Mothers Day 2010 ..and "the chair" is gone.

Well If you read my Blog & remember I always take a picture Mothers Day with my kids in the same chair.. just as everyone is about to load in the car for church. My husband does this as a documentaion of the year we just accomplished. Last year I stated "I was not sure if we would be able to take next years PICTURE in THE chair" and now THE Chair is gone but the smiles on my children's sweet faces are all the same. Just a year older- and I am blessed with one more! A perfect dimpled baby boy.
How I love the fact my kids are always so happy. I am so proud of them. They are such a big part of my life. Most days they consume ALL my energy but they are also the thing that brings a smile to my face during the day and at night- tears to my eyes when I listen to their humble prayers.

American Girl Doll Tea/ For the love of Sausage McMuffins!

My girl loves to get dressed up and she LOVES Sausage McMuffins so I treated her to the morning (Xander will get to soon go to the Baseball Game with Daddy and Uncle Paul). we dressed up for a complimentary American Girl Doll Tea. We chose our purses and lipstick and raced off to grab one sasuage McMuffin since it was still breakfast time. Cooper in his pj's slept while we ate and the world was perfect somehow.. enjoying the company of my beautiful daughter and sharing an OJ. I dressed Cooper at the tea. What a good baby he is.

Happy May Day!

After a hard 2 weeks it was good to focus on brightening our near by friends day.  We had Company from Michigan :) that left that morning but last min I decided to make 4 baskets and race away before ball practice would have spoiled the surprise. (its hard to surprise someone if they are not there to recieve the surprise!) So we hung the paper baskets and starting with Aliza the kids wrapped or rang the doorbell and raced away to the car. It was a good break. I love this tradition because it takes the focus off the recieving and places it on making someone else smile. :)

Saying Good-bye to Appaloosa Ln.

All these pics were taken our final days there. I am glad the pictures show us all a bit smiley-ier than maybe any of us felt.. the kids seemed to take it in stride for the most part.. anxious to get into "the long awaited bunk-beds" at Grandma Betty's and Grandpa Max's. It was a week that utterly drained both Dan and I. We are so fortunate God has sent us such great friends. I sorta wanted to name and post pictures of you all but I am not sure that you all would feel comfortable with that. .. anyway- You know who you are and you were a God send... if it was carrying or packing boxes or if it was watching the kids while we packed. It was on of the most emotional things I have had to do. It was hard to say good bye to the house Dan built for us, the house we had three of our four babies in. It truely was a great home... much more than a  house it was "our home".

Brother turns 9 and Sister turns 2!

Xander turned 9 on April 4th and Aliza Jane turned 2 on March 15th... how can you look at these kids and not beam with happiness that they are such great kids? I have the best! I love you guys... each one of you!

Everyday Life

Dog sitting Scout.  Aliza helping to make Banana bread. Yes, that is multiple eggs on the floor.

Aliza loving on Cooper with bread dough on her hands.

Mommy feeling sorry for the kids who so badly want a pet. We have to settle on a hamster for the time being. the Hamster escaped within 1 hour of having her and the next days were spent trying to find her.Aliza wandered around with a flash light and looked under all the desks and bookshelves calling "Mou? MOU? mou GONE!"  2 times over. :)

Xander shooting nerf darts and Aliza fetching them is a great game.

Florida in Feb. (for Valentines Day)

Xander got to do something he has waited for for a long time. THey went fishing off the east coast of Florida. he caught 17 sea bass. We stayed at a 3 bedroom town home with a heated pool in the back yard. It was great. Daddy went and got certified to spray foam and we got to hang out with Grandma Betty in Orlando.  here Cooper was really fussy.. and he hasn't a swimming suit yet but he loved the pool... but Aliza was not to be left out so we made 100 laps around that 15 foot sq pool. :) :)holding both. All the way down to Sebring and we got a quick visit in with Uncle Don and Aunt Jean at the SIM mission. The golf cart is one of the things that go hand in hand with the mission and its always a treat for the kids. I guess Dan and kids got to see what they think is the cougar that is seen from time to time. They all got one of the best looks at this huge cat that Uncle Don has ever seen. this was the end of our stay and we left grandma and traveled 3 days home with a very impatient Aliza who at times terrorized the back seat and her brother Xander who had to sit between the two sisters.

Valentines Day with Red Jello/ Pink Mashed potatoes, and napkin love notes to each with a chocolate.