Great Picture

Springs Preserve

Yesterday was too gorgeous not to enjoy some outdoors time, so we headed over to the Springs Preserve. Now that the construction is done and I no longer have to hear the trucks and jackhammers in my backyard at 3am, I find that I really like the place. It's one of very few cultural experiences Las Vegas has to offer children. The twins each have their favorite things to do - Jonah the movie, Jake the flash flood experience, Elle hates them both. : ) Mae slept the whole time and it was just a nice day. My favorite was watching the boys scale a wooly mammoth fossil and seeing Elle so happy to find a little house to play in.

Scatterbrain

MISSING: A healthy, somewhat young, brain.
LAST SEEN: Four kids ago.
I used to be pretty good at remembering a lot of stuff. Calendaring my weeks appointments in my head, remembering birthdays, phone numbers etc. But lately - nada. I've missed three appointments this week alone including a good friend's birthday party, my nephew's basketball game, and a dentist appointment. I feel horrible about it and the worst part is, I have no good reason. I don't know how many brain cells you lose with each child, but it's got to be around 10-20% per kid. If I have any more kids, I could end up in more need of care than them. : ) So, sorry to all those who I've flaked out on this week, I'm going to start writing things down.

Happy 2nd Birthday Elle!

Elle's birthday was last Friday, but since we were in California all weekend we didn't get to really celebrate it until Monday. We just had a small family get together at our house. It was great. All last week, whenever we'd ask Elle how old she was going to be she'd hold up 2 fingers and say, "two" and then quickly ask, "where's Emma?". Emma is her cousin whom she adores! She finally got to see her on Monday and was thrilled! Between Emma and her bubble machine, she was as happy as could be. I found a picture of both of them last year and this year. Amazing how much they change the first two years!


I am so grateful for my little handful Elle. She is so adorable and blesses our family with such spunk and sweetness. We love you!

L.A. Ladies

During our weekend in California, we drove up to LA to have a picnic lunch with some of our great friends. Almost all of us had had babies in 07' so we wanted to make sure to get a picture. I love these girls! Some have moved away, but when you're in LA and no one really has family around, it's people like this that become your support system. Miss and love you guys!
That night we went to Crab Cooker in Newport Beach for dinner . (This was after Randy's Donuts and Tito's Tacos - must eats in LA!) Fantastic seafood, but the best was when Mae grabbed the crab leg right off my plate! Check out the size of that thing!

I'm Too Excited To Sleep

On Valentine's Day, Bud surprised me with a trip to Disneyland scheduled for the very next day. As I've mentioned, he's been working a lot, so to get time away as a family was so exciting! We decided not to tell the kids right away, just wake up super early and go. Well, have you seen that Disney commercial with the little boy who say's, "I'm too excited to sleep"? That was me. After Mae's 2am feeding (yes, she's still not sleeping through the night - aargh!), I couldn't go back to bed. I don't know why I was so excited. I've been to Disneyland half a dozen times, but this would be the first that the boys could ride everything and Elle and Mae's first time ever, or maybe it was because I haven't been able to ride a good ride since I've been pregnant for the past three years, but I was a little giddy. Well, finally 4am rolled around and we got the kids in the car and got to Fontano, CA before stopping for breakfast. By this time, the twins had asked a few times where we were, but we didn't tell them until we stopped at a McD's for breakfast. When we asked where they thought we were going, they said "McDonald's!" Luckily, they were a little more excited when we told them our final destination. Our first ride was Dumbo. Elle cried, but by the end was happy and proclaiming, "I diit!" (I did it). It was so fun to see the twins' reaction's to the roller coasters. Space Mountain was the first big one and I was laughing hysterically thinking Jake must've been scared out of his mind, but I couldn't see him to know. At the end, I looked over at him, but he wasn't crying, just said it was fun, but a little scary. Their favorite was splash mountain though. It was also Elle's 2nd b-day and although the boys got to ride a lot more rides, she had a pretty good time with her new hat and birthday pin. Looks like we tuckered her out though.

"Paycheck"

I'm a big fan of Valentine's Day. We've started a few traditions that I hope to keep up for years to come: heart-shaped, pink pancakes in the morning, little goody bags for the kids, and my favorite is "heart-attacking" the kids while they sleep. We sprinkle or stick on tons of hearts all over the kids, their beds, the floor, etc. This year I stuck a big one on the twins' chest's that said "Jake (or Jo), Mom and Dad love you so much!" Well, Thursday morning, Bud and I woke up to Jonah and Jake "sneaking" into our room to throw in hearts they had cut out themselves that morning. I told Bud to keep pretending to sleep because I thought they were heart-attacking us. Soon we found a couple hearts, but the boys had written on them - the same message we wrote to them. I immediately started crying, it truly was the best Valentine a parent could get. When I told my mom about it, she said, "Well, there's your paycheck." It was so true!

A few days before, we received a fantastic care package from Nana filled with gift cards and goodies for each person in the family. There were six bags of treats for everyone, unfortunately, Elle found them first. I caught her with one bag before 8 am. Then while I was in the shower, she pushed the chair over and got through 2 more. She was so busted, but apparently it was worth it. She was totally happy during her time-out. Here's a pic of the damage:

Ah, to be a Kid Again

Let me start by saying that I lead an extremely blessed life and I love it, I truly do. However, I've been a "little" frustrated lately with Bud's work schedule and the demands of raising four little kids. I find myself desperately wanting to go on vacation, just something to break up the monotony of the everyday grind. I was looking through my pictures thinking nothing much exciting had happened lately, but when I looked at them a little closer, I realized the kids are pretty happy with the simple things and those are the memories that stick with you forever. If only they knew how good this time of their life is! So here are just some "everyday pics"

Remember sliding down the stairs like this?

Uh, that's an interesting contraption...

Check out the shoes...

Bathtime's always a hit










The freedom of swinging...
A"mae"zing Mae!










AGAIN with the makeup!