why?

Easter 2011

happy Easter!! it was an amazingly beautiful calm day yesterday. after a really tough holy week, it was warmly welcomed. i think the kids were subconsciously (or maybe consciously, who knows?) really putting my lenten promises to test. after muddling our way thru thurs., fri., and sat. we finally had a beautiful relaxing day on Easter sunday. and what more could we ask for?

paully took all the pics. i'm so glad he did because i didn't take any all weekend.

we put together a fun scavenger hunt for the kids in the morning to find their baskets. i loved watching them rip open the envelopes and read the clues. watching their little faces trying to figure it out.

we then barely made it to church on time. but ended up getting a whole row that someone gave to us. it was a little Easter miracle :) the kids sang beautifully in the choir.

we hosted a potluck at our house this year. all the food was so deloshious. uncle dave hid all the eggs. the dog got into several of the baskets and spread the eggs all over the yard several times. it was precious.
waiting to be released...



baby C loves his egg.
i can't believe i don't have even 1 pic of baby R. he was all prepped out with his striped oxford shirt and tan shorts. oh well.

now as soon as i finish off the bunny cake we'll be back to normal.

what i did today...

woke up

got the baby

drifted back to sleep

was awoken by sucking sounds from child that finds her way into our bed every nite and is entirely too old for a pacifier

gathered all rugs and put them in the laundry

folded and put away laundry that was still on top of the dryer

put baby in highchair and gave him blueberries and kix

no coffee

listened to kids fighing... again

cleared kitchen counter and made lists for children to do

got ready

cut baby's hair

cleaned up broken glass from baby throwing the soap dish onto the floor

got 3 kids in the car, the other 2 lost privledges to go

drove thru atm

drove to dutch bros. for coffee

was late to first easter egg hunt

found eggs for awhile and visited

loaded kids in car and went to old navy

loaded kids back in car went to grocery

drove home and unloaded groceries

set things out to make for later

got all 5 kids and walked to second easter egg hunt

hunted and visited. watched kids eat way too much candy and cupcakes

walked home with 3 kids

made tomato phyllo appetizers for tomorrow

made cake mix

poopy diaper

cleaned kitchen again while talking to neighbors on the phone... figuring out errands

loaded 3 kids and hubby to the car

flagged down mailman and turned in netflix

drove thru in and out

drove to costco

went straight to the line while hubby ran around gathering supplies

delt with crabby old lady who did not like me letting people in front of me. i let her go in front of me. she didn't mind that.

headed home

picked up 2 kids from friends house

got home

put cakes in oven

prepared french toast casserole w D for tomorrow

fed baby leftover food that the girls did not eat. he ate both plates.

cleaned kitchen again

sent kids to showers

made sure clothes are ironed and hanging up for tomorrow

have decorations ready to hang

cleaned up mess from baby

answered millions of questions all day... one being.. "mom. do you ever hold baby R upside down?" then quickly said "i don't." shaking her head dramatically.

still need to do:

blow dry 4 heads

wash baby

get kids ready for bed

decorate bunny cake

get easter baskets together

hide them

go on date with hubby to out of town friend's concert here at asu

go to bed

post edit:

plans changed. kids were fighting non stop... making me not keep my lenten promise. i stayed home and hubby went to concert. was tempted to do jager shots after they were finally asleep (at 6:30) tired maybe? may have actually done a jager shot. with hubby. when he got home. if i in fact actually did one. one may never know...

finished baskets, food prep, and scavenger hunt ready to go... thanks to p. he is really good at writing clues.

feeling much better after a tough nite, reading funny posts by other mothers. i sure love being a parent, but it sure is hard sometimes :)

fudgesicle blues

this was an interesting find... and fun to clean too. a melted fudgesicle from who knows when conveniently placed in the drawer.

i guess someone was sneaking a fudgesicle when they weren't supposed to and didn't want to get caught. funny thing is, everyone was positive that they didn't do it. hmmm....

monday, monday

mowing the lawn is a family affair around here.

oh heat, please stay away for a few more weeks :)

somebody had a birthday....

just how many candles are on that cake???

it sure is bright in there!!


happy 37th birthday to the best man in the whole wide world.

just can't help myself...

i had some time on my hands today and obviously used it to catch up on my blog :)

more olive juice pics :)

if you squint your eyes, you will see a shape emerging from the isolated desert we were approaching. we were a little worried for a second. but that seemed to be the only strange man carrying trash that we passed the whole time. thank goodness.

while the cats away...

the mice will play.

this is what i pulled up to today after getting out for about an hour...

they were chanting "save the day! save the day!"



crazy kids and their imaginations.

san diego 2011

this spring break was a little different. my mom decided it would be fun to take the whole family to san diego for a few days. she rented a beach house right on the ocean and we all crammed in there and had a blast.

we had to stop at all the must eats in yuma on the way...

these pics are backwards.... we wrapped up the trip with a visit to the san diego zoo. it was great except we were just realizing that a little bug had spread thru everyone in the house. first my nephew, then my bro in law. then nattie... then my mom... and so it went. right as we were pulling into the zoo parking lot, D says she doesn't feel good. pukes all over herself and the car seat. that's always fun to clean up on a road trip...

we go ahead on in, $200 later, enter the zoo and then S doesn't feel good. she then pukes. we keep on walking, since the kids weren't really complaining and we didn't know at that point how long this would last. and since we had just paid for the tickets. we continue walking around, ride the sky tram a few times and then 3 of them start puking at the same time. it was sad but kind of funny at the same time. we have a great picture of it, but i couldn't find it. darn.

at this point we are at the back of the zoo. we catch the bus and then big S lets loose on the top floor of the bus. they had to clear the bus due to a "protein spill" and then they so kindly had a cart waiting for us and promptly escorted us to the exit.

we finally get to the car and 3 of them start puking again. at this point were were out of cups so we were passing back diapers to puke in. unfortunately even daddy's hat was passed back.

we finally got to a 7 eleven and got cups, sprite, gatorade etc. all the necessities for the long drive home.


the not so giant pandas...

fav facts about the pandas:

* they eat about 40 lbs. of bamboo a day and poop around 40x a day. the kids liked that one.

* their gestation period ranges from 3-5 months.

* the newborn pandas are blind and very tiny. about the size of a butter stick.

* they are not marsupials like once thought.

* they live alone

after getting situated and hitting the road, finally it hit pdubs. he started puking when we arrived back in yuma. it was a sad sad journey. luckily it was only an 18 hr. bug and everyone recovered just fine :)

AND they agreed to give us free tickets the next time we visit the zoo due to those unfortunate circumstances.

hip baby...
enjoying the beach and la jolla caves... it was super cold.
w family of 7.
entering the caves. very exciting. D counted all the steps.

lots of sea lions and pelicans.
la jolla cave.
san diego mission. the first one. we read and learned all about it. since i had pulled the kids out of school for this trip, i made them write papers about everything they learned. it was painful, but the end result was pretty cool.



yep. that's the ocean right outside the window. we couldn't of been any closer. thx mom :)
the grandkids on the boardwalk.
they have a love/not so loving relationship.
dudes.
noni and all the little darlings.