there was this one time...

photos

so i was in the middle of major scrap productivity yesterday and didn't want to get sucked into the computer. sorry auts. :)
here they are!

everyday we had different people come visit us. it was so nice to have everyone there! i love the kitchen and the eat in area. i love the big windows that look out at the ocean. i love that elsie will keep her hat and sunglasses on. i love bonfires and smores!

i love falling asleep and waking to the sound of the ocean right outside the balcony. i love the kids playing outside for hours. i love barbecuing!

love that we did this so late in august-- that school starts next tues-- and that it was the perfect way to end our summer.

home

after a glorious stay at the beach...summer is officially over....more pics later today.
:)

digging

for things to blog about. i've been hoarding pics and stories to scrap. and just feeling blah about the blog in general. here's one- the girls had a playdate yesterday. look how cute they are in their matching babystyle (eeek as i went to link that, i saw that the sale is now to 50% off!)

yeah so i am a total onesie mom. i pretty much leave elsie in her onesie from bedtime unless she drools too much or has an accident... then i put her in another onesie. i looked at her closet full of pretty dresses and decided everytime we go out she will wear a dress. she already does for church, but thought i would go ahead and include trips to the PO and grocery store too. this is what she thinks about the dresses:

and 2 weeks from today... at THIS exact time of the day....

my 3 goobs will be in school.(minus the mohawk!) AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! does it sound like i am sad about that or very excited? it's very weird because this was to be the time where i would be alone.. maybe get a parttime job or something.. the first time in 11 years to have some me time 5 days a week... but noooo... hello elsie. :) just kidding. i'm very excited to have some alone time with her...but i think she's going to miss the entertainment the big kids provide. :(

monday stuff

chris and i went out on sat night and we saw this really funny movie. i love it when he takes me to see something that i have no clue about and i walk out of the theatre looooving it. i also love dates... and we've been understandably deprived lately.

this is where my camera was left during those first few days of vacation:

sundance. no, i didn't get to go. went through his pics for him today though and he got some good ones. so proud of him! :)

last week we were seeing lots of this:

it seems in just a few days, she is really getting the hang of it. now, she can sit up for a lot longer. neat!

i know that many of my pics might look the same.. but i can totally see a difference.. a little change of expression, a different spark in her eye, i see it... it's a whole new elsie. in this one, she's pursing her lips oh so cutely.

happy monday!

vacation one

i am so glad we decided to break up our vacations into 2 smaller ones this summer. now that this one is over, we still have one more to look forward to! here's pics galore!

i couldn't resist superman in the phone booth!

waiting for everyone to wake up so he can swim:

kira did it! she taught cam how to swim!

and the last swim of the trip.. bright and early.. little elf came out to watch them

a pic of the 4 of em that i likey :)

and another attempt at a family picture by my friend. we got some cute ones- thanks, lisa! :)

just because

i think this is my very first post without a picture. :(
we are on a little vacation and i am camera-less. :(
chris meets us for the rest of the vacation tonight. :)
we get free internet in our hotel room. :)
i had a latte AND a dr. pepper tonight. :)
i love jenni and her kits.
it's almost midmonth at 2p's.
elsie is beginning to recognize her name. :)
i have been waking up in the morning to elsie scratching the mesh on the playpen. :)
kira is teaching cameron how to swim. :)
it is gorgeous where we are. :)
but i think i am allregic to the sun. is that possible? :(
i had some good times with my mom while we were here. :)

have a good week, people. :)

she found her thumb

and i just don't know how i feel about it. none of our other kids were thumbsuckers. she still prefers her 2 fingers but is slowly liking that thumb now too. i like that she knows how to soothe herself.  but..but...but.. i don't know. she's been a big sleepy head lately.. i think she's having a growth spurt!
for jen, a bigger profile pic:

taken by my sweet SIL. i think this is our 2nd pic of us where we are all together! we always have one person missing. (look how wittle elsie is there!)

and proof that after 11 hours of sleep, you can wake up beautiful!

la-dee-dah

summer's coming to an end and i find myself relishing in the long days with nothing on our plates. :)

THIS TV SHOW has us hooked!!! it started with one dvd, then another... and then lots of episodes bought on itunes. the kids whipped through the first ones and then they started watching on my computer. and as i scrapped with them right next to me, i found myself looking up from what i was doing and then just watching along...and now we all look forward to them. 

elsie's new thing. this is the chin face she makes when she wants to eat something... like the blue hanging toy... :) or any type of food or drink we put to our mouths.

gorgeous weather here in so cal lately. loving the mid 70's - 80's. but i know that another heat wave is on it's way so i'm not getting too cozy. but so nice to go to the beach without having to haul all the beach gear.. but to just hang. look at that little soon-to-be-kindergarten stud... learned how to pump his legs on the swing AND do the monkey bars within days... it just came out of nowhere. SO stinkin proud. :)

and the cam bam. so strong... so into his video games...specifically the whole thing of trading them for used ones.... it's like a whole system... never buy new games again! haha... everyday it's "what can i do to earn me a trip to blockbuster?" :)

ok, last one...since who knows when i will update again. we're going on a few mini vacations soon. :)

him & her

we have always noticed similarities in elsie and cam when he was a baby. we knew that they looked alike, and every now and then we would come across pictures that totally supported it. we found this one last night. it was hard to find one of elsie with that same sort of face, sorry for the poor pic of her.

they are both almost 5 months here. she has bigger eyes, he has bigger cheeks. she has longer hair. he sat up unassisted. they both drool/drooled alot.
and here's another:

ignore handsome caleb- we are looking at elsie laughing and cameron laughing on the right. i think cam was older than 5 months here (if i had been scrapbooking at that time, i would have known that right?!) again, longer hair on els but same gummy smile with the same lips, same skin color and same eyes and eyebrows.
besides physical features, they have sorta the same personality too. both introverts, quiet, content. that's one of the great things about having so many kids... :) .... you can see where they are similar and different... and i just find that fascinating.