Anniversary Gift

For our 10 year anniversary we didn't have time to do much. I found a cute framed saying that I thought would be fun to make. When Jeannie came over she asked if I'd seen the collages of pictures people were putting on their walls. So I found a big blank space on my wall and started brain storming. My plan was to have it done before John got home but that didn't work. I couldn't get the letters straight enough and to stick to the wall so he had to help.

The colored papers underneath it are supposed to have pictures of all of us - I just haven't gotten to it yet. Maybe for our 11th anniversary!

In ten years we've had 5 kids! Earned two bachelor degrees. Moved into 8 different houses/apartments. Had 7 different cars (apparently we like to change cars frequently). Paid more in Dr bills than we'd ever like to acknowledge. Most importantly though we've been together through it all and we love each other more now than we did when we got married!

Rip 60

The kids wanted to exercise with John so he turned on the Rip 60 video he has. They were such troopers, they made it through 15 minutes of yoga. Jordan however got exhausted and had to take a little break. John was put to the test with an extra thirty pounds on his back!

Easter 2014

 At the city Easter Egg Hunt Madison found the golden egg! She was so excited to win a prize. She got a chocolate bunny!
John and I had just finished talking about how we weren't going to mention the Easter egg hunt when Madison walked into our room and said: 'are we going to the Easter egg hunt today?' When we asked her how she knew about the Easter egg hunt she said Diego's and Zoie's Mom told me! Obviously we ended up going.

 This is what the Easter Bunny left for the kids this year.

They each got their very own!

Madison was in charge of taking pictures at the Easter dinner hosted by Anne and David. These are the only two pictures that weren't too blurry to post.

Drew and Daddy with a Little Mix of Fire

 John and Drew were out in the garden area sitting against the fence together. I had to get a picture. Drew certainly looks like his daddy!

We had a bunch of branches from pruning the trees and I couldn't wait to start a fire. John was doubtful that it would work because they were still green but I was determined to get one going. It ended up working nicely. I may or may not have turned a couple of my children into pyro's. Drew & Jordan LOVED the fire. They kept running to get dry grass clippings to throw on it. Thankfully Drew is a cautious child so I didn't have to worry too much about him getting too close. Jordan on the other hand kept trying to give him mother a heart attack. Drew now says that this is his favorite family memory!

Team Trey

 A little boy, Trey, in the kids' elementary school has cancer. They decided to host a hat day in his honor and all the kids were excited to go get a hat, including Jocelyn. They ended up raising a lot of money to help offset the costs of running to Primary Children's Hospital and the medical bills! All the kids in the school were so excited to be a part of it and to do something to help him.

In church we let all the kids make cards for Trey. They were very creative. Some were funny and some were sweet. One kid told him next time he gets sick he shouldn't go to the Dr, then he wouldn't have to go to the hospital! Wouldn't it be nice if that was how it really worked?

Naughty Children

 Applesauce anyone?

 Jordan discovered a box of tampons. I snapped this blurry picture when he was nearly done taking out the entire box of tampons from the toilet.

Cassidy let Madison and Jocelyn babysit her egg and pinwheel. The girls didn't want any of it to get lost so they put it all in the fridge for her. Clever little ladies I tell you!

Happy 9th Birthday Alexis

 Gift #1 - a Taylor Swift CD

 Gift #2 - the stuff to make the rubber bracelets that everyone is in love with!

 Drew and Madison were so excited to help light the candles.

All of these pictures were so cute I decided to post all of them.

Alexis is getting so big! She loves to play with Ashley - all the time, every single day and they never get sick of one another. She's a great helper. She loves to play school with the younger kids and to babysit occasionally. She does great in school. She's a great reader and loves a good mystery, just like her mom! She hates when I do her hair and it looks like a baby, she prefers it to just be straight. She loves changing her earrings out and doing her nails. She can't wait until she's old enough to have fake nails like mom. She loves to dance and that is usually what she and Ashley are doing downstairs. If they're not dancing then they're probably in the pool or rounding up the little kids for school. We sure love Alexis and we're excited to see what the coming years hold for her!

Sleeping Babies

 Somebody fell asleep eating. 

Madison and Jocelyn decided to pull all their blankets onto the ground and sleep on the floor. I didn't know this until I went downstairs to wake Madison for school! Madison is under the flower blanket and Jocelyn is hiding behind the green and yellow dinosaur.

Happy Second Birthday to Jordan

 Jordan LOVES Peppa Pig. Did I mention he LOVES it? The plan was to do the entire cake in grass with Peppa and George running around blowing bubbles but I ran out of time, frosting and energy. So we improvised. Alexis came up with the idea of doing muddy puddles, since Peppa and George love to jump in them. She pulled out the Hershey's Syrup and we instantly had 'muddy puddles!'

Jordan had so much fun unwrapping gifts from his Aunties and Uncle. His parents are awful people who didn't wrap his present - a large bouncy ball. Which we gave him and then we Grandpa Fred came over we told Grandpa that he bought it for Jordan and re-gifted it to Jordan! Yep, that's the type of parents we are! Jordan wasn't any the wiser and the older kids were smart enough to not ruin Grandpa's excitement that he got a gift for Jordan too!

If you've read any previous posts, you'll know that Jordan is full of energy - and we as parents are apparently lacking greatly because we can't keep up with him. He is the best little hugger in the world. He wraps his skinny little arms around your neck and pushes his face right up to yours. He loves to kiss, especially on the lips. We've never had one that does that, the rest are just fine with cheek, forehead, nose kisses. When he gets in trouble and has to say sorry, which is frequently, he rubs the other person where he hurt them and then gives a hug. We still can't get him to say many words, although he is getting much better. When you tell him to say something he'll whisper it so softly that you can't hear him. But when he wants to be vocal he's not a quiet child. He is quite the t.v. and phone whiz. He can turn the t.v. on, navigate to the show that he wants, which is usually Peppa Pig and start it. If he finds something particularly funny he will rewind multiple times and just laugh and laugh. He loves to play on my phone and he knows how to get wherever it is he wants to go. I put it on airplane mode so he couldn't keep calling people but he figured out how to turn off airplane mode! He is definitely a curious and loving little child.

Licking a Treadmill - Not Such a Hot Idea

 I caught Jordan putting his tongue on the treadmill belt, while it was going no less, and I ran to get my camera. That's right, I'm a great mom - I went for the camera. Unfortunately I missed the licking shot and instead got the after effects of such brilliance. Mind you he had done it for nearly a minute with no repercussions, so he thought he was good. Unfortunately it didn't teach him not to lick things. 

 'Hey, I can eat a strawberry and watch myself doing it! Cool.'

 'I wonder what it would look like if I shoved the whole thing in my mouth at once.'

 'There we go, it's all in now!'

 'Photographing the finger licking goodness - I don't want to forget this moment.'

'Oh, Mom found her phone! And me! Better get one more picture in before I lose it.'

Grandpa Rod's Wedding

 The cake was cute, but it really needed a little something so Kristin and I decided to add some flowers. I hope that was okay with the bride and groom - it did look much better when we were done!

 Chris Lenker is a photo bomber. 

 Grandpa and Lisa getting married. Uncle Rowe is officiating.

 There was some mad dancing going on. My phone died so I didn't get many pictures. Drew thought he could break dance - if you ask him he can. I blame it on his friend Alex Astle. It was fun to watch all the kids dancing and running around and having fun.

 Sibling picture. Everyone is married! Amanda and Stephanie are both pregnant in this picture!

 Family picture! Pretty sure I won't pull the girls' hair back like that again for pictures. The back was adorable - you'll have to trust me.

 His and Hers kids.

 The guys.

 All the kids and grandkids.

Hakes grand-babies.