Our Delicate Balancing Act

Banana Ladies

2011-03-11T08:05:00.000-08:00

This was just too funny/strange not to write about. This morning, just as Isaac woke up and we were laying in bed snuggling he started talking nonsense. I realized he was telling me about his dream. He kept going on and on and I could tell it was very real to him. Here's what he told me:
There were banana ladies and they were wearing boots, pants and pewfect hats (perfect). They were trying to eat his candy and get him. He wanted to get an alligator so it could bite the banana ladies' legs off. They were wewy scawy (really scary). I told him it was just a dream and not real, but he didn't buy it. "There is banana ladies momma, and they try and eat kids!!!"
I looked down at my little guy with his crazy morning afro, backwards undies, banana fear in his eyes and thought, thank you Lord for sending me such a wacky, complicated child. My life would be far less colorful. Amen.

Tomatoes For Sale!

2010-09-20T15:35:00.000-07:00

Aubrey and Sydney love trying to sell things. They pretty much jump at any chance to set up shop.
On this day it was garden-fresh tomatoes. They made signage and had Uncle John staple it up for them. They also decided to add glasses of water to their merchandise.

Here they are eagerly awaiting the first customer.

As good of saleswomen as they are though.........

they may need to work on the overall cleanliness and presentation of the stand.

Fairy Fest

2010-09-05T11:10:00.000-07:00

Back in June my mom took my sister and I with our girls out for a very female outing. We went to a town called Alpine that's just outside of San Diego to a really beautiful nursery. It's called Summers Past Farms I believe. Each spring they hold a fairy festival where the whole place is filled with little girls (and a few poor daughterless moms that dressed up their sons) dressed like fairies. There was a fairy parade where we all lined up and fluttered through the gardens and checked out the other costumes. There were some very elaborate ones and a few scaryish gothic style outfits. It was a great place to people watch, for sure! We packed a picnic, sat in the shade and enjoyed all the flowers growing everywhere. It was a great spot for some photo shoots. There was also a contest that we didn't participate in to build a "fairy garden" and bring to display. They were really cute. We had such a nice girly day.

Our girls were probably the brightest fairies there

This was a cute Japanese fairy garden :) It's hard to see all the tiny details.

Where's Daddy?

2010-09-03T18:14:00.000-07:00

Not to sound weak, needy, mushy or pathetic, but I miss this guy. Not the one with fluffy white hair.....he's in my face all day. My husband. I've barely seen him in the past 2 weeks.
Summer's over. Party's over. He's back to work and the beginning of the school year is wild busy for teachers. Especially really anal ones that have to have every little detail planned and organized before the kids come to class. I'm married to one of those so he's been "preparing" like crazy and the kids started this monday. He's been consumed, but we'll all survive. Things will calm down soon.

I'm not the only one that misses him though. Every morning Isaac asks "hey, where's Daddy?"
He doesn't quite understand yet. Poor guy :)

Fresh as a Daisy, Tight as a Knot

2010-08-29T22:03:00.000-07:00

I decided to revamp my blog. I was bored with my old look and name and needed a fresh start. I've been wanting to post more often so I started messing around for awhile and this is what I came up with for now.

We've had a lot of new things start up around here. We started a new school year, Jeff goes back to work tomorrow, Aubrey's playing soccer, Clayton is back in guitar lessons etc. The craziness begins! It feels good to be getting back into our routines though. This summer really made us realize that our family functions much better with a schedule in place. Boy do I have a tight schedule too. I have most of our day planned out in half hour increments & make time for much to be done by everyone. Oh man, it's a beautiful thing. It's all written and color coded and posted on the wall for all to see. You should stop by sometime and see it- it'll freak you out. I think my mom gets dizzy and nauseous when she sees it.

To each his own........

Big Bear, Little Boy

2010-06-24T14:36:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we all packed up our van and took off for a weekend in Big Bear. My sis and John invited us to stay with them in his sister's cabin. Jeff, Aubrey, Isaac and I were feeling a cold coming on, but we ignored it and went any way. On our way up the mountain our ears started plugging. Isaac said " Momma, my eaws not wowking. I can't heaw!" So I passed him, and the others a piece of gum and told him it would help unplug his ears. "ok" he says. I waited to hear him tell me that he could hear again, or that his ears popped.

I turned around to check on him and saw that he had put the gum IN his ears! We all started laughing at our funny guy. He was really mad. He hates his ears being plugged, but hates being laughed at even more.

Easter Pictures

2010-04-06T13:41:00.000-07:00

For the Love of Shoes

2010-04-06T13:09:00.000-07:00

This boy of mine has a major thing about shoes. Even on his first birthday, before he could talk, he opened all his gifts and it was clear that the 2 pairs of shoes won the "favorite gift" contest. He loves them all. He wears Aubrey's high heeled dress up shoes with ease, he wears my flip-flops, the boys cleats, pretty much anything he can get is feet into. However, lately boots have been his thing. There have been many tears shed over Aubrey wanting to wear her own boots. I've been keeping my eyes peeled for some boy boots that aren't too ugly or expensive. My parents couldn't take it any longer and headed to the Boot Barn yesterday and picked up these puppies. Maybe it was seeing him at church with Aubrey's cowgirl boots that have flowers and sequins stitched in them, or maybe it was him wearing her polka-dot rain boots all day Easter. Whatever it was that drove them to the Barn......Isaac thanks them from the bottom of his heart.

He doesn't want to wear them with pants on either. It covers up too much awesomeness.

They slept with us in bed last night too. He even woke up around 3 am to ask if they were his boots and where they were. I reassured him that they were indeed his, and they were right next to us.
Easter Sunday.

On our way to visit Uncle Ron and Aunt Cindy! He's worn these all over the place......when daddy's at work. Jeff says he just can't do it. He cannot go into public with his little boy wearing pink heels.

Trev's Big Night

2010-03-13T17:23:00.000-08:00

If you know Trevor, you know he is obsessed with the Lakers. So for Christmas this year we bought tickets to take him to a game. We also let him pick a friend to bring along, he had no problem choosing. Uncle Nathan, of course. On our way there we also let him pick where we ate dinner. He chose Jack in the Box. We gave him many more options and I really wanted him to chose somewhere better, but oh well. Not about me. He wanted a double bacon cheeseburger.....yuck. Not about me. He felt sick afterwards and said he thought it was a little too much meat and it tasted kinda gross, like pork. Ha Ha. Told ya so Trev!So we picked up Uncle Nate at his friends crazy downtown L.A. apt. and off we went.
Trevor was so excited he hardly spoke....which is highly unusual.
Here he is in front of Staples center, where he would like to someday have his ashes scattered. (No joke. This came about one day while in a very deep conversation with Auntie DD)
Getting Uncle Nathan's help in the Pro Shop with his hard earned cash. He did a lot of dishes, trash emptying, vacuuming, dog poop scooping to buy his Ron Artest shirt.

We were there to see Kobe be awarded for breaking a record for most points scored.....very cool.
There's the man in the flesh. Warming up.
JOY

He crashed big time. He just couldn't take anymore. We had such a good time. Even me the anti-sport.

Would you like a warm towel?

2010-03-10T09:08:00.001-08:00

When it's a chilly day and I'm bringing in a load of hot laundry-especially towels, I tell all the kids to lie on the floor. They don't even ask why. They line up.....

and wait patiently...
for a nice warm pile of laundry to be dumped on them. Then there are a few minutes of quiet while they just lie there and enjoy.

Sugar and Spice

2010-03-06T20:55:00.000-08:00

I love having a girl. I love my boys too, of course, I'm just thankful that God gave me at least one of these to raise. She has become my little nature lover. She is the usually the first one buggin to get outside to play survivor girl, or pick me a bouquet of flowers. She's the one that brings in the bugs and begs me to find the magnifying glass so she can really check it out. She's also the first to fall out of the big walnut tree in the back yard. Freaked us both out pretty good.( Turns out that little pink flip-flops make it harder to climb in. Bare feet work much better.) The boys love all this stuff too, it's just that stereotypically they should be more adventurous than their little sis, right?

Last week we drove by this field of flowers and she was excited about it. So I asked if she wanted me to take some pictures of her in the field. She claimed that she was thinking the same thing and did not let me forget about my promise until I followed through. So here are a few of my favorites.

My little Aubrey Claire Flower :)

Moving right along

2010-01-13T08:16:00.000-08:00

Gosh, I may need to change the title of my blog. We are no longer desert rats. We moved back to Yucaipa two weeks ago, and we couldn't be happier about it. We are renting a house that we love. It is so private and quiet, something that I didn't want to give up after when we left Joshua Tree. We have a beautiful yard. There are plum trees, an apple tree, a walnut tree, roses, grass (something I missed) and a really cool view. The kids are loving it. They've spent most of our days here outside. We still have a lot to unpack, but I feel so relaxed and lighthearted out here!

There are some things we're going to miss. We made some really great friends that we won't be seeing as much, the JT National Park hiking being down the street, the desert night sky.....hmm. That's pretty much it! The list of what I won't be missing is a lot longer, so I guess we made the right decision.

I want to keep up on my blog again, so if anyone out there still reads this, the video of Isaac dancing won't be the only thing up for six months anymore :)

Peace.

Loose Hips

2009-09-21T17:44:00.000-07:00

My baby sure can shake what his mama gave him. He loves listening to tunes on the ipod. This video is funny until his big brother tries to help him put the bud back in his ear. Just stop watching as soon as it falls out!!

Wild, Sassy, Funny Five Year Old

2009-07-29T08:04:00.000-07:00

These are back from Aubrey's birthday (June 13th). We took her by herself for an afternoon. She chose to have lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. She loves the thai lettuce wraps-me too. She was so excited for this day and was in her spazzy mode. She was bouncing around, trying to be funny and kept asking when they were going to sing to her with the ice cream in a wine glass. It was fun for us too. Just having one child is so crazy different. We actually have time to let them finish telling a story.

Is this the freakiest long little girl tongue that you've ever seen? She's very proud of it. Next time you see her, ask if she can touch her nose with it!
\

Next we headed to Build-a-Bear Workshop. If you've ever been there, they do this whole "cutesy" thing with the kids when they stuff the bear. They have the kid hold a heart and tell them to kiss it, rub it on their nose, do a little dance, spin around etc. Kinda cute for a little one that isn't way too self conscious for her years. Everything the girl told her to do Aubrey would look all embarrassed and say "um, no. I don't want to". The chick was confused, most little girls must eat this up.
..

Then you get to give your bear a bath. It's actually an air bath. Being the little OCD germophobe that she is, this may have been Aubrey's favorite part. She really got into it and could have gone on for another 20 minutes if we let her.

The finished product. She dressed her in a very fancy pink ballet outfit. Sparkles Rose Mitchell, welcome to our family.

Poor little spazz. She burned out. All that bouncing and talking and bear-cleaning and sugar eating and lotion sniffing (bath and body works stop). We all three had so much fun. Until next year, my wild little girl. :)

Summerness

2009-07-22T15:39:00.000-07:00

A few pictures from our super busy, super fun summer. So far.... We stayed a few days out near The Marsh family + Nathan and Steph. Nathan got us a room through his work so it really felt vacationish. It was very nice.

We spent a day at the beach.

You can't visit the beach without turning someone into a sand mermaid. Seaweed nipples are mandatory.

Trev was in the water most of the day. He loves it. He'd probably be a surfer if we lived close enough.

They are all so quiet and busy at the beach. I love it. I just wish there was grass to sit on instead of sand. The stuff drives me crazy.

In our room.

Aubrey and Isaac's favorite thing to do together....dress up in princess costumes and watch Barbie movies. FANTASTIC

We went camping at Lake Piru at the end of June with John and Emily. John rented a pontoon boat. It was really fun. The kids fished and took turns driving, then we all jumped off and went swimming. It was definitely a highlight of the trip.

Captain Aubrey. She was a nervous driver.

All packed in. We have almost too much stuff to fit in our van when we camp. It was a long drive and the boys had sleeping bags and pillows all over them. Toward the end of the drive Clayton started freaking out and trying to get everything away from him and wanted us to pull over. It was really funny....I know how he feels. I get claustrophobic sometimes too. We were just down the street from the campground though, so he didn't suffer too long! Ha Ha

Isaac and Bella relaxing in the jacuzzi. She likes it and starts falling asleep!
So this is some of what we've been up to lately. So much more to come!

More Ballet

2009-06-18T08:14:00.000-07:00

Aubrey and her teacher Miss Rebekah

Aubrey's Ballet Recital

2009-06-18T07:26:00.000-07:00

Not the greatest video. She is the fifth one from the right side. Pretty much in the middle. It was such a good experience for her. She wasn't nervous or scared at all. I sure would have been. She just basked in all of the attention and can't wait until her next show. She was a little disappointed that we didn't get her a bouquet of roses like all of the grown-up ballerinas had. Whoops. Nanny wanted to get her some and I said it was unnecessary. We were all very proud of her and glad she loves it so much.

My Big 10 Year Old

2009-05-27T08:10:00.000-07:00

Wow. Just 3 years until the teens. Can't believe he's ten. He had quite an exciting birthday. He got a Nintendo DS, finally! We told him back in December that if he saved $50 by May, Nanny & Gramps + us would pay the rest for him to get one. Well I think we all heard about how much he had saved thus far everyday since then. It was a good lesson in hard work and money saving. So the day finally came and Nanny showed up bright and early, and off they went to have breakfast and Ds shopping. He was sooo excited.

On Saturday family came and we BBQed and hung out. The boys slept outside in our tent and all played DS until they couldn't see straight. Uncle John and Auntie Em got him a basketball hoop and a ball (now he's complete), Uncle Nathan and Auntie Steph gave him Laker's sweatshirt and shirt, Mitchell grandparents gave him a Lakers wallet with bucks for another game, Cole and Ethan gave him 2 DS games. He was totally in his element. All he asks for in life are: food, family+friends, Lakers/basketball, video games (pretty much). He's very loved:)

Mamma's Night out

2009-05-27T08:01:00.000-07:00

These pictures were from Mother's Day. Cindy(Jeff's mom), My mom, my sis and I went to Victoria Garden's and had a night out. We had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory (oh yum) and shopped a little bit, then we went to a comedy show at the little theater there. It was so funny. I don't usually like stand-up comedy, but this was great. It was 3 women that are in different stages of motherhood. All three of them cracked us up. Then we finished the wild night at Starbucks. It was really a good time.

Long Beach Aquarium

2009-05-15T13:49:00.000-07:00

We went to the aquarium back in April. It was the first time we'd taken the kids and all four of them loved it. Jeff and I did too. Jeff did not love petting the stingrays, and neither did Clayton. They were both kinda creeped out, but after about 10 minutes of all of us petting them they both barely touched them.

The lorakeets ,or whatever you call them, were a highlight. They were landing all over everyone. Isaac was trying to catch them, even after one bit his finger pretty hard. I was crackin up.

I have a lot a bad dreams about these guys.....

I love this picture!!! The sea lions were another favorite of ours. It was a very fun day.

Breakfast in Bed

2009-05-12T07:08:00.000-07:00

So on Mother's Day and Father's Day it's our little thing to let the honoree sleep in and the other person, along with the kids, make breakfast in bed for them. We try to make things that we've never made before to keep it exciting. So this Mother's Day I was relaxing in bed, reading a book and smelling something good cooking. I noticed that a few of the kids kept coughing. Then I heard Jeff coughing too. It started sounding like a choking type cough, so I peeked out to see what was up. Jeff told me that something he was "sauteing" was making them cough. Hmmmm. Jalapenos probably. So when they all proudly came into my room with my beautiful breakfast I was ready to eat. There was a nice display of fruit, an omelet and a cup of tea. I took one bite of my omelet and almost instantly I had heart burn and my throat, mouth & gums were burning. I can handle a good amount of heat, I put hot sauce and red chili flakes on everything, but my sweet, adventurous husband used a habenero chili. One of those little orange ones with a warning sign near them. STINKIN HOT!! I couldn't eat it. So sadly, I had to return it and wait for another one (not sad really, I got a lot of reading in) It was funny and I'll always remember it. Jeffrey may do a little research on his chilies next time. :)

Little Mommy

2009-04-30T09:00:00.000-07:00

There are so many times when Aubrey mothers Isaac. She'll pick out his clothes, brush his teeth and hair, put on his shoes, feed him a snack and on and on. She sometimes puts him to sleep at off times when I wouldn't even think he was tired. On this day she put him in the rocking chair and started singing. She kept it up for probably 15 minutes and out he went. It's so nice for me to have a little nanny around :)

Get me out of the House!!!

2009-04-30T08:35:00.000-07:00

It was one of those days when we both knew that we all needed to be out of the house...all day long. So we went to a preserve in Morongo Valley to hike. The kids and I had gone a few weeks back with our homeschool group and had a nice time so we decided to show the Dad. It proved to be just what we all needed. He looks so soft and gentle in this picture. Pictures lie!

A lot of the trails were wooden paths that go over a marsh. It's supposedly one of the biggest places for bird watching. Different species come from all over. We didn't see anything amazing though.

Our Big Girl

2009-04-29T09:00:00.000-07:00

Aubrey has been hitting some milestones lately and it's freaking me out. She's growing up way too fast. This last couple of weeks she started riding her bike without training wheels and can tie her shoes. We are all so proud of her:) Please ignore all the junk in our backyard-it's been windy and we haven't done any yard work in months!!

Dudes in the Desert

2009-04-29T07:53:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Scott, Jeff, Trevor, Clayton and Wyatt along with a group of guys from Scott's work went on a 4x4/camping/rock hunting trip. They drove on the Bradshaw Trail which has some history, but I couldn't give a very accurate lesson. I guess I should google it. Any how, it was a very long drive, around 70 miles on a dirt road. The boys were able to take turns riding on the back of Grandpa's dirt bike and steering the truck with Jeff. That helped the 7 hours pass! They had soooo much stuff they brought and only stayed one night. The end destination was a campground out in the middle of no where. They say it was really beautiful.

Along the way were a bunch of old missiles. Very exciting for a caravan of testosterone.

Clayton and Gramps

This was an old railroad used for mining. Notice how far off the ground it is and how if I was there the picture 5 spots down would not have happened.

The Three Amigos in all their glory!!!

The next day they went to a place in Blythe to hunt for geods(sp?) Scott's become quite an expert in rock and gem finding.

This is the picture that would've never been had I come along. This track is so high up. Glad they all survived. I guess it's good to have the balance of moms over protection, and dads letting boys be boys.

You can take Wyatt 70 miles into nowhere and he'll still find a way to do something crazy. He's a funny one. How many people do you think he scared? They all had a blast and came home exhausted and filthy :)

My lips are sealed!!!!

2009-04-28T08:40:00.000-07:00

Sorry. I won't tell you where Isaac got the idea to play the DS while on the toilet. I will say that Trevor and Clayton are not allowed to ;) Nope, he's not potty training. He just likes to put the seat on, wipe his face with toilet paper and put it in the water. Fun stuff

Chew Toys

2009-04-28T08:22:00.000-07:00

Sorry to those that I already told this story to- A couple of days before Easter Bella ran in from the backyard and jumped on the couch with one of these in her mouth. A few minutes later Ben did the same thing. Jeff got it away from Bella just quick enough for her to run outside and catch another. So there we were with 3 cute little baby bunnies. The animal lover in me thought that I would try and keep them safe and make a cage and get a bottle and all that crap. Then the thought of 3 more living creatures needing me took over. So I let them go. The kids were in full blown animal rescuer mode didn't like this...so I grossed them out with all the possible diseases that they could be carrying, and that helped. The Elton John song "Circle of Life" kept ringing in my head all day.
They were cute though huh?

Not cute enough for frequent bottle feedings and tummy massages to encourage bowel movements! (what I read online for wild baby bunny care)

Trevor's World

2009-04-27T09:26:00.000-07:00

A big game for Trevor. He hit his sweet spot at the end of the basketball season and started scoring. This earned him the nickname "Sharp Shooter". He loved that, and still talks about it. Basketball is definitely his sport. Playing, watching, talking about, keeping up on the scores and game times on nba.com. Good thing it's Jeff's sport too!

So much to blog, so little time...

2009-04-27T08:48:00.000-07:00

We've had a very busy month and have had many adventures. I'm behind in my bloggin so I will attempt to catch up this week. Stay tuned fans....there will hopefully be a new post each day this week. Ha Ha! Peace :)

Arizona

2009-03-16T19:17:00.000-07:00

Last week the kids and I went to Arizona with my Aunt DD and cousin Derek to visit my grandparents. We went to celebrate Grandpop's birthday and to relax. The kids did really well on the long drive, especially Aubrey. She had a stomach thing going on and barfed in a bucket a few times on the way. She perfected her aim by the time the drive was over, and thank God, felt much better later that day.
Derek took the kids bowling the second day. They had a great time. It was Trevor and Aubrey's first time so they were pretty excited. I like the shoes.

We made Pop pop a chocolate cake with some Cabury eggs on it. He's the ring-leader of a family full of chocolate freaks! We had a really nice time seeing them. It had been too long since the last visit:)

By the river after an eating contest won by Trevor. DD took us out to lunch at the Edgewater buffet. Trevor loves food, so a buffet is better than Christmas. He amazed everyone with his skills and out-ate Derek.

More matching

2009-03-06T08:27:00.000-08:00

Just another cute picture of these two. Auntie Em came out with matching dresses and they wanted to wear them right away. They even want their hair exactly the same, shoes, they probably are wearing the same underwear.

Clayton Patrick turns 8

2009-03-06T08:02:00.000-08:00

So Clayton just had his 8th birthday on Feb. 22nd. He didn't want an official party, just a sleepover with his cousins and his pal Cole. Pretty simple request. He chose to have "make your own sundae" instead of cake. The kids had fun with that. We had brownies, waffle cone bowls, ice cream, hot fudge, sprinkles, whipped cream, nuts and of course a cherry on top. Most of them couldn't finish it.

Clayton and Cole. This year the boys are all into monster trucks after Uncle Nathan and Auntie Steph took them to the Monster Jam show. He has quite a collection now.

It's a strange thing when your boy gets to the age when clothes and money excite him. He loves this shirt from the Marsh's-it has monster trucks and guitars.

Modeling birthday boys

Here's Wyatt up on a rock. We went on a short hike to blow off some steam. There's a cool trail with a few piles of climbing rocks right near our house.

Wild men on a mountain

Nanny, Grandma and Isaac in a tutu.

Bella

2009-03-06T07:37:00.000-08:00

This is Bella our new little puppy. We got her last week. For some reason I really felt like we needed another dog. I've been looking for a couple of months on craigslist trying to find one that fit into Jeff's little box of what he wanted. He could have gone his whole life without any pets, so I really had to work on him. So he agreed that I could get one if: not too big, but not too small so the kids wouldn't break it, not a chihuahua, one that didn't shed, not a young puppy we had to housebreak completely, one that needs rescuing-not buying, plus we wanted a girl. So I found her :) She's an awesome little dog, and well worth the wait. She kept shutting her eyes every time I took a picture. All the kids love her and so does Ben. Aubrey can't wait to get her some doggie dresses and bows for her hair!!!

Baller

2009-02-25T10:56:00.000-08:00

This is pure joy on Trevor's face. He is a crazy basketball fan. Lakers especially. He plays all the time too, and that makes me happy. I've always had issues with people (kids more) watching sports, but not playing them. I just like to see kids playing outside and try to limit couch/tv time. I know I'm not alone in this :) So we put him on a team and he totally loves it. This last weekend he finally scored a basket, 4 of them. He was so proud of himself. I was perfect timing because he had an audience of family who came out for Clayton's birthday. I hope to get a good video clip to put on here before the end of the season!!

Three Little Ladies

2009-02-06T08:19:00.000-08:00

These pictures are from Christmas. I love that they have eachother to play with. They're all the same size too, so it make switching clothes and dress up so fun. Eden, Aubrey and Sydney

I hope they are always best friends!

Butter Boy

2009-01-17T14:31:00.000-08:00

This baby has been getting into stuff like crazy. The toilet, toothpaste, food from the fridge....endless. He climbs on t0p of the kitchen table so he can reach our jar of pencils and bites off all the erasers. We probably have 3 or 4 that the boys can use. He's such a handful, but so stinkin funny. So we weren't surprised to find him gobbling butter. He must have grabbed it off the counter and snuck into a corner of the kitchen and went to town. Of course he has to rub it in his hair too right? Nice, free entertainment for us all!!!
To be continued- for sure!!!!! :)

More Snow

2008-12-18T10:23:00.001-08:00

Cactus peeking out of snow-kind of a strange sight!!

This is our view from the front

This is our view from the side yard. It's quite gorgeous with the blue sky today.

Desert Snow????

2008-12-17T11:09:00.000-08:00

This is a wild day. I didn't really ever think I would see my backyard covered in snow and my kids having a snowball fight!! When we first moved here, we heard that it sometimes snowed. I figured maybe every few years it would a little bit, but melt before it hit the ground. Not the case today. It's still snowing like mad, and there is twice as much now as there was in these pictures. The kids are loving it. Me too, but I wish Jeffrey was here to enjoy it with us. He will probably not be able to get home because all the roads up here are closed. Oh well- Notice Trevor's pink gloves he had to borrow from Aubrey. We aren't prepared!!!!

This is her first time playing in the snow.

Isaac was just stomping around with a big smile on his face. He lasted about 30 mins. then his hands were little fat pink ice cubes.

Ben ran around like a sled dog.

Cold and Gray

2008-12-12T14:10:00.000-08:00

I just had to share these- I love them. It was a cold, cloudy day and the big kids were with Nanny and Grandpa, so Isaac and I hit the town. It was fun just hanging out with him. I realized how much I talk when I have the other kids. So when it was just Isaac I kept on talkin to him, even though he just babbled back. It reminds me of how important it is to spend one-on-one time with each child.

Aubrey and the Vipers

2008-12-12T14:01:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple pictures of Aubrey and her soccer team. She is the only chick in this picture. There was one more on the team, but she kinda flaked towards the end of the season. So, as usual Aubrey was surrounded by boys. She doesn't know any different though. She did great even though whenever she was near the ball she closed her eyes. It was really cute and we were very proud of her for jumping in there with a field full of aggressive boys.
She's in the gray hoodie

The Human Pretzel

2008-12-12T13:55:00.000-08:00

I know this picture is blurry-but I had to show this. Clayton very often sleeps like this. Is this wierd or what? He'll probably end up joining the circus when he's grown up and squeeze into a little glass box. He is very flexable.

Tree Adournment

2008-12-12T11:37:00.001-08:00

One of the Christmas traditions we all look forward too. Decorating the tree, watching the Polar Express and drinking hot chocolate. We all had fun, especially Isaac. He would grab one of the balls and chuck it across the room. Thanks goodness I found some foam ones at the $ tree. Now we are ready for Christmas.

They all get excited unpacking the decorations they haven't seen since last year. I guess I do too. Lots of memories attached to some of the ornaments. Clayton loved putting the tree together and fluffing up the branches. This was out first time using a fake tree. It was like a giant puzzle.

BARNEY!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-11-17T07:04:00.000-08:00

Isaac can be anywhere in the house and when he hears the music from Barney he does this. He runs so fast! He likes to hold on to the TV stand while he dances, I guess to help balance. We crack up every time. (yes, I always have laundry on the couch)

Pumpkin Guts

2008-11-16T18:32:00.000-08:00

I really meant to have this picture last to see product of our experience! Yummy... cinnamon sugar pumpkin seeds.

We hadn't carved pumkins in a few years, Aubrey had never done it so I thought we'd go for it. They were not too excited about the gross slimey insides that you have to clean out. Aubrey wouldn't touch it so I grabbed her hand and stuck it in to show her that it was "no big deal". That wasn't the best idea, she started gagging violently and almost threw up! I guess she's not a fan of slimey. It was hilarious....

They all enjoyed drawing the face and watching us carve it in. It was a nice little Sunday afternoon activity.

2008-11-10T11:34:00.000-08:00

I know I really should post video clips of the other kids, but I capture funnier Isaac moments on film! I was making cookies while he was finishing his lunch, I guess the sound of the mixer was relaxing. :) so cute

Volcano Day

2008-10-25T06:22:00.001-07:00

A couple days ago the kids and I went to the park with our home school group for a day of volcano building in the sand. They loved it, all of them. We had Eden for a few days so she got to be in on the fun. It was pretty funny to see the volleyball court with about 20 volcanoes erupting all over the place. It smelled like vinegar and probably will for a few days! We've been having a lot of cool experiences with this group. We went to a performance on Tuesday at a theater in Palm Springs, we've gone to a working goat farm and much more to come. It's great for the kiddies.

Aubrey and Eden really got into it and did a good job. Theirs was especially cool because we brought dinosaurs and trees to add. Doesn't Aubrey look like a little Elton John creature with those glasses?

Skater Dudes + a Chick

2008-10-20T14:01:00.000-07:00

The latest craze in our house is skateboarding. Wherever we go, they try and figure out if there's going to be a skate park near by. So I've pretty much figured I should keep the scooters and skateboards in the car-helmets too of course. Aubrey gets in on it too. She was not well prepard this trip so she had to stay of the ramps. No helmet + flip flops!

Both the boys are getting pretty darn good at it though. They really freak me out when they fearlessly go down the ramps and try to slide on the rails (they can't really do that yet). I do encourage them as much as I can though. I am the mother of 3 stinky boys after all.

Prima Ballerinas

2008-10-15T19:20:00.000-07:00

Oh my, arent' they beautiful?

I had Sydney and Wyatt over for a couple days. The kids all had so much fun being together. They really miss eachother when too much time goes by. Every time Sydney is here, her and Aubrey dress up in ballet stuff and come into the kitchen and ask me to put on some "barbie nutcracker" music. So pop in a little Tchaikaovsky and let them go nuts. It was hard not to laugh. They really felt awesome. They kept shutting their eyes, and flinging their hair. It's really funny. Of course Wyatt had to get a little face time in. Well all know, deep in his heart, there is a male ballerina trying to get out. Right John?

SERIOUSLY.....

2008-10-13T11:35:00.000-07:00

How did I....get so lucky..... to wake up to this HOT babe every day??????

Riley's Apple Farm

2008-10-13T11:10:00.000-07:00

There's something about going up to Oak Glen to kick off the fall season. It's like you need to in order for it to start. So we went. Just the kiddos and I. It was a charter school field trip so it was extra educational. They really learned a lot about the pioneer days.
Clayton had his mind blown by this old toy. A Jacob's ladder. He was trying to figure out how we could make one at home. Maybe we'll just "ask Jeeves" He really loved it.

Isaac Apple seed

Aubrey enjoyed watering the garden the old fashioned way. She had to fetch the pail of water from a pump, just like Jill, then pour it into a watering can. She's a little trooper. She would have done just fine back then.

Trevor-the competitive-I'm stronger than you-Mitchell had a blast sawing logs with an old saw and playing tug of war with all the other boys with egos. He's probably going to have a big truck when he's a man. I have no doubt.

Me and my offspring.

There were so many great photo opps. I had fun. We all had a very nice day, and now I can say....Fall has begun.

My last "1st birthday" song :(

2008-09-25T21:16:00.000-07:00

This is from Isaac's birthday dinner. We already did the big party, so on his actual birthday it was just us having a little celebration. The kids loved watching him go nuts on his cake. He really got into it. He grabbed big hand fulls and chowed it, then started rubbing it all over himself. He also really loves when you sing "Happy Birthday" to him. It's like he gets it. It was bittersweet for me though. I always get kind of sad when my kids have birthdays. It reminds me of how fast they are growing, and with the baby, reminds me that he's my last. Oh well, I'll just breastfeed him til he's 7....

My Little Rocker

2008-09-02T09:49:00.000-07:00

Clayton has been taking guitar lessons. He's got his third one today so he's busy practicing. He is super into it, it's really cool. His teacher encourages them to sing while they play a song. Every once in a while, when he thinks nobody is listening I hear him singing "This Land is Your Land". I love it. I feel blessed that we are able to help him tap into his musical gift. Stay tuned, maybe when he masters a song I'll post a video. :)

Funny bath

2008-08-28T07:39:00.000-07:00

Isaac and Aubrey took a bath last night after a long sweaty day. It turned into a giggle-fest, thought I'd share.

Dude time

2008-04-30T09:20:00.000-07:00

My boys were in their room and I set Isaac down and asked them to play with him for a few minutes. I was probably finishing dinner or something. I heard them cracking up and calling me to "come see". This is what I found. They said they were having some "dude time" with Isaac and just chillin and rockin out. Boys are so wierd.

Jeff's day

2008-04-17T07:50:00.000-07:00

Since know that he will never do this I will....
On Monday or Tuesday he was being observed by two fellow teachers, they try to help each other out by giving advice. He began the morning by asking his students how there weekend was. One little girl (I'll call her Shanaris, for privacy purposes of course) raised her hand and said proudly "My aunt got arrested for shoplifting at Wal-mart!!!"
"Okay" he replied uncomfortably "Next"
Another little girl, (hmmm. I'll call her Molly) shouted "We went and bought a whole bunch of illegal movies!!!!"
Ha Ha. Can't you just see him fiddling nervously, trying to see where he should take this? Needless to say he stopped the weekend reflecting before someone seriously incriminated their families. This stuff is great to me.

Here I am

2008-04-11T07:35:00.000-07:00

Well I have entered blogville. Can't say I'll be quite as dedicated as some and I'm pleased to see that there is a spell check. Did any of you watch American Idol last night? My boyfriend left, but it was cool to hear them singing a praise song huh? Well, nothing interesting has happened yet so I have nothing to say.