Songs

So, if one can believe it, Brent is still going strong in the song dedication department.  Of course he is met with much encouragement, but it has been such a spark to our 13 yr old marriage.  Since my last mention of music dedicated he has dedicated more songs and even gifted a  few CD's.

"Open Arms" Journey,  On a call night "Babe" Styx,   "You Save Me."  Kenny Chesney (he also bought the CD for this one for me (an actual CD from Boarders, not just a download).  Kenny Chesney is one of my favorite country artists.  "Shameless" Garth Brooks.  ( he also bought this CD... did you know that Garth is not on i tunes?  DUH Garth, get with it!)  Then another call night, he did "Je l'aime A Mourir" Francis Cabrel.  And Today was "Can't stop loving you"  Phil Collins.  (cuz I leave tomorrow on my trip.)  What a doll.  I love that this is something that he is really thing thinking about.  The lyrics to each song are beautiful and pertinent to the day that they are offered.  I love you so much babe!  Thank you for being such a sweet heart.  :-)

Ah, this week...

So if you remember this was going to be a "week off".  HA HA!  So we started off nice and slow with a morning of baby sitting the Jensens, or rather, having play dates with the Jensens, the kids know that their time with them is limited, and it is fun to watch them kind of cherish each other a bit.

Tuesday we were all dressed in our swimsuits and everything, ready to head to the pool when we got a call from Aimee (she is teaching the kids swimming lessons), she was calling to tell us that they'd seen lightning and had closed the the pool.  We made some quick calls around and ended up at Patapsco Valley State Park, trying to find a spot where the river would be low and slow enough that the kids could play in it.  Jeri and I were both armed with cameras in hopes of finding some good light.  
The kids on the other hand were in search of Crawdads, and any other crawly swimming creature they could find.  They actually found a whole "pool" of them down by the river that were surprisingly large (to me anyway).  They scooped them up in buckets and tortured them a bit and then let them go.

Also while they searched for Crawdads, they found lots of bugs and beatles and a pile of worms, and Alex and Wyatt found a water fight.

(jeri, i cropped out his plumber bum, you're welcome :-) )

All in all, we had a good time.  Jeri and I found some good light and the kids found some critters and kept cool in the creek.  Even Simone eventually went to sleep and seemed to have had a nice time out there in the shade next to the creek sounds.  Talia did get bit by some flying beetle thing that actually took a chunk of flesh from her head!  We can't figure that one out!  But anyway, it was a fun day.

Tuesday night I got a hair cut and went to Tara's shower, on the way home I went to the theater to get tickets to the Bee Movie, no such luck, all sold out, so I vowed to go to the mall on Wednesday morning with all the kids in tow and get tickets for this Wednesday's movie with is "Surf's Up".  Only to be informed on Wednesday morning that Liza has seen it and that she said it's just a penguin being interviewed.  :-)  Too bad, you're going anyway!  LOL!  After getting the tickets on wednesday morning we headed to the mall.  I was a bit reluctant to go as sometimes when I take them to the mall,  it is a fine experience and some times I take them and I just want to shoot myself for being so silly and taking them all to a place full of things to ask for.   Fortunately it was a good day to go to the mall.  The kids all behaved beautifully, and we actually had a really nice relaxing stroll about the mall.  We finished off with a few minutes at the play place and headed home.  The kids were hungry at this point but when offered, they chose to head home for free PB &J rather then spend their own earnings on Mc Donalds.  (funny how that is).  

Thursday we again gathered the swim gear to head to the gym.  We had our normal mad dash for the gym, with me hurrying the kids into the gym saying things like "I'm going to be late, please hurry!"  Only to find that the big rain storm the night before had put out 1/2 of the gyms electricity and that the pool was closed.  I checked the kids into the child center and went to check out what I was to do about my job.  Then I got into a discussion with a sister from the ward who is inactive.   She attends my water classes every so often, and she had some issues on her mind.  By the time we were done chatting, the kids were about done staying in the child care that was only 1/2 open.  We called the Jensens and headed to a last Ho-rah at  Chuck E Cheese's.  Wow do they have a TON of new stuff at the Laurel location, you've got to check it out!  All new ski ball, just tons of stuff.  It was a very fun afternoon.  Thursday evening I got a sitter (brent was on call) and I went to Aimee's swim clinic.  It was really good, I learned a TON, and I got to go for a late night dip in the pool.  Although the clinic was terribly informative and it should be my favorite part, I really really liked the frogs.  I am sure that the other women in attendance could see right through my efforts to squelch my excitement over the fact that there were cute little frogs everywhere, "ribbit-ing" REALLY LOUDLY.  They were even jumping in the pool and then you could catch them.  I  love animals so i was so excited, like a little kid. :-)

Friday Liza went over to "help" babysit for the Jensens while I helped the other kids get their jobs done.  Liza was so proud of her first "babysitting" gig.  It was so good for her to have some responsibility and to see that people will pay you for being that way.  She then came home and "tried" to get her jobs done in time to go to her sleep over with Maia.  She messed around, as liza does, and was not ready when Maia came to get her.  Despite the wonderful deals offered and promises of her first born child, she was kept home to finish her jobs and I drove her over an hour later.  I sure hope she learned a lesson from that one.  I came home and picked up Alex, Tori and Katie and took them to Co Op where they were invited to stay overnight this time, to give Brent and I a nice long date.  AND THAT WE HAD!!  It was glorious.  We spent 9 hour together, just he and I!  Wow, how fun was that.  We went to the Body Worlds 2 Exibit @ The Maryland Science Center  It was Fantastic!  I would recommend it to anyone.  However, it may not be for the weaker stomached folk.  I was fine through 99% of it.  There were a couple times where it got a little too real, once when I got a whiff of formaldehyde as I leaned in to take a close look at what Brent was trying to show me.  It was really a cool thing to go and see with a Doctor on hand telling you what everything is and how it works.  The exhibit w/o a doctor is still very informative, you just have to do a bit more reading then I did.  We took a LONG time to go through it, it was VERY big and full of information.  For me, the most shocking part was how tiny an embryo is when it starts to look like a human being.  WOW, I've seen the pictures, but to actually see one!  Man was that cool.  What a testimony builder this trip was, how could anyone after looking that deeply into the human body deny a God?  It was fabulous!   We then went to Cheese Cake Factory, and as always, it was Fabulous.  I highly highly highly recommend 

CHRIS' OUTRAGEOUS CHOCOLATE CAKE
A Cheesecake Factory Original - Layers of Moist Chocolate Cake, Chewy Brownie, Toasted Coconut Pecan Filling and Creamy Chocolate Chip Coconut Cheesecake

We went and picked up Katie and transfered her to her crib from Jeri's house and then we set up a movie and stayed up really late, eating Cheese Cake and watching "21"  it was so FUN!  Thank you Jeri and Lincoln for a great night!  It was WAY fun!

Saturday was my much anticipated trip to Christmas Tree Shop.  My plans got all turned around, and to make it short if I wanted anyone to ride with on the way up there, I had to wait until after 2:00 to go.  I could have gone alone, but that wouldn't have been nearly as much fun, so we decided to pack all the fun into less time.  We hit the outlets for a bit, found some great dresses, and then went to Sonic for Cherry Lime-aid. YUMMMMM!  and headed for a good 2 + hours at Christmas Tree shop.  I had a blast and found some really good stuff for pictures.  I am really excited about it.  I picked up a few things for my kitchen, and some tub toys for the kids.  It was really fun!  We went to chilies after and had dinner, followed by desert shots Yumm again!  Then we rolled ourselves into the car and all the way home.  :-)  It was a really fun trip and the Christmas tree shop, once again, did not disappoint!  Next trip:  Some time in the beginning of October to collect cute Fall decor.  :-)  

Who Created this monster?

In the many moves and adventures of my life, I find that I pick up different little things along the way.  In collage I picked up an awareness of the real world (as most people do).  I also learned that sometimes people use you and think nothing of it.  I also learned that priesthood blessings are available and very very helpful.  I left Rexburg with a greater love of the gospel and a testimony of priesthood blessings and a surety that my Heavenly Father loves me.  

Our next stop was Salt Lake City, here I learned the importance of insurance, life, car AND homeowners (or renters as the case may be).  I also learned that some people are down right crazy, and you can't judge a book by it's cover.  I also learned here that my husband HATES noisy animals, and that having friends right next door is a blast!  Mostly I learned here that even when you are incredibly busy (working full and part time), you find time to serve others and don't judge those you serve as you do it, AND men go into their own zone to decompress, (this I did not know and struggled with it for the first 18 months of marriage).  

Living in Canada I learned that the grass is usually exactly the same color on the other side of the fence.  I learned that having a baby is a spiritual experience, and I learned that sometimes the greatest of friends can become to heavy to carry and you have to lighten your load a bit and say no.

Back in Utah I learned to be kind to the elderly, they're usually very lonely, and some times a little cooky.  :-)  I learned that being a stay at home mom is harder then it looks, and I learned to love every moment that is given to us, life is precious.  I also learned  to trust in the Lord.  Sometimes we don't know why He doesn't grant us our righteous desires until later in life, hind sight is always 20/20.  

In Philly I learned that it sucks to be a minority, and to really truly  treat others as equals.  I learned another lesson in service and the importance there in, and also that love is very important to service, not just the act of doing it.  I also learned to keep my mouth shut.  (this was a hard lesson)  I thought that everyone should know and follow what I learned at Ricks in my child development classes.  I never thought about family functions, and personalities and the ability to adjust, it seemed so cut and dry then (oh how wrong I was!).  This was my Red personality coming out, the controlling  male force that I have, that wants to solve a problem rather then just listen to it.  Don't offer advice unless asked for it, sometimes people just need a shoulder.

In Des Moines, oh my, is there a tender spot in my heart for Des Moines.  I learned humility.  Being on every government program on the planet just to get by and pay the bills will do that to you.   I learned that I can be friends with ALL sorts of people, and there is common ground amongst  us all.  The beginnings of my "events coordinator personality began to emerge here in Des Moines, and I loved being busy doing free stuff.  (Des Moines is great for free stuff to do).  I learned that I am capable of doing things with out Brent, and that I have to support him in his vocation and his church callings.  (Des Moines is a long one, cuz I learned a lot)  I learned that our Family members who have passed on are just absolutely itching to be found and that we really need to do our Family History work and Temple work.  The spirt of Family History is addicting and once you catch the bug it never goes away, (my flame for it right now is smoldering, but it can and will easily  re-ignite) I learned confidence and the ability to kick back and laugh sometimes, and how fun it is to name things (thanks mere).  I cried really hard when we left Des Moines there were some really pure and true friendships there.  It was wonderful!

In Toledo I learned that Ohio sucks!  (ha, just kidding)  Anyway, Toledo was a fun time for our family.  Just happened in an ugly state.  I learned here to step out of the box with my clothing choices, throw in some color, and by golly, I look good in pink!   I learned that I LOVE Young Women's.  That was my favorite calling of all time.  I love the young girls and their willingness to consider the opinions of their leaders.  Ohio is where I picked up my Water Aerobics career.  I have wanted to instruct the whole time I lived in Des Moines, but never did, and then started to in Toledo.  I learned that the YMCA is a wonderful organization that helped our family through some hard times.  I think my favorite lesson I learned in these two years is that you never ever ever know what someone else is going though.  You know that grumpy lady at the store, or that crazy screaming man in the restaurant,  maybe their spouse fell off the wagon last night and threw their whole career in the toilet, maybe their mother just died...  we don't know.  Smile at them, they could be having the worst week of their lives.  You just never know!  AND  Cherrish every conversation that you have with loved ones, and hold them a little longer when you can because it may be the last time, and you never ever can know for sure.  Always tell them I Love You, just so you can know for sure that you did. 

And now to Maryland, which was the reason for this post, and it was initially going to be a silly little post, but turned into this emotional blubbering that is probably meaningless to everyone but me.  Oh well you could have stopped reading, :-)

Here in Maryland I have learned that I am not the talentless schmuck that I thought I was.  (thanks Jeri )  I have found amazing confidence through the lens of my camera.  (this is where the monster comes in)  I love to play with the camera and with photoshop!  I could do both for hours and hours a day.  It has been a wonderful experience to learn so much and I look forward to more knowledge! I have also learned that if you don't want to look old you have to take care of your face (thanks Scarlett), and that there is a lot to be said for expensive make up.(jeri again! pricey friend)  (much to my bargain hunting chagrin.  Oh how I do love a deal)  So my stop here in Maryland, though not over has been a great confidence boost however it came with quite a price.  Between the purchase of our first home (after 11 years in apartments), the addition of a 4th child, the dog (holy crap are those expensive), my photography stuff,  and the make up etc... oh heaven help our budget.  I may have to take a little time and look back on Des Moines lessons.  

Life is sure special, there is so much to be learned.  As I have learned all these lessons, I certainly don't live by them always, but it was really fun to look back at the lessons learned and take a minuet to recommit to becoming a better person every day and picking back up some of the things that I have learned along the way.

I am sure a boring post for others, but it has been a great adventure for me. :-)

From the 1st to the 4th

Last night at 2am (as I was going to bed) Katie began to fuss, and I found my self hoping, just a little that she would wake up and let me rock her.  

I got to thinking about this, and how, with Liza I never cherished those mid- night cries.  I would always just take care of the problem and put her back in her bed to be sure that no bad habits were formed.  I would make sure that cuddling in the night didn't happen so that she would be a good little sleeper.  Oh the silly mistakes we make.

When I had Alex, the whole idea was, don't wake up Liza, fatten up that baby, and get as much sleep as possible between the two of them.  With Tori, I would somewhat enjoy those middle of the night wakings , but I was still worried about how much sleep I was going to get and how I would make it through the next day.  

Now, when Katie wakes, I can't wait to snatch her out of her bed, ah the blissful opportunity of rocking a sweet baby, all snugly and warm.  I love it.  We used to say things like "would you please rock her, I have to do ......"  now, we fight over who gets to hold Katie in the chair.  :-)  Funny how things change.

Yesterdays song was "our song"  which his "Forever and Ever Amen"  Randy Travis.  I beg him to sing it to me all the time, but he has only done that twice in our 13 years together.  :-)  I suppose dedicating it to me is the next best thing.

This mornings song was "Your The Inspiration"  Chicago.  Aww, what a sweet heart.  I have a play list on I tunes called "For my princess."  What a charmer.

I dream about blogging

This afternoon i took a quick little nap on the sofa, Chinook curled up with me, so I must have been thinking about him when I fell asleep.  I had this dream that a sister in the ward was really sick, and the only thing that would make her better is to be hooked up to an IV with a dog on the other end of the IV. (weird, I know, but that isn't the point of the story.)  Anyway, so in the midst of this dream where I was working with nurses on how to keep the dog by her, and how to get in his potty breaks and stuff, in the back of my mind, I was thinking about how I would need to blog about this.  I even was trying to come up with a catchy title about Chinook being a hero.  LOL!!  Has this whole blogging thing gone WAY too far????  Too funny.

Well, our week this week is looking rather slow.  I kind of planned it that way as we head out to Canada next week and I need some time to tie up loose ends around here.  Thus far, I am hoping to get appointments at the salon at Lifetime for Tuesday early evening.  I think monday or tuesday during the day we will have the Jensens over so that their mommy can tie up loose ends around the house.  Wednesday morning is "The Bee Movie" at Columbia Theater   I think we'll go to that if we can get tickets.

Thursday I teach at the gym, so We'll do a gym and swim.   Friday we have to do jobs and clean the house up.  Alex is pretty sure that he can earn his 800 points and therefor a privilege by Friday afternoon so that he can sleep over with Wyatt on Friday.  Saturday is my Big trip to the "Christmas Tree Shop".  I want to leave fairly early in the morning, and spend the day shopping the outlets in PA (no sales tax)  and then hit the Christmas Tree Shop in the way home.   (This is a good 2-3 hour stop. :-)  There is a Chilies in that parking lot for a late dinner and I am thinking Sonic for lunch.  It is about an hour to hour 1/2 drive.  Every one is welcome to come, just tell me before that you would like to hop on board for a mommy day out and we'll try to figure out car space.  I plan to drive out there, and we'll see if we need any other drivers.  If you're coming with me, I want to leave by around 9-9:30 and we won't be home till well after 10.  Yipee! 

What is this a post with out a picture, what ever shall I do?  :-)

PS the song this morning was "The Best of Times"  Stix.  Yes he did it again, what a sweetie!

Romancing the stone?

So I wake up on Thursday morning and there is a big sign taped to the Mac, that says "Christie Press Play"  then there are sticky notes all over that say "mom only"  "press here"  ..  I press play and I tunes starts up with Chicago's  "What Kind of Man would I Be?"  Such a sweet song.  I've heard it a million times, but never loved it as much as I did on Thursday morning.  :-)  Awww, so sweet.  Man this coupled with the flowers deserved a post all its own.  

We had our gym and swim day, and stayed for quite a while at the pool.  We actually stayed until someone either pooped or puked in the pool and they shut it down.  :-) YUMMY!  

I've continued to feed off my photo shoot at Larriland (as you can see) and keep staying up till ridiculous hours of the night blogging and flickring.  I got to use one of my Massages from my lovely massage a month gift that I got for Christmas.  So that is always a great way to end a day.
Friday Brent was on call, and would miss our date night, so when I woke up in the morning, the sign was back on the computer.  I thought "surely the kids have stuck it back up there".  Nope.  He had another song for me.  It was "Faithfully"  Journey.  Another song, I've heard many many a time, but boy did it mean a lot to hear it this morning, knowing that he wouldn't be around tonight.  AWWW.  This is where I started to wonder...... Is he dying?  What's up with all this romance?  LOL!!  

Took the kids to the science center on Friday.  They had a ball.  I never told them that we were going until about 10 minutes before we were to leave.  I yelled down the stairs "who want's to go to the science center today?"  The whooping and hollering that came up those stairs was comical!  The love going there, and we never ever do everything that they want to do in one day.  Once again, it proved to be a wonderful time.  The day swept by, and before I knew it, I had all my kids in the van and was picking up my "date" for the night.  We had Co op, so I picked up Barbara on the way, and we went shopping!  I read a quote on a sign in the Kirtland store.

"One shoe can change your whole life."

Cinderella

I saw these shoes last Saturday and haven't stopped thinking about them.  I looked them up on the internet to see if I could find them and watch them from home, but I couldn't.  After 6 days of wishing, these cute little shoes became mine.  :-)  Aren't they darling?

Saturday (Today) Brent was post call, he got home before I got out of bed.  (kids let me sleep in today!)  When he came to bed, he has to sleep during the day after a call night because he doesn't get to sleep at work, I got up.  And yup, the sign was back up on the computer!  What a doll.  This morning was "In Your Eyes"  Peter Gabriel.  Again, a very sweet and thoughtful song.  What a man eh?

The kids spent the day either working their tails off or avoiding working their tails off.  Tori worked her bum off and earned herself a sleep over with Natalia next Friday night.  Alex on the other hand....  oooohhh, it took a whole lot out of me not to string that one up by his toes today.  Good thing he is so dang cute right?  Yeah!  He swears up and down that he is going to earn his 800 points to get a sleep over before next Friday, I sure hope he does.  Well tonight, I am off to have a little movie night with my "Romeo".   I think we are going to watch "Real Genius"  w/ Val Kilmer.  We love this show!  SO FUNNY.  Well that about wraps up our week.  :-)

Dancing Through The Day

So at the end of the day today, this is the thought that went through my head.  "Wow, I just feel like I danced through this whole day with such grace.  It was wonderful!"  I took the kids out to one of my favorite places, Larriland Farms.  Today we picked Blue Berries.  No, not enough for jam, but Alex is sure hoping for a pie.  I was thinking muffins.  We'll See.

Anyway, I got to sleep in this morning, (ah, they are spoiling me this summer)  Anyway, we puttered around and slowly got ready for the farm.  We didn't even leave until 10.  It was so relaxed.  Of course I had to dress the kids up, since this is my favorite place to take pictures.  So, no, I wouldn't normally choose white for blueberry picking, but some times, it's worth sacrificing a shirt if you get really good shots.  Anyway.  The day was filled with happy children and lots of shutters snapping.
I went with Jeri, so we were both going, taking turns with the kids at times.  I got to have a go with her macro lens.... boy was that fun!! (thanks Jeri)  We had such a peaceful non stress day out there.  The sun shone the whole time, the dragon flies danced around the water, the butterflies around our lunch.  Beautiful flowers with bees digging around in them.  Oh it was just beautiful.  The kids ate their weight in blueberries and then we bought almost 3 lbs too.

In the above picture of Simone. If you look closely (or click on it, you can see almost our whole group of pickers in her eyes.  It is so cool to see what she saw there at the farm.  The grass, her moms profile, me taking her picture.  Katie and Talia, Liza in the back.  It is so cool.  

We left the farm around 3:00,  and picked up a slushy on the way home.  Katie grabbed a nap on the way that actually pushed her through till bed time. (AHHH, I hope we're not losing her nap) I signed up to feed the missionaries, so Alex (my kitchen "maker" this week) helped me make Enchiladas.  He was surprised to find out how many steps go into making those things.  And you know, he ate them today, way better then he ever has before.  While we made dinner Brent went to Costco for a contact lens appointment and some groceries.  He came home with everything I asked for, and even thought of a few things that I had forgotten.  AND he brought me my favorite..... STAR GAZER LILIES!!  Yipee!   They're so pretty. 

When the missionaries arrived.  The table was set (liza is setter this week), the dinner was on the table, and kiddies were served up, and I even had all the prep dishes washed already.

Dinner went great, the missionaries ate it up, and the kids had baths, read stories and went to bed.  All smooth, not too many glitches.  I washed up the last 2 serving bowls, started the dishwasher, and swept the floor and called it good for the night at 8:30.  :-)  It was a great day.  Productive, yet not stressful.

Ah,  I love days  like these.  

This and That

Just a mid week post.  I think my once a week posts are getting a little lengthy, and well I'll just say it.. boring!  So here are some little pictures, just for fun.  And a little about our week as we go along.  Monday we had play dates, here at the house.  Alex had his dear pal Wyatt over, the two of them decided today that they are going to be friends FOREVER and EVER!  It was very cute to hear them both be so resolved not to "take each other off their friend list... "  LOL!  Who has a list?  Anyway...

Here is a little snap of Camden, I've never in all my days seen a baby love the sand as much as this boy!!  He just dug and rolled and had a great time in it!
Tori and her playmate Natalia had a blast too.  They are sweet little friends to each other.  Usually the only trouble that we have is when 'talia chooses Chinook over Tori as a play mate.  Tori doesn't like that much, but it doesn't last long as Chinook will duck away into his crate, then he isn't fun anymore.
Liza had Maia over, and well you've seen the silliness those two get into.  They had a ball.  They set up "Libby Lu" in Lizas room and did the little girls hair and "make up" for them.  It was very cute.  
Today we did our Gym and swim, however the kids really didn't want to get out of the house this morning, (and I got to sleep in a bit) so we didn't actually get to the gym until 10:00!  UHG.  So I missed my class, I planned to work out anyway, but ended up doing some computer stuff for work.  (on line courses that we have to take to stay an employee).  Stuff that had to be done, but it certainly didn't help me get rid of my extra jello :-)
Tonight I took the kids to California Tortilla for "Free Kids Meals".  Only trouble, 2 free for each adult.  yeah, not a problem if you either have A) another adult around (yeah right!)   OR B) not a giant herd of children!  So I had to cough up $5 for a kids meal for Katie and Tori to share!  None the less, 2 were free.  Pretty Cool.  I however am not a big fan of Cal. Tortilla.  I think they are over priced and rather tasteless.  We got home, and the kids did their zone clean ups, and bed routine.  We read a book together, tucked them in, and all was pretty quite around here by 8:30.  Then the party started.  Yup, Brent on call, so in came the ladies.  Toe night at my place!  It was so fun!  Tonight we had Christina and her sister, Jeri, Barbara, and Kathy.  She is going to have that baby any day now, she must have cute toes!  I get such a little high off these nights!  It was such fun to all sit around and giggle, paint toes and eat Chocolate.  What fun!  

We also got a huge bag of hand me down clothes for Katie today, they've only been through one little girl, so a lot of it is in better shape then my stuff.  I almost want to take a photo so that you all can see what a great deal it was.  It drives Brent nuts that my door is always open to donations, but hey, we've scored some pretty cool stuff over the years.  The best being the BIG SCREEN TV!!!  yeah, Free! LOL  

Surprise! A Change in plans.

This week was FULL of surprises! On Monday morning, as my kids were slowly straggling from the TV to the kitchen, some were getting dressed, some laying around, the phone rings. It is my boss at the gym. Aimee has locked her keys in the house, and she needs someone to come and teach water aerobics. Class starts at 9:30, it is 9:15. I tell her that I have to dress and feed 4 kids, so I would be hard pressed to get there by 10:00. She takes it..... I quickly dress and feed the kids and we made it to the gym by 9:50. It was a bit crazy, but we worked it out. This disrupted our plans for a play date with Barbara, but she let us come over after we were done at the gym anyway.
Much to my horror, after being at Barbara's home for about 10 minutes my son, (who has been in a wicked bad mood for like 2 weeks now) announces "this place is stupid, I NEVER want to come back here AGAIN!" I took him out to her front porch, and let him sit out there for a while. Mostly for his safety! How rude!
Well, I get home from out lunch/play with the Haneys and I get a phone call from some Friends of our who own a beach house in Ocean Pines, MD. They rent it through the summer and were not able to rent it this week. They're wondering if we would like to use the house this week. Brents Schedule of course would not permit him to join us, but we took advantage anyway. In a whirl wind of events, I found a sub (Thanks Aimee) for my Water Classes, made up a shopping list and got ready to leave for the beach house on Tuesday.  It was about a 2 hour drive, at about 1:00 we arrived at this:
The house was beautiful and fully equipped with dishes etc.. for the renters (or in our case the moochers;-) )  There was a room on the top floor that the girls nabbed right away, it had 2 twin beds and a TV.   Just off of their room was a huge walk in closet and a loft and a bathroom all to themselves.  They were in heaven.  Liza could hardly contain her excitement.  We invited Barbara and her Boys along on our adventure, so the boys grabbed the "bunk room" a nautical themed room with 2 big bunk beds.  Alex claimed a top bunk, as he has never slept on a top bunk before.  Felt a little ripped off that there wasn't a TV in his room, but he slept with the girls in their room on the second night.

This place was big enough to easily sleep 14 people, if you were willing to sleep on sleeper sofas and floors, a whole lot more would fit.  It was really nice and really big!  

That first day we let the babies nap a bit and then we headed out to the beach for some sun setting fun.  We weren't out there long before the wind kicked up.  The ocean was quite cold and then the rain came.  We sat it out for a bit, and squeezed in a few photos, and then ducked and ran for cover.

Liza loves the Ocean, being a girl of very little fear, she doesn't bother with the dangers that the ocean presents.  She is happy to be out there in the Freezing cold water, leaping over and into waves.  When sucked under, or thrown on her backside, she laughs and runs back into it.  That is a perfect description of Liza in general.  
Tori enjoys the sand.  She was sucked into the water once last year and refuses to get back in it.  She will jump around in it about thigh high, but not more then that.  She plays it safe and fears the dangers that she has learned lay inside that water. Again, a fairly good assessment of Toris personality.

Alex will get into the water reluctantly and mostly only upon peer pressure from Liza.  He really only got in on day 2 and he ended up mad at the ocean and played by himself in the sand for the remainder of the time.  yup, that would be Alex, willing, but resentful if he gets hurt.

Katie,  Katie hates sand,  she really doesn't like to be barefoot anywhere other then home.  She doesn't like to walk on the tiled floor at the pool.  She stands there and cries if I put her down in the tiles.  She did the same thing with the sand.  For nearly the whole trip she stayed either on a beach chair, or her Dora towel, to make sure she was off the sand.  As if there isn't enough junk to haul down to the ocean through the sand, but I was carrying Katie too.  She did however enjoy digging in it with a shovel, and pouring water out of her watering can onto it to make it wet.  She cried when I put her feet in the ocean, and actually shook with fear when I sat her on my lap and let the waves come to us.  By the last day, she walked barefoot in the sand all the way to the car.  I am sure that the fact that she was leaving was a great motivator, but I was proud of her anyway.  

We had cold wind and rain on day 2 at the beach too.  We were a little bummed, but the kids managed to enjoy themselves anyway.  On the positive side, we weren't hot and sunburned, and the kids were not begging for snow cones.

We had some nice quiet moments at the beach house while babies slept and kids watched DVDs and we took the kids out for dinner one night.  (that was interesting)  

We headed back on Thursday morning, tired and spent.  It was a nice get away.  We found out on the last day from a life guard that there is a hurricane out in the ocean (bertha) Out in the ocean causing the cold water from the bottom of the ocean to come up, and also causing the winds and rain that we saw.  

We didn't take too long to get back into our busy schedule.  On Thursday night Brent was post call, so we took the kids to see Wall E.  They were so excited!!  The had a blast, and enjoyed the show.  Katie enjoyed about 1/2 of it, and then spent the other half getting exercise, as she climbed up and down the stairs on both sides of the theater.  I tried to keep and eye on her, but at one point the stinker ran down the exit hall, I went to go and get her since I could no longer see her and she was had managed to leave the theater and was in the theater next to ours!  Scared the life out of me!  It was a cute movie.  not my favorite pixar, but good.

On Friday, I had a little photo session with the girls.  I scheduled hair appointments for them for Saturday, and wanted some last shots of their hair.
Liza Donated to locks of love again, I will post a picture this week of her new style.  11 inches taken off, and she is quite happy to be rid of it. :-)

Tori had never had a hair cut.  Not even a trim.  4 years old!  I couldn't stand to part with the curls on the ends.  I took her out to Kristen, my hairdresser, her salon specializes in curly hair.  They taught me how to treat Tori's hair, what kinds of products to use, and they say that I should be able to bring all those curls out.  I sure hope they are right.  We only cut off about 2 or 3 inches from Tori.  She is mad about this as Liza is getting all the shocked respnces "OH!  Liza, you got your hair cut!!" and no one is noticing her trim.  She told me she wanted to cut her hair short like 'talia's.  I can't bear to do it.  I had a hard enough time trimming it.  Oh my curly haired blondie, I love her hair. 

Katie got her bangs trimmed, she looks so much older now.  So cute!  I will post some pictures of the haircuts next week.

Friday night was the ward camp out. We went and got our free slurpee from 7-11, we had to go to two stores to find some, but we got one anyway.  Then we went to the camp out,  We went for the hotdog roast and smores and then we came home.  As it was, it was 10pm by the time the kids got into bed anyway.  Saturday, I got my 3rd surprise.  I was planning on having the kids all day, as Brent was scheduled to take and exam all day.  To my surprise he was home when I got home with the kids from the hair appointments, and I took off shopping with Barbara for a few hours.  Came home and fed the kids and then took them to Co Op.  Brent and I had a wonderful evening with Chris and Tracy, it was nice to get out with them again.  We all 4 walked around the mall, the men putting quite the damper on Tracy and I's style.  We tried to ditch them a few times, but they kept waiting for us.  :-)  Tracy tried to make them our honorary drink/ ice cream holders, but they still weren't very fun to shop with.  We decided to spend the remainder of our time planning our return trip, where we would be sure to take full advantage of all these sales.  :-)

So this week...

I have no idea what we are going to do tomorrow.  Something inside, as it is supposed to rain.  Maybe we'll call in play dates and bake cookies for the troops. Or maybe the science Center, the kids love that one!  I teach water aerobics at night.

Tuesday:  Gym and Swim. Boy it feels like forever since we've been to the pool at the gym.  I can't wait to go.  I think I will take the Latin Fusion class at 9:30.

*TUESDAY NIGHT*  calling all who need their toes painted, I am having a "toe party" at my house after kids are tucked in tight.  If you are going to recipe swap, you're welcome to come over here after that is over.  It usually goes late.  If you are pregnant and can no longer paint your toes, we do take pitty on you and will paint them for you.  Every mama need pretty toes.  Also if you still haven't gotten your Arbone stuff from me or Scarlett, we'll try to have it here that night.

Wednesday,  I think I am going to take the kids out to Lariland Farms for picking raspberries, blue berries, and flowers.  It is supposed to be quite hot, but it looks like a good day for picking.  Hopefully we can make a batch of raspberry jam since we've flown through the strawberry jam.  I signed up to feed the missionaries tonight, so I have to plan for that too.

Thursday:  Gym and swim.  I teach water, and then we'll stay for a swim.  It is supposed to be a really nice day.

Friday: I plan to do what ever I didn't do on Monday.  Should be fun.  *FRIDAY NIGHT*  I have a sitter (Co Op) and No Date (Call)  any takers?

Saturday: clean the house, and a bike ride around the lake.  The kids will love this one. 

*Remember next Saturday I am going to Christmas Tree Shop anyone who wants to hop in, it is in York PA.  I plan to spend the whole day away from kids and house work, and shop shop shop in PA.  It is not Christmas stuff, it is good deals!  They change with the season, and from what I can tell are somehow affiliated with Bed Bath and Beyond.  I hope that they put out a flyer before next Saturday so that Tracey (my sister) can look and see if she wants me to bring her anything.  :-)  I will post if they do so everyone can look.  :-)

Memories

Ok, I'll do this tag from Cami and Jeri. (Be nice.)

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

4th of July

Our Fourth of July began with a Breakfast with the ward.  I had the Hansens this weekend so we took two cars to the breakfast.  It was a fun time.  A little stressful at times when I would come up short on my head count, but not too bad.  :-)   After being there about a half hour,  Liza and Maia came up to me and said "mom it's our anniversary!"   I was lost.... they explained, 3 years ago, on the 4th of July, Liza and Maia spent their first night together at the Saunders home and then the fireworks at the Lake front.  These two are the best of friends.  They are so funny together, watching them brings back so many memories of me and my Best Friend Michelle.  I remember those play dates, and sleepovers so clearly.  Michelle moved when I was going into 4th grade.  It is surreal when you realize that your children are going to remember these things.

After some eats the kids went to the playground and got super super dirty.  I bathed all 6 of them the night before, boy was I kicking myself for doing that!  They sure had a blast though.  Here are some silly girls peeking through the port holes.  :-)
Chow time.  Some genius brought cold cereal.  Easy, quick and well loved.  
We were going to go to the fireworks, but the forecast was for  60% chance "scattered thunder storms".  With just my 4, and Brent home, I would have braved it, but I wasn't about to do it with 6.  (2-2 yr olds.... naw)  So we decided at the last minute to have the Haneys over for a Bar B Q.  We cooked up some hot dogs, and some Brats.  It was a little wild in here with 9 kids and 4 adults, but it sure was a fun time!  Barbara had the idea of decorating cookies, so week cooked up cookies after the BBQ and and the kids got to frost, drizzle and sprinkle the cookies.
After eating their weight in sugar, the kids ran circles around the house while we waited for the sun to go down.  Then it was off to the front yard to do some "fire works".
The Haneys brought a pile of sparkers and bang snaps and snakes.  We had a few sparkers that my neighbor gave us, but they were too short for the kids to hold so we lit them all at once and did a little ground show for them.  They all sat so nicely and watched the show.  It was so cute.

They each showed a healthy fear of the sparkers and were really cautious with them for the most part.  No one was burned and  all had a great time.
Eli was very afraid.  He was staying clear of everything, and being rather quiet.  He just was acting very insecure about the whole thing.  Finally he agreed to do a sparker with Barbara, then he opened up his concerns.  "My uncle Tommy played with fire and he got burned really bad.  You're not supposed to play with fire, it is dangerous."  Oh sweet boy, I never put two and two together, I am sure that he was so afraid, and confused.  We talked to him a bit about how mommies and daddies are here and helping, and that he is right, that you shouldn't play with it.  We must be very careful.  He warmed up after this,  but was still very cautious.  So Christina can be proud in knowing that he has learned from his Uncles mistakes.  
They all had such a good time.  I am actually wondering if they are given the choice next year if they would choose this or the fireworks show.  I think it would be a hard decision.

It was a fun week.  We wrapped things up on Friday with a day of jobs.  Brent was on call, so he missed the really fun part of cleaning up, but we got the job done.  The kids worked really hard, and earned their privilege for this week.  They want to see "Wall E"  so that is on the agenda for this week.

This weeks plans, feel free to join us if you dare  :-)

Monday:  We are going to a play date at the Haneys (may want to call Barbara if you want to join in on this one :-)  LOL!)  We also have some cleaning and straightening around here to do.  I teach water aerobics at 7:30pm.

Tuesday: Gym and Swim. It is supposed to rain, so I am thinking we will need to do an indoor activity.  Maybe the indoor pool will be open and we can swim in there. My friend Aimee is teaching the kids swimming lessons on Tuesday in exchange for some photography.  So we'll try to squeeze in somewhere.   Liza has earned and been invited to a Sleepover with Maia, so she'll be out for the evening.  I am thinking about taking the kids to the Climbing wall at the gym at 6:30pm,  they have an intro lesson and them open climb at 7.  Sounds fun to me.  At least for Alex.

Wednesday:  Alvin and the Chipmunks is showing at Columbia mall theater, for $1/kid.  I've been advised to buy tickets in advance, hopefully we  aren't too late. :-) I teach water aerobics at 7:30pm and Brent is on call, so we will all be going to the gym.

Thursday:  The sun is supposed to come out, so we will be doing a gym and swim.  I have to teach at 9:30 am, and then we'll stay for lunch and swimming. (89 degrees, partly cloudy)  Hope fully we will have found some time to go see Wall E before now, but if not, Tonight is the night for Wall E.  

Friday:  Free Slurpies at 7-11. cuz it is July 11th.  I teach this morning, so we'll do that, and then go and find a 7-11 to get our free slurpies!  Ward Camp out is tonight, I know we will go for dinner and stay late, but Brent can't stay overnight because of an exam in the morning, so we will likely come home, and go back in the morning.

Sat: Breakfast at the ward and then Brents work is throwing a swim party for the whole family (boy am I glad I got that new suit, but what on earth am I going to do with my silly water aerobics tan line.  :-))  I think Co Op is going to be tonight, so maybe Brent and I will get a date.  Wow what a week full of stuff, not a whole lot of it fun. :-( boo.  Maybe next week we'll adventure.  

Oh and I want to plan a trip to Christmas Tree shop on the 26th of July.  My proposal is all mom's no kids, leave early am, spend the day in PA, do the outlets up a bit, and hit Christmas tree shop on the way home.  Of course this will include a stop at Sonic for lunch.  ALL ABOARD!!!  put it on your calendars Ladies!!

Kids Concert

On Wednesday night we went to a concert at Centennial Park.  For all of $3 for parking we got to watch this wonderful concert!  This guy Berry Louis Polisar

is a children's musician and put on a great show.  Our personal favorites were "Don't put your finger up your nose!" ,  "My Brother Threw Up On my Stuffed Toy Bunny."  and  "Diaper Rash."
It was a very fun evening.  Jeri joined us at the park, thank heavens she did because I needed her to help me transport all the kids.  I had Christina's little ones too, so I had one too many.  (thanks Jeri).  The kids seemed to have a fabulous time.  They handed out free little beach balls to the kids before the show started, and that kept them all entertained while we waited for the show.  The weather was dreamy and the light eventually got right to the point that I wanted it at, so I snapped a few shots.  I was so excited to get some pictures of Christina's two, I have a really hard time getting them to look natural, so these pictures are so fun to have!

In a funny little turn, Tori's dear friend "Peanut" aka Sammy, showed up at the concert and laid their blanket right in front of us.  Tori was thrilled, the don't get to see each other very often any more because she no longer goes to day care next door.  This was so exciting for both of them!
Liza sat up close to the stage and was enjoying the whole show.  It was so fun.  A little stressful at times when my head count would come up short for just a moment, but for the most part everyone stayed pretty close and we all made it home in one piece.  It really was a good time.  I would definitely attend more concerts at Centennial, there really weren't THAT many people.  

Slippin' and a slidin'

So on Wednesday we went to the gym in the morning and then the kids wanted to spend the rest of their "credit cards" from Mc Donalds that Grandpa sent them.  I took them to the Mc Donalds with a nice big play land.  It was a fun time.  After I needed Bread for our picnic lunch that night, and so we ran over to Target.  The kids have some money that is burning a hole in their pockets.  They searched the whole store over, looking for something in their price range that they "needed".  They came up with splitting this package of 4 slip and slide sleds.  So for $2.50 each, they had a ball on the slip and slide on Wednesday afternoon.

Eli and Leah came over and joined in the slippery fun!  What a blast!
Of course Tori had to strike a pose at the end of the slide.  Soooo her!!
Alex really wanted a super COOL picture of him on his GREEN board.  SO cool.  I love how he is biting down on his curled under tongue.  My sister does that, I don't know where he got it from,  too funny.
And true to form, here is Liza making a BIG SPLASH at the end.  This gal was sailing over the end of the slide.  It was pretty funny.

Do you remember doing this as a kid?  I remember having a "wet banana" and I don't remember the fun, I remember the silly pegs ripping through the cheep plastic, the sprinkler tipping over and never spraying right, and my belly hurting from smacking it on the ground!!!  My kids sure looked like they were having fun though.  :-)  

Monday

On Monday we went to Gunpowder Falls State Park for a swim (on the Chesapeake Bay).  The water was INCREDIBLY warm, I was ALMOST tempted to get in.  I really don't like to swim in lakes or the ocean.  I am afraid of them.  My brain just tells me that it is not a good idea to not be able to see ones own feet, and what is lurking around them.   We took our time getting there, so  we didn't arrive until almost lunch time.  Katie was NOT impressed with this trip!

I titled this photo "I don't like it!"  That is what she said about walking on the sand.  She didn't like how the sand felt on her feet, in her sandals, or how she sunk down in it when she walked.

She didn't want to sit on it.  The water wasn't a pull, she didn't like it either.  Poor girl, she just sat on a towel and ate, and shoveled sand into a bucket.  Not her favorite trip.

Tori loved it!  She loved the warm water.  The kids were in the water almost the whole time we were there.  I was hard pressed to get them out to eat.  The weather was overcast and threatened to rain a few times.
And then at about 3:30 it poured.  No thunder and lighting, just down pour.  It was warm, so Alex and Liza stayed in the water (which they thought was excellent!) and Katie and Tori hid under the umbrella.  The sun then came out and they went back to swimming again.

Alex got to have a go with his new pool toy.  He tried to take it to the pool and they told him he couldn't use it because it is a flotation device that is not approved by.... who ever has to approve them.  He was pretty sad that he spent his money on something he can't use.  So we took it too the beach.  He thinks it's pretty cool, but he still can't use it like he is supposed to.  He doesn't weigh enough to keep it under the water.
 Of course they had to do the traditional burry your sibling game.  Do you like their sand shovel?  Liza though up that one, and packed the bag of  "sand" toys.  That was packed with the intention of digging to China.  :-)  LOL, they crack me up. 

My favorite part about this place is that the swimming area that is roped off is so big and so shallow.  My older 2 could go clear  out to the ropes and sill touch.  It was so nice.  It was also not very busy, and as it is very lake like, no waves or anything, I wasn't as worried about them.  So although I kept and eye on them, I didn't feel all stressed out that one could get sucked under.  (I know Tracey, I am such a spazz).  Anyway, It was a lovely day.  
 

We came home and showered and then I taught water aerobics while Brent put the kids to bed.  It was a nice day, with next to perfect weather.  :-)