Pumpkin Patch 2007

Our trip to the Pumpkin Patch

We made it over to the Pumpkin Patch in livermore. We had a great time. The kids were not interested in the huge corn maze this year, they just wanted to hang out with all the farm animals and search through ALL the pumpkins to find the perfect one. I think that Ava went through about 12 before she found the perfect one or actually we made her keep the last one that she touched. All in all it was another sucessful year at the patch. The "bigs" did inform us that they want to go to the corn maze at night and without the little ones. Boy are they getting brave.

Ode to Dman

I tried to get some updated pictures of D's hockey game but I cant get any good action shots. Mainly because I am the pscyho mom who is cheering from the stands and I cant take my eyes off the game long enough to mess with my camera.These are before the oakland vs. Tri valley game, and of course we won. Dman is such a great player. He has improved alot over the summer. The parents on the team have nicknamed him " scrappy" because he is the kid that will go fight for the puck in the corner and not care how many guys on the other team are diggin with him or how big they are. He may not be the one who scores all the goals but he is definetly the playmaker. His line can go out there and never get scored on and run that clock down. He can definetly tired the opponents out. Our officail season starts on saturday and believe it or not I am looking forward to it... GO BEARS !!!!

I hope that I never have to say this again, but today I sent my baby off to war. Dman left this morning for Civil War Camp. They will be staying over night at Angel's Island. He is so excited. I was until I realized that he isn't at grandma's or over at a friends house. He is out on an island were it is going to be cold and dark. My mother instincts have kicked in and I want to go be with him. Dad actually signed up for the field trip but it is a lottery ( all the dads want to go on this one) . He was the 2nd alternate and therefore didnt get to go. Dman looks great in his outfit. They made up their unit name and made patches, flags, saches and little sachels. Each unit ( 4 kids) have to do a night watch shift. Dmans is from 12- 1 tonight. Let actually get to carry around muskets and patrol the island. I cant wait for him to get home and tell us all about it. He comes home tomorrow at noon. I'll have him blog his experience. Im sure that he will be tired and hungry.

Soldier Boy

Ode to Avarie

I could not help myself, I has to share these adorable pics of Ava. I go round and round with her at naptime. We both gave up on the idea and stopped fighting about it. But as you can see, I ended up winning !!!! I also added these pics from after our night at Libby lu. Ava had tons of fun and wanted to make sure I took a picture of her " krabby" hair. Anytime we have to fix her hair its because it looks " krabby".

Amber's 9th Birthday

Oh what fun....

Thursday was my Amby Girlie's 9th Birthday. We celebrated with a fun family dinner at none other than " Olive Garden". We all had a great time. We had lots of family there, awesome food ( never ending pasta bowls) and some ice cream cake. Friday night was her party with the " Girls" . We had pizza and then went to Libby LU to party harty !!! The girls were shy at first and did not want to dance, but we were able to convince them and they did the danced out in the mall before we left. Amber has 2 friends staying the night tonight. Either I am just used to all the hockey boys here or having a sleepover on a friday is much better than a saturday. The girls are so quiet and tired. I guess they have been up since 7 am to go to school. Anyhow, it has been alot of fun celebrating with her. Its still hard to watch my babies grow up. Thanks so much to Aunt Nelle and the girls, who hung out with us today and decorated the house soooo cute. Thanks to grandma and grandpa for everthing, all the help and the potato chips !!!
Sorry for the extremely long slide show....there were just to many cute pics !!

I love a good story.......

Ok, so the last week or so have not been the best of my life. I have been a little overwelmed and stressed to say the least. I was staring off at my computer today checking on everyones blog's ( the only thing that I can do that wont talk back to me or cause me more drama ) and I came across Hilary ( williams ) and Tyler's. Not only is their son adorable but she posted this story. I love the way that the Holy Spirit works. I could not have read this story at any better point in my life. So, thank you Hilary for posting it and thank you to Kathy Vest, mother of 6 year old triplet boys,who wrote it. I don't think that you will know what an inpact it had on my day and outlook on my life......


I'm invisible. It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking " can't you see I'm on the phone?"

Obviosly not. No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner. I'm invisible.

Somedays I am a pair of hands, nothing more: can you fix this? can you tie this? can you open this? Somedays I am not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, what time is it? I'm a satellite guide to answer "what number is the disney channel?" I'm a car to order, "right around 5:30 please."

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated from college but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again.

She's going, going, gone

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. She had just got back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out-of-style dress; it was the only thing that I could find that was clean. My unwashed hair was pulled up in a clip and I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in it. I was feeling pretty pathetic when she turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package and said, " I brought you this."

It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription, " to my friend, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees"

In the days ahead I would read the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who build the great catherdrals- we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything. A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man "why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it" and the workman replied, " because God sees"

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, " I see you. I see the sacrfices you make everyday, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no seguin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become."

At times my invisibilty feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidode to my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the roght perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of those people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my child to tell his friends that they bring home from college for thanksgiving " My mom gets up at 4am and bakes homemade pies and then she hand bastes a turkey for 3 hours and presses all the table linens" That would mean I'd build a shrine or monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home, and then if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, " you're gonna love it there."

As mother's, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing i right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have build, but the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

Tangles the Monkey

Tyson was excited today afterschool because he got to take home " Tangles" the classroom mascot. Tangles goes home with someone everday for a sleepover. Tyson has patiently waited his turn, and today was his lucky day. Tangles comes with a basket and a journal to write about all the fun things you do with Tangles. Tyson made sure that they rode skateboards, ate mac-n-cheese and bananas for lunch, played at the park during Amber's soccer practice and had dinner at his favorite place other than TB- Primos Pizza. He is absolutely loving school. I worked in his classroom on monday. I didnt realize how long it has been since I have had a kindergartner. That is definetly my favorite school year. I love all the songs and art projects. Someday, Ty, when you are old enough to read this- Thank you for being such an awesome kid. I love your love and passion for everything!! ENJOY-

Cutest Thing Ever !!!!

Halloween Costume

OMG- (as Amber says) I could not resist this cutest fairy princess costume. We tried it on at the childrens place and she has been wearing it every since. She reminds me of the girl in the " bee song". We had to take pictures. By the time halloween comes, we will both probably be tired of the costume. I added some pictures of Dman. He is "chillin" after school and probably thankful that he doesn't have hockey practice tonight.

Tyson's Spy Kit

OK, so Drew was helping the boys clean up and organize their room when he can across Tyson's lunch box. He used to keep all of his tech decks in there. Well look what we found inside. I used to think this kid was a superheroe, but maybe he is an international spy. Hmmm....Jason Bourne.......

Pictures from our day of firsts

Day of First

Well, this was a busy weekend for the Phillips family. Friday was Ava's first dance class. She is doing jazz and tap. She had a great time. She loves it !! We may get tired of hearing her practice in her tap shoes on the wood floor, but hey, I love seeing her so happy.

Amber had her first soccer game on saturday morning. Her game was at 8 am and it was freezing. She plays for the strikers and is a midfielder and she rotates in as a defensemen. She did awesome and had fun with her fiends.She is # 69 GO STRIKERS !!!

Tyson's first game was later that day at 11am. It was soooo hot !!! It was hilarious watching 10- 5 year old boys chase the ball. They were so competetive. There was alot of pushing going on. Tyson made some awesome playings including taking the ball all the way down field and scoring a goal, to bad it was for the other team !!! We were yelling at him to turn around but he was to excited to stop.He is # 6
GO LIGHTSABERS!!

Dman had his second practice as a OAkland Bears Squirt A team. The boys all play well toether and we are expecting to have a rockin season. We did very well last year and made it to playoffs, so we definetly have high hopes for this season. D was excited to be back with all his friends and make some new ones. We also have 2 brand new sheets of ice ( a BIG deal to hockey players)to play on. One ever has our new bears logo on it. I got to practice late and did not get a picture of dman in his gear but I did get the new logo. GO BEARS !!!

Although Drew and I were tired from our weekend we decided to take the kids to Santa Cruz for the day. As you can tell we had fun. The kids got to ride on some rides, eat corndogs and dip n dots, and of course the boys had to hit the " gnarlyest" skate park ever !!! The boys have become quite the "skaters". I think we have been to atleast 5 skateparks within 30 minutes of home. This was our first time heading over in the Santa Cruz/monterey direction since moving so we could not believe it only took us about 50 minutes!! All in all the day was good but we had a little drama at the beach. I told myself that I was not going to talk about it anymore, but with our recent ( and Im sure prompted by this ) trip to the temple I just cant keep my mind off of what happen and how thankful I am to have ALL my kids with me. We first started our day hangin out on the beach. Drew had boy patrol, the were skim and boogie boarding, and I had girl patrol, they were playing in the sand right in front of me. I was laying down watching the girls and trying to work on my horrible tan when a group of people walked by and blocked my view of the girls. I sat up a to see around the group when I noticed Ava was gone. My eyes were literally off of her for 5 seconds and she was gone. I immediatley got up and began calling her and looking around. I will save the horrible details of mine and Drews panic, but after about 10 minutes ( im not exaggerating ) the fire trucks, police, lifeguards, helicopter, and divers were all there getting ready to start a search for her when a mexican couple who were sitting by us and starting looking for her with us came walking up holding her hand. She said that she was looking for me and couldnt find me. She was standing by a lifeguard station crying when they saw her. some how, someway we ( ava and I ) must have passed each other in our search for each other. The other kids were just sitting on the beach crying and calling for her while Drew "dug" through the waves and I was running up and down the beach yelling for her. We were all emontionally drained and I think the kids may be permanetly scarred by this. We all spend about 20 minutes just crying and holding her on the beach then we began the talk about how thankful we were that Ava thought to go to the lifeguard station but we also went over other important things like dont walk off- stay with your siblings!!! It all happened so fast and I never want to relive or experience that again, but I cant help but thinking what I could of, should of done. There was one woman down about 2 lifeguard stations that when I asked her if she had seen my daughter she immediatley said that she would help me find her and that she would pray for her. After I held Ava for while I went to that woman and told her that Ava was safe. She immediatley thanked the Lord and hugged me. I know that she was not of the same faith, but that she had faith. Why didnt I think to pray? I was so lost and upset but I know that Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. I know that He would lead us to her and comfort her and us. I am so grateful for that woman who thought, who knew, to fall to her knees and pray to her Heavenly Father. Who knew that a fun trip to the beach would cause so many emontions in all of us and be a testimony builder for us. I can't begin to explain how thankful, grateful, blessed we are to be all together.

Monday in Santa Cruz

Family Home Evening on Wednesday night

Drew called me this afternoon and asked if the kids and I could meet him at the temple and bring a picinic dinner. What a great idea that was. We were able to walk the grounds and go through the visitors center. We were all excited to see the Book of Mormon that was on display. It is a copy of one of these first ones. The kids were very interested in learning and were on their best behavior. We enjoyed our picinic dinner in my car and then headed out to the rink to watch dad's game. I will try to post the video we took of the game, but it wasnot his best performance. He broke 2 sticks in one game. All in all it was a great night and it is always a great feeling to be at the temple. I was able to remind myself how blessed we are to have a temple so close and it was wonderful to hear my kids tell me of all the great blessings that come from attending the temple.

Ode to Jennie

Ode to Jennie

This weekend ( labor day weekend)Drew and I went away for a much needed vacation. Well actually he was best man in cousin Rob's wedding and there was plenty of work involved, but we were without kids in the little but beautiful town of Murphy's. We absolutley loved the few days of sleeping in, eating our meals while they were hot not hearing " mom,mom, mom" every 2 minutes. Our darling Jennie, who has been our sitter for years was able to come from Rocklin to stay with the kids. They all had so much fun. The kids have missed not having her around so they could not wait for her to get here. I am so thankful for her. Its so nice to have someone who you can trust stay with your kids ( other than grammy, of course). I have put this slide together with pictures we took on sunday night and some from last time Jennie was with us. Thanks again Jennie !!!! We love ya !!!!

Beach Trip

We had a fun round trip to Muir Beach last week. I love the area that I live in, but if I ever moved away it would have to be to the beach. my kids just love the beach and look like beach bums. They had fun running around chasing the waves and covering each other in sand. They did get in trouble for throwing sand ( thanks to Ava for starting it) and had to sit and watch the waves for a while.

First Day of School

Well its finally here.... the first day of school. summer is offically over. It hasn't been toexciting but it was relaxing. Dman is the big man on campus- 5th grader- he went in as casually and calmly as ever. Nothing phases him. Amber was up and feeding the dog by 7am and was giggling with excitement the whole way there. Tyson was just as excited. I have been plesantly surprised that I made it throught the "kissing hand " last night and the leaving him in class today without any tears!!! Maybe because its my third time doing it- or its just Tyson, he is way to cool for tears. He came home with his classroom bookbag and a bag of goodies from his teacher. Amber came home with a reading assignment that of course she did the second she walked in the door. And Dman only had a paper for me to sign that I agree to the " NO" late homework policy. This should go over REAL well this year. He is excited to " rotate" tomorrow. They to that to get them prepared for middle school. So he will meet all 3 of his core teachers tomorrow. The year has started. We only had hockey practice on mondays so tonight is a light one. Dinner is in the crock and we are ready to go.................

Lov it, Love it !!!!

Thanks Janelle, I love it . Its so cute. now I just have to get all my pics from my camera ready to go. This should keep me busy for a while.

The last man standing...

Ok I may be posting this twice but yes, what you are seeing is real.. I, Jackie Phillips, have created a blog. And I did it all by myself( ok Janelle, I now need help with the header) I have given in, but I did hold out quite a long time, boy am I stubborn. With all the new and exciting thinks that the kiddos have going on this year, how could I not share them with you. Bear with me while I figure this thing out..