yay, cousins!!!

Yesterday my sister Mavis and her family came to visit. It was so fun to see them! We got to hang out and visit, and then we all went to Sportsman's to check out the new store. (just opened yesterday) The kids wanted to touch everything, and play with all the cool hunting stuff. After the ever so fun outing to Sportsman's We came home and tried a new chicken recipe. Citrus honey glazed. MMMM... sounds yummy, right? Well it wasn't the best in the world, but it was o.k., and healthy, BONUS. I had to leave right after dinner, and the Browns left shortly after I did, so I didn't really get to say good bye. I'm sure we'll see them again soon. Love you guys.

Here are some pictures of the kids.

Lauric, and Max ... hugs
Sweet Isabel wanted to get her picture with Lauric too. "Cheese"


And here's the cutest picture for last. Maley, and Joseph 2 months apart, but both so stinken' cute, and happy to be in their car seats together. :0)

Open House (Tuesday night)

Well here are the pictures I promised from open house.

This first picture is his class room, with his teacher Mrs. Taylor at the front. Nice lady! :)
Here's my handsome Max. Oh I love that boy.
And of course, we couldn't leave sweet Isabel out of the picture. She made sure to look at Max just before the picture, so she could stand exactly how he was standing. Cutie.
Max is having fun with Kindergarten. He gets a little bored, but overall he still says that he is having fun. Keep up the good work Max.

Sleeping Beauty

Well this is my sweet little princess! Every day this week little Isabel takes a nap. She doesn't really want to but after about 10 min. of fighting it, she is fast asleep. This picture was taken yesterday just too cute to pass up. What a sweet little darling.Here's the close up. So cute :)

First day of Kindergarten

Well, we did it. No crying and for that matter not even any hugging. Max was like "see ya mom." The school max is attending is called Sue Morrow. His teacher's name is Mrs. Taylor. She's a substitute until they find a permanent. She is very nice. Max is in the p.m. kindergarten. He goes to school from 12:50 - 3:20. I like it because now I can put Isabel and Joseph down for naps while he's at school. Yay for me.

I'm not a big fan of this picture, but I'm glad that I even have it. Something happened to my memory card, and this is the only picture that was saved. I love digital camera's, but sometimes they're a real pain. I'll take some more pictures tomorrow at open house, and post them so you can all see his class.

I can't believe it's been 5 years since we were blessed with his sweet spirit. Now as he starts school, I'm sure the time will fly, and we'll be at his High school graduation in no time. We love you Max!

Black Mountain, or should i say...TERD mountian

Well today we decided to use the last few punches on our rec center pool punch card. We met up there with our buddies, the Waite's, and the Crook's. (yay crooks you made it) We had lots of fun chasing kids around. Especially Tyler. Wow Laura you really have your hands full with that guy. Go, go, go. We all got to eat lunch and treats together, and then swim some more. So about the title of the post. Here goes. Last time the kids and I went to the rec center pool: Black Mountian. We had to cut our swimming short, because there was a terd in the water. So again today during the regular 15 min break I told the kids that we could stay until 4:30 (this was at 3:00) So after the break the kids got back in the water for about 10 min. when they announced that the pool would be closed for 30 min. due to... yup another floater. The kids were heart broken when I announced that we would not be getting back in the pool. Despite the foreign objects in the pool, we had a fun day. Take a look...

Lunch break with Crook's, and Waite's
Here's Joseph in his swim trunks. He swam from 11:30 to 1:00 but then...
conked out at about 1:30. Sleepy head.
Here's Isabel with her little bunny hop into the pool
and of course Max. He did a really cool spin jump.
Don't ask. Maybe the Haka? Nope, no idea.

I love my kids, and am so happy that my husband is going to school, and working to make it possible for me to enjoy every moment of my children's lives. Thanks Maurice.

good will

So... one of my favorite things to do is stop by the good will and see if there are any killer deals. Yesterday I found a super good deal, and the winner is...Jo-Jo. I have been looking for something to keep him on his toes, and keep him busy so I don't have to hold him all the time. Anywho, are you ready for this. I found an excersaucer, for $5.00. No this is not a typo. These things run on the upper end of $50 bucks so I can see where you might think that 5 was a typo. This video is slow and boring but cute. Enjoy!!!

neighborhood pool, yay!

Weee... our neighborhood pool is so fun. Well it's not really that exciting. The pool has been closed for the past month, and recently just opened again. So yesterday we called the Waites, and invited them to come take a little dip with us. (Sorry Crooks, you never did get to experience the N.P. :( Heather and Ben and Maddie didn't get to stay long, but we still had lots of fun.

Max is showing off his underwater swimming skills.
Joseph appears to be laughing at me in my bathing suit.
and last but not least, my little goof balls eating their apples.

Football practice???

Oh yes we did.
our kids love to play football at the park. I love to take pictures, so for your viewing pleasure here we go...

Isabel in 3 point stance
Here she is making the block for her big bro.

Now it's max's turn. 3 point stance...
Now the block for Isabel. She scored off this block :)
Here's lil' Joe... future Q.B.?
Oh how cute. Look at Isabel with her smile, and the boys are tryin' to be all tough.

After practice was over we walked over to the park and let the kids cool off in the water. We had so much fun today, and Reece had fun playing coach. Good exercise too!

This face is priceless...


At the end of the day, Max, and Bell give a high five for all their hard work.
Good job you two!!

Best Buds

Max, and Isabel are such good friends! I love the way they play together. Their favorite thing to do is play with their "cars cars." (lightning mcqueen, and crew.) Isabel will pretty much do anything her brother tells her to. On the flip side, she is a girl, and when she gets in one of her moods... watch out. I hope that max will always look out for his sister, and that Isabel will always adore her big brother. I love my kids so much, and it makes me so happy that they love each other so much.

P.S. Isabel has trouble smiling for pictures,
for the record, this is her real smile :)

Family picture time

O.K., so the reason for going out of town this week was so we could attend my sister's baby blessing. Maley AnnMarie Brown. She is so tiny, and cute. After the blessing today we got to take some family pictures, and I've also added some cute random pictures from the day.

Here's little Izzy. She is so funny with her faces. Mozart???

I guess now we know where Joseph gets his thumb-sucking skills.

Here's a picture of my little sister Sharley, and all the little cousins.

This is my whole crazy family. ......Yes my dad does have a mullet. What is it they say about that.. "business on top, and party in the back." That's my dad.
I did have one more picture in here but sweet Maurice didn't like it. He said since this is our family's blog that he should have some say in what goes on. So refer to the new family pic at the top of the page for a picture of just Reece and I and the kids.

Vacation

Just got home from a nice little retreat to my mom and dads house. We were in the water pretty much the whole time. My kids have some nice tan lines, and my fat looks better now because it's a little tan. Joseph likes the water a lot more now, but still only goes in the water about 20min at a time.

First here's all the kids, and my ugly twin sister, ...I told her to stay out of the pictures.

Reece is listening to his aspartame chronicles while getting Jo-Jo's lotion on.

And here's Jo-Jo fast asleep with his thumb, and a diving toy. As long as that boy is sucking his thumb...he's happy.
It's good to be home, but we sure have a lot of fun up in New Harnomy, or Harmony what ever. My dad and mom are so good to let us come and crash when ever we want. Thanks mom and dad. We love you.