I do believe it's magic...

I'm not sure what makes the pumpkin patch such a magical place but it once again worked it's magic this year. Maybe it's the brilliant colors or the beautiful mild weather or maybe it's the memories I have of going to the Nut Tree pumpkin patch every year as a kid to see the scarecrow competition. Whatever it is, I love it!
Only in Northern California can you drive through a vineyard in 70º weather to get to the pumpkin patch. It was peaceful and beautiful and there was a lot of fun things for the kids to do. They loved the 5 acre corn maze and Ty loved the straw!
I'm really sad that today is Halloween and come tomorrow it will all be over. I don't feel like I've had my decorations out or been able to enjoy all the pumpkins long enough! This is my absolute favorite time of year! Goodbye Halloween, I'll miss you, can't wait for next year.

I Fly SWA!

Congratulations to Ty on his first flight! My cousin Stephanie, Ty and I flew back to Missouri for 6 fabulous days of rest and relaxation. Ty did fabulously both there and back. Thankfully he is not mobile yet so my lap satisfied him just fine. I also think the high altitude cleared out one of his tear ducts because he has been clear since we got home!

I don't have MO pics on my computer yet so I will share that experience when I get them.

Taking a lesson from the pilot!

He earned his wings!

Paparazzi overload!

I had to post this. This is my cousin Shelley's daughter Elle. Fame has found it's latest victim.

Bad Hair Day!

After a nice sunny day out at the soccer field, we came home and took Ty's baseball cap off. This is what we saw...

It's Miley Mania!

On September 18, 2009 Brian and I surprised the girls by taking them to the Miley Cyrus concert. This was their first concert and they were so surprised. They thought we were going out to dinner and then back to the school for movie night. The hilarious part is we drove through the Caldacott tunnel and they still had no clue we weren't on our way home...HELLO???
Miley put on a great concert and we all really enjoyed it. The girls could not believe they were actually seeing Miley Cyrus in the flesh, what a fun experience for the girls.


*The girls are smiling in the video because when I pulled out my camera to film them I told them I just wanted to take their picture.

Where to begin...

Well, after a hard drive crash and almost losing 8,000 of my photos, I'm happy to say all is well. I've been without my computer for over a month and I have to say, it was a tense but wonderful experience. We need those moments when we think we've lost something so dear to realize what's important in life. It was a pivotal moment when I sincerely realized that I would give, live without or sell anything to get those pictures back. Why? Because my family is the most important thing and the memories we share are priceless.

I have so many postings to catch up on, I don't know where to begin. Definitely scroll down to make sure you haven't missed anything in the Addington family saga!

Gold Rush Days!

Over Labor Day weekend we made a trip to Old Sacramento for Gold Rush Days. It was really fun; the kids were able to visit an old school house, see a western shootout and drink homemade Sarsaparilla; all the while horses and wagons roamed up and down the streets. Eating at Joe's Crab Shack for lunch wasn't bad either!

As we were leaving that day, Cody saved Gail's life as we now say. Gail was holding her arm in front of the elevator doors to keep them open while we all got out. Well, the elevator had been malfunctioning all day so the doors slammed shut with her entire arm stuck inside. As we all looked on in horror Cody yells, "FINAL DESTINATION, OH CRAP!" He runs up, grabs a hold of her and yanks her out of the elevator. Thanks Cody, that could have turned out really bad!


Ty was mesmerized by this man's beard.



Drinking Sarsaparilla in old glass bottles.

The new rules we've adopted in our house. :o)

Cute school girls.



Funny!

Back to School!

Wow, summer's over and the kids are on to a bigger and better adventure. Cody started high school, Troy started junior high and the girls are the only ones left at the elementary school. The house is eerily quiet but they are all enjoying school very much.

Troy is taking guitar for an elective, how cool is that? He has to lug his guitar to school everyday which is a pain when your taking the bus but he's managing.

Cody loves high school and is having an easier time keeping himself organized thanks to the block schedule at the high school. With the block schedule you only go to 3 classes a day so on Monday and Thursday he has odd period classes, on Tuesday and Friday he has even period classes and on Wednesday, which is half day, he goes briefly to all of his classes. So much easier to keep track of assignments for 3 classes at a time instead of 6.

The girls got their favorite teachers, and no it had nothing to do with their mom being PTA president ;o) Thankfully, I will not have that responsibility this year thanks to Ty but I can't seem to pull myself away completely so I will still be on the board.

Lastly, I would like to thank the Fairfield Suisun Unified School district for continuing to provide transportation!!! You have made my life so much easier! The thought of transporting 4 kids to 3 different schools on 3 different schedules was going to land me on the funny farm! I now just have to take the girls to and from school...good times!

Whose cute children are those???

Cody exiting the bus on the first day

Troy exiting the bus on the first day.

The 3 musketeers; Troy, Eric and Olivia have grown up together.

You don't bite, you don't starve...

Ty Daniel's first tooth broke the surface on August 3, 2009 at the ripe age of 3 months! His second tooth broke through on August 15th. I'm sad to see his baby gums disappearing so quickly especially since there will be no more Addington children in our future. It's also sad to see him so desperate to gnaw on things but not quite coordinated enough to put the ring in his mouth on his own, so frustrating.
So far so good, only one close call during his feeding but after a short discussion, I'm hoping we have a mutual understanding...

So funny, he was more than happy to show off his new teeth!

After about 10 flashes he was done letting me take pictures of his teeth!

The coolest thing ever...

In the hunt to find a small point and shoot for my diaper bag, I came across the coolest camera ever! It's a sports camera that's shock proof up to 5 feet and waterproof down to 10 feet. As soon as I saw it I knew I had to have it for rafting. Now I can have pictures going down the river without relying on the professionals. Sweetest thing ever!!! And for those of you wondering what would happen if I dropped it in the river? Good question, I bought a float strap for it! Saweeeet! Can't wait for the cool pictures next summer.

Underwater pictures taken by Troy:

We are women, hear us roar!

Six women, sixteen children...no problem. After realizing that summer would be over in two weeks and my girls had done pretty much nothing all summer while the boys were off to all sorts of camps, I decided (out of guilt) to take my girls on a quick vacation. I called a handful of friends for an impromptu camping trip; just women and our kids.

I have to say, despite the teasing by the y chromosomes in my family, it was a huge success. We only had a couple of days to book a campsite and pack. I set up a tent for the first time, started the campfire, loaded and unloaded my car successfully and all the while taking care of my teething 3 month old without a man in sight. One man in the campground commented several times on how brave we were!

We had great fun socializing together, the kids had a ball with all the fun things there were to do. I have to give the babies credit, Ty and Carson were unbelievably good the entire time, they loved being outside. I think we will definitely make this an annual trip!

Ty sleeping on my air mattress


Carson playing out a scene in a really bad horror movie


Morgan and Allison on the jumping pillow


Brooke and Tim at the campsite


Ty, Morgan and Mom at the pool


Brooke and Claire in the spa


Brooke and Allison taken with my cool new underwater camera


Morgan


Brooke