Super Saturday 2011

Made these holiday decorations

at my ward super saturday!
I love those!! 

First a Witch Plague

for the front door.

I've ordered some vinyl words

in white to say

"KEEP OUT"

that I'll lay on the plague.

And I was in LOVE

with these multi-purpose

blocks.

Just flip them around and

on the other side...

Are you inspired?

Surfin' U.S.A.

The best part of our vacation was

being able to enjoy a near empty

beach with a handful of friends!

Surprisingly the long surfboard was perfect

for these little waves.

The kids piled on and rode wave

after wave.

I was SHOCKED at my girls,

Sydney and Emma for their surfing skills!
They were able to stand up on the board

all the way until they washed up on the beach.

Ben and friends running for the chance

at another ride.

Our friends house was right on the water,

creating a shady spot to relax in while we

watched the kids play.

Emma watching the waves.

Gotta keep refreshed in the hot

summer sun.

(so jealous of those eye lashes!)

Dan refuses to let any snack

go to waste,

even if it's covered in sand!

Which created this great

"Hitler" mustache.

Dirty Hands!

We were always reminding Keira

to run to the water to 

wash off her hands.

Perfect Shady Hideout

Sydney inspects the

many facets of the ocean.

Emma goes back to body surfing.

Emma, Madison Goellner, Ella & Carly Killian

and Sydney.

Emma gets some air

when she shows off her skills

of wave jumping!!

Emma loves the game of roll in

the sand and then jump

in the ocean to wash off.

Repeat.

Emma and Ms Diana

(her other mom)

After another full day of 

waves, ocean, sun and sand

we headed back home.

Ben and Marcus Thompson

played for hours

in the bedrooms with their

version of Harry Potter.

Then the convinced Keira

to join their devious ways

by having her collect every toy,

blanket and pillow in the room.

But it was worth the peace and quiet!!

Dan found many ways to be naughty

by pulling over the trash can,

digging through the trash can,

opening kitchen cupboards

and taking apart the electronics.

He explored the beach house

and followed the kids

around happy and contented.

We found a few of these homes that

 still speckled the beach.

Destroyed by hurricanes 

and left abandoned.

I had a serious itching to climb up and

go on my own exploration.

The last night us moms took a sunset walk

on the beach while the boys played

some more xbox.

I love how this picture encompassed

many of God's miracles...

the moon, the sun and the waves.

Simply Sandy

By 8am our chairs were set up

in the least seaweed infested area,

a thick lather of sunscreen was applied

and sand toys were scattered in a

1/2 mile radius! 

This was Dan's first time at the beach.

Probably his first time playing in the sand too.

And after a minute of investigating he was hooked.

Freedom to crawl every where

and explore every inch of the beach...

He was in heaven!!

And it being Keira's first time at the beach,

we were prepared for any type of drama

she might throw at us,

but she loved the beach just like

her brothers and sisters!

Ben took a few lessons from mom

on proper castle building.

By learning the best sand to use

and the art of lifting the bucket so

the house wouldn't fall over.

Larry loved teaching the girls how to

lay on their belly's and

kick really hard to keep up with a wave.

We were grateful for the little waves and

the obvious lack of dangers like "rip tides"

that the beaches we grew up with had.

Five kids is difficult enough to watch

without nature taking a beating on them.

Body Surfing Specialists!

The fun part was watching the schools

of little fish swim by and

the random jumping fish within an

arms length away!

Dan even learned to grab handfuls of sand

and place it into his sand toy.

Then he would dump it out all over himself.

In other words...being dirty

was AWESOME!

With a strong hand to hold Keira

played in the water too.

Even the seaweed didn't bother her.

Surprised?

I was!

She loved a little 1 on 1 time

with mom and she jumped over

all the waves.

But there came a time,

when babies need naps

and our belly's were aching for

substance, so we sauntered

on back to the house.

And with the Wii

and XBOX Kinect

we were set to entertain

kids of all ages! 

Not surprising that children of mine

would fall in love with the

dancing games.

They had some serious talent!

Beach Vacation

We finally did it!!

It's been 10 yrs of marriage

and we took a vacation as

a whole family

that was NOT staying with relatives

or revolved around a holiday.

We were turned on to this great

deal for a beach house down in

the gulf about 5 hours from our

house in Surfside, TX.

And after gathering 5 families 

and 2 houses we

headed out for a relaxing week!

Even though the sun was setting by

the time we arrived,

we couldn't pass up a glimpse

at the beautiful ocean before we turned

in for the night.

And what a great location 

it turned out to be.

The beach was empty,

the water warm

and plenty of seashells

for collecting. 

Couldn't we all just stand there

all day and watch how

the waves roll up the beach

and settle around our feet?

I brought along a large glass jar for

the kids to fill up of shells

to remember our vacation.

They were already hard at work

finding the most perfect shells

with in minutes of arriving.

At first I asked the kids to only get

their feet wet,

but upon further contemplation,

I realized I was being too uptight

and need to enjoy nature.

So one last picture of the kids

clean and dry....

 Down this quiet, empty street was

our home for the week.

It was only a short walk,

but worth the little discount

from the rent.

It is ALL or NOTHING is Emma's mentality.

Sydney likes to slowly enjoy things.

She is a person all her own.

She refuses to conform to traditions.

No pink, rarely dresses,

no Polly Pockets or Barbies.

This girl loves yellow, blue, orange

and green.

Playing the Wii, computer games,

making crafts, reading books,

cooking from recipe books,

and playing soccer.

Ben jumps the waves!

Ben is a ball full of energy.

Demanding attention from his older sisters

as he tries to chase, wrestle, karate chop,

scream and copy them.

He enjoys trying to jinx everyone,

play pretend with Emma as long

as she will let him

and watching shows like

Power Rangers and Scooby Doo.

Jump it Sydney!!

Mommy and her SOAKING WET kids.

Best Buddies

"Can we stay longer?"

Emma can ask so many questions

it will set your head spinning.

Many times I shout out a bunch of answers

just as I see her approaching me,

knowing her list of questions

are quickly building.

She is highly skilled in most in's & out's

of everyone in the house and

wants to be sure that everyone

is obeying all the rules all the time.

Emma loves a hug, to sit as close to

mom or dad as possible and

loves to care for her baby brother.

Looks more like his Dad every day.

Ben and Marcus trying their first

attempts at a sandcastle.

Day 1 is complete.

Time for showers and

hopeful parents that the new sleeping

arrangements will work for all!!