Trip to Connecticut

I had a great week in Connecticut with the Everhart's . It was great to see Ellie and Jackson and help out Heather around the house a little. With a little bit of coffee each morning we were able to finish some decorating, paint the bathroom, and make the house feel a little more settled. It had been close to ten years since I had been back to the Connecticut area and it was fun to be there again. Dunkin' Donuts coffee was a nice familiar taste from the good old days of 5am crew practice in the Bristol Harbor in Rhode Island.

One night we drove down to New Haven to see where Gary works, drive around the Yale campus and eat some great pizza at Sally's in Little Italy. There was a great look out that we stopped at with the kids that overlooked all of New Haven and the Harbor. Heather and I were even able to sneak away for an afternoon of shopping and a great lunch at Nordstrom's (courtesy of Barbara...thanks). Brought us back to our days of meeting at Nordstrom's on our lunch breaks.

Heather and Alison overlooking downtown New Haven

This was a week I needed..... time with one of my closest friends, a small little break from the craziness at home and some relaxing mornings with no alarm clocks. Thanks for having me guys, I love you all and miss you.

Super Dad

Bryan gets the SUPER DAD award for this week. For my birthday his parents got me a ticket to go visit my good friend Heather in Connecticut. So that leaves Bryan at home with the kids for the week. The nice thing about technology is that he can keep me up to date on how the kids are doing through pictures. Bryan is great about sending me pictures throughout the day (courtesy of the trusty iPhone).

These first pictures were to replace my lack of being there to check on them at night before bedtime. He snapped a few pictures of the kids in their beds so I could say good night to them.


This next one was of Dani after a nap trying to get "beeper" to wake up. The funny thing is that when she does this and bounces on his head he stays asleep. One of these days he is going to realize how much bigger he is then her and and send her flying.

The next day was not a happy night for Dani. Bryan gets extra points for having a LONG night with Dani on Monday. Dani spent most the night puking in her room, on her bed, on the carpet and my favorite on Bryan (I think there is part of me that was glad he got to see what this was like). I was very impressed with how he handled. Dani got a shower at 11 o'clock at night, new jammies, her hair brushed, carpets cleaned and new bedding. Poor thing did not have a good night but Bryan was great and stayed up with her until she fell asleep. These are the pictures that I got in the morning of my sick little baby. It was a very mellow day on the couch watching movies and napping. Bryan even missed a court date to stay with her.....I am sure he made some guy really happy that the cop was a no show.


Chris got a nice snack of some Jello that I guess he saw fit to eat on the coffee table with his backpack on. What can I say it was a nice little treat for him and a cute picture.

Today while Chris was at school Bryan took little Dani to Starbuck's to have a coffee and vanilla milk. She looks like such a big girl here. I am sure she had a blast since she loves her daddy and any one on one time that she gets with him.

I miss my babies and Bryan, but it is so good to know that they truly love the time that they get with their dad. He does such a good job caring for them and I never have to worry......I don't even have to write anything out for him, he has this down pat. Thanks babe for giving me a few days off to just be me.....I love you guys and miss you.

Today I am Two!

It is hard to imagine that it was just two years ago we welcome Danielle Elizabeth Francis into our family. Last night as I checked on her before I went to bed it hit me that she is not a baby anymore. I know shocking...

For most this is obvious since she talks like she's twelve looks likes shes four and has the attitude of a teenager......but to me she was still a baby. But looking at her in her big girl bed, sleeping with a pillow, and looking all grown up I finally admitted to myself that she was no longer the 6lb. 13 oz. baby I held in my arms two years ago.

I dug through a few old pictures of her past two years to go down memory lane a little bit.

My little Dani when she was 1 month old. This was her first photo shot with Sara.

Here she is at 4 months old when we were visiting my friend Heather in Virginia. You can't tell from this picture but she had just gotten out of the hospital from her bout with pneumonia, she's a trooper.Happy girl Dani at 8 months old for some Valentine pictures for Daddy.

Enjoying her birthday cake last year....love the hair.
18 Months old sitting on a pumpkin

Watching her brother ski in Tahoe-21 months old

And here is a happy picture of our Two Year Old today.....she has the attitude down pat.

Happy Birthday Dani girl.....we love you.

How is Dani and her bed?

I think the picture explains it all.... Dani is still getting out of her bed at night and falling asleep by the door. Bryan got this great shot of her last night when he went to check on her.

Dani and her bed

This past week has been big for Dani. Our little monkey decided to start climbing out of her crib so we knew it was time. This girl needed a bed. She will eventually get the bed in the guest room, but Mor Mor needs it to sleep in this weekend while watching the kids,so we just took the front rail off the crib for now. Night time and nap time this week have been an adventure. Dani is extremely adventurous and with her new found freedom has no desire to stay in bed. This has been a fight that Bryan and I have been determined to win.

Just like Chris we put the baby lock on the inside of the door so she will not be able to come out at night and wander. This also helps when trying to get her asleep at night. For a few nights when Bryan and I would go to check on her we would find her asleep behind the door. Last night was different. Bryan had gone in around nine to check on her and she was actually asleep in the bed. About an hour later this was not the case. Poor thing had fallen out of bed.....but did not wake up. Being good parents we had to take a picture before putting her back in bed. I mean really the fall was barely a foot. I survived a fall from the top of a bunk bed when I was little and it did not even wake me. Dani is turning out more and more like me every day. SCARY!

Meet Fasco

We would like to introduce you to the newest member of our family. Meet Fasco Van Diesson Platz.....try teaching that to the kids.Fasco Van Diesson Platz was born in Holland 4 and a half years ago and comes from an elite line of dogs. Fasco is a Dutch speaking German Shepard that has a PH I Title with Honors in KNPV (Koninklijke Nederlandse Politiehond Vereniging). So if you don't speak Dutch, it is basically the Royal Dutch Police Dog Association. Fasco spent a few more years then normal in Holland to complete his certifications to obtain an almost perfect score of 436 out of 440. Fasco's dad was the PH I National Champion in '05 and the PH II Title National Champion in '06. Basically Fasco's dad is one of the best dogs in Holland and Bryan is extremely happy to have Fasco for a dog. Fasco has only been in the US for a month now after coming over on April 1st from Holland. He will go through some more training to refine his training to be a police dog with Bryan this summer at Adlerhorst Internal Police K-9 Academy in Riverside.

Fasco has been a welcomed addition to our crazy family. Chris loves to go out every morning and help Bryan feed him and check on him. Dani thinks he is hilarious and loves to chase him around the yard.....to bad she thinks his name is "Costco" and keeps calling him that. He does not seem to mind. Now Sierra on the other hand does not know quite what to think about this new "stud" in the family. There have been a few times Bryan has had to intervene to keep play time with the dogs PG if you know what I mean. Fasco has a little crush on Sierra.

I am sure you will hear more about Fasco and Bryan's adventures through out this summer as they continue to work together and spend time together.

Safety First

When learning how to walk in heels, safety equipment should always be worn. This is especially true if bad walking skills run in the family.

*courtesy of Bryan

Tracy Trash Day

Well folks it is that time of year again. The days of piles on the street, trucks roaming the streets in the wee hours and people finding the treasures that were once trash. I have to admit that our pile was not that great this go around. I think that had something to do with the huge truckload of stuff we took to the dump about 2 weeks ago.

Bryan and I did want ot make it a little fun this year though. We were each able to choose an item to place on the curb. The key was who's item would get taken first by the lurking midnight vultures prior to the garbage truck coming for it all in the morning. Bryan thought he had this in the bag. I had chosen our two old tennis rackets as my item to put out. Bryan was sneaky and chose something he had originally told me we could not get rid of......the ottoman for our couch. After 4 years of a dog and kids little sticky hands, it was beyond cleaning. It was going to be interesting.

This morning when Bryan came home from work he woke me and told me he was shocked that the ottoman was not gone. Still a little sleepy I asked him if the rackets were still there. The look of defeat came over his face. They were gone which meant I had won.

Now what I won.....who knows. But we will figure that out later. No matter what it was another fun Trash Day and we look forward to another one in October.

P.S.......Did you know this was my 100th post. WOW!

A good day

Yesterday was a good day.... the kids slept in, Bryan was home and the sun was out. Bryan was so sweet and let me have the day to myself to do what I want (a rare thing these days). It started out with a trip to the nail salon for a manicure and pedicure and it only got better from there.

I headed over to meet my girlfriends for a day of shopping. This was not just a "hey let's go shop" trip, we had a purpose, a plan and we were going to accomplish it all. I met up with the girls and we headed to Walnut Creek to conquer our lists. The best part was that 7 hours later we had the following: shoes for the wedding, a ring for her finance, dresses for Brenda and I to wear (granted Brenda paid $3.88 for hers at Ann Taylor....STEAL), a tie for Bryan to wear, a dress for Sara to wear to the reception and a really good lunch. We had accomplished all we had set out to do.

It is days like this with your girl friends that make you smile. We got a ton done, had a great time doing it and all walked away a little more refreshed and ready for the next day. thanks for a great day gals!

I like wind.

Let's just say that Dani enjoyed her breezy ride home from church with Daddy today. This was the photo I got sent to me to commemorate the ride. I just want to know who was watching the road when he took this.