My Little Chatterbox

When I was younger, I remember my parents describing my younger sister as talkative. I also remember my mom telling me, after one of the first times DH met my parents, that he was rather chatty too. In other words, I don't know which side it comes from (probably DH's side *WINK*), but DD is quite the chatterbox. The last time my youngest sister and her kids were here, she heard her DD tell my DD to be quiet (she was trying to read). My boys are always telling DD to be quiet. Even DH gets tired of her constant chatter.

Yesterday, DD and I were shopping when she saw some Jibbitz (those are the decorations that people put in the holes of their Crocs). She was chatting about how there were soccer balls for her brothers and how they were only $7.99! :) A woman that was standing next to us looked at me, smiled, and told me that DD "talked like a 25-year-old" and that she had to do a double-take. I just laughed and told her about how DD will even ask, "Is it on sale?" Sometimes she'll even say, "It's on sale, Mama. Can I get it?" You see, I tend to tell her that I won't buy something if it's not on sale.

Then, there are the recurring themes. Remember the bubble tape conversation I had with DD that I blogged about HERE? Now, every time we go to Michael's, she'll see the bubble tape again and mention it. Recently, she asked if she could get bubble tape for her birthday. This just cracked me up so much that I had to tell her that if she didn't get bubble tape by her birthday, I would get her bubble tape for her birthday! Now, every time she sees bubble tape, she reminds me that I said that. ;-)

Sunday Recap

I was so sad last week when DH and the kids went to SeaWorld without me, so we decided to go with the whole family today. We got there right around 11AM when the Lost Lagoon waterpark opened. The baby and I stayed at the Li'l Gator kids' area while DH and the other three kids had fun on the various rides. I've never been a big ride person, mostly because it combines my fear of heights and my motion sickness. I have to admit that I had fun just watching DS#3 toddle about, in and out of the water, up and down the baby slides, and just walking, walking, walking around. I couldn't take any photos because well, we forgot the camera, but also because there would have been no way to take photos without getting the camera wet.

After a while, DH came back with DD. She wanted to go with me to the wave pool, so DH stayed with DS#3. DD couldn't wait to show me how DH taught her how to "use her arms" when she swims--basically a freestyle-type stroke. She looked pretty cute turning her head from side to side so she could take breaths. I don't recall the older boys ever swimming this well when they were this age. She just loves the water where they were a bit more timid. She did quite a bit of swimming back and forth just so she could practice using her arms. I was amused that she thought it was such a cool new thing to actually use her arms when she swims!

While we were at the wave pool, the older two boys joined us. I have to admit that at first, I didn't recognize DS#1 as my child. I just saw this big kid/young adult. He has changed so much lately! He was goofing around and screamed in a higher-pitched voice than I'm used to hearing coming from his mouth. I told him that I was amazed that he could get his voice that high. He answered that he just had trouble with the middle register, but that he could go higher and of course, lower. I also watched him goofing around with DD. They were having so much fun with each other. What mother doesn't get warm tinglies from watching her kids actually getting along? Later this afternoon, DS#1's good friend (maybe even "best" friend) called and asked him to spend the night at his house. He's there now--I miss that big kid!

DS#2 also had a fun time. His swimming has really taken off since he first took lessons a couple of years ago. He was just loving life and loving the water. I just feel bad that he didn't have his big brother around this evening. That kid worships his big brother! We were just lounging around this evening watching the Olympic Trials. I really only watched a few races and I was just amazed at the World Records! I'm really looking forward to watching the Olympic Games in August.

We left Sea World after 1PM and ate at the nearby Rudy's BarBQ. I just love their creamed corn! I had a taste of their peach cobbler a month or so ago and I've been dreaming about it since. I had to have it with Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla, of course! Yum! We didn't do too much after we got home, but I think we had already had a pretty full day!

Constant Motion

Now I know why I've been exhausted this summer even though we don't have a bunch of soccer practices and such to go to! We were at Blockbuster Video this morning and I was following DS#3 around while DH was picking out movies to rent. He was constantly in motion! I would have loved to have just watched him from a comfy chair, but he was also getting into everything so I had to follow him around. Before that, we were at the public library and it was the same thing. Last night we were at the work party and he only sat for a few minutes when I fed him some fruit. He was walking around the rest of the time! I think I'm going to take a nap with him now...

Cooking and Golf

I haven't been inspired to blog this week, but I thought I would at least let my family know what we were up to this week.

Monday
--This was DD's first day at the Young Chef's Academy (9-noon from Mon-Thur). She was SO excited! She was telling me all about the dishes she had made and how she ate this one but not this one. The theme was International Cuisine in honor of the Olympic Games coming up.
--In the evening, DS#1 had his last swim meet. It wasn't as hot as the last one, because of cloud cover. DS#3 kept wanting to go into the water, so because of this plus the lateness of the day, DH took him home early, and DS#1 and I walked home after the meet. He wasn't feeling well at all but he wanted to finish out the meet. I think it was just a mixture of being overtired from his cousin's visit this weekend and environment allergies.

Tuesday
--DS#2's first day at golf camp (9-noon from Tues-Fri). I guess he enjoyed himself. He started talking about getting different golf clubs after one day!
--After DD's camp, which she is attending with friends of the family, she apparently didn't want to go home with DH. She wanted to go to her friends' house! Since those friends are doing both the cooking camp and the golf camp, DH works out a deal with drop-offs and pick-ups of children.

Wednesday
--After the camps, DH and the kids went to Sea World with some good friends. Apparently, DD was whooping it up on the rides. She even went on a "big" coaster called Journey to Atlantis. DH thought that maybe she was actually too short to go on it still, but they let her through and she loved it! She also went on another water ride and she was chanting that she wanted to get wet. She was actually laughing and cheering when she did get wet!
--In the afternoon/evening, we watched our tape of the Germany vs. Turkey European Cup Soccer game as a family. Later we watched that new "game show" Wipeout. We had fun with both, so it was a family "veg" in front of the TV kind of night.

Thursday
--DS#2 was all psyched that he saw Michael Finley, who plays for the San Antonio Spurs, at the golf course he had his golf camp at. He was also very proud when he told me that today he hit the golf ball farther than he had hit it before, although he didn't know exactly how far that was (he only knew how many poles away).
--DD brought home a very sugary concoction that she made at her cooking camp in honor of her last day. It involves putting chocolate and rice krispies in a cone and then covered with a fruit roll-up. Apparently it was supposed to be a "torch". She's been excited about it all week, but tonight, she really didn't want to eat it and chose ice cream instead!
--DH and DS#1 went to his soccer practice and then to their favorite--Scholtzky's for dinner. The middle two had take out McDonald's at home while I fed DS#3 with some "rice soup" that my Mom made for him this past Sunday.

Plans for Friday
--This will be the last day of DS#2's golf camp.
--In the evening, we will be attending the Pre-deployment party for a couple of my co-workers at the Department Chief's house. We'll probably have a decent time, but it will still be a "work" party, after all.

Birthday Continued

DS#2 has been having what seems to be a birthday celebration week. We had his photo shoot on Tuesday after which he got taken out to Coldstone Creamery where he got a chocolate and banana ice cream shake. He received his new Nintendo DS early, and got to play with it for much of the evening. On his actual birthday on Wednesday, DH took the kids to the Fiesta Texas water park. We went to one of our favorite restaurants, El Mirasol, for dinner (DS#2 got to pick), followed by ice cream at our favorite ice cream shop, Brindles. DS#2 ordered his favorite, a Dreamsicle ice cream shake. He also got to play almost unlimited video games that day.

Today was his "party". He only wanted to invite one friend whose cute little face I've intentionally blurred in this picture. He really likes this boy and would have been very disappointed if he hadn't been able to come. Actually, we probably would have rescheduled the party to a day when this friend could make it. As it is, he had a swim meet this morning, so we couldn't have the "party" this morning. My nephew and DS#1 were the other boys in the group and they all went to Lazer Quest. DH was so proud of himself, because on their second time through, he got the highest point total out of everyone participating in the "mission". After Lazer Quest, they again went to Brindles where DS#2 had another Dreamsicle shake.

We love to spoil our kids, don't we? :)

Happy 16th Anniversary

We went to The Lodge Restaurant for dinner tonight. The Lodge Restaurant provides a very unique dining experience, from the location to the menu itself. DH and I decided to opt for the eight course meal, with accompanying wines included with DH's meal. We had never done anything like this before, and I was a little apprehensive about how much food that would entail, but we were open to a new experience. Yes, it was a lot of food, and yes, I was more stuffed at the end than I wanted to be, but we were both happy we chose this. We were impressed at how the combination of flavors in each course really complimented each other. I don't remember every part of each course, but here's a list I've reconstructed based on the sample menu they have on their website. The dish names with quotation marks are straight from the menu while those without quotation marks are as close as I can remember. Comments are enclosed by asterisks (*).

Pre-first Course
Orange slice on Blackberry Sauce topped with Beet and Thai Basil
*This is definitely not something I would have tried otherwise, but it was surprisingly tasty.*

First Course
Seared Scallop on Brioche with Lemony Sauce
*I love scallops. What else can I say?"

Second Course
"Mixed Green Salad with Tart Apples, Candied Pecans, Goat Cheese and Champagne Vinaigrette"
*I don't usually like nuts in my food, but the pecans were toasted and sweetened and really worked well with everything."*

Third Course
"Maple Leaf Farms Duck Confit with Orecchiette Pasta, Sweet Corn, Parsley, Parmesan and Toasted Garlic Breadcrumbs"
*This was another dish where the flavors of the different ingredients really complemented each other.*

Fourth Course
"Grilled Texas Bobwhite Quail with Creamy Blue Cheese "Farrotto", Butter Baked Apple, Basil Oil and Pear Salsa"
*If I had seen this on a menu by itself, I don't know if I would have tried it. The basil oil was green and surrounded the rest of the dish but I didn't let that stop me from trying it, just like in 'Green Eggs and Ham'. The pear was colder than the rest of the dish but it made the different textures in the dish interesting and very tasty.*

Fifth Course
Raspberry Sorbet with Vermouth
*I don't care for the taste of liquor at all, so the vermouth really interfered with my enjoyment of the otherwise yummy sorbet.*

Sixth Course
Pan Seared Halibut on Ravioli on Oven Dried Tomato, Artichoke Hearts, and something else on the side
*I love seafood, but the tomato and artichoke made the taste more interesting.*

Seventh Course
Cast Iron Seared Beef Tenderloin with Yukon Gold Potato "Rosti" and Arugula
*I couldn't finish the seventh and eighth courses because I was so full that I was close to exploding. I really enjoyed the "seared" part of the meat, because it was more crunchy but the inside was very tender. On our first visit to The Lodge Restaurant, we were informed that the chef would not cook a steak more than "medium" and the implication was that cooking the steak more would ruin it.*

Eighth Course
"Nutella and Dark Chocolate "Souffle" Inspired Cake with Caramel, Banana Fritter and Peanut Butter Mousse"
*I didn't care for the banana fritter, and the peanut butter mousse tasted just like peanut butter from a jar although it was probably smoother and sweeter. DH had the fantastic idea to combine the chocolate cake and peanut butter mousse and the taste was spectacular! I would definitely order this one again!*

Happy 9th Birthday!

Today, DS#2 turns nine! I remember going to the doctor on the morning of Friday, June 18, 1999. I was 38 1/2 weeks pregnant and on my exam the week before I was dilated to 4 cm. That day I was hoping that my doctor would put me in the hospital and induce me. Well, I was at 5 cm, so she decided to do just that, but the hospital was full and we didn't go in until 3PM. I could only have clear liquids until then and I was SO hungry! Jello never tasted so good! We didn't get into a room until 4:30PM. I had felt some non-painful contractions starting around 3PMish. When the doctor examined me at about 4:45PM, I was at 6 cm just before she broke my bag of water. The nurse didn't start the Pitocin until around 5:30PM. The contractions started hurting soon after that, and I had DS#2 at 7:34PM without ANY pain medications. That wasn't exactly done on purpose, and boy, did I feel every bit of that 8 pound 11 ounce, 22 inch body coming out, especially that big ole head!

Today, DS provides DH and me a lot of happiness mixed in with a little frustration. You see, DS is like an open book. He calls it like he sees it. Sometimes, that info comes out at us very rough and unfiltered. In other words, sometimes what he says seems a bit rude and disrespectful, but he doesn't usually mean to offend. As I stated before, he just calls it like he sees it. That's when he actually talks. Often, he has trouble expressing himself verbally whether it's out loud or in writing. DH and I are trying to help him with at least the writing part of that this summer, but that belongs in another blog entry. He is also like many 9 year olds in that he doesn't listen to instructions very well. He tends to be stuck in his own reality, whether it's in the video game he is playing, the TV program he is watching, or even the book that he is reading.

At least in the last year or so, DS#2 has developed a firmer grasp on what activities he enjoys. He loves playing more competitive soccer in the same club that DS#1 plays. He has continued with Cub Scouts and really seems to enjoy all the scout activities. He enjoys the camping, the skills teaching, and even won the Pinewood Derby for his den this year. He also, like many boys his age, loves video games and has been logging in lots of playing time on the Nintendo Wii (his favorite) and his brand-new Nintendo DS. DS#2 enjoys games of all types, whether it is board games, laser tag, or simply playing in the pool. However, despite being a social animal that likes to be around others, he is still very shy.

Speaking of social, DS#2 still claims he does not like girls. He wouldn't even watch the female American Idol contestants. The girl that liked him three years ago is still fond of him, but he claims that he doesn't care. He grumbles and turns away from kisses on TV, and flees from kisses and hugs from me, at least in public. I can usually "bribe" him to let me kiss him in public, or better yet, "bribe" him to kiss ME in public. The latter occurs when he wants me to get him a shake at one of the local ice cream shops (yes, he loves shakes that much). He knows now THAT is my price. ;-) At night he still wants his parents to sing to him before bedtime, and he lets me hug and kiss him then. Last night, without any prompting, he even told me, "I love you, Mama" as I left his bedroom. I think that just summarizes what DS#2 is all about. He is still my cuddly child, but he's trying to grow up. Happy Birthday, Baby Boy! :)

Reluctant Photo Shoot Subject

I love the way this picture turned out! DS#2 is my reluctant photo shoot subject. DS#1 and #3 tolerate me and DD eats it up, but DS#2 always tries to run away. Today, he gave me the best present--cooperating with a photo shoot at The Picture People. I have a three photo frame from DS#3's first birthday photo shoot back in April, and I would really like similar photo frames for each of the other kids--to be taken near their birthdays this year. Sorry for the bad photos, but I just wanted to show what the baby's frame looks like, and then DS#2's frame that I just got today. DH already has the baby's frame up in the hallway to the gameroom, and I think these frames of all of the kids will look great once they are all there!



DS#2 really is very photogenic. He doesn't have that cheesy smile like his sister and little brother sometimes do. His "reward" was to get one of his birthday presents today--a Nintendo DS. He and his older brother were playing together on their DSs while I picked out photos and waited for them to be printed. We were at the store a total of one hour. Pretty good, I'd say!

Father's Day 2008

We started out by giving DH his present. It was something I had picked up on my spa weekend with my sisters. When I had my pedicure, they put this warm neck thing on me, and I enjoyed how it relaxed my neck and shoulder so much that I bought one for DH. Later in the day, DS#2 warmed it up just so DH could use it already warmed. He can be such a sweetie sometimes!

We started out at church and then we went to La Madeleine for lunch. DS#3 had some Mac and Cheese there, and later, when we got home, he kept picking up the Kraft Mac and Cheese box from the pantry and handing it to me or to DH. I guess he liked it!

After lunch, I took the older three kids to see the movie Kung Fu Panda. That was such a cute movie, and for the first time, DD actually sat still during an entire movie at the theatre. She didn't even ask how much longer at all, so you know she must have enjoyed it.

The boys also got some video game time with a promise from DH that he would play some video games with them. I'm not sure what the appeal is, but the boys really enjoy playing video games with their Papa. Maybe they feel like they can play really well when they can beat their Papa at a game, or maybe it's because they want to beat Papa at a video game--who knows why. I took the above photo when the three boys were all on the couch together. No, DS#3 isn't playing video games yet, but he sure loves to be on the couch when his brothers play video games! I had been sitting on the couch with him, but he pushed me off so he could have more space!

For dinner, DH actually prepared and grilled steaks instead of being taken out to eat. He said that he wanted steak and he enjoyed his steaks more than anyone else's. The kids also enjoy his steaks more than anyone else's, so we all enjoyed DH cooking on his day.

In the evening, I turned on the Tony Awards, and the first performance was The Lion King. The kids loved it and even though we don't usually watch awards shows, they loved watching all of the musical performances, so we continued to watch the Tony Awards until their various bedtimes. DS#3 was hilarious because he kept trying to dance to the music. Sometimes he would try to walk and dance, but eventually, he was so tired that every time he stood up, he would fall less than one step after. He didn't resort to crawling, though, so I guess that means that he is officially walking! He also officially loves to try on everyone else's shoes. Here he is enjoying his Papa's new Crocs. Happy Father's Day!

Hot, Hot, Hot!

It was quite the scorcher today (upper 90s), and we spent a good three hours of it outside "enjoying" DS#1's swim meet. I missed the first one because I was in the middle of that two weeks where I had four overnight calls in less than two weeks. We had a full day that day, the swim meet was elsewhere that we weren't familiar with, and I was exhausted. Today, I was determined to see my son swim!

The meet started at 8:30AM. DH and DS#1 left early (they took the van), and I stayed at home to feed the kids breakfast and the plan was for me to walk to the pool. We didn't start walking to the neighborhood pool until about 8:30AM, so we ended up missing DS#1's first race. He swam freestyle in a medley relay in which his group placed second. He had four other races, breaststroke, freestyle, backstroke, and freestyle relay in the next three hours. It was a very long three hours, but DS#1 placed from second to fourth in the various heats, and we were very proud of him, especially when he shaved some time off his backstroke.

DS#3, being a baby, was a handful most of the time. He is such an active boy, and there were SO many people there. I tried to "entertain" the three kids, at first, by feeding them concession stand food. That only went so far, unfortunately. DD was being very needy and whiny and at one point, and I was at the end of my rope! She stood there helpless when the baby climbed into her pool lounge chair and "knocked off" her hotdog. She didn't even pick that hotdog up! If she had been sitting next to the hotdog like I had told her to (a few times), DS#3 would not have been able to knock off the hotdog onto the ground! Ack! At this point, she stayed over by DH for the rest of the meet.

We had a whole weekend's share of sun exposure. I tried to keep DS#3 in the shade of his stroller when I could, but he would never sit there for long. Luckily, he seems to tan as well as his siblings, even with the SPF 50 that I used on him (and even reapplied). After the meet was over, we all rode home in the van, took our showers, and DS#3 and I napped for 2-3 hours!

Personal Shopper and Bubble Tape

What do personal shoppers and bubble tape have in common? Read on and you'll see! :)

After I got home from work today, I took DD and DS#3 to the mall to go shopping. I took DD because she really wanted to go, and I took DS#3 for three reasons:

1. I have ongoing Mommy guilt and I didn't want to get home just to leave him again (he always greets me with a big hug when I get home).
2. I wanted to let DH get some stuff done that he wanted to get done.
3. DS#3 was just too cute to leave home.

Our first stop was Ann Taylor Loft, one of my favorite stores, because I had a 30% off coupon. ;-) As soon as we walked in, DD picked up a shirt and told me, "Why don't you get this one, Mama. It's nice." I looked at it and I wasn't that interested, but I was tickled that she was helping me shop. Later, I asked her for her opinion on a shirt I was trying on and she would either say, "That looks nice" or "That doesn't look nice". She was totally adorable! :)

You see, this all started a couple of weeks ago. We were shopping, and I wanted the shirt in one color, but she picked up the same shirt but in a different color and told me that she liked that one better. I went ahead and got the one that she liked! Ever since then, I've used her to resolve my indecisiveness. For those of you that know and love her, you know that she's quite opinionated! Well, today when I went into the dressing room for the second time, I saw that shirt that DD had pointed out initially, in the room I was in. I went ahead and tried it on just because it was there. I was a little surprised that I actually liked it. I decided that I'm going to have to ask for DD's opinion more often! :) Wouldn't you know it, that shirt must have been a favorite of a lot of other people, too. By the time we left the store about a half hour later, all of those shirts were gone from that rack at the front of the store!

As for the bubble tape, we were at Michael's checking out and she saw the bubble tape (bubble gum shaped like a roll of tape and rolled out just like tape). DH had refused her request to get bubble tape earlier when they were at the grocery store. She really wanted that bubble tape! She was quite upset that I wouldn't buy it for her. We don't usually let her chew gum, and she gets just enough in the various goody bags she gets from parties and school and such that we don't ever buy it for her. So, on the way home, she was chattering away about the bubble tape and she asked, "When I'm older and in college by myself, can I get bubble tape?" Eventually, this turned into the statement, "When I'm in college, I'm going to get bubble tape." She was cracking me up! I bet that if someone gave her bubble tape for her birthday coming up in August, she would be excited beyond words! ;-)

Fourteen Months

It's been a while since I posted about the little man's milestones. The biggest milestone so far is that he is walking. He puts his hands above his head (just like when he's holding our hands while he walks except our hands aren't there) and walks awkwardly--sort of "Frankenstein-like". He's not doing this as his primary form of transportation yet--that is still for crawling, but he's walking farther and steadier every day. (Sorry about the light/dark lines in the photo to the left. The blinds were still open and the sun was coming through.)

It's amazing what a combination of traits DS#3 has in common with his older siblings. We think he looks most like DS#1 at this age. His hair is light brown/dark blond, fine and straight, just like DS#1's was. He is on the thin side, but with some "baby fat", also like DS#1 was. The biggest "resemblance" lately has been his love of books. He will pick out a book, give you the book, and then sit himself on your lap so you can read to him. Then, he will actually let you read the book. DS#2 and DD were older when they finally settled down enough to read books. DH and I think reading is key to developing young kids' minds and we're delighted that DS#3 is interested in reading even at this early age.

As for DS#3's similarities with DS#2, he is "action boy" like DS#2 was. He is always on the go. He loves to go on the slide in DD's room, and gets on it by climbing up from the bottom then sliding down on his tummy. He also loves balls and wheeled toys like DS#2 did. It's so adorable to see him carry a huge soccer ball only to fling it across the floor so he can chase it. He also climbs like DS#2 (but explores like DS#1--which makes things "interesting"). DH saw him hang off the bannister on the second step of the stairs so he could lean back and grab the closet door handle to open it. Last week, DS#2 saw him in the bathtub with the footstool next to the tub. The little stinker had climbed into the empty bathtub!

DS#3 also shares similarities with his only sister. Both are affectionate--both in receiving as well as giving affection. Both love music and love to dance. Yesterday, I shot a video of the two of them on the sofa watching Dora the Explorer. Both were dancing to the intro music. Interestingly enough, DS#3 actually loves playing with DD's play kitchen more than his sister!

Isn't it interesting how similar but how different your children can be from each other? :)

Family of 14

I was surprised when we first checked in and they said, "You're with the group of 14, right?" Wow, I hadn't thought about that before, but yes, I guess we have 14 in my family now. How cool is that? If you can imagine that at my cousin's wedding a couple of weeks ago, we had a photo taken of my Mom's side of the family. Five of her brothers, their children, and their children's children were there. The photographer was amazed!

We had a fairly successful photo shoot today. DS#3 wasn't smiling in any of the photos, but at least he wasn't crying or frowning, so I was pretty happy with that, and most importantly, my Mom and Dad were both happy with how the photos came out. The photo above was one of the ones my parents now have framed and hopefully will soon have on their wall (thanks to DH!) along with one photo of my parents and their three daughters, and one photo of my parents and all of their grandkids. We tried to get a photo of just the grandkids, but my sisters and I weren't happy with the composition of those photos, although the kids looked okay in them. That means we'll have to try to get another photo of just the grandkids at some other time.

My Dad's party went well. We only used one candle for his cake, of course. I think 77 candles would have been a little too many! He looked SO happy being surrounded by his family singing "Happy Birthday" to him. My youngest sister's DD had made a little "scrapbook" of our trip to my cousin's wedding, and she presented that to my Dad. She's taking after her mother's footsteps! I'm just glad to see my parents both so happy! :)

Family Time

I've been working nights for the past two weeks and the fatigue has caught up with me. I usually get less sleep than I need anyway, but I'm able to "catch up" with a nap on the weekends. Since I worked last weekend, and we were out of town the weekend before, I haven't had a chance to "catch up" yet. I also don't make it easier on myself. I try to do stuff after the kids are in bed, but I'm so tired that I don't really get anything done--then I end up going to bed at the usual time and I don't get the extra sleep that I need. Why oh why do I do that to myself? On the up side, I feel like I've been spending more quality time with the kids.

With no nighttime commitments, I can read books with DD and DS#3. DD is getting so good at reading. For example, the other day, she was able to sound out "impossible" all by herself. I was so proud of her! Gone are the days when she would take forever to sound out a word--then when she came to word again, she'd be sounding it out again. Now she sounds it out the first time and then remembers what it is the second time. That is SO much better! DH and I have noticed lately that DS#3 is very interested in books and reading. We remember DS#1 being this way, but his younger siblings were more "action" than "sit and read" type babies. DS#3 is definitely an active baby, but surprisingly, he loves books and reading. We're so happy about that and we're hopeful that he'll be as smart as his older siblings.

DS#3 will have a chance to impress my parents this weekend with his love of books and his developing talent for walking. Yes, he is taking more and more steps at a time, although still not more than about 5 feet at a time. We're at my parents' house now. I hope that I can catch up a little on my sleep, as I mentioned earlier, since I can usually at least sleep a little later here, thanks to my Mom. We're here for my Dad's birthday party tomorrow. His actual birthday was on Thursday, when he turned 77. He asked to have a birthday party this year. I'm not sure why he picked this year versus any other, but DH and I knew we had to come. Dad's fondest wish is to get a picture of his whole family, so we're going to the Picture People tomorrow. We'll also try to get a picture of all of the grandkids. With so many people involved, especially a 14 month old, wish us luck!

School's Out For The Summer!

We celebrated the Last Day of School yesterday. I still fondly remember one time when my Mom took my sisters and I out for ice cream on the last day of school, so I always try to do the same thing with my kids. We also went out to eat at Fuddrucker's (after some discussion, that's what the kids finally all agreed to). All the kids ate quite a bit, even the baby, even though we had all had big helpings of ice cream just two hours before!

I don't even know who sings that song, "School's Out For The Summer!" but I was still surprised that the boys knew the song. Apparently, it's one of the many songs they learned in Guitar Hero III. In any case, today was supposed to be the last day of school for my kids. Instead, DD's last day was last Friday, because that's when she had her Kindergarten Graduation and they weren't planning anything else for the last two days of school. DS#2's last test was also last Friday, so he didn't have too much to do yesterday, but he went to school because DS#1 went to school. DS#1 technically had exams up until today, but since he had Music and Lunch during those periods (Music didn't have a final) he didn't have to go to school today either. I had today off, originally so I could be around for their last day of school, so we were all off today. I had such great plans that we would all do something fun today.

I did start out with making the breakfast that I usually reserve for Saturdays--banana pancakes and turkey bacon. DH and DS#1 missed out on this breakfast this past Saturday because of a swim meet, so they were happy to get it today. It's nice that there are a few things I make that the whole family gets excited about. The rest of the day, the boys had fun playing their video games and playing with a new laser gun toy that DS#2 bought today. Even DH participated at one point. It was hilarious seeing him run after DS#2! DD, DS#3 and I went shopping, and that actually took more of my time than I had intended. DD kept talking about going to Libby Lu again. Remember our first and only Libby Lu visit? She basically made me promise to take her again just so she would stop asking! I also spent a lot of time reading to DD and DS#3. Overall, we had a lazy day on the First Day of Summer Break!

June Kits Plus

I was on call last night for the fourth time in less than two weeks, so I'm a little tired. Hopefully I'll get to post more tomorrow, but for now, here are the pages I did last month using the June Scrapaddict Kits. I still have one kit assignment for July and then I'll be taking a leave of absence from my design team position there because life continues to be way too hectic.

These two pages are made from the When the Wind Blows Kit and have pictures from last Easter. My whole family came for a visit because I was due to deliver DS#3 any day (and as it turned out--I delivered the NEXT day).



These next three pages are done using the Ain't No Cure Kit. The first one is from 2005 when DS#2 finally took swim lessons from a lady who was also his Spanish teacher at school. She ran a well-organized operation from her home. The last two are from 2002 when DS#1 was only 7 years old, and DS#2 was only 3 years old. Weren't they adorable?




The following are some more pages I did early in May for the Scrapaddict National Scrapbook Day Crop. I used Scrapaddict sketches for all of these, so I was able to get a lot done. The one below uses photos from Easter 2006.


With the page below, I can finally say that I've scrapped all of Easter 2007's photos. Yay, me! :)


This last one is just a simple page with a photo taken at Thanksgiving last year. I just love this photo of my kids and their cousins. Aren't they all such beautiful children, especially when they're laughing and enjoying themselves?

Okay, that's it! I was productive during the first part of May and then I got nothing done at all the rest of the month! Today was the last day of school for my kids. More on that later...