Happy Birthday to Our Baby

We had the best weekend and birthday celebration for Matthew! It started with a swim party in the afternoon, complete with a pinata! We ended it with dugout seats at the Rawhide game and the signed homerun ball for Matthew! Happy Birthday baby boy, we love you!

St.Paul's or Bust

How can it be?! I blinked and now both of my kids are in school! Sami started 2nd grade with Mrs. Doss. She loves her teacher and being able to catch up with all of her friends after a long summer. She is doing so well and there was literally no adjustment period at all. Sami also started back up with ballet/tap/jazz this week along with the piano lessons we started this summer. She is blossoming into a young lady right before our eyes. As for Matthew, he is amazing to me. I was so worried about starting him in Pre School, especially when we decided to go ahead with the 5 day a week schedule. Cory was so confident that he was ready and would be fine, but I had my doubts. As usual...Cory was right-Matthew has done awesome! I think having him go to a couple weeks of summer school was very helpful, he just fits right in! We are looking forward to this school year and all the growth it will bring. What a joy to be their mother...

Baby "Maggsters"

She is finally here....at 4:00 pm on August 19th Margaret "Maggie" Horton arrived to proud parents Brian and Kari Horton! She weighed in at 8 lbs, 8 oz and 21 inches long. We are so excited to have lil' Maggsters here and healthy!

Dodgers Rule

Cory's birthday present was a family trip to a Dodger game. We had all been looking forward to this for over a month, it would be the first time the kids were able to go to a game and they couldn't wait! We were going to make it a day trip since the game was on Sunday. We started the adventure early in the morning with a stop at McDonald's before heading off to LA. We were about 2 hours into the drive or so when Cory started saying he didn't feel so well. We pulled over and he got some fresh air. We thought/hoped it was just the McDonald's not settling but were fearful the stomach flu had invaded! We had spent that Friday night with some friends and their son had come down with the flu that night. I drove the rest of the way to the game and poor Cory was feeling worse by the minute. We got into the stadium and down to the Kid Korral to try for some autographs when it finally caught up with Cory. He ended up in the bathroom 3-4 more times with awful vomiting but absolutely refused to leave the game. He sat out in the heat and even yelled at the umpire a few times. Despite sicky Daddy, the kids and I actually had a great time. They were so good, loved every minute of it and didn't even complain about the almost 8 hours of driving in one day! They even got an autograph in the midst of it! I have a whole new respect for my husband now... I would have been crying like a baby!

Friendly Fireworks

We celebrated Independence Day with the Arellano's at the Rawhide game then with Papa & Granny in Exeter. FUN! FUN! FUN!

Hannah Hate Mail

Sami is devastated! She has been a HUGE Hannah Montana fan for a couple of years now but that all ended one fateful summer morning...this morning to be exact. I had a couple of appointments so Sami decided to stay with Papa and Granny. All seemed well with the world until I went to pick her up. With a mix of alligator tears and frustration she tells the story of Miley Cyrus singing on a morning show. Here's the note she wrote and "emailed" to give lil' Miley a piece of her mind:

In case you can't read it, here's the interpretation:

"Miley you need to go back and watch the old videos and then watch the videos now. Because I used to love you but also I loved your country songs. But I don't now, I'm sorry you need to change and I mean it! Love, Samantha"

So why all this disappointment and angst you ask? Well, according to Sami, Miley was wearing a shirt that showed her tummy, too much makeup and had a earring on her tongue! Bless that little girls heart....she does listen to me!!!

Afternoon Tea

Sami turned 7 years old on June 4th, unbelievable! As I say every year, how is that possible?! We began the celebrations that afternoon with some Mommy/Daughter time as we had pedicures and some lunch. That evening the family all came over for pizza and cupcakes. Sami was in zhu zhu heaven! Then we had her first ever friend party with an afternoon tea on Sunday. The girls were so cute in their pink hats, homemade jewelry and fancy dresses. We taught them proper etiquette for teas all the way down to keeping that pinky out while you sip. The girls had so much fun being silly and super girly. After the sipping and munching were done, Sami opened gifts, more pedicures and dancing to Taylor Swift of course! Sami says that she had the best birthday ever...mission accomplished!