Spooky, Spooky

These are our new Halloween friends. Brady and I found these at Michael's.
These gross fingers are Brady's. I showed them to him and I thought he was going to be scared. I said, "Gross!" and he said, "Mom, they not gross, they COOL!' Spoken like a true little boy. And here's the rest of the crew.
Were already planning our costumes. Jake wants to be Optimus Prime, Brady wants to be Shark Boy(Disney movie) and Claire's going to be a pretty fairy from Gymboree. I wanted us all to be rockstars but Jake's not going for that. Were thinking about having a Halloween party!

A little something funny....

Looks like somebody got a hold of the camera. There's pictures of the walls and the TV and a bunch of little Jake.
We got Jake a learning game to play on the TV and Max said he would install everything tomorrow. Of course, Jake couldn't wait so while I was doing the laundry he opened everything up and he had the installation DVD in. When I walked in the room the DVD was saying something about troubleshooting and Jake looks through the box and than he looks at me and says Mom they didn't give me a gun. To troubleshoot!! What a crazy guy.

The next 30 years...

My wonderful husband and I made a list of the 30 things we'd like to do in the next 30 years.
MAX's
1. go to Australia
2. get a dog
3. get a truck
4. catch a bass bigger than 5lbs
5. marry my wife again
6. RV across America with family(Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore, Grand Canyon, Yosemite)
7. go to New York & Washington DC
8. go to Super Bowl & World Series
9. restore old Ford pick-up or Bronco
10. bring my family into God's faith
11. go to Europe
12. get season football tickets
13. move to Indiana
14. get a job working days, NOT nights
15. graduate college
16. go backpacking with kids
17. become an expert BBQ'er
18. go to Bahamas
19. teach kids to play baseball, football and basketball
20. go snowboarding/skiing
21. get a new boat: bass and ski boat
22. help someone, REALLY help somebody
23. get back in shape
24. do community theater
25. skipped
26. become a teacher
27. raise good children to become good adults
28. learn to wood work
29. go in a hot air balloon
30. get more sleep

Amanda's
1. go ski diving
2. first row tickets to a concert
3. ride in an Indy car
4. go to Hawaii with the fam
5. go to Disneyworld
6. go to Club Med, Punta Cana
7. travel around Europe
8. go to the Regis and Kelly show
9. have 3/4 carat diamond earrings
10. go to New Orleans
11. go to NY (Times Square, Hampton's, Statue of Liberty)
12. have a house where each of the kids have their own rooms
13. have a pool
14. run in a marathon
15. get my college degree
16. get a new wedding ring
17. see Garth Brooks in concert
18. go to Myrtle Beach
19. lose about 10lbs
20. be a part of the Princess Project
21. go to Grand Canyon
22. take kids to Yellowstone
23. win a contest
24. have a Jeep Wrangler again
25. get my husband a big truck
26. zip cord
27. move to a safe community for kids
28. go to the amusement park city in Wisconsin
29. go to Bahamas and stay at the Atlantis
30. meet Donna Downey and Heidi Swapp

Fun stuff! I'm going to Cabo in September and we're going to go zip cording. I'll be able to cross one thing off my list.

The dieting bets begin again

Last year Max and I made a bet that if he lost 20lbs than he would get to go to Idaho and see his friend Adam and if I lost enough weight to drop one dress size, to a size 6, than we got to go on a little cruise. Well, he went and sabotaged the whole deal and got me pregnant. So here we are again, same bet only were slightly larger today than a year ago. I'm going to be a size 6ish and he's going to loose 25ish pounds. If I win I think I want to have our family portraits taken professionally by Tara Whitney in So Cal. If Max wins he wants to get a dog, but frankly that ain't happening. I told him that yesterday. So he's thinking maybe a bigger TV or a bigger bed. We won't need bigger bed if were skinnier people. We only have a twin size bed now so we'd upgrade to a queen. Just kidding! That's what it feels like some nights with the two boys, the dog, Max and me. Just wait until Claire's old enough to get in there too. Maybe a bigger bed is a good idea, now that I think about it would really benefit both of us. I woke up this morning at 5:30 am. That is waaaaaay to early to be awake. Okay, I guess that is enough random blathering for the day.
Have a great Saturday.

Look who's 5 months old today...

and she's sitting up already. Claire's such a good baby. She just started getting up on all four's and getting read to crawl. We figure she probably has to, to get away from her big brothers.
Jake's school is going really well. It's a Christian preschool, so he goes to chapel every Thursday. He was talking to me about Adam and how he ate a strawberry plant and died and I said didn't he eat an apple? Jake said, "Oh mom, you're going to have to come to chapel with me so you can learn too!"
Big Brady's almost completely potty trained. Almost three years old, but hes almost there. NO MORE DIAPERS!! Max told him if he goes a whole week without going in his underpants than he will buy him a fishing pole. He's has three more days to go.
Daddy's just working all the time and Mommy's staying up way too late on myspace. Tonight's moving night, High School Musical 2!! Have a good weekend!

House of Bugs

The other night I was shutting all the lights and I saw something on the floor so, I turned the light back on and it was a HUGE, MONSTEROUS, GIANT, BROWN, HAIRY SPIDER!!!!! And I had to crush! It was so big, like the size of a half dollar including the legs. The next day Jake and Brady were playing outside and Jake came running in and he said there was a whole bunch of wasps flying around. I went outside to see and this is what I found.
The exterminator, aka me, went and got the bug spray and I told the kids to stay inside and had Jake stay at the door so if the wasps started chasing me he could shut the door behind me. I made it, unstung! Then, were getting ready to leave and I find this little guy by the front door! So I sprayed around the whole house for bugs.
But today when I came home from work J&B showed me the new little friend they found. A darned CRICKET!
To many bugs. I think Brentwood might be the bug capital of the world. Anyhow, on to better things, look at some of the cute things I found over the weekend.

Cute shows from Kohl's only $5.99. Whata bargain for me.New lotion from the Gap it'd called Islandhop. I figured since a flight to the Bahamas is to long with three kids this will have to be the next best thing.
Pretty Martha Stewart flowers from Michaels. I'm making these for Claire's room. And I got these huge balls to hand from the ceiling. It's going to be so pretty.
I also got my new Sugar Shop purse. It's so cute and the inside has all kinds of pockets for cell phones and toys and whatever junk I might have in my purse.

One last funny little thing, we were driving home and the conversation went:

Jake: "Mom, can I have a new nickname?

Mom: "Sure, like what?

Jake: "Mom I want to change my name to ROCK YOUR WORLD"

Mom: "Oh, okay."

Jake: "Wait Mom, I want it to be COOL HANDSOME MOTORCYCLEMAN!"

Brady: "But why, Jakey?"

Jake: "Since."

So, that is how Jake refers to himeself, as cool handsome motorcycle man. I kind of preferred the blue eyed handsome guy. Where does he come up with these things? My crazy kids! Okay, I'm outta here!

One more camping story

Max had taken the kids to the store to pick out a toy and Brady picked silly putty. When Brady gets a new toy he carries it around for a couple of days. Nobody else can play with it or touch it. So, on Friday night Claire, Jake and I went to bed first and than Max and Brady went later. WELL, Saturday morning I wake up and come out of the tent and Brady's playing and I see what looks like a big bald spot on the back of his head!! The first thing I thought was Max had woke up in the middle of the night and accidentally stepped on Brady's hair and pulled a big chunk out. But than I thought Brady would have for sure woken us up if that happened. So, I get closer and it is a huge chunk of SILLY PUTTY stuck in his great long hair AND I WAS NOT cutting it out. I tried to get it out and it was hurting him and he didn't want to sit still so I gave him a little break. Than I came back with the hand soap! It worked pretty good, most of the putty came out. He still has a little bit left in his hair and it's Wednesday and I don't even care because I'm not cutting his hair. He just wouldn't be our little Brady with short hair.

Happy Monday!!!

We had a good weekend. It was our first camping trip with baby Claire. It went really well except when it was time to go to bed. Our tent was on a little slope so Claire kept rolling and her face would get smashed into the side of the play pen. We finally just took her out and put her in her bouncer seat where she didn't sleep very well! Other than that, we had a great time. Adam and Becca had a campsite close by and my mom, Vince, Catie and Pete came up and we hung out and jumped off the rocks again. We roasted marshmallows that nobody seemed to like to eat.
Brady, Marissa, Tyler, Uncle Adam and Jake

We also told spooky ghost stories. Big Jake wasn't afraid though. He kept saying "Daddy, that's not scary. Tell a REEEALY scary story!" We had a great time, were going again in September.

Jake's first day of preschool..

My little baby started school today. Next year will be kindergarten and Brady will be in preschool! My babies are getting so big. I'm just going to keep having more kids because they keep getting older. JUST KIDDING EVERYBODY!!!! Anyways, we went to Paneras for breakfast and than off the school. I was a little worried how Jake would do because he wasn't very excited about going. As soon as we got there he was off playing in the playground, no "Bye Mom," nothing. I met one of his teachers and gave him a kiss and I was off to work. When I was pulling out of the parking lot, I heard him yell "Mom" and I looked, he was standing on a play structure, and he said, "Bye Mom, I love you." What a sweet little angel. He had a good day. He said he loves going to school.

Good morning! Hava a nice day.

Happy Saturday!

Claire had her four month check up. She weighs a big 17.5 lbs and she's 26 inches. We've got a big girl! She just started rolling over. She can't turn herself back the other way yet! She's a really sweet, mellow baby. We really need that with other two crazy guys!

Jake and Brady got their new shoes today! Jake got his Airators that he's been wanting and Brady picked Converse. He went from our little surfer to a skater! They're both really excited because there new shoes make them run faster.

Jake's starting preschool on Tuesday (that's why we got shoes). He gets to go on Monday and meet his teachers and pick out his cubby. He's feeling a little nervous so we'll see how that goes.

Oh, and I was furniture shopping for Claire's room and I came across the best little scrapbook store in Fremont, it's called Picture Me Perfect. Great store!! So much fun!

Have a great weekend!

P.S. Thanks Jimmy, I turned the shoe pic!

Back for more

and we've got pictures!!!!

getting ready to jump

mom's hunka-hunka of burning love!







Daddy and Claire

Jake the little dare-devil

Brady our little pirate




OK, I can't figure out how to straighten the pics! But hey, they're there!

Aunt Kenny and the kids are gone. We had a good time while they were here. Jake and Brady miss Ally and Gavin. While they were here they went waterskiing and they jump off the rocks. They also went to see Transformers. Mom took some family pics. I started a myspace page also. I'm becoming so computer savvy. Scary, isn't it?

More to follow.......

Very First Blog!!!

This is so exciting!! Now all the fam can keep up with us! Soon I'll learn how to post pictures and we'll be in business. Darn if I'm not just sitting here wondering what to write and I just remembered I forgot Cole's b-day again! What a bad sister! I forgot Grandma Smith's also! Too many kids! Aunt Kenny's coming from Indy this weekend. That should be fun! Claire's four months old now. She can roll over like a pro. The blue-eyed-handsome-guy, as Jake calls himself, loves her more than ever and Brady's just hanging out as usual. That's all for now.