Happy Easter!!

Well, would you believe it? The Easter bunny came!! From left to right, Ashley got some baby food, a princess book and hair bows. Aaron got Darth Vader, a new light saber, curious george book and some snacks. Alec got the same as Aaron but with Yoda and a star wars book instead. The gifts behind the baskets were from Uncle John and Aunt Anne Marie in New York. They are always SO generous with the kids!

The "loot"

Alec and Aaron exploring their baskets. Aaron was excited but Alec was not as surprised. He just said that he knew the Easter bunny was going to bring him that. Um, ok.

Ash seemed to like hers!!

The boys checking out their goodies inside the eggs that the Easter bunny hid around the room. What fun!!

Twas the night before easter...

Oh wait, that is not how the story goes. Oh well, close enough! We had a family day on the Saturday before Easter, ending in egg coloring and putting out Easter baskets. The boys LOVED doing the egg coloring and Ashley and I LOVED watching!

Adam taught the boys how to write and color on their egg with a crayon and then to put it in the different color dyes. Ashley was supervising from her bumbo.

The girls watching the boys.

When we were done coloring eggs the kids all put out their Easter baskets on the fireplace hearth for the Easter bunny to come and fill. It is amazing how easy it is to get kids to cooperatively go to bed when the promise of candy and presents is looming!

A BIG....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Grammie today!! We love you SSSSOOOO much!!!

My little farmers

On the Friday before Easter (yes, good friday, we were bad) my group of friends from Alec's preschool went down to Irvine to visit Tanaka Farms. We had such a wonderful time going on the tour of the farm, tasting the organic veggies that came straight out of the ground and then best of all, the strawberry picking! Each of the kids got their own basket to fill and were able to eat as many strawberries as they wanted. I think my boys ate their weight in berries!! They both LOVE strawberries!

Aaron picking his berries. He was not concerned AT ALL if there was any dirt on them. He was picking them and eating them just as fast as he could!!

Alec was a bit more careful about the strawberries that he picked. He was very good about choosing just the ones that were all red and ripe.

From the left...Ian, Alec, Aaron, and Cormac in the tractor on the farm tour.

Ashley enjoying the ride in the tractor in the warm spring sun. We were lucky enough to have Grammie joined us that day as well!

Now and then...

Now...

Hello my few but faithful readers! It has been a busy few weeks, as always, but that makes for interesting blogs...if I ever get caught up with them, that is!! Adam was out of town last week in San Diego for a training class so I was single mom-ing it again for part of the week. On Thursday I dropped the boys off at Grandma and Grandpa's house to spend a few days with them and Oma and Opa. Ashley and I headed down to San Diego to hang out with Carrie, Brian, Kasey and Adam. Since Adam's training was in northern San Diego I decided to spend the night with at Casa Day instead of going back up to the hotel. I got to Carrie's house around 2:00 on Thursday and the fun began! Carrie and I sat down on the couch and did not move for a few hours and just caught up on things. Neither of us are big phone people so we have our best quality friend chat time when we get to actually see each other. I love Carrie DEARLY and treasure all the times we can spend together. I also had the opportunity to spend some quality time with Kasey. It is hard most of the time to get to play with her because the boys are usually with me. I LOVED being able to play with her and give her individual attention. She is the sweetest little girl!!

On Friday Carrie, myself, and the little girls got ready and we headed out to La Jolla. We enjoyed walking around, window shopping and a little real shopping also. By the time it was lunch Adam was done with his training he came up and joined us for some delicious sandwiches. We headed back to Carrie and Brian's house and all took some much needed naps (well, the adults did, the girls decided against napping that day.) Once Brian was off work we all headed off to PF Chang's for dinner. We enjoyed a casual dinner while enjoying each others company immensely. Adam and I feel so blessed to have Carrie and Brian as our best friends!

Then...
I did take some pics of our San Diego trip but of course they are not downloaded yet. Instead I am going to continue catching up on some old events that I never got around to posting. Here are some pics from our San Antonio Mom's Club Easter party. We put it on every year and it is so much fun!

The kids with the scary Easter bunny. Aaron was NOT happy about taking this picture. I actually can't even believe that he would stand this close. He was totally freaked out. Alec just kept saying that the Easter Bunny looks like a ghost. Good observation. I have to say, I understand pictures with Santa Clause, but the Easter bunny I never understood. He is just creepy no matter how good the costume is!!

Alec and Aaron outside at the Easter egg hunt. My cutie boys!

Grammie came to the party as well and enjoyed doing crafts with Alec and Aaron. Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE having her retired??

Me and my sweet girl.

quick one...

No catch up posts today...this one is actually from today!! Amazing!

I often take a shower and then switch out with Alec and Aaron so that they can play in the shower and we all avoid the nightmare that can be bath time. This morning I was doing the switch out and Alec says to me, "Mommy, your tummy is getting fat! Do you have another baby in there?" Lovely. Guess I am going to be hitting the gym twice as much from now on!!

Also...a quick shout out to my friend Giselle who gave birth to her third child, a beautiful baby boy, Michael Paul, very early this morning. You make BEAUTIFUL kids Giselle! Congratulations!

Pismo Pics

Yes, I realize I already did a Pismo Beach blog, but I have not been putting up any pics and have been trying to catch up so here we go! We had such a lovely week!

Asher and Daddy by the beach outside our hotel.

Ash and I hanging out by the pool. This lasted for all of about 10 minutes before Ash became WAY too fussy so we went back to the hotel room for a nap. Good thing we did because I was just about to turn into a lobster!

Me and Ash at the famous pool at Hurst Castle. The weather was BEAUTIFUL the entire time we were up there...EXCEPT for the day we drove up the coast to see Hurst Castle. It was so socked in with fog that you could not even see across the property!

LOOK! The girls are actually outnumbering the boys in this picture!! Here we are by the indoor pool on the tour. It was lots of fun and wonderful to get to spend time with just Ashley, but we certainly missed the crazy boys!

Adam's pride and joy

Adam as a child was totally into Star Wars. Really, what boy of his generation was not? Course, Adam took it to an entirely different level...star wars conventions, collecting toys, roll playing games, etc. Ever since the boys have been little he has been contemplating the appropriate time to introduce the boys to the phenomenon and share his geek wisdom (my perspective, obviously.) I don't know how it came about, but recently the boys have been OBSESSED with star wars. Alec constantly asks to watch the movie, play the game on the computer and to wear his Jedi costume I made him for Halloween last year. In March we let Alec wear his Anakin costume to Disneyland. It was so much fun to see him take on his new alter ego and it was equally as fun to watch the other people comment about our little Jedi. Aaron wanted nothing to do with his costume but still had his light saber. Gotta have protection at all times, right?

Alec in full Jedi garb. He is also sporting his Jedi face. Alec switches between being Anakin, Yoda, and Darth Maul.
Alec and Aaron fight-fighting at downtown Disney. Aaron sticks with one character, Darth Vader. He says it in the cutest voice, as low as he can make his little toddler voice go, "I'm Darth Vader Mommy!"
Alec in the Lego store taking down Lego Darth Vader.
Darth Vader and Darth Vader.
Alec in action! Great shot Daddy!! :)

One last star wars item to add...I was going to Home Depot the other day with all three kids in tow. While getting out of the car Alec was not happy to be doing this errand. He commented to me with major attitude, "Jedi's don't have to go to the store, SIGH!!!" OMG!! My answer back, "Well, where do you think they get all their pieces to make their light sabers?" Na-na-na-na-na-na!!! Mommy has an answer for everything!!

I love that....

I love that Alec is totally and 100% convinced that I actually DO have eyes in the back of my head!! He is absolutely fascinated by the thought of it and looks through my hair to see if he can find them. How else could he explain that I know EXACTLY what he is doing when I am not even looking at him?? ;)

Easter and Ashley's 6 month posts to follow this in a couple days, I promise! Happy Friday!

How is it...

How is it that a 4 1/2 year old can totally get and feel comfortable with the mystery that is Easter? This all came up yesterday when Alec, Aaron and I were eating lunch. I knew that Alec's class in preschool was discussing Easter this week (it is a Methodist school) so I thought I would ask him what Easter was. His answer without even hesitating, "It's when God died and then came alive again." Wow. Impressive. Later last night I of course wanted him to repeat the answer for Adam so I asked him the question again. This time he replied, "It's when Jesus died and then came alive again." Double wow. Not only did he get it, but he also interchanged God and Jesus without even thinking that they might be different things. Could he possibly understand that God and Jesus are one in the same? Impressive, right? There is more!

Today I was talking with my wonderful friend "Big" Ashley about whether or not Alec was ready for kindergarten next year (BIG topic in our house right now) and Alec came up to us with two lincoln logs and said, "Look Mom, I made a cross!" I pointed to the cross and I asked what the cross was for and his response was, "Jesus died on it." Ok. My next question, "Alec, why did Jesus die?" Alec, "for our sins Mommy!" Me, "What are sins?" Alec, "when we do bad stuff" Me, "and what happened when Jesus died for our sins?" Alec, "He made them all go away so we could be happy."

Wowie wow wow! Don't you just love the innocence and faith of a child? He makes it sound so completely simple and matter of fact. I LOVE IT!

MY Duker!!!

I have blogged before about how much the boys LOVE their little sister, but a few days ago I overheard a arguement that they were having while all three of the kids were laying on my bed. I came out to find them arguing back and forth, "My Duker!", "No, MY Duker" all while pushing eachother away from Ashley. I of couse hate them to argue, but what better of a thing for them to argue for, right? Gotta love that! By the way, I have NO idea where Duker came from. Alec started it and it kinda stuck.



Showing how behind I am...here is Ash back in February having her very first bite of food. It was oatmeal cereal and she absolutely HATED it! She liked it MUCH better once we moved onto sweet potatoes and such. She is a very good eater now...as long as I stay away from the spinach. That one did not go over well going in OR out!!

Can't resist a cute pic of my boys. This one is also from February. Gosh I love those boys!

Heading out of town with a full heart...

I am writing this blog while sitting in a hotel room in Pismo Beach! Adam has a training up here and so we were able to leave the boys with Grandma, Grandpa, Oma and Opa, and Ashley and I tagged along with Adam. Might as well take advantage of a free hotel room that is right on the beach, right?

We had a tough time getting out of the house last night due to Adam's work schedule. He was all set to come home around 6:00 but then got called out to another nasty call. ARGH! We finally left the house around 9:45 last night and go to Pismo Beach at 1:00 a.m. We literally walked in the hotel room, got Ashley settled in the pack and play and fell into bed. Today Adam had to be at his training at 7:30 but I was able to sleep in a little bit. I finally got out of the hotel around 9:00 and headed up to San Louis Obispo to see what was up there. I found a nail place and got a mani/pedi then ate some lunch. After driving around downtown a little bit Ash and I came back to the hotel and took a nap. When Adam was done we drove up to Moro bay and found a cute little Italian place right on the water to have dinner. Now I am watching American Idol, and both Adam and Ashley are passed out. Gosh it is nice to relax! Tomorrow I plan on doing a bit more shopping and then reading by the pool. It's hard work but some body's gotta do it! :)

Before we left yesterday I had to get the boys packed up and over to Adam's parents house for the week. With so much to do it was a quite frustrating day but we made it thru. I was taking them to drop them off and telling Alec about what all was going on this week. Our conversation went like this...

Me, "Alec, you are going to stay at Grandma and Grandpa's house this week, but on Friday Aunt Baba is going to pick you up to take you to Mya's birthday party. After that you are going to spend the night with her.

Alec, "But what about Aaron, is he going to come to the party?"

Me, "Nope, just you! You get to spend all that time with Aunt Baba!"

SO excited Alec, "Mama, that makes my heart sparkle!"

OH. MY. GOSH. How sweet is that? What a wonderful way to explain the feeling of happiness! I swear, that little boy just absolutely amazes me. He makes MY heart sparkle!!!

O-tay!

I did posts on Ashley and Alec so of course I need to do my little Air-bear as well! At 2 1/2 Aaron is absolutely coming into his own. His vocabulary and anunciation is improving daily and the kid is just an absolute riot! He is one of those kids who is just comfortable in his own body and does not have a care in the world. Alec always tended to be clingy in new situations and a tad on the moody side. While Aaron can certainly have his moments with moodyness, he is so outgoing and willing to jump in and do almost anything....except for eat that is. This child is SO picky. He has a small list of foods that he likes to eat, and if those items are not served, he will eat nothing and be perfectly fine.

One of the sweetest things is that Aaron is an absolute Daddy's boy. I will ask him if he loves me and his answer is, "NO! I yuv DA-DA!!" There are plenty of times when I am hugging him and I tell him I love him and he says back, "I yuv you too mama" so I don't feel too bad. Aaron's eyes just completely light up when Daddy is home and he wants EVERYTHING done by him. So stinking cute. Of couse, Adam eats that UP!

Some of Aaron's favorte phrases lately...

"O-tay mommy" - Ok Mommy!
"Dyote house!" - Coyote house, pointing into the hills near our house
"You princess Lea mommy!" - self explanatory I guess!
"Fight-fight Daddy" - his way of asking Daddy to get his light saber to play
"Baby Rashrey AWAKE!!" - Baby Ashley awake!

I LOVE this picture from Amy's wedding. Aaron was in the wedding so he had a little tux on. At the reception he spent the ENTIRE time out on the dance floor, running around like a CRAZY person! He had SO much fun and was asleep in the car the moment we pulled of of the parking lot that afternoon.
Aaron going to bed with his Ah-Ah's. He also still sleeps with his baby and his light saber.
Aaron fight-fighting with his brother. They are actually VERY good with the light sabers. Rarely do they ever hit eachother with them. They usually only hit eachother's light saber just like in the movies.

My big guy...

It truly is amazing to think that my first little baby, who I held in my arms and thought would never grow up, is 4 1/2 years old already. What really gets me is how every day he is maturing and showing me things that he has learned. A few weeks ago we were at his sports class and when it was over the coaches gave each of the kids a piece of sidewalk chalk so that they could go and draw on the sidewalk outside of the facility. I was standing talking to my friend Karen and looked down to see Alec writing his name. I knew he could write the "A" but he was struggling on the "e" for such a long time. He wrote it so quickly and just as if he had been writing it all his life! I of couse had to whip out the camera and take a picture of my cuttie pie and his writing break-thru.
I think the thing that strikes me more than anything with Alec is is personality. The kid just does not quit!! Sometimes that is good, and of course sometimes it can be bad. Alec makes the absolute FUNNIEST faces I have ever seen and loves showing them off. He wears his emotions so clearly on his face that you almost always know exactly what he is thinking or what he is up to. At least with me, he can't get away with anything.
After much research and prayers we have decided to send Alec to St. Francis next year for school. We are currently filling out the applications and going through the process. How strange to think that he is in kindergarten next year! I need to take advantage of every moment I have the rest of this school year and summer to enjoy my big boy before he starts off on his official school journey. I am SO proud of him!!

Ashley at 4 months

Ok, so obviously my blogging two times a week in February has not happened. Oh well. When did life just get so darn busy? Was it with the addition of kid no. 3? Or is it just that I am so far behind on stuff on here that I don't want to get on and do current stuff because I have not put on old stuff...well, if that is the case (which I think it is) then I need to just get past it. I will update the old stuff when I get a chance but still put new blogs on. Might be confusing, but this is the only scrapbook my kids will ever have of their lives so I have to do SOMETHING!

Can you believe Ashley is 4 months old already? I seriously can't. I took her to her 4 month doctors visit and she weighs 13 pounds which put her in the 50th percentile. I forgot how long she was but she was in the 75th percentile for height. Again, tall like Mommy...I LOVE it! We did have one surprise at the doctor's visit...when I took her into her appointment I knew she had a cold but come to find out, she had a double ear infection! She was not quite her full on sweet self, but I never would have thought that she was in pain. She got her first dose of antibiatocs and did pretty well with them. We have a follow up appointment on Monday to check her ears and then if all is clear she gets her 4 month shots at that point. Poor girl is just being tortured!

Ash is getting quite a bit of new hair on her head and it is coming in very blonde. She did manage to roll over at some point in the last few weeks but has not done it again since. Makes sense considering how much she HATES being on her tummy. Why should she turn over again if she is going to be miserable? Smart girl!! :) Ash is such a happy little baby and loves more than about anything else watching her brothers. They give her SO much attention and she just eats it up.

One thing we were quite surprised to discover in these past few weeks is that Asher is a thumb sucker! I have never had one of those before! I knew she never really liked the binky but lately she has figured out how to soothe herself by sucking her thumb. It is too stinking adorable!! I know I might not think this when trying to get her to quit in 3 years or paying for her braces, but right now it is just the cutest thing.

I LOVE this picture. Big Ashley had this shirt made for her when I was pregnant. Don't know if you can see but the M & M has blonde hair. SO CUTE!!!

LOVE, LOVE, and MORE LOVE!!! These three kids are my heart!!

Little lady posing for her close up!

(disclaimer...spell check is not working on here, so now you know exactly how badly I spell. Sorry!)

Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve over at Grandma and Grandpa's house this year. We went over around noon, had a wonderful dinner, and then went to church at San Antonio for 6:00 p.m. mass. We had contemplated doing 10:00 p.m. mass but thankfully came to our senses and went earlier. After mass we came back to the house to open gifts and have dessert. It was a wonderful day! The Hawley's before heading out to church.
Grandma and Sugarfoot with the grandkids.
We put the kids in their pj's before opening gifts so that they would be ready to put out cookies and get to bed once we got home.
Ashley's favorite toy of the night was her stuffed piggy!

Alec and Aaron's first slumber party

In the middle of December we were lucky enough to have Ian and Cormac come over and stay the night with us while Pauline and Neil went to Neil's work Christmas party. We had pizza for dinner, watched a movie and then went to bed...notice I say "went to bed" and not "went to sleep"? Yeah, that is because it was almost 11:00 p.m. before the final hold out, Aaron, went to sleep. Ian was the first to give in around 9:00 p.m., Alec being next at 9:30 p.m., Cormac was finally out around 10:15 p.m. and then Aaron. Those boys were EXHAUSTED the next day!

They all had such a good time and we look forward to having them over again! Ian and Cormac in their pajamas.
The big boys got to sleep in the aerobed on the floor...they thought it was just the coolest thing ever!
The little boys were up in the beds. Who would have thought that they would have the hardest time falling asleep? Too funny!

Catching up...

I wonder how many posts I would find over the few years that I have been keeping this blog that were titled "catching up" or something similar...quite a few I can imagine. Oh well, here is another one I guess!

I pose the question...When does life EVER slow down? I am guessing that the answer to this question is...NEVER. I of course had tons of stuff going on at the end of the year and into January, and that certainly took up a ton of my time. Since all the big events were over I thought that I would have more time to have the house clean, get laundry done, update this blog, etc. Well, the fact is, my house is NOT clean, my husband is constantly asking me when he is going to have any clean socks or underwear in his drawer, and it has been almost a month since I have updated this thing. I have come to the realization that it is just all about priorities. I make a serious declaration that from this point on (or to the best of my ability) I am going to update this blog at least three times a week. Wow, that is a bold statement, I had better follow thru. Actually, since I have all but given up on scrapbooking, this blog is all my children will have as far as organized memories in the future so I had better get my act together!!

Now that I have made my blogging promise, let's catch up on life. Following this blog entry will be several entries that I have wanted to do in the past month and a half. Have fun reading my few but faithful readers!!

Mom and Dad's retirement

After many years of hard work, I am proud to say that both my parents retired on December 21st!

My Dad worked for many years as a Technical Writer for Hughes which more recently turned into Raytheon. He worked hard and succeeded in his job so that he could provide for his family and made it so that my Mom could stay home when we were little. My Dad's work ethic and dedication to his job were/are inspiring. Thank you Papa for all you did for our family! I love you SO much!!

My Mom's professional career was a bit shorter because she made the decision to stay at home with us girls. She was not only our chauffeur to all of our activities, but she was also our room mom, PTA president, sewer of all halloween costumes and dresses. When I was in Jr. High she returned to work at the Fullerton School District as a school secretary and worked her way up from there. Her final position was at the district office where she was the I.T. Support for the entire district. Mom, I am so proud of all the work you did over the years, paid or unpaid. You are truly an inspiration to me! I love you more than you could imagine!
All of us at Mom's retirement party at the Fullerton School District office.
Grammie and Ashley

Some December Pics

This is the photo that we intended on using for our Christmas cards. I say "intended" because they were never actually made and sent out. Oh well, there is always next year!! At Home Depot with our Christmas tree! They had a wonderful selection this year and the trees were SO fresh! By the time I finally got around to taking down the tree the second week of January it was still not that bad. Last year's tree was so terrible that I was afraid to turn on the lights of the tree on Christmas morning. This year it was not an issue. Absolutely one of the best trees we have ever gotten....and only $35 bucks!!
Every year our neighborhood does a Christmas party. We have a potluck with tons of yummy food and drinks. We have a multicultural block which makes for some AMAZING home cooked food. We also have some neighbors who bring tons of their famous jello shots for the adults. Let's just say that it is a good thing that all we had to do was walk back across the street to get home!

Santa came and visited the party and brought gifts for all the kids in attendance. Alec had no problem going up and sitting with Santa, but Aaron would only go up with the promise of a gift and while sitting on Daddy's lap. Ashley had no problem, but we will see what next year brings with her.

December went fast but was a wonderful month filled with lots of good food, friends and family, and as always, TONS of blessings in our life!