happy beach birthday too you - happy beach birthday to you ...Cant believe my baby girl is 9! She was lcuky enough to celebrate her birthday at Carolina Beach. After playing on the beach all day, we dined on the Pier and retreated back to our room to open gifts and have a ocean themed cake . ( made by mom ):D she had a great birthday!

Happy birthday to you,(cha cha cha) happy Birthday to you (cha cha cha) Happy Birthday dear ARYN! Today Aryn celebrated her 7 th birthday! When i asked her what she wanted all she said was Webkinz, webkinz, webkinz, ..... so i said : hey, you need to give me something else to go on " her response... " ok, how about webkinz clothes, webkinz playing cards, and webkinz cleaner" so what do you buy a child who wants webkinz, webkinz, and more webkinz... well webkinz of course! WE had a homemade kitty cake ( at her request, chocolate of course) and she also go a hannah montanan sleeping bag, a new watch, and a fun outdoor game that she totaly rocks at!

Fun in the Sun! Today we spent the day at Lake Johnson pool. The kids are begining to out grow the sprinkler part( it just doesnt compare to The Great Wolf Lodge) . But the best partof the day was that Kevin was able to come with us this time and the kids really enjoyed racing dad back and forth across the pool!

happy fathers Day !

Happy fathers day to all the dads, fathers, grandfathers, uncles, and friends who have touched our lives! Hope you enjoyed your day!

36 eyes watching me :D The girls love their webkins. Alyssa and Aryn line them up - tonight they were watching me on the computer . Probably making sure i wasnt selling any of the girls stuff on ebay!

Speaking of ebay- i bought this cookie jar on ebay last month ! Isn't he a hoot! :D love it!

On the last note - Our entire area has a smoke advisory. From the wildfires that are about 100 miles away. This morning on the way in there was thick smoke every where and it smelled like a bon fire ( grandma hilda would like it!) !I have really never experienced anything like that ! in fact the visibilty is down to 1/2 mile in some areas. here is a local weather link http://www.4042.com/4042weather/index.php i cant get my links to work so this will have to do !

Officially now in 7th grade, 4 th grade, and 2nd grade - really where does the time go ! I still am in shock ! Kids are looking forward to a summer of travel, play, and lots of fun! And because they worked so hard thought i would toot their horns! Andrew made straight A last nine weeks ( and twice this year!) Alyssa made all A's and B's ( she has worked so hard this year and we are so proud of her!) and Aryn got straight s's !

Early Birthday Parties! The girls had a few friends over we went to see Kung Fu panda and had a sleep over. This is the first birthday party they have had in a few years. A good time was had by all ! But what i was i thinking having 9 girls under the age of 9 sleep over!?! As you can tell from the photot they were a fiesty bunch ! arghhhh !

Today was the girls recital! They have worked so hard over the past year and their day has finally come! They both did so wonderful ( as did dad in his 2 routines! They are both looking forward to being on the dance teams at step ahead

Happy Mothers day - to all our friends, family, neighbors, teachers, grandmothers, and of course our moms.

Today we went out for our traditional mothers day lunch at the Outback steakhouse.

And my lovely hunny and kiddos suprised me with a kitchen aid mixer! I cant wait to do some hard core baking with that baby!

well after 7 years of wash out and disrepair we finaly got something done about the slope in the front yard. Before ........

and after......
love how it turned out! It is so much more beautiful than i could have ever imagined!

Game on! The girls recital is in just a few short weeks. The dance studio makes special shirts every year for the girls (and dads). The girls love the shirts, they have their name on the back , as well as daddy's name.

What do all crafty divas need......... why these adorable craft aprons of course. Saw them on etsy and new the girls would love them!

happy webkinz day! the girls had a great time at the webkinz day festivities at petals and hearts florist! they had buy1 get 1 free too good to pass up right..........

Today we spent the day at smith's nursery. Gosh how we love this time of year, weather is warmers, birds are singing, flowers blooming ( insert sneeze here ) and of course our favorite Spring right of passage - STRAWBERRY PICKING!
This year we went alittle lighter than usual. Only 21 pounds! Not the same without Grandma Hilda and Grandpa Michael. Maybe next spring !

Today was the last hockey lesson. Moving up to the big leagues next season ( fall ) Whoop ! Whoop ! Looking forward to a summer of stick and puck and golfing with dad!

HIS FIRST 18.........

ANDREW AND DAD ENJOYED THE TEACHER WORK DAY TODAY ! THEY PLAYED 18 HOLES AT KNIGHTS PLAY. ANDREW IS ALREADY PLANNING THE NEXT GOLF OUTING!

Cheeseburger in Paradise....... snippets from key west. I think we all wish we would have had a little more time here ! We visited the southern most point of the us, had our picture taken w/ some pirates, kevin enjoyed some key lime pie, and we enjoyed the sunset festivities at mallory square!

DAY 4 : FINALLY GETTING OFF THE BOAT. DUE TO STRONG WINDS THEY WOULD NOT LET US TENDER IN THE CAYMEN ISLANDS SO THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME SINCE WE BOARDED ON SATURDAY THAT WE WERE ALLOWED TO GET OFF THE BOAT!

COZUMEL WAS FUN! THE SUN WAS OUT AND THE WEATHER WAS FABULOUS. WE ARRIVED IN COZUMEL ABOUT 2 HOURS EARLIER THAN WE HAD EXPECTED. WE HAD SOME TIME TIME TO WALK AROUND (OF COURSE I SPOTTED A MCDS RIGHT AWAY) THE KIDS THOUGHT THE MENU WAS FUNNY ... THE RECIEPT STATED OUR FOOD WAS 230.00 THAT WAS FOR 5 DRINKS AND 2 HASH BROWNS! OF COURSE THAT WAS IN PESO'S . WE DID A LITTLE SHOPPING, TOOK IN SOME CULTURE THEN HEADED TO OUR PRE ARRANGED JEEP EXCURSION. THE KIDS LOVED RIDING THRU THE COUNTRY SIDE OF MEXICO IN OUR CONVERTABLE, SEEING THE MAYAN RUINS, A LIGHTHOUSE AND SNORKELING IN PUNTA SUR. OUR TOUR GUIDED HAD A CB RADIO AND HE KEPT SAYING " VAMANOS AMIGOS! DONT LET THOSE CABBIES IN" THE KIDS GOT A KICK OUT OF THAT "VAMANOS AMIGOS!"