Fun Stuff on the Horizon

There are a few things coming up that i am REALLY looking forward to and have been busy planning for. The BIG one is Jordan's 13th Birthday. Big daddy and i really wanted to make this year a special one, since J is going to be a TEENAGER!! soooo a few months ago we started talking and making plans. J was told she could invite 3 girlfriends to come over after school on Friday and spent the night. I sent cute little invites to the 3 girls who she chose and let them in on the details of the partaaaay! I am turning my family room into a mini spa where i will give the girls each pedicures and manicures and style their hair and do light make up. Once everyone is polished and sparkly they will change into something dressy and nice and a LIMO will arrive to take us for a drive and to a fun dinner...what young teen aged girl wouldn't think this was awesome!?

we have reservations for a Japanese Steakhouse that cooks teppanyaki style (at your table). So it's like a show and dinner all in one...very fun! I think the girls will LOVE IT!Then the limo will bring us home for a night swim and slumber party goodness. I am sure the girls will be up all night giggling their little butts off...i can hardly wait!!

I put together super cute gift buckets for the girls that include pajama's that i got on clearance a few months ago for $5 AWESOME (they are all the same style just different pastel colors in pink, lavender, blue and green), manicure kit, candy, gum, sleep eye mask, toe separators, lip gloss, cute socks, and a horse pencil. i want to add a bottle of nail polish to each to...hmmm and something else. any ideas?

pretty cute huh?! We decided that this would be the last REALLY special birthday before her Super Sweet Sixteen bash...and we already are saving $ for that one...tee hee! I think J is going to love all the little surprises...it has been hard to keep quiet about it and FUN to watch Big Daddy plan and get excited about all the girly goodness (he totally gets Daddy of the year)! so that's what is in the works for us right now.

Jordan turns 13 on August 30 and Big Daddy has a birthday on August 31...he and i will probably do something low key for his big day. We typically save all of our celebrating budget for the kiddo. Isn't that the way life goes?

Randoms and Bloggy Business

Well it's Saturday so it's time for a random post to take care of a little bloggy business! i have an award to pass out and a tag to do, so we better get started huh?!

First of all my friend Raimi tagged me for a Meme. I am happy to do it since i WON an awesome giveaway on her blog and i am super happy! I will blog all about it once my prize arrives. YAY!

1. i am seriously embarrassed to admit this but our Christmas lights are still up. It's August. I don't think we should even bother taking them down now since Christmas is only a few months away. I took a picture as proof. YEP that's a flower reaching up trying to let the light know its summer not winter. Like the light doesn't know since its covered in cob webs. Pathetic. So yea i guess we are officially "those people" on the block.
2. i have mentioned this before but i am an order freak. i like everything in it's place. I also like everything in my cupboards and refrigerator to have the labels facing forward. I clean out my fridge EVERY garbage night and rid it of ANY leftovers and expired items. I also wipe out the shelves before i go shopping to make a nice clean place for the new food items. I think they appreciate it.
3. I must sleep with 4 pillows. The pillows are 2 firm feather and 2 soft. and they must be in an upside down V formation. This is an actual pic of our bed as we left it one morning (we have redecorated since then click Mini Make Over to see it). YES those are Paul's pillows waaaay over to the left. He never complains about the fact that i hog up the bed. He is a snuggler, i am for a few mnutes and then i need my space (my space is the whole bed, his space is whatever is left over). He is such a good man, seriously!
4. I hate the sound of fingernails being clipped. It sends chills up and down my spine. This is most unfortunate since i gave up getting my nails done last summer (after 14 yrs of going to the salon) and now have to endure the sound as i do my nails AND Jordan's. It bothers me most when it's Paul cutting his. My husband is a saint...he will do it on the other side of the house.

5. I do most of the driving in our family. Paul HATES to drive. He use to have a long commute and really loves being the passenger. I think this is one of the reasons he bought me a beautiful new Dodge Durango for my birthday last year. On longer road trips he is an excellent navigator and beverage and snack fetcher.

6. I love the color pink! All shades. My toes are always pink, right now they are a cute bubblegum pink. FUN! I love that Jordan's favorite color is pink too so there is a room in our house that is super girly and pinked out!!

7. I have a closet full of really nice clothes, shoes and purses. But. I live in scooter skirts, tee shirts and flip flops in the summer and yoga pants, tee shirts and uggs in the winter. I am a super casual comfort first kind of girl. I never thought my life would be so simple that i could actually wear what makes me feel comfy and cute everyday, but it is and i am glad.

I tag my sister Meg, my brother Scotty, SuperCoolMom ,Queen of the Mayhem ,The Allen Tribe ,Three Weddings, and Together We Make 6 . I can wait to read all of your randomness!!

OK time to pass out an award. this one goes out to 3 amazing women:

SuperCoolMom for sharing all of her awesome homemade Christmas gift ideas. Seriously i could never make half of them but she is soooo awesome and inspires me to come up with a few homemdae ideas myself. What an incredible mom to want to create a magical Christmas for her children, even finding gifts they can make for each other! AND i big red puffy heart LOVE her too. I feel a deep friendship with this amazing woman and feel blessed to have her in my life.

Pam @ Random Thoughts she is an amazing mommy to 2 darling little ones. She is also a teacher and manages to keep it all together. She is getting ready for the new school year and it has been so much fun reading all about her new adventure at a new school, makes me want to teach again.

Pea Pod Squad Stuff a mom of darling triplets. She blogs about the struggle to to get pregnant and finally being blessed with THREE beautiful babies. I loving reading about her three little Peas, Sweet, Split and Snap (i know, could you just melt over those adorable pseudo names) and all of their many adventures and total cuteness. and the Bloggy Goodness award goes to:

Debbie for being super brave (and a little craZy) and posting a video of her "American Idol" audition. This girl cracks me up. He commentary is fabulous and i love how she is able to make fun of herself. Plus she is an awesome mom to 3 darling girls. I am getting a wonderful education on Down Syndrome as she blogs about her little Peanut.

Raimi @ If You're Happy And You Know It I love reading about her BOYS and the many stories and adventures that come with raising 4 boys. Raimi is also an avid scrapper and has come up with some adorable and inspiring pages. She is a mom who seems to know how to balance it all and even makes time for herself and girlfriends. I seriously want in on her BUNKO fun!

Crazy Mama of 6 this girl makes me laugh. AND she is super creative, seriously if you have not seen the adorable lunch bags and repurposed backpacks she made for her kids yet, click on over there...AWESOME, pure awesome. I also feel like she and i are friends, we have shared many an email and i feel close to her even though she is so far away.

Girls pass on the awards to as many people as you like...spread the L O V E !

Photo Story Friday #4

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

My mom retired last month. Her co workers threw a lovely party for her and friends and family gathered to help her celebrate. After the party 3 of my siblings, our spouses and my folks went to a local Mexican restaurant where there was an Elvis impersonator running some Karaoke. Well it does not take much pleading to get me and my sisters up there to sing and shake our booties. Seriously we have no shame. The pictures should be MORE than proof of that. My sister Meg was especially out of control (her husband was not here for the visit and she turned into a wild woman). The ONLY thing that would have made this little outrageous outing better would be if our brother Scotty and his wife Kristie had been there. THEN it would have been ON (i love you guys....keep reading there is a lovely little nugget at the end i am posting especially for you) !!

So there was a group of ladies at a table next to us who were there for a Girl's Night Out. The leader of this little group Maureen kept grabbing my arm to get my attention to sing along with her or do little dance moves for certain songs. She was a hoot and very "happy" so were the rest of her Margarita Girls and they were getting happier and happier with each drink. OH for those of you who may not know, nobody in my family drinks. Yes my friends we got this nutty 100% sober. Though i did joke a few times that i was high on Diet Pepsi since i recently kicked caffeine and was drinking it fully loaded that night. ANYWAY Maureen and the Margarita Girls were DYING to get up and do a song so they begged me (yea really twist my arm) to go up and sing with them. I told them i would and that my sisters and mom would come too...

here WE are hogging the microphone singing Dancing Queen by Abba and THAT's Maureen and the Margarita Sisters behind us dancing...HILARIOUS!!I think Meg and Amy took the whole thing REALLY seriously...i mean look at their faces, and here they were MY back up singers for the "Shoop Shoop Song". Aren't they cute though?

Why yes that is a rude blonde woman blocking ME in the picture. She looked cuter than i did tho!

Meg laughing and singing and making everyone fall in love with her free spirit!
get down Meg...Amy will keep singing while you bust a move!
OK towards the end of the night Meg and I got up and danced by the speakers. She HAD been "flashing people" (i told you she was a wild woman) so i think i am trying to either keep her shirt down in this pic OR take it off of her. Like i said, it was the caffeine and Abba. Sisters Gone Wild!!
here i am raising the roof (what?!) and Meg bringing it back down!
Basically the whole evening was a blast. My throat hurt so bad the next day and there were memories made that night that we will be laughing about for a long time to come!

ok Scotty and Kristie this is for you...Daddy, singing. I think he thought i was just taking a picture of him, cuz he looked at the camera a few times. When you see him looking around he is actually watching a very free spirited bra less woman dance like she was high on acid (it was hard not to wtch her). No it wasn't Meg and no i did not get any pictures of her.

You. Are. Welcome.

and one more, because i love you!

The End.

Back To School

Today was Jordan's first day back to school. Junior High, SEVENTH Grade...wow she is growing up fast...too fast. She is such a great kid, developing her own ideas and opinions about the world and the people in it. She was excited to wear the cute Roxy tee shirt that her Aunt Meg bought her for babysitting the girls during their visit this summer. Tomorrow she will wear the Roxy short sleeved hoodie that Aunt Amy bought her for babysitting her Boys . J is all about her own style this year. I love it and hate it...i mean i am soooo glad that she has her own style, that she will speak up and express her likes and dislikes...but i REALLY wanted her to wear one of her cute dresses for the first day. *sigh* i think i have a teenager here folks. Don't get me wrong i think she is ADORABLE and she felt great leaving for school today in all her cuteness and that is what really matters.

J really begged for JanSport backpack this year. Most of the kids at her school have the rolling kind, because their backpacks weigh about 50 lbs..not kidding. So we told her that a JanSport was not gonna happen...THEN we found one with wheels...woo hoo!! I love it when we can get her what her heart desires AND still get what she actually needs. Win/Win!

She had a great first day and was super excited that her BFF Emma was in most of her classes this year...WAY. Too. Fun. She had a little bit of homework, nothing too major and had a good laugh when the homework for the parents took more time than hers did! Holy Forms to read fill out...sheesh! It took me FOREVER!

In all her Roxy Cuteness (check the earrings...awesome)

the full look including Converse shoes (thanks Grandma!) looking cool with the JanSport backpack!so tell me...

1. Are you kids making their own fashion choices yet?
2. Is their desire for a "name brand" becoming more important?
3. How much are your kids backpacks weighing?
4. Did you get homework too?

wondering about J's new hairdo? look at our sidebar and find out how you can enter to win a FABULOUS giveaway! (it's sooooo easy!)

ALSO my bloggy friend Dana over at Just Talk is having an awesome giveawayfor Cabana Life (Cabana Life combines fashion with function by offering stylish clothing with 50+UV protection through patented High IQ Sun Protection). i want to win, but i love y'all so if i don't win i want one of you to win...go check it out. But REALLY I do want to win!

Beautiful Lengths Giveaway

Jordan decided to make "the kindest cut of all". Today she had 10 inches of hair cut off to donate to Pantene Beautiful Lengths. In the past she has donated to Locks Of Lovebut they require 12 inches and she was anxious to get a new look for back to school. So we found Pantene Beautiful Lengths and their requirement is only 8 inches. J met them in the middle, she said, "my hair grows so fast go for it!" I am proud of her. The stylist kept reminding her that 10 inches was a lot and that her hair would be really short. Jordan kept saying, "it is for someone who has lost their hair, so that's OK, mine will grow." Funny/sweet/sad story...the first time J asked to donate her hair it was around the time of Hurricane Katrina, she had just turned 10 so she didn't really have a grasp what she was saying when she said, "I want to donate my hair to someone who may have lost theirs in Hurricane Katrina." We all thought the sentiment behind her idea was sweet, then one of my African American friends told me she thought their might be a whole lot of "sisters who DID lose their hair in the flood." VERY funny/sad...but i digress.

Did you know it takes 6 donations of at least 8 inches to make a wig? Wanna join Jordan's crusade and donate? If you do and blog about it (linking back to us) you will be entered in a contest for a package of hair goodness (it's a surprise, but you will love it!). Actually just getting the word out would be great....so if have no hair to donate but wanna win you can link back to us on your own blog, let me know and i will enter you in the drawing. IF you donate hair AND link back to us you will be entered another 5 times (that will seriously up your chances, do it)!!Entries can be made until Sept 1...so join the fun, help someone in need, be an example to others AND be eligible to win a prize! FUN!!

Before (not the best pic...we were racing out the door)

the back...oh that gorgeous hair!
the first ponytail cut (she sectioned it into 4 ponytails)

10 inches of beautiful hair to send off tomorrow
the cute cut! (i caught her as she was getting ready for bed)
she was right in the middle of writing in her "Love Notes Book" to Daddy
SOOOOO CUTE!! (and so grown up looking..*sigh*)
So what do you think? Gonna play? Got 8 inches of hair to donate?!

Girlie Girls...FUN!!

So as promised here is a little video of the girl cousins (since as you know we have been posting all about the boys for a while now). My sister Meg and her girls Reese and Quincy were here for a couple of weeks and i was able to get some great pics of their time here with cousins. I not only chose pics of the girls this visit but also a few from their last visits. It is crazy to see how much everyone has grown in such a short amount of time. Jordan loooooves her cousins and has especially grown close to Taylor, who is the same age (11 days apart). It was a super fun visit, we can't wait to get over the hill to see Taylor (and the boys) again and are looking forward to Reese and Quincy's next visit!

oh and Happy Birthday to my brother Mark...he never reads the blog but just incase he tunes in to see this video with his pretty, and only daughter Taylor, i want to make sure to give him a shout out...HOLLA!!

Randoms and Bloggy Business

ok so i THOUGHT my cold was gone. It wasn't. I am actually still feeling a little yuck. J has it too and we are determined to kick it's butt and be 100% well by the time school starts on Wednesday. The last couple of days have been ALL about R-E-S-T! I am so glad nobody ever 'pops in' around here they would have found us in our pajamas lazing about!

My Google Reader was at 367. CraZy! I got it down to 35. I am still making my way around to y'all. i am mostly reading via my reader and trying to pop in and at least leave on comment...i need to spread the L O V E as well as soak up your bloggy goodness! OH how i have missed reading your blogs. I am determined to get fully caught up by tomorrow evening...we will see!

J got Good Mail from her friend Sade, SuperCoolMom's daughter. She was soooo excited and tucked all her little treasures away before i could get any pictures, but trust me it was all fabulous and J was thrilled...especially about the earrings Sade MADE for her...awesome!

Miss Sniz had a contest not long ago and i WON!! she sent me the CUTEST handmade cards. Aren't they the CUTEST?!? Thanks Sniz....so cool!

I still have lots to blog about i am seriously behind, but my brain is in a fog and i am feeling lots of blog guilt. I know i have been honored by a few awards and i feel horrible for not giving them a proper display here on my blog. I adore blog bling. I am thankful. I know i am forgetting someone so PLEASE remind me if you gave me an award recently (gosh i hate asking that, i truly am grateful).

Jen (who has a private blog) gave me this little bit of goodness! Thanks Jen, i truly value your bloggy friendship too! i am passing this one on to SuperCoolMom, Miss Sniz, Sheri and Three Weddings. Y'all have been great friends to me!RDH Mom made this little magical award and passed it on to me, along with some VERY kind words. Thanks Allison, i think you are a great mom too! i am passing this one on to the Peapod Squad Stuff, Random Thoughts ,Leeann, Three-Girl Circus, Who Me? and Janna's Life.... Pass on the magic ladies! Kelly at Who Me? gave me this little award. I HEART you too girlie! This one goes out to CrazyMamaof6, My Chaos My Bliss, and Forgetfulone . now i need to pass on one of my own awards...this Bloggy Goodness Award goes out to my sister Meg who has finally been blogging again, but is ALSO getting behind, so i want to encourage her with a little blog bling. Adrian's Crazy Life who is a new reader of mine and whose blog i also enjoy, Dana at Just Talk , and Queen of the Mayhem. OK so i think that is all for bloggy business. I hope your summer is winding down nicely that y'all are excited about back to school time and that everyone is happy and healthy in your families!

OH did y'all watch the opening ceremonies for the Olympics? WOW!!! Our little family say in utter amazement at the complete creativity, time, energy and EXPEN$E that went into all of that...awesome! I love the Olympics...do you watch as a family? What events do you try not to miss?

When Sisters Get Together a PSF#3

Ok sorry for the long bloggy break. It has been all about fun fun fun here...then i got a cold and was flat for a week...BUT now i am baaaack!! Thanks for all the email checking in on me. All is well. I have so much to blog about and will do my best to get caught up before school starts and even more blog worthy things start happening. AND i will try and catch up with all of you as time allows...please be patient!

Our blog has been ALL about BOYS since i had my nephews here (you can scroll down to soak up all of that bloggy goodness...lots of fun stuff!) Here is the pic of the little guys on their last day, and this is how i returned them to their mothers...tee hee!

yep those are pink and blue mohawks and spikes...AWESOME!

Brock and Ty riding over the hill to Hollister!

" NOOOO!!! not the Mamarazzi!!"

"WE bring the party to YOU!"

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

So now it is time for GIRLS! I am going to start with one late night adventure my sisters Meg, Amy and I took Jordan, my niece Taylor and her 2 friends out toilet papering. I got the idea after we had just returned from the late night showing of Mama Mia and were a little punchy from the FAB movie we had just sang and laughed our way through..have you seen it yet? GO!! Now! Anyway i called up my niece (who J was spending the night with) and asked her if she and the girls wanted to go TP-ing...they did...IT WAS A BLAST! It brought lots of great memories back and we pretty much laughed until it hurt (i think someone peed their pants, it wasn't me). This was J's first time TP-ing and I was super happy to share this 'coming of age' moment with her. Good Times...good times....enjoy the pics!

Girls READY to gooooo!

Yep i am ready toooo...someone behind me looks skeeerd!
oh yeah!
stealth style down the street
this was the first house...we lost a whole roll in the tree, rookie mistake.
J giggling her butt off!!
still laughing, "my face hurts!"
more laughing
Aunt Meg using the toilet paper to make "enhancements"
second house...getting better!
J coming back for another roll

oh yeah we rocked this party!!
finished...job well done!
sisters...wooo hooo!
SO MUCH FUN!!

Hey Meg and Amy....i can't wait until we are all together again. I love you guys so much, am glad we are sisters but i LOVE that we are also friends!!

(PSssst, the homes we TP'ed were friends, friends who totally had it coming)

Busy..busy..Busy!!

We just got home from a few days in Hollister. I have been away from the bloggy world (thank you blogger scheduled blogging for posting Wacky Wednesday Formerly Wordless Wednesday and Photo Story Friday #3 for me. You. Are. Awesome.) so i am totally behind on reading y'all and soaking up your bloggy goodness. I plan to take some time tomorrow to catch up, read email, bask in my many comments and come see you. In the meantime enjoy the pic of these kids; all 10 of my parents grand kids. I have a gajillion pictures to go through and so much to blog about, including my mom's retirement party that her co-workers threw for her, karaoke with family, toilet papering with Jordan and Taylor and other good stuff. it was a great time, so good to be around family for a few days!

L-R (age order) Taylor, Jordan, Garrett, Parker, Zachary, Tyler, Brock, Reese, Steven and Quincy

Today my Mom, my sister Meg and her two girls Reese and Quincy are here so we are off for a little girl fun...more on that later. i leave you with two adorable pictures!

Photo Story Friday #3

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

This is Tyler. My Nephew. My sister Amy's middle son. He is a handful. He is funny. He loves to make people laugh. He SHOULD have been my son. When he was born he looked just like my baby pictures. He has this naughty little spirit about him that i simply adore. I know he was in a big hurry to get to earth and wanted to be a part of our family but didn't want to wait around for me, so he came via my sister. We all laugh about it. I mean look at this kid...HILARIOUS!

here he is with a banana peel on his head...ANYTHING for a laugh, i get that!

silly..."take my picture"
creative, silly, brilliant...
i BIG RED puffy HEART this kid
i mean really...what's not to love right?!
you can see more of this funny guy Cousin Time Day ONE ,Cousin Time Day TWO , Cousin Time Day THREE and Cousin time Day FOUR. He was first introduced on my blog in his post Tyler (need i say more?) and Boys, Chocolate and Swimming...all things good!

Wacky Wednesday Formerly Wordless Wednesday

i cannot go wordless...i TRY but i can't...so therefore my Wordless Wednesday is from this day forward Wacky Wednesday...feel free to change your Wednesday to whatever you like. You. Are. Welcome.

These are my nephews Garrett and Parker

is this a glimpse into the future? and who is going to wear the speedo?
Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly

stepbrothers

More Wordless Wednesday HERE and HERE

Cousin time Day FOUR

We had a blast at the Hilmar Cheese Company...the tour was pretty cool and the grounds were awesome. perfect for a picnic lunch and FABULOUS for picture taking. The kids REALLY loved making their own ice cream and the guide was wonderful. We had a couple PETA people on our tour and they were a little rude to our guide but other than that it was an awesome way to spend the afternoon! Enjoy the video of pics!

Tomorrow we take this party on the road back to Hollister where we will return the boys to their parents. We had such a blast this week and are looking forward to having them all again soon! When we get to Hollister we will find Auntie Meg and her two girls Reese and Quincy, who are visiting from Arkansas, as well as Taylor and Steven who stayed behind this last week. SOOOO all of the cousins will be together and i hope to get some great pics, don't worry i will most def share them.

In the meantime enjoy this little montage of pics...OH how i love these kids... L O V E big red puffy heart LOVE them! Thanks for sharing them with us Mark & Melinda and Josh & Amy! These boys were so much fun, J loved her cousin time!

Cousin Time Day THREE

Wow THREE days and sooooo much fun! The kids slept until 9:30am...AWESOME! Garrett quickly discovered that the tooth fairy had made a visit and a HUGE glittery fairy dust mess. She left a pretty funny but kinda snarky note...sassy little thing, but Garrett thought it was hilarious.

Once the kids were dressed (and the boys got mohawks, complete with color) they started in with games and puzzles right away and played VERY happily for 3 hours or so...long enough for me to take a nice long shower, do a little laundry and dig through the garage for crafty stuff. After lunch they got creative with the items i put out for them. Big Daddy woke up just as they were getting into it and said, "drop everything, we are going to the McHenry Museum...the Star Wars Exhibit is in town!" so they left the mess got their shoes on and hit the road. What a cool Uncle/Daddy he is! AND i got to take a TWO HOUR nap...YAY me!!

The kids came home and finished their projects and settled in for a movie and popcorn while i made dinner.

It was such a fun mellow, creative, day! OH i forgot to mention earlier this week that the kids are TOTALLY into the Cooperation Kid thing...they saw J earning cooperation kids and wanted in on the action. So everyone is being very positive and the sugar lipped "Sure, I would LOVE to's" are flying all around this place. i also have to say they have been FABULOUS about picking up their messes. My pretty "sit down and visit room" has turned into the boys changing room/closet and it's not looking too good, but i totally don't care...yeah i am cool like that (not really but this week it just doesn't matter to me...it is all about easy breeeezy fun).

Tomorrow we are going to a Dairy Farm/Cheese Factory to make our own ice cream and of course we will SWIM (we took a sabbath break from the pool today).

Cousin Time Day TWO

Today was a VERY fun filled day!! it started EARLY when Parker decided it was time to PARTAAAY at 6:30am and woke everyone up to play...ummm yeah he most DEF got the memo (this time) and it shouldn't happen again. The boys all played until around 8:30 when they realized Jordan was missing the action and went in to wake her up (she loved this).

Once J was awake the kids were ready for a deeeelicious and not so nutritious breakfast of Captain Crunch and Lucky Charms. The other night i asked the boys what i should get for them from the market. Their list was awesome...they are pretty much surviving on sugary cereals, corn dogs, chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, chicken noodle soup and string cheese. Jordan is THRILLED!! She usually eats sugar cereal on the weekend BUT she is super excited to have all this microwavable magic in the house!! Though tonight she did ask for some broccoli with her mac and cheese with hot dog. Yeah, really!!

We went to one of our favorite picnic spots and the kids fed the ducks and fish. There are also a few farm animals there so the kids got to see and pet and Emu, Horse, Donkey, Pigs and a Goat. It was a whole lot of fun. They also enjoyed playing on the playground there as well as in the weeping willow trees.

Once everyone was good and sweaty we came back home and jumped in the pool. We swam for 4 hours...not kidding...the kids were good and tired and ready for dinner by around 5pm. So while the kids changed into their PAJAMAS i whipped up a delicious gourmet meal...it only took about 20 minutes...there is something to this whole microwavable magic stuff.

The rest of the evening consisted of playing games and watching 2 episodes of iCarly (cute show). i went to take a nice long shower and Paul loaded the kids up in their PJs for ice cream at (choke & gag) McDonald's. As you know what goes up must come crashing down so i waited out their sugar high and everyone was asleep by 9:30pm....oh YES! (but no one had a bath...does the pool count? J was the only one who cared and she took a shower straight outta the pool...how do you people with 4 or more kids do it?)

well here is another fun slide show...i took about 200 pictures today...not kidding. So i picked out some of the best...about 3 minutes worth...ENJOY! i am going to bed JUST in case i get another 6:30am wake up call...g'night!

Cousin Time Day ONE

Late this afternoon some of my nephews came to town. J is THRILLED to have some much anticipated cousin time. My sister Amy brought her 3 boys Parker, Tyler and Steven. And my sister in law Melinda brought her 4 kids Taylor, Garrett, Zachary and Brock. We all had fun splashing around for a little bit before Amy and Melinda too Taylor (who is a very busy 12 year old girlie) and Steven (who is a barely 3 yr old who won't use the potty...a RULE for sleepovers with out mama) hit the road and left me 5 boys for 5 days. So far it has been a BLAST!! Today was a short day so all we did was swim, order pizza and watch a movie. I took WAY too many pictures to decide which ones i would post here (mostly for their parents...HOLLA!)so i made a little slide show (you. are. welcome.)i also have some REALLY funny video but i have to get permission from Big Daddy to post them...cuz he is in them, perhaps something to look forward to hmmm?!

Brock has pretty much been J's shadow and is loving all the one on one attention he is getting from my girl who looooooves to babysit. It seemed like everytime i turned around i found them either off in another room playing a game or coloring...the girl even helped him brush his teeth. ADORABLE!

Anyway...enjoy the little slide show, there is even music. ooooh FANCY!