He's ONE Whole Hand!!!!!

I can't believe it. Luke is 5 years old. How the time does fly. He has been one of my greatest blessings. I have been so lucky to have such a friend. I cherish the moments I get to spend with him. He is so energetic, happy, playful, mysterious, friendly, shy, bashful, joyful, strong willed, and very loving.
For four years I thought we would never get rid of burpie. Every where we went burpie was along for the ride. One day he handed me all his clean burpies and said I could throw them away. I asked him if he was sure. He said that he was a big boy and didn't need them anymore, and he was not going to suck his thumb anymore. He has never looked back.

So much of his childhood consists of his best friend the burpie, and puppy.

If I ever needed to get him to sleep all I had to do was give him burpie and take him for a drive. The magic was his thumb. He gave that up over night too. I don't think most adults could break a habit cold turkey, and he did all of it in one day.

He is always smiling and so happy. His best bud is Prest. He sure does love his brother. I know there are times when Prest wants to be alone or play with friends without a tag-a-long, but Luke sure does love him. Thank You Prest for always being patient with Luke. You are a great example to him.

He has always loved having his picture taken. He especially loves when he is in the center. Most of the pics of him consist of someone else trying to squeeze in.

No matter what he has always found a way to scare mom. He will always be a true boy. If climbing, mess, mud, cars, trucks, wheels, or tools are involved Luke will be in the middle of it. He will find a way to keep up with the others and do what he can.

He was a precious gift from God and I am very thankful for him. He is my bud, my friend and my son. Happy Birthday Luke!

Hey Luke even though we celebrated your birthday the whole week you are still only 5. One whole hand. Love you, MOM.

Happy Happy Birthday ABIGAIL!

Today was a good day. We celebrated Abigail's 7th birthday! She is an awesome girl. I love her dearly. She always has a smile on her face no matter what is going on.
Some of my favorite things about Abigail is that she loves to get dirty. She doesn't care what is going on she will always be in a mess. There are times we could be at the cleanest places ever and she will be a mess. I can't figure it out, but somehow she seems to be like Pig Pen from Peanuts. I do love it though, I always know where she has been.

She loves color. She loves to live, and she loves to laugh. She is always finding something to laugh about. She doesn't care what anyone else thinks she makes the best of it.

She loves to play. She will let anyone play and she makes sure everyone is having a good time. She loves to be surrounded by friends and family. Her imagination will run wild when given the chance. Whenever she goes to Nana's she loves to play tea party.

No matter where she is at, or what she is doing she seems to be eating. She loves food. That girls is a bottomless pit. That girl could out eat Chris and I if given the chance. She has the nose of a blood hound. She can find candy that I didn't even know we had.

Abigail loves the water. She will spend hours in the bathtub. Literally. She loves to swim. If she could swim every day she would. She seems to have gills and fins. She always packs a swimsuit. So, if you have a tub and Abbie is staying plan on her being entertained in the tub.

Abigail will always have a pacifier with her. I know when she is tired; her thumb will go straight in and she will calm herself down. Someday the belly button fairy will pay a visit.

She has a passion for animals. She loves to go to Grandpa's and ride. I just love the boots with the shorts. She loves to help feed and brush the horses.

Overall, I love her with all my heart. There is so much love for this darling Angel Bear. She is tender, loving, always smiling, always singing, inquisitive, smart, intelligent, gentle, kind, happy, silly, bubbly, energetic, but most of all she is mine. I love you Abigail with all my heart and am very thankful for you.

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!

May the force be with you. The kids were so excited to go to Jedi Training Academy. All four of the kids got picked and were so excited. They couldn't believe it. There were about 100 kids jumping up and down yelling "PICK ME! PICK ME!" and all four of ours were picked. They pick about 30 kids so we were thrilled. The stage was awesome. It was a cool production. They dress the kids up in Jedi gear and give them a light saber. They then learn the proper technique of a Jedi. After a few minutes the music comes on and the stage starts to raise. Out walks Darth Vader and Darth Maul. They are decked out to the nines. Looked like they just walked off a movie set. It was incredible. He then challenges the new Jedis and they fight for the force.

I love Madi in her Princess Leia hair. She was awesome. And knew her stuff well. You would almost have to in this house when one kid is obsessed with legos and Star Wars. She has been taught well.

Luke and Abbie are in the middle. They are listening to the Master Jedi as he trains them in the proper technique. They soaked up every word.

Preston lives for this. This is all he has talked about for a long time. He was thrilled to be picked. He knew every move and was the quickest and I am not just saying that because I am his mom. He did awesome!

Here came the troopers getting the path ready for Vader. Their costumes were awesome.

Darth Maul was absolutely scary. Even though he was acting, I still felt intimitated by him. His make up was the best.

Madi fought Darth Maul and did a wonderful job.

Abbie fought Darth Vader and loved it.

Luke, well Luke got to fight Darth Vader.

Preston fought Darth Maul. He did awesome. He flew right through the routine and was the fastest and didn't have to be reminded. He was in his element. Chris and I were so proud of him and the others. That made our day. Everything else was just a cherry on top.

The kids succeeded and Vader left upset that he had not turned anyone to the Dark Side!

Afterwards, the kids were given a certificate saying the had accomplished their Jedi trainging and were ready to join the force.

Luke came up to us when all was done and had one of his famous Lukeisms.

Lukeism:

Luke: Guys guess what?

Dad and Mom: What?

Luke: I fighted my Father!

The best line of the whole day. We couldn't stop laughing.

Thanks kids for making the trip the best it could be. Overall it was one of the best times we spent as a family. I only wish we had more time.

Disneyland!

We had the best time ever! What a blast. Disney was the best way to end our quick trip. It was a beautiful day.


Okay, so I still haven't figured out how to rotate the pics. I did it on our software and then when it transferred it went back to the original. Anyways, Luke my ever inquisitive kid keeps asking me when we will go to the real Disneyland. I told him we did. His reply is that we didn't because that is not a real castle and he did not get to go in. He is in a sense disappointed. It is quit entertaining to have this conversation with him when ever he sees a commercial for Disneyland. He keeps telling me we need to go back and find the real Disney and the real castle. I love that kid. What a hoot!


The three younger kids wanted ears. Ever since Luke found out we were going all he could talk about was getting Mickey Mouse ears. He smiled from ear to ear when we found the perfect pair. Abbie had her name written in yellow on the back. She was so excited because yellow is her color. Madi always the princess in fairytales found Princess Minnie ears. She was so in heaven.

The kids couldn't wait for their pics with Mickey. It was so much fun. That is pretty much what Luke wanted to do.

Toontown was darling. We didn't stick around. I was in a hurry to get to Splash Mountain. I wanted to do some rides. Next time we will take an afternoon and hang out at Toontown. The kids loved seeing all the cartoon houses.

Madi with Brear Bear. She is so into bears and had a blast on Splash Mountain. She loved every minute of being where dreams do come true.

The ever happy Luke. Lovin' life now that he has his ears. It truly made his day.

I don't know what is up with her face but it was the best pic I had of her. I love her big bow with the ears. Every kid needs a pair of ears.

Preston our ever brave boy who just absolutely loves to ride rollercoasters was so thrilled to wait in line that he didn't know what to do. To say the least, he did a lot of sitting around and watching us ride. He was a good sport though. He loved to tease the girls and dress up while at it. He doesn't know I got this pic of him. But I can now say that boys love to dress up as much as girls do.

Disney was great. We had the time of our life. It wasn't enough. There is still a lot there that we missed. Hopefully when we go next time we will have more than one day. The kids were perfect, no major melt downs, happy faces and a good time. What a way to finish the summer. I couldn't ask for anything more.

Sea World

What a BLAST we had at Sea World! The kids were absolutely fascinated by everything there. It was a beautiful day, perfect weather and happy kids.

The show with Shamu was awesome. These whales are absolutely amazing. It was awesome to see the jumps and tricks they were able to do. And Chris, Luke and I stayed a nice dry distance.

Mama and her baby.

Absolutely fascinating. They are truly gentle giants.

Before the show they had all the troops and their families stand so that the audience could applaud and support our troops. It was awesome. The three kids were shown on the jumbo tron as the audience applauded Chris. I could not stop crying. This is a pic of the kids before the show.

There is Shamu making waves and splashing the crowd. It was awesome. I am absolutley amazed at their body mass. It was quit the show.

In the middle is the trainer preparing the audience to get wet. Oh and the three kids are to the right of him in the pic. You can see Prest in his blue shirt. Madi is standing in her purple.

Do I really need to explain?

That's what you get for sitting three rows back. At least it was a warm day.

I have no idea how to rotate the pic; oh well. After the shark exhibit Luke found a stuffed shark he truly wanted. I didn't let the kids buy anything until we had gone through most of the park or they would try to buy everything. So I told him he needed to wait. The rest of the day all we heard about was the shark he picked out. After lunch I took him back and let him get it. He was so happy.

JAWS!!

D. you would have loved it. They looked a little hungry.

When we first got there they were letting the public feed the dolphins. We bought some frozen fish and each got to feed a dolphin. It was so cool. They aren't slimey like I thought. Their skin was very tight and smooth. Never felt anything like it before so I am not going to try and explain. It was so fun.

Madi was in absolute heaven. She loves animals and anything that has to do with science. She is very interested in anything and everything. She doesn't stop asking questions and trying to find answers or make up her own that seem to satisfy her.

Overall Sea World was great! The kids had a good time, Chris enjoyed it and I loved being with the fam. Thanks Chris for the great trip.