alleymon Thought it was about time to catch you all up on our lives. My Mom has been patiently waiting for news and photos. It seems I’ve seen myself coming and going lately. So… I’ll start with today and work backward.
Today we went to our MOMS Club monthly member meeting. Today was voting, so as of July 1, I will be the club President. Whew, I’m going to have to gear up for that. I managed to get there late, have 3 kids who were out of sorts, and dropped the TV/VCR on the parking lot pavement. Miraculously, it still works. I take the toys, video and coloring to keep kids busy while we meet. I got a LONG nap this afternoon, finally, so now I feel like a new woman. Then we took off for church as there was a Memorial Service for a church member’s mother. I provided childcare for the two granddaughters, ages 1, 3.
We are in the middle of getting much of our house tiled, so my house is a DISASTER!. The dust and filth is coming close to sending me over the deep end. They started a week ago Tuesday and I would be pleasantly surprised if they are finished next week. Most of the downstairs is done, or cut and needs to now be cemented and then the three bathrooms need to be done.
Tuesday and Wednesday the kids and I went over to our friends, the Hollis’ and I watched their 4 children. Their Mom is in Alabama for her parents anniversary celebration. Needless to say, watching 7 kids for a day and doing homeschool work with 5 left me exhausted by days end.
Monday I took David to Disneyland for the day for his 7th birthday. This was in lieu of a party. I have told the girls I will take them on their 7th birthdays. Actually, the day started way too early with a trip to urgent care for pinworm medication for the whole family. But, I’ll leave the details out. Suffice to say, Mommy was not too happy about the whole thing. We made it to Disneyland about 10:30am and stayed until after the fireworks show at 8:45pm. We had a blast and David got to choose where we went. I tried to get him to go on It’s a Small World with me (my favorite) and he said, “It’s too loud and it’s my birthday, so how about we do my thing?” His thing was riding the train around Disneyland, over, and over and over. We watched trains go by until he could get on the one with the caboose (every 3rd train he had figured out). He also enjoyed autopia (driving cars), the monorail, Tom Sawyer’s Island, the River boat, and the Innoventions building where he got to design his own fireworks show on computer and then watch it on a large tv screen on the wall. The highlight and the thing he was adamant about was staying for the fireworks. It was well worth it and we got home very late and tired. Kevin and the girls had gone to Grandma Allen’s for the day and enjoyed swimming in her complex pool.
We had a wonderful time a couple of weeks ago (12th – 15th) with all the “Fields Family” in So Cal. The fun started Thursday afternoon when the Robinsons arrived at our house. We always enjoy them and the kids have fun together. Sara R. plays so well with our girls. They had all their baby dolls and strollers in the backyard and were playing away. Seth was hilarious in that he found every sword, stick, and baseball bat we own. When we hid the sword from him for night, he kept asking for his “Sword of the Spirit” Where’s my sword of the spirit? Very cute. Ethan loved our stairs and all the cars we could find for him. He is a cutie. Kristie and I prepped and planned lunch for the next day and we all had pizza for dinner. Kevin and I had a good time staying up to talk with Kristie and Wade until Kristie fell asleep on us. That is how we know it is time for bed when we’re with her.
Saturday we headed for Fry’s condo and met up with the Anderson/ Fry clans. We had such a blast at the beach. It was a treat to see Robyn and David and actually see Rebekah, Rachael, Jacob, and Alyssia for real. The pictures are great, but seeing them in person is better. They are all fun, well-mannered kids. David said, “the day went so fast.” As he spent the entire day in the ocean with a few of the other die hard kids, Rachael, Jacob, Faith, and Sara, I think. They were practically blue when we drug them from the waves and the sand “castle” they were trying to keep the waves from washing away. It was a special treat to meet Troy’s fiancée, Dee, and see Troy, too, of course and hear about how they met. She is a sweetheart and seems perfect for Troy. I enjoyed getting to talk with Aunt Jean and Heidi, too. We never have enough time together, but we sure enjoyed what we did have. Ethan did awesome at the beach, so that was a blessing as Kristie didn’t know how he would do for the day. Elizabeth finally warmed up to trying the ocean, and then loved it. Hannah tried it once, got knocked down by a wave and she was DONE with the ocean.
Kristie and a drove to and from the beach together with the girls and Wade and Kevin had the boys & Faith. Was really fun to have that time to talk and as we had the fasttrack transponder in our car, we beat them home by a long time and had the girls bathed by the time the boys/men got home. We talked a bit in the evening, but were pretty done in. Robinsons left early Saturday morning to meet Long relatives for breakfast. We spent Saturday relaxing as much as we could.
Sunday was church and then a potluck to say “farewell” to our interim preacher who had preached his last service that day. They will be missed, but his schedule was getting too busy to allow him to continue to preach each week. We ran home and took naps and then got back in the van and headed for Pasadena for Troy’s UCLA Law School Graduation Party and Jacob Fry’s birthday. We got to see all the relatives we saw Saturday and Andrew & Pam Fields and the 4 they brought with them (baby Ruthie was at home with friends), Aunt Louise who was with them, and Sean and Christy. The party was wonderful, lots of people, awesome food, and a house location that was great for all the kids. We hardly got to see Troy as he had so many there to celebrate with him, so that was neat to see all the lives he has touched. We we sent home with tons of food and sure enjoyed it.
I’ve attached a picture of the Fields cousins’, okay, our kids. Of course we didn’t get the cousins together, but we did get out kids together. The picture is our three, frys four and Andrew & Pam’s Fields four. I also attached a picture of Troy and Dee, especially for my Mom. J
Kids Quoteables:
“All this coloring is making me fat!” Hannah, age 3
“Can I have some tough beans?” Elizabeth, age 4 ½ (said after Mommy responded to her I’m hungry with “ you had plenty of opportunity to eat dinner at church, so if you didn’t eat enough, tough beans! Guess she thought she was so hungry she’d even eat tough beans at that point.)