Naked in Vegas

Austin and I each discovered a fun attraction in Vegas...naked statues. He is at an age where it is funny to see "boobs". I had fun teasing him about it the whole time. We took time stand outside for an hour to see a pirate show at 10:00pm and of course at the last minute it was cancelled because of wind. The kids were NOT happy. Justin about had a cow. He is not one to hide his disappointment. Such a joy. We had a great time though. I am sure we will go back soon.

Cows, Lepards and Talent

I drove the kids to downtown Las Vegas to visit a dairy farm. There arent actually cows there but we toured the processing plant and saw them making milk, ice cream and cottage cheese. They had a robotic cow that explained how things are done and then we walked around. It was actually pretty cool. We even got free ice cream at the end. Yummm!!

In the mean time Justin and Austin discovered a new talent. They could suck air out of Gatorade bottles and stick them to their faces. Nice!! It makes a Mother so proud.

We went to the Lion and Dolphin habitat in the Mirage Hotel. That was really fun. The kids got to pet a dolphin and watch them do tricks. We also saw Jaguars, Lions, Tigers and Llamas. We really enjoyed that adventure.

Viva Las Vegas

We heading to Vegas as soon as school got out. John had a convention for work there so we tagged along to enjoy the free stay at the Paris Hotel. I can promise we did not come home with an extra "gift" as we did a few years ago. We never even slept in the same bed the whole time!! Fitting 6 people in one hotel room is a little challenging but we managed. We went to everything there that is free. While John worked the kids and I walked all around and saw all kinds of cool things. We enjoyed the M&M Store and loved the Flamingo Hotel walkways. It was a great family get-a-way and we were thankful for the semi-free trip.

School is out!

The kids are thrilled. As of May 22 school is officially over. The kids were all on honor roll this year and were great students. They are looking forward to swinging in the backyard, riding on pool toys and hiding out from me in the fort. I am looking forward to sleeping in, no homework and school starting in August!!

Kinder Zoo Trip

I am going to back up a month to catch up. Christian's kindergarten class went to a local zoo the last week of school. I was in charge of 3 rambunctious boys and Jilliann. His teacher, Ms. Loffman, said I could handle the challenging children....I think that was because mine was in the group. We had a lot of fun and walked until exhaustion (10 minutes for the kids!).

We saw all kinds of fabulous animals but our favorite was the naked mole rat. How funny looking are they??

Jilly turns 2!

What a bittersweet day. My baby girl is 2 now. I cannot begin to describe how much joy she has brought me. I love dressing her and watching all the heads turn when we are out. She is so cute and very girly (for now). She had a fabulous party and enjoyed all the attention. She was shy but LOVED when we sang "Happy Birthday".

Back to Africa

Over Spring Break we took John's parents to Out of Africa. Last year I took the kids myself so this time John got to come too. My Mom and George and George's daughter Suzie came too. There were a lot of us.

We saw a program about large snakes and they let people come in and pet them. Of course my children were not the least bit worried and charged right in. We saw Tigers playing in a water pool and got to feed a giraffe (Austin put the "cookie" in his mouth and let the giraffe lick it off of him...ewww). And like usual I was stuck spending half the time nursing my little piggy. Austin was trying to be coy and get me wet when I wasnt looking!! I got him back.

Justin turns 9

Hard to believe! My little Gussy is 9. We went out to dinner with the family on his actual birthday and then he took a friend (and his brothers and sister) to a local amusement park for the day. He actually wasnt feeling great but he managed to have fun. It was challenging having 5 kids at the park alone but I managed. We all had a great time and Austin even took Christian on a few rides!!

Another Project Completed

We FINALLY finished the BBQ. It took forever it seemed but it is done and has been used a lot already. John is happy to have completed yet another task on his list but have no fear...I have added several more since then!! Poor guy will never be done.

Tale of a Jumping Cactus

Here is a picture of a plant called a jumping cactus. It is made up of round "balls" of barbed spikes coming out. If you walk close to one it seems to "jump" out and attach to your clothes or skin. Let's ask Jilliann how it feels....

We were all hiking. John and the boys went on ahead of us because Jilliann was walking slow and playing around. Once they were well out of sigh and out of yelling range Jilliann decided to jump off a rock and into one of these. Of course, because they are round and spiked I could not grab them to get them off of her so after thinking I decided to get a rock and try to hit them off. In the mean time some of the ones on her were jumping off and getting on me. So, now she is full of barbed thorns and I have these stupid things all on me. It was REAL fun. After much deliberation I decided to call 911. I had my cell phone but John didn't have his. I needed tweezers or pliers or gloves to get all this off of us and I had none. Eventually 6 good looking paramedics made their way to us and proceeded to pull all this out of us. And, as a cruel joke all mine were stuck in my inner thigh and knee so these men had to pull cactus' out of my inner thigh. Oh yeah...that was totally embarrassing.

Once back at the car I forced the paramedics to leave before John and the boys showed back up. They were hesitant to leave us but I begged them as I knew John would make fun of me! I was right...when he got back and I told him the story he laughed and called me a dork. Although, when we got home and I showed him all the bruises these things left in both Jilliann and I he was shocked. Needless to say, next time he wants to go hiking, Jilliann and I are going to the mall to buy new shoes!!

Flips and Dorks

Andrew has a tradition of taking the babies and doing back flips with them on the trampoline. It is nerve wraking to watch but all the kids have loved it and so far he hasnt dropped anyone!! Jilliann is no exception. She loves flipping around with him. That girl doesnt have much fear.

It rained here A LOT last weekend but that did not stop Justin and Christian from going outside to jump on the trampoline and play in the puddles. And, like usual, they are in their underwear...but put shirts on to stay "warm"!

January Fun

January has been busy. What month isnt!! John is still working on the barbcue. It is coming along nicely although he only gets to work on it here and there. I have been spending most days at the hospital with my Grandma as soon as he gets home from work! We are finally ready to tile it though. I hope to get it done this weekend.

Jilliann has gone through a phase of loving whipped cream. She will bring me a bowl and say "cream cream"...as desperate as possible. It doesnt help that Andrew has bought her the chocolate kind too and she loves it. Here the cat is sharing in the joys with her. She is very giving!!

We are dog sitting through the day for my Mom while she has her floors done. The first day I knew Mom would be worried becuase the dog is her "Baby" so we let Jilliann torture the dog and sent the pictures to my Mom and George. Believe me, Mom was stressed! She loves this dog more then life itself. I had fun freaking Mom out!!

Concrete Pad

For Christmas John got the go-ahead to build a bar-b-cue in the back yard. He had to pour an extra concrete pad off the side of our existing patio. He did it all by hand with Johnny and Andrew. See Andrew's butt?? He wanted to fit in with John and Johnny! What a dork.

Christmas Morning

We woke up...we saw the presents...they were all opened!

It always amazes me that it takes months of thought, preparation and wrapping to be all devoured in a matter of minutes. We stalled as much as we could trying to get them to open up things one at a time but it is hard. I will have to get the rest of the pictures from George because I only took a few. Jilliann got a new doll with a bottle and she liked that! We got so many generous gifts from family. Thank you all for another amazing Christmas. "Santa" left notes for all the kids telling them to be nicer to each other and to remember to tell Jesus Happy Birthday.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was busy. We went to church then had our cousins MaryLee and Amanda over for a traditional ham and mashed potato dinner. Yum. We exchanged gifts and the boys were thrilled to get their first Wii game. We continued to tell them we didn't get one since they were all sold out everywhere. I enjoy torturing them every Christmas.

The cat and dog joined in the holiday fun. The dog looks blissfully ignorant and the cat looks less then thrilled. That pretty much sums up their personalities. The hamster, fish and turtle refused to participate!