My husband the hero

 So I am sitting at the kitchen table assisting with 1st grade homework when I see smoke. Silly me checks it out but kind of half way. I looked at the park and told Gianni, "someone is probably having a picnic and using their grill." The smoke continues to fly right by our backyard. I now begin to put shoes on to go out and check, Abel comes flying in the house and tells me to get outside with the kids and he was on the phone with 911. The field behind the house was on fire! Abel took off, cell phone in hand, on his bike to follow the suspects while Gianni runs upstairs to get Carmen from her room and the three of us gather across the street. The fire was spreading very fast. Just then the neighbor across the street opened his garage and he does not even notice the fire. I yelled to the neighbor who then is surprised to see a fire and he got his hose out and quickly put it out before the fire engine arrived. A very exciting afternoon, and although the chances of the fire jumping the sidewalk are slim to none, it was a little scary to see such a big area on fire with flames.

The great thing about this is that Abel caught up with the kids and helped the police catch them. They were soon in handcuffs on the side of the road. Go honey! After the firefighters left, Carmen asked if she could play outside as Abel finished washing his car. I looked outside and this is the picture that I capture. "Mommy, one of those firefighters was a girl you know!" She is so cute and still wants to be a GIRL FIREFIGHTER!

The Casillas Family Chore Board

Over break I got to thinking. My kids are growing up and they need to take responsibility for things in the house. They are old enough to help the family keep up with the house work by doing their own share. The Chore Board was born last week. Basically, the kids and I came up with a list of kid friendly chores that they could handle. Each day they are responsible for choosing one chore from the chore board that they want to accomplish. I explained that as they get older that may go to 2 or 3 chores and that some things may eventually become expectations. Extra chores that they offer to do above and beyond the one they select each day will be rewarded at the end of the month. They get a few cents for each extra chore they do at the end of the month. The key is....they have to offer. This is not something that I ask them to do. Each day we record Carmen's chores in pink and Gianni's in blue. Each chore has a code so they don't have to write out the chore. They love it! They are constantly wanting to help. My kids fight quite a bit but when they fight over who gets to SHARK the floor.....it is music to my ears. So proud of my little guys! Here is a picture of our board. Taken on Abel's phone so not the greatest quality but you get the idea.

Enjoying the Last Few Days of Break

Well, it is back to work tomorrow. Carmen is super excited to go back to school. Gianni says he does not want to wake up early. Today we woke him up at 8am to try and get him back on schedule and he was not a happy camper. This week I really have been following my New Year's resolution. Just sort of kicking back and relaxing with the kids. Got in a few really good work outs as well. We went out for a super relaxing day with Sydney and hit the park at Verrado. The kids flew a kite and they all had a picnic lunch. It was such a beautiful day. I can't believe the amazing weather. Makes you love living in Arizona in January!

Although I didn't do much around the house over break, I had to give in and get things done. Yesterday was a very busy day. In between laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping and an evening birthday party in Chandler, Carmen spent the morning with the Pearson's so that I could see Gianni's first football game. Sarah took Carmen to her dance class and then back to her house to play with Sophia. Abel, Gianni and I headed off to Glendale for Gianni's first football game. Now, I know what you are thinking! FOOTBALL.....maybe not Gianni's thing. He is a baseball player and golfer! He actually did very well. Here he is warming up.

 Gianni Warming Up

 http://youtu.be/UN3O-CZL8PM

All of the boys did great considering it was their first time playing. The coach's son has played before but most of our team are rookies. We played a team that was super serious and totally together and the Rebels (Gianni's team) pretty much got killed 33 to 0...but they had fun and now know what things they need to work on. Gianni played center so he snapped the ball quite a bit. He also played man on man defense the entire game. He had two catches that got the team a few yards. I was very proud of him for trying a new sport.

After the game Gianni was tired and of course HUNGRY!!!!!!! He was totally wiped out. We went home to recharge with some lunch.

The kids played all afternoon while we did all of the cleaning, laundry and grocery shopping for the week. Today we are preparing for our first week back to school. I made salads for Abel and I for the week. We packed lunches and got things ready for a busy week of school. Gianni starts riding the bus tomorrow and is very excited to do something new. He will get on a bus that will take him to my school. He will arrive around 3:15 and will come to my classroom while I am still teaching. We are going to try this for a while to save money instead of paying for him to go to extended day. Well, I am off to go on a bike ride with the kids. We are trying to enjoy our last day before we start the second half of the school year.

Happy New Year!

This year we hosted our annual New Year's Eve party. It seems to grow as the years pass. Tons of good food, lots of friends and family, and plenty of laughs. Abel and I worked hard to put it all together (and I was catching a cold) but it sounds like everyone had a good time. For the first time ever I actually allowed the kids to stay up until midnight. It was hard to do, because I am such a control freak, but my husband said, "honey...just let it go....they are fine!" I could not believe they made it but they did. The ball cropped and it was off to bed.

 

 The next day was clean up day. The house was pretty much a wreck. We had a bunch of kids over and so there was a lot of work to be done.

 After cleaning up, we headed up to my mom's for a beautiful New Year's Day dinner. We had pork tenderloin, potatoes, and a spinach salad! We watched the Cardinals game and went for a swim in the pool.  Now that the party was over and I was able to slow down and relax I think my body said....."ok, give it to her now! Kick the cold into high gear!" It hit me like a ton of bricks. I have been sick for the past few days and I feel pretty gross but at least I have the next few days to recover before I have to go back to work.

In the mean time, the usual me would be using my break to clean, do laundry, stock the freezer, and go through closets. Nope, not this time. It could be because I am sick, but maybe it is the new year. Maybe this will be me for 2012. You know, at dinner my mom asked me, "do you have any resolutions or goals?" I think my resolution is to try and slow down and not always feel like I have to be perfect or be ahead of the game. I think my resolution will be to enjoy life a little more instead of making it like a never ending to do list. Now, I probably will not get very far when it comes to this and I am sure it will disappear in times of stress, but it sounds lovely!

Yesterday, the kids and I played games at the kitchen table, we did work books, and then we played outside. By the afternoon they were at each other's throats but the point is, I did not clean or do a single household task!

Today we went to As You Wish and the kids painted pottery and then we met Papa for lunch. After that I rested and read a book for a while. See.....it is a new me! Aren't you proud of me?