summer breeze, makes me feel fine...

Wow, do I need to catch up on some blogging! How bout some pics? Here is the rundown. Robby got REAL cowboy clothes for his birthday and then had a huge pirate party. I counted 17 kids. CRAZY!!! My friend made an awesome treasure chest cake.

Then 4th of July came around. We went out to the airport and watched the firework show that they had at the golfcourse. A couple of days later, I chopped off Natalie's hair. She gave me attitude! Typical! She has developed quite the personality. Robby started 1st grade August 14th and on the 15th, Natalie made poo-poo in the potty. She is officially a big girl. No more diapers, only big-girl panties! Woohoo!

Enjoy!

smokin' hot summer

Have you been here?
So, it's been awhile since I last blogged, so I am doing so now. Lots has happened! Natalie turned 2, we went to Memphis and I gave my notice at the college.

So Natalie turned 2 on Cinco de Mayo! She is getting so big and starting to make more sense when she talks. Just yesterday she started actually saying "milk" instead of "gok". Her favorite phase right now is "what's that?", which she pretty much says non-stop. My personal favorite is "I dunno".

I flew out to Memphis with the kids on June 8th to see my bros and their fams. It was a ton of fun and suprisingly, the kids were awesome on the planes-even with the 3 hour layover in SLC. We went to Graceland, the Memphis Zoo--which was totally awesome(they have panda bears) and had ton of family time.

See how good they were? The perfect little fliers!

Graceland was pretty cool. I'm not a huge Elvis fan, but I learned some interesting things. One, he had some very interesting taste in decor--really cool for the 60's-70's, he was a twin(I didn't know) and also, his grandmother died the exact day my brother, John, was born.

This picture was taken from the car museum. He had lots of cars apparently. Randi and Mike looked especially smashing in front of the pink caddy.

The highlight of the trip for me was the zoo. They had panda bears, which I have never seen, and the coolest polar bear exhibit. No pun intended!Apparently, they were hoping she was expecting, thus the shaven tummy. Probably for ultrasounds.

They're paws are massive. The water looked so cool and inviting, except for the bits of floating poo. It was so muggy in TN.

The kids loved the zoo, but we only had time for a few exhibits; Dad had to catch his flight home.

We still fit into the schedule some really good ribs, cooked by chef Aaron, a birthday party for Alli, and a great family picture. Everyone was there except for Mark, who had to work. Bummer!

A little blurry, but OK. We'll just photo shop Mark in. I almost forgot, we also went to Build-A-Bear with Randi. Robby made a cat and hasn't put it down since he got it.

I hope this makes up for my lack of blogging. Oh, yeah, I gave my notice at the college and have decided to run a day care out of my home. You may think I'm crazy, but I knew I could do it after spending a week with mine and Aaron's kids all together and I survived.

Easter Eggs a Plenty!

Just pictures today! These are from Easter. Enjoy!

Alas, Spring!!!

The weather has been so fantastic lately! We have been in the upper 70's-low 80's the last week or so until we got a couple days of rain. As much as I love the sun, I love rain and I am glad Spring did not get skipped. It was starting to feel a bit summery.

The kids spent St. Patrick's Day at Nana & Papa's. The leprechauns came and left footprints everywhere. They also left a note and a few little treats for the kids. The note read:

"Dear Robby and Natalie, We lost our pot of gold, please have these instead. The Leprechauns" Of course, the treat was m&m's. At Robby's school, I saw his name on the side of the board that said "I believe in Leprechauns". Only one kid didn't believe. Well, I tell you, those little buggers are messy! I totally believe.

Nana took the kids to Hornitos to see some baby goats while they were visiting. Natalie calls everything a doggie, but enjoyed being licked. Robby just likes any animals, and bugs! The goat he is holding is named Jared. Poor Jared!

The kids really enjoyed their trip to Mariposa. They love going to church up there and Natalie totally clinged to Papa. As if he didn't love that! Funny, last time they went up there she wanted Nana. She definately has him wrapped around her little finger! You are in for it Papa! And isn't Robby such the little stud!

Time Flys!

So it is 3:19 am and yes, I am blogging. Why? you ask, well, the dog kept running down the hallway, so I followed her. I followed her into the kitchen to reveal an entire trashcan of content on the floor, rumaged through. Now after disciplining the dog, cleaning and mopping the floor and searching for her anti-bark collar, I just can't seem to drift back to sleep.

Well my kitchen is now stainless steel and I love it! The only downside is stainless steel likes to show tiny fingerprints, and big ones for that matter. I have to clean more-which I hate, but it looks so nice! Robby is in his chonies in the background steeling a cookie-peanut butter, mmm.

The kids seems to be growing up so fast, it is just ridiculous! Robby is looking so handsome; he is my little man! Yesterday, he wrote his numbers up to 100. I was amazed. I don't remember having to know so much in kindergarten. He can already read too, which he will do for you through Skype if you request it. I think I will try to go back to sleep now.zzzzzzzzzzz

Mmmm..Candy!

I just opened a bag of discount, after Valentine's Day, Brach's Cinnamon Imperial Hearts and man, they sure are good! They are burning my mouth. Good cinnamon candy is hard to find. One February, Cold Stone made a cinnamon ice cream with crushed red hots in it. My friends, it was the best ice cream in the world! Enough of my randomness...anyone want to buy a used dishwasher?

My Funny Valentine's...

We had a nice Valentines Day and the kids got lots of treats. Mark and I went to a sweethearts dance at the Elks Lodge on the Saturday before to celebrate our 9th anniversary! Wow! It was a lot of fun watching a bunch of 60+ year olds get their groove on! On Valentines, we went as a family to Fresno and went shopping.

Robby got a bunk bed that he loves! The kids think it is a new jungle gym. Natalie has already fallen off the ladder twice. They grow up so fast! Natalie is not actually this chunky--it's just the picture!

Mark has also gotten himself a little something. He sold his Bronco and bought himself a project truck. It is a 1974 Dodge W200 4x4 in bright orange. It's not a bad looking truck and it is actually near completion. We spent Presidents' Day at a local junk/part yard sifting through dead trucks for spare parts. It was quite interesting and we got probably $600 worth of parts for $20--including a seat!





We are also in the process of upgrading our kitchen appliances to stainless steel. I will post a picture when it is done. On Friday, we get our last delivery and then it will be complete. I am so excited! It will be nice to have a dishwasher that actually washes the dishes!


I also discovered in the last week that Natalie is definately a left hander. Out little south paw loves to color and draw pictures(scribbles). Oh yes, and help Daddy with the truck.


All for now...Have a great day!!!