Kim And Her Kids

Finally after living here in Texas since 2004 Larry and I were proud to be able to host Kim and her kids at our house instead of trespassing on them in San Antonio. I was really surprised at how strange it was to be the hostess. Of course I failed miserably because of my lack of enthusiasm, lack of energy and large amounts of forgetfulness. Deep down I wished I could have mustered the true hostess in me and had gourmet meals, tons of great activities for the kids or more age appropriate toys for Kim's older kids....but I guess we'll have to save all that for another century when I'm not pregnant.

All joking aside, we did have a great time. I was glad to be able to have the space for Kim to crash in a real bed with a bathroom that was mostly clean. We had so much fun enjoying the pool and the local spray parks to beat the heat. Even a few spontaneous "dance offs" were a joy to watch. The best part was being able to leave the older kids at the house while Ben napped for quick trips to the grocery store. I can't wait for my kids to grow up and help out more!! Hopefully soon Ray will be able to join the family on a trip up here. I'm sure he's dying to see a house bigger then a shoebox!

Left to right: Ben, Sarah, Sydney, Eliza, Emma and Grant

It was great to enjoy this whole sprinkler park to ourselves!

Let's see how many girls can fit around 1 sprinkler

Grant was a great babysitter for Mr. Wanderer

Thank heavens Eliza has the strength of 10 men. She had to take all the kids for rides on her back...upside down!

(personally I think deep, deep down she just wanted all of them to kiss her #*&$)

Super Silly Senoritas

Boys gotta stick together in a house FULL of girls!

My Version Of Cooking

Last night was my monthly bookclub and I had signed up to bring dessert. I was very excited to try a new recipe from the "Food Network"...crockpot cobbler! (During these hot summer months I am always looking for ways to use the crockpot instead of the oven.) And thankfully Larry offered to bring home a pizza for dinner. Sweet, I'm off the hook!

But then Larry comes home from work, pizza in hand, smells the dessert and says to the kids...

"Maybe if WE have our own bookclub Mom would make dinner for us!"

Humf...absurd! I make breakfast and lunch for the kids all day long...but I do have to admit that when it comes to dinner I fall short. For some reason, being pregnant makes me unable to think ahead. I'm rarely prepared when 5 o'clock pops up.

Although who wants to cook when Larry cooks sooo much better? He even thinks it's easier to make homemade pizza dough instead of popping open a tube from my close friend, Mr. Pillsbury. Oh and here's the kicker...when I came home from bookclub he had randomly, spontaneously cooked-up a homemade pot of Cream of Potato Soup!

Hello, now who can compete with that? I think I'll stick to what I'm good at. A nice big bowl of cold cereal.

It's Time For A Cool Down

Over the past few months I think I've gone to the pool 30+ times. But have I ever brought the camera with me? Nope.

Although today is a new day...and Ben has finally master his floaty enough to give me a few precious moments out of the pool doing what I love. That's right...it's picture time! And you can bet that I have a few classic action shots, kid close ups and wacky water shots. On with the show.

"Mommy, take my picture." She's not camera shy at all.

Oh so graceful.

This girl has dare-devil genes imprinted in her DNA.

Recently we took Emma's water-wings off. And she can swim very well. She especially likes to have them off so she can go deeper to pick up the rings. Another of her favorite pass times.

Right after this picture Emma jumped backwards into the pool. Talk about "NO FEAR".

The bigger the splash the better. At least that's Ben's theory.

What would I do without "older sisters"? My lifesavers, sanity-savers, angels, godsent...

Ben's FAVORITE thing to do is to jump into the pool. I've come home with plenty of back pain from catching him for hours.

Isn't this the funkiest picture? Sydney loves to show off how well she can swim under water. Soon she'll grow a fin and gills.

The girls LOVE to do the "hold hands and jump". Didn't we all?

Is it just me or are ALL kids naturally drawn to the step handles?

Mmmm...so what are you doing mom?

There's A Few Chefs In The House

Thank heavens Larry loves to cook. This is my daily prayer. Every day I am grateful that Larry and I help complete each other. Cooking has not always been one of my strong points. Thankfully Larry has not only taken up the slack but he has the patience to teach me and the kids. Here is Ben taking after his daddy and learning how to make his very own pizza dough. I love how much he's concentrating on the task.

Ready, Set, Bloom

Here are a few pictures from my mother's day gift. The kids and I spent some precious moments at the Arboretum while our favorite photographer Ann Beck snapped some shots of us together!

Mom Moments To Treasure

Recently when I was hogging up Emma's twin bed with her we were surprised to find an unexpected guest.

At night Emma seems to release all of her last spouts of energy into one long winded conversation. It kills me to have to cut her off amid her babbling and tell her "good night". Thus I have learned to snuggle in tight and find a comfortable spot for myself on her bed and wait out the storm of words.

But surprise, surprise, when we found a funny little boy named Ben who was supposed to be following Daddy into his own room for bed, ended up climbing in with Emma and I. He's such a little sneak. Thankfully Emma has a soft spot for this little wiggle worm.

What Do You See From Your Bedroom Window?

After all the kids were snug in their beds and the grill packed away, we sought refuge from the booms and cracks of fireworks in our bedroom. But surprisingly we were thoroughly entertained from the comforts of our home by turning out the lights and opening the blinds. We could see not 1, not 2, not 3 but 4 separate groups of people setting off their own 4th of July fireworks celebration. This was almost as fun as doing it ourselves! Here are a few of the fun moments caught on photo.

1 Party Down, Millions More To Go

Ever since Larry and I have been married we have shared the need to invite friends over, feed them, play games, socialize and make them apart of our family. Maybe it's because we have a void to fill with the need of family closeness that's been empty since we have usually lived many miles away from them or we really just like to talk and entertain. Either way we really enjoy filling up our weekends and holidays with a house that's busting at the seams. And thankfully we now have a house to do this in, because I'm sure most of our friends were tired of the cramped quarters of the apartment and eating on piano benches and computer desk chairs!!

This year we knew that we would have to take full advantage of living outside city limits and reminding everyone that fireworks could be enjoyed right outside our front door. Even 1 mile from our house you could fully supply yourself with a year's worth of pyrotechnics fun with 3 different firework stands. With this temptation and teaming up with our close neighbors, The Simons we told everyone we knew to BYOM and join us for a 4th of July BBQ!!

Courtesy of "arts and crafts" time with the girls we whipped out this banner.

They were so shocked that I was letting them paint their hands to help make "fireworks" I couldn't help laughing.

(note to self: I really need to become less worried about cleanliness!!)

Ben takes full use of sucking frosting and cake off his cupcake.

Maybe next time Dad will remember to remove the paper first!

The dad's entertain the kids with all sorts of colorful, smelly, smokey, sparkly fireworks!

I'm not sure if she's enjoying them or totally freaked out. You decide!

Once again, pure joy or complete hesitation?

Thanks to all of our friends that celebrated this holiday with our family!

It wouldn't have been the same with out you.

(although the fly's...I could have done without)
(oh and hopefully our neighbor will enjoy the neat surprise in their backyard of an army guy and his parachute)

America, America, God Shed His Grace On Thee...

The 4th of July has steadily climbed my opinion ladder of one of my favorite holidays. It is so wonderful to have Larry around 1 extra day, to break up the monotony of the summer, honor those who fight for our freedom, have a fabulous excuse to eat tons of pancakes at a church breakfast, sing patriotic songs (even a Neil Diamond song or two), enjoy friends and family and have my fill of pyro experiences!

Here I am helping the girls fill up their plates at our ward pancake breakfast, while holding 2 more plates for Ben and I. If I was an octopus I probably would have been filling a plate for Larry too!

Traditionally our family would be dect-out in Old Navy's famous $5 T-shirts. Which I look forward to every year! But sadly they don't come in "huge belly" size. Thus until either I'm not pregnant on the 4th or they start making maternity size...then I must boycot. Because if "mama ain't happy..."

Larry and Emma-bear snuggling while no one else is fighting for the best seat in the house.

(dads lap)

Giddy-up Horsey!

If Dad's around, then all the kids are sitting as close to him as possible.

Now, that's one proud Papa!

It's A Bird, It's A Plane, It's....Sydney?

If you've been an avid reader of this blog you might remember this super-duper picture I captured of Sydney last Nov.

Well she's up to her highly flying antics and caught her in mid-air again. She must get her "HOPS" from her "POPS"!

She's concentrating so hard! Even her tongue is out!

I really love being able to see the individual drops of water.

So like what...3 feet off the ground?? Oh and where's Ben?

This one is my favorite! I think she has a definite future in high jump, hurdles, basketball, gymnastics, cheerleading, dance...etc.