Another cup of tea

Seems like the only time I take a minute to work on the blog these days is when it rains for a few days. I made a cup of tea again and here we go...

A few days after we got back from the cruise, Michael and his brothers and Dad went to Tennessee. They stayed in a cabin and rode their motorcycles on the Tail of the Dragon

(The 11-mile stretch of the Dragon in Tennessee is said to have 318 curves)w

318 curves in 11 miles, is America's number one motorcycle and sports car road.

Trinity's soccer season has begun! We are having fun going out to the games and she is doing well and loving it! She is number 6...


Recently, Trinity and Tori went to a Taylor Swift concert!

The boys went to play paintball so Trinity and I decided to decorate pumpkins! I prefer to paint them so that they last longer and are usable after Halloween. Timothy walked down and joined us!

Marley is getting ready for Halloween :)

Forgive me for my uncreativity...I feel tapped out. And sleepy

Cruise News

As many of you know, our family just got back from a cruise vacation! We had so much fun and it was hard to come back to reality. And rain. So much RAIN.

We left on Friday afterschool and headed down to Galveston. We stayed in a hotel that night and woke up the next morning to head down to the ship. We got there super early (before they would let us on) so we did some shopping in Galveston. We came to the conclusion that being early is overrated and vowed to never let it happen again. wink.

I forgot to mention that we went with some of our good friends, the Osborns! They are the kind of friends that can make standing in the line to board the ship for an hour and a half fun...and they did. We laughed the entire cruise!

For those of you who have never been on a cruise, let me break it down to you this way....it is not really a relaxing vacation (unless maybe you are without kids), it is a FUN vacation! There is a party atmosphere. There is stuff planned to do all of the time. Of course, you dont have to do it, but we didn't want to miss out on anything! We did dance classes, towel animal classes, went to shows, went to karaoke (several times, it is one of the funniest parts of the night!), created a build a bear, played bingo, shopped, swam, danced, ATE!! OMG, the eating! There is so much good food all of the time! Any time of day! The kids had ice cream after breakfast, lunch and dinner. everyday. You can give me my mother of the year trophy later.

The staff deserves a paragraph too. They are all from different countries but speak a little English. They are friendly and funny and we fell in love with several of them and wanted to bring them home with us. Our waiter, Arnel, was from the Philippines. He showed the kids tricks every night and entertained them the entire meal (dinner is more formal and can last for two hours...they do a little show during every dinner). Did I mention that the food was great? The kids, and Michael, ate escargot (yes, even Trinity!) and ribs and lamb....and every meal had a vegetarian dish for me to chose from. I could go on and on about the food.....

And then, of course, there was Mexico! We stopped first in Progresso. It is a new stop for the cruise line so it isn't as built up and nice as some of the other cities but it was definitely an experience. We shopped a little, the prices were dirt cheap. And then we hung out at the beach. The girls and the dads got massages on the beach-45 minutes for $10!! You cant beat that. Late afternoon, we got back on the ship.

The next morning, we woke up in Cozumel, Mexico. It was BEAUTIFUL! The water is crystal clear and the weather was perfect. Michael had planned ahead and reserved us all spots at a private resort there. It was located on a private reef which was awesome for Scuba and Snorkeling. We were treated like celebrities and waited on hand and foot. They served us drinks all day and lunch while we swam and laid on the beach.

Now, the cruise ship does offer trips ("excursions") but we chose not to use any of their tours. Everyone had told us that they were overpriced and not very good. I am so glad that we went on our own and I would definitely recommend planning your own excursions.

We had a blast and would love to do it again, maybe you all will join us next time?!

Christian made a video with some of the pics from the trip, most of them are raw and unedited but he was excited to make it and I was busy( I took over 575 pictures and did not have time to go through them all)! I think it turned out cute and funny....

Rainy Day Blog

It has literally been raining for 3 days straight. It is starting to drive me a little insane, a little more insane? But, it has given me a little more time today to update the blog and post some pictures!

Christian turned 17 a few weeks back. It was during my non-blogging time so I hadnt put up any pictures but here are a few.....

On his actual birthday we went to eat at Sweet Tomatoes. My friend, Jill, introduced us to this place over the summer and it has quickly become my favorite place to eat. Soups, Salads, Pasta, dessert, green mojito tea....it is like heaven for vegetarians. I am not used to being able to walk into a restaurant and being able to have so many choices, it is exciting.

Enough about that...Pops asked the staff to sing to Chrisitan. It is not normally something that they do there, but they cheerfully agreed. It was quite entertaining....and embarrassing for Christian. Ha Ha

We had the family over for some dessert a few days later. My kids are on cake strike, naturally, so we had snicker brownies. They were delicious!

Christian bought a t shirt press from a good friend of ours for an amazing price. He would like to make the tshirts for the band that he is in with his friend, Landon. They call themselves Yellow Cake. Dont ask...its one of those inside things. They have many, they have been friends since 6th grade. He has had to do a lot of research and learning and practicing to get the shirts like he wants them. And now he has to learn how to make a screen.

Dylan's football season has started! Here are some pics from the first game...

Random cute pictures of some of my favorite kids...

Speeding Cars

Everybody is back to their normal blogging routines....but me, I am still looking at the blog tab on my screen and saying "Maybe tomorrow". I just can never seem to find the time. But I made myself a cup of tea and have decided to drink while I catch up with you guys.

To say that this summer was "busy" is indeed an understatement. But when you are busy and it is mostly with stuff that is fun, there is no complaining! Summers always go by quickly but this one was just so short. As I sat in the welcome back orientation at the kids school a few weeks ago I thought "I was JUST here for an end of the year awards ceremony!! I swear it was just last week!"

We have had such a good summer. Family, friends, fun.....just the way it should be. And the kids are back at school. They love their teachers and are so excited to see the rest of their friends.

Christian is a SENIOR! He has done most of the classes that he needs so he just goes to school in the morning and then is home for lunch and goes to work. This should be a pretty easy year for him. Dylan is playing football this year. I cannot wait to go to their first game and show pictures. They are so cute..but don't tell him that I said that. Trinity is playing soccer which will be a first for her. She has always done dance or gymnastics. She went to a basketball camp this summer (which was her idea!) and loved it. Her coach said she is very naturally athletic...who knew? So she asked to play soccer, and gymnastics. I think it may end being that my girl is the athlete and my boys are the musicians...and I could not be happier. They do what they love, just like me ☺

OK, I will post some pics that highlight our awesome summer.

Family <3

Our circus family goes to the Circus

Lille's first circus (she loved it, we think!)

We added some Palmolive to the Slip n slide, much more fun

Dave and Buster's

Concerts...this one was Jack's Mannequin and the Fray

On the way home, all jacked up on Mt Dew

Our annual concert with Monika and Lance to see the Counting Crows

Visa Gymnastics Championship

Our Favorite Bridget Sloan ↑

Nastia Lukin Olympic Champion ↑

The rest of the 2008 Olympic Team ↓

Trinity went to church camp for the first time. She had waited for this day for years. Every time her brothers would come back and talk about the fun that they had, she would start counting down the days until she was old enough!

Deciding that maybe they were not quite ready.....

Calmed down and on the bus...

We got worried that they were sitting there crying all day missing us so my friend (and Tori's Mom) Brie and I headed up to the camp the next day to check on them. It was about an hour and half away. I didnt get to take many pics as I left my camera in the car...but they were all smiles when we got there! Such a relief. And they loved showing us their bunks and cafeteria and pool and water slide....we even got kisses and sent back home happy!

Here is one pic I did get..working on a craft...

Water Walk for Blood:Water Mission

We were asked to walk back in silence and really think and pray. This became so overwhelming for me...so many people and just dead silence. Watching my kids struggle with the weight of the water and the heat.....and to think about the kids that have to do this everyday and do not have an air conditioned car to get in at the end and bottled water passed out to them. How blessed our families truly are. I am so thankful.

So proud of my kids and their compassion at such young ages.

And then it was my birthday. I had to work a 14 hour day outside in 100 degree weather (and it was for a Def Leppard/poison show which just made it all the more miserable) on my actual birthday and repeated that on the next day (with Incubus which was a little less miserable) BUT the next day....my mother had a birthday party with the family for me! The best part was that while I was at work, she had helped the kids make cakes for me! They each designed and decorated their own. Each one suited their personalities and each one had a part of mine...

Christian's was modern and trendy

Dylan's was artistic and funny (that is me with little replicas of cakes that I have done)

And Trinity's was cute and girly

Christian's plants that started as seeds grew into lovely plants and flowers that we have enjoyed and continue to enjoy all summer. Here is one of the Jalepeno plants. We also had lots of basil and several different kinds of flowers.

By the way, this blog post took me several days...and several cups of tea. I have learned my lesson and will post more regularly.