More Easter Fun

Easter Pandamonium

Easter Fun

We had a family party with my side of the family the Saturday before Easter. Needless to say once you get all of us together something crazy usually happens. The cousins love to spend the time with one another and I love getting together with my family for any occasion. Too bad it usually take some sort of holiday or other celebration to do so.

My brother-in-law Chris decided to make balloon creations for all the kids. They had a lot of fun with them and they couldn't hurt anyone. Except when they took the balloons and started snapping each other. Welts were had by all. It will leave scars and memories for years to come.

HaPpY BiRtHdAy JoE

Joe's birthday was on April Fools day so we did not do any major pranks. I gave him a watch for his birthday. It took a lot of planning and conniving with my sister to make him think the watch he had ordered was on back order. Little did he know I had it hiding in the house. You would have thought it was snowing in the house when he blew out the candles because there was powdered sugar on top. Happy Birthday Joe. Only 4 more years before your 40 and starting over that hill. Good luck!

Show me the Muscles

Before you wonder why I was taking this picture you must listen to the story. I hope he does not hate me for this when he gets older. Joe has been doing P90X so, every 30 days he has his picture taken to show the results. This day Rylee decided he needed to have his done also. Look what Joe has started. I would post Joe's but then I would have to find a new home.

Happy Anniversary

I meant to do this earlier but I have had a major cold and Rylee and Kaleb ended up with ear infections in the same ear on the same week. Between doctors visits, medication and lots of Lysol I'm hoping we are on the road to recovery.

On the 25th of March was our 14th Wedding Anniversary. Some days I can't believe where the time has gone and other days it seems they are never going to end. Still 14 seems like a long time. It all started when I was just 13 years old and Joe's family moved in across the street. At the time Joe was 16 and had a wild streak in him. I remember the joke around our house when we heard loud music coming down the street is we knew Joe was coming home. Unfortunately he still likes his music loud so if you are wondering why you have to repeat yourself around us this may give a little more insight. Anyways time went on and Joe came home from his mission and not long after saw me out in my driveway playing basketball. He sent his little nephew over to play so that he would have to retrieve him later. Later came and he came over and started to talk to me. That night he called me and asked me out on our very first date. Well the rest is history. We were married a little over a year later. Now 14 years & 4 kids later we are still chugging along. He surprised me by standing on the doorstep a day earlier than our anniversary with 2 dozen roses behind his back. I have always loved his surprises whether big or small.

Help with the dishes

When I say I need help with the dishes this is not what I expected. I couldn't get him out either.

Looks can be Deceiving

As most of you know my little Rylee is quite a handful. He may look innocent but can't looks be deceiving. He loves to learn and explore. Especially hands on. I love his love for learning but sometimes he can go a little too far. I can't leave him for 5 minutes without him getting into trouble. The other day I went to see if he was ready for lunch and found him in the bathroom with 14, yes I said 14, of my stamp pads. He decided he was going to do some redecorating. I found ink on the toilet, floor, wall, tub and even him. I hate to admit it but the hand prints on the tub were kind of cute. He did not like the fact that he had to sit in his room while I cleaned up his party. I would say I hope he learned his lesson but I know this will not be the last time.

Farewell to Grandma

Last week Joe's Grandma fell and broke her hip. Although she is 97 years old they decided she was in good enough health to do surgery. We went and saw her Monday night and she seemed to be in good spirits. She has always been such a sweet lady and an example to us all. It was hard to see her in pain. She did not complain at all while we were there. Tuesday morning she had surgery. Her bones were to fragile to put pins in so the did a hip replacement instead. She came out of surgery as well as a 97 year old can. She was a little confused I'm sure and they had to give her something Wednesday night to calm her. She had a very hard time coming out of the medicine. Joe received a call on Thursday saying she was not doing well and they were going to take her off the oxygen. We rushed down to the hospital to spend some time with her. If anything I think all of us there annoyed her. She kept asking why we were all there. At one point she told us all to leave. She also said we were waisting our time and we needed to go home. That is why I love this lady. She has always had such spunk and personality. Maybe it was trying to survive all those siblings growing up. She seemed to perk up and had been doing better for the last few days. Yesterday morning we received a call saying she had passed on in the early hours of the morning. We will sure miss her. It has been hard the last few years to see how frail she has gotten and her eye sight has also left. I remember not so long ago going and staying at her house in Richfield. She loved the company and would make these extravagant meals for you when you came. I remember after Joe installing her sprinkler system she would tell us she would get up early not to water her lawn anymore but to watch the sprinklers. I am glad to know that she is now free from her earthly restrictions and she is now with her husband, children and many more loved ones. I am glad I got the chance to meet this incredible lady. She has taught me so much and inspired me to be a better person.

Toilet talk

So this is how the story goes. Ever since moving to our new house the boys bathroom toilet would get clogged a lot, usually by Kaleb. It was never unusual items just what is supposed to go down. After plunging the toilet at least once a week I told Joe we needed to purchase a new one. He ended up buying a toilet that would flush golf balls down. YIPPEE no more plunging! At least that is what I thought until last week. Kaleb came running into the kitchen to tell me that we had a problem. He told me water was coming out of the toilet but he had put the lid down to stop it from coming out. Needless to say when I got in the bathroom the water was still flowing out. After turning off the water, cleaning up the floor and, yes, plunging the toilet I thought it was taken care off. For the next week it kept getting plugged. We tried plunging, Drano, a snake, pulling the toilet off and anything else you can think of. Nothing helped. We needed help. This is where the plumber comes in. After a half in hour, a special snake tool and $60 our toilet is now unclogged. What was causing all the problem you ask. Earlier Rylee had told me there was a toothbrush down the toilet and I just blew him off. He was right as usual. There was a toothbrush wedged in the toilet. The plumber told Joe he has only pulled out toothbrushes in 4 toilets like ours. Aren't we one of the lucky ones. We were wondering what had happened to Brayden's toothbrush. We all learned a valuable lesson. Toothbrushes don't flush.

PAY IT FORWARD

A fun pay it forward activity, who doesn't like free gifts, especially during Mr. Recession?

Here's how it works-
the first 5 people to leave a comment on this post will receive, at some point during the year, a handmade or homemade gift from me. What it will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise!

The catch is that you must participate as well-before you leave your comment here, write up a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going. Then come back, let me know you're going to play, and sit back and anticipate the arrival of your gift!

Remember that only the first 5 comments will receive a gift from me, so be quick! This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2. It'll be done this year
3. You will have no clue what it is going to be.

Love is in the Air

I usually try to do something special for those boys in my life on Valentines day. I had not even thought of what I was going to do this year until Brayden asked me about a week before. He also reminded me that last year they all received treasure maps when they got home from school and they had to search the house until they found their loot. Those maps took a long time to do plus I even burned the edges to make it look old. So not only did it take a lot of time but it also made my house stink. This year I decided to do another treasure hunt. But all of their loot was together and they had puzzle pieces with clues on them. Once they found all the pieces of the puzzle they had to put it together and find where the treasure chest was hiding. I thought it would be a lot of fun and they would have to work together to solve this mystery. Leave it up to my boys to turn it into a competition and start arguing with one another. I quickly reminded them was this whole adventure was about. They started organizing the puzzle pieces together and before no time they had found their treasure. A lot of holidays anymore are about the gifts and how big they are. I want to create memories for my kids where money was not the issue. I don't believe in creating some of these holidays like Christmas and I don't want my kids to either. They loved their adventure and finding their bag of valentines candy. Even Brayden came up and thanked me for everything afterwards, a rare moment I know. But one that I will treasure for many years to come.

Happy Birthday Dad

Today is my Dad's Birthday! He is on a mission for his church so we were not able to celebrate with him. My Dad is one of my hero's. He has always been able to fix or make anything I can think of. I love him more than words can say. He is such an example to me and my family. I remember when I was younger he was really upset with his boss and the worst name he could come up with for his boss was jerk. I could not ask for a better Dad. I have been told that I am a lot like him. Of course I take that as a compliment. He is never afraid to try new things and when he does he is usually successful. We miss him dearly and can't wait till October when they return home. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD & GRANDPA!! We Love You!

So if any of you know Brayden you know that when he sets his mind to something he usually accomplishes it. Our conversation went something like this:

B: Mom I want a baby sister.

Me: You know that there is no guarantee we would have a girl.

B: I know I just want a baby.

Me: You don't help out enough around the house for me to even consider it. I've already got enough on my hands.

B: Just wait till Tyler leaves the house and then have a baby.

Me: You would almost be out of the house then. That wouldn't be very fair to the baby to be all by themselves.

B: OK then wait 2 years.

Kaleb joined the conversation saying he also wants a baby sister. Rylee then came to the rescue and said he doesn't want any baby. Then Brayden proceeding in trying to convince Rylee he does. The rest of the evening Brayden spent cleaning up the house. I like that. Maybe I won't dash his hopes yet so I can get my whole house cleaned. I do love his determination though. They all make me laugh especially with some of our conversations! Never a dull moment.

SUPER BOWL

As a family we decided we would have a Super Bowl party. I have never really been into the Super Bowl besides the commercials but I heard someone say that as a family you should have parties for many different reasons. So, I decided to start. With the coffee table filled with many fattening snacks and treats we started. Not too soon after most of us had left the room and were not watching the show until halftime. Then again most scattered. For some strange reason the last 5 minutes of the game we all came back to watch. It was a lot of fun to spend those few moments cheering for whatever team you wanted and spending the time together. I used to love the commercials but I was very disappointed to sit there with my husband and 4 boys to see some of the filth. Now I am questioning how can I teach my kids to live in the world but not of the world. I also do not want to put a bubble around them so when they do go out in the real world they have no concept of real life. I know I have a big challenge ahead of me, Bring it on!

I am Normal Again

After having my blood drawn 4 times, bruises, CT Scan plus dye & months of confusion and wonder I finally got back my last test results. They now say my liver levels are down and we will test in another year. I'm happy at these latest results but still a little confused why they were ever high and I had to go through all of that. My doctor seemed a little baffled through the whole ordeal. Maybe someday I will discover why I had to go through all of that. In the meantime I am delighted that my arms will look normal for awhile.

Thank you all for enduring through all my photos. There were just so many that I loved and since I don't write in a journal this is like one for me. I hope you enjoyed all the pictures as much as I do.

Old San Juan Fort

I love this picture!

Standing in front of the entrance at the second fort

I'm thinking of redoing my boys room like this. What do you think?

Second fort in the background

Me standing in one of the many lookout towers

The Old San Juan Fort. My boys would have loved this.

Joe rock climbing on the ship

Another beautiful sunset

A sand crab Joe caught for everyone to torment

Leaving Barbados

Crane beach in Barbados

Joe & I at Orient beach. You have to love those finger shots

Sunset at sea

The Grand Pitons in St. Lucia

Leaving St. Lucia

Looking up 9 stories inside the ship

Looking down 9 stories

The beach at St. Lucia

St. Lucia
Joe playing with the camera


I couldn't post all my pictures without including one of these

Leaving St. Lucia

Antigua

Getting ready to board the huge cafeteria.

Formal night

St. Thomas

Our cruise ship

Joe & I at the overlook on St. Thomas