A well needed night out!

Wooohoooo......... that is the words that came out of my mouth on Saturday night. We had been planning this night for a couple of weeks so when it finally came, I was really looking forward to an evening out without the kiddos. No highchairs, no food all over me, no screaming or crying, no feeding anyone else except for myself... oh, how wonderful. We rarely get out without the kids but when we do, it's usually to a wedding or just the 2 of us (which is great too). So this was a rare treat that we are definitely going to do more often. We started the night off with an almost 3 hour! dinner at the Melting Pot with our good friends, Mike and Becky. Dinner was fantastic. Matt and I had been there a few times but this was Mike and Becky's first time and I have to say we were all very pleased with the scrumptious food. We were giddy the entire night and really enjoying our freedom. We had great conversation and laughed a lot. After dinner, we went across the street to the Improv. I laughed more and harder that night then I have laughed in a very long time. We really enjoyed our night out without the kids (we didn't get home until midnight) and it gave us a chance to have adult conversation with good friends. I really think that it is important for parents to be able to have some time away from the kids and to take a deep breath. Life with kids can get chaotic and it's nice to take some time out for yourself. But of course we did miss the kids very much but we knew that they were in very good hands with our parents. It was a break well needed, especially for Becky and me!






























And for our final course, chocolate fondue......YUM

Maggies pancake birthday party

Last week Maggie had her 3rd birthday. Jenny wanted to do something low key for her birthday this year so she had Emily over for breakfast and play time. It was a lot of fun. Jen made mickey mouse pancakes for the kids and they got to decorate them with lots of sprinkles, whip cream, syrup, and yummy stuff like that. All the kids were a little under the weather so you could tell they weren't feeling all that good. It was hard to get Emily to smile for the pictures because she wasn't feeling so well but this was the best I could get. We love Maggie to pieces and I'm pretty sure that these 2 will be trouble when they get older. I'm hoping we have many crazy stories of the two of them like we have of Jenny and I.

Sea World

We finally made it to Sea World. We've been talking about it all summer but couldn't find the time. We went last weekend and had a great time. I always forget how cool Sea World is and how much there is to do. My kids sleeping was really off that day so I knew they would be done early. We got there when it opened and headed home around 3pm. We saw lots of sea animal exhibits, watched the always impressive Shamu show, fed and pet the dolphins, played games to win stuffed animals, and played in the huge Elmo exhibit (where they had rides, a huge rope maze, jumper houses, sand/ beach area, meet and greet Sesame street characters, etc). We had a coupon that allows us to go back for free before the end of the year so we're definetly going to try to make it back there. Emilys favorite exhibit was the wallus. We found it really funny that she keeps calling them walluses because she talks so well that she rarely ever mispronounces words. We keep correcting her but she keeps leaving the r out. And Shamu, what a show. It is amazing to see these trainers in the water, telling these killer whales what to do. Emily has added Sea World to her prayer list at night. That means she likes it, a lot!
Matt and kids at the Shamu show















Watching the Beluga Whale















Feeding the dolphins















Playing in the Elmo exhibit

Blakes b-day party

Okay, so I have a few current events that have happened in the last week. The first one was over a week ago. I'm a little surprised my sister hasn't blogged this one yet but she seems to be slacking off a little in her blogging efforts. It's like she's busy or something :).

We always have a little birthday party for everyone in the family. They are very casual and fun. It's usually at my parents house and it includes my parents, my grandparents, my sisters family and our family. We do dinner (whatever the birthday boy/girl wants), cake, presents and since they've gotten older we've started doing games with prizes. This time it was Blakes 8th birthday. Oh my, he is getting so old. I remember when he was born. He's such a sweet kid and has a lot of energy. The theme was Star Wars but the cake was Indiana Jones (special request because he wanted the characters on top of the cake to play with- only kids can be that creative). It was a lot of fun. We played lots of games and my sister made up a really cool treasure hunt and at the end they each got a bag full of treasure (toys). They loves it. Here are some pictures from the day.

Giggles.... hehehe

I have lots of posts to do but can't find the time to download pictures so I'll just share something that's been on my mind. Everyday I look at my life and feel extremely blessed. I have so very much to be thankful for. My husband works hard and loves his family, I get to stay home and care for my 2 beautiful kids, we have a very close extended family that we know loves and supports us, we have wonderful friends, and most importantly we have a God that has taken care and provided for us richly. A friend of mine recently said in her post, what's not to love. And that is seriously how I feel.

But this is not where I intended to go with this post. What I really wanted to share was something I can't take a picture of. I guess I could take a movie of it but not a picture (and I know little about computers and downloading movies so I'll stick to pics only). One of my very favorite moments in each and every day is watching my kids laugh together. There is nothing better than seeing your children make each other laugh and the love that they share together. It warms my heart to see them break out in the giggles (which usually turns into the hiccups for Jack). I can remember when Jack was really little and Emily would make him laugh with her silly faces or random words or songs. Oh how I could just listen to laughing kids all day. It reminds me of when I was young. I was a happy kid and loved laughing and singing and being silly. I hope that my kids will grow up enjoying life and not take things too serious. I know that this was a random post but hey, it was on my mind so I thought I'd share. Just another one of life's little treasures that you hold in your heart.

When It Rains, It Pours

We actually had a pretty bad week last week. It was one thing after another with Emily. My poor little girl doesn't just get sick, she gets REALLY sick. She's had a few non-critical health issues that we've been dealing with the last few weeks and the day after Labor Day, she came down with a cold. A cold, not that big of a deal, right? Wrong. In years past, when she gets a cold at this time of the year it only means one thing, lots of visits to the ER and it almost always turns into bronchitis. Emily has been a very sick child ever since she's been born. She literally was sick every other week for the first year and a half. After she turned 1 things started to make sense. She had (and still has) bad eczema, she has bad asthma, and more recently we had her tested for allergies and what do you know, she's allergic to like everything. This sort of all explains why when she comes down with a common cold, it turns ugly very fast. Since this is our 3rd year of dealing with this season (September thru April) we have become sort of pro's at this stuff. We have almost everything that they have in the ER so that we can try to treat her at home. Hopefully making less trips to the ER then in years past. I will tell you what though, it never gets easier. Asthma attacks come on so fast and so strong. One second she can be okay and the next second her lips are turning blue and her eyes are rolling back in her head and you realize that she's not getting enough oxygen. It is truly terrifying to see my daughter like that. You only understand the severity of it if you have been around it and have seen it. When Emily gets sick, it breaks my heart. It's not like when the rest of us get sick. It's much, much worse. She has to be on so many medicines and breathing machines. We now have an Allergy and Asthma specialist that we see and he is awesome. Besides being a great doctor and great with Emily, he has really helped me understand how to deal with asthma and allergies and get a grip on it. She is starting preventative medicine to help her through this cold season and we are hoping that this will work and make it an easier next few months. We are hopeful and have heard great things about it! Please continue to keep Emily in your prayers. She is recovering from a long, hard week nicely but she had a tough ride this week.

Labor Day weekend

I've been meaning to blog for a while but I've had a lot going on. So I'll start back from Labor Day weekend. Had a great weekend. Full of many fun events. Friday night we went to Disneyland with some of our close friends, the Billingsleys. We stayed out way past the kids bedtime (left around 9:30 or so) but they recovered from it okay. Here are a couple of cute pictures of Van and Emily (her hair was a little crazy that night). We'll have to get some pictures of Jack and Ava together next time.


Matt and the kids at Snow Whites wishing well

Saturday morning we went to McKayla's birthday party at a park in Brea. We had a great time. Isn't she adorable....

Emily and McKayla

Emily and Maggie playing together at the park

USC football has finally started and my husband couldn't be happier. It's kind of refreshing to hear football playing in the background all day on Saturdays. Don't get me wrong, I say refreshing because Matt really enjoys it and by Saturday I've had enough of Mickey Mouse and Little Einsteins playing in the background. But it is really annoying and frustrating to have him glued to the TV and have to fight with the TV to get his attention. Nonetheless, a fun time of year of my husband and my side of the family. They are all big, die-hard USC fans.

GO TROJANS!!

Saturday evening we had a goodbye potluck for Adam and Megan. We are sad to see them go. They are delightful people and they have beautiful kids. We wish them well in Clovis and know that they will come to visit soon. Here is a picture of Emily and there 2 girls at a recent playdate. They loved dressing up when they came over.

Kemberlyn, Emily, and Adrienne
Monday (which was Labor Day) was another busy day. Bryan and Matt spent most of the day hiking (in Trabuco Canyon) and the kids and I went over to Stan and Ivy's house (my in-laws) to go swimming. Late afternoon, we had a BBQ at our house with the whole family. It was a busy weekend but a lot of fun!

Bryan on the hike

My Papa and Jack (his great-grandson)

The girls LOVE their watermelon

The guys watching the UCLA game