Back from Texas

There were many parts of our trip to Texas that I thoroughly enjoyed! I'll refrain from detailing several items that I could have done without (i.e., our drive south, Will's illness, wasting money on a hotel, and a particular conversation with Jeff).

Things I loved:
Having many people to help unload the van
Getting to see Carson when I didn't expect to
Having family drive over to Dana's house to see Jeff, me, and all of our babies
Waking up every morning and having the sun shine in our room
Playing in the driveway every morning after breakfast
Watching the kids in awe over the horses, chickens, cat, and dog
Surprising Jeff on Father's Day with the kids dressed in their very own "Aspen" shirts
Having Dana and Nick cling to me in the pool
Hearing Kristen and Jeff teaching Will to "kick, kick, kick" in the pool
Seeing Josh and Dad in the water together
Hearing that Josh was playful with Robin when she went to get him out of the PeaPod
Watching little Dana play with Mom and her bracelets
Getting to see Candy, Kevin, and Tracy
Having family drive over to Kristen/Ken's house for a Birthday celebration for Dana, Will, and Nick
Having everyone sing "Happy Birthday To You"
Watching my babies play with their cousins
Having lunch at Life's a Beach and playing in the sand
Watching the kids take a fake picture of a duck
Having Mom and Dad watch all of our kids, Connor, Abbey, and Reagan so that Jeff and I could go out and have a nice dinner with Ktin, Ken, Dana, and Don
Seeing the look on Dana's face when Don or her boys are around
Spending time with Jeff by the pool in the moonlight
Having lunch outside of the Dallas World Aquarium
Watching our sweet children "taking it all in" at the Aquarium
Hearing the pitter patter of feet upstairs when they should have been napping in their PeaPods
Having the family help rush me out of the house when we decided to leave early and drive through the night to avoid the incessant whining that occurred on the way down
Hearing a sweet "DING" from Nick in the back (as he was half asleep) and as we got "off route" to fill up with gas or to make a pitstop
Hearing our sweet babies sing "Ha, Ha, Happy to you!"

...thank you all so much for making our trip enjoyable! I appreciate you, Dana, for allowing us to camp out at your home and for all the love and attention you gave us...you are the perfect hostess! Connor, you're so good at playing with our little ones! Kristen and Ken, thank you so much for hosting a birthday party at your home. I'm sure it was expensive, all the gifts and the dinner for everyone...sorry to spring that on you at the last minute! I love you and your sweet family!
Mom and Dad...you are both invaluable. I'm so glad that our kids know you and love you both so much! Your love for Jeff, myself, and the kids is a wonderful gift and I cherish that. Thank you for the books, toothbrushes, and the wall art. Eric and Jeff, thank you so much for making it to almost every event. It was very special getting to spend time with you both. Thank you for monetary gift (aka, diapers). I'm glad you got to spend time with our kids. Robin and Chuck, thank you for driving and making it to Dana's party on Sunday. Sorry we couldn't spend more time together. Thank you for helping to keep our kids safe with those Caution signs for the street. I know you had one foot in the car when you learned that we were leaving early. As disappointing that it was that I didn't personally say goodbye to many of you (Ktin, Ken, Abbey, Reagan, Eric, Jeff, Robin, Chuck) we really did have to get on the road early... we needed to cover as much ground as we could while the kids were sleeping. I've tried to remember as many highlights that I can from our trip....sorry if you recall something that I cannot at this time. Its late and I just wanted to post something since its been a while. Just know that everyone is important to me and I love you all.

There's more than one cookie fan in this bunch!

We had dinner outside not too long ago, after dinner and while the kids were still seated, I went back inside to get dessert (Vanilla Wafers...Yum!) The big kids got two. Josh got one. We saw a bunny rabbit in the corner of our yard and so we got the kids out of their chairs and made our way over to see Mr. Bunny. Mr. Bunny got scared when he saw us coming. "Bye Bye, Bunny!!" shouted our kids. Cleaning up dinner was going to take several trips inside the house. I left the closed box of Vanilla Wafers on a chair. Nick was headed over there...I thought we was going to grab the box and bring it inside. No sooner do I go inside put dishes in the sink and turn around to make my second trip, do I see Nick looking completely guilty, holding a now open box of Vanilla Wafers and chewing on however many he could put in his mouth. I exclaimed "NICK!" And what did he do? This sweet little toe-headed boy opened his mouth and start spitting the cookies back in the box!! The look on his face when he was caught was priceless! He certainly knows the good cookies from the bad ones (like his Momma!)

Little Sweethearts...You're all my favorite!!

Jeff had to go back to the office for a while tonight so I sat with Dana, Will, Nick, and Josh while they ate. Tonight's dinner consisted of milk, dinner roll, green beans and beef ravioli. What promised to be a "messy" night turned out to be "really messy!" Oh SprayNWash, SprayNWash, how do you work so well?? Anyway, we were having a lot of fun and so dinner ran late. Even though I did my best to get the ravioli stains off our children's faces, legs, arms, bellies, it seems as those Chef BoyArdee won the battle! (These are older pictures of the big kids after ravioli. As you can imagine, I did not have time tonight to take pictures and post them.)

So upstairs all four went. Dana, then Will, then Josh, then Nick (usual order). I don't know why Nick has the "lollygag" gene, but it can be so nerve wracking when all I want to do is get upstairs, do diapers, brush teeth, and get them to bed!! So finally we're upstairs, we all go in different directions. I'm looking for matching pajamas for the big kids. Will is searching for the remote in the loft. Dana is on the couch looking outside and repeatedly announcing "Tim" (the neighbor)! Nick is running up and down the hallway laughing and talking to anyone who will listen. He is also opening doors and playing peek-a-boo with the shower curtain. I'm quite certain that even though he has DWJ, that Nick also has imaginary friends. When he goes down for naps, he's always the last one to fall asleep and he's always talking to someone/something. Back to my bedtime story, Josh is crawling around going from room to room with a curious look on his face. I don't know if he's looking for DWN or if he's looking for a way out of the house! I finally gather all the pajamas and diapers and tooth brushes and ask the kids to "come here" which is the spot right in the middle of the hallway. Now, everyone is closer but they know that its almost bedtime and they'll do what they can to extend the time. So they all start running in different directions but luckily I am able to grab one and start the nighttime process. When I do, the remaining will come close and laugh as if to say "Ha Ha, Mom you weren't able to catch me!" Then they scatter again. Done. One down, three to go. What time is it?? More running. More laughter (including from me...I love this! It reminds me of the time my family got together to watch fireworks at Nick's office. Kristen, was chasing Carson around the room and Carson was giggling and trying to get away from her!) I was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief at 8pm when I gave DWN kisses and tucked them in. Now, just Josh and Momma! I don't get much one-on-one time with any of them but with Josh, I'm able to get a little more because he goes to bed an hour later. I love my one-on-one time with this little guy. He's so yummy! He's so content and just happy to be his own little person. After he ate some cereal and tackled another bottle, we stepped outside to admire our beautiful landscaping in our fenced-in backyard. Josh waved night-night to a neighbor and then I took him upstairs and tucked him in bed.

I am grateful for so many things. Above all, I am grateful to God that he has blessed me with a wonderful husband and four sweet babies. Life is rich!