First Day of Preschool!

I can not believe it. I sent my first child ever off to preschool today. Wow how he has grown. My girls never cared about going to preschool but JT sure has. It was so hard to let go. I stay home so I can take care of my kids but JT is different, he is a little man, he is very independent. He has been begging to go to preschool for months now ever since he visited my mom, Grandma, at the day care center where she works, and even more so since his older sisters started school. So we caved in and found a twice a week Mother's Day out program. He did awesome today, he sat down and was like you guys can leave now. He started an activity and didn't even look back. It was I that needed the consoling. I cried like a baby in the car and all the way home. But I came to realize that God knows how important this little guy is to me and that he would be ok. He wouldn't have asked to go if it didn't mean a lot to him. I am so glad I let him go. He came home so excited and couldn't stop talking about his friends and teacher and the stuff he got to do. I hope this continues to be a good experience for him. I have to admit as much as I missed him it was kind of nice having it quiet at home for a little while and getting just some one and one time with Bryce.

Sitting Up

My little blue eyed cutie is on his way, he is practically sitting up on his own. He likes to roll around a lot so no more setting him on furniture. And he is teething, hence the drool soaked shirt.

First Day of School

This week was my girls first week of school. It was so sad to see them both off at once but we are so excited to see them growing up. It was Elizabeth's first day of Kindergarten and Nichole's first day of second grade. Wow, how fast they grow, seems like just yesterday I was holding them in my arms looking into their beautiful little baby faces. Now Nichole is very independent and so self sufficient, so smart and turning into the most beautiful young lady. And Elizabeth is blossoming into such a beautiful little girl, she is the most loving and caring child I have ever known. I can only wish them the best of years through school, I always loved school and I hope they will too.

The Big Texan

On the last leg of our trip as we headed into Texas we stopped at a Texas landmark in Amarillo, The Big Texan, home of the 72 ounce steak. It is a kitchy little restaurant where if you eat a 72 ounce steak dinner you get it for free. Many have tried and most have failed. It was good food, and the kids loved the atmosphere. It was a nice ending to a great vacation.

Disneyland

The highlight of our trip and the whole reason we came was for Disneyland! No matter how old I get I think I will always be a kid at heart because I probably more than anyone in my family, including my kids, gets so excited when I come to Disneyland. The best part about this trip was that it was also our Daughter Nichole's 7Th birthday. We kept the trip to Disneyland a secret to the kids not letting them know were going there. When we got to that hotel in Anaheim earlier in the week we had to told the kids that we weren't doing Disneyland this time and were going to do something special for Nichole's birthday. They were so surprised and excited to find out that we were going for Nichole's birthday. She got in free that day being that it was her birthday and they gave her a special birthday button and everyone that worked at the park that saw her would come up and wish her a happy birthday, it was so cute and you could tell she really felt special. The best part was my parents and sister and brother flew out to celebrate with us and help out with the kids, and to top it all off two of my uncles and two cousins came that day as well.

It was such a blast we had a big group of family members, something the kids don't really get to experience living in Texas away from the rest of my family. They loved all the attention and my aunt Hope, one of the greatest women I have ever met just showered the kids with attention and gifts! She was so great, in fact all my family was so awesome that day. We never would have had such a wonderful time. Everyone helped with the baby and my kids, and I got to catch up with my cousins. I will never forget this day and neither will the kids! We got to go on so many rides and the baby just loved it, he went on a ton and never got upset once. Probably one of the cutest things from that day was a dance party parade we saw. I watched as my little girl Elizabeth was so happy and as Mickey shaped confetti flew through the air she ran around catching it and stuffing it in her pocket as if wanting to hold onto that moment forever. It made my heart swell I was so happy, thanks to my husband for doing this for us!

Lego Land and the Beach

Our first full day in California we took the kids to Lego Land. I have to say it wasn't my most favorite nor do I think we would ever go back but the kids seemed to have fun and that is what counts. It was hot that day and we had been driving for the past do days prior and it was the first time taking the baby to a park like that with no help. All that combined made it a bit of a difficult day. The next day however was a blast! We took the kids to the beach, the first time where all but the baby were aware of where they were at.

We had so much fun. Russ and I enjoyed just being near the water. I so miss the beach, although bringing a baby is not something I recommend. It was such a hassle getting the kids with a baby in tow as well as an umbrella, a cooler chest, a diaper bag, a bag of clothes to change, a bag of food, a bag for the babies bottles, a tent for the baby, and two bags of sand toys from the car all the way to the water. I felt like I was going to loose an arm trying to help tow all these things with Russ through the sand. And of course its the beach and there's sand everywhere. the poor baby was not liking the beach, he had sand in his hair, and his eyes, no matter how hard I tried sand kept getting in his little tent. He finally just fell asleep. We were also so worried about making sure the kids had sunscreen we kind of forgot about ourselves, my back and face and scalp were burned and poor Russ. The front of his legs and face were like a lobster. No matter what though we thoroughly enjoyed it. The girls loved it there and we couldn't keep them out of the water. And JT preferred the sand and getting the sand all over the towels.

Our little Elizabeth is such a ham. Every time I tried to take a picture she would make a weird face or pose it was so funny, the most hilarious thing though was she developed this weird habit at the beach of spitting or something. After a while she had developed this beard and mustache of froth that hung off her chin and came out her nose. It was the weirdest thing, but so darn funny Russ and I could not stop laughing.

Summer Vacation

Well we finally made it to our summer vacation! We waited until right before school started to take the kids on a vacation. I completely believe in always taking a vacation each year with the kids as long as we're able to because I know these are memories that will last a life time. We only get one chance with our kids and each day that goes by they are growing and I want to make as many memories with them as I can. I love to see them happy. Not to mention the fact that each year Russ and I can use the break in our everyday life to do something out of the ordinary for us. Anyone with kids, especially four can agree that a vacation isn't really a vacation for the parents when there are kids in tow because there is still much work to be done with four little ones but it is fun to do things that make your kids smile.

This year we decided to take a trip to California again which has seemed to be a bit of a tradition we have done it three times now since having kids. It just seemed like the logical thing to do, since Disney World was out of the question with a new baby and the humid hot weather so we took to the west coast to tackle some smaller amusement parks like Lego Land and Disneyland. We took a road trip since we are such a large family now, flying costs way too much with this many people.

Our first stop after a 14 hour drive was Tucson, AZ. We only stayed here overnight to take a break before we got into California. We left at 3 am so we were able to get there by 5 pm. I have to hand it to my kids. They were such troopers for being confined in a car for that long, with only TV to occupy their time. And the baby was fantastic he was so good. The next morning we headed out at about 7 am and got into San Diego by the afternoon.

We checked into the hotel and decided that we definitely had to take the kids to do something. Four little ones in a car for two days equals a heck of allot of pent up energy. JT was so hyper he was running in circles around the hotel room. So we headed off to the Aquarium at Lego Land. It was small but very well done and so cute the kids just loved it and they had a few things they could play in and they even got to touch sea anemones and star fish.