S-U-M-M-E-R

FOLKS, THIS IS WHAT SUMMER LOOKS LIKE!


Andrew with his cousin Honor in a pool in a pool.


Caleb's in the air cannonball!


No Dennis, you can't drink the water!


Caleb is the poster child for summer-----sun bleached hair sportin' a dark bronze tan.


Julia is keeping cool!


Annalyn and Honor floating around.


I'm sure that Caleb wishes that the pool was empty.


Awwwe, this is the life!


Wow!!!!!! Look at Sveta fly!


Daddy is throwing Annalyn way up high!


Will John make it? That is the question!

A week in summer

Our summer is wrapping up already. My kids got the short end of the stick as far as the length of their summer vacation that's for sure. They got out late at their old school and they are starting early at their new school. Ahhhhh, but you won't hear me complaining. :)

School shopping is about done, haircuts too, and we don't have anything major planned for the rest of this summer.

We are planning on just hanging out here at home for the rest of summer.

Here's some pictures from this week.


Note---- the big bandaid on Dennis' two fingers. I started out putting on a small bandaid to try to get him to stop sucking his finger but since he could still feel his finger if he stuck it in his mouth it was like torture for him. He reminded me of a hardcore alcoholic going cold turkey--- poor little guy was a bear. I felt that it wasn't the right time so I gave him two more days of sucking including the day we went to Magic Mountain. Sunday morning I put on a big bandaid like this and he has been fine ever since. When I went to change it this afternoon I kept it off for a while to see if he would go back to sucking it and he didn't. But just to be on the safe side, I will keep one on him for a couple more days. Why, you may be asking, am I trying to break him so soon? Well, he has his consult up at Children's Hospital on Aug 5th and they will most likely schedule his first surgery for August to close up his cleft palate. I don't think he will be able to suck on his finger then, and I surely don't want him to go through this weaning process while also healing from mouth surgery. Besides, this is the best age to stop thumb/finger sucking because they are young enough to not mess with the bandaid. I stopped Jonny's thumb sucking just like this.

Andrew misplaced his swim trunks----- so he swam in his underwear today.

Dennis loves ice. Anna loves to feed Dennis. She shares everything with him. I guess you can say they are perfect for each other!

Dennis is still on the skinny side, but we are all noticing some extra chunkiness on him. He is definitely heavier, and at least his swim trunks aren't around his ankles like they were last week.


Anna is a little ticked off here. Her big sister Rachel pushed her in the pool.

I just love this pic!

Another Dennis Video

Doesn't he fit right in?

I thought it was appropriate to make a video of Dennis now that he is home.

Memories at Magic Mountain!

Yesterday our whole family went to Magic Mountain compliments of John's work. It was a much anticipated trip since the first one was canceled back in June. As usual, our family wore the same color------ I chose brown since most of already had shirts that were that color.

We got up at 6:00 am to catch a charter bus at John's work by 7:30 am.

The cool mom that I am served Pop Tarts for breakfast--- strawberry ones, chocolate fudge ones, brown sugar and cinnamon ones--- you name it, the kids got to pick their favorite flavor.

Here we are on our way to John's work. The only one who you can't see very well is Anna who is just a bump behind Caleb's head.

The kids were so excited to go on the Charter bus. I even brought a movie for all of us to watch.

You'll see alot of shots like this------ John tends to forget to pick up the camera and snap a pic of me here and there----- completely opposite of me. :)

The crew


Andrew and Annalyn got a picture with Tweety. I love how Annalyn's face is lit up in this shot.


Dennis rode the Carousal with all of us. I'm not sure what he thought of it.




Yes, that's me and Sveta riding Tatsu! I had to drag Sveta on the ride (she had tears) but I knew that once she rode it, she would love it and want to go on all the other coasters. Glad I was right about her loving the ride..... as for me I had enough after the one.


I took a bunch of kids on the SwashBuckler while the taller/older kids rode the roller coasters. Can you believe that we couldn't ride like this because of their five to a bench rule? Oh well, Caleb and Annalyn got to move to the very back which made them happy!

Sveta with Porky and Petunia. I just love the name Petunia. :)

Annalyn had this teacup spinning very fast. I'm sure glad that no one got motion sick.


Dennis was so good on this trip. Even though it was hot and he was sweaty, he hardly cried and happily stayed in our arms or in the stroller. Here we are waiting to ride the Log Jammer. I think the highlight of my trip was watching Dennis' face when we went down the long drop at the end. His good eye was as wide open as his other eye--- his expression was priceless. I think he would have probably cried had he not been in Daddy's arms.


I guess this is what I will be looking at for real in 6 to 10 years. :)


Dennis and Daddy



Here is John with all of the kids except Dennis. The got soaking wet! I got to switch with John right after their ride was over and I too got completely soaked from head to toe. The water kept us cool and I was dry within three hours.


William with FogHorn. I love his smile!

Anna loved all the characters! Dennis on the other hand wasn't so sure.


We left the park at 9:30 pm. We got home around 12:30am. Needless to say, we missed church this morning because we slept in until after 9:00am. It was so nice, but I bet you that won't happen again this summer.

Swinging High!!!!!!!

These guys love to have fun! When Andrew and Jonny saw the sprinklers come on, they rushed to put their swim trunks on so that they could swing in the rain!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today we celebrated John's Dad's birthday. I started with one candle in the middle, but Adam wanted to make things a bit challenging for his ol' Grandpa so he placed an additional four candles in each corner of the cake.

I think Dennis likes birthday parties! Why wouldn't he????? He got a nice big bowl of ice-cream. Yum!!!!

After I was done chopping up red onion for the homemade salsa, I later found Andrew holding the remaining onion chunk up to his face. When I asked what he was doing, he answered, "I'm trying to make my eyes cry by breathing in the onion."

Dennis continues to adjust well. He now sits on my lap for 10 minute stretches without trying to get down. I figure he has explored his immediate surroundings enough already and is realizing that snuggling with Mama is pretty nice after all.

My other children continue to amaze me at how great they are with Dennis. Each and every one of them gets pleasure from trying to make their baby brother laugh.

Here is William and Andrew making funny faces and noises. Dennis is just eating up the attention.

A new school

Our kids will be attending a new school this year. It is a bit scary when you think about it. We had all come to love the old school my kid's attended.... and now we are all starting over. We had all the kids at a K-8 school last year and now my older boys will be attending a junior high (yikes!) I had established wonderful relationships with all of the teachers at their old school and my children that needed it had wonderful IEP's in place. Now everything will be different.

I must say that while I was a bit intimidated by this new school district, I do feel that they are trying hard to accommodate our family. At first they said that some of my kids would be going to an overflow school, but now it looks like they will all be together. I hand delivered my kids' IEPS and they were happy to introduce me to the Speech teacher and one of the RSP teachers. Jonny will be going to all-day kindergarten....... something new. I do hope that Jonny will be up for such a long day.

Since this is the first time that we have ever moved I am not sure what to expect. At first, my kids were upset that they would have to leave all of their friends, but have since decided to look at this move as an opportunity to witness to a whole new group of kids and make new friends. They are truly excited.........they ask me to drive them by their new schools at least once a week.

I so hope that they will adjust to their new environment. I so hope that they will not be tempted to do things that go against what we have taught them just so that they could try to fit in. Being a kid has so much peer pressure as it is and having to deal with the stress of attending a new school on top of things will not make it any easier.

I share these things because while I feel that have a good relationship with my kids, I still wonder if I am a good enough mother to detect when one of my kids is having a hard time adjusting to their new school.

No matter how big my lack of confidence in myself in determining when one of my kids may be having trouble adjusting, I cling to the fact that God will hold each of our hands as we walk on this new journey together. I pray that my children will remember to cling to his hand when they are scared or nervous.

Lots of Boxes

Who knew that boxes of cereal and pasta could be so much fun?

Dennis loved his first trip to the grocery store. He did great in my kangaroo pouch. Did not want him chewing on the handle of the cart or holding onto it and then later rubbing all those germs into his eye.

It was Annalyn's idea to build this cereal box castle. Can't you tell how proud they are?!!!!

Our new home

Some of you have been so observant. Yes, we have moved.

15 Grandchildren

There are fifteen grandchildren on John's side of the family------ 11 being from us. :) And they were all together yesterday. It was such a nice afternoon visiting with all the family.



Here is a group shot of everyone minus John's second brother, his wife and their two kids.