Family Pictures 2011

Surprise! For all of you who may have thought you would never see me post on my blog again, all I have to say is- well, I am surprised myself. Actually, my main excuse (besides lack of time) is that I have not had a working camera that was not Jeff's phone for over 6 months. Yes, that is pathetic. Without pictures, blogging lost it's appeal. Lately, my kids have been asking me to update our blog- and I realized I DID have some new pictures to share!



I talked my friend who has done my pictures for the past 3 years into doing us again. She always does such a fantastic job! No more school pictures for us! I like these so much more.

I like how half of my kids pulled the same face!

(This is what the house feels like when company comes over)

Next one up

In our family, if someone is celebrating a birthday, there is sure to be another just around the corner. Lexie's birthday buddy is Lukie. I can't believe he is 3! I didn't even get a chance to get over the shock of having Lexie turn 12 when the next thing I know my baby is not a baby anymore. In Payter's words- he is a 'todd-yor' (her L's are all Y's), but I think he is getting up into the 'big boy' catergory. He is still just as cute as a bug. Maybe your last kid is ALWAYS cute since there is no cute younger sibling to compete with.

Here is a baby shot. I only have a few pictures of him younger than this. I lost almost a year's worth of pictures- including all of his newborn pictures. (I can't talk about that, it makes me sad)

We had a family Easter get-together at Jeff's aunt's house on the same day. Pretty good little party if you ask me! All the kids always get a ton of eggs and eat WAY too much candy. Lukie's problem is that he eats it all at once. It makes for lots of sticky slobber.

It was cold, but the kids don't seem to mind! I will never understand that one.

The easter bunny himself made an appearance. I had to check Lexie's pockets before we left to make sure she hadn't stowed him away.

We figured the kids could use a little more sugar when we got home, so we did cake and ice cream and opened gifts. Lukie's favorite toy? Let's see, probably his Buzz Lightyear laser gun. But I liked his General Grevious action figure- mainly because I like to hear him say it.

Sorry, this last pic really has nothing to do with anything. Just thought it deserved a spot. By way of Payter news, she did register for kindergarten a few days ago. Sniff, sniff. What with the growing up thing again!?

I tried to stop her!

I have come to terms with the fact that parenthood is full of these types of moments, and really I am only getting started. I mean- preschool, kindergarten, getting baptized, fifth grade (oldest in elementary), middle school, -each step has brought on that realization that my kids are growing up and there is little, if not nothing, I can do about it. But really, this year has been quite a doozy. I have watched little Lexie go from being a little girl to being (literally) a young woman. It has been a little blatent to miss. The beginning of 6th she was still so young. I can't believe the changes she has gone through this year. In just a few short months she went from playing and pretending- to only hanging out. She has discovered the phone and it is not uncommon to find all 3 of our house phones back in her room. She is babysitting more and more for other people, and I swear she has more cash than me sometimes. She has notified me that there are certain stores you MUST shop at when in middle school. I had a feeling that day was coming. We are trying to compromise. (Savers? DI?) She is noticing boys, and THEY are noticing her. She is staying up LATER and LATER- and getting up earlier and earlier. We have had several late night conversations this year about the offensive things that people do and say in school. Some of the terms I never heard until AFTER I was married. I guess I am trying to figure out how to help her be 'IN the world' but not 'OF the world'. It is hard and scary.

Now I hope I am not coming off extremely negative, because truth is, this is a little depressing to type about these things. But don't get me wrong. It is a joy to watch her growing up. I am so proud of her and the choices she makes. She has been extremely blessed with good friends, which is just as much a blessing for me as it is for her, I think. She is becoming more responsible, which I love, but I also feel our relationship has become stronger than ever. There. Having gotten all that off my chest, I will now tell you about her day, which was my intention in the first place. Here is Lexie at her fifth birthday party.

Now here is her at #12! We actually didn't get to do cake and candles until the following day, because Lexie took a babysitting job on her birthday night. I thought she might opt out, but she is a pretty dedicated sitter.

This was the birthday we decided to let her wear mascara. So we went on a special mom/b-day girl date. I got a cheap hotel on Priceline, and we pulled an all nighter! We shopped and shopped hoping to find a dress for first day in Young Women's, but she is in such a hard size to buy for right now. She doesn't like the 'little girl' stuff, and needs like an XXS and size 0 in pants. Yeah, good luck. We were a little disappointed. But we did get in plenty of good food and playing.

Here is the birthday crowd that came as Lexie was leaving for her babysitting job. All my little crazies, with a neighbor thrown in the mix. Some interesting faces in that one...

I've dubbed this my 'Lexie Cake', since she was who dreamed it up, and she requests it every year. It is high on my list of yummy cakes too!

I love this picture for 2 reasons. #1 All my kids seem to be able to do cool tricks with their tounges. If you could see this from the side, she can fold her tongue flat in half. Pretty tricky. #2, sometimes you don't see what's in the background until AFTER you take the picture. That is SO Brooklyn.

Here is Lexie with all her B-day loot. I was so impressed by the number of people who went out of their way to help make this birthday an extra special one. And I was relieved to hear that she really wanted a stuffed elephant and Tangled for her present. Maybe she is still my little girl after all.

A little more fun in the sun!

Now this post really does make me wish for warm weather. This looks so fun! I am really more of a warm weather bird. While in California, we made sure to save a day to hit the beach. We did it mid-week when we were needing a recharge day, and made sure to sleep in and relax.

Played a little catch...

Found some shells...

The adults got in some reading and napping...

The best part of my beach day was watching Lukie run and run...

and run and run.

He did stop to wave at some people going by, then he was off again!

I wanted to make sure we went to Sea World in San Diego since I remembered it being awesome when I went as a child. I think the shows have gone a little downhill- they seem to be more like people dressed up and performing than really showing off the animals. They did have a really cool small animal show that we all loved. It also didn't help that we were there on an unbearably hot day, and I think it zapped all of our energy. Everyone was dragging their knuckles on the ground. I wish we would have skipped all the shows and gone straight for the kiddie cove area. We went through it on the way out and it had all kinds of fun stuff and ways to cool off. Oh well. If we ever go back we will know...

I wish wish WISH I could get my video to post of Payter calling the whale Shampoo. It is like 1 megabyte too big. Oh, I will be very sad when my kids stop saying things cute like that.

Disney FUN!

This post has been quite long in the making, and I guess that is why it ended up- well, quite long. But who can scrimp on DISNEYLAND pictures? Not me obviously. I have been dreaming of my picture perfect Disney vacation for years, but were just waiting for the timing and ages of kids to be right. I'd say with 6 different ages to work around, perfect was not feasible. Lexie and Kobe were just the right age to enjoy EVERYTHING- both for younger and older kids. The next 2 were afraid of several rides (I never remembered just how scary Disneyland could be!) and the last 2 hit the wall by about 4 o'clock (about 4 hours before we wrapped it up each day).
I do think we picked the perfect time of year to go. The weather was nice, and lines were short! Jeff's parents were able to go with us, which always helps to make our trip extra fun and special. If this gets unbearably long, feel free to check out at any point. =)



Here's my fav character pic- I just wish I could've convinced Kobe to be in it too!!

I tried to warn Brookie that this was a federal offence...

Lukie and Payter loved Toon Town (and so did I!) But the older kids were ready to move on to the 'good rides'. It did get me some cute shots though!

I don't think I have ever done California Adventure before- I thought it was more like a 6 Flags with big roller coasters, but it was so awesome!! My favorite rides were all in there, and it had TONS for all ages- especially little ones! This was the 3-D Bugs Life movie. SO awesome, and scared poor Lukie to death. I don't think he'll be one of those boys bringing bugs home in his pockets.

There were so many rides that either I had never done, were new since I had been there, or had been totally redone. This was one of my favs in Fantasyland.

Hmmm. How nice that my picture won't rotate. I have to put it in though. I think with all the anticipation for our trip, it was funnest to watch Payter. Whenever we brought up Disneyland she would ask if the Princesses were for weel (real). Look how excited she was to hug a 'real' princess!

I personally thought the princesses were a little distant and formal, which disappointed me a little bit. Although they made for fun pictures, the best was this guy. Payter peeked from behind Brookie- so excited that she could hardly ask him what she had traveled hundreds of miles to ask. (Are you a weel prince?) And in his fake english accent, he gallantly got down on his knee and told the girls how beautiful they were and all about being a knight. I think Disneyland should give him a raise. Or have him train those snooty princesses.

This is the ride I thought I was going to die on. Seriously. It's not a big rollercoaster, or the Tower of Terror- it was that dang Ferris Wheel. Its a good thing I had to be brave for my kids or I think I would have been crying when I got off. I guess it serves me right for sending Zack on Splash Mountain.

My favorite ride was Toy Story!!! SOOOO much fun!!

I love this picture- (except for the ferris wheel in the background)

Here's Brother Bear at the coolest playground I have ever seen-

I could've spent all day there!

Zack and Payter loved the maps. Payter told Grandpa that if he had a map and she had a map, that she would always know where he was.

My pictures are backwards from how the trip actually was. I think this was the second day.

Here is the street parade that the kids got pulled up to dance in. I got a good video of that, but no pic.

Look at Jeff's mom! She is a kid at heart. It was so much fun having them there.

Tom Sawyer's Island- I also could have spent a full day here. We were the last boat over, so it was pretty empty while we ran around. It had an awesome maze of caves you could go up and down and all over!!

Here is Splash Mountain. I am not sure Zack has forgiven us for putting him on this ride.

We went till we could GO NO MORE!!!!!!

Haunted Mansion is now the Nightmare Before Christmas. I thought it was so much better- a little less scary for kids.

We got some good faces in this one-

And this one-

And I love this one because they both licked their lips at the second I snapped the picture!

These 3 LOVED Indiana Jones! As you can see, it was a little scary.

Okay that was a LOT of pictures. But I promise I took way more. It has been extra fun doing this post late since it is so cold outside and it helps me remember how fun and beautiful it was in CA. I would have to say, despite wearing the kids out beyond point of reason each day and the ETERNAL car ride to get there, it sure was fun to get to show my kids what Disney was all about. I hope they remember all the fun things we were able to do. Probably that is one trip that we won't be doing for a while!!