It's Trash Day Folks

The day has come and passed. The bi-annual event that turns trash into treasure and gets the excitement level in the Francis household to a level 10. This past Friday was TRASH DAY! I had completely forgotten that it was coming, but then it happen, I saw my first pile and a smile came to my face. Unfortunately I think we placed half of our house on the curb in the spring, so we did not have much to contribute. Our neighbors on the other hand made us proud. O do have to saw we put one item out on the street and it lasted for a little over an hour before it was gone. Was it something good, in working order, useful maybe?.....no it was a broken baby gate.

This year Bryan and I felt the need to include our readers in the day we look forward to twice a year. We went around that neighborhood Thursday afternoon and evening to take some pictures of our favorite piles. I am convinced we are complete dorks because we drove around for about 15 minutes looking at all the piles and watching the dozens and dozens of trucks, trailers, and vans driving around rifling every ones piles. It was so much fun. Even Chris was getting into it and having fun watching people dig through piles. So here are a few of the favorite pictures from this falls trash day.

This one is a classic. There is a big wheel, a refrigerators and a car bumper. Who keeps a car bumper int heir house?

I think this is something we see every year. There is always at least 5 or 6 of these through out the neighborhoods. I guess this is an item that when it breaks it is not a quick :Honey throw it in the trash" item.

Refridgerator in PRIME condition

I loved this one because who seriously has an extra door laying around the house.
I think this was the favorite. Mainly because they had a pool ladder and these people do NOT have a pool. Also I just like the randomness of this pile. If you look closely at the pile you will notice an old computer, a high chair, a pool ladder, a lounge chair and then just boxes and boxes of crap.

Dani and the goat!

Dani learned how to feed the goats this year at the Pumpkin patch and she was so proud.

Pumpkin Patch Part Two

I have determined that I need to add Pumpkin Patches to the list of things that make me happy. This time we headed to Joan's Farm & Pumpkin Patch in Livermore. I met Joanna and Jodi there with all their kids, so we had quite the crowd.

Dani was thrilled that her two "mommies" Cydni and Payton were there.

Ethan and Chris on the tractor

Dani was convinced she could lift this pumpkin......she gave a good effort

Kenna and her pumpkins

Chris had fun climbing the big tree

Ethan was a huge fan of taking pictures all day.

Owen and Payton

Jodi and Kenna.....and a very hungry goat

Ethan, Joanna and Payton feeding the goats

Payton taught Dani how to feed the goats

Cydni and Payton

A nice night at the park

Aron needed to get a workout in the other night, so we took advantage of the good weather and all went to the park to watch him work. Chris loves helping Bryan hide things for Aron to find and getting all the toys out of the car for Aron to play with. Dani just likes chasing him around rolling down the grassy hill.Aron is ready to play

She is such a happy girl when she is all the park

"Does my diaper make my butt look big?"

Bryan and Aron getting ready to work.

Mesmerized by her daddy.......she loves that man!

Like the new look?

I am sure you have noticed by now that we have remodeled the blog. No I did not do this....the extent of my computer knowledge is how to post things on a blog. I stumbled across this sweet gal Jennisa that will design your site for you. Also we added a feature that will allow you to track when we add something without us sending out emails. Just click on this link and follow the instructions and you will get an email when we post something. Enjoy the new posts and the new layout.....we would love to hear what you think.

Last night

We had a very long day wit Chris yesterday. When it cam time to bedtime we skip the PJ's step and he just went to bed in his shirt that he wore that day. Every night Bryan and I check on the kids before we go to bed. I think we were both a little confused when we opened the door and saw this.

Now you need to look closely at the photo. That is a Spider Man top with Lightning McQueen bottoms. But upon closer examination we realized that the pants were on backwards. This made my night. Seriously folk, what kids wakes up and decides that ne needs to put on PJ's. That little boy was so proud to show me in the morning that he put his PJ's on himself. LOVE IT!

Things that make me happy

I am sure there are plenty of people ( moms especially) that would agree with me when I say you have those weeks when you just need something to make you happy. So I decided to make a list of the things that make me happy. Somehow just thinking of these things helps put a smile on my face.

**note: these are not listed in ANY particular order**

1. Starbuck's: If you have known me for more than about 5 minutes you know I LOVE my coffee. Nothing starts a day better for me that a hot grande non-fat latte.

2. The Circus: Just seeing the great symbol for the RBBB Circus makes me smile. We went all the time as kids and I could still go every week know if I could afford it and also travel with th em around the world. I think I am probably more excited then the kids about going next year.


3. Diet Coke: Nothing is better then a good fountain diet coke...enough said. 4. Spin Class: This is a new addiction for me. But when the days are tough and I just need to get the stress out, I love going to my spin class. Just knowing that I am doing something good for my body and that I am getting some stress out makes me happy.


5. My kids: I think this is a given but really when we do fun or unusual things. Like hanging out int he trunk of daddy's patrol car. Who would not love this.
6. My hubby: I love seeing him so happy doing what he loves everyday at ACSO and working with Aron.
So I guess after looking at this list I need to start planning my ultimate happy day. I think it would start with getting a nice hot latte after I get back from spin class. I would then get in the car with my family and head off to the circus where I will enjoy a nice diet coke.....a circus diet coke non the less. That makes me happy.

Pumpkin Patch

It is fall and that means it is time to go to the pumpkin patch. We took the kids out to Dell Osso Family Farms today to enjoy the fun and get some great deals on pumpkins. This is always a highlight of the year for us and the kids had a blast. Chris loved climbing on the mountains of tires filled with sand. Dani was busy walking around and checking out the scene and dancing to the music.

Chris and Dani hanging out on the pumpkins

The girls.....look we even matched today (not planned)

Happy girl

Little stud man

Dani in a pile of pumpkins

Chris and Dani had fun burying the pumpkins in the sand

Rest time in the sand

Me and my babies

Getting a family picture these days is not as easy as it seems, but we did it.

To comment or not to comment?

It is not that scary, you hit the comments button and there you go. It is fun for us to see who is reading this and keeping tabs on our family. So don't be scared to leave us your thoughts, witty comments or tell us how scared you are about having kids after reading what happens in our household.

Crazy hair girl!

I think it is 100% now. Dani got mommy's hair. It is thin, straight as a board and will not do what anyone wants it to do. You would think water would hold this hair down....think again. Sorry sweetie, I will start praying now that at some point she may get a little bit of volume in her hair.

Sneak Peak of Halloween this year....

Batman.....with built in muscles

Minnie Mouse

Just thought I would give everyone a little sneak peak of Halloween this year in the Francis household. I am actually very excited about this years costumes. I was so proud of myself for Dani's costume.....this was my first eBay purchase. I know, I know I am way behind the times. But it has taken me a while. Between Heather telling me about all the great deals she gets on there and Joanna constantly finding the great deals on Seven jeans....I figured I could try and buy a Minnie Mouse costume. I was successful, and secretly very proud of myself at the same time.

Now Chris' costume was a different story. This year was the first year we really let him have a say in what he was. I am starting to second guess myself on this one and wonder why we actually did this. We went to look at costumes tonight after a few weeks of going back and forth on what he wanted to be. Before Chris was a wall of colorful pictures with endless options of what he can be on Halloween. He seemed to be set on a super hero....what that means is up for grabs. After Bryan and I trying to steer him towards our preference he landed on Power Ranger. Seriously, a Power Ranger. Does he know what this was? The nice thing was the costume had missing parts. Back to the drawing board we went. The next option was Superman, this we were a little more comfortable with. Unfortunetley this was strike 2, they did not have his size. Okay, third times a charm right? It was, Chris will be Batman this year. Let's just hope that he will actually wear the hood.

Stay tuned for pictures of our little cuties in the costumes.

Big Jets and Big Guns

This weekend was Fleet Week in San Francisco. It was the first time we had taken the kids down there and now Chris wishes this was a daily ritual in his life. The nice thing is since my mom lives right on the marina, we did not need to worry about parking or being caught in the crowds. It was a beautiful day in the city and like always for the angels....clear blue skies. There was an airshow with some fun planes and helicopters before the Blue Angels flew. Chris thought he was in heaven. Right when we got there Bryan took him over to the waters edge and they watched a demonstration from the Coast Guard in retrieving someone from the water. I think he thought this was fun since he has a similar helicopter at home.

After a quick lunch on the marina green we took a walk down towards the bridge where the Marines and Navy had booths set up. As you can see from the pictures they had all the toys out for the kids to play with.
Chris felt right at home with this M-16

He is a natural

The Marine was nice enough to give Chris a lesson in how to use the thermal scope. He got to find Daddy in the cross hairs

I see you Daddy!

Chris though all the planes he had been seeing all day were pretty cool......then he heard the roar of the Blue Angels. A few minutes before we had bought him a little replica form him to play with. He was Floored when he saw them fly overhead. Like always they put on a great show. Chris and his friend Aidan were laughing, screaming and giggling the whole way through.

Alison and Vicki

Chris and Aidan had fun sitting with Aidan's auntie

This last picture I just had to take. The fun things about the city is that you see the greatest outfits. This guys was sporting an oh so subtle green button down with the classic rainbow shorts.....LOVE IT!