quotes of the week ...

so, it's the first day of school and we're going through our regular ritual of school morning photos (something the kids seem to find torturous!) I told Jericho to smile and he informed me that "I'm not a smiling boy" ... he assured me that he was happy and excited for school, he just isn't a smiling boy! lol

it's our first day just me and the littles, where did summer go? anyway, Liam just walked over to me:
Liam - "knock knock"
me - "who's there"
Liam - (giggle) "poop"
me - "poop who"
Liam - (with a big smile) "poop head"
and then he decided to regale me with another ...
Liam - "knock knock"
me - "who's there"
Liam - "waffle"
me - "waffle who"
Liam - "uh, kid ... eating a waffle ... (pause) ... I'm still hungry"
and there's Zoey, across the room, just beaming this big beautiful smile at me ...looks like we're gonna have a real good time, just the three of us!

love.

love the outfit.
love the pig tails.
love the drool.
love that random pics turn out frame worthy.
love her.

August 4, 2011

the REAL good-bye ... to the Honda!

so, it took us quite a while to get to this point, but we finally decided that we weren't going to find the Honda's title and we needed to just order the new one (great, more money into the broken car) so during our trip to Oregon, the hubby did that. it then took a month for us to get it in the mail, but finally we were ready to call junk my car again and get it gone! the morning came and I decided to let the kids watch - it's so exciting to see the car put up on the truck and stuff! while we were out there, I -of course- took some photos!

I think he was asking me a question, he has that
questioning look - and those eyes - oh my!

avoiding a decent pic - as usual!

he wanted me to take a pic of his "cool trick"

watching the car get put on the truck!

I love this - hanging from a tree!

bye-bye forever Honda ... you've been good to us!

had I realized he was going to get so upset, I might not
have had them out there ... he was saying "I'll never have my
dark blue car again" - how pathetically sad is that!
the funny thing is, I'm not sure he ever even rode in that car?
never the less, that day he hated our black car
and only wished we could keep the one that was leaving!

Ohna ...

well, the Albuquerque pics are all up now and I can move on to catching up with our "regular" pics now - we'll begin August 1, with a couple pics of Ohna - the only pet we have (she's Annicka's) ...

Annicka was sharing celery with her

isn't she cute!

Albuquerque - going home ...

our final day in Albuquerque came and we had a delicious good-bye dinner of both KFC and chinese food! thanks again Layla and mom! I didn't take any pics that day, until we were heading out of town - here's the blurry version of the city from afar:

and here's the "with flash" version:

yah, neither are great - yet, they're both kinda neat! it was such a fantastic time we had in Albuquerque and we look forward to going again next year and getting to see everyone again and have so much fun and relaxation! we love you Albuquerque fam!

Albuquerque - day nine ...

our second day of swim lessons -
Willow is to the far right (swimming) and then Annicka
is to the immediate left of her! they're doing great!!!

now they rest and listen to the teacher ...

I was having serious panic attacks when the teacher
decided to take the little kids over to the deep end!
the shallow pool was cold as the heater wasn't working,
which I think was her motivation - but still, it
was sincerely freaking me out ... Liam has so little
fear I was sure he wouldn't stay on that edge,
so the hubby went over and stayed near him for almost
the entire lesson. I really appreciated that!

here's Liam and daddy and his class, in the foreground,
and then Annicka and Willow's class in the back!

more listening/observing/getting directions!

Jericho's class was so cute - it was all boys and they
got a male teach - I thought that was pretty neat!

assume the position - ha ha ha - I love this, it's so cute!

the girls are ready to take off again ...

there's Annicka and Willow (and their class)
passing Liam - he had to take a break to let them pass by!

with his hot dog - lol!
when we got to the pool that day he saw one of those float
things and called it a hot dog, so when he didn't like it
at his turn they convinced him to use it by calling it a hot dog -
good thinking daddy! it worked and look at him, my big boy!

after lunch each day it was free swim - so much fun!

Jericho was beyond excited to go down the slide this year!
last time we were there (two years ago) he got to go
down once and daddy caught him, but the lifeguard said
that wasn't allowed - bummer. so he's been waiting
all this time to be able to do it and had no fear that first day!
of course, after a couple times down he decided he
didn't like "drowning at the bottom" - as he told me - and
therefore didn't have as much interest! I convinced
him this day to do it once more for me (he had already
done it once) to get some photos - thanks, son, for your cooperation!
*and just so you know, he didn't actually drown, obviously - but
he did flounder as he's not a strong swimmer yet ... he made
it over to the edge pretty well though, I thought!

eating some lunch

first I took Zoey in, oh my did she love it! we touched the
water falls and sprays and then I dipped her in - she had a blast!
but, of course, I needed pics - so, then it was daddy's turn
to swim her around and let her splash!
look at that happy girl!

the hubs took this one (hence, he didn't notice the flash was
turned off - so, yah, blurry real bad) ... this is uncle in Zoey's play
area with her - lol! she was quite a stinker to him while
we were there. oh - and I stand corrected - I guess she didn't
come up with the "kiss my butt" thing on her own!
since she was being so stingy to uncle, one day he was teasing
her and said "fine then, you don't wanna play with me
then you can kiss my butt" and he showed her -
and, yah, that's all it took and she had learned it, pretty awesome!
and, don't worry, he wasn't being mean - just playing
around and being silly, of course! so, anyway,
we had to have a pic of Zoey and her uncle, and this was
the best we could do! maybe next time she'll let
him hold her? maybe not? we shall see!

through the eyes of a child ...

I had to jot this down! I was doing dishes today and decided to bring Zoey in there with me (sitting at her clip on chair at the counter) ... so, then Liam wanted to join too. He wanted to sit on the counter, so I put him up there. It was so cute when he said, "I can see everything from up here". Just makes you stop and remember how different the world is for him right now. He started to point out all the things he could see (things on the counters, mostly) and it made me realize that from where he stands that stuff doesn't exist.

It was a good reminder to make sure I help him see the world from many different viewpoints!

Albuquerque - day eight ...

I know, it's so blurry - but I LOVE it!!

mmmmm - popsicle!

I guess the kids were tired, because before we knew it -
it had become nap time ... Zoey with grandma ...

Liam - once again he's found an interesting place for a siesta ...

here you can see that Willow is asleep on the couch and it
looks like Underdog is about to nod off, then Liam
is under the coffee table - and there's Jericho, just playing
away, I thought that was funny that he was just
nicely playing and didn't seem to notice that he was surrounded
by sleeping people!!! he really enjoyed playing
with his uncle's toys!!!