Regan's Dress Rehersal for the Nut Cracker

Tonight Regan had her dress rehearsal for her Nut Cracker performance next week. It was so much fun to see Lots of sweet 3-4 year old little girls running around with their tutus on excited as can be! The older girls were very serious and were so cute as they showed the little girls what to do! I had to take Collin with me since Jason was still at work and I never know how he is going to act. He won the Big Brother of the year award tonight! He was on his best behavior and was sweet as can be!!! I was very proud of both of them!!! Here are some fun pictures of our prima ballerina!

Here is a video of Regan's solo in the Sugar plum fairy part... she is so cute!!!

Nana and PaPa came to watch since PaPa will be gone next week!!

My sweet little boy!!! What a GREAT BIG brother!!!

Regan and Her BFF Abby!!

Even after a class in the morning and a dress rehearsal at night these girls still had smiles and endless energy!

Thankful!

With Thanksgiving right around the corner I thought that I would write about some of the things in my life that I am thankful for.

I am so grateful for my Eternal family and for all that they teach me.

I am thankful that doctors are not always right and for the perseverance of one little boy that over comes pain every day with a smile!


I am so thankful each time I get to see what an amazing love and friendship Regan has for her big brother as she cares for him.



I am thankful each time we have a chance to give back after all that we have received from so many amazing charities and organizations!

I am thankful for good days of just playing and doing nothing!


I am thankful to "just" be a mom. In a world where women feel that it is degrading or not enough to just be a mother. I take great satisfaction in my chaotic crazy days filled with paint, diapers, baby food, play dates, and the constant "why?" I am grateful that I can fight for a child that does not have a voice and make sure that his needs are met. At the end of the day when I collapse on my sofa and stare at the pile of laundry sitting next to me and look at my house that I have to put back together only to get torn apart again in the morning.I am grateful that I didn't miss a moment of it!

I thankful for my Faith. It is my faith that gets me through the day. It is the knowledge that we are an eternal family and even though Collin is living with this awful life threatening illness and might be taken sooner than I would like... it is not the end. I am thankful that in my hardest, scariest, and weakest times I can turn to my savior and be lifted up.

I am thankful for family. Jason and I both have amazing families that support us so much!!

I am thankful for all of my wonderful friends that lift me up and support me when they know that I am weak. I am thankful for those of you that take Regan when you know that I have gone days with out sleep because of Collin, or when I have to take him to the doctor, etc.

I am thankful for good comic relief! We love the tv show The Office in this house!!

Last but certainly not least I am thankful for my husband and best friend. He is such a good Dad and friend!! With out getting to mushy I will just put it this way. He does a TON to make sure that I can stay home. He's our hero!

Girls weekend!!

After a VERY hard week with Collin not feeling well and being aggresive not to mention fighting the school distrtict Mom knew that I needed a break. So, she invited Regan and I up for a girl's weekend. Jason was all for it and knew that I needed it as well. Regan and I woke up early and rocked out to high school musical on the way up there. After we got to mom's we had lots of fun!

Rocking out on Poppies new piano!!

We went and got our nails and toes done!

We had to make a trip to Home Depot for Ray and in true "Toye" girl fashion we had to

turn it into a comic relief until one of us almost peed!wink! The poor boys that were helping

us had no idea what they were getting themselves into.... This is what happened while we

waited for some wood.... The next and best fashion show at your local Home Depot. If you notice Regan walked the Runway, had mom and I pose, and hammed it up for the camera!

Of course a girls trip wouldn't be complete with out some shopping and food!! Thanks mom for a fun weekend!! I needed it!

Halloween fun

I am sorry for the lack of updates. Things have been crazy... ok... awful around here. Collin was VERY sick the week of Halloween. We had to put him on very heavy antibiotics. So, unfortunately Collin had to miss out on EVERYTHING. (The good thing is that we were able to keep him out of the hospital!) I didn't even finish his costume. He was going to be Elvis and make his walker a pink cadi. Life didn't stop just because Collin was sick. Regan still wanted to have some Halloween fun! Regan and daddy carved their first pumkin together, we went around to some houses in our neighborhood, and then I took Regan to our church trunk or treat and Jason stayed home with Collin. She LOVED being a butterfly ballerina!

Pumpkin Patch

When Paw and Maw were here we went to Pa's Pumpkin Patch!! Regan was VERY excited!!! Papa, Aunt CC, Uncle Max, and baby Andrea came too!! It was LOTS of fun!

Our little cowgirl!!

Our kids sure are loved!!

Collin loved the goats!!

Lots of fun with Paw and Maw!

Maw and Paw came to see us all the way from Texas the weekend before last. It was Paw's B-day so the kids made a sign and Regan insisted on putting up balloons all over to welcome him with. Regan and Maw Even made him a B-day cake together! When Collin was in school one morning we went to the beach so that they could enjoy some So Cal Beach life! wink! Regan ate it and a wave toke her out when she was playing in the water. She was not to happy about it! We all really enjoyed having them around and it is always so hard to see them go!!! I haven't been able to travel to Texas in a long time becuase of Collins Health and it is hard to not be able to see everyone. So, it is always wonderful when family goes out of their way to make a trip out here to see us!! We love you!

Can you tell that Collin was excited!!

Big Kisses for Paw!

Dad is that smog?? wink!

My sweet little girl playing in the ocean......

WIPE OUT! She went face first under a little wave.

It is hard doing things like this with out Collin... this picture just doesn't see right. Our lives can be so limited. The beach is one thing that Collin can NOT do! The UV is to high!

What a sweat heart!

Tonight Jason got home from work and did not like my wonderful gourmet idea for dinner. After a hard day with Collin Grilled cheese, veggies, and rice was about all that was going to be made in my kitchen. He made some kind of comment and then I acted like I was mad and stormed out of the room into my bedroom.

Regan: Daddy you made mommy sad!!!
Jason: What?
Regan: You made mommy's feelings sad you need to give her a kiss and say sorry.
Jason: Oh, I made mommy sad?
Regan:Yes mister you go make her feelings better and giver her a kiss.
Regan comes into the room and looks at me
Regan: Mommy here is daddy he is going to say sorry... ok daddy
Jason: Hugs, kisses... giggles
Regan: Do you want a time out? No more making mommy's feelings sad
We all laughed and dog piled on each other

The moral of the story ... If momma aint happy, aint nobody happy! Oh, and guess what we had for dinner..... Yup, grilled cheese, rice, and veggies! wink!

Fun at Disney!

With Jasson being off and lots of clouds our week would not be complete with out a trip to..... yes you guessed it... disney Land!

Fun at the Zoo

Jason took this week off of work! It has been great having him home. He has been opening another office here in Long Beach and we don't get to see him as often as we would like. So, we have been taking full advantage of having him around!!! It was cloudy and rainy this week as well.. so, yes we played LOTS! We even let Collin play hookie from school two days!! It was LOTS of fun and he felt good for the most part! Got to love good days!

We started off the fun week with a trip to the L.A. Zoo...... Here are some awards from the day!

The award for the two scariest and cutest spiders at the zoo goes to....

The award for the best smile of the day!





The award for Regan's favorite animal goes to the flamingo... because they are pink and they
hide one leg like ballerinas!





















The award for the biggest back pain goes to...

The award for the Biggest sandwich ever made!

The award for the best picture of the day goes to... Regan and her new friend. The Chimp even gave her knuckles!

Fun family night!

Abby loved bowling!

Regan loved her pink ball!

For our family home evening tonight we decided to go bowling and we invited some friends to go with us! It was lots of fun!!! We love our family nights! We bowled and the

kids LOVED it then we all

came back to our house for pizza and pie can't beat that!

Baby Lanie Cheered us on!

Collin got two strikes!

Family fun!





The Arroyo family!