Memorial Weekend...

This past weekend we decided to go down to Florida for the 3 day weekend! As you can see in this photo... we added to the family! We invited Sarah to come along with us... and she said, "YES!" For all the times she has helped me babysit Mia (every Tuesday) & just watch the kids... so I can run errands like grocery shopping, etc. - it was the least that we could do! She actually watched the kids for us one morning when Dale & I went out! Thanks again, Sarah! Now if we could only convince her to come to Guam with us!

The weather was pretty good... the first day there it rained sporadically. But it cleared up quickly! We at lunch at the HOUSE OF BLUES in Downtown Disney

Since it was Sarah's very first time in Florida... she HAD to get the Mickey Mouse Ears! She wore those ears VERY proudly!


Saturday Night we spent the evening with our friends Bryan & Danielle Emde and their boys - Ethan & Collin. It was great to catch up with Bryan & Dino and to see how big their boys have gotten!

We spent ALL day Sunday at Universal Studios & Island of Adventure! IT WAS A SUPER FANTASTIC DAY! We got the Express Passes for the day... and what a JOY to be at a Theme Park and not have to wait in lines for shows or rides for more than 10 minutes! WORTH EVERY PENNY!

The kids all had a blast! Even Mia!

Our little THINGS... one, two, three & four!

Daddy with his 4 little THINGS!

As we were leaving the park... our THINGS got caught! Ha ha, too cute!

TWELVE FULL HOURS at the PARK... we all slept so good that night!

HAIL, NO! My man's 40!

The plan was to drop off the kids at Swim Practice - 6-8pm and Dale, Mia & I were going to go have dinner at our new favorite Chinese/Japanese/Thai restaurant - RED LEAF, just down the street! The weather turned on us and just as they cancelled Swim Practice - LARGE HAIL and rain & wind came out of nowhere! We were stuck at home for a few minutes and then ventured out to have Daddy DALE'S 40th Birthday dinner with the whole famiglia!

Mia's first time to touch "HAIL"...

a little wet... but glad we were able to enjoy an evening as a family!

HAPPY 40th Birthday Daddy, WE LOVE YOU!

Dani's loose teeth are FINALLY OUT!

Since November - Daniella has had a loose tooth... but refused to wiggle it or attempt to YANK it out! Well today, with a little help from her little sister - Mia... Dani didn't lose just ONE tooth - but TWO! Thank you, Mia!

This photo below looks like she's trying to pull Dani's teeth... but she's actually wanting the cotton in Dani's mouth. Mia's head actually slammed into Dani's mouth - which knocked them loose!

TWO LESS TEETH to BRUSH! Yea!

No Nap Weekend...

Saturday morning - I had to take this photo of my girls on their way into church with their little matchy outfits I found. It's so fun to see Mia walking into church and becoming more independent! As much as I don't want her to grow up... it is nice to see her becoming her own little person!

In her cradle roll class she waits patiently to pet the "toy owl"

My sweet baby girl! Look at her... doesn't she look so grown! She'll be 14 months soon!

Doesn't Ms. Angelica look so glamorous in this photo with her grandbaby - Javier! I had to post this one!

After church... Dani & I ran over to watch one of Dani's BEST BUD's in her first gymnastics meet! Dani & Madison were in Kindergarten together last year and became such great friends! For awhile I was taking Dani & Madison to gymnastics together - until Madison made the team and now practices a lot more!!! We miss our time together - but also proud of Madison for excelling in her sport & doing so GREAT! Thanks for inviting us to watch... everyone did so fantastic!!

** Hey Kev & Kelly... hope you don't mind - I snagged your pics off your blog - since I was missing my camera! **If you can - I'd love to see the picture of Dani & Madison together! Thanks!**

I know I said I wanted to take a nap this weekend... it just didn't happen! But that's okay - because we had so much fun... later in the evening we added the REILLY GIRLS... Brandi & Sarah.... to spend the night and hang out together! Since we're moving - Sarah asked if she could spend more time with us and wanted a sleep over! Anything for the Reilly's!!! I love that she asked to come over... and what sweet girls they both are! I will keep them ANYTIME! Michelle & Chris, can we take them with us to Guam?

We brought Brandi & Sarah with us to our Church Bonfire / BBQ... where the kids played, ate s'mores & hotdogs... and just had fun! Although, Mia does look a little annoyed in this photo... it's just her one eye smaller than the other... hee hee!

Mia tried her first marshmello & got all sticky-icky! RYAN LOVES CAMPFIRES!!! And Mr. Mike made a mega-fire!

SUNDAY - May 18th - Madison came to the kids Spring Recital... WOW - thanks for coming and showing your support to Daniella once again! You & your mom are so awesome!! You guys are such GREAT friends! We appreciate YOU!

The kids try to practice every morning before the bus arrives at 6:50am... they have been working hard to get all their pieces together... violin & piano... if we only had MORE time in the day!!! Here are the video clips taken from their recital:

"I Sing Praises To Your Name..." Our kids - Morgan, Ryan & Dani with Amanda Adams (also on violin) & the Kissinger girls - Alyssa, Heidi & Hannah. This is one of the opening numbers done for the Spring Recital. Daddy Dale is on the piano! You all did a GREAT job.... sorry the video clip is a bit bumpy! Try holding a camera with a 1 year old in your arms.

Ryan's piano piece - SONATINA Op.36, No.1 C Major - by Clementi

Daniella's piano piece - SONATINA Op.36, No.2, First Movement - also by Clementi

Morgan's piano piece - AVALANCHE by Stephen Heller, Op.45, No.2

TGIF!

Thank God It's Friday! So thankful that we have survived yet another busy week! I'm ready to take a LONG nap this weekend...

Photos below were taken of Mia enjoying her new $7 blow up pool. As you can see... there was even room for BIG SISSY - Dani! The two had a blast splashin' around in our backyard! Here are the two polka-dot swimsuit sisters!


Dani was trying to teach Mia how to hold her breath! Mia is still at the "blowing bubbles" stage!


Mia is always fascinated by belly buttons!

Silly girl!

... dinner & fun with friends!

Friends from Church... Wadford, Nesbitt, Herman & Ramirez Families

... We'll miss you Kris & Jamie (and Nathan & Giselle) - Wish we had more time together - but that's just how the Military is! I'm sure our paths will cross again! So glad we can all get together before you head off to Oklahoma!

Karoake Time! - Jamie Herman, Christy Wadford & (Christy's mom) Francis Nesbitt

Kris was definitely feelin' it!

Fitting In...

On Monday the kids came home from school. It was a typical afternoon - the kids get off the bus around 2:30 and they kiss mommy, wash their hands and raid the pantry for a snack! Morgan looked at me and said, "Mommy, can you ground me?" Not sure why he said that... I jokingly said, "sure, why not!" Next time I'll know better!

It happened! My first phone call from the school - a call from a teacher! Yes, my good and very well-behaved boy- MORGAN - got busted! With only 11 days left of school (we're leaving school early for a trip to California) - Morgan was "caught" standing on the bathroom sinks. His teacher heard the boys outside the hall... they were a little rowdy - so she peeked her head around the corner to find Morgan standing on the sinks! "WHY???? Morgan" is what his teacher asked... and his response, "I just wanted to see if the sink could hold me!" I'm so glad that he didn't hurt himself and I question his lack of judgement! Morgan is a sensitive kid and I know he knew it was wrong as soon as he saw his teacher... but it still didn't make it right! LIFE IS ALL ABOUT CHOICES... we tell this to our kids on a daily basis! Being a LEADER is something we also try to instill in our kids... and his actions certainly didn't reflect what we would be proud of!

I guess in the grand scheme of things - I could say, "It could've been worse"... and I know that this is probably just the beginning of Morgan testing the waters and seeing how he fits in. We talked things over after the phone call from his teacher and his head hung low as he listened and his eyes teared up. He begged me not to tell daddy... which of course, I told him I had to tell. His punishment from his teacher was he stayed in from recess and had to write a letter of apology and explanation. The next morning, Daddy Dale talked things over with him and they prayed about making better choices and being a better leader!

These photos below were taken at the airshow last month - this was when I really noticed Morgan trying to "fit in" or trying to be his own person. Ryan & Dani were happy going off with my friends & their kids to go "jump in the bouncies or slide down the big slides"... where Morgan wanted to check out the aircrafts and tanks. While doing that - he ran into a classmate & his 5th grader friends. I saw him just watching and staring and listening. In his silence - I was happy to see his friend take him in and bring him in the group. As a mommy looking in - I was glad that these were nice boys that were brought up well and treated others well. FRIENDS - ooh, I pray that my kids will find the right friends to be friends with... that they will be influenced to do right and always remember what we try to instill in them!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

I am so very blessed to be a mommy to my kids! To witness all their "firsts" and to guide them & expect MORE from them every day! They are REALLY GOOD KIDS & I pray every day that I can be the BEST Mommy to them that I can be! Recently I have now been praying that I will live a long life to be able to watch my kids grow and be there for them for as long as I can! You see, on Friday, Dale & I attended a funeral of Wendy Burger. We knew Wendy from church. Wendy was only 27 years old when she died of Liver failure. She leaves behind 3 kids... her youngest is only 4 years old and as I watched little Ellie skipping and playing at the funeral - my heart just broke for her wondering how much of this does she really comprehend?! She was able to see her mommy laying in the open casket and she was told that Mommy was just sleeping and she'll wake up when Jesus comes. Her response was, "So when is HE coming?"

Mother's Day this year is really put into perspective for me! Death has a way of making you look at life just a little bit differently. If you knew you were to die tomorrow - would you do anything different today? WE ALL WOULD!! Who knows what tomorrow will bring... only GOD knows! We can't live in fear of not knowing what tomorrow may be- but we can LIVE LIFE the best way we know how, with no regrets!


... practicing for their special music at church ...

We took "a few" pictures before going to church and Daniella asked, "mommy, why do we always have to take pictures?" And I told her, "because I don't want to forget these moments and regret that we didn't take the time to document them!" We can't go back in time and capture those moments on film again...




"I Sing Praises To Your Name"

We spent the afternoon with our friends - the REILLY FAMILY! Happy 38th Birthday, Michelle! I love ya, girl!


Mom Mom, Daniella, Mia & MommaDOT

Happy Mother's Day!

MomMom opening her Mother's Day gifts at the RED LEAF restaurant! A new Chinese, Japanese, Thai Cuisine! Yum! Yum!



Mia in her WATERBABY Class #9 - May 8th, 2008

"Do we really need to do this?"


My parents came into town for a few days and were able to come to Mia's Waterbaby class and video tape Mia in action! She worked hard in class and this was her 3rd time to "fall in" and "get out"... just as she was getting out - Daddy walked in and she was so happy to hear the cheering section of MomMom, PopPop and Daddy!!!