A day at the park...and a bit more

Well, it's about time I get off of my laurels and start contributing to our family blog. I've been a spectacular dissapointment up till now.

It was just me and the kids for the most part today. We fulfilled our weekly ritual of eating waffles this morning. After that, Susi went to a bachelorette party with Trica. I'm not sure why, but she left with like 50 one dollar bills. Whatever could they have been for.... hhmmm...

Anyway, after she left I got the kids ready to go over to Jr's house to hang out. Before we left, I had to fix Brianna's bike tire, the air stem was in crooked. So, in order to remedy this non-conformance, I inflated and deflated the tire and tried to move it. During one of the reinflations, I noticed that the side wall of the tire had popped out. It barely had time to register in my head when a heard a deafening gun shot sound. After my "Stop-Drop-and-Roll" routine, I came to the realization that I had over-inflated Brianna's tire. This had the net effect of causing, well, a mini-explosion. One that sounded remarkably like a gun shot. So, feeling lucky that I escaped that near death experience, I continued on w/ the kids to Jr's house. We took the kids to the park and had a heck of alot of fun playing ball and watching the kids.

After we got done at the park, we went back to Jr's house. He made some keeler carne asada and I dug for change in all the cars so could go buy us some soda's. After lunch, it was mandatory nap time for all the kids. No questions asked. And what do dad's do when their kids are sleeping? There is only one right answer to that if you are a true dad ( I don't want want to hear any of you sissy's say "Do honey Do's"). You exercise your fatherly right and take a Saturday afternoon nap. I managed to sleep pretty well despite Jr sawing logs.

Potty trained!!

I don't know why I waited so long to potty train Emily. I thought she wasn't ready. But it was me who wasn't ready. I was afraid that I would be stuck in the house for a week setting the timer every 20minutes, changing wet and poopie undies, and cleaning the carpet because she didn't make it to the bathroom, and the thought of that just depressed me. Also, she's my baby. This just meant that she's leaving the baby stage and going on to the toddler stage. Which saddens me, since she is our last. But then I remember it isn't as bad as I thought it would be. It never really is. All the other kids did great. So I prayed Emily would be the same. And she did. It only took her a couple times to catch on and it was the BEST DAY EVER when she did. Plus, the incentive of gummy bears works wonders. No more wet or poopie diapers!!! Now it's big girl undies for my baby. What a glorious day!

Happy Birthday Kaden!

I can't believe your nine! It seems it was only yesterday, that I was holding you in my arms. Rocking you to sleep. Hugging and kissing you all over, just because. Staring at you chubby little cheeks, and wishing I could have that moment forever. You were such a good baby. You never cried. Not even when you were hungry or tired. Maybe because I was always holding and loving on you. You were content to play by yourself. But if Brianna wanted to join you, it didn't bother you. You found happiness playing in the dirt, coloring, sitting in your elmo chair watching t.v., chewing gum, playing with cars,and taking bubble baths was your favorite. I loved every growing moment with you. Especially now that you are our only boy. I can hardly get mad at you, and I rarely say no to you. I cherish the nightly hug and good night. I never want that to end! Even when your a teenager I hope you will come into the bedroom and remind me that you love me.
I'm looking forward to more silly faces, smart and funny come backs, not so funny jokes, wonderful artistic drawings, puppy dog eyes, the sound of your contagious laugh, the way you say "Oookaay" whenever we ask you to do something, and your gummy smile. I love you Buddy! You have truly been a blessing in our lives, and I'm so glad your a part of it.
Love you more than the stars in the sky!
Mom

Uncle Jr. thought it would be funny to shove a cupcake in his face. He didn' appreciate it, but we did. It was a great Kodak moment.

For the longest time Kaden was terrified of Chuck E. He would scream bloody murder and run the other way. The other people that were there would look at us as if we were beating our child. I was afraid someone was going to report us to CPS. So whenever we went we had to make sure Chuck E. was not in view of Kaden or else all hell would break lose. One time, we were so desperate, Spencer requested for Chuck E. not to come out at all while we were there. And he didn't. I think they remembered us from our previous visits, and decided not to take any chances. Thanks Chuck E. Cheeses! But, he eventually grew out of it, and now we just tease him until he gets frustrated, makes a funny face, and says "MOM, DAD!"

San Diego Zoo

Last year for Spring Break we came down to San Diego and did the whole Disneyland, Wild Animal Park and San Diego Zoo experience. We had bought a season pass for the Zoo, and it was still good when we moved down here. So we decided to go to the zoo last Saturday. We were supposed to leave at 10 in the morning, but didn't get out of the house until 11:30. Which is the story of our lives. A trip that was supposed to take an hour took 2 hours. California traffic is disgusting! I hate it with a passion. I miss the times when I was the only one driving on the road and wasn't stuck behind idiot drivers who are goosenecking just to look at construction on the side of the road. Idiots!Anyways, the long and irritating drive just seems to bring out the worst in me. Every noise and loud talking (mostly sreaming) was driving me close to insanity. Mostly because our DVD player in the Yukon was broken, so there was no distraction for the kids. I really don't know how we lived with out one when we were growing up. The DVD player is my best friend. And that day my best friend was on vacation. But we made it with all the kids still whole. It was a fun day, and we can't wait to do it again.

Sophie was in charge of the map. She decided that she was the tour guide for the day. It was to cute! She was always telling us we were going the right way. And pointing at the map to tell us where we were at.

I am such a loser! Blogging hasn't come easy for me. Especially when I read all of my friends clever blogs. What is wrong with me? Anyways, I hope to be more consistant and then maybe it will be easier. So hang in there. We really are interesting. I promise!