Happy Anniversary!

On the day of our 5th anniversary we took the kids with us to Ruby River. It's cheaper for lunch, and it's easier to takes kids to a nice restaurant when it's not so busy. It was fun taking them. They are such goofy little people. The kids would not hold still for pictures, so this is what you get. We thought at the beginning of our marriage, erroneously obviously, that after we had been married for five years we would talk about having children. As you can see, they surprised us and came much earlier than we could have ever anticipated. John's co-worker thought it was comical that we had so many kids already, and told him a great story about a rabbit who reproduced well too.

Drew wouldn't hold still.

Alexis licking her raspberry sauce off the plate, it's something everyone should try when at a nicer restaurant.

Drew decided that if it was good enough for Alexis,
it was good enough for him!

How do you know that you're at a restaurant that isn't designed for kids? When you have to ask the waitress for a napkin that will absorb the soda your kid just spilled. (Their napkins didn't absorb anything, it just spread the mess further!)

We decided to try making donuts. It was fun making them, unfortunately they didn't taste as good as we were hoping. The kids loved it though.

When I dumped the flour and on the counter Drew became very concerned and told me that I was making a mess. I'm so glad he's learning what a mess is, if only he would apply that to himself when he's making the mess.

Enjoying the fruits of their labor.

She wanted to pose for a picture but it didn't work out.

Madison really loved eating her donut holes. I think she liked
the frosting on top best!

Quick side note, Madison has taken her first step! It won't be long before she's walking everywhere!!

We caught daddy eating on the job! I don't remember giving him permission to enjoy himself. . . maybe we'll have to punish him.
I think a good foot rub is in order!

All I have to say about this is: "Are you kidding?"

Chocolate

To make the chocolate molten cake you need about 30 minutes total time.
Over low heat, mix 3/4 cups butter and 8 oz of bakers chocolate. I did half white and half dark chocolate. Once it's melted and smooth, remove it.
In a separate bowl add 3 large egg yolks, 3 large eggs, 1/4 cup + 1 T sugar and 1t vanilla. Mix for approximately 8 minutes.
Add 1/3 of the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and fold in. Add remaining chocolate mixture and 1 T flour and fold until well mixed.
I make mine in cupcake sizes. Grease the container generously, I sprinkle sugar on top of the butter. Cook at 425 degrees for about 10- 15 minutes, and eat.
Raspberry and Strawberry toppings are great!

Slip-N-Slide

For Family Home Evening we decided to try and make chocolate molten cakes. We had never before tried to make a home made cake let alone something that had an oozing middle. It actually tasted really, really, really good. So good in fact that they were gone within 24 hours! It was a lot of fun and the kids loved "helping".

Alexis pushing Drew down the slide while Madison plays with the water squirting out of the side!

I loved this picture because it shows Drew in the background warming himself like a lizard, Alexis watching Madison and Madison just being her. Madison absolutely loved the slip-n-slide. She would crawl up and down and slip and fall and laugh and then keep going and then stand up and clap. She was entertained for nearly half an hour with this.

I think if it had been a little warmer they would have played longer!
Drew was so cold he just had to get warm, how adorable!

Easter, Easter

We went to visit Grandma and Grandpa Rappleye Saturday and the kids had a small Easter egg hunt. They loved it and Gma and Gpa enjoyed seeing the little munchkins.

Madison found some of the kids' miniature chocolate bars.
She LOVES Easter candy!

Alexis has reached the point in life where she can't sleep any longer knowing that there is something fun and exciting. She woke up nearly an hour before her normal wake up time because she was so excited for the Easter Bunny. We were mean and made her wait until we could wake ourselves up and then Drew. When we came down the stairs, she saw a single egg in the cut-outs to the library, and she picked it up and said: "Is this it?" John and I were giggling. Drew piped up with: "The Easter Bunny forgot our house!" Don't worry, the Easter Bunny found our house just fine, and they had a great time looking for eggs and eating chocolate to the point of nausea.

We took pictures of the kids in their Easter/Wedding outfits before they could destroy them. As you can tell, Drew made it impossible to get a picture of him without his fingers in his face or some other opening in his head!

Daddy and Drew looking so handsome together!

Alexis couldn't wait to take the "girls" picture. She didn't want Drew to ruin all the pictures. She's such a priss.

After the kids found their eggs, they were so excited to peel them. I'm not sure why it was such a thrill, but they both peeled every last egg that there was.

Grandpa Hakes brought over some cupcakes for Easter, and Madison had so much fun demolishing hers. What good practice for her birthday!

Orlando

John, Madison and I all went to Orlando for a few days to scope out the area and celebrate our 5 year anniversary. Can you really celebrate with a 9-month old? We both love warm weather and wouldn't mind moving there in the future. Friday we went to see the Orlando Temple and surrounding areas. It was gorgeous. If I could get remarried, to John, I think I might choose this temple. It had gorgeous green stained glass all around and the landscape was amazing!



Saturday we went to Cocoa Beach. John had never before swam in the ocean, so he was really excited when he discovered the water wasn't frigid, just chilly! He went swimming, Madison and I watched until the end when she had to be washed off.

Madison LOVED crawling around in the sand. I was having mild heart palpitations at her getting into things and trying to eat things that looked inedible.

After the beach, we met my cousin Emily and her little girl Vanessa at Downtown Disney for dinner. It was fun to see them and to eat such good food!!



We went to Gatorland to burn some daylight before our flight home. When we first walked in they had this little alligator for petting. Yes, we all pet it. It was a lot softer than I thought it would be. This little guy is actually seven months old, I thought they would've gotten bigger quicker.

There were a number of these little turtles in the swamp area that we walked through. They were cute but not cute enough to try and touch.

This big guy was named "Chester, the dog eater". He is about 16 feet long!! He was found in Tampa eating neighborhood dogs! I guess some guys wanted to catch him and turn him into shoes and handbags . . . the sign said he was lucky and that he gets to live in his own little pool area now. I think he would've appreciated being made into clothing instead of being trapped in a little tiny area all day by himself, but that's just me.

Overall, we had a great time. It would have been a fantastic time if we hadn't had a motel on skid row. I was in charge of the hotel and I found a fabulous deal. We were about half a block from the strip clubs and about a mile from the slums. We survived and that's all that matters. We had lots of fun and enjoyed the warm sunny weather and nice humidity.


While we were gone, Stephanie watched our kids the majority of the time. She had help while she was at work, which was nice for her!! (Thanks everyone for helping!!) While Steph had the kids she took them to see the Easter Bunny. Alexis asked if it was the real Easter Bunny and Steph told her: "of course". She should know better by now. When they were done seeing the Easter Bunny, Alexis told Steph that she didn't think that it was the real one. When Steph asked her why, she said: "Because he was wearing tennis shoes and hair." Oh, she's too observant for her own good!

The morning after we arrived home, I went in to see if Drew was awake, and he was sitting on his bed. He got this big smile and said: "Did Daddy find a job?" What a goose he is. Maybe next time he'll be excited to find me.

As a side note, I'm a bad mom and haven't posted how Madison's 9-month check-up went. Other than needing three shots, it went really well. She is 21 lbs, I know huge, which is the 90th percentile. She is 29.8 inches long which is in the 97th percentile. Her head was only in the 75th percentile, no need to worry, she is super smart like her siblings. She is getting bigger and bigger each day. As a comparison, Drew is only 27 lbs, yes they are only 6 lbs apart and 20 months apart in age!!

Peace and Joy

The other day John took the two older kids downstairs while I tried to clean up the main living area. He left Madison with me so it was more of a joke than anything. As they were going down the stairs Alexis asked him: "Does mommy need some peace and quiet?" I thought it was so cute that she would first off know that phrase and second ask it. About five minutes later she came back up stairs and I asked her what she was doing, she replied: "I need some peace and joy." It made me laugh, I said: "Don't you mean some peace and quiet?" "No," she said, "peace and joy. I want some peace and I'm going to color and that's joy." It made me laugh and laugh and now John and I use each term accordingly, because there is a difference.