Happy Birthday J

J turned 9 this weekend. I know I just gave birth to him recently, but somehow he had grown into a boy! Not a little boy, but a big, growing older everyday boy! I can't say enough about how proud I am of who he is becoming. He is kind, helpful, thoughtful and a great kid. He is all that I could dream of for a son.

He decide this year to have a "regular" birthday party. I'm not quite sure what that means, but I think he has grown out of mom's giant themed parties. He settled for a small sleepover with his brother and two friends. They all had a great time, pizza, presents, cake, PS2, Wii and a movie. How can you top that! It was such an easy slumber party! I hope these next 9 years go by a little slower, I can't imagine him moving out and being on his own!

Summer days are finally here!

Well, the summer weather has decided to arrive. We have had sunny days this week and it has been awesome. Yesterday the boys had some friends over for a water war. They all had so much fun and made such a mess. Water balloons, love 'em. After much clean up there are still little bits of color all over my yard. No, not flowers, balloon bits! Sis and I stayed inside and cooked three loaves of zuchinni bread and a batch of zuchinni chocolate chip muffins. Our garden is really taking off! It was a great day!

Redding Water Slides

We decided to escape and go to Redding for a long weekend before summer was over. We drove over on Sat. morning, stopped at In 'N Out for lunch and then checked into our hotel. While the boys swam, Sis, Biggie Bigs and I went shopping at the mall. It is always so much fun to go shopping with Sis. She really loves it. That night we all went to dinner at Red Robin and then turned in after a busy day. Sun. we went to the Redding Water Slides. It isn't a huge park, but it was perfect. The kids all ran around doing the different slides and lounging in the Lazy Lagoon. Even Biggie Bigs didn't mind the water, although water baby he is not. I even convinced Ky and Sis to go on the Cyclone with me. Of course B went on everything! It was a fun day in the sun. We met Meg for dinner at the Olive Garden and topped it all off with a pie from Marie Calendars. On Mon. all the kids stayed and swam in the pool with Dad while Biggie Bigs and I hit Kohls and Cost Plus one last time. We then all went to the outlets, Sonic (yummy drinks) and Trader Joes. We got home around 8:30 on Mon. It was a great getaway for everyone.

Slip 'n Slide!

Summer here on the North Coast is never really "hot" but there are those days when the sun is out and the wind is not. Last friday was one of those days (well, at least for a few hours). So, we finally broke out the slip n' slide! The kids had a great time slidding across the grass and "racing" each other down the colored plastic. It reminded me of being a kid, although my slip and slide was an old tarp and the garden hose!