The Surf is Up!

Well this is what we have been doing this summer. The kids have been surfing and having a blast doing it. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of Paige... she rides her board all by herself. She will paddle out with John and it is so cute watching them sit on their boards out in the water together waiting for waves. (It's hard for me to get photos because I'm usually under the umbrella with Olive)
John puts the boys on the front of his the long board and they paddle out. Hey! Put a life jacket on those kids!!!
Brock is our die hard. He is always telling John, "I go surfing with Daddy like Surf's Up!" He is so cute out there, he will tell John "more... more..." He loves riding the waves in.
Owen tends to be more nervous, but when he comes in he jumps up and down saying, "I did it! I went SURFING!!!"

These kids have such a good time with their dad at the beach - this has been a really fun Summer so far. We've been at the beach at least a few times a week. The hardest part is lugging ALL the stuff down to the sand. With 4 kids, 2 boards, umbrella, 2 chairs, sand toys, car seat (for Olive to sit), food, and towels... it's exhausting!

Hopefully we'll see you there! Monday nights... Doheny... FHE!

Easter

The Easter bunny came to our house again this year and the kids were super excited. They woke up to find eggs hidden all over the house and their baskets filled with special goodies. We got ready for church and the kids were all dressed in their Easter outfits. (It was a little last minute this year, and a bit more casual).... something they will wear again though. :)

After church and some naps we went to Jake & Wendy's house for an Easter dinner, Egg Hunt and birthday celebration for both Tess & Sophie. The kids had a great time!

Things I Learned This Weekend

I have learned that...
I love to dress up and even more I love the 80's. We went to an 80's Roller Skating birthday party for our friend Summer this past weekend and had such a good time. I absolutely love roller skating and I could have done it all night! Thanks Summer for a good party! (No, my hand is not on that girl's butt) One of my favorite parts about dressing up was all the 80's poses I could muster up!

John looks like a pervert with a mustache. He was a little confused on what 80's facial hair looks like. I told him one mustache Magnum PI like and he came up with this... lock up your children... right?? At one point during the night John was signaling to me across the room that he wanted a drink of my soda, all I could think of was "who is that perv trying to hit on me." (Oh, Honey!)
Brock loves to wipe his face after every bite. We went to Wahoo's the other night and he wiped his face after each bite... we thought he was so cute and we couldn't get enough of this little guy.
Not to get a dog out at a pet store unless you are looking to buy. I have told myself for years that I would wait to buy a dog till we were done having kids and I always wanted to do the Christmas Morning with a Bow thing... I can not tell you how close we were to purchasing this beauty. If the kids were behaving better we would have walked home with her that night. Instead we decided to sleep on it and I had full intentions of going back Monday night to get her. Isn't she adorable. John talked some sense into me about waiting... so, we are going to wait... (I'll admit, I'm still second guessing this decision). She is a Bichon/ Shih-Tzu mix, who is hypoallergenic and doesn't shed... and she was so calm and soft and loving and she looking at me with her big brown eyes and melted my heart... Ahhh.. the anguish I feel!
Singing Happy Birthday and eating cake a second time is just as fun as the first time... if not better! We got to celebrate John's birthday with the Lowry's and the kids loved singing! I think we blew out the candles at least 3 times.
I consider these things lessons learned!

Finally... A Post!

I know... I know... it's been forever since I have made a post - I think this is the longest I've gone. Good thing it didn't turn into a "picture posting war" with anyone! Well, here is recap of all the happenings here.
First and foremost - we got the inside of our house painted which was a nightmare but well worth it - before and after pictures are on there way Mom. Let's see... what interesting things have we been up to...

Well, last week I decided that I needed to have Owen's allergies tested. It's a long story as to why, but not as important as how sad it was to have it done. I heard of the pricking, but I have also heard of so many people that have had it done - that I really didn't think twice about it... that was until we were in the middle of getting it done. The poor guy cried so hard I even got a little choked up during it all. They pricked his poor little back almost 50 times. It must have been torture. When it was done he was fine and he only has a handful of "mild" allergies. The big red spot under the "H" is what a severe allergic reaction would look like - notice only a few red dots here and what were those?? Oh yeah, that would be EVERYTHING he eats - chicken, beef, turkey, milk, peas... Oh Boy!

This last weekend we went up to John's nephew's baptism and enjoyed some family fun time. The cousins had a large ugly lizard and a King snake. John has been talking about getting Owen a snake for a while now and I keep saying that he is too young to take care of it.Owen was definitely fascinated with the snake, but he wanted to hug it and kiss it - um... maybe he needs a dog or better yet a stuffed animal - you don't want to hug a snake too tight! John was so into the snake - I would notice he was gone only to find him upstairs alone holding the snake. I have to say the snake is way cool, but when Owen was done he just flung it off him... um... yeah-no!Today I tried taking some photos of the kids on our front porch for a special Father's Day surprise... it didn't go so well - time for Plan B!Tonight John took Paige on another date night. He's been trying to take her consistently each month (for the past 6 months or so), but sometimes it ends up being every 6 weeks or so. They do fun things like go to the mall, get sample make-up put on at the MAC counter, go to dinner, buy tacky jewlery that Paige pickes out, see a movie - you know... whatever. Paige always dresses herself (she always wears a dress) and does her own make-up (usually a ton) and hair - who am I to say how she should dress when she is trying to look her best for her Daddy Date? Sometimes, I just have to look away as they walk out. John is always very sweet to her - he opens the car door, holds her hand and tries to teach her how she "should be treated" when they are out. It's a bonding time for them and well, let's be honest - Paige doesn't need "Daddy Issues." Tonight they went to the Spectrum, road the Big Wheel, shopped for a necklace (I'll have to get a picture of that) and went to a new cupcake shop (to compete with Sprinkles) called Sweet Lorraines I think it's safe to say they had a great time.

Lastly, here is Brock - seriously, this guy melts my heart... and look at those teeth!

Swim Lessons Again

Summer is just around the corner and what better way to get ready then swim lessons. We plan to go swimming a lot this summer and this kid here needs to be SWIM READY!!
The sad thing about this photo here is that he must have held this position for 5 minutes while each kid took their turn diving in the water... poor Owen was last, but he did it - we still have one more session so hopefully he can become a stronger swimmer!
This guy will be swallowing gallons of water gasping for air and still come up smiling.
Can't wait for the weather to warm up and Summer to begin... oh wait, am I really ready to get in a swim suit?!?

Spring Break '08

What do you get when you put 5 kids 5 years and under in a car and drive for 12 hours? Madness!
Here is a LONG recap of an EVEN LONGER story of our EXTRA LONG road trip. So get comfy and sit back... here we go!
Adrienne and I headed off last Sunday and set off for what we hoped to be an easy drive to visit the kids Grandparents 12 hours away. Ahh... what it's like to drive with a car full of excited kids all under the age of 5. We got off to a slow start having to stop for potty breaks and dinner, but we got to our overnight destination just late enough for all the already sleeping kids to go back to sleep. After a night over we spent the week with our families. Oh yeah, it SNOWED! ... nice. Oh yeah, and before I forget - the way home was much worse, but I just can't even begin on that!
Here are the kids late at night trying to get some energy out in a casino parking lot. It was super windy, but they had fun running around and getting their wiggles out! Even Brock got into the mix... are those jammies he's in? yes, and oh no - Ezra is taking after Britney going shoeless and all!
Our trip wouldn't be complete without someone getting sick. The night we left Brock broke out with a fever... here we are sleeping at our half way point and Brock feverish... he ended up fighting this fever most of the week - poor guy just wasn't his self! Once we got there it was all about playing with the cousins and Lucy. Here Grandma took all these kids on a walk with the dog... Um... can someone tell my husband we need to invest in warm clothes for the kids - poor Owen was stuck with Ryann's purple coat. It was really cold though - so he suffered through it.
Trip to the toy store... having fun with hats.
There was this fabulous park near my parents house. I couldn't help but think of all the fun I would have had playing tag here - there were all types of tunnels and stairs - it was pretty cool looking.
Here were some Beehive shaped caves for the little ones to hide in. OH! Let's not forget the earthquake like balancing platform... try and knock these two off - they were pretty good about keeping stable. I have to say it wouldn't be a fun vacation without seeing Uncle Joe and Aunt Tracy... Joe is so good with the kids and they all love him. (Joe so sorry we missed your band playing - I was so looking forward to it) After each long day of playing these two would crash every night in Grandma and Grandpa's bed - then we'd move them to their bed. How cute are they - they may fight some times, but they sure do love each other!
It wouldn't be a trip to Grandpa's house without going by his work and shooting at the firing range! I got pretty good, if I do say so myself... oh and the kids played too! The sisters went shopping and out to lunch - to keep the kids on their best behavior Pony rides were offered as a reward! Good job kiddies... Owen needs to work on staying next to mom - the kid tends to run off!
One of the highlights was getting together with the cousins for dinner and guitar hero! Can I just say how much fun it was to see all of you! Too bad Emily had to go home sick and miss all the fun... speaking of Emily!
We decided enough was enough of the posts... seriously I had many other things to post about and I had to keep making them about her - ahhh... well I told her I had to do one more to make it even - so here is my darling sister, beautiful as ever! Love you Em!

Valentine's Day Our Way

We started the day off with Valentines parties at both Kindergarten and Preschool. I could only go to one of them so I picked my favorite child and went there.... j/k. I wasn't invited to Owen's party and since I don't get to help in Paige's class that often - I try to go to the events that I can.
I went to the party with a mission. The mission was, if I choose to accept it - which I did, to take a photo of Trevor (the "Love Note" kid) without being noticed. I'm afraid that his mom already thinks we are stalkers (I may have neglected to blog about Paige's other Love Notes dropped off at his house) so I was to be stelth. This is the best shot I could get. Yes, she still talks about him constantly, but in good taste she plays it cool around him. I was impressed.
I was glad to be the one picking up today because the kids (we carpool with Mason) came out wearing the cutest hearts over them. Luckily I still had my camera in my pocket from my earlier mission. On the back was a cute poem that said... "This Valentine I'm giving you, Don't put it on a shelf. It's something you can hold and love. I'm giving you myself." I about cried it was too cute.
Well it wouldn't be Valentine's day without some home-made treats. We decided to make a cake for Daddy. Paige and her cousin Fletcher helped frost it and all the kids helped douse it with sprinkes.
Wha-la! "The Best Cake Ever," according to Owen. Can I say that I was impressed with our efforts. The kids also made valentines for their dad - Owen refused to make one for me. I asked a couple times and he said, "no, Daddy." Alrighty then.
Don't worry the day wasn't going to pass without Paige making a special delivery to Trevor's house. Lucky for us he wasn't home so after ringing the bell a few dozen times, she left it on his doorstep. Oh Trevor I swear we are not stalkers, but this girl has a mad crush and if you only knew how often she wanted to drop by... well you get the point.
And finally it wouldn't be Valentine's Day without a dinner out... with the kids to Chuck E Cheese - yep that was our night. It was actually pretty fun, Brock had so much fun playing on this firetruck with no tokens in it. Don't you love that stage - when it was fun just to play on a toy without dumping $$$$ into it only to have it wiggle and jiggle for 28 seconds before we have to dump more $$$$. Good boy!
Happy Valentines Day!

Puppy Love

Here is the most adorable puppy ever!! My next door neighbors got this puppy "Sammy" for Christmas and my kids just can't get enough of her. She is so tiny and cute and just the sweetest thing. The kids hung out on Saturday and I loved getting kisses from Sammy. I think the only one who loved her more than me was Owen.
As much as I would love to get a dog, and I think about it a lot - I know that it is just not the right time for our family. I think my kids would crush it or drop it or something horrible - not to mention I can hardly get us all ready and out there door - feeding one more face and potty training another would put me over the edge. I can't even get Owen to poop on the potty half the time. But here she is and how cute is that.

Paige was in heaven riding around in this car. Yeah... good one - she wishes she was 16 and could drive. I told her she needs to be a mommy to drive. :)
We put this swing in our garage for Brock to sit in while the kids play out front riding bikes and scooters. Not that he looks happy here - but I think he likes it.

Happy New Year!!!

Ok, so can I pull these pictures out in 2021 when all these kids will be between 16 and 18 years old... and this will just be hilarious. We sure did party it up and the Brian's were nice enough to host us all. It was a TON of fun!! The kids partied all night in the playroom/3rd car garage while the adults talked the night away. Originally games were planned, but I think everyone had more fun just talking.
Paige, Cate, Clare, Avery, Cina, Leah, Eliza, Owen and Kate. Poor Owen and all these girls... anyone got any boys out there???? We need some play dates. Oh and no, Avery was not the hired entertainment... but she sure does look foxy in that dress. I guess she takes after her mom, j/k Christy! (Where are Gabe, Alex and Londyn?)
It wouldn't be the new year without a kiss.... Owen planting one on Londyn.

Christmas Celebration

We had such a busy Christmas but it was a lot of fun. For Christmas Eve we had family over at our house for dinner, decorating cookies, decorating the "Christmas Train", hot chocolate and a Nativity program put on by Adrienne. I think the kids had a blast!!! We sure enjoyed watching them have fun and we all loved the Nativity. Paige was "Mary", Fletcher was "Joseph", Kate and Owen were the "Wise Men" and Skylar was the "Angel" - a sassy Angel at that too. Savanah narrated for us all. Here are some pictures from the night.
Here is the gang after they finished decorating the Christmas Train!!! All aboard!!!
Owen couldn't get enough of the cookies - They were pretty scary - I think the Angels looked more like Bats and the stars looked more like sea creatures!
Our Nativity program.
The kids got to open one gift on Christmas Eve. Take a guess? PJ's.
Brock in his new pajamas. Lookin good little one!
Just before bed we left out the best of the best cookies for Santa. Then the kids were off to bed.

Christmas Day we opened gifts as a family and then went to Jim and Adrienne's home for Christmas Day dinner. There was so much good food there. And we were able to enjoy the company of the Zimmermans, Lowrys, and the Brians. Too bad I forgot to take pictures then.