Cutie Pie

This cute thing got a new (to her) walker. She loves to sit in it. It makes her feel so big and grown up. As of now she only knows how to push herself backwards. Usually that means that she ends up in some abandoned corner and then gets angry about it. I know soon enough though she will be cruising around our whole house. We have a lot of tile so this walker will be a blast soon.

DIY Throw pillows

Every once in a while I get the feeling to be crafty. This time I was successful in making these throw pillows for our new couches. I loved how they turned out.

Good Bye Sierra Vista

 The last week of school was a lot of fun. The boys absolutely lucked out in getting two of the most amazing teachers in our move. They were placed at a pretty rough school. They made the best of it and made a lot of really good friends and worked really hard. As a mom I was pretty proud of them. We made their teachers this gift.

 I had the boys each write their own letter to their teachers. They turned out really cute.

 Here is Pierce and his teacher Mrs. Monteleone. She loved having Pierce in her class.

 Here is Brock with Mrs. Rossi. She was a great fit for Brock. He had a great time in her class.

 I am so glad that they had a good experience.

Here are the gifts we made for their classmates. Yay for summer!

Brock's school work

I found this in Brock's back pack and it melted my little heart. I love finding things like this. He drew a picture of him and Papa Russ making pancakes together. His note says: " My Papa makes me pancakes. He can make a lizard out of pancakes. I love my Papa. My Papa is funny.

The Bird Hunt

 One day while I was cleaning out the van in the garage, Brock came out and had some mill worms and a look on his face like his was up to something. He told me that he was trying to catch a bird. This kid is always full of crazy ideas. He found a box in the garage and dumped the mill worms in it and placed it under a tree.

 Then he sat and waited in the shadows for a bird to take his bait. The crazy thing about it was that the birds were squawking so loud as if to warn other birds to not go near that box. He probably waited for a good half hour with no luck.

So he went in the house and came back out with a handful of bread. He made several bread trails to the box. Then he sat and waited, and waited, and waited. The bread did lure some birds but he wasn't fast enough to catch them. He was pretty serious about the whole thing. The birds succeeded another day!

swimming feet

Went to the store to buy one pair of Swim shoes and got suckered into buying three! Story of my entire life! I do think that they look pretty cute when they are on their feet. Too bad that they literally only wore them for about 3 minutes before they realized they weren't that cool after all. Kids!

Craigslist DYI refinishing

 Found this beauty on craigslist for pretty cheap and decided that I would refinish it for the girl's room. I have become quite the spray paint junkie. I love finding things like this and making them look 100% better. It only took me a few hours from start to finish. I love the way it turned out!

Getting Fit- Family Style

Trent and I both have been trying really hard lately to get into shape. It hasn't been easy that is for sure. The kids have also been interested in it as well since it is something we have been talking about a lot lately. The kids had me do a work out with them. they liked it. We all got a good laugh. We still have a ways to go, but I hope that mostly our kids learn the importance of being healthy.

Look at that chub

I love this cute chubby girl. She's got rolls that would make a baker jealous. We simply love her.

My date with Pierce

 It was finally Pierce's turn to go out on a date with me. He was pretty excited to go. He chose to go to Color Me Mine. He decided to make a googly-eyed monster mug. He was so proud. I love going on dates with Pierce. He tries really hard to make me feel loved and special and he still will even hold me hand. We had a great time together and I think his cup creation turned out fabulous. I can't believe how big and grown up this kid is getting. I appreciate his calm manner and his desire to always be a good boy. He really tries to make others happy and I love that about him. He has always been my special boy.

Nacho Chef

 Ever since I can remember growing up, my family has always made nachos for Sunday lunch. It is a tradition that we have carried on at our house too. Pierce has been begging to learn to cook and be more independent in the kitchen so this has become his Sunday duty. I had to take pictures because he really was so excited about it. He is getting so big. Man I love this kid. He said after I taught him how to do it. Now I know how to cook me a meal... I will never go hungry! Haha Nachos are a staple. Way to go Pierce

The Hatchery

 A few weeks ago I took the kids to the San Joaquin Trout Hatchery. I was a little worried that they might not like it and that they would complain and throw fits. I guessed wrong (phew). They actually loved it.

 There were so many fish it was incredible and you could feed them. The second you put the food into the water it was madness. The fish are jumping and splashing all over. I was really impressed.

 You can't believe some of the lunkers in there.

 We had a really fun time and the kids can't wait to go back for some more action. Yay for planned activities that are actually fun times!

Jaida

What do you do when your little princess begs for a hair-do like Rapunzel? You think quick and make something up. I loved the way that this one turned out. I love when she lets me be creative and enjoys the time of getting her hair done. This will definitely make it into our rotation. Girls are pretty fun... most of the time.

learning to crochet

 I took a crocheting class and made these two scarfs. I was pretty proud of myself. Hopefully I actually get to wear them sometime since it is so hot here. Learning to crochet has always been on my list of things to do. Now I just got to step up my game and learn something else to crochet.

My favorite part of mornings

I love in the morning when Brock comes in my room and snuggles up to Allie and talks to her. She loves him. It is the cutest thing to see her light up with smiles when he comes in to lay by her. This girl gets no shortage of snuggles, hugs and smooches. We love her to pieces.

Snip Snip

Brock is at it again! Leave this kid alone for 2 seconds with scissors and this is what you get. Thank goodness it can be buzzed. He said he just wanted to know what would happen?! Stinker.

My new favorite cup

It seems that when you have a cup like this even water tastes better! I love the straw, the colors and the handle. Trent teases me, but honestly I love this cup. It makes me happy.

going for a stroll

Jaida begged me to put Allie in her Doll stroller this morning so she could walk her around the house. Allie barely fit! She loved it though. I loved listening to Jaida giving her the grand tour of our house and asking Allie every few seconds if she was having a good time. My hope is that some day those two will be really good friends.

Doctors visit

I took the girls in for their well child check ups. Allie was off the charts for Height and 75%  for weight! Big girl! Allie had to get awful shots too. Turns out that her diaper rash wasn't really a diaper rash but an awful yeast infection... poor baby! No wonder it wasn't going away. Bad Mommy!
Jaida wasn't thrilled because they did the most thorough physical check up I have even seen. blood work, peeing in a cup ( Really making a 3 year old pee in a cup is impossible!) and so she was pretty much not happy! Jaida was 75% for height and 40% for weight. My little girls are growing up so fast. Going to the doctor is exhausting.

Allie 5 Months

Allie is getting so big and grown up. She makes our family so happy and brings a sweet peace to our home.  I am grateful for her peaceful content personality.  Her smile lights up a room. Her siblings all love and adore her. She is like a magnet for happiness. We couldn't imagine life without her. Love you Goobs.

Sophisticated dog

Our dog thinks she is human. She prefers to sit in our nice cozy patio furniture rather then her dog pillow. She cracks me up.

That's my boy

Amazingly enough this kid is actually an awesome student. he loved school and has done so well. I was one proud mama when he came home with this in his backpack! Way to go Brock Thomas! I love you and am so proud of your hard work and accomplishments you have made this year in kindergarten.

Swimming with our Cousins

We love having or cousins, Tyden and Hadlee, so close. We enjoyed yet another fun time in the pool. Our kids can't get enough of it. I think that they are going to turn into fish by the end of the summer. I have loved having a pool in our backyard!

New Shoes

Trent and the kids got me some new running shoes for Mother's Day. I was pretty excited. Apparently they aren't afraid of me running away and never coming back. Or maybe that was the plan? Ha-ha We had a really good day and the kids tried really hard to make it special. Trent made Carne Asada. yummy! I'm pretty lucky to have 4 little squirts. They are my life. I'm so glad that they are patient with me and put up with my many shortcomings as a mother.
As each year passes I think of my sweet mom and how much she really did for us kids. I wasn't always a nice girl to her, I know it's hard to believe. I appreciate her so much and grateful for her love and support and her example of a great mom to me.

Loves to be outside

Allie absolutely loves to be outside. She is fascinated with the trees and the sounds of the birds. I moved her exersaucer outside so that she could enjoy the beautiful day with us. She was happy as can be. I really couldn't ask for a better baby. The other kids absolutely adore her!

Mini Chef

Jaida loves to help out in the kitchen. She loves eggs. She was pretty proud to get to help make our breakfast this morning. I can't believe how big she is getting. So independent and a total diva. She has a decent amount of Brock in her blood. Oh dear me... I hope I survive their teenage years!

Happy Mothers day

Brock made me this really cute potted flower and card. I couldn't figure out all week why he kept asking me how much I weighed. When I would give him smart answers he would get so frustrated with me. I finally told him and when he gave me the card it had questions they had to answer about me. The funny boy was stressed out that they needed to be accurate, meanwhile all the other moms were getting funny responses to the questions. That's Brock for you! I love this kiddo!

morning jog

The girls have been enjoying our morning jogs. We have to make a special route over to the retention pond so that the girls can see the baby geese. Jaida shrills with glee when she sees them. It is a highlight of her entire day. Allie is usually screaming about this time. It is actually a good exercise tool because then I have to run super fast to get her home!

Look how many there are. It has been fun to see them grow and change each week.

A good daddy

(Hopefully Trent won't kill me for this picture) I love catching moments like this. My kids are very lucky/blessed to have such a good daddy. He is always picking up my slack which lately is super important because I have been a really big slacker! He is always snuggling them and telling them he loves them and it melts my heart. I am so grateful to have him as my counter part, he balances me out in so many ways. I hope our kids realize how truly awesome he is!