Date with Dad

Maddie and Mikos had their annual Holiday Dinner and Dance with their Indian Princess Tribe on Tuesday evening. Maddie was so excited. She loves these events but this one is especially fun for her because she gets a new dress, gets to get all dolled up and gets to dance the night away with all of her friends! So cute. We imagine she will always enjoy and look forward to these events but eventually, as the years pass, the novelty will wear off a bit so we are really cherishing these moments now. Especially Mike. He loves getting to do these things with Maddie.

Thanksgiving

Bunco

I hosted my Bunco group the first Friday of November and Sonja and Russell stepped up and had Maddie and William for their first sleepover at their house. It was really Uncle Russell who stepped up (Sonja was over with me rolling the dice and Bunco'ing the night away). The kids still can't stop talking about the cool tent he set up in their living room to sleep in! Yes, the tent is set up on top of the air mattress. :)Russell even had an ART project for them to do together! Isn't it adorable? So impressive. The kids had SO much fun! I was a little worried about my little Wils but he slept in the tent with Maddie all night long. Such a big boy.

Huntington Beach Hyatt

We crashed in on the Porter's vacation for a little late afternoon swimming and poolside playing. Another end-of-October memory I'm catching up on tonight. Fun photos of the kids. Love to see the kiddos growing up together.
I always feel blessed when I get the opportunity to spend time with these favorite ladies of mine. I am a lucky girl to have such quality people in my life.

wow

wow. i've been on such a blog hiatus that i totally forgot my username and password and it was like fort knox getting back in here! now that i'm IN, i have no idea where to start. i have no desire to go back over october... however i think i do need to post some pictures for the record of the kids halloween. so here's a few pics. it was a fun october. pumpkin patch and our good friends the porter family joined us all the way from kansas on halloween evening for dinner and trick-or-treating. good times. not sure why i'm surprised but that was fun! mulling through the pictures deciding which ones to post just gave me a renewed inspiration to keep this blogging up. it really does help me to keep on top of the photos and moments of these special times in our life.

Lucas turns 2!

We celebrated Lucas turning 2 a couple of Sundays ago. It was a swell party. Mickey Mouse was the theme. Maddie and William just love this little cousin of theirs to pieces! He's a pretty cool little guy and I can't believe he is 2...and he's going to be a big brother come March. Crazy! I can't believe Maddie was his age when William was born. Wow. Now that puts it into perspective for me. Seems like ages ago. Such fun times for the Driscoll's and Ciriza's. We love you Lucas!
I love this singing shot I got. Maddie is singing with such heart! :)

Maddie's 1st Soccer Game!

Maddie had her first soccer game ever on Saturday afternoon. It was so professional and official with a referee and everything. Big league. She did awesome and had so much fun! WE had so much fun too cheering her on from the sidelines! Her team is the "Yellow Unicorns". The girls all voted and that was the name they chose. Her sweet look...
...and her tough girl look!
She had lots of fans cheering her on and the cheering worked! The Yellow Unicorns won their first game 3 to 1. Yeah!! Maddie was great at defense with her power kick but she said she liked playing offense the best. We will see as the season progresses. :)

First days of School!

It's hard to believe summer is over and the kids are back in school! Maddie had her first day of 1st Grade last Thursday. She started at a new school this year and is adjusting perfectly! It's me who is having a hard time adjusting... pickup and drop is a nightmare. William had his first day of school TOdAY... second year of Preschool at Trinity. He did great as well. He was not interested at all in getting his picture taken but he was happy as can be to see all of his friends including his girlfriend Maddie. So cute.

First Pitch

Mikos got the opportunity on Tuesday night to throw out the first pitch at the Angels game. It was an exciting night for us. We got to the stadium early and got to go out onto the field and watch the Angels batting practice. Shortly before the game, we got to cheer Mikos on in throwing out the first pitch. He did awesome! William got all geared up and looked adorable (if I don't say so myself). Of course as we watched the batting practice, he started to get vocal about his disappointment and started asking if that was all we were going to do... watch. He wanted to play and most of all slide! Too funny. The irony of it all. It was a fun night and Grandma and Grandpa joined us and Soosa and Russell met up for awhile as well. It was a good night.