Vegas Baby!

John and I took a much needed weekend getaway to Las Vegas. We stayed at the Palazzo which was super nice.We went with one of our favorite friend couples, Branden and Jenesey Sparks.We had the pleasure of watching O and Mistere of which both were truly amazing shows. I liked O because the stage and props were so unbelievable... one minute people were diving and splashing in a huge pool of water and the next minute people were running and jumping on dry ground - truly amazing! The craziest was in Mistere with the two muscle men(Johns going to roll his eyes)... seriously I have never seen anyone so strong. We rode the deuce...or the bus, we shopped, relaxed, ate out, watched shows... all in all a great, relaxing break from our every day responsibilities.

Oh, and we checked in on the kids... Uncle John stayed with our kids. To say the least, it was a real eye opener for him. He just couldn't understand why all his sisters were so tired by the end of the day and needed "breaks" all the time or couldn't get around to doing certain things or talk on the phone when he would call- I mean what could be so tough about playing with kids all day long? Well, eight packs of fruit snacks unconsciously devoured in a single day just to calm himself down and he knows now- right John! Yeah, going to bed at 9:00pm really is a little peace of heaven on earth.
No, really John did a fabulous job! The kids loved him. The boys are still asking me "where's Johnny?"
Thanks a MILLION, Johnny!

Jad's 4th Birthday

Jad turned 4 years old today. His day started off with his favorite breakfast of french toast.A new haircut for the big birthday boy. He sat as still as a statue for the whole thing...How handsome and grown up he looked after his hair cut.Spiderman Jad...Spiderman brothers...Spiderman sisters... And a spiderman cake. Jad has been asking for a spiderman cake for his birthday for about 6 months now... finally the day has arrived. I did the best I could do having nearly zero artistic abilities.Big smiles for all the presents he received. The favorite was a "Cars" Mack truck that opens in back. Big sis, Myla, helps Jad open and assemble all of his new toys. Happy Birthday Jader Bug, we love you!

MOUSE IN THE HOUSE!!!

So this is what I came home to this afternoon. John was home watching the kids while I ran a few errands "kid free". I walked in the door to find a blockade of cardboard boxes in front of my bedroom. The kids were all on the bed with sticks and other sharp objects. They all screamed in unison, "there's a mouse in your bedroom"... John was looking really tough in his work out attire and boots holding a broom and plastic bowl... nice. So of course my newly trained blogging mind forced me into action and I ran to grab my camera.

First, it was under the chair...Then, it was behind the side table...After a few minutes of stressful hunting, we finally cornered the tiny mouse into this towel stuffed box. We walked the box down the street to an open field but the peace of mind of it never returning to our house wasn't satisfied by that...so we agreed on a dumpster near by. Doubt got the best of me, so before dumping it I had to see with my own eyes that it was really in the box. I carefully opened the flaps and moved the towel around a little with a stick... the mouse nearly jumped out on Royce's head as he passed by oblivious to any danger - I screamed "Yep, it's in there... get rid of it."

My theory as to how a mouse got in the house: It was a beautiful day outside, mid 70's. I spent the morning catching up on some much needed cleaning around the house. The boys were in the back yard playing, so I left the back door open all morning to let the cool breeze flow in and also to hear if my boys got into trouble. A mouse must have snuck its way in during those hours of the door being open... shiver down my spine!

Halloween

Getting ready for the big night... one day of the year when they get to wear make up and lipstick... how exciting!

Ashlee the little angel...Myla the pretty witch... Jad the race car driver...Doctor Royce...Royce had a lot of fun with his doctor tools... Dinner at the Sparks to start the night off right...We continued the tradition of trick -or- treating on the ranger... as far as my kids are concerned it's the ONLY way to trick -or- treat... We started at our old neighborhood... dad was quite the trooper helping Royce along...We had to trick -or- treat at our old house... too bad no one was home...UPS driver Grayson and Dr. Royce quickly got the hang of it... go up to the people, look really cute, get candy in my bucket... sounds good to me... Mermaid Dreya and race car driver Jad...Lots of loot and smiles... another fun, successful Halloween.

Garage Progress Update

This is our humble abode. Moved in on 8/1/08We are building a garage off to the side of our house for all of John's "stuff ". It will also have an exercise room, a bathroom and a loft off to the back for guests to stay...This shows the garage footprint, basketball court, and hole for the built-in trampoline... the same hole that I found Royce climbing up out of the other day...

We've got cement on 10/17/08...Finally started framing on 10/24/08. I think even John is a little surprised at how tall it is. More framing on 10/27/08

This shows the loft over the bathroom area.We've got a roof 12/08...View from the backyardDrywall 12/08Cabinets & granite 12/08Stucco is done...Doors, paint & travertine 12/28/08...John helped paint the inside.Bathroom shower tile. John also helped Sterling with this. It looks great!