EmmaLee's art work

Emma got a big art set for her birthday and she has been making wonderful pictures like these for everyone she knows. I love her big heart!

Boys

Jared invited his friends over for an air soft gun war behind our house. They had the best time. No major wounds. A cut from a thorn bush and a few hits to the neck. I love being a mom to boys. I really do. Having all these boys over and listening to their conversations. It cracks me up. At one point a boy got a message on his phone from a girl they all know. She was giggling. They didn't even really discuss it. Just a mention in passing. If a boy were to call a girl while they were with their friends they would have discussed in detail what that could have possibly been all about and what does that mean for the future. Oh I look forward to those days with my girls as well but for today I am enjoying the simplicity and humor these kids bring into my home.

Happy Birthday Beautiful girl!

My little girl is 9 today. She is caring and nurturing towards her little brothers and her puppy. She is very smart and doing so good in school. She is very social but never gets in trouble for it. She is kind. She loves when people are happy and does everything she can to help other people. She makes me smile with her beautiful smile. She helps me want to be a better person.
I admire her and I want to be more like her. I feel like she was sent to our family to teach me how to be more loving and more kind. Thank you for sharing who you are with us EmmaLee!

I am grateful!

For

1my husband
2my children
3my parents
4my sister and brothers but mostly my sister
5all my in-laws
6my house
7my bed (I love the comfort and the look)
8my friends that make me smile
9a chance to be better today then yesterday
10my computer
11my camera
12healthy days
13a young body
14a young mind
15where we live
16the opportunity to grow
17lazy snuggle days
18productivity
19a good book you can't put down
20a good cry
21an amazing lesson
22blogging
23pictures that make me cry
24movies that make me want to be better
25a good laugh
26childrens laughter
27a clean house
28fresh smelling laundry
29improvement
30the word becoming
31church
32a new lens I don't know I am getting for christmas
33rainy days
34sunshine
35my car that takes me the millions of places children need to go
36my phone
37late night chats with Ryan
38family time in the living room when we don't accomplish anything but love
39teaching moments where my children teach me
40the ability to keep trying and eventually figuring it out
41knowledge gained and yet to be obtained
42I saved the best for last -My Savior

I was going to write 32 for the 32 years I have been alive but I was on a roll

My life is full of wonderful things!

Party planning

Emma is going to have an art party soon and I thought I would get started right away with the planning. I have always wanted a reason to make one of these and I finally have it. It was so easy and I think it turn out super cute. Can't wait for her actual party!

I think we have watched to much Toy Story 3

Can you see it? Joshua made Mr Potato Head when he was Mr. Tortilla Head.

Annual Ginger bread house making

Every year we make these cute store bought ready to make ginger bread houses. They taste gross but are so fun to make. This year I found a mini village and there were 5 mini houses. The kids all got to make their own instead of all working together on one. I love watching the different way they all go about the same tasks. Slow and thoughtful to quick lets eat it! I love these little people! I guess they are not all so little anymore but I can keep saying it until they are bigger then me.

Sunday School questions

One of the boys in my youth Sunday school class asked me today where our religion fit in with the other Christian religions. So here is my findings.

This is what we do when Dad is gone.

Play on his bed.

No school and no husband

The kids have off school today and tomorrow. They also get off school Monday. For whatever reason I thought it would be fun to go to a thrift store with the kids. The one by us had no toys or kids book??? So they said they wanted to go to the swap meet instead. The only swap meet we have gone to with the kids is in Orange county. This was not the OC. It was sketchy and a little scary and I felt like I was in a different country. The kids did not seem to notice and they had a great time spending there hard earned $5. Here Joshua is showing off his new sword.

Laundry

I has taken longer then I liked to get back to basic household jobs after the surgery. I am finally tackling it. I have been doing laundry for two days non stop. I washed all of my towels and they were sitting on my chair waiting to be folded. I don't remember why They all got throw on top of Jacob but he loved it and laid they for some time just smiling. Funny lovable kid.

Just because

This picture makes me smile. Joshua is in a wonderful music class called lets play music. He is supposed to practice his bells at least once a week. Jacob tend to hijack them and Joshua does not love this. So here he is consenting to the fact that he can not play the way he wants to. He really is a good big brother.

I think birthday should be a week long

One day is just not enough to celebrate the ones we love. Ryan got some of his presents Wednesday before he left, then we got to spend his actual day together, then today we celebrated as a family. He opened his presents from the kids and we ate cake. IWe all feel blessed to have this man in our lives. Love you Mister!!!

I felt so swagger in this place

Over looking the harbor. Ryan has been here since Wednesday and I enjoyed being able to spend the night with him and wake up to this view. He had to get right to work but I took my time coming home and enjoyed a little downtown San Diego shopping. I think I love the container store and wonder why I have not been there sooner.
After I got home and had a good long chat with Lauren I took the kids out to dinner at Bj's Loved it by the way. Then we walked around the mall for a bit. I am not sure why my kids ask to go to the mall. They never seem thrilled by it? But they ask to go all the time. I just usually don't want to take them. 6 kids 1 mom, I am very out numbered.

This man is so amazingly good looking!

I really do think he gets better looking with time. Today is his birthday and he had to spend all day at his business seminar. I am not sure why he planned it on his birthday?? But I came up around 5 and took him away to dinner at a wonderful Brazilian BBQ place. Then we went to the movies to see Megamind. He really did want to see that. It was just a really pleasant evening spent with no worries. We enjoyed one anothers company and smiled at each other a lot. I sure do love this man!

Cake boss and an appendectomy

What do those two things have in common? While I was in bed resting after my surgery I watched every episode of cake boss. While watching it I wondered what I could do with fondant. I am by no means a pro and I have only done very simple cake decorating but they make it look so easy. So I set out to make Ryan an Iphone cake. Here the apps are in the making. It was so much fun and much less stressful then frosting decorating. If I messed up I could easily fix it. I wonder what else I could do?

Playing rough

On Halloween Joseph was playing with his cousins and he got knocked in the face. Such a good looking bruise. It is great when a boy get hurts and the way you console them is by telling them how great a bruise it's gonna be. He is a tough kid and handled himself really well.