Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was so much fun! We were able to spend it with my parents and 3 other sisters! We did crafts, ate a yummy meal, acted out the Nativity and the kids did a talent show. 

Here are the cute angels...

Ashlynn wasn't feeling very well, see how red her eyes are? But she sure loved the baby doll that played baby Jesus in the nativity.She'd poke the eyes and give it kisses all night long.

Ethan and Jake were the shepherds. They did a great job!

Travis somehow always is the donkey. Kaylin was Mary and Tyler was Joseph. They all took their parts very seriously :)

For the talent show Kaylin sang Away in a Manger. She did so good. Her voice sounded so beautiful.

 Mika's talent was reciting 5 little Monkey sitting in a tree. It's the cutest song she learned from her Preschool.

 I love being with my sisters!!! We really missed Tami and my brother's family too. But I'll take what I can get! :) I feel so blessed to have such a large close family. I treasure very memory.

It's been a while....

I know it's been a while since I've blogged. But I'm going to do it a lot more often now. I've pretty much signed off Facebook, but I needed to document our memories.
So here I go! Starting with Christmas...

My Bday

My birthday was great this year! I woke up to signs all around the house, most of them made by Kaylin, like this one. She printed out each picture, cut it out and pasted it with coloring and captions. What a cutie.

 My friend took all the kids so I could go on a lunch date with Travis! It was great just us two and I didn't have to share talking to him:) I had coupons to Chilis and got a free yummy dessert!

I got to go out to dinner with some of my favorite girls (some not pictured were Stacey, Becky, Renae and Jocelyn) We went to LaParilla and it was so much fun. I hadn't laughed that hard in such a long time!!

Later I went up to moms where Angie and her family came up too. My mom made a delicious white chocolate chip cookie cake! It was heaven!! We spent time in the pool and then Mom watched the kids so Angie and I could do some bday shopping! Thanks Mom and Ang for a fun birthday celebration!

What we did this summer...

Our summer has been jam packed full of fun and sun! (And it's almost over! Booo!) We have been outside for most of it- as long as it's included water:)

 We love playing in the backyard or at friend's houses with kiddie pools, slip n' slides and hoses!

We love driving to Aunt Angie's to play with the Hayes cousins, and of course swim in their pool!

It's especially fun when Daddy gets to join us! These two really are FISH!

We got to celebrate Lily's birthday with her! 5 already?! We love our Lily bug!

Ashlynn enjoyed Lily's birthday cake very much:)

 We got to spend time with Meagan and her cute kiddos, flying in from Bangkok! She has a bounce house in her dining room. Talk about Heaven! :)

It's been fun having a cousin friend for Ashlynn. Her and Kyle and taking a ride in the wagon, pulled by Ethan.

We love going to Mom and Dad's and spend the day with them and at their pool. Grandpa loves little Ashlynn and she's done being stranger shy!

We go to "Movies at the Park" at a nearby outdoor shopping center. They always have free face painting, bounce houses and hula hoop contests. The girls got paintings that matched their dress and the artist came over to take a picture of the finished products!

 The kids love playing in the backyard, building their homemade fort. Someday, Travis will build a real fort int he middle of these trees, but as of now the kids enjoy making it homey and shaded. Ethan's pointing out his bench he made.

Since we play all day long, it's nice to end the day with Movie Night. We've been finding movies we grew up with like Honey I shrunk the kids, The Never-ending Story, and then fun kid movies like Matilda and The Secret Garden.

But the favorite in our family is the trips to Lake Peachtree on the boat. That'll be another post. :)
This will be a summer full of memories and bonding. One that I will always cherish.

Mother's Day 2012

It was so wonderful being with both of my Mothers this year for Mother's Day. What amazing, wonderful, aspiring example for me as now I have become a mother. I truly love them.

 My mom is so special to me! We've always had a great relationship, even through the rocky years, she loved and encouraged me. I remember writing her little notes all the time, drawing her pictures and have found one of my daughters does the same:) I'm so glad for all the lessons she has taught me and helped me start to become the person I am today.

My husband has always dreaded this day. The day that men are supposed to read their wive's mind and cater to her every whim? Travis hasn't done so hot with the mind-reading thing. But he's learning :) I have one year said I don't like getting flowers, so that is my fault why I never get them. I have also said No breakfast in bed (those of you who know me well will understand a morning wake-up is not my cup of tea), and yes he has remembered that as well. :) So even though I was bummed with no morning greeting of hot breakfast in bed, or flowers decorating the table, I was greeted with hard working kids cleaning the kitchen, showered with hugs, cards, gifts they made and helped Dad pick out, a delicious meal with both of my moms there and a relaxing day as a family. I can never ever say that Travis doesn't try so hard to make me happy. He does everything in hi power to do so and for that I'm eternally grateful.

Bubby boy loves Dad with all his might, but he loves Mom with all his heart. His moods are set by mine and his tender soul needs my nurturing daily, even if it's just a little touch or head nuzzle. We laugh together like no one else and when he does things for me he goes beyond what I ask.

 Part of our nightly routine was saying "I love you more than..." and we come up with new things to express our love. He'd say things like "I can't say I love you more than people" or "that wouldn't be fair if I said I love you more than someone else." I'm sitting here thinking uh Yes you can!!! He struggled on clever ideas and after talking to Travis (he had Ethan's back as he also admitted it was quite hard to think of new things every night that would touch a girl's heart) I had a new found sympathy for this little guy as he would look around his room for something that he loved LESS than me, like his toy airplane or his books. But to my surprise the longer we did this, the more creative and heartfelt he became. Now I get "I love you more than the stars in the skies" or "I love you more than race cares" and I know they are hard for him to think of and are things he really does treasure. All I can do is smile and think like a boy to tell him that "I love him more than all the speed bumps on all the roads in the whole wide world" and he beams and puckers his cute big lips to kiss mine.

 My sweet Kaylin. Oh this girl knows Mommy's love language. She can sense my frustration and rises to the occasion by cleaning something messy quickly, helping with Ashlynn or just giving me hugs or an empathetic "I understand Mom". She is my constant, obedient, empathetic, sweet heart. She loves being touched and cuddled with, and though she gets sad occasionally when I can't dote on her every need, we have a simple connection where she knows I love her and that it's much simpler because I don't need to give her attention of physical needs. There's a song on the radio that I dedicate and sing to her all the time. She blushes and thinks it untrue but I sing it to her anyway and usually I end up having a lump in my throat and try hard not to cry like a baby!

 Oh, her eyes, her eyes, make the stars look like they're not shining
Her hair, her hair, falls perfectly without her trying 
She's so beautiful, and I tell her every day

Yeah, I know, I know, when I compliment her she won't believe me
And it's so, it's so, sad to think that she don't see what I see
But every time she asks me do I look ok, I say

When I see your face, there's not a thing that I would change
Cause you're amazing, just the way you are
And when you smile, the whole world stops and stares for a while
Because girl you're amazing, just the way you are(yeah)

My little mika-moo. She is my little shadow, my little companion. She will give me the sweetest kisses and the biggest hugs, squeezes so tight and never lets go. She is so polite and loves to make mom happy by speaking kindly to her family and obeying. She is so independent but needs reassurance from those around her that she trusts. 

They always say Marry someone who is nice to their mother, that's how they'll treat you. Travis loves his mother dearly. He is quite, never chatty, but would do anything for her and always gives the benefit of the doubt and has faith in all she says. A wonderful thing that Travis got from Vicki is how quickly she forgives. He may fuss and be upset, but usually doesn't quite know what's really wrong and it takes something quick and simple to fix it (like a loving touch) and the worry is no longer there. There are many others, but this I am truly grateful for :)

Best Teacher Awards!

The kids were so blessed to have such amazing teachers this year! Kaylin had Mrs. Bernard for K and 1st grade and now Ethan was lucky enough to have her for 1st grade too. She is so wonderful, I hope all my kiddos are able to have her. Ethan was actually sad on the last day of school. He was excited for summer. We got home and he was pouting alone, so I went over and hugged him and let him know that I understood why he was sad. He misses Mrs. Bernard- that is proof of a great teacher! 

 Kaylin had an amazing, fun, helpful and informative teacher this year. Sometimes kids can be mean around age 8, but she taught the class that they are like family and to treat each other as so. It was such a wonderful experience for Kaylin. She excelled in her school work and had amazing report cards. All A's with one B-. Georgia standards are extremely high and I was so proud of her. With the CRCT testing, she got sick but still received exceed standards on 3/5 with other 2 as meets standards. Couldn't ask for more!! Kaylin still talks about Mrs. McPeak. I really hope all my kids have her. She's extraordinary!

Ashlynn Grace is ONE!

My baby is ONE! It's hard for me to believe that that day last year I was meeting Ashlynn Grace for the very first time. My sweet angel baby. This time I cherished her tiny-ness, her small cries, when she'd sleep more than she was awake. I awed at her sitting up, crawling, taking her first steps. I can't believe she is already one. It has flown by. She is a busy little baby, doesn't want to miss out on anything, but she has a smile that will melt your heart. 

 We did an nontraditional first bday this year. Since she was 5 days after Mika and it was the last week of school, we made one of her favorite desserts, Brownies!

 We are trying to get her to blow...

But really she just wanted to grab it. Kaylin blew the candle out for her so I re lit it only to have her stare at it and we all blew it out again anyway!

This is what the adults had!

 She had only a few gifts, her big one was an airplane she could pull and it made lots of fun noises with lights. Of course the 4 yr old plays with it more than she does....but she loves unwrapping it. That's her extremely happy/excited face...

Happy Birthday Ashlynn!!

Mika the 4 year old!

Mika has grown up so fast! She is definitely a character and I love it. She has the sweetest, tenderest side and also an independent flair that can be as stubborn as anything.

 She had been planning a party since Christmas. I didn't want anything stressful, so she listed a few of her favorite friend sand that's all who came. It was by far the least stressful party I've ever done, thanks to the tire swing!

Pirates and Princess Theme- it was so much fun.

 My friend Megan made the cupcakes. They were So yummy and the cutest cupcakes I'd ever seen!

As the kids started coming, they were always drawn to the tire swing. Mika and Casch would sit there for hours if they could. So cute.

 We had all the kids get dressed up. The girls came wearing dresses and we added crowns, jewelry and wands. The boys go eye patches, swords, gold necklaces and handkerchiefs.

Then we took the kids on a Treasure Hunt. They had 4 spots on the map and at every place they got to pick some treasures.

During the party our cat Fox runs happily into the crowd with a live chipmunk in his mouth. Most kids were frightened and they place cat and mouse on the lawn as adults chuckled and were surprised.

 Time for the loot! Mika got tons of princess things like teacups, coloring books, paper dolls, and even a unicorn pillow pet. Such a happy girl!

It was such a nice day, my friends (the mommas) could sit in the camp chairs and watch the kids play and eat. It was so nice and the company was wonderful.

 Seriously the kids could have done this all day. Travis and Ethan kept them swinging. I think we got about 6-8 on there!