the sky! He got to do all but one of his rocket launches. We think he was afraid to do the last one because there were a few casualties on some. One was Nicolas's rocket and it exploded ;-)

We took him to the zoo where he and Caden rode a camel for the first time ever! They were so cute. Caden really was Michael's shadow, just so interested in everything he did. I'm sure quite a change from his siblings who as we know, siblings fight more than adore each other ;-)

We were so sad to see him go and can not wait till we see each other again.

So updates:

I think I'm at peace to go on the SF trip and watch everyone run a race that once again I am not able to run. Thankfully my friend Kristi will be there with me and we have decided that it would be to hard for me to be at the finish line so we will wait for everyone back at the hotel or around the start line. I don't think my heart can take watching a 5th race in a year that I couldn't run in due to my legs. I am planning on hopefully the week I'm back to renting a bike so I can see if it's something I want to do.

So Kristi and I will eat and shop ;-) I can't wait!

Mike is working so hard and so much and will be out of town the next two weeks in Colorado. Thankfully Jo Jo's schedule will change to our favor so I will have a lot more help around the house and sanity breaks! And we have Ju Ju on nights for a bit until she gets a new job! Boy have we missed her! I am covered and can use that time to either work or work out on the elliptical.

Caden only one slightly lose tooth. He is growing his hair out to be cool like all the boys with the longer do's. We will see how long we can put up with it. We have been on Fall break, in week two now, and I think we are all bored and ready to get back to routine.

Riordan is really into play Lego.com games. He just loves to build legos and is infatuated with anything related to it lately. Our latest need is to find his Christmas outfit, because he got upset with me for getting the girls dresses and not him. He's so sensitive or ungrateful maybe? ;-) to this kind of thing. So being frustrated with them all yelling at me one night, saying I NEVER get them anything and I'm a mean mom, I taught them about the starving people in Africa. I told them a lot, how they are starving, have no homes, no Wii, no milk, no icecream, etc. How bad people kicked them out of their homes and how their country isn't taking care of them. How Missionaries have gone to help them. I even showed them pictures. Boy did they change their tunes in a HEARTBEAT! Caden immediately want to ship them all his clothes that don't fit anymore so they don't have to be naked and they all prayed so hard for them. Teagan wanted to know their names! So now anytime anyone utters ungratefulness, I simply say the children of Africa. It has worked!

Teagan is officially out of pull ups for a week now! She was so proud of herself! We took her on an ice cream date to celebrate it! She is missing her school and classmates so much on this break and demands to do homework everyday. We did get back to dance yesterday and she was awesome. Just so adorable!

Aislinn had a poop break through and now is completely potty trained! What a delight and SHE is so proud of herself! I went and bought her a big My Little Pony as a reward and she treasured it! Just turned 2 and we are just amazed by her. She is such a big kid ;-)

I'm off to pack for my trip and clean up the house. Pedicure later this afternoon and pick up essentials!

Hanging up the running shoes

It has been the hardest year I have ever had for my physical health and after a visit with my doctor yesterday, I will be hanging up my running shoes for some time after the Nike Women's 1/2 marathon.

After doing more research and talking with him, tibial stress fractures actually take up to a year to heal. He recommends no running for 9 months and to take up biking and swimming (I am so not a strong swimmer).

I am trying to handle this all very well.

I don't like being told I can't do something, but my body didn't get the proper time to heal and I'm frustrated that my initial doctor told me differently and sent me on my way.

I have just been able to start using the elliptical with no pain this week and just for 30 mins at a time every other day. Sigh..

This is very difficult, although I am taking it better this time around, but I still hate not being able to get out and just run! It's so mind-freeing and stress-relieving for me.

I am going in for a bone density scan, as soon as we get our insurance cards, and doing a blood draw as well to look for calcium and Vitamin D deficiencies. I am lactose intolerant so I don't get in the calcium I know I should be getting so he wants to gauge exactly how low they may be, although Vit D should be fine since we live in the Valley of the Sun. I am thankful that Dr. T is running all these tests to rule out everything other than not enough healing time.

AND The fall I endured with Teagan, the day after my stress fractures showed back up, caused permanent tissue damage in my thigh muscle. Basically, I have a dent in my leg from the injury and it will never fill back in again because the trauma was so intense it compressed my muscle and permanently. WILD! So now there goes my career as a thigh model.

On a completely other note, we had school conferences for all three olders this week and I was SO impressed and here I brag by my own right ;-)

Teagan: Is the only one who can write a letter of her name on the first day and is considered very mature for her age even with her high anxiety of being away from me. She is engaging in the classroom with her peers and having finally talking to her teachers! Her academic skills are considered to be above level for her age and already will have no issues graduating to Pre-K next year! Her teacher, Mrs. Karin, is just so amazing and rather cool really. I love her teaching style, her mannerism with the children, and her look on life! She's a mom and just really gets it and this is truly her gift to teach children. Teagan LOVEs to do homework and is so proud to turn it in for a sticker ;-)

Riordan: Is doing really well academically in class and is finally engaging as well with his peers and 'sharing' feelings and thoughts in circle time! They exclaimed how much he has grown since August and love having him in their classroom! When I asked about his speech and understanding him, they were quick to say they can't understand him when he's excited and that I should talk to our doctor if he needs more speech therapy. That to me screams a yes, so as soon as we get our cards, we will set up a re-eval for him. He has only had one bad day at school with his anxiety and I am so proud of him! He loves loves to do homework and is so detail oriented with every aspect of school from taking out his folder to coloring in the lines.

Caden: Got a soaring report and words we have heard before. He is every one's friend, a leader, but not in a bossy kind of way, but in a peace keeping kind of a way. He is extremely helpful in the classroom with his teacher and his friends and always accepts challenges that come his way. He is at second grade level for reading, in the advance reading group for his room, and is on target for math, science, and writing skills. He does get tired and can be inconsistent in his work, so that is an area we are working on. Also, his misbehavior in class has been rectified, which was when he engaged in classroom talks he was very loud and silly, so we have had no more issues since those two weeks.

Mike and I got to do Teagan and Riordan's assessments together, which was neat, because he's never been for any. We are both so proud of our children and feel like as much as rearing children can be hard, tiring, taxing, difficult and frustrating at times, we are enlightened that we are doing a great job as parents to be raising well rounded children! It was a fun day to hear everything and see their work in progress!

Aislinn is 2!

As of this past Tuesday she turned two!

We had a fun filled day with just breakfast for her and I at Mimi's Cafe, a shopping trip to Nordstrom Rack and then dinner that night at Fire Fire, aka Hon Machi, with the whole family!

She was so adorable and just so fun to spend such great quality time with!

Every where we went friends were telling her Happy Birthday!