A whole new world

A whole new world has opened up for Grace.
Nothing is safe now.

Fun stuff

Brian and his friend Nic were out working on his car the other night.

Merry came down all ready to help with her tool box and gloves.

These are the tools she got from Santa last year.

A well stocked toolbox is a girl's best friend.

Brand new school markers = pictures drawn on little bellies.

How could a mom possibly resist.

1st day of 1st grade

Jacob on the 1st day of 1st grade.
I love his nervous eyes and smile.
Please disregard the gray socks (he had to wear old ones because his brand new ones were still in the suit case from the San Diego trip) and wrinkly shorts (I pulled them out of the suitcase).
Another note: Jacob picked out his shoes. Brian said it really wasn't that big of deal if he got Star Wars shoes even if I think they are ugly.

Primping for the 1st day.

Merry was very sad that her playmate was heading back to school.
I have been tackling the mountain of laundry and clutter in our house. I would like to say that it is because I have one less child at home that I can get more accomplished but really it is because I have to get up earlier.

Sandy Eggo

We just returned from a sweat-free vacation in San Diego. It was nice to escape the summer heat for a few days before school starts next week. We visited the zoo, Sea World, the harbor, the Wild animal park (we did sweat here) and the beach. Lots of cousins came, (14 kids in all) so the house was a zoo, too. Merry's favorite part was seeing the panda bears (she was very concerned that they had dirty bums) and the baby rhino. Jacob's favorite part was the hippo pooing the water (gross) and playing an awesome leaf hiding game with his cousins (there were not any toys at the house we stayed at). Grace just said "me too" to everything I asked her about. I guess that means she liked everything. Adam loved sleeping in his car seat a lot. Oh wait, that is what he does at home. Poor 4th child.Jacob playing in the surf.
How convenient that this week's challenge was beaches.
Check out the link below for more beachy pics.

Brian went fishing and caught one of these and some other stuff.
He didn't take a picture so I had to find one on Wikipedia. I think I recognize the Sea World display.
I could only remember the shovelnose guitar fish.

The boys discussing why the sky is blue.
Last time the boys were all together at the beach was when the picture below was taken.
This is at my family reunion Dec 30, 2004 in Port Aransas, Texas.
From left to right (Adeline 7-12-04, Ava 7-01-04, Brett 6-12-04 Jacob 5-27-04)
Crazy because
1. 5 of us had babies under 7 months - my sister's baby was only 3 months old so he didn't make the picture.
2. it snowed 6 inches in Kingsville Christmas Eve and then was warm enough to swim at the beach the following week.
3. that we put our babies naked on the sand- no diaper rashes resulted the making of this picture.
4. the amount of dimples present.
Any who, fun memories.

Wild cousin rumpus. I like golden beach light.

A partial family reunion, my sister Dawne her family, my brother David and his family, my brother Dan and my Dad. I am feeling like I should have switched to a D name for this trip, maybe I will have an alter ego named Destini (with an i of course).
See if you can find my sister in this picture. When Grace saw her she said pointed at me and her and said "Mommy, same, same."

Once I sort through more pictures, I could possibly be posting more.

Things seen at my house yesterday

Jacob built me this awesome Lego model. Can you guess what it is depicting? (the answer is at the bottom)
Cute Becky stopped by for some pictures.
Of course Grace wanted her picture taken with her best friend "Baby Beck-ty"
Grace watched the sunset from the window in her tutu. Note to self: clean tape off of window from last Halloween.
She then threw a tutu-2 fit.
Jacob's model description. Some how all things in his life relate back to Star Wars.

5 months

Check out the fat rolls on his thighs. I love them.

This was last week, right after his teeth came in.

Surprise

This week's photo challenge is SuRpRiSe. I was trying to think if I had any pictures of my kids genuinely surprised. I really couldn't think of any off hand so I had to pose a surprise.So if you are wondering how to recreate this look, sit your 4-year-old child down in a chair and tell her that Christmas is tomorrow. Horribly mean, I know but I was sort of desperate. Luckily she is really not that gullible and this look only lasted for about 10 seconds, then she said,
"I know you are just kidding Mom, we don't even have a Christmas tree."
I also remembered that I did have this picture of Adam looking sort of surprised. I will have to think about what other pranks I can pull on my children.

Visit this site to see more surprised faces.

Hello Handsome

Can you believe how big this guy is?

He grew in 2 teeth last Thursday-Friday, pretty soon he will be mobile.

Showing off the infamous purple cow. I love his toothless grin.