We are so hot

I took the kids to see Sleeping Beauty today and then to the zoo afterwards. Sleeping Beauty was playing in the park right beside the zoo so I thought it was a good idea. There were about nine million other people with the same idea so we had to park far away. By the time we "ran" to the where Sleeping Beauty was playing we were drenched with sweat. The girls had also convinced themselves that we were going to Disney Land to see her. Much to their disappointment it was NOT Disney Land and indeed Cinderella was NOT there. They kind of enjoyed the show, but were way more excited about going for the picnic we had planned for afterwards. We stayed and watched the entire show though, we were not leaving after the trek I had to make to get there.

We had our picnic in the zoo and the kids thought the best part was feeding the koi. We then went to see the elephants, then decided to cool off in an indoor exhibit. Peyton put her hand in where the turtles were and was surprised when it bit her. Well you think it bit her hand off the way she was screaming. Caden and Sydney were quite concerned about her little finger too. After that I decided that we had endured enough excitement for one day and we came home. They fell asleep in the car before we hit the freeway.

Who could be mad at that face???

Spencer came home from kindergarten with his very first yellow dot yesterday. They have a little calendar in their folder and they get green for good, yellow for a warning, red for bad and black for spawn of satan.

He has come home with green EVERY day since he started school. They didn't bring home their folders on Monday and he didn't say a word to me about it either. Well when I came home from work tonight Daddy told me to check his folder. (Yes, the kids were still not in bed). Spencer was very worried and looked at me all sad and says "do you still love me Mommy?"

I looked at him with his sad little eyes and you could tell he was just crushed. I just had to hug him and tell him it was perfectly fine. He was talking....imagine that? I wonder where he got that from? I would have had black every day for talking if we had that chart when I was his age.

I think perhaps I should get a color coded calendar system at home, do you think it would work????

A sad day

We sold our quad stroller today and I was very sad to see it go.

Caden was WAY more upset though. He kept saying we needed to keep it and he wanted us to take him for a walk to the park in it. They still fit in it too, but barely.

Look how small they were in it when we first got it compared to now.

When the couple was here to pick it up he ran upstairs to his room. I am not sure what happened, but he must have slammed the door really hard or flung himself against it because the door knob part was on the opposite side of the door jamb. He was crying and saying he could not get out. I wasn't sure if were going to be able to get him out at first either. lol

We cheered him up by letting him pull out the geotrax with the 9 million or so pieces that go with it. Then we playing in the back yard and the kids "swam" in the baby pool with hot water added. I can't believe its been so cool down here. Our pool is still only 70 degrees and thats about 15 degrees colder than I will get in to. I wonder how many pots of hot water I would have to carry outside to warm it up?

We set up our new patio set and ate supper outside. Actually it was an all you can eat buffet for the flies. Then we started a fire and relaxed for a while. It was a great day. We snuck in some yard work too, much to Bob's disappointment.

Walley world is closed!!

We left Sunday morning to go to San Antonio for Seaworld. It was kind of cool, but lets face it, we live in Texas...........how cold could it be? I dressed us all in shorts and tank tops and took our bathing suits for the water rides. The high was 63 degrees with gale force north winds. We were freezing to say the least. We were all fighting over Peyton's cinderella towel. We finally gave up and decided to leave around supper time and just come back in the morning. We got up and checked out of our hotel and the clerk asked us where we were going. We told her Seaworld and she announced that it was closed!!!! Walley World was actually CLOSED. It felt like the scene from National Lampoon's Vacation.

It is only opened on weekends right now. I could not believe it!! The kids actually took the news very well. We decided to go to the Alamo and show them the River walk. Then we went to a really cool park and had a picnic and played until it was time to come home. Not quite the excitement of Seaworld, but they enjoyed it anyway.

Spencer was begging to go on the "steel eel" roller coaster at Seaworld the last time we were there and I just couldn't put my baby on it. I finally gave it and thought he would be scared to death and not ask again when he got off. He LOVED it. The first two hills were scary he said, but then he put his little arms up for the rest of the ride like a pro. I can't even put my arms up. As soon as it stopped he asked if he could go again. What a brave little man. I don't have any pictures of him as I would have dropped my camera on the ride.

kidzfest

We took the kids to "kidzfest" yesterday. It was awesome and FREE. The kids did TONS of crafts, went into about 5 or 6 different bouncy houses, got their faces painted, rode on a train and a bunch of other things I can't think of off the top of my head. We had planned on going for a couple of hours and spent 6 hours there.
They had a woman there with some snakes and we thought we would just stop and look. Spencer and Peyton held a snake for a few minutes, Caden just touched and refused to hold them. Sydney held all the snakes. We were there for about an hour and she had a snake in her hands the entire time. I had never touched a snake before and they were actually VERY cool. I want one now, just can't get over feeding them mice. I had to MAKE Bob hold one - and he did, just long enough for a quick picture. I wonder where Caden gets it from.

A few older boys came up to Sydney while she was holding one and wanted to touch it. When it moved they jumped back and Sydney looked and them and said "You're silly! He won't bite, he's nice!" It was just too cute. She is definitley her Mama's child when it comes to animals. The kids are just exhausted after such a busy weekend. I am sure Bob wishes I was working weekends again so he could have a rest.

Click here to watch a photoshow of our fun day

Soccer parties

Today was the day for the end of season soccer parties. I took the little ones to their party after their game while Bob stayed with Spencer for his game. We met at Spencer's party in another park. They all got trophies which thrilled them to no end. Then we took them all to Chuck E Cheese for their own little party. We had pizza and played a ton of games.
We came home and took a short break and then it was off to the YMCA for Saturday Night Live.

They stay from 6pm to 11pm and Bob and I get to go out all ALONE!!! I'm not sure who has more fun.......them or us. lol Of course they are exhausted when we pick them up. Poor little Caden fell and had a huge goose egg on his forehead.

We went to the Texas Crawfish Festival and had a feast. Actually some of the crawfish was so salty we could not finish it. We met Bob's brother and his family there and hung out. I am really glad I did not take the kids because there was a big fight near us and someone got stabbed with a pair of scissors. You have to love people who get drunk and act like idiots. They can't seem to talk without a string of expletives either when they drink. lol

She got it

Peyton finally decided she was going to ride a regular bike AND pedal it herself. I have tried to teach her in the past and she was just not interested in the least. Today she asked for the bike and just got on it and rode it all over the place. I knew she could do it if she tried, but I guess she was just waiting until the day SHE wanted to do it. She is a pro at it just like Caden. Now I need to get Sydney interested enough to try it out. lol

Little acrobats

I was trying to clean up after breakfast and ran when I heard the hysterical laughing coming from the stairs.

The little ones had gone upstairs and taken some blankets and pillows and piled them up on the landing of the stairs and then proceded to jump on them from about 5 or 6 steps above.

Of course I had to take some pictures before I made them stop. I love how they think and the ideas they come up with. You just have to love kids' imaginations!!

Boo boo

I have a boo boo this time. I have had a sore back for over three weeks now, but since I am the woman I am not allowed to be incapacited for any amount of time or the house falls apart. My solution to this is to take large quantities of ibuprophen and pretend that it doesn't hurt......has worked very well for me in the past .
I even took a bunch to mask the pain so I could go and play tennis with my children, something any good mother would do right????
Well Sunday I got up and literally could not walk accross the floor on my own. I have a very high pain threshold and thought that it was ridiculous. I just told myself to stop being a wimp and walk like a normal person. Well, everytime I tried a muscle spasms from hell attacked me and put me in my place. I am now on muscle relaxants and steroids and can at least walk around like a semi-normal person again. I think I have learned my lesson and will take better care of myself. Of course I say this whenever my back gets sore. When its better I will exercise and make sure it doesn't happen again. Once it doesn't hurt I amazingly forget all about the exercises until it hurts again. Its never been this bad so I should remember this time. I am also told by my Dr. that I need to see a chiropractor, figure that it can't hurt to try it out. My back has been sore more than not lately.
As for my poor house, it indeed HAS fallen apart and its really hard for the control freak part of me not to run around and clean and pick things up. I know that will only make it worse. I am just now able to sit at my computer chair and type. I have had some serious withdrawal in that department too.
Caden has been really sweet and keeps trying to take my hand VERY gently and help me walk, he is such a nice boy. Spencer hasn't even noticed. The girls will ocassionally rub or kiss my head as they are walking by. They are taking advantage of the fact that Mommy can't get up and make them stop fighting or stop doing what ever annoying thing they are doing at that particular moment.
Bob is blaming my job for my back, I have been insisting that its the years of picking his dirty underwear off the floor that has done me in. I don't think he's buying it though.

BRRRR

Yes those are pictures of my kids in our pool. Its been very nice here, but not quite nice enough to warm the pool. It was only 67 degrees and they had a ball and kept telling me it was not cold.




I somehow could not be convinced to get in to try it out. I have had a sore back and the thought of having to jump in the frigid water to save them just made it worse.

They stayed in for about an hour and I had to MAKE Caden get out. He kept telling me that the water was warm.

Morning with Mom

Today I got to go to "morning with Mom" at Spencer's elementary school. The little ones came with us and we had donuts, juice and milk. Spencer really enjoyed having us there and gave us a tour of the school. We saw where he takes PE, music and art. Then we went to the library for the book fair and he got a book.

Happy birthday Daddy

Today was Bob's birthday and the kids were thrilled, they love birthdays.

We made him a cake and shopped for his presents. Ok, so not what every man dreams of but he liked them anyway. A vacuum and a swivel sweeper. We really needed them and he does the majority of vacuuming.

Works for me as Caden just LOVES the swivel sweeper so I may never have to vacuum or sweep again.

We went to Los Cucos after Bob came home from work with our friends Sharyon and John and their daughter Kellyn. It was delicious as usual. The kids favorite part was when they put a sombrero on Bob and sang happy birthday and then smeared whip cream all over his face. My camera died at that exact moment and can you believe I had NO spare batteries.

Happy birthday Daddy, we all love you!!

Soccer

It was picture day at soccer today. We spent from 9:30 this morning until 2:30 this afternoon at the YMCA in the heat and humidity waiting for pictures and playing games. The kids are exhausted. I think I may be more tired than them though.


We came home and all flaked out and layed around watching tv all afternoon. Caden fell asleep on the couch and almost drowned in his own drool he was so tired.

The kids all did great again today.

The girls got to be the goalies and did great, the did not let one ball past them.

Spencer really needs to play football as he spends most of his time laying on the ground like he was tackled.

I am just counting the days until the pool is warm enough to swim in. They were handing out flyers to sign up for late spring sports. Its already too hot to stand there and watch. The poor kids are just burning up from running in the heat and sun.

We are NOT doing the late spring ones this year, we learned the hard way last year. This year we will lounge in the pool and drink icees.

Happy Easter

We had a busy, but GREAT day today. The kids were very excited to see what the Easter bunny had left for them.
We worked hard too! We had a truck load of dirt that we dragged from the front the the backyard. The kids really enjoyed "helping" with that. They were absolutely filthy when we were done. We came in and had a non traditional Easter dinner of our favorite Mexican restaurant - Los Cucos. It was really nice not to have to cook all day.
Then I remembered we had not decorated our Easter eggs yet. We rushed up for baths and then did the eggs. The kids always love that too, but what a mess!!! Then I have to wait to be able to throw them out when they are not looking or they have a fit that I threw out their lovely art work.


Click here to share our day with us


Sydney started with pink eye last week after we came home from Sea World.


I was HOPING that she would keep it to herself. No luck.....Caden and Peyton came down with it yesterday.

They got it way worse than her too. I guess I will have to break down and call for some eye drops now. Poor little Caden has it so bad his right eye is even swollen.
I am hoping that Spencer, Bob and I don't it now. I can wish can't I??? They call it "red eye", makes more sense too. lol
You can click on their pictures for a close up of their eyes. Caden is washed out, my camera is going back for MORE repairs very soon. Ok enough typing my eyes are itchy. lol

The zoo

We went to the zoo today with Queta, Rebecca and Coco (Queta's brother).
We had a picnic and fed the ducks while waiting for them to come. It was a nice day, but boy was it packed.












You could hardly walk without bumping in to someone. Parking was awful too. Please remind me NOT TO GO next year when I get the bright idea during spring break.
I guess I had forgotten how packed it was two years ago when we made the same mistake.

Seaworld

We went to Seaworld on Sunday morning and came home last night. We went with our good friend Beth and her granddaughter Eden. We have season passes and are already planning our next trip.

It was great!!! The kids did really good too even though they spent three longs days at Sea World. We saw all the shows and Sydney now wants to be an animal trainer and not a "cooker" (Chef) anymore. lol

We got to feed the dolphins too. Well Caden held a fish for about 5 seconds before he said he was done and wanted someone else to take it.

The kids (and Bob) whined the whole second day about getting wet on the rides and shows. We went to a pirate show and water squirted you from the seat in front. Everyone but Sydney was crying and all upset that they were wet...even Bob. ;)

The third day we decided we were going to get on the water rides anyway. We went on a big roller coaster water ride called Journey to Atlantis. Caden turned white on the way down the big hill and was crying and Peyton was crying because she was wet. Spencer loved it and Sydney kept her arms in the air the whole time and the second it was done asked if she could go again. Everyone went again and I stayed with Caden and Peyton who wanted nothing to do with it.

Then we went to Rio Loco, a tame water ride where you sit in a big circle and go down a lazy river and get wet with watefalls and sprays. They would NOT let Sydney on as she was a hanf an inch too short. (Yes HALF AN INCH inch) I did everything I could think of to make the girl let her on with no luck. I even played the guilt card and told her to look at her face and tell her she can't go on. Didn't make any sense as the other one was way worse and she was allowed on that. She was disappointed but smiled at us while we went on and she stayed with Beth.

Bob and I got to go on a couple of roller coasters too and Beth watched the kids for us. Nice to have a someone come along!!

Click here to enjoy a photoshow of our little trip

Car crash

I took the kids to a movie yesterday and Bob met us afterwards so we could take the kids to Incredible Pizza. I was stopped at a light in front of him and I heard breaks squeal for no more than 2 seconds and looked back just in time to see his truck jolt forward. No one was hurt and thank goodness I had all the kids with me. The driver even HAD insurance, what a surprise down here. lol
What happened was a young man in a truck ran in to a car and then pushed it into the back of Bob's truck. The car is totalled and the woman had just paid it off. It was leaking transmission and radiator fluid all over the road, I feel bad for her. To look at our truck you wouldn't even notice we were hit unless I pointed it out. Both other vehicles had to be towed.
The kids just had to get out of the car and look. Now they keep talking about Daddy crashing the car.