Sadie Hawkins

Samantha went with a friend to the Sadie Hawkins dance.  I thought they looked so cute in their matchy  matchy outfits:)

Samantha's Sweet 16

Samantha officially turned sixteen today.  I can't tell you how proud I am to be her mommy.  I thank God every day for that priveledge.

A week ago Friday we had her party because her best friend, Baylee, was moving to Arkansas the next day.  Samantha really wanted to have Baylee there so we celebrated a week early.  She wanted a pool party so we heated the pool for a few days and it was nice and steamy.

Much to our dismay the day before the party the weather changed and we had a torential down pour all day on Friday.  The kids still swam but I felt really bad for Samantha.  Turn out the kids all thought it was great, and it definitely will be a party they all remember for a long time:)  Here are the pictures.


This cake actually fell apart on the way home from the bakery.  Dave had to take it back for them to fix....in the pouring down rain!




Samantha wanted lots of candy at her party for her SWEET sixteen.  She took that literally.   It was all over the house:)



Some of the kids trying to decide if they were going to brave the pool.




Zachary barbecued in the pouring down rain.  One of the Dad's held an umbrella over his head.  He was a really good sport and the food all tasted great!




The kids came in and played the Let's Dance game on the Wii in between going in the pool and eating candy.




Samantha and some of her peeps.




See the steam coming off the pool?  It felt good going in...just not so good coming out.




More dancing....That's Garrett in the white shirt on the left.



Garrett and some of his friends dancing.




Enjoying the pool!




Aww, that spa felt good.  I don't think one more person could have fit in there.




Garrett throwing his friend Jake into the pool.




Garrett doing a flip off the water fall.  He is such a crazy kid:)




Getting out of the pool to sing happy birthday.




The minute we were done singing they were all back into the pool.  I think I had almost the whole cake left.  Definitely a party to remember! Happy Birthday sweet girl.  Mom and Dad love you bunches:)



The Bird Whisperer

We went to the Magnolia Bird Farm  on a field trip this week.  This is the second time we have gone on this field trip and the kids really love it. 

Amelia and her friend "little Paige" enjoyed playing in the birds dirt.

Levi got this bird to dance by dancing with him.  He loves birds and they love him.  That is why we call him the bird whisperer:)

Still playing in the sandy dirt.

Then the little girls discovered all the cool bird toys that made fun sounds.

Levi held this bird for a long time.  The lady at the store told us he didn't like red.  Garrett decided to chance it.

After the bird pecked at him Garrett decided to give him a little space.

Risking it again.  Look at the bird check him out.  I think he tried to bite Garrett and he finally stayed away:)

This is one of Paige's favorite places.  She was outside in the aviary which is really loud.  It surprised me she likes it so much in there but this seems to be one place where she doesn't have problems self adjusting for the noise.


The kids start spring break tomorrow for two weeks and I am ready.  My house needs a good cleaning and the laundry really needs to be caught up.  I told the kids that there would be no fun outings until the house was organized and clean.  Hopefully that will motivate them to get there chores done and we can spend most of the time off just enjoying each others company.  I can't believe how fast Spring has arrived.  One of the things the kids want to do while we are off is plant a garden.  Fresh tomato's....yum, yum, there is nothing better:)

What's Been Going On?

Every time I have sat down to write something lately a child has interrupted me and only a half formed thought was born.  So, here is my lazy update post for those of you who are just dying to know what has been going on around here.  If there are any such people:)

I took the kids whale watching.  Paige loves whale watching, Levi was terrified.  After a while he was O.K., but he wasn't to sure about that boat.  I would have totally guessed it would have been the other way around.  Funny how our kids always seem to surprise us.

We have four drivers and three cars.  I keep going out to get into my car and it is gone.  I am on the hunt for a cheap fourth vehicle.  I am also thinking of trading in our Suburban for a 12 passenger van.  I found a red one with only 50,000 miles on it.  I'm going to see if I can get two cars for the price of one:)  Wish me luck!

Baseball is in full swing so we are knee deep in practices and games.  I love this time of year but it is exhausting.  Hence, the no blog posts since baseball began.

I went and had a mammogram today.  The technician used to work for the army doing water boarding on terrorists.  She was one rough chick:(  My boobs still hurt!

I just bought these new dishes for our kitchen.  After many years of mismatched pieces I decided to splurge.  The kids are all excited because I told them tomorrow they could throw the old mismatched dishes into the trash, as hard as they could, to break them.  Believe me, no one would want them.  I can't believe how excited they are at the prospect of getting to do this.  Kids are pretty easy to please:)

We are having a 16th Birthday party for Samantha on Friday, April 13th.  I really need to get to planning that.  The invites have been sent and that's about it.

The week after the birthday party we are having a home school barn dance that I am planning with another mom.  You know friends, I just felt I didn't have enough to do.  Not!  I really am excited about this but April is going to be one crazy month for us.  I hired a caller today to teach the kids how to do some of the old dances.  I want to learn too!

The week after the barn dance is the kids play.  Both Samantha and Garrett are in Treasure Island.  I'm supposed to be getting donations for door prizes to help pay for the guy who comes in to do the lights that night.  I'm thinking my time is more valuable at this point, I'm going to ask Dave to just donate the money.  Wish me luck:(

Lastly, it amazes me how apathetic so many parents are these days.  They don't want to help out with ANYTHING and yet they are the first to complain.  I really just don't get it.  It really is true that 10% of the people do 90% of the work in any organization, although, I'm thinking it is closer to 5% these days.  These parents have no idea how many blessings they are missing by not being involved in their children's activities.  God please grant me the patience to not deck the next parent who complains.  A calm and gentle spirit is what I want.  If you know me in person do not laugh at that last statement.  I can be calm and gentle!

I'm off to bed.  We have a field trip in the morning.  I really do love homeschooling the kids!

Highjacked!

Amelia was playing with my phone and took some pictures. Some how she figured out how to post them to my blog.

I had no idea until Zach asked me what was up with the pictures on the blog?

Little stinker. Man these three year olds are smart now a days:)

Here is Amelia's post. Pictures taken while sitting on the couch.

Watch out world! She will probably have her own blog by the age of 4. Ha!

Male Bonding

All of the men/boys in the house are having a poker afternoon. No baseball games today which means we can just hang together. I love watching my boys hang together:)

I think Tyler was the big winner.

It's a beautiful 80 degrees outside but Zach and  Garrett have on sweatshirts.  Go figure?

Samantha didn't want to play because she was hiding in her room reading The Hunger Games.  Did any of you read it yet? I'm off to the Ceramic Cupboard this evening with a friend for some fun girl time.  I'm thinking I'll paint a pretty plate to decorate the kitchen with.  Hmmm.  Decisions.....

My brother came for a visit this week and had what we thought was a small stroke. Turned out not to be that and he recovered very quickly. Scary and strange at the same time. We are so thankful he is O.K..

Hope you all are enjoying your Saturday with your family! I know I am so so thankful for mine:)

Waiting Up

Samantha and her friend, Baylee, wanted to go to The House of Blues in L.A. tonight  to see Andy Grammar play. I have no idea who he is. Apparently he started out on You Tube and now has a teen girl following. They found out a while ago that he was going to be playing there and they wanted me to take them.

No. I did not want to go.

Usually it is standing room only and friends, honestly, I think I am to old for that. I want to sit in a nice comfy seat.

They begged and pleaded, both sets of parents said no.

Not because we didn't want them to go, he is family friendly, but because we didn't want to drive all the way to L.A. to stand for three hours while a bunch of teens screamed in our ears.

Back up to last weekend and Grandpa's birthday party. She "mentions" to her aunt that they really want to go but no one will take them. Nice Aunty says she will take them.

I tell her, go for it. Have fun. I'm not going.

So, they are there now, and I am up waiting for them to get home. I should have just gone because I can't sleep until all the kids are in their beds.

She did send me this picture. Seems they actually got a table with chairs.

This isn't the best picture, but it will do.  Left to right is Baylee, my niece Amanda, and Samantha.  Amanda and Sam's eyes look a little scary.  Maybe it was just the pre-concert excitement that made them look like that:)

I'm off to snooze on the couch until all the teens are back in the house. Hopefully it will be soon, we have Opening Ceremonies for baseball tomorrow and have to be at the field by 8:00 for pictures. I guess sleep is highly over rated.

Right?

An Emotional Week

Thank you to those who have been praying for our family.  I told you that we were considering adopting a 15 year old Ethiopian girl who's family was seeking a disruption.  After much prayer, and talking as a family, we felt that we were not the right family for her.  We could not give her all the love and attention she was craving and deserved.  One of our children really did not want this to happen and was wrestling over guilt at not being more selfless.  Lets face it, we are all selfish at times.  I am proud of that child for being honest about their true feelings and not just telling Mom and Dad what they thought we wanted to hear.

I wrote the social worker telling her of our decision.  I cried through the entire letter.  There is a part of me that wanted to say yes, that wanted to be her family, but I knew all of us had to be on the same page or it wouldn't work. 

I received the nicest email back from the social worker and she said there was another family willing to adopt this sweet girl that they felt good about.  That made me so happy:)

The best thing that came out of this whole experience is that it got our family talking about adopting again.  I have wanted to for over a year, but others were not sure.  I'm still not sure if we will ever adopt again, but I'm so glad we are at least discussing it.  God works in mysterious ways, maybe this young girl was brought into our lives just to start the dialogue again?

Here is the sweetest video a saw on Facebook this week.  Their stories made me smile.

Sweet Friends and Burgers, Burgers, Burgers....

You may remember me posting about our sweet friends Roxanne, Terry and little Eric. They had a referral for a beautiful little 5 year old girl from Ethiopia and just before their court date officials from her region came to the transition home and took her away. It is a long and complicated story, but to make it short, they will not be getting their little girl. Recently, they have gone back on the wait list for another child and although their hearts are broken they are healing. Sometimes dealing with foreign governments can be very difficult. For now though, look at the sweet addition they just made to their family.

Friends of ours had some puppies and what better way to mend a broken heart than a sweet little puppy like this?  They came down last weekend and picked her up.  She is named Lucy and is just the cutest thing.  She is a Bechon/Maltese mix and they have fallen in love. That makes me so happy:)

Today we went on a field trip to In N' Out Burger.  The kids got to go behind the counter and learn how to make all the food.  They then fed us at the end.  Wonderful! Levi has decided it is not cool to smile for pictures anymore.  He has a girl he has a crush on and he was more interested in impressing her:) Garrett had a great time teasing him the entire time.  Great brotherly love going on there. 

My friend, Lisa, sent me this picture she found on her phone of Amelia and Paige on Halloween.  Amelia was a ballerina and she was upset that her orange candy bag did not match her outfit.  Love that girl, she makes me smile every. single. day.  They both look like they are having a very serious conversation, probably trying to decide how they can sneak another piece of candy. Little stinkers:)

In other news, can you please pray for our family?  We have a very important decision to make by tomorrow and we want to make sure we are walking in God's will for our families lives.  I will explain more later, but if you are a prayer warrior, a few sent our families way would be greatly appreciated.

I am off to change my clothes.  Hubby and I are off on a date this evening.  Yippee!!

Grandpa's 86th Birthday

We celebrated my Dad's birthday yesterday. His first without my mom. He usually doesn't want any "fuss" over his birthday and rarely let us celebrate it throughout the years. However, this year he told the grandkids they could give him a little party.

He asked us not to buy him any gifts, but what is a birthday party without gifts?  The grandkids got him something small, he let Paige and Amelia open it.

A dozen of his favorite donuts.

That brought a smile to his face:)

Blowing out the candles with the grandkids looking on.  They really do love their grandpa so much!

Just hanging out listening to Grandpa tell his stories.

Grandpa with 9 of his grandchildren.  My Dad hates having his picture taken.  He refused to look up and smile.  This must be where Tyler gets it, although, he did smile for this picture. 

Grandpa brought over his favorite World War 2 movie, Battleground, and he and all the grandkids watched it together.  He gave them a history lesson on the uniforms the men were wearing and told them stories of how he used to be a drill Sargent and how that worked.  He says this is the most authentic movie made about World War 2.  I didn't get to watch it (I was busy making our spaghetti dinner), but all the kids seemed to enjoy it.  All I know is that it had seem really loud battle scenes:)

My Dad is settling into his new normal after the death of my mom last June.  He has had some anxiety issues, which I think is to be expected when you lose your wife of over 50 years.  He did have a small heart attack a few months after mom died, but he is fine now.  The doctor says it was small and did not do any real damage to his heart.  He told the kids and I that he is going to look for a dance partner so he can start swing dancing again.  He would prefer that she was married, he doesn't have time for any of that romantic stuff, he says.  Yes....I think Dad will be just fine:)

A Day At The Zoo

The Los Angeles Zoo has a great family pass. We purchased one for $60.00 last summer. It includes the whole family so it is a great bargain for Large Families.

We met some friends there from our school group.

Here is Amelia and a few of her little friends goofing around while we waited for the bird show to start.  Aren't they all so cute?

Here are the flamingo's that are right when you walk in.  I have fond memories of sitting on the steps in front of them with my mom as a young girl:)

Paige loved all the animals.  She would just stand in front of them all day long and watch if the other kids would let her.  She really liked this elephant.

Here is our beautiful Samantha in front of one of the painted Elephants.  These were really pretty but some of them had strange images on them.  One had a Chihuahua  painted on it.  What does that have to do with a zoo?

Dave and Paige in front of the giraffe's.  They were so cute!

This picture cracks me up.  That is Paige's "I really don't want to smile for you" face.  Levi looks really tired at this point in the day.  We were on our way to the car.  It was in the high 80's today, a little warmer than I had hoped for all that walking.

Paige watching the ape on the top of the rocks.

This orangutan had just had a baby.  She was nursing him, and let me just tell you that when she was done I was shocked at her breastage.  Oh my, that girl had some milk.  It was like watching a naked woman walk around.  I had to giggle that the kids were so busy admiring the baby they didn't notice.  I was thankful for that:)  I didn't want to have to answer any questions right then and there. Ha.

Right before going home Garrett and a friend went and got some shaved ice.  The guy running the cart was just closing up so he made them each a gigantic one with all his left over ice.  Really nice, but can you see how huge these things were.  Unfortunately, most of it ended up falling to the ground.  The boys thought it was awesome though!

Walking up our last hill to get out of the zoo.  Man that place is hilly.  They are doing remodeling so the trams weren't running.  We must have literally walked 10 miles.

We rented a stroller.  Even the big kids had fun hanging out in it:)

They have a great playground at this zoo.  We tried to take a picture of the three youngest children on the little elephant but Levi was in a funk. I call this his Ethiopian pout. 

When we were getting ready to leave he wanted an ice cream. I told him that I would love one also but they were $3.50 a piece and I didn't want to pay $25.00 for us each to have one plain ice cream cone.

He got mad.

The kids then wanted to hit the gift shop on the way out of the zoo.  I told each of them that they could have $3.00 for a little treat but anything they wanted that cost more than that they would have to make up the difference.  Everyone was fine with that except Levi.  He wanted a snake that cost $10.00 but didn't want to pay the difference himself.

It really wasn't about the money.  We learned from our older kids that many times the kids want these little toys, that cost so much, but then discard them as soon as we get home.  We're trying to teach them about making money choices early in life.  

Paige and Amelia both picked these cute animal bubbles.  Levi was standing firm.  I showed him some cool pens, candy, etc..  But he didn't want that.  Dave told him he had two minutes to decide and when he didn't we left without him getting anything.  That might sound mean but life is all about making choices.  It's better he learns that now rather than later.

When we were walking to the car he grumbled to me that I could have helped him find something.  I tried to.  He then said that we never buy him anything.  Oh my, that sent me over the edge.  You see, our boy loves baseball.  He wanted a new catchers mitt, practice pants (which he didn't need) and catchers gear.  He has received all of these things recently.  Oh yeah, I forgot the new bat.  If your child plays sports you know how much all of this costs.  His sisters NEVER ask for anything.  I reminded him of all of this.  He seemed sorry and walked to the car.

On the way home we went through McDonald's and got everyone a soft serve cone for a total of under $5.00.  That brightened his mood and helped him understand about money choices.  He quickly figured out how much money we had saved on that choice.  A lesson learned:)

He was perfectly happy by the time we got home and the girls shared their bubbles with him.

Another great day in the life of our family:)