Families are like fudge

And while I'm at it ...

2008-11-26T00:46:00.000-08:00

Check out this adorable eye-candy!

(I just looked back and realized I haven't posted pics of the kids since September 10th so now I'm feeling the need to overcompensate...)

It's been a while!

2008-11-26T00:38:00.000-08:00

I've had a fairly photo-less month which is SO unlike me - I don't know what my deal is! But here are a few goodies to share with you that I took this weekend. LOL. My kids are gonna hate me someday.

We were driving home from a family function in Dana Point and the three kids who no longer nap ALL fell sound asleep. The one kid who usually does nap - well....

awwwww, sweet little red-head.
I swear I'm looking at my Grandpa Billy here. We have so many pictures of him falling asleep with his head cocked back just like this. I think I would choke.
He's so sweet when he's not crying or whining about something!

Awww, she's so ... wait a minute. I don't think she's really asleep...Surprise! I was just trickin' you.

Have a fun Thanksgiving-Eve, everyone!

I'm spoiled rotten.

2008-11-03T12:34:00.000-08:00

My super sweet husband spoils me. I don't deserve it (ok, yes I do. No need to be modest here.)!

He had to work all weekend so we met him for dinner on Saturday night. When we sat down at the table he said, "hey - what's that over there?" Yeah right, like I'm gonna fall for that when he has a sneaky smirk on his face. So just laughed and told him he was full of it. So after he said it a few more times, I just sighed and said fine, and glanced over "there". When I looked back at the table, this is what greeted me....

Ok, so that's not the ACTUAL sight that greeted me, I just found that picture on the web. But that is what was there.

I got the freaking AWESOME iPhone!!

My old cell phone was about 5 years old. In February, I went to open it and it fell apart. Like literally. I flipped it open and the flip top literally FELL OFF. We still had Aaron's old cell phone that was the same model so he stuck my SIM card in there so that's what I've been using since. When I charge it, the charge will only last about one day. It was dying a slow painful death.

So needless to say, I was SO excited about my new phone! And not only does it make phone calls - it does EVERYTHING! You name it, it does it. It tells me the weather. It has GPS. It's an iPod. I can check my email. I can surf the web. It works as a pedometer. It can even work as a heartrate monitor. It takes pictures. It can check in to Facebook. The list goes on and on.

So THANK YOU to my wonderful husband for turning me into one of *those people* who are always holding and checking their fancy-schmancy phones. :) xoxoxo

I've been tagged - whhaaa?

2008-10-22T23:39:00.001-07:00

Well this is a first! LOL. My friend Courtney tagged me on her blog! I feel so special. :)

Here are the "rules" for this whole tagging thing ...

Ok random or weird facts about myself. Hmmmmm. And just 7? Hmmmmm...

1. I love chocolate and mint. Together. So much. It's one of those pathetic addictions that I have no control over.
2. (oh good grief this is way harder than it needs to be). What else. Hmmm. Oh here's one. I have issues with hair. Like serious issues. If it's attached to a head, I have no problems. But hair that is no longer attached GROSSES me out. You know, the little hair that sticks to your shirt and tickles the back of your arm that you just CANNOT seem to find. Or the hair that is on your pillow while you're trying to fall asleep and it keeps tickling your face. Or even worse, the one that is down near the foot of the bed that gets stuck between your toes. And don't even get me started on hair in food. OMG I'm dry heaving right now just thinking about it. Moving on....

3. I looove Disney movies. The kids will put on one of these movies that I've seen at the very LEAST 300 times and I still find myself watching a good portion of the movie with them. Old ones, new ones, they're all fantastic.

4. I've always thought I'd love to live on a farm. Or a ranch. Somewhere with lots of animals. I married the wrong guy for that kind of life. HA!

5. Bea Arthur (from the Golden Girls) is my Grandpa's cousin. How cool am I.

6. I can't sleep with socks on. And I can't feel the ends of the covers with my feet or it drives me NUTS and I kick at the covers until I can't feel the end anymore. And I have to sleep with one leg out of the covers, even when it's cold. And I snore. And I flip a lot from side to side. I must be so fun to sleep with.

7. Last but not least ... I'm a night owl. I could stay up until 3 or 4 every morning EASILY. The only reason I go to bed is because I have to get up to take kids to school and be a boring responsible parent. HAHAHA.

Now I have to tag 7 other people ... here goes!!

1. Dana
2. Christa
3. Mom
4. Christie
5. Devon
6. Sheri (honestly, I didn't forget about you! I just didn't have you as a quick link from my blog and I was too tired and lazy to find it. Well now you're THERE. LOL.
7. Aimee

Here they are...

2008-10-10T15:28:00.000-07:00

I got the pics from the concert! WOOHOOOOOO! :) Most of the pics of the stage and all are actually videos that Rachael took with her camera so I don't have much of the actual new kids themselves. LOL

Now first, I was SO bummed b/c I found out on the way there that they won't let you bring in lenses over a certain length - I'm sure mine would have been rejected so I didn't want to chance it. *sniff* My BFF Rachael had to take up the job as resident photographer since she had her little point & shoot. :)

Here we are, ready to GO! Kelly & Karyn, me & Rachael!

WE'RE HERE! And in a long line!
Just so you can appreciate how much our noses bled - we were only about 6 rows away from being as far from the stage as you possibly could be.

We're sooo excited! It's like being 10 again. HA!

Natasha Bedingfield opened for them (after this hoooorrrrrrible chick sang) and she was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. You know how sometimes they just don't sound quite the same in person? She totally did. Fantastic.
Here's me & Kelly & Karyn fulfilling our lifelong dreams (Rachael doesn't count because she went to a New Kids concert when she was little).
Rachael trying to make out who all the little ants on the stage are...

Half way through, the New Kids walked out into the middle of the arena onto this platform - that was really cool b/c they were a lot closer

I think this is Jordan. Too grainy to tell. Who cares. It's one of them. HAHAHA
Awwww, isn't this such a cute picture of us? Still BFF.
It seriously ranks up there as one of the most fun nights of my life. It was unbelievable and I still can't believe I got to be there!!!

(I know, I know, I'm SUCH a nerd that it's just ridiculous).

I can now die a happy woman

2008-10-09T10:49:00.001-07:00

I went to a concert last night. Arguably the best concert in all of history. And no, I'm not ashamed to say it was the NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK!!!!!!!

It was sooooo much fun. I couldn't bring in my camera (why does my lens have to be so big? HAHAHA) so I have to wait for Rachael to email me the pictures she took. But I just had to share my excitement. So. Much. Fun. I can't even stand it.

And here we are now...

2008-09-19T13:05:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to add a pic taken of us last week so you can compare the before and after shots. HAHAHAHA. We haven't changed a bit! *snort*

Ten Years...

2008-09-19T00:01:00.001-07:00

Ten years.

Could it really be that long??

Ten years ago I said "I do."
Ten years ago I promised my best friend that I would spend the rest of my life with him.
Ten years ago we shared our first kiss.
Ten years ago I attended the FUNNEST wedding I've ever been to.
Ten years ago I started the rest of my life.

Nine years ago I got pregnant. On our 1 year anniversary.
Eight years ago we went out to dinner, leave Eli alone for the first time (he was 3.5 months old)
Seven years ago we went out to dinner.
Six years ago we left our two boys with someone and went out to dinner (yeah, we're boring).
Five years ago we took our 3-day old baby boy with us and went out to dinner (impressive, eh?)
Four years ago we went out to dinner (I'm sensing a pattern here)
Three years ago we left the four kids with my parents and we went away to the beach for a whole week - it was heavenly
Two years ago someone took the kids for us overnight and we went out to eat and rented movies and slept in. Heavenly.
One year ago we went out to dinner (seriously, we're boring - what can I say).

And tonight .... one guess .....

we're....

GOING OUT TO DINNER!!!!!!! Maybe we'll get a little crazy and see a movie or something. Who knows (hahahaha - we are actually planning to go away for a weekend but won't be able to do it until next month).

So to honor the happiest day of my life - the day I gave my heart to the man who will hold it for all time - let's take a little stroll down memory lane!

Our GINORMOUS wedding party

Leaving the ceremony to go to the reception

My sexy hubby - jeez we were young!

The blushing bride

Awwwwww.

And they lived happily ever after.

The first dance as husband & wife :)

2008-09-10T13:21:00.000-07:00

Out of all my kids, Ryan and Tiana have the most volatile relationship. They love each other, but most of the time they fight like cats and dogs. And it doesn't take much to set them off. Tiana could just glance at Ryan across the table and World War III could break out. Ryan tends to get physical - pushing and hitting and headbutting. Tiana gets physical too, but her biggest line of defense (at least in her own little mind) is to just yell " LOSER!" (sounds more like loo-suh).

The two of them usually drive me insane. I feel like all I do all day is try to break up their arguments. But once in a while something will come over them and they'll be like the best of friends and will have SO much fun together.

I captured one of these rare moments on Monday - I had the studio equipment set up from taking baby pictures of my nephew and Ryan and Tiana begged me to take "silly pictures" of them (that in itself is a rarity as they are usually ducking and hiding when the camera comes out). The pics I got are priceless :)

\

Back to school

2008-08-25T14:35:00.000-07:00

And so today summer came to a screeching halt as we all went back to school. Eli started 3rd grade, Grant 1st, and Ryan Kindergarten. I can't believe they're sooooooooo OLD! It was good times for all, although Ryan and Tiana are passed out in their beds right now. LOL. Here are a few pics!

I need a photographer.

2008-08-11T23:47:00.000-07:00

"Huh?" you might be thinking. "Aren't YOU a photographer?" Well allow me to answer those unspoken questions.

After a few years of doing some photography work, I've decided that I need a different photographer for my children. They won't smile for me. Or better yet, they scowl at me. Like I'm trying to shoot laser beams at them through the camera lens. Or they'll do the uber-cheesy smile, like someone is next to them jabbing them with a hot poker and they're just thinking "HURRY UP AND GET THIS OVER WITH."

Is it too much to ask? Really? To get a few nice pictures a year? Because I don't think I'm really being all that unreasonable. And I even give them plenty of warning - days if not WEEKS of warnings that we'll be having a photo shoot coming up soon.

I can get any other child on earth to look magnificent for the camera. I have parents insist that their child will NEVER smile and I can get them to smile. And GREAT smiles at that. So what is up with MY KIDS??

So if you know anyone who lives in the Inland Empire who is a fantastic photographer and works for free, give them my number.

That being said, here are the pics we got the other day. Now part of the problems are technical - the light changed very quickly (as in withing 45 seconds, no joke) from the time I started shooting to the time I got through the four kids. I adjusted my settings a few times but not quite where they needed to be so the pics were too dark thus a little grainy after photoshopping them. No big deal, really. Except that the darkness combined with the blur from constantly pulling the camera away from my face to scream "JUST LOOK AT ME AND SMILE! NO, not that fake smile a REAL ONE! NOOOOW!" only to have them reply "I AM." Really? The pics just didn't turn out that great (quality-wise). The full-body shots of the kids are printable and after messing with them I do like them. But the closeups - blah. Good for the web or 4x6 but not to blow up for the wall, which was the whole point of going to the beach to do pictures.

Oh well. Such is life, right? *sigh*

Now when you see these pictures, I know what most of you will think - they're fine! What are you complaining about? Well, I'm anal. What can I say. You didn't know that about me, did you. My life just SCREAMS "NOT ANAL". Until you look at my photography stuff. The one thing in my life that is meticulously organized and categorized and analyzed. LOL.

*********

Eli. I don't know if you can see the invisible hot poker or not, but it's there - jabbing him repeatedly.

Now this one - I think Grandpa Jim must have gotten him to laugh so it's the closest thing to a real smile we got.

There was another one that was actually really cute but this was the less blurry of two so this one won.

So we got him to smile - but it's not really a real Grant smile. And it's blurry.

Ryan was TOTALLY fake laughing here, but it's pretty cute. Weird lighting/coloring.

Alright - so it's a cute smile. But it's blurry. Because I kept having to pull the camera away and back and forth screaming like a banshee at him. I took probably 20+ pics of each kid and these are literally the only ones that turned out.

There's that dang invisible hot poker again.

I think I had resolved my lighting/focusing issues by this point and the picture quality was a little better. Not that greatest smile she has but she's still adorable - she looks so OLD here.

Now getting the four kids together was another story in itself. Sure, this picture might look decent now. I'm not going to tell you how much photoshop magic it took to get it there. And it's still really grainy. BUT it's not too bad, eh? Can you even tell that I cloned out 3 people behind them and replaced more than one child's head from another picture? HAHAHAHA

And I'll leave you with this shot which I totally love. It was really helpful to have them all NOT looking at me and NOT smiling at me. Made it an easy shot that I'm totally going to frame, blurry/grainy or not. :)

Good thing these kids are so dang cute. If they weren't though, maybe I wouldn't want to take so many pictures of them....

Off to the beach

2008-07-19T22:36:00.000-07:00

Well we did it! We survived the first beach trip of the summer. LOL. I warned the kids that we wouldn't be going to the beach very often this summer (dang gas prices) but we finally went yesterday with my BFF Rachael & her cutie daughter Reagan. The kids had a FANTASTIC time, and it seriously gets so much easier the older they get. Last year, Tiana wouldn't go near the water unless I was right there holding her hand. Yesterday, she was pushing me away because she was "surfing" and didn't want me to help. The sky was grey and overcast but it was PERFECT weather. It was warm, but not hot. Way too crowded but what can ya do. We found a good spot right up front so we got lucky. :) Here are some pics from our day!

The Freddy Fam

2008-07-08T00:12:00.000-07:00

We managed to get a BIG family picture on the 4th of July! And it turned out surprisingly good. hehehe.

Here we are! One big happy family.

School's out!

2008-06-14T23:47:00.000-07:00

These last few weeks have been craaaazy. I'm SO glad to be done! Remind me of that in a few weeks when I'm ready to kill them if they say "I'm bored" one more time. LOL.

Here are a few pics from all the kids' last days :)

reminders, part deux

2008-06-09T23:02:00.000-07:00

Ok, here's a snippet from chapter one. HAHAHA

....

"This is Nick, and this is Chris, and the guy who's driving is Roger. If you couldn't tell, her just got his license." Lindsay hadn't noticed, but she didn't really care. All that she was thinking about was that these new guys were pretty cute - especially Ryan & Nick. She couldn't really remember any of the other one's names. She looked over at Lisa, and they gave each other smiles, knowing exactly what was going through each other's minds."

....

I think Nick is supposed to be our friend Kenny. Chris, I'm not sure - maybe Bobby? I'd have to read more of the "book" to figure it out. Roger is Aaron. Lindsay is me. Lisa is Rachael. And seriously - this is all word-for-word the first conversation that happened with these people.

And oh, it gets better. Not only did I write things that actually happened, I also started writing things from Aaron's perspective (like I really had a clue). Oh my GOSH. Did I mention that I was the biggest dork EVER????????

reminders

2008-06-09T02:17:00.000-07:00

So just in case I had forgotten, last night I was reminded of what an amazingly huge dork I am. My parents were watching the kids for us and when we got back to pick them up my mom handed me a notebook she said she found in garage while cleaning.

I opened it up and even though it was written almost 14 years ago I still felt a wave of embarrassment over what a HUGE DORK I was! It was written when I had just turned 15 and was already head over heels for my now husband.

Now if it was just some dumb journal or something, I wouldn't be writing about it here (although, my elementary school diary might be worthy of blogging about - FREAKING HILARIOUS).

No. This was a BOOK. Literally. I started a book. And not a fictional book, either. It was word-for-word the story of my relationship with Aaron (at the time of writing there was NO relationship other than my fantasies of one HAHAHA). The only change was names. All names were changed to protect those involved I suppose.

I'll have to type up a snippet of the "book" and post it tomorrow - quite hilarious stuff.

But man, was I such a dork.

About time for another movie!

2008-05-30T22:41:00.000-07:00

Tonight was our mommy & me end of the year program. Ryan & Tiana were performing tonight.

Let me give you a little background.

Last year, after weeks of practice, Ryan decided that he didn't want to do it. No amount of bribes or threats would change his mind.

This year, he said he didn't want to do it. At some point I convinced him that it would be fun. Well we had our first practice about 3 weeks ago and what did he do? Sit in the back of the room sobbing because he didn't want to do it. I tried every trick I could think of - he still said he wouldn't do it. That night I told Aaron about it and he had a little talk with him. Aaron said "Ryan, it's your last year of mommy & me. You're doing it." and Ryan said "Ok." HUH?? I said the same thing and got moans and wails.

So his attitude completely changed and he seemed to actually enjoy doing their little group song. He followed all the choreography and it all looked good.

Tonight Ryan took the stage in front of a full house. And a star was born.

My new favorite movie

2008-05-28T14:09:00.000-07:00

I can't even think of the last time I bought myself a movie. Don't get me wrong - I buy a LOT of movies. But as much as I love me some tap-dancing penguins, I didn't buy them for ME. I know I haven't bought any since we've been married. I did receive a few of my favorite chick-flicks for Christmas a few years ago, but that doesn't count since I didn't buy them. Thinking...thinking...thinking....... I'm thinking it was probably a Grease VHS when I was 17. HAHAHAHA. I seriously can't think of anything but that.

Well all that has changed. I bought myself a movie.

A few months ago, my best friend Rachael & I went and saw it in the theater for a girls night out. It was SO so so cute. WAY cuter than I expected it to be. Now it's no Gone With the Wind - no Academy Award winner - but it still has made its way to the top of my favorite movies list.

For those who are concerned - there is some bad language and one you-know-what scene, but you don't see anything at all (you just know that it happens LOL).

So there you have it. My new favorite movie, 27 Dresses.

He is here!!!

2008-05-24T17:09:00.000-07:00

Some of my blog readers probably don't know about Brayden ... last June, my brother-in-law & sister-in-law lost our little nephew, Brayden, at about 37.5 weeks gestation. It was completely devastating (as you can imagine) and it's been an amazingly difficult year.

The wonderful news is - yesterday Sarah & Johnny gave birth to a KICKING, SCREAMING baby boy (ok, more like silent and sleepy LOL) named Seth!! We are SOOOOO excited that he's here and while we love Brayden and will never ever forget him, we are overjoyed that Sarah & Johnny have a bring-home-baby this time!

Here are some pics from the hospital today :)

The kids checking out their new cousin...
Seth with Grandma Fredricks

Seth and Grandpa Fredricks
Seth & Auntie K :)Seth & Uncle A

Seth and his Daddy :)
Seth & Daddy hold hands
Seth & his MommySleepy little Seth

Seth makes a silly face
We finally got to see some eyes! He's SOOOOOOOO adorable!

...and baby makes SEVEN!!

2008-05-19T23:18:00.000-07:00

Nieces & nephews, that is. LOL

Welcome to my newest niece, Ginny Pearl! Janel & Lee had their 2nd baby girl on Saturday and she's SOOO sweet! We got to go meet her tonight :)

Here's sleepy little Ginny :)

The only shot of Ryan - he wasn't that interested.

Eli was so awkward (but cute) with her!

Big cousin Eli

Grant is the SWEEEEETEST with babies

SO happy to be holding her :)

Tiana wasn't quite sure what to think LOL

It's Birthday Season...

2008-05-05T22:41:00.000-07:00

...and this week's birthday celebration goes to.... drumroll please...... GRANT!!! Our big six year old!

Here are some pics of him opening presents and having cake (strawberry shortcake per his request). :)

And just for old times' sake - a walk down memory lane...

3 months old...

2 years old...
and 3.5 years old. :) *sniff sniff* Why can't they stay little??

Video #2 (from 9-28-07)

2008-04-16T09:22:00.000-07:00

This video thing is too much fun :)

My first video attempt

2008-04-14T22:16:00.001-07:00

I love seeing peoples' videos - I've always wanted to upload some of ours but never have! Well now that I have a kick-butt computer and some awesome programs that I have no clue how to use, here ya go! Here's Tiana using her nightly stall-tactic - she does this EVERY SINGLE NIGHT, usually yelling at the top of her lungs to us while we watch tv. And EVERY SINGLE NIGHT she sits on the toilet and does absolutely nothing. Stinker.

The beach

2008-04-11T11:26:00.000-07:00

I'm copying/pasting this over from my MySpace blog (that I never EVER use) b/c I just read it again and it cracked me up and so many of you don't have MySpace. LOL. Enjoy...

Written August 21, 2007:

We used to go to the beach a lot when I was little. Well, maybe my perception of a lot isn't what it is now. But it sure seemed that way. I loved the beach. Still do.

But now I have four kids so it's a new adventure in itself. Some days this summer I thought, "Man, I want to go to the beach!" Well, it's not like I can just drop everything and go. Well, I could but who would keep the kids from killing each other while I was gone? Anyways..... It's not that I couldn't handle myself at the beach alone with them. Heck, I'm alone with them all day long and I haven't lost or maimed one yet. But then I got to thinking about what a day at the beach would be like. "MOoooom, I need to go pee" (while grabbing the crotch and doing the pee-pee dance of course). So what do I do? I'd have to haul ALL the kids to the bathroom with me, thus leaving all of our stuff there unattended. Mmm. Sounds like good times.

So this summer we went to the beach three times. Three times that I convinced other adults that they wanted to spend the day at the beach with my children. HAHAHA.

Beach trip 1:

My oldest 2 have no fear. After getting the obligatory slapping on of the sunscreen, they just run and dive headfirst into the water. I don't have to worry about them for the next 4 hours (joking). The younger two are still trying to figure this beach thing out. Ryan (3.5) looks out at the ocean and says "mom, I want you to carry me to the ocean." Uh, well son, I was actually planning on sitting here on my lazy butt to work on my tan, thank you very much. "Not right now, Ryan - but you can go play in the water if you want!" "I don't like the water. I'm SCARED of the water." sigh. For the next 4 hours, he pretty much sits there pouting. There's the occassional smile, the infrequent venture out to play with a bucket and shovel, but he's mostle just morose about that darn ocean.

Tiana is only 2 so she doesn't remember the beach. She does ok with the sand - she doesn't really have sensory issues. But when she steps in the water and it starts pulling at her feet she FREAKS out. No more water for Tiana.

My sister and my 17 month old niece came too. The boys had a row of buckets filled with sand, water and sandcrabs. Hannah waddled over there, grabbed a shovel, and proceeded to do a little taste test on the water in each bucket. It was hilarious (gross, but hilarious) - we were joking that she was doing a little wine tasting.

So overall, a fun day but good LORD it took more time loading and unloading than we actually spent on the sand. On the drive home I got the worst headache of my life which is always fantastic when you're sitting in So. Cal. traffic and don't pay attention and get on the wrong freeway and have to backtrack 20 minutes to figure out where you are. I got home, put on a movie for the kids, and slept until my headache went away (which it didn't).

Beach trip 2:

Nawnie (SIL) came with us this time.

Older boys - same story.

Ryan - same story.

Tians - something changed from Beach Trip 1 to this one. She somehow decided that the beach is a pretty fun place - that the water is pretty cool. She wanted to go stand in the water. The whole day. We were sitting literally 10 feet from the edge of the water. I told her she could go down by herself. But no. She had to hold someone's hand. First she'd try me. No words - she'd just walk up to me, raise her little hand and just look at me with her puppy dog eyes. I'd take her to the water. We'd splash and have fun. I'd go sit down. Then the waterworks would start "I wanna go in the WATER". cry cry cry. So she'd try Nawnie. Hand raised. No words. Puppy dog eyes. So Nawnie would take her. Then Nawnie would want to sit down. Waterworks. We finally got Eli and Grant to each take her to the water a few times but what fun is it holding your sister's hand when you could be playing Bionicle-Space-Alien-Star-Wars-Army-whatever-the-heck-boys-play? So after feeling rejected by her brothers, she'd come back to me and the cycle would start again. All day. Not to mention that I started getting another splitting headache at the beach. Come to find out it's the knot in the bathing suit around my neck - some weird pressure point. Anyways.

We drive home. Once again, I'm blabbing away and get on the wrong freeway. Another 20 minute treck back to the right one.

Beach Trip 3:

The last beach trip of the summer. My parents and my sister & her family came this time. There were 5 kids. And 5 adults. It was like sheer heaven. I got to sit there and bake while Grandma took Tiana to the water. Eli & Grant were little fishes and built sand castles with Grandpa.

You'd think by the third trip Ryan would have gotten a little better. Nope. He sat and pouted on the blanket for hours. Finally, he asked me again if I would carry him out in the water. I said "no, but I bet Grandpa will!" HAHAHAHA. Pawn him off. Mean mommy. I don't know why and I don't know how but something about Grandpa taking him out in the waves dissolved some fear that Ryan had because when they came back in, all he wanted to do was roll around in the water. He stayed there until it was time to leave (at which point he threw a fit, throwing himself face down onto the sand - yummy.). And this time I learned my lesson and didn't put my bathing suit on until we got there and took it off before we went home and -voila! no headache! And I didn't get on any wrong freeways either. :)

So I have a completely newfound respect for my mom hauling all of us to the beach when we were little. It's some WORK! But really, when all is said and done, it's so much fun and now my kids will have lots of great memories of the times they got to go to the beach when they were little. :)

Moral of the story - there isn't really one. I just felt like writing a blog post because it's been a while. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

A moment with Ryan.

2008-04-11T09:58:00.001-07:00

At mommy & me the other day, my friend Kerri & I were pushing all the kids on the swings. Kerri told her son "Jacob, we have to leave pretty soon to go to Grandma's house." Ryan craned his head back from his swing, his eyes wide, and said "You know Grandma???" We started cracking up. Kerri just said "Yep, I know Grandma. Do you know Nonnie?" Well her kids call their Grandma Nonnie - but the funny thing is that our kids call my sister-in-law Nawnie so of course Ryan so looked at her in amazement and nodded his head yes. SO funny.