The Moss Family

The Moss Family Christmas Letter.

2011-12-25T22:36:00.000-08:00

Christmas time has come once more.

This year has been anything but a bore.

We packed up the fam & moved to a new city.

So alot of adjusting & making the house pretty.

Matthew is still working for Orange P.D.

While hard at work he busted his knee!

A surgery later & some recovery time too;

He's back with the gang unit, good as new!

Danielle (that's me) is busier than ever!

Raising 4 kids though hard is my greatest pleasure.

I had a mishap of my own this summer.

Broke my ankle right before the move, such a bummer!

Ellie turned 6; she's getting so big!

Soccer, dance & soon piano are her gig.

With 1st grade over halfway through.

Reading & writing are her favorite things to do.

Carson played soccer; he was Mighty Tiger #2.

Can't believe he's 4 now, how time just flew!

He will graduate preschool soon & go to a new school.

Kindergarten will be great cuz "the playground is cool!"

Hunter will turn 3 this Christmas Day.

It's never dull with him around I must say!

With Toy Story playing at our house 24/7.

As long as he's busy he's in heaven!

Macie although 18 months, is already a terrible 2.

Her favorite thing is to wear everyone's shoes.

With 2 older brothers she is quit tough.

She's such a pistol, but we can't get enough!

#5 we are adding to our crazy crew.

Thought we were done! Shows what we knew :)

The new addition will be here in June.

Girl, or Boy? We will find out soon!

We're grateful for our loved ones this Holiday Season.

And despite the hustle 'n' bustle that we remember the reason.

That Christ was born to be our guiding light.

May we all do our best to keep him in sight.

We wish you a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

Love, The Moss Family

PURE TROUBLE!

2011-07-12T22:15:00.000-07:00

Although she is only 1, our Macie is advanced for her age, because she is already in the TERRIBLE TWOS!! She has learned quite well from her 2 year brother how to behave accordingly! I knew she was too quiet so I went upstairs to check on her and this smiley face is what I found :)

We have only been in our house a few weeks now and she ventured into MY closet found a box of make-up inside a packing box and proceeded to give herself a make over!
Thank you so much Macie not only for making a mess but for doing it on my BRAND NEW CARPET instead of on the tile where you pulled the make-up out of!! I have a feeling we are going to be living in the land of mischief for awhile with this one!! Wish us luck :)

Divine Dance Recital

2011-06-06T21:38:00.000-07:00

This is Ellie's third year dancing! I can't believe it! She had her dance recital this weekend and did an amazing job!! I always get nervous for her to go on that big stage in front of all those people cuz she tends to get shy around strangers. She never ceases to amaze me though ;) You can't help but be a proud Momma when moments like these roll around! Great job Ellie Ray you did a FANTASTIC job and we are so, so proud of you!!

Ellie with her fellow tappers: Emily, and Tristan

Ellie in her tap costume (it was so fun and sparkly!)

Ellie and her one of her BFF's Dani

Ellie in her Jazz costume "Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend"

The proud parents with their performer after the show.

Ellie had lots of people cheering her on (she is a lucky girl)
- with her Oma and Papa.

Grandma and Grandpa came too!

and of course her siblings:Hunter, Ellie, Macie & Carson

We are so proud of our little performer and all the hard work she puts into her talent. We look forward to many more years of watching her dance :)

A Mother- Daughter Night Out

2010-11-15T15:13:00.000-08:00

Ellie and I got to go to a Mother Daughter night put on by her school, and it was so much FUN!! We got to eat burritos, take funny pictures in a photo booth and make a super cute reindeer ornament! Ellie even won a drawing so we got a blow up Santa for our lawn. (she is seriously a lucky little girl. last time we attended the book fair as a family and she won $25 to buy some books!) We even met up with some of her friends and their Moms. The girls had a BLAST painting their ornaments and even though I'm bias Ellie did a great job; her reindeer turned out very cute, and girly :) It was a fun filled night, but the best part was just being able to spend time with my Ellie Ray whom I love tons and tons!!

Ellie all dressed up for her night out with Mommy!

All ready for our girls night out :)

Ella, Ellie, Dani working hard on their project

Ellie with her masterpiece. Her reindeer is all decked out for Christmas with necklaces, nailpolish and all.

THE BIG 30!!

2010-11-10T22:11:00.000-08:00

So this is it the year I turn 30!!! I remember when I was younger and thinking that 30 was SOOO OLD! Now that it is almost here I can hardly believe it! Well to welcome in my old lady years my husband decided to surprise me and do something that I have ALWAYS wanted to do.... SKYDIVING!!!!! I had made a list of things I wanted to do in my life when I was in college and skydiving was one of those important things that I had to do. Well as Matthew and I drove down there and as I signed what seemed like my life away, the oldness in me began to wonder how important was this really?! Was this something that I still really had to do in my lifetime, or was it just something that crazy people do? So as we waited for HOURS for the weather to clear up I had plenty of time to contemplate my decisions and decided to give the 18 year old inside me that made this important list her wish :) The weather finally cleared and we are all loaded in the plane heading up and up. As the plane kept climbing I kept going over in my head the 5 second instructions they gave us to jump. Well a lot of good that did, cause once we hit 12,000 feet we all exited the plane so fast you had no time to do anything they instructed us to do besides fall out of the plane! I guess that was a good thing, it left you no time to chicken out :) Once outside the plane you free fall for a minute before you pull the cord. I was most worried about this part! I was afraid my stomach would drop you know like on big roller coasters, but it wasn't anything like that! It was amazingly calming and peaceful once the rush of jumping had pasted. I was seriously amazed at how peaceful it was! The view was fantastic and it's just so quiet up there you're able to enjoy the ride and scenery (something i don't get to do often with 4 little ones).So to my husband and that 18 year old girl how made a to do list THANK YOU!! I had an incredible experience and couldn't imagine a better birthday present ever!!!!!!!

After the dive. Still smiling :) Lets do it again!!!

Alice goes to Kindergarten

2010-10-29T16:40:00.000-07:00

It took her FOREVER, but Ellie finally decided to be Alice for Halloween, and a cute one at that :) She got to dressed up for school and parade around the campus with all the other kids. After her class had a party with games, a craft and McDonald's WOW! She had a great time at her party and is loving being in Kindergarten :)

Alice getting ready for her parade

The 3 musketeers: Ellie, Dani & Ella

Ms. Mattier's 2010-11 Kindergarten Class

Ellie after her first party @ "Big Kid School"

Buzz Lightyear goes to Preschool

2010-10-28T16:08:00.000-07:00

Carson (or should i say buzz) had his first party as a big preschooler for Halloween. He was so excited and had lots of fun! The class sang us some Halloween songs while Buzz stood there (looking cute i might add). Then the kids got to play some games which he LOVED! Next the kids got to decorate their own pumpkin cookie with sprinkles and everything! After all was said and done the kids got to go home with a bag full of goodies, which I could not pry out of his hands for the rest of the day! Glad my lil Buzz Lightyear had a fun party :)

Carson with the coveted goodie bag that he wouldn't let out of his sight!

Carson's friend Landen as Harry Potter (i love it)!

My Buzz and his cookie that he spent so much time perfecting he didn't want to eat it :)

Go Diego Go (and Dora too)!

2010-10-19T15:59:00.000-07:00

Matt and I got invited to a Halloween party for big kids this year @ the McMullin home. So we dropped the kiddies off at Grandma and Grandpa's house and partied hardy as Dora and Diego. They had lots of good food, great music, and fun friends. Thanks for a great night Pam and Phil :)

First Day of Preschool!!!!

2010-09-09T10:05:00.000-07:00

A week later and another first!! Carson's first day of preschool is today. Unlike his sister Carson needed so prepping and alot of pumping up to get excited to go to big boy school :) I am happy to report that neither Carson or is Mommy cried on his first day of preschool!! I can't believe he is big enough to go to preschool. I still look at him and see my baby!! He just seems so little to be going to school even though he is older than Ellie was when she started preschool. Well he's growing up along with the rest of them rather I like it or not, and he looked so handsome for his first day :)

Finding his name and signing in for school.

Sitting on his animal on the circle time rug.

Carson and his teacher Miss Brittani with the picture he shared with the class

Can't believe how grown up he is getting and excited for him to learn lots of new things and make new friends!! Hope you have lots of fun at your big boy school my BIG BOY!!!

First Day of Kindergarten!!!

2010-08-30T21:54:00.000-07:00

Today was Ellie's first day of Kindergarten and to my surprise I did NOT cry! A little chocked up maybe, but no tears :) I think it helped that she was so excited and ready for school to start. Literally the day after preschool ended and throughout the whole summer she bugged us asking when she got to go to her new big girl school? Well the day has finally come and I can hardly believe I have a little one is officially in elementary school. These past 5 years have flown by and we couldn't be prouder of our little girl and the big girl she is becoming!! Good Luck our Ellie Ray you are going to have a blast this year I just know it :)

Ellie all ready for her first day @ school

This is Ellie's new "big kid school"

Ellie in line with all her classmates waiting for their teacher Ms. Mattier who I've heard only wonderful things about :)

Have a great day my love, can't wait to hear all about when you come home!!!

Pee Wee Soccer!

2010-08-03T17:35:00.000-07:00

So Carson has been bugging us to play soccer all year and now that he is 3 he is finally old enough to do something about it. The city has 6 week sessions of pee wee sports with soccer being one of them, so we were all over it! He was so excited to go and could hardly wait, but once we got there it was a different story! He wouldn't do the stretches, I had to run the field with him and couldn't leave his side. I was really worried that this was going to be a LONG 6 weeks, but once they gave him a ball he was a totally different little boy! He loved dribbling it with his feet, playing red light, green light, squishing it like a bug and throwing it in over his head (phew!) Although he never warmed up to warming up :) he thoroughly enjoyed his pee wee soccer experience and so did we!!
Carson squishing his ball like a bug.

Throwing the ball over his head (that was probably self explanatory)

Dribbling the ball down the field while playing red light green light. So green light was kick the ball hard and fast, yellow light was dribble the ball slowly, and red light was to squish your ball like a bug! My favorite was to watch him squish the ball like a bug :) His little legs are so short it took a lot of effort from his part to stop the ball, and it was really , really cute!!!

Way to go my pee wee sports champ! Mommy and Daddy had so much fun watching you play soccer :) You did a great job and we can't wait for you to do it again!! (hopefully next time it won't be so blazing hot!!)

Macie's Blessing

2010-07-04T18:37:00.000-07:00

Not only is today the day we celebrate the birth of our country, but also the birth of our Macie Leigh. Macie was blessed by her Daddy along with her Grandpa Moss, and Uncle Rich at church this morning. Baby blessings are always so sweet to me and filled with love from our Heavenly Father and surrounding family. My poor Mother missed the whole thing because our son Carson has impeccable timing and had to use the restroom right before Matthew went up to bless Macie. Lucky for me I have a great Mom who let me stay and listen while she took Carson to the bathroom! I am so grateful for this perfect little angel who we added to our family. I can hardly believe that I have been trusted to raise this innocent little being and I can only hope and pray I do a good job. The blessing went smoothly and after we had the gang at our house for lunch. Thank you to everyone for loving and supporting our growing family! We love you all so much!

Our sweet little Macie Leigh Moss

Our Family (well some of them, it was 4th of july weekend and a few of them were out of town): Aunt Carey, Mirissa, Oma M., Oma, Papa, Macie, Mommy, Daddy, Hunter, Uncle Rich, Aunt Julie Sadie, Grandma Shelly, Grandpa, Logan. Bottom row: Michael, Ellie, Carson, and Blake

Our friends the Rodriguez's came out for the blessing (we've missed them so much since they moved to orange county!) Olivia, Ryan, Stephanie, Mckenna, and Karley

Grandpa, and Grandma

Oma Montgomery

Papa and Oma

Four generations

The Moss Grandkids (minus kayla and austin) Carson, Hunter, Ellie, Macie, Logan, Sadie (the birthday girl) and Blake

The new and improved Moss Family :)

A Backyard Camp out

2010-06-22T17:09:00.000-07:00

So Daddy decided to give Mommy and Macie a peaceful night and take the older kids on a backyard camp out :) The kids were so excited we ate dinner outside, and Daddy set up the tent and made s'mores, yum, yum!! So after dinner and s'mores Macie and I wished all a good night and went inside for some sweet dreams. Even though it was a peaceful night for Macie and me poor Daddy had a rough night of keeping 3 kids that move ALL night long in their sleep under blankets and on the air mattresses! It's the memories that count though right? And if that's true then it was a total success!! The kids had a blast and ask almost everyday when they get to camp out again? :) Daddy?

My 4 sweet babies all jammied up and ready for their camp out :)

Daddy cookin up some yummy s'mores!!

Hunter enjoying his first marshmallow treat ever :)

Carson and his s'more. Although he loves them, he hates getting sticky :)

Ellie on the other hand could care less about being sticky. I think the sticky they are the better they taste :)

Good night my crazy crew. Thanks for being such a great Daddy Matt!!! Next summer all the kids will be old enough and we can use all our great camping gear for reals :)

Dance Recital

2010-06-19T20:35:00.000-07:00

Ellie had her dance recital today, and even though I am a bias viewer I think she did AWESOME!!! It is so much fun to watch her perform, and I am so proud of her! She has come a long way since last year and I thoroughly enjoy watching her grow :) She did 2 routines for the recital. A jazz routine "Hey Baby" and a tap routine "Doctor, Doctor". She absolutely adores her teachers Miss Melissa, and Miss Jessica so hopefully they stick around for awhile :) You did a GREAT job my Ellie Ray Ray I am so proud of you!!! p.s. thank you Papa, Uncle Mark, Allie, Grandma, and Grandpa for supporting our little girl! And thank you to my Mom and Oma who watched Macie and Hunter so I could watch my Ellie dance :)

Ellie Jazz costume
Alana, Ellie, Leilani, Katie, Dani, Kora, Madeline, and Madelyn

Miss Melissa, and Ellie

Ellie in her Tap costume

Miss Jessica, and Ellie

Mommy and Daddy with our little dancing queen!!

Ellie's Dress Rehearsal

2010-06-18T16:32:00.000-07:00

Ellie had her dress rehearsal for her recital today. She loves, loves, loves to dance!! It is so much fun to watch :) If you ever ask her to show you a dance move I am 99.9% sure it would be a leg hold. She goes around all day long practicing her leg holds and is getting pretty darn good at them!

Ellie striking a pose!

Ellie and her friend Leilani

Ellie and the infamous dance move" The Leg Hold"

2 WEEKS!

2010-06-14T23:35:00.000-07:00

Our Macie Leigh is already 2 weeks old! It has been an adjustment having 4, but at least I have one more week with Matthew at home :) Although our little Macie isn't the easiest baby she's a cute one so I guess we'll keep her! She has had a little rocky start with jaundice and breastfeeding. So we have to feed miss princess every 2 hours which wouldn't be too bad if it didn't take her 2 hours to eat 2 ounces; because of her jaundice all she wants to do is sleep. So basically Mommy's job is to pump and feed, pump and feed all day long! Everyone who has tried to feed her can attest to the difficulty it is to get this miss little thing to eat. It is seriously agonizing to force her to drink her bottle, I feel so mean sometimes making her :( Hopefully the jaundice will be gone soon, she'll start gaining weight, and feeding time will be much more enjoyable for both of us :)

Our Little Graduate!

2010-06-04T20:58:00.000-07:00

Today Ellie graduated from Preschool :) I was hoping that I would make it in my pregnancy past this date, but sadly I did not and missed it :( Matthew video taped her part for me though and she gave me the low down when she got home! She attended Patchwork Preschool for the past 2 years and has learned so much she can hardly wait to go to Kindergarten, or as she likes to call it "Big Kid School". Why is it when we are young we can wait to get older, but when we are older we wish we were young? I guess the statement of "The grass is always greener on the other side" holds true!! I am excited for her to learn and grow, it has not yet hit me that I will soon have a Kindergartner who goes to "Big Kid School"! As for Miss Chris, don't miss me too much I'll be back next year with Carson :)

Our little graduate all dressed up for her big day!

Ellie put the program on hold when it was her turn to speak and she had to use the restroom, haha. I tell you it never fails with that one! She always has to go at the most inconvenient times :)

Miss Chris and Ellie

Miss Cheryl and Ellie

Daddy and Ellie Ray

MACIE'S HERE

2010-05-30T15:54:00.000-07:00

Sunday May 30th at 8:30am Macie Leigh Moss joined our family! I was so nervous for her arrival since Hunter came so fast and 3 weeks early. I was bound and determined to get get my epidural this time since I missed out on it last time (that's where the fast part came in). So I had a Dr. appointment earlier in the week and was already dilated to a 3. So for the rest of the week I kept waiting for my water to break. Well I waited in vain. I ended up going to the hospital Saturday night around 9pm with cramps, and crossing my fingers that I was dilated enough to stay so that I could get that precious epidural before it was too late :) Lucky for me I was dilated to a 6, and admitted. With my due date 4 weeks away my doctor was hoping that I would last 2 more weeks, but didn't seem too surprised to see me there that night ( i am always early). So happy to say I got my epidural, but sadly was taken off of it when my blood pressure dropped too low :( When it finally came up enough to re administer the drugs the tube had moved in my back and the epidural didn't work! At least it was my fourth and I barely had to push her out! She weighed 7ibs. 10oz. and was 19 1/2 inches long. A mother can't fully explain the anticipation of their baby's first cry, but when she cried for the first time it was a beautiful and comforting sound. So ten finger, ten toes, no hair, and can't figure out who she looks like?! Everything went perfectly and lots of family came to see our new bundle of joy!! Ellie and Carson were most excited to meet her and are so cute with her. Hunter although clueless to all the co motion is surprisingly very gentle around her. I feel so blessed to have 4 healthy, beautiful children! I seriously couldn't ask for a better life. Macie I love you so much and I look forward to all my years together with you and our family :)

She's here!!

Mommy and Macie

Welcome to the world bright eyes!

Proud to introduce the world's newest big brother Hunter

Carson is such a cute big brother and already so protective of her!

Ellie's wish came true, she has a little sister and seriously couldn't be happier :)

Macie is so loved and had lots of visitors!

Grandma Shelly

Grandpa

Uncle Rich and Aunt Julie

Daddy

Uncle Mark

Allie

Oma Montgomery

Oma

Papa

Mommy and her sweet Macie

All dressed and getting ready to go home!

All set and ready to head home. Good luck Macie :)

Happy Birthday Carson!!

2010-05-29T20:21:00.000-07:00

Our little Carson turned the big 3 this year!! Along with that came lots of cool stuff!! #1 cool thing is that he is now potty trained :) Ya!! He has grown up so much this past year, learning his colors and shapes, talking a mile a minute (he is officially in the why? stage) He is excited to go to preschool in the fall. He loves, loves trains and cars. We signed him up for soccer this summer and he can hardly wait! Carson although a tough cookie to break is such a sweetheart! He is always looking out for his brother and sister making sure that they don't get left out of anything. His favorite color is blue, and he stills thinks that a horse says "giddy up" something I have yet to correct him on cause I think it is so cute. We love our Carson Matthew so much and hope that he has a great time being 3 and getting to do big boy things :)

COME ONE COME ALL!

2010-05-22T23:52:00.000-07:00

That was the invite I sent out for the kids birthday this year. With Macie due next month I decided to go all out with a carnival and combine Ellie and Carson's party. It was so much fun and turned out better than I even planned which almost never happens! This was the biggest party I had planned for a birthday so far. I decorated 30 prize bags for the kids to collect their prizes in from each booth. There were 5 booths: Tip the Can, Shooting Range, Go Fish, Slam Dunk, and Face Painting. We also had tons of carnival food: hot dogs, potato salad, watermelon, animal crackers, popcorn, and every ones personal favorite SNOW CONES (thanks stein family for the snow cone machine)!! My only fear was how to man the booths so we recruited a few girls from church to help out and they did awesome :) It was a blast to watch the kids have a great time. Thanks to all our family and friends for making the kids birthday FANTASTIC! The only problem now is explaining to Ellie that she won't be 5 for 3 more months (she is so confused, sorry babe).

Ellie's 5th birthday party, but not birthday yet :)

Carson's 3rd birthday party

The Shooting Range booth (found this game where you have to shoot @ moving targets on clearance for like $10, very proud of myself)

Hunter enjoying some popcorn (all our kids love love popcorn)

The Go Fish booth. I think all the parents weren't such a fan of this one since the prize was a gold fish, but it SCREAMED carnival to me and I couldn't help myself :)

Ellie getting her face painted

Capri was transformed into a beautiful butterfly

Michael the pirate

Spencer sporting a snake

Blake didn't want his face painted so he settled on his hand

Thanks for the great idea Blake! Carson didn't want his face painted either and saw your hand decided he wanted to do that too :)

Uncle Mark manned the snow cone machine, and we all put him to work makin 'em they were so good!!

Logan enjoying his snow cone

Ellie with her Barbie birthday cake

Like 2 years ago I started buying the kids these individual cakes for their birthdays, and making cupcakes for everyone else. It works out perfect and the little cakes are so cute :)

Carson and his Thomas the Train cake

The kids got a lot of great gifts for their birthday!
WE HAD SO MUCH FUN, LET'S DO IT AGAIN!!!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!

2010-04-14T08:26:00.000-07:00

So I was a little behind this year when it came to Christmas cards! So I decided to do a Valentine's Day card instead. So this card stood as 2 purposes for our family (look at Hunter's shirt carefully) 1st we got to show everyone how big our babies are getting, and cute too (not that i am bias) and 2nd we announced the new addition to our family (all the kid's shirts say big brother and big sister)! So yes were are adding to the craziness at the Moss house. Is it so crazy at our house cuz we are slightly crazy ourselves? I think so! But we couldn't be more excited to be adding another precious baby girl to the crew!!! Macie Leigh will be joining our family this June and Ellie can hardly wait! She has insisted that I was having a girl since I told her I was pregnant. I was so relieved to find out that she was right so that I wouldn't have to see a disappointed little girl who has informed me many times, "We have too many boys in this house! We need another girl Mom!" So up goes all the t-shirts and jeans, and down comes all the dresses and bows :). I love my family very, very much and can't wait for that love to grow when little Macie joins our family (good luck baby girl haha!!)

THINK BLUE

2010-04-06T13:35:00.000-07:00

Well Daddy took Ellie to her first Dodger game today and she couldn't have been more excited about it! She had been asking to go for awhile now and when Grandpa had extra tickets she spoke up and said she wanted to go! So I dressed her up in the only blue shirt she had, but she was too observant!! Heaven forbid it didn't have Dodgers on it. So before the game Daddy and Grandpa had to make a special trip to the store to find her a Dodger shirt. So 3 stores later and still no shirt, so they settled on a Dodger hat because it had pink in it. Still not happy about her Dodgerless shirt her wonderful Daddy spent a couple of innings looking for a "pink" Dodger shirt only to find a sweatshirt for $50.00 . Needless to say she still has no shirt, but now has a "pink" Dodger bat which Mom is NOT a fan of!!! Well I guess a $8.00 bat is better than a $50.00 sweatshirt. Yeah a guess :( Minus the drama of not being able to find Ellie a shirt and my dislike of the bat she ended up with she had a GREAT time :) So thank you Grandpa for letting Matthew and Ellie tag along with you and for the Dodger hat that she wears everyday now it seems. Those too had so much fun together and I foresee many more Dodger games in our family's future!

Ellie and her Daddy at her first Dodger game!

Ellie with her Dodger hat and bat!!

Ellie and Blake hanging out on the Dodger fire truck!

Pretend City

2010-03-23T13:13:00.000-07:00

Ellie's preschool had a field trip to Pretend City. We had never been there before and were super excited to go! It was too cute there! You name it they had it: Bank, Grocery Store, Stage, Theatre, Post Office, Restaurant, Farm, House, Gas Station, Fire Station, Police Station, Beach, Doctor's Office, Art Studio, ATM, Park, and the list goes on!! So the kids got to spend time at each station with the opportunity to work at that station and earn Pretend City money. Ellie had lots of fun with everything, but her favorite was the Restaurant! She loved making food in the kitchen and serving me and the other Moms. All in all it was a fun time, and Ellie wants to come back with her brothers. She says they would really like it here, and she is probably right!!

Built a Bear Fun!

2010-02-05T07:21:00.000-08:00

For Christmas our kids got Build-a-Bear gift cards from their Aunt Jeanette, Uncle Chris, Kayla, and Austin. So we decided to take a trip to Downtown Disney and make some new cuddly friends to bring home with us (our kids LOVE stuffed animals, so thanks for the great gift Kahn family)! The trip started out great! The kids picked out their animals and once we got Ellie down to just 1 we were smooth sailing. That was until we headed upstairs to check it out and Carson didn't get to push the button for the elevator. Well you would have thought the world ended!! His mood totally went from excited to MISERABLE! For those of you who don't know our little Carson we call him our Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde (when he's sweet, he is so sweet, but when he's cranky everyone watch out! Problem is you never know which one you are going to get?!) So Mr. Hyde came out and we all ducked for cover :) We kept pushing forward trying to ignore his fowl mood as much as possible. It seemed to work through the stuffing and fluffing of the animals, and then came time to pick out the clothes. Ellie being the girly girl that she is picked out like 5 outfits. To her misfortune she desperately tried to narrow it down to 1 again :). It took some time and coaxing, but she finally made her final decision! Then there was Carson who decided he wanted nothing to do with picking out clothes for his bear since he was still pouting about the elevator button! That was until we were ready to go, then he bursted into tears cuz, "My amnal is naked!!" So it was back to the drawing board, and after 45 minutes of decision making and Mommy and Daddy having lost our patience about a half hour pior we made it out of the store with clothed stuffed toys! I told Matthew NEVER again! We should have given Ellie all the money to have her 5 outfits! But now that time has passed and Mr. Hyde is gone Carson loves his bear more than the other kiddies :) Me sleeps with him every night and makes sure he is always covered up under the blanket with him!!

Hunter with his Doggie friend

Carson with his Bear (pri-meltdown)

Ellie stuffed her bear and made a wish on it's heart before she put it inside (cute huh?)

Carson handed the girl his bear, but wouldn't stuff it (oh so difficult!)

Hunter had fun stuffing is Dog! The machine was kinda loud and he thought it was funny!
Next came the fluffing! Ellie was the only one who fluffed her animal. Hunter was too short, and Carson, well...

Then it was on to dressing! Ellie was so excited that they had Hello Kitty panties for her bear :) "I wish I could have panties like these", she told me :)
Here's my cute little boy with his new friend Dodger! Daddy picked out a Dodger shirt for Hunter's Doggie (how appropriate :) )

Ellie with her fairy bear! She was so proud of herself for picking out the perfect outfit and dressing her new friend all by herself!!

Now what would a trip be to Downtown Disney without stopping at Disneyland? We stopped by Disneyland BEFORE we went to Build-a-Bear haha!!! (trust me we were in no mood to go after!)
It's a Small World

Hunter's first time on the carousel all by himself! My baby is getting so so big!!! :(

Ultrasound

2010-02-04T15:03:00.000-08:00

This was the first time that Matt couldn't go with me to find out the sex of the baby :( I really wished he was there, but when you have 3 other kids to take care we often have to break-up our dynamic duo :) I was so anxious to find out what we were having 1st because I was sooo ready to tell everyone that I was pregnant, and 2nd because Ellie desperately wanted a sister and I was secretly hoping that she would get her wish!! Well the ultrasound went great and according to the technician SHE looks perfect! I am so excited to be having another girl :) I get to pull out all the little bows and dresses as opposed to the t-shirt and jeans from the boys!!

We can hardly wait to meet you Macie and tell everyone about this exciting addition to our family!!!

SNOW DAY!

2010-01-28T20:00:00.000-08:00

Today we were able to take the kids to the mountains and play in the snow for the first time!

We had a little detour on the way there! Our friend Josh took a wrong turn so did a turn around in this lot. Well they drive a suburban and made the turn with ease. We were not so lucky! We got STUCK :) After alot of shoveling and some sweat and pushing from the guys we finally made it out! (just for the record i predicted this would happen)

All's well that ends well! We finally made it to the snow, yay!!

Ellie was so excited she had been counting down for the past 4 days til we got to finally go to the snow! She could hardly wait til we got there. I have never seen her eat her lunch so fast!!

Unfortunately not everyone was as excited :( Carson was excited to go til we actually got there! He was not a fan to say the least and was mad that I put him down to take this picture.

Hunter wasn't too sure about it either. I don't think it was the snow, but the fact that he had to be all bundled up! He was pretty stiff. It reminded me of Halloween in his dog costume, where he would just sit exactly where you set him and barely move a muscle. Well he didn't last long, he ended up sleeping most of the time :(

Carson spent 99% of his time on this bench that Daddy cleared off for him, and found great joy in throwing snowballs at everyone! That bench was seriously a life saver for us and he only got off it to go down the sled with Mommy (not by choice, but by force) We weren't quit sure if Carson had fun or not, but on the drive home he told us he did!

Ellie on the other hand had a total BLAST!! It was so fun to see her having fun :) She loved going down on the sled with both Mommy, Daddy, and even by herself! She even built a fantastic snowman with Matt (i was pretty impressed with their "frosty" skills). Minus the cold hands she couldn't get enough and didn't want to go home!

We had a great time and are definitely planning on returning. Thanks Stallings Family for inviting us, we love hanging out with you guys :) Landen, Sara, Josh, and Jason (minus Evrett).

Hunter, Danielle, Ellie, Matthew, and Carson posing with the awesome snowman that Ellie built with her Daddy!!

Rain, Rain Go Away!

2010-01-22T22:10:00.000-08:00

It has been raining like CRAZY here lately! I'm sure in other states and countries a weeks worth of rain isn't THAT big a deal, but here in Southern California it feels like FOREVER! So between the kids having the flu and then all the wet weather the Moss' have been trapped in the house for 2 weeks now and were are DONE!!

Here are the boys checkin out the rain, and yes Carson it is STILL raining! He would ask me like everyday where we were going that day and everyday I would say "No where". "AGAIN!!" we would disappointingly reply. Sorry dude :)

The plus side to all the rain is that it has allowed us some quality family time, which I think was much needed! Another plus was that the kids can now play and LOVE playing Mario Kart on the Wii (which matthew is so excited about, i just know it!) So even though we are ready for the rain to go away, it can come again another day :)

Opa

2010-01-18T11:54:00.000-08:00

This past October 30th was my 29th birthday, and the worst day of my life! My family and I went to Disneyland for my birthday when I got a call I never wanted. My Opa had stopped breathing and was on his way to the hospital in an ambulance. It felt like it took years to get there, but in the back of my head I keep thinking that everything was going to be okay because my Opa was invincible in my eyes. To my dismay that was not the case and when I arrived at the hospital my Dad informed me that we were suppose to say our goodbyes. I couldn't believe it, and I didn't know how to say goodbye to someone who meant so much to me! He was the most amazing person, and I looked up to him so much! He was a very patient person who would try time and time again to teach me how to play cribbage (a game i still can't play, but he never gave up on me) He did teach me alot of other cool card games, and looking back on it now I know that he LET me win half the time to make me feel good :) He was a good listener especially when I would call him to tell him that his daughter was being mean to me. Even though I deserved being in trouble he would let me tattle on my Mom without any lectures. He was sensitive. I have this bottom lip that can stick out pretty good when I'm sad. Everyone else was pretty much immune to it except my Opa. When he would see that lip come out he was done for from the time I was itty-bitty til adulthood and would do whatever it took to get that lip to go away! He was fun! I loved going swimming at his house in the summer and jumping off his and my Dad's shoulders into the pool. If you slept in too late he would come in and literally grab you by the feet and yank you out of bed (he was a early riser, i am not). He would take me and my brother on walks to the river and taught us how to skip rocks. He loved history and space. He was always telling me cool facts about the universe, and stories from the past. He loved being outside. He has the most amazing yard, it is beautiful. He took such good care of it. I remember helping him trim bushes in the summer, something that I have now have come to actually enjoy. I now do the trimming at my own house, I find it relaxing and quiet. He also loved golf, something my Father always tried to get me interested in but never did. So the 2 of them would always go when they were together. Not only was he a fantastic Opa to me, but also to my kids! He always would let Ellie help him do things and get away with things that Mommy never would :) People often ask me if I spell Ellie's middle name with an "e" or a "y" and I always reply by saying it's R-A-Y after my Opa. All my children have middle names that are special to me and I hope he thought it was just as special as I do. I could go on and on about all the amazing attributes he had and all the fond memories I have of him. This is the hardest thing I have ever gone through and I miss him more than anyone knows!

I am truly grateful for the time I was able to spend with him, and am grateful to know that I will be able to spend alot more time with him someday!

HUNTER IS 1!!!!

2010-01-13T09:52:00.000-08:00

My baby is 1!! How did that happen?! This year has flown by so, so fast I can hardly believe it! I love my little bubba so much and feel so blessed to have this wonderful little boy as apart of our family. He has been such a fantastic baby, easy going, always happy :). I use to always tease that he is the kind of baby that gives new Mom's false hope that Motherhood is easy :). But as he is learning to walk the easiness is slowing wearing off and the marathon of chasing after him (especially when he is too quiet, that is NEVER a good sign in this house, it ALWAYS equals trouble) has begun! Like they say it's fun to be one, and Hunter sure knows how to have fun :) Here are some things that makeup our busy little boy:
- He can say Mamma, Dadda, Ellie, and Hi
- He can take 5 steps at a time
- He loves his brother and sister, and tries desperately to keep up with them
- His favorite food is pasta, and refuses to eat baby food (can you blame him)
- He loves cars, and balls
- Loves to wrestle with his brother (already)
- Would prefer to play with things he is not suppose to like, cellphones, remotes, toilet paper, TOILETS!, television buttons, dog food, and trash cans!
-He likes to cuddle in the mornings
- He is ALWAYS hungry
- Has the bluest eyes that light up a room whenever he smiles

I have thoroughly enjoyed being your Mom this past year and look forward to all the great years I get to spend with you. I love you so much Bubba!!!

SANTA CAME TO TOWN!!

2009-12-26T13:21:00.000-08:00

Well Santa was very good to the Moss kids this year! First of all there were no trips to the hospital (thank you Hunter) so Mom and Dad got to actually see the kids open up their presents, and it was so much fun!! Minus all the Christmas hype I would like to give a Birthday shout out to my big 1 year Hunter (sorry you have to share your birthday with the biggest holiday ever!) Moving on. This Christmas season has been really fun this year because Ellie is so into everything and excited about it all!! So when the kids got up this morning they found some great stuff from Santa! Ellie and Carson got new bikes with helmets of course (Ellie was sure to write in her letter to Santa that she needed a helmet to go with the bike she asked for or else she wouldn't be able to ride it!) Hunter got a Little Tikes Police Car which I think Carson loved just as much, especially since he couldn't ride his bike with his broken leg :( Their stocking were filled with fun stuff too, Ellie got a Barbie with wings in hers and was very excited cause that's just what she asked Santa for (boy Santa is good!) The boys got some cars, can't go wrong there!

Ellie got a Barbie tree house from Mom and Dad and some Barbies from her brothers.

Carson got a Buzz lightyear spaceship from Mom and Dad, and the action figures from his brother and sister.

Hunter got a bubble lawn mower from Mom and Dad, and a tool box from his brother and sister.

Christmas morning was great! Nothing can be the smiley faces and innocence of happy children. After breakfast and some playing around with the new toys we headed over to Oma and Papa's house to continue the Christmas fun!
All those presents= lots of trash, but I think Papa got carried away, because that piece of trash looks a little familiar and important :)

The kids got lots of great stuff from their Oma and Papa, Oma, Uncle Mark, and Allie. They even got some harmonicas from Papa (thanks for the noisy gift Dad, I guess they LOVE it). After presents came a great dinner and hangin out with family. It was hard this year because it was the first Christmas without my Opa. It just wasn't the same without him, and I missed him so much, and wished he could have seen the look on his great-grandkid's faces as they opened their presents! I guess in a way he was there, and this time of year is good for remembering the Savior and the great Plan of Salvation. To look at life in an eternal perspective and be grateful for the amazing family that I was born into, and the one that Matthew and I have created together. I am so blessed to be surrounded by so many people that I love dearly!! Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday my little Hunter!

The traditional Uncle Mark pose with all the kids, what is he going to do when another comes along?!

MERRY CHRISTMAS/ HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

2009-12-25T21:20:00.000-08:00

This Christmas was our little Hunter's first birthday! I can't believe our baby is already 1!! Time seriously goes by way too fast!! I feel like it goes by faster and faster with each child :( So in Lu of Christmas desserts we went for the birthday cake this year, and every year here on out! It was so much fun to watch him attack his cake :) He is the only one of our children who actually enjoyed eating his birthday cake! So we let him go at it for about a half hour and took it away. Boy was that a mistake!! You would have thought we were taking food away from a poor starving child. So needless to say he got his cake back, it was his birthday after all and I guess he could cry if he wanted to :)

GIVE ME MY CAKE BACK!!!!!

Ahh!!! That's better :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY SWEET BOY WITH THE SWEET TOOTH!!

Christmas with All That Dance

2009-12-19T15:28:00.000-08:00

Ellie had her Christmas Dance Recital today, and I couldn't have been prouder! It was held at the studio so seating was limited and we only got 2 tickets. So Mommy and Oma Montgomery got to watch Ellie do her thing while Oma and Papa watched the boys. They had to wear these holiday t-shirts for the recital which was simple enough, but the cool thing to do at the studio is to jazz up your t-shirt and make it your own. Well it was a first for me to jazz up a t-shirt, so when I made that 1st cut on her shirt I was so nervous :{ I ended up cutting both sides and sleeves and tieing them with ribbon. I added rhinestones to the letters and made hairbows to match. It wasn't perfect but pretty good for my first time! I already have new ideas for next year's shirt!

Little Miss Attitude all ready to perform her heart out :)

Ellie with her friend Katie, they were in Pom Jazz together

Ellie Ray and Miss Jessica (her tap teacher)

Ellie Ray and Miss Katie (her jazz teacher)

I was so nervous for her since she hadn't performed in front of people since her last recital in June, and although the smiles were in reserves she did a great job remembering her routines! Way to go my Ellie Ray Ray you did great!!!

CANDY HOUSES!

2009-12-17T12:44:00.000-08:00

It's a tradition at the Wilkins home to make Graham Cracker houses at Christmas time. It is something my brother and I always enjoyed doing growing up, and now it is my kids turn to enjoy these candy houses. They had a great time making their houses, and to my surprise they did a fantastic job (not that I am bias or anything).

CARSON'S MASTERPIECE FROM START TO FINISH
It was so much fun to watch Carson focus so hard on something. He was very intent on where he wanted everything to go, and I don't think I have ever seen so much licorice in one place. I am still amazed that his house never caved in!!

ELLIE'S MASTERPIECE FROM START TO FINISH

I was so impressed with Ellie's house! It turned out so good and she took alot of time making patterns with the candy, and making sure everything was perfect (she might have a little of her mom in her, haha!)

HUNTER'S ALTERNATIVE TO MAKING A MASTERPIECE
Even though Hunter wasn't able to make a graham cracker house this year he was pretty happy just eating the housing material. I think you'll be able to graduate to the construction crew next year dude!

Well here are the final masterpieces in all their glory!! I love this tradition and the kids loved doing it as much as I enjoyed watching their creative minds at work!

LIGHTS AND FRIENDS

2009-12-13T22:56:00.000-08:00

My kids have been so into Christmas this year, especially Ellie! So we often drive around town looking at Christmas lights before bed (in secret hopes that they all fall asleep before we make it home). So we decided to get together with some of our friends to check out the lights up close. There is a neighborhood in Chino that goes all out for with their Christmas lights so the Rodriguez, McMullin, and Moss families made a trip to see the festivities.

Samuel McMullin, Mckenna, and Karley Rodriguez with Ellie looking at lights
Carson loved the lights and had the ":O" face at almost every house!

Pam McMullin with her boys: Samuel Malachi, and sleeping Eli (Phil, and Isaiah were around somewhere, but I never got a picture of them)

Stephanie Rodriguez with her girls: Mckenna, Karley, and Olivia (Ryan was around somewhere, didn't get his picture either) The token "Hunter was here picture" he slept half the time.
Well the kids all had lots of fun and after we checked out all the cool lights we headed back to the McMullin's for some hot chocolate and rice crispy treats. It's fun to have friends that we can do family things with. Thanks guys for a great night :)

Christmas with the Moss'

2009-12-13T16:17:00.000-08:00

We usually have Christmas Eve with Grandma and Grandpa Moss, but things are a little different this year since Grandma and Grandpa are going back to North Carolina this year for Christmas to see the Kahn family and Grandma and Grandpa Byers :) So our Christmas festivities started a little earlier this year! We had a wonderful dinner followed by the Christmas story and Grandma has all the kids dress up as part of the story (which i love) Then it was off to crack open the pinata (a byers tradition that the kids adore). After all that excitement it was even more fun when the kids got to open their gifts. Topped off with some dessert it was a great night and everyone had a good time!

Grandma and Grandpa with the grandkids: Logan 3, Carson 2, Sadie 5months, Ellie 4, Hunter 11months, and Blake 5.

Mary and Joseph, and a couple of Shepard's ready to tell the story of Jesus' birth.

The highlight of night every year, the pinata! We didn't have time this year to carry out the full Byers tradition. The kids picked out the pinata locally instead of our usual trip to Olivera St. Hopefully next year, cause Matthew was sad he didn't get any taquitos :(

We had to be a little creative when came time for Carson to take a whack at the pinata. So we used Grandma Rauch's walker as a seat. Worked pretty good too!

Grandma loaded the pinata with tons of cool stuff like bubbles, money, bouncy balls, play-doh, cars, silly straws, and of course tons of candy!!

Hunter had more fun with the ribbons and boxes than he did with the actual presents, go figure huh?!

Ellie has enjoyed Christmas so much this year it has been lots of fun!

If it has wheels than Carson is happy :)

Ellie's favorite present! She could hardly wait to use it. She loves to help out in the kitchen
and cooking with Mommy and Daddy. Thanks Aunt Julie, Uncle Rich, Blake, Logan, and Sadie!

A Brush With Fame

2009-11-22T15:47:00.000-08:00

Yesterday while talking in the hall after church I get this tapping on my leg and hear a whispering voice saying "Mommy, Mommy" with great urgency. So I stop my conversation to see what is the matter. There is Ellie nervously pawing at my leg, "Look Mommy, it's the boy from High School Musical!". She was so excited to see Zac Efron she could hardly contain herself :) So I asked her if she wanted to say hi to him and she quickly declined! She is way too shy for that! I thought it was so cute I had to take a picture the following week, and "Zac Efron" was sweet enough to let me :) Now just to set the record straight: No Zac Efron is not LDS, and no he doesn't visit our ward, but a cute young man named Jordan Smith does and he happens to look like Zac Efron. My little Ellie Ray isn't the first enthusiastic girl to make this mistake. In fact when I worked with the youth we had an activity at the mall and he was stopped by a bunch a girls who had made the same mistake. There have been several occasions that this has happened to Jordan, and if he wasn't so shy I'm sure he would find it cool, but he just finds it embarrassing (poor guy). If anything else it is a compliment "Zac" :)

Ellie with her "Zac Efron" she was so extremely nervous to take the picture I gave up on trying to get a cute smile out of her. And unfortunately Jordan got his haircut that week, so he doesn't look as much like Zac as he used. That's okay though he is still a cute boy :) and Ellie is still infatuated with him!

Thanksgiving Feast

2009-11-18T13:03:00.000-08:00

Ellie's preschool had a Thanksgiving feast for all the kids. They sang some songs for all the parents and recited a poem. They even sported Indian headbands that they made themselves while they chowed down on turkey, popcorn, nuts, carrots, rolls, and cranberries (which no one liked).

Ellie with her school friends: Lily, Ellie, Berlin, and Sophia

Carson even scored and got to join in on the Thanksgiving feast!

My Little Cowboy!

2009-11-04T12:59:00.000-08:00

In lu of all the holiday dressing up festivities Carson has been on a dress-up kick. Today he came out dress as a cowboy, and a rather cute one at that! He is such a character and adds lots and lots of spice to our family :)

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T10:12:00.000-07:00

This year we had 3 Halloween activities to attend and now that Ellie and Carson know what Halloween is all about (candy) they were so excited to attend them all!

I usually try to coordinate my kids costumes so that they all match a theme, but with Ellie having her own opinions now it didn't work out that way, oh well. So Ellie decided she wanted to be Rosetta (a fairy from tinkerbell) Hunter was a dog, and Carson was a Policeman.

Activity #1- Oma and Papa's Ward Party

Ellie was so excited to be a fairy. her favorite was getting sprayed with "pixie dust"!

Carson was not so excited to get dressed up , can you tell?

Hunter wasn't too sure about his costume either, but no tears here :)

The Officer and the Fairy ready to do some serious trick-or-treating

They had lots of fun crafts for the kids to make!

Carson's big thing this year was "It scare me". He has discovered fear and it has not been pretty. Every time we went into the Halloween section of a store he would freak out and start hyperventilating saying "It scare me!!" I would try to explain to him that it was all pretend, but it didn't seem to matter much to him. So when it was time to go trick-or-treating he was a little apprehensive. That was until he looked at this jack-o-lantern and to his surprise he looked at me with a smile on his face and proudly announced, "Mommy it no scare me!"

After that it was smooth sailing and Carson (my sweet tooth) had a blast collecting candy. It was just hard to get him to keep going, because he wanted to stop after each room to open the candy he got :)
They had lots of activities for the kids to do. Ellie's favorite was the cookie walk.

Carson's favorite was skee ball!

Activity #2- Ellie's Preschool Party

Ellie's preschool class sang some cute Halloween songs for all the Mom. Ellie actually sang this year (unlike last year) Her and Berlin stood side by side while they sang!

After they got to play lots of fun games. Here are Ellie and Lily trying to catch ghosts in the water.
What preschool party would be complete without decorating a cookie?!!

Activity #3- Trick-or-Treating with Cousins

We always go to the shopping center with our cousins for trick-or-treating and this year was no exception. It so much fun seeing the pictures grow every year as our families continue to grow! Ellie: Rosetta, Hunter: Dog, Sadie: Ladybug, Blake: Stormtrooper, Logan: Darthvader, and Carson: Policeman

Ellie was excited because we have those same jack-o-lanterns at our house :)

Logan and Carson scored because Grandma brought her wagon for the kids to ride in!

Hunter had fun watching all the kids in their costumes :)

After the shopping center we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa's ward for trunk-r-treating. So after some hot dogs and chili the kids were ready for yet another round!

What a good big sister Carson has. She is amazing at taking care of her brothers! After all was said and done I think we have enough candy to last us til next Halloween!

Craving Pumpkins (well sorta)

2009-10-24T09:52:00.000-07:00

A few years ago I found these potato head like pumpkin kits and since then that has been our substitute to the traditional pumpkin carving. With the kids being so little it makes it a whole lot easier for them and cleaner for Mommy (which i love)! So Daddy pokes wholes in the kids pumpkins and they get to put in the pieces.

Carson is in the "I do it myself" stage so no one was allowed to help him. So even though it to FOREVER he did it himself!
Hunter had fun watching the kids put their pumpkins faces together. He is such a happy little boy, as long as he's with his brother and sister :)

Ellie and Daddy working on making a witch.

Ya Carson finished his Ninja pumpkin and he was so proud of himself :)

Ellie and her witch pumpkin, looks good!

It's Pumpkin Picking Time!

2009-10-20T10:08:00.000-07:00

We love going to Cal Poly Pomona to pick our pumpkins for Halloween. So that's exactly where we went with the kids this year and they had a blast running through the fields trying to find the perfect pumpkin!

Carson was always trying to pick up pumpkin that were too heavy for him, which unfortunately for him were most of the pumpkins in the patch :)

Ellie, Hunter, and Carson sitting on a bale of hay. I just love these kids so, so much!!

Hunter and his first pumpkin :)

Carson had a blast running around, and as you can tell from his rooster tail in the back of his hair it was kinda windy that day.

Ellie found like ten pumpkins that she loved, and it took her awhile to pick only ONE to take home. When it comes to choosing she is definitely her Mother's child :)

After we found a pumpkin for each kid we headed to the farmers store to pay for them and found this cool old tractor in the back the kids had tons of fun climbing on it and pretending to drive it, even Hunter! So minus the wind it was a successful trip now we need to crave them!

RAINY DAY FUN!

2009-10-08T10:26:00.000-07:00

It's been rainy around here for awhile so we decided to head out for some indoor fun! We haven't been miniature golfing since Ellie was 2 so it was about time! The kids had a blast! After alot of cheating, 20 stroke holes, and chasing after balls we made it through all 18 holes. So all in all it was a successful outing and the kids are already asking when we can go back!

Although Hunter couldn't play he had fun throwing the golf ball for Daddy to run after again, and again!
Love their serious concentrating faces :{

The cheating that I mentioned, OOPS!!

Apple Day

2009-10-05T13:19:00.000-07:00

At school today Ellie was an Apple Investigator and they learned and did a bunch of fun activities that all had to do with apples.

Ellie in her Apple Investigator hat ready t have some fun!

Making apple prints using apple halves as a stamp.

They got to make their own apple pies and they were pretty good!

Made apple trees using her hand and arm as the trunk and branches and fingers as the apples on the tree. My personal favorite, it turned out really cute!

Finally they learned about Johnny Appleseed.
The kids all had fun being Apple Investigators for the day and I was excited that I got to be apart of it too!

A Princess Tea Party

2009-09-17T19:54:00.000-07:00

Ellie really wanted a Princess Tea Party for her birthday, and since her birthday is in the summer we decided to have a family party on her birthday and a party with all her little friends once everyone was back in school and done vacationing! So our little princess totally scored this year with 2 parties!! I have to say I think I had just as much fun throwing the party as the girls did participating in it :) The invitations requested that all the girls come dressed as a pretty princess and as you can see all the girls looked beautiful all dressed up!

Here are all the little princesses ready for their royal tea party: Katie, Peyton, Ellie, McKenna, Karley, Karlee, Berlin, and Mackenzie

We started off this Princess party by making some bracelets. It was fun seeing the different designs that the girls came up with!

Then the girls had a Tea Party minus the tea :) and while they ate they listened to some princess music. It was amazing to me that all the girls knew all the songs and were excited to be the first to say what it song it was :)

They made made picture frames which turned out so cute, they did a really good job!

We also played the "Poison Apple" game (a.k.a. hot potato). Mackenzie didn't want to play until she realized that when you are out of the game you get to pick a prize. So she quickly changed her mind and played the game :)

Ellie got some great presents! One of her friends (Peyton) was so excited about what she got Ellie that she could hardly wait for her to open it, and she even had me look inside the bag to make sure that she would like it! It was too cute :)

By the time we sang "Happy Birthday" and ate some princess cake Mommy's were coming to pick up their little princesses. So Ellie gave all her friends bags full of princess gear and hugs goodbye. I hope that all the girls had a great time, because I know I did :)

Back 2 School!

2009-09-04T11:36:00.000-07:00

Hi ho, hi ho it's off to school we go :) I can't believe that summer is already over and school has started again!! Ellie could hardly wait to go back to school, she LOVES it! This is her last year at Patchwork Preschool then it's off to kindergarten next year! So please for Mommy's sake let this year go by slow, cause my baby is just growing up way too fast :(

Ellie had to find her name tag and go on a scavenger hunt

Circle time with Miss Chris

Ellie's turned to show off the car she decorated for her 1st day of school

MAX

2009-08-27T11:53:00.000-07:00

So don't let this cute face fool you, he is TROUBLE!!! What was I thinking it's like having another baby! Fortunately we are use to trouble makers around here and the kids absolutely adore him! So I guess we'll keep him for now :)

Ellie's 4th Birthday!!

2009-08-25T09:33:00.000-07:00

Ellie wanted a princess birthday party this year. It is the first year that she has picked what kind of party she wanted. Ellie is such a girly girl (which i LOVE), it just amazes me since she is surrounded by boys! So I wasn't at all surprised by the theme she picked, and I had lots of fun doing it! I made chocolate wands (better known at our house as bippity boppity boos), used lots of tulle to decorate and had a basket full of candy jewelry! Ellie's family all came to help her celebrate, and we had so much fun! She got alot of great presents including a new puppy!! She has been asking for one since she was 2 and we told her she had to be 5. Well we found this cute little puppy and couldn't refuse! So now Ellie has a new found love for her little Max :) Happy Birthday my Ellie Ray Ray Mommy and Daddy love you so much and are so grateful that you are apart of our family!!

My little Belle getting ready to blow out her Belle cake.

Ellie, Michael, Blake and Carson

Ellie with her favorite birthday present!

The birthday girl with the best parents in the world! Well at least for today :)

Swimming Lessons

2009-08-11T01:30:00.000-07:00

This summer we put Ellie and Carson in swim lessons at the local High School. My kids aren't the biggest fans of the water or getting their faces wet, but by the end of summer they were LOVING it and couldn't get enough (well at least ellie was. carson is still a little unsure.) So Ellie started off in the Tiny Tot class and half way through graduated to Level 1! She learned how to blow bubbles, kick, make ice cream scoops, and dive for things under the water. She even jumped off the lifegaurd tower with her instructor the last day of class! Carson was in the Parent/Child class with Daddy and had a pretty rocky start. He would cry for the entire half hour for the first week! Slowly, but surely he got better and by the end he was kicking on the kick boards, going under the water and blowing bubbles. He would even go with the instuctors out to the deep end a couple of times! Since Carson did so good not crying his instuctor gave him 2 lollipops at the end!(a little bribing goes a long way with carson) All in all it was a sucess! The kids had a blast and learned a little along the way!! Ellie has turned into our water bug. I can't get her out of the bath anymore cause she is too busy practicing her moves :)

Ellie's 1st day of swim!

Carson was happier on the steps :)

Ellie practicing her kicking and ice cream scoops.

Daddy and Carson swimming

My angel child Hunter was such a good boy while his siblings swam!

The kids last day of swim :(

Carson showing off his 2 lollipops!

Museum Fun!!

2009-08-08T10:54:00.000-07:00

Every first Friday of the month the city puts on a free day at the Children's Museum. So the kids I went with Aunt Julie, the boys and Sadie. I have never been before, and it was so cute and lots of fun there. They had dress up, science experiments, a post office, farm, fire and police station, and craft area. The kids got to decorate foam glasses, and make slime! They also had a science show and gave away smoothies at the end; which my children didn't share with me :( The kids had so much fun, and so did I, we are definitely going back!!

Logan, Ellie, Blake and Carson making slime, ewwww!

Blake and Carson riding the police motorcycle

Logan, Carson and Ellie learning where water goes.

Blake and Ellie sporting the cool glasses they made :)

The stroller buddies (hunter and sadie) were great!!

Little Miss Sadie

2009-07-05T01:57:00.000-07:00

Well Julie and Rich Rauch added to their family on the 4th of July. Meet Sadie Elaine Rauch! I could hardly wait to have another girl around for my Ellie Ray, especially since Kayla is so far away :( Matthew and I went to the hospital to check her out! She is so beautiful and I look forward to watching her grow, and introducing Julie to the world of girly after have 2 boys it's gonna be a whole new world :) We are so excited that you are here sweet girl!!

Sadie Elaine Rauch

Uncle Matthew

Aunt Danielle

Happy 4th of July!!

2009-07-04T02:10:00.000-07:00

We spent 4th of July at Grandma and Grandpa's house this year, and even though Matt had to work the kids and I had a good time! They had lots of fun playing with their cousins (ellie is seriously attached to kayla at the hip, it's cute!) We ate yummy food, played in the water, and did fireworks! All in all it was a great day! Oh yeah and the Moss Family grew that day too, Sadie Rauch decided to show up! So Rich and Julie spent their 4th of July at the hospital! What's with these Moss kids coming on the holidays :)

Ellie, Hunter, and Carson

The grandkids, minus Hunter

Uncle Mark, Hunter and Allie

Uncle Chris and Carson

Grandma Shelly with Ellie

Grandpa and Carson

Papa and Hunter

Ellie loved all the fireworks, especially the sparklers...

...Carson wasn't as excited...

...and Hunter slept through most of his 1st firework show!

Logan and Carson weren't fans of the sparklers, they had more fun playing with Uncle Bruce and Aunt Jungmee's dog Amy!

Fun with Family!

2009-06-29T12:00:00.000-07:00

Moss grandkids: Ellie (31/2)Hunter(6mon.) Logan(3) Carson(2) Blake(5) Kayla(8) Austin(6)

The Kahn family is in town right now and we have been having so much fun with them! Going swimming at Grandma Rauch's, doing Kayla's hair so she could look like Cinderella for her Aunt's wedding, Logan's 3rd birthday party at the park, going to the movies and leaving all the grandkids with Grandma, and Grandpa, and going to the beach!! I haven't been to the beach all year so I was really excited to go. Unfortunately when I got there it was so windy I was ready to go home! The kids on the other hand could care less; they loved running in the sand together. Uncle Chris took them all on a walk down to the shore and apparently Ellie didn't run from the wave fast enough because when they came back Ellie was soaked and Chris was laughing :) Luckily I know my children well enough to bring extra clothes, so a quick change in the van and she was good as new! So we ate hot dogs and made smores (which i love). All in all it was a fun trip (minus the wind!) plus it was Hunter's first time at the beach :) I love hangin out with family, and my kids have a blast whenever they are around their cousins!!

CARSON'S 2 YR. PIC.

2009-06-18T15:20:00.000-07:00

Look at my handsome little boy! He looks so grown up! I love this picture, because his smirk totally fits his personality :) and he has discovered the joys of pockets (not only do your hands fit in them, but your toys do too)!

Ellie's 1st Dance Recital!

2009-06-13T17:00:00.000-07:00

My little Ellie Ray had her first dance recital a couple of weeks ago, and she loved every minute of it! I was so afraid that she would be too scared to do her routine infront of hundreds of strangers (she tends to be a lot shy), but my baby girl proved me wrong! She did AWESOME, and I had so, so much fun watching her! (i don't know who was more nervous that night, me or her, i think it was me). She had quit the little audience routing for her: Mommy, Daddy, Carson, Hunter, Grandma, Grandpa, Oma, Papa, Uncle Mark, and Allie all came to watch her shake her stuff! I couldn't have been prouder of my little girl, she looked so beautiful and did such an amazing job :) Way to go Ellie, you did it!

Ellie in her jazz costume for "Kiss the Girl" routine

The dynamic dou! Karley and Ellie had so much fun dancing together!

Ellie and Daddy did a dance # together to "Grease"

Ellie in her tap costume for the "Be Our Guest" routine

After the show our little ballerina got some beautiful flowers from her grandparents :)

I'M MAD ABOUT SOMETHING!

2009-06-02T23:11:00.000-07:00

Here is a conversation I had with Ellie the other day (i thought it was pretty funny so i wrote it down so that i wouldn't forget, she can be such a drama queen sometimes). Ellie comes in my bedroom while I'm folding clothes and says, "Sigh, Mommy I am so mad about something!" "What are you mad about sweetie?", I asked. "Carson broke my heart sunglasses!", she said. "I'm sorry", I told her. "Sigh, It is so ridiculous that he broke my glasses, again, and again I can't even believe it! He is NOT a good listener like me! I just really liked those heart glasses Mom and I am just still so mad that Carson broke them!". I informed her that she had other sunglasses. "I know" she said, "but I just really liked those ones, I am really going to miss them!" Then the Phineas and Ferb theme song came on and she was off! She is so full of it sometimes, it is hilarious and frightening at the same time because she is only 3! I'm sure she is going to have lots more drama in her life, but for know I'll stick with the sunglasses :)

The infamous sunglasses in their better days. R.I.P. Ellie will surely miss you!

Carson's Birthday Party!

2009-06-02T18:45:00.000-07:00

We had a Birthday party for Carson last week, and it was lots of fun. My little boy's 2 favorite things in this world are balls, and cars! So maybe next year we'll go with the ball theme, but this year it was "Cars". So I decorated with race car flags, street runners down the tables, and cars of course :) Unfortunately Carson took a late nap that day, so it took him awhile to warm up; which he did once we busted out the pinata! The kids had a blast, I think, and Carson got a lot of great toys (mostly balls and cars, does his family know him or what?). My favorite part was watching him try to blow out the candles (he had a little competition with the wind) it was really cute, cause the wind always won! So it's official my baby is 2, and I know I have said it before, but I will say it again, I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!

Carson taking some swings at his pinata

Everyone is singing "Happy Birthday" to him

His attempt at blowing out his candles :)

Go figure the best part of the presents is the bag they came in :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARSON!

2009-05-29T23:24:00.000-07:00

Today my little boy turned 2! He is no longer a baby, he is now a BIG boy and is quick to remind you if you forget :) Carson has brought so much joy into our family; I really can't believe that it has been 2 years since he was born (time just seems to fly)! I love you so much Carson Matthew and have enjoyed watching you grow into a fun, and energetic toddler. And even though the terrible 2's are in FULL force, I fully embrace the sweetness that lies within, like when you sing in the car, when you cuddle with me in the morning, when you make sure that if you are playing that your little brother always has something to play with too, and that when you got birthday cards from your great-grandparents you yelled "MONEY"! So Happy Birthday Carson, Mommy loves you so so much!

Carson @ 2 weeks old

Carson @ 2 months old

Carson @ 6 months old

Carson @ a year old

Here's my big 2 year old

My Mother's Day Tea!

2009-05-18T18:27:00.000-07:00

For Mother's Day Ellie's pre-school had a tea party for all the Mommies. They brought us lemonade and cake, which they were so proud to do all by themselves :) They also sang us a Mother's Day song (well all the other kids sang while ellie stood there, she said after that she did sing i just couldn't hear her. well if she was singing then she has a true talent and should be a ventriloquist) Ellie also made me a bouquet of flowers with her beautiful face on them :) The best flowers I ever got! (sorry matthew) It was fun hanging out with my Ellie Ray Ray. I love her so much and I especially love being her Mom! Don't worry boys, I love being your Mommy too, so thank you for the precious handprints you made me for Mother's Day! Although being a Mom is the toughest job I have ever had, it the one that brings me the most joy, and sense of good worth! So thank you Ellie, Carson, and Hunter for letting me be your Mommy, I love you guys with all my heart :)

Oma and Opa's

2009-05-13T10:32:00.000-07:00

About a month ago the kids and I went up to Sacramento to visit my grandparents. So in order to survive the 7 hour drive we left @ 3 in the morning, in hopes that the kids would sleep most of the way. Carson and Ellie did great, but Hunter was another story! That little boy does NOT like the car! My other 2 love the car, so this is a new one for me :) Luckily my Mom came along with us which I was so grateful for, cause we had to stop about 5 times for Hunter alone! Well while the drive was long, the trip was short, but we all had a good time :) I love my grandparents so much and any time I get to spend with them is definitely time well spent. They a 2 of my favorite people and Ellie "Ray" is even named after her Opa "Ray"! I hope my children get to know them and love them like I do!

Easter, Easter, and more Easter!

2009-04-25T17:16:00.001-07:00

A little late I know, but better late than never right? So we had a few Easter festivities this year: #1 We dyed easter eggs at our house with Oma, Papa, Uncle Mark, and Allie. The kids had lots of fun Ellie really got into it this year so that was fun to see, and Carson cracked about 3 eggs, and dyed 2 along with his hands :). Hunter just chilled out, but he will want to get his hands in there too next year ahhh!!!!

#2 of the Easter fun was Ellie school party. I had to take Hunter to the Dr.'s during that time so I called up the bestest brother I ever had (mark in case anyone is confused, haha) and he went in my place to her party and took some pictures for me, thanks Uncle Mark :) So she go to go on a egg hunt and eat a cupcake! She was so excited to tell me all about it when I picked her up, so I think it's safe to assume she had fun!

#3 Easter Party @ the Moss'! The kids: Blake, Logan, Ellie, Carson, and Hunter got to go on an egg hunt in Grandma and Grandpa's back yard! They had lots of fun, but I think the biggest hit was the bubbles that Grandma put in the kids Easter pails :) All the kids had a unique way of blowing bubbles. Carson for instance sucked in his bubbles instead of blowing them out, Blake whistled while he blew (it was funny), Ellie didn't blow 1 bubble because she blew too hard, and my favorite, Logan decided to share his bubbles with the fish in Grandpa's pond :) I don't think Grandpa was as amused by it as I was!

#4 Was Easter morning at our house. The Easter Bunny came that morning and left surprises for the kids. They were so excited and it was so much fun to see the excitement in their little faces! They liked the cars and polly pockets so much we had a hard time getting them to find the hidden eggs!

#5 We went to Oma and Papa's house for yet another egg hunt and Easter dinner! The kids had a blast finding the eggs along with puzzles, a movie, and their new found favorite thing: the peez dispenser :) Dinner was great and after we played Disney bingo (ellie loves that game). So Easter got all partied out this year, but among all the festivities I am reminded and grateful to the Savior and the sacrifice he made for me and all of us so that we can return to Heaven someday. Hope that everyone had a Happy Easter, and a good time with their families!

Hunter's Growing up too Fast!!

2009-04-07T21:51:00.000-07:00

My baby boy is growing up so fast :( . Hunter is already 3 months old! I can't believe it (really). He is such a wonderful baby :) I seriously couldn't ask for a better baby. The only time he complains is when he is hungry or tired. He is always full of smiles and is now ticklish which I love cause he has such a cute little laugh! He has also discovered his voice and has so much to say, so if you talk to him he will tell ya some great stories (just wish i knew what they were about) So Hunter thanks for being wonderful my bubbas, Mommy, Daddy, Ellie, and Carson love you so, so much!!!

Mr.Striptease

2009-04-02T22:44:00.000-07:00

So it all started with the shoes. My son Carson can not and will not keep his shoes on to save my sanity! Then he graduated to the shoes and the socks! But now he's going too far :)! Everytime I dress that kid in the morning no longer than 5 minutes later does he have nothing but a diaper and shirt on (and sometimes not even a diaper)! The only reason the shirt stays on is cause he has yet to figure out how to get them over his head. I can't keep this kid dressed for the life of me! So guess what Carson I give up, you win (well at least when we are at home) you can just strip away :)

And there they go!

Hmmm.... diaper, or no diaper (mommy votes diaper please, oh please)

A Trip to the Library

2009-03-31T22:01:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago the kids and I went with my Dad, and brother to the new Chino Hills Library. Everyone showed up for the big event, including the Police Station, and Fire Department! The kids had tons of fun checking out all the new stuff they "drove" the fire truck, police car, and motorcycle; they also played games on the computer and picked out library books! All in all it was a fun day, so much fun that we go there every Thursday now so Carson can have singing time (which he loves) and Ellie gets to go off and make a craft :) The library is fantastic and I love that my kids love Matt and I to read with them (I hope that love stays with them as they get older)!

Carson driving the fire truck and loving it:)

Carson driving the police car (i think by the time he is 16, he will be dying to get his license)

Ellie and the police motorcycle, not too sure about it, but couldn't let her lil' bro show her up!

The kids playing on the life size blocks inside the library, I literally had to pull them out of there
P.S.- Hunter did come too, he was just sleeping the whole time, which was nice for me :)

Forever Sick!

2009-03-14T08:06:00.000-07:00

We have been forever sick at our house, or at least that is what it seems like. It all started about a month ago with colds and coughs, and when Ellie gets a cold that means asthma is sure to follow, and sure enough it did. So she's hacking up a lung, and Carson decides he doesn't want to be left out and starts coughing too. Then Ellie complains about her ear hurting so off to the Dr.'s we go, and sure enough she had an ear infection! So she's on her antibiotic, her nebulizer (it's a machine for her asthma) an inhaler, I have the humidifier going at night in the kid's room, and suctioning out snot from all 3 kids like there's no tomorrow. The next morning Ellie wakes up with pink eye (ahhh!!!). That was it! So I lysoled the house from top to bottom, washed all the sheets, blankets, towels, toys, you name it I cleaned it (i hate pink eye).Then the following morning Carson wakes up with a swollen face and red puffy splotches an his forehead. I thought it was an allergic reaction to something cause that's what it looked like, so we took him into the Dr.'s and turns out he had scratched his eczema and infected it. So they gave us a special cream to help clear up his eczema and some amoxicillan, because during his check up he also had an ear infection. So Ellie and Carson are both sick and Hunter is all congested. This went on for about a week and then I finally started to see the light at the end of the tunnel! Oh and by the way I decided to get sick during all this too! So after about 3 weeks the coughing has stopped, the noses are no longer running and the nebulizer, and humidifier have been put away. Yeah, right? I thought so , but on Tuesday Carson decided to run a temperature, the runny nose came back, the cough came back which caused wheezing this time, so out came the nebulizer and humidifier again! So I think I got it under control, the temp is gone and he's off the nebulizer. Well I was wrong yet again! When I changed Carson's clothes yesterday he had what looked like a rash all over his chest, his back, the diaper area, and around his hair line! So back to the Dr.'s I went to find out he has Baby Roseola (it's a form of the measles) that affects kids around 3 and under. Needless to say Carson is miserable and I am just praying that Hunter doesn't get it! So as you can see this has been the house for the sick lately despite my great attempts of disinfecting the place time after time! So here's to hoping that this will be it please, oh please!

This is the nebulizer, my kids aren't so fond of it, but very used to it! In this picture Carson wasn't even using it at the time he just had to put it on cause Ellie used it, and heaven forbid Ellie gets to do something and not him (my silly, silly boy)

An Almost Night Out!

2009-03-10T22:24:00.000-07:00

Well I am supposed to be at the Pantages theatre right now, but as you can see I sadly am not :(
My wonderful husband bought tickets for us to see "Grease" tonight! So we got all dressed up (even Hunter got dressed up cause he came along), my parents came over to watch the kids, and we were off on our hot date! We went out to dinner first then over to Hollywood to watch the play. So we parked in the parking lot, which by the way is a total rip off! (word to the wise don't park in the first parking lot off Hollywood Blvd. it is twice as much as all the other lots around) Then it was off to the theatre, and as we are handing the tickets to the usher the manager comes over and says, "I'm sorry I can not let you in, all kids must be 5 or older to enter." What, he's asleep, and alot more quiet than a 5 year old! I guess rules are rules, but I am still bummed to say the least. So we got a refund on our tickets and walked slowly and cautiously back to the car (there are lots of weird people down there :D ) When we got to the parking lot Matthew explained our situation to the parking tenant who pointed to a sign "ABSOLUTELY NO REFUNDS". So I stood there and insisted that we had only been there for like 10 minutes! Once she realized that I wasn't about to leave without my money she returned our $20.00, and off we drove to sit in L.A. traffic! So our date was a bust, and just so ya know the play would have been almost over by now, and Hunter is still asleep!!!

5 Amazing Years!!!

2009-02-28T06:30:00.000-08:00

I seriously can't believe that Matthew and I have been married for 5 years today, and what a great 5 years it has been! We have accomplished alot together in these 5 years: Our first apartment in Fullerton with frequent date nights to Disneyland :). Our first house we bought, and Matt along with our families totally overhauled to make it our own (i got away with not doing alot then, because i was pregnant with ellie, something you can only do with your first pregnancy i've come to find out). The coming and going of jobs (probably the hardest thing we've had to endure). Watching our family continue to grow with the birth of our 3 amazing children: Ellie 2005, Carson, 2007, and Hunter 2008! I can't believe how truly lucky I am to have married my soul mate! I can't imagine spending my life with anyone else! You are my best friend, my partner in crime and the love of my life all rolled into one! Thank for these 5 amazing years Matthew, and I look forward to the years to come! No matter what the future has in store for me as long as I am with you I know our future will be great! Happy Anniversary my love :), and here's to the years to come!

Febuary 28th 2004

We were sealed in the Redlands Temple

I love you so much Matthew, thanks for being the best part of this great journey we are on! xoxo Danielle

Hunter's Blessing

2009-02-27T18:58:00.000-08:00

This past month we blessed our son Hunter Thomas Moss. With all the Grandparents, Great-Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, and cousins it made Hunter's day really special. After the blessing everyone came over to our house for lunch and to hang out together for some family bonding. To my surprise it happened to be Super Bowl Sunday, so I embraced the football theme with finger foods and football decor. It was so nice to spend time with our family! Thank you everyone for making Hunter's day so wonderful :)

The Moss family is growing !

Our Cute Kids

Our family :)

My Little Ballerina!

2009-02-24T23:13:00.000-08:00

So for months now Ellie has been bugging Matthew and I to go to "Ballerina School". She has this book called, "Daddy's Little Girl", and in the book the little girl goes to dance class. Well if you don't know Ellie once she gets something in her head it doesn't leave (ex. still asks me everyday to be 5 so she can have a puppy)! So I finally found a dance studio for her. She goes once a week for an hour where they teach her tap and ballet. She is having so much fun, and so is Mommy! I love watching her because she is so excited to be "a ballerina', and even though she isn't the most coordinated little girl she concentrates so hard it's too cute! Her school is going to have a recital on June 13th and I can hardly wait :)

Ellie and her friend Karley :) the scratch on her face is from my parent's dog :(

week #1

week #2

You are so cute my little ballerina, and I love seeing you having so much fun :)

My Top 10 Loves

2009-02-14T13:10:00.000-08:00

With all the hustle and bustle of love in the air due to Valentines Day I was inspired to write the Top 10 Reasons I love the members of my family, so here we go!

Why I love my Ellie Ray Ray:

1. Her kisses!!!
2. What a great big sister she is! (I could ask for a better helper)
3. The way she cuddles with you in bed! (she hugs you and pats your back)
4. That she likes broccoli! (seriously what kid likes that stuff :D)
5. Her great imagination! (it's so fun to see her play, she comes up with some good stories)
6. She wants a puppy so bad it's sad! (we told her Santa only brought puppies to kids when they're 5. So she asks me everyday, no joke if she is 5 yet. It going to be a long year and a half)
7. That she calls me her best friend!!! (gotta soak it in now before the days when I am no longer cool and know absolutely nothing set in)
8. Her compassion for others! (she is always trys to comfort her brothers when they cry)
9. That she loves to read! (I hope she never looses that)
10. Her love of chocolate! (I can get her to do almost anything if chocolate is involved :D)

Why I love my Carson Matthew:

1. His laugh!!! (he has the best laugh ever, it makes me smile :D)
2. His kisses! (when and if he gives them away)
3. That he loves to sing and dance to music!
4. When he's hungry he says "I bite"! (I'll be sad the day he doesn't say that anymore :( )
5. That he thinks he is such a big boy, and can do everything the big kids do! (he really can't, but don't tell him that)
6. His dimples (can't see them in this picture, but he's got 'em and I love 'em)
7. His love of balls and cars! (he really, really likes to throw things, Matt's hoping he has a lefty pitcher in the family)
8. His determination! ( although in the moment it's not so endearing, his strong personality and knowing exactly what he wants comforts me for when he has to face the world)
9. That he likes to help me clean! (need to take better advantage of that one before he realizes that it is not fun)
10. That he can never keep his shoes on! (I can't count how many times that boy has lost his shoes in public, but it is so him)

Why I love my Hunter Thomas:

1. That he smiled for the first time yesterday! (for real, it wasn't gas)
2. His chubby cheeks!!!! (I seriously could kiss them all day)
3. That he finally takes a pacifier! (I was sweating that one for awhile)
4. His widow's peak! (the one thing, besides his height that he got from is Daddy)
5. His bright blue eyes!! (even though I ultimately don't care, I secretly hope they stay)
6. That he moans in his sleep! (he can get kinda noisy sometimes, but it's a good noise)
7. His frowny face!! (all my children have this face, so he is definitely part of the crew)
8. Rocking him to sleep! (a favorite past time of mine with all my children)
9. Kissing his tiny little lips!!
10. The great amount of love that he has brought into our family!!!

Why I love my Best Friend:

1. His sense of humor! (he can be a funny guy and it helps me not takes things so seriously sometimes)
2. His willingness to help others! (that's actually how we met he was trying to help me fix a zipper on a purse )
3. He is an amazing Father!!! (seriously my children are really lucky)
4. When he kisses my forehead! (don't know why I like it, but I do)
5. His laugh!! (it is great and very contagious ask anyone)
6. His cookies! ( he makes the best chocolate chip cookies ever, so can I blame him for not being as skinny as I would like :D)
7. That he truely loves me!!! (I can be a difficult person at times, but that doesn't seem to phase him, which I am grateful for)
8. When he leaves me love notes!! (he is known to do it on occasion, and it's my favorite)
9. The gold flecks in his eyes! (I don't get to look at them much with our schedules and the kids, but I love his eyes they are pretty)
10. Holding his hand!!! (another thing I don't get to do that often, but absolutely love)

I could go on and on.........but I'll spare you. I just want my family to know that I love them very much and hope that they have a Happy Valentines Day!

It was a Head-on Collision

2009-02-04T11:06:00.000-08:00

Last week at my in-laws Ellie and her cousin Blake were running around the house and ended up running head-on into one another resulting in some black eyes. Ellie's eye ended up being worse than I thought so I took some pictures of her injury the past couple of days!

Day #1: Looks like she got into Mommy's make-up, it's kinda hard to see cause we couldn't get her to close her eyes (softly), but it's her left eye.

Day #2 : She did a good job closing her eye softly instead of squeezing her eye shut today, and as you can see her black eye is starting to darken up.

Day #3 : She said her eye doesn't hurt her anymore, but it is still lookin pretty good!

So a lesson to all - When your Mommy says don't run in the house maybe for once you should listen to her (Ellie Ray). Sometimes us Mommies know what we are talking about, sometimes :)

It's Already Been a Month!

2009-02-02T11:48:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that Hunter is already a month old! Time is flying by so fast, I feel like I just brought him home from the hospital! I love this little guy so much! He has brought so much love into our home and everyone loves to kiss his chubby little cheeks (especially his Mommy)!

Reunited and It Feels So Good!

2009-01-29T23:33:00.000-08:00

Here are the Moss grandkids from left to right: Austin Kahn, Logan Rauch, Carson Moss, Kayla Kahn, Blake Rauch, Ellie Moss, and Hunter Moss. It's been awhile since they have all been together, and let me tell you they were so excited to see each other! We had the privilege of having Kayla spend a couple of nights with us and Ellie was on cloud nine! The girls played dressup, had tea parties, and even let Carson tag along (thanks girls). This was also the first time that the kids had seen their new cousin Hunter. So needless to say they felt the need to show Hunter some love. What a lucky little boy :)

Blake was so excited to hold his new cousin, and he can hardly wait to be a big bro. again!

Here's Kayla and Austin showin their cousin some love!

Logan was excited too, and will be a new big brother this summer!

Even my kids wanted a turn! It really amazes me to see how much Ellie and Carson love their little brother :) What also amazes me is that Carson and Hunter are almost the same size already! My poor little small fry Carson ha, ha!

It was so great to see all the kids togther again! They all play so well together and have so much fun with each other. Thanks again Jeanette, Kayla, and Austin, and tell Chris we missed him and hope he is doing well. I look forward to June when we can see you guys again and add another cousin to this crazy bunch when Julie has her baby!

2009-01-29T13:54:00.000-08:00

This is Matthew's Grandma Moss holding our little Hunter. How grateful I am now for this precious picture of her with my son since her passing last week. It is still so surreal since we just saw her at Christmas, and besides a cold seemed fine. It is times like these that I am so grateful for the gospel in my life! Thank you for all the love you showed to our family Grandma, you will truely be missed!

My Baby Has the Blues :(

2009-01-27T22:16:00.000-08:00

So today was Matt's first day back to work after a month off with baby Hunter.We were both a little nervous, Matt to go back to work, and me to be left with the 3 kids alone for the first time. During Matt's time off Carson became very attached to his Daddy and wanted nothing to do with anyone else. So when Carson got up from his napped today and discovered that his Daddy was gone, well you would have thought the world was ending!

This is the pitiful face that I had to endure for over an hour :( ! Luckily for me when I called my Mom she heard her poor grandson screaming, and I mean screaming oh and kicking I might add in the background for his Daddy, and came to his rescue (well at least she tried ). He wouldn't even let his Mommy hold him! I kept asking him and all he could say was "No, I Daddy!".

Just so you know he isn't always like this, though he has been lately. He is normally our crazy little character with the best laugh in the whole world ( I might be bias there). My poor little guy is just having a rough time adjusting to his new baby bro. Hang in there buddy, Daddy will be home in the morning and hopefully tomorrow will be a better day :)

Carson's Broken Foot!

2009-01-05T14:34:00.000-08:00

So we have this one step in our house in the entry way that goes down into the dining room and the family room. Here both sets of Grandparents have stairs that I worry about, and my son breaks his foot tripping off the ONE step we have in our entire house!! I didn't see him fall, just heard him cry so sat with him awhile, and he seemed fine. Then it was off to church we went. When we got there I had to carry both him and Hunter into the building because we wouldn't walk. Still didn't think much about it because we often carry him into church (he tends to get really shy when in a group of people). After sacrament I carried him to nursery where he sat on the floor and played, not complaining, just not walking. I was teaching that day in Relief Society so left him crawling on the floor, playing with toys. When I got back I asked if he walked at all and they told me NO! I knew then that something was wrong (matthew is at work during all of this, lucky him) So when Matt got off of work I took Carson to urgent care to check it out. From there we were sent to x-rays, which he absolutely hated! Then my fear was confirmed HE BROKE A BONE! I was waiting for the Dr. to interrogate me for child abuse, especially with the lame story of tripping off a step, but to my surprise they didn't. So the following day we headed to Orthopedics for Carson to get his cast on :( I had to do that appointment by myself too, which I really didn't want to do! They had me strap my baby down while he screamed and they casted. After all was said and done they thanked ME for not crying, but trust me I really wanted too! So my little 2 year old sported a full length cast for a broken foot, and unfortunately I'm sure with 3 kids it won't be the last thing that breaks around here!!

This is the before picture of Carson. All smiles because he has no idea of what is in store for him!

Here's the after picture of my little pirate, a name we lovingly called him for the next few weeks. It took a couple of days for him to get use to it as he would crawl on the floor and drag the other straight legged behind him. After that he got pretty good at peg legging it around (hence the name pirate), to where it didn't really slow him down at all!

After 2weeks of him asking Matthew and I to take it off we headed back to Ortho to have his cast removed and get another x-ray. It was quick and painless, but from the look of Carson's face you would think that they were cutting off his leg along with the cast! Luckily Daddy came this round (yeah!) so he got to do all the FUN stuff! So after x-rays we decided that he needed the cast back on for another week.

So glad that Matt was there to strap him down this time, my poor baby!

So cast round 2 wasn't as bad it came below his knee, but as you can see he wasn't a happy camper. He keep telling me, "You say I take my cast off! Take it off!!" All that week whenever he would ask us to take off his cast we would tell him that we couldn't but we were going back to the Dr.'s and they would. So when he got it off, and then got it right back on again he was mad, and didn't speak to me for the rest of the day! I felt so bad :(

Here's a picture of his cast with some signatures on it right before he got it off for good! He is a much happier person to have it off, and will still ask every now and then if he has to get it back on. When I tell him no he smiles so big relieved that he finally got to "take it off!" for real :)

The Best Christmas Present Ever!!!

2009-01-03T00:09:00.000-08:00

So Christmas was really busy for us this year! Matt got home from work around 2:30 a.m. that morning, and @ 5:30 a.m. I told him it was time to go to the hospital. My parents came over to our house to watch the kids, and take pictures of them getting their stuff from Santa (the one thing I was sad I missed). So we got to the hospital @7:00, and by that time my contractions were pretty strong and all I could think about was I can't wait til I get my epidural. Well our little Hunter Thomas came @ 8:02 a.m., so needless to say I never got my epidural! I wish I could say that I was a brave girl, but I wasn't. All I could say was I CAN'T DO THIS! over and over again. But I obviously did do it (to my suprise), it was a good thing he came out quick. So our perfect little boy was the first and best Christmas present that we got this year at 8lbs. 3ozs. and 20in. long. Hunter had lots of visitors while at the hospital: Grandma Shelly, Grandpa and Grandma Moss. Oma, Papa, Ellie, Carson, Uncle Mark, Allie, and Mirissa. And Uncle Rich and Aunt Julie. Ellie is a great big sister and "loves Hunter so, so much", she says. Carson is interesdted in him for like 2 seconds and then is done; which is good cause he's still kinda rough. I can't believe he is here! It is so exciting to see our little family growing biggr and bigger. It still amazes me how you can love someone so much that you just met! We love you Hunter Thomas and are so grateful to have you in our family!

Candy Houses

2009-01-03T00:03:00.000-08:00

It is a tradition in the Wilkins Family to make graham cracker houses. So a couple of weeks ago we went over to Oma and Papa's house to make candy houses with Uncle Mark and Allie. The kids had alot of fun. Well Carson had fun eating all the goodies, but Ellie did a great job making her house and I was really impressed! I know I've said this before, but I love Christmas time; it is my favorite time of year because it's full of fun family traditions!

Happy Holidays Love the Moss Family

2008-12-31T15:26:00.000-08:00

Here is our family Christmas pictures. We gave them to the grandparents in frames who felt a little shorted since the photo is now outdated thanks to Hunter. More on our newest little joy when I get the pictures downloaded. We hope that everyone had a Merry Christmas and are looking forward to a new year full of great surprises!

Ellie's Polar Express party @ School

2008-12-24T08:29:00.000-08:00

Ellie's pre-school had a Polar Express party at school last week. Ellie was so excited for it all week. They had to show up to school that day in their pj's and special ticket to get on the "train". On their train ride they had hot chocolate and read the book the Polar Express. They also sang Jingle Bells to the Moms and Dads (well Ellie just stood there while everyone else sang, even though she sings that song at home all the time!) After singing time they got to decorate and eat cookies! When all was said and done they brought home a bell from Santa's sleigh! Ellie had lots of fun and it was really cute!

Making Cookies

2008-12-17T14:14:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we had a few friends over so that our kids could make sugar cookies together. Ellie was so excited for everyone to come over, she would ask seriously every 5 minutes where her friends were! Well the kids had a blast, and Mommy did pretty good too despite the mess! Out of all the kids I think that my 2 were the messiest (of course). Ellie's cookies were a masterpiece and a cavity waiting to happen! Not only did they have tons of frosting and sprinkles, but there were layers of it on each cookie! Then there was Carson who totally got into it, which I wasn't anticipating at all, but I should have cause he thinks he is one of the big kids and will do whatever they are doing to prove it. Most of Carson's decorations ended up either in his mouth or on his clothes, which actually made his cookies edible! Well the night was a sucess, the kids had so much fun together. So thanks to the Rodriguez and McMullin families for hangin out and having fun!

Train ride to Olvera St.

2008-12-17T01:13:00.000-08:00

On Saturday the Moss family took the train down to Olvera St. It's a tradition in the Moss/Byer family to go down there every year at Christmas to eat taquitos, and pick out a pinata that we crack open on Christmas Eve. So Matt, myself, Ellie, Carson, Uncle Rich, Aunt Julie, Blake, Logan, and Grandma and Grandpa all met at the train stationthat morning. The kids were so excited to go on the train, and even though it was a little pricey it was so much more relaxing and fun than it is to drive. When we got there we were all hungry and ate the famous taquitos which Matthew absolutely loves! To my surprise Ellie loved them too (like father, like daughter!). After lunch we went on the search for the perfect pinata. It eventually came down to a Christmas tree and a boot. As you can see the boot won! It is so big it makes Carson look tiny, but he still insisted on caring it around like the big kids did. Well we eventually made it back on the train. It was a long day especially since I am hugely pregnant, but the kids had a blast and it was well worth making great memories with my family!

Decorating for Christmas!

2008-12-09T11:03:00.000-08:00

Last weekend Matt, the kids and I got up and decorated the house for Christmas. To follow Moss tradition we had donuts and hot chocolate while we decorated our tree. I love Christmas, it is my favorite time of year! The kids had so much fun putting the ornaments on the Christmas tree (well Ellie had fun putting them on and Carson had fun taking them off!) Even though it took twice as long to decorate we had a blast and it was well worth it!

The Disney Fairies

2008-11-18T07:55:00.000-08:00

Matt and I took the kids to Disneyland last week so the kids could do something fun with Daddy before he left for Sacramento for the week. Good idea right? Wrong! As soon as we pulled into the parking lot Matthew got a call that he had to go to court! So the kids and I stayed at Disneyland while Matt went to work. By the time he came back and met up with us, the kids were asleep and I was ready to go. So much for Daddy hangin out with the kids, well at least we tried! So the next day Ellie didn't have preschool and wanted to see the fairies, and it just so happened that our "favorite fairy, Rosetta" was working that day. So crazy me went back to Disneyland, but I brought reinforcements this time, Mark and my Mom. Anyways, the fairies were so cute and Ellie was really excited that see got to see the "red one", but disappointed that the "blue one" wasn't there. I don't know why those 2 colored fairy, but whatever floats your boat I guess!

Matthew is a Hero with a Heart

2008-11-10T17:58:00.000-08:00

This past weekend Matt and I went to an awards banquet for an organization called TIP (Trama Intervention Program). The organization helps people through tramatic inccidences and nominates those service men and women rather it be Police Officers, Firefighters, Medical Professionals and so on who have gone the extra mile to be compassionate to those they come across in duty to recieve what they call a "Hero with a Heart" award. There were 13 people being honored that night (Matthew being one of them). So the organization held a banquet for these people and presented each nominee with a plaque. It was funny cause when it was Matt's turn to recieve his award they posted a picture of him in his uniform and the ladies at the table behind me all gasped saying " Oh my goodness he is sooo young!" After the awards banquet they came up to meet the oh so young officer and decided after standing next to his pregnant wife that he might be a little older than they had thought. Then when they asked him if this was going to be our first child and he said,"No our third" they were floored, and I couldn't help but smile :). At least one of us still looks like a spring chick! Well the banquet was nice and I was so proud of my husband! The only down side to this wonderful night is that it fell on the same day as our neice, Kayla's baptism. I swear Matthew and I could do nothing for months and then everything important to us falls on the same darn day! So Kayla we hope that you had a very special day! We are so proud of you and sorry that we couldn't be there!

Field Trip to the Fire Station

2008-11-10T17:38:00.000-08:00

Last week Ellie's class went on a field trip to the Fire Station. They showed the kids the fire trucks with all their cool equipment, but about half way through showing off all their gear on the truck they got an emergency call and had to leave, so the kids didn't get to see very much, or touch anything on the truck. (what a bummer huh?) But they did get to see Fireman Harry dress up in all his protective gear which the kids thought was cool. After all was said and done the kids got a coloring book and a firefighter sticker. So we told Ellie that it was time to go and she refused! We kept trying to explain to her that the trip was over, but she insisted it wasn't because she didn't see "a red one". Around here our fire trucks are yellow, and according to Ellie they should be red ( I personally agree). Ever since the field trip Ellie has talked about the firemen and how she wants to go back and see "a red one!". Well Mommy will see what she can do babe :).

Happy Halloween!!

2008-11-06T18:22:00.000-08:00

This year for Halloween Ellie wanted to be Wendy from Peter Pan, and so naturally Carson was Peter Pan ( I have to do the matching thing while they let me, cuz I think it's so cute). Well unfortunately for me they don't make Wendy costumes, and all the Peter Pan costumes were too big for Carson. So for the 3rd year in a row I made the kid's costumes for Halloween (we'll see if I am this ambicious next year with 3 kids!) Ellie was such a big helper with sewing her dress, so when it was finally done she could hardly wait to wear it!We had so many parties to go to this year between school and church, so at least their costumes got good use! By the time the trick-or-treating and parties were over we were left with so much candy I don't know what to do with it all! Unfortunately for Daddy there are alot of lollipops :) . At our ward trunk-or-treating Matt took the kids around while I passed out candy. When he came back with the kids he was all mad because when Ellie got to pick her own candy she always picked a sucker (she loves them). So we had to remind Daddy who Halloween was for ha ha!

Carson's Pre-Halloween Party

2008-11-06T18:10:00.000-08:00

Well despite all my efforts my son Carson is a chocolate lover! Not only is he a chocolate lover, but he loves anything that is sweet! Ellie is so not like that, she just barely figured out what candy and juice are. Anyways I desperately needed to take a shower the other morning and Matt was still sleeping (he works swing shift). So apparently the rule at my house is when Mom is away the children will play. I don't know where, or how he got it, but when I got out of the shower Carson had grown a chocolate beard! As you can see he had no regrets of his crime :)

Ellie's First Field Trip

2008-11-06T17:51:00.000-08:00

So our little Ellie Ray is in Pre-school! I really can't believe that she is old enough to be going to school. She had a little rocky start at first, but she absolutely loves it now! So she recently went on her first school field trip to a pumpkin patch in Irvine. Because of Matt's work schedule right now the whole family got to go on the field trip with her. We had so much fun petting the animals, riding the train, and playing in the Hay Stack Maze. After Ellie got to pick her own pumpkin. She thought and looked very hard and long for the perfect one (I think we were the last ones there :) ). Well our first field trip down, and many more to come!

Apple Picking

2008-11-06T17:13:00.000-08:00

So I am trying to start traditions in our little family, and thought that going to Oak Glen this fall would be a good idea. So Matt the kids, my parents and I went to go pick apples. It has been so hot here lately that I didn't think it would be very cold, so I packed the kids two jackets each and if it weren't for Matt I wouldn't have had one for myself. Well needless to say even , the pregnant one was freezing up there. Our pictures are decieving with the sun shining, but trust me it was cold! Even so, the kids had a blast! Ellie was so excited to be able to pick her own apples, it was cute, and Carson just loves to be outside whenever he can! So all in all we had a good time and just might have to go back next year!

Here are the Moss'

2008-11-01T20:32:00.000-07:00

So here's the Moss Family. Forever changing, forever growing. Matthew and I have been married for almost 5 years now. Matt has been working as a Police Officer for the past 2 years now, and he loves his job. Ellie is 3 years old already; I can't believe it! She is our girly girl. She loves to play dress up, paint her toe nails, and wear "lips" a.k.a. lipstick. Carson is 17 months old, also to my surprise! He is the opposite of our Ellie Ray. He is loud and rough. He is a big fan of cars, and balls, and has the best smile in the whole world! I (Danielle) am fortunate enough to be able to stay at home with the kids and be the Mommy; which I think is the best job, and hardest job ever! Like I said our family is forever changing, forever growing. We are adding to the Moss crew come January 15th, and we can hardly wait for our little Hunter Thomas to come!