More outside fun

Well in addition to the water shooters mentioned in the blog below, the kids had a great time running and playing yesterday. The weather around here has been just gorgeous, and we've been soaking up the sun. Artimus broke out his motorcycle, which always brings squeals of delight... not only from him... the kids too!
Here are some photos of us just playing. Oh, and just so you guys don't freak out quite so much, the kids don't go past our street (which is very short) when going for bike rides with daddy... they're in my sight the whole time, and they don't go too fast... but man, they sure have fun!!!

Squirt gun fun

Art and I had a lovely date yesterday, (for any of you who care, the new Star Trek movie ROCKED!!!), and while we were out playing, the kids had a date with grandpa. At their adventure at the park, there was a boy who had a "water shooter", as Serayah says. Man, was she impressed! So that led to a trip to the store to get water shooters of their very own. Fortunately, Grandpa is a smart guy, and bought 4 so Mommy and Daddy wouldn't be outgunned (groan). Here are some pics from them having fun yesterday.

Random pics

Here are a few pictures I snapped of the kids while they were playing out in the yard yesterday. Enjoy!

Serayah's first soccer game!

Today was Serayah's first soccer game. She did great!!!! She still doesn't really understand all the rules, and was devastated when the whistle blew 'cause she had tried to pick up the ball. It took a lot of hugs and kisses before she would go back in the game because she thought she was in trouble (which made me so sad!). Anyway, back in the game she went, and ended up scoring one goal on her own and scoring another with a teammate. The weather gods weren't with us, and it was windy and cold, but I'm pretty sure that fun was had by all. I had so much fun watching our little girl... I wish you all could have been there. It was wonderful. Enjoy the pics!

Note the tounge hanging out... that's determination!

Choo Choo Cam

We've got a great friend who lives in Oregon named Sarah. She's got two great boys, ages 7 and 5, and they were at one time obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine. As things go, the Thomas has been replaced by Nintendo DS. Because of this, we were able to score an amazing deal on all of their old Thomas stuff. When my dad came this week, he brought a train table, more track than we know what to do with, and engines, cars, and planes... oh my! To say that Cam was excited is the understatement of the year. Yeah... it was great to see grandpa, but as soon as the Thomas stuff was uncovered, that was it. He didn't want to eat, go outside, take a bath... he just wanted his trains! Here are a couple of pictures I snapped the other day... they're not that great, but you can get the idea.

OK... I'm officially a soccer mom.

So, Serayah had her very first soccer practice today. I don't know how naturally talented she is, but what she may lack in talent, she more than makes up for with enthusiasm! She had so much fun, and actually did a great job of listening to Coach Brian give directions. When it was time to run, let me tell you... she RAN! The team has either 6 or 7 kids, ages 4-5, and Serayah's the tallest (go Neiss genes!). Coach Brian used to be our next-door neighbor, and two of his kids, Maddie and Garrett, are on the team with Serayah, so not only did she get to play with them, she made new boy-friends, and loved it. Her first game is this Saturday, so you can be sure that I'll be taking pictures and posting all about it.

Cam and Daddy played at the playground for most of the practice, but when they came over, Cam was trying to get in on the action...

Hope you enjoy the pictures, we sure had a great time!

Bubbles bubbles everywhere!

Well, "It's a beautiful day to play outside" as Serayah told me, so the kids had lots of fun blowing bubbles in the backyard... here are a few quick pics I snapped of them having fun. Enjoy!

Child Q&A

Hi everyone... So my friend Dede posted this (or a variation) on her blog, with a request from other mommies to do to the same. I'd done this on Facebook a few weeks ago, so here's my Q&A session w/ Serayah from then.. I re-asked some of the questions and got some different responses, and posted them... some of them were too funny to ask again (the dishwasher response is my favorite!). Any of you other mommies should do this too... It sure made me happy to hear Serayah's answers, and I'd love to read any of the responses you get from your own children...

Enjoy!

1. What is something Mom always says to you? I love you, and I love you so much
2. What makes Mom happy? Um... cleaning up... so put clean up there
3. What makes Mom sad? Um.. like throwing tantrums... so put that on there
4. How does your Mom make you laugh? Because you laugh and giggle and tickle me!
5. What was your Mom like as a child? Um... you liked to ride your bike.
6. How old is your Mom? Ummm. 29? (I love my kid)
7. How tall is your Mom? (I'm 5 foot 3 1/2) Umm (I'm sitting down, she puts her hand up to my head and says) You're this tall
8. What is her favorite thing to do? To take pictures... you love taking pictures, Momma
9. What does your Mom do when you're not around? You will be sad
10. If your Mom becomes famous, what will it be for? Bowling ?Didn't really get this one...
11. What is your Mom really good at? Good at playing games, like hopscotch and pencil and chalk games
12. What is your Mom not very good at? Umm... Ummm... (never got an answer...I'm great at everything, don't you know)
13. What does your Mom do for her job? Your job is to vacuum and give Cam spankings (great)
14. What is your Mom's favorite food? Chinese! It's very tasty. (huh?)
15. What makes you proud of your Mom? Like when you put everything in the dishwasher.
16. If your Mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? You can be Tom, and Cam can be Jerry
17. What do you and your Mom do together? Go on dates and play games
18. How are you and your Mom the same? You're a momma, and I'll be a momma when I get big
19. How are you and your Mom different? Because I'm Serayah and I'm 4, and you're bigger. But Daddy's the tallest.
20. How do you know your Mom loves you? Because you're my mom, and I'm your little girl! (Ah... if it were only that simple)
21. Where is your Mom's favorite place to go? To Moab

Happy Easter

Hi everyone....
Here are a few pictures I took of the kids finding eggs in the backyard... Enjoy!

That's what I get for bragging..

I had said that we were so lucky. We'd escaped winter without 1 trip to the Dr.'s office. I was cocky... I shouldn't have been.

Serayah's had a very high off/on fever for over a week now, and we'd taken her to our doctor, who had said that it was viral and there wasn't really anything we could do. Well, a couple nights later, she woke up miserable and screaming w/ a temp of 104.3º at 2 in the morning, and I ended up taking her in. She'd developed a "horrendous" ear infection and bronchitis, which apparently are bacterial and can be treated w/ antibiotics, for which we got a prescription. She's feeling better now... fever's greatly reduced, and she's acting more like herself. Of course, now Cam's got a raging fever, and Art and I are getting sick. Sigh. It'll teach me to brag.

I hate it when my little ones are sick.. they don't understand what's wrong and just want to be cuddled and snuggled. I wish I could do more to help them, but all of you who've had kids know what I'm talking about.

I'm also posting a pic I took the other day of Cam and his daddy crashed after a long hide-and-seek session. I love my guys!

Pictures

I have some truly fabulous friends. Not only are they funny, warm, caring, a shoulder to wail on when your 2 year old is trying to destroy the house bit by bit, they are also insanely talented! I'm also smart (conniving?) enough to be able to count a massage therapist, fabulous stylist, and amazing photographer as dear friends.

While we were in Roseburg last week, my friend Sheila (http://www.sheilanielsenphoto.com/) took time out of her crazy life to truck out to a field and take our pictures. We had a great time, and her kiddos and ours (who get along like PB&J) had a blast playing and picking flowers. While we were playing, Sheila was just snapping away... I don't think anyone has ever had more fun getting family pictures done! I don't have the pictures yet, but I took the liberty of stealing these off of her blog, so you could get a sneak peek... Enjoy... we sure did! (and I've got to say that the one of Cam looking absolutely ornery is my favorite... We see that look a lot at our house!)

Happy St. Paddy's Day

I walked into my living room (conveniently carrying my camera, don't you know), and would you believe it? There were a couple of Leprechauns on my couch! The typically elusive little guys were able to be caught on camera, and I'm posting genuine proof of my sighting!

The next great photographer

Serayah took this tonight. All I did was crop it a tiny bit. I didn't think this was too bad for a 4 year old!