Morgan goes to Kindergarten!

Tyler walks Morgan to school.
Tyler realizes his buddy is gone.
Tyler after his nap, and his buddy is still gone!
Tyler wanting to go to kindergarten!

It's here! My baby is officially big! Today Morgan started Kindergarten! Jared took his lunch break during her start time so he could be with us, which made it extra special and extra emotional for me to send our baby off into the world together! This may sound silly to all you mom's out there who have school aged kids, but for me it was exciting and horrible at the same time.

When we first got there we got to do a few fun activities together with the parents and the students, then Mrs. Calderon read us all a story called "The Kissing Hand." Its about a racoon who didn't want to leave his mother to go to school. He was very sad and concerned to leave his mother. To help him be brave, she gave him a special kiss in his palm to take with him, and told him to put it to his cheek if ever he needed to feel his mother's love. (sniff sniff) Well the little racoon used his kissing palm, and held it to his cheek all throughout his day at school, and when he returned home he gave his mommy a big kiss in her hand, and said "I love you mommy!" I don't think there was a dry eye of any mother in the room, and I could tell many of the dad's were choke'n it back as well.

The part that ended it for me is when Mrs. Calderon made us all do the kissing hand. We were then asked to kiss the palm of our little 5 year old and have them kiss ours as we separated for the day. That's where I lost it. As I walked down the hall with Jared, the tears just fell. Trusting her in the hands of the school district and the influences of the kids around her.

There was a double whammy for me when I got home. Little buddy Tyler having to deal with his feelings of not getting to go with sister, and not having his playmate throughout the afternoon was very disapointing. I tried to soften the blow by taking his hand and sitting him on my lap and reading to him, then taking him to his room to play cars. This seemed to apease his sad feelings long enough to get him down for a nap. As soon as he woke up he was once again very disappointed that she was not home yet. He got his socks and shoes on as fast as he could to be ready for the walk to go get her. Above you can see his pictures of walking Morgan to school, and then a little later the realization that she is not around as much to play.

I still have a lump in my throat, and can't seem to write about the subject without crying all over again, so to make it short and sweet it was an exciting and emotional afternoon, and one I will never forget.

Happy 4th of July

Super Soaker Contest. Tyler needed a little Daddy intervention to help keep the score even!

Fireworks stake out. Anytime daddy's on the ground, it becomes the neverending daddy dog pile!

Baby Belly shot! Yep.... its happening...Baby #4 is making his presence known.

Tyler thrilled the fireworks finally begin....(daddy too)

Brooklyn's 1st Ever experience of seeing fireworks close up!

Morgan in AWE of the fireworks this close.

To celebrate the 4th of July, we went to the Chino City Celebration and got to enjoy a day in the HOT SUN, and all the festivities. Morgan, Tyler, and Brooklyn all loved the hand boats the best. Mommy and Daddy enjoyed sitting in the shade with our yummy funnel cake, and the frozen lemonade. Afterwards we went to the Ayala Sports Park and had a stake out waiting for the city firework show. To top it off, we then got our own sparklers and kiddy pak, and got to experience DOING fireworks for the first time! Every year prior, it was illegal in those cities and too far to be up for the drive to a city where it IS legal. It was by far our best 4th of July family outing yet! Way to go DAD!!!! We had a blast!

Beach Days with Brackens

Chrystal and Jared brought their family to stay with us for 4 days a few weeks ago, and we loved every moment of our time together. Morgan was counting down the days for a week, anticipating Clarissa's arrival. They are at such a fun age now, that we can send them off to play and not hear from them for hours. Brenna and Tyler were way better buddies than I expected and Brooklyn made her presence known as well. It was a great time and we can't wait for our next chance to play together. Love you guys!!!

Being that its been a month since I've posted anything, I have WAY more pictures than I have energy to organize and BLOG.... sigh..... so I am just going to pick a few favorites and call it good! These were taken back on Memorial day before we went out to a movie together as a family. We went to see the IMAX Monsters vs. Aliens. Kids loved it... Once the popcorn and food was gone Brooklyn was done. Surprise surprise! She is NOT invited next time. As you can see in these pictures she finally has teeth. Hooray hopes for no choking is on the horizon.... too bad its still only 4. Two top and two bottom. She broke her first bottom two together at 14 months, she's now 16 months and still no more. Choking is still a daily challenge.

Happy 10th Anniversary!

June 5th was our 10 year wedding anniversary. Woo Hoo!!! WOW 10 yrs, need I say more? We have made it to the double digits and many more to come! To celebrate this special occasion, Jared and I were able to cash in on the benefits of having Gma and Gpa Crowder so close and willing, to watch the kids for us for a 3 1/2 day get-a-way. We were able to score (Thanks to someone special) a free 3 night stay at the Flamingo Hotel, with an AWESOME Buffet, plus with a little time-share investigating we scored free tickets to BLUE MAN GROUP, and my most favorite PHANTOM! This time away together was so needed, and very much enjoyed by both of us. We also had fun admiring all the neat architechture and buildings along the Vegas strip. The Venetian was where the Phantom and Blue Man Group performed and was probably my favorite building of those we got to see. Thanks for the fun time babe! 10 down, and forever to go!