Surprise...Happy 40th John!

The weekend following Johns Birthday I planned a surprise party with his friends. If you know John he's a laid back not a lot of fuss guy so his ideal party would definitely be a no frills beach party which is exactly what I did :) He thought we were going to our friends daughters 1st Birthday Party so he was completely surprised when we walked up and everyone started singing Happy Birthday! It was a fun night!


Dinner from "The Island Grill"










.....and what could make this night more perfect...only a completely illegal beautiful firework show brought to you by your brother in law :) The whole beach was applauding!!

Summer is here!

Even though we have yet to experience anything over 80 degrees here in the O.C., we hit the beach today! Ok maybe its not the beach but its our favorite lagoon with our favorite friends :)
We had so much fun splish splashing in the water and soaking up the warm sun with Ava, Tani and Baby Tribe! After a few hours at the lagoon we all packed up and headed over to Yogurtland for dinner!! Its summer isnt ice cream for dinner allowed?? My kids certainly think so :)

.....and how many of you can actually believe that I'm posting on the same day that we took these pictures...ha! It helps when I wore those twinks out and they fell into bed exhausted from an afternoon of fun!

I believe my sweet princess was ordering mama to get her shovel..ha!



Jenny and baby Tribe.....ohhhh so cute!!

Tani...did you know that girl can swim in 8 feet of water and dive to the bottom...wow!!




again..how did my little girl get so big...she looks so grown up here...


Monica and Ava....too cute!

sweet sweet Jacob did not want to go home, this was the first year that he just would not budge, he was so content with his bucket and shovel loving every second of it, we were all packed up and ready to head out to ice cream...his favorite and he just said no...and sat.

Happy Birthday Daddy!! Part 1

Last Thursday we celebrated Johns BIG 4-0 at home with a little mexican food and a big present from Mia and Jacob!




Look at them last year on Daddy's Birthday, its incredible how quickly they grow in 1 year!!

we LOVE our L.I.D.S.

My very sweet friend Kara Noel makes these adorable lids...check out her link button to the left or visit her blog at www.elislids.com. They are adorable and the kids love wearing them. On this particular night we were waiting for daddy to get home and head out to Irvine Spectrum for family fun night! Also check out their thermals a girl at our church makes those too!!

a sunday evening nap...

a few sundays ago, 4 days after Jacobs surgery to be exact we had quite the exhausting day. everyone was a little off schedule since Jacob and I spent the night at the hospital, Mia was extra clingy to mommy and everyone was just a little off. While getting ready for church Jacob had a huge tantrum, threw his pink antibiotic all over the dining room rug, walls and table. I remember looking at John and we decided to call it a day..yep at 9am!! We planned for a quiet day at home and were hoping for a great nap for them. That didnt happen, they refused to go down, our nerves were getting frazzled and we prayed a lot..ha!!

Finally around 5:00pm I was getting dinner ready and the kids were at their peak of frustration as well, so John loaded them into the wagon to take them around the block. I went out set the table, grilled some macadameia nut chicken and was determined to have a nice family meal to highlight our not so good day. It had only been about 10 minutes and John called home to tell me this........




we laid them down for their nap and had ourselves a little date....



and really felt lucky when they didnt make a peep until 7:00am the next morning!!

a recap of our memorial day weekend....

We kicked off our Memorial Day weekend with Jaydens 2nd Birthday Party Celebration!!
getting ready to head down to LA :)


Jacob decided he didnt really care for his new sandals very much....


"this looks like a great spot for them"


Mia insisted on wearing her green dress to the party, were loving her little personality and her independent spirit! I can't believe how long her hair is and this was almost a month ago!


...he just melts my heart...so sweet!! ...and so attached to his momma... I LOVE it!!


after church on Sunday we headed home for a nap and then off to Nana and Papa's for a BBQ!
love those pigtails!


..a little story behind this sweetheart and his flower he picked for his mommy!! a few minutes later after the kids were loaded into the car he had set the flower down on our slate porch..(who knew those things were so dangerous, I came walking out, my heel spinned on the flower and I went face down our steps onto the driveway) were very careful where we put the flowers now when my little ones pick them....which is everyday :)



on the swing with Nana



Mia's first corn on the cob...she loved it!



then it was time for some baseball lessons with Uncle Billy!




and apparently Papa is starting Mia off early...


Monday morning we decided to head down to the LA Zoo. The line was so long to get in (literally around the corner and down the parking lot) that we ended up getting annual passes to avoid the huge line....1) because we werent about to wait with two hungry toddlers in 90 degree weather, 2)we werent about to drive home and 3) well we really wanted to go to the BIG zoo!!









the sign of a successful trip to the Zoo....