where do the minutes go....

Here i am sitting at the computer because I want a cute background like Lindsey Hill and Amber! I figured most of it out, in a matter of minutes, (YAY ME!) BUT I have the pic. in the "header" section that I can't get off. So instead of sitting here getting more and more frustrated I am hoping one of my good, smart friends can let me know how to do it. Also, how do I get the cute pics. of my friends on their links? (Kathy and Bri)? ok, now I am going to try to do something more productive while the girls are sleeping, maybe go squeeze that cute boy of mine who wants to play trains!

Fun filled weekend!

After our lovely, memorable trip to the pumpkin patch, Kent and I got to go out on a date. We had tickets to "Phantom of the Opera." Lucky Grandpa Chris and Grandma Phillips watched the kids for us. Grandpa got a double shift that day. :) I didn't get a nap, so I had three mochas so I could stay up past nine o'clock. I know, it's really sad, but true. The performance was great, and Kent and I had a nice night out.

On Saturday we made a quick stop at the "House Of Hose." There's always a good time to be had there. I think this is the funniest thing, everytime I drive by, I chuckle. Kent really had to get some hoses fixed so I finally had an opportunity to take a pic.

On Sunday we celebrated Kent and Kelly's B-day at Sandy's house. It was wonderful as usual and dinner was delicious! A good time was had by all. I forgot my camera, but I have pics. from our little family celebration at our house.

YAY for an air hose reel. It doesn't get more exciting than this!

Dad gets help from Dani and Brayden. (Ellie was mad, and she's screaming in her high chair).

Brayden being a good big brother and sharing his cake with Dani. She loved it!

After the chocolate Ellie is finally happy.

Brayden and Dani didn't do too bad with all that cake.

Pre-school field trip!

Our weekend started off with a field trip with the preschool to the pumpkin patch Friday morning. Luckily Grandpa Chris came with the kids and me. I honestly thought this was going to be a fun outing for all of us. Not so much! It was freezing and windy and the girls screamed most of the time. Seriously, they screamed for the first 30 minutes at the top of their lungs. EVERYONE was staring at us, and no one could help because they wanted me to hold them. Which I did, Ellie on my back in the Ergo and Dani I held in the front. After 30 minutes my arms gave out. I loaded them in the jogger and told Chris I would drive around if he could do all the cool stuff with Brayden. B was so excited to go on the train, through the maze, on the pirate ship and in the castle, he was oblivious to his sisters screaming (he was the only one though). After I got the girls moving in the stroller they finally settled down.

We ended up having a good time. It was great to see B so excited about everything. He LOVED the "wiggly cars" and he got to ride in the caboose!

Snacks in hand, now a little more content.

Thanks for coming with us Grandpa Chris, I don't know what I would have done without you! Actually, yes I do, I would have gotten back in the van and driven home with everyone screaming and me losing my mind!

All bundled up and ready to roll!

Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas

Wow, this is going to be long, brace yourselves! I tried to limit the pics. but I had 500 to choose from. Kent went a little nutty with the camera, I guess that's the downfall with digital.... OK, so we are back from our trip. It was wonderful! It was what Kent and I both needed. A cruise is the thing to do to spoil yourself. You don't have to do anything you don't want to. People cook and clean for you! It's the best. We hung out, went swimming, played games, read, went to art auctions, hiked through a rain forest jungle, risked our lives in a Mexican taxi and hung out on a beach where we almost drowned while trying to get to it. All in all it was a very memorable trip!

Some highlights:

1. We got to spend one on one time with Brayden!

2. We got to sleep in and relax, and hang out on our balcony while we cruised through the ocean.

3. We got to eat great food that we never had to prepare. 24 hour pizza, ice cream and (coffee for mom) makes just about any vacation perfect for a kid. Kent and I got to go to the "fancy restaraunt" while Brayden chose to eat with Camp Carnival.

4. Brayden and I got to make a Build-a-Bear, which he has been wanting forever. It was quite a deal on the ship. B named him "Funship Freddy Bear, but you can call him Freddy."

5. We went on an excursion through the jungle, which was quite memorable. Mostly because we were the youngest people on this hike, the average age being 55-60. Women were wearing flip-flops and carrying coach purses with skirts on. Scroll down and you can see a pic. In addition to that, most of the peeps were overweight and very out of shape. I thought we were going to lose a few of them on this 45 minute hike that took all of us 2 HOURS! It was really pretty scary, the tour guide earned his money, he was carrying a few purses and a few people most of the way!

6. We got to swim in the pools on the ship. Brayden was too short for the waterslide, but maybe next time!

7. The one time Brayden came with us to dinner we got to dance and clap and scream/sing!

8. Kent and I played mini-golf on the ship! It was a tad windy, which made it interesting. We ended up tying, but Kent was keeping score,

(I think I won).

9. B got to dry his own hair and style it in our cabin. (It's spiky).

10. We went through the "old market" in Mazatlan, and experienced the locals way of shopping. All the meat spread out over two blocks in the hot sun was enough to make us heave. They have some iron stomachs down there!

1. Yet again, ICE CREAM!

12. Dancing for the animal towels, and the monkey hanging from our lights!

13. Beautiful beaches in Cabo San Lucas. We also got to see Pelicans, and sea lions. This is where we almost went under. Our water taxi took us to "lovers beach." What I didn't realize was that there was no pier/dock. So they just motor on up close to the beach and we were supposed to jump on out. I had no problem with this. The problem was doing this with a 4 year old and two backpacks. Before I knew what was happening a Mexican helper was yelling, "Give me the stuff and the baby." While we're rocking and bouncing in the ocean with the driver screaming at us. In a panic, I gave B to him (B had a lifejacket on) and then I jumped out of the boat and started sprinting after him in the water. An American lady was watching all of this, and ran to meet Brayden on the sand (they were 20 feet ahead of me). Brayden was screaming because he was scared and couldn't see me. By the time I reached them I thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest. (Kent was behind us). We made it and actually tipped the guy for helping us and keeping all of our stuff dry. What an experience, we had a better plan when we had to get back on the water taxi, it went more smoothly. Live and learn, dumb Americans........

14. Building sand castles on lover's beach. We couldn't go in the water because it was so rough. All the familys there were a little ticked for this beach recommendation. Brayden had fun burying us though.

15. Some rest time back in the cabin after a long beach day!

16. Taking Brayden to camp carnival for dinner.

17. Here are some of the peeps on the hike. Notice the tour guide on the edge of the cliff helping someone maneuver down.

18. Oh yeah, we got to cross this river on the hike, it felt so good! I thought some of the people were going to cry right there on the spot because they had to take their tennis shoes off! We were loving it in our swimsuits and water sandals!

19. All in all, it was a great vacation. Everyday Kent and I would talk about how much we wanted to squeeze the girls and give them kisses. It was especially hard when we saw little girls their age. Brayden even said, "I miss my sisters." Thanks for watching them Auntie Kalin and Tyler!

Now we're back at home and it was like we never left! :)

Brayden's 4 year pics. and Ellie and Danielle's 18 months pics.

I can't believe how big the kids are getting! They each have their own little personality, they are all so sassy, sometimes I want to scream and other times I just have to laugh. Where did they get all this sass...??? I know I am going to be very sorry for all of the eye rolling I used to do... Kent broke me of that habit pretty quickly though.... hopefully the kids won't pick it up. :)

Great-Grandma is 84!

Kent's Grandma turned 84 on Sunday! We had a small gathering at our house, Uncle Kelly and Auntie Sarah are in Florida with the kids, so it was a low key affair. You guys were missed! Brayden drew a picture on G-ma's card of him being angry. I felt like a really good mom, yet again, because that was the morning I didn't think we would make it out of the grocery store alive. ALL the kids were so naughty, I'm pretty sure B knew I was angry most of that morning! Lucky Great-G-ma got a pic. of an angry Brayden!

My pics. aren't uploading, I will post them later.