Mud Run

This past Saturday, lots of our crossfit group and I participated in a mud run. Let me tell you, that's the way to go! With lots of friends to laugh and encourage you! It was super fun! This course had tons of hills and walls to climb. This video is of me and lots of other people going over the last wall. I am not a fan of heights, so going over these walls was not fun for me, so I held on for dear life going over the top, and that's probably why I have a massive bruise on my inner thigh. I'm still so glad I did it, and I would do it again! Matt and the boys came along to cheer me on! They were awesome! 

Random Pictures

These are just some random pictures from my cell phone that I never published.

 First day of 7th grade, Earhart Middle School 8/27/2012.

 Easter 2012

 First day of school for me and Zach. Zach is in 4th grade at JFK in Mrs. Griffith's class 2012. This is my 9th year of teaching.

 Brotherly love at Disneyland.

Drew just being silly eating lunch at Disney. He showing Matt that he ate his whole plate of very expensive food!

Pumpkin Carving

Carving pumpkins this year went to a whole new level. When Matt gets his creative bone out, it's game on. There's a competition at work, so he wanted to at least be a competitor. He went to town on two out of the three pumpkins he's carving. The boys and I carved our own, but they weren't nearly as good. The boys said mine looked good, "cause you did your best mom." They are so sweet. These are not all of them. I'll post the final products later. 

 Drew's favorite part was digging out all the seeds from the inside. Zach hated that part but he did it anyway.

The two on the left are Matt's and the one on the right is mine. Hee hee! I'm not very artistic!

Zachary's Baptism

This video is short, but sweet! Zach asked if he could be baptized after he had accepted Jesus into his heart while at church camp. We made sure he was ready and knew the meaning behind a baptism before we agreed. He was lucky enough to be baptized right next to his cousin, and with his daddy dunking him! And that's not all! The young man baptizing him along with Matt was Zach's teacher  at church when he was a 3 year old. Now he's the youth pastor. It's so cool how those things turn out!

I'm so proud of my little munchkin. He is smart, sweet, sensitive, and only wants to make people feel good! He's a pleaser and a peacemaker at heart, and he sure does have a heart for the Lord! He's such a blessing to us! We love you Zachary!

Escondido Falls

This week our kiddos are at church camp, so Matt and I got a week all to ourselves! I planned a hike to Escondido Falls in Malibu that I learned about from http://californiathroughmylens.com. There wasn't much water at this three tiered waterfall, but the climb and beauty is what made it worth the trip out there. Next time we go, we'll go on the hike, and hit the Santa Monica Beach afterwards to get the most out of the miles traveled. It was a great day!                              

At the third tier! We made it! 

Pretty kitties

These are our "girls." They are the "princesses" of the house and of course I'm the "queen!" Although sometimes they'd like to think they are. We've had Dot (on left) for 8 years. She's technically Drew's cat. He got her as a birthday present from grandma on his 4th birthday. Most of the time, you'll find her laying around just like she is in this picture. She won't even chase a string around! Then there's Molly (on right). She's our rescued cat Matt found sitting next to her mother in the road after she'd (her mother) been hit by a car. She just couldn't leave her mother's side. :( Matt picked her up and brought her home when she was really tiny. She's very fisty. Most of the time, you'll find her in cabinets. A funny thing she does is take a bath towel out of the cabinet before bed time and lay it out to sleep on for the night. You really have to see it to believe it. She's a funny one! 

They play fight, hiss, and holler at each other, but as you can see from this picture, they like to cuddle too. It's amazing how these two have grown on us despite the never ending cat hair battle! I'm constantly cleaning up after them. Sometimes it feels like I have toddlers in the house again! They are sweet and worth the effort. 

Drew's 12th bday!

12 years ago my life changed forever! It is still sureal to me that I have a 12 year old! 12 years of a lot of learning, laughing, and loving! God knew what he was doing when he blessed me with my boy!

Well yesterday, belay lessons, rock climbing, swimming, and pizza eating was on the menu for Drew's 12th birthday! These 4 other boys mean the world to him, so they are who he wanted to spend his day with! Brenden is in the back, and although they are complete opposites, they have been BFF's since they were 4 years old, which actually led to a friendship with his parents!

Connor is his other BFF and goes to school and karate with him. We can't have a party without Eric who makes Drew, Zach, and Eric a trio. Those three have tons of fun together!

Drew has completely changed how I think as a mom and teacher. He has been my biggest teacher! He's outgoing (which I am not), creative (which I am not), fun (some say I am not), and super special to lots and lots of people! I can't believe he's mine! I also can't believe in only 6 years he'll be off to college and on his own. So sad and exciting all at the same time! I love you Pumpkin! You are my inspiration to be a better person each and every day!

Just getting started

Belay lessons

He's a pro

First time up

Coming down

More belay lessons

Almost there!



Keep going!



Made it!!!

Made it too!

Yay!