Somebody Help Me!

Ok, so what does Mama do when she has her first one on one time with me in months????  We played outside for a bit & then it was like she couldn't resist... She just had to do it...  She couldn't just enjoy the day...She had to go and pull out that darn camera... I know I'm cute and all.. but why does she always subject me to this...It's just not fair....I can't help the fact that I am the cutest kid EVER!!! Someone please tell her to knock it off.  At least she gave me a lollipop for all my trouble!  

School Days

Ok so how is this for efficient blogging, 2 posts in 2 days.  Well here is some of the cuteness from the first day of school.  All 4 kiddos are in 4 different schools.  My father in law joked that he was going to get me the -Mom's taxi -license plate for the front of my car.."Don't you dare!!!" ... C started his sophomore year last week and he couldn't be more handsome... I miss him during the day,  he's my bud & my very own personal trainer, (he loves making me lift weights at the gym, and I try to weinnie (sp?) my way out of it, but it was fun all summer to have a workout buddy... I would homeschool him if he wasn't already 10 times smarter than me...  & he loves his little sis (Nice bed head, Mina)!  Our little girl also started Kindergarten last week, along with her entourage... she had 7 of us walking her in with video cameras and all.  Poor kid, can you tell she is like, "Alright guys, you can leave now, I have work to do and y'all are making a scence"  She got right down to business and she has been loving it..Check out her boots, I had figured she would have grown out of them over a totally flip-flop wearin' summer, but no,  her boots live on, she has kicked the whole fronts off the things, but they remain her favorite shoes ever.  I'm gonna have to have them bronzed or something.  She has grown up dramatically in the last week, amazing!  And today was the day for the little guys.  J.C. Started his last year of preschool today,  big stuff,  he has the same awesome teachers as his big sister did last year, so I am thrilled.  He will do great.  He will love having his own thing and not having Mina following him around to grab at whatever it is that he is holding at any given moment.   And last but not least Mina,,, it was actually her open house day the day the Mommies get to go and hang with the kids.  She had no use for me, really... Can you tell,  look at her photo,  It's like, "Let me in this place, NOW"  She is little miss social butterfly & loves to check out new  places and new faces.  She is not one for just hangin' low, for sure.  I hadn't planned on putting her in a preschool class, but she is going to LOVE it.. 2 days a week, for about 3 hours.   She is going full force these days, she is about 21 months old and is hitting the, do I dare say, "terrible two's" a bit early... She is a little octopus, she can get into more things than is possible with just 2 hands.... You gotta love this last photo of her in time out, just below her newest masterpiece!!! Oh, the joy of it all!!! Never a dull moment, and we wouldn't want it any other way!  

Labor Day Weekend

 So I have been called out for being a slacker/blogging Mama, yeah you know who you are!!!  Honestly the last few weeks have been a bit nutty around here.  I don't know what it is about that transition from summer to fall.  We have had some exciting stuff, 2 out of 4 kids started school this week, but I am saving that post so we can see all 4 first days at once.  We started our soccer season with a bang, Abui (grandma) fell and broke & dislocated her wrist and ended up needing surgery this week. Yikes.  This Labor day weekend was pretty fun though.  We didn't do anything extraordinary.  Hung around, hit the pool,  I did a practice Tri-athalon with some super fun chicks on Saturday EARLY morning. The real deal triathalon isn't for like 5 or 6 weeks but since it is our first one we did a practice run-through.  It was actually fun...Just what I need, really, another hugely time-sucking hobby.  I had promised my Bloom (check it out www.bloomproject.org) partner that I would only be focusing on my 4 kiddos & Bloom, I don't know how this triathalon thing snuck in there but I like it, it is my ME time. We have some really exciting thing happening over at Bloom, I can't wait to be able to talk & post about it... It is good stuff, the kind of good stuff that keeps you up at night... So exciting!!!! Anyhow, we also went to a Harvest Moon festival this weekend,  A chinese tradition that I have to admit I need to read up on a bit more before I explain it, but it was way cute to see Mina amongst a ton of other Asian cutie-pies.  We had fun, and Mina & her buddy Mia got to hang.   We also took possibly one of our last trips to our favorite neighborhood spot.  The "Swings" of our neighborhood will be taken down soon, we are NOT happy about that, it is our favorite thing about our 'hood.  But I guess the HOA is scared of the liability of the whole fun thing... Oh well, we made it into a photo op... check it out.. Thanks for checking on us!  See you soon!

We are home!

We are home from our fun filled July!!!! We had a great time, our first stop was sunny south Florida, I have to admit that some other folks on the airplane were a little frightened to sit by one Mama traveling with 4 kids, I questioned myself at first too, but then I remembered that I am blessed to have the best kids ever so armed with a bottle full of chocolate milk (Mina's favorite treat) we made the trip, and I have to admit I am a little proud that this was the entirety of our luggage as well.  We had a blast in Florida and it was great to see all of our family and Mina had a great time meeting everyone.  I was worried about all of the changes, new houses, new beds, new routines, loads of new people... but once again my worry was for nothing.  The girl loved it, all of us did.  Check out Mina hanging on Miami Beach! We also went to my brothers house for a few days and hung with our grandma and cousins. It was great to see my neice and nephew. Love those kids....  After a fun filled week, me and the 4 kiddos hopped back on a plane and Papa picked us up and we headed straight for our family beach trip!  Fun & relaxing week.  We loved just having some family time, and all the kids loved boogey boarding and looking for little creatures.  One of J.C.'s favorite books is "The Sandcastle Contest" we have read it 100 times at least....well story line of the book is as you may have guessed, about a sandcastle contest, the kicker is that the prize for winning the sandcastle contest is winning a "bathtub full of ice cream" ....So for months I have been promising a sandcastle contest at the beach with the same prize.  So I have been hunting for a bathtubish type container that would hold way too much icecream.. this blue plastic boat thingy was the closest I came, but I heard no complaints when I emerged from the kitchen holding the biggest most ridiculous ice cream sundae ever.  You should have seen the kids eyes, priceless really!!!  The foot photo is the closest we can come to a full family photo, and of course I had to set one evening aside for kid photos on the beach... Surely not a fun family favorite, many bribes and begging involved on my part, but hopefully one day they will appreciate it.  So all in all July was great here in our family....  It is nice to be home and enjoying getting back into our gloriously hectic routine.  The thought of school starting soon is a bittersweet.  My big girl and I will be having a mommy-daughter day on Saturday, I am really excited, a bit of school shopping and a girls only lunch at a Sushi restaurant (her new favorite food)  Thats all for now........