Ry's birthday and S.F.

Rylee turned two on Saturday but we had her birthday party at Chuck E Cheese on Thursday. We had a really nice time and the kids, (and adults), had a lot of fun.

Mike, Matt, Jed, and Johnny all getting ready to play basketball. I think they'er planning out their "tournament" here.

I took Rylee to the store and let her look through the book and pick out her cake. She pointed very confidently in Dora so that's what we got. I think we lit that candle for her 3-4 times before we actually sang. She thought it was hilarious to blow it out over and over and kept asking for more.

Dylan and Katelynn riding the fire truck, one of Katelynn's favorite things I think.

Rylee playing the ball game. She loved it, however her aim was far from good. She believed all of the lanes were hers.

Emily and Tessa, who have had far too little time together this summer due to being so busy, playing on the virtual roller coaster.

Rylee loved the clock ride. We taught her to put her hands up on this very scary ride!

Ally and Bella, always best friends!

The best part...opening presents. She had a ton of help but she seemed to get the idea without the help!

On Friday, Mike and I left for S.F. He had a Simpson reunion he helped with at the old campus there. So my mom and dad, Josh and Devon met us there Saturday to play at the pier. Unfortunatly Rylee woke up sick Saturday morning so we didn't spend too much time doing anything other than the pier.

Rainforest cafe.

Sitting at the Pier waiting for papa to visit the candy store, didn't want to take four kids in there.

Rylee after lunch, she really didn't feel good at all.

Mike and I at the Giants game on Sunday. We went Friday and Sunday and the only game they didn't lose during the weekend was Saturday. We've decided that maybe we jinx the Giants as they tend to have that outcome when we go.

Random Thoughts

Rylee had her 2 year checkup today. She looks great. She really put a show on for the doctor and made him laugh. That is unusual for her because she usually just stares when people other than family try to talk to her. She weighed in at 24 lbs which put her in the 25th% and I forgot her height, but she was in the 30th %. I found that funny since Em and Al were always at the top of the charts for height.

Sitting in a room at the doctors office for 45 mins with an almost 2 year old and 3.5 year old is not a lot of fun. I always seem to get scheduled the first day he's back from a vacation, it's never good!

Mike graciously let me drop Em off at his office so I could go with just two instead of three. Those rooms are very crowded with all of us in there. So I made her take her 1st grade prep homework to work on, gave her a goal and told her she was allowed to read after it was done. Not only did she do it but it was done very neatly and she did above and beyond what I ever expected. Including writing two of her 6 or 7 summer stories she is required to write along with drawing pictures for it. And again, I was shocked at how incredibly neat and well done it all was. I think the summer break has refreshed her for school again! School work got pretty sloppy the last few weeks of kindergarten.

I'm dreading the extreme heat this week. But had to laugh at the teenager driving behind me today. It was easily over 100 degrees and he was in a pickup wearing a winter snow hat, hooded sweatshirt and had his windows down. Made me wonder what he was hiding? LOL!

I've made it to 24 weeks pregnant, 6 mo., today. I'm feeling done being pregnant but not ready for the baby yet. How is that supposed to work?

Can someone explain to me why it is that when I order from Amazon that I always get the first book in the series delivered last? It's so frustrating. If it weren't so much cheaper online I would just go to our local christian supply.

Emily is very very into the Berenstain Bear books right now. We have a ton of them. Mike's mom always bought him the new one when he was growing up and brought home the Scholastic book order sheet and she gave him the lot after we got married. She literally reads them for hours.

Sunday was a great family day. We actually drove to church together, normally unheard of. Then went to a great pool party for the worship team. Then I actually got a solid nap while Mike happily played Tiget Woods 10 for 2.5 hours straight. Then we took the girls to Waterworks, Made dinner, gave the ice cream and put them to bed. It was a good day. Made up for not seeing much of each other on Saturday.

I think that's about it. You'd think with the blogging olympics I would have nothing to say.

Question...

Since Mike and I are on our second "surprise" baby and I've now doubled the amount of children I ever planned on having...Mike and I were discussing him going to the doctor. He "says" he wants more and I KNOW I'm done done done. I can't emphasize the word done enough. So here is our question for you...although just to say, it's all in fun.

If the wife is done having kids but the husband isn't and she wants him to get a vasectomy but he doesn't want one, who should have more pull on the decision.

If the husband doesn't want anymore but the wife does and he wants to get a vasectomy, who should have more pull on that decision?

Or should nothing be done until it is a mutual decision?

Just thought it would be fun to put out there and see what the male vs. female postion is. Don't take it too seriously!

Family Camp 09

We had a lot of fun at family camp this year. It was perfect weather for the beach on Saturday and we were there for 6 hours of fun.

I love this picture of Ally with her big life jacket and Barbie sun glasses!

Every year, Mike's favorite thing is building the campfire. I swear I have 3 pictures for 3 years of Mike starting a fire and they all look the same. He looks nervouse as he's starting this...as well he should! It's a while before it's low enough for anyone to even think about roasting marshmellows on it.

This last video is of Rylee taking her "bath" in the tent in a bucket. All the girls loved it. They went strait to bed after this, nice and clean. Mike and I have both realized that we are clean people. Having the kids that dirty is not ideal. But they had fun so that's what mattered. We can't say as were were upset to come home and have them clean though!

For the Olympics

Since Mike started the blogging Olympics, I figured I better post something. So here is a little bit of boring happenings in my life.

Last night Mike went to Trader Joe's and bought some of their Coffee blast ice cream. It's the best coffee ice cream out there. Unfortunately, it must be loaded with caffine. When he gave it to me at 8:30, I was so tired I was fighting staying awake during our movie. By the time we went to bed at 9:30, I was wide awake until 2 a.m. I guess no more coffee blast unless it's lunchtime.

This weather we're having is way too hot. We don't even venture to waterworks very often because it's so hot to get in and out of there. We might brave it today though, only 106. Yuck!

Is it bad that I still have 16.5 weeks of my pregnancy to go and I'm done being pregnant? Too bad it doesn't work that way, that you just have the baby when you are done being pregnant. I guess people would have a lot more kids though.

My dad watched the older two girls while I ran errands yesterday. It's so nice to spend some one on one time with just one. Mike even joined us for Walmart and Costco. Tonight is a couples date night for us so we get to enjoy and evening just for ourselves.

Over the last week, we've watched 4 movies. Taken, which was very good but our girls will never travel alone. Knowing, which was decent. I didn't like the ending. Gran Torino- that was very well done. Sad, but good. And lastly, The Killing Room. Didn't much care for that one. Thought it's plotline was kind of pointless. I don't recommend that one.

I guess that's it.

Probably not the smartest thing to do outside

Backyard fun

We have been really enjoying our backyard since we got home. I am sooooo much more relaxed during the day when they can get out and run off some energy. It especially helps during that horrible cooking dinner hour every mom dreads. I just send them out and cook in peace.

The girls favorite thing to do out there is to climb and walk along the retaining wall. They are all scratched up from the bricks though. I told Mike he might have wasted his time building a swing set, they're perfectly content on that wall! But they do occasionally make their way over to swing or slide.

Mike and I used the outdoor fire pit we bought last night. We put the girls to bed and made smores. We wanted to try it out before we started it with them. It was fun but we ended up going to bed at midnight waiting for the flames to get low enough to sleep without worry.

The best part of the backyard is that our girls are exhausted and don't usually wake up before 9 a.m. I don't know what I'll do when I have to get up for Em's school in August.

Here are some pictures of the girls playing...

Here's a picture of one of my flower pots while it's still alive. Just thought I would document it that way! It will never last.
Our patio all completed, however it was run over with toys at this point.

The 10 hour playset Mike and my dad built on the fourth. They love it though. Fearless Rylee. She also loves to hold on the the cross bars on the platform and swing. I don't mind her doing it over the slide but she does it above that rock wall and the other side that is just a drop to the grass. Scares me.

She wanted to pose for a picture. Love the hair? They all look like that after a while of playing outside.

They're favorite thing to do is swing. Rylee and Ally especially love to do it. Rylee has no problem being pushed high. She holds on really well thankfully.

Fourth of July bbq at our house. How many kids can you fit around one little kiddy table? Quite a few we found out.

Zach and Jack on the new kids jungle themed bench. Doesn't Jack look huge next to Zach? I thought that was funny.

For Stephanie

I updated my picture of the girls on the blog. I've pretty much resolved myself to having at least one of the girls not looking. So I just choose the one with the least goofy expression!

The highlight of the Fair

Since the rides were to expensive, we let the girls get their faces painted. The lady did an awesome job and did both of our girls in about five minutes.

Last Day of School and Backyard Progress

Emily had her last day at school last Thursday. It wasn't really a school day as much as a play day. They joined up with another class and had a water day with a slip-n-slide, water balloons and one teacher that was chasing them around with the hose which they all loved. Parents brought in fruit trays and healthy snacks and then for lunch they ordered pizza. So here are some pictures...

Emily taking her turn, but she won't ever slide, just runs. She's never been one to slide.

Mrs. Becky, the aid, I loved her and hope she's still helping in first grade next year.
We got lucky with a christian teacher and aid this year. Not bad for public school!


I just thought her stance was funny. What was she thinking about?

Water balloon toss. Her and her partner made on successful toss, then it was over.

Happy dance you think? Not sure, but it looks like one! Yay schools over!

Emily and Hunter on the swings. She's super sweet.

Friday and Saturday

And to our yard. Mike, my Dad, Joel, Jed, Josh, and Will all came Saturday to help finish digging out our backyard. But the day before, Mike and I ran around buying retaining wall bricks, gravel, shed, and "the rotatillar". This rotatillar turned out to be more work than it was worth. First, they give us a ramp to take home so we can unload it. This isn't just a small tiller, it's a pretty heavy duty one. Well, it's raining out and mike can't start it to get the wheels unlocked to get it down the ramp and it weighs too much to carry out. So he calls me out to continuously pull the starter line, (like a mower), because that momentarily unlocks the wheels. On my first pull, the handle falls off and the cord reels back into the machine, unreachable. Mike then realizes that there's a neutral setting and is able to get it down, but for what? We can't use it now. Luckily my dad comes over and is able to fix it. Jump to the next day. Mike goes to get it started, (and I'm so mad I missed it, but my mom witnessed the hilarious scene), and it is waaaaay more powerful than it looks. As soon as he clamps down on the handle to make it go, it shoots out of his hands and is jets across the backyard full speed towards the house. Mike is leaping over shovels, pick axes and wheel barrows trying to stop it and the other guys are leaping out of this powerful machines way trying to save their limbs. My mom said to have captured Mike's face on camera would have been priceless. It did finally stop itself just before our glass door. Mike finally figures it out, although he did jet across the yard a few more times, long enough for the blades to start falling off. So into the truck it went, back to Guy rents where they refunded us our money and sold us the excavator, (something tells me they got the better end of that money deal!). It ended up being a lifesaver, what we needed all along. So here are a few pictures of my dad driving it and the last picture I got of the progress of our yard.


This is what our driveway looks like after working every saturday.

The rotatillar broke, (see story above, hilarious), and so Mike got the excavator
He had a ton of fun running this, and he admitted it this time!

Sunday

Mike and I worked for 5.5 hours Sunday. He built the wall while I took dirt from one of our many tall piles and filled in behind each layer. A lot of work but it turned out so nice. We also leveled and laid out that pad for our shed, which I am very excited to see put together.

Tuesday's work

This is a truck that has a bed that tilts, Joel is kicking himeself for not realizing one of the youth dad's owned this after two weekends of shoveling dirt out of the back of 3 different pickups.

The youth worked fast today. They removed a ton of dirt and dug out the area for our porch.

A couple bumps!

This is where my dad ran into the fence with the scoop on the excavator. He was actually using a tool attached to the bottom of the machine that pushes dirt and he forgot that it was sticking out. It's an easy fix though, better than our house.

This is from last weekends bobcat hitting the side of the neighbors house. Good thing no one is renting there right now! Another easy fix.

This is the frame for our gate, good thing it's yet again another easy fix! Maybe you should have a license to drive these things.

Look how level that dirt is outside. It's amazing!

Anyone want to lay cement this Saturday?

Conversation With Emily

Em: Mom, I really want to be a real life fairy.

Me: I'm sorry.

Em: Well, is there a school I can go to to become a real life fairy? I really want to be one.

Me: Fairy's are just pretend, Em. You can't become a fairy.

Em: Well what about the tooth fairy? She's a fairy?


Oooops! What do I say to that? She's not so easy to put off anymore. I need to start getting creative. Or explain that we give her that dollar under her pillow.

Backyard Makeover

This past weekend marked the start of our backyard makeover. Mike rented a bobcat and had some family and youth come over to help us dig out a massive hill in the back. It was a ton of work for them but they got a lot accomplished. We plan on putting grass back there with some sort of play structure for the girls. They love to play outside and it would be nice to be able to do that without having to accompany them to the park everytime. I can't wait to shove them out there and get some things done. They'll have fun and I can clean without them at my heels the whole time.

I think Mike had more fun than he'll admit driving that bobcat. And for that matter, I think my dad did too. It did look like a lot off fun. I didn't try to drive it. It vibrated a ton and I wasn't sure the baby would appreciate it.

A special thanks to everyone who came to help out. We really appreciate all the effort you put forth.

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far

Rylee was in time out and this is how I found her after walking in to ask her if she was ready to be good. She is just like her daddy. He can find something fun to do in even the most boring places and so can she! She did have both feet on top before I went to get the camera.

Waterworks is open!

I love when Waterworks opens each year. The girls have an absolute blast and they're exhausted come bedtime. Plus each year, they're a different age so it's really fun to

see who loves the water each year. Emily is, and always has been, about a 45-60 minute girl. After that time frame she is ready to towel up and sit on the sidelines and just watch. She also isn't a daredevil. She is still too short for the adult slides and is quite content with that. We only have to fight her on wanting to spend the whole time in the lazy lagoon, which Ally and Rylee don't care for due to them having to wear a life jacket.

Allyson loves the waterslides. She also loves to go fast. Mike pushes her down the slides pretty hard and she flies. She gets a kick out of it, even though I worry that we're going to get in trouble.

Rylee loves every part of waterworks. She can't get enough of the water. She also loves all the slides in the kiddy area. My favorite for her is the froggy slide because I don't have to walk up any hills to get her to the slide and then run down as she's sliding and meet her at the bottom.

Can't wait for school to get out and meet all of those moms out there who got season passes too!

2009 Championship Trip

San Francisco Giants game the first night of vacation.

Mike and I at the Stadium.

Our first night there, and our first Farmer's banquet of the week.

Sheryl Crow giving a concert for Farmers.

Tuesday night, during the Sheryl Crow concert.

Our last night in Palm Desert, the formal awards night.

Padres Stadium for SD vs. SF game. You can see our hotel was super close,

it's the Marriott to the left of the stadium.

Friday afternoon Mike and I returned from our very relaxing trip to Championship. This years destination was Palm Desert. Joel and Leslie's family own a house in neighboring Palm Springs so they came along for 3/4 of our trip. We had a lot of fun and were able to relax by the very hot pool, trying to get a little tan for the summer. There definitly wasn't as much to do as the previous years but we still enjoyed ourselves. We started in S.F. for a Giants game, then made our way south to Palm Desert. Then after the convention we went down to San Diego and watched the Giants lose, again, in the 9th inning. But it was still fun to go to a new, different stadium.

Finally, Something To Blog About

I have Jack and Bella this morning and generally the kids play and I don't hear from them. So I didn't think anything of it while they were upstairs playing and I was downstairs watching tv while I folded the laundry. As I'm coming up the stairs, I look into the girls room with their laundry. I immediately notice the broken lightbulb and the lamp on the floor. I thought I had seen all four kids happily playing in the loft. Until I look up that is. There, standing on the girls dresser as happy as can be, is a bleeding Rylee. Both her hands are red. The walls have red, a picture on the dresser has red, the dresser has a lot of red. She doesnt' even care that she is cut. She is just happy to have climbed onto the dresser and be playing. The only time she cried even a little was when I dare put a bandaid on her. She pulled both of the attempts of bandaids off. So she is now in the tub until her finger clots.

During all of this I have little kids to keep out of the room while I'm trying to get the bandaid on Rylee. As soon as I say, "don't go in the girls room" they all have to rush in there of course. So I get the first set of bandaids on Rylee and start to clean up the big peices before she pulls it off. Then I redress the bandaid, vacum the little pieces, fix the lamp and stick her in the bath before more blood gets everywhere.

I'm just glad it wasn't Jack or Bella! I would have posted pictures but both of my cameras batteries were dead.

Mike came home and saved the day with the reminder that we had liquid bandage.

Lame Reasons Why I Haven't Blogged

1. I have major pregnant brain. It gets way worse with each pregnancy. I'll think of a good topic to blog about and forget what it was 10 minutes later.

2. We've been so busy I haven't touched my camera in a long time.

3. When I do remember my camera, I can't use it because it's full and the battery is drained. There a two little girls in my house (not naming names, Emily and Ally), that like to pose their animals and dolls and snap away. I'm talking 50+ pictures. I honestly don't know when they're doing it. I think it's the middle of the night. I'm always with them. I caught ally red handed the other day. She was bold enough to grab it while I was sitting next to it, turned it on and started to take a picture. She literally looked at me like, "what?" when I reprimanded her.

4. We lead very busy, but not very exciting lives. You really don't want to hear what I have to say. That's what facebook is for. Short little notes of the boring things that I do.

Mike...you need to set up the blogging olympics again. We are all slacking and in major need of of a boost!