Life with four ladies...and one little man.

Art Contest

2012-01-28T21:48:00.000-07:00

Ava won her age division for 2-D art. She enjoyed making this by splattering paint onto a canvas in the backyard. Ruined her coat FYI.

Lainie made me these words out of twist ties from the produce section of the grocery store. For her project she painted a canvas and glued on the words.

Anna's project took forever, but turned out so nice. She loves anything to do with art.

So proud of each of my girls for their hard work.

Early visit from the toothfairy

2012-01-12T21:21:00.000-07:00

As I was tucking Ava into bed one night, she was complaining about her lip hurting. I inspected it, but couldn't see anything wrong. I suggested she go to bed and that a good nights sleep would make it feel better. Boy, was I ever wrong!! The next morning she woke up with a swollen face. I felt terrible. We immediately called the dentist. She ended up having to have a tooth pulled and she was put on a antibiotic. Her face was swollen for 4 days. An early visit from the toothfairy made it all better though.

Lils

2012-01-12T21:20:00.000-07:00

just plain cute.

welcome 2012

2012-01-11T21:05:00.002-07:00

It's a brand new year and the babes will be turning 3 in March. So guess what we've been doing this week?

I've been buying diapers for 10 years. Can't believe I'm done!

Christmas Sunday

2011-12-25T20:16:00.001-07:00

Sunday morning the kiddos woke up, ran downstairs to SEE their spoils then back upstairs to get ready for church. Once church was over, we could not get out of their fast enough. The kids were so anxious. Didn't matter though, Paul worked Christmas Eve and wouldn't be home until 10:30. Once he was finally home the fun began.

The kids in their Sunday best.

then onto the gifts.

And btw, Santa does put COAL in stockings of the naughty kids. Here's proof.

It was a great day spent with family. I am however, feeling quite overwhelmed with stuff. The next few weeks will be spent cleaning out and donating...one of my favorite things.

sugar cookies

2011-12-19T20:08:00.001-07:00

I was too lazy to make ginger bread houses this year, so we did sugar cookies instead.

Anna's gift to herself was this cookie.

Lainie was concentrating so hard that she didn't have time to say cheese.

Lily LOVESSSSSSS sprinkles.

Ava-always ready for a picture.

and then there's Owen. Enjoying some frosting for himself.

Family Photos

2011-12-17T12:37:00.003-07:00

These two people...

Made these beautiful babies.

Anna 9. Creative, intelligent, witty, dependable.

Lainie 7. Talkative, caring, joyful, smart.

Ava 5. Photogenic, energized, confident, sociable.

Owen 2.5 nonstop, charismatic, determined, protective.

Lily 2.5 Patient, sweet, silly, affectionate.

From our family to yours...Merry Christmas!

(Many of you will receive this photo in the mail around New Years as I just ordered them last night.)

Obsessed with Dora

2011-12-11T12:06:00.000-07:00

This is not an open invitation for all you grandparents to start sending Lily Dora stuff. This particular gem was given to Lily by the Brewers when they moved. Thanks Kath.

Disney Day 3

2011-12-08T12:00:00.000-07:00

Last day was spent hitting a few we missed and all our favorites a few more times.

We were pooped and freezing after 3 days of spinny fun. I'm hoping to take a break from Disneyland for a few years before we come back with the twins.

Disney Day 2

2011-12-07T23:52:00.000-07:00

Met up with my gal pal Jess and her family who recently moved from WA to CA. So fun having even numbers on rides!

Just a bit of info on that last pic. Ava remembered Splash Mountain from last year and wasn't excited about going at all. The only reason she went on it was because she wanted to be in the picture at the end. The entire way through the ride she was screaming and wanted to get off. I told her it was too late and we tried to get through it. Well, right as we were going up the climb before the big drop she really starts freaking out and I grab her and put her in the section where I am...all of the sudden, the ride stops and a man comes out of the darkness and says I can't do that. Awesome. I stopped splash mountain.

Disneyland Day1

2011-12-06T23:44:00.000-07:00

Our first ride of the day while waiting for Ca. Adventure to open...space mountain.

In the Astro Orbitor. Not my favorite ride, but Ava loves it.

Onto Cal Adventure..
We LOVED the new Toy Story Mania ride. Didn't love how long the line was though.

Such a fun day.

Jana Visits

2011-12-03T23:39:00.000-07:00

My little sis and her family came to town from DC. It was so great seeing her again and meeting my 1 year old niece Nyah. We went to Jumping Jacks, had a girls night out to see the latest addition of the twilight series, and ran a 10K together. So fun.
Me and my lil sis.

Lainie and cousin Maylie

The kids enjoying some jump time @ jumping jacks.

Aldridge Family

2011-11-26T20:26:00.003-07:00

The Aldridge side of Paul's family came to visit over Thanksgiving. We were missing Nicole and family and also TJ. I really wish both sets of Paul's parents lived closer than Alaska. :)

Baby Triton

2011-11-25T12:13:00.000-07:00

Lainie loves her new cousin.

Playing Beauty shop

2011-11-24T22:53:00.001-07:00

After we gorged ourselves with Thanksgiving deliciousness all day long, we headed over to Loni's salon where my girls and Barb got a little trim. The girls thought it was the best thing ever to get their hair done in a real salon.

Lainie was first.

Aunt Britney cut Anna's hair.

I was in charge of blow drying.

Then Ava's turn...

Anna thinks she's funny.

Then the girls started having some real fun. Aunt Britney was gracious enough to let Lainie do her hair.

Ava and Anna took turns doing Lily's.

Halloween

2011-10-31T20:43:00.000-06:00

Nerdy Girl Anna

Zombie Cheerleader Lainie

Lop-sided big boobed granny..Ava. (still rolling over this one.)

and perfectly suited costumes for the babes.

My group. So lucky to call these weirdos mine.

Sweet Angel Baby

Ava at her Halloween parade.

Angel and Devil playing frogger while crossing the round about a thousand times.

Soccer

2011-10-29T21:23:00.000-06:00

Anna's U10 did great. They were 7-1 for the season.

pumpkins

2011-10-25T11:10:00.000-06:00

My sister-in-law Ashley found this idea on pinterest.
Owen was a great helper with making Taylee smile.

Turned out pretty cute.

So then we wanted to try it with the other babes.
Calvin was up first...he didn't like it so much.

Then Lily. She didn't know what to think either, the inside was wet and squishy.

Lastly Owen, whom I had to bribe with a piece of gum.

I easily determined it's only a cute shot when the babe is 1 year or younger. My 2 1/2 year olds look too big to be sitting in such a small pumpkin.

Family photos

2011-10-23T22:49:00.001-06:00

Anna posing for me while I'm setting up my tripod.

The whole group, minus Derrick.

Paul's sister Nicole with her family

Paul's sister, Ashley with Taylee Belle (sorry it's blurry Ash)

The whole family again.

Time for funny faces.

Paul's brother, Jeremy with his family.

and of course grandma and grandpa.

should have taken our family pic as well, but the kiddos were done.

Busy Saturday

2011-10-22T21:50:00.000-06:00

We had the whole Preslan Family (19) to cheer Ava on at her game. She was in heaven.
Here's the team, and their 3 coaches, Terry, Ashley and Paul.

After the game the kiddos cooled off in the splash pad. We're complete white trash. Weren't prepared to get wet so they went in diapers.
Four of the cousins: Owen, Taylee, Calvin, and Lily.

Next onto Olive Garden for lunch.

Then onto Staheli Farm to hit the pumpkin patch.

I fix it.

2011-10-15T19:09:00.002-06:00

All the kiddos were playing outside when I heard Anna yell to me that Owen was covered in black stuff.
I ran outside to find this...

When I asked him how he got so dirty he looked at me and said, "I'm fixing the car,"
and then he showed me this...

awesome.

Pool time

2011-10-12T22:57:00.000-06:00

Another day off of school with cousins...hooray! Today we went to the Washington City Community center.

Braces

2011-10-12T15:33:00.001-06:00

Having a hard time with my 7 year old getting braces. She didn't. She was so excited that having to have 3 teeth pulled before hand didn't bother her at all.

BEFORE

AFTER

Anti-Gravity

2011-10-11T20:30:00.000-06:00

We had family in town so I took the girls out of school and headed to anti-gravity. We had the whole place to ourselves for several hours. Kids had a blast. I forgot my camera, but Ash had hers and grabbed this blurry gem.

Exploring red rock

2011-10-10T15:16:00.000-06:00

It was this little girls birthday.

So we went to pioneer park to explore a bit and have some cake.

The view of our little town from red rock.

This is Paul giving the babes the "daddy can't save you if you fall off a cliff" talk.

for your pleasure...

2011-09-30T20:07:00.000-06:00

Another date night with Ashley and Derrick. This time around we ate @ Paul's favorite, Honolulu Grill, then ice cream, then Anti-gravity.
Couldn't choose between the cheesiness, so here are all our sweet poses.
Paul and Derrick took turns puffing out their chests. It was constant big man competition between them.

Then came more awesome poses.

Onto Anti-gravity. (An indoor game, bounce house, trampoline warehouse.)

Another great night spent with mostly 12-14 year olds.

Shots @ Random

2011-09-29T20:04:00.000-06:00

Aunt Ashley took these girls to soccer practice...

While I stayed with these babes at home. Adyn is getting soooo chunky. We love him.

Wii time

2011-09-28T20:01:00.000-06:00

I lost.

Laser Mania

2011-09-20T19:01:00.000-06:00

We took a break from our usual routine and had a mid-week date with Ashley and Derrick. We wanted to do something fun so we headed over to do some lasertag. I LOVE lasertag. Nothing better than running around like a 13 year old again. In between lasertag games we hit the arcade where we brought in 1600 tickets! Wahoo. (Got a lot of dollar store junk with those tickets.) Fun, none the less.

Paul and I in the arcade. (I think Paul looks so handsome here, how'd I get so lucky.)

A group shot entering the battle ground.

(Disclaimer: I'm NOT pregnant. I'm looking a bit like 5 months in this pic however. Hate posting unflattering pictures of myself, but LOVED the group shot.)

Uncle Derrick's Homecoming

2011-09-17T18:30:00.001-06:00

Paul's sister Ashley has been staying with us since the end of August while her husband Derrick has been deployed to Afganistan for the past 6 months. And while he has 6 months left, he has a 2 week R&R here with us.

The girls holding up the sign we worked so hard on.

The moment where time slowed down just a little bit. It was so tender.

One happy family....well maybe not for Taylee.

Pouring Rain

2011-09-13T18:18:00.000-06:00

It's not too common we have rain in these parts, however, when it rains-it pours and my kids love it. Usually we go play in it. While everyone else went outside in their clothes, my danty little Lily was the cutest in our only rain coat.

Not sure what to think about it just yet.

But then, decided she liked it.

Ava and Tucker

2011-08-31T18:12:00.000-06:00

Ava's friend Tuck was over playing when they decided they wanted to go over to his house. I thought they were going to walk through the backyard, but realized he had brought over his powerwheels 4-wheeler and they were going to ride it home. I let them go, while I followed them in the car. Thought they were cute so I grabbed a few pics.
Surprised I was following them.

Showing off their skills.

Tucker, being a gentleman, let Ava drive for a bit.

1st day of Kindergarten

2011-08-22T17:59:00.001-06:00

This little girl had the hardest time being patient while sisters went to school a week earlier. When her big day came she could not have been more excited.
Waiting for the schoolbus.

With neighborhood buddies.

Getting off the bus at school.

When she got off the bus after school my friend Kelly asked her how her first day went, and in usual Ava fashion, she shrugged her shoulders while letting out a big sigh and said, "it was alright, I guess I'll go back tomorrow."

First Day of School

2011-08-15T17:59:00.000-06:00

Anna Jane, ready to start another year of school.

Lainie Grace is too.

Anna with BFF Madee

Off the bus...yes, I followed them to school, I do every year.

Apparently she's too cool for me now. At least Lainie wanted me there.

Adyn Terrance Aldridge

2011-08-12T17:47:00.000-06:00

We have a new baby...well not really. Paul's brother and wife have a new baby, but I get to steal him away once a week while they are working. Loni was the miniest prego and I would have sworn she was only carrying a 6 pounder, but on 8.8.11 around noonish this squishy, round 8 pound 11 ouncer popped out. Isn't he the sweetest? Mommy and daddy couldn't be more proud. Congrats Terry and Loni, he is adorable.

Paul holding his new nephew for the first time.

My kids are very impressed with their new cousin.

Proud papa. (Can you tell he hasn't slept much? Nice bed head Terry. hee hee)

My Man in Action

2011-08-11T21:05:00.001-06:00

One of Paul's co workers snagged a few pics on his phone of their latest fire @ a Jack in the Box. It's so fun getting a peek at my man in action, just wish I could see his face.

Paul in the basket.

Coming off the ladder. (He's the one on top.)

A pic of the building with Paul in the basket.

Guess they won't be selling any jumbo jacks anytime soon.

LA Zoo

2011-07-20T15:52:00.001-06:00

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my. Actually the lions, tigers and polar bears were all sleeping and we didn't see them very well. We did however see lots of other animals. These kids favorites were the seal, flamingos, rhino, giraffes, gorillas, monkeys, elephants and zebras. If you ask Ava, she'll tell you her favorite was the hippo because it pooped and then used it's tail as a windshield wiper to clean itself.

Corona Del Mar Beach

2011-07-19T22:28:00.003-06:00

Lots of pics. I know. Man, I love the beach. I could be there all day, everyday. This day, however, I get the worst mom of the year award. This particular beach has a little drive up area where you can unload then head back up to the street to park. Paul got all the kids (10) and all the stuff out of 2 cars while my girlfriend and I went back up to the street to park the cars. I remember locking my car and walking away thinking wow, that was easy...Paul had taken care of everything. We then walked down the hill and stopped by the restrooms before heading to the beach to find the kids and Paul. As we were walking towards our group I started counting my kids..Anna, Lainie, Ava, Owen and lily...where's Lily. OH CRAP, I left my sleeping child in my car up on the road!!! I started bookin it towards the car. My heart is pounding, the adrenaline is pumping. I was freaking out. How could I have forgotten my sweetest baby ever? She was still asleep when I opened the car. I was so thankful that it hadn't gotten hot in the car yet and that she was fine. Hugged her a little tighter than usual as we walked back down to the beach. Paul and Marla were harassing me a bit upon my return, which was expected. They were joking about terrible mothers forgetting their children and wondered if anyone called CPS on me. What was interesting to me is that not for one second had I ever thought of CPS or what other people thought, the entire time my heart was pounding, I was thinking please don't let anyone steal my child. Please let her still be in the car. That's how my head works, that's how it's always worked. Perhaps my personal history makes it work that way. Who knows. All I know is that my Lily was still there when I reached the car and I was very happy to see her.

Lost Tooth

2011-07-15T15:21:00.001-06:00

A few weeks back one of Ava's friends lost her first tooth. That very day she checked all her teeth and decided that one of them was loose. I checked it, and it was in fact a tad wiggly, but barely. I thought for sure it would be months before it came out. Fast forward to this morning when she said, "My tooth is really loose now mom." Sure enough, she was right. It was barely hanging on. A little later in the evening she came running to get me outside with a bloody mouth saying, "mom, I pulled out my tooth." What little kid pulls out their own tooth? Ava. All I could say was "of course you did, Ava." She could not have been more proud of herself.

FIVE

2011-07-11T15:14:00.000-06:00

Her birthday fell on a Monday this year and she was so excited to have her first ever "friend party." We planned all sorts of outside (very messy and wet) activities and wouldn't you know it, it rained! We did our best to manage inside, and in awhile it cleared up and we were able to play some games outside too.

Happy Birthday my sweet Ava. You are still my favorite sour patch kid.

Kitty

2011-07-10T22:06:00.000-06:00

While moving a shed from my dad's house to ours, we discovered this little kitty living under the plywood floor board. Of course, this discovery was made when I had all 5 of my children with me...dang it! Paul and I didn't think it was going to make it, but we took it home anyway. We named her Mags.

Hiking White Mountain

2011-07-08T17:29:00.001-06:00

Some friends came to visit us over the weekend and while it was great having 10 kids run a muck in my little house, it was nice to get them out and stretch their legs a bit. It was a breezy, cloudy day-a perfect day for a hike. Well, by the time we actually made it over it was 3pm and SUPER hot. All the kids were whining and crying and it turned out to be NOT SO FUN. I thought this shot was funny. All of my kids...GRUMPY! Lily is the only one who thought it was fun.

Independence Day

2011-07-04T23:22:00.000-06:00

It was really hard to celebrate the 4th knowing that my entire extended family was enjoying perfect weather in Long Beach, WA. Paul had to work so we were unable to attend, instead we bought some fireworks and spent the day with my sis.

Lots of swimming

And licorice and cute babies.

And fireworks.

The kids all took turns lighting the fireworks. It was funniest watching the babies because they would light the wick with a punk and as soon as it started going they turned and ran back to their stoller. They would just be getting situated when it was over.

Lils

2011-07-03T17:21:00.000-06:00

Somebody was diggin through my swim bag.

Power of Dora

2011-06-29T17:59:00.002-06:00

Lily LOVES Dora and Diego. "I watch do-do-do do-dora tv?" She's so cute. Owen's attention span is about 2 seconds, but Lil's will sit though a whole show....not sure that's a good thing.

Pool days

2011-06-21T17:20:00.000-06:00

Part of being a desert rat is enjoying some quality pool time. These babes have been loving it.

Edible Jewelry

2011-06-17T17:55:00.000-06:00

I have quite the inventive daughter. After cherry picking she headed for the bathroom and created her artwork.

Vegas

2011-06-08T22:23:00.002-06:00

We met our friends the Heath's in Vegas for 2 days without children. We shopped, lounged at the pool, visited Paul at his station, and went to a show. Here we are in our ponchos in the "splash zone" @ Blue Man Group.

Splash Park

2011-06-02T22:21:00.000-06:00

My parents moved just down the street from our favorite park. Perhaps we will frequent it more often.

Date with Lainie

2011-05-25T22:08:00.000-06:00

Rules of the date: Lainie decides all activites. First item of business: shopping. She wanted new shoes.
Here she is documenting the trip.

And then she found a pair of flipflops she liked.

Next up: a slushy and put-put golf.

It was great spending a little QT with my Lainie Grace. Love you lady.

Painting

2011-05-24T18:07:00.002-06:00

Perhaps I should be grateful that my stock pile includes at least 30 tubes of toothpaste, or that I haven't paid a single penny for any of them. Or maybe I should be excited that Owen likes the be creative with all forms of "paint." I'm not. I'm tired of cleaning up after his creativeness and I'm sure Lily is tired of being the canvas.

Pioneer Park

2011-05-24T10:28:00.002-06:00

Last night we went to the park to enjoy some time together with family before my nephew heads to Miami, Florida for 2 years. We'll miss you Brendon.

Grad Party

2011-05-12T17:30:00.000-06:00

Last day of preschool was a graduation party at the teacher's house.

Preschool Graduation

2011-05-11T23:28:00.000-06:00

Miss smarty pants graduated from preschool. She is so excited to start kindergarten next year even if it means she has to get some shots.

2 yr. old conversations

2011-05-11T21:20:00.000-06:00

I've decided I've got to start writing these down. The babes are so funny together and carry on such long conversations that sometimes I just can't figure out. Today, however, it was easy.

Lily: "Onin"-trying to get brother's attention
Owen: "O-WEN"-correcting her
Lily: "O-nin"-trying to get it right.
Owen: "No. O-WEN"-still correcting her.
Lily: "OOOO-NIN"-trying to please brother.
Owen: "OOOO-WEN"-still correcting Lily.

This went on about 5 more times until Owen gave up and finally said, "what?"

Hiding from me, in daddy's closet.

Back on the boat

2011-05-11T14:40:00.000-06:00

Friday and Saturday were both at sea days spent lounging by the pool and eating way too much. We did more karaoke, dancing and hot tubbing. And more comedy and vegas style shows. We played cards and read books and took naps. We stayed up way past our bedtime. I think I may have eaten over 20 soft serve cones in a week. It was great! Friday night was our second formal night. We had come to know and love our waiter Ariel. He was from the Philipeans and had worked for the cruiseline for 9 years. I wanted to take him home with me. He was very kind and sweet and we enjoyed his company.

Sunday morning we checked out and headed home. Great to see all my babes on Mother's day. I feel revived and refreshed to be a better mother to them. Not to mention I feel like a honeymooner again. It was time with Paul I really needed. Love you babe. And thanks Mom, for being such a great mother to me and taking care of my offspring for an entire week. You're amazing. Happy Mother's Day.

Puerto Vallarta

2011-05-11T14:01:00.000-06:00

We gave the Kirbs a break from us today and had a day to ourselves. Did our early morning workout and breakfast, then off the boat to explore the city. We took a taxi over to the downtown area to do some shopping for a couple of hours and found this cool sand sculpture.

Then back to the boat to change and get some lunch before our excursion. We did the extreme canopy excursion. It was so much fun. It was one of my most favorite things we did on our cruise. It started off with a 20ish minute boatride on an apex speed boat. Super fast, thought I'd fall off if I didn't have my human seatbelt. Thanks babe. Then onto a 20ish minute ride in a vehicle that looked like this...I felt like I was at Disneyland on the Indiana Jones ride the entire time.

Then we hit basecamp where we checked in all our belongings and got geared up. We then headed over to some benches where we were assigned mules to take us up the mountain. The guides seemed to pick us at random. I fully expected us to be picked in an orderly fashion and then follow a guide up the mountain together. Not in Mexico. Paul was the second one to be picked and he got up on the mule and they smacked it's booty and it started up the hill. They said, "don't worry, the mule knows where he's going." I was the 3rd to the last to be picked. I got on my mule and he was outta there. There were about 6 of us who ended up with the good mules. They were so fun to ride. They only way I can think to describe it was a donkey derby. It was a race to get to the top and it was all the mules, the riders didn't have anything to do with it. My mule would find a 3 inch gap between other mules and think he had the right of way. Paul put a lady into the side of the mountain, we laughed the entire ride up the mountain and I ended up at the top first. Later on I asked the guides how they picked out the riders for the mules and they said that the people who looked more nervous got the slower mules. Then we flew through the trees, rapelled down waterfalls, crossed narrow bridges, ziplined into pools of water and hiked through rivers. It was so fun and we enjoyed every minute of it. Fully worth the money to go. We got back to the ship right in time for dinner and some hot tubbing. And PS. it was Cinco De Mayo today and guess what, Mexicans in Mexico don't celebrate it. I expected a huge party the whole day, but nope, no party until we got back on the ship.

Deep Sea Fishing

2011-05-11T13:50:00.000-06:00

We were originally supposed to spend the next day in Mazatlan, but instead had 2 days in Cabo. Marla and I headed over to lovers beach again, while the boys decided they wanted to go deep sea fishing.
Here is my man working hard at reeling in a hammerhead shark. No luck though...the line snapped a little while later.

A little scenery...

Friendly bird, I had never seen a pelican in real life before this trip.

When they boys were heading back in, a sea lion jumped right up onto the boat to eat the last of the bait.

We met up with each other back on the boat around 4. Then it was naps, dinner, and shows. The boys were tired, so they turned in early (by early I mean around midnight) while Marla and I hit up the dance club again.

Day 3-Cabo

2011-05-11T13:01:00.000-06:00

Our first stop on our trip was Cabo. We took a water taxi over to Lovers Beach for the first few hours. I was a little taken back by how you actually got onto the shore. There are no docks on lovers beach, the boat guy would just ride the wake onto the shore and you had to jump out. I fell, of course, quite funny. After a few hours when the water taxi came back to get us, a guy was on the shore and we pointed out our boat. When it got close he just swooped me up and threw me on the boat. Again, I was surprised, but I guess thats how they work it down there in Mexico.
On the water taxi.

Lovers Beach

That's our boat in the background. And no Paul isn't posing Marla, that is how his arm lays next to his body. Honest.

Lunch @ The Office. Delicious food, huge portions.

After a bit of shopping we headed back to the boat for dinner. Anyone that's been on a cruise knows that each night they have several cheesy backdrops where they pose you and take your picture. There are no limits to how many pictures you can take, and they post them in an area of the boat for you (and everyone else) to see and possibly purchase. We LOVED these. Marla and I posed for several of them and would take at least 3 shots at each one and of course they are all super cheesy poses. In the picture area we would spread out our pics so that everyone could see them. We're retarded, the things we do to amuse ourselves. Paul happened to be right behind one the photographers when he grabbed this beauty. I wish he had followed us around to all of them.

Day 2

2011-05-11T12:46:00.000-06:00

We woke up early each morning and headed to the gym. After breakfast we'd get our suits on and head to the "adult only" pool section. (With our children at home, we weren't really interested in hearing any other one's children either.) It was sooooo nice to do absolutely nothing-just lounge in the sun with a good book, maybe doze off for a minute or two. So nice. Late afternoon, we'd head back to our cabin for a nap and then meet up with the kirbs for dinner. Day 2 was our first of 2 formal nights. We managed to grab a few pics with the cell phone.

After dinner we went to the comedy club and dancing.

Mexican Riviera Cruise

2011-05-11T11:50:00.000-06:00

Wahoo vacation time! My mom so graciously spent the week at my house with my kids so that Paul and I could get away by ourselves for the first time in several years. We drove to Corona to meet up with our cruisin buddy's the Kirbys and then we were on our way to the Longbeach Pier to get on the boat. Hooray! This was the first cruise for both of us and I must say I LOVED it. It was the easiest vacation I've ever taken. 1st day we explored the boat, did our evacuation drill, ate, did karaoke, and hit up the dance club.

Picture taken during evacuation drill.

Women's Conference

2011-05-11T11:34:00.000-06:00

I was able to go to women's conference @ BYU this year with my mom, sister, and friend Barbara. So fun hanging out and listening to great speakers.

Roastin Mallows

2011-05-11T11:33:00.000-06:00

Finding Eggs

2011-04-23T20:25:00.000-06:00

Not a lot of kids this year at our community easter egg hunt, so the kiddos got hooked up with candy and prizes.

the mr turns 35

2011-04-15T21:46:00.000-06:00

My man is OLD! My sister watched the babes while we took the girls to Fiesta Fun then out to dinner. Afterward we headed back to my sister's and celebrated with delicious cup cakes.

First Ever Concert

2011-04-09T10:03:00.002-06:00

Heard of Greyson Chance yet? If not, check him out. He's got a great voice and my girls LOVE him. We went to his first ever concert last night. My girls excitement and delight was well worth the ear shreiking screams that left me deaf in both ears for what seemed like a lifetime.

Just arrived. Making our way to our seats.

My date for the night. My sweet sister Jennifer.

After hearing from a few openers, Camryn and some guy off of Good luck Charlie, came the main event. The first was Greyson, and the crowd went wild. I think my hearing loss came around this time. Cody Simpson was next.

Lainie was so cute.

We just happened to be sitting right next to a few of Anna's pals, so they all screamed and freaked out together.

A couple of my gal pals were there too.

dumb groundhog

2011-04-09T10:03:00.001-06:00

The view from my road this morning....and I'm NOT at all happy about it. What happened to an early spring???

Thank You

2011-03-28T22:00:00.000-06:00

Thank you auntie Nicole for the cute jammies. And to their grandmas and grandpas for their gifts. Wish we could have celebrated with you all. xoxo

photo time.

2011-03-24T14:50:00.001-06:00

We have no white walls in our house so we hung a sheet to take some passport photos. Afterward, Ava and the babies thought it was their time to pose for the camera.

The babes turn 2.

2011-03-21T11:16:00.000-06:00

2 years has flown by in what seems like a blink of an eye. Happy Birthday sweet babies.

Spring Break

2011-03-17T17:42:00.000-06:00

We spent our spring break in Yuma Arizona this year. We followed my sister's family and parents and spent the week at my grandparents. It was nice to get away, relax, and spend time with family.

Ava's Nest

2011-03-09T17:40:00.000-07:00

"mom, come take my picture with my nest I made at school." Then she ate it.

Dr. Suess Week

2011-03-09T17:38:00.000-07:00

Crazy Socks Day

Dress up like a book character day. This is our last minute pippy longstocking.

Anna's 9

2011-02-28T14:04:00.001-07:00

Can't believe this lady is 9 already. Happy Birthday sweet Anna Jane.

Roller Skate Party

2011-02-26T22:48:00.001-07:00

For Anna and Lainie's party this year we rented out a skating rink that's just a couple of miles up the road. It was so old, but so fun. They loaded up on cupcakes and pizza and enjoyed 2 full hours of skating. Speaking of cupcakes, I worked super hard on these. Took forever, especially since Owen decided to take a bite out of a lot of them and I had to make them again. I'm not a great baker, but these were tasty!

Lainie turns 7.

2011-02-18T21:50:00.000-07:00

The traditional pancake number breakfast. This time with sausage too.

Frosting her cake that she made after school.

Next we headed to Pirate Island Pizza for dinner and then to Grandma's and Grandpa's for cake and ice cream.

Poor Sick baby

2011-02-18T09:40:00.001-07:00

Just a few of the photos I have taken of this lady over the past 2 weeks. It all started with a super high fever one night. On the 5th day we headed to the dr. and turns out she had strep. I was told within 24 hours of using the antibiotic, the fever would subside. It didn't. Day 9 we went back to the dr. and they swabbed her throat and nose, took a urine sample, blood, and 2 chest xrays. After what seemed like an eternity of waiting by the phone, the dr. called and said that she had strep, parainfluenza type 3, and pneumonia. My poor poor baby. We started her on a several heavy drugs and now on day 12 her 103-104 degree constant fever finally broke! So happy and so thankful for medicine.

Filthy Dirty Chalky Mess

2011-02-13T21:37:00.000-07:00

This little lady came into the house so filthy I could not believe it! When I asked her how she got so chalky she took me outside to show me her BED she had made on the driveway. Nice.

Under roos

2011-02-11T21:35:00.001-07:00

Owen found a pair of dad's unders while I was folding some laundry. It was so funny watching him try to put them on and make them fit. Sorry pal, dad's got bigger buns than you.

No more braces

2011-02-10T13:44:00.000-07:00

Here we are outside the ortho office, ready to take them off!

The next day we took this shot for her V-Day cards for school. (Her hand is up to hold a sucker after cards were printed.) She has a big beautiful smile!

Playing

2011-02-09T13:48:00.000-07:00

Ava loves playing with the babies. She's constantly dressing them up and telling them what to do. A typical afternoon at our house.

@ the park

2011-02-07T23:03:00.000-07:00

It was finally a warm enough day to head to the park for a bit.

School Talent Show

2011-02-03T23:39:00.000-07:00

Anna and Madee, in their pillow people attire, ready to rock it at the school talent show doing the hokey-pokey. It was quite entertaining and I think it was best performance of the night.

GIANT carrott eaters

2011-01-29T22:23:00.000-07:00

These two girls were digging through the garden boxes this afternoon and found some carrotts that survived the winter. I had no idea carrotts could live that long, let alone grow MUCH BIGGER without water. PS. These were mini carrotts when we planted them last spring.

Sweet boy

2011-01-29T12:36:00.000-07:00

This little guy is usually all over the place, but this morning he sat as sweet as could be waiting ever so patiently for breakfast.

Shake it up

2011-01-20T14:03:00.000-07:00

All done up, 50's like, to go to a play with the rest of the 3rd grade.

Making a sandwich

2011-01-11T12:35:00.000-07:00

I've got myself a very self suffient boy.

In case you were wondering...

2011-01-08T17:26:00.000-07:00

It's Vaseline. (He also decorated our house with flour and powdered suger this same day.)

CAKE!

2011-01-03T20:06:00.000-07:00

I'm Old.

How sweet are my neighbors though? They came over in the morning with this delicious beauty and sang Happy Birthday to me. Thanks Ken and Sherri!

Wedding Day

2010-12-30T23:33:00.000-07:00

The happy couple. (Thanks Gina for watching my kiddos and letting us stay at casa Wright. I owe you BIG.)

Later at the reception.

Paul had to work the very next morning so one car left at 10 after the reception. I opted to stay another night and drive home the next day. I'm not too pleasant when I miss my sleep.

Hanging with the Reedys

2010-12-28T18:42:00.001-07:00

Can I just say I LOVE ARIZONA. I have nothing but fond memories of this place. Paul and I lived there less than a year, 9 years ago, and everytime we visit, we want to move back.

The weather was beautiful so we headed out to the park where we had lunch and played around. The kids thought sliding down the hill on long boards was the best.

The babes liked the playset and swings.

This is my pal Summer. We lived in the same apartment complex years ago when we lived here. Paul and I were walking along the street when we saw the Reedy's drive by in their VW-that's when we knew we'd be friends. Little did we know that we would bond on way more than just German Engineering.

I have no idea what exactly I'm doing here, but this picture cracks me up.

Once the kiddos got tired of skateboarding we headed over to the carnival area.

And I must not forget the twin picture. Lainie got dressed in the morning and Summer decided she wanted to be twins with her. Lainie thought it was pretty great.

Christmas Morning

2010-12-25T16:07:00.000-07:00

Awww...christmas morning. I was so happy to have my parents over for Christmas morning this year. Now that they live here, (so happy) my sister and I decided that we would alternate who gets them every year to eat breakfast and open gifts with. Lucky me, my sister is the nice one and suggested I get them first. We met up at Jen's later in the day to eat dinner together and louge in our jammies all day.

Christmas Eve Bowling

2010-12-24T21:58:00.000-07:00

Does anyone else out there find it hard to come up with holiday traditions for their kids to enjoy? I have such fond memories of the holidays when I was a kid and I've been stuggling to come up with a few for my kids to look forward to every year. I think this may be one of them though. My gal pal Jess was in town visiting and it was great seeing her and family.

New Shoes

2010-12-18T15:57:00.001-07:00

Lainie was just a little excited about these silver peep toe wedges we bought, apparently I should have bought her jeans instead.

Sing and Decorate

2010-12-17T15:52:00.000-07:00

Last day of school before winter break-Anna and Lainie had a mini choir concert and christmas parties afterward.

Santa

2010-12-11T15:51:00.000-07:00

Sunday Snuggle Nap

2010-12-05T19:27:00.000-07:00

Paul and Ava are the only 2 in this house of 7 that can fall asleep just about anywhere. The rest of us need, quiet and a dark cozy bed in order to sleep this peacefully.

Lily's Artwork

2010-12-04T19:23:00.000-07:00

This girl draws on everything but paper. The girls "accidently" leave crayons/markers/pencils in their room all the time and Lil finds them and has her way with the walls, the beds, the floor, the couch, you name it...she's colored on it.

Oh Christmas Tree

2010-12-03T19:13:00.000-07:00

Got our tree this year at Costco of all places. It was big and beautiful and smelled up the entire house.
The babes, getting so big.

The kids telling dad how to do it.

Owen showing dad how to put it on the tree stand.

The finished product.

snow again

2010-11-28T13:33:00.001-07:00

We came home from Zion to find 6 inches of snow at our house. The girls were in heaven. Babies...not so much. They only liked it if they were being held. Don't mind my husbands dirty mustache. He said he was growing it for Mustache Movember.