Bartz Crew

Paintball!!

2010-02-07T12:18:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Chris and the kids went to go play paintball. This was Delaney and Nicholas' first time playing. They all had a grea time and are a little sore. Definitely have some welts and some bruises. But I thought I would spare ya the pics of that!!

Cody

Delaney

Nicholas

All 3 after they were done

Delaneys 10th Birthday Dinner!

2010-01-19T18:25:00.000-08:00

Tonight we went out for Delaney's birthday dinner....she chose Red Robin. We had a great meal with a great waiter who made her a rose.

We made her sit all through dinner with her gifts in front of her. Finally we let her rip into them, and they were mama wrapped specials, meaning tons of tape and wrapped over and over in tissue paper.

She got headphones, 2 ipod covers and a nano!!

Here is the awesome sundae they made for her!! My baby girl is double digits!!

Happy 10th Birthday Delaney!! January 19th, 2000

2010-01-18T17:41:00.000-08:00

Happy 10th Birthday baby girl!! 10 years ago today you decided to wait till just after 1 AM to make sure your birthday would never be forgotten, you were born on Mom and Dad's anniversary! You are turning into quite the little young lady, even if you dont like pink anymore!

Here you are at 5 days old.

Here's Delaney at age 2! This is the time she got ahold of the scissors and created a stylish bang job!

Delaney at 4!

Here she is at 6, right after a school program about apples.

Delaney at 8, we had a High School Musical Sleepover that year!

Here is Delaney at 9 years and 11 months and 12 days. Her most recent pic!

We are having a party at Peter Piper Pizza on Friday, and she doesnt know shes getting her own Ipod at her birthday dinner. She choose Red Robin!!

The wonderful sound of music!!

2010-01-12T17:56:00.000-08:00

Codys band teacher had choosen him to switch to the baritone as his band didnt have one. She thought he would do great, and he has picked it right up. Within 10 minutes he sounds better on this than he did on the trombone, and man is it a much nicer sound!!

Playing some racquetball!

2010-01-09T19:54:00.000-08:00

So after living here for over a year, we thought we would take advantage of some of the cool stuff available to us other than just the pool. This morning we ventured down to the clubhouse to play some racquetball. The kids brought home some awesome grades yesterday and it was a nice reward! It was the first time any of us had played and by the end the kids were catching on pretty nicely. Definitely something we need to do again in the near future!! Enjoy the pics!

Phoenix ZooLights!!

2010-01-09T19:36:00.000-08:00

Normally we do ZooLights before Christmas, but that didnt happen this year. Here we are on New Years Day!! The Bartz Crew, Da Smiths minus Jason, and Nana all ventured out into the not that chilly night to see all the pretty lights!

The evening started with some food and balloons(thanks Nana) at Texas Roadhouse. I cant believe I dont have pics of all the balloon animals!

This is one of the first trees you see when you walk in!! b-e-a-utiful!

Here is my monkey with a monkey at the zoo!

Some gorgeous light displays!

I love this pic of the moon I took!

Another shot of all the kids!

And here is the group pic as we were leaving! A great evening had by all. Thanks for joining us guys!

Sea World, Shamu, and Soaking Wet!!

2009-12-29T18:16:00.000-08:00

We decided to surprise the kids with a trip to Sea World the day after Christmas. We have annual passes from our trip last January, and we wanted to get in one last trip. The kids were thrilled. We were up and out the door by 445 AM Saturday morning. Way to early if you ask me. We normally would have driven out the night before, but didnt want to have to leave Christmas Day early, oh well, nothing wrong with being tired!

We got there and headed right to the Pets Rule show, was cool as always.

This is the ice wall in the polar bear area.

After we all got wet and cold on Atlantis, the kids and Chris wanted to do the river raft ride. I passed, haha!

We had brought ponchos, but somehow Delaney and Daddys jacket managed to get really wet.

The look on Chris' face is priceless!

$100 in new clothes later, Delaney had a whole new outfit and Chris had a new pullover sweatshirt, oi vey! We made a point of seeing the Christmas Sea Lion and Shamu shows!

Great as usual. After the park we headed out to a nice dinner, and then back to the hotel to pass out! Oh, less we forget that I won a huge neon green monkey with purple eyes!!

Sunday morning we had planned to do a harbour cruise, but they werent operating, so we headed out over the brigde to Coronado Island and drove around. We went by the no longer there naval base and Chris got all melancholy about how things had changed. We hopped in the car and headed home!! After a stop in Gila Bend for some imported mexican ceramic piggy banks!!! Was a great weekend!!

Such a blessed Christmas was had!!

2009-12-29T17:48:00.000-08:00

Being so busy with work this Christmas season I couldnt wait for Christmas to get here! And now of course it has come and pass too quickly. We spent Christmas Eve at my parentals house with family. Was a great time, we get to see family we usually only see once per year. Grandma and Grandpa hit it right on the nose with their gifts, huge hits!!

As tradition the kids open one gift each on Christmas Eve, always pjs, but the kids look forward to it.

Christmas day was wonderful. We started off with breakfast burritoes prepared by chef daddy! The kids got all they wanted and more. The big gifts this year were Ripsticks for Cody and Delaney and Nicholas got a fully set up guinea pig cage, just need to replace the stuffed one with a real one! The big surprise for the kids was a box with a few of their Sea World things in it, took them a bit to figure that one out. The day after Christmas we were heading off to a day at Sea World.

After our Christmas at home, we head over to Casa Smith for a twist on the Christmas tradition, we had a mexican Christmas! The kids had a great time, we ate some awesome food, and it was a great day! The kids all received sombreros and pinatas filled with candy! The best gift of the day was that our dear friend Bruce was able to spend it with all of us, just a couple days after major surgery!! Was a very blessed day!

Thought I would end with a pic of 2 of the loves of my life, my monkey and my jack!

Pre-Christmas in Vegas!

2009-12-29T17:30:00.000-08:00

The weekend before Christmas Chris and I were able to steal away for the weekend, just us. I got a smoking $20 a night deal at the Imperial Palace so off we went. The trip was a surprise for Chris for Christmas.

I also got us tickets to see The Blue Man Group on Sat night. What a disappointment that was. It was an hour and 45 minute show that could have been great if condensed to an hour. The drums/music/paint parts were great there was just a ton of filler that wasnt needed. Oh well, you live and learn.

Other than that we had a great time. We went by the new casino, Aria at Citycenter, its really nice. They had these cool ice things and funnel tubes.

I found a new favorite game of mine, Craps. Played it for about 6 hours Sat nite/Sun morn. We did well enough gambling that on the way out of town, I got to do my other favorite thing, shopping!! We had fun at the M&M and Coke Stores!!

Its exciting to see the bridge almost finished!

Val Vista Lakes Mtn Lights

2009-12-15T20:30:00.000-08:00

Tonight after dinner we rounded up the kids and headed out to look at lights. Our community, Val Vista Lakes, has a mountain of sorts by the clubhouse that every year they decorate with a gazillion lights and you can walk through it. Was a nice walk thru, we enjoyed it!! Forgive the Fedex clothing, I hadnt planned on being photographed.

Delaney and the sidewalk chalk contest!!

2009-12-15T20:16:00.000-08:00

Saturday the 5th the Dads Club at the kids' school held their annual sidewalk chalk contest. Every kid gets a square surrounding the parking lot. Last year we had to miss it for some reason I cant remember, but this year they were all excited to do it. That is until it was time to get up on a Saturday to go, Delaney is the only one who went. She drew an awesome snowman with snow. She didnt win but got a cool participation certificate. And I also got a hand drawn replication to hang on my wall courtesy of the artist.

Codys first band concert!

2009-12-15T19:45:00.000-08:00

Last week Cody had his very first band concert. He is/was playing the trombone. In this video he is in the blue shirt/tan pants, on the end. Below are 4 other songs they did, they are all short, 30 seconds or so. They did a great job, thanks to all those who came. His music teacher has asked him to switch to baritone, as they need one and she believes he can do a great job! Great job Cody!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVUWpCZ2QkU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6St84Vjd6A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY0jriyTDd4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ht_h2TNtSKM

Chris' work Christmas Party

2009-12-15T19:43:00.000-08:00

Friday the 11th, Chris and I got to dress up and pretend to be sophisticated for one evening. The kids were otherwise entertained and we had a nice evening out at Chris' work party. The food was good and the time out alone was great. We called the party quits around 9, and did what most people without kids for the entire night would do, we came home and went to bed!! After all it had been a work day that started around 430 AM.

Here is us in all our fanciness!

Decorating the Tree!!

2009-12-01T19:28:00.000-08:00

Tonight was the night we, should say, they, decorated the tree. We have had, as long as I can remember, let the kids decorate the tree. When they were smaller we would filter out some ornaments to the top. This year I think I am going to leave the top foot empty. I kinda like it that way. They did a great job this year!!

Annual Gingerbread Decorating Day!!

2009-12-01T19:02:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was the annual day to decorate Gingerbread Houses!! After the kids spent the night at the Smiths, Chris and I headed over to decorate houses. A couple neighbor kids joined in, Brandi and Logan. The kids had a good time, and we all came away with 2 awesome looking houses!!!

Happy Trails to You!

2009-11-05T19:24:00.000-08:00

Nicholas had his school musical tonight, it was called Happy Trails. It was for the whole 2nd grade. He had a speaking part, his name was Calhoun and he just said 'Yep' a couple times. Was very cute to see all the kids decked out in their cowboy gear!!

I am so excited!!!!!! Mama got a new toy!

2009-11-01T17:47:00.000-08:00

As most of you know we had our Canon Digital SLR Rebel stolen out of our car when it was broken into on a weekend away in Flagstaff. Thankfully I had a Canon digital to fall back on, but I really really missed my SLR. So in todays paper there just happened to be a couple cameras that caught my eye and I mentioned to Chris I wanted to look at a couple to maybe save up for. What I wanted was in the $600-700 range, and that for us is not a run out and buy today purchase. Well we had to run to Target for cat litter and I was like what the hey lets look. After looking a bit, I walked around the side and they had a Nikon Digital SLR on clearance for $174, and I was so excited. It runs around $500. Well turns out the take another 30% off, and we got an awesome camera for around $132 out the door. I am so freaking excited!!! Its not a super fantastic camera as the Canon 50D I really wanted, but hey it works!! I am so happy I have a real camera back!!!! And you cant beat the price. One happy Mama here tonight!!

Camping on the Colorado River!!

2009-10-29T19:06:00.000-07:00

Click on any of the pics to make them larger

A couple weeks ago during the kids' Fall Break we embarked on our annual camping trip on the Colorado River. A great time was had by all. There was a ton of tubing, boating, playing in the pool, and mini-golfing! The weather was fantastic, warmer enough during the day to be able to play in the water, although the river was a little chilly till you got used to it. And the evenings were nice and cool to be able to sleep without being hot! The kids all got a turn to drive the boat, Delaney even drove while Nicholas was tubing. New to us this year was a Miniature Golf course they had built on property, we all had a blast, if I remember correctly Grandma won the first and I won the second game!!

This is the view we woke up to most mornings, Cody took this picture, hes turning into quite the photog! The palm trees below is his too. He took a lot of great pics!

Some goofing off...

Chilling on the boat!

The family on the boat

Everyone playing Ping Pong

Mom chillin on the island! It was a comedy routine trying to get off without getting wet.

This is a great 4 part pic of Cody trying to help Delaney get on the island from the tube, and they both ended up going in!

Was a great week, thanks Grandma and Grandpa!!

Codys 11th Birthday!!!

2009-09-27T20:18:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is technically Codys birthday, but we did his party and his birthday dinner today. We took Cody and a bunch of his friends to go see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 3! It was an awesome movie! I made Codys cupcake cake to resemble a plate of spaghetti and meatballs, looked pretty good if I dont say so myself. After the movie we headed over to the mall food court to do cake and presents. A good time was had by all.

After the party we went out to Texas Roadhouse for his birthday dinner! He wanted to sit on the saddle and get sung too!

Double Saturday Sports Updates!!!

2009-09-27T20:07:00.000-07:00

This fall season Delaney and Nicholas are playing soccer (on 2 different leagues), and Cody is playing Flag Football. It has kept us very busy, we have practices 4 nights a week and unfortunately have had some major overlapping on Saturdays with games.

Delaney plays on the Tigers. They are 1-2. Delaney scored a goal last week and Chris and I missed it since we were each at one of the boys' games. Thankfully DeeDee helped out with Delaneys game. I love the color of her uniform, if the pics doesnt do it justice it is the neonest neon yellow/green I have ever seen.

Nicholas plays on the Dust Devils. They have lost both their games, but considering they got started right before the games wth practices, all the boys are really trying. I hope they can pull it together. Nicholas also brought us our first and hopefully only injury of the season. He jammed a finger pretty good at practice, lots of swelling and bruising, but hes doing better.

Cody is playing on the NY Giants this flag season. We love his team and his coaches are amazing! He has a nickname of Butters from last season, a well earned nickname also, he hardly could make a catch. Well this season the parents are actually asking us if his name is a joke because hes been a top catcher the past few weeks. His team is 2-0, I dont remember how many points he scored last game, but he scored 15 this past Saturday. And he made a ton of flag pulls. The parents want to call him Velcro now, lol!!

Vegas trip for Daddys Birthday!!!!

2009-08-31T20:44:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we went to Vegas for Chris' Brithday!!

click on pics to make them bigger

We drove up Friday after work and made it in pretty good time! We got up Saturday and after having some brunch we headed over to the Flamingo Pool, where I could rest forever!! This is my 4 kids coming down the awesome slide. I even went down it a couple times!

Cody

Chris

Delaney

Nicholas

All of them

After we spent all day at the pool, we headed back to the hotel to change. Cant go to Vegas without going to the M&M Store and the Coke store! We walked down the strip stopping to catch the daytime Bellagio show..

After we ate dinner it was off to the M&M Store. I like the backdrop they have for pictures!

After some shopping we headed over to the Coca Cola Store. Chris has never done the Tastes of the World so we knew we were gonna do that. They also had a Float Sampler, who can say no to ice cream!

Was really good, but our tummies werent happy after all that, Delaney keep joking she was drunk! On our way back to our hotel we were gonna catch the Volcano show at the Mirage, none of us had seen that. But of course me being me has to stop and take pics the whole way back!

We saw the night Bellagio show in passing.

Here we are waiting for the Mirage show.

The show was awesome!!

We made it back to the hotel and pretty much to bed!! Up and out the next morning after I got to play some. We stopped at the Hoover Dam on the way home, the bridge looks great!!

Was a great trip and a nice weekend away!!!

Arizona Cardinals vs San Diego Chargers

2009-08-23T15:36:00.000-07:00

Last night, the fam went to the Cardinals vs Charger game at University of Phoenix Stadium. We got free tickets from Codys new Flag Football league. Cant beat free. The Cardinals lost, but the kids had a great time. Our seats were only 3 rows down from the very top, but it gave a great view of the field. It was a great nite!!!

the tunnel

before the game started

after the game

A Fantastic day of Firsts, five of them!!!

2009-08-10T15:35:00.000-07:00

I have to say today was a great day!! All five of us experienced 'firsts' today. Chris started a new job, that we are very thankful for. I started a new route today, doing Tonto Basin, Roosevelt Lake, Rio/Tonto Verde, and some of Scottsdale, lots of miles. It wasnt as hard as I thought it would be and I even got home in time to get the kids from school, since I wasnt able to take them in this morning, which was such a blessing!

But the biggest firsts, were the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!! All the kids love their teachers, which is awesome, and we actually like them too this year!

Nicholas likes his class and teacher and said today was good!

Delaney says the day was wicked and it rocked!!

Cody has a boy teacher and I think its really going to be good for him, Cody says his teacher rocks!

Project for today: Yarn bowls!!

2009-07-30T15:48:00.000-07:00

So I have this week off of work, and decided to spend that time with the kids as they start back to school on the 10th. So far this week we:

~have gone out to dinner
~gone bowling, Nicholas won!
~worked on tons of puzzles
~went to see Hanna Montana the Movie again (was a want on mamas list!)
~Chris and the kids painted items at As You Wish, we will have those back tomorrow
~the boys had eye appts, both boys are getting new glasses
~swimming at the pool
~done all our back to school shopping
~made some beads
~made yarn bowls today! pics below

Been a busy week!! Tomorrow is kinda the best for last, we are going to Big Surf for the day. I will leave you with pics of us making the yarn bowls today, really fun!

Cutting the yarn to get ready

Delaney working on her bowl

Cody working on his

all of us

Me helping the monkey

Finished bowls drying outside

Awesome Sea World Weekend!!!!

2009-07-21T20:16:00.000-07:00

CLICK ON THE PICS TO MAKE THEM BIGGER

This past weekend we took a fabulous trip to California! I took Friday off work, and we left Thursday evening. We got a room in El Centro for Thursday night, and got up Friday morning and finished the drive to Sea World. We got to Sea World and it was 77 degrees, unlike the HOT we left at home! We headed straight to Journey to Atlantis, and then were able to do 3 shows right in a row. We had a great afternoon! Saturday morning we were up a little early as we had reservations to have breakfast with Shamu!! It was the trip surprise for the kids. It was so awesome, we got to learn about all the whales and there was one that did some stuff while we were eating. When the whale came up on the slide out, it couldn't have been more than 5 feet from where we were sitting!! After breakfast we were able to go almost right onto the Shipwreck Rapids raft ride, and when we got off the kids and Chris went right back on with little wait. We had a great afternoon, it was a little warm but as long as you stayed wet, it was fine. We stayed to see the Dolphin and Shamu shows at night, and then got to see the fireworks. We left the park Saturday and drove up to Anaheim (I had a free hotel room). The kids didn't realize till Sunday morning when we woke up that we were right across the street from Disneyland. After convincing them we really weren't going to Disney, we headed to breakfast and then the beach. We went to Huntington Beach, it was a great time, but the water was so cold!! The kids had a blast. We all changed clothes and headed back home. Was a fantastic weekend and much needed getaway. And no one broke into our car, although I did dread walking out to the car every morning. The following pics aren't in exact order, but enjoy!!!!

The kids before the dolphin show, we were front row.

All of us after the show, we all got wet!

A Collage of our breakfast with Shamu, you can see how close we were.

One of the ride photos from Atlantis!

Awesome strong men at the Cirque De La Mer show.

The kids after the Cirque show, was an awesome thing to watch.

Waiting for the Shamu show, I got on the Jumbo screen!

Waiting for the Dolphin show, I had some camera fun with the kids.

The kids all got glow swords, and the boys got glow hats!!

The kids sat 2nd row center for the Shamu night show, got to see a close view of the whales, and that wall of water headed straight for them. The last is an after pic.

We went on the Bayside Skyride, but Cody chose not to go, so we all fit in one bucket.

Nicholas' foot after it had been wet in his shoes for at least 8 hours!

Saturday afternoon we saw the Shamu show again, and we got the 2nd row center seats, and thankfully we didnt get soaked being that close, but had a great view of the whales.

Chris and the kids at the beach on Sunday!

Flagstaff, the trip that probably shoudnt have been!

2009-07-05T16:21:00.000-07:00

Since Chris and I had Friday off work, we decided to take a trip up to Flagstaff to do some touristy things with the kids. We left Thursday after I got off of work and headed up to Flagstaff. Was a nice drive up, we went through Payson to avoid traffic and the scenery was beautiful. We woke up Friday morning to Delaney finding our car broken into. They stole my Ipod and my very good Canon Digital SLR camera. Heres a pic of the window.

After spending time on the phone with the insurance and then the local police, we headed to a local carwash to vacuum up all the glass. We were the only one at our hotel hit, but another car across the way was also hit. The insurance lady was very nice trying to help us get our window replaced in Flagstaff, but because of the holiday the warehouses were closed, so even though Safelite was open they couldnt get the glass. So we scheduled it to be fixed Saturday morning at our house. We would have to drive the rest of the day with the window broken. Well since we were now a little behind on time, we just decided to head straight to the Grand Canyon. Been years since Chris and I had been there and it was the kids' first time. I was in awe as you walked up to the edge, it looked like a huge painting, like it wasnt real. Was really kinda funny, Cody was scared to death of the edge, Chris had to drag him to get the pic of the kids. He was a little better where there was a fence he could lean on though.

After we left the Canyon we were heading to SnowBowl to do the Scenic ride up the mountain. On our way there we passed this awesome Flintstone camping area and of course had to get out and take some pics!

When we got to Snow Bowl, there was a little delay as there had been a lightening strike and we had to wait about 20 minutes before we could buy our tickets. So we went outside and sat at the picnic tables. Not more than 2 minutes later its starts raining, as we head inside to get a table, it started hailing. Was funny to watch the people coming off the ride soaked. We waited out the hail storm for about an hour, and then around 3 they finally came into the lodge and told all of us they were shutting down the lift for the day. Major bummer. Get in the car, head back down the mountain.

the ride that could have been

We left Snowbowl and thought that since we had gained some time, we would go do Sunset Crater Volcano and Wupatki National Monuments. Well since we were coming from north of Flagstaff we decided to follow GPS (my directions were from Flagstaff). It had us turn off on some random road. Let me tell you, this was not a road, turns out it was trails through the cinder trails. I was starting to get a little concerned, I mean this road was a car and a half wide and tons of ruts and puddles. It was sprinkling, and I said to Chris if it really starts raining, we need to turn around and high tail it outta there. Finally after going like 6 or 7 miles, and passing 2 sets of ATVers who looked at us like we were crazy, Cody finally spotted road. We made it onto the road and I was so relieved. We traveled about 15more miles and came across the Wupatki ruins, but since we had bypassed the main entry to the area, we never paid, so we couldnt go out and look, lol!! On our way back out to the highway, we stopped at a couple places so the kids could climb a lava mountain and then again at the Citadel ruins. When we got back to the main highway, turns out if we had gone only a couple more miles we would have found the main entrance to the area.

Kids at a lava mountain

at the Citadel ruins

We stopped and ate in Flagstaff and then headed our way back down. We seemed to be about 10 minutes behind the storms the whole way down, which considering I was missing a window was good. Wasnt till we hit Alma School on the 60 that we really hit the storms and I was getting pelted with rain. All in all a good trip considering. But now we have to go back up to do the lift, and we will do the Sunset crater area the right way.

a rainbow end to end about 60 miles out of Flagstaff

I know the pics may be a bit grainey, they were taken with our cell phones.

Friday fishing, pool fun, and the tooth fairy!!

2009-06-30T18:34:00.000-07:00

This past Friday Chris and the kids were up bright and early with me to head down to the clubhouse and go fishing before it got too hot. They have been going at least once a week for quite sometime, getting some practice in for camping in October!! They go to the clubhouse, cause if the kids wanna swim they can too. I have no pics of Nicholas, I wonder if he was behind the camera, but they caught a bunch of fish!!!

Delaney and her prize!

I believe Delaney and Daddy caught this catfish together.

Chris and his bitty fishy.

Cody, who secure in his boyhood, is using the pink fishing pole!!

Friday night we went back to Mesquite Groves Pool for Friday free swim!! It was so much warmer this time than last, although with the breeze it was a bit chilly. Kids had a great time, and Nicholas proceded to lose his like 4th tooth in as many weeks. So the tooth pic is the only one I have from swimming, I know it may be a shock, but I didnt even take the camera this time. Was a great way to start the weekend!!!

Hes not upset, just tired of taking pics with the phone, lol!

Friday night swim night!!!

2009-06-14T19:25:00.000-07:00

Mesquite Groves pool in Chandler has free swim on Friday nights, so us, Da Smiths, DeeDee, and Blaylock all went to the pool. Man the water was cold. But we had such a great time.

Pre getting wet

in the vortex pool, goes round and round

Terri on the slide

on the lazy river

monkey on the slide

me coming off the slide, whoa!

monkey on the diving board

kids swimming laps, they all did great!

kylee on the diving board

kylee and cody

garrett on the diving board

delaney on the slide

delaney on the enclosed slide, such a funny face!

delaney on the diving board

chris on the diving board

the kids all chilling

cody and the diving board

almost done and very cold!!

Bowling at Brunswick

2009-06-14T19:21:00.000-07:00

This past Wednesday evening we went bowling at Brunswick. Was a great time. Terri of course won both games, Delaney won both games out of the kids. I unfortunately came in last the 1st game and next to last the 2nd game. I only beat Cody. Sorry bud that I didnt get a pic of you actually bowling!!

Men (and women) in Black!

Delaney

Garrett

Kylee

Nicholas

Vegas Baby....with kiddos!!

2009-06-14T19:03:00.001-07:00

So the weekend of the 5th, the kids and I ventured up to Vegas along with Da Smiths, DeeDee and Kim. It was a nice weekend away, plus we got to see Jason and Bruce who were up playing in the World Series of Poker. We drove up Friday after work. Saturday we had a great breakfast at the Carnival Buffet at the Rio, biggest buffet on earth! After breakfast we walked into where they were playing the WSOP, it was so awesome to see all these players Ive watched on TV for years. We saw Mike Sexton, Kathy Liebert, Mike Caro, TJ Cloutier, Humberto Brenes, Mark Seif, Dennis Philips, and Greg Raymer. Im sure Ive forgotten a couple. Terri and I then took the kids to the Flamingo to swim in their awesome pools. 3 slides connected 4 pools, the water was so cold but the kids had a blast. Sunday we did the Coke store and the M&M store, then hit the road home. Was a great weekend, the kids had a blast, Chris missed another great trip, sorry you had to work babe!

Me with Dennis Phillips!!

Me and the kids with Mark Seif.

The fam at the Flamingo!

The kids in the cave at the Flamingo Pool

The kids were playing football, and the lifeguard joined in.

Nicholas coming off the main slide, this is the only pic that came out of the slide.

The kids acting like the flamingos.

All 5 kids with the NYNY in the background.

Trying the tastes of the world at the Coke store.

The kids toasting with the real coke!!

Yummy!!

Wow, maybe they do really love each other!

Me and my best friend!!

Our reflection in the walkway of the MGM Grand! Had to stop and take a picture.

Nicholas' teacher sent home this awesome gift!!!

2009-05-21T18:11:00.000-07:00

This is an awesome accordion book Mrs Beeman sent home with Nicholas today. I had to share!!

Here is the cover

This is pilgrim day, hes in the front row with that huge smile.

Cardinal fans and Dr Seuss' Bday

His leprechaun trap he made and friends.

PJ day and when he was Silver Viking.

The Zoo field trip and his Bunny Musical.

The pic they took at the Mothers Day Tea

The back cover, monkey and his teacher!

A Day of Remembrance

2009-05-16T16:44:00.000-07:00

Today has been a very rough day, and unfortunately I cant go to bed and make it be over. This morning was the memorial service for my brother Mark, who was tragically killed in a car accident on May 2. It was a very nice service followed by a wonderful reception at my parents house. But what makes today especially hard is it is the one year anniversary of my brother Robby's death. 2 wonderful men who left this world long before their time. Chris has headed off to work and I am left to fend for myself and the kids tonight. Trying to keep busy, cause bedtime cant come soon enough.

Delaney's Demonstration Speech

2009-05-13T18:53:00.000-07:00

Delaney's Demonstration Speech

Tomorrow Delaney presents her demonstration speech using Perler Beads. Any project for school pops up and I immediately think beads!!! She will be showing stuff we have made, and ideas from a book to make more. Shes gonna finish making her puppy in front of the class, and then do the classic TV food show switcheroo, and switch it out with a completed one she made at home. (they are in the bottom right of the above pic) Today her, the boys and Chris made 29 Smiley faces for her to pass out when she is done.

This is Delaney making the last smiley face.

Here I am ironing that last smiley face.

This is my fantasticly awesome bead holder!!! I think it rocks!!

Here are all our spare beads.

This is our bin of all our boards to make those wonderful beads!! (See Lindsey I told you I had a problem!!!)

Nicholas and I at his Mothers Day Tea!

2009-05-08T17:39:00.000-07:00

Today I had a wonderful day, it started out with a great breakfast with my Dad.

I was able to take today off to spend it with monkey at his mothers day tea!!
When we arrived we waited out in the hall and the kids came and got us one at a time and lead us by the hand. When I entered the class Nicholas gave me a rose, and then escorted me to a wall where they took our pic. Then he lead me to my seat. Greeting me at my seat was a 'what I like about my mom' book, and an awesome placemat. There was also a beautiful plant in a colored pot. The kids then introduced us, and although he introduced me as Amanda, he did great, lol! Then the kids sang a song and read a poem for us.

The teached played a video where each child said what they loved about their moms, Nicholas said he loved me cause I was nice, I was able to record his part of the video (you may need to turn up the sound). We all had cake and juice. It was a great day, and I am so thankful I was able to attend.

This is a pic the teacher took of all the kids in her class on the slide, it played during the video.

Nicholas and his teacher Mrs Beeman

The rose and the plant monkey gave me.

Me and monkey when we first got there

A pic of monkey and his girls that played during the video

Monkey at home with all the stuff he made for me.

This is his video!!!!

Please skate in the forward direction!!!

2009-04-08T19:42:00.000-07:00

Monday night, April 6th, we went rollerskating again!! This time Kylee and Terri joined us, and we met up with the Kendalls! A great time was had by all, well all but mama. Delaney and Nicholas both did tons better this time, now that they are getting used to it. I took a really bad fall backwards skating about halfway through. Went off the tailbone, then the elbows, then bounced the head off the concrete. But alas, 2 days later, I am still in a ton of pain, but its my own dumb fault. And yes I will only be skating in the forward direction for quite awhile to come. Enough about my dumb butt, and on to the pics, I think the best one is the one of Kylee laughing at Cody who just fell.... The kids also made a friend they hope to see next time.

3/21 Flag Football!!

2009-03-21T14:37:00.001-07:00

So we had another Flag game today. It was a great game, we still lost, but the kids played a great game!! At half we were up 14-13. Im not great at the wordy descriptions, so I will just leave you will some great pics.

Skating 3/9/09

2009-03-09T21:32:00.000-07:00

Tonight we all went to Skateland. We had a very good time and there were no major injuries. I only fell once! Chris landed on his arm pretty hard, but its all good now. Nicholas spent the first half of the night falling over and over, and the second half he was finally getting the hang of it.

Cody was doing really well (he had previously skated on a school fieldtrip)

And for Delaney's first time skating, she did really good. A lot of falls, but a lot of skating.

We joined some friends and had a great time. Cody loved skating with their boys. The pics of Delaney and I, and the one of Cody were taken by Lindsey, since I all I was getting with my little digital was blurry pics. They were all doing the Cha Cha slide in this one, Chris got a great butt picture!!

I was so worried it was going to be an urgent care night, but we all did really well. But poor monkey, when we got home, we heard a thud in the shower and he had slipped and hit the soap dish thingy, this is his back.

Hes all bandaged up now though and kissed better!! Chris and I are gonna be sore tomorrow, but it was worth it!!

Mandi's B-day at the Ballpark

2009-03-02T19:13:00.000-08:00

Mandi's B-day at the Ballpark

Since Im not sure how to get Terris blog on my blog, I jsut linked you to her blog. My bday at the ballpark!!!

http://dasmithfoursome.blogspot.com/2009/03/mandis-b-day-at-ballpark.html?showComment=1236049860000#c3209737025905189137

Presidents Day Fishing!!!

2009-02-17T18:39:00.000-08:00

So the Smiths joined the Bartz Crew on Monday for a little fishing. After being there for a couple hours, they were all about to give up, when a fish was caught!!!!! I think Cody caught it, but they all took pride!! They brought the fish home and proceeded to gut and scale it. Wow did my house smell good when I got home!! Kylee and Gary took half the meat home and we have half!! Hope you all had fun and enjoy your fish!!

Go Steelers!!

2009-01-26T17:03:00.000-08:00

So I was just sent this awesome picture, and had to post it!!! Go Steelers!

Delaney and Build A Bear!

2009-01-17T09:55:00.000-08:00

After Delaney had her birthday get together at Peter Piper Pizza last night, she wanted to go to Build A Bear. So off we went. She picked a cool bear, and then she decided she must have this Cardinals outfit. Here is a pic of her with her bear.

And this is what I just found when I walked into her room. She made Cardinal (his name), a very nice bed!

A few final pictures from our last Disneyland day

2009-01-12T18:29:00.000-08:00

Chris and the kids on the canoes.

Me and the boys on the train.

All 3 on Gadgets Go Coaster.

We thought we would try a themed posed picture, we are all sleeping.

I love the look on Delaneys face.

Chris and the kids on the monorail, we got to ride in the back bubble.

Waiting for the monorail, overlooking Nemo.

Chris and the kids on Tom Sawyers Island.

The boys on the train.

The kids see Mickey.

Me and Cody on Storybook Land Boats.

Our last day at Disneyland!!

2009-01-11T00:01:00.000-08:00

Gonna keep this post nice and simple....our whole 14 plus hour day can be summed up with one beautiful picture.....

Nicholas on the way from the tram to the parking garage!

More pics and blog to follow tomorrow.

Disneyland Day 2/3, Jan 8/9 -2009

2009-01-09T23:04:00.000-08:00

Been a great couple days at Disneyland. Was a crazy night tonight, first we got our first walk out on Splash Mountain, we were near the end though so we didnt get to see any of the back scenes, but it was still fun having to climb out of your boat. If you look close at the pic, its our pic on the screen behind the kids.

Then we headed over to Indiana Jones, and as we get about halfway in line, that ride breaks down and we have to turn around and walk out. Head over to Fantasyland, ride one, and then get in line for Pinocchio and that one breaks too. So we decide to go watch Fantasmic, wait for about 30 minutes, and they end up canceling that show due to horrible high winds. Winds are crazy out here, they are overturning semis on the freeways!! We had a great day though!!!! All 3 kids got picked to do the Jedi training, and Delaney got picked to be part of the High School Musical show.

Disneyland Day 1 and Universal Day 2, Jan 6/7 -2009

2009-01-07T20:38:00.000-08:00

So last night I was so pooped, I fell asleep, hence no update, although Im not sure there is more than 1 of you reading (thanks Aunt Laura) anyway. We had a great first day in Disneyland yesterday. We did Finding Nemo, Autopia, and Splash Mountain 3 times all within the first 90 minutes, it rocked!! We had a really great day, and ended it with the best evening possible, we got to ride on Splash Mountain 3 times in a row WITHOUT getting off, the kids were so exicted, but Chris ended up soaked as he was in the front due to us trying to get a good pic. But after some major shopping at the Lego store we were off to dinner and back to the room, where I apparently crashed.

Today we did our second day at Universal studios. We did the House of Horrors walkthrough that scared the crap out of the kids, and not too mention Chris and I. I actually had to drag Delaney screaming a couple of times, turns out there were out doors where you could chicken out and leave, but we didnt know about them till we were out, needless to say, never again! We did the last few things we hadnt done the 1st day, and ended the day at this awesome Curious George play center where there were thousands of foam balls you could shoot everywhere. It was a blast! We hit nasty rush hour traffic on the way back to Anaheim, took over an hour to get back. Dinner, laundry, and bedtime....early up tomorrow for early entry to Disney (we didnt end up doing it Tues), talk at ya all later!

Universal Studios, Day 1, Jan 5/08

2009-01-05T20:30:00.000-08:00

Today was our first day at Universal Studios. What a day. We started out with the Shrek 4D show, that was pretty awesome.

Then we went on the Studio Tour, that was pretty neat to see sets from a ton of different shows and movies. The we made the first mistake of the day, we went on the Simpsons ride. Now I dont do motion similated rides, and I didnt know this was one of them, but Chris egged me on, and he had a point, it had been almost 10 years since I went on some of these that made me sick, so I should give it a try. holy crap, worst ride ever for me, but the kids loved it! So now Im nauseaus for the rest of the day. But I cant say enough about the Waterworld show, it was awesome, and a must do when we do our second day.

Then we did this awesome Special Effects show, that all 3 kids got to be a part of. Showed how green screens and sound effects worked.

We then headed to the Backdraft show, pretty cool, but you really need to be in the front row and we werent. Then we all ran over to the Mummy Ride, we all love the movies. But let me tell you, whoa what a ride, fast and in the dark, and backwards, I lost my headband and Chris caught his glasses as they flew off his head. Needless to say another one the kids loved, but not for me. Chris didnt like the second ride, he hit his bad arm pretty hard.

We then got dinner at the awesome Univeral CityWalk. Back to the hotel and so very excited to get back to Disneyland tomorrow, we even get early entry first day!!!

Sea World Day 2, Sun 1/4/09

2009-01-04T22:31:00.000-08:00

Today was another great day at Sea World. We got to feed the Eel Mantarays and Dolphins. Both were great experiences, although the Mantarays almost ate Chris and Delaney. Speaking of being eaten, the kids got to be nibbling snacks for some Flamingos. The penguins were awesome. The best part of the kids day was that they got to go on Atlantis by themselves, they were so happy they convinced the cast member to send them around for a second go around! After a great sunset drive up the coast we got into Anaheim in time for dinner and fireworks from Disney back at the hotel. We are off to Universal Studios tomorrow!

Sea World Day 1, Sat 1/3/09

2009-01-03T21:13:00.000-08:00

We made it successfully last night. This morning we got up to sprinkling and very cloudy skies. After a stop at Walmart for ponchos we were on our way to Sea World. We had a great day. We saw dolphins, a polar bear, manatees, tons of fish, killer whales and much more. We did Atlantis, and I got to meet Elmo!!! Chris and the kids did an awesome motion ride that I skipped and met them in the Wild Artic Expedition area. The Pollar Bear and Beluga Whales were awesome.

We got to go to the Shamu, Dolphin, and Sea Lion/Otter Shows. They were of course fantastic! Believe it or not, I took these Shamu pics, better than some post cards I think, tooting my horn.

Here are a few other random pics from today. Tomorrow we are back at Sea World to finish a few things, we hope to feed the dolphins and we still have the penguins at least. Then we are off to Anaheim tomorrow night!

Delaney took a great picture of Chris and I!

All ready to go!!

2009-01-01T20:28:00.000-08:00

So I thought that it would be appropriate that my first venture into the blog world would have to do with Disneyland. We are all packed and ready to go, and as soon as Im done with work tomorrow we will be on our way. Look for the first update to be Saturday night after we have done our first day of Sea World.