Happy Easter!

We had a great Easter weekend. We were able to go camping, again, but this time with family. Our little family, Marcus' parents, and Marcus' brother's family. We've done this now for three years and I love getting together each year. It's great to have all the cousins together and let Grandma and Grandpa do their thing, the dads do their thing, and my sil and I get to chat and chill...well, sometimes it works out that way. We got to spend a little time out on the river in my father-in-law's boat with all the kiddos and everyone went fishing (all but me and my sil and Peyton)....but there were no fish in the pond, bummer! The kids played a lot of baseball/catch, running around with sticks, and playing on a nearby playground...they slept GREAT both nights!! I even snuck into town Saturday morning to run a 5K with a good friend...I went for moral support. We did alright, but next year we're going to do way better and hopefully even place among the top runners...maybe. ;)

How sweet...matching brothers!!

This is my niece and youngest nephew...we were on our way back to the dock because they were done, if you can't tell.Austin and counsin, Hunter, have become baseball buds.
Cali was worn out, but still wanted to help drive...just didn't want her picture taken. (she fell asleep in the car back to camp and I had to wake her up for dinner!!)

Peyton loved the boat!These were the kids' baskets that the Easter Bunny brought...they were filled with a kite, a little deck of cards, a special something for each individual, and a couple eggs with jelly beans. What a sweet Bunny...but not a rich bunny. :)

Austin had already found his max so he was conning Cali out of some of hers...hmmm.

This is the week before Easter right before heading to church. I love coordinating much better than matching...even I was wearing green and Marcus had a blue/yellow tie. awww... Look at my sweet little Cali finding her eggs Easter morning!!
Peyton and Daddy were watching all the kids scrounging for eggs thru the yard. Think she looks like Austin much??

I hope everyone had a Wonderful Easter weekend...we sure did!

February Update

TeeBall has begun. Tryouts went really well for Austin...he hit all three balls and even made the boys that were catching back up! He even caught his three grounders and threw them right back to the coach. After tryouts, all the coaches wanted Austin on their team! They can "protect" up to 2 players and the rest they get in the draft...just like the big leagues. It's pretty serious. We went with the Dodgers!! Go Dodgers!! And somehow I got wrangled into being the team mom...definite posts coming from that one! ...sigh...Austin smoked 'em!!
These are the beautiful rings my sweet honey got me for Valentine's day....our birthstones.This was from a party I went to with a bunch of my girlfriends. It was "Oscar Night" themed, that's why we're all gussied up, and we were having a little too much fun with our cameras...getting just the right pose. heehee! I caught my girlfriend snapping pictures of herself while I was snapping pictures of myself....what dorks!! But we had so much fun!! Peyton is getting some snuggle time with her Daddy right before bed...

...and Daddy's on the phone (he snuck it away right before I took the picture). What a surprise! But Peyton sure loves her Daddy...awww...dadadada is all we hear.

February also brought a Valentine's day party at Austin's school. I'm still waiting for the pictures from his teacher because I forgot my camera, but Cali got her hands on a red cupcake with red frosting and you can only imagine what her face looked like...red! She looked like a clown. Austin's teacher thought it was the funniest thing and was taking pictures of her and even calling other teachers in to come see the cute little clown in her room. Cali was a big event! She loves going to Austin's school, especially when she's the center of attention.

It's spring break right now and we're getting ready to go camping for a few days, so I'll be better about taking pictures and getting more updates of the kids.

Updates

I survived January and in my family that's a huge accomplishment! There are honestly 7 birthdays in my immediate family in January alone...not to mention that my hubby's is the 30th of December (Happy belated 30th Birthday honey!!). And my younger sister had her first baby on January 6th, which makes it 8...whew! So a quick recap of the birthdays: My mil, my step-mom, my bil, my dad, my baby sister, my son and myself (and now my niece). Any other month of the year might have one or two, but January sure hits us hard.

For Marcus' birthday I threw him a surprise party that he walked in on early. I don't want to talk about it... Austin turned 6 this month and I can hardly believe it! We went the day before his birthday and he helped pick out a new bike for himself. Marcus made the mistake of heading to the actual bicycle shop first and Austin chose this beautiful red bike that he fell in love with but it was $200!!!!! Ouch!! We told him that we'd have to do a little more shopping and see if we could find something a little more reasonable, that went well. We did end up having a talk and he chose a red bike that was cool, but not nearly as cool as the original choice. He still loves it and told me, "it's pretty fast, but not as fast as the other bike I wanted." Poor guy. I really wish I could have bought him that awesome, expensive bike. We can all dream.

For my own birthday I got to go out to dinner with a group of friends to the Olive Garden. We had a great time! Marcus got me a couple cds and a certificate to a local day spa. Now all I have to do is find the time...*sigh* The kids love birthdays, so I did get to hear "Happy Birthday Mommy" all day from Cali and they sang the birthday song more than a couple times during the day. I'm birthday'd out.

Little Miss Peyton decided to start rolling all over the place. Last week I came in to find her across the room trying to get into Marcus' church bag. They seriously grow WAY too fast! She's eating foods, sleeping all night, rolling all around, and I even caught her rocking on her knees already...someone slow this girl down, please!! Look at those big eyes! We call her Suzy Who. lol

Miss Cali girl figured out how to push her pedals on her trike recently and is "needing" a new bike like Austin's, or so she says. I have to try and slow that girl down too, literally. She knows her colors, sings her ABC's and is starting to recognize them, and she loves doing whatever Austin's doing (which drives him nuts). She's 2 going on 12...I have no idea where she gets it. (*blush*)

Austin has been making a splash at school too. They had an awards day and he walked away with 4 this time. He was awarded "Fantastic Report Card" for exactly that and "Pirate Pride" (that's their mascot). He also made 3rd place in the Advanced Reading program. He was actually a little upset that he didn't get first place and vowed to work extra hard to get first next time...competitive much? He even received a very specialy award that's only given to two kids from each class call the "Best Citizen" Award for excellent citizenship, showing responsibility, having good manners and such. What a stud!! Pardon my bragging...

Santa Claus Came to Town!!

I don't think Santa held a match to grandparents this year! My kids sure had a great Christmas. My mom was able to spend it with us, my dad sent gifts, and we even got an extra day of Christmas with Marcus' parents yesterday. Phew!! I'm Christmased out. We definitely made it last as long as possible and had a GREAT time doing it.

Austin's class had a Christmas party and they did a little skit...Austin played Rudolph. His teacher read a little story and every time she said "Rudolph" Austin said "My nose glows!". It was adorable!!

This was what the kids woke up to Christmas morning. No, I didn't not put all those there...my mother was in town and my dad sent a couple. Santa brought them each two gifts plus filled their stockings and we got them each a couple necessities. It just piled up in that little corner.Austin was in HEAVEN!! I almost had to tie Cali up because she wanted them so badly...this picture doesn't do her excitement justice.

Even Peyton got in the Christmas spirit. Her pj's say "my first christmas"...love the hat?Merry Christmas....morning gorgeousness. ;)This was my favorite moment of the morning. Austin had asked for a new pair of Sketchers, but in his letter to Santa he changed it to "the fastest shoes you can find". When he opened these he shouted, "Yes, the fastest shoes in the world!!!" Priceless.Now this was Christmas with the McCabes yesterday. The kids were in and out all day playing so my s-i-l and I put out a platter of veggies with dip and a platter of apples with caramel...the kids devoured them!! I guess we could have made sandwiches, but they filled up on veggies. What more could a mom ask for? One fun thing at Grandma and Grandpa's is going fishing in a nearby pond. This is a little trailer that is pulled by a fourwheeler. These kids loved it!

None of the pictures turned out very well, but you get the idea. Cali pretty much does it all by herself and usually catches the most fish. The dogs are just an addition to the country scene. The man sitting is Marcus' dad and my two are the closest with cousins back by grandpa.

It was a great day with family just visiting, playing and eating....that was pretty much the theme of the season for us! I'm not complaining...

Fishing and Festivities

We tried to make the most of a dreary, foggy weekend. Marcus started it off by going fishing Saturday morning and brough home a bunch of different fish.

You can tell how drizzly it is outside...I can't even get a clear picture! It was misting and foggy all evening. This was at Marcus' parent's Ward Christmas Party. They got to go on a hay ride. Can you see Austin and Cali sitting with Grandma? (right in the middle of the pic)Peyton and I had a good time visiting and eating...she even snuck in a little nap. A lot of friends and family haven't seen her in a while so she got her fill of different sets of arms.Like I said, we tried to make the most of the drizzly weekend...but my hair sure didn't enjoy all our outings!!! Good thing it's dark. ;)