the green outfit ...

for about half a second I thought about linking to the post of Jericho wearing this outfit ... but given that the old blog (where I'm pretty sure it is) is private and the fact that I don't feel like searching for it ... I decided, eh!

anyway, here is Liam - our little ladies man - sporting a super special outfit!  somewhere I have photos ... real, actual, before I had a digital camera photos ... of Annicka in this outfit!  yep - it started as hers!  then, I have photos of Jericho in it, as referenced above.  and now, I have photos of Liam in it!  next up will be Zoey - but she's got some growing to do ... and since all four of my kids have worn it - it might make into a "save" box for grandkids!  that's right people, I'm serious!

quotes ...

it's been a long time - I know!  but this was too cute not to put on here:

we're looking through Liam's pre-school photos (we can view all the photos online) and we got to one of his teachers and he, quite boldly, says: "that's the one I'm in love with"!!!!  Jericho is sitting here, doing homework, and asked him something and he replied: "I just love her"!  then he goes on to say, "yah, I wanna marry her ... but she's already married".  

he's four.

wow!!!

beauty and fun (October)

 it's no secret that I can't resist sunset pics!

usually I catch the sunset only if I'm out and about (our house is weird -

we have very few windows and none downstairs that face west) and of course, don't

have my camera!  but sometimes I'm just home and go outside and happen to notice ... 

and this was one such evening!

so, I grabbed the camera and the three kids that were inside and made a little

outing of going to take my sunset pics ... which, turned into fun times at the little park near

our house ... which, turned into pics of my cute kids!

she was very upset to have to leave!

tried to catch some pics of mama & Zoey ... 

this was my fave, we're both making stink faces!  LOL!!

and later that night, I had to grab the camera again and try to capture the beauty of the moon!

  

ewwwww. really!!! (September)

to round out September (yes, that's all I have for September folks ... I told you I had backed off of my photo taking, somewhat subconsciously, due to being so behind with the blog) I'll share this pic of a mouse.   

a wild mouse.  

a wild mouse that my daughter caught.

you heard me right.  she was so proud too, but I was freakin out when she came in -

yes IN- with her hands held tight together, cupping something, and said "mama guess what?! I 

caught a mouse!  a real one!  in the neighbor's yard!  but told tell (name of child) or she'll say it's

hers!  I caught her mouse!".  really.  REALLY!

to somewhat ease my mind, she explained that she had used a gallon size "sandwich bag" on her hands,

so she hadn't actually touched the mouse!  still, ewww.  and still, quit holding it - before it bites you!

she found a container for it, at which point I took some pics to remember this

joyous occasion.  and then, I made her take it to the field across the street and let it go.

the evil side of me almost wishes I had just killed the darn thing ...

we now have a mouse (or mice?) in our garage/house!

dang it.

so far we've caught one and I'm keeping an eye out for evidence of more!

p.s. also, before we realized we had one (or more) in the house, Jericho had found a dead mouse

in the garage one day while my friend was watching my kids!  fun for her!!!  but I guess

I shouldn't have been too surprised, since the neighbors had apparently been having mouse issues!

and just fyi, the occurrence of her catching this mouse and our discovery of having one

in the house was about a month apart!  yikes!!!

and that does it folks!  I think I can say I'm now "caught up" since all the pics from summer

through September are up!  now onto October, phewf!

stripper? streaker? (September)

 I'm sure you can all imagine my surprise when I walked into the living room one day and found this:

of course, she wasn't edited to be covered - so what I saw was a completely naked little girl!

(I had to edit it to make it appropriate for sharing, of course)

I was quick to see all her clothing that had been removed and thrown over

the side of her play yard ... wow, Zozo, really!!!

and let me mention that I use the word "stripper" very literally ... 

I mean, correct me if I'm wrong - but did she or did she not "strip" her clothes off?

so, that was my surprise that day - a little streaker!

p.s. for those of you wondering why she was in her play yard and why I wasn't right there with her,

did I mention Annicka is home schooling?  yah - some days Zoey has to spend some time

in here (and, she usually loves it, by the way - she plays and watches tv) while I focus on school!

she's quick!!! (September)

Zoey is busy.

busy may not even cover it, on many days!

and she's quick, too.

if she has access to her favorite spots ...

as in, spots she knows she shouldn't be!!! ...

she'll get to those spots, as fast as she can, whenever the opportunity is there!!!

on this day she had one such opportunity and, as usual, seized it!

she ran those little legs to our computer/craft/school room and climbed right up

onto my chair ... grabbed my notebook and pen and got down to business!

what a girl!!!

(and, she was shirtless, so I had to be creative with some cover up edits)

invited to a launch (September)

ok, here's the story ...

I was pretty excited to open an email and discover that we were invited to go to the launch of a rocket here on base!  we've heard/seen these from our house, but I've always wanted to get a closer, "better" view and get some closer/better photos!

the only drawback was that I got the email the day before the launch, and read it the next morning!  I had a little internal battle for about an hour over what to do, as we had to meet at a time that was before the boys would be out of school and I figured we wouldn't be back in time for when they do get out.  my excitement for the event won out and I decided that yes, we would go and yes, I would just get the boys out of school early!

of course, I didn't plan to well and went to get them "early" but it was just barely early for Jericho and that meant that there was no where to park (it's a long story, but our school has a not so great parking situation) ... I had to park a little ways away and then tried to speed walk to get over to the office and get Jericho called out!  let's just say I was a little bit ... befuddled by the time I had the boys and we all made our way to the van!

but we got there in plenty of time to catch our bus ride to the launch ... and boy was Liam excited to ride a bus!  it was his first bus ride and he was thrilled with it!  of course, me -affectionately known as the "carseat nazi"- being me, I had my own set of reservations ... but, heck, we only live once and I figured what the hay!!!  so, yes, all of us rode that bus ... the little had no carseats ... and, heck, none of us even had a seatbelt!  and we were all just fine!

anyway, back to the real story!  so, we get there and get all seated and begin our wait.  anyone with kids ... ok, most people with kids, knows how fun waiting is with them in tow.  not. so. much.  and I hadn't brought the stroller, having been unsure if I could bring it on the bus and unsure what the set up would be once we got there (and we totally could've had it there, just sayin) so Zoey had to sit on my and Annicka's laps!  (we took turns)

I might mention, at this point, that the weather wasn't the best that day.  it was cloudy and when we arrived at the look out spot (or whatever it's properly called) I noticed how foggy it was too!

the wait was finally over and the countdown began.  imagine the silence that came over us all, yes - even the small kids!

five ... four ... three ... two ... one ...

rrrrroooooaaaarrrrrr!!!!!

it was pretty loud, though it was still quite far away - so not as loud as I imagined it might be.  but we saw nothing.  NOTHING!

there was just too much fog, so that's all we could see:  fog!

the next day I heard some people saying the could see the rocket from housing ... awesome.

but, ya know what, it was still an experience.  it was still an adventure.  and it will always be a memory!

and that makes me happy!

waiting ...

the boys did not just sit to wait! 

Liam decided to practice his monkey skills!!!

and Jericho took off to the highest bench and hung out with some other boys!

when it was getting closer to time, I had Liam sit with us!

I think he was telling me something here?  but I can't remember what?

perhaps how a rocket goes up in the sky???

and, just because of the end result, I had to have a little fun with some of our pics!

I just took their expressions and combined it with their personalities and made these up!

it should be noted that I put "lame" in Liam's thought bubble because it's one of his favorite

words ... no, I'm not kidding.  and it rocks my socks off to my four year old say something like:

"not this baby show, it's lame"

does my sarcasm translate in written form?  no?  well I'm being sarcastic - the "lame" comments do not rock!

on the way home, we sat in the "far back" - per Liam's request!

which was pretty fun - cause Zoey could stand up and look out the back window!

(with me and/or Annicka hanging onto her - firmly - I might add)

when we arrived, I reached my arm back to catch this pic of how she looked from the other side!

and this was taken while we were still driving!

yes, he fell asleep!

the randoms! (August)

 Zoey really enjoyed the cleared out room after I had shampooed the carpets!!!

I tried a recipe from pinterest - the kids loved it!

I had seen these cool toy bags on a blog (can't remember it though) and so I decided

to try my own version!  turned out not too bad and now Zoey's blocks have a home!

I'm sorry - but all I can come up with for this one is ...

"rolling with the homies"!!!!!

look at that stair climber cutie!

the day hubby was coming home from Florida (he was getting in in the evening)

we had a yard sale!  lots of stuff left that day and we had quite a successful sale!

the hubs wanted to try a ten-by-ten ... but when I stopped at In 'N Out for him, they said

the biggest they could do was a four-by-four!  so, that's what he got!

looks pretty delicious doesn't it ... dang, I want a cheeseburger!!!

and then rounds up August!  

next up, September!!!

first days of school! (August)

finally, right!  but we all know that I'm behind here, so pretty much everything is a "finally"!!!

so, yes, back in August the kids went back to school!

Annicka was first, she started just two days before daddy came home from Florida ...

then, since he was home, daddy got to be a part of the boys first days!

here's Annicka ...

she had to use my computer those first couple days, since 

we had to wait for daddy to finish hooking hers up!

here's Jericho ...

isn't he a cutie!  I love how he likes to have hair gel and have his hair slicked down!

here's Liam ...

I had to do collages for our little man! 

preschool is a big deal, ya know - so lots of pics were taken!

technically Liam's "first day" was just an orientation, but it ended up being more

than the hour we were told ... I have to say, he loved it immediately!
he headed for the lego table right off and was there quite a while before deciding to
move to the play-dough table!  after washing his hands, he was back to building with legos!
(and back to play dough too - silly goose)  then the teacher had them sit on the carpet
and sing some songs and then she read to them.  after that we did a project together - the parents
and kids, then it was time to explore outside.  finally, the two kids that wanted a snack
got one and then it was time to head home!!!
I love these special times with my sweet babies, love you little Liam - can't believe
you're in school now ... but I'm so happy that you love it so much!

Liam's "actual" first day!

as soon as he saw these shoes, he had to have them!  so, on his first day of

actually going to preschool on his own (8-24-12) I took a pic of them - ya know, before they get trashed!

here's a close up of the project him and I did together at pre-school orientation, after the teacher

read "The Kissing Hand" to the kids!  ... so sweet, I need to get this laminated and add it to our art wall!

 

and, because I'm in love with this pic, I had to share it full size!  my sweet faced little Liam!

and that concludes the first day of school pics of 2012!!!

I still can't believe I have a sixth grader, second grader, preschooler, and soon to be preschooler!

craziness.

the other day (October) I was feeling like I blinked from being nineteen years old, and suddenly

have an 11, 7, 4, and 2 year old ... all with birthdays coming in the next few months!  wow!!!