Happy 15th Birthday, Nathan!!

This weekend, our "tank" turns 15.



Presents, cake, family... homemade pizza will round out the celebration.



He blew out all 15 candles in a single blow.

Insert Creative Title Here...

I am falling so behind on this blog! We have been pretty busy...

We took the kids here:


Ralph B. Clark Regional Park (not my kids!)

We found 4 more Geocaches.

We made spin art.

We celebrated the 4th of July and had a BBQ. We watched the fireworks from our front yard.

The 4 littles went to VBS and boarded the Boomerang Express.

We went to Big Bear for the weekend. We planned on camping, but all of the campsites were taken except for ones way out in the sticks... As in we literally drove over dirt roads for two hours amidst screaming kids and nearly getting stuck in loose dirt and rocks before saying "Forget it!" and heading back into town to find a cabin for the night. We visited hubby's grandma, took her out to lunch, and bought and replaced the lights in her garage for her. We browsed through the shops the next morning, visited the arcade, and then went down the Alpine Slide. Cecilia was terrified of the ski lift, but had a great time on the slide and would love to go a thousand more times.


I think that pretty much sums up the last couple of weeks. Maybe I will be better at updating my blog more regularly, but I doubt it. ;) Thanks for sticking in there if you are still reading!

Menu Plan:


Dinners

Crockpot pot roast with fauxtatoes, mashed potatoes and peas for the kids.

Top sirloin fajitas with whole wheat tortillas.

Carne asada with chile rellenos and homemade salsa.

BBQ chuck steak with steamed asparagus.

Beef kabobs with bell peppers, onions, and cherry tomatoes.


Breakfasts

Blueberry pancakes, Cereal, Whole wheat cinnamon-apple muffins


Other news:

It looks like we will be venturing into homeschooling with Nathan. We're in the enrollment process right now with one of the state's virtual academies, so if there are no problems and he is accepted into the program, then we will be homeschooling as of this fall. Hes been having issues with school for years now so we are hoping that by bringing him home he will be able to focus more on his work, less on being the class clown, less on appearances, and won't have problems with failing classes for not turning in work. I'd appreciate your thoughts and prayers as it is a bit nerve wracking taking on the challenge of bringing this guy home full-time, but I believe in my heart that it will be a good opportunity for him.

121/365

There's nothing quite like a teenager voluntarily mopping the floor...

102/365 - Happy Easter!

The Easter baskets:



The "littles":



The whole family:



Gathering for dinner with Grandma:



He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. -Matthew 28:6

101/365

The annual egg-dying mess.

99/365

I took the kids hiking today. I couldn't pick just a couple of pictures, so here's a slideshow with 50 of my favorites.

95/365

We met up with some old friends at a park. We spent five hours enjoying the sunshine, the view, the playground, the food, the conversation, and the relaxation. I forgot my camera, so I just have pictures from our cell phones.


Helping Cecilia cross the monkey wheels.


The whole big kid playground. (There's a smaller little kid playground behind that, as well as a water play area!)


Dad and Nathan prepping their fishing equipment. They didn't catch anything, and couldn't get down to where they actually wanted to fish because their was a Civil War Reenactment going on.


Everyone except for hubby and Dad! 2 couples, 10 kids... what a fun group!


No, no... the abundance of play guns between the Civil War kids and the camping scout troops had no influence on him at all.


Abigail quickly mastered this challenge... such a monkey!


His favorite pose, as always.


The human hamster wheel was a big hit!


She chickened out.




Okay, so this didn't exactly show the balance beam she was on... Oops!


I finally started reading Twilight.

88/365

The elusive teenager was caught on camera... doing a chore! He mowed the front and back lawns, and edged. Now granted, it wasn't without a bit of teeth gnashing ("What's the point, it's just going to grow again!?"), but it got done!

73/365

Happy 5th Birthday, Nicholas!!

Nicholas Wilmot K. was born 3/14/2004, at home in the water. Weighing 8lbz 0.25oz, and 20.25" long, he was our little linebacker. He has been a joy to watch grow, and will always and forever be our sweet baby boy.

This picture was taken 5 days before he was born, at 41 weeks 3 days (yes, he was a 42-weeker!):


Sweetly sleeping:


So adorable:


The birthday banner his sisters made to surprise him with this morning:



Listening to everyone sing Happy Birthday:


Big bubba Nathan "cheesing":


Enjoying their sundaes:

64/365

Like father, like son (take two). Nathan wanted his hair cut to match my hubby, and then he bought himself a pair of aviators at the mall.

Now I just need a picture of all three of my guys together, with their matching haircuts and sunglasses.

I finished my English assignment today. I had to write an autobiographical essay, basically introducing myself to the class. It was kind of fun to write, and I'm interested to see how many marks of red pen will be all over my paper when I get it back.

19/365

We went to the Zoo today, and so did half of the city evidently. It was very crowded. All of the little ones got to see their favorite animals at the zoo though, so we left when we got tired. No whining about how we didn't get to see everything!


Sabrina wanted to see the seals. Check.


Niko had to see the lions. Who slept through our visit. Check.


Abbi wanted to see the zebras. And the elephants. And "just one more!" Check.


Cecilia wanted to see the koalas. And was very mad that they didn't move. "They look so fake! Why aren't they doing anything?!" Check.


Nathan posed with the flamingos, and wants to send the picture to his Grandma. Check.


Monkeying around. (I know, I know, a gorilla is an ape.)


We didn't lose anyone. No one fell in a display. No scrapes, no cuts, no broken limbs. It was a successful day out.

17/365

5 kids. 2 adults. 7 eye doctor appointments. It was a long day. Good news for everyone though! For me and the hubby, our RXs stayed the same, and we're both getting RX sunglasses. Nathan, Brina, and Ceci all have 20/15 vision. Abbi has 20/20, and Niko mostly does, but he's a little farsighted (not enough to need glasses, and evidently pretty normal at his age but they'll watch it).

Is that not the PERFECT shirt to wear to the optometrist?
Since the kids all got coupons for a free kid's meal at Red Robin, we went out to dinner. I also had a $3 off coupon from joining their email list yesterday, so the 7 of us all ate for under $30! Not bad for a meal out. After we ate, we walked the mall. The little ones all wanted to go on the motorized rides.




Sabrina jumped on this decal and said, "Look! I'm on American Idol!" Love it!

We also stopped by the shoe store when I spied an old friend of mine working there. Sabrina needed an empty shoe box for a diorama project, and I asked Monique if they had any empties we could use, and she found one for her. Monique and I went through all 13 years of school together, from Kindergarten all through high school. One of my favorite childhood memories is going to her and her twin sister's Halloween costume birthday party in the 3rd grade.
I told Nathan that I didn't have any pix of him from today, so he grabbed my phone and made this goofy face. Gotta love teenagers!