Thomas and Friends

Me and Joy took the boys to see Thomas on stage Sunday. Jonathan and Juan had a great time!

Jon Jon and Juan

Our seats were on the floor 6th row.

The props were great.

Thomas really had steam coming from his stack! And Thomas talked. Of course, the boys wanted to ride the train.

Friday night scare.

So I go to bed around midnight on Friday night. I'm getting all cosy in my blanket and I hear a helicopter outside. It is close and seems to be circling my neighborhood. After 5 minutes it fades away, finally. So I'm thinking escaped convict, right? Then, I hear a noise outside, like someone messing with the basement window. I bravely open my blinds to the window directly above the noise and bang on the window. I watch, but nobody runs off. Then I hear noise in the basement. I'm really freaked out. I grab the phone and run to the kitchen to lock the door at the top of the stairs. It wouldn't stop a thief from getting it open but it would buy me some time and create a noisy approach for the thief. I am about to call the police but decide to give Chino a quick call to see if he is close to home. He answers the phone and I ask in a panicked voice "Where are you?". He replies "in the basement". My response "You asshole, I was about to call the police!" CLICK.

I asked Chino why he broke into the house and scared the hell out of me. He said his key did not work and accused me of changing the lock. (this is logical) I asked him why he didn't call me. He said he didn't want to wake me up. It is always better to scare someone to death than to risk waking them. He is lucky he did not spend the night in jail. I should have called the police anyway and had him locked up for stupidity!

My theory is that all men on this planet share one brain. I want to know whose husband had the brain on Friday because mine really needed it!

Up close and personal

Chino and Gabby

Audi eating popcorn

Chino and Juan chilling out to iPod tunes.

One cool dude.

Brydie and Mr. Nibbles checking out Facebook.

We use teamwork in our house to reach high things.

Juan and his trains.

Do you notice that there are not pictures of Josie here? She is a little less inclined to pose for the camera then her siblings. You will also notice that there is few photogenic proofs of my own existence. It is not just because I am the one behind the lens. Like mother, like daughter. One of them had to be like me.

My little Butterfly

Josie in costume.

Gathering of many "bugs".

I love the "bug eye" affect. How did they do that?

Gabby and Josie play-fighting after the show before we went to Dairy Queen.

The demands of children.

Me and Joy were doing our usual Friday night McDonald play date and although it is hard to believe, NOBODY THREW UP! I have contacted Guinness Book, we are a shoe in. But while there my girls had Carly writing notes to me requesting various items. Here are a few examples:

Josie: Dear Mom, I want a flat screen TV and a Wii. I love you.

Gabby: Dear Mom, I want a flat screen TV, $1000, and a hot tub. I love you.

Audi: Dear Mom, I want a giant ducky. I love you.

Josie's makes a little sense and one of the items will be checked off her list on their birthday.
My response to Gabby was "Ya, I want a hot tub too".
And Audi, "Where the hell do I find a giant duck?".

I did once dream about a giant duck or bird of some kind. Me and the kids and my mother were visiting a museum. There was a giant bird creature on display. It took a liking to our family and broke out of it's cage to follow us. It followed us right out the door and ran behind my SUV until it was able to ketch up and ride on the roof. I turned around to take it back to the museum. We planned to purchase it and take it home for a pet. Weird huh!? So if that dream comes true then Audi will have her giant ducky.

Pyramids

Gabby looks a little bored.

Juany is happy to be included.

Gabby is not holding onto the ceiling. I couldn't fit the entire scene into the picture.

My kids are always up to something. Usually something that could lead to an emergency room visit. But they seem to have fun and I have insurance.

EASTER!

Ready... Set...GO! The egg hunt is on. There are 275 plastic eggs filled with money and candy out in the yard to be found.

Juan found 13 eggs. That is a far cry from Josie's 43. Juan was a little slow. He would see an egg (that I pointed out to him) but someone would get to it before he could. (namely Audi who followed Juan and me to pounce when I tried to show Juan where the eggs were)

Josie

Audi

Gabby

Juan has a way with the young ladies.

Dawn and Robert with Olivia and Henry

The kids were on the look out for pirates.

Juan and the girls: Corrine, Gabby, Josie, Emilee, Lauren and Olivia

Gabby and Juan sharing a wagon ride. Look how happy Juan is to share.

More birthday pictures.

We had no planned games or prizes but the kids still cried when it was time to leave. I guess I am a hell of a hostest!

The train table was a hit for the younger kids. I don't think Jonathan ever went outside to play. He sat for at least an hour watching as my dad assembled the table and track. He sat in a chair very quiet so he would not disturb Pa Pa.

Adult guest and Chino at the grill.

I wish the day could have been warmer and less windy. The kids did not get to roast their own hot dogs as I had planned. It was just too windy to put a fire in the pit.

PRESENTS!

This is Henry. Dawn and Robert's baby and Olivia's little brother. He is sooo cute. I love bald babies!

This is our the other baby guest. Dominic is China and Efrain's son and little brother to Elvira. He is huge. It hurt my back to hold him to long. But he is a good baby. He will go to anyone!

Pinata fun

Every kid has a different style when hitting a pinata. Some tap and some whack. But all have fun. You have to let the little kids go first because if the biggest kid goes first then the whole thing is over in about 3 minutes. Unfortunately when you have 20 kids at a party, you only get one turn or none. As was the case at our party.

Audi went for the one handed swing. She picked up an appendage that was knocked off the pinata and did not want to put it down in fear that someone else would steal her prize. They like to wear these cone shaped pieces as hats.

Some of the smallest kids require assistance from Mom. I think this was Jonathan's first pinata. He will do better next time.

Fabby is too adorable to be much threat to a pinata.

Josie was so quick that the only pictures I got of her are blurred.

Gabby could take flight with this leap!

Olivia is getting good at whacking the pinata.

Then comes the strong big boys. Mario had to be stopped in his attempt to demolish the pinata so that others could possible get a turn.

Brianna barely got a turn in and then Bianca got the pinata to spill it's guts. Bianca was so quick that I didn't even get a picture and her poor brother did not get a turn at all.