What's the worst way to be woken up in the morning?

"Mommy--I threw up in my bed!!!"

That's how my day started. And it has not gotten better--well, the "throw up" part seems to be better, but the 5 loads of laundry, cleaning up 2 major spills (made by myself, not my children!), and picking up rooms full of toys has not ceased!

The joys of motherhood!

Sweet & Sassy

Okay--Jodee got invited to a COOL birthday party today!! It was at a place called "Sweet & Sassy" here in Edmond, and it was so much fun! The girls all got to dress up, get their hair (with a neat hair piece) done up, nails done, glitter spray all over, and make-up. Then they got to walk on the "runway" like a model, and strike a pose for a picture, and dance around to music. SO FUN! They each got a picture to take home (the one above)and a pink trophy--which Jodee loves! Here are some of the pictures of the hairdo:

And striking a pose (yes, a gymnastics pose! What else would you expect? ha!)

Instead of cartoons..

..on Saturday mornings, we started playing games!! The kids started this game on their own--Dinosaur monopoly jr.--I was impressed that they got it all set up, and Dylan was even playing! We did have to take a break and ride bikes for a while before it got too hot outside, but we came back in and finished. My poor 8 year old lost to his 4 year old brother--he wasn't too happy! (But Dylan was!) :)

It's never to hot for the Hulk!

Yes, here's my little Hulk riding his bike in 98 degree July weather!! He's always dressing up--but didn't want to take it off to ride his bike today!

And my other one--dressed up as "Tony Hawk"--just kidding! He was loving the skateboard till he went down a hill on it and wiped out. But, I'll give him this--he didn't even cry!!
And--one of the coolest places in OKC--and it's totally free--the sprayground! We have had so much fun at this place ever since a friend told me about it--it even has a big swimming pool with a diving board and lifeguards--for FREE!! I'm all about anything for free...and this is the best! As you can see--even my 21 and 15 year old cousins got in on the fun! (And, I can't leave out my 17 year old brother--he came the next day and played with us!)
These are some fun summer days.....

Fun at the lake

I know this is from a while ago (5th of July, to be exact), but I had to post these pictures! Our good friends Russell and Diane invited us to go boating with them at lake Arcadia for a couple of hours, and we had a blast! They are wonderful people, and we enjoyed spending time talking with them and riding in their VERY nice boat!
Here's Dustin in the front: Jodee trying to keep the hat on her head:
And Dylan, who fell asleep about 30 minutes into the ride--and slept like this for the rest of the time:Too funny! I guess he was comfortable...who knows!

And a thank you with a picture to Mimi and Paw paw--Dylan loves his new pool toys!

There will be more to come---it's been a while since I posted!!

Date night

I bet you're assuming that means me and Josh!! Well, it was actually myself and Dylan at a "western grill", and Josh and Jodee got to go to a movie. Just like the father and daughter tea party in June at our church, the young boys get to go to a western party with their mommies! It was SO much fun--and the boys were all so cute!! They got to make sheriff badges for their vests, and play pin the badge on the sheriff, shoot water guns, ride stick horses and rope pinata cows, play harmonicas, and sit on real ponies!
Here is Dylan---WANTED!! He wouldn't make a mean face--I thought that was sweet!And here's our picture--me and my little cowboy!Sitting on "Diva":

Playing the harmonica around the campfire...And, check out this concentration!!!Thanks to my good friends for helping me out with pictures--since I left my camera at home! They turned out great!

Josh and Jodee went to a movie..and get this-she could choose from Kit Kittredge (an American Girl movie), or Speed Racer. What did she choose? SPEED RACER! So funny! But they enjoyed it--and had a nice date night!

And, ironically, Dustin went to see Speed Racer in Austin the same night!! I'm sure he and Micah loved it too!

4th of July

I had a great surprise awaiting my when we went outside for the parade on the 4th....my new swing!! Josh surprised me with an early birthday present that morning--something I've been wanting for a LONG time, and it's perfect!! Here are the kids and myself chilling on it in the backyard: And, for those who are wondering, I'm officially in my 30's now...I'm 31!! I didn't consider being 30 as "in my 30's", so I guess I am now!

Here is the fam waiting for the parade to start: (notice how happy they are here...an hour and a half later they were sweaty and miserable and wanting to go home...so we did! It was fun though.)

This is at 10 pm, after a day full of eating, outside games, swimming, trampoline jumping, and running around with my whole family:

They were worn out!! The picture below is Dustin holding a sparkler--not sure if you can actually see him or not, but he's there! Dylan was wiped out and in bed by this time, and Jodee just watched (I think she was about to fall asleep too!). We had a great day with my family. We celebrated all of the summer birthdays (adult birthdays), there are 6 in all, and had "Family Olympics", complete with awards and all. It was SO much fun!

I have more pics to post from the weekend, but I'll leave you with that for now. Oh, and think about me this week, my oldest baby is in Texas without me!!! Dustin is spending the week with his cousin Micah this week--and they are having FUN! I miss him!

Happy Birthday, Dylan!!

My baby is 4!! Dylan's birthday was yesterday, and the whole day I kept thinking...there's no way 4 years have gone by this fast! He is such a fun boy--definitely all boy--but so much fun, and always trying to get a laugh out of us. His most recent source of comedy is quoting lines from "Alvin & the Chipmunks"--which really makes us laugh!!

Here are some highlights from his big day:

First, we spent our morning at the zoo with some friends--and the best part was getting to see the alligators being fed! We had never seen that before--and the kids thought that was VERY cool! We were sad that Josh wasn't there with us to enjoy dead rats being thrown to alligators! HA!

Here's Dylan with his cake....he wanted a Kung Fu Panda party, even though we haven't seen the movie yet, and this was as close to "kung fu panda" as I could get---but at least he's happy! (And, yes, that's a tattoo on my son's chest, in case you were wondering!)And, of course, a pic with Chuck E. Cheese!Here are the kids with their masks on--too funny!And after spending 2 1/2 hours in Chuck E. Cheese with his grandma, great grandma, uncle, great aunt and uncle, and grandpa opening really great presents (thanks everyone!), and eating some pizza, we still had one big present waiting in the car:
He had a great birthday--and is already asking, "When do I turn 5?"... my baby is too big!