Uncle Mat Mat arrives for the Graduation PARTY!! (Hook 'em Horns!)

The long awaited Graduation Party has officially begun! Mat was the first to arrive; he got here at about 6:00 pm. Addison has been talking all day about "Uncle Mat Mat" coming to visit; the first thing she asked when she got out of the car from preschool was, "Where is Uncle Mat Mat?" The kids and I picked him up from the airport and went out to eat. (Aaron was at dinner with his boss and some customers.) Aaron and his boss even made a surprise visit where we were eating dinner. After dinner Mat & I went and dropped the kids off and went and met Aaron and his boss, Mike, for some drinks. Mat, Thank you so much for coming for this; we are so glad you are here!

When we got home the kids were up watching t.v.; Mat gave them some "prizes" (as Addie put it) that he brought from the family! :) They were all VERY excited to see what Mat brought for them. Mat, Emily, Jason & Kyle sent them all Texas Longhorns shirts (and a cheerleading outfit for Addison)! They are all perfect (they even fit their personalities perfectly!)

I had to take two pictures of Addison to get the full affect! This hug is for Auntie Em, Jason & Kyle, who couldn't be here with us this time! We love you guys! Thanks so much for the Longhorn stuff! Hook 'em Horns!P.S. - We'll see you in 73 days in Destin, Florida!

Temples & Tombs

Today was Taylore's 2nd Grade program, Temples and Tombs! They have been studying Egypt, so to end the year they did a musical presentation about Egypt.

Taylore got to be one of the dancing mummies! She had so much fun with it!

I caught a shot of all the dancing mummies before they went on stage!

Daddy's Day!

For weeks Addison has been talking about "Daddy's Day"! This is an event that the school puts on for the kids to come to the school one evening with their Dad's and sing them songs and show them around. (Not sure exactly what they are doing, they are there right now.) Anyway, Addison has been talking about it for weeks! She was so excited for Daddy to go to school with her all by herself. She made a point of telling me that I am not allowed to go, and that the teacher said no "big kids" could go! Jocelyn took her upstairs to get dressed; when she came down she informed us that she was dressed like "Hannah Montana"! Oh boy, they sure do start young, don't they!

I forgot to mention the watch; she was very excited that Jocelyn put her watch on for her!

Taylore's Soccer pictures

We decided this year not to buy the ridiculously expensive soccer/baseball pictures that we have purchased every other season, even though they end up in an endless stack of sports pictures that nobody ends up seeing, because I do nothing with them! Well this year, my friend, Erin, was kind enough to take some with her camera for me! Two bonuses to this; it was free; and it's on my computer now, so all the people that I have intended to see all the other oodles of pictures that are in the stack, can see this one! Thanks, Erin!

Baseball (First game pitching!) & Catching Caterpillars?

After two soccer games this morning and early afternoon; we headed to Haden's baseball game tonight! Haden pitched his first game ever, he did a great job! He stuck two people out and tagged the third out at home! It was lots of fun for him to have so much success at the mound his first time pitching! The whole time he was playing his game, what were the girls doing? They were running around catching caterpillars! They named all the caterpillars, built homes for them, and even had a wedding ceremony for two of them! (Oh, the great imaginations!)

Soccer, Soccer, and more Soccer!

We ended up leaving the camera in the car for Jocelyn's soccer game this morning; but we were able to catch her by surprise before she took her uniform off. Most Saturdays this time of year are spent at the soccer field or the baseball field (or the softball field). We love our sports!Taylore's game was next; she really enjoys soccer! I was able to catch her in action!

I even snapped a shot right before she made one of her two goals!

Aaron's Friday Night Softball Games!!

Pretty much every Friday night until the middle of July Aaron will be playing softball on this team that he's been on for the past 3 years. It is a GREAT Friday evening for everyone. It is an LDS team (primarily) so lots of our friends are on the team...needless to say; it's a big social event for the kids and the adults. This will be the fourth year that Aaron has been part of this team; the fourth year that the kids end up coming home on Friday nights; sometimes not until 11:00 PM; usually covered in red dirt; catching frogs; hitting each other with sticks; chasing the balls that went over the fence; running around like crazy with all the other kids; begging for snacks from the snack shack; I can't think of a better Friday night! I caught some pictures this weekend of the new activity that they decided to try out at the Friday Night Softball game! It's called suicide by umbrella stroller! They were all lining up for a ride (can you believe nobody lost any teeth!) You can't see if very clearly, but this is a little hill that the dirt is hard as a rock; Jocelyn was sending the kids down the hill in the umbrella stroller. Seriously, we all have tons of fun! By the middle of July we're ready for it to be over; but it is always a blast! Oh, and once in a while between our chatting and checking to see if the kids are still alive, we catch a glimpse of our husbands hitting a ball over the fence (or not)!

CRAZY MORNING!!!!

I've decided that if this is going to be some form of true family journaling we need to not only add the fun joyous occasions, but some of the insanity as well! With that in mind... This morning was just as the title says, "CRAZY"! The insanity actually started last night; but we didn't know it until this morning! I had to be gone at sign ups for the Athletic Association, of which I am the treasurer. Aaron was home with all the kids trying to get ready for a four day trip. It wouldn't usually be so much work; but because of the eating program we are trying to follow it meant preparing 8 meals for the four days he'll be gone (which mostly consisted of cutting up veggies and hard boiling eggs); this in addition to making sure all of his laundry was clean, folded, and packed! Needless to say, the kids got to do something that they don't usually get to do on school nights; sit in front of the TV. When I got home, thinking the kids were all ready for school the next day; clothes picked out, lunches packed, ect... I put all the kids to bed. WELL...this morning we get up, late, might I add! It is total craziness; finding clothes to wear; trying to get chores done; get in the shower; eat breakfast; ect...by the time we drove away for school Jocelyn was upset because of what she was wearing, Haden was upset that Taylore stole his lunch, and Taylore was upset that Haden was blaming her for having stolen his lunch! (Where the missing lunch is? Still a mystery!!!!!) On the way to the school I drove down the road singing, "There is beauty all around, when there's love at home". Believe it or not, this usually makes them smile. Three lessons I've learned from this morning (and last night): 1. Help Aaron when he is heading out on a trip for four days (at least have some of the laundry done in advance) and definitely don't leave his stranded for the night! (Sorry, honey, thanks for being a champ about it!) 2. WAKE UP ON TIME!!!!! 3. Singing makes everyone happy (most of the time)! P.S. - Aaron has officially finished ALL of his school work! He has one more class to go to next Tuesday and present a short paper (which he has already written); and then WALK THE LINE on May 3rd! YEAH!!!!!! I am SO, SO, SO proud of him! He's worked long and hard for this!

Pony Picture Day

Addison has so been looking forward to "Pony Picture Day". The photographer for the preschool brings a pony and various cowgirl accessories (hat, scarf, ect.) for the kids for pictures. She has been telling everyone that she gets to sit on a REAL pony. The day is here! It was a little frantic getting her ready in time; but she looked so adorable; I had to snap a quick picture before she walked out the door.

We Love SPRING!!!

Today was a beautiful day! We have had lots of rainy, dreary days recently, it was so nice to have a beautiful day today, we took full advantage. Addison and I took a quick trip to the zoo with Erin, Truman, and Carrington. It was lots of fun! Addison and Truman especially enjoyed the Warthog that was getting a "piggyback ride" from the other Warthog. ;) Truman went running down the walkway and yelled, "Oh sweet, piggyback rides". It was very funny!

When Aaron got home from work this evening he did some much needed yard work; it's been too wet outside to mow the lawn. Addison and Taylore jumped on the mower for a quick ride!

Haden, Addison, and the neighbor girl (Jessica) were having fun swinging.

Where was Jocelyn, you ask, Jocelyn was knee deep in a great book (Jacob Have I Loved)! She was almost finished with it and wanted to finish it before she went out to play! She even recommended it to me. It sounds like a great book; I can't wait to read it.

Last Minute Playdate with Friends

After I picked the kids up from preschool today I decided it was about time to have them over to play. We picked up Dunes from Lizzie's house on the way home. The kids had lunch on the back porch and played outside the entire time! Truman was trying to escape being in a picture with "girls"!

Aaron's Graduation Rapidly Approaches!! (But not soon enough)!!

More fun with Keith & Michelle

We were able to get some play time in with Michelle and Keith before they left. We went and saw Nim's Island (great movie); came home and played some Wii; then we went out to dinner.

When it was time to leave we all got up to leave and I hear Michelle laughing hysterically. She told me to look at Addison's cheeks; Addison had a mouth FULL of french fries (I guess she wasn't ready to go). This picture was taken after she had already swallowed about half of what had been in her mouth.

One last snapshot of everybody before they left.

Adults to dinner/Kids at home :)

Tonight (Saturday) Keith, Michelle, and Larry showed up about 6:00 p.m. We were all able to go out to dinner before Jessica and Larry packed up to leave EARLY in the morning. It was so much fun to sit and talk with everyone (a little stressful for me during the debating)! We always love the opportunity to get together with family and catch up! The kids stayed home while we went to dinner; Jocelyn was in charge of all the babies, (Addison, Natalie & Ashton), and making sure that Haden & Taylore stayed safe. We told them that they would be earning their pay on a "Performance based scale". What I didn't tell them was that they would be deciding how each other had done; and ultimately how much of their potential earnings they would get. They all did really great! They all rated each other pretty high (8 or higher; I then had them rate themselves.) It was a fun little experiment! They all had a great time; we came home to some pretty hilarious video on the camcorder; (not too happy that they used my camcorder without us home; but the end result was VERY FUNNY. I'll try and post it next week; at least clips of it.) Ashtin & Natalie LOVE Go, Diego, Go! So the kids thought it would be fun to make up their own version of the show! Very creative! After getting all the kids in bed we all sat around watching the video the kids had made, and some fun video from the family reunion. It was great to sit and chat; we stayed up a bit too late; as always.

Time to Catch Up!!

Well for history sake I need to note that all of the posts that came before this one back to "Spring Break is Officially Over" were backdated. We have had a busy week playing with Jessica, Natalie, and Ashtin! We had lots of fun; but I was so busy playing and chatting in the evening with Jessica that I didn't enter any posts! Therefore, "Time to Catch Up"!

Children's Museum with Jessica and Lynette (and all the kids)

Today Jessica and I met Lynette @ The Children's Museum of Richmond! It was quite frustrating before we got there; Lucy (she's my navigation system) led me incorrectly! I ended up at PhillipMorris instead of the Children's Museum! I was in the middle of downtown Richmond and thankfully Jessica was with me to call the museum and get the correct address. Lucy doesn't usually misguide me!

Ashtin decided to hang out in the back of a little wooden truck.

All of the kids hanging out in the cute little wooden truck (and some random girl).

Natalie pushing wind socks around. I was able to catch a picture of Albrecht on the slide through a little plastic window. Addison doing what she does best.

The First Rays of Sunshine while Jessica was here

In between all of the April Fool's Day drama we were able to spend the afternoon outside playing with all the kids (and some neighbor kids). They all had lots of fun; especially Natalie, she was catching everyone in the net!