"Date Night with the Kids"

Payton has been counting the days for the SEES Daddy Daughter Dance. But, she was even more excited than she was last year. This time she will have her daddy all to herself, she doesn't have to share him with anyone at the dance (She had some jealousy issues last year). Our sweet Madison has graduated from SEES and no longer can attend the dance with them. Madison was fine because she is now able to join R.J. and I on our dates. This year the Dance's theme was a Sock Hop. Rob and Payton dressed to the Ts. She looked adorable in her cat eye glasses and saddle shoes. Rob looked like he was back in high school again with his old Letterman's Jacket, and it still fit! Being on the year book staff has its benefits, I got to be the photographer for the dance. I loved seeing all those cute girls cutting a rug with their daddies. R.J. and Madison also volunteered at the dance and passed out Cold Stone Ice Cream. After picture duty it was time for our date! Madison, R.J. and I went to dinner at Pizza Nova. I love the dinner conversation with these two, you can find out a lot of information when you get them started. After, we went to see the movie, The Tooth Fairy. We all ended up having a great time on our dates. I hope the kids enjoy these date nights as much as we do. They are growing up so fast I just hope these dates don't end too soon!

"Simple Pleasures"

It's the little things that my kids love most! Grandma and Grandpa Melendez always know how to make the kids feel special and loved. And it doesn't take BIG actions, It's the little ones that my kids will remember most. My kids do realize how lucky they are to have such great, hands on grandparents. One of the "Simple Things" my dad likes to do is take the kids to "Slurpie Land". Slurpie Land is really 7-11, but he made up that name for the kids to make it more fun. Now my kids call all 7-11 Slurpie Land. It's so hard for my dad with his

health to go and do things for long periods of time. So, Slurpie Land is the perfect field trip for Grandpa to take the kids on. They love it! They get to pick any flavor they want and Grandpa loves to spoil them this way. Grandma also has her special ways to show her love for the kids. When the kids are at their house they are stuck to her. She plans activities and just spends time with them. Payton, Madison and R.J. learn so much from her. She lets them try everything with cooking, gardening, cleaning hammering, nailing and different projects she's working on. And it doesn't have to be perfect as

long as it's done with love! She is an angel with the kids and my kids appreciate her for all that she does for them. I am so grateful my sweet parents are still on this earth to teach my children all the things they taught me! And the best part is watching it and seeing the love in my children's eyes that they have for their grandparents. I am so happy my kids have learned to love the "Simple Pleasures" from them!

"Valentine's Day"

This Valentine's Day was a little bit different. Usually Rob and I do something romantic together but, this year we spent it with the whole family. Madison had a soccertournament in Orange County so we ended up staying at Grandma and Grandpa's house. That Sunday we woke up the kids and presented them each with little gifts of love. Rob gave me a Little Blue Box that had a beautiful silver bracelet with a heart charm. I gave Rob a Giants Jacket. Later that day my parent's had a Valentine's Day dinner

at their house. Most of my sisters, brothers and their families came to join in the love fest. This Valentine's Day was a special one, it

was so good to be surrounded by all the people who I love and care about!

"Energizer's Sectional Playoffs"

The Energizers and their family's traveled to Garden Grove for the Sectional Playoffs. I think it was more about the fun than winning the games. We all stayed in the Crown Suites Hotel, they were the official hotel of the tournament. They had our team's picture displayed on a big screen t.v. The hotel was nice and the girls loved swimming and having fun all together. I think being all together boosted team morale. Madison also had an entourage to support and cheer her on. Grandma and Grandpa Melendez and Marie, Omar, Nico and baby Sammy all came to the games. It was so nice hearing the words of encouragement

they yelled to her on the field. We ended up losing the first game. That finally ended our undefeated season. The next game we ended up in a tie. All these teams were very good and

very stiff competition. Later that night we had our team party at Oggi's Pizza hosted by Team Mom Michele. She did a fabulous job. She always puts the finishing touches on everything and made the party so special for everyone! Early the next morning

we headed out on the field one more time to keep us in the game. It didn't go our way once

again, we tied again. That was the end of our run. Our season was finally over. It was bitter sweet. We wanted the team with the biggest heart to

continue on. But, our girls were growing tired. They have been playing soccer since August. After the game we celebrated the season by going to breakfast with

Grandma and Grandpa at the hotel. It was a great weekend even though we d

idn't win. Those girls did their best and played their hardest. We couldn't have been more proud!

"I Can See Clearly Now"

For the past few weeks Madison has come home every day from school with headaches. She was in a lot of pain and was tired of it happening all the time. The first thought to jump in my my mind was "TUMOR"! After talking with a few people and not jumping to anymore conclusions we thought, Glasses. She must be straining her eyes! So, I got her an appointment with Dr. Joyce. He thoroughly ran all the typical tests on Madison. Come to find out Madison is "Focusing" too much. He also said

she has a slight Stigmatism in the right eye. Madison needs to learn to relax her eyes when she is on the computer, reading or doing homework. Wearing the glasses will help her accomplish this. The best part of the

appointment was picking out her frames! She tried on several and decided to go with a black pair that has aqua on the inside. She looks absolutely adorable and stylish. Too bad she only has to wear them when she's doing stuff up close.

I also was able to order new glasses! It's about time I start taking care of my eyes too.