Jessie comes to town

This week has been a busy week. Aunt Jessie came to visit and Lexy! They both got in town Friday night and Saturday they headed down to Savannah. Sunday Lexy headed home and Jessie and I baked, Shaun made his delicious wings and we just hung out around the house. Monday we headed to Sullivan's Island for a little beach time and let the kids play in the tidal pools. Haddie and Ellie don't exactly play together as much as stand near each other and be okay with that. Its a huge improvement from the summer with Ellie and Finn. There were only a few crying incidents of "Haddie pulled my hair" but they were probably well deserved from Ellie stealing something from her or grabbing every toy possible before Haddie could get her hands on one. yeah Ellie's cool like that...

Here is proof that they actually DO like each other. we went to lunch at Magnolias and got some dessert at the BakeHouse.

The kids played in the fountain. It may seem WT but really that's what people do here.. maybe the south is a little ghetto, but its cool, who needs clothes? Ellie seriously ran around this fountain 50x. No joke, she was putting at the end but every time I told her to come out she'd go for a few more rounds. the water was coldish but she was loving it. Hence the arms up in pure excitement. Haddie on the other hand was fine without her clothes on but really didn't want to get wet. love pineapple park and the pier. it was a beautiful and warm day with hardly any humidity. love the fall here!

Aunt Jessie and Haddie walking the pier

This was Saturday. Shaun went to work and Lexy and Jessie went to Savannah so I took all 6 kids to the ward party. Partly because I didnt want to feed everyone lunch, or get my house messy. It worked out great!

Jessie will probably kill me for this picture but its the only one I have of them at the beach and really she looks good from front and back so she can't complain! it was so nice with the breeze and the warm ocean! who doesn't love a warm ocean and shallow water. its perfect for the kids.

Decker chilling at the beach. I don't mean to brag but I have some pretty good kids! lets just hope it doesn't come around later in their teenage years!

Ellie's wedgie. 'nough said.

Jessie left yesterday after a trip to Jim 'n Nicks for lunch. we love it when she visits. And hope she comes back soon! anyone else is welcome to come! we love to show off our town and pretend we are fun all the time!

Boone Hall Paddleboarding

We went paddleboarding/Kayaking Saturday with my neighbor and My friends Holly and Kacey. We went on the marsh behind boone hall plantation, It is so pretty! we thought we were going against the tide on the way out but it turns out we were going against the wind. so on the way back the wind switched and we were going against the tide and the wind. it was fun and it was a 2 hour adventure with beautiful scenery but man it was a constant workout. i kayaked the whole time and found it is much harder to Kayak! Holly was beat and we asked a passing jet skier to try and give us a ride. that didn't work out so well so we gave up and faced the fact that we had to do it on our own. we had fun and I would really love to own a paddleboard. But for now our kayaks are working just fine, especially when you have a friend who has 2! thanks Kacey!

two weeks in a row.. how many weeks does it take to form a habit?

 Ellis and her helmet, This week we have been oh so busy. Between soccer, homework, and piano we managed to order some helmets for the girls so we could go on a bike ride. Our bike rides entail me with Ellie on the back, Pulling Decker and Carter and the girls riding their own bike. We go for about 15 min and I'm done. usually so are the girls because its so hot and humid. Ellie has on Jordan's helmet in the picture but she LOVES bike rides, and she Hates clothes, so yes, she is naked in this picture, but super cute.

Jordan playing soccer. She is on a team of all boys and has to fight to get ball time. she has yet to score a goal but we've bribed her with ice cream so we expect it any day. Kailey scored her first goal last Friday and was so excited. She runs up and down the field with a HUGE smile on her face like on Christmas morning, no joke. the kid smiles huge while playing i love it. Carter yells and cheers for his sisters its almost embarrassing but its too funny. Ellie tries to cup her hand to yell, she seems me do it, but end up covering her mouth instead. I should get it on camera. These girls have a lot of fans on the sideline. Decker is usually crying seeing as he should be in bed for the night but we make him come. Hes not quite old enough to be left alone. but he is a perfect baby 94.5% of the time so hes got to act out sometime.

 Shaun and I went kayaking in the ocean last sat. it was a adventure... very windy and that makes for some tricky kayaking!

 Decker giving me a grouchy look because his food was all gone and the spoon wasn't cutting it.

When it rains it pour! It rained a few weeks back and flooded the neighborhood one night, this was during the day when they all played in the rain (note: Ellie still naked)

Carter is big on sunglasses. don't mind that these are Jordan's and are all jeweled out. He rocks it. at least they kept the sun out of his eyes

 Each week seems to be as busy as the next. Shaun has been working like a madman, but i think he likes it because he is actually working. I am teaching piano one day a week and this weekend we are on project "make fun backyard"- making a zip line and tether-ball (its all the rage in 3rd grade here)  AND aunt Jessie and Lexy come tonight! we can't wait!

El Bells

 a few random pictures taken over the last month. I am loving that I can download pictures from my phone to blog. I may actually get back into blogging???
   I have two artist in the family Ellie and Jordan. they will both sit for hours coloring. Ellie chooses to do so without clothes most of the time and tends to use her body as a canvass...

 She loves to eat. probably because whenever she acts out I hand her a cookie or something? Our grocery store has little carts and gives out free cookies. She is learning to eat and push the cart at the same time. its tricky business but it looks like shes mastering it quickly

 this is what she looks like when she doesn't get her way. I was probably trying to get her dressed? isnt she a pretty crier? i should let her cry more often hahah.

 another naked picture and guess what.. shes coloring! surprise!

 Playing in the rain. at one point she was totally nude (see below) we figure for modesty reason underwear might make the boys on the street a little more comfortable.

 This is after the Doctor where both Ellie and Jordan got shots, and free ice cream.

 we have this app on my phone called crazy hair or something.. this is what they did to Ellie... pretty funny

 I took the little three to the mall for Deckers 4 month pictures. the mall is about 30 min away and I never go. they loved all the stores it was funny, better yet the play ground they have inside! She is such a cheese ball with that smile.

 This girl has "the moves like jagger" as we say here. She is constantly listening to my ipod to "call me maybe on repeat" she sings the words and gets on the table to shake her booty. and she has an awesome shoulder roll/lift that happens whenever the radio is on. shes big into Taylor swifts new "never ever" song. what can i say she cool like that?!
Ellie has 2  volumes. whisper and yelling. she will be so quiet and sweet and then belt out "MOM" as loud as possible. she also loves to yell "WATCH A SHOW" when we are in the car and "DECKER SPIT UP" each yelling sentence is usually followed by some whisper sentence like "get me out of bed" "watch mickey mouse" or "mom, clean it up, i go get rag." Shes helpful for sure and LOVES her sisters and baby brother and is still deciding on carter. He likes to be the boss of her, tell her which toys she can play with or not and tell on her when she is coloring on a wall or doing something she shouldn't. And she is the most stubborn child on the planet. good this is cute and has such a cute raspy voice and chubby cheeks to squeeze.

I should give up but I am not a quitter... yet

i've been hacked/given a virus by babylon so we'll see if I can even get this posted before the whole computer resets! I've tried adding a picture, but it wasn't uploading fast enough. SO what have we been up to you ask ? I don't even know the half of it, but it seems like summer flew by and we have either been extremely busy or extremely bored. there is no halfway for us, it seems odd but really we either stay home all day or are on the go.
  things I need to post about:
California- basically all of July we did a ton, it wasn't the most "relaxing" vacation ever but it was needed and NOT long enough. I felt like even though i was there for a month it was a different place every week, probably because it was. we spent the first week at Carries, then a weekend at Clyde's with Wendy and the kids. we spent a week at my moms then a weekend at Clydes. back to carries and my moms then the last weekend at clydes. We did Knotts berry farm which was super fun. Kailey loved the rides and was able to ride almost all of them. we went to the Zoo, San Diego "asfari" park as Carter would say. Saw lots of friends from growing up. had a bonfire at Doheny, went to the swim club, Ikea for Jordan, All got a nice 24 hr flu, went shopping, ate out pretty much every single meal (which sounds gross, but is actually heaven. There are so many places I love there and even with a month only went once to most places) and a lot more. It will be several posts... if I get around to it.

I hardly saw the beach all summer, this summer was so different than last. It was just so busy. I'm hoping it was because I had a baby and not because that will be my life from now on. time just flying by. We went to the pool a lot when we were home, and honestly I dont know what else we did? i guess that is one of the benefits of maintaining a blog journal.

Now its September. the 11th. Can't help but be reminded of what happened this day 11 years ago. crazy! I can remember sitting at Work with Britt and Russ telling us to come over and see what was on TV. One tower had crashed and we saw the second one get hit. That was a scary day that seemed to almost stop time. Shaun was in New Jersey on top of his apartment building on his mission watching it happen across the river. crazy. today I'm sitting here married, 5 kids, 4 houses and 2 states later remembering the past and how so much moves on and happens no matter what. Its kinda surreal.

Out of my 5 kids- 3 are at school. Kailey in 3rd, Jordan in 1st, Carter in pre-k. Ellie and Decker are napping and my house needs a nice pick me up but i'm going to sit on the couch for a bit. I try and take advantage of the moments i can be lazy. which seem less and less now. I feel like I am crossing over in adulthood. who knew?? I can remember thinking, about a month ago, when will I turn into a "real mom." real mom meaning gets up early and does stuff. Shaun got a new job and leaves the house at 6am. that is real person job! the kids started school and have to be at the bus before 7 and i decided it would be nice to get up with him and get an early start on my day. It really is amazing how much it helps. my days are extremely full. and i don't always know with what. so here is my days as of now, for my record keeping sake:
5-6am walk with the other crazy mom (oh and i'm a walker now. i'm kinda over running for a little I feel like i deserve the break and i'm just not feeling the running, i'm sure it will come back, but as of now i'm a walker :))
6-7 kids up and out the door. If im lucky i get a little quiet time before they wake up and read, do a load of dishes and start the laundry. if this isnt real mom stuff I dont know what is!?
7-8 the little three up and fed, and decker back down for a nap
8-10 change laundry, clean, pick up, clean some more, upstairs, downstairs, everywhere
10-11 "lunch" for Ellie and Carter. he catches the bus before lunch so he eats early. decker wakes up again and its nice to have Carter entertain him while hes still home
11-12 run an errand if i have time, or puzzels with ellie (honestly we've done this once, i dont know where this hour goes?
12-3 heaven- naps for the 2 at home. nap for me if i'm lucky. i can shower, work out a little, read, blog... hey that might not be a bad idea
3-4 homework and snacks. i love when they come home but it get hectic and messy fast!
4-5 kids play i pick up the house AGAIN and think about dinner, usually without taking action
5-7 soccer practice, or piano lessons, dinner and i dont know. I feel like after school there is never time! Decker to bed
7-8- dinner on soccer days, and bed time if we're lucky.
8-9 clean up again, go to walmart (this happens more than i'd like)
9 bed for both of us. we're exhausted. serious we hit the bed and are both asleep. please dont call us after 9. I wont answer.
 I'm sure anyone reading this REALLY cared about what my days looks like but for my own personal reference, writing it down makes me not feel so guilty about not doing anything between 12-3 or going to bed at 9. I hope I don't quit blogging because its nice to look back and see what life was like. I'm sure one day i'll look back and be like... yeah that schedule lasted about 2 weeks. but hey. i gave it all i have for the 2 weeks i've been doing it! now. its time to go eat my cookies before a kid wants half, and read a book of my own choosing before I have to read "Go Diego GO" one more time, and before homework and crying and whining come back home. or maybe i'll nap? with a cookie. thats perfect.

My Man Decker

 Hes such a pretty baby. he reminds me so much of Jordan. Big blue eyes, perfectly shaped head and huge grin. He even puts his fingers in his mouth like her. To the point where he is now bulemic and throws up from gagging but still. pretty cute.

 He is getting big so fast! he loves sitting in the bumbo and gets played with like he is a baby doll, hence he is in the baby doll crib and car seat... he doesn't seem to mind a bit

 This kid is just so laid back. eat sleep, play. he gets some crying time in usually during dinner, or when something important is going on, but that is to be expected. Babies have a sense of these things. He smiles, coos, laughs and growls. I have noticed he especially likes to growl at inappropriate times. ie: passing of the sacrament, Family prayers, bed time. you can't stop it and you can't help but laugh. If only we could get the spitting up to stop, he may be almost perfect!

Date night with Jordan

Jordan and I got to go on a date after soccer practice on Saturday night. The Cracker Barrel just opened and suddenly I have cravings for Biscuits and gravy all the time. This is really weird seeing as all of my life i have truly hated eating biscuits and gravy and would cry when my mom or grandma would make them. its so odd, but they are Delicious and i could use a plate right now! It was so fun spending time with this kid. She is so funny and shy. She doesn't need to talk she just wants to be alone and with me. she loved looking their store and staying up later than everyone at home. Sometimes that's all it takes. I should do it more often!! 

GOOO Cougars!

I had my mom buy us some BYU apparel to start brainwashing the kids early. Clemson is huge down here but lets be honest, any other school is ridiculously expensive and i kind of want them to experience being around a bunch of Mormons, especially if we are still far away from it. So we sang the fight song, got everyone decked out, including me, Decker and Shaun and wear our BYU stuff as much as possible. Especially during football season. I could really care less about football. but its kinda fun rooting for a team no one here cares about. Gooooo Cougars!

Carters first day of 4-k

 Carter has been looking forward to this day for weeks! he had his clothes on and backpack ready since 8am. the bus doesn't come until 11. It was a morning filled with "it is time for my bus yet?" every 5 min. I drove him and picked him the up the first day. I went to pick him up and he was already on the bus. as soon as he got off he started crying "mom, they wouldn't let me ride the bus" I tried explaining it was because I was here to pick him up and he responded with "don't ever pick me up from this school again" he was really looking forward to riding the bus like his big sisters. He rides with only 4 year olds and is covered in sweat after the 40 min bus ride, but whatever kiddo. It makes my life easier.

 Waiting in line to go into the school. He goes from 11:30-3:30 and its a free program the school district offers! my house is SO quiet without him and he is so tired when he comes home, but he is still loving it, including the bus rides! its just too bad he doesn't go to Kailey and Jordan's school

So cute and excited!!!

Fun with the iphone

Church

I don't know if its appropriate to take pictures at church but this was so funny. Ellie didn't want to go to nursery so I let her come to my 9 year old class. They all look so enthralled... or bored? we are actually watching a video but still she fits right in. I love that she brought her baby doll. I would never have let Kailey or Jordan or carter for that matter get away with bringing a big toy to church but this girls gets her way! just throw a tantrum and call it good!