Happy Birthday to me!

My birthday was this week and I got EXACTLY what I wanted -a day alone with Jarin at Disneyworld!! We have annual passes so we go every once in a while with the kids, but its just not the same as going alone with your honey. My sweet friend Dania watched the kids for 10 HOURS!!! We now refer to her as St. Dania. We rode roller coasters and scary rides all day long. What more could a girl ask for? Our favorite was the rockin roller coaster, which we rode twice. it goes SO FAST!!!!

He walks!!

Nate has been trying for weeks to get the walking thing down. He takes 4-5 steps, then dives into the ground, but this week he got it. And he is so proud of himself!! I just love this big toothy grin.




Jarin and I worked together to create this window treatment. It was a fun project to work on together and we are very happy with the outcome. When do we work on such projects? Between 10 pm and 2 am. Its really the only time we can work without kids picking up the saw or staple gun.

Jarin's last trip

I love it how when I say my computer is not working, it starts being more friendly with me. Its kind of like taking sick kids to the doctor only to have all symptoms mysteriously disappear. Anyway, here are a few pics from Jarin's last trip.


Morning traffic:

Trumped at Laguardia. This is for real. They parked next to Donald Trump's plane.

White water rafting on the Arkansas River down the Royal Gorge in Colorado. There are actually 8 people in the raft, but most of them are engulfed in the rapids. Jarin is the one in the front. Well, he's the one you can see.

This is Jesse picking blueberries. He ate about 10 for every one he put in his bucket. I think Chris (our neighbor helped him fill it up though) They were so sweet and delicious. I can't believe the difference between store bought and fresh picked blueberries!!!! AMAZING!!!!!



The previous owner of our home loved to plant things. I'm always finding cool plants and flowers in our yard. I found this one way back in the Oak overgrowth. I'm still not sure what it is, but it lasted for weeks and kept its beautiful shape in color in the house in a vase.

Boring.

I know, my blog has been very boring lately. It seems that iphoto is not happy with isarah. I'm working on it. I have some wonderful pictures to share. Hopefully soon..... Meanwhile, know that summer is as laid back and relaxing as it can possibly be with 4 young children. Ha ha. Basically, we eat, swim, watch tv, have a field trip, then repeat. The kids are happy and so am I. I don't think I could ask for much more than that. Oh, maybe if Jarin was happy too, which he is. So, there you have it. Life is good.

Sunday Dinner....

I love to sit down with my hubby and kids to a delicious Sunday dinner. But, like most busy moms, I'm not such a huge fan of spending the whole day in the kitchen. Here's a recipe that will knock your socks off, its so yummy. Thanks Manya!! And my family says thank you too!
http://mamamanya.blogspot.com/2008/02/another-great-recipe-and-oh-so-easy.html
I followed the directions for preparation, then stuck it in my crock pot for about 7 hours on low. I also added some quartered red potatoes (small ones) and baby carrots. Enjoy!!!!

Hail to the Chief!

You cannot know our family and not know what a "character" Elle is. So, yesterday I took the kids to the Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa. They have a kids section where the kids can play all kinds of things. We spent about 3 hours there and the kids had a blast. With all 4 kids and only one adult, I couldn't immediately supervise every activity. I could see all the kids, but was apparently unaware of exactly what they were doing. As we were leaving, a little girl came to me and said:
"Excuse me, is your daughter the president of the United States?"
Amused, but not surprised I replied "No, she isn't."
Then the little girl said. "Oh. She said she was."
I looked at Elle. She smiled and said it was just pretend. The funny thing is that little girl was completely serious and I'm thinking that she'd been taking orders from "the Chief" for the better part of the afternoon. Maybe my answer should have been "not yet."

Oh ya, Jarin and I just celebrated our 10th anniversary. I'll post something more about that later. But, something must have happened at that 10 year mark because all of a sudden, our kids are grossed out when we kiss. The kids squeal and complain when we pucker up.