They DO know how to work!!!

Why is it that whenever I ask my kids to help me work in the yard they have an excuse not to or they whine and let me know that I am the "meanest mom ever"? Why is it then that when I walked outside this past Saturday I found my two youngest kiddos across the street doing this: My neighbor was working in his yard and my little angels decided to help him out!

The enthusiasm was so cute! I just had to document it so I can prove to them that "they DO know how to work"!!!

Of course the neighbor (who is a grandpa himself) had to reward the kids with a popsicle! Made working in the heat of the day all worth it to a 5 and 7 year old!

P.s- Thanks Dan for letting my kids "help" :o)!

First Day of School 2009

Another school year has begun....so sad to see summer end, but excited for the new adventures ahead for our kids! Here is the low down:

Mackenzie- 8th grade

Madalyn- 7th grade

Trevor- 2nd grade

Meredith- Kindergarten

Meredith was so excited to be part of the "first day of school" picture for the first time! Meredith has Mrs. Keith (the same Kinder teacher as Trevor). We love her! Out of the 15 kids in her class she already knows about 6 of them so she is off to a good start. She is so ready for kindergarten! Mom on the other hand is sad to not have her around all the time. She is my baby and also my little buddy who loves to "help me" :o)!

Luckily she is only gone from 7:45 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.

Trevor continues to have Mrs. Kovaleski. He had her for first grade and when she decided to move up to 2nd grade she was able to take a select group of current students with her. Trevor was lucky to be one of those select students!
Here he is with Mrs. Kovaleski and his best bud Matthew!

The girls also got really great teachers however they did not want me coming over to the middle school side to "mingle". It was pretty funny when I forced them to give me a kiss good-bye as these cute boys were walking up- haha! Trevor had to add "WE LOVE YOU MADALYN AND MACKENZIE" to add insult to injury- got to love little brothers!

Palm Desert

In August I took the kids to visit Cathy and the cousins in Palm Desert. It was two days full on doing absolutely nothing but reading, eating, visiting and swimming!

Backyard Camp Out

Mackenzie and Madalyn decided they wanted to have a family camp out today. They made invitations for everyone and an agenda. The agenda was planned out very precisely- down to the half hour! Here is how the day went:

We started with a "nature" bicycle ride to Pavillions to buy chocolate for smores: Then they set up the tent (the kids did this all by themselves):
Then it was time to visit the lake...

where they did lots of jumps and games in the "lake"!

Next was craft time:

The kids all wore bandanas, but Meredith had to add her own flair with the glasses! She was cracking us up!

After Dad got home we had hot dogs and then were divided into two teams for skits. Mom, Mackenzie and Trevor were on a team and Dad, Madalyn and Meredith were on the other team. The talent was absolutely amazine- lol!

What campout would be complete without smores?? Yum Yum!

Roasting the marshmallows:

Despite the occational time outs and yelling matches between the kids the day was a lot of fun! The kiddos are all snuggled in the tent sleeping soundly as I type this up.

The agenda for the morning:

Eggs, bacon and apple juice!

Catch up...

Catch up again....three new post today! Keep reading!

Oral Surgery

On Monday this cute boy had to have oral surgery. Here he is going into the office:About a year ago Trevor had a root canal done on this tooth. Unfortunately it got infected so he had to get it extracted. Dr. Spoolstra took good care of him!
This poor kid has the worst teeth (and most expensive mouth) ever!!! He was so brave. Just before he went back he said he was really nervous. I explained to him that they will give him laughing gas so he will not remember anything. He responded with "but what if I fart?" . This kid seriously cracks me up- he is all boy!

Here he is being prepped for surgery:

Grandma Wright got to stay in the room the entire time since she works in the dental field.

Here he is in the recovery. Hurray he did it! I asked if he remembered getting the IV. In his words: "They put it in and it did not hurt, then OH SNAP IT STINGS, then I fell asleep". He is much like his mother when he is coming out of anethesia. He would not stop talking! The ladies in the office were in love with this kid (so are we)!

Afterwards we picked up a Wendy's frosty and then drove to Grandpa and Grandma's to recover (since the oral surgeon was in Long Beach). Here he is relaxing in the car:

Here is the after shot (not for the weak stomach). He will have to live with this hole until his permanent tooth comes in around seven years from now. We will go back in a few weeks and have a spacer put in.

How could this HUGE tooth fit into this little boys mouth (this picture does it no justice)!

Laser Quest

Trevor chose to have his friend birthday party at Laser Quest this year. Since we are trying to cut the expense he had to keep the guest list small, but he had fun anyway! To be honest I think I might of had more fun- I can take him on any day!

Trevor got a new bike from us: The party gifts were Bakugan's and glow sticks:

He insisted on a Bakugan chocolate cake with white frosting. A boy who knows what he wants!

Just before the first game (we played two).

Trevor's code names were: Alphahydroniod and Birthday Boy

Ryan's code names were: Target and Big Dog

Danielle's code names were: Laser Mom and Gotcha

For the record I smeared Ryan and Trevor!!!!

We now have over 30 Bakugan at our house. I still say that Bakugan is "crack for kids"!!!

This picture of him blowing out the candles cracks me up!!!