Family Activity

Since the last time we took the kids bowling, they have been asking to go again. Thayne and I decided to take them this weekend. They had tons of fun. Here's pictures of our time together:

Here's Thayne in action. Look at the form! Hehehe, even with a great form he still didn't win, I did :).



















Here's Jaed getting his ball, excited to throw it down the lane:



















Here's Jaed after he throws his bowl. He watches his ball fly down the lane like this everytime it's his turn:




















Jaed finally stands up after his ball hits the pins:



















Josie has her ball and she's ready to go. One time she was crying because she got into some trouble and when I told her it was her turn to bowl she stopped crying immediately, wiped her eyes, and ran up to grab her ball.



















Indi had a permanent smile on her face the entire time. She was the first person to run up to you after you threw your ball down the lane and give you a 'high-five', and everytime she threw the ball she wanted a 'high-five' in return:




















Little Kai was the perfect audience the entire time. She didn't want to sit in her seat at all. She wanted to be up with the rest of us so Thayne and I took turns holding her. She didn't cry once the whole time we were there.

Season for bike riding

The kids have been so anxious to get their bikes out and ride them. We finally caved in and got them out, and ready to go. Here's some pictures of them riding around:

I had to threaten Jaed to smile here. He had been riding his bike for a while and was tired and very crabby. So his smile is very forced!



















Here's Josie in action. She was riding everywhere and especially liked going down hills on her bike. Notice that she's riding in one of her many princess dresses.




















Indi is also riding in her princess dress. She just followed Josie everywhere saying, "Wait for me, Josie!". Of course, Josie just ignored her and raced ahead even faster.




















Indi kept asking me to let Kai ride her bike even though I explained that Kai was too little. Finally, I put Kai on the bike with Indi and Indi was thrilled. She cried when I took Kai off.

Funny Memory

I have been thinking about something I did when Thayne and I were first married and laughing out loud. I thought I'd post it here so that ya'll could get a good laugh as well.

So, Thayne's dad has the most perfect hair I've ever seen on a man. There isn't a hair out of place and he has TONS of it. From the first time I saw him, I knew for sure that he was wearing a toupe'. There was no way that a man his age (48 at the time, hehe) could have that much hair and never have a strand out of place. I finally asked Thayne about it when we got engaged and he said "I don't think he wears a toupe'." Well, if his own son didn't know for a fact than I was even more positive my assumption was true. Thayne and I had funny arguements about it all the time. One day I was riding to work, listening to the morning show on the radio and the DJ encouraged the audience to call in and tell them about a constant silly/funny arguement that you have with your spouse. I didn't even hesitate. I grabbed my phone and dialed the number. I only had to a few minutes and before I knew it, I was on the radio explaining that my husband and I fought over my father in law's hair. The DJ thought it was quite comical that Thayne, his own son, didn't know for a fact that his dad did or didn't wear a toupe'. I had several friends and co-workers tell me they heard me on the radio and couldn't believe that my father really wore a toupe'. If my father in law only knew the rumors I was spreading. HAHAHHA!

Thayne and I play argued about it so much that I started to convince Thayne that it was true. Thayne agreed to check it out next time we went over to his parents house. Well, that day came and it was time to end the arguement. We were all in the kitchen and Thayne's Dad bent over to pick something up. I motioned for Thayne to check his Dad's hair out so Thayne stepped over to where his dad was, acted like was going to rub his dad's shoulder and then he quickly yanked on his dad's hair. I couldn't believe he did it. I wanted to bust up laughing right there. He actually pulled on his dad's hair. Unfortunately, I was wrong about the toupe'. His hair didn't budge at all. Thayne's dad quickly stood up and said, "Thayne, what are you doing?", and he fluffed his hair back into place. Thayne responded, "Just rubbin' your head, Dad!". Thayne looked over at me with a bugged look on his face and shook his head at me.

Thayne said later, "I can't believe I even thought he might have wore a toupe'." I laughed and tried to apologized for saying his dad wore a toupe', but it wasn't very sincere. That was ove 9 years ago and it still makes me bust up when I think about it.

Resemblence?

Indi put these glasses on this morning and this little chicken was the first thing I thought of. What a resemblence!







































(Egghead Jr. from Looney Tunes)

School Party

Today was Josie's "End of the Year" school party. She really loves school and I know she'll miss her teachers all summer.

I keep forgetting to post a funny experience I had with Josie in regards to her teachers. First, I should say that I do my girls hair everyday and pick their clothes out the night before. I love to get my girls dressed and ready for the day. It's like playing dolls all over again. Well, everytime Josie would go to school her teachers would always make a remark about how cute she looks. Several weeks ago, I was helping Josie get her clothes on for school and she looked down at herself and said, "No, Mom....my teachers won't like dis outfit!". No matter what I said she would not leave that outfit on. I looked up at Thayne and said, "She is too young to have an opinion on what she should wear!". He only laughed and walk out of the room. I had to go find a different outfit for her to wear that she liked and one she thought her teachers would like. I think I was in my own little world when I was thinking that my girls would never have an opinion on what they wore.

Okay, back to the party. Indi, Kai and I were invited to attend the party as well. Josie's class sang two songs and told a story while all the parents and siblings watched with grins on our faces. Josie was all over the floor during the story. She was rolling around, doing somersaults, and even hugging the kids next to her. She did stop and sing the songs, though.

Here are some pictures of the party:

This is Josie and her Teacher "Mrs. Arlene". I have really enjoyed her teachers this year. They seem so intune with Josie's needs. They also are very kind and loving to Josie, which is extremely important to me.



















This is Josie with her teachers Ms. Meagan and Mrs. Hope (who is holding our little Kaia):




















Here's Josie during one of the songs. I whispered her name and she turned my way, saw the camera and put a HUGE grin on her face:




















Here is Josie and her best friend Amara. Everytime I drop Josie off at school, Amara comes running up to her and wraps her arms around Josie saying, "My best friend!" :




















There was a table of cookies at the party and Indi would not leave the table for even a second at first. I finally told her she couldn't have any more cookies but after a bit I glanced over at the table and there she was eating another cookie with Josie and Amara. I caught her in the act:

Moving up in the world

Now that Kai is getting a little older (almost 4 months old), we decided to bring in the high chair and put her in it. The kids love it more than she does, I think. The piled her tray up with so many toys, that she didn't even know where to start. She just starred at them for the longest time and then decided to grab one. When she reached out for one Jaed yelled, "SHE'S GRABBING THE ONE I PUT UP THERE!". His outburst really startled her and she started to cry.

This reminded me of a remark that Jaed made several weeks ago, right before my mom came into town. He said, "Momma, I don't know what Grams is going to do when she comes.". I asked him what he meant and he said, "Well, Kaia doesn't like any person but you and she sometimes likes Daddy but that's it. Whenever me and the girls get around her and try and play with her she starts to cry and then you tell us to get away.". I told him that I was sure that Kaia would be okay with Grams but he had major hesitation. I laughed pretty hard when he walked away. They have know clue that pulling her arms, squeezing her face together, growling and roaring her face, and smothering her is what makes her cry, not them!

Here's some recent pictures of our little Kai:

Here's Kaia in her new high chair with Josie peeking behind





































Yesterday morning, Kaia woke up all smiles and smiled the morning away. Here she is in her little rocker just smiling and playing and talking! She is a very happy and calm baby 95% of the time. The other 5% of the time is when she's hungry and/or you have to burp her. She hates and she let's you know!

Birthday Boy

It was Thayne's birthday this weekend and the kids loved giving him all the attention. Thayne's parents came into town for the big birthday and showered Thayne with nice dress clothes for work. We went swimming and to dinner on the special day. Here are some great pictures of the kids swimming at the hotel of Grandpa and Grandma:

Here the kids are, all ready to jump in the pool. The girls loved their goggles so much while Jaed said they hurt his eyes and refused to wear them.














Here's the Thayne and the girls:














Thayne was trying very hard to teach Jaed to swim but Jaed was not that interested. He wanted to do his own thing most of the time.













The girls kept their goggles on for quite a long time. We all got a chuckle everytime we looked at them:





































Indi took several breaks from swimming. She would ask to be wrapped up in the towel and then sit down right next to Kaia and watch the others swim until she was ready to go back in:















Josie LOVED to get out of the pool and jump back in with her tube around her. One time she asked Indi to help her out of the pool. Indi tried very hard but couldn't quite get her lifted up:



















Here's Thayne about to throw Indi up in the air. She kept asking him to do it again and again:


















Thayne was helping Indi get use to the water:

Scared

I was out paying bills with the girls this morning and Josie kept running ahead. She would go around corners and I would call her name to come back and she (of course) wouldn't. Sometimes I would go around the corner and not see her which scared me to death.

I decided that it was enough so I called her over to me and waited until she came. I proceeded to tell her that the reason I wanted her to stay close to me is because there were bad people around and they could grab her and take her away. So if she stayed by me, I could protect her from someone grabbing her. Her eyes were really big and she grabbed on to my hand immediately. As we walked down the hall I heard her mumbling something about someone grabbing her when a door opened and a man walked out towards us. Josie screamed bloody murder and got behind me. The man looked pretty startled himself. He stopped and looked at me, I think waiting for an explanation. I told him that I was trying to teach her about strangers and to be careful around them, but I must have scared her a little more than I intended to. I kind chuckled but the guy didn't. So I told the girls to "come on" and we left the building. Josie was clinging to me very hard. All I can say is that at least I didn't have to watch her run ahead of me and call after her.

Playing outside

I took some more pictures of the kids playing, and Thayne mowing outside:

I usually do the mowing because I like to do it, but Thayne has done it more than me recently.















Me, Jaed and Kaia snuggling for a picture.




















Me and the "girls" snuggling for another picture




















Jaed wanted to take Kaia for a ride so I let him go about 2 feet and called it good!




















Here's Josie, the big sister, holding Kaia and swinging. Josie kept saying, "I'm swinging with my baby sister, Mommy!"

Visit from Gram

My mom came into town for a quick weekend visit. It was so nice to have her come and hang out. The kids had a blast with her and she seemed to enjoy their company (as wild as it was) as well. We shoppped, talked, laughed and visited non-stop. Thayne was so good to let us do things without the kids sometimes, even though they were crying at the door when we left. He never complained!

My mom calls me "Allyson" and my kids could not stand it. They kept telling her that my name was "Mommy" or "Ally" NOT "Allyson". Especially Indi. She seemed to be the first one to speak up when she heard my mom call my name. My mom kept telling them that my name was "Allyson" but they didn't believe it for a second. Unfortunately for them, my mom just kept calling me "Allyson" and they kept reminding her that she wasn't saying right.

It was sad to see her go. Josie just kept saying, "Don't leave, Grams, don't go!". I wanted to say that too, but I knew she had to get back to her house and work. I do hate not living close to my family.

I thought about taking pictures several times but never got my camera out. Now I'm so bugged at myself that we didn't take any pictures of her and the kids. This is the second visit, from her, that I didn't get my camera out. Oh well, I'll make up for it this summer when we're at her house for two weeks. Only 18 more days to go and we're off on our vacation adventure!

Crazy Times

I can't believe it's been over a week and I haven't written anything. So much has happened that I don't even know where to start. I guess I"ll start with some funny stuff. I was leaving the house to take Jaed to school when Josie said, "Mom that's our grass out there by our house" and before I could respond, Jaed said, "No Josie, it's not our grass, it's Jesus's grass. He just let's us mow it!". I told Jaed he was right, that Jesus made everything here on earth and we have to do what we can to take care of it and when we mow the grass that's taking care of it. He was pretty proud of himself. That conversation started a bunch of questions about Jesus from Jaed. We even talked about how we need to be like Jesus and he got all emotional and said that he would try hard to do it. It almost made me cry the way he was talking so seriously. We talked about when we're naughty we're not doing what Jesus would want us to do, so Jaed said that at school he would try hard to do what Jesus wants.
Well, after I dropped Jaed off at school I told the girls that we were going to go to the store and the first thing Josie says is, "Mommy, shopping is naughty and Jesus doesn't want us to do that!". I know she got that from Thayne. Whenever the kids tell Thayne that we bought something (because I don't ever fess up so the kids tattle on me) he always says, "That is so naughty of Mommy!". Even with all the stuff I buy for Josie (and my other kids) she's telling me that shopping is naughty and that Jesus doesn't want us to shop. When we got into the store, an older lady stopped and said, "Oh, how cute. Are you girls shopping with your Mommy?". Any guesses how Josie responded? "No, Jesus doesn't want us to shop, so we not shopping!". The lady looked a little confused and chuckled. I just shrugged my shoulders and strolled away.
When we picked up Jaed from school he was so excited to tell me that he got in "green" and did everything Jesus wanted him to do. I hugged him so hard and told him how proud I was of him. That night at dinner, Jaed said the prayer and thanked Heavenly Father for helping him get in green.

2/3rds Lawyer

Thayne finished his finals last week and finished his second year of law school. ONE MORE TO GO!!! I'm so excited to be done with this and get into normal life. Thayne started his first day at work today. We got to go shopping for him this weekend so that he had decent clothes to wear for his internship at the law firm. I had fun shopping but I could tell that it wasn't Thayne's favorite thing especially with all the kids tagging along. While I was looking at stuff, Thayne was trying to master crowd control with the kids. I'd look back at him and he was trying to get the kids to stop yelling, crying, hitting and scratching each other. I'd chuckle a little and turn back and continue shopping. I wanted to say, "Welcome to my life as a stay at home Mom!" but I didn't.

The kids don't really understand what "work" is. To them, Daddy goes to school like Jaed and Josie and that's it. I finally told Jaed that Thayne was going to work to help the good guys from going to Jail or from losing lots of money. He thought that was great. Now he thinks his dad is a super-hero.

Here is a picture of Thayne in his new "outfit" (he hates that word. He tells me that guys do not wear "outfits" but I just ignore him and keep saying it. When you have the majority of girls in your house, everyone wears "outfits". He should feel lucky that we don't use the word "panties" when describing his and Jaed's underwear.) :

Tattoos

On the Valentines Day after Thayne and I were married we decided to go and get tattoos. Yes, it hurt and yes it was a dumb, but we did and we're stuck with them (until we get rich and can get them lasered off, I guess). Well my tattoo is on the left side of my chest and Thayne's is on the upper part of his right arm. The kids are fascinated with our tattoos and ask to see them, or point them out every time they do see them.

Jaed has been talking about tattoos A LOT lately and keeps saying that some kids at his school have them on their arms. I'm sure they are the rub on ones that you can buy at the store but he argues with me if I try to tell him they are not real. I finally told him that getting a tattoo hurts and mommy and daddy were naughty to get one, but that doesn't seem to work with him. He keeps talking about getting one. Well, he told me that he told his teacher, the other day, that his mommy has a tattoo on her boobie. I thought I was going to die of embarrassment. Thayne tried to tell him that he doesn't need to tell people where "mommy's" tattoo is but we ALL know this won't be the last time it is shared with others.

This tattoo will haunt me for the rest of my life. And why did I have to get it on my chest? Why not on my leg or back or something? Thayne's tattoo (it's a dragon and sword) is more interesting than mine (a rose) so why can't Jaed talk about his? The sad thing about it is that Jaed is the first of all our children to start telling others. I KNOW that the other kids will follow in his footsteps and tell as well. I have no one to blame but myself!

Backwards

Our little Indi is quite the clown these days. She thinks it's so funny to climb on the toilet backwards and do her business. Tonight she said she had to go potty and went running in the bathroom. A few seconds later I hear her giggling in there so I decided to investigate. As I peeked in the bathroom she was on the toilet backwards and covering her mouth with one hand giggling. I asked her what she was doing and she said, "I backwards, mommy!". We giggled together!

Picnic at the park

The kids and I picked Thayne up from school today, bought food at Wendy's and went to a near by park to have a picnic. We only had about an hour before Thayne had to go back up to study but it was long enough for the kids to eat and play with Thayne. Here's some pictures of our quick time together:

Here's Josie enjoying every piece of her kid's meal. She would eat one thing and then run and play and then come back and grab something else. She did finish it all, though.




















I told Jaed that I wanted to take a picture of him and he did this great pose. He's such a funny boy!




















Jaed wanted to get in the little kid's swing and after much protest from us we finally said okay. Here he is after one push in the swing. He was yelling "STOP" because the swing was hurting him. Thayne had to turn him upside down to get him out of the swing because his legs were so stuck in the little holes that lifting him out was not working. I think he learned his lesson because he didn't get close to the swings for the rest of the time we were there! Josie was singing and swinging while Jaed was screaming and swinging.


















Indi loves the swing. I really thing she could swing for hours!





















Here's Indi resting at the bottom of the slide.
















Kaia is in her first swing and not sure how she feels about it. She did start to cry after I did a few little pushes. She's not ready, yet!






















Kai loves tot be cuddled, held, snuggled and held (oh, did I already say that.). Thayne keeps saying that he hopes she stays calm like this forever but we ALL know that's not going to happen.