Indoor Camping

This summer we are wanting to go camping again. The thing is last summer we rented a "rustic cabin" up at Mono Hot Springs. This year we want to tent. The girls have never been in a tent before, so to let them try it out, we (my sis Kim and I) put up one of Kim's tents in our living room. Talk about an adventure! The kids were stoked!
Kim went over the rules (no leaning on the tent, no in and out, no sand, etc. ). Well this took place when we had that little heat wave in the second week of May. Once they all got in the tent, it was so hot and sticky that we had a fan blowing on them and opened up all the screens. We let them watch a little video before bed and then Kamryn read a bible story. Ty and Tessa ended up back in their own beds, but the other girls stayed in the tent all night. In the end, they decided the liked the cabin better...we'll see!

Dessert Nite

I have been reading a book by Linda J. Eyre, "A Joyful Mother of Children: The Magic and Mayhem of Motherhood." I have gotten so much from this mother of 9!! I decided to put into practice one of the ideas she had about being flexible and spontaneous. In our family we have 2 nights that we call 'Dessert Nite', Tuesdays and Saturdays (to cut down on all the "can I have dessert?"..or "what's for dessert?" whailing"). I got all the kids into their pjs, Kim's kids included (my mom watches them on Tuesday nights) and we piled into the van. I told them we were running an errand and they were all clueless until we pulled into McDonalds and then we heard all the shreeks and screams!!! "Ice Cream ONLY!" I said.
It was quite a sight with all of them at the table licking thier cones,slippers and all. Unfortunately I forgot my camera...so that moment will be captured in my memory for now. The kids thought it was the absolute best! Way to go Mom! I can still have fun!

Family Nite Out

Since our anniversary trip, Chris and I decided to begin living a more active lifestyle. So we decided to start having a weekly family night of activity. This week we went to the Fresno Christian tennis court and played for about an hour. Kamryn really took to tennis. She could swing and hit the ball over the net on the first try. She loved it and was very patient. Soon, Chris took over with her running drills and doing suicides. I went with Addi and after trying a few different techniques, she began hitting the ball well too. Tessa was our little ball catcher, and patiently walked around the court picking up balls. She was great!
As we were leaving, the girls were both asking when we could come back and hit some more balls. Hmmm...I think we are on to something!

Then after our tennis workout, Daddy took Tessa and got her aquainted with the weight room. Daddy doesn't fool around. He's starting them early!

Then Chris took the two girls to a Fresno State softball game...the had a great time on thier date with Daddy. Way to go Daddy!

Happy Anniversary to us!

Chris and I just celebrated our 9th anniversary! It so wierd to think that we've been together that long. Time has flown by and we looked back on our 9 years with wonder and laughter over what we've experienced, done, and learned about each other.

We had the opportunity to stay at a house in Pismo Beach for two nights. It was such a treat to have two whole days to ourselves. Chris had it in his head that this would be an 'active' retreat for us. After having learned in my women's bible study that it is very important for men to be able to 'play' with thier wives...I was all for it! We did so much, we played golf, tennis, hiked, and took long walks to the beach. It was so wonderful to talk (uninterupted) and dream together; something we never feel able to do. Chris was so wonderful, making a conserted effort to focus on us and the present moment, instead of every deadline he had the following week, and all the calls he had to make.

On our way home on Sunday we scheduled a tour of Hearst Castle. I had never been there and it had been 20 years since Chris has visited. What a treat! A beautiful castle, and a definite must see if any of you visit the coast. We are already planning our next tour.

Kamryn's 1st Karate Tournament

Kamryn had her first Karate Tournament last Saturday in Madera. What an event! About 100 kids from 3 years old til 18 competing for medals. Plus all thier mom's and dad's, grammas and grampas watching. The room (yes, I said ROOM) was packed!

Kamryn competed in 3 divisions: Forms, Self-defense (in the air), and Freestyle Self-defense. It was quite nerve wracking for these little kids to get up infront of all these people and introduce themselves and perform moves they had memorized. We were very proud of Kamryn. She did very well and barely showed her nerves. She earned a silver medal in Forms, a gold medal in Self-defense, and a bronze in Freestyle. We realize with this age, it isn't about getting the GOLD, it's about getting a medal and Kamryn's response was, "Wow, I've got a silver and a gold, now all I need is a bronze!" And wouldn't you know it, that was exactly what her last medal was! It was a long day, but really rewarding.

Sisters

The weather has been so great lately. On Saturday's mom and dad usually work in the yard and the kids like to run around in the front yard. This day, the girls decided to help Gramma out with watering the flowers, and planting some new ones.

One thing that I appreciate so much about having 3 girls is the way they play together. I am so enjoying this stage in life and catch glimpses of the bond these girls are making everyday.

Our days of play

Because we live in such a community-type setting with my folks and Kim and Dave right next door, all the kids are growing up more like siblings then anything. I watch Ty 3 days/week and we definitely have many memorable moments. Here is a few recently:

Addi had a wonderful imagination. On this day she was taking her 3 bears to the beach. As you can see, she dressed each one up in Tessa's clothes to suit; Daddy, Mommy and Baby Bear.

Ty and Tessa also got in the dressup act, as a prince and a pricess...I have to say that this was all thier idea. I didn't even help them get into the outfits...with Addi's help, they were all into character.

Next: Tea Time!

Helping mommy bake cookies...

On this day a little friend, Alexa joined our gang for a few hours.

Just think! 3 days a week of this...there will always be more to share :)

Easter Day

He is Risen!

He is Risen Indeed!

The kids were so amped up to have an easter egg hunt this year that they practiced a week ahead of time. Once the day had come, they knew all the good hiding spots and succeeded in finding all kinds of eggs. The crazy thing is, in this picture the kids are in sweaters and jackets, but a week later, my two girls were running through the sprinklers the day before easter! It was a warm and beautiful weekend!

We painted eggs the night before all in preparation for Sunday. Kim had crafts ready to make and I got the dye ready for the boiled eggs.

Then that night I braided the girls' hair for Sunday morning, so it was all crimped (I'm having a flashback to the 80's!).

My mom is the drama director at thier church, Central Community Church, and so we attended her Easter play (which was phenominal!). The girls got dressed up in their easter dresses (from a wedding they were in last November) and we took lots of pictures! Here are a few...

Showing off the new easter shoes...

We hosted at our house this year and it is a perfect location for all the activities cuz our house is next door to Kim and Dave's, so we just knocked down the fence and we have one huge yard! We had my in-laws, Gary & Cindy Schultz, my nephew Devon, my brother Jason and his wife Leah with thier two boys Dylan and Shepard, Kim and Dave and thier two kids Emma and Ty, Dave's mom Cindy, and then there was our family of 5. So it was a packed house! We had plenty of good food and lots of easter eggs to go around.

Later we went to our church, The Well Community Church, for a service and BBQ/easter egg hunt. Too bad I forgot my camera.

Though it was an incredible day of activity, the reason for the celebration was not lost. Christ came to this earth, lived a perfect life and died on the cross for our sins...and rose again on the 3rd day! What a reason to celebrate!

Kamryn Continues to Improve!

We are proud to celebrate that Kamryn received her 3rd stripe on her white belt (last month!). She is continuing to enjoy learning new moves at Fresno Kenpo Karate. She is currently preparing for her 1st tournament on the 26th. They are teaching her how to sparr and defend herself when she is attacked! At first she was scared to punch her instructor, but she is slowly gaining courage and we are so proud of her. She still has her days where she isn't keen on going to class, but overall, her attitude is really improving and we see some encouraging changes in her energy level and personal outlook since beginning karate.

Watcha Doin' Grampa?

Grampa was working on his car the other day and the girls got curious. Tessa kept asking, "Doing Gampa?" It was all so cute. They kept following him around ask asking questions. Tho he Dad may have been annoyed with them underfoot, he sure didn't show it. He was a great sport. Tessa found out what a 'washer' was and found a bunch of pennies in Grampa's shop. As they looked under the car the asked, "is it scary under there Grampa?" It was cute to see her peering under the car with wide eyes!

Helping Out

The other day we decided to spend some time playing outside. It was a beautiful day to swing, play tag, explore and dig in the dirt. Tessa helped me out with a little weeding and in the process we found some pretty interesting creatures. Tessa and Ty were checking out the slug we found and were both scared to touch the worm. It was fun to explore the backyard, and Addi found the beauty in it all :)

It was such a beautiful day we ended up having a picnic for lunch afterwards. What a fun day!