I am not...

a go-er.  Or a do-er.  I don't like having a lot on my agenda or having to be places frequently.  Work, errands, picking up Abby and going to volleyball.  That pretty much sums up the extent to my weeks.  I don't like to have organized time at home.  I like to just see how the day goes.  I don't spend all day doing chores and cleaning stuff.  I like to hang out with my kids and just do whatever suits them for the most part.  Given the choice between going somewhere with my kids and staying home with them I will choose staying at home over 90% of the time.

However, Jerry and I did get a babysitter (Taylor!!  Our favorite girl!) on Saturday night and go to the SWFD Boot the Burn auction/dance.  A few drinks in and I was having a great time.  There were tons of people, some good friends of ours included, and the auction was a huge success!  I managed to not be slurring my words and keep all my clothes on so Jerry said I wasn't embarrassing to him :)  That last line makes me giggle.

And I did take the kids down to the house of one of my besties for a playdate last night.  She has twins and our kids all get along super well.  The boys played swords, guns and video games upstairs and us girls had "girl time" downstairs.  It was super relaxing which is good because this is a long week for us!!  And in case you were wondering, hanging out with Ranelle and the twins falls into the 10% of times I like taking the kids somewhere.  Cheers to great friends.

Boo

Today started well.  Now it sucks.  Cranky kids.  Abby: no nap.  Trey: blood-curdling screaming followed by a teeny nap.  The end.

My New Obsession

I am beyond obsessed now with making/decorating cakes. I've only made 4 or 5 in the last 6 months but they've been so fun!  It's pretty cheap entertainment for the kids and I have just been needing a fun/relaxing hobby for myself.  Here's pics of my latest one we made this past weekend.

 I really just wanted to try making the bigger pumpkins so those were all me.  It then turned into a whole pumpkin patch that the kiddos helped with.  It's all edible and made by yours truly.  So fun!

 Kids were super excited to see it finally done...so the could eat it.

 Their Halloween Monster faces.

And here's an extra pic simply because he's so cute....

 All he needs is the morning paper

Trip to the Farm

My friend/coworker, Ranelle, and I have become friends with one of our customers and we finally all had a free afternoon to bring our kids over to her place to check out their place.  What a fun day it was!!!!

Harley, the great dane.  Such a sweet and gentle guy and how great you could pet him without reaching far!

Trey was all about petting the guinea pigs

Trey and Axel trying to find more guinea pigs

He kept trying to get the poor, not hungry, rabbit to eat a carrot

She was convinced that everything would bite her so she stood like this.  Weirdo

He loved this car

Chasing down the fainting goats

Jack and Jill and oh so cute!

Roger was so sweet and set up a hay ride for the kiddos...a nice break for the mommies!

Doesn't he just look like an orphan

Waiting so patiently for his popcorn

Swingset was a huge hit with my babes

Little monkey loves to climb

An afternoon on the farm sure makes for a tired gal!

The kids have been talking so much about how cool the farm was and they are very much looking forward to another visit.  We are even going there tomorrow to take our family pictures in the barns.  Originally we were going to take them at a park but it looks like the weather isn't going to be very cooperative for an outdoor shoot so the Oudman's were so sweet to let us use their place

Trip to the Park

The days were so nice for the last week or so and we took advantage of it one day with a trip to the park with some super good friends.  It was just Trey and I since Abby was having an overnight with Grammy but he sure loved not having to share attention with her!

Luca!  The most creative little lady I've ever met

Ready for the race

And the winner by a landSLIDE (get it?!), ROGAN!

Swinging with Kaley

Crafts and Sports

On days when the kids are either bored or driving me to the brink of insanity I often get an art project out for them to do.  The other day it was painting in the kitchen.  These kids LOVE to paint and since all the paint bottles were nearly empty I let them use what was left to paint each other.  I love Crayola WASHABLE art stuff.  One good rinse in the tub and it was all gone!

 Sometimes they even paint naked!

This summer we attended a few Mariner games too.  The last one was looking to be the most fun but Trey started not feeling well about half way through the game.  We ended up leaving in the 7th inning but they lost anyway.

 This little guy was so attentive until he got sick.  He is very, very, very, very, very into sports!

 Abby just comes for the ice cream...she calls them cotton balls

Look Who's in Pre-School!

Miss Abby is now done with her first few weeks of Pre-School.  She had a small adjustment period the first couple of weeks but now she is up and excited to go on school days.  It's a twice a week class done at the high school.  There are only 14 kids in her class and it is part of the HS Family Science program so there are almost as many high school helpers as preschoolers so there is almost 1 on 1 attention for the little ones.  The HS kids are in charge of discipline and helping with all aspects of the day and there are two teachers on site to oversee it all.  The preschool curriculum is based upon the elementary curriculum so when she goes to school next year a lot of it will be very familiar.  I have been very impressed with the school so far.  And Abby comes home with lots of sweet art for us to hang on the fridge and new songs to teach us!

Forget It

I haven't blogged in ages.  Too much to catch up on now.  I was going to hit the high-lights with a blog post each but then that never happened.  So forget it, here's a short recap on what we did on our summer vaction...

4TH OF JULY
It started on the 2nd with a trip to the carnival.

On the 3rd was the annual SWFD Firefighter competition.  Jerry was down helping out so the kids and I headed down for a short visit.  They played in the bouncy house, watched some of the competition, ran around and we were home in time for naps.

Then we headed up to my mom's for the Bauthues Blowout!  So much fun, lots of good food and loads of fireworks. How dandy that you can still light of fireworks some places.  I took a billion pics but I'm posting a couple of my faves.  I have no idea how to make collage pics, nor do I want to take the time to learn, otherwise I'd do those.

 The 4th started with the kids and I getting to ride in the new ladder truck in the parade.  We were first in line behind the mayor and the flags.  Excellent seats since I didn't have to do any child wrangling...really, where were they going to go!

Then we went down to my brother-in-laws to watch the city fireworks show.  Lots of family/friends there = lots of fun for the kiddos!

ABBY'S 4th BIRTHDAY!
In the midst of all the holiday festivities I managed to start on one cake and finish another for her birthday.  She celebrated on the 3rd with my family since we were all together.  I had always wanted to make a doll cake and she thought that would be fun

 I let her eat her name...which was Aberella...her princess name

 And she got a Furr-Real pet...a great surprise!!

 Then I thought since the doll cake was so easy why not make a castle cake.  Abby thought that sounded super cool so we looked at some pictures of castle cakes online...whoa...some folks out there have crazy talent!  And of course she wanted a cake just like those...so I did my best!

It started like this...

 And ended like this!

 The back

 Cake + frosting + brown sugar made Ariels beach

 I made everything but the dolls

 One happy 4 year old!

lots of family and friends were there...sorry you don't get more blog space.  All but one thing were princess items and her mom and dad gift...a new bike!!!

I'm 4, I can be sassy.

Abby and her bestest Anicia

OCEAN SHORES VACATION
What can I say, every year is more fun than the last!

first morning of vacation breakfast

 kids went bowling for the first time, here's Abby's I-bowled-a-strike dance

 such a tough guy

 lots of beach playing

 some pool time

 more beach playing

 threw in some kite flying

 caught up on our reading

 and our snuggles

 went mini-golfing for the first...and the second times

more beach playing

girlfriend wanted a "cuddly shark".  sleeps with it every night now!

See, I was there too!

And my pool-hating daughter decided that she could swim (quite well too!) and loved jumping off the side, go figure.

POOL TIME!
We got ourselves a new pool this year.  A 12 ft circle, 2.5 feet deep.  Perfect for the kids and I.  Abby and I especially spent a lot of time in it.  And wouldn't you know it, I have NO PICTURES of the new pool.  So you'll have to settle for a pic of Trey in our old one.  

 And I'm throwing these two in here...too cute not to post!

THE FAIR

 This just made me laugh

 Tough men

 She became the fearless little girl that she has NEVER been before and didn't even bat an eye about going by herself.  She must have gone down the slide about 20 times by the end of the day.

 If she had big enough pockets she might have snuck this little guy home

 Love this boy!

 Watching Jerry cram his oversize frame into teeny-tiny rides was by far my favorite fair entertainment

CAMPING
Jerry took the kids one night on his own to give me a break (sweet!!!) and to have some alone time with the kiddos.  His parents are camp hosts up at Colonial Creek in the summers so he had help.

 The on Labor Day weekend we all went up camping.  I am NOT a camper.  But I always said that if our kids ever wanted to that I would do it for them.  Apparently our kids like it.

 How many Gardners does it take to fix a fishing pole???