The First of Many (hopefully)

Looking back on my childhood I would have to say some of my most favorite memories were the mini-family vacations. You know the ones....the kind where you hop in the car for a weekend trip to somewhere different, seeing the sites and hating the car ride. Since officially becoming a family in late 2007 we have really slacked on the mini-vacation department and this is largely impart to my bad attitude. You see I grew up in Salt Lake and miss the scenery, that is Utah (and surrounding areas), terribly. I mean come on, you really can't beat weekend trips to Las Vegas, Jackson Hole, Zion's, Bryce, Yellowstone, Vernal, St. George, etc, and taking a weekend trip to Dallas (driving equivalent to some of these places) is not exactly my idea of a fun mini-vacation (I probably should not mention that I moved to Houston when I was 10 and still don't feel like I grew up here, nor do I know the area as well as I do Utah...again, my bad attitude). Well, for my children's sake I decided to take one for the team and cheer up about the environment that surrounds me daily (even though it is ugly...whoops, there is that bad attitude again).

Ok, so where to??? Well, in middle school I had a friend whose family always went to Fredricksburg, TX. No clue why I remember that as I have not talked to this friend since the 8th grade, but it stuck in my head so I googled away to see what this city was about. It looked mini-vacationesque; a small, German Town, slightly southwest of Austin in the Hill Country. I like hills, I mean, I really like mountains, but hills will do...SOLD.

and off we went

I would personally like to thank the creators of personal electronics...we are not really an electronic family, but anything goes in the car that makes kids happy as far as I am concerned

Rockbox Theater...and I can't stop talking about the "funtabulous" time we had

Exotic Resort Zoo...the place we met our friend Omar and learned that "buffalo have really long tongue" (thank you Kaylee for this daily (sometimes twice) reminder.

i realized after posting that all these pictures are of me...I don't suppose that could be because we have some chickens in the family??? I'm just sayin...

Pool...I LOVE to swim and I am happy that my children have taken on my love of the pool.

Bottom line = AWESOME FAMILY FIRST MINI-VACATION. Seriously, we had a great time seeing the main attractions as well as walking around, hitting up the candy store, going to the over-priced festival and riding the over-priced rides, and roasting marshmallows for stale smores courtesy of the hotel and outdoor fireplace.

Thanks fam...time for round two!

Fredricksburg, TX - May 22-24, 2009

Graduation for the kid and First day of school for dad...

May has been quite the busy month for our little family so I will start of with the first event I have pictures of (cause seriously, who wants to see a post without pictures). May 16th marked the end of school for one and the beginning of school for another.

The breadwinner in the family (although I must say I come in a close second, which is not something I will be able to brag about for much longer) headed back to school, again. Poor kid's plan of getting his masters degree in two years got drop kicked with a year of surgeries, then a wedding and then a baby. Now that baby number 4 is coming it is really now or, who knows when, so he is buckling down and getting his last year done.

You tell me...is he overly excited or overly sarcastic? I'm going with excited, I mean, who doesn't want to kick off there summer with a back to school photo?


next

Also occurring May 16th was Kayden's kindergarten graduation, only to be repeated again next year. The truth is, Kayden is not old enough to be graduating kindergarten. She just turned 5 in January making her officially eligible for the big K this coming September; however, her school thought she was ready to move up and then next step was private Kindergarten and since the public schools in good ol Houston are pretty good themselves, I am not about to spend the $$$ to continue paying for private school, so kindergarten, here we come...again.

ok, it was really not that boring. It was actually quit entertaining, alto ugh they had been rehearsing for two months so I am pretty sure it was old news by the big day.



Nice Kayden...this is a good image for you (she is third from the right)



Mission: get Kayden to smile at the camera....success!


Kayden and her sidekick best friend Jayden...they are so excited to be going to the same elementary school next fall.

per your request

Dang...I am super great at this blogging business when Michael is out of town; probably becuase a) there is no one to hang out with with the girls go to bed and b) it beats trying to email pictures.

So faja...here you have:

our old married couple

the cutest baby ever (well third cutest in no particular order). ps, I can see one of her top teeth about to poke through, two teeth is about to be no more

and a video of nothing really...the best I could do as we were heading off to bed.

Miss you!

Yo Daddy!

Here is a little somthing to keep you from missing home too much...I am sure Dallas can be quite boring :) (ps, once it's gone...I will kill you if you buy any more ice cream)

A little of this and a little of that

Michael is out of town at the moment and our house is very quiet right now so I figured it is just as good as time as any to update our blog. Although I have really become terrible at this and can't even think of anything to write about, so for the sake of rambling, which I am afraid I am about to do...Ill just post pictures...lots of them

Ahh, it starts so young. Kyler loves to pull down the DVD's, but not necessarily to make a mess. She pulls them down, scrummages through and finds that special one. Yep, High School Musical 3, and then she just stares.

My very, very sick baby...but she looks like such a big girl in this picture.

Such good girls and yet so strange. Oh well, whatever can they do to entertain themselves while I clean the blinds is ok by me.

My cuddle buddy. Despite this picture makes it look like I am holding her down, that is not the case. Kyler loves to just lay on the floor and cuddle with mom...ps, it is really not fair she is like 5 shades darker then me.

I think Ill try some of this...........did I like it or did it scare me........yep, I liked it

A tiny bit of heaven...Michael won Astro's tickets at work, right behind the dugout. We decided the camera (including ours) really does add 10 pounds cause baseball players are not that big.

and the most fun news of all....three pink balloons for 3 cute girls means one this in this house; another little girl is on the way. Ok, truth be told 3 pink balloons for three cute girls meant, is it my birthday? are we going to a party? cause you just love me? and after several strong hits they finally guessed in meant the baby in mommy's tummy is a girl.

Another Happy Easter

A quiet day filled with Faith, Family, Friends and the Eater Bunny. Sounds cliche, but it's true...our morning started early, as mornings tend to do around here, with hunting for easter baskets hidden around the house by the easter bunny. It was terrible weather so unfortunately the easter bunny was unable to leave eggs outside, but much to our surprise (and I am sure to the surprise of every weatherman who said the terrible weather would last all day), when we got out of church at 2:00 it was gorgeous. Seriously...the most beautiful day Houston is capable of producing. It was then time to eat and we were lucky to share our easter meal with Kayden's dad, Kaylee's mom, nana and yaya (my mom and my brother). The day then ended with some fun familiness outside enjoying the weather.

Kayden found her basket faster then I said go...dang it, and her's was supposed to be the most tricky

Kyler was next...it was hidden in her favorite place in the house, the kitchen

Kaylee, in true Kaylee fashion, needed a little push getting into the finding spirit. With the help of Kayden she found her basket in one of the favorite hide-n-seek spots...behind the couch...gotta love 3 year old hide-n-seek.

Love them!

Kyler is OBSESSED with eating and I do not exaggerate. She is more obsessed with food then any child I know, including Kaylee, which is tough competition. This is her begging us to open her treats and no she is not just excited. You see, had we had not opened them, the next picture would be of a tantrum :)

I am really, really loving yellow this spring! Sad this is the best picture we could get, no one was in the mood and the weather was crappy

If only I had a video camera

I am basically writing this post for myself, and the purpose of not forgetting. I have no video and no pictures...just the event in my head which was beyond funny, but probably only if you were there.

Sunday evening Michael and I were sitting on the driveway with Kyler watching Kayden and Kaylee drive around in there mini red mustang...this by the way is pretty much how we spend majority of evenings in the spring and summer. Usually the girls are playing some sort of pretend thing where kayden is the driver coming to pick up her friend, mother, sister, teacher, etc. This particular moment, Kaylee was in the garage getting something and Kayden was tired of waiting for her so she starts backing out of the driveway. Kayden starts to drive off and Kaylee is running down the driveway yelling "mom, come back". Kayden waves and keeps on going, so what else would Kaylee do but get on her play phone, dial Kayden's number and start yelling at her to "come back right now". Kayden makes the loop and pulls back in the driveway to get Kaylee. Kayden jumps out to grab a cookie while Kaylee is climbing in the passanger seat rolling her eyes at Kayden (seriously). They are both in the car pretending to put on seatbelts and Kaylee is telling Kayden that she is "naughty" and they go back and forth in there play argument. At this same moment, Kayden is not really paying attention and forgets to put the car in reverse to back out. She pushes on the gas and goes forward, almost hitting Michaels car (not that it would have done damage, but that is what was about to happen). She quickly stops, puts the car in reverse and as she backs out is telling Michael and I "my bad, my bad, calm down". With one hand on the wheel and a cookie in the other, she continues to back out while Kaylee picks up her 'cell phone' and starts talking. They drive off. Michael looks and me and says this is going to happen one day, and Ill be yelling "Kayden, get something better to eat for breakfast and Kaylee, get off the phone...you don't need to talk to anyone at 7:00 in the morning".

And those days are coming...faster then we think

My House is SOOOO RUDE!

Good thing I am already trying to sell it. I know my new house will have a much better opinion about me.

Your Home Says That You Feel Unsettled and Free

You don't come across as very intellectual or serious. You seem like a bit of a goofball. You have amazing hygiene, and it shows. You are sparkling clean! You are a fairly domestic person. You can probably make a decent batch of home cooked cookies. You are not a very nurturing person. You have enough trouble taking care of yourself. You don't feel settled in your life yet. You are scrambling to figure things out. You are a somewhat self sufficient person. You can do fine on your own if you have to. Your friends see you as courageous, dynamic, and bright.

What Does Your Home Say About You?

Tagged

Well, I didn't get around to doing the all famous catch up post (it was just me, kayden and kyler last night and I could not resist sleeping in bed with them, so that meant a really early bed time for me...double score)...but anyway, Jade Tagged me a while back and its time to make good on my promise so here we go...

It's a 6 Random things/quirks tag...here are the rules:
1- Post the rules on your blog
2- List 6 random things about yourself.
3- Tag 6 people at the end of your post.
4- Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
5- Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Let's see...

1 - I cannot drive with shoes on my feet. When I was 16 I was pulling my mom's car into the garage and there is a slight bump between the garage and the driveway and I was going too slow to make it up the bump. Well, I pushed down on the gas, but my shoe slipped and I ended up hitting my dad's work bench, destroying a few tools, and pushing the workbench thr0ugh the back of the garage. Never wore shoes again while driving.

2 - Sometimes when I have to get up late at night, I run back into my bed frantically pulling the covers over me like a little kid who is scared of the dark, monsters, bad men, and everything else that scares little kids.

3 - I am in love with cold cereal. I could eat it everyday for every meal and still never get tired.

4 - My favorite movie is the "Cutting Edge"; I have probably seen it a gazillion times and it never gets old. I love Kate's attitude, it cracks me up.

5 - I really don't like to wear socks and shoes, for no particular reason other then I don't like to. I used to track to classes at Utah State in the snow and my flip-flops...drove my grandpa nuts.

6 - I am a huge cry-baby when it comes to my children, or any child for that matter. I cried at a dance recital one time and I didn't know any of the children in the show, I cried at my girls first soccer game, I can cry just sitting here thinking about them...on the plus side, I have become pretty good at hiding my teary eyes.

I tag...well, I am pretty sure I lost the sad following I had, so if you read this, consider yourself as one of the six :)

I'm Back

and I sure do have a lot of work to do...more to come...but I make no promises on when as I think I said that in December and boy do I look like a fool