A few minutes of downtime...

8:45 PM 4 Comments »
Last night as I was laying in bed, I decided to check out my blog and look back on what we were doing last december. It's always fun to see how much the kids have changed. Gabby wasn't even close to walking and I was beginning to get anxious about sending Cam to Kindergarten. And yet, here I sit and our new "normal" of having a full-time walk/runner/getting-into-everything-er and an almost 6 year old boy who despises homework seems like what we've been doing for ages. Weird how that works out, isn't it?
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Anyhow, I took my math final last Saturday and am anxiously awaiting my grade. Nguyen and I have a bet going...If I get an A in the class, I owe him $100 and if I get a B, he owes me a Ben Franklin. This is because he says I always doubt myself and I always end up doing better than I assume. Just this once, I hope I lose the bet. :)
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That being said, for the next six weeks, I am a free bird! No late night homework. No Saturday test-taking...nothing. It's just me, my family, and whatever we want to do! I love it and I am cherishing being lazy.
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As for the rest of the Phamily...they're all doing great. I am happy to report that we have been fairly healthy (knock on some wood for me!) and the only recent "urgent care" trip we've had to take was for this dude:
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Turns out he had a case of Kennel Cough which is not really a big deal except sometimes it can turn into pneumonia (what's with my babies and pneumonia?!) and Sir Cain was running a nice little fever so the vet treated it as so. Since he's been on meds, the coughing has stopped and he's back to his normal, goofy, HUGE self. Speaking of huge: Cain weighed in at 98.5 pounds and the vet said she'd like to see him put on a few more pounds in the next couple of weeks (whaaa?) so we've been adding 3 cups of puppy food to his EIGHT cups of adult food PER DAY. That's right folks...11 cups of dog food per day. Let's just say the pet store knows me by name now. Oh, and you know how there's those "pooper scooper" businesses out there now where they'll actually come out to your house once a week and scoop your dogs poop? I'm calling them tomorrow. My backyard has never seen more mountains! Blech!
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Cam, as of today, is OFFICIALLY on winter break. The kid is ecstatic. And it's not because he gets to stay home with me and Gabby...it's because he doesn't have to do homework for 14 days. I'm going to be in BIG trouble in a couple of years.
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Gabbers is still her ornery little self and has recently discovered the art of a "time-out." I was quite shocked the first time I made her sit down on a time-out and she actually sat there for two full minutes...quietly. She's recently learned to make her displeasure known amongst anyone fortunate enough to witness the T.O. but I think it's making an impact...sort of. This girl of mine is getting so big. There's been talks of saying bye-bye to the crib and I can hardly bare to think about it but I'm pretty sure she's ready. :(
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I can't believe Christmas is just around the corner. I can't wait to see the kids tear into their gifts this year. So exciting! The year has gone by so fast and before I know it, I'll be another year older. Crazy.
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Well, I think that's enough from me...I should try and get to sleep before 1:00am (a very trying task lately...not sure why) so goodnight and sweet dreams. We're going to visit the aunties and G-G-Ma in the morning for our annual cookie-palooza and I need to get my rest!


The Outtakes...

4:23 PM 3 Comments »
My best friend, Tiffany, took some amazing shots of the kids for our holiday cards this year. She recently gave me a disc with all of the photos from our session and there were some real gems among the bunch. Enjoy!
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I love these...they capture my children so, so well. Thanks Tiff!

The Polar Express 2010

3:05 PM 6 Comments »
We recently had the pleasure of hopping aboard "The Polar Express" for a one hour train ride to the North Pole. This has been something I have been wanting to do for the last three years but tickets literally sell out within an hour and I have missed it EVERY time...until this year!
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If you've never seen the movie, you really need to rent it ASAP because it is an awesome story and is by far one of Cameron's favorites. I mean, can you blame him? Trains? Christmas? Santa? The North Pole?!! What's not to love?
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Our train wasn't departing until 8pm which I knew was going to be rough on someone in particular...
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But she was a trooper and did a great job of staying awake and being pleasant. Before our ride, we went out to dinner with our neighbors (who were joining us for the ride) and informed Cameron what is was that we were actually doing. I'm sure fellow parents can relate when I say I did NOT want to let him in on this fantastic adventure too soon, otherwise we would never stop hearing "Is it time yet?! Are we there yet?!" Needless to say, Cam was ecstatic when we finally broke the news.
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"Ahh...now I understand why we're in our jammies at a restaurant!"


Here's Gabby with "Mr. Max," our neighbor. I'm pretty sure she had no idea what the Polar Express was but judging by this photo, you'd think it was her favorite movie too!
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With "Miss Tamra."

Finally we got on the train and Cam was a ball of excited, nervous energy.
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Gabby was just happy we were all cozied up together so she could hop from one person to the next, getting in lots of cuddle time with anyone she could.

This is Cam with his good friend/neighbor, Tessa. She's also in the same Kindergarten class.

As soon as we started moving, the soundtrack from the movie started playing and out came the tap-dancing servers with hot chocolate and cookies!
Yummy!



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Gabs was starting to feel the effects of partying like a rockstar about 30 minutes into the ride...


Shortly after we arrived at the "North Pole," the Jolly Old Guy walked in and the train went crazy with excitement!

And then there was this guy (and if you've seen the movie, you'd know he's a ghost who doesn't "believe." He gave Cameron a bag of coal and Cam thought that was way better than the jingle bell he got from Santa.
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Soon after these photos, the train ride came to a close and we got out to check out the train and to go have a talk with Santa. I wish I had those pics to share but they should be arriving in the mail any day now. I'm sure it will be "Wordless Wednesday" worthy. Lets just say Santa isn't Gabby's favorite person!
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All in all, it was a fun ride and I know Cameron had an absolute blast. I love the age he's at right now. He believes everything and there's so much imagination floating around in his little mind. Can't wait for next year!

Wordless Wednesday...creative genius!

9:28 AM 8 Comments »





Team Gabalicious 2010!!

9:40 PM 8 Comments »
The 2010 "Steppin' Up for Down Syndrome" event was this past weekend and boy, did we have a blast! "Operation Glitter" was in full effect in the Pham house the night prior to the walk. I'm still finding glitter in my hair, in Gabby and Cam's hair, Cain and Sammy's- you name it. We're forever bedazzled!
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Aunt Nutty and G-Ma spent the night on Saturday along with our good friends, Chrystal and Malea and I put them to work. I was bound and determined to win the "Most Spirited" award again this year. I probably made 5+ trips to Joann's, 1 trip to Michael's, 2 to Target, and 1 to the dollar tree to collect "spirit gear." We even had a dress rehearsal:
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Cameron was a little jealous of our homemade tutu's and asked to try one on. Nutty says this will be a great photo for the slide show at his wedding one day ;)
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The morning of the walk, we woke up and started getting our "Gabalicious" on. Check out the G-Girls!
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Daddy couldn't resist the orange and purple princess. She was downright delicious and ever-so-happy to be wearing that tutu!
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Family photo!

We arrived at the walk and were greeted by family and friends that were a little more punctual than we were. This is "Miss Dawn" from our local grocery store and her beautiful family. Miss Dawn is BY FAR Gabby's favorite person in the whole world. I don't know what it is- actually yeah I do- Miss Dawn is the sweetest and we cannot leave the store without lots of hugs and loves from her.
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How cute are Chrystal and Miss Malea? They both rocked the tutu's like nobodies business!


Aria and Taysia!

Aunt Mo' and Aunt Nutty!

I love this picture- my little halftime dancer.



Cheese!!









Passing out yummy treats to her team!

Me and my mama.




She wasn't having a good time at all- Can you tell?

Auntie T with Licious'.


Finally, the walk began and our team was looking A-MAZE-ING. Do you see this spirit? It was so fun! We chanted and cheered throughout the entire one-mile walk and Gabby thought there was nothing better in the world. I have to agree.



You can't tell in this picture, but I think our team was about 40+ and EVERYONE was decked out from head to toe in purple in orange. It was quite a sight.

My bubs can't take a pic without this face lately... and I love it.

After the walk, we hung on the blanket waiting for the award ceremony for most spirited.


We were informed we were one of the three finalists for the award and we were to report to the stage in a few minutes so I gathered up the teammates that weren't waiting in line for food, or in the bathroom...or at Starbucks across the street...
and we screamed!

And after ALL of that...the glitter, the tutu's, the cheers, the toe-touches, the push-up contest I witnessed Chrystal performing during the walk...we lost.
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I can't believe it. I told myself I wasn't going to post about it but I can't look at these pictures and share them with the world and let everyone know that we actually lost. Oh well though...you don't even want to know what's in store for 2011! We had fun and raised a lot of money and awareness and that's what it's really about!
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And so again, I want to thank everyone who joined our team, and/or donated! We reached our goal of raising $2000 and I am so proud of us all! We couldn't have done it without you.
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Team Gabalicious ROCKS!