Party X 2

Super slacker Mom that I am opted for a double birthday party this year (Aliya's bday is in Feb, Tae's is in June). Since we did big parties last year, this years celebration was on a much smaller scale.  As usual, I let them plan their big day. I figure if its what THEY want to do, it'll be fun. Plus, its a whole lot less work!

The girls wanted to make decorative letters for their doors, screen print their very own shirts and have a chocolate fountain. 

 Of course they started out with presents! Aliya invited her two BFF's: Faith and Lily.  Faith had a family reunion and wouldn't be able to make it. I told her she could invite someone else but she wanted to make the crafts for Faith and take it to her later.

 Lily and Aliya are so fun together. They both have large, boisterous personalities.  They argue but never get mad at each other.  It is fun to watch the interact with each other.

 Tae invited Macey and Kaylee (she had also invited Peyton but she was sick and couldn't come).  It is also fun to watch these girls interact. They are at such a fun/awkward/exciting time of life.

 We see a completely different side of Taeya when she is around her friends. She quirky, crazy and nuts!

 These are their shirts.  Each girl did her own and each was unique. I love them! Tae designed how she wanted hers to look as did Aliya.

Aliya's turned out cute too.  She had each girls name in a lighter glow-in-the dark paint then BFF's over the top.

We love you crazy girls!

Grandma & Grandpa

In March, Grandma and Grandpa Thompson were kind enough to make the trek to Texas to watch our four crazy kiddos so Tony and I could go on a cruise ... HEAVEN! They watched them last year for us so I was shocked when they said yes again! Mercy, they are gluttons for punishment! The kids had a blast, as always, and I think Grandma and Grandpa got a little bit of good out of the kids too!

 My Dad started a new thing last year when they came and unfortunately the kids now expect it each time they come. Grandpa has a 'grab bag' that they get to reach in and pick out something. The boys LOVE it (because it usually has a car or truck for them) and beg for it each day!

 Kai's eyes are bursting with anticipation!

Thanks Mom and Dad for coming to watch the heathens! Tony and I are so indebted to you. We had fun, the kids had fun, sounds like we should do it again next month! You guys are the best!

She's 7!!!

So this, along with pretty much all other posts, are ridiculously late!  Her birthday was in February ... its now June. Whoops!

 Happy Birthday Aliya-loo! We sure do love you! You are a bundle of joy, energy and fun wrapped up in butt length hair! I always say you have more personality that 4 normal kids! You are so good to play with and entertain your brothers. You are very maternal and will make the best babysitter! Everyone at school wants to be your friend because you are so happy and fun to be around. I love how well you've done it school. You are confident in all you do and it is so fun to watch you overcome challenges! You LOVE math and science. You are always one to experiment and find out how things work!

 You love to do arts and crafts. You are always coloring or writing stories. You love makeup and anything girlie.  You insist on picking out all your own clothes. Some times they are pretty interesting but a lot of the times they are DARLING combinations. You did gymnastics this year and progressed pretty quick.  Your best friends are Lily and Faith. You LOVE food. You will eat pretty much anything. You are  so good to eat your fruits and veggies too ... even if it is just so you can eat more of the main meal. You love doing things yourself. You are the first kid to make a sandwich if you are hungry (and are always good to make something for others as well).

We love you so much kiddo and we are so thankful you are ours. Thanks for being the best 7 year old!

Campin!!!

 The end of February we went up camping with our Ward. It was a ton of fun! Our first year here I questioned why on earth we were going camping in February. I forgot we live in Houston where after March it is way too hot to camp. It really is the perfect time to go!

The Terry family brought up a hammock and it was by far the favorite thing there. The kiddos had fun laying in it. Here Kai and Victoria are chillin!

The kids also had a blast wrapping people up in it and trying to get them to do circles. I kept worrying that someone would fall out on their heads but luckily everyone survived!

I don't know why I love this picture. I think its because Blake is checking out all the crap that is required for an overnight trip. Each year I complain about all the hard work it is getting ready to go then all the time, energy, effort it is to clean up afterwards. Luckily the camping is so much fun or I doubt we'd do it.

I wish I had pictures to go along w this story but I don't. The day we were heading up camping Tony had me go get some sleeping bags (in the past they had just made do with blankets etc).  I ran to good old Walmart, grabbed some for the kiddos then spent my time reading about the adult ones. The sign said good for up to 6'4". I figured that would fit Tony perfect.  Fast forward to about 2 a.m. when the adults finally headed to bed. Tony was like a sardine in that sleeping bag. It was so tight it really was like a second skin AND it only came to his chest. I got a case of the giggles and kept laughing each time I'd look over and see him wedged into this tiny sleeping bag.  Poor man froze his tail off (Kai crawled into bed w me about 3 a.m. so he kept me warm). It was an extremely long night!!!

Arbor Day

Where we live it is all trees. Moving here from Arizona was quite a shock. I realized about 3 weeks after we moved here that I was feeling quite claustrophobic here. In Arizona you could see forever. The only thing blocking your view was a house. Here, there are ginormous trees everywhere.  You'll be driving down a major road and have no idea that behind all the trees on your right is a major shopping area. I love it but it took some time getting used to. 

Since they love their trees, there is always a fabulous Arbor Day celebration. We are lucky because its a whopping mile from our house and a ton of fun. The kids love all the activities (and we love that it burns off some energy)!

 Kai loves these things (just not with a sister holding him the entire way down.  Plus, it doesn't look very comfortable. I'm surprised he didn't get major carpet burns on his knees)! He was hitting her the whole way down shouting "no yeeyah" (thats how he says Aliya)!

 See, he loves it!

 Taeya had fun doing the bungee run.

 They also had a fun petting Zoo. Due to my animal allergies I get to stay out of the pen (I am quite alright with that. Not a fan of random, stinky animals)!

 Kai was pretty timid. He wasn't too sure about all these animals! (I love this picture. I always think Kai is so big. He's got big ol' hands and feet. I love how little his hands look next to Tony's big ol' mitts).

 Tony has great patience and helped him eventually pet something.

Blake is fearless. I think Tony told him if he could catch the deer he could bring it home. He tried to carry that thing home! Thank heavens it kept getting away!

Oh boy!!!

I love my boys! They are completely nuts and so much fun! Their current addiction is our sandbox. It brings them hours of fun (and me hours of clean up -- I swear, we have as much sand inside as out. If I would dump all that I sweep up out in their box, we'd never have to get more sand).  Eating is a chore, they'd rather just play. Often we do picnics. One afternoon, this is what it looked like:

 Two ridiculously cute little boys eating their hot dog, gold fishies and bananas out in the beautiful weather.  From the back, it looked like this:

 B may just be a nudist when he gets older. He loves being naked. I've caught him like this too often. He says its because his clothes get all sandy. He then takes off his sandy clothes and continues to play in the sand box, in the buff. Lovely!

 I love this little guy. He is definitely my buddy!

And this little nut guarantees that everyday will be a fun one! I love you my little men!

Big boy!

My baby is getting so big! I cant believe Kai is two and a half. The other night he fell asleep on Tony. That hasn't happened in a good year or year and a half. Seeing him take up Tony's entire chest made me sad. I love him to pieces and want him to stay this age forever. Ahhhh

Blake is 4!!!

I cant believe I haven't posted this! I just found it in my 'to be published' area. Whoops! Anyways, Blakers is four. I cant believe it. He is so much fun and is such a nut. He's got a terrific personality and is  always ready and willing to flash you his 'lady killer' smile. He's got that naughty little boy gleam to his eye that always keeps me on my toes!

The boy is obsessed with jammies. He loves them. If I would let him, he'd wear them to school everyday. As soon as we come in the door from being out and about, he'll strip off his clothes and get a new pair of PJs on.

Daddy thought he needed a new fishing pole. It came in two pieces which he and Kai promptly used as swords ... seriously, they were just born with this gene that forces them to turn random objects into weapons!

Kai was eager to help Blake unwrap all his presents. Unfortunately Blake isn't the best to share so he did a lot of watching. You cant see this but its a garbage truck from Gma & Gpa T. The boy is OBSESSED. He loves them. He will sit on YouTube for hours (if we'd let him) watching videos of garbage trucks in action.

B wanted a 'cake' like Kai's (not a cake -- Brownies)! See the nappy dog on the table. He loves that thing. He totes that around along with two trucks - a minivan and a water truck. It is rare to find him with out all three items nearby.

He had some problems blowing out the candles. Grandma and Grandpa Thompson were in town so Grandma came to the rescue so he wouldn't light his hair on fire. He worked and worked on it.

Eventually he got it (we then had to re-light them so he could try it again)! We sure love you little buddy. Thanks for bringing so much joy, fun and chaos to our home. You always keep things loud and lively. We know we are in for a lot of fun when you are around. We love you so much!

Messy, messy boys!

We had a Christmas party for Taeya's DI group (destination imagination ... more to come on that later on) in December. Someone brought bright blue cupcakes (which they loved) and they got EVERYWHERE! Mercy, I was scrubbing blue frosting off my floors forever ... not to mention their teeth, cheeks, fingers etc. That stuff is toxic!

Cheese! Gotta love a kid who instantly poses for pictures. Does that mean I take too many pics?

"I'll get you my pretty"! I don't know why but that face makes me laugh!

Blakers especially loved them. Blue is his favorite color, well, dark blue garbage truck is his actual favorite color. Isn't he handsome in his glasses?

Dancin' Divas!

Just before the Christmas break, Aliya with her two best friends: Lily and Faith, participated in the local High School dance team fundraiser. One Saturday morning for three hours they got to dance to their hearts content. At the end of the three hours they put on a performance for their parents. The girls had SOOOO much fun. Anything these girls do they have fun with but getting a new pink shirt AND getting to dance was over the top for them!

Its amazing these three are best friends. They each have a very strong, dominant personality ... you'd expect them to clash big time. Why it works is beyond me but I'm grateful it does. We have adopted Lily's family as one of our Texas cousins. The kids get along great and we adore her parents. Faith is in Aliya's girl scout troop and her family is awesome. I love that my kids have picked out some pretty amazing BFF's. Keep it up kiddos!

Not that I need to add a disclaimer but I will: Aliya's outfit is entirely her. Girlfriend loves to come up with all sort of different outfits. Some days it is a huge hit, other days its a miss. Some days, well, she just is Aliya!