Do you see what I see?

Is it really that much more difficult to place the dirty clothes IN the hamper? This is one of my biggest pet peeves! Not just missing the hamper, but socks EVERYWHERE. If you're a grown person and someone does your laundry for you don't you think you could at least put it where it goes instead of next to where it goes?????

What a week!

Please tell me there's a point (or a few points) in every mother's life that she feels like her children are going to be quite literally the death of her?!
On the other hand, I know most moms would say that their children are what make life worth living. But sheesh! Who knew so much trouble came in such little packages?

The countdown has begun.

Yes, I am a dork that loves Twilight. I'm looking forward to the 2nd movie being released in exactly one month! Looks goooooood...

Go Kickin' Pixies!

This is Mia's third year playing soccer in AYSO and she loves it. Her team name is the Kickin' Pixies ,and they are NEON green. She has never been a cute girlie color. I did the hair ribbons (patting self on back here) and it was really hard to find their color. The only thing Mia doesn't like about soccer is when it's her turn to sit out! If they have a full team each girl has to sit out one quarter. She doesn't realize yet how sitting out actually helps her rest and be a better player. She has a great team, there are three girls from her school and one girl from church, so she has lots of friends which is a big improvement from last year. They don't play on a full sized field, but it's a good size and I can say I would probably be doubled over gasping for air after one maybe two quarters if I had to sprint up and down they way they do. It makes me keep my mouth shut when it's the last quarter and I'm irritated that they're all walking. The games are so fun to watch especially because I know how much Mia's enjoying herself. She says she wants to play all the way to college, so we'll see, but for now it's 2, 4, 6, 8, who do we appreciate...Kiiiiiiickin' Pixies! My attempts at an action shot have not yet been successful, so hopefully I'll have one before the season's over.

Waiting for the game to start.


Lucky #7


Showing off my hair ties.


Isn't that banner cute?!

To four or not to four? That is the question.

I love my family. I love the dynamics. I love having one little girl to do girly things with while my two boys can hang out together. Three kids really suits me. I've moved passed the baby stage, I have no bottles or diapers. Everyone walks and talks and can sit through a movie. I'm looking forward to moving on to the stage where they are all in school and become more independent.
Aaron is convinced however that we need one more. He wants four kids! He was the one who before we had kids only wanted two and I talked him into three because two wasn't enough for me. Oh how the tables have turned!
I have this hanging over my head on a daily basis. There always seems to be some comment or suggestion about four. It's funny getting other people's reactions because some don't bat an eye when I say Aaron wants another. I was talking to a mother whose child is in my preschool class and she is pregnant with her 4th, I told her my husband wanted 4, but three is all I could handle and she just said "Four is no big deal, we're planning one more after this THEN we'll be done." She's not mormon or catholic either! Five kids has always been her ideal family. Then there's the flip side with people who have one or two and already think three kids is a big family and you mention that someone wants one more and they act like you're just insane. The only comments that bother me are the ones who say "you have too many already" or "you can't afford that" how do they know?! Those comments make me want one more just to spite them. That's dumb, I know, but I'm just being honest!
I'm happy with three, so how do you make this decision? If one spouse thinks one thing is right for your family and the other thinks another, how do you compromise? All I do know is that I cherish my kids, I can manage the challenges they present and I am content with the family I have, but since Aaron can't say the same it makes it seem uneven. I'm happy with 3 and wouldn't even be having this "blogversation" if it weren't for my stinking husband. Why didn't anyone ever tell me life isn't easy?!

Weekend Getaway

I love a three day weekend! I only work Mon-Thur. so most would say I have a three day weekend every week, but Mia still has school on Fridays so I still have to get up and get everyone out of the house by 8:15am. However this past Friday was a teacher in-service day (I love those!) so we decided to get out of town. We kept it close to home and went to Monterey Bay, less than two hours away. Friday, we started out at the beach, then took a dip in the hotel pool. By the time we had gotten out and dried off Aaron met up with us. He still had to work and made the drive down in the afternoon. We all went to an awesome park, if you're ever in Monterey you should check it out, it's the Dennis the Menace Park. We had a fun dinner at Bubba Gump's and a good night's sleep for a busy Saturday. The kids insisted that they swim as soon as the pool opened at 9am since we weren't leaving for the aquarium until 10.
The Dennis the Menace park is full of fun!

Real trains to explore.

Tunnels to hide in.

Roller slides for thrills.

A hedge maze for adventures.


A waterway for paddle boating and duck feeding.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium was great! This aquarium has it all. Octopus, sea otters, sharks, rays, starfish for touching, tunas, jellyfish and more! They have a wonderful exhibit on sea horses that was really interesting. My favorite thing there is the jellyfish. I could just sit in that dark room and watch them float through the water all day, it's mesmerizing. One thing that wasn't so great was Noah. We didn't bring the stroller because we figured he'd be running all over the place and we'd get stuck pushing an empty stroller. Not so. He wanted to be carried everywhere. He's getting pretty heavy and when we'd try and be tough on him and say we weren't going to hold him he would just scream and cry and lay on the floor. So Aaron and I were pretty tired after carrying him around all day. We fueled up at the aquarium cafe, which was pretty good and then we made the drive home. It was nice to be able to get away, but then be home and relax Saturday night. We put the kids to bed early and watched a movie (Miracle at St. Anna-it was bad) and went to bed pretty early ourselves. Now if I could just convince myself I'll be ready for work tomorrow.
The Secret Lives of Seahorses exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Seaweed or seadragon???

8 thumbs up for seahorses.

Sea otters waiting for some grub.

Sorry it's dark, but you couldn't flash the great white shark!

The fantastical jellyfish.

The Shong family, happy as clams or is it an oyster?