April 14, 2011

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!

There is nothing like celebrating with the kids. They make

everything extra fun. Their excitement is contagious.

Look at Oliver's face in this photo. Kid loves cake, he has no idea if he likes pie but the excitement is the same. I have no idea why there is a bottle of fabuloso on the counter. Apparently we did some cleaning before having dessert.

I don't know how many pictures this year I have claimed is my favorite. But this one is in the running. What a great photo. Look at all those adorable kids celebrating with their Dad.

Makes you want to scoop him up and kiss and hug him. He is a doll.

I am never in photos. Thankfully Andrew is old enough to take this picture for us.

Nothing like a little birthday party to put everyone in a cheery mood.

Luke is just a happy boy in general.

I love that we left Luke in his high chair and just scooted him over to the group. He gets into everything.

Oliver helped open the present and is wondering what is so exciting about this.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAUL!! We love you!

April 12, 2011: Andrew gets invited to go to a movie with a friend. He is so excited that he gets ready early and is watching out the front window for them. Our movie theaters here have refill cups that you can buy and if you bring them back it's only $1 for refills on your next visit. I LOVE this promotion. So I gave Andrew some money and his movie cup and let him hangout in the front room and wait. After a while he comes to me.......

Like this and tells me the cup is stuck on his arm. At first I thought he was teasing and told him to take it off. Watching him try was hilarious. It made his arm look so funny when he was moving it around.

He's such a trooper. Mom gets out her camera for everything. So before I would help him take it off I had to snap a few angles.

Getting it off was trickier then expected and finally was only achieved after dumping oil into the cup and moving it around. He was stuck with a red mark on his arm for awhile and I had to give him a clean cup. We were laughing hysterically when we were trying to get it off. Okay, I was laughing hysterically and Andrew had more of a nervous laugh. Think he didn't trust that I could get it off. He was fearing it would be a more permanent situation. He looks really relieved in this photo.

April 13, 2011: If your going to lose a tooth you want to lose it at school. Marissa has lost a couple of teeth this year but she has been waiting for this one. She actually has tried to prevent losing it at home so she can get rewarded for losing it at school.

Lose a tooth at school and they give you a certificate, a treat, and a little tooth necklace that holds your tooth until you get home. Now if I hadn't told you that it would seem she is holding up her lost tooth that appears to be the size of a small dinosaurs tooth.

When I picked her up from the bus she said "it finally happened".

April 1-9, 2011

Oliver came in with this helmet on backwards. He said he was a super hero. He thought this little flap was supposed to hang down over his eyes. I didn't correct him. Watching him try to wear it this way was adorable. I couldn't stop laughing.

Luke, climbing, just being himself.

Oliver has to try everything on. So it would only seem right to take the t-shirt off the teddy bear and slip it on. Looked great on the bear, looks terrific on Oliver. He has not yet been "Stuffed in San Francisco" but when he is someday, he can say he already had the t-shirt and have the picture to prove it.

The kids were being cute today and I wanted to get a group shot. There is nothing like a group photo that really shows how a family works. Here, for example, there is always someone missing.

Or someone who doesn't want to be there in the first place.

There is that raging vengeance you feel for the other.

(I love how Andrew is staying cool but prepared to defend himself if necessary.)

Oliver is Captain Oblivious, as usual.

This picture is taken in the same minute as the last. Says just smile and

get it over with so Mom will let us get back to our lives.

Still missing one.

A mothers dream. Get a great group shot with everyone present and

manage it in the first 10 photos.

A lofty goal set for next attempt.

March 28, 2011

Pool Party at the Ibas

This activity was a huge hit with the kids. They played themselves into a sleep coma. I can only imagine what my neighbors thought of our wee little pool. If pools could talk my neighbors fancy pools would be bullying our little blow-up pool. I'd take a picture of my neighbors dreamy oasis if it wouldn't seem to psycho stalker. I guess you'll have to come visit us to see it.

On the upside, the smaller the pool the smaller the risk of drowning and that is a + for me. We taught Oliver to use these water guns. He thought this was really cool.

Being March after playing in the water it feels a little chilly. So they laid out in the sun with their blankets to get warm.

Look at how big our little Luke is. He thought taking baths outside was a great idea.

I can tell this pool is going to be very popular this year. Especially when it starts to really heat up.

MARCH 27, 2011

Oliver, Why we love you.

Let us demonstrate the ways.

#1: Charming!!

#2: Creative. Long sleave striped shirt with vest. Add your sisters white church shoes and you have an outfit.

#3: Humble. Doesn't take himself to seriously.

#4: Shows appreciation for the little things. (I'm sure that is what he is miming in this photo).

#5: Deceptively Sweet. Seems all wild and crazy on the outside but on the inside he's all mush.

There is never a dull moment with Oliver around. I just couldn't stop laughing at all the poses he was doing. I was trying to get a cute picture of him in this outfit and he gave me 3 extra ones. What a cute kid.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARISSA!! March 25, 2011 Day party!!

Birthdays at our house start with your favorite breakfast. My kids always pick waffles. It's basically a dessert with whip cream and fresh fruit, throw on some sugar and your on a sugar high for hours.

Luke is in to it.

Marissa's birthday party starts off with a movie with Mindy and Zoe.

Oliver came along but Luke had to stay home with a babysitter.

After the movie we grabbed some Mcdonalds drive through. Picked up Luke, dropped off the babysitter and went to The Play Factory. We love this place.

Mindy and Marissa, taking a 3 second break from running around.

Oliver and Luke loved every second.

At one point I had to make everyone stop and rest. They were all red in the face like Marissa in this photo. We stopped and had a rest and a big drink.

Then back home for cake and ice cream. Wow!! what an adventure. Even Marissa's birthday cake had an adventure getting to this point.

Super cute group of kids.

We bought the cake this year and at one point it got tipped on its side on the way to the car. Then while we were unloading the cart I asked Andrew to put it in the front so it wouldn't tip again. After unloading I got everyone in and jumped in. I went to secure the cake before pulling out and couldn't find it. I asked Andrew and he said he put it in the front. We argued back and forth for a second before he says. "Oh, I put it in the front of the car." So I found the cake on the ground in front of the van. Then I understood why he was concerned someone would steal it when I first asked him to put it in the front. HEEEELLLLLLLOOOOOO KITTY!!

The kids had some very colorful cupcakes and after opening some great presents from her friends the day party was over.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARISSA!!!

YOUR 6 YEARS OLD.

March 25, 2011

Evening

This is Marissa's family party. She was taking in all the attention all day and all night.

Cards and Presents

Wrapped up in crepe paper. This was not planned. The tape holding up the decorations started coming down so the kids came up with this.

Blowing out the candles part 2. Double wishes!! I wonder what she wished for?

We decided to go all out and since living in Arizona comes with abnormally warm weather in March. We had a sleepout for Marissa's birthday night. This could only be pulled off in Arizona in March.

We completed the evening with "Tangled", one of Marissa's b-day presents.

This was lots of fun. We filled up the blow up mattress and all squeezed onto it for the night. It was a great ending to a great birthday. We love our Marissa so much and are so grateful that she is in our family and proud of the wonderful girl she is. WE LOVE YOU MARISSA!!!

It should be noted I slept great, only because I chased a birthday party all day. The next night we slept out again and added Oliver to the mix. It was managed, but only just barely. There was without a doubt one to many on the blowup mattress but no one wanted to sleep on the ground or go inside.