The 'A' Team

Prepping for Halloween

2009-10-29T20:18:00.000-07:00

Ashten, AJ, and Ayden Ashty cutting off his lid

AJ scooping out the guts

Ashten making his pattern

Ayden marking his pattern

The finished pumpkins

Ayden and his pirate

AJ with his snowman

Ashten went traditional My boys

Today we started Halloween weekend by preparing for the holiday. We turned on some Halloween music that they play on cable. Then got ready to carve pumpkins. Grammy and Papa had grown pumpkins in their garden this year and they were nice enough to give one to each of the boys. The big boys picked out their designs from a book, and I helped them tape them onto their pumpkins. They marked the outline and cut them out, for the most part, by themselves. Anderson's pumpkin after he and I scraped the insides, turned into a snowman. While the kids were cutting their pumpkins out. I made dinner. We had Halloween shaped macaroni, the kids LOVED it! Today, Ayden was the first time Ayden got to bring a book home from the library. He chose one called Halloween Pie. So while they ate, I read to them. After dinner, Ayden and Ashten finished their pumpkins and cleaned up. We had so much fun:)

2009-09-05T21:16:00.000-07:00

Ashten and AJ

AJ loved standing here for some reason, he spent a lot of time here over the weekend Dad doing dishes, lucky them (and us) they had a trailer
Aj, Wes, and Kristin

Ashty, Armand, Dad, and Mom playing games

The weather cleared up for a little bit today. The ranger came over and taught the kids about some fungi, trees, bugs, and animals. This and picking up litter certified them as Junior Rangers.

Ashten and Ashley listening to the Ranger.

Ayden learning about fungus that grows on trees

AJ lost interest after about 2 minutes

Picking up litter to become Jr. Rangers

Receiving their certificates

Presenting the newest Junior Rangers

Ashten and Ashley playing with play dough Ashten, Armand, Mom, Ayden, Dad, Toni, Wes, and Kristin

It was a long day for Ayden

and Ashten

Armand, Mom, Ashten, and Toni

We went to Potlatch State Park over Labor Day Weekend. The forecast: RAIN, RAIN, and more RAIN! Tent camping in the rain is ridiculous. We actually stayed dry the first night, the second night was a little wet, and by the last night everything was soaked. We had to run a load of blankets in the dryer. Anyway, we had a great time nevertheless. We played a lot of dice and card games as well as a game of croquet in the middle of a down pour! It was a blast. The kids spent time making bead necklaces and bracelets, playing with play dough, and coloring. We will never forget this trip.

The Bus...Day 2

2009-09-03T20:59:00.000-07:00

Since yesterday did not go well as far as the bus is concerned, I decided to go over with him today and get pics. He was a little nervous, but once he saw his friends, Andrew and Angelina, he was fine. I was a proud mommy to see him get on the bus like a big boy.

First Day of Kindergarten

2009-09-02T21:16:00.000-07:00

Ayden on his first day of school
Today is the day we've been waiting for for months ... or maybe years? Ayden has been so excited to start school especially over the last few weeks. Last week he was so worried that he wouldn't get to go because we had told him that he had to finish his Kindergarten workbook before he went to school. He sat for hours (despite me trying to persuade him to go play) working on his workbook and finished it after completing 65 pages!After he went to bed last night I went grocery shopping and got lots of yummy lunch foods, then packed his lunch. How exciting!

PB&J cut into a dinosaur shape, Root Beer (which you aren't allowed to bring to school oops), apple sauce, string cheese, carrots, grapes, and cookies. And most importantly...a noodle!
This morning, everyone got up at 8am. Ayden started getting ready for school. He was SO excited to get on the bus, and get to school. We walked over to the bus stop, but when the bus came he would not get on. I even carried him on, but somehow he managed to dart right past me leaving me on the bus. The bus driver said to drive him, so that's what I did. I left the little boys with Armand so I could go on the class tour with Ayden. He was a little clingy, but after a few minutes he was fine.

Waiting for the bell to ring and Mrs. Sharp to come out of the class Putting his lunch and backpack in his cubby

Making his name tag

Sitting on the mat to take roll

Talking about how lunch works. Don't they look so little at the big lunch table.

Good boy, listening to his teacher Mrs. Sharp talking about how the kids will get home.They made their name tags, took roll, and then went down to see and talk about the lunch room. Afterwards, it was time to say goodbye. He was tearing up, (I was trying to think of something to say to make him feel better.) Then I remembered the NOODLE! Before I had gone shopping for lunches, I asked Ayden what he wanted in his lunch. He said 'peanut butter and jelly and noodles'. I said that I wasn't sure how to get noodles in his lunch cause they would get cold'. He informed me that he meant the 'skinny long stick noodles'. Translation: Raw Spaghetti noodles. Luckily, at the last minute last night I decided to pull his lunch box out of the fridge and stick a noodle in it. So I said to him: 'Ayden, there's a surprise in your lunch box, and I'm not going to tell you that it might be a noodle.' He started to laugh, then hugged and kissed me, and went on his way to tell his friend Gunnar about the noodle. Phew!

Ashten, AJ, and I went to wait for Ayden at the bus stop. The kids were sooo excited to have Ayden come home.
AJ waiting for "AhEee's bus"
There was nothing more exciting to see this big boy jump off the bus, rush up to me, and almost knock me down. What a sweet boy. I know in a year or two he will be begging me not to come to the bus stop.
Andrew, Angelina, Ayden, Ashten, and Anderson
We are so proud of our big Kindergartner!! We love you Ayden!!!

Happy Birthday Mom!

2009-08-24T21:05:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is my Mom's birthday, but they are going camping. We decided that we would make dinner for her and then have some cake, which Wes and Kristin brought over. It was fun getting to visit before Mom and Dad went out of town.

Anyway, Happy Birthday Mom! We love you so much!!

10 Kids vs. Me

2009-08-20T20:56:00.000-07:00

Kelsey, AJ, Angelina, Andrew, Ashten, Ben, Josh, and ZachZach and Josh Zach loved the game that his big brother made up to play with him. They pushed him across the kitchen floor in this beach toy.
The kids fought over who got to 'receive' Zach next. It was pretty entertaining.
Today my friend Valerie had a dentist appointment, so I watched three of her kids. Plus, she was watching her niece and nephew. The age range was 11 months to 10 years old. Then, two of the neighbor kids decided that they should come over too (who wouldn't with that many kids in one house.) Needless to say, it was a house full. Surprisingly, I was able to get the house cleaned up despite the 7 extra kids in the house.

Silly Boys

2009-08-13T22:58:00.000-07:00

These boys are SO funny!

Happy 7th

2009-08-09T21:41:00.000-07:00

Dating: 10 years ago!

Look at my orange hair...how could he resist! Seven Years Ago
August 9, 2002
Today: August 9, 2009

This hotel was so beautiful The entrance

Us Wow! We made it through another year. HaHa!

Love you Pooptie!

Armand was in Reno at a huge swap meet this week, selling his trailers. I rummaged through the garage and found one of our wedding favors, a CD full of love songs. Then, I picked Armand up at the airport. We had wedding flashbacks as we listened to the CD and sang at the top of our lungs. Just call me 'Celine Dion' and Armand 'R. Kelly' ;)

My Mom and Dad were nice enough to take the kids for us overnight! So, I found a great deal at the Hotel Murano on Priceline. When we got up in the morning we decided to drive to Bremerton and take a ferry. While we waited for the boat to come we went to lunch at Anthony's, it was delicious. We took the ferry to Seattle, then headed home to pick up the kids. It was such a weird feeling not to have them around. After not seeing them for several days, Armand really wanted to get back to them. I, on the other hand, had been alone with them for several days and wasn't as excited:)

Pool Party

2009-07-28T21:09:00.000-07:00

Ayden, Ashten, and Anderson

AJ- loved the pool!! I mean LOVED it!
Ashten could not even strip down he was soo hot

Ayden - Swimming in his underwear

It was a record breaking 97 degrees today! YIKES!! It has been a nasty week for heat. One time I looked out and saw the kids including the neighbors huddled around the hose. I felt so bad for them and then I remembered that last year at the end of season I picked up a big pool for a great deal! It took awhile to set it all up, but it was well worth the wait. Every time we leave the house and come home the boys strip down and jump in. It's a pretty funny site, but we have gone through a lot of clothes this week. Some kids don't quite get that we shouldn't swim in our jeans.

Snoqualmie Falls

2009-07-26T20:30:00.000-07:00

Ayden making dirt angels...ewwAJ and Ashten these are some dirty kids
On Sunday morning we had breakfast, packed up camp, washed the kids, and took off. We decided that it would be fun to stop in and see the falls.

Checking out the falls

Ashty and AJ

Cheese

Anderson and Daddy

The boys

Ayden thought it would be good to roll down the hill. It was too hot and the grass was too dry which meant it was not fun!

There were SO many people there in Snoqualmie. I had never seen it like that before. We had to park across the street up the hill in the furthest parking lot. I didn't even know that this place existed. We walked around and found a place to sit after we finished looking at the waterfall. We found a table in the shade and ate cherries that we had picked up at the Thorp Fruit Mall. They were great! After not too long we took off (it was too HOT!) I believe it was in the high 90's today.

The Potholes Day One

2009-07-24T22:05:00.000-07:00

Uncle Wes helping Ayden fly his kiteand helping Ashten too Me, Papa, and Daddy getting ready for dinner
AJ
The name Potholes, doesn't really make me think WooHoo this is going to be fun. But it was! We had plenty of things to do to keep us busy and entertained. We got to camp in the afternoon and set everything up, then headed over to the lake for dinner. There was a pretty lake, and a huge field for the kids to run and play. By the time we got to the lake it was time to start dinner. Everyone took a meal to be in charge of, and mom and dad had the first one. We had teriyaki steak strips and noodles. It was delicious. The kids ran around, flied kites, and threw rocks in the lake. When it started getting cool and dark we headed back to camp for a campfire and some roasted marshmallows. It was tons of fun, and we can't wait until tomorrow.

Valley 6 ... or 5

2009-07-18T20:20:00.000-07:00

Anderson, Ashten, and Ayden having juice and snacks while we wait for the movie to startThanks to Ayden for taking this picture. Mommy, AJ, Daddy, and AshtenThe boys We decided to go to the drive-in today. The kids were so excited. We had them change into their pajamas and headed down to the theater, after picking up some snacks and some dinner. We went to see the latest Harry Potter movie. Everyone except for Armand fell asleep at some point during the movie. It definitely wasn't our favorite Harry Potter movie. Anyway, the kids had a blast even though they didn't last long. The worst part of the drive-in is having to drive home. We did not stay for the second movie. Neither of us would have been able to drive home.

The Beast

2009-07-06T21:51:00.000-07:00

Armand watchingAJ wants to come see but it's too dangerous
Ayd

Ashten and Ayden in their fort
Ashty hiding out

The fig tree had become completely overgrown with blackberries. Sad, cause figs are so yummy. Maybe next year the tree will get more figs!

James and the Giant Beast

Today, I was so happy for two reasons. One Armand came home early! Two him and his buddy James brought over what I like to refer to as...the Beast! At first he jsut mowed the lawn becuase the allergies are killing me right now. We doubted the beasts powers, until he started knocking over trees!

Sequim...It's Pronounced Skwim.

2009-07-05T20:57:00.000-07:00

Daddy picking berries Ashten
Ayden

Aj on the prowl for more berries The boys

After leaving Port Angeles this morning we decided to stop in Sequim or Seequim as Armand would call it. I think we thought there might be something cool there. I saw a sign for Railroad Bridge Park, which I thought sounded interesting, and very generic. At first we just drove around the city. We saw a sign for U-Pick strawberries. YUM! The price wasn't bad, they were $1.50 a pound, which is more than the sale at QFC this week. But, there is nothing better than Washington strawberries. They are so sweet and juicy compared to the dry and sour California ones. We picked about 13 pounds of berries, and I am sure AJ ate about that much while the rest of us were picking. The boys had a good time, we did this last year for playgroup, so they had been before. Armand had a great time! This was his first time, and I am pretty sure we will do this again. The only problem was we had to drive all the way home smelling the delicious berries in the back of the car.

Ashty, Ayden, and Daddy

Anderson calling to Daddy

Bye-bye Aj

Ashten and Aj looking at the Dungeness River. I was ready to leave fairly quickly once Anderson started climbing up the railings. It was very scary and he is a very quick climber. Ayden. Isn't the bridge pretty?

Ayden and Daddy

Ashten

Next, we followed the signs to the park. It was very pretty there and peaceful. The big boys went down to the water with Daddy, and then we went and played on the bridge. I definitely want to go back and see what else there is there. We didn't spend too much time because we were hoping to beat the holiday traffic. (No such luck!)

When we got home we had a BBQ at mom and dad's house. Which was delicious, especially after a VERY long drive home! It was a great weekend. I can't wait until the next holiday!

Happy 'Forks' of July

2009-07-04T23:08:00.000-07:00

Last night we decided that we would go to Forks, even though we knew we could not get a hotel there. That's what happens when you make plans of going out of town the day before the holiday. Lesson should be learned, but I am SURE this will happen again. The Twilight books were set here because vampires don't like sun, and Forks is known for it's cloudiness and rainfall. Over the last 6 years the average annual rainfall is 119 inches! Just to give a comparison Tacoma's average precipitation is 38 inches. Anyway, we got a late start after sleeping in and then stopping by Papa's house to learn how to use the GPS. The VanderHoeven's had set up a really cool geocache all about Twilight, that takes you to all of the important parts in the book. As soon as we arrived we saw a park and decided to stop it looked like there might be some fun stuff going on, we were wrong. The kids had fun playing on the cool toys they had there though so we played for a few minutes, before heading out to the first cache.

We told the kids we were in 'vampire land' and they needed to be on the look out. This caused a mix of emotions in the kids, mostly anger and fear. It was okay though I told the kids about how vampires don't like the sun so they were leery, but functional hahah.

I'm going to finish the rest of the post with the pics, so it seems like less reading. HAHA

Our first stop: Bella's truck. It had been in the parade earlier in the day, so it was still on the trailer they pulled it with.

Ashten was zonked out from the long ride over. Comfy??

AJ, despite the look on his face LOVED this toy. You just hang on it and it slides you across. I would guess it's about 25 feet long. I could be way off. When I would get him down he would say Up, up, up!
Ayden loved it too!! Ashten wouldn't even try it.
Second stop Bella's home

Third stop: Dr. Cullen the Daddy vampire works at the hospital, where he has his own parking spot.
Ayden and Ashten were getting nervous that vampires might be lurking, they couldn't get back to the car fast enough.

By this stop the boys were a little irritated that I would make them get out because there might be a vampire in their house, but at the same time mad that the sign said they had went to the forest because of the sun.

Phew! We made it out of 'vampire land' alive. Did I forget to mention that we were headed into 'Werewolf land'?

La Push. This is the home of the werewolves. The kids could have cared less. They saw water and ran! Ayden, Anderson, and Ashten

Aj loved finding all of the smooth rocks to throw in the ocean
Ayden was soaked from head to toe. I don't know how he was not cold. The water was freezing, and it was overcast at this point

K this picture is not to show my child. Armand spent some time chatting with the jerky guy at the beach, and he mentioned that you could camp at the beach, I didn't even realize how many tents were there until I looked at this picture. I know it's probably kind of hard to see, and a lot of them had tucked away behind big piles of driftwood. We are looking forward to trying this out over the summer.

Ashten's favorite park of LaPush was gathering up all the firecrackers people were shooting off on the beach.

Aj and Daddy

Ok so we finished all the caches, so using the points we got from the previous caches we came up with a location, and drove to it. Armand took us up this hill and parked, while we found the cache that was 441 feet straight down into the forest. We found a trail so it seemed like we were doing things right. Unfortunately, I did not know how far 441 feet was. It is a lot!! When Ayden, Ashten, and I ended up at the visitor's center at the bottom of the hill, I knew there was a problem. I did not have my cell phone and the center was closed. I didn't know how long we were gone but I knew it had been a long time. I found a man and asked to call my husband because at this point we had tried to make our way back up the hill but kept ending back at the same center. And it was getting dark. Especially in the forest. Armand didn't answer the phone because it was a California number so I left a message and hoped he had a signal and would check it. I decided we should try one more time to head back up the hill. This is when I (wearing flipflops) had a 12-18 inch stick stab into the top of my foot. OUCH! I ripped it out and we walked back to the center ....

Ashten was the leader, we'll blame him for getting lost;)

Ayden during the lost portion of our trek

...where I saw the VAN!!! YAY!! In the car I realized that I still had something stuck in the top of my foot. Luckily, I have like 3 pairs of tweezers in the car. I pulled out a piece that was a good 1/2 inch. (I was scared i would be too mad at Armand when he hurt me pulling it out, so I pulled it myself so I couldn't get mad HAHA) Anyway, I decided that we had the wrong final number and changed it. I got back out alone this time and equipped with my cell phone just in case.

At this point I knew I was on the right track.

FINALLY, After a combined total of more than TWO hours, I found the cache. Obviously, I am still a newbie. And yes, this is a self portrait...gotta love those:)

After not eating for 9 hours we decided that we should go get some dinner. We found a Chinese restaurant, it was expensive but pretty good. Afterwards, it was almost time for the fireworks. We drove back across the street to the park and parked right up front. The big boys ran off to play at the park some more. We kept joking that this was Forks and the show would be a few minutes long, if we were lucky. But they put on a really good show, and it was right above us. When the show was done I was ready to start driving home, but Armand wanted to go to LaPush and watch fireworks out there. He was trying to make us sleep there, in the van with no blankies. Finally, at midnight, I started driving I was wide awake and very antsy. At 2am we found a hotel in Port Angeles. It was a long day but so much fun! I am loving that the kids are getting bigger and can enjoy the trips we take.

Fun in the Sun

2009-07-02T23:47:00.000-07:00

Cori and Ashten playing with the water blaster AJ wasn't loving the sand or the water
Ayden

Ashley and a new friend

AJ and me

Kristy and I decided to get together today at Dash Point State Park. Before we went, I took the kids over to The Dollar Tree and picked up some sand toys. They chose water blasters. They are really cool and I think we will be picking up a ton more for the summer. They are pretty much disposable since they only cost a dollar, as is everything at the dollar store. The kids had fun playing in the water and sand with Ashley, Toni, and Cori. The tide was in BIG TIME, so there was very little beach space (people were packed in like sardines). The kids made the best of it and played for several hours before it was time to go home.

Up, Up, and Away

2009-07-01T18:26:00.000-07:00

Ayden watching the not-so-mad scientist Ayden helping Aj sit by him and Ashten
Ayden and Ashten

Today, we went to watch a science show at the 320th library. We asked Grammy to come with, AJ has been quite the beast lately, and I knew I would need to take him out. It was fun to have her come with and get to hang out for a little bit. Anyway, the science guy, was funny; the kids laughed their heads off. And, they learned so much. I definitely need to get them out to these type of things more often. While the other kids are raising their hands to volunteer, Ayden and Ashten just sit there. I noticed it in Disneyland a few times also, and I'm not sure if they are shy or just aren't interested.

The Taylor Wedding

2009-06-27T23:57:00.000-07:00

Troy, Nathan and Polly, Scott and Carly, Carol and Brian, Gabriel, and Jason
Mom, Aunt Vicki, Uncle Brian, Aunt Elaine, and Aunt Julie
Hillary, Anderson, and Me
Ayden had a headache, but he started having fun after a little neck rub from Mommy. Plus, once he saw his cousin Gabriel, he was fine.

After the reception Carly and Scott left to sparklers, the kids thought this was super fun! AJ and Grammy
This evening, after spending the day organizing the office at Daddy's shop, we headed out to Mill Creek for my cousin Carly's wedding reception. They started out with a small ring ceremony, and then had delicious food and cake. The kids were playing with their cousin, Gabriel and some other kids. They had a good time. I love when the kids can get together, it is so fun to watch them pick up their friendship right where they left off.

Double the Kids Double the Fun

2009-06-21T21:44:00.000-07:00

Ayden feeding his goat Ashten trying to feed his goat while Doggy tries to steal the bottle
Ashty

Before we went to Disneyland, we had decided that we were going to buy some goats, so that they would eat our blackberry bushes. Today is the day that we went to pick them up. Armand decided that we had to get three goat kids, one for each of our kids. Easy for him to say;) They are 7.5 weeks old, and still need to be bottle fed. We are in the process of weaning them. Anyway, we thought we could block them into a small area of the yard, but they are way smarter than we thought. Now they just roam around our yard and are not fenced in at all. They love to eat the dandelions, everyday they clear out the whole yard of them, and in the morning new ones have grown in and the goats clean them out again. Armand and I have named the big boys goats: Pibb and Pepper. Anderson's goat was given a name by himself, and that is: Doggie (of course).

Birthday Boy

2009-06-20T20:00:00.000-07:00

After the party Anderson got a shower, and I decided that I better take his two year old picture while he was in a good mood. Here a a few of my favorite pictures of him from the 'photo shoot'.

His face is too funny here

In case you can't tell he is saying ... CHEEEEEESE!

Anderson Jayce, Happy Birthday!

I love you SO much because:

*You are such a sweet boy.

*You always make me smile.

*You are so cuddly.

*All animals are a doggy to you, unless it's a cow...then it's a 'moo'.

*You still love to sleep (usually about 18 hours a day)

*You love your Daddy you just light up when you see him, and your brothers.

*Even though you can't say 'I love you', you try your best to sign it.

*You have a passion for your thumb, which makes me happy now, but I know I'll be sorry later.

*You surprise me everyday with your big (for a two year old) sentences.

*There's not much that you won't eat.

* You love to be helpful, as much as a two year old can. You put your dirty diapers in the garbage, bring me your jammies at bedtime, and sometimes you even put the silverware in the drawer (even though you are so little you can't even see way up there).

*I LOVE that when you hear Taylor Swift singing 'Love Story' you dance, and that your version of dancing is nodding your head up and down.

*I love the proud look you get when you jump up with both feet off the ground.

You are such a blessing to your whole family.

We love you!

The Terrible Two's Have Begun

2009-06-20T18:01:00.000-07:00

The fish cake

Ayden, Grammy, Toni, AJ, and Ashten Kristin, Wes, Ashten, and Papa

AJ walked around with his hot dog like this even after it fell on the ground

Opening his presents

AJ blowing out the two candles. He was trying to put them out with his fingers at one point.

Since we were on the road for AJ's birthday yesterday, we have no pictures. Besides he was too cranky after being in his car seat for more than 24 hours (with a little break here and there of course). Today, is AJ's birthday party. I already had the fish theme in mind because I thought it would be so cute to make a fish out of a round soccer ball pan. I usually decide on my theme depending on what cake I feel like making. I spent the morning making the cake, I think it turned out pretty cute and kind of funny looking. After the cake was done I worked on the salads and other food prep. I was semi-stressed because the party was set to be at Alderwood Park, but the weather looked bad and weather.com said it should rain from 4-6pm right during the party. I cleaned up the house and set up some chairs, but then after talking to Mom, I decided people could deal with the weather. Luckily, it stayed decent. My kids loved that they could play on the big toy while the grown ups ate and visited. Our plan was to move our grill to the park but it wouldn't fit in the Tahoe so we ended up having Armand cook the meats at home and then running them across the street to the party. After dinner, AJ opened his presents. I think Ashten was more excited about the gifts than AJ was. He kept making these funny faces like he was amazed at how cool AJ's gifts were. I wish I could have snapped a picture. Anyway, then we sang 'Happy Birthday' and cut into the fish cake. We had a good time and it was nice to return to a clean house.

Bubba Gump

2009-06-18T23:40:00.000-07:00

AJ on the drive home Ayden and Ashten at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company

The boys were excited to see Sponge Bob

Today, we were on our way home and decided to stop in San Francisco. We didn't even get there until dinner time, but Armand really wanted to stop. We went to Bubba Gump Shrimp Company for dinner. It was good but too expensive. Afterwards, we walked around, looked at the shops and watched the street performers. The kids loved the guy who spray paints pictures of San Francisco. It is really cool how they do that. Have you ever seen them? Anyway it was just a quick stop here and then we got back on the road to head home. Armand decided that he wanted to drive straight through. It was a horrible trip home and took me days to recover.

Hollywood

2009-06-17T23:14:00.000-07:00

Mommy and the boys at the Chinese Theatre Daddy and the boys at the Theatre

The Walk of Fame
The kids in front of Disney's Soda shop, I guess they didn't get enough of Disney in Disneyland

AJ and Ashten checking out Donald's star
Ayden playing in the fountain
He played for the longest the other boys took their time going in

Anderson was next in Ashten just sat by for a long time watching the other boys play. He was funny too, he would stand there and time it just right so that he could run into the middle of the without getting soaked. He stayed very dry for most of the time, this got many people's attention causing people to turn on their camera's (if they weren't on Ayden and AJ already.)

After helping me start some laundry (we stayed a couple of days longer than planned and ran out of clothes) the kids crashed. Aren't they too cute and cuddly.

This morning we got up and drove to Hollywood. I have never been there so I thought it was pretty exciting. It is not really a place kids would ever want to go, but we made it as fun as we could for the boys. The kids thought that it was cool to see the Stars on the Walk of Fame. Especially since some of them were "people" they would know like Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, and Donald Duck. We walked up and down Hollywood Boulevard for most of the day. We saw many interesting characters. Gene Simmons, Jack Sparrow, Superman, and a random jungle man with very little clothes (think Tarzan's loin cloth.) The kids thought they were pretty cool. Later in the afternoon a man talked us into going on the Hollywood Tour. We got to see many famous people's home including, Christina Aguilera's home which used to be the Osborne's, Michael Jackson's home, and my personal fave Lauren Conrad's house. We also drove down Rodeo Drive, and around other famous Hollywood spots. It was so cute because we would stop and look at these famous homes, which the kids didn't get at all. I thought they would be bored but Ayden thought we were just looking at nice houses so he would yell out every time he saw one that he liked, "Mommy, look at that house isn't it pretty."

After the tour, we were starving so we found a delicious Sushi place to have dinner. By the time we finished eating it was getting dark out and it is true that 'the freaks come out at night'. We stopped in an outdoor mall type place for some ice cream. Inside there was a huge fountain. The kids loved it and were running though it. Getting completely soaked! The boys had quite the audience. They made it to a lot of other people's home videos as they danced in and ran through the fountain. At home we wouldn't be able to get wet at this time of night because it would be too cold, but here it was still like a Washington summer day. The Californians probably thought we were nuts! Anyway, we made our way back to the car when they were done playing and got them into dry clothes, then we headed to our hotel that we had booked over dinner. It was a great day and so much more relaxing than the past week had been.

The San Diego Zoo

2009-06-16T23:43:00.000-07:00

Mommy and the boys

Mommy and baby Koala...what a life
Isn't this eagle cool?! It is SO huge and pretty that it just looks so fake.
Anderson and Ayden checking the map. Where should we go next?

The Map...crazy right? We actually had to put X's through the places we had seen because it was so overwhelming.

The polar bear was swimming around, usually when I go to the zoo all the animals are laying around being bums.

Brothers

Not sure what we were looking at here
Camel, watch out may spit.
Armand loved the peacock on the roof, we spent several minutes waiting for him to get many pictures of it.
Armand likes lots of posed pictures ... lucky me:(

Ashten, AJ, and Ayden

Ashty riding the sabre tooth
I loved how the animal areas seemed so open, not like cages

Today is our last day in San Diego. We headed to the zoo after waking up late again. We've really wasted hours sleeping that could have been spent in a park, but this vacation has been nonstop so a little rest is necessary, (at least for Mom and Dad) the kids have been doing fine with the lack of sleep. Like the Animal Park yesterday this zoo is huge and overwhelming. It's so big that they have buses and bus stops that run throughout the zoo. We made use of these several times today because we would get to a point where we were going to have double back over a place we had already seen, or else we would realize we didn't have much time to see all the animals so we had to choose between them.

As soon as we got in the zoo we realized that the camera battery was almost dead...bummer! It was almost kind of nice not to have to be worrying about taking pictures the whole time, but at the same time I think the kids are so young that if they don't see the pictures they will not remember this trip.

Anyway, this zoo is so cool! There were a few 'features' that we were amazed by. One of them is the moving sidewalks. They took you from the bottom of a very large hill up to the top of it. Along the way you get to see into the animal homes. At the top of one of them is a bird aviary (I think that's what it's called). This was another really great place. Inside were waterfalls and bridges, and of course birds. The other really fun part is that we got to see a lot of animal babies. The baby rhino koala, and elephants were adorable. I wish we would have had more time at both of the parks here, but we made the most out of the time we did have, running nonstop until it closed. Afterwards, guess where we went?!? Yep, back to Sea World. This time we got there early enough that I could go on the Atlantis roller coaster again. I asked Ayden one more time if he wanted to go with me and he said YES! We got in and he started crying. The first day we were here Ashten had to get out because he was crying, so I said if you cry you can't come with me. He did his best to stop, and off we went! The people in our same car were very loud and excitable which only scared Ayden because they were screaming when there wasn't anything scary. He did fine until we went down the huge waterfall. Then he was super scared. He knew that was the easy part. Anyway, it was funny because as soon as we got off the roller coaster he said 'Mommy, you said you would buy me anything I wanted from the gift shop, if I went on the ride with you.' Oops he was right, I had said that two days ago.

The other thing we really wanted to do on our last day there was to sit in the splash zone at the Shamu show. We sat right up front, and there was no one in front of us. We stayed pretty dry until the last couple of minutes of the show, then we were SOAKED! It was GREAT!! The kids had mixed feelings about it, but they were fine after it was over. (It's a little shocking when it happens because the water is SO cold, and salty.) Anyway, off we went to go find Ayden his choice of toys there. The average cost of something in the gift shop is probably about $40.00. We were lucky that he found a basketball hoop for his bedroom door for only $11.00. What a good boy;) That's our day, we got back to the room and we all crashed nice and early.

Wild Animal Park

2009-06-15T23:24:00.000-07:00

Our familyLucky boy getting to ride around
The kids weren't the biggest fans of the areas that had birds because those parts smelled really bad
Ashten, AJ, Armand, Amie, and Ayden at the Wild Animal Park My boys

Pretending to be a dinosaur hatching from this egg

Ayden and Ashten

Isn't the park beautiful. That balloon is something you can pay to go up, so you can see the whole park from the sky.

Checking out the birds and antelope

Ayden loved looking through the telescopes, I think we stopped at every single one Ayden and Anderson feeding the ducks

This is one of the 'animal encounters' we stopped and watched. Look how high that cat can jump!

The kids were fascinated by the fact that someone got their car stuck here.

AJ was loving the splash park here. The weather was perfect. I think Armand and I were both wishing we were kids so we could run through the park and cool off. Ayden loved it too, Ashten was the only one who wanted to stay dry.

The elephants were great! Right next to their area there was a camp set up where you could pay to stay the night and sleep right next to them.
My monkey

He looks so natural there

We woke up late, and I had to take a final this morning, so we were off to a later start. We go some breakfast and headed out. Since we bought the 5 day 3 park pass yesterday, we decided that the Wild Animal Park would be fun and thought we might be able to get through the whole thing in the amount of time we had. We were wrong we couldn't make it through it. The park is 1800 acres. http://www.sandiegozoo.org/wap/wap_map.html <--This is the map I was trying to post the actual map here, but I couldn't figure it out. Anyway, it is an amazing place. They have so many different animals. The kids loved it, but at this point it was so hot and we had been walking so much and staying up so late, that we tried to take it easy and not make it a priority to see every single animal. The park closes fairly early, so we went to dinner afterwards, and then decided to go back to Sea World for the night time Shamu show. Can you tell we really loved it!

Sea World

2009-06-14T23:34:00.000-07:00

Ashten, Ayden, Grammy, Anderson, and Papa feeding the seals Look at the look on Ashty's face when a bird swooped in and stole the fish from him

The Dolphin Show During the dolphin show we sat in the splash zone, they aren't kidding.

Brad, Taylor, Britany, and Tana

Ayden didn't love the salty water burning all his little cuts on his knees. Seriously, if I had a dollar for every time one of my kids fell on this trip I would be very rich!

My boys checking out the flamingos they were fascinated that the birds could stand on one leg.

There was this spray park inside of Sea World. It was every mom's worst nightmare. There was no gate or anyway to keep them in that part of the park and it was a huge area. So being that there are 3 kids versus 2 adults, it was very crazy. Luckily, everyone was found, but just in case I had written my cell phone number on all of the boys' bodies. Next trip like this I will bring a sharpie!

The kids visiting the Clydesdale, mostly for Armand's entertainment.

Tana waiting for everyone to get back from riding the Atlantis roller coaster.

Taylor

AJ was watching for Daddy to come down the waterfall part

Brad, Ayden, and Armand on the Journey to Atlantis

Ashten ended up chickening out so Britany brought him back to me.
The calm before the storm

Brad, Me, and Armand We stopped in to see this show, it was like Saturday Night Live it was pretty funny. This is the Shamu impersonator (the walrus). Were laughing our heads off!
Walking through the shark tank

Our first Shamu show

This morning we woke up, had breakfast, and went to buy some shoes (my feet were dying) and Armand just wanted some shoes. Brad, Britany, and the girls, and Mom and Dad all trekked down to San Diego, about an hour away. It was a beautiful day despite the weather forecast of low 60's and possible rain. I don't think I had ever been to Sea World before so I was surprised that had rides there. It is a really cool park. Our favorite parts were the shows especially if we got to get wet. We also went on the rides. The best one there was the water roller coaster. Almost as soon as you got on it you were dropping down a water fall, then there was this elevator that the car rolled into that lifted you up while tipping you side to side...very creepy. Ayden and Ashten had been on some big rides at Disneyland, but for some reason they did not want to go on it. Ayden went once and then said he wouldn't go again, but I wanted him to come with me so I tried bribing him with choosing anything out of the gift shop, he must have been pretty traumatized because he wouldn't even consider it. Anyway, we watch a few shows, ate WAY too much (Armand). They had this deal where you pay so much and you can eat all day whenever, whatever you want. Armand's goal was to make his money back and then some. We were successful. I think everyone in our group helped him achieve that goal. Anyway the coolest part of Sea World was the end of the day when they do the nighttime Shamu show. It was great with cool lights, good music, and Shamu of course. Anyway, after a long day we had no hotel to go to so we had Dad find us a hotel on Hotwire and paid only $60 for a super nice hotel. (Which made me even more annoyed about paying $53 for the Motel 6). When we got to our room I worked on my finals a bit, while everyone else crashed. It has been so easy to get the kids to sleep this week. I am loving it;)

California Adventure

2009-06-13T22:45:00.000-07:00

AJ and Ayden playing with the lightsabres The boys LOVED Lightening McQueen

Ayden and Ashten

The three boys

Daddy and Ashten

Ayden and Mommy went on the raft ride, he was not liking it, either that or he didn't like that we were riding with strangers.

Ashten doing the zipline at Redwood Creek Challange Trail Ayden has a turn Buggie Bumpers Armand, Brad, and the big boys on Francis' Ladybug Boogie

The Parade at California Adventure was so cute and every float/ character shot water at the audience.

Ashten watching, he wasn't a big fan of the water part.

Sulley

AJ was sleepy, imagine being used to 18 hours a day of sleep and getting only 7 hours

A Bug's Life

Ayden

Ratatouille

Tana

The Toy Story float was VERY cute

This is at the Light ParadeThe kids thought this parade was very cool

The A Team in front of the 'A' in California Us on our return to Disneyland

Today, we went to California Adventure. It was very hard to get up this morning, besides that I have finals this week which I needed to work on this morning. So, we got a later start. Once we got to the park we had tons of fun. First, we hit the Grizzly River Run, which was great because it was overcast, but warm enough for Washingtonians to get wet and still be happy, so there was no line! We ran around the park and did a lot of the rides and activities. It was definitely a different feel there. It's way more laid back, a lot less people, etc. Anyway, Brad, Britany, and the girls were at Disneyland meeting Cinderella and some of the princesses. So in the afternoon we met up and did a bunch of the rides together. The kids loved having their cousins there! In the evening we met up with Mom and Dad for dinner in Downtown Disney. But, we wanted to make it back in time for us girls to go on the California Screamin' rollercoaster as the boys had done it while we were waiting for the table to be ready at dinner. Apparently, Armand was telling Britany that I would never go on it. So to prove him wrong Britany and I went twice! I was SO nauseous, but it was so cool! While we were doing that the Daddy's took the five kids to the Electrical Parade. California Adventure closes fairly early so we went back to Disneyland afterwards so that Brad and Armand could hit some of the big rides they had missed yesterday. Again we didn't get home until after midnight, but at least we were smart enough to remember where we had parked, which saved us about an hour hahah!

Disneyland

2009-06-12T23:44:00.000-07:00

Armand, Ayden, and Ashten Britany, Taylor, Tana, Brad, AJ, and Armand on our first ride, The Jungle Cruise. It was cute and the boat driver was really funny. The kids loved it. Elephants in the Jungle Cruise
Anderson, Amie, Brad, Tana, and Ayden This was the first big ride we went on, it was great!

Except for the two people dropping the F bomb because Brad and I splashed them! It's a water ride people;) While Brad and Armand went on a "grownup ride" we went to visit Tigger

and Eeyore

Brad, Britany, Tana, and Taylor on The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Everytime I thought, this ride is going to be so lame...it turned out awesome! This ride was no exception, maybe I am easily amused.

Ayden and Ashten really wanted to go to this Jedi Training Academy. It was a little boring at first, but then just as they had given up these guys came out so we stayed to watch.

Our Goofy dinner.

Aj LOVED all the characters from far away, but he wouldn't get close to any of them without Mommy. Minnie won him over though.

The kids loved Minnie

Ashten really wanted to go on the King Arthur Carrousel

Time to go home

Today was our first real vacation day. Brad, Britany, Tana, and Taylor had arrived late on Thursday night from Arizona. So we went to Disneyland this morning. It was great the kids had SO much fun. They loved every minute of it and the lines weren't too horrible because it was overcast today. As soon as we got into the park we decided that we would put a peice of paper in each of the kid's lanyards (which they got for free for booking online I think) that had our phone numbers on it. This came in handy because as soon as we had done that Ayden ran off to the bathroom and somehow managed to walk right past us and get lost! We started to wonder what was taking him so long when we realized that he wasn't in the bathroom any more. Luckily, we had put the phone number and had several talks about what to do if he got lost. He had found a worker walking by and asked her to help him call us. It worked out well, and I am so glad that I was blessed with the idea. I am kind of glad it happened right away because all of the kids were good at sticking close by after that. Anyway, we went on as many rides as we could fit in between 9am and 12am. It was a super long day but we had fun and everyone got along well. I was surprised at some of the rides the kids went on. Pretty much anything they were allowed to go on they did. Daddy and Uncle Brad took them on the majority of the rides, while Britany and I would wait with the little ones. Then, we would use a Child Swap pass and we would take our turn while the guys waited with the babies. We also met up with Mom, Dad, Great Aunt Vicki, and Great Uncle Fred for a few minutes here and there and to ride The Pirates of the Caribbean. In the evening, we split up for dinner. Brad, Britany, and the girls went to a Princess dinner and our family went to the Goofy Dinner. Seriously, the best food I have ever eaten. It was amazing. The characters came around to the table to visit and sign autographs, etc. Goofy had a little performance. It was very cute, and it was nice that the kids got some good (non-park) food. But, when they were done eating they wanted to get out and go on more

rides. We stayed for the Majestik fireworks show. It was so crazy, everyone packs into to such limited space to see this show and you have to stand there for 40 minutes before it even starts (people had laid blankets out before noon so they could have a spot.) Anyway, the day was awesome, the kids had a blast, but the park was closing so it was time to head home. We went to the parking garage and couldn't find our car! We didn't get back to our hotel and in bed until 1:30am. We can't wait til tomorrow!

Downtown Disney

2009-06-11T23:34:00.000-07:00

Ayden's face when revealed the truth Ashten when we tried to tell him to look at Disneyland
Ashten in the Lego Store
AJ and the giraffe made from Lego's Isn't this pic cool? I used a panorama program that my camera came with and turned 3 pics into 1.

Ayden, Ashten, and Darth Vader...they love Star Wars

There were a lot of fountains around Downtown, the kids loved playing in them

Ashty sticking his toes in.

Daddy and AJ

Checking out the stores

We explored other areas, this was leading into the back of the Disney hotels

Ayden was all pictured out

These RC boats were kind of cool. We told the boys that their boats were working, but really we just pointed to boats that someone else was driving. It was cool because you'd be driving and then this one boat would start on fire (really) and and elephant would shoot water from his trunk to put it out. They loved it!

OKAY This is creepy! What do you think?

Ayden trying to climb the wall

We arrived!! It was so cute this morning because at this point the kids think we are still running errands for Daddy's work. When we woke up, it was still early and Daddy needed a little bit longer to rest so I took the kids over to Denny's for breakfast. When we got back, Ayden said "We are going to Disneyland today". I thought our cover was blown so I said "yep, but first we have to drive all the way home and then we'll drive to Disneyland. It will take a long time to get there though okay?" They were fine with that.

When we got to Disneyland Ashten was sleeping so we pulled into the parking lot and sat there. Ayden saw Mickey Mouse and asked if we were in Disneyland. He was so excited he woke up Ashten who wasn't too happy about it. Ayden said, "Mom, when you do the best trick ever you have to say APRIL FOOLS!" hahaha

We went and checked into our hotel and then headed to Downtown Disney, which is open to the public for free. We looked in the shops, bought some stuff, and then watched the firework show that was happening in Disneyland. We had so much fun, but the kids are really excited to see the real Disneyland!

On a Drive

2009-06-10T21:37:00.000-07:00

Ayden and Daddy having some chicken for dinner Ashten with his banana

AJ was more than happy to have a break from his car seat, because even though we had stopped several times before dinner, this was his first time out of his seat.

Today, we are going to California. The kids think we are doing some boring errands that have to do with Daddy's work. Armand and I decided that it would be funny and a good experiment to NOT tell the kids that we were driving to Disneyland, to avoid all the 'are we there yets'. We left at about 9am to go pick up Armand from work. First we had to drop off some stuff at Megan's parents, and Valerie's house. Then we were off to get gas and a car wash. Before we even made it there, Ayden threw up. We cleaned up and were on our way. After we got Armand he drove and within 2 hours he got a ticket for speeding. We were off to a great start. Our experiment worked perfectly the kids did not ask any of the obnoxious road trip questions, we didn't even have to break out the DVD player until late evening. At about one in the morning we stopped and got a hotel at the nasty Motel 6 in Northern California. I hated that we had to pay $56.00 for a smoke smelling "non smoking" room, but it was a break from the car that I needed

Garage Sale

2009-06-03T21:10:00.000-07:00

Ashten and Ayden at their first garage sale Watering can $15, robot $17, Milo and Otis $1 Sand toy $57, Elmo $1Sand Strainer $5, Star Wars II $1 Wow these prices are seriously messed up!

A 'real' customer

Ayden during his tantrum climbed a tree and stayed there for probably 30 minutes

My accent probably really was creepy

This morning was so sunny so the kids were playing outside. Ayden came in and asked if he could have a garage sale. I said yes, but told him that he needed to show me each thing that he was going to sell. He showed me a few things and I was happy that there was a chance that they could get rid of some of their toys. Anyway, after awhile of being out there with no customers Ayden got discouraged. I told him we needed to make a sign. So, I made a sign that said Popsicle for sale (sounds good in theory right?) Everyone would want a Popsicle, but probably not everyone wants a used sand toy. Ayden was not happy about the whole Popsicle sale idea, but I talked him into it and he went back out. I decided that I would go out and be a customer to make it more fun for them, I mean we live on a dead end street we don't get much traffic. I texted a few people to see if they would come down and be customers, then I went outside walked right by the boys pretending not to see them and walked up the hill. I turned around and came back, stopped at their booth, and put on my best British accent calling myself Janine. I told them they had some very nice stuff but that I would love a Popsicle. Ayden was NOT happy about this. He kept screaming "YOU'RE MY MOM!!", "I SAW YOU WALK OUT OF MY HOUSE", and "YOU LOOK JUST LIKE MY MOM, YOU JUST SOUND DIFFERENT!" I tried to explain that I was just having fun, but he was very mad about it and stayed that way for over an hour. Ashten on the other hand played along enough that I got a Popsicle out of it. I sat across the street and watched. Ashten got another customer while Ayden was being cranky, Uncle Wes. He sat and visited for awhile, until Valerie and Ben came to the "garage sale". It was lots of fun.

Oh one more funny thing, when Ayden was looking for stuff to bring out he finally said, "Mom can't you just open the garage door?" Like if you are having a garage sale it means that everything in your garage is on sale.

Spray Park

2009-05-29T20:50:00.000-07:00

AJ saw the water spraying everywhere and screamed. He did not care about lunch he just wanted to get out there and play.

Ayden trying to turn on the water, I don't know if anyone gets how to turn it on. The new turtle gun Ayden was attached to pretty much the whole time.

Ashten

Ashty took this picture of AJ and I
Ashty

It was HOT!

We had a great time today at the spray park in Auburn. It was so nice outside I could not just sit home with the kids. We stopped by Walmart to pick up some lunch and then headed to the park for a picnic. Ayden and Ashten loved the new turtle guns that they put in. Anderson loved the water that sprays from the ground. We are looking forward to lots more trips down there this summer.

The Architect

2009-05-28T23:30:00.000-07:00

Ayden and his house Ayden's gutter system The Christmas tree room
The fish tank

Ayden was working hard this morning on a project, I came in to see what was going on. He asked me to start helping him tear tape for him. He worked for several hours making the house with very little help actually. My only idea was to make the fish tank, everything else was all him.

Bowl - O - Rama

2009-05-16T23:08:00.000-07:00

Ayden about to bowl a...

STRIKE!! AJ was very tired, he had just woken up from a nap (at 9pm)
Armand played very well

So did Dad (and Ashten is on the left)

Papa. AJ, Ayden, and Grammy

Nice one, Ashten

This evening after a stamping show in the morning and a BBQ at Mom and Dad's house in the afternoon, I had a great plan...bowling! I was surprised that everyone was up for it. We packed up the kids and went up to Secoma Lanes. I haven't been bowling since I was a teenager, but I couldn't believe that for 6 people it cost $72.00! Anyway, it was worth it. The boys had so much fun knocking down pins. They had their own lane so they could play with the bumpers up. Ayden was a little pro though there were very few times out of the two games that he even touched the sides. He rolled several strikes, more than I did that's for sure, and he probably even scored higher than some of the adults;)

Bird Catchers

2009-05-13T16:35:00.000-07:00

The seed The trappers: Ayden and the blue blob behind him is Ashten
I think he might have been secretly eating the seed under his blankie? I had the bird seed out to give to Mom for her new birdhouse, but the kids came up with a brilliant idea. They filled a bowl with the seeds, grabbed their blankets from their beds and hid under them. They stayed there for quite awhile hoping some poor unsuspecting bird would fall for their little scheme. Obviously, birds are smarter than we give them credit for. Maybe next time, guys!

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-10T21:18:00.000-07:00

Grammy Ayden and Ashten Anderson - he loves to say cheese

ArmandCarol and Mick and PapaUncle Mark, Aunt Shar, and LydiaToni - looking guilty with her brownie. I had planned to have Mom and Dad over and Armand was going to cook us dinner. It started to feel there wasn't enough time to do everything we wanted to fit in between church, visiting Kathy, dinner, and school. So we decided that we would have dinner at the hospital. I brought my laptop and had school right in the cafeteria during dinner. It worked out pretty good and I was so happy not to have to worry about the house getting cleaned after the party. Shar had also planned to have some dessert at the waiting room for Mother's Day also.

Kathy's Entourage

2009-05-05T23:59:00.000-07:00

Aunt Kathy This is only a small part of the family she had waiting for her at the hospital

Kristy, Mark, Toni, Grandma, Eric, Kathy A, Jeanie, and Terry

The boys played games...I think there were 8 laptops total

(some of us did responsible things like homework)

Dad, Wes, and NickToday Aunt Kathy is having brain surgery to remove a tumor. She went to the ER a few days ago having not felt well for a few weeks. They found that she has a mass on her kidney and in her brain. After many prayers, blessings, and some gentle pushing from her loved ones, she decided to go for the surgery. It took many hours, but this was the scene in the waiting room at St. Joe's. Everyone knows how much Kathy loves family gatherings, I think when she busts out of the hospital, and hears about what she missed she will be pretty jealous;)

We love you, Kathy!! Come home soon!

Good Thing Someone Took Time to Invent the Bed

2009-04-29T23:59:00.000-07:00

Armand snuck in to check on the kids, because we kept hearing someone hitting their bedroom door. This is what he found. How uncomfortable is that?

Thunder

2009-04-28T21:57:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you saw and heard the thunder and lightning yesterday. I was in a very bad mood all day as I had been sick, and the kids did nothing but naughty things all day, including but not limited to: Flooding the bathroom with inches of water, breaking the sink stopper, hacking up a cantaloupe and dripping it everywhere, then flooding the kitchen with inches of water. It was pretty much heck ALL DAY!! By the end of it when the kids had their jammies on and teeth brushed, they came to sit by me for a few minutes and listen to the thunder.

Ashten: " Who makes that thunder?"

Me: (keep in mind my horrible day): "Heavenly Father!"

Ashten: "Why is He making that sound?"

Me: "He's probably mad!"

Ashten: "No, Heavenly Father doesn't get mad, we pray to him so he'll be nice to us."

(insert sound of crickets chirping here)

Ashten with his thinking face on: "What about Joseph Sniff?"

HAHAHA! What would I do with out these boys?

Sunny Days are Here Again (for now)

2009-04-20T21:20:00.000-07:00

AJ hanging out with me watching the boys play Ta Daaa!
Ashten showing me how fast he could run in water

My boys AJ deciding how he felt about the sand on the second attempt to play in the water.

Ashten

Riding the "boat"

Ayden's turn

We have been waiting for some WARM sunshine. Today was so nice. I think it was about 75 or so. I packed up the kids in their swimsuits, and we went down to Dash Point Park. I also brought some school work. While I did some math homework and studied medical terms, the kids played in the water. They also made sand angels, tried riding and surfing on a log, and skipped rocks. Anderson stuck close by me for a majority of the time. He did not like the feeling of the sand touching his toes through his sandals. I tried walking him down to the water but he did not like the waves. So he stayed by me and watched for birds, yelling "doggy!" When I got done with my homework, I took AJ down to the water again. He LOVED it and cried when it was time to go. We are looking forward to some more sun and more trips to parks.

Museum of Flight

2009-04-18T23:28:00.000-07:00

Grammy and the boys Ayden Ashten, Ayden, and Grammy

Flying the plane

Cute little pilot

Anyone for a helicopter ride?

The boys got to make those flattened pennies

Ayden learning about the hot air balloon

Ashten's turn

So cute. Too bad about that huge scrape across his forehead (Ashten threw a book at his head)

I think this is the fighter jet they really liked

Papa, Grammy, Ashten, and Ayden

Boeing had a free day today at the Museum of Flight, so Dad and Mom asked Ayden and Ashten to go with them. It sounds like they had tons of fun! The kids wouldn't stop talking about it. While the big boys were out playing, AJ and I had some alone time. The house was basically silent. It was a really great break for me, I got tons of laundry done and did a little homework while AJ napped. <--- maybe break isn't exactly the right word now that I think about it, but still very nice for me also haha.

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T21:00:00.000-07:00

The baskets BEFORE the kids devoured them. The Easter Bunny brought them all new jammies, they also got movies, sandals, and lots of healthy-ish snacks.
Cute boys

Could they be any cuter?

Last night the boys put out their Easter baskets, along with carrots for the bunny. Ashten was very concerned because he thought that the bunny a)would steal his Easter eggs, and b)needed some cookies. I tried to explain that bunnies don't actually steal and that they don't eat cookies. After much consideration we decided that the bunny would be happy with the carrots and a bowl of water. I think it was a perfect compromise. This morning the kids got up and told us that the Easter bunny brought them "things". I got up snapped some pics and rolled back into bed, but not before warning them not to eat all the food in their baskets. Luckily, the bunny was smart and brought fruit cups, juice, rice cakes, and other mostly healthy snacks. I was not too shocked when a couple of hours later the food was no where to be found, just traces of litter of course. Armand made us a big breakfast, then we headed to church. Afterwards, we had dinner at Mom and Dad's house. Thanks for the delicious dinner!! We did not do an egg hunt, needless to say it was raining, I believe this is the third year in a row that we've had to forfeit. Actually, I think one year Mom had the kids over on a random sunny day to take care of that (honestly though, I'm happy that there is no candy in the house;)

Easter Fun

2009-04-11T22:33:00.000-07:00

Ashten getting ready to dip his first egg. Ayden
Anderson was so funny. He was sleeping during the first part of the egg dying. When he woke up and climbed up to see what we were doing he kept pointing at the eggs in the dye and saying "It a ball!"

Ayden with his favorite egg

Cheesy Ashty with his fave egg

Ayden and Ashten prepping for Peep Wars '09.

My boys

Ayden v. Ashten

Yummy peeps

After my quilt class today, I came home and helped the kids dye their Easter eggs. This is the first year that I was brave enough to attempt it with the boys. They really did pretty good. Ayden is a little bit on the clumsy side (a side effect of walking at an early age hehe), he dropped about 3 of his eggs and broke them. It gave us an excuse to eat them I suppose. The boys favorite part was coloring on the egg first with the white crayon. Afterwards, I set the three kids up to play Peep Wars. This was the first time I have ever played it, but I remember Megan used to do it with her family. First, I got on You Tube and showed the kids a video of what would happen, then we began our wars. Ashten was our first annual Peep War winner! The kids LOVED this part, and loved eating the left over peeps.

Baby Possum

2009-04-09T23:59:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I posted a picture of the "big rat". Today a baby possum showed up on our front porch looking for food. I thought he was a pretty cute little guy.

Riding in Style

2009-04-09T21:20:00.000-07:00

Papa and Anderson Ayden, Old Ggmom, and Ashten

I forgot I could use my cell phone for camera until later, so I missed getting pics of big boys riding

Papa was going to Old Ggmom's to mow her lawn. We went over to have lunch and visit with both of them, since we had stopped by to visit Papa last week and had missed him. We had lunch there, and the boys had a tons of fun running in her huge back yard. We played tag for a few minutes. Their favorite part though was riding the lawn mower. The big boys both got to ride and they helped pick up branches in the yard. AJ got to ride also, but he wasn't too sure he liked it. It is awfully loud.

Sprinklers and Skinny Jeans

2009-04-06T20:13:00.000-07:00

Ashten and Ayden

Ashty and his jeans
Today, Ayden pulled out the sprinkler. I did not realize how nice it was outside. We got to open up all the windows and the boys had a blast in the water. Notice Ashten's boots. Nice combo right? hehe When Armand got home we had to go somewhere and deliver a trailer, so we told Ashten to get dressed. He came in and showed us his "skinny jeans". He was so proud that he was wearing Baby AJ's jeans. There were tears cried by Ashten before we could get him to change.

Pinecone Fights

2009-04-05T22:55:00.000-07:00

We stopped at the Thorp fruit stand and got some snacks. There wasn't a ton of fruit there I suppose because it's still winter Ayden showed off doing cartwheels

and rolling down the hill

AshtyAyden

The Pinecone Fight

Me and my hubby

Ashten trying to throw a pinecone at me Ashten, AJ, and Ayden

The boys think that it is hilarious for us to roll down all the windows while driving, even if it's freezing. We don't mind doing it for a few minutes, until it gets too cold.

AJ especially loves when the wind hits his hair.

Everyone was freezing except for Ashten, he was "Hot". We told him to take off his shirt; in exchange we would roll down the windows. We were freezing and wanted him to get how we felt. Finally, he wanted it up and didn't whine about wanting it down the rest of the time.

Since today was Conference, we were able to DVR church (hehe) and deliver a trailer to Yakima. I've really enjoyed Armand having us come with us. The kids have mixed feelings, they like when we get somewhere (anywhere) and do something fun. They do no like the actual drive, riding in Daddy's (stinky) car, or missing out on other things that are happening. In Yakima, the weather was great, but we didn't see much to stop and do, so we headed to Sonic for some dinner...yum! Afterwards, we headed home and stopped at a rest stop on the way. We also stopped at Snoqualmie pass to see all the snow they had there. It was amazing, but the kids did NOT want to get out. They were still traumatized from the trip to Mt Rainier. Anyways, tomorrow we are headed to Arlington and Tuesday the boys and Armand are going to Mill Creek for a delivery, while I go to Enrichment. But, I plan on losing the camera under the passenger's seat for two days, so I will spare you the blogs.

Tulip Festival?

2009-04-04T22:35:00.000-07:00

Ayden Ashten
Anderson

Wes and Kristin

AJ, Ayden, Ashten, Kristin, and Wes at the ice cream shop

Wes and Kristin invited us to go to the Tulip Festival, this morning. There were supposed to be all kinds of activities and things going on up there. Unfortunately, we drove all the way up there and couldn't find anything, including the tulips. Apparently, the tulips come in at different times each year depending on the weather, which I remembered from last year, but not until we already drove all the way there. We still had fun seeing the daffodils, which were in full bloom. The kids loved running up and down the rows. Afterwards, we went to Anacortes and got some ice cream, before heading home. We'll have to remember this for next year, and maybe print out directions to some of the activities and events.

Could Spring Have Finally Arrived?

2009-04-03T22:21:00.000-07:00

Today, Toni came over to play. We ran a few errands and then because it was sunny, went to the park at Kobetich. The kids had a great time even though it was very cold (it snowed just 2 days ago). Anderson LOVED the swings. They finally installed the baby style swings. He sat there a lot of the time sucking his thumb and holding his blankie. He even almost took a nap there. Ayden has self taught himself to ride a bike with no training wheels. Anyways, today made me realize how much I miss the warmer weather.

Funny Ashten

2009-04-02T22:11:00.000-07:00

This is just a random picture that I caught of Ashten, He is always very dramatic when he talks. It's so cute. I think he was telling me about why there was dirst all over his face.

Big Boy Bed

2009-03-30T23:59:00.000-07:00

AJ 's last time in the crib.The escape attempt

Anderson with his new bed

Good night Cutie

Midnight bed check

None of the other kids have ever climbed out of their cribs, so I was shocked this morning when I heard AJ's doorknob turning. My first thought was: Oh no someone broke in through his window. This is totally irrational, I know!! I just had never had that experience before so I guess it seemed more reasonable than my "baby" climbing out of bed. haha. In the evening, I prepared his room for him: big boy bed, outlet covers, all the childproofing necessary. After dinner we went through the bed time routine, and stuck him in bed. There was some crying and trying to escape, but after a few minutes he was out. Just before midnight I went in to check on him and he was laying on the floor. He can't climb into bed, with his short little legs:( How did he ever manage to climb out of his crib?

What's That Smell?

2009-03-29T23:53:00.000-07:00

Anderson, Armand, Ayden, and Ashten My big boy

Armand

Sea Lions

Checking out the skeletons

The Hecta Lighthouse

The kids watching the sea lions

Our famliy at the cave. It was really windy... can you tell?

AJ finally got a little sleep at lunch time.

We wanted to go to The Sea Lion Caves, so we got up bright and early (partially because we had three kids wide awake). We had breakfast, packed up, and drove the 1.5 hours to the cave. The weather was crazy, we were definitely not in California anymore. It was sunny, then raining, and hailing, then sunny again. It was SO windy walking down to the elevator at the cave. I have been there before when I was young, but Armand and the kids hadn't. After talking about it all weekend, the kids were so happy to be there. The sea lions were so loud and stinky! Almost as soon as we got there the kids were asking, "What's that smell?" After we checked out everything, we hit the road. We decided that it would be fun to drive up 101. We stayed on 101 until it was time for me to "go to class." We stopped in the tiny town of Willamina, and stole free Internet from some unsuspecting family, so that I could attend my last seminar of the term. From there we decided to get to I-5 and get home. It was a long trip but, it was so nice to get away!

Best Rest Stop Ever and Dumbest Move Ever

2009-03-28T23:30:00.000-07:00

My boys at Lumberjack's Me and the boys
AJ's lips. He made this face pretty much the whole trip. He started speaking sentences this week. No joke!! He can say: I want down, I want juice, I want doggy, Thank You. It's so amazing how fast he went from saying only Mommy and Daddy, to sentences.

Ashten, Anderson, and Ayden at the Rest Stop

This morning we got up and went swimming again. We were hoping to have the kids burn some energy, so they'd sleep for the drive to the next stop. Afterwards, we went to breakfast. Our hotel includes a free breakfast at Lumberjack's Restaurant. This is when we started realizing that Anderson had stopped eating. He hardly ate a bite and from this point on he continued to not eat for the rest of the trip. He didn't show any other symptoms of not feeling well though, so hopefully he will make up for it in the coming week. We stopped at a rest stop at Klamath River. It was so pretty from the road that Armand had to see what it was. Once we took the exit we realized it was a rest stop. I'm not sure what made it so cool, but we all loved it. They had lots of picnic tables and benches to watch the river, the grass was alive and healthy, and it had a visitor's center. We are easily amused I suppose. After that we headed to Eugene, because that's where I THOUGHT our reservation was. Unfortunately, I didn't realize my mistake until we arrived at our supposed destination. We were actually supposed to stay in Medford, which we had passed 300 miles before. This was a non-refundable reservation, so I was SO stressed, but we got it all worked out for $37.00 extra:( We went to dinner and then went to bed. I had a horrible headache, and all of us were lacking in sleep. There is a reason why people have their own bedrooms, and this trip confirmed that.

Heading to Redding

2009-03-27T23:15:00.000-07:00

AJ and Ashten in the car on the ride down Ayden
Armand multi-tasking

Our first rest stop

The boys and "Daddy's trailer"

Mount Shasta

At the pool

Me and the kids

Ayden

AJ was scared for about 2.5 seconds then he was like a fish. He LOVED the pool!!

This weekend Armand had a trailer order to deliver to Redding, California. He wanted to drive straight there and back. It is a 9 hour drive, so this would have been horrible. I talked him into making a weekend out of it. We left at 4am and arrived at 2pm. We got quite a surprise coming from Washington, where it has snowed within the last two weeks. SUN!! It was about 80 degrees! So much for all the winter coats and sweaters that we packed. We stayed at the Travel Lodge in Redding, because it had wi-fi AND a pool, which Ayden informed us was a must because of the heat. We had a great day. When swimming Ashten asked, "Could we live here forever?"

Kindergarten Registration

2009-03-23T22:10:00.000-07:00

Ashten when he heard the news that he would not be going to Kindergarten with Ayden. He said he would miss Ayden...Sad:(Ayden at his new school
Today we took Ayden in to register him for Kindergarten. YAY!! We are so excited. I was bummed to find out that we missed the tour and everything. But he was just excited to see what school he would be going to. This was the first time I had actually ever seen it also, so it was nice to go inside and take a tiny peak. Ayden has asked me everyday since his registration, "Mommy, do I have my new school tomorrow?" Only 5 more months! Not that I'm counting;)

Big Boys

2009-03-21T23:00:00.000-07:00

Ayden age 5Ashten age 4 Before the wedding the sky was so clear I had to snap some pictures to replace Ayden and Ashten's photos that are on the family wall. They are both from when Ayden turned 4, so they were really outdated. I usually do them at their birthdays at the very least, but it seems that we have had a lot of bad weather or bad pictures. I love these pics, the kids look adorable.

Another Wedding

2009-03-21T22:38:00.000-07:00

Ayden's favorite part was the ice cream bar AJ had a good time, but was so tired Wes and Kristin

Mom and Dad

Nick and Lydia

He finally crashed for a few minutes

Today we had a reception to go to for my cousin Nick and his wife Lydia. They were sealed at the Manti Temple in Utah in the end of February. Anyway, the Tahoe had broken down yesterday so I had no car. Dad came and picked up the big boys, and Wes and Kristin came to get me and AJ. I appreciated the family for helping us out. We had lots of fun visiting. The boys had fun playing in the nursery for a little while, but they stayed for only a few minutes then were back at my side. It was nice to get out of the house and listen to music with the family. Afterwards we cleaned up chairs until Wes and Kristin were ready to go. The boys got home about 30 minutes after us, I guess they were having too much fun helping

To Ggmom's House We Go

2009-03-04T11:52:00.000-08:00

Ashten, GGmom, and AydenAnderson tried to play too

Ayden GG playing piano with the boys
Baby Anderson and Grandma Anderson
AJ just couldn't hold out for home. After visiting the museum, we called Great-Grandma Anderson to see if she was up for a visit. The boys had so much fun visiting her. They ate lots of candy and some healthy snacks. They played Don't Break the Ice and set up the fishing game (they never got around to actually playing). They got to read fun pop up books and play piano. We even took a walk around the "block" a few times to burn off some of that candy energy. We headed home around 530pm after a long and very fun day. They were sad to go but we had to get home, AJ hadn't had a nap all day and was getting really cranky.

Thanks for letting us come over and see you, we had lots of fun!:)

Hands On!

2009-03-04T10:54:00.000-08:00

Anderson making deliveriesAshten is ringing me up for the sandwich I orderedAyden is loading up the delivery truck with fruits and veggiesMy sandwichAJ picking potatoes for his basket and cucumbers and carrots

Gavin and Ben doing deliveries
Doctor Nicolas examining X-rays.

AJ loved the vet area especially when he saw the doggies
Ayden also liked playing with the train set

Ashten and Ben spent so much time at the water table they were pretty wet by the time they were done
Valerie had a couple of free passes for the Children's Museum in Olympia. Since there was no playgroup or preschool today, we decided to go out this morning. We tried to fit us all in one van but apparently when they advertise that it holds 7 they do not consider car seats and boosters. I think the only time we have ever had 7 in our van was when I made Ayden ride without a booster, but this was too far to be driving illegally. Anyway,we met Valerie's sister-in-law (and her two kids) in Lakewood and drove to Olympia. This museum is awesome. We've only been to the Tacoma museum, and it is tiny compared to this one. The kids had a ton of fun. Ayden's favorite part was the giant boat. Ashten's favorite part was everything and pretending to be a doctor looking at X-rays. Anderson's favorite part was the farmer's market.

Mt Rainier

2009-03-01T21:56:00.000-08:00

Ayden and Ashten at Longmire My Boys at Paradise
Checking out the snow shoers

Ayden looking through the microscope
Ashten checking out the stuffed animals
Ayden and his picture of Mount Rainier
The boys playing a matching game together
Daddy and Anderson
Ashty with his lollipop
AJ got a cold bum
Ayden crawled all the way up this snow hill, lost his his shoe, then came crawling down with only a sock.... It's Mommy to the rescue, in my sandals.

Today, Armand had some customers coming to pick up trailers, so I was going to be left alone at church. He had the bright idea to go on a drive after the customers left. So we loaded up the kids and decided to head to Mount Rainier. It was a decent day out and the kids were so excited. They always yell out "There's Mount RAYneew" and ask if we can go there whenever they see it. We haven't been there since September 2005, so they don't remember being there. We visited the new Visitor's Center, which was really neat the kids loved learning and exploring. There was a ton of snow at Paradise and the kids had a blast playing in it. Until they realized they were cold. The whole ride home all we heard was, "I'm watery!" from Ashten. Even AJ kept pulling on his wet pants. I felt bad for them since we didn't prepare well and bring them dry clothes. I have never been there in the winter and didn't really know what to expect, but snow would have been the obvious I suppose. On the way out of the visitor's center I learned that in most years, Paradise gets more snow than anywhere else in the lower 48 states! OOPS.

AJ

2009-02-26T15:51:00.000-08:00

During preschool, I make AJ stay up the whole time to hang out with me. This is very hard on him. He misses his brothers while they are gone, but he loves playing with baby David (Miss Rachel's son). This week has been very hard on him. He has been working on getting those molars in for weeks now. The top two came in but the bottom two are just hanging out just below the gums. OUCH!

Preschool

2009-02-26T15:41:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday, the boys started preschool. Of course I forgot my camera. They go two days a week for two hours. Today, they learned about the letters d and q. They started a few weeks into class, but I am sure that they will catch up soon. So far they love it! Ashten's favorite part of preschool is playing with magnets and Ayden's favorite part of school is snack time.

Fire House Fun

2009-02-25T15:19:00.000-08:00

Ayden, Ashten, and AJ

Ashten riding in the firetruckThe kids in the cabAJ loved exploring by himselfAyden and Abraham checking out the firemen's roomsFireman Chris, Cathy, Valerie, and Rachel in the kitchen Stephanie, Aubrey, Jen, Tate, Analisa, Addy Izzy, AJ, and Ashley in the living room

What a cutie Half of the kids
The Group 2009AJ was loving licking the back of the fire truck and sucking all the water off the bumperIzzy and Ashten watching the cab go upAyden and AJ watching the firemanAJ couldn't find me and was kind of scared.

I have been planning a tour of the fire station across the street for a few weeks now. Today was the day. We started by having all the kids from playgroup over to play while we waited for everyone to gather. Just before eleven we walked over. We had a blast!!! The firemen were so kind to the kids. They showed them their new fire truck and let them walk through it. Then they let the kids see inside their "house." We saw their bedroom, with beds that folded up into the wall, the living room big screen and recliners included, and the kitchen. After the tour of the inside of the firehouse, they pulled the truck out so we could get a group picture. It was a huge group, we had 23 kids and 10 moms. They showed the kids how they put down the ladder, lift up the cab to look at the huge engine, and showed them the sirens and lights. Ashten almost cried, because it was so loud. Fireman Chris put on the gear and told the kids all about it. It was great, we learned so much, I think I had just as much fun as the kids. Afterwards, we came back to the house and had a potluck, colored thank you pictures for the firemen, and made a firetruck snack. It was a long playgroup, but it was so much fun!

Happy Birthday Ashten!

2009-02-21T23:01:00.000-08:00

Ashten's pirate cake.
Thanks to Valerie for pretty much doing the whole cake for me! We loved it:)
She is currently taking orders hahaKathy, Terry, Papa, Kristin, and WesAJ and Grammy

About to blow out the candles

Ben, Ashten, and Ayden on the treasure hunt Haley, Riley, Bella, Toni, Ashten, Ben Bella, Riley, Josh, Ben, Ashten, and Ayden

Arrrghh Ggmom and AJ coloring Ashten and his finally finished room

Ashten turned 4 today. In the morning, Grammy came and picked up the boys to go to Primary Activity. Afterwards, they went out to lunch together. While they were doing that I was getting ready for the party. Finally, it was time. We had pizza and salad for dinner. Then, Ashten opened his presents, which he loved. After that we had cake. When the kids were done with that I had treasure maps and flashlights for the kids. They got bundled up and found their treasures. I think they had a lot of fun.

We love Ashten, he is our favorite white baby:) Here are some other reasons that I love him so much: He still takes a nap. He is a sweet boy. He will walk on my back or rub my head almost anytime I ask him. He loves to protect AJ. He loves to get shots. He is SO brave. He can clean his room. He is so funny. I love how he says policeman. He is the best sharer in the house.

Wild Life

2009-02-17T22:38:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Ayden came running in the house telling me about the "hugest rat on earth" that he saw. I wasn't sure what he saw until today when we were eating lunch. I said to the kids, "Look there's a cat at our back door." Then I noticed a rat-like tail. Ewww. It was a possum! I thought possum were supposed to be nocturnal animals. Am I mistaken? Anyways, then Ayden told me that that was the rat he saw yesterday.

Isn't this bear a cutie
I finished up the deer by putting grass over his nonexistent hooves

Do you think the tree leaf part is big enough?? I am not sure if it looks unbalanced...let me know!

After running out to get more paint I returned home to spend the next five hours painting Ashten's room. I still need to put another coat and touch up the tree and paint the bedroom doors. Armand will put the moldings around the window and then it will be done. I can't wait. I was getting worried that we wouldn't finish in time for his birthday on Saturday, but I think I am back on track.

Overheard

2009-02-17T16:16:00.000-08:00

Ayden to Mommy: "Can I go outside? Is that okay with you?"

Ashten to Ayden: "It's okay the Ghost will help you."

He had just learend about the Holy Ghost this week at church.

Happy Belated Valentine's Day

2009-02-16T23:30:00.000-08:00

It seems every year it's harder to find a babysitter on Valentine's Day, so we have stopped looking. On Monday, I put the kids to bed at 6:30pm. They had a busy day, so they were tired anyway (at least that's what I tell myself.) I set up the kitchen table with bamboo, candles, and chopsticks and went and got a big tray of sushi. it was delicious. For dessert, I made some chocolate fondue dip. We had pineapple, strawberries, bananas, marshmallows, and brownies bites to dip in it. A very healthy dessert;) haha It was actually very nice to stay home and the kids actually went right to sleep, so it was very relaxing.

Rollerskating

2009-02-14T22:12:00.000-08:00

Ayden and AshtenDaddy helps get them in the rink Ayden was a little more apprehensive, until no one was looking.

Ashten is a little daredevil.

AJ wanted to go skating so bad. Everytime he would run over to the rink when we weren't looking and stick his toe down. Then he'd scream when we'd take him away. He was happy at the candy machines though:)
Josh and his Mario mushroom cake
Ben and his cake

Ayden and Ashten were invited to Josh and Ben's birthday party at Pattison's West. They have never been skating before, but they were very excited. We had their wheels tightened and they were off...well not really, how can you go anywhere with stationary wheels. They were a little nervous but they did really well. Ashten actually got really into it and asked to get his wheels loosened. By the end of the party they were out skating in the middle and were very sad to leave. I have to say, I am very proud of them because the last time I went skating was as a teenager and I was still hugging the wall:)

Overheard

2009-02-13T10:41:00.000-08:00

While eating a hamburger, Ayden points to a pickle:

"This is where the fun begins"

***************************************
Over lunch:

Ayden: "Ashten, I suppose I won't be able to play with you when I get home."

Me: "What are you talking about?"

Ayden: "When I go to school I'll have too much homework to do."

(You think me going back to school has had an effect on Ayden?)

****************************************

Ashten to Mommy: "Mommy, can I get some milk and vitamins, please?"

Me: "No, not right now, wait til 8 o'clock."

Overheard: "Mommy said YESSS!!!"

Thursday...for Lack of a Better Name

2009-02-12T22:07:00.000-08:00

Ashten and Ayden who is fake sleeping Ben who almost passed out for real
The day started out with the kids and I working on laundry and cleaning the house. In the afternoon, Ben came over to play while Valerie took cupcakes to school. They decided that they were going to have a "camp out". They brought all of their blankets and pillows and lined them up in the hallway. They had lots of fun doing that until I realized that it would me fun for me if they kept the house clean and played in the bedroom.

Ashley, Ashten, and Ayden outside the fort
In the fort
Later that afternoon, Ashley came over to play, while Kristy worked. The boys had so much fun having her over. She helped them build a fort underneath a tree in our backyard. They explored the yard until it time for dinner. Even after dinner when it was pitch black they went back out and played. I usually don't let them go out when it's dark, so it was so exciting to them.

Look at all the devastation

AJ in time out and wearing his brother's shoes

After dinner, AJ was running around in the kitchen and decided to pull handfuls of salad and throw it all over the kitchen floor. I decided that this was a perfect time for him to have his first time out. At first he sat there looking ashamed of himself , then he started crying. He did really well though, he sat for half the time then stood up. I put him right back and he finished off his time. He had to sit a second time out a few minutes later for a similar offense:)

Birthday Boys

2009-02-11T22:49:00.000-08:00

Valerie, Ben, Ammon, Jaylene, Ayden, Abraham, Ashten, Taylor, and Jared

Ayden and the only picture of AJ (oops) Abraham and Ashten There are a couple of boys who had birthdays in February, so Valerie put together a playgroup for the kids to decorate cupcake cones. They were very cute and most importantly the kids loved decorating and eating them. I think it had something to do with candy, candy, frosting, and oh, did I say candy?

Happy Birthday, Dad!

2009-02-07T23:39:00.000-08:00

Ayden and Ashten helping Papa open the presents they made him.Anderson, Kristin, Wes, and Grandma Peter (Kristin's brother), Papa, Ashten, Grammy, and Ayden
Yesterday, Dad turned 49 years old. Today, Mom had a party for him at their house. She cooked some awesome food and we had cake. Afterwards, the boys had a computer game that they spent all night trying to play, while the girls worked on crafts. The kids played and watched movies. Ayden stayed up until we left at about 1:30am. We all had lots of fun. It reminded my of the old days before we had kids when we used to stay and party all night.

(you can see the craft we worked on on my Craft Blog.)

Birthday Books

2009-02-06T23:25:00.000-08:00

I told the boys this morning that it was Papa's birthday and asked them if they wanted to make cards. They decided that they wanted to make books instead. I had these luggage tags that I had bought with the plan of making a cute mini vacation album. Instead I cut papers for the kids and then had them tell me their story for Papa.

Here is Ayden's story:

Once upon a time a big toy was outside and Santa puted a present on it. And then there was a hole in the fence and the new neighbor had a dog and the dog goed up the big toy and he got the present and he went back to the new neighbors house. The new neighbor was sewing clothes in his house and the dog came in with the present and then the new neighbor said, "BAD DOGGIE!" He told the Doggie to put the present back where he found it. He puted it back.

THE END.

Here is Ashten's story:

Once upon a time at the fair, there was a rollercoaster and the old neighbor went to the roller coaster and it was SO big. And then the old neighbor was going on a different one and there was none new different ones. And she found another one and they maked it smaller and it was fast. Then they got their camera out. Then them goed on it and it was fast!

THE END

I should have taken pictures of their illustrations they were so cute, especially Ayden's he is becoming quite the little artist. Ayden also made Papa a card with Darth Vader on it. Ashten's picture were all of rollercoasters...both of the boys have gone through the roller coaster phase...I suppose it IS the easiest thing to draw. You can see in Ashten's picture all of that pink coloring is the longest roller coaster in the world.

Bird Seed Gone Bad

2009-02-04T22:58:00.000-08:00

Ben, Valerie, Rachel A and Ammon, Stephanie, Ashten, a girl Rachel S watches, and Ayden Ayden

I guess there was dust on the lens...a LOT of dust Ashten pretending to make something

Rachel, Ammon, Ayden, and Valerie
Anderson had fun reaching into the flour, until he got caught. Then he stood against the wall sliding slowly to the floor, drama

The one surviving bird seed biscuit.

It ended up crumbling also: the boys could not stay away from it.

Today we had playgroup. We had planned to make bird seed hearts that we had found in the Family Fun magazine. It was such a cute idea. How cute would it be to give them out for Valentine's? Unfortunately after making them and baking them for over an hour when we removed the cookie cutter they crumbled to pieces. It was a sad moment. The kids had tons of fun playing anyway, so that's all that really matters. Honestly, I think if there are snacks and friends they could care less what we do.

Will Mommy Ever Grow Up?

2009-02-02T11:50:00.000-08:00

Today we had to run to some errands. At Wal-Mart the kids had to go down the Valentine aisle. We came to the wall of dancing, singing animals and the boys and I started pushing every single button so they all were singing 10 different songs. I should have taken a video cause Ashten was shaking his rump, it was soo funny. I know we annoyed everyone, a lady even started heading down the aisle, took one look at us and the singing wall, and backed her cart out.

There's a Deer in Your Room

2009-02-01T23:13:00.000-08:00

Friday This is how far I was as of Friday night
Saturday

Sunday

Our house has been a mess for the last week, I have been painting Ashten's room as part of his ongoing Christmas and upcoming Birthday gifts. On Friday, I was looking everywhere for AJ. I heard him talking but it sounded muffled and far away. I was calling him and looking in every room, but no luck. I enlisted Ayden's help, he found both Anderson and Ashten hiding between the Ashten's mattress and box spring, which were standing in the kitchen. I had walked by them about ten times.

Anyway, yesterday I finished all painting of walls and trim. I need to paint his closet and bedroom doors still. Today, I got the overhead projector from church. After my class seminar I started to work on the deer and finished it. His bed set is the cutest camping theme so I am going all out! The boys have a list of animals that they want me to get painted on the walls but this one animal took several hours so we'll see.

Trees and Trains

2009-01-29T21:49:00.000-08:00

Ashten, Ayden, and Uncle Terry Anderson and Aunt Kathy
Kathy and Terry set up their Christmas tree, a village, and train set and invite family over to see. They invited us over to see it and to have lunch today. The kids had so much fun watching the train go around and playing I Spy. Even AJ got excited this year when he saw it. We had pizza for lunch and got to watch Mickey's A Christmas Carol. Then they played with toys and watched Frosty the Snowman. We had a great time!

Deer and Doo Doo

2009-01-28T21:36:00.000-08:00

Ashten, Anderson, and Ayden

I forgot my camera so the cell phone had to do.Today, after doing some really "fun" stuff, dentist appointment, car tabs, etc we stopped by Grammy and Papa's house. We played computer games and visited. Later when Papa went to work we tried to go geocaching. The cache was supposed to be located on the old 11th Street bridge in Tacoma. We looked everywhere but the only thing we found was a dead deer that someone had dumped and lots of dog poo. The kids were bummed but they were so excited to walk up to the draw bridge. By the time we were done with the walk it was getting dark and the GPS batteries were dead so we went home.

Team Bright!

2009-01-28T08:08:00.000-08:00

Welcome to this weeks edition of overheard.

Ayden: There are three dark boys, Daddy, Ayden, and AJ.

Ashten: Hey! What about me?

Ayden: No, you're bright. And Mommy's bright too!

The New Alderwood

2009-01-26T21:28:00.000-08:00

AJ, Toni, Ayden, and Ashten

Ayden brought his skateboard but AJ logged more time on itAshten and Ayden took AJ on a walkAj tried really hard to climb the slide

Today, we went over to talk with the firemen at the station across the street. While waiting for the fire truck to return we decided to go play at the library since it was so beautiful today. (Yesterday, it snowed by the way.) They've added onto the park including 4 new swings, another slide, a climbing wall, and some other things. The kids love the new additions. We played for half an hour when a truck came back to the station but as after only a minute or so they ran their siren and took off. After about 45 minutes another truck came back so we started walking over right away. We were all frozen anyway and the kids were ready for some hot chocolate. We're looking forward to warmer weather so we can get more use out of the new park.

Back to the Cheese

2009-01-22T22:51:00.000-08:00

This morning we had a play date at Chuck E Cheese. We met Julie, Alex, and Abby. The kids had a ton of fun, of course what's not to like. Before we left the house, on the other hand, was miserable. I don't know why everytime we are going somewhere we have to have major meltdowns. It's so frustrating! I have tried everything from rushing out the door last minute to giving them 5 hours of prep time. It doesn't seem to make a difference. Anyone have any ideas?