My little preppy boy

This outfit was a little to cute to pass up. For some reason today he asked me to tuck in his shirt (this is a first). He looked like he was ready to go hang at the country club, get on a yacht or play legos. Love this boy!

Go Bears!

Chris was able to experience his second live football game this weekend thanks to Aunt Amy. He went a 49ers game when he was 5 months old with me and my sister but I don't think he really remembers that. So Amy got us some tickets to the Cal vs. WSU game last night. He was all geared up in his Cal hat, shirt and sweatshirt. I think the only thing that confused him was that he thought we were going there to PLAY football, he kept asking when he could go on the field. He did great through the whole game, especially considering the game ended at about 10:30. I think his favorite part besides them kicking the field goals was the ice cream man walking up and down the isles. Every time he would come near us and start asking if people wanted ice cream he would say sure and put his hand out. Yeah, we would have been broke by the end of the game if we let him. It was a fun night out and thankfully the Bears ended their losing streaked and pulled off a win with a score of 20-17.

Despite how excited he looks in this picture he actually had a really good time. Chris and Daddy intently watching the game.

Chris's Preschool Halloween Party

Chris celebrated Halloween with his classmates on Tuesday with a fun party and a parade int he back yard. For those that don't know Chris attends Little Learners Preschool which is conveniently located about 25 feet from our house. Miss Julie, his teacher lives across the street from us and runs a great school out of her house. All the kids loved having the parents there to help decorate cookies, make spider hats, play some games and have a parade. Batman had a great time hanging out with his buddy Spiderman....aka Josh

Our Halloween Adventure

Batman and Minnie Mouse

Every year at church we host a fun night called Candy Zone at Cornerstone. It is a safer alternative to trick or treating, a ton of fun and it is weather proof. Batman hopped in the bat-mobile with Minnie Mouse and off to church we went. The kids loved walking around playing the games, getting balloon animals, going in the jumping house and winning candy. Minnie spent most of the night playing in a ball bit and trying to convince mom to give her as much chocolate into her mouth as humanly possible....that little girl can put the food down. Batman was more concerned with bouncing, eating and running.

After about an hour and a half we hit melt down and headed home. We stopped at Sara's to do a little trick or treating and get even more candy and then it was home for baths and bed time. It was all going smoothly until we took Chris's costume off for him to get in the bath. I looked at his legs and noticed that his left leg was about twice the size of his right one from his thigh to his knee. There was a 5 minute debate on whether or not to call the doctor, and we did. I proceeded to tell the nurse the size of his leg and that the swollen area was red and hot to the touch. The only thing we could think of was that on Monday morning he had had a flu shot. After reading some of the flu shot reactions this was no where on the list of normal reactions. They figured at this point since this was reaction to a medication we needed to talk to the doctor. By about 9:30 the doctor had called me and said she did not like what she heard and to go ahead and take him in. Here we go again...

My first choice of hospitals to go to was Sutter since it is here in town and takes about 2 minutes to get to, but she proceeded to tell me that they had not been thrilled with the doctors there lately. That was good for me to hear though. In the 4, yes I said 4 times we have been there with the kids we have not been super impressed. So I dragged Chris out to bed and headed to ValleyCare in Pleasanton, if our doctor does not trust the Tracy hospital, that is all I needed to hear to drive an extra 20 miles

When we got to the ER we were seen fairly quickly, another nice bonus to this hospital versus Sutter. After some questions and a few doctors looking at it they really could not come to a conclusion so it ended up at it is most likely an infection in the leg and/or allergic reaction to something. I know what some of you are thinking it is a because of the flu shot. They actually ruled that one out. I know there are many people against those shots and think....yes this is why we don't get them. But both of doctors told me that this was not related, it just happened to be in the same leg. The swelling was actually not around the shot area, just below it. So we got some benydryl and antibiotics to get the infection under control. After entertaining all the nurses by shooting them with a plastic syringe filled with water and talking about the deputy that was there with the "bad guy" from Rita....we headed home.

I think the best part of the night was what I received when we check in at the hospital we got a special gift. The nice nurse checking us in handed me a card and said, " Here ya go, next time you guys are here to see us just hand this to us and we will scan him in and have him pre registered with all his info"

Seriously people....do we actually go that much. I guess we do since we qualified for the Rapid Rewards Card at the ER. All is well now and we are about to go in for a follow up with his pediatrician. Just another fun and adventurous night at the Francis house. Oh, and for those keeping count for the year we are at a tie at 1-1 for the year.

It was a long Halloween night....

This will be the short version since it is 12:45am and I just got back from the hospital with Chris. Yes the ER called our name on this fine Halloween night. When we got the kids home from CandyZone at church I was getting them ready for bed when I noticed Chris's leg was about twice the size of his other one.....NOT NORMAL. Long story short we ended up at ValleyCare in Pleasanton (the Tracy hospital is not on the top of my list). They treated him for an infection in his leg. ODD! I am still trying to figure out what it is but the Red Bull I drank on the way out there is wearing off, so that will have to wait till morning. When I get the Halloween pics up tomorrow I will tell the whole story, he was a trooper.

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.