4th of July {07.04.2015}

I cannot believe this is our last 4th of July we will be here in Redlands.

But I do have to say that for being the last it was a pretty awesome day!!

We decided on a "progressive" day.

Breakfast at Jessica's house, then swimming and lunch at Amy's pool, then home for the afternoon naps, and then my house for dinner and fireworks.

And it worked out....perfectly.

James sadly was on home call and got called in. BOO!!!

He did make it home in time for dinner and fireworks. We take what we can get.

The morning was filled with music, yummy pancakes, riding on scooters, being chased by dads on scooters, playing with friends, and lots of laughter. 

The afternoon was filled with more laughter, more talking, dads being bombarded by the kiddos in the pool, Andrew running around the pool with me constantly yelling, "Andrew... WALK!!", moms jumping in the pool (so much fun), Andrew loving playing with me in the pool, Andrew jumping over and over to me in the water, teaching the older girls how to do flips, pizza, and lots of sun.

The evening we spent chatting with even more people, sharing stories and laughing, JB finally had boys to play with so he didn't have to hold his own with the girls, the kiddos took over the house, the kiddos did big bubbles outside, picked lemons from the tree and made fresh lemonade, and then threw pop-its all over the driveway (and some of the dads threw them at the wives....silly boys) . Then we took over the orange grove and watched the fireworks (Andrews first time being awake for them....and he was awed by them). 

Have I said how much I love where we live on the 4th? 

Watching the fireworks from across the street in the grove is one of my favorite traditions. I will sure miss it!!

Something I have been really grateful for during this long medical journey, is the support from fellow medical couples. While in Pittsburgh, and while here in California, there are countless times where some husbands can't be to some activities and others can. Sometimes we will be swimming and a dad will get home early and be able to join us moms and kids at the pools. Those dads really step up and treat all of the many kids like they are there own. They include each one of them. It is funny because when a dad is able to be at the pool that dad is surrounded by kids. They love it when dads can join in the fun. This 4th of July was no exception. Patrick played cars with Andrew, held him so I could pack up my car, Ken threw my kids over and over in the pool, Andrew jumped to Ken in the pool, they carry things to cars if husbands aren't there, etc. It makes going to functions without James a whole lot easier. I know that I am going to have help. The same goes for the wives. They treat my kids like their own. I am really going to miss this family I have made here. I miss the family I made in Pittsburgh. This has been a crazy, hard 8 years plus, but I wouldn't trade what I have learned, and the experiences I have had, and the people I have met. 

 Below: Denver N. giving Claire a ride on the scooter.

 Below: Patrick giving JB a run for his money. JB finally made it to the sidewalk.

 Below: Ken throwing JB in the water

 Below left to right:

Becca L., Andrew, Taylor N., Claire, JB, Aubrey W., Natalie L., Denver N., and Brooklyn W.

 Below: Moms finally jumping in the water

Rub a Dub Dub {06.26.2015}

Andrew has one of the biggest smiles. I think it is those teeth!

I can't help but smile when he smiles. 

{21 months old}

Vegas Pool Time {06.26.2015}

On our way home from Utah we stopped at Spencer and Marleen's house in Vegas.

I don't always stop but I am sure glad I planned on stopping this time. Andrew was done with being in the car. We were all pretty excited to break up the trip and visit with family.

It was nice of them to let us stay with them....espceically since they had just had a bunch of remodeling done on their house. 

So we hung out with no furniture, no finished kitchen, and food prepped in the laundry room. 

It was a fun adventure. 

The kids couldn't wait to get in the pool with their cousins.

Andrew was trying to be a dare devil and jump off the diving board. 

JB loved snacking on the puffs and got a little cold but luckily he survived. 

We love visiting them!

Halloween 2014 {10.31.2014}

Ever since Claire was born I  wanted to one day, as a family be the Incredibles for Halloween.

I needed a few more kids though. So I waited. 

Then we had JB and I almost did it that year.....but I realized it was going to be more work then I realized, so I put it off.

Then I had Andrew. He was just two months old that first Halloween and there was NO WAY I had the energy to make the costumes.

So this year I knew it was the year. My kids were the right ages. This was the year to do it.

So I started planning at the beginning of the summer. It always seemed too costly to do so near to Halloween because you had to get 5 costumes. Not 3, 5!! So this year I was prepared and started early.

Then started the sewing, the finding leggings WITH matching red shirts (that is harder than it seems!) and a lot more sewing. I think I got my creative/sewing itch out of me for a few months.

I love LOVE how it turned out.

The kids at first weren't so excited but then they warmed right up to it when they saw James and I in our costumes. 

After I had the costumes we found out James had to work during the Trunk or Treat AND during Halloween. So Mr. Incredible never did make a public appearance, but since I had the costume and this was on my bucket list he humored me and wore the costume so we could snap a few family pictures. 

This was probably my most favorite costumes we have ever done.

I can mark this one off of my bucket list. 

Love my INCREDIBLE family!

Oh, and I think we have the cutest Jack Jack ever, even if he wouldn't look at the camera and just wanted to grab the oranges!!

Book Character Parade {10.31.2014}

Since I convinced Claire and JB to do a family costume this year I let them choose what they wanted to be for the book character parade at school.

Claire chose to be the fly from Fly Guy.

I had so much fun making that costume, and it only cost 2 dollars. Score!

Claire said that everyone loved her costume and called her fly guy all day long. But she was a little disappointed that she didn't win best costume for her grade.

She was the cutest fly I have ever seen.

JB chose to be Spider-man, even though I gave him lots of options. haha.

But I ended up being so happy he chose that. It was easy, it was cute, and he was happy.

I feel so blessed that I am able to stay at home so that I can be to these school functions. I loved watching them parade around.

I love this picture below because of the look on Claire's face. She is looking right at JB and is giving her  the"I love you and am so proud of you and I am so happy you are my brother" look. Not even kidding. That is a look. I promise. When she first sat down she found me and mouthed, "where is jb?" I pointed and she searched and searched and was so happy when she found him. They can sometimes fight like crazy, but they are best friends and love each other so much. 

Pumpkin Patch {10.27.2014}

I love fall, I love fall activities and, I love pumpkin patches.

So keeping with tradition we went to a pumpkin patch.

We saw hundreds of pumpkins.

We took pictures with lots of pumpkins.

We played on the castle made of hay.

Andrew found a stick and played in the dirt. 

We saw animals.

We then looked at the prices of pumpkins and opted to buy ours at the grocery store. haha. 

The kids were at first disappointed that we left without a pumpkin, but picking one out from the big box at the grocery store made them just as happy.