Let's Start Fresh With 2015

I know that I have a blog that I've neglected (this one) for a couple of years.  I wasn't able to post enough and keep up to date, so I just kind of stopped updating.  Life goes on, right?  I just wasn't telling people about all of our exciting adventures.  In March 2013 I was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma and my brother in law set up a blog to help me keep people informed with what was going on with me, so that kind of took up my blogging time.  Check it out at www.prayforjenn.com if you want to read about that journey.

A lot has happened in the past two years, some of it great, some good, and some not so much.  But we're here and we're surviving and getting through this ordeal as a family.  That's what is important, right?

Here is a little non-cancer update on the Guthmiller Family.  Zach has taken up hunting and spend a lot of time shooting at things to feed the family.  Jenn is the President of the PTA and trying to figure out how to work from home, be a sort-of stay at home mom, and how to let things go and not be in charge all the time.  That is not easy!  Tyler is 10 and in the 4th grade.  He played his first season of tackle football and had a really great time.  He is moving into basketball season next and then baseball.  He loves sports and can spout off any piece of trivia that you want to know...or don't.  Lucy is 7 and just about to turn 8.  She's in the 2nd grade and is the same height as Tyler.  They kind of look like twins.  She did cheerleading for the football this year and really love is.  Gymnastics is still her passion, but she's also giving basketball and softball a try as well.

We were able to take a trip to Disneyland at the beginning of December 2014.  We had a really great time as a family and it was just good for us to be together.  We look forward to many more of those vacations and time spent together as a family.  If we can survive the sibling rivalry!

Here are some updated pictures...that apparently can be seen on the internet once I post them here.  With technology in the schools now Tyler was able to search himself and find his "adorable" (his words) face on the internet.

Happy New Year!

Our vacation schedule was a little strange this year - technically, the kids first day of vacation was Christmas Eve - and I wasn't able to take much time off to hang with the kids.  So, when we got invited to Six Flags the day after New Years I bribed asked Zach to come with us so we could have one family day.  Bonus, our season passes still worked and the kids were given free passes, so other than the exorbitant cost of food the day was inexpensive.  Can something be inexpensive and priceless at the same time?

Six Flags is jumping on the bandwagon of decorating for the holidays, and it made the park so festive.  Granted, we were there after Christmas, so some of that was anti-climactic, but now we know that next year we can go BEFORE the holidays and it might be magical.  You know, if we can afford it BEFORE Christmas...

 The kids had a really good time riding the rides together. 

 Tyler and Everleigh are buds.  It's cute to see them together.

 Is it sad that so far this year this is the only "snow" we've seen?  That kind of depresses me, but the kids had fun on this "mountain"

 Being the sap that I am, I wanted to make sure we made it to the "tree lighting"...you know, since tree lightings are so exciting.  Not really, but I did want a photo in front of the tree when it was all lit up.  I had to crop and give it a filter becaues the original wasn't cute like I wanted it to be.  I love that you can edit things to make me them look better.

 We were just being goofy.  I like this app Red Stamp that I have on my phone.  You can make cards and I have fun with them.  I make cute collages and then don't send them to anyone.

 My goal for this next year is to make each day a worthwhile one.  Laugh with the kids.  Love big.  Learn something new.  And possibly eat cake.



We'll Just Skip Last Year...

For the life of me, I can't seem to find the time in my schedule to catch up on ALL of last year's missed blog posts.  So, and this is difficult as I'm VERY Type A, I'm going to skip ahead and start fresh.  At some point I might want to go back and add in that year again...but for now we start at 2013.

Happy 6th Birthday QJ!

What a way to start off March!  Quillan Jo is turning 6 and we are lucky enough to get to celebrate with her.  She was having her birthday party at the Bounce Spot, so the kids were pretty stoked to go there.  Quillan goes there after school and talks a lot about it, so the kids wanted to see the place that made her so happy.

As always, Uncle Ryan made a really cool pinata to go with the theme of the party.  La-La-Loopsy!  I don't know if anyone is going to want to hit her with a stick...

 Sometimes Lucy likes to be like her Mama and today she wanted to have the same hair-do.

The kids made themselves at home at the Bounce Spot.  Lucy looks pretty comfortable here.  She was...until someone came and bounced her!

 A family that screams down a slide together stays together?  I sure hope so.

 This might be a bit of an over-dramatization, but we were pretty terrified!  Some of those slides are fast.

 But then that's where the fun stopped for mom.  She had this good idea to race dad in one of the obstacle courses, and him being the competitor that he is took it to a whole new level.  Not really, but he did knee mom hard in the head (on accident he says) and he won the race by knock out.

Happy Birthday Quillan Jo!  We hope your day was super special.  Just like you.

My Heart Is Full

I am so thankful that my brother in law loves the camera.  I am so thankful that he loves technology and we get to see LOTS of pictures of Joey, Anna, and now Charlie.  These kids fill my heart with so much love.  So.much.love.

Junie B. Jones at the Crest Theater

The 1st grade has some pretty fun field trips and I'm glad that I'm able to take part in them.  The third field trip of the year was a trip to the Crest Theater in Sacramento to watch the play Junie B. Jones.  This was a first for me because I've never been to the Crest Theater. 

We rode the bus with the kids, walked the streets of downtown (which is crazy with some of those kids), and enjoyed a really fun play.  It's nice to spend some time with my guy one on one.

The play was really cute.  The kids enjoyed it, but might have had a hard time sitting still for that long.  From the looks of this picture it might have been too much for Tyler.  Booger!

 

1st grade is a lot of fun...especially to this mom.

Sleeping Kids Are Angels

Sleeping kids are just the sweetest thing ever.  And it's not just because they are quiet and not arguing or whining or begging.  It's because their features are relaxed and soft and so, so innocent.  This just makes my heart swell.

I think God made kids look so sweet while they were sleeping so that we can go to bed with a warm heart and wake up in the morning wanting them to wake up too. :)

Kindness and Caring

Each month at Tyler's school there is a CORE VALUE word that the student's learn about and try to exhibit.  During February the core value was Kindness and Caring.  Tyler had been trying pretty hard to earn an award and he tried really hard to be kind and to care.  Really hard.  He was excited to earn the charm for his necklace and get to have lunch with the principal.

The word for the month of March is CITIZENSHIP.  The kids can barely say it, so I hope they can figure out how to be good citizens.

 The kids were given a Bulldog magnet for their parents to put on their car.  Luckily it just says the school's name and doesn't brag about my kid being better than your kid. 

This is just a cute picture of Ian, Tyler, and Eathen.  Buddies from Mrs. Fritts class.

Hopefully Tyler will always remain kind and have a caring heart.  It's one of the things I adore most about that kid.

Disney on Ice...Again!

Disney on Ice comes to town every February and October.  Brooke and I go to Disney on Ice every February and every October.  The day the kids tell us that they don't want to go anymore might be the end of the world.  Thank goodness for Emi being little and being the next kid we get to take to see Mickey and Minnie.  It's almost as good as Disneyland.  Seriously.

It's a tradition to go with the Mello family, so my kids are always very excited to go and spend time with their friends.

 For some odd reason they found this GIANT Pepsi cup pretty intriguing.

The kids HAD to have popcorn and they HAD to have snow cones.  They are lucky that their moms like popcorn and snow cones.  And nachos and pretzels.  And Disney on Ice.

Basketball...If You Want to Call It That

When Tyler was in kindergarten we signed him up to play basketball in El Dorado Hills. (Pee Wee Basketball).  Their CSD had an established program and his other friends weren't playing so it didn't matter to him that he wouldn't really know anyone on the team.  1st Grade was a whole different story.  Tyler wanted to play in a league with his friends on his team and his friends as opponents, so we signed up for the local league at the Cameron Park CSD.  It started off on a sour note...they took our money.  No, in all seriousness, we thought this was going to be a really fun season for Tyler.  He had a bit of experience under his belt and had gotten fairly competitive.

The season starts off with a clinic taught by the Ponderosa Bruins basketball players and coaches.  Then the games started the following week.  In this league there weren't practices and the coaches didn't really have time to teach the players anything...unless they made time on their own to do this.  Our coach did not.  We were lucky if he showed up to the games on time...or at all.  Our team was the Bulls; Phil Jackson our coach was not.

The boys played hard and tried to do their best!

 Tyler hustled and did what he was taught the prior year, so that part was good.  The referees, unfortunately, didn't know the rules of the game, though, so the boys were doing things that they shouldn't (like traveling and fouling) and not being told that they were wrong.  Hopefully they didn't pick up too many bad habits that will have to be broken the next season.

This picture makes me laugh with his tongue sticking out.  We were the Bulls.  Maybe he is a Mini-Jordan.

His 2012 Basketball Photo.

Why do photographers insist on ruining our basketball photos by tucking in the shirt way too far?! (2011 Basketball Pictures)

Buddy Pictures:  Tyler, Bobby, and Lucas

The Bulls 2012 (And again, no coach...)

Dolphins Play Indoors?

The new sport for this year is indoor soccer!  Tyler was asked to join this team and he was really excited to try it out.  And then he got on the field and he might have been a bit intimidated...but he's not the type to give up.  The coach, Mr. Cowen, is a teacher at Tyler's school and he was really excited to be on his team.  It also gave him a chance to play with some new friends and learn some new skills.

The Dolphins

 The first game of the season Tyler was a little nervous and was trying to figure out the game.  Indoor soccer is a much faster pace than outdoor.  And you can play the ball off the wall.  The boys thought this was the best part.

 During the second game (the one pictured) he was a lot more aggressive.  He even had a face that he made when he was going for the ball to show that he was going for that ball and it was HIS. 

The Dolphins played indoor for two sessions and it was a lot of fun.  It definitely helped Tyler to improve on his ball skills and knowing where the ball was going to go when someone kicked it.  We hope to play again next session!

Valentine Treats

Pinterest has ruined changed my life.  There were so many cute ideas and printables for Valentines Day notes.  The kids chose the designs they liked best and we printed them and made some really fun Valentines.    Having a son and a daughter means they both want different things.  Surprise!  Lucy chose the "You Rock Valentine" printable for the boys and the "I'm Bursting With Happiness You're My Friend" for the girls.  I had seen the "Extra" one on the site as well, but then I couldn't find the pin again.  I had to make one on my own.  It wasn't hard to make, thank goodness. 

Lucy's Valentine Choices

Tyler also wanted the Pop Rocks Valentines and the Extra Valentines for his teacher, but for the girls he wanted something a little less pink and friendly.  He thought the "Fish In The Sea" print out was very plain and didn't send the wrong message to any of the girls.  Silly kid.

Tyler's Valentine Choices

The clear goody bags were purchased at Target.  There are 50 to a pack for the smaller bags.  The Valentines were printed on cardstock and hand cut.  Then we just stuffed the bags with Pop Rocks, Starburst, or Swedish Fish and stapled the cardstock to the bag.  They were fairly easy and turned out pretty cute.  However, I do believe that we've set a standard for ourselves and will have to continue this year after year.  No more store bought Sponge Bob or iCarly Valentines for us.

Um...Are We Nuts?

Are we crazy?  Do we WANT to get divorced?  What are we thinking?

We decided to try and play soccer on a co-ed team together.  This has to be nuts.