Smore Sistas!

Well EMILY, I am back and updating (thank you very much). We have had a busy last couple of weeks but it has been very fun! My sister Tracy was here for 10 days and then just recently my sister Elena came down for a few days. It is so nice to have family here (don't worry Wendy - love you too :)), but it was great visiting with my other two baby sisters. This past weekend we went down to the beach and had a bonfire. I absolutely love bonfires at the beach except for ONE thing... that would be the STENCH that radiates off of a person afterwards. Ugh! Here is Elena with all the kids preparing for some smores... yum... right?

Paige was rockin' the smores and loved to make cozy beds on the chairs and look up at the stars. This really makes me excited for summer.
Owen loved it! He would dance to the music (our fellow bonfirers) and run around like he was right out of lord of the flies... what a cutie!
Hey - anyone up for another Bonfire? This was a lot of fun - next time we need to do foil dinners!!!

7 Years Strong!

Seven years and going strong. I can't wait to see what is in store for us next. Happy Anniversary Honey!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter Everyone!!! We had such a great Easter - not only was it my "Free Day" (for those of you who know about the program) but it was a really fun day and the kids had a great time. The day started with a wonderful surprise from the Easter Bunny. He not only left the kids baskets full of goodies, eggs were hidden too. (We have a nice neighbor a few houses down named Cori - she hid some eggs out front for the kids and our neighbors... it was really cute and nice of her). Here is our family just before going to church. Are we seriously all matching??? Um... guess so - the kids were planned and it just kinda worked out for John and me. The family came over to our house for Easter dinner - all that work and not one picture of the fabulous meal... seriously?? Thanks Jenny, Adrienne, Wendy and Tiff for all your help. After we stuffed ourselves we went over to search for more eggs near our home. The kids were all ready to go. It's so funny how these kids have different preferences... Owen was after anything Chocolate (that's my boy), little Ezra just wanted to throw all the eggs back, Kate was so sad just at the thought of the hunt being over and Paige, Skylar and Savanah were after the money. Yes there was a golden egg with $10 in it and Savanah found it. Paige found an egg with $5.00 so I told her she was lucky. That bunny sure is generous!
Owen hunting...
Paige hunting...

Brunch With Great-Grandma

(Brock, Great-Grandma, Sophie & Tess)
Since my sister Tracy was in town we decided it would a nice time to visit with Grandma. So right after dropping the kids off at school Brock and I darted up to see her and met up with Wendy & Tracy. Lucky for all of us Grandma is still as spunky as ever. We had a great time visiting with her and she even flirted with the server telling him he was the best looking one in the restaurant. We tried to convince her to leave the 25 year old her number, but she wouldn't be persuaded. Oh come on Grandma! This women loves to cruise - I say next time we go with and help her scope out the guys! All aboard!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Run PAIGE Run!!!

This last week Paige had her very first Jog-A-Thon. She did so great and I was so proud of her. I went there to help out and mark the kids as they ran by. I think they had a lot of fun running.
Here she is taking a water break at the same time as Trevor. Hmmm... could that be planned??? Ok, for the first time I saw what she sees in him. When they started the race Trevor took off in a full sprint and darted out in front of everyone. Some of the moms were saying their boys were tired but didn't want to quit because they wanted to keep up with Trevor. Oh, I see Trevor is the athlete and the one that everyone wants to be friends with. So Paige is after the "popular boy".... hmmm....
Mason, Lauren and Paige after the run. Mason said he got sweaty and was tired. Paige said, "I'm not tired!" The girl ran 13 laps in 20 minutes... not bad when the numbers on her back only went up to 12. I guess Trevor ran 14... almost Paige... almost!

Bravery or Foolishness?

This weekend we did some things that made me wonder are we brave or just plain foolish? On Friday I watched Kate & Ezra (Adrienne's kids) and Avery (one of Christy's) for a couple of ours. Paige was still at school and it was such a nice day - I thought, why not walk to the park? I had one rule for the kids, everyone rides there and back - I wasn't going to carry any scooters or anything. All 5 kids road there via tricycle, scooter or stroller. I saw Trevor's mom (of course) and she pulled over to ask what I was doing... running a day care? I said no - just going to the park! The kids had a blast riding there and back, although there was a little confrontation over who was in front. Everyone took there turn of being "first."


On Saturday John was scheduled to get his wisdom teeth out. Yeah, at 33 he is finally getting those huge teeth pulled. The dentist recommended it since there was a huge cavity and they are so hard to get back there and clean. I didn't find out until Friday night that John had decided not to get put under. Apparently our insurance didn't cover it and he just thought that it wasn't worth the money. So with only local anesthesia and some laughing gas he came out 20 minutes later wisdom teeth free!

So in the end were we brave or foolish? The park was a success - we made it there and back with no melt downs and lots of smiles. John's wisdom teeth retraction went smoothly - he said on a scale of 1 - 10 it was only a 2. And, with all that could have gone wrong, things turned out "all in all" very well!

Lagging Lately

Well I have been totally lagging on the blog and there is one main reason... this...
We have spent almost every day outside lately. The kids are just loving the time they have to ride bikes, scooters and run around. It's hard to tell in this photo (taken while sitting in my garage) of the kids across the way sitting on the ground sharing a moment together, eating a cookie and being so sweet to each other. (I know they are practically impossible to see). We have had so much fun getting off the couch and outdoors.
Paige is getting so good on her bike - she is a natural. Owen is trying his hardest to keep up on the scooter. If you are looking to spend some time outside, bring over your bikes and scooters and enjoy the sun with us.

Now on to my little Owen. I swear this kid grew into a big boy over night... or should I say one morning. Here is a picture of what he looked like just a month ago...
And here he is now! I swear he looks so old to me I can hardly recognize him. We were at the park the other day and as I would scan the park looking for him I looked right past him a couple of times. This hair cut was due to a few bad hair cuts...
I have to say I miss his long golden hair. I just loved it - I use to hold him in my arms and run my fingers through his hair - now it's so short and rough to the touch. Oh well, hair grows back right?