It was a night of awards and good times...Congrats Clay and Cole on your achievements!

It's was another fabulous evening at Pack Meeting....we all got to be in our "scout" shirts...it was great.  Those who are fashionless together stay together!  You know....I've come to love these times that I get to be in the shirt..

Cade was wondering where his 'cake picture' was?!  

Well here it is lovebug!

These are the typical smiles I get when I tell them to smile....I don't know..maybe it's genetic!

LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL!

We had a birthday party for both Clay and Cade on Saturday

Since it's not pictured, Cade wanted me to put in an honorable mention of the "monkey cake" that his sweet Aunt Tammy made for the 'Sunday Celebration' at my mom's..... :)

he thought it was the coolest!!

Mac, Bryson, Drake, Tyler, and Braeden joined us in the celebration!

Crew's "biker shorts" are back by popular demand.... :)

I should've known this is what was going through Paul's mind when he brought home the painter's plastic!  A slip-n-slide....DUH....of course why didn't I think of that?!

IT'S ANOTHER BOY!!

This is our not so new dog Copper (of course it had to be a "C" name according to the kids!)  I'm pretty sure Paul wanted a weiner dog for the jokes.....it's not like we don't have enough "weiner dogs" running around the house as it is........did I take that too far?!

Since I haven't downloaded any new pics.....I'll just post my tag from my sister Jami

Thanks Jami for tagging me....haha   OK...here's what I am supposed to do: List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 obsessions/collections, 3 surprising facts and then tag five other people. Leave a comment for the people you tag so they know they have been tagged.

JOYS:

1.  Date Nights for sure....I totally look forward to them.   

2.  I guess I should put a shout out there for my kids.....they do make me laugh!  You can't have joy without some trials!

3.  Vacations......

FEARS:

1.  Losing #2 in Joys

2.  Bugs, spiders, scorpions, pit bulls, well you get the idea

3.  Heights

OBSESSIONS/COLLECTIONS

1.  keeping urine off the floor in the bathroom...that's a battle I'm never going to win

2.  when the kids get home from school....I have to empty their backpacks right away.......or I go crazy....I never said I was normal

3.  I hate dirty dishes

FACTS:

1.  If I don't get adequate rest someone will pay....lol....but really someone does...

2.  I love to read 

3.  Karaoke is awesome......I love the rush and "making a fool of myself" (which I tend to a lot...go figure)

You've been TAGGED: "If you choose to accept the mission"

Sandi

Nichole

Cadi

Kayola

This was last weeks adventures:

Paul took his friend Rick and his daughter Emma and Cole and Clay to Hawley Lake while I stayed home and watched chick flicks and had a fab time.

He dropped Cole and Clay off at his sister Erin's cabin (well her in laws which they just got done building) and came home and the next day I drove up to the cabin in Greer with Crew and Cade.  We had a great time.  

It's so Beautiful there......their cabin was super fun!

Chasing the ducks

Cole, Emma, and Clay

This is how I found Crew watching T.V.......yet another reason that I'm such an A class mom....it was quiet for awhile until I finally decided to go find him....

Side Note:  disregard the curtains in the background...I know they're very pretty...paisley  haha

People have asked me what we've been "doing" this summer, and I'd like to say swimteam, arts and crafts, music lessons, or even workshops, but no.......it's been the summer of The Lego Starwars videogame.  And yes, I should feel ashamed of that, but surprisingly, no, I'm fine with that!  Yes, there will be no one handing me "mother of the summer", but hey no loss....I never figured I'd be in the running anyway!  Let the good times roll!

I'm finally posting our Fourth of July family fun gathering......I'm so on top of things.  We got together at my brother's house for a fabulous time in their pool, a bar-b-que (of course) and some fireworks....courtesy of my brother Ryan.  I can't say too much about how beautiful and spectacular they were, but they were Loud!  During and after Crew kept saying "Holy Cow Mom...firecracks!"  It was hard to look at him without laughing!  Thanks for a great time Harper's!

Who says we need a little girl?!

On the 7th we flew into Virginia....first time we've ever flown with the kids....wow that was super fun!  Let's just say Crew knew his juice and every treat was "tainted", so the good stuff didn't take effect until a 1/2 hour before we landed.....so let's just say I was a little more sneaky for the trip home.  We stayed in a major ghetto motel I pricelined.....so not what was pictured on the net.  The older boys were like "where's the beach?" and Cade said, "is this the beach house?" and I said, "no" and he's like, "whew!"  That kid cracks me up.

  The next day we drove to North Carolina to the Outer Banks in our "suburban" that I so called reserved.  I guess the car renters assumed a suburban is the same as a jeep.  Crew was holding down the fort in the back seat completely surrounded by luggage.  I told him to hold up the luggage and he said, "Okay mom" with this puzzled look on his face.

Once we got to the beach house, Paul's sister Erin and her family met us there.  They had gone to Washington D.C. to sightsee and visit Gene and Judie who are on their mission there.   Gene and Judie followed them back from D.C., so they could hang out with us for a few days.

We had a great time....minus the heat wave of utter humidity for the first 2 days, but then a storm came through during the night...lightning was hitting the sand in front of the house....so cool....and then it cooled off.  The water was warm and didn't have all the seaweed that the Pacific has.  We couldn't get the kids out of the water.....except Crew....he spent all day running in and out so the water wouldn't get him.  Hey, whatever keeps 'em busy!

It's been about 10 years since I've been in the ocean swimming, and I actually got in and boogie boarded (well attempted).  The only time we ventured off to do something was to go see some lighthouses and the day we left we went to the naval base in Virginia.  The ships were really sweet minus the lame tour.

All in all it was a fabulous time....great company and great scenery!

LOVE THESE BOYS!

This was the best part of the "traveling" part of the trip....when Crew was asleep.....he looks so innocent when he's sleeping.....looks are deceiving

The kids LOVE posing for pics....especially Cole....haha

Atop the lighthouse where we had to climb 257 steps to get there...what no elevator?!

The boyz of north carolina

I posted this just because it made me laugh.  After repeatedly telling them to "all" look at the camera, Cade was getting annoyed, so he decided to manually get Crew to "look" at the camera.  All in all I think the photo was a success.......

RANDOM WATER SHOTS

Honestly, my kids are the happiest when they're around water.  If I believed in reincarnation, I think they would have been creatures from the sea in this prior life.....haha

Cole would have been a shark........because he likes to be in charge

Clay would have been a dolphin because he's the trickster

Cade would have been a starfish cause he likes to chill and take it all in

Crew would have been a hermit crab cause he likes to get in and out of the water and switch up his scenery

Just thought I'd give a shout out to those handsome boys I call my kids.  This is one of those rare moments when they all would hold still for a "group" photo.

So, I did something this weekend that was one of the hardest things I've done, and Paul came with me to support...he's the best.  I participated in the Crossfit certification.  Wow, what a crazy weekend.  You can go to their website www.crossfit.com and check it out.  You have to scroll down to April 20 to see my pic on the site.  I'm only posting this cause it's the newest thing I've done and I'm sure it's been too long since I posted.  And it might be the only time I'll be on the internet (besides the blog.....  And maybe those weak moments of crazy behavior that were taped and then put on youtube...haha!)

Allright, so I know everyone is sick of my "anniversary" post, but I haven't downloaded any new pics to the computer yet.  So, I'm sharing this instead.......

(I will have new pics soon......I know you're all dying to see them.....haha....our lives are so exciting)

March 11

Happy Anniversary 

It's been a wild and crazy l4 year ride with my sweetheart (well actually 17...we dated in high school...I know pathetic).  That's the advantages to getting married young....you don't know what's out there...haha!  

I hate to admit it, but I think we knew we were meant for each other when I first shared my red licorice with him in seminary class so many years ago.  

There's never been a dull moment spent with Paul...or with the other "mini" Pauls running around the house now...boy am I in for it!

Here's to hopefully many more years to come!

Unfortunately, I couldn't include the "earlier" photos of our times together (we weren't digitized yet).  But I do have a wedding video that's definitely worth sharing as soon as I convert it to DVD...........good stuff!

C'mon.....is anyone really surprised?!

Wait...I thought this trip was for my sweetie and I.......get a room!

Well, it's been awhile since I've posted, but I feel like I've been in a dark abyss of sickness with the kids and Paul.  I don't think I've ever done so much laundry or washed my hands as much as I did these last weeks....and that's a lot to say for me...haha!  That's why my hands look as though I'm 80.  (Nothing against the 80 somethings)   So, needless to say, the pics have been sparse....

This is where I Wished I had been for the last 2 weeks.....and this is where the kids wished they had been ...Legoland