Oh How Time "Bounces" By

I was able to spend yet another wonderful day with my college girls just a couple of weeks ago.  As I always say, it's so good to be with them!  We find a little bit of time to have such good conversations between the sweet (and not-so-sweet) interruptions of our now 7 children.  I think we know the time is precious so, somehow, we always jump right to the heart of the matter.  We are able to share encouragement with one another, the hardships of discipline, the wonderfulness of our husbands, talk through big upcoming decisions.  Our hearts are knitted together because of our time together in college.  It's such a blessing to have one another!!

It's also just so cool to see our kids grow up together.  They love being together just as much as the mommies do.  Before heading of the bounce house, Kristine pulled out her phone to show me a picture of our oldest 3 when they are all about 18 months old!!  It's amazing how much time has passed by!!

Now that the kids are older, it's fun to get out of the houses and take them somewhere that they can really have fun and run off that crazy energy!  We decided on a bounce house.  All of them had a great time!

Benjamin loved it, for about 5 minutes, then he was back to running around!

Here they are, all but the sweet baby who is sleeping just out of camera shot.  Aren't they cute?

Our three oldest, all with in months of one another.

New Year's Eve

It was another year for the party pooper party!

It all started 2 years ago when I was pregnant and didn't have the energy to stay up late.  We invited another family to join us and had a great dinner and lots of fun playing games while the kids played.

This year we decided to try it again.  With kids it's hard to stay up until the new year with other families.  The kids can't make it, so they get crabby, but where do you put that many kids to sleep!!  So, we decided to host the "Party Pooper Party" and ring in the New Year east coast time.  Yep, at 9.  But take a look!!  It was a great night!

Fun was had by all as we squished into one room for some fun games.

Even the kids got in on the action.

The Rauch's put together some fun "MInute to Win it" like games. 

This one was bouncing ping-pong balls into an egg crate.

 Everyone brought their favorite pizza toppings and meat, we provided the dough sauce and cheese. 

Each family built their own pizza and there was plenty to share.

We had 6 families: the Rauchs, Coulters, Crouches, Kiles, Sanas and ours

 . 

Proof that the kids had lots of fun!!

We could hardly see any of the floor!!

Not in College Anymore

A couple of weeks ago I got to pretend like I was in college once again!! At Master's I made three life long friends. Megan, Kristine, Laura and I hit it off the first day we met and have been friends ever since. K & L both live in the Sacramento area and Megan lives down near Monterey. Since college we haven't gotten to hang out as much as we would like, especially since Megan is far away and has been known to travel the world! : ) However, we can usually make it happen at least once a year.

This time, just the girls got to go out for ice cream. Yes, kid free! It was great. We spent some quality time laughing and catching up. The next day we got together with the kiddos and spent the day at Laura's house. It is so obvious that we aren't in college any more. With three of the four us having two kids and Megan working full time and back in school, life is just a little bit different. We had fun being entertained by the little kids and laughing at all their antics. They managed to make their own band (without any prompting) and have fun with all the toys in the house. It was a great time!! We can't wait for the next time. I'm thinking we should crash at Megan's and spend the day at the beach....

Caleb 3yrs 9m, Hannah 9m, Thomas 3yrs 8m, Benjamin 6m, Peyton 3yrs 5m, Ethan 1.5

(isn't it great how close all the kids are!!)

Our group picture looks just a little bit different

Megan, Katharine, Laura & Kristine

Morning Walks in the Fog

I love to walk. I hate leaving for a walk, but I love to walk when I do make it out the door. I love how energized I am when I get home from a walk and how it makes me feel the rest of the day. Walking kept me sane when I wasn't sleeping at night. It was how I got ride of that groggy tingly feeling every morning. Once sleep returned, somehow I stopped walking every day and I missed it. My good friend, Tiffany, asked out of the blue about a month ago if I wanted to start running with her. Now, you have to know Tiffany and how much she hates anything related to exercise to really know how out of the blue it was. She was so serious about this though that she was even going to sign up for the class. Before the class started though she had to walk at least twice a week. She asked me to join her in this endeavor. Still not sure how I feel about this upcoming running class, but I am loving the walking.

She is the mother to three of my favorite girls, you've met them here on the blog before. They love my sweet boys and the boys love them. I bring them into this blog because the walking would not be possible without them. They come and hang out with the boys so that we can go walk. That's just the first wonderful thing about our morning walks.

The last couple of weeks we have been walking at 6:45, yes! 6:45!! I'm actually starting to love it and think it's the other wonderful thing about walking. This gets me up and out of bed at 6am. I get up, get dressed and read my Bible. The walking is the extra motivation I needed to get this done!

Surprisingly, then next wonderful thing (and I say "wonderful" loosely) is the fog and the cold. It has been sooooo cold and soooo foggy the last few weeks, but I'm loving it. There is something extra wonderful about the stillness and quietness of a crisp, cold and foggy morning. You are out before most others are which somehow, is energizing. This also brings the beauty of the sunrising. Now we don't pay attention to the sun rising, but somehow it is dark when we walk out the front door and the sun is shining by the time we walk back to that door.

Now, the icing on the cake to this walking is the time I get to spend with Tiffany. She is to me that wonderful, God-fearing friend that we all need! She truly is a gift from the Lord. I love that I get her all to myself for 40 or so minutes. We talk about everything. Our church and the exciting things that are going on. We make plans for the ministries we are involved in together. We talk about how we need to be praying for the church and those ministries. We share concerns about our family and even funny and embarrassing stories we wouldn't dare share with other people. I've had the blessing of knowing and serving with Tiffany for three years now. I know she is one of the reasons that God moved my family to Vacaville. He has used her to shape me in so many ways. He has used her to speak the truth to me and to kick me butt as is so often needed. I've told many people that between her and Molly (my cousin and best friend), I get away with NOTHING!!! She has also encouraged me and gotten me through so many days. As I was struggling with not sleeping, anxiety and depression she was always just a phone call away. She spoke God's Word to me, prayed with me and reminded me that I could do it. God would equip me to do what He had called me to. I am so thankful that God has allowed me to build this relationship with Tiffany and pray it is one that will continue for a lifetime!!

So, let's keep walking my friend and get these bodies into shape!! I mean, get healthy because that's the goal. but hey if we get all skinny in the meantime wouldn't that be awesome?!

So here's to walking early in the morning in the fog!!

Halloween Fun!!

So, I'm not a fan of Halloween. I'd be just fine pretending like the day didn't exist and avoiding all stores decked out for the day. But it seems that is not possible anymore. Jared likes the dressing up and the trick-or-treating and of course, Thomas does, too. I must admit, I do get a kick out of figuring out how to make a costume for him without having to spend any money. So this year, I decided Thomas would be a Space Ranger, not Buzz Lightyear, but a guy that helps Buzz. In the end, he was Buzz and he loved his homemade costume!

Here he is with the helmet on loan from a friend at church. He's in the air force and was so kind to loan it to Thomas. T loved it and didn't want to take it off all afternoon!

Here's Benjamin. I thought he looked so cute hanging out after his diaper change.

Thomas with some of our friends. Everyone was so excited to go trick-or-treating

We hung out and had pizza together before taking the kids out. There were 6 families all together. Such fun! We're hoping to make it a yearly tradition.

Here are all the dad's watching the World Series, Game 4. Giants won!! Thankfully they had a dvr, so the guys were able to go out for some of the trick-or-treating.

Here are all our kiddos!! J as the puppy, J as the turtle, T as Buzz, E as Flo, the progressive insurance lady, L as a Pirate, J as the skeleton and M as B dog

Time with the Girls

A week or so after Benjamin was born, my good friend Kristine was back in town for a visit. Her and Laura came down for the day to hang out and bring us lunch! It was a great time of catching up and watching our 6 kids hang out! Talk about energy!!I need a digital picture of us from collage to show just how things have changed!!

Laura with her two: C, 3years and H, 3months, Me with T, 3years and B, days; Kristine with P, just 3 and E, 14 months. Such fun having them all so close!

A Trip to the Zoo

Laura and I met up with the boys at the zoo last week. They had a blast playing together and checking out all the animals, which of course included making all the animal noises. They were hilarious as they came up with words and noises to either make a song about or just repeat so they could laugh. Laura and I enjoyed simply watching them and of course catching up. She's due with her precious baby any day now and I've got a ways to go, so it was fun to compare notes and talk about what we are going to do with two little people in the house!!

Back to the zoo though... I got a couple of fun shots to keep a memory of the day.

Here's Thomas with a Red Tail Hawk. He thought it was pretty cool to check him out really close. Check out where his hands are. I told him he had to be quiet, so he tip-toed over which means his hands have to be close to his body, it's pretty cute to watch. He did like seeing the bird and I couldn't believe we got this shot!

Here are the boys cracking one another up. C had made up a song about Orangutan (which was just saying the word musically) and they thought it was hilarious!! They did also like the animal here, a lemur.

Thomas wanted a picture with me on the statue, so here we are!

Then we got one of the boys!! Such fun!

Laura and I met up with the boys at the zoo last week. They had a blast playing together and checking out all the animals, which of course included making all the animal noises.

Thomas and His Friend

Thomas has adopted Minnie Mouse as his favorite, has to go everywhere friend. She is in a long line of favorites. We've gone through baby dog, blue blanket, buzz, mama cheetah, daddy tigger (those two at the same time) and of course Mickey & Daisy (also a pair). Those two must still be near at all times, but they can stay in the car. But Minnie has been a constant recently and it cracks me up!

Minnie actually belongs to the girls, aka his babysitters. Every time we are over at their house, she was the one he would ask to play with. Last week they said Thomas could take her home. He was so excited, but understood (I hope) that he is just borrowing her. In the meantime, he is taking her everywhere and doing everything with her.

Here's a look at just one day in the life of Thomas and Minnie:

Starting out the morning with getting Minnie stuck in the "tunnel" (now, yes he has a girlie doll, but he treats her like any boy would! although he is very protective of her and particular about how close Bailey gets to her, makes sure she doesn't get dirty and brings her to me any time she falls down)

Now, crawling across the "bridge"

Off in the car to go a few places, Minnie was right there with him. Notice how he is helping her keep the sun out of her eyes.

Special trip to the donut shop! He "shared" milk with her and then put her on the next table so she wouldn't get dirty.

Went to the R's house for a haircut for me and playtime with his friends. Minnie did get left in the girlie room while he went through S's transformer collection.

Minnie & Thomas got to help me do the quick trip to the grocery store. Of course she had to come in, even though it was a quick trip.

Back home for lunch, notice Minnie is never too far!

He has Minnie with the horses reigns around her neck, then threw her so she could have a ride on the horsey. I don't think it worked quite like he wanted, but they were having fun.

Now it was time to take a real ride. They made a few laps and then went back to work in the playroom.

Thomas tapped all the nail in and now it was Minnie's turn to learn. He's helping her hold the hammer so she can do it.

After nap snack of oranges, just for He and Minnie Mouse.

Love this one. This is the one he didn't want to do for me the day before. He had said, "Once upon a time I will take a picture." I guess this was the time.

Again, it's meal time. Minnie tucked away nice and safe.

After dinner Popsicle.

Finally, getting ready for bed. They got to watch one show before heading off to bed.

It was a nice full day for the two friends. I love how much he loves Minnie, but I will admit I do wish it was Mickey. As we were leaving one store I heard a dad comment to his wife about Minnie. Yes, it's Minnie, but at least it's not a Barbie. And the one picture that didn't get taken was Minnie and Thomas shopping for a shirt for Baby Brother. That's because Thomas was so busy shopping he didn't come when he was called and I thought I had lost him! Very scary moment! He had no idea. When he did come out he proudly showed me the dinosaur shirt he found for the baby. Sweet, yeah, but boy did he get a talking to! All in all it was a great day. Thomas will have to give Minnie back next week and I'm sure she'll be replaced by something new.

Family Photo Shoot

Photo's by Christina Hamre. She's taken pictures of us the last couple of years and here are some of my favorites!

Our old neighbor and friend of mine is back in business. She's getting her photography business back up and running after a maternity leave. She does great work. Check out her site to the left, she's also running a great Christmas special:

If you've been meaning to get some family photos done, and you're running short on time, contact me!

Mini-Session $100 Includes a free sitting, 5-10 fully edited images to choose from.

Package includes:
2 8x10
2 5x7
1 set of wallets (8)

Big savings!
Fee needs to be paid up-front to hold your date. Sessions must be scheduled by the end of the month, and completed by December 6.