A Day with Madi & Carson!

Steph. called me on Monday and asked if I would be so kind to watch her kids on Tuesday cause she was in a pinch and didn't have a babysitter (did I just say "pinch"? Yep, I believe I did). So I said- sure, bring them over. It was fun to see their bright, shiny faces that morning. We had pancakes for breakfast that Madison helped me make :) Ummmm... Yummy!





After breakfast we played inside for awhile, and had a snack. Sam and Madi thought it was so funny when they were showing me their snacks! Their skills impressed me.




Carson and Max played next to each other all day, which I expected. Occasionally they would stop what they were doing and one would walk over to the other to give a kiss. They were always ready to love each other.



We headed outside to the backyard so they could get some sun. The swings were a big hit as was the dirt and dump trucks. Madi even played in the dirt with Sam, filling up the trucks and dumping out the dirt! This was really the first time that Sam & Madison have played together. They have always played next to each other not really engaging. It was fun to watch.






After Lunch Sam, Max & Carson all took a much needed nap. This gave me an opportunity to paint and play with the play dough with Madison. She is such a little artist!


This is her princess bracelet that I made for her.



After naps, we headed out side for a Popsicle. I found these great Popsicles that are so little- the perfect size for little hands. They also have gelatin in them so they are slow to melt.




I had a great day with the sly kids. These kids are so special. Madi is just so content- never complaining. She says such funny things and is incredibly creative. Carson is much more feisty but such a little cuddle bug, which is surprising because he is extremely independent. I could just hold him all day.

Pirates

We got this cute pirate hat and some swords at Disneyland and the kids just love to play with them.

Aggrrhh Matey!!!

A visit from Mema

My kids just adore all of their grandparents and love visiting with all of them. They are such lucky kids to have such young and involved grandparents who love them to pieces. My mom called last weekend and said she wanted to come over for a visit and bring ice cream! Yay- score- icecream! She had hurt her back so she had to tone it down an bit and couldn't act like her usual crazy self and run after the kids. We ate dinner, had ice cream , read books and she watched me give them a bath. She said it was so nice to sit and read and just watch to kids play. Sometimes you just need to slow down and enjoy the view!

fishing

So my hubby is gone on an all boys fishing trip for 3 full days. Boo who!! He went to Clear Lake which is like 6 hours away. Little John really enjoys fishing- he has been going with John and Johnny since he was sooo little (like 3 years old.) He has been such a good little fishing buddy for John. He is always so patient, never complaining that he was bored or tired. He would just sit quietly, watching and eating the bag of snacks that we would pack (we think that this is why he liked fishing so much- because of the food). Now that he is older, he doesn't focus so much on the food- but he actually fishes. Big John was sad to leave him behind on this trip, but promised to take him next year. So here is a cute story: Tonight when Big and Little John were talking on the phone, little John asked how many fish his dad had caught. After John answered, little John asked if he was going to bring one home for him and if he put the fish in the "fishing department". Ha ha. He meant to say fishing compartment (or live well). I love the cute things that kids say!

baby love

I have noticed a big change in Max over the past week. Not really by his actions, just by his appearence. I have noticed that he doesn't look as much like the squishy little baby boy that I just don't want to let grow up. He is looking like a little boy and it makes me sad. Although this stage can be a pain in the butt because he doesn't have much of a vocabulary so he whines a lot and he is into EVERYTHING, I am sad to say that he won't be my little baby much longer. So, all I want to do is squeeze him and hold him and love on him because soon enough, he will be running with the big boys and I won't be able to catch him!!!

A perfect day to fly a kite???

It has been so windy here for the past two days, so when I was at Longs the other day I saw a really pretty (and cheap) fish kite. I bought the kite and then picked up John from school. He was so excited to finish his homework and then go to the park by our house to fly this totally awesome, totally cheap kite. On our way there, I was bragging that I had some special kite tricks up my sleeve and I would teach him all of my awesome moves. So we get to the park and there is a little boy and his grandmother there flying their kites. So naturally I think, how hard can this be, right??? It turns out that we looked so pathetic running with our kite that would not get up into the air, that the little boy's grandmother sent the kid over to give us some pointers. Still didn't work. He came over a second time and scolded me for not following his instructions. HaHa, how sad! We ended up leaving after giving it our best shot with our heads hanging. Next time I will by a more expensive kite!!



John's new trick he learned- "look mom, I have no arms". He thought this was so funny!

Untitled

So I don't even know what to title this post because I am seriously at a loss for words. If you want to know just how gross little boys can be then stop by my house at any given moment and I am sure you won't be disappointed. This story has to do with boogers and two little boys;
John and all three boys were in the garage last night while he was lifting weights. While he was exercising the boys were watching the t.v. that John had set up for them in there and they were having a snack. John had the box and was giving Sam the snack because he was in the "zone" and couldn't look up from the t.v. and reach into the box himself. Mistake #1- Sam was too trusting of John. Mistake #2- Sam was not looking at what john was giving him. Mistake #3- Sam ate what John gave him.
So, Sam, being the trusting little brother that he is, took a bite of his "snack" and little John began laughing uncontrollably. Big John asked why he was laughing and little John said "Sam just ate my booger". Ugh, so gross!!! Yep, my 7 year old son gave his 2 year old brother his big, green booger because he thought it would be funny. He didn't think it was so funny when he had to go to bed at 7:30.
Later that night when I was getting Sammy ready for bed I asked him what John gave him to eat in the garage. Sam said "his booger". So I asked what it tasted like and San said "poop".

Spring Break

So John was on spring break from school this week. I am probably a really bad mom for saying this, but I was not really looking forward to it because it can get a little bit crazy around here when all of the kids are home. Not kidding- there is like UFC wrestling matches between John and Sam and lots of screaming that follows (usually by me). But... I was pleasantly surprised by my kids and we had a totally AWESOME time! Here is everything that John got to do this week:

Monday- movie with Gigi and Sam
Tuesday- Park and sprinkler fun with neighbor kids
Wednesday- Library and Park
Thursday- Zoo and Rotary Play Land/ movie night with mom, dad and Sam
Friday- Golfing and making clay creations with great-grandpa Bill
Saturday- Car show with Papa, movie with Mema & Papa D, playing with cousins from
Avila Beach
Sunday- Easter

Wow- What a lucky little boy- I'd say he was treated like a king!

Easter at Gigi & Papa's house

We had such a great day on Easter! The kids woke up to the marshmallow trail that led to their Easter baskets. They had fun opening their gifts and playing with the toys. I didn't put too much candy in them this year but they got a lot of summer time outside toys.







I tried to get a cute picture of the kids but Max would not cooperate! Ugh... i hate trying to get everyone to look at the camera & smile at the same time- it is so exhausting.




Next, we went to my in-law's church because Karen was in the performance. She was so funny because of how nervous she was. But, she did great. You would've never known how nervous she was when she was up there doing her reading. Good job Gigi. After church we went over to their house to set up for the party. The little kids took naps and John Mikey was with his cousins that were visiting from Avila Beach. They have so much fun together and they play so well. The food was so good- we had tri-tip, a really yummy blue cheese potato salad, beans, salad, fruit, macaroni salad, ect. ect.
After we ate, the kids did the egg hunt.


Sam wasn't thrilled with the egg hunt. He was done after finding only one egg. His expression is just soooooo Sam.





After the hunt we watched Sammy ride his motorcycle (he calls it his mickey-ride-o. He would stay on this thing all day long if we let him. It is so cute to watch. He does so good on it- he stays on the track that papa made (most of the time). John didn't want to ride is dirt bike because he was having too much fun with his cousins.





We came home with 3 very tired kids that we bathed and put right to bed. We really missed my sister in law Katie because she is attending Raven Crest College in Colorado so she was not able to be there! Love ya Kate- can't wait to see you in May!

Zoo fun

I took all three boys to the zoo BY MYSELF today. Yeah, I know big whoop. But it is big because I was very nervous about all of the potential things that could happen. Guess what- I survived!!! And we all had a blast!!! The boys were all so awesome & we had a fit-free time. YAY for us. John loved the sting-ray bay exhibit. HE even got to pet them this time and he was able to pet the sharks that they had added since the last time we visited



Sammy really enjoyed looking at the snakes- He has been talking a lot about peoples breath lately, so I wasn't surprised when he said that he "smelled the mean snake's breaf" (breath)


this is outside the reptile house.

After we finished at the zoo, we went to rotary play land to ride a few rides. John chose the seat closest to the engine on the train and it was really loud. Max was a little bit freaked out! His face was so funny




John's face just lit up when he got to go on the dragon roller coaster by himself. He said that was the best part of the day. Sam got to drive the cars all by himself and he was so proud.

water wiggle

It was so darn hot yesterday so i decided to break out the water wiggle sprinkler. sammy was the only one who thought my idea was fabulous- john didn't want to play in the water because he says that "he doesn't like getting wet". john soon joined in when he saw just how much fun sam was having so i guess he wasn't too cool after all. Who could resist playing in water. here they are having fun:

baseball season

Ahhh...the joys of another season of baseball. So, this year we signed little john up for babe ruth baseball in clovis because we wanted him to be involved in a more competitive league. the league we participated in last season in sanger was terrible! Little did we know when we signed him up that we would have to make the 30 minute trek into clovis 3 times a week (2 games & 1 practice). It is getting old now- especially when the two little ones are hungry because we have to be there to warm up at 5:00 and the games don't end until 7:00. Then keeping them happy can be tricky. Most nights we don't make it home until 7:25. Then we have dinner, reading and baths which means straight to bed. It is worth it though, because we have a great coach who has been giving little john great batting tips. He sees the potential in him so he has really been working with him. At the beginning of the season he was one of the best hitters on the team, but something changed with him and he has been swinging funny. He has an incredibly powerful swing and if he could learn to get his body positioned right, he is going to slam it!! He is getting it and every time daddy and him practice, he gets better.

Easter at Mema & Papa D's

We had our Easter celebration at mom & dad's this weekend. The kids had such a great time, especially when the egg hunt started.







Notice how we had to hold john back from getting all of the eggs before his brothers had a chance to snag some.

This was Max's first egg hunt- and he did great. Mema was helping him put the eggs in his bucket but after awhile, he knew just what to do.




Sam has recently become obsessed with money. He even sleeps with two quarters at times. So, he loved opening the eggs, taking out all of the "monies" (not sure how to spell that) and putting them in his pocket.

We had a fun day with the family and the food was so yummy!!! thanks mom and dad, you sure know how to throw a party

Happy Easter