Home Again!

How sweet it is to be home and sleep once again in my own bed. "There's no place like home." Is a saying that rings true for me. Don't get me wrong....I had a great time while I was away, and could have even enjoyed a few more days with good ol' Mom and Dad, but now that I am home, I am glad to be home.

While I was gone I had a lot of fun spening some time with my Mom, Dad, & Sister. We did some shopping, ate out a few times, and just had some good visits. On Monday was Maria's "actual" birthday, and my mom invited all my aunts, uncles,cousions, and grandma over for a birthday party. It was nice to see my grandma, and cousions I grew up with, who now have kids of there own. (It makes me feel old) Our kids played together, while we enjoyed cake and icecream, and Maria opened all her presents...I tell you what that little girl made out like a bandit this year. It makes up for any of the years she didn't have a party, and maybe a few years to come! On Tuesday we went to the mall and did a little shopping (they were having a great clearance sale at JC Pennys...I got a new pair of Jeans for $4.00) And then in the evening we all went to Peter Piper Pizza (It's kind of like Chuck E Cheese) and the kids played games and ate pizza. Hayden had a blast climbing on all the rides, and driving them.
Then on wendsday we headed for home. It was a short, but nice trip.

So now I'm home, and feeilng kind of tired and lazy. i am dreading all that comes with returning home from a trip, (laundry,unpacking etc. etc.) Alyssa stayed in Arizona to spend a couple weeks with my Mom & Dad, so I'm kind of missing her, and looking forward to her comming back. Here are some pictures I took of my family.

Pictures!!!

So I finally got some pictures taken of my kids...I think the last time I got professional pictures taken was when Adrianna was about three months old, and now she is five, so I figured it was high time to get it done. Here are the ones I decided to keep.

Turn Out The Lights The Party's Over

Last night we had Maria's birthday party, which turned out to be not so big of a surprise after all, but was still a lot of fun. I think there were 17 kids here total, so things were a little loud and crazy at times, but that's what birthday party's are all about right? We played some games, had some cake and ice cream, and opened presents. I think the last person left here around 10:30 P.M. So after a full day of preparation, and then the whole rigaramore of it all, I was ready for bed! But all in all I would say it was a success, and Maria received a lot of nice gifts. I took a few pictures of the evenings events.
The kids getting ready for the three legged race

Maria and here birthday cake

Blowing out the candles

Most of the kids that were at the party

Here's what's been going on

Things here have been going pretty well...I have been keeping myself busy with life's daily chores. Today we are going to have a surprise birthday party for Maria, so I have been shopping and preparing for that this last week. I hope it is a great success! I am also planning a trip down to Arizona to see my parents, so I have been busy doing laundry and getting things packed for the trip. We are leaving on Saturday, and staying a few days. I am looking forward to seeing my Dad and Mom again, and spending a little time with them and the kids. It has been almost a year since I have seen them last, and about three years since they have seen all the kids, so it should be fun.

Yesterday we spent the day just around the house doing really much of nothing. We did go see the local fireworks show at a nearby park, but other that and quick run to the grocery store that was the only time I left the house all day. It was nice to sit in the nice cool house, as it was so incredibly hot yesterday. I know I say that a lot, but really it is ridiculously hot here.

In this paragraph I would like to take the opportunity to write about my sweet, yet sometimes bratty baby....He is getting so big and really does some cute things sometimes. He has started giving hugs. When you pick him up he will wrap his little arms around you, and pat your back with his little hand. It is so sweet. He is such a busy little guy...he is just into EVERYTHING! He likes to climb up onto the table, and grab anything he can. It has become a rule in our house that when you are done eating you have to take your dishes to the sink and push your chair in, cuz if you don't Hayden will climb up there and just make a huge mess. He gets into the pantry and dumps the cereal out of the boxes. The other day he got into my cupboard and got the thing that goes to the mixer and threw it in the garbage. Not only does he like to put things into the garbage can, but he also like to take things out....my girls call him our little puppy dog. Really he is the busiest kid I have ever had. But his sweet baby hugs make up for all the work it is to chase after him. And when he is asleep he is just an angel.


"It's days like these you say...WHY ME!"

Water Fight Weekend

This weekend te went down to Montrose for there annual water fight. On Friday night we went to a BBQ and a hayride. The kids played volleyball, air hockey, and just visited and then at night fall we all jumped on trailers for the hayride, which incidentally there was no hay on, so I guess it was just a trailer ride hehe. They had three trailers full of kids two with teenagers and one for kids under 13.


This is Alyssa getting ready to go. Notice she is sitting between two boys :)

Once Sean found out she was sitting between two boys, he decided that was the trailer he needed to be on, and that I should ride with with the little kids. It was a really nice hay ride, we visited and sang. However not to kind on the backside with no hay, so I stood up on the way back.

The next day was the water fight day. We all went to the park where they had large tents set up. Which were very nice to sit under during the day, because it was so HOT!! They had a bump and jump set up for the little kids as well as a little wading pool that they all thoroughly enjoyed!


Here is a picture of Shelbi and Hayden in the bump and jump

Here is a picture of Hayden enjoying the cool clean water, however by the end of the day...not so clean :)

The young kids played a variety of different games. They played dodge ball with water balls and different relay races. Alyssa was in a race where here and another girl had to sit on a platform, and be carried by four guys who had to race down to the other end of the field, drop them off, and then race back.

Here is a picture of Alyssa and Lucinda getting ready to be carried away


Here they are carrying the girls...Hand on sweetie!

After this they all headed over to a water slide where they all had to race down and run to the finish line. After the youngkids were done with the race they let everyone try it out. And boy was it fun!! Here are pictures of Shelbi and Maria on the water slide.



All in all it was a really fun day. We came home Saturday night, but Alyssa got to stay the night with her new friend Lucinda, and go to church there on Sunday. It was a good meeting, and an uplifting weekend.

Thanks!

I just wanted to say thank you to all my wonderful friends who left me words of encouragement on my last post. With prayer and caring words I have had a much better outlook about things. I have been trying to get out and socialize, and just spend time with a variety of different people. It is so easy to get in a rut of only doing things with a select few people in your life...and I really want to try to be social outside of my family click.

This weekend we are going to Montrose for there annual water fight! It should be a lot of fun. Tonight they are having a BBQ and hayride, and on Saturday they are having a day at the park with volleyball, games, and "The Water Fight" This will be Alyssa's first large teenager get together since she turned 13, so I hope she has a lot of fun, and meets some new people. I will be posting some pictures next week, of all the fun we are going to have!

Thanks again to all...Life is what you make it, and I want to make it good!

Guess I'll go eat worms!

It seems lately I have been feeling sorry for myself a lot. I am so emotional about the stupidest things, and I get my feelings hurt so easily. Well when I woke up feeling blue, once again this morning, I decided enough is enough! (after sulking for an hour or so) I am tired of feeling this way! So I prayed about it, and I am feeling somewhat better. I really shouldn't let little things hurt my feelings. I want to be of good cheer....I have so much to be thankful for. If I can only see it past the clouds that are blurring my vision.