The Garrison Six!

Sums up my life at the moment!

2011-10-04T14:42:00.000-07:00

Our life is so crazy busy and I am craving some family down time but this pretty much sums up where I am at!

Disneyland!

2011-07-23T20:29:00.000-07:00

Last weekend John said on Friday, hey I have to go to San Diego for sure now next week lets make a family trip of it! Need I say anymore!!! There are a gazillion pictures of our trip at but here is some of the highlights! We had the best time.

Summer Update

2011-07-23T19:51:00.000-07:00

Now that summer is almost over here (3 weeks until school starts) I guess I should update a little of what we have done this summer.

Charlie finished up baseball mid June. His team came in 2nd in the playoffs and we was selected to play on the Optimist all star team. We are so proud of what a good sport he is.

(Charlie & Astro Coach Scott)

The day after the all star game we headed to Wisconsin to visit John's parents for 10 days. It was a great visit. The kids loved spending time with Nan & Pop and Uncle Brett. They fished and then fished some more - needless to say Charlie was in heaven the whole visit. The last day we went to the Mall of America and once there I took the girls to the American Girl Store for a Mommy Daughter lunch. (I have about a million pictures but I just realized they are on John's Computer all i have on our computer is the last day! Will upload some of the rest soon)

We celebrated the 4th of July here at home in our favorite way! We got up and went to the parade in our community, then we came home played and my parents came over for a bbq, followed by swimming at the neighbors, fireworks in the street, sitting on the golf course watching fireworks over the lake followed by lots more fireworks in the street.

At the dinner & Auction I Co-Chaired last spring a group of mom's bought a mommy & daughter tea hosted by the school secretary and the principal. It was over the top and such a fun day. We played a game - how well do you know your mom/daughter and I got all of the question right about Annie! She did the same for me!

Emily has starting talking all the time, a lot of it gibberish but sometimes she does make sense. right now she is like the family guy commercial on tv "mom mom mom mom mom mom mom mom mom mom" one day I said what she said "Pop" for Popsicle - her new favorite thing!

As for the rest we have had a great time at home just having fun and enjoying summer. There have been lots of playdates, sleepovers, and days at the lake.

Helmets!

2011-05-04T11:33:00.001-07:00

Okay, at our house there are lots of helmets and often they are lying around! Bike helmets, batting helmets, horse riding helmets, foot ball helmets etc... Anyway - Emily LOVES helmets, when ever she finds one she puts it on! I couldn't help but share!!!

Annie turns 7!

2011-05-04T11:21:00.000-07:00

The reality is Charlie's birthday is April 6th & then Annie's is April 7th! Life around here is slightly crazy in April!

Anyway, Annie turned 7! Where has the time flown, she is turning in to a grown up girl before our eyes. Sometimes when I see her I am shocked that this beautiful girl is mine. We got up early and opened presents before the kids went off to school. She got some horse stuff, art kits, she got a styling center for her American Girl Doll and a bunch of doll clothes and she got a karaoke machine - we have been loving her shows ! Oh how she loves to be stylish - in her own little way, she has a definite flair and she doesn't want to necessarily be "cute" more grown up with a touch of edge to it! I think she will be the girl wearing heals to school as soon as she is able to!

For her birthday dinner she wanted to go out! We went to the Old Spaghetti Factory and then she had horse lessons after - I think that was her favorite part of the day!

Happy Birthday Charlie!

2011-04-16T07:57:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe it but my baby boy is now 9!!! Charlie is such an awesome kid, he is so friendly and kind, he is funny and thoughtful. He makes us so proud because he is such a sweet person - he has never met a stranger and is such a great big brother. This year for his birthday he got tons of fishing stuff (his FAVORITE thing to do in the world) and he got a tent and sleeping bag for the summer! He can hardly wait to have all his friends over to sleep in it. We got up super early to open his presents, he had STAR testing at school and couldn't be late. Then later that night he had a game and he was the starting pitcher! He did great!! We came home and had waffles and then cake and ice cream before bed!

Play Ball - opening day!

2011-04-16T07:26:00.000-07:00

Audrey on the Braves.

Charlie is on the Astros.

Annie is a Blue Jay!

This year Charlie, Annie & Audrey are all playing baseball! Needless to say our lives are a little crazy right now. A normal week has been consisting of 3 practices and 4 games (Charlie plays 2-3 games a week). Everyone is having fun and keeping busy. I have learned the trick to hire a 12 year old to come babysit Emily during the games - it makes everyone happier.

Our league has a fun tradition that on opening day there is a parade. Each team decorates a truck or trailer and then proceeds down the parkway to the baseball field. The kids throw candy off the trucks and cheer. This is the first year that I actually sat on the side and watched all the trucks. Usually we let Audrey drive in the back of what ever truck John is driving then I have to take her during the opening ceremony. This year since she was on her on team she was in it herself!

Later that day all the kids had games! Annie started us off and she is quite the little player this year. Surprise surprise she has a great little arm and can throw the ball farther than most kids on her team. She is so tall and lanky that she just looks like a ball player to me!

(Note Emily is squirmy! She eats during most games to keep her contained in her stroller or on someone's lap - hence the sitter that way we can watch the games and she doesn't have to be confined!)

Audrey just makes me laugh. Her coach has learned she can't be on the dirt because she just likes to play in it! She is so cute - her friend ran to a base she was on and they hugged.

a

Charlie's team travels to play teams in Folsom this year. We only have a few but today was one of them. This year is super fun because the boys on his team get it now! There are great plays, hits, and they are getting competitive. They WANT to WIN!!!

This is Charlie fielding a hit, throwing it to first for the out and then walking off the field because it was the third out that inning! He is becoming quite the player! (Wait till I post pictures of him pitching!!!)

(These are just pictures of the girls while we were watching Charlie's game - they are 2 hours long and we have to be there 30 minutes early for warm ups so they have lots of time to kill!)

(Oh how I love those freckles!)

What we've been up to!

2011-04-02T19:49:00.000-07:00

I am a bad blogger, there I said and you all know now! We are so busy and have so much going on that while it would be great to share it all I am just so busy most day's that it never happens so with that said here is a look back on the last 3 months. I had to look through all our pictures to see what has been going on and there was even more than I remembered. We really are a busy family - so this is a long post!!!!

Annie has been taking horse lesson all winter. Although with the tons of rain we have had the arena has been to muddy too ride in quite often (we don't want Annie or the horse to get hurt!) Annie loves her riding - she just doesn't understand why she can't have her own "real live horse"!

Annie catching chickens after a lesson!

Charlie finished up his basketball season! Our team only had one win this year but it was against the best team in the League! (some of us had more fun watching the games than others!)

Little Miss Em has hair long enough for pig tails! She is just the cutest thing!!!

WHile she is just the cutest thing she is also the messiest thing! She is like a little pig pen so when I am not running my kids to and from everything I am cleaning up after her!

Audrey Lee got her ears pierced! She got to pick the color of the earrings and she picked blue because they are daddy's favorite color.

Pop came for a visit and while he was here our life was crazy like always! Charlie had a basketball game and his pinewood derby race.

This is Charlie and his best friend Andrew. Charlie came in 3rd in his pack. But we are most proud of Charlie because he cheered so much for his friends and was so excited his friend Mitch won the whole race. I think he was just as happy for Mitch as if he would have won it himself.

One of the major reasons I have been so crazy the last few months is because I co-chaired the Elementary School Fundraiser this year (again - much to John's chagrin). The event turned out very well - we Grossed $28,000 and from that netted $18,000! We held the event at the Rancho Murieta Country Club (hence the cost to put on the event) we had projects from each class and then various other items up for both silent and live auction. I was happy we were able to do so much for the school - it goes along way with all the cuts from the state!

This is Annie's class project - her square is 4 rows down and 4 rows over - the purple square with a large black circle and yellow dot in middle. Her class project sold for $450.

Charlie's class project was a wine barrel donated from Sobon Wineries with a fruit tree in it. The kids painted picture of grapes on vines with their finger prints. The best part of this is he has two teachers - Mrs. Fruit & Mrs. Vines! His project sold for $650.

Uncle Brett arrived the day before my event and the kids LOVED having him here. They really adore him and he seems to like them too!

We had a green st. patricks day at our house! Here are the girls in their green helping Emily eat rainbow jello.

The kids awoke to find gold in our house! Annie had set a leprechaun trap and so of course there was gold in the morning. Here is a picture of our feast - we had Corn beef and cabbage of course, rainbow jello, rolls, green ranch dressing dip, green 7-up and for dessert we had rainbow cupcakes.

I am not sure I have ever mentioned Audrey's ability to do scary eyes -she can look straight at you with one eye and make the other cross as she likes to say "that really freaks me out".

I know I have mentioned this before but Emily has her dad wrapped around her little fingers but she now seemed to be working on uncle Brett!

Audrey & Em giving us an impromptu concert.

Have I mentioned Emily is a climber! Notice the chairs on the table? That is to keep her from climbing on it. She can pull them around the kitchen and get on whatever she wants.

While we have been busy it has been rainy here. We have had one of the wettest winters I can remember in a long time. But just when you think you can't handle another day of rain the sun comes out and you can go out side! On Monday when I had piles of laundry to do and a house that was a disaster I just could not handle the thought of being inside all day so I looked at Audrey & Emily and said let's go to fairy tale town, I am not sure who was more excited to be outside - them or me. For those of you who went as a child it hasn't changed all that much. I am sure my parents have pictures of me and my siblings poking through the Swiss cheese!

Well I am going to stop here because this brings us up to this week and boy has it been a busy one! So I will save that for another post - maybe sooner than later.

Life is busy!

2011-01-15T08:31:00.000-08:00

It is 8:30 on Saturday morning and I am sitting in my car waiting for Annie to finish riding lessons. So I thought I would try updating my blog on my phone as I often find myself waiting in the car these days! I know I have said this before "our life is good just busy!". Last night I signed up not 1, not 2 but 3 kids for baseball!!! What are we thinking!!! Audrey joins the ranks of ball players in our house this year - she will be 4 1/2 the same age the other kids were when they started!!! At least we have 4 weeks until practice starts but Charlie has try outs in 2 weeks and John is coaching so he has to go watch, drafts and coaches clinics coming up starting soon.

Along with that to look forward to between now and opening day we have the pinewood derby, girl scout cookies, and I am co-chairing the school auction/Gala again this year. Not to mention the other daily stuff - school, preschool, girl scouts, boy scouts, basket ball for C:Charlie, riding for annie, basket ball for John and all the other stuff! So it looks like this works and while I am waiting in the car I can accomplish something!!!

just dance

2011-01-10T19:52:00.000-08:00

For one of our 12 days of Christmas John got the kids Just Dance II for Wii. It is one of my favorite games with the kids. Tonight before dinner we were doing it and I love Emily dancing in front of her sisters!!!

Basketball!

2011-01-10T19:47:00.000-08:00

Another season is upon us! Charlie is old enough to play for the school team this year! John is his coach and they are loving it! He had his first game last week and he was the second highest scorer on his team!

It's cold outside!

2011-01-05T19:43:00.000-08:00

It has been so cold outside lately!!! I know it is nothing like other places but under 50 is just too cold for me! Anyway, it didn't stop the girls from playing outside~

Mom you can stand in line

2010-12-28T04:15:00.000-08:00

So the day after Christmas Annie and John are playing tetherball in the back yard. Annie comes in and asks me to play. I get my shoes on and come out and she looks at me and says "mom the line is there, you need to stand in it to wait for your turn!"

Uhmmm, I am going to get right on that one!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-28T03:55:00.001-08:00

Christmas just seems magical with little kids!

Charlie and Annie woke up at 6! Were amazed they slept that late!!!

]
(Waiting)

At about 6:30 we let them wake up Audrey!

Emily didn't wake up until about 7:00!

We had a great morning opening all the presents!!! Each kid got a camera and lots of toys! Annie this year was just as excited about clothes almost (she is growing up way to fast!!!) For their big present Emily got a push car, Audrey a little moped type scooter, Annie a tether ball pole, and Charlie a punching bag! Oh and Daddy surprised everyone (that includes Mom) with a bunny!

We had our traditional Christmas breakfast of Monkey Bread and Eggs & ham. I love these little things! The kids were so good and excited all day! My parents, Aunt Caitlin & Aunt Courtney came over for dinner. By bed time everyone fell into bed and was asleep in minutes!!!

12 Day of Christmas

2010-12-28T03:50:00.003-08:00

I love Christmas Eve!!!

For the last few years we have been creating our own family traditions for Christmas eve! We always make homemade pizza for dinner. The kids love to help with it all and it is a fun dinner (that we eat on paper so no big mess for mom!). We also each open a present. The kids can't wait - they start asking early in the morning. Everyone also gets a pair of Christmas PJ's. Then we put out a plate for Santa and then usually watch a Christmas story. Well this year about 8:30 Charlie told Annie and Audrey that they should all go up to bed so Santa can come! It was amazing - by 9:15 they were all asleep!!! John and I were in bed and done with all our stuff by 12!!! That is a record for us - Santa was able to come to the Garrison house early this year!!

11th day of Christmas

2010-12-28T03:50:00.001-08:00

Mom Forgot what we did!!! Oh no does that make me a bad mom!!

Christmas Break

2010-12-22T19:26:00.000-08:00

The kids have been on Christmas break this week and so far it has been a pretty good week for them I would say! Monday was a lazy day, Tuesday we got up and ran errands then came home and all the kids had play dates. Annie had a sleep over and since the moment everyone has been awake today it has been a revolving door here. At one point there where 10 children running around playing. Tonight Charlie is having a sleepover and then we will have a quiet rest of the week while mom gets ready for Christmas.

As for mom this has been a long 2 days. One reason we love our home is we live in an amazing community. We have made great friends, people we have truly come to care about and who are part of daily our lives. Our children are in each others homes, we celebrate things all together, we help each other out and are each other friends. It also means when things happen it often is close to home.

On Monday night a good friend of mine, a mother of a friend of Charlie's, was in a horrible head on collision right by the equestrian center outside the gates. She is going to make it but it is going to be long road for her as she has pretty much crushed one side of her body. How my heart goes out to her and her family. But being the community we live in meals are planned, kids are taken care of and the we will help her and her family through this as they need us.

Well as if that wasn't enough, I awoke this morning to a message that Cito, one of Audrey's favorite friends from church and preschool who had open heart surgery last week on an existing heart condition and is still at Lucille Packard was being taken back into surgery for a blood clot in his aorta. While waiting to hear how surgery went I get a call from my good friend Tessa asking me if I had talked to our friend Kerri yet this morning and I said no what's up. It turns out that Seth, her 6 yr old and a friend of Annie's was at the movies on Monday in the bay area with his family and he fell down while walking, his leg had given out on him, over the course of the day he kept crying that his leg hurt and finally started screaming in pain so his mom took him to the emergency room to learn he has a mass in his leg and a broken bone.

So today has been a day of praying and waiting! Its not often that this many friends are going through things this drastic all at once. All day I have just felt so grateful that my children are healthy and happy but scared for our friends. Luckily, Cito made it through surgery and they were able to remove the clot. His recovery starts all over and hopefully he will get to come home soon. Seth's pathology report also came back that it was not cancer but a cyst that bore a hole through the bone. With time the bone will heal and he should be fine.

So tonight while I do feel the Christmas spirit in the sense that I know there is a greater reason for the holiday and that prayers are truly answered, it is just the stress of the rest of Christmas at this point that has me a little blue!

8th - 10th day of Christmas

2010-12-22T19:25:00.001-08:00

On the 8th day of Christmas the kids got left at home with dad and got to watch home alone & have cookies!

On the 9th day of Christmas we had hot chocolate and read a story

On the 10th of Christmas there were santa chocolates and the movie the Sorcerers stone!

7th day of Christmas

2010-12-19T21:33:00.000-08:00

Finally we are back on track!

On the 7th day of Christmas we get to make Gingerbread house and then Dance for a while!

The kids had the best time making little gingerbread houses and then John had gotten the kids a new Wii game called Dance Off (I think). It was so fun and we all spent a few hours after dinner dancing against each other!

After that we went for a drive looking at Christmas lights! 3 of the 4 kiddos fell asleep in the car - it has been a long fun day and they all need the rest!!! Till tomorrow.

6th day of Christmas

2010-12-19T21:28:00.000-08:00

I know today I was going to make up for yesterday but it kind of turned into one of those days! Today was John's birthday, the kids and I spent a few hours watching Christmas videos early in the morning. We watched one I had never seen called Yes, Virgina (it is a new one that came out in 2008). If you haven't watched it it is a must see - I think my favorite Christmas Show ever now!!! My kids loved it and I cried. John opened his presents and had we had a lazy day at home.

Emily has been sick all week and today seemed to be the day she needed mommy to sit and hold her. (She has had an ear infection that today turned in to stomach bug symptoms - so mom also spent the day be thrown up on!)

We had birthday late in the afternoon so John could go play ball and then had pizza after - his favorite! So while we didn't do any special day 6 stuff we had a great day!

5th Day of Christmas

2010-12-18T00:19:00.000-08:00

Wasn't very exciting - the kids had a sitter and when I got home to do the basket 2 of the 4 kids were asleep so we will do 2 on the 6th day which is also John's birthday so it is very fitting!!!

This morning was Annie's 1st grade Christmas performance! The kids sang songs and had breakfast. She was so cute! I love the picture of her laughing with her friends when she didn't know we were watching!

The 4th Day of Christmas

2010-12-18T00:18:00.000-08:00

We watched Prep & Landing (thanks Uncle Justin who worked on it! It is awesome) & we had peppermint ice cream with chocolate Sauce!

3rd Day of Christmas

2010-12-15T20:49:00.000-08:00

On the 3rd day of Christmas we get to watch Charlie rock under the giant Christmas Tree after a tasty dinner at Leatherby's!

*** Charlie's band concert was tonight and he was awesome!!! He is playing the electric bass and he was so great!!!!!!

2nd day of Christmas

2010-12-15T20:47:00.000-08:00

On the 2nd day of Christmas we get to watch a Charlie Brown Christmas and mom made you some tasty treats!

(Thanks Walkers!!!)

1st Day of Christmas

2010-12-13T21:26:00.000-08:00

This year at our house we are doing the 12 days of Christmas to count down to the big day!

Today's card read:

On the first day of Christmas we will have some hot chocolate and a Christmas story!

so sad...

2010-12-13T21:25:00.000-08:00

I know, I haven't updated my blog in forever but I am going to come back and do it soon - but till then I am going to start with today!

Where's Audrey

2010-12-10T04:42:00.000-08:00

Tonight when I went to bed I went to check on the kids like I always do and to move Emily from my bed (where she fell asleep) to her bed. Well I could not find Audrey. For just a moment I was ready to panic and scream to John that Audrey was gone even though we had been downstairs all evening. Then I turned around from her bed and this is what I found in the crib!

for some reason after we put her to bed and before she fell asleep she climbed into Em's crib!

Straight A's

2010-12-09T04:51:00.000-08:00

Charlie got straight A's in school this Trimester!!! We couldn't be more proud of him and how hard he has worked!!! (3rd grade at his school is when they start the honor roll!!)

My Baby turns 1!

2010-12-01T04:46:00.000-08:00

My littlest is well on her way to becoming a toddler. Emily turned 1 today! She may be the happiest, smiliest baby in the entire world! She really, truly always seems to have a smile on her face and brings joy to everyone she meets. She will cuddle up to anyone and is a huge flirt. She has gone with the flow since day one. I could not imagine our family with out her!!!

Princess Party

2010-11-30T04:36:00.000-08:00

For Audrey's birthday this year she wanted a princess party! She had 12 little girls over and they made pizza, had a picnic, played in a blow up house and had a great time! I love these cute little girls!!

I didn't get lots of good Pictures!!!!

Audrey Turns 4

2010-11-29T04:29:00.000-08:00

I know we all say I can't believe my Child is... But it is so true!

Audrey came into this world with her own little demands and personality and she has made us smile and laugh for the last 4 years! She is such a funny girl and can be so stubborn at times (especially when it is time to brush her hair) but she is also my most independent and most like me child. John calls her my mini Megan.

She has been telling us for months that her birthday is in 2 weeks so now that the big day is here she was over the moon!

Terrible tease

2010-10-13T08:45:00.000-07:00

So last week I had the kids photos taken. It was one of those photo sessions where the photographer takes pictures for an hour or so and then edits some of the pictures and then sends you the disk so you can print whatever you like. The photographer was so nice and worked great with the kids. And if I do say so myself they all were adorable looking but she has sent me a few picts she has edited and we are waiting for the rest. It is horrible because I just can't wait to see them!!! Here is a sneak peak!!!

Where is Heaven?

2010-10-02T22:51:00.000-07:00

Here is my conversation with Audrey earlier today:

Audrey: Mom, I miss our fishies

Mom: I'm sorry honey, they died

Audrey: Did they go to Heaven?

Mom: Yes, they did.

Audrey: Is Heaven down the toilet?

Where did my baby go?

2010-09-15T10:55:00.000-07:00

My poor little blog - life is so busy it is the last thing I want to update at the end of the day. Life is good just busy, busy, busy!!! I am going to update each kids going on's this week! (at least that is my goal)

Emily is 9 1/2 months already - she is on the fast track to being a toddler. It truly has gone faster than any of the other kids getting to this point. She has the cutest little grin right now with her one little tooth (she does have 3 more cutting through right now). She is crawling everywhere, pulling herself up, feeding herself, saying mama and trying to stand on her own. Before I know we won't have a baby on our hands anymore!!!

First day of Preschool

2010-08-17T20:33:00.000-07:00

Audrey started Preschool again today! She was super excited and wanted to walk up to the front door all by herself. I told her I was going to take some pictures and she asked if I would go outside afterwards and let her go back in by herself.

She is so happy to be back at school!

First day of School!

2010-08-17T20:26:00.001-07:00

I can't believe but another school year is here! Charlie is in 3rd grade and Annie is in First grade this year. It is super exciting for us this year because the kids have a brand new school to attend. We have watched the school being built for the last 18 months and it is amazing!!! There is a giant 2 story building for all the class rooms, a multipurpose room, library & computer lab and much more. You may think that is funny for me to say some of these things but the old school had a portable for a cafeteria and the original buildings were old and the majority of them were old portables.

Annie's teacher is Mrs. Tuvell and Charlie has Mrs. Fruit & Mrs. Vine. They all seem super nice and we are looking forward to a great year!

Family dinner

2010-08-17T19:24:00.000-07:00

Saturday night we got together with my family for my dad's birthday. We had a picnic in the park - it was perfect, the adults all got to visit and the kids had a great time playing.

Fun at the lake

2010-08-16T20:21:00.000-07:00

Friday night we had a bbq at the lake with some friends, it was the perfect weather and we had the lake/beach area almost all to ourselves. I have felt so blessed all summer that I get to live where we do and that we have such great friends to be with. We have spent one to two days a week at the lake all summer. We get there mid morning and just stay all day. Charlie fishes, Annie swims to and from the swimming dock and Audrey plays in the sand and Emily sits on a blanket with me and hangs out.

That night as we were driving home, Annie said to me "mom, that was so much fun can we do that again tomorrow!"

Soccer Star

2010-08-14T19:17:00.000-07:00

Audrey is playing soccer! She is doing a 6 week program our soccer league puts on called little kickers. She has been so excited about it, she has been wearing her cleats and shin guards around for weeks waiting for the day to come!

Big girls

2010-08-12T19:22:00.000-07:00

Today the girls got they're back to school hair cuts! They look so grown up!!

8 Months

2010-08-03T08:33:00.000-07:00

I truly don't know where time has gone! Emily is 8 months old today!!!

On Sunday we were at the table and John was looking at Emily and said she has a tooth, then a second later, well maybe it is a cheerio. I said no she doesn't have any teeth yet (nursing her you would think I would know). Then yesterday (Monday) I stuck my finger in her mouth and she has a full on tooth cut through!

A little bit older and another one!

2010-08-03T08:27:00.000-07:00

Monterey Bay Aquarium

July 2010
\
April 2008

Pirate?

2010-07-14T08:37:00.000-07:00

So yesterday morning Charlie came to me and said "mom it is pirate day at summer rec can you help me make a costume!"

This is what we came up with in about 10 minutes!

Project one for the week!

2010-07-14T08:32:00.000-07:00

Project one for the week!

So my mother-in-law gave me these chairs years ago when she moved to Wisconsin. At first they were a taupe colored. I spray painted them red years ago and then this week I gave them a new coat of paint and some pillows. I have the stuff to make a new wreath for my door so I will post a picture of the entry when it is all done.

Good times

2010-07-09T16:43:00.001-07:00

Today the kids and I went on a summer camp field trip to the bowling alley. The kids had the best time and were so good all day! They bowled with friends, played games, ran an errand or two with me and then we went to lunch. I may be cursing myself by saying this but I am so not looking forward to school starting in a few weeks. I really do love the summer and having them home (okay maybe not at 9 after a long day but up until 7:00 for sure!!! - lol)

AND .. could anything be cuter than Audrey in those little saddle bowling shoes!

What do you do in the summer time...

2010-07-08T16:50:00.000-07:00

We have been doing lots of fun things. Today Charlie had summer camp, Annie had horse riding lesson and then Audrey had a friend over and then we went swimming later in the day at the same friends house. Needless to say all my kids love the water even the newest little fish we have!

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-04T13:31:00.000-07:00

I put Emily down to get a picture and the dog walked up and licked her face - she was shocked and we all were just laughing!

the last week or two in pictures!

2010-07-04T08:11:00.000-07:00

Audrey helping me make a cake for the 4th of July.

Summer must be here -the slide is up.

She is sitting!!!

Happy Fathers Day!! (We took John to his favorite restaurant)

Ah little sister - Rub my feet!

We have not found a food she will not eat yet!

All I am saying....

2010-06-22T18:55:00.000-07:00

All I am saying is life is good! Sometimes we get so caught up in what we are doing and where we have to go and what we have to accomplish that we forget to just enjoy life and what is important in it.

If it were 15 years ago right now I would be getting ready to lead a campfire for 125 kids whose siblings all had cancer. Some of those kids had lost a sibling, or they may have been in remission, or going through the trial of cancer right then. My siblings would have been at camp along with me - me being the interloper on their week away. It is easy when you are going through a trial to remember to stop and enjoy your todays.

So my goal for the next 8 weeks is I am going to try to teach my kids how to just enjoy life and that our family is the most important thing in it! We aren't going to worry if the laundry doesn't get folded or there are dishes in the sink, we are going to stay up late and sleep in. We are going to play at the beach, have friends over, go on some adventures. I am going to teach them about Tajar and maybe help them make a lanyard or 2. I am going to tell them about some friends I have had and some memories I have made.

So for this afternoon Annie has had Gracie over all and they have played for hours on the trampoline with the sprinkler or inside with the kitten. Charlie is having a sleepover with the politest friend and they are outside with water guns. Hopefully when they look back they will be able to remember some of the important lessons of life - like enjoying it.

Happy Fathers Day

2010-06-20T11:53:00.000-07:00

I just want to make sure my husband knows how much we all love him and appreciate him. He is such a great dad to our kids! He is unfailingly patient with them, the best playmate and role model. He is always willing to have the kids with him and to play with them even after long days at work. He can be bone tired and when Charlie asks to go out on the lake to fish he is always willing to go. He loves his little girls and will promise them the world (just ask Annie - she seems to think he told her he would buy her a pony after she finishes her horse lessons and knows how to take care of and ride one!) He works so hard so the kids can do all the activities they are interested in and he shows up to watch them all!

Thanks John for all you do and for being the greatest dad to our kids!

Summer time...

2010-06-20T11:26:00.000-07:00

I would love to say that we are having an incredibly lazy relaxing summer but truth be told it seems just as busy as any other time. The kids have been out of school for 4 weeks now and we have had lots going on. First off John spent a week in China, (he has the funniest stories that I will post later). After China Joe/Pop came and visited us for a few days and we had lots of fun visiting with him and he got to meet Baby Emily. Then my college roommates and I were all able to get together for a visit. It is always fun to see them and have our kids play together. I only wished we all lived closer!

Annie started horseback riding lessons this week! She has been wanting to do this for a while now and she just loves them. Her teacher said Annie is very comfortable doing this, I will admit it scares me a little. I was sitting there watching her at one point and thought to myself, I am going to have to be prepared to watch my daughter fall off a horse if she really is interested in this! So far she has only slipped off the saddle once and she was going so slow she just hung onto the reins and had her foot in the stir up hanging to the side of the horse!

Audrey just finished a week of swim lessons and to my utter amazement after 2 days I look over and she had swam across the pool by herself! She is killing me lately with the funny things she says. Earlier this week she got mad at me and with all the attitude of a 13 year old looked at me and said "Thanks a lot Mom". She is our resident clown most days, and she often doesn't realize how funny & cute she is. she told me recently that Daddy stole her heart and is her boyfriend.

Charlie is doing Summer rec again and he loves his independence of getting to ride his bike to the park each morning. He does all sorts of activities at the park each day and he gets up and is ready to go a good hour before it starts. I do know that his favorite part of the day is getting to play dodge ball. He has also become our expert fisherman. He loves to fish!!! He wanted to get John a new tackle box for fathers day. When I asked him why, his response was so I can have the other one for myself. Each Wednesday we have lake day with a bunch of friends and he always takes his pole and heads to the dock to fish!

Emily is still her sweet little self. She is rolling over and sitting by herself in the little frog stance babies start out doing. Before we know she is going to be mobile. She has starting eating baby food She Squeals horribly if I don't spoon it in fast enough!!! She sure loves food - when I put her down for her nap a little while ago I had been nursing her and she fell asleep drooling milk looking like she was a gluttonous little thing in a milk coma!

Like Father like son!

2010-05-20T23:07:00.000-07:00

A glimpse of what is to come! (or at least my Saturdays in the spring for the next few years)

Charlie's class did something neat to day. Each kid got to share some thing they were good at or were talented in. Charlie choose to share about pitching. John came in and caught for him and he was so excited to show all his friends how to pitch!

Happy (well) baby!

2010-05-20T23:01:00.000-07:00

So Emily is a very well baby!!! She had her 6 month apt this week and is weighing in at 16 lbs. She is in the 95% for Weight and shocker of all shockers in the 98% for height (were we supposed to be surprised?)

She isn't officially 6 months for another 2 weeks or so but this week she has rolled over on her own (Sunday, May 16). Not just a flip from her back to tummy but a roll from back to tummy to back to tummy again! I am sure the scooting will start any day now.

We got out her exersaucer this week and she seems to like it okay. She just stares at it like she is unsure of what to do.

And tonight after her shower with John I was dressing her for bed and she started blowing raspberry's. As if I haven't said it before - she is just the cutest little baby!!!

I think today we are calling her....

2010-05-17T21:37:00.000-07:00

JELLO? Stay tuned for the final decision.

Picasa

2010-05-15T19:13:00.000-07:00

So, I know I am not good about uploading pictures to Picasa. For some reason it takes for ever for our pictures to upload/download what ever it is it does (I mean hours!!!) But I set it to go with some pictures from our recent trip to the desert and some good ones of the kids. So check out the Garrison Family Pictures.

Disclaimer: don't be surprised if I don't do it again for a while but mom - feel free to share the pictures with Joe's family.

Kids swimming at hotel in Palm Springs (they were in their bathing suits before breakfast and in the pool by 8:30!)

href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XwL5kpx3bDM/S-9VXdjQgmI/AAAAAAAAJVE/LYZSc3PBV6w/s1600/May+018.jpg">
Kids at Bob's big boy on drive down south!

We had to stop so I could feed Emily and the exit I took just happened to be at the LA Arboretum. The kids got to get out and run and play - perfect spot!

Zoo....

2010-05-15T19:06:00.000-07:00

It's official, we live in a zoo! 4 kids, 1 dog, 2 fish and....we acquired our newest family member today - a 6 week old kitten. In fine Garrison tradition she is still nameless but she is adorable. I am not sure how Oreo feels yet, the first meeting had a lot of hissing involved.

On other fronts, there is only 5 more days of school!!! I think mom is more excited than the kids. Annie has her kinder promotion on Thursday then on to 1st grade! She is amazing, she is reading so well and we are going to spend the summer reading the Junie B. series (thanks grandma). Charlie is super excited about being a big 3rd grader - he is already learning to write in cursive and has about 1/2 the multiplication table memorized already. Baseball is still going strong. Charlie pitched today and had 5 K's - he is an ace as his dad calls him.

Audrey is getting so big - she is almost done with her first year of preschool and has grown up so much in the last few months. She is still a ham and is destined to be in entertainment, she loves nothing more than putting on shows for us. She has her first ballet recital in 2 weeks - I can't wait to see it! Emily is 5 months now and still a dream baby, she is so happy and will let anyone hold her, she has a ginormous toothless grin for anyone who will look and her and is starting to laugh. She is about to roll over any day now also.

Well kitty and kids are calling!

Godspead

2010-05-06T14:31:00.000-07:00

Last week my Step Grandfather, Joe Foster, passed away. He was 79 and had been suffering from Lou Gehrigs this last year. Joe married my grandmother when I was 15 and was very kind to me and my siblings. Joe considered my siblings and I his grandchildren, just like his own, and he and my grandmother came to all the major events in my life - (graduations, marriages, etc). I took the kids down for the services this week. Out of all the pictures I took this might be my favorite. Joe served in the Air Force (with my own grandfather) and was given full military honors at the service.

Joe was a true patriot. He flew in over 1,160 combat sorties during the Vietnam conflict. He received two Distinguished Flying Crosses, the Bronze Star, five Air Medals, and two Meritorious Service Medal.

If you look past Charlie you can see the soldiers during the 21 gun salute. It was very moving to see the young solider kneel before my grandmother and present her with the flag that hung on his casket.

I asked Charlie what the solider said to grandma and he said "that he was thankful for your husband fighting for our country and how brave he was." I hope that as Charlie gets older he will remember this and take with him the legacy that his great grandfather and step-great grandfather left for him.

Way to go Charlie!

2010-05-06T13:19:00.000-07:00

Want to guess what area Charlie came in first in at the local Pitch, Hit & Run Contest and gets to advance to the sectionals in?

If you guessed pitching you would be right! He gets to go to the next level - regionals on May 23rd.

2010-04-23T22:59:00.000-07:00

So tonight Charlie had his birthday party! He got to invite some friends to a Rivercats game. When I called to get the tickets the sales lady suggested this section in the lawn seats that is contained by a fence and is full of lawn chairs and is only a dollar more than the lawn seats - only 20 people could sit there and since no one had signed up for we could use it with our group. I jumped at the chance, the boys were contained and couldn't get away and if they didn't stay in their seats it wasn't a big deal. How perfect was that for 8 year olds!

Well this turned out to be the best seat in the house!!!! Half an hour into the game an usher came up to John and asked if someone could join us. This man comes and sits in the far corner away from everyone. I looked back and just thought, who the heck is sitting with us, I thought we were the only who could sit in here, but since John is sitting a seat away I think he must be okay with it - especially since he had a HUGE grin on his face. After about 5 minutes I walk up to John to see what is going on and there is John just looking ecstatic! He looks at me and whispers - "That's Ricky Henderson!" at first I thought he was joking with me but the grin got bigger and bigger!!! For those of you who didn't know - Ricky was John's favorite ball player growing up. He was John's baseball hero as a kid!!! - he has tons of Ricky Henderson things and has told me stories about waiting for hours to get a signature on things. John said this will probably be his favorite kid birthday party EVER!!!

Apparently Ricky was driving through town and wanted to catch a little of the game. He came in a back gate near where we were sitting and asked John if he could join us. Ricky was so very nice, he signed Charlie's glove, took a picture with him & signed all the boys tickets - if I knew I was going to have that for them I would have skipped a party favor!!!

Now John & Charlie have new Ricky Henderson memorabilia to hang in the office and an incredible experience too! (does this mean I now have to rush out and get Charlie a new glove before his game tomorrow?)

no time to stop!

2010-04-15T07:57:00.000-07:00

Stayed tuned for...

Baseball opening day
Baseball games
Easter festival
Easter
Charlie's birthday
Annie's Birthday

So this is funny little post - it is more to remind me what I need to sit down and post about so I don't forget!

The last month at our house has been so busy (when is it not) but this time everything is getting put on the back burner until I can get our house and lives a little under control. Last Friday I chaired a crab feed & auction for our elementary school at the country club for 250 guests -needless to say that I have been running around crazy! BUT... the event earned almost $20000 for the school so I would say it was a huge success.

Baby Blue Eyes!

2010-03-19T05:26:00.000-07:00

Emily is getting so big so fast!!! She will give you the biggest smiles you could ever imagine and she is starting to giggle. She is sooo ticklish it is funny. If you tickle her tummy she scrunches up her legs and wiggles her head from side to side. There is something about this sweet little girl that is so engaging, she seems to have this really sweet and happy personality. Yesterday I was in the principals office at school (no one is in trouble - just talking about a fundraiser I am chairing in a few weeks) and I left her in the front office with the secretary & when I came out of the office there were 6 or 7 teachers/staff gathered around her and she was just sitting there smiling at all of them!

She got a new toy to play with - okay she just lays on the mat right now but she is starting to reach out to the toys!

Only once

2010-03-19T05:00:00.000-07:00

Lately Audrey asks questions like rapid gunfire. For example, "can I have a drink, can I have a drink, mom, can I have a drink, mom, I want a drink, a drink" all of this in a 30 second period where I can't get her to stop long enough for me to say, sure. I am constantly telling her that if she asks me more than once the answer is no or to only ask once.

Well yesterday she was at her little easel drawing right by the back door & I was in the kitchen. Oreo wanted to come in so I asked her to open the door. She ignored me and about 5 minutes later I asked her to open the door again. She turned to me and said "no, I told you to only ask me one time, don't ask me more than once for something mama!"

I about fell over laughing!

St. Patty's Day

2010-03-18T05:10:00.000-07:00

The kids out front looking for gold!

I love that Annie is at the corner looking for gold (it was only on the porch & driveway!)

Our kids are at such a fun age. They still believe in Fairy's, Santa Claus and Leprechauns! I have been so busy I almost forgot to do things for St. Patrick's day but the night before I pulled a few tricks out of my sleeve. I went outside and gathered a ton of rocks and spray painted them gold. John and I sprinkled them in the front entry way and down the front porch and drive. The kids were so excited to find it, they all took some to school to share the gold with their friends. I tried to dye the toilet water green but forgot that I have cleaner tablets in the tanks and it bleached out all the color!

We did have corned beef & cabbage for dinner. John has always told me he didn't like it but I made it anyway (I did have a back up plan in case no one would eat it) but much to my surprise EVERYONE (John & all the kids) LOVED IT!!!! Okay, not the cabbage but the corned beef, carrots & potatoes. I am so excited, I know that sounds silly, but I have always love corned beef and never made it because I always assumed no one else would eat it. In the past I would try to get myself invited to may parents near St. Patrick's day on a day I knew John couldn't come so my mom would make it for me!

I also made these tasty little treats - Rainbow cupcakes! (I copied the idea -but really could they be any cuter!)

February - a whirlwind of a month!

2010-02-27T19:24:00.000-08:00

I could write the usual - Where did the month go - but the reality is I know right where it went! With 4 kids - one a 12 week old, a husband, planning a crab feed & auction, homework, art club, ballet for both girls, preschool, church, basketball for Charlie & John, homework club, boy scouts, Girl scouts, Pinewood derby, selling girl scout cookies, House guests for a weekend, valentines day, Valentine class parties, PTA meetings, play dates, painting & decorating the play room, dr's appointments, having Linus the 2nd grade guinea pig for a weekend, both cars in the shop, repair appointments for the dryer & microwave, working in both classrooms each week, babysitting swaps so I can work in classrooms, sleepovers, 2 school holidays, a week of minimum days for Charlie and oh yeah not to mention cooking, cleaning, laundry and driving the kids to all those things! That is where the month went!!!

Now some of those highlights ~ Charlie had his pinewood derby earlier this month and he came in 2nd in his pack! We are so proud of him and his enthusiasm. He was just as excited for all the other boys as he was for himself. Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Courtney came over for dinner and to cheer him on with us. He and John had a great time building his car! They designed it and John got a new work bench so they had a great time working together!

Annie has been selling girl scout cookies this month and was so cute in front of our little market with her troop! How cute are those little daisy girls! She and I have a new little tradition, while Audrey is at ballet each Wednesday morning we go next door to the little coffee shop and get hot chocolate and muffins and sit and visit. She is so cute and seems to treasure these times with me still. She is growing up into such a sweet little girl!

Audrey has been loving preschool. All the kids in her class are three and it has been so good for her. She comes home and talks about all her friends and Ms. Carrie. She has just blossomed in the last 2 months it seems from a little toddler to a big girl! She has started the funniest habit ever - when ever we go somewhere she packs a purse. Who knows what you are going to find in it. Last week at Johns basketball game all of a sudden I realize all the kids (I mean like 8 kids - not just mine) have string cheese. I look into her purse and there must have been 4 granola bars, 4 or 5 gogurts, half a pack of sliced American cheese, 2 refrigerator magnets, a chip clip bag and my favorite a check book (one from my purse)! She was prepared for everything - how can you not adore her!

We had a low key valentines at home! I made heart shaped french toast and then later that afternoon my good friend Cindy and her family came and stayed for a few days. We had heart shaped Pizza and pink cupcakes. Then we got to do our favorite thing and sit and talk for 2 days! The following day was holiday and it was BEAUTIFUL outside. Charlie played outside on his bike from 9 in the morning until 5 when I made him come in for dinner! Cindy and I took all the kids to the park at lunch time for picnic and we went on a long walk along the river with all the kids.

Charlie has been playing basketball again this year and LOVES it. I think it is his favorite sport and he is so good at it! He makes tons of baskets and he is really good about passing to his teammates as well. And on defense he is a little stud! He has this yell he does as he is trying to block shots that makes me laugh. We were at Walmart after one of his games and a dad and son on the other team walks by and I hear the dad say to the son, that is the kid on the other team who had 20 points! We are so proud of him.

We have had TONS of rain this month but we have also had some beautiful days as well. We have tried to spend those sunny days at park. It is the perfect time of year for our park because the snakes aren't out yet so the kids can play in the tree forts and bushes. The kids love being outside with all their friends and I love that I have so many great girl friends out here that have kids and we can get together and visit and let our kids run free at the park.

I wouldn't normally put up that both cars were in the shop but my van has been great! The check engine light came on for the first time in almost 3 years with a minor problem and then John on the other hand was coming back from a date with Annie and had a minor fender bender with a piece of re-bar on the side of the road. The picture below is of him removing it from the undercarriage of his car - I didn't get a picture of the 20 feet of barbed wire attached to it as well. Luckily no one was hurt other than the truck (it took over 2 weeks to fix and has to go back in next week after a few more parts come in!)

Emily is still an amazing baby! I feel so blessed with her sweet little personality. She sleeps all night still and even naps great during the day! She is at that smiley stage where anytime you interact with her she is all smiles. She may have the cutest smile ever - she scrunches up her little hands to her chin and tilts her head and then gives you the most beautiful little toothless grin you could imagine. She is starting to recognize her sisters and Charlie and will smile when she hears and sees them. I love that as her mom all I have to do is smile or pick her up and she is happy and content. I am still amazed that she is a red head! I was shocked when we had Annie and she had red hair - Emily is going to have hair just as red if not redder! Right now she is just curled up asleep in my arms as I type. John and Charlie are off playing basketball & the older girls are playing with some friends. We started a babysitting co-op on Saturday nights with some friends, we each take turns having the kids at our house on Saturday night and then other weeks we drop of our kids and get an adult evening. See how lucky I am!

As I look ahead to March I want to bury my head in the sand already, it may be busier than February. Baseball practice starts Monday - Charlie has 2 practices a week and Annie 1. The crab feed/Auction I am chairing is April 9th so we are at the countdown for that, John is gone for 4 or 5 days early this month, and we still have everything else going on!

(here are some pictures from the month no particular order and there are a lot of them - Audrey dropped our camera and it isn't working so that is on the to do list for the month too!)

Charlie's Class Valentines Day Party

Smiley Emily

Charlie at the pinewood derby & getting his tropy!

Annie's Valentines day party

Emily ready for Church

Audrey & Emily at Charlie's Basket ball game!
Charlie Playing ball - he was awarded MVP for his Team!!!!

Annie & Charlie with Linus (no we are not getting a guinea pig!!!)

Audrey talking to Uncle Brett on the phone (she wants to call him everyday)

Audrey with her Valentines Lollipop!

The kids got mousetrap as a valentines present!

Could she be any cuter?

Working on the pinewood derby car

John's Truck!

You just have to laugh!

2010-01-31T09:27:00.000-08:00

You know my life is kind of a comedy sometimes. Yesterday John and I got a babysitter and were going to spend the afternoon/evening on a date ~ really our first one since Emily came. Well it started out lots of fun. John and I headed towards Jackson and were going to go into the little antique shops in Sutter Creek that we drive by all the time and never go in because we have all the kids with us. Then we were going to go out to dinner and then John was going to play ball for a bit while I ran a few errands!

Well we park the truck, load Emily into my front pack and head off for the downtown and the stores. We walk by this really old jail and we are joking about something and laughing and I am not paying attention to where I am going and next thing you know I step off the curb and end up on the ground (EMILY IS FINE)!!!! Before I can even get up I know something is wrong with my foot and sure enough it looks like a baseball is coming off my ankle. John goes and gets the truck and we head to the emergency room. Since we are so far from Sacto we just go to the hospital in Jackson. After x-rays it is just badly sprained and I have to stay off it for a few days. Really all in all it wasn't a bad place to have it happen, we were in an out of the hospital in Jackson in less than an hour and a half, and we had dinner in the car on the way home. The kids and John have been so sweet and have been taking care of everything. And if nothing else I get a few forced days of relaxing and sitting and holding Emily!

Twins

2010-01-26T16:55:00.000-08:00

Today was twin day at school so Annie & Gracie wore little matching skirts I made and big red bows. They are so cute! I am glad Annie has such a great best friend!

Daddy Daughter Dance

2010-01-23T22:13:00.000-08:00

Tonight was Annie's first Daddy Daughter Dance at school. She had the best time dancing with her daddy, her best friend Gracie and the other girls at school. (sorry I couldn't just pick one picture!)

While John and Annie were out on their date, Audrey went to a friends for dinner and games (her friend Kat's dad and sister were at the dance too!), Charlie and I hung out at home playing games and having a fun time hanging out together!

Uncle Brian is great entertainment

2010-01-23T22:01:00.000-08:00

In the windy storm on Wednesday a huge tree limb fell off the neighbors tree and landed on our fence knocking down a few panels. Uncle Brian came over on Friday to put them back up and Audrey thought he was the best entertainment ever. She got out a little chair and set it up to watch him. She would just hang out with him holding screws and talking to him, it didn't seem to bother her that it was drizzling and that uncle Brian was ignoring her for the most part.

Best part is the fence is up and it didn't cost us a fortune! Thanks Brian.

I Heart Annie

2010-01-22T22:26:00.000-08:00

The other night I was taking some random pictures of the kids and got this one of Annie - how sweet is she!

Seven Weeks!

2010-01-21T22:28:00.000-08:00

I can't believe Emily is already 7 weeks old. The time is flying way to fast! I love this little new born phase and she is quickly moving out of it. She is such a sweet baby and is so mellow considering the chaos that is our lives. She sleeps great - I mean like 8 or 9 hours straight at night. Often I am waiting by the side of her bassinet for her to make some movement so I can justify getting her up to feed her (because I need to). She naps great during the day although we don't have a set schedule, she is great about sleeping from bed to car seat to bouncy chair and back to bed. She doesn't cry much if at all most days but this week she seems to be waking up more each day. Her cry is changing from that of a new born mewling sound to a real cry. She is starting to smile at people and of course we all sit there cooing and smiling at her and talking in a high pitched voice to get her to do it and of course I can never get it on camera. She has the cutest little pudgy checks you could imagine!! She also seems to have discovered that she has little appendages attached to her body - she will just sit there and wave her arms or legs around. She also is really tolerant of her siblings and their holding and jostling of her! I am praying that her little mellow personality will follow her through life, she is just a little joy to have around!!!!

Tylenol & tissues

2010-01-16T08:38:00.001-08:00

It has finally arrived at our house, cold and flu season. Earlier this week Annie had a really low grade fever that lasted only 24 hours. On Thursday Audrey came down with it and a cough. Friday Morning Annie's fever came back and I got a call from the secretary at school asking me to come pick up Charlie because he is sick. So we have a house full kids with all sorts of symptoms, sneezing, coughing, stomach ache, fever, you name it some one has it!

On Thursday night I told Audrey we were going to bed early because sleep would help her feel better. Friday morning in her raspy little voice she said "mommy you lied, sleep didn't make me better, me still sick". My poor little one.

At this point Emily is still okay, we haven't been letting any of the older kids touch her or be in her face. Hopefully because I am nursing she will stay okay. Now if we can just get everyone healthy.

Small things....

2010-01-14T11:55:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful for the sunshine! It has been rainy, cold and overcast here for weeks now and yesterday afternoon the sun came out ~ it is still cold and wet on the ground but rather than gray skies they are bright and clear. I am also thankful for the sun because I have my little yellow baby laying on a blanket on my bed with the blinds open pouring sunshine on her (which she needs horribly!). I took her to the dr's on Monday because she still has a yellow tint to her face and eyes. She has some jaundice left, not enough to do any damage or that they would treat. She is just having a reaction to breast milk,there is something in it that is making it take longer for the billiruben to break down. So I am really thankful for the sun today, hopefully she won't be too yellow too much longer.

Is there anything a cuter than a baby scrunched up to sleep with their little bottom up in the air?

A new pet?

2010-01-13T11:40:00.000-08:00

John came home this evening after being gone for a couple of days and as he walked into the house the kids came running up to him to hug him. Rather than shouts of joy all of sudden Annie starts screaming, not a cry but a blood curdling scream. I rush over with baby Emily in my arms and Annie starts pointing at John and amid sobs says "spider". John, who HATES spiders, starts doing the herky jerky dance to see if he can see it, we find the spider and brush it off onto the floor and what do you know, John brought a black widow home!

After a few comical minutes of the kids going crazy over the spider and Annie calming down we got the black widow killed and removed from the house! (John thinks it crawled on him as he was taking the grass/leaves garbage container to the curb - he told me he will never be able to touch the garbage cans again!)

Time flies...

2010-01-07T12:51:00.000-08:00

I don't know how it happened but Emily is 5 weeks old already! I can't imagine our family with out her! She is such a dream baby, she is so low key, sleeps great and when she is awake has a sweet disposition. She is a little cuddle bug and loves to sleep in your arms or curled up on your chest with her little hands under her chin. Annie is always saying "she is so cute I could just squeeze her forever!" I often come into a room to find Audrey next to Emily, whether she is in her bouncy chair, laying in her bassinet or on my bed, and she is sitting there just holding her hand. I just wish I could keep this baby phase forever, it is amazing how quickly they get big, Emily is already loosing that newborn cry and she is starting to look older, not the scrunched up squishy look of a newborn.

Knock on wood (lots of wood) but life has been wonderful for us! We have been able to spend most of our time at home the last 5 weeks and everyone has been okay with it. We have stayed healthy for the most part this winter and everyone seems to be adjusting to a routine and we have all been going with the flow of life in a seemingly calm manner.

I truly have been feeling very blessed lately. I have 4 healthy and beautiful children, and an incredible husband who is my best friend and the most amazing dad to our kids. A wonderful home, a great extended family and close friends around who are all apart of our lives. I could go on and on listing all my blessings but it would just make me cry. Really I just want our kids to know and realize how fortunate we are as a family and to know how loved they are. I want them to get to look back and remember all the great things about their childhood and smile when they read all about it.

Audrey - "me a big sister"

2010-01-05T12:46:00.000-08:00

Audrey seems to be doing great becoming a big sister, in fact it is her favorite line whenever we ask her to do/or not to do something. "me do that, me a big sister!"

Now that she is a big sister & (it coincided with her turning 3) she started preschool today! She LOVED it!!! She is going to a little in home preschool with 7 3-yr olds, 2 mornings a week from 9:00 to 12:00. Her teacher, Mrs. Carrie is an elementary school teacher and Audrey had the best time today. I was so worried she wouldn't stay or let me leave but she ran in, sat at the table and started playing playdough, she looked up and said bye mommy and was fine! She was so happy when I picked her up, she had the best time playing with the kids, playing outsided, doing music and all her fun activities!

New Years!

2010-01-01T11:46:00.000-08:00

We are not very exciting people, even with out young kids and a baby, we have never done anything exciting for New Years (most years we didn't even make it to Midnight awake).

This year we told the kids they could stay up til midnight to celebrate New Years. We all watched a movie (John & I did take naps during it) and played some games. We tried to convince the kids to celebrate at 9:00 (when it was 12 on the east coast) but now that Charlie can tell time there was no tricking him. As the night grew later, Audrey fell asleep first around 9:30 by 10:30 Annie was out, John and I were trying so hard to stay awake, then it came closer to midnight and the closer we got the more excited Charlie got. We turned on Dick Clark's show with the ball dropping and Charlie was so excited to see it drop! John and I both offered to let the other one go to be and we would stay up with Charlie but in the end we both stayed up with him and I am so glad we did, it was so fun to see Charlie cheering and jumping up and down. So maybe while we aren't going to ever have a huge party or anything like that, in our own simple way getting to experience all these things with our kids is an awfully exciting thing!

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T23:10:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas Day!!! It started early, but I think that is par for the course with a 7 year old. Around 4:30 I heard Charlie and Annie go down the stairs, after about 10 minutes they came up to tell us Santa had come. I told them they could go lay on the couches in the front room and look at everything. They came upstairs about every 10 minutes, I was able to drag this out until about 5:45. I told them they could wake up Audrey and we could all go down stairs!

What joy it was to watch their excitement and thrill of the day! The kids got tons of great gifts. Both Charlie & Annie got Nintendo DSi's and they are in 7th Heaven with them. After the presents we had our traditional Christmas breakfast! Monkey bread and eggs with ham and cheese.

We all stayed in our pj’s all day, the kids played with their toys, John and I vegged out on the couch and tried to get some rest! My parents, Caitlin, Brian and Courtney all came over about 2:30 and we had a great Ham dinner and spent a great afternoon and evening all together.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T22:22:00.000-08:00

We have had a wonderful Christmas season at our house this year! We are truly blessed to have the 4 greatest kids!

Christmas Eve

2009-12-24T22:46:00.000-08:00

At our house we always make home made pizza on Christmas Eve. The family gets new pj's and then the kids get to open a present!

Tonight after we had done all this we all settled down in the family room and watched The Christmas Story.

Then the kids helped get a plate of goodies ready for Santa. John and I were shocked all the kids were asleep by 9:30! After that John and I got out our presents for the kids and put them under the tree and went to bed about 1:00 so Santa could come visit us!

John's Big Day!

2009-12-18T22:03:00.000-08:00

Today is John's birthday! He turned 35 today!!! We got up and opened presents with him before the kids had to head off to school. Since today is the last day before Christmas break at school the kids each had a Christmas performance and John went to watch them both!

Tonight we had Pizza (John's favorite) and his favorite cake - chocolate with white frosting. It was a great day and a perfect way to start out our holiday break!

One of my favorite things..

2009-12-17T22:43:00.000-08:00

Often when we go to down load the camera we often find really random pictures that John or I did NOT take. I am not sure who was the photographer this time but I was downloading pictures and this is what I found....

Want to play Barbies with me?

2009-12-16T22:37:00.000-08:00

Emily has adjusted very easily into our family and house so far - the reality is she is a GREAT baby and sleeps a ton! I was on the computer this morning and Emily was next to me in her little bouncer seat (it is so comfy looking I want one in my size). Anyway, I turn around and this is what I see?

Audrey has been really good with Emily, for the most part she doesn't understand why she is asleep all the time and when she is awake I am feeding her or changing her. She wants her to be awake so she can hold her and play with her! Sometimes Audrey wants to hold Emily so badly she will tell me while I am nursing her, Emily's done, my turn to hold her. Or my favorite "put the ninny away, I'll buckle it for you and me hold her now".

Hopefully this is the beginning of a long friendship!

Christmas Traditions

2009-12-14T22:28:00.000-08:00

One of the kids favorite traditions at Christmas time is to make gingerbread houses with John! This year John went to the store and got extra candy to go with the kit he got at Sam’s club. Everyone had so much fun putting it together! (& eating it!)

(I got this picture of Emily while John was holding her after they finished the gingerbread house.)

A quiet Saturday at home for mom!

2009-12-13T22:12:00.000-08:00

Today John took Charlie & Annie out to do some Christmas shopping and run some errands. Audrey and I had a great afternoon. While Emily napped she and I made some Christmas goodies together. She is getting to be such a big girl and helper. A friend brought us matching aprons and she loved wearing them!

Tonight a friend that John plays basketball with invited John and the kids to a Christmas program with a special guest. The kids had a the best time and loved getting to meet Santa. Emily and I just hung out at home together - okay, really she slept, and I picked up for a little bit, took a nice long shower and laid in bed watching tv and read a book!

John has been so wonderful these last few weeks, he has been taking the kid out a ton and running all the errands for me! I am so blessed that he is involved so much with the kids, he works so hard all week and still makes sure he spends most of his free time with the kids!

No Fight in me!

2009-12-09T21:53:00.000-08:00

I think I have been doing really well adjusting to life with 4 kids even though life has been a little crazy. Emily is a great baby and I have been able to get lots of sleep at night so I feel like I am not falling apart most of the time, I have been able to stay on top of the house and I have great friends who have been bringing in meals.

John has been sick since the day we had Emily – he finally went to the doctor today and has a sinus infection and had to have both tubes replaced in his ears, one was infected and the other had slipped out and there was something wrong with it. Charlie had a cold when we first came home, I have been back to the doctors everyday to have Emily’s blood work done for her billi levels. When we are home she is attached to a machine and can only move 3 feet from it so we spend most of the time with her up in my bedroom next to the bassinet. Today Annie started crying when she went to the bathroom and finally got her to tell me after her telling me she couldn’t go to the bathroom for 2 days (she had me convinced she was just constipated) but that it was actually when she peed that it hurt – poor thing! I knew right away she had a UTI and we just needed to get antibiotics for it so I was able to have the pediatrician order a urinalysis to be done at the same time I took Emily in for her labs.

So when it was time to head into town for Emily & Annie to go to the lab I had no fight left in me and just let Audrey wear what she wanted to Kaiser...

Yes, she wore a green velvet with furry trim dress, sneakers with no socks and A witches hat to Kaiser. As we walked in I could see and hear the other mom's laughing and smiling at us, I just held my head up and acted like I had no idea why anyone would be looking at us.

But on the good news front, Emily's billi level went down today so we don't have to use the blanket anymore and we don't have to go to the doctors again until Friday. Annie did have a UTI but we were able to get her antibiotics and she will feel good as new soon! Also, John got medicine so he will be on the road to recovery and no one else has come down with Charlie's cold so really in the grand scheme of life it isn't a big deal to have a 3-year - old Christmas Witch ~ Really she is adorable!

Yellow baby!

2009-12-08T21:42:00.000-08:00

She’s still yellow!

I was hoping that after 2 days on the blanket Emilie’s billi levels would have come down but they are still the same. Hopefully it just means that the billi blanket is helping her maintain the level where it is at and not letting it rise any higher. So we keep her attached to her little light machine and will take her back to the doctors tomorrow for another test! She is a great little sleeper though, I got this adorable picture of the 2 little girls together this morning!

This evening Annie had a little girl scout activities for Daisy Scouts. John went with her and she got her daisy pins and they performed some girl scout songs and the girls scout motto. She loves her daisy troop! There are lots of her friends from school and the neighborhood in it and of course her best friend Gracie!

Snow Day!

2009-12-07T20:48:00.000-08:00

It is cold here! Yep, cold enough that when it started raining this morning it was snow! It is the first time it has snowed here since we have had kids! They loved it. They all got out their coats and found gloves and were outside playing in it! It was awesome to see them so excited about it!

After the snow I headed out with all 4 kids (Charlie has had a cold so I kept him home from school just to give him another day to get over it – we don’t need anything worse at home right now!) I dropped the 3 older kids off at my moms and headed over to the doctors with Emily. Her billi is still high today so we will keep her on the billi blanket and try again tomorrow to see if her levels have dropped.

The blanket is this pad attached to a 4 foot hose that when turned on is a photo therapy device to help the body break down the billiruben in babies. There is a cover that goes over the pad and wraps under Emily’s arms. She just lays in her diaper and then we swaddle her over the pad. At night it is cool because she glows blue!

Another day !

2009-12-06T20:37:00.000-08:00

Today we all got up and had a quiet morning at home. I had to take Emily back to the doctor and while I was gone Uncle Brett headed out to go back to Wisconsin.

We will all miss having him here, the kids LOVED getting to be with him and he was wonderful with all of them. He was truly a great help and lots of fun to have around.

At the doctors we did some lab work for Emily and she is jaundiced. They are having a billi blanket sent home for her to wear and we will have to take her back to the doctors every day until her billi levels start coming down.

This evening we set up the Christmas tree! The kids had such fun hanging all the ornaments and getting it set up! It is so much fun to watch your kids get excited for the holidays and to have them participate in family traditions.

We survived our first night as a family of 6!

2009-12-05T20:20:00.000-08:00

I know people always say they have a great baby, but we really do! Emily is amazing and Charlie, Annie and Audrey are being so wonderful it is going well 24 hours into this!

The kids all love to sit and hold Emily. They don't understand why she sleeps so much and they can't play with her yet but I am sure it will all come. Emily slept great the first night home, she only woke up once or twice and both times I had to rouse her so I could try to feed her. It made it nice to feel rested so I could interact with the other kids and spend time with them.

We have been so blessed to have such amazing friends. I have had friends bringing in dinner since Monday night and they have signed up (a friend coordinated this calendar) for another whole week!!) It has been so nice to not worry about cooking and we are just using paper plates so it is making life so smooth!

Today while the kids were outside riding bikes and scooters Annie fell off her scooter and face planted it! She is going to have a doozie of a scab on her nose, lip, and chin - luckily she is fine, just a little banged up!

Audrey's a big sister! and Charlie & Annie Meet Emily Ann

2009-12-04T20:06:00.000-08:00

Today when we left the hospital we tried to time it so we could get home before Annie & Charlie got home from school so Audrey could meet Emily by herself. We just barely made it. School is out at 2:00 and the kids get to the bus stop about 2:20. We walked in the door at 1:55!

I went in first thinking Audrey would want to see me since I hadn't seen her in a few days, nope - we were wrong she ran up to me and hugged me and asked where her baby was. John was just a few steps behind me with Emily and it was the sweetest thing to see Audrey try to pick her up out of the car seat and love her.

Audrey is enamored with her little sister and is so excited to finally be a big sister! (I love the picture with Emily's foot out - Audrey just needed to see that she had them!)

Soon after we got home Brett ran to the bus stop and got Charlie and Annie, they were all so excited to meet Emily and to hold her! Emily seemed to not be phased at all by the excitement and noise! Hopefully that is a great sign.

I feel WONDERFUL!

2009-12-04T18:58:00.000-08:00

For me pregnancy is not any fun. I am sick and sore and this time around by the end I was just plan old exhausted!!! It is amazing to me that less than 24 hours after giving birth how great I feel.

Emily and I had a great 24 hour stay in the hospital before we got to go home. We had Emily at the Kaiser in Roseville, which is this brand new, state of the art hospital and clinic. My room was so nice and the nurses and doctors wonderful. I think not only were they great but they were so understanding every time I said, she is my 4th. They really left us alone for the most part and I was able to rest and spend a quiet day with Emily.

After her delivery they cleaned her and myself up and around 9:00 we moved over to a different room for post labor. After the long night John and I both fell asleep within minutes of getting situated. Around 10ish my mom came in and a while later John took off to head home to be with the other kids and take care of a few things that he needed to!

It was great to have my mom there to be with Emily so I could nap and get some rest, I was able to shower and get clean and just spend some quiet time recovering! Emily has been just wonderful all day, she slept most of the day and rarely even made a peep!

Around 9:30 Emily was a sleep and I was falling asleep when my nurse came in and said that the hospital had a fully staffed nursery and if I would like Emily could go over and they would bring her back to me in 3 hours so I could nurse her. None of the other hospitals I delivered at would take your baby to the nursery and bring them back so you could nurse, if you sent them to the nursery they would give them formula. Not that I have a problem with formula at all but it was so nice that they wanted the moms to get rest and still nurse. I tried to wake up Emily at this point to nurse her and around 10:30 the nurse came back and got her. I was asleep within minutes and at 1:30 when the brought her back it woke me. Emily had slept the entire 3 hours and I had to try to get her awake again to nurse. After an hour or so of this the nurse came and got her again and I slept like the dead until almost 6:00 when Emily was brought back to me (again she had slept almost the whole time). I feed her and then she and I both slept again for a few more hours. Truly it was heaven. After not being able to sleep well for the last few months I felt like a whole new person in the morning.

On Friday morning John came out early and we waited for discharge to be done (oh yea we also still had to decide on her name!) Emily at this point was slightly jaundiced so we scheduled an appointment for Sunday for her to be checked again.

Around 12:30 we were all packed up and headed home!

Emily Ann makes her arrival!

2009-12-03T18:31:00.000-08:00

Emily Ann is here!

After a relatively easy labor and delivery our little one made her arrival at 6:05 in the morning on December 3rd.

John and I had gone into the hospital about 10:30 on Wednesday. Uncle Brett was awesome and said he would stay with the older kids while we went to the hospital! I didn't worry about them at all knowing they were with him!

At the hospital we did all the usual admitting and stuff, got showed to our room and I got ready for the show to start! After an hour or two I was in bed, all the papers signed and hooked up to an IV for the pitocin to start! At this point I was dialated to 3cm and 90% effaced but the baby still was not coming down at all on her own, they did the first of many ultra sounds over the next 18 hours and she was still head down but really high.

My parents came out for the day and between them and John we spent the day talking, I napped some and waited for something to happen. The Midwife and nurse kept upping the pitocin through out the day hoping it would cause something to happen, but until my water broke the contractions were not going to progress much. My midwife didn't want to break my water because she was worried that since the baby was so high the umbilical cord would drop before the baby. Around 8:00 or so I was uncomfortable enough that I got an epidural. My blood pressure dropped pretty low after this so they stopped the pitocin and tried to see if things would pick up on their own - again with no luck and another ultrasound had the baby really high still! So about 10:00 or 11:00 my parents headed home after the doctors and midwife said nothing was going to happen today!

After an hour or so my bp was fine and the midwife decided to up the pitocin again to see if we could move things along. Around 1:00 I was asleep and my water broke, I was still only dilated to 3cm and the Midwife still couldn't feel the baby. During this time, John started feeling sick with a head cold. He was able to sleep some in the room but is so tall and the couch so short so he went out to sleep in his truck for a while. This went on for a few hours and about 5:00 am my midwife came in to check and I was finally at 4 1/2 cm and I was having consistently long and hard contractions (at thankfully they weren't too bad for me due to my epidural!!!). But still the baby was really high, she did an ultra sound to make sure she was still head down and thankfully she was! John at this point had gone to the pharmacy to get some cough drops and sinus pressure medicine. At about 5:30 a doctor came in to check and said we were going to have to decide what to do at this point if nothing was happening. I think they were concerned the baby was so high and were ready to head the route of a c-section. The dr could just feel the top of the babies head and said I was at 6 cm. He said at this point it would be a little while but after a few minutes I could tell the contractions were pretty strong at this point so I texted John and told him to come back NOW!!!

The nurse I was with at this point was driving me crazy. I told her it was almost time and she kept ignoring me like I didn't know what I was talking about. She said you were just at a 6, this could be a while yet, but I could feel my pelvis separating and the babies head moving down. I had told all the nurses and midwives I had seen over the course of this that when it is time, it will happen quickly and I will know it is time and when I feel ready to push it is time to push (you would think after 3 other kids I would know how this last part works). This nurse told me to push my epidural button and that might help. She was moving slowly about the room setting up for delivery and I kept telling her I needed to push. John got back about 5:40 and at one point when the nurse stepped out of the room he asked me what I needed and I told him to go get a doctor because I was going to start pushing. As he opened the door my midwife and doctor came in, she took one look at me then she ripped the end of the table off, the doctor was helping her tie her surgical gown as I am telling her I am pushing and she said lets go then. No more than 3 contractions and a few pushes latter Emily Ann arrived.

She was perfect! A beautiful little girl with this adorable face and 10 fingers and toes! It is amazing how they place this little bundle in your arms and you forget the last 9 months of pregnancy and the hours of labor! I took one look at her and was so in love with her it made my heart hurt! I am so glad she is here and part of our family, I couldn't imagine not having her!

Update...

2009-11-30T14:58:00.000-08:00

Okay, I have so many things to blog and put up pictures from the last week! It was a great but a busy one! But on the quick side before I try to get a ton done in the next 24 hours. I went to the Dr. today and Baby Garrison is head down, my bp is high, I am 3 cm dilated & 90% effaced. If she doesn't come on her own in the next 24 hours I am scheduled for an induction on Wednesday morning!

More to come.....

Audrey's Big Day #3!!!

2009-11-27T18:18:00.000-08:00

Today is Audrey's 3rd Birthday! How lucky are we to have her for our little girl. She couldn't be any sweeter and she is such a joy (okay, I am saying some of this stuff because you tend to reflect as a mom on your kids birthdays!). She truly is a great kid she is just 3! Need I say any more - if you are a mom and have had a 3 year old you know exactly what I mean. There are moments when she is just the sweetest, funniest thing ever and then there are moments when she is just wanting to be her own person and then you have the 3 year old moments.

Audrey was so excited that her Pop and Uncle Brett where here for her birthday. I think it may be a close tie between Daddy and Uncle Brett who is her favorite these days!

Today we had a lazy day after Thanksgiving day. John and his dad & brother ran some errands and the kids and I relaxed at home. Audrey got to play with her birthday toys and for dinner we had one of her favorites, Pizza & spaghetti! We had birthday cake and ice cream and she was in 7th heaven!

Where did November go?

2009-11-26T18:24:00.000-08:00

This month has flown by! I think for nine months I have been counting down to Thanksgiving so the last few weeks have been a whirlwind of getting ready for the baby to come and fitting in everything we possibly could into this month!

On Tuesday before the kids got out for the Thanksgiving holiday week Annie had a Thanksgiving Feast in her class and a little performance. She was so cute in her pilgrim hat and singing her songs!

No Baby Yet

2009-11-25T13:21:00.000-08:00

Still no baby Garrison at our house. Yesterday I went in for a check up and it turns out she has a mind of her own and decided she wanted to be breech. So with Uncle Brett and Pop here we left the kids and John & I spent the evening at Kaiser. (we did go to the new labor and delivery at Roseville and let me tell you after sampling the L&D and both South Sac and Morse, Roseville was incredible!!!)

The doctors did an enjoyable (not) procedure called an inversion where they give you some medicine to relax the uterus, rub your stomach with mineral oil and then 2 doctors work together to try to rotate the baby from the outside - yes one pushes up on the butt while the other was pushing down on her head trying to twist her. They finally got her head down after about 20 minutes of this enjoyable baby & organ moving experience. They monitored her for an hour after wards and she was fine - today I am sore but okay.

Now hopefully she decides to stay where she is supposed to until she is out!

Conversation with Annie

2009-11-22T10:36:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Annie & I were laying on my bed talking and she said to me "you are my first favorite Mom!" I asked who her second favorite mom is and she said totally straight faced "Dad's next wife who is going to be our mom after you die". Seriously where do my kids come up with this stuff!

Does she know something I don't?

The Three Whale, A garbage dumpster and a 6 inch cockroach!

2009-11-20T08:23:00.000-08:00

So Charlie had a test this week on a story called the Three Whales. I had printed off some study guides for him and he was ready for the test on Wednesday.

Wednesday night I was straitening up because the cleaning lady was coming on Thursday so when I cleaned out Charlie's backpack I saw what I assumed was the study guide from his class on the three whale story, along with all the other worksheets he didn't need I tossed it all into a big black garbage bag.

As a total side bar that comes up at the end of the story I had also gone around cleaning up the living room later on that night and I found this 6 inch plastic cockroach the kids had been playing with from an insect kit they had. Hating cockroaches and knowing the kids had been scaring their dad with it for a few days, I just tossed the cockroach into the big black garbage bag as well.

Well Thursday morning comes around and I had gathered two big bags of garbage and trying to save room in the can I asked John to take the bags to work and throw them in the dumpster (do you see where this story is going yet?). Thursday at dinner time Charlie comes to me and asks me where his Whale test is.

My response, "Did you get it back already?"

Charlie, "no, instead of putting it in the in basket I put it in my cubby and brought it home from school yesterday."

My thought "NOOOOOOOOOOOO"

Charlie "so mom, where is it because if I don't take it back to school I have to stay in from recess and take it again."

Mom "well Charlie, I didn't realize it was a test and I think I threw it away."

Charlie "can I look in the garbage?"

Mom -In my head "how do I explain this" to Charlie - "well I think it went to the garbage at Daddy's work"

At this point John walks in and we tell him what happens. He says no problem, I didn't put the bags in the dumpster yet. So I go out to his truck and there is nothing there. I came in to tell John and he said "oh yeah, Tim drove my truck and he emptied it first"

So we explain to Charlie as he is sobbing that we will go to the dumpster to see if we can find the bag. John did point out that he shouldn't be so upset at anyone - he is the one who didn't put the test where it belongs!

John being the great dad he is went to the dumpster and had to rouse 3 Dumpster divers as they call them out of the can. So by the time they are gone and he can get to it the bums have torn all the bags open and scattered everything in the dumpster and around the can on the ground. John climbs in and spends 2 hours going through the garbage with no luck. He said it was horrible because while he was in the can 4 or 5 bums came to try to look through it also and some guys from the business next door came over and found him looking in the can (although they laughed when they heard what he was looking for and offered to keep an eye out to make sure he wasn't mugged). While he didn't find the test what he did find in the dark as it fell on his hand was the horrible 6 inch plastic cockroach that once again came back to scare the pants off of him!

***we are still waiting to hear what the teacher says to do about the test!****

Bless you Me

2009-11-20T08:22:00.000-08:00

John came into the room the other day and Audrey didn't realize he was there. She sneezed and before he could say anything he hears her say "Bless you Me!" Could she be any cuter!!

The Jungle Book!

2009-11-15T09:05:00.000-08:00

We have a super star on our hands!

Charlie just finished up participating in a production of The Jungle Book! He was amazing - he is such a funny guy and was so into it. He has been practicing for 3 months and it was such a joy to get to watch him perform this weekend! He was a Monkey and part of the Jungle Chorus.