Can you believe it.....

Well here is the before picture. Today Zach got the first phase of his braces on. Aren't we so lucky that we get to do this twice for him!!! The ortho told me one in twenty kids have to have them at this age and in 2 phases. I told him then I must be in the clear for my other 4...yea right! Anyway, Zach is so thrilled. Braces are all he talked about for a long time and suddenly he needed them. I think I am going to try that trick. If you just wish long and hard enough, just maybe it will come true.

Doesn't he look so cute! I told him to smile...can you tell if he is or not?

Here they go on!

Here is the after picture. They are just on his permanent teeth. At a later date he gets some device installed in the bottom of his mouth to widen it. So, here's to braces!

Where's Spencer???

So the kids came home from school and we were at the table doing homework. When that was all over I thought I should go out and water the garden. As I am finishing up and start walking towards the house I look up and see that 4 of our 5 kids are outside. Now what made me think this is an odd site is the fact that Spencer is so quick to follow anybody and every body because he is not going to miss out on what is happening. So, I immediately think this just can't be good. In the house I go looking for him. I turn to go down the hall and see that his bedroom door is closed. I slowly open it and this is what I see...

He had climbed up on his changing table to go to sleep. I guess he was tired. All I could think was thank goodness I don't have clean up another mischievous mess!

I have been wanting to post pictures of our garden. This is our first time growing something other than tomatoes and basil. Craig built 6 boxes and then we started planting everything under the sun. The first one is all herbs taken over by basil! The next one is filled with many different types of tomatoes. Matthew and Eli sit there and wait patiently until one turns red and then they pick and eat it!

Here are the 3 on the left. The first one has cantaloupe, watermelon, and honeydew. We have learned our lesson. These need more room than a box altogether. Oh, well...live and learn. The next one has carrots, green beans, eggplant, all kinds of peppers and another tomato plant. Craig wanted to make sure we had enough tomatoes for the boys. The last one is filled with corn. Craig really got into this. Suddenly he started coming home with even more plants. I said where on earth are we going to put all these. He decided to clear a section on the hill for more strawberries, another watermelon, some kind of squash, and we have turnips and onions coming up. Turnips...who eats turnips????

Here is the last box on the right with zucchini and cucumbers.

This is another day he came home with more stuff. More green beans, because he wanted bush and pole beans, MORE corn and I can't even remember the other plant. I guess we will find out when it starts producing. I am actually very proud of my husband. This has been a big dream of ours and now we are putting it into action. I think I need to keep a close eye on him though, he may just start taking out our newly laid grass to make more room for what he brings home next!

Family Reunion

Papa Ben and Mimi came down from Texas for a visit. Boy did we have all kinds of fun. You will have to look at the next 2 entries to see some of the other things we did. The kids just have so much fun when they come. Every year there is a small family reunion in Huntington. We went to that on Sat.( yes, I entered everything backwards). I am still getting used to how all this works. Anyway the reunion wasa t a park there and the kids had fun playing on the slides and bars. I got to meet some family that I have never seen before. Well, maybe I have, but was never old enough to remember them. Anyway that was another day of fun and we all did a great job of wearing the kids out in 3 1/2 days. Thank you for all the many fun things we did and making more memories with us...we love you guys!

La Brea tar pits

On Friday we went to the La Brea tar pits. It was a fun idea, but after much traffic there the kids only lasted so long. We also thought that there was dinosaur fossils there. We were all wrong. It was fun to see how they dig it all up and all the many fossils they have found in that area. The kids just kept saying, "It is soooo stinky here!" The kids were just excited for another day of adventures. Thank you for the fun!!!!

Wild Animal Park

We went to the Wild Animal Park and the kids had a blast. We saw lots of animals and went to a few shows. Zach got picked as a volunteer for the bubble show. He loved that!!!

First Day of School

Can you believe it??? I have a 1st grader and a 3rd grader! Matthew and Eli start at different times than Zach and Allison, so you will get to see 2 more posts of first days of school. Anyway Allison was just so excited to be in first grade and to have Zach's teacher. Zach was so hyper this morning because he could hardly wait to be a BIG 3rd grader. Good luck to you both! We are so proud of you guys!

Allison at the door of her new classroom.

Allison at her desk. She gets to have one of her good friend at her same table and the other one next to her at the neighboring table. She was so excited.

Here is Zach at his new classroom.

I spent to much time in Allison's class, so I was late getting to Zach's. I had to snap a desk picture from out of the room. He looks all business!

4th of July fun

We were invited to a friends house for some swimming fun. My kids were thrilled because it was yet another day of swimming. Allison was a pro at the water slide by then. Needless to say my kids were totally worn out by the end of the day. Some of the pictures are of a gigantic slip and slide. There will be more pictures of these to come! The funnest thing ever!!! Matthew thought it was pretty cool! Thanks for the fun.

Palm Springs fun

The Fishers invited us to Palm Springs on Wed. Tricia and I drove out there with our 10 kids to stay 2 nights. Boy were we a sight to see trying to get all of our stuff up to the room with all the kids. People just stood there and watched us try to cram in to the tiny elevators. The kids just had a blast swimming and going down the water slide over and over again! Spencer even got really brave and kicked his way around the pool in the little innertube.

More swimming fun

So last Monday my friend and I piled our 9 kids into our cars and drove out to Yucaipa to go to the local regional park for some fun on the water slides and pool. We met up with our other friend and her 5. We pulled up to the park and they were CLOSED!!!! What to do with 13 kids who were planning on playing at the "beach". So Melissa said lets go to my house in Hemet. So, off we went to her house that is in the construction phase. The one down fall is there was NO bathroom. I have the cutest picture of 4 of our boys. pants around their ankles peeing in the grass. Spencer is just standing there admiring, wishing he could be apart of the "potty trained". I just didn't think I should post a picture of 4 naked bums.

This was Allison's first trip down the slide ever. Go Allison!!!

This is all the kids minus the sleeping baby in the house. That's a lot of kids.

Zach and his buddies.

Allison was really liking the slide!!!

My new niece

This is my new niece. My sister in law Cheryl had a baby June 11th. Here name is Audrey Jane. Isn't she just soooo cute. Allison just couldn't her long enough.