Hello again everybody. We've had a really busy sumer filled with lots events and activities. I'm WAY behind on my posts and will try to catch up one of these days. I think that I deserve a little break due to the fact that I have a child who has been sleeping really terrible the last month. Don't ask me why but he has decided to be worlds worst sleep (maybe even worse than Emily was, maybe). I've had no energy lately and I'm so tired ALL the time. I know that this too shall pass but it's been rough.

Anyways, let's go back to the 4th of July. We had a fun filled weekend with family and friends. Lots and lots and lots of HOT DOGS! It was so funny because every BBQ we went to had almost the exact same food. Hot dogs, hambergers, chips, watermelon, baked beans, etc....
We started off on Friday the 3rd by taking the family to Yorba Regional park. The kids had a great time playing at all 4 playgrounds and feeding the ducks.





That evening we went over to some good friends of ours, the Ventura, for a BBQ. They had a bunch of friends and neighbors over and it was sure a great time. The kids had the best time playing together, they had a pinata, lots of yummy food and desserts, poppers, etc.
I love this train. The kids could play on it all day long.

Jack was never without a candy or cookie in his hand


The pinata


On the 4th, we started off the morning with a pool party at Matts parents house. It was a gorgeous day and the pool felt so good. Merlyn and Shirley were also down from Clovis and Tim and Heidi and all the kids came too. Both of my kids love the water and Emily loves playing with Ashlyn.






That afternoon we went over to my grandparents house for another BBQ and water games and homemade ice cream. After all that good stuff we went outside and did fireworks. All of the kids love doing that stuff, except Emily. She doesn't like fire or loud noises so the whole thing scared her. But I will say by the end of the night, she made her way to the back of my dads car to watch from inside. That is a very big step for her from last year. I'm really not sure who likes fireworks more the kids or Bryan and Matt.

A little summer fun, so far.....

With the weather getting hot, we are finding ourselves spending more time outside in the water and finally getting a little beach time. I love the sunshine. It makes me happy to get up in the morning and it also gives us so many options on what we can do with our day.

Emily loves to paint, actually she loves anything that involves getting messy. So we decided to do a little face painting one afternoon.

What do you expect from a 3 year old...... it's colorful though.


One of Jacks new favorite hobbies is watching the trains at the Fullerton train station. When the Spaghetti Factory was having there special, we tried to make it there once a week to have a bite for dinner and watch the incoming and outgoing trains. It was FUN. We went with the Hansens a bunch of times and the Marrs once. All the kids seemed to really enjoy the trains and looked forward to it each week. Jack got obsessed with it and now is really in to Thomas the train stuff and train books.



A couple of weeks ago Papa and Grammy Doerr took the kids and Matt and I to Sesame Street Live at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center. The kids had a really good time and Jack was in ah of the characters. Ivy got great seats (1st row from the stage) and we got to see it up close and personal. They took us 2 years ago when Emily was almost 2 and she loved it then too. Fun times....





Here's a cute picture of my dad with most of his grandkids on his birthday

Big Bear trip and Matts b-day

I'm back and going to try to catch up a bit. Let's go back to May. May is always a busy month for our family. We have Mothers Day, Ivy's birthday, my dad's birthday, my grandma's birthday, brittany's birthday, and memorial day. So the weekends fill up pretty quickly.
This Memorial Day Stan and Ivy asked us to go to Big Bear with them for a little weekend getaway. I really don't take the kids anywhere over night because they aren't good sleepers but I decided to attempt it. While it turned out better than I expected, it was still a rough night of sleeping for me and Jack. We came up on Sunday and stayed through Monday night. We had a great time. We went to see and play on Stan and Ivy's property that they own (huge piece of land). That was a lot of fun for the kids to run around and collect pine cones and rocks and "treasures". We went into town a couple of times and walked around, shopped, and ate. We went to Big Bear Lake and walked around, skipped rocks and the kids LOVED it there. Ivy and I took Emily to the park and the fire station. We also hiked around the back of the cabin. It was a really great time and I can't wait until Jack gets a little older and sleeps better so that we can do fun stuff like this more often. The kids had a WONDERFUL time with Grammy and Papa and got lots of one on one attention from them. Thanks Stan and Ivy for a great weekend!! We made a lot of fun memories.

At this cute little park we went to

Rock climbing behind the cabin we stayed in

On Stan and Ivy's property



For Matt's birthday we had a family birthday party the weekend before and on his actual birthday he took the day off to go to, none other than, good old Disneyland. It was actually really fun and we got free Disney cash! Here are some pics of the day.
Emily made daddy a picture frame for his b-day

Mothers Day, Brittany the hairdresser, & Summer Fun!

Wow, I don't even know where to start. I don't know if I should go back to Mothers Day or if that's going back way to far. Anyways, I guess I will only because it was one of the best weekends I've had in years.
Mothers Day felt extra special this year for some reason. I felt really grateful. Some days come and go and you don't think much about them. But this year I felt thankful and SO, SO blessed to have these 2 wonderful children. I could not have asked for better kids than Emily and Jack. They have brightened my life in so many different ways and taught me how to love so deeply. They both are so different and love ME so differently that I truly feel the bond and relationship with each of them is unique in its own way. I thought, as most moms do, that I would never be able to love another child more than I loved Emily. But that's not the case, you do. You find that you have so much love deep in your heart to give. And although I love my husband and children differently, I love them all deeply and wholeheartedly.
This year was the first year that Emily was in preschool and made Mothers Day gifts with her teachers for me. She picked out a basket full of flowers (which of course were pink), made a bouquet of flowers (out of tissue paper and other art stuff), and did her foot prints with paint. When I opened these gifts on Mothers Day, my eyes filled up with tears. They meant so much to me and I knew they were from HER heart. She was so proud to tell me about how they made these and that she picked out these flowers just for me. It was very sweet. We have all given those handmade presents to our parents for different occasions but to be on the other side of that and be the one receiving them, that was an awesome experience. Those are the precious moments that I thank God that I am lucky enough to be blessed to even have children.
The day before Mothers Day, they went and got me breakfast and sent me on my way to have a 90 minute message. MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE THING! It was 90 minutes of relaxation. Then on Mothers Day they got me really sweet cards and were GREAT all day long. We also spent Mothers Day celebrating our moms too. Overall it was the most fantastic weekend. My heart was overjoyed.

I think I'll just finish this blog with a bunch of randomness. As some of you know, Brittany (Matt's youngest sister) is going to cosmotology school in Texas. She was recently home for a visit and Matt decided to have her cut his hair. Now this is a big step for Matt. Brit has been doing my hair for a long time but Matt never EVER goes to anyone except a professional. Let's just say he was surprisingly impressed. She did an excellent job. I actually thought it looked better than Supercuts or Fantstic Sams has done. It's kind of fun having a hairdresser in the family.

It's finally summertime and I'm lovin it! I love the warm weather and playing in the water and all that fun stuff. Here are some recent pictures of the kids playing in the water and some fun recent playdates.



For one of our recent playdates, Jenny K, Jenny M and I decided to lug our 7 kids to Yogurtland. The kids loved going on a little walk and especially LOVED the yummy yogurt. Minus a bunch of branches in our walking path, it turned out to be a success. In the pic below- Emily, Jack, Jackson, Maddox, Joe, Delaney, and Maggie and Jenny M.

Playdate at beckys last week. Jack and Ava riding in the caddy together. I just love Ava. She's my little squishy girl. I also just love her little personality.

This is only a small portion of my updates. I'll be back soon with our Big Bear trip, Sesame Street Live, and Jacks new hobby- watching the trains at the train station. Lots of fun has been had in the last month.

Finally a big girl bicycle

So Emily FINALLY got a big girl bicycle. I know that it's more of a birthday or Christmas present kind of toy but we really didn't want to wait until August to move her up. She has a nice princess tricycle but was definitely outgrowing it so we thought it was time to make the move up. A few weeks ago we had a garage sale and she sold a lot of her own toys (which was super hard for her) but we told her that she could use her money to buy another bigger toy. About a week and a half ago we took her to the toy store and let her pick out which bicycle she wanted. She fell in love with the Dora bike. So we got it! She was so proud that she bought it with her own money and it really made her feel like a big girl. EVERY DAY since we bought it, she tells me how much she loves her bike and thanks us for it. Then after she says thank you, she stops herself with saying out loud, "Wait, no, thank me. I bought it with my own money."
Here are a few pictures of her first day riding her new bike. She got right on it and was a pro. Since then, she's taken a couple big spills but nothing major. She gets right back up and keeps going.
Daddy put the bike together and he was so proud of his little girl. When we go on bike rides, she always wants Matt to walk by her so she doesn't fall. It's so interesting to me that they feel more secure and safe with their dads.

Our first Angles game this season

I really enjoy Angels games but it never works for my kids sleep schedules to go. So we don't make it to many of them. My dad got some tickets for a game a couple of weeks ago and asked us if we all wanted to go. Unfortunately it was a Sunday afternoon at 1pm., right in the middle of Jacks nap. Matt decided he would say home with Jack and let Emily and I go with my parents. We all had a great time and they won! I'm pretty sure that Emily's favorite part was the cotton candy and peanuts. But I actually enjoyed getting to watch part of the game without having to entertain a child. It was a very nice and relaxing day!

Fun at the Spectrum

My kids love the water. We spend so much time out in the backyard either running threw the sprinklers, water balloons or playing with the hose in the mud (ugh). We've also made it over to our condos pool a few weeks ago (still a little chilly). Here are some pictures at Irvine Spectrum the other day.