Flashback Friday!

(I started a little series here last week and a couple of you played along. Let me know if you do this week. I had fun looking at your pictures!)

Seriously, I dug back in the vault for some of these pictures. And had so much fun in the process! I could look at old pictures for hours and never get bored. Here are the ones I picked for this week:

This picture is from our first family vacation in 2003. Caleb was a year old and we went to Spring Canyon, in Colorado, with our best friends. That place is amazing! Our BFF's have a son Caleb's age and we all had a fab time! Joseph and I love the outdoors so this was a great trip for us. We got to go ATVing, hiking, played in the mountainss and enjoyed it all with some of our favorite people and our only child. My how things have changed. Since then we have been on 2 other family vacations with these same friends and now there are 7 kids between us. We are blessed!

There are my boys! Gosh, I love these little faces.

Lazy Summer Days

…NOT!

This has been the busiest summer I think that I have ever had. Every week I think, “Oh next week things will slow down around here and I will work on those projects I had planned.” Umm, hasn’t happened yet.

We have had a lot of company this summer and are gearing up for more next month. My dad has been here for the past couple of weeks and the kids have loved it. He plays with the girls and reads poetry to the boys. Yes, poetry. They beg for it and love it. I know, weird. Joseph and I can’t figure it out, but if it keeps the boys busy who are we to question?

It has been nice that he has been here to watch/entertain my kids this week because I am organizing a big dinner tonight for the incoming residents and fellows. When I took on the job of Madam President (don’t worry, you can still call me Sab Mad) this is the kinda thing that I thought I would be doing. I just forgot to factor in that I would be working with women and when there are more than 3 women together there is drama. There are more than 3 women working with me. ‘Nuff said.

Random story that I have to tell, mostly because I wanted to call my BFF immediately after it happening but she is in Korea and the time change isn’t conducive to me picking up the phone at my whim. So this is how I’m telling her the story. The rest of y’all can read too if you want. Or you can talk amongst yourselves… Oh, I guess you can’t so you will have to read!

Okay, okay – to the story.

We were on our way in the gym the other day and as usual Luke gets to the building first while I am lagging (way) behind with the twins. SIDE NOTE: Can I just say that the hardest part of working out isn’t the workout itself. It’s getting the 4 kids out of the car, into the building and checked into their classes. THAT is the real workout!

End of digression, back to the story – So I’m lagging behind with the twins, working hard to get them to keep moving in the right direction when all of a sudden I hear Luke screaming. Not just crying, screaming. I knew there was something wrong because Luke isn’t the kind of kid that cries easily when hurt. He’s tough. So I tell Caleb to stay with the twins and run ahead to find Luke standing in the doorway hysterical while some woman is standing there holding a cup of coffee. I said, “What happened? What’s wrong?”
Luke keeps screaming and the woman calmly replies, “Coffee spilled on him, but he’s okay. It’s not that hot.”
WWWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!
ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? Even if that is so, is that the first thing that you are going to say to me?
So I grab Luke and start wiping coffee off his head and face (yes, she spilled it on his head and face) with my shirt and scream (yes, scream) at her, “It’s coffee!! Coffee is hot!!”
“Well, bring him inside,” is her response.
To which I scream (yes, scream) “I have 3 other kids over there, I can’t just leave them!” She looks at me and then walks off. I seriously wanted to kick her in the face, but was too busy trying to console Luke and gather the other 3.
Luckily I have lots of friends at the gym and one came and took the girls where they needed to go, while the another one took Caleb where he needs to go and another got Luke some ice. And then this is the point where I start to cry. I’m so sad my baby is hurt and furious at that woman for hurting him!

Good new is Luke is fine and not even remotely traumatized. Bad news is I am still fuming and totally traumatized!

So I’m retelling this story to everyone that I have contact with. Everyone.

And I’m telling my 2 neighbors yesterday, one neighbor knows me, the other doesn’t. When I get to the end of the story I say, “And if I see that lady at the gym, I’m going to drop kick her in the face.”

Can I tell you the look of horror on the face of the woman who doesn’t know me. It makes me laugh even as I type this. Really hard.

Yep, lazy summer days - these are not!

A visit from some old friends!

Last month (I know, I'm WAY behind!) some friends of ours came through town and spent a couple of days with us. The visit was too short, but I love that we reconnected like there hadn't been 5 years since the last time we were together. The last time that we saw Jay and Amy, as a couple, I was pregnant with Luke. And the last time we saw them separately, Luke was a newborn!

Since that time they had Hailey and we had the Twinkies. Here are some photos of our girl's together. There is only a couple of months between them, so in essence they were like triplets!

3 Little Beauties in a tub! Aren't they sweet?!

Pool Par-tay!

We love you Jay, Amy and Hailey and hope that it isn't another 5 years before we see you again!

Flashback Friday!

I was looking through some old pictures on the computer the other night and was overwhelmed by how big the Twinkies are and how fast the time is flying by me. So...I decided on Fridays I'm going to post a picture of times past. Enjoy!

(If you want to play along, let me know so I can stop by your blog and take a peek. I LOVE looking at old pictures!)

I'm not sure who is learning more...

...me or the kids I'm "teaching"?

Today is the last day of VBS. Whew, it has been a crazy week. Crazy busy, crazy tiring, crazy hectic, crazy fun, crazy overwhelming, crazy crazy!

I signed up to teach 2nd and 3rd graders with my girl, Emily, and it has been wild. God has been teaching me SO much through this past week. We are sharing BIG, hard truths with theses kids and are not dumbing it down. It has definitely not just been a "Jesus loves you, pass the potatoes" week.

Really, God has been teaching me lots and I want to tell you all of it, but I have to get ready or we will miss the last day. Super quick, though, our first day was 1 John 3:1 "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" That word 'lavish' has been bugging me all week and while I like Merriam's idea of "bestowing profusely" I read something this morning that is rocking my little world!!!

If you never click another link that I direct you to, please click this last one. It's a little lengthy, but absolutely amazing. And if it seems too lengthy or you just want the part that is shaking my world the most, scroll down to the John Piper quote.

I keep reading it and can't get enough!
Seriously better than ice cream!!!

8 years and counting!!

Today is our anniversary! 8 years. Wow, even as I type, I'm still surprised that we have been married that long. It really does seem like yesterday... and if you want to know what yesterday looked like you can go here for the correct my version of the events or here for the incorrect my man's version of the events.

I really never had any dreams of getting married. I didn't grow up dreaming about my wedding or what my house would look like or how many kids I would have. I actually didn't even think that I would ever get married. When I met Love, I was a self-professed vagabond, who was carefree, spontaneous, adventurous and had no plans of marrying and having children. I wanted to be a missionary in Africa. I had plans for roaming the world and sharing how Jesus changed my life. And marriage wasn't even on the radar, much less in the picture.

It's funny how life changes. Because within 7 months of dating Lovey I was married, had moved to a state I thought I would never visit much less live, and was pregnant. And yes, in that order. I remember our first Christmas together (in Alaska!) thinking that exactly 1 year earlier I never in my most wild dreams would have pictured where I am today - married, pregnant, and oh yeah even Alaska. Wildly crazy.

Life is rarely how I picture it. I'm not sure that I ever imagined what marriage would look like, but if I did, this isn't it. It's so complicated. There is good, hard and not-so-good. We have had all three. How could you not when you have a life that is as full as ours? We're in a hard spot right now. Or actually coming out of one. We've been challenged a lot in this thing called marriage. And there have been many times where giving up has felt way easier than learning and growing. But I know that the only way that we will thrive, because I don't want to just survive marriage, is by remembering the covenant that we have made before God. Covenants aren't broken. People are and hearts are broken, but God's covenants are not.

So we move forward. Sometimes in tiny, little, cautious steps and other times in huge leaps. But we move forward. And forward is a good direction in marriage.

I love my man. He deals with crazy every day at work. And then comes home to even more! But that is what I love about him. He knows every day on his way home that he is coming home to crazy. And he still comes home. And he works hard to love on us in tangible ways. He is my partner in every sense of the word. There isn't a job around here that is "my job" or "his job" because we really do share in the workload. Okay girlfriends, sometimes he does more! I admit it. But sometimes I do too...sometimes?!

I also love that my man loves Jesus and has a relationship with him. Last night, I was sharing my heart and telling Joseph all about VBS and how I was going to present the gospel today. He 'gets' it. And cares. And prays. And teaches his children.

Yep, I love that man.

God makes me laugh on a regular basis. Our plans rarely ever match up. Here I am 8 years later a military wife, having done 3 major cross country moves, with 4 kids, a dog, having lived through a career change, medical school and now residency. I can't even imagine what the next 8 years have in store. I know that they will be full of laughter and joy, but I also know there will be hard times that test us. I also know without a shadow of a doubt that we love Jesus. And that he's enough. More than enough.

I love you JKM. You are my hero!

Is that you Chuck E.?

I miss my friend!

I have tried to start this post many times, but have quit halfway through because it makes me sad.

My BFF, Kellie, moved last week and I'm a little lost without her. There have been so many times this past week that I have picked up the phone to call her and remembered that I can't call her because she is in Korea and phoneless. Its been a blue week.

Kellie is my friend that has helped me get through the past 2 years while Joseph has been gone or had a crazy schedule. We met when the twins were 5 weeks old, Joseph was gone for 5 weeks and I was a mess. It's funny because we had "met" over email a couple of years before when she moved to Minot. I knew a friend of hers in DC who 'introduced' us over email and then I 'introduced' her to some of our friends in Minot who she became really good friends with. It really is a small world in the military! We had heard about them and they had heard about us through the grapevine, so it was fun to finally meet. We became friends quickly and I have relied on her heavily over the past couple of years.

Kellie is the one that I call when there was any drama happening around here - and there's always drama around here. She has helped me get through the early years of twins, intern year, many months of Joseph being gone, first days of school and lots of kid drama, marriage drama and life drama. Kellie is one of my only friends who will spontaneously drag her kids all over town for crazy, chaotic, kid fun with me. Our kids can be together for days without any fighting, crying or arguing - which is really rare for kids!

Kellie is also the one that I call at 4:30pm and say, "What are you having for dinner?"
To which she would reply, "Ummm, I have chicken out. Why do you ask? What are you doing for dinner?"
And I would say, "Well, I think we are going to eat at _______ (you name the restaurant). Wanna go?!"
"Yeah let me call Dan, but I'm sure he'll say 'yes' and I can always make chicken tomorrow."
And then we would take 7 kids out to dinner.
Often.

And many times by ourselves when our hubbies are working.

Kellie, my friend, I miss you so much! Thanks for being such a great friend to me and for being there through the craziness of the last 2 years. Life here is going to be different without you, but I am most thankful for FB, blogging and IM.

My Posse

Aren't we a good lookin' group?!

My life in bullet points

I'm tired and I have mucho to say, so bullet points will have to do:

• My kids say funny things all the time. All.the.time. Today, was especially hilarious. Case in point: Somehow green crayon managed to make its way in the laundry, through the wash and colored all the clothes in the dryer. When I asked THE ONE who is responsible for this travesty how crayon got on our clothes and his response was, "I don't know. Purple is my favorite color, not green." (sigh) What to do with that boy?
• So while I thought this was funny, Caleb topped it off. I got pulled over on my way home from the gym today for "speeding." I wasn't speeding. Really, I wasn't. So the officer lets me off with a warning. Of course this whole thing is fascinating to my children. F-a-s-c-i-n-a-t-i-n-g. Questions all day long. At one point Caleb says, "But mom, why didn't he give you a ticket?" I had already answered this question is 100 different ways, so I said, "Maybe because I'm so cute and sweet and nice and adorable." To which he says, in total seriousness, "So what does that have to do with anything?"
• Joseph is finally off his month of nights!!!!! The first part wasn't that bad. It got bad when he started doing 12 hour nights. Those are brutal. And thankfully done for a while!
• He has a decent schedule this month and then leaves for a month. This year he will be gone 3 months. Thankfully not consecutive. And so it goes...
• We have had good friends of ours stay at our house for the past couple of weeks. It was fun, overwhelming, exhausting, hysterical, fabulous, demanding, joyful, chaotic and just plain crazy at times. But you would have to expect that when there are 7 children under 7, 4 adults and a skunk dog. Right?
• Our good friends left Saturday night and it was a hard goodbye. Being a military family means that we get used to saying goodbye, it doesn't mean that we ever enjoy it or that it is ever easy. This was the first goodbye that we have done where the boys really "got it." They took it pretty hard. So have I. Fruit snacks makes it easier for them. Chocolate makes it easier for me.
• I didn't take many pictures while our friends were here because Kellie has a better camera and we used it. I'll have to get some of those pictures. And that camera. Too bad our AC is going out and that will be our next big purchase, not a new camera.
• Because our friends were here and I wanted to spend as much time with them as possible, I put all my other "stuff" on hold. Now it is overwhelming.
• Lets take a sharp turn and allow me to tell you that there are two things that I am interested in doing. But am afraid of failure. Okay, that's all I want to say about that.
• It has been ridiculously hot here. Record breaking. You guys know I kick my kids outdoors as much as possible, but it is too hot for them out there. So they have found a new indoor activity to keep them busy. XBOX. It really makes me laugh to watch them play. Caleb of course has it figured out. Luke, on the other hand, plays with a controller that isn't even on. And he is blindly overjoyed. I am very tightly controlling this because the LAST thing I want are kids addicted to the tv and video games. We aren't that kind of family.
• One way I have found to keep it under control is to not own any games for the boys. It makes no sense financially (and that always bothers me) but if we don't have games they can't play right? If we need something we can always rent it at Blockbuster. And take it back when I am sick of the video games. Works for me.

Well, I guess that's it. I thought I had a lot to say, but as I read over that nonsense I realize it was a whole lot about nothing!

You do the math

A 20 week old baby...
2 year old TWINS...
a three year old...
2 four year olds...
a five year old...
a just-turned-seven-year-old...
2 moms...
record breaking heat...
and SEAWORLD.

Really, need I say more? Because if I do, it will have to wait until tomorrow. I'm exhausted! If you'd like some pictures of our crazy day, head over to Kellie's.

No pain, no gain...right?

I worked out with Jillian Michaels on Saturday. Today is Monday and I am still in pain. Bad pain.

Yesterday I was having a hard time walking. Today I'm having a hard time moving.

Jill would be proud.

Is there something different?

Do you notice anything new?!?!?

This is what I have been obsessing over working on over the past week. Okay not just this one particular header but quite a few headers! I'm seriously having so much fun and I already made one for the fall. This could get quite addicting!!!

PLEASE, let me know what you think!

Final update (hopefully) in the Dog vs Wild series

We got news back from animal control...

Titan Dog Mad doesn't have rabies. He lives to shed another day! Fabio will be glad to know that his work isn't finished and that he is still needed.

In case you are wondering...

...If you bathe a yellow lab in tomato juice, he will turn pink.

Because I am sure that you are all waiting on pins and needles to find out what has happened to Tomato Titan, aka Skunk Dog, formerly known as Titan Dog Maddry...

Well, he has been bathed in baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, tomato juice, dish soap and dog shampoo.

And now smells like a mixture of tomato juice, skunk and burnt rubber.

But because it is 9000 degrees outside, oh and because we believe that Titan is human and are in love with him, he is back in the house. And has been sleeping soundly from his adventure entitled, Dog vs Wild. Spoiled dog spent one night and half a day outside, probably didn't sleep a wink and will now sleep for a week to make up for it! Poor Puppy!

Tomorrow I will call animal control to find out if the baby skunk that Titan murdered had rabies. It makes my stomach hurt to even think about what will happen to Tidy Cat Mad if he has rabies...

Can you smell what we are dealing with?!?!?!?

Words couldn't describe the kind of day that I had today. Really. And since it is currently 1 in the morning I'm not even going to try to describe my c-r-a-z-y life.

Instead I will show you what I have been doing for the last hour and a half:

Here I am ready for battle...

So Kellie and I were playing with Photoshop when all of a sudden we smelled skunk. Strong. Very strong. Very, very strong.

And then I remembered that Titan was outside.

When we looked at him out the backdoor we saw him freaking, rolling in the grass and frantically running all over the yard. Ugh, we knew right away that he had an encounter with the skunk!

After googling what to do to get rid of the smell, Big D Lamar went to get our supplies while Kellie and I got "dressed" for duty. Can you tell by out pants what our husbands do for a living?

And this isn't even the worse part. The worst part is that Titan killed the skunk. The baby skunk! And so here Kellie and I sit and wait for the Animal Control people to come and get the dead skunk. At 1 am.

Did I mention that we have 7 kids to care for tomorrow? I smell another adventure tomorrow...actually I don't smell anything right now except for skunk. Ugh, what a day!!

Yo Daddy! We love you!

Daddy,

Because I'm 7 years old here are 7 things I love about you!

1. I love it when you take me to SeaWorld. I like doing the waves at the water park with you!
2. I love that you know lots about God and that you pray with me.
3. I love that you play the 'wildebeest' game with me.
4. I love it when you take me to get the Oreo frosty at Wendy's.
5. I love it when you take me to breakfast at IHOP and it's just me and you.
6. I love it when you play Battleship with me and last time we played I won!
7. I love it that even when you are tired, you still spend time with me.

Love, Caleb

Because I'm 4 years old, here are 4 things I love about you!

1. I love you so much.
2. I like to play with you. But sometimes I get hurt. And you give me ice.
3. I like it when you take me to Peter Piper Pizza.
4. I love it when we play Zingo.

Love, Luke

Love-Love - in honor of your 7 years of being a papa, I'm going to tell you 7 things I love about you:

1. I love that when the kids are driving you crazy, you always wish for a paintball gun.
2. I love how your face lights up when the kids tell you they love you.
3. I love that when you give the kids a bath and they make a lake in the bathroom, you don't get crazy like I do.
4. I love that you really try hard to speak to our kids hearts.
5. I love how whenever you wrestle with any of the kids, they always end up hurt. Okay, maybe I don't love that, but I do find it fascinating. We won't count this one..
6. I love that you do girl hair. And that it looks like daddy did it. I also love that you paint the shishers toes for them! Soooo sweet!
7. I love that when left on your own to dress the children, they always end up with fascinating outfit combinations.
8. I love that in spite of this crazy life we lead and that you aren't home as often as you'd like, you really strive hard to be the best dad you can be.

We LOVE you!!! Happy Father's Day!!

Happy Birthday Caleb!

Caleb,

Today you turn 7 and to say that you are excited about that is an understatement! And to say that mama is shocked at how the time is flying by is even more of an understatement. I often feel like it wasn't that long ago that it was just you and me, playing in the front yard of our little base house in Minot and waiting for Daddy to come home from work. Just mama and Caleb. How you love to hear stories of when it was just us!

My boy, your personality really hasn't changed all that much since then. You were sensitive, curious, spirited, intelligent, cautious and loved being outdoors. You still are all those qualities and more. You love to read, write cursive, learn about animals, draw, play sports and you play outside for hours with the neighbor kids. You have a great sense of humor and love your baby brother and sisters. Oh, Caleb, how they love you!! You have a great sense of compassion and really want to know the truth. You like rules, boundaries and structure, and you never give up. Never! You will work hard at trying to figure something out and won't quit until you have, not only figured it out, but mastered it. As I write all these things, I realize more and more how much like your Daddy you are. And I love that! You would be blessed if you were just like your Daddy.

You are a natural leader Caleb. I have noticed that in the past couple of years. While you are the youngest in the neighborhood, the kids all follow your direction. Your teacher said the same thing about you last year. She called you a "Peer Leader" and you even got student of the week for that quality. I pray that you are aware that people are following and that you lead them in the right direction. That will be hard, buddy, but I have faith in the one that YOU call, "Savior." He will always lead you in the right direction!

I love all these great things about you Caleb, but what I love most is that you know Jesus and you know His Word. I'm proud of you for scoring high on all your tests last year, but what I'm most proud of is that you scored so high in your bible knowledge and comprehension. I love that God continues to reveal Himself to you and that you understand concepts like "grace" and "mercy" and "Turkish delight". I love that you try to explain God to Luke and that you really want him to know more about your Savior.

Caleb, I love you and am so proud of you. I'm thrilled to see this light inside you shine through brighter each year. My prayer for you is that you continue to love learning about God and sharing that knowledge with others. I pray that people are drawn to you because of that bright light within you. You are an amazing little boy, so full of life and promise, and I pray that you always remember that, "to whom much is given, much is expected" and that with Christ all things are possible.

I love you Caleb,
Mama

The rest is over, now back to work!

I have been in Houston visiting my family for the past week and will go home tomorrow. And I'm not happy about it.

I have said it before, and will say it again, I love being home. It's such a nice reprieve from my not-so-normal life. I spend more time with the kids, more time relaxing and more time refreshing. I spend less time running errands, less time being busy and MUCH less time cleaning. We've been hanging out with family and going to the pool. It's been fun.

And now I go back to reality. Translation of the word 'reality': Joseph's terrible work hours, lots of work with the spouses club (did I mention I'm President next year?) and lots of cleaning!! Yuck. Yuck. And yuck.

But, there are things that make coming home more appealing. I have missed my man something fierce and am excited to see him. Even if it is for 30 min a day.

And on my way home from H-town, I will swing by the airport and pick up a friend I haven't seen in almost 5 years! The last time I saw her was shortly after Luke was born. I have never met her baby daughter and she hasn't met the Twinks!

Then right after she leaves (literally right after) my BFF is coming to stay with us before they move to Korea for 2 years. That is going to be crazy and fun all rolled into one. 7 kids, 3 1/2 adults (Lovey only counts as a half since he is hardly around!) and a dog all in our not-so-big home. I smell an adventure.

Yep, I have a couple of things to look forward to when I get home. Now I'm getting more excited...

This face makes me crazy..

...crazy irritated,
...crazy SMITTEN,
...crazy annoyed,
...crazy in LOVE,
...crazy frustrated,
...crazy in AWE,
...crazy with laughter,
...crazy shocked,
...crazy aggravated,
...crazy hungry (he's delicious!)
...crazy speechless,
...crazy, CRAZY!!

And usually all these feelings at the same time!!!

My Luke is something. Seriously, something. And I absolutely love him!!

Boston recap

(Emily and I back in April. I have pictures of us from our trip, but have to find them...)

I think that this may be the longest blogging break that I have taken in a while. The truth of the matter is that I'm too busy living life to blog about it. Living each day in the Mad house is an adventure, that is for sure.

But now that I have a few minutes, I want to catch up a bit and tell you about my time in Massachusetts.

Boston was wonderful. On my way there I read 4 (yes, really) magazines and learned a whole lot of nothing, ate, people watched, spent a ridiculous amount of money in the airport and talked to NO ONE! For those of you that know me, you know that was a feat in itself.

Once I got to Boston, Emily and I ate at this brewery across the street from the "Garden" and then got on a train to Gloucester, Mass. On my trip we shopped, went to a cocktail party at this fancy house, slept in sleeping bags by the ocean, slept on a fancy estate, went to a crazy beach party, met people that I don't even remotely run into in my neck of the woods, ran in Boston, ran by the ocean, rode in trains/subways/buses and had so many adventures that I really could write a book about my 4 days away.

I was so far removed from my "normal" life, it was crazy. And it was so fun. But, in spite of all the cool, eclectic, interesting, artsy, rich people that I met - none filled me up like my little family does. I missed my kids like mad and missed my man something ridiculous!

So you can imagine my disappointment when not 1, but 2 planes that we were supposed to get on in Boston were broken!! Thus making us miss our connecting flight home in Atlanta.

I cried at the gate. The airline lady looked at me like I was nutty. Then gave me a free ticket. That didn't make me feel better, since all I wanted to do was see my little family

Trans Air (who by the way was fabulous! I have never flown with them before and was super impressed!) was able to get us on the last flight out of Atlanta and upgraded us to first class! 18 hours, 3 planes, a bus, a train and a borrowed truck later I arrived on my doorstep. Everyone was sleeping and Joseph was at work, but had left a surprise for me in our room.

He pulled a "While you were out" on our room and gave it a much needed makeover! Is that man a keeper or what?!? This was all his idea and I was shocked. Here is a sneak peak...



While it was fun to escape my "normal" life for a while, it really was good to come home and be with my little family. With that said, Em and I are already talking about what we are going to do with the free airline tickets we got!...

Long overdue!

I'm finally getting a few minutes to post some pictures of my little Twinkie's birthday par-tay. I'm just slapping them on here in no particular order so we're gonna go with it, peeps!

My good friends Stacy and Karen.
Lily Kate coming out of the bouncy castle. To say that it was a hit with the Shisher's is an understatement. They LOVED it!
My BFF's Kellie and Emily.
Little Ella girl.
My attempt at a Ladybug cake. Not super impressive, but homemade nonetheless.
Stacy and "big buddy". That is one of the girlies friends, Caleb. Isn't he cute?
Cake action.

Silly Shishers. I heart these girlies.
Luke and his girl, Rayna. Her big brother is Luke's best buddy.
Pinata time!!!
Silly, taking her stab at it...
After the rain cleared up we put the bouncy castle in the backyard.
These sisters have some mad cake eating skills. They get that from their mama.

The boys took over the bouncy castle and had a blast. Seriously, it was like a mosh pit for little ones. Amazingly there was no crying!
Sisters getting some pinata loot.


The girls went to bed before the party was over so they opened presents the next day. It didn't take them long at all to figure out that if they ripped the paper, there would be something fun inside! And they had LOTS of ripping to do!! I took note of who the gifts came from, but someone accidentally threw that paper away so I wasn't able to write thank you notes. And it's still bothering me!

The day before my exodus

It's 7:28am and all is quiet at the Mad House. All my little people (and Daddy) are still sleeping. I hope that this is a glimpse of what heaven our summer mornings will look like.

I leave tomorrow for Boston and haven't even started packing. Which is really unusual for me. Usually when we are going anywhere I start packing and getting things ready a week in advance - making list and piling things on the guest bedroom that we will need for a trip. You can imagine all that we need (and don't need for that matter) for this Mad House.

This trip is different. It's just me. I don't need 2 pack'n'plays, 30 diapers (which lasts us barely 3 days, people!), backpacks filled with toys and games for the boys, 8+sippy cups, minimally 41 sets of clothes for the kids (daytime and pj's)....really the list is ridiculous.

It's just going to be me, my suitcase and -this is the most exciting part- a magazine or book!!!!!

What I have been working on for the past week, though, is a schedule and notes for when I am gone. I really should post that because it will give you a glimpse into my very psychotic mind.

I'm just not sure you are ready to go there. It would be fun though...

Oh, yeah - I have had many an inquiry about why I am going to Boston. One of my BFF's, Emily, is there and I am going to go and hang out with her for a long weekend. She is there for her brother's shwanky wedding and wanted a date. I've never been to a shmancy fancy wedding celebration, so this is exciting. Oh, and I have never been to Boston either. And I really don't know what else I will be doing or where else I will be going.

The whole trip is going to be an adventure and I love adventures. Before giving birth to my oldest child, I used to be quite adventurous. Some would even say wild and carefree. Some would probably even say too wild and carefree. I haven't seen those traits in a looong time. I thought I pushed them out with my placenta, but have decided that they are still there. Somewhere. Somewhere deep.

And my goal is to find them this weekend.

My sister is coming to love on and take care of my chillin's. Please pray for her. I don't think she has the foggiest idea what she is embarking on. Seriously. This is a girl that doesn't get out of bed before noon and thinks a long day is going to class for 3 hours and then to the gym for 30 minutes. I.kid.you.not. She told me that once. If she thinks that is a long day, she will think these days are marathons. I have faith in her. My notes should guide her. And Joseph will pseudo be here and my mama is coming in for the weekend to help her too. 3 people should be able to do my job, right?

My kids will be fine.
My kids will be fine.
My kids will be fine.

I really hope I find that carefree part soon...