Cameron's Future

Cameron played his first arcade racing game this weekend. He had a great time. Such a great time that I think it was the inspiration of our conversation as I was putting him to bed.

*******

Cam: Mom, when I grow up to be a mom...

Me: You mean when you grow up to be a dad.

Cam: Yeah yeah. When I, when I, when I grow up to be a dad.... (Light bulb goes off in his head)
Do I get to drive the car?!!!! (because when we all go somewhere Eric drives.)

Me: Sure you can drive the car when you are a dad.

{He is so excited at this point I can just see his little mind envisioning the wild racing he had done a few hours ago.}

Me: How many kids are you going to have?

Cam: Four, in the back.

(pointing his thumb back as if he was sitting in the drivers seat and gesturing to his kids in the back)

Me: {Trying to figure out how to ask him about his wife, but not sure he knows what one is}

So is there going to be a mom?

Cam:Yeah, yeah you will sit in the front seat by me!

(awww, melt my heart)

*******

So there you have it.

My little man can't wait to be a dad with four kids driving the minivan.

HIS Dad sure has the life!

1st Place!

A few weekends ago Natalie's soccer team competed in their first tournament.

They played so well and had their toughest competition of the season.

The took first place in their age division and maintain their winning streak.

Gooooo Red Flames!

Some Summer Fun

The kids loved jumping on the tramp with the sprinkle under it. One day our neighbor girl brought all her pool toys which made the whole thing even more exciting. I think only one toy didn't make it though the kids jumping, surfing and sliding.

I think Cam felt safer on the grass.

The girls also set up a lemonade stand on the corner with the neighbor. They had a ton of fun waving cars down.

Cameron, Avery and I walked down to check out the sales. Over all they did pretty well and after raking in the money the girls wanted to do the stand EvErYDaY! But we didn't. Cause I'm no fun. So Cameron would say, "You are not invited to my birthday party!" A pharse he likes to throw at you when you don't give him what he wants.

Enjoying some delish Popsicles from Grandpa. On our deflated pool. With plywood in the background. And a broken screen door. Yeah, our neighbors our jealous.

Maybe I will get around to posting the oh so fun project that the plywood was for.

Skinny Jeans

Skinny jeans are all the rage these days. You can even get them with zippers. Quite the flashback to elementary school. Ahhh, almost nothing I wanted more then pink Guess jeans with zippers in the back. Well, my super nice neighbor gave us some clothes that her daughter had grown out of. In the bag were a cute pair of gap skinny jeans in great condition. I had Natalie try them on and they looked so cute! Her response to my enthusiasm was, "I don't like skinny jeans! I want fat jeans!" I was a little unsure what "fat jeans" were so I asked her. The response, "Like your jeans." Hmmm. Fat jeans = mom's jeans. After thinking how that made me feel I informed her that the word she was looking for was bootcut.

Avery's Blessing

We blessed our newest addition a while back and I am finally getting around to putting it up. Avery is such a sweet baby and we love her to pieces. Eric gave her a sweet blessing that was maybe cut short because she started crying. Really loudly.
She wore the blessing dress that all of my kids, myself and all of my siblings wore. All of my girls wore the cute flower headband. I think it may have been a bit stretched out since it kept falling down and looks more like she is wearing a sweatband in most of the pictures. The blanket was one that my Grandma bought for Natalie and all of the kids have used it the day they were blessed. It made me miss her.

Ella's Future

I think when Ella grows up she may have a chance to be on TV. Unfortunately I think it would be on the show Hoarders.
Here is a shot of her bed. Periodically I have to go through her stuff and take out things I don't think she will notice are gone. This girl like to keep EvErYtHiNg!
Lets say I check the mail and there happens to be a Toys R US ad in there or American Girl catalog, or coupons in the form of post cards, or, well you get the idea. Well for sure Ella will want to look at them. And then after looking at it she will need to tuck it away in one of her bags, purses or lunchboxes.
Or maybe she gets invited to a birthday party. Gotta save that invitation for the next 6 months. I also think she has about 6 blankets on her bed. Oh she wanted more but I had to draw the line somewhere. And really can you ever have too many dolls, stuffed animals, pillows, toys or pictures of Hello Kitty?

The First Child

Natalie in many ways tests me and teaches me. I often feel bad for all the "learning" and "trial and error" that I have to do with her. She is very skilled and figuring out what bothers her younger sister and brother and sees how far she can get with it. But every now and then she will do something really sweet for them.

Today she gave Ella the last half of her popsicle because Ella had chosen the cookie and after it was gone felt a little bummed that Natalie still had her treat.

She helped Cameron down off the counter and got him some milk since I was feeding Avery.

For the most part she can be trusted to hold Avery when there is something I have to see to (Cameron screaming from the bathroom "Mooooom, I'm DONE!!!").

On these occasions I think she really likes being the oldest one that can do more than the others, but there are also the times when I think she wishes she wasn't.

Like the time when she said, "Mom, when we have the next baby.." and I quickly interrupt,

"Oh there is no next baby."

"But Mom why not?"

"Because I think 4 is enough. When you are a mom if you want you can have 5 babies."

"No, I think I'll just have one."

"One? Don't you think they would be lonely?"

"I'll get them a dog."

or the time she said,

"I wish I was a baby. Everyone adores babies. I just want people to adore me!"

I love how Avery is holding on to Natalie's shirt. SOOOOO sweet.