Before And After

BEFORE






AFTER





(great pictures, i know)

we finally found one after 6 weeks of looking!
so glad to have that out of the way, and i can't tell you how nice it is to have some ROOM. and doors that open for me. and some peace and quiet while the kids watch a movie.
and all kinds of music- the previous owners had the hard drive loaded already.
norm- our salesman and dave's best friend for the last 6 wks- told me some of it might need to be deleted for lack of family friendliness. i kinda laughed at the time, but he wasn't kidding. i'm not old enough for some of what's on there. but most of it is a lot of fun.


so, tomorrow is july 23- our 9 year anniversary. makes me feel really old to think we've been married for 9 years.
we usually try to get away for a night or two to celebrate, but this year we are just aiming for dinner alone. we've got dave's sister maria watching our 3 oldest, and my brother justin and his wife katie are taking the baby.

we won't even know what to do with ourselves- a quiet dinner with no one to feed but me- no repeated trips to the bathroom- no spills or crying- no one trying to climb on or under the table- and no one running through the restaraunt naked.....
yep, that one happened once.
shaeya was 2, and we let her sit on the floor by our table for awhile not realizing she was quietly removing every bit of clothing. til out of the corner of my eye i saw a child running away. i looked down where shaeya had been sitting, and only her clothes were there.
everyone ELSE in the restaraunt thought it was really funny. they called her the "chili's streaker."


so here's to 9 years.
hoping the next 9 will be just as crazy and wonderful.






i know these are not related in any way to this post, but she's just so stinkin' cute i had to share them.

The Zoo

another great (tekoaless) session at wiswall.

i'm slowly learning names- tanija, nakira, rakiya, kayanna.......
they spend lots of time laughing at me while i try to get them right.

this week tanija (she's probably about 7) came up to me and said, "i wish YOU were my mom....."
i told her, "that would be fun, but you probably already have a mom, right?"
"yea....i do.
but you could be my STEP mom. would you? please? would you be my step mom?"

what do you say to that???
i wish i could take half of them home with me- i just need a bigger van.


yep, still waiting on that one.......






i think it's about time, don't you??

that was us today. we went to the zoo.
it would have been a lot of fun, but it was so HOT and CROWDED. and tekoa was awful.

i had the baby in the sling, tekoa and ava in the wagon, and tyden and shaeya walking beside me.

sounds easy, doesn't it?

except the sling made wren and i way too hot- i was dripping sweat.
tekoa would not stay in the wagon- or any where close by. she kept trying to join other groups, and wouldn't come when i called her. i seriously need a leash!!! everybody tells me that- even strangers.

tyden was mad that i wouldn't let him pull the wagon (i tried to let him, and he about ran over my aunt rhonda while going down a hill) and shaeya was SO HOT and SO THIRSTY and her legs were SO TIRED!

i think there were like animals and things there- i just never really got to see any :)

next time we'll go in the fall. with dave.

a rare smile without threats or bribes from shaeya

poor #4



okay, so we did have SOME fun in the midst of the chaos.

Little Performers

i don't know where they get this from....... :)

i love how tekoa can't hold still even when she's singing.

my camera chopped off her last word, but she would never make it through a re-do

so that's as good as it gets.

Another Tuesday

well, i think my last post must have made my mom pretty nervous, cause she called today and asked if she could take tekoa while i went to wiswall :)

it was so nice to go without her- much less stressful.
and i had a great time with the kids today. we had a good crowd, and they are starting to learn my songs- which is so fun for me.

i don't mean to make my blog only about wiswall- there's a whole lot that goes on in between tuesdays.

for starters, the girls and i spent an entire week alone last week while the boys went on a fishing trip with the kellenbergers. it was.....long. we missed our boys- but we did have some good times.

i think it was good for me to get the hang of juggling the needs of the girls alone, so now when dave comes home from work he's not hit with so much.

i let the girls sleep in my bed with me every night, and they loved that.

me, not so much- shaeya couldn't get close enough and tekoa bangs her head- need i say more?

sunday morning was a challenge- getting us all ready for church by myself. especially the part where tekoa climbed in my shower and coated herself in baby magic, and also when shaeya decided to paint her eyebrows black with my eyeliner.

but i was thrilled for tyden to get some time with his dad.

it was the longest i've ever been away from him- i've left him for 2 nights, 3 different times in his (almost) 8 years. but i think it was good for him- he seems a bit more independent.

and- besides the trip- we've been spending lots of time at the pool- i decided it's way easier to pack up and get out everyday than to stay home- the older kids get so bored at home, and there's not much that tekoa can get into or climb on at our little fenced in pool. i just feel bad for wren, who sits in the shade in her carseat most of the time. but, at least we're never there for TOO long, and i make up for it when we get home :)

speaking of wren- she's getting fat! it was really sad for me at first, because she's growing so fast, but now i'm loving the chubbyness. and she's finally growing some new hair on the top of her head :)

today she had a bumbo seat bath after wiswall- why have i never thought of that before? genius.

don't you just want to pick her up and kiss all that fatness??

and katelyn- this one is for you...........

i am most definitely NOT letting my kids watch a movie on a beautiful summer evening JUST so i can catch up on my blogging.........that would be disgraceful.