The Wilkes Visit

After our 4th of July playdate ended our dear friends Mari, Auston and Aby Wilkes rolled in. They were only staying a few days so we had to do a lot of catching up and quick. We haven't seen them in a year so i was looking forward to hanging out and having 6 kids in the house. The girls shared Ella's room and the boys shared Jack and John's room. We didn't do much. Just hung out by the pool and played with the kids. Mari worked but made time to take some family pictures of us. We had a great time, well, except for the moment Auston thought he was superman and jumped into the pool without his floaties. Scary. My camera also died. Yes, my new camera.sThanks Best Buy for replacing it for free. Mari- Thanks so much for taking the time and making the long drive down to visit. I has a blast!

Play dates

Ella has attended two play dates since school ended. I thought it only fair i allowed her to plan a play date for her friends at our house. I thought this was a great idea since we would be moving and i would only have to do it once. I started calling around and found that Sunday afternoon would be a good time for everyone. Well, i had forgotten that Sunday also happened to be July 4th. Great, now we would be having an Independence day party. Angela was going to come home with us after church, Emma and Lisa's mom would drop them off and Derek and Melissa's mom would stay and help me out. Emma and Lisa's mom brought her nephew and left him too so i was glad another mom offered an extra set of hands. Eric was here too. He stayed on clean up duty most of the day. :) 10 kids made for a very busy day. The boys split into the boy room

and the girls quickly formed a fashion show that included all kids of tricks on Ella's gymnastics bar. They ate pizza and ice cream

and a few took a swim. Our boys were thrilled at all the company and the fact that they had other boys to play with. What was supposed to last 3 hours lasted 6. A long day but everyone had a good time. I wouldn't mind doing it again. Good thing since Ella is asking when she can plan another one. :)

Dancing is an expression

A quick blog before bed. My kids make me laugh. Thanks Disney for the beats.

Well, Hello

It has officially been a full month since my last post. I am feeling like a newbie and like i have found my old friend again. I never realized how i use my blog as therapy until I was too busy to write. See for every post there are probably two i write that never get posted. You know all about my feelings and gushy stuff no one really wants to read. HA. Well, i am back and will get caught up on July's activities and you will see where all i have been while i was vacationing from my blog. One thing is for sure, I have missed you!

The Dentist

I am a little behind on the kids teeth cleaning. I made up for it today. I took Ella, Jack, and John for their check-ups and cleanings. This was John's first trip and i was interested to see how he did. They were all great. Ella and Jack had x-rays and had their teeth cleaned and John just had the cleaning. All of them have deep bites that may lead to braces later. Their teeth were all great. No cavities, no concerns. It took about an hour to get us in and out. The kids got their goodie bags that had a toothbrush, floss, coupons, and toothpaste. In Ella's words, "it is all i ever wanted". Now i know where to take her for her Christmas gifts. :) I am so thankful to have kids that are well behaved at the dentist and the doctor's office.

John's 3 Year Check-up

Today was John's check-up. I wish i could say he had been cooperative today. Knowing the mood he was in all day i thought we were in for a rough visit with the doctor. Luckily, my kids LOVE the doctor and dentist. We are there every three months or so for someone's well child check-up. John was happy to get all the attention from the nurses and doctor. He weighted in at 30 pounds, 50th percentile, and was 37 inches tall, also in the 50th percentile. His vision was good and he was right on track with everything else. He is a curious little man. He definitely keeps me on my toes. The nurse asked him if he could peddle his tricycle. His response, " I I I can ride my bicycle, i can ride it weally fasssttt!"

In other John news, today was the day we finally let go of the last swimmie. He started trying to swim underwater with Jack and Ella and realized the two swimmies were holding him back so he began wearing only one. In order to go underwater he would have to hold one arm up and then duck his head. I couldn't understand why he wouldn't just take off the swimmie. Well, today i asked if i could blow some more air into it and he said yes. I really wanted to take some

air out. Then he just asked if he could swim to me and put the swimmie back on. He swam back to the steps and removed the swimmie and then swam back me. He never put the swimmie back on. He can swim from the shallow end to the seat in the deep end. The other two wanted to show off too. :) My biggest fear when we moved here was the kids and the pool. They had never really been in a big pool, not since Ella and Jack were babies. Now my fear is what i am going to do with the kids when i have no pool.

Here are the three little fish in action.

Happy Father's day

I am only running a few days late. Eric came home late Friday and i have been enjoying what little time we have together. He was going to be staying for a few days but had to leave early. Oh, the life. :) Not sure when he will be back so i took a few days off, from everything.

Father's day was great. As great as it can be from a mom's perspective. It started with me getting up with the kids and he got to sleep in. I made breakfast and he ate it in bed. The kids joined him.

They swam. We ate out for dinner and then home for bed. Nothing super special but we were just glad he was here. Eric is an amazing father. There are somethings that he is not so good at, like he forgets the kids are...well kids. He wants them to act like adults and dicipline for a 3 year old makes no sense to him. I try to explain that spanking is not good for John. Eric doesn't seem to get it. Now when John hits and i get on to him he says that he was spanking. HA! Still, he is a wonderful Dad and my kids are blessed.

Can't end a post without wishing my Dad a special Happy Father's day. I have been known to be a bit of daddy's girl. :) I love you Daddy.

Wishing all Dad's a wonderful day. ( a little late, i know.)