Leeann’s 11!

Today Leeann turned eleven. It’s so hard to believe! She’s such a beautiful young lady who is now officially taller than me with bigger feet too!

She continues to have such a sweet heart and sensitive spirit. She loves to help and encourage others in any way she can. She’s always looking for ways to serve others and make a difference. You’ll get a peek into her heart with this Birthday Interview:

What’s your favorite color? “Purple!”

What do you want to be when you grow up? “An artist or a nurse.”

What’s your favorite subject in school? “Everything.”

What’s your favorite food? “Burritos.”

What’s your favorite dessert? “Pudding.”

The best thing I did when I was 10 was… “Going to Disneyland.”

What’s your favorite movie? “Frozen”

What’s your favorite toy/thing/object in your room? “Cutie the giant bear.”

How many kids do you want when you grow up? “10!”

Interests are: “Art, crafts, friends, card-making, finger nail polish, pretty sparkly girly things.”

What do you hope will happen during your eleventh year? “I hope that I will make better friends with the bullies at school and try to change the bullies’ lives. I hope that there will be less bullies at school.”

I am so grateful for these three, but today, I’m especially grateful for this Birthday princess!

Boys and Baseball

I simply cannot get enough of this picture I snapped on my phone just before walking out the door to Titus's first baseball game. I am the lucky wife and mommy to two incredibly gorgeous guys!

Titus was beyond himself excited to get to play organized baseball this year.  

You would think he was in the world series with the amount of effort and concentration he put in.  

This. Picture. My little man!

 Watching his teammates bat really captivated his attention. 

His first time crossing home plate, with his tongue sticking straight out just his like his mama when she's concentrating. Poor kid!

I love this kid!

 Determination. 

Titus had his own cheering section, which included a dearly loved couple from our small group, his Aunt Suzy and cousins. Well, and his mom and sister too. He humbly requested more cheering next time as he didn't hear anyone rooting for him. 

 I think he took a drink between every inning. Granted it was a beautiful 73 degree day!

 Daddy's helping coach his team, which is a lot of fun for both of them!

He played left field and pitcher both during his first game. He much preferred being pitcher because he really just wants to get in there and be a part of the action.

  

Titus really wanted his cousins to get to come watch him play. 

I promise he's not picking daisies, there is a ball in his hand!

This girl is growing up way too fast. She has such an encouraging heart as she cheers her brother on.  

 And just like that, his first baseball game has come and gone. I have a feeling there will be many more games to come however. This kid LOVES baseball! 

Titus with his favorite playmates... the cousins!

Titus Turns 8!

Today my precious little boy turned eight. As in, only ten short years from being an adult! Be still my little heart... how can my son be eight already? I swear I remember all of the details of his very first "Birth Day" as if it was just yesterday! 

(p.s. My adorable nieces are about to turn 15!)

I brought his Birthday lunch request (McDonald's) to school and ate with him today. Then we played foursquare until he ever so politely asked me if he could go play with Andy instead. It's okay, I will try to focus on the fact that he invited me out to the playground and asked me to play with him for a little while instead of focusing on the fact that he ditched me! 

Then for dinner he requested macaroni and cheese, egg-n-a-hole, oranges and rootbeer floats. I thought it was a really strange combination, but I obliged him none-the-less!

He opened up his gift from us, which was a camera. My budding little photographer/videographer will undoubtedly get some good use out of his new "toy". He's already been busy taking pictures tonight. Here are a few of them! 

 

Now we just have to figure out what setting it's on that is causing the vignetting. I'm sure he'll figure out how to use it to it's fullest extent in no time. This kid has one of those minds that just turns and whirls and works all day every day. If I do say so myself, he's a rather exceptionally bright kiddo! First he will conquer his camera... then he'll conquer the world! Too much? What can I say... he's my BABY!

And finally, here's an interview with Titus. I so wish I had done these earlier/more often. It's so fun to compare his answers today with his answers 2 years ago! Happy Birthday Titus!

Titus's Birthday Interview

What is your favorite toy?

(6) Starwars and Legos.

(8) Legos

What is your favorite food?

(6) Macaroni and Cheese.

(8) Macaroni and Cheese

What is your favorite book?

(6) Starwars books.

(8) Calvin and Hobbs

What is your favorite place to eat?

(6) The place where we eat peanuts and drop them on the floor. The warehouse? I don’t remember what it’s called… (Roadhouse Grill).

(8) Grammy’s!

Who are your best friends?

(6) Logan, Weston, Josh and Bruce.

(8) Andy, Sam, Mark, Hunter and Eli

What do you want to be when you grow up?

(6) Lots of things. Police officer, fire fighter, a cowboy, a worker, a builder, a racecar driver, and that’s it.

(8) A Lego Set Designer

What is something you are good at doing?

(6) Going through tiny holes. Playing Lego Starwars. Playing the Wii. And that’s it.

(8) Playing the Wii. Taking pictures. Making noise. Being funny.

What’s your favorite movie?

(6) Starwars.

(8) Starwars

What is your favorite treat?

(6) Cookies!

(8) Grammy’s desserts.

What is your favorite subject in school?

(6) Mostly English and Spanish.

(8) Library, P.E., Technology

What is your favorite thing to do?

(6) My favorite thing to do is playing with Legos and my Lego sets.

(8) Read and play

Where’s your most favorite place to be?

(6) At Josh’s house or Logan and Weston’s house and Disneyland and Legoland.

(8) In my room

What’s your favorite holiday? 

(6) Christmas

(8) Christmas

What do you like most about yourself?

(6) I have no idea.

(8) That I’m funny

What is your favorite game to play?

(6) Sorry

(8) Lego games and Wii games

Do you think you’ll ever get married?

(6) Yup, of course.

(8) Yes

How many kids do you want to have?

(6) Ten! Actually, 20. Well, I think 30. I think 40. 20 girls and 20 boys!

(8) However many I get

Tell me about your family.

(6) Daddy’s the funny one. And he likes to wrestle. Leeann’s sometimes freaked out by people and she’s also funny. And mommy likes to do the computer a lot. She does the phone a lot too.

(8) My family are my mom, my dad, Jade and Leeann. Leeann is pretty dramatic. Jade laughs a lot. Mom cooks and Daddy makes funny jokes.

What are you looking forward to about your Birthday party?

(6) Getting lots of Starwars stuff. McDonalds, friends and that’s it.

(8) Having all the guests I want there

Another First Day of School and a New Addition!

Along with zillion’s of parents everywhere, I sent my precious kiddos off to school today. Grades 2 and 4. I still so quickly and easily think of them as being 2 and 4. These days go by so quickly!

Titus is proudly sporting a huge gap in his smile where his two front teeth used to be. He is as silly, active, witty and fun-loving as ever. I love being this little guys mommy!

And this one. My teeny, tiny, itty bitty little girl. Who, apparently, is hardly a little girl anymore. She now boasts a bigger shoe size then her mommy and is growing into an exceptionally stunning young lady.

These two. I simply cannot get enough of these faces! Sometimes I take a step back and ponder how blessed it is to be a mother. What an awesome, incredible job I’ve been blessed with!

And finally, the blessing of being a parent can come in various forms. Let me introduce you to our newest addition, Jade. She is 16 and has been living with us for nearly a month now. We first met her when she was 14 and we were excited to get a chance to interact with her again a few months back.

Jade needs a place stay until she’s ready to graduate and get out on her own. We’re very excited to welcome her into our family. The kids have especially enjoyed having a “big sister” around lately!

Which means tomorrow I’m also sending a kiddo off to high school. That’s just crazy! A good kind of crazy of course!

Baking With My Buddy

Titus and I spent some time baking together today. There's nothing super exciting, or even blog-worthy about this moment necessarily, except for the fact that I really enjoy baking with my kids at this stage in life.

He did manage to crack an egg onto the floor. I wish I would have snagged a picture of that too!

I feel like I've been so far behind in blogging our family memories that I just haven't blogged much of anything at all. When I look back at the stories I used to blog about when they were little I smile at all the things I would have otherwise forgotten if I hadn't written them down.

I especially love when I come across posts about the little everyday things. Like this. Just me and my buddy making a disaster out of my kitchen baking one of Rob's most favorite treats, The Pioneer Woman's French Breakfast Puffs.

Who knows, maybe I'll start blogging more of these random everyday moments before this stage of life is also just a memory!

Disney Magic (Part 1)

Call us crazy, but here we are in Anaheim again! Tomorrow morning we'll wake up early and hit the ground running. And we can't wait! 

But for now, I want to get this first set of pictures up.

We picked the kids up from school on Thursday afternoon and headed South to my mom's house in Klamath Falls. After a brief stop (just enough time to eat, sleep and run) we headed to the California boarder bright and early Friday morning. You might notice that we have more kids with us than normal. Our nieces Ashly and Amanda get to join us this year!

We wanted to eat at In-N-Out for lunch, which meant either eating super early or super late. Since we had an early breakfast we opted for an early lunch.We got there just as it was opening right after 10 am. 

Amanda and Ashly had never eaten there, but they'd heard lots of good things about it. It didn't disappoint. 

Yum. Yum!

What?

While most of the kids spent time playing their electronic devices and reading books, Ashly spent most of her time scoping out license plates. We pay a quarter for the first person to find each new state on our long trips. She made out like a bandit!

 
The car ride was long. Really long. We left just after 7:00 am and didn't get to our hotel until around 10:30 pm. We hit some traffic just North of L.A. and followed a drunk driver for about 35 miles. That was fun! I actually called 911 so we were hoping to see him get caught, but he eventually exited the freeway without getting spotted by any of the three cops we passed. It was disappointing.

We woke up early this morning and headed to Downtown Disney where Rob and I surprised the kids with a character breakfast. Surf's Up with Mickey and Friends! 

Silly boy!

I sat with Ashly for a while in front of this cozy spot at the Grand Californian hotel. She had a headache so we rested a bit while the rest of the group toured some shops in Downtown Disney. 

Soon she was up and running, and even playing with the Hulk made entirely out of Legos. How cool is that? 

More Lego creations. 

We finished the afternoon with some Jamba Juice and the kids spent some time in the pool.

After that we headed back to Downtown Disney, but those pictures will have to wait. It's bedtime!