Peek-A-Boo!

Hide and go seek at our house consists of everyone hiding in the same place - time and time again!  As if the giggling didn't make it easy enough to find them the same hiding place each time is sure to secure a win.  But when you have these cute faces waiting for you, how could you want anything less?

Graduation Day!

The proud graduate!

Mom and the Diploma!

Neeley and Miss Vickie

Neeley, Hannah, Brylie, Conner, Devon, Miss Vickie

Jocelynn, Kylie, McKayla

Neeley's preschool graduation was a success.  The kids did such a cute job of singing their songs and sharing what they have learned this year.  Miss Vicki was such a fun teacher and she had so many friends in the class.  I can't believe my baby is going to kindergarten.  I am going to miss having my little helper around so much.

Neeley's favorite part of school was the art projects.  She loves creating things and had plenty of opportunities at Candy Apple Cove Preschool to do so.  It is fun to see her so eager to learn and grow.  She loves for me to write words on a paper so she can practice reading them and she also loves to do math problems.  I took the girls to All A Dollar yesterday for a special outing (their favorite thing) and she picked out a first grade math workbook.  She surprises me what she can do and the patients she has to learn more.  We came home and got out the Cheerios so she could use them to count with and she was in heaven with it all.  Neeley is my cautious futuristic planner.  Everything around her must be perfect (especially her hair!).   She has a way of getting just what she wants, in fact,  Jeremy always teases that she uses the commitment pattern to get what she wants.  Every day she has to know what is coming next and loves to have it all planned out.  She is always thinking in the future just like her Daddy!  We love you Neeley and are so proud of you! 

I love to eat!

Yes, that is me Lilah, and I love to eat!  I will eat and eat till my mommy thinks I will pop!  I will hunt for scraps on the floor, forage for leftovers under the fridge, munch on those lovely dirt clods on the freshly aerated grass, suck on bark, shove in handfuls of sand, lick the soap off my hands before my mom can get them rinsed, devour crayons, chew on toilet paper (preferably used), gnaw on the ends of tables - YOU NAME IT - I EAT IT!  Except that is my medicine!  NOPE not me.  I am not eating that stuff.  I mean, come on, grape flavored, cherry flavored, full of sugar!  I am not touching the stuff!  Just what do you think you are trying to feed me Mom?  Isn't this some sort of abuse?  Medicine!?!  Really, come on, who could stomach that stuff?  How could that make this face feel better?

I AM PREJUDICE!

That's it, I am! I am prejudice to any person who is on the road who is too old to be there. Last week I was rear ended by this old guy. Here I was minding my own business, trying to take the girls to Lagoon for a nice Saturday afternoon outing while Jeremy was out of town. I was sitting at the intersection, and when I say sitting, I mean DEAD STOP, no rolling, no hesitation! And this OLD guy named Welborn hits us from behind. Luckily I was prepared with a cooler full of lunches so we had something to do while we were waiting so the girls weren't so disappointed by the delay of going to Lagoon. Welborn was nice enough to apologize for hitting me but I was still so bugged to have the dent in my bumper and in my day. (Luckily we were all safe!) He said we didn't need to call the police if the damage was last then $25.00. I don't know if he was trying to get out of a ticket or if he is just so clueless about the prices from 2009 compared to pricing during his days in the 1920's.

Anyway, to make a long story short we are now one week later and Mr. Senile claims that I hit him and that the damage was to his rear bumper. Maybe you shouldn't be on the road Mr. Senile if you can't even remember which end is up!!!! Oh, and that $25 damage is actually at least $700 plus two days rental car charge. Yep, Mr. Senile, I am prejudice toward you and any other aged person who needs to get off the road!!! Somebody please take away those keys! And don't worry about me - I have a police report that states my case!!!

Click HERE to find out how to know when it is time to hang up those keys!

God Given Talents!

I believe God gives us talents to set us up for success in what's to come in our lives.  Someone very special to me has a wonderful set of talents.  They are kind and gentle, great at decorating, the best shopper you have ever seen, has an eye for fashion, loves to hang out with their mom, good at talking, loves chick flicks, is a great singer and is tenderhearted.  It is no wonder that someone with this special set of skills would be blessed with a gaggle of girls around them.  After all, their talents just match those of a caregiver of girls.  I guess that is why Jeremy is being blessed with yet another girl to shop with!

Yes, that's right, it's a girl!  I guess when you make such cute girls, why would you want anything else?

Sorry Hun! I guess you have always said that blue is not your favorite color to cheer for! Just think, now you have lots of cheerleaders for your favorite team!

Cruising 101!

How to cruise with kids:
#1 Talk all about the kids club before you go. They will be so excited about it, and love it so much they will beg to stay there the entire day, leaving you ample time to sit by the pool and sip margaritas! (no, really they will!)

#2 Let them eat as much ice cream as they want. It keeps them cool and happy! You can worry about cutting off the sugar later- after all you are on vacation!

#3 Keep them up as long as possible so when you put them in bed, they fall asleep before their heads hit the pillow.

#4 Forget the kids menu, order them shrimp, lobster and steak at dinner. They love it and you can eat their leftovers!

#5 Take them shopping! You won't believe how entertaining a puppy in a purse can be! Hours of fun!

#6 Order room service every night before bed. That last little bit of energy they gain from carrot sticks and chocolate cake will keep them sleeping till late in the morning!

#7 Let them make all the messes they want in the room. After all, the room steward will clean it ten times a day!

#8 Keep a sharp eye out for the whales so when they swim by you can run out on the balcony to see them!

#9 And last but not least: Watch them take in all of the magic, laugh together, enjoy the sun and make some memories!

Cruising with the Girls!

We were lucky enough to go on the Carnival Splendor which is their brand new ship. It was so beautiful that Neeley kept saying, "Why is everything so beautiful Mom?" We had a balcony room that was really spacious and the girls were in heaven with their bunk bed and spent hours up there. They also thoroughly enjoyed the kids club. We would read the schedule to Neeley and she would tell us to leave her there for the day. They did all kinds of fun activities like painting t-shirts, pirate games, crafts and songs. It was nice to be able to go and relax just the two of us knowing that if the girls needed us we could be reached on the cell phone they gave us. We really took advantage of eating dinner alone a few times and going to the shows without them. We took the girls to the dancing and singing show and Neeley kept telling me how immodest the dancers were in their dresses. And then she would say, "But I guess they made their choice, didn't they Mom!" I am glad to see she can recognize immodesty and that people make poor choices! (For the record, it was a family show and they had much more cloths on than the "Dancing with the Stars" people!)

Neeley and Kayla learned about the shopping on the ship early. They could spend hours checking out the trinkets and toys and even conned us into a few things. They really caught on fast to the whole cruising thing. Every night they would get shrimp and steak for dinner. They gave up on bringing us the kids menu. They also took full advantage of the round the clock ice cream machines!

Our first stop was Ensinada. Not my favorite place to go but there are so many things you can do on the ship, we didn't worry about that. We dropped the kids off at the kids club and got off the ship. It was still a little early in the morning so none of the shops were open yet but we actually preferred to window shop so we didn't get heckled to death! After a little while, we walked back to the ship to pick up the girls. We tried to go on the ships water slide but it was a little cold out so we opted to explore the ship and have lunch by the pool.  It was so nice to be able to enjoy some down time on vacation and not feel like you have to run everywhere!

Hanging on the beach is one of our favorite things to do. That is the first thing we found when we got to Cabo San Lucas. Lounge chairs near the water, cold drinks, a little sunblock and sunshine is all we needed for a day of fun! The girls enjoyed building sand castles and running in the water, Jer enjoyed his walk along the beach to shell hunt and I sat back and relaxed (well as much as you can with all of the vendors trying to peddle their stuff) on the lounge chairs. After a while of play we had a traditional Mexican lunch of tacos and beans with chips and salsa. The water was perfect and the air was warm. There is nothing better!


The girls thought they were pretty cool stuff in their sunglasses, but they weren't so sure about the sand being everywhere on our way back to the ship!

We were sad when it was time for our cruise to come to an end.  Thanks to Aunt Nikki for watching Lilah, we were able to spend some time giving Neeley and Kayla some special attention!  I don't remember enjoying a vacation so much, and I think they would all agree!