Catching my breath

Last weekend my cute little niece got married to Cody, a super lucky guy. Sharee and Cody were such troopers even in the rain outside the temple-- look at the rest of us, freaking out that we were getting wet and they were all smiles. :) Congrats you two!





Our kids outside the temple waiting... just before the downpour.


The next day was my cute BIG nephew Nate's farewell. Here's a cute pic of him and Carmen a couple of weeks back while he was watching the kids (we were in Mammoth).

We are going to miss Nate terribly. Dave already misses his surfing buddy. :(

On Monday February 28, AnaBanana turned 8. I know this is a late post, and I should have dedicated a post just to her birthday and my favorite 8 year old, but I've been trying to keep up with our newest addition, Cocoa. Cocoa loves to run, poop, and eat carrots. But he's all Ana wanted for her birthday so... here he is!

February!

Thought we'd start the month off with some updated pictures-- the girls and Dave at their Father/Daughter dance. (Dave has some video that I'll add on as soon as I get his phone--our little dancing queen (Ana) was really getting into some songs, including some floor moves. I guess Dave had to tell her to stop. ;) )

Carmen loves cantaloupe. She calls it "my-yie-yope"


Never one to be left out of the spotlight, Alex needed his pic taken too!

Bieber Fever

Anamarie and her friends got the fever months ago. Hayden and her friends were in denial that they had the fever until tonight. Tracey (Maddie's mom) and I were reluctant, at best. It was actually a pretty good movie, though and, after watching it... you just might get the fever too. (Good thing I had enough caffeine before the movie started to combat all the screaming girls!)


The real scary part for me was driving all the girls home and having them all sing on the top of their lungs to Katy Perry on the radio. I just can't believe that my girls are that old... or me either! yikes.


The next morning, Justin Bieber delivered breakfast to our door... unfortunately his handwriting looked a bit suspicious to one of the girls, and the note was on the back side of a paper with her brother's Little League teammate names! Didn't matter, Anamarie hung the paper in her room, claiming it's JB's autograph.

Snow Days

Here are some updated photos of Dave and my trip to Mammoth this past week. Perfect conditions-- sunny, lots of snow, and no kids! :)

We've been lucky to be able to enjoy a few snow days so far this year, which is pretty strange considering the temperature in San Diego has been about 75 for the past couple of weeks! First, it snowed when we were in Atlanta for Christmas. The kids had a blast playing in the snow with Keia and Mike! (sorry, not pictured. Guess we were too cold inside to take pictures of that part/...)




Then this past weekend when we took the kids to Snow Summit for a couple of days. The kids did awesome in ski lessons. (although it killed us not to have them in snowboarding, we've seen this is the best way to get them loving the snow and feeling competent early on. We'll force Hayden to change to boarding next year) Carmen hung out with Dave and I in the village, and she loved the Alpine Slide as well.

Tooth Fairy strikes again!

The tooth fairy has been busy at our house-- she's been here the last two nights, as Alex lost one tooth a day! Here are two videos from his loss (tooth loss) last night. :)





I have to add this post to 1) remind myself why I'm not having more kids and 2) remember Carmen at this stage... this is what I go through on an everyday basis with Carmen-- she literally changes her clothes on the hour and will not let me change her clothes or diaper-- she does it all. She is the definition of independence and the strongest-willed two year old I've ever had. Needless to say, I've had to swallow my pride with her numerous times and just let her wear what she will in public, at risk she'll go naked or refuse to leave with me at all. (She really thinks she looks cute, and that she is stylin'.) Here is a picture of what she wore with me to the bank last week. I had to go in to the bank, and she marched in right behind me, holding her purse, and said to the teller, "I want sucker". And here she is, back at home, with that sucker in her mouth. AUGH!!

Alex is 6!

Our silly little boy turned 6 a couple of weeks ago. We had a party with a bunch of his friends from school at Pump it Up and he got more boy toys than any child needs... one downside of having a 6 year old? He's too smart now-- we can't re-gift any of those presents for Christmas! :(

Alex is constantly joking around, teasing his sisters, and is the comic relief in our family. He's really loving too-- always the first to jump into bed with me in the morning to snuggle or to notice if I got a haircut or new toenail polish. From what his teacher tells me, he is a total ladies man at school, and girls follow him around at recess. He loves it. :) My favorite story about Alex happened yesterday, when I was making my bed and found a GRASSHOPPER in it!!! I was hysterical (I had just gotten out of bed) and was screaming. Hayden, Anamarie, and Carmen were laughing at me and Dave was already at work. A couple of minutes later, Alex came in the room with his Nerf blaster gun and said, "Where's the grasshopper mom?" He is THE MAN in our house (when Dave's not here) and takes care of us all even when he is here. I LOVE YOU, ALEX!! Happy 6th Birthday!


I tiddy ahn my puhtin! ("I'm sitting on my pumpkin" in Carmen-ese)

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!
Love, the Trainas

Lemonade anyone?

It's always a challenge trying to find something for the kids to do after church on Sunday during Carmen's nap... last week they came up with the idea of a FREE lemonade stand. :) Much to their chagrin, they had to give money back quite a few times. But once our neighbors got the idea, everyone loved it and the kids had a blast!


Here's Carmen at dance class. She's a lucky girl, going to music class and dance class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. :) She asks everyday to go to dance and loves to put on her tights and little ballet shoes-- she puts them on all by herself and I can't get them off of her! It's a bit of a problem...

Dave and I got to escape last week for a few hours to go see Phoenix at SDSU. It was really fun... thanks Lynette for being such a late night trooper! And for those of you who don't know who Phoenix is, this should sound familiar if you've been to this blog in the last month or so! :)

First Day Back

Today was the first day back to school! The kids were so super excited to be decked out with new clothes, backpacks, and school supplies!


Carmen wanted so badly to be in the picture too. Isn't she the most adorable thing ever?!?


Alex started kindergarten today! He's such a big kid now. Just a few tears from me (that I hid from him) and he transitioned perfectly into the classroom. Phew! Dave walked the kids to and from school today with me and we started a new tradition of coming home to freshly-baked warm cookies as an after-school treat the first day back.



I got to spend the day just with Carmen, which was the best. Her new quote: "You pay me mom?" ("will you play with me, mom?") My response: Absolutely!

10 years old!!

Happy happy birthday Hayden! Even though Dave and I can't remember anything BH (before Hayden), we're still shocked that she's TEN. Hayden is our smiley "best all around" girl-- good at every subject, every sport, everything she does. We love you Haydenbug and are SO excited for your new life in the double digits, being double cool. :)



Hayden had 8 buddies to her birthday party at the Wave Water Park. We ALL (myself included) loved it.




Our traditional birthday dinner at the Corvette Diner...


Hayden with her cousins Brooke and Clare at a family bonfire last week