I can't forget the 9th birthday that occurred

Can you believe that Harrison had the nerve to go and turn NINE on us? Thank goodness everyone was well enough to celebrate at Chuck E. Cheese, it would have been an absolute crime to miss out on that. :) We really had a good time. He invited a couple of friends from school and the scouts and we were lucky that enough of them were around to celebrate with us. Harrison is a neat, thoughtful, caring boy. He can be a bit of a tattle tale, or as we like to call him, "Captain Obvious". I count on him a lot. I have to remember that he is only nine. It is hard to believe that is was nine years ago that he came into our lives, and we are so glad that he did.

Charlie's most excellent birthday weekend

Charlie turned 7 on Friday, the 17th. Seven! Where did that come from? I don't know. Friday started off on a high note. I let him open one present. We had the family over on Saturday, so he had to wait one more day to open all of his gifts. I think he was happy with this pick, he picked a brand new game for his Leapster2.

He also requested Chick-fil-A for lunch, a request I was happy to grant. The rest of the day was spent playing with his brother while I cleaned and got ready for the party.
Saturday was the big day. Charlie picked Spiderman as his theme. I ordered the cake from Baskin Robbins, and it was good! Saturday was very hot, we had the air conditioning going full force and the house still was warm. His party was fun, he got a lot of gifts. More Lego sets. The thing about Charlie is, he doesn't care if he builds them or not, he just wants to play with them. He is quite happy to have someone else do the work. This is a win-win for Harrison because he loves to build them! I can't decide if Charlie is lazy or smart. ;)


Yesterday we took a totally spur of the moment trip to the beach. We went to Corona Del Mar, a beautiful beach, surrounded by beautiful homes. We didn't go to this particular beach, we were just to the left of it. Look at all those umbrellas! It was the perfect day for the beach.

The boys headed straight to the water. Audrey and I enjoyed watching them, then it was time for her first dip in the Pacific. She did not like it at all. She preferred to sit on the blanket with me and I think it was the first time I've seen her happy to sit still!

moving right along...

Wow, it has been too long. Hello little blog, remember me? We've been busy and I have been catching up on Facebook and as a result, I have neglected my blog. But, there have been a couple of things that were just too big to let pass without a mention. My dad celebrated a big birthday this month. Last Saturday we took him to one of our favorite places to celebrate, the Dal Rae. I ate too much. I think we all did but damn it was good. And as my mom likes to say, "tomorrow is a new day". I love this photo even though it is blurry.


The boys had so much fun too. They love Papa and Grammie. It was great because we had the back room to ourselves, Audrey fussed a little and our waitress brought out some breadsticks. Audrey now has a thing for breadsticks, go figure. I think they feel great on her mouth which is getting new teeth all the time! She's been a little fussy lately and she is usually a really easy going baby. It will pass.
Her she is with her messy hair. This kid has so much hair! I just cut her bangs and I need to cut them again. I am trying desperately to avoid giving her a mullet. Thank goodness the sides are getting longer. She surprised us all on Sunday when she took a step towards Harrison. He had been rolling his soccer ball back and forth with her and sure enough, she walked to him! Oh boy. I knew I didn't have a lot of time. Two days to be exact. Last night she walked all over the living room. It's official, no more crawling for her. :) She has also for the most part, given up her morning nap. :( Oh well, I knew that wouldn't last either. She does take a great afternoon nap, at least when she is not teething.

School is going well. I am already planning for next year. I love curriculum. I have found some great things that really work well for us.
And now I am off to get my haircut, I need one so bad it's not even funny.

one year old!

Who me? Yes!

finally

It's finally here, our Mini that we ordered back in August. Robert and I picked it up yesterday afternoon. I have yet to drive it, I need some practice with the stick shift, it's been a long time since I've driven one. I got to play catch up with Robert on the freeway while I followed him home. He is in love. It is pretty cute though, right?

Happy #8, Harrison!

Today my first born turns 8! Happy birthday, Harrison. You are a light in our lives every single day. xoxoxoxoxo

Christmas 2008

We had a pretty good Christmas here at our home. Christmas Eve was spent with Robert's mom and sister. We all went out to dinner then headed to Grandmama's for gifts. The boys could hardly contain themselves through dinner. And Audrey? Well she handled it all very well. She got impatient with me and our waitress, Roxanne picked up the spoon and started feeding her and she didn't mind at all. Heck, as long as someone is feeding her she's fine. She looked so sweet in her velvet dress that Grammie made. The only downside was that it was a long evening. We are going to have to figure out a different time next year so everyone can get a good night's sleep.

Christmas morning the boys woke us up around 8. I was thankful, I thought it was going to be much earlier. They ran into the living room to find Wall-E sitting there waiting for them. Harrison got a Nintendo Ds and Charlie got a Leapster2. We had a great time with our gifts. After opening, we enjoyed some Monkey bread.

I started the mad dash to clean up and get ready for Christmas dinner. My parents and sister and her family came over around 2. We always start with our stockings first, then dive into the gifts. The boys got the Playmobil circus from my parents. Oh boy, can you say excited? My sister surprised me with a popcorn maker. I have always secretly wanted one, and the funny thing is that I was with her when she bought it and I never would have guessed in a million years. We enjoyed a Honeybaked ham dinner and some yummy desserts. We got the giggles over my mom's frosting which had candy cane chunks in it. It always seemed to get really quiet whenever someone would take a bite and all you could hear was, "CRUNCH, CRUNCH." It was a wonderful day that ended with my niece and Robert playing a round of Guitar Hero. Maddie won too. ;) I almost forgot! Charlie's tooth fell out that night. He was so excited and relieved , it has been worrying him ever since he first found that it was loose. Just look at how proud he is.

this and that

We've had quite a week. I know it's only Monday, but I am still in need of a weekend to recover after last week and this weekend. I'll spare you a photo (I do have one) of Audrey and a hideous case of hives that surfaced Wednesday afternoon and didn't completely disappear until yesterday. Thursday was hell. I watched the hives cover every surface of her and alter her face. They crawled across her eyes like a mask, making her eyes look entirely different. Thank God, they didn't go into her eyes and her breathing remained clear. I don't know what caused them and I might never find out. Hopefully they never come back. Thank goodness for Benadyrl and a steroid. They seemed to do the trick in making her comfortable and able to sleep. You know that doesn't mean I slept, hence the need for a new weekend.

We started swim lessons last Monday at the YMCA. Apart from a disagreement with a snotty teenage instructor, we have done well. Thank you to Papa for taking the boys on Friday while I watched Audrey and took her back to the doctor's office. The boys are having fun and getting their swimming confidence level back up to where it should be. The lessons continue this week too.

It's almost time for school to start. I decided to start early again because I loved being done so early last year. Plus, Charlie is itching to start. Our Friday school days with our group don't start until Sept., but we have done a great job of keeping busy this summer. I was remarking to one of my friends that it seems like I am busier now which I find amazing. I thought I would have taken it easy toting a baby around, but she hasn't slowed us up one bit. I still want to get out to the Long Beach Aquarium. It's been awhile since we've been. Put it this way, the boys were in a double stroller the last time we were there. I think it's time to go back, don't you?

My family got together yesterday to celebrate some long over-due birthday's and anniversaries. Here is a favorite photo from the day.
The next photo is Audrey performing her new trick. She leans all the way back while she is in her saucer. She just wants to see what's going on, and apparently can't be bothered to turn around. I guess she likes the upside-down view too. I think it's so funny that she figured how to hold onto the purse because when she's done she pulls herself back up.

the party was a success

Here is a quick post about Charlie's party that we had today at home. There's my mom holding Audrey, who was a real trooper today. She fell asleep on my mom's lap not long after that picture was taken. Charlie is opening his wished for Playmobil Vacation House. He was so excited, I'm sure he wanted everyone to go home right then and there so that he could open it up and start playing. Robert and I remembered to take pictures with the birthday boy. :)

Robert's sister got him this really neat magnifying toy called the EyeClops. It looks like a lot of fun. you can read about it here.

I am tired and looking forward to an uneventful day tomorrow. :)

yay Elizabeth!

I am so happy for you and excited to see your book. :) Here is link for the few that might not know about it.