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!

The Drawer!!!

For those that read the post in mid-September....here is the picture of THE DRAWER. If you are lost, then scroll down and read the post titled "the oh so subtle sounds of night"

Random pictures of the kids.

The kids and I took advantage of the nice weather and took a walk over to the park with Sierra. I promise I do have 2 children......Chris just moves too quickly to get pictures. Plus most of the time he was just doing laps around the softball fields on his bike.

my precious little girl

oh no....falling cheerios.

one by one we pick them up

Dani and her (dawggieeee) this is a new word in her vocab now

we wore Sierra out after 10 minutes of playing fetch.

Dani got a hold of Chris's milkshake, he was not to happy.

you have to love the drippy face.

Fun with Friends

Our good friends the Everhart's were here this past week from Virginia. Chris was so excited to have his pal Ellie here to play with and to meet her new little brother Jackson. It was fun to see them playing together but I think we may need to get Ellie a firetruck for Christmas!

Chris and Ellie zoning out while watching the new BOZ movie

Ellie and Chris had to have their firetrucks with them while they were eating their popsicles.

Jackson, Ellie, Chris and Dani.....I don't think you know how hard it was to get this picture.

love my friend, I'll miss you!

MOPS Convention

No this is not a place where moms get together all swap cleaning secrets.....it is a place for moms though. I have been involved with MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) for a few years now. I was lucky enough to travel with a few friends from Cornerstone to Orlando for four days. The nice part was...NO KIDS!

We got stay at a beautiful hotel, we ate HOT meals without being interrupted by children, we went to Disney World with out entering Fataseyland and best of all we had no sleep but this was not because of our kids....we just had fun staying up late with the girls.

Kelley, Alison, Sheree & Erin enjoying a great seminar.....we laughed a lot!

A fun thing about being in Florida is that hotels have signs like this in the courtyard.

I had a hard time telling what the alligator was thinking her, too bad the turtle is not quick!

We took a ferry across the Disney Lagoon to get to the Happiest Place on Earth!

I little nicer then the sea of parking heading into Disneyland.

Mickey was dressed for the fall season with all his pumpkins

Who doesn't like this place!

We were just happy to go on adult rides.

Kelley and Erin ready for Splash mountain

Enjoying a kid-free meal at Rainforest Cafe on the Disney Lagoon.

Okay so this is where our trip got interesting. We were up WAY to early Sunday morning to head home. WE caught a flight out for the Orlando airport to head to Salt Lake City and then on to Oakland. The plane left Florida around 8:00 and we got to SLC at 10am. We were going to have a 2 hour lay over and be home for lunch :) Well at least that is what we thought. After returning form getting a snack we realize that our connection was cancelled and we were all rerouted through SFO. The kicker was that plane left at 8:00pm and we would get to SFO late that night. Just what we all wanted....10 fun hours in the SLC airport. After coffee, fun, talking, more coffee and more food....we got bored. SO what better to do then walk through all the shops, try on funky things and take pictures.

All dressed for winter in Utah

I don't think they were as amused as we were on this one.

Erin and I decided we would be the pilots for that day!

I don't think they got the memo we were in Utah, not Texas

All in all we had a great time. Being with all these girls was a great recharge for me! Thanks for all the fun memories girls!