Soccer Studs

Yaaa...they LOVE it! Matthew even asked if he could spend the night on the soccer field! With Matthew being just shy of the start age for AYSO soccer, both kids are playing in the Naz Sports league and each had their first game this weekend. They are both playing on the Tar Heels but different age brackets. So stinkin' cute!

Back Into the Swing of Things

The hustle bustle of school time is in full swing these days! Sami is really enjoying the 2nd grade and LOVES her teacher. She is making some new friends that she weren't in her class last year and is a social butterfly! She has been bitten by the reading bug, going through chapter books every 2 days or so. We got both the kids library cards and are on a weekly routine of visiting the library for new books each week before dance class. Speaking of classes...Sami has quite the schedule: Monday ballet, Tuesday piano, Wednesday Grandma Day, Thursday tap/jazz, Saturday soccer! I was worried it would all be too much but she seems to be thriving with the busyness!
Matthew has exceeded my expectations in Preschool. He goes 5 days a week and does 1 hour of after school care so that he gets done at the same time as Sami (3:00 pm). On Tuesdays Miss Brenna from Kid's Edition does a class for the preschoolers after school and he is really enjoying that! He will be starting soccer on Saturday's, just like Sami, at the Naz next week. And he is always my lil' sidekick while we wait for Sami to finish her classes. He is starting to really come out of his shell and become a little boy instead of toddler! Health wise he is doing great also! We haven't been to the pediatrician for almost 6 months (knock on wood). We go next week for both kids to have a yearly checkup and are hoping to have results from our visit to UCSF. Then he has a MRI in December at Stanford. If this MRI shows no changes then we can wait 2 years until we go again!! You would never know all that he has been through..he is such a trooper.
As for Cory, he gets left out of the updates all too often. He and Genesis Pools are thriving, stressed but thriving. We just celebrated the 1 year anniversary of the business with a dinner at Tokyo Gardens last week. Amazing to think it has already been a year. I had no doubt Cory would be successful (I am a little bias) but seeing it become a reality is phenomenal!
God is so good...so many times I get caught up in the negatives that I need to stop and remember all that He has brought us through. Today I am counting my blessings!

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!