One a fabulous way to end a beautiful Thanksgiving.......a thunderstorm....Cole LOVES the rain....he's always online checking the weather

Our sweet little Crew has learned too much from the "outside" world.......

while I was taking the picture he said, "I'm gonna kick your butt mama!"....yeah he thought he was funny.....  Oh the sweet sentiments our children say......

A few photos that captured the good times in Puerto Vallarta

One little monkey in the tree

I'm pretty sure we can't just take a normal "shot"

This photo is dedicated to Olan Mills.....where we got our inspiration!

They cooked up the fish they caught at a local restaurant.....Yummy!

*****Side Note:  I'm still not brave enough to blog the karaoke shananigans!****

I'm posting this as per request....

This was Halloween '06

I'm not sure what I was thinking with my outfit...I'm pulling the crazy card....

My camera wasn't on the right mode, so the outside pic is crappy, but you get the gist of our Halloween effects

If you're wondering where Crew is.....he wanted nothing to do with a costume or trick or treating.....I believe that's him in the above pic.....crying

why fight it.......

We are now living with our very own Frankenstein.

Saturday, when Paul and I went out, the kids were playing tag in the house.  

And, of course, Clay ran into the wall!

It took 3 guys to hold him down and a lot of screaming to put 7 staples in his head....

Traumatized much?!

When Paul and Clay were walking out, Clay thanked the doctor...well he kindof grunted a thank you, and the doc almost passed out

It took him 2 days to smile about it and let me take the picture.  Gross huh?

Paul went to the Anderson cabin to finish the heater in Greer.....and the family decided to tag along..... :)

I'm pretty sure this pic was taken right before Cole rammed into our car......

Cole says, "Why did you park the car there?"

classic defensive comment

we can laugh now

Needless to say, we had a talk on responsibility

I guess I can't talk cause I think I remember hitting a tree in my dad's truck.....dad gotta love that patience

Clay ready to hit the road....this is serious business you know!

LET'S RIDE!

Now don't smile Paul.....excellent

that's a wrap

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