4 months

Lucas is 4 months. Like the other two, he's in the 5th percentile already. Another cute little Fackrell kid! I can't keep him on his stomach for very long, before I know it, flip, he's on his back. He's playing with toys and everything goes right into his mouth. If he's upset, a nice warm bath or a foot massage will always settle him down. What a sweet old soul...my heart melts every day because of this kid. I love you Luke!

Another post for Grandma Fackrell

The boots were dirty the second she put them on. Of course they are, they're white. Mia loves this outfit Grandma Fackrell gave her for her birthday. (She made the skirt and jacket) So appropriate, after all, this girl is very black and white. :)

First diaper change

Max was complaining that I needed to change the babies diaper. So, I told him he could change it for me. He wanted to know why I thought he would EVER want to change a diaper. Anyways, after a while he decided it wouldn't hurt to try, after all, it wasn't like it was poopy! The baby was even amused by the whole thing. He was very patient with how long it took and Max kept saying, "Just don't pee on me!" Max did such a good job, it won't be has last. :)

Crazy uncle Nate

I was looking through the pictures on my camera yesterday and found these. I had no idea they were there so it made me laugh and I had to share.

She loves Nate, he's like a second dad!

Mia's pink Birthday Extravaganza

Mia has such a fun time this year with her friends at her birthday party. (Even though it was a little chilly)


The birthday girl in her "Birthday Girl" crown and jewelry.




Mia and her friend Sydney. She loves playing with Sydney, they get along so well and she never wants her play dates with her to end.




Mia's newest friend Elle. She's so much fun!



The girls making bracelets and necklaces. (While wearing their crowns)



Ruby picking out the perfect beads. What a cutie! We love this little girls personality.




Grace playing "put the glass slipper on Cinderella" Mia loves playing with Grace, theirs always dancing involved :)



She kept this (way too big) ring on her finger the whole time.




The Birthday cake Max and Mia helped me decorate. (chocolate inside)
Mia has been talking about a pink birthday cake with sprinkles for months now.
As you with!




Make a wish




She loved all her presents. Grace was so excited to give her this really cute tea set (that she wanted to keep) only to find out she got an identical mini set in her goody bag when she left. She was thrilled. So cute!

Ruby gave her some cute books, one she is holding here...Ladybug Girl. She loved the baby doll and necklace Elle gave her and wore the necklace to school today.




Sydney gave Mia this Tinker Bell movie. Can you tell she loves it? She wanted this bad! (notice the ring still on her finger.) She kept her hand like that the whole time because she didn't want it to come off. Cari made sure we got a picture of it...such a girl.

It was a fun day...although...I'm tired and glad it's over. :)

4 years old

Mia was so excited for her birthday today. She's been talking about it for weeks. (since Max had his) She requested waffles with strawberries and whipped cream for breakfast, dressed herself and wanted a bun so she could look like tinkerbell. Then we painted her nails pink and put hot pink lipstick on her. She feasted on a giant cupcake and has been screaming with excitement most of the day. Her birthday party is tomorrow so more fun to come...for now, happy birthday to the most cute, fun, energetic, curious 4 year old I know.

Loving the hot pink lipstick.

Her tinkerbell hair

What a funny kid! We just love this little girl so much!

GIRL TROUBLE

A word of warning! If Max knew I posted this on our blog, he might never speak to me again. Ok, on with the story.

The past several weeks when I pick Max up from school the whole way home he talks about "Cathrine." It's a girl in his class that he likes. We discuss ways for him to play with her at recess without her knowing he likes her. He's very shy about it and won't just ask if he can play jump rope or play a game with her. He has been practicing jump roping for a while now and is getting pretty good. I joked with him one day and said, "Max are you having girl trouble?" He laughed and said, "Totally mom." TOO FUNNY!

To make a long story short, because I don't have time, Max got in the car yesterday and told me that Alex (his competition) likes Cathrine too. I asked him what he thought of that and he said he didn't care. Then went on to tell me he thinks she likes him too. Then, breaking my heart, he said, "Mom, he's better then me. He's taller and bigger and he just looks better. I look dumb." What?! Of course I told him that wasn't true, he was just as good if not better that this Alex kid.

Then he came up with an idea. And I quote word for word..."I know mom, tomorrow I want you to spike my hair and I want to wear my black jacket." I forgot about this leather jacket my dad got him at a thrift store. I could feel an uncontrollable laugh building in me and had to try really hard to hold it in. It was a deal! In the morning we planned to make him look as cool as possible to win back the girl of his dreams. Ha ha!

Part of me wants to tell him he's too young for this and not to worry about her, just focus on hand ball and the boys. But, I want him to tell me "everything", and I think it's HILARIOUS! So, I went with it.

I told Matt about it last time to prep him and this morning Max asked if he could go in his room and get a different jacket to wear to school. Matt played dumb like he knew nothing, then spiked his hair for him. He took these pictures on their way out the door this morning.

Kathrine, if you don't think this kid is the best looking dude EVER...you're crazy!

So proud to look cool!

Yes, Matt made his look tough...that's what he gets for having a dad that's a director.
How cute is he?

Halloween with the Taylor's

This ones for you Grandma Fackrell

It was so great having my whole family here for Halloween. These are a little late, but better late then never.

Cutest penguin ever

She loved being wonder woman

Aaron the grim reeper, Izabela the cat, Kyle the Jedi and Max the Ghostbuster.

All 10 grandkids + Joelle and Matt for baby purposes :)

Trunk or treating fun (thanks for the photo Dana)

Too much candy...ha ha! Really, he got hurt wrestling Kyle.

My hard core tatooed biker husband. I'm so sad he forgot the handlebar mustache I got him.

So out of character for Matt...made it that much funnier! Nadia was a cute little red riding hood and Aaron had too much fun with that mask. I love it!

We voted!

Our vote is in and our choice has been heard...it's finally over. Now we just play the waiting game.

And I Am.....

So I took the quiz...and yes I have read "Twilight." It looks like I'm Jasper! Ha ha!




Matt

Alice

Ok, so I know everyone is doing this, which was reason enough NOT to do it...but the kids are all in bed, Matt's still at work and I was curiously bored. Plus, I think I'm the first one that I know of to be an "Alice." I have to say, it's very fitting. Good and bad!


Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

Pumpkin festival

We forgot our camera but our friend Dana took this picture of us just as we were leaving the kidspace pumkin festival. Now that I think about it I should've had her take the picture with the festival in the background and not this sweet park bathroom. Although, maybe it's fitting with this crazy sugared up bunch. The kids had a blast decorating cookies and pumpkins, playing in a bouncer, exploring the pumpkin patch and winning prizes from the game booths. Max thanked me 100 times on our way home. It was a fun family event...even Matt had fun! :)

3 kids in 1 room

We pulled the crib out of storage yesterday, dusted it off and set it up. The baby spent his first night in the bedroom with the other kids. We officially have 3 kids in 1 room. We live in tight quarters but it went pretty well. I think we're going to get a little more sleep now. Yay!

This crib.

The cheap bunk bed we bought at ikea last week. It does the job.

The human highlight reel

THE BOY!

Last week after Max scored his second goal his coach handed me his phone and said, "Max's agent is on the phone and he wants to talk to you."

At todays game he hadn't scored a goal yet and was getting really frustrated. We could all tell he was working his butt of trying to score. Someone tried to talk to the coach and he said, "Hold on a sec. Max is on a mission." So true. He eventually scored two goals and almost scored a third during the last minute of the game. His coach can't get enough of him and commented just before the game was over that "Max is like a human highlight reel." He's always sliding, diving and crashing into people. He's sure fun to watch. Good job today Max. You may be small but you're one heck of an athlete.

Baby blessing, baptism, the boys

I just got these pictures from my sister in law. Thanks again Kylee for the amazing photos. We absolutely love them. Last weekend was a big one for us. Max was baptized and then baby Lucas was blessed. It was so fun seeing all the boys in white. What a fun day for all.

Kids don't get cuter then that. Kudos to Laura Daines for the beautiful knitted blanket.

What a sweetie! I love this baby.

Proud little Max. I love this kid too!

The classic pre baptism pose with dad.

All the boys. I love the little half smile Luke gave. So sweet! What fun memories we have from the weekend. It was so much fun to have family and friends here. Mark Aug (a member Matt taught on his mission) spoke at the baptism. He did a great job. We had so much fun with the Grahams and were sad to see them go. Thanks to all that came for sharing in our special day.

THE BOY IS 8!

He's 8? How did that happen? It was a very fun weekend for him. I will tell more in another post (when I get photos) but for now here are a few things I love about this cute kid:

1. The best older brother in the world- Mia and Lucas are lucky to have him in their lives.

2. Helpful- Max has a list of chores he does every day. He has taken out the trash every day for over a year. When he's out of town, I don't know what to do without him.

3. Intelligent- Smart, smart kid. Not only is he an excellent student, Max is very intuitive. I've
had several people ask me how he's so intelligent. They want to know what I am teaching
him and how. The truth is, he just came that way. He blows me away sometimes.

4. Athletic- Probably one of the most coordinated kids alive. Every year his soccer coaches are
blown away, and the kid has mad skateboarding skills.

5. Spicy- A better word then personality. Max is full of spice.

6. Artistic- He is following in his fathers footsteps. He's a great artist and very inventive.

7. Hilarious- Just his facial expressions crack me up. Funny kid!

8. Warm- He is so easy to get along with and has a very warm side to him.

9. Competitive- He can be overly competitive sometimes but I think it's a great quality.

10. Curious- Max always wants me to explain things in detail. He has a huge capacity for knowledge and can't get enough. Try explaining to this kid where babies come from when he's not satisfied with a generic answer. He gives me a fun for my money. :)

11. Happy- He really has such a great time with everything he does in life. It's been a great life
so far.

I love everything about you Max. Happy 8th birthday buddy!

YO GABBA GABBA PREMIERE!

The Yo Gabba Gabba episode titled "GAMES," that I directed/edited and co-wrote will be airing Tuesday, September 23rd on Nickelodeon. It will air at 11:30 Pacific time, but be sure to check your local listings for when its on Tuesday. It's awesome that I was able to do this, because it's not every day you get the chance to write and direct a television show that will air nationally. I do really have to thank Scott Schultz, Christian Jacobs, Justin Lyon and Jason deVilliers for making this happen. Mates of State (www.myspace.com/matesofstate) performs a song written by one of the musicians from the show (the cousin of our own Pasadena Ward good friend Dana Willard) and it was a lot of fun directing the music video with Mates of State for the episode. It's an epic process putting together one of these shows, and I'm amazed that Christian and Scott can each do nine of these episodes. Also I've edited episodes that will be showing through out the year. I'm editing the Jack Black episode right now (he's in the entire episode). There is also an animated segment I wrote and directed that will show in one of the future episodes. This one has a princess in it that was illustrated to look like Mia. Anyway, it's pretty exciting so check the episode out on Tuesday, September 23rd, 11:30 Pacific Time.



The show was in TIME Magazines "Top 10 New Shows of the Year," here's a link to that article:

www.time.com/time/specials/2007/top10/article/0,30583,1686204_1686244_1691363,00.html

This season you'll see bands and celebrities that some of you may or may not be familiar with like:

Mark Mothersbaugh (Devo, Wes Anderson's film composer)
Jack Black
Melora Hardin (Jan from "The Office")
The Ting Tings
Hot Hot Heat
The Roots
Jem
Andy Samberg (Saturday Night Live)
Jack McBrayer (30 Rock)
Amy Sedaris (Strangers with Candy)
MGMT
Rachel Dratch (Saturday Night Live)
Paul Scheer (30 Rock)
Amare Stoudemire (Phoenix Suns)
Jimmy Eat World
Chromeo
Paul Williams (“Rainbow Connection”)
Mates of State
Mix Master Mike (from the Beastie Boys)
The Ting Tings
Money Mark
Biz Markie
Ladytron
Datarock

post nasal drip

There's nothing quite like the burning sensation from the nose clear down the throat. Post nasal drip may be the worst thing in the entire world. The only way to get the burning to go away is to shove toilet paper up the nose so air can't creep in to cause the pain that we all enjoy so much. We've had a mad case of it at our house (accompanied by a lovely lingering cough) for the last several weeks and are just now starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Hallafreakinluiah!

This doesn't help me feel any better.

Good thing I have this entertainer

/helper.

Heaven knows this ones not helpful!

I'm pretty sure when I took this picture I had toilet paper shoved up my nose. Lovely!

No post nasal drip for this happy baby. Good thing. The Fackrell's are coming back to life...watch out!