It all started with a challenge...

Shane had just finished setting #2's watch with the correct time-- (He has been asking Dad to set it since Christmas) Excited about the use of the 'stop watch' he said, "Hey Mom, run to the bottom of the stairs and back up again and I'll time you to see how long it takes you!!" Thinking I would say no-- he was surprised when I said,- "O.K.-- you're on-- I bet I beat you!"

He laughed and said, "Whatever-- you'll never beat me!!"
So..... ON YOUR MARK, GET SET, GO.... I run as fast as I can leaping stairs, taking them two at a time- I make it to the top in 9.37 seconds... so for the next half hour-- the whole family is running up and down the stairs in a fury trying to beat each other's time-- Here are the results....

Coming in cute as can be and in DEAD LAST..... #5...... with a time of 2 minutes 23 seconds!!!

Coming in sixth place is Bubbee (aka #4) with the speedy time of 28.38 seconds!!!

The rest of the results are....

5th place.... #3..she was flying with a time of 10.32!!!
4th place... MOM with a spectaculart time of 9.37!!!
3rd place... #1... he was just glad he beat mom at 9.01!!!
2nd place.. #2... He kicked Mom's booty at 8.50!!!
1st place... DAD with his HUGHNORMUS legs at 7.70!!!

WhaT bLAST!!!

Another Fine Western Photo!!!

We decided to add one more of these photos to our collection!!!

We didn't have one with #5 in it yet- so we tortured the kids again--

The reason #4 had his arms folded is because he kept shooting

his gun at the photographer--He got her good!!!

A Mighty Fine Bunch I'd Say!!!

A Quick Getaway!!!

We decided to take a weekend trip to the beach!!

The temperature was 80 degrees and it was beautiful!!

The water was a little chilly--

but didn't seem to scare the kids away--

This is the three oldest having a blast in the waves...

Running from the water and having a blast!!

#2 LOVES THE SEA!!!

Hey, there's no kissing at the beach!@# HA!!

We saw a bunch of love birds putting on a show for all to see!!!

Can you tell who is the biggest wimp???

(hint...the one in the sweatshirt!)

The GRAND CASTLE!!

Designed and Directed by #1!!!

How cute is that???

She wouldn't stay out of the water!!

Even though her lips were blue!!

Shane had just as much fun as the kids!!!

Our cute #2 digging, digging & digging....

Mom and her beach bum...

oh, and the baby too!!!

Need we say more???

She was an itsy, bitsy, teeny, weeny...
little cutey in her greeny!!!

Sand in each hand= happy bubbey!!!

Then he threw it at Mom= not so happy mom!!

There's that handsome daddy and his cute baby!!

CHEESE!!!!!



We also spent a day at Knott's Berry Farm...

This was the best ride!!!..

he had to move the stick himself to get his cart to move..

He was a little slow-- but this ride lasted the longest at Camp Snoopy!!!

What's left of one of those HUGE suckers--

she is wearing most of it on her hands and face!!!

The big boys HAD to go on the family rides with us!!! TORTURE!!

I am THREE!!

(in case you were wondering)

Shane told him to 'hold your horses' when

the Merry-Go-Round started!!!

I guess he took him seriously!! Ha ha!!

This was one of our favorite rides-

You can see #1 & #2 and Shane having a blast!!

Oh, there she is again!!

A little help from big sis!!

We had so much fun!!!-- a couple highlights of the trip were ...

One-

Knott's Berry Farm

The two oldest boys were able to go off on their own and ride the big roller coasters--

(Shane and I caught a few as well!!)

They rode the silver bullet at least 4 times and most of the other rides as well--

They felt pretty 'big' and it was nice to be able to split up-- there weren't any lines either--

so that was a huge bonus as well!!

Two-

Creepy Critters

Another point to mention is the LIZARD that ran across the floor of our hotel room--

It was so funny-- and creepy-- we were just sitting there having dinner and then all of a sudden he darted across the floor and into the pile of sleeping bags and pillows on the floor--- EEEEKKKKK!! So the boys and Shane spent the next twenty minutes trying to catch the little monster who eventually crawled under the bed to hide from his captors!! They succeeded in apprehending him-- so we took his special little self down to the front dest and they gave us a discount!

Thanks Mr. Lizard for saving us a few bucks!!!

Three-

The beautiful OCEAN!!

We could have stayed there for days-- It was so relaxing and fun to just BE!!!

I loved-- watching the kids play in the water and the sand, the feeling of the sand between my toes, the ocean smell, the sound of the waves crashing and just the overall break from everyday life-- It was great!!!

So much for practical jokes!!

We celebrated #3's eighth birthday on Tuesday!!!--

The reason there aren't any pictures of the cake and the singing and such is because-- my memory card wasn't pushed all of the way into my camera-- Bummer-- we also missed a really funny moment due to the memory card incident-- Here's how it went down...

I had the two oldest boys wrap her gifts and told them to make this really small CTR ring look big by wrapping it up, then put it in a bigger box, then wrap it up, then put it in a bigger box... and so on..! So, as she was unwrapping it she was getting rather anxious and irritated - then when she was down to the ring package-- her oldest brother had covered it completly with tons of tape-- she was having a hard time getting it open-- so she decided to bite the tape off-- as she was doing that one of her friends pulled on the package to help her get it off, and when she did-- out flies P's tooth across the room -- she immediately starts crying, runs to the bathroom and is distraught--We were all laughing and telling her 'it wouldn't have fallen out if it wasn't loose' -- well, come to find out it was a tooth that wasn't loose and the one that is loose is still in her mouth--Wish we could have gotten that one on tape!! It was so funny!!

Thus, the rag in her mouth for the picture!!!

These next two pictures are what bored people do with cheap sunglasses!!! What fun!!

What #5 is up to!!!

She likes Christmas cookies- She's ONE and She is walking!!

(rather unstable and wobbly still)

Our sweet little baby is growing out of babyhood and into toddlerhood!

It seems like yesterday that we brought her home on Christmas day--

She has been such a joy to have in our family- how lucky we are to have her!!

The First Blog!!!

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