Just in case anyone's needing a little silly in their day!

Once again, my mom found a way to make sure we all felt a lot of love while we are so far from home. We got a lovely "little" package in the mail full of lots of goodies to make us smile. It really did feel a bit like Christmas. Jody got his big fat birthday check. Brielle got this adorable new sundress which she couldn't wait to model. I asked Breje to choose the best picture -- but it was tough, so here's the top two! Please excuse her cleavage. We're working on it, but dontcha love her tan line? I'm loving Breje's new dress, but isn't she looking just way too grown up? I got an adorable new shirt, you'll just all have to believe that I look totally hot in it, as the pictures were terrible and I deleted them all! (sorry mom, I just couldn't do it) I do seriously love it -- almost as much as the bagfull of quarters she sent! Yep! Quarters are the new IT thing around here as they have become such a necessary part of our routine. These should keep us in clean clothes for the rest of the month! The boys each got these giant Bakugans. I really have no idea how to spell that, but it sure made them happy! They're extra great, because they are actually big enough not to get lost every other minute! Brielle also got this cute doll with snap-on/snap-off clothes. Think she likes it? To top it all off, Grandma slipped in a couple sets of marker paints that have brought us hours of peace and harmony. We know have DOZENS of pictures similar to this one to bring home for Grandma! Thanks Grandma Linda! We love everything!

Happy Birthday Jody!

I had to take a quick minute to celebrate Jody's 38th (that's right kids, he's getting up there!) birthday! I had to laugh as we sat around our little apartment doing our best to make the most of this day. Jody's definitely done his best to make sure that our life together is never dull! We've celebrated birthdays in at least 6 different states, and more than double that number of homes. I'm pretty sure this isn't exactly how my husband pictured his 38th year, but I love that he makes sure that we are always right where we should be -- even when that's not the easiest thing to see. I also love that he makes sure it's never just about him. He asked for a wake board this year-- mostly because that will make us more fun to visit!

The kids told him he could choose how to celebrate his birthday, so yesterday he took us all out for steak and then we caught the 3D version of Ice Age 3. Today he made us all ice cream and then took the kids to the park (it was 99 degrees!-- that's love!) For him, it's ALWAYS about having fun together!

I know what you're thinking -- you're dying of jealousy that you missed out on this flashy little shindig! Eat your hearts out!

Girl's Day Out

Finding 6 hours to spend at Ross and the Mall, WITHOUT the boys? Darn near impossible.

Keeping Brielle in the cart/stroller for the majority of the time? About a dozen mini cookies, 4 pennies to throw in the fountain, and LOTS of begging.

Drinks and appetizers for the entire crew? Way more than you'd think!

Having a day to bond with my beautiful daughters and getting pics like these? PRICELESS

July 4th -- The Sequel

I couldn't quite wrap-up my 4th of July weekend posts until Michelle was kind enough to email me the pictures she snapped while we were waiting for the fireworks to begin. I couldn't help sharing a few because this has always been one of my favorite days of the year! This picture pretty much captures what I remember most about the fireworks growing up-- all the kids sitting on blankets or running around, eating whatever they can get their hands on and acting as silly as possible.
Brielle definitely got into MY favorite part of the holiday spirit! Seriously, I don't think she spent a moment all weekend without both hands full of junkfood!

She thought that she couldn't wait to see the fireworks, but she completely freaked when she heard the first one and spent the first half with this look on her face ....

...totally refusing to watch. About halfway through, she turned back around and started oohing and ahhing with the rest of us. Whatever kid!

Although the show was better than we had expected, we all headed back to Cam and Michelle's house for our own little fireworks display. Once again, Brielle was terrified and kept saying, "No, Daddy, not more!"

I also couldn't help sharing a couple more of the kids on the four-wheeler. They spent tons and tons of driving around in that heat!

Breje even spent plenty of time driving Brielle around, since Daddy proved early-on that he couldn't be trusted to go slow enough for her taste!

Also, since I so appreciated all of your concern over our current binkie situation, I thought I should let you know that she merely played with it for a couple of hours and then, happily, forgot that it had ever existed! Whew!

Our 4th of July Weekend

Jody was able to get some time away from class for the holiday weekend, so we were able to take a min-vacation to Cameron and Michelle's house to celebrate the fourth with them. It was a min-vacation because we only had four days, but we sure packed a lot in to them!

We spend our first full day visiting South Padre Island -- soaking up as much sun and sand (and food, or course) as is humanly possible! I got a little camera-happy. Please forgive me.... I'm pretty sure that Brielle and Shayla could've played in the sand for a week straight!

Except Jody and Breje kept snagging Brielle to play in the fun waves!

And then she had to make time for eating all of that sugar!

I love the way she looks at Andin like he is so soo lucky to be graced with her presence! He totally lets her play the role of princess to her hearts' content!

I love this one -- The kids had those looks on their faces for the majority of the weekend!

We filled the rest of the time with more good food than I can even begin to talk about, tons of movies, shopping, playing games (yes, there was Phase 10) even more food, and kids running around everywhere! My kids had forgotten what it was like to have so much space to move around in, and cousins to play with and they revelled in every moment.

They spent tons of time riding the boys' four-wheeler in the backyard. I snapped this when they got tired of waiting for the adults to come start it (it was seriously HOT outside) and so they were taking turns pushing each other on it. Is that fun? Apparently, yes!

I think the best part of the weekend (yes, even better than sleeping on a bed, eating at a real table, doing laundry IN the house, etc) was watching the kids' bonds with their cousins be strengthened by all that play time. They normally live pretty far away and it was good to see how quickly they become close when they do get a chance to be together!