Morgan's 12th Birthday!

Our cousin Morgan flew in from Colorado and we had a 12th birthday party for her last night. She is so sweet and we all had so much fun. Uncle John has lots of dirt and rock piles in their backyard, so the little ones were thrilled- Billy went to town in the rock pile. Abi was so excited by the amount of food, and especially by the cake plates that were leftover for her to scavange. Can we say ,"Spalding!"

Of course, no birthday party would be complete without cake in the face. Even cake covered, she's the cutest, sweetest 12 year old girl ever.

Time for Soccer!

Saturdays are now officially soccer-filled. Hayden is on the Yellow Bombers, and Chloe the Green Clovers. We are in week 3, and Hayden's team is pretty darn good and 2-0, while Chloe's team is, well, lets just be thankful they don't keep score for her age group. AC is her coach again, and he has quite the young group.

Hayden is really good this year, if I do say so myself. He scored his first ever goal last week in a breakaway that ended with the goalie on the ground crying and Hayden kicking it in for the point. Good sportsmanship? Maybe not. Goal? Definitely. He really likes to play defense, and honestly, Hayden stops just about anyone heading towards the goal. That's why I love the second picture- Hayden's standing still stopping the ball while everyone else is moving forward. ACs really excited that Hayden likes a position that is usually unpopular. Most kids like scoring- hayden likes stopping.
Chloe started out kind of rough- she decided about 2 minutes into the 2nd practice that she didn't like soccer and wasn't going to play. AC wishes she would have decided that before he signed on to be her coach again. The first picture is from her first game. She'd only be on the field if she was holding Dad's hand.
Suprise! Here she is in game #2, and she decided that soccer is okay after all, and, okay she'll just jump right in there and even (kinda) score her first goal. (it bounced off of her foot and into the goal- my book, that equals goal). I don't know what goes on in her little brain, but fingers crossed that she keeps thinking positive thoughts regarding soccer.

And yes, I did make those hair bows. I guess that makes me a super-soccer mom.

CA Fun

What do you do when your kids have 2 days off from school? Pull them out for a third and head to CA! I picked up H and C from school an hour early and we headed out straight from there. I had to drive into the sun a bit, but it wasn't too bad. And all three kids fell asleep around 8:30, so I had an hour of peace and quiet. It was none too soon, because Chloe talked or sang from the moment I picked her up from school, until she said "I'm tired" around 8:15. I didn't know anyone's vocal cords could last that long. I love her little voice and all, but sheesh- my ears were buzzing.
First stop: the beach. Grandma and Aunt Pam were there finishing off their girls' week. Nothing like crashing the party! It was nice spending time with Aunt Pam. The kids adore her, and were talking at her the entire time!


Chloe was having a little trouble with sand in her pants this time. They were having a heat wave over there, so the water was actually warm enough that all three kids went in. I didn't go in, but nothing new in that.

We ended up buying an annual pass to Legoland, and went on Saturday afternoon and all day Monday. The kids had a blast, it wasn't too crowded, and I only took about 4 pictures. This one's cute- Ellie was not sure of the Ogre on the storybook ride, so big Brother wrapped his arm around her and pointed out all of the fun stuff. Awwww. Don't worry, it didn't last. Five minutes later he was calling her "butthead" then getting charged $1 for the ugly word.

I wish I could say Ellie was sweet as could be the whole time, but she wasn't. We had an unintentional run-in with Annatto, and she had the fits to prove it. It was u-g-l-y. Poor girl. Now we are home and back to our routine, and looking forward to heading back in November!

Emi's 6!!!

Emi had a wonderful birthday party on Sunday. The waterslide was huge and the kids had a blast, except Ellie who slid down on her face the first time and decided she wasn't fly with the slide. Chloe and Emi slid down together many, many times. At one time we had 5 or 6 kids at once.

The other great part were the snowcones. I think Billy had 3. Maybe 4. Notice the snow cone juice down his belly. That's enjoyment.

At one point the breaker blew and the slide started to deflate. In order to save the water in the pool part (and save Travis' yard from another flooding) the kids grabbed on and held it together. That's teamwork. They were so cute and intent on the job- they barely lost a drop.

We all loved the twinkie/ding dong/rice krispy treat cake. So cute and fun, and, I must admit, delicious. Twinkies are good. Ding Dongs are good. Rice Krispies- good. The other food was delicious as well, and Natalie outdid herself (as always) on the food and decor. We were truly under the sea.

And how sweet is that girl? Six? I can't believe it. Happy Birthday, sweet Emily! We love you!

Bartlett Lake

We decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather Saturday Morning and head to the lake. We brought a few fishing poles, a container of worms, a few snacks, and of course Mom's camera.

Hayden finally found a stick big enough for him.

Chloe liked fishing for about 7 minutes- 5 minutes longer than Mommy enjoys fishing. She spent most of the time playing by me, eating her snack and running from the bees. She REALLY does not like bees.
Ellie actually enjoyed fishing. She stood there quite patiently, and would reel her line in. It was pretty funny because Hayden kept telling her that she caught a worm. She was pretty excited about it.
Taking a quick break from the excitement.Hayden started out in the traditional fisherman's stance. Sittin' and Waitin'.He then moved on to a more active form of fishing- the net.
He finally decided to just go native- lets just catch those fish with our bare hands. needless to say, we did not have a fish dinner. But we did have a LOT of fun.

Progress!

I can't believe those girls of mine! Just a few weeks ago, they were scared to be in the big pool without me. Now look at them- jumping in off the side and swimming across the entire shallow end of the pool! Chloe decided a few day ago to start jumping in off the side. Ellie decided to do the same. Chloe decided yesterday to try to jump in and swim to the steps. Ellie decided to do the same. Do you sense a theme?? And I know it looks like Ellie won't quite make it- but she does, every time! I think we need to work on her form.

I took these movies this morning, before school. Yes, I let my kids go swimming before school. That's what a cool mom I am. Actually, I was dying for AC to see them swim, so there they were at 6:58 a.m. in the pool and showing off for dad.

And, of course, after a brisk morning swim you need to eat breakfast. In the nude. I look out there to see this view, and I couldn't help but smile. I love how the kids can be naked, or be around a naked kid and not even bat an eyelash. Its totally normal to eat breakfast completely naked, right?

Isn't she lovely?

Just playing around with a picture I took of Emily the other night.