Where-O-Where has November Gone?

Wow! Where did November go? I think I have been saying that for about 2 months now... hmmm... Oh well onto the next month (the crazy month... AHHHHHHH!!!) However, I am bound and determined to not feel so crazy chaotic. We will see how things turn out.

So about November...

Some of Jeremy's family from Vegas came down for Thanksgiving and the kids has soooooo much fun together. They made Christmas trees out of upside down ice cream cones, and just loved it... Thank you Tami and Scott for some good memories.

Cassidy, cousin Brooke and cousin Morgan

Now those are some SWEET girls... hehe
Emma was heart broken when her Christmas tree was chopped down.

Taylor's going green... hehe

Sweet Madison!

Taylor and Logan

I have a feeling these boys are going to be good buddies when the age gap starts shortening.

More November Fun

So for a couple of weeks my creative daughter has been building her very own airplane. She has been spending every extra moment after school, roping in anyone that is willing to help and using any scrap piece she can get her hands on to put together an airplane.

The finished product had a sheet over the top of the metal canopy. Who knew where they were going... but very creative none the less. Go Cass!

Cassidy and Aly

Emma has been so proud of her "peddo-ing" lately. She just absolutely loves to ride her bike. It is either barbies or bike riding... that is her world, except for her friends of course.

These pictures does not do the "Blue" justice but... on the way home from school one day Ryann got a hold of a ribbon, that for some reason was colored with blue marker hmmm... wonder how that happened, and just came out with vibrant blue hands, tongue and lips. Sweet baby! will she survive her siblings?

Jay's Wedding

My nephew, Jay, got married over Thanksgiving weekend to the sweetest little girl. They make such a cute couple and compliment each other so well. Congratulations guys!

Some how I didn't get a picture of the bride and groom together, bummer.Jay and my mom

Brooke and her dad

Emma and Kaidyn (my brother's daughter)

My Dad and McKenna

He is one of the few people I ever see her go to happily. Must have a that special touch!

A Child's Innocents

So Emma and her little friend, Quinci, were riding in the back of the car on the way to pick the kids up from school and had the most cutest conversation that I just had to share...

It started with a barbie conversation (of course) and how they both "needed" to go to Walmart so they could get a particular barbie. As if Emma doesn't have enough... poor deprived child... I tried to explain that it was something Emma needed to talk to Santa about, and this was there response....

Emma: Where is Santa?

Quinci: He is coming to town!!!!! I have a sign on my door and guess what it says...

Emma: What (with a roll of the eyes)

Quinci: That he is coming to TOWN!!!!!

Emma: (unsatisfied) Well where is he?

Me: (trying to hold back my laughter) He up at the North Pole, where he lives, making all the toys for your presents.

Emma: Can I go? (coming from the child who was terrified to even look at him at the mall last year)

Me: to his house?

Emma: Ya

Quinci: I wanna go too!

Me: Well, we can't go to the north pole this year, but maybe we can go see him at the Mall. He visits there.

Quinci: Ya, and we can go tomorrow.

Emma & Quinci: YEAH!!!!!!!!!

Mmmmm... now where did they pick up that we are going tomorrow. Sorry Kelly!

Ya, this picture was taken the same day... and yes they have on different outfits... don't you love this age!

Taylor, our Pro Baseball Player

Taylor has been playing couch pitch this fall and is just loving it. There are some kids on the team that needs their focus redirected from time to time... Taylor is definitely not one of those. He sits at the edge off the fence and anxiously awaits his turn with bat in hand.

He has quite the big swing! In the first 3 games, he amounted to hitting about 12 times and hit a home run at least 10 of the times, most of them soring over the kids heads into the outfield... Can you tell he has a proud mama? Whew Hew Taylor!

Keep it up buddy, you can support us all when you get into the Pros. he he! Jeremy already has it all planned out. He sits there just beaming as he cheers his son on. Go Taylor!

Ryann's 8 Months!

Ryann is growing up way too fast!!!!! Last Tuesday she turned 8 months, wow where has the time gone?

She thinks she is bigger than she is. We are crawling everywhere now, it is still an awkward crawl, with big arm motions and everything, but she is getting the job done and that is all that matters to her.

The scary one is she has been pulling herself up to her feet and walking along the couches for about 3 weeks now.

She still is working on her tummy control, she still spontaneously falls backwards and then just look at me like..."MOM! how dare you".

She also thinks she can tackle the stairs as well. WHEW! did we get a heart-a-tack on that one!

Where did October Go?

Wow! Did the month of October just fly by, or is it just me? No looking back now... October is gone and we are well on our way to the holidays. AHHHHH! Man do I have some catching up to do on this blog...

A True Emma Moment

So Emma was Sharpay for Halloween. The costume was bought about 2 or 3 weeks before Halloween, but wasn't allowed to be worn until the big day.

Side note: (We have had past experiences where the kids wore their costumes before Halloween trying to get the maximum use out of them... and they got tired of them . Which then turned into a battle because their mean 'ole mom just wouldn't buy them a different costume because they changed their mind as to what they wanted to be. So a new rule was born in our house ... Halloween costumes do not get worn until Halloween actually comes and THEN they may be worn and played until the little hearts in our house are content. )

Anyway back to my story... Emma was just busting at the seams to wear her blue Sharpay costume. She could hardly contain herself any longer, so when she got the "OK" to get her costume on for her preschool Halloween party she could not even wait for her mom to finish feeding the baby to help her with her dress and make-up kit, which had to be hidden as it was mysteriously broken into several times. So when I came downstairs after finishing with Ryann this is what I found...

hmmm.... now how are we going to get that one off.

The rhinestones ON the lips must be a new thing.

She did finally let me help her get things cleaned up. That sure was some RED lipstick though.



She is so cute, even though she is so mischievous.

Halloween

Halloween was fun for the Atkin's... The kids started off the day with a literary parade at their school, where they got to dress up like a character in a book. Then with one class following another get to march around, inside and out, the whole school with their book in hand. It makes it slightly more difficult for the parents making sure their costume can go with a book character, but a cute idea none the less.

Taylor has made it easy for me picking a ninja for the second year in a row... Which went along with the Magic Tree House's Ninja book

Cassidy was a fairy (didn't want to wear the wings though) from Alice the Fairy. I just love that book. It is one that I can read over and over to my girls and not get tired of it. It must be the little 3yr. old's sassy personality I relate with or something. (don't you say a word Jeremy)

Jeremy was... well his was self explanatory. Poor Guy! It's ok, I still love you Jer.

We ended the night with a potluck get-together in the front with some neighbors, friends and a little family. We blocked off the street, pulled out the chairs, ate some food, had a fire, and ate some candy of course. What a night!

"Ok, we smiled... now for the good stuff!"

Those are some handsome boys.

The Walkway is Done!

I hadn't posted the final pictures of the walkway yet because I was waiting till we got a little of the green back in... so... close enough. This project proved to take a lot more sweat and time than originally thought.

I am so excited how it turned out though. Thank you so much Jeremy for all your hard work you do. I am sure you just roll your eyes (discretely of course) every time I say, "So I have been thinking...". Thank you for always so politely indulging me. I sure love you!

Didn't he do such a good job!

Gotta Love Cousins!

Cousin's are one of the best kind of friends.

Ryann 6mo, Kade 8mo, McKenna 9 1/2mo

( Kade in my niece's son and McKenna is my brother's daughter)

It's been 14 years!

So, 14 years ago today my hubby and I started our journey with our first date. It seems like a life-time ago.

We were high school seniors at Gilbert High School (I just dated myself didn’t I? oops) and it was about two weeks away from the infamous Homecoming dance, and a couple of mutual friends were getting together to watch a movie at a friend’s (Cam Heiner, for those of you who are dating yourselves back like I am) house, nothing spectacular, but it is the company that counts. Right?

It was that night that Jeremy planted the first kiss, right there in my parent’s driveway as he dropped me off. He wasn’t about to waste anytime. That hasn’t changed over time either… I love him for that, even when I like to pretend that I don’t.

I sure feel incredibly blessed to be his wife! He is truly my Superman! I feel so safe and loved by him, it is an amazing feeling. He loves me through all my sassy, spit-fire personality and that takes a very big Superhero to do.

He has given me the four of the most beautiful angels, and I hope they all have his wonderful outlook on life. I admire you more than you will ever know. I love you, Jeremy.

Taylor and Jeremy. Yep... he is swimming in the blowup pool in his clothes with his 1yr. old son. What a dad!

Jeremy and Cassidy, during swim lessons. She held onto his neck so tight.

Jeremy and Taylor

Jer, Cassidy & Taylor at Disneyland

Cassidy, Taylor & baby Emma (Easter morning)

Cassidy, first time fishing. Even though she caught the fish she was not going to get any closer.

Jeremy being patient with Emma, as she just would not get off the quad.

The Family at Disneyland

Chill'in with Ryann

Thank you for the past 14yrs… it has been the time of my life! and I wouldn’t do any other way than with you.