A boy and his dog...

I love this! Brennen drew this at school yesterday...must have been thinking of Obi all day. His teacher says that's all he is talking about this week. Obi is doing great and we are truly enjoying the new member of our family!

Happy #5 Son...

BrYceE. haPpY. FunNy. SmArT. caRiNg. GeNtLe. sTubBorn. LoVinG. sNeaKy. hEarT rIncHinG. gUt lAuGhinG. ComEdiAn. sToRy TeLLeR. arTiSt. DesIgNer. enGiNeeR. LoYaL bRotHeR. tOy taKeR. PuPpY lOveR. mAma'S bOy. dADDy'S mAn. fRiEnD. cOuSin. NephEw. GiFt frOm GOD. OuR sOn. BryCee bOY. We celebrated Bryce's Birthday at Pump it up on Saturday. The little guy had quite a turn out I must say! I think all the kids had a blast...but a few of the dad's might have enjoyed themselves a little too much. I would post the pictures, but for fear that we wouldn't be allowed to return, my husbands injuries will not be publicly displayed :) Get well soon honey...
This will most likely turn into it's own post at some point...when I am not house training our two year old boxer, but the boys were surprised with OBI yesterday! I know all of you that know me are shocked, as is my slobbered on coffee table I'm sure! I guess at some point you just have to give in to the begging by sons and husband and take the plunge. The plunge being exactly what I thought it would be...Mom taking care of the new dog! He really is a great dog and super handsome. I will have to post more pictures soon, but for now it's time to..."go potty!"

To our son Bryce on his 5th birthday....We love you pal. You bring so much life, love and laughter to our family. We know it will be a great year...and we pray that you will be great at picking up dog poop, seriously!

And their off...

The night before school started, Bryce just couldn't grasp the fact that he was in bed before the sun was actually all the way down. Rich and I could hear him for at least an hour and a half after we said prayers. Brennen? Oh, surely he prayed himself right sleep. Remember the school anxiety I spoke about in the above post? Pretty sure I passed that along to my eldest child. Poor kid! So as you can imagine...this is Bryce on the 1st day of school after several times of trying to wake him. A sign of things to come I'm sure!

Just out of curiosity...am I the only one who has children that are tortured by their socks? Do your children have wrinkles or bumps in the seams that no matter what you do, won't go away? Well, you might think I am crazy...and that's really okay with me, but I prayed over the socks...out loud in front of the kids. They for sure thought I was crazy! Mom's do a bunch of weird stuff anyway...so why not? I have to tell you...two days of no complaints. Seriously...in this house that is huge. Is it true that in Hawaii the kids can go barefoot to school? Cuz the thought of moving there, for this reason alone, I have considered!

Seems hard to imagine that the boys will be 5 and soon 8 years old. Brennen of course had a wonderful day at school. Bryce ended up having a great day, but was pretty peeved that his class was "silly" and for "babies". Apparently, the play kitchen really messed with his head...I mean, he was wearing a belt and a collard shirt for crying out loud! He was practically ready to graduate in that get up! For some reason, convincing him that he would be the fastest kid in his class seemed to lift his spirits and day #2 was a much better!

mmmmm...those are my boys! Don't they look angelic? Just short (literally) of halo's!

Until next time...

What does back to school mean to you?

Okay....so it's the Friday night before school starts and I already have this weird anxiety, as if I have to show up for 2nd grade. Might be related to the recurrent dream I have about showing up to high school graduation only to be told I am missing a few credits and don't qualify for this event. Oh yeah...on stage, announced with a microphone. Admittedly there have been days...when I have counted them until school starts. But there are also those where I can't imagine the crazy schedule we'll keep at his little house of ours. So here are a few things I'll miss about summer time...

• Leisurely waking up to the sound of cartoons...unfortunately the boys aren't aware that the smell of coffee would be a perfect start to my day. Maybe next summer?
• Brycee's bouncy bed head of hair
• Making breakfast at who knows what time
• strolling out to the pool...with my boys
• Week day matinees...with my boys
• Soak City Water Park...with my boys
• Beach days in HB...with my boys and the smert
• The smell of sunscreen on my boys
• Cute little tan lines...on my boys
• Late night snuggle time with...yep, my boys

I never imagined that having school aged kids would be so rewarding, yet so heart rinching at the same time. I also never imagined that the decisions we made regarding our kids at such a young age would challenge us the way they do. Hopefully that's what makes us good parents

I don't want to take away from the list above...so I won't list all the reason's why I am looking forward to "the schedule". So when you leave a comment, take a guess. Yes...in the spirit of school starting, I'm gonna make you think a sec.

Let me leave you with this: Bryce is about to attend the Christian school that Brennen goes to. This will be awesome for several reasons...one being I only have to drive twice a day to one place. Just wondering how it will go over when he informs his new teacher... when he gets to heaven, he wants to be a bad guy! Again...food for thought!

To all my friends with kids who have started or are about to start school...you are in my thoughts and prayers...for a smooth, rewarding, successful and fun year...for the them and for you.

Until next time...

Camping in Carlsbad...sorta.

My brother Joe and his family were camping in Carlsbad this weekend...so at the last minute we decided to head that way and just stay in a hotel right down the street from the camp ground. This is one of my favorite towns...and we all had so much fun! This was the 2nd time we stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn right across the street from the ocean. Cute little place that offers warm cookies and ice cold milk at bedtime, along with and outdoor kids movie on the lawn. We all slept until 9:15 on Sunday morning...ahhhh.

So below are several of our favorite photos from the weekend. There are a bunch... This is what it's like to have 3 kids!
My nephew Jonah loving the beach
Lunch time
""We love girls"...man we are in trouble!
Beach boy

Sand man
Salty dog
He was cracking up
Chilly
Body surfin' Buggy

Cousins....friends
My brother Joe and his son Jonah
Team work
Wow...how's that sunburn? ...and other funny stuff!
My Family

Thanks Joe and Jen for having us....we had so much fun!

Until next time....

We love the Weavers!!

Thanks for coming out guys! We loved having you :)

Until next time...

Itchy buns....don't ask!

Christine had Annie and I and all the kids out to her amazing pool for a swim day and lunch. It's always nice to reconnect with the girls...although we are always missing a few! As you can see from the pictures, the kids had a great time here. Who wouldn't? Our pool is like a Doughboy in comparison...so when I told the kids it was time to go, Brennen informed me he was not leaving. Sweet little thing ;) Annie's son Brady took the picture below and Annie got the rest of the shots (nice photos girl). Yep...another "perfect" day to blog about right girls? What happens in Moreno Valley stays in Moreno Valley. Yes I just got back from Vegas and no blog post...do you get it?

Thanks for a great day guys. The boys slept all the way home! Let's get together again soon...hope everyone can make it next time!



Who's nutty kid is that on the bottom left?

Until next time...