I just opened a letter from Lexi's school:
Dear Parent or Guardian,
Recently at a vision screening at your child's school, your child was unable to see the critical line for their age and did not pass for this or other issues...
Glad they caught that!
Jer
Friday, December 9, 2011
Monday, December 5, 2011
I think I'll keep them...
Yesterday after church, Jeremy asked if I wanted to go on a Sunday ride. Let's see... go home and face the huge mess we had created that morning and the night before, or take a leisurely drive around town? Of course, I picked the drive. It wasn't very long before a few of the kids were obviously not having fun on the drive, so we offered to drop them off at home. We kept Sophi, Lexi and Parker with us, and started off again on our drive. I looked in the back and mentioned that Sophi looked a bit pale. Seconds later, we heard a choking sound, followed by two rounds of VERY projectile vomit.
Just what we needed. (:
So we turned right around (we were only a few blocks away) and I went inside to clean up Sophi. I got her bathed and down for a nap, put Lexi in the tub, and went back out to the van. Jeremy worked on getting that all cleaned up. I was still not ready to face the house. So, we did what any responsible parent would do... We told the kids that we were still going on our drive, except this time by ourselves! We asked Graci to get Lexi out of the tub and otherwise left them with no directions. You can do that with responsible kids like Taylor, Grace, and Parker.
Awhile later, we pulled into the driveway. Taylor came out and told us that we should really go out for awhile longer. In other words, we weren't supposed to go inside. Hmmmm....
So, we continued on our relaxing drive around town. When we finally got home, we walked into a beautiful, clean house. The kids had obviously thought it would be a fun surprise, and boy were they right! (: What started out as a very overwhelming afternoon turned out to be a very pleasant evening. We had pumpkin waffles, read, and played games.
Thank you, sweet kids!
Just what we needed. (:
So we turned right around (we were only a few blocks away) and I went inside to clean up Sophi. I got her bathed and down for a nap, put Lexi in the tub, and went back out to the van. Jeremy worked on getting that all cleaned up. I was still not ready to face the house. So, we did what any responsible parent would do... We told the kids that we were still going on our drive, except this time by ourselves! We asked Graci to get Lexi out of the tub and otherwise left them with no directions. You can do that with responsible kids like Taylor, Grace, and Parker.
Awhile later, we pulled into the driveway. Taylor came out and told us that we should really go out for awhile longer. In other words, we weren't supposed to go inside. Hmmmm....
So, we continued on our relaxing drive around town. When we finally got home, we walked into a beautiful, clean house. The kids had obviously thought it would be a fun surprise, and boy were they right! (: What started out as a very overwhelming afternoon turned out to be a very pleasant evening. We had pumpkin waffles, read, and played games.
Thank you, sweet kids!
Friday, December 2, 2011
Cornbellys
We love our annual trip to Cornbellys... it wouldn't be Fall without it. The dress ups, Pumpkin Princess, corn mazes, haunted houses, giant trampolines, slides, play areas, hot chocolate and donuts, train rides, shows, campfire-- we love it ALL!
We are going to pretend that Elli did NOT eat mouthfuls of corn this year before I noticed what she was doing. We are also going to pretend that Graci and Jesi didn't manage to get completely lost in the corn maze for a VERY long time, and that Jer and the boys didn't get lost trying to find them! It also certainly didn't end this year in a late night trip to the emergency room for Jesi (torn ligaments and sprain.) Always an adventure with our family! (:
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| We'll also pretend Elli actually enjoyed herself. (; |
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Halloween 2011
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| Graci went trick or treating with her friends this year: cowardly lion, the good witch, scarecrow, and Dorothy (: |
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Mexico
Jer and I were phenomenally blessed to be able to go on a week long trip to Mexico earlier this month. Even as I type this, it seems like a far away dream!! We had not been on this long of a vacation together for 9 years, and it felt sooooo good. Earlier this year, Jeremy won a travel card at work that helped us pay for a Disneyland trip for the family, and it also helped finance this trip for us. (:
We are so thankful to my parents for watching the kids for the first two days, and for Jeremy's cousin, Chelsea, and her mom (Jer's aunt) Debbie, for watching them the rest of the time. It was no easy task, and I should know! (: I tried to make it a week that wasn't packed full of stuff, and I tried to be organized and do the grocery shopping and laundry and homework projects and everything ahead of time. Still, as they later said, "We had NO idea!!" I was a bit relieved that it wasn't just a cakewalk for them, watching these 8 kiddos of mine. If it was, I would feel like I was doing something wrong, because it's certainly not a cakewalk for me! (: Anyway, a huge, huge thank you for providing us with such a perfect vacation. And much gratitude to our older kids, who were extremely helpful while we were gone. We missed them! (But not too much. :)
Cozumel was paradise. It was a much needed time for us to catch up as a couple and fall in love again. We had a perfect blend of rest and adventure. Jeremy talked me into going scuba diving while we were there. I was terrified. It sounded so claustrophobic and scary. It took me weeks to warm up to the idea, and I finally consented to a trial dive. Cozumel is a world famous place to dive. In fact, it seemed that everybody on the island had come there for the diving. You have to be certified to go lower than 45 feet, so that's as low as we went. When I first got in the water and tried breathing with the scuba gear, I hated it. I felt like I couldn't breathe. I totally panicked and was about to just get out of the ocean. But our divemaster would have no such thing. He just calmly led me through the steps and before I knew it, I was underwater. I didn't like the first dive AT ALL. I didn't know it at the time, but it was mostly because my mask was super fogged up. Somehow, Jeremy talked me into doing a second dive, this time with a new divemaster. He was so much better than the first and made me feel much more at ease. And... I LOVED it! It was so amazing. I have been snorkeling several times (and LOVE it.) This was like snorkeling on steroids. Amazing! I liked it enough that we went on a third dive, and even signed up for a fourth dive, but it was cancelled due to weather. We both are so excited (and I'm still a little scared) to go again someday. (: (: (:
We also swam with dolphins, had a romantic dinner alone on the beach, rented a jeep and drove around the island, toured Tulum (Mayan ruins), shopped, watched a sea lion show, went night snorkeling (out by ourselves in the dark ocean-- fun!), ordered room service every single morning and ate it on our balcony, napped in our hammock, discovered our favorite drink (virgin strawberry margaritas with lime), watched romantic movies, had massages and pedicures at the spa, enjoyed our huge jacuzzi, went to a local church (we just LOVED that), ate five thousand quesadillas, and read our books sitting out on the beach. I kept trying to take mental pictures so I could go back to that relaxing state when I got home. Ahhhhh....
We are so thankful to my parents for watching the kids for the first two days, and for Jeremy's cousin, Chelsea, and her mom (Jer's aunt) Debbie, for watching them the rest of the time. It was no easy task, and I should know! (: I tried to make it a week that wasn't packed full of stuff, and I tried to be organized and do the grocery shopping and laundry and homework projects and everything ahead of time. Still, as they later said, "We had NO idea!!" I was a bit relieved that it wasn't just a cakewalk for them, watching these 8 kiddos of mine. If it was, I would feel like I was doing something wrong, because it's certainly not a cakewalk for me! (: Anyway, a huge, huge thank you for providing us with such a perfect vacation. And much gratitude to our older kids, who were extremely helpful while we were gone. We missed them! (But not too much. :)
Cozumel was paradise. It was a much needed time for us to catch up as a couple and fall in love again. We had a perfect blend of rest and adventure. Jeremy talked me into going scuba diving while we were there. I was terrified. It sounded so claustrophobic and scary. It took me weeks to warm up to the idea, and I finally consented to a trial dive. Cozumel is a world famous place to dive. In fact, it seemed that everybody on the island had come there for the diving. You have to be certified to go lower than 45 feet, so that's as low as we went. When I first got in the water and tried breathing with the scuba gear, I hated it. I felt like I couldn't breathe. I totally panicked and was about to just get out of the ocean. But our divemaster would have no such thing. He just calmly led me through the steps and before I knew it, I was underwater. I didn't like the first dive AT ALL. I didn't know it at the time, but it was mostly because my mask was super fogged up. Somehow, Jeremy talked me into doing a second dive, this time with a new divemaster. He was so much better than the first and made me feel much more at ease. And... I LOVED it! It was so amazing. I have been snorkeling several times (and LOVE it.) This was like snorkeling on steroids. Amazing! I liked it enough that we went on a third dive, and even signed up for a fourth dive, but it was cancelled due to weather. We both are so excited (and I'm still a little scared) to go again someday. (: (: (:
We also swam with dolphins, had a romantic dinner alone on the beach, rented a jeep and drove around the island, toured Tulum (Mayan ruins), shopped, watched a sea lion show, went night snorkeling (out by ourselves in the dark ocean-- fun!), ordered room service every single morning and ate it on our balcony, napped in our hammock, discovered our favorite drink (virgin strawberry margaritas with lime), watched romantic movies, had massages and pedicures at the spa, enjoyed our huge jacuzzi, went to a local church (we just LOVED that), ate five thousand quesadillas, and read our books sitting out on the beach. I kept trying to take mental pictures so I could go back to that relaxing state when I got home. Ahhhhh....
I love you, Cozumel!
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| Dinner on the beach |
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| I loved that hammock! |
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| My favorite pic! |
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| A fire show at our hotel |
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| Love those photos you take by yourself... |
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| view from our balcony |
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| Ready for my first dive! Can you tell I'm deathly scared?!! |
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| This is the life |
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| At Tulum |
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| If you look closely, you'll see the picture we're holding is of the sunrise coming through the ruins directly in back of us. Our guide insisted we take a picture of our profiles, holding this picture. Kind of funny. |
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Did I mention how much I loved that hammock?
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| I love this guy! |
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