October is Soccer and Pumpkins

Mason is in the green shirt, to the left of the white shirts. He's actually near the ball, which is rare for him.

Here is Jaxon (number 5) in a rare still moment. We are impressed by his stamina this year.

It's always difficult to get both boys looking and smiling at the same time. They had gigantic pumpkins!

I'm Baaaaaaack!

Where have I been? I have been knee deep, burried alive, drowning, trying to come up for air in First Grade. ok, maybe that's a little dramatic, but school started 6 weeks ago and it is kicking my butt! Why? Let's see..could be a) I haven't been in the classroom for two years; b) things have changed drastically since I left the classroom; c) I am teaching curriculum that I have never taught before; d) I am now teaching 6 year olds, and a handful of 5 year olds that will turn 6 between now and December. That's right! I am teaching 5 year olds!!!! I think that this is best described with a situation a few weeks ago. One of my yet to be 6 year olds sneezed and then stood up, dropped is head and yelled "boogers" while a stream of snot hang from his nose and dangled onto the ground. Need I say more? It's going to be a long year.

However, it has been a very successful soccer season for Jaxon and so that is what we are focussed on at the moment. He has been a goal scoring machine! He has 2 more games and then we move onto the next sport that will take up most of our free time. I think it will be basketball, which will be new for all of us in the Culcasi home. Yes, my shrimpy boys are going to take on the hoop. We will see how it goes. But you have to love them for being interested and not noticing that they completely miss the height requirement necessary to make it big.

Let's see, what else is new? Umm, not much. Life is busy and full and I wouldn't change it a bit. Except, maybe a raise. That would be good. Go union!

Back to School

My baby is in Kindergarten and he loves every second of it! Yesterday was his orientation day and today he started his first full day. He had so much fun and met many new friends. He even has another Mason in his room. So now he's known as Mason C. Jaxon is a big third grader this year. So awesome. Me, well I'm teaching first grade and let's just say it is interesting!

It's August

We all knew it would come to this. The final weeks of summer. Here comes the mad rush to fit in all the fun we missed in July, there's lots of plans to make to get ready for school, soccer is in full swing, and I have got to make some time for scrapbooking! It's going to fly by my friends. Hang on tight, it could get bumpy!

Jedi Knights in the Water

Leave it to my boys turn turn giant bubble wands into Jedi Lightsabers. They had a blast fighting the dark side inthe pool and then blowing giant evil bubbles. Summer is the best!

Things I Love About Camping

Fishing in the River

Swim rides with my baby.

Campfire stories in the tent. Only Mason would sit long enough to listen-go figure!

Jiffy Pop on the fire pit. Mason calls it "Jishy Pop"-so cute!

Nightly card games are always a favorite. The kids love to play LCR,

but only if they play for money. Kids!

Hnaging out down by the water was the only way to keep cool. The kids and the dogs ( and also the adults) splashed and swam in the water.


S'mores followed the Jiffy Pop-yummy!

Ping Pong and Horse Shoes kept the boys busy when we were out of the water.

Camping on the river gave us LOTS of rocks to climb on.

This is actually the smallest rock that he jumped from.

Cooking dinner on the campfire always tastes so good. But it's even better when someone else cooks it. Yes, that's SHAWN cooking!

The Great Outdoors

Camping trip #2 was at Washington, California. Say you've never heard of it? That's because the town has a small population of 166 people and is in the middle of the Sierra Forrest. But boy what a spectacular time we had! We headed up on Thursday about 4:30pm, arriving at 8:00pm. Just enough time to set up the tent, inflate the mattresses, and hang out at the campfire for a round of s'mores. All of us stayed different amounts of time-Michelle, Geoff, and Shawn left Sunday so they could get back to work. Michelle, Matt and Katelyn headed home Monday. Mason and I came home Tuesday afternoon. And Papa and Nana kept Jaxon and Corey until Thursday. Jaxon is my little mountain man now! 5 days was enough for me. Taking a shower and sleeping in my own bed was a welcomed comfort last night (not to mention escaping the dusty campsite)!!!