Okay. Seriously.

I'm so in love with this baby.

Halloween

I have to admit I was pretty excited when Lauren and Nathan decided they wanted to be Hermione Granger and Harry Potter for Halloween. This is my all time favorite book series. I got so excited I even decided to make their robes. This was the first time I have attempted to make Halloween costumes. It was definitely a learning experience...but fun. They got lots of use out of them by wearing them to the church carnival, school parties and finally trick or treating. Luke went as a SWAT team member and Grayden looked seriously cute in his skeleton jammies. Jason surprised the kids with his freaky Grim Reaper costume. He took them in the back of the truck this year to trick or treat in the rain.

First haircut...at 4 months!

I don't know what else to say except this baby is cute!!!

California

We took the kids on a week long adventure to Disneyland/Newport Beach with some good friends of ours and had a fabulous time. Even though I'm not sure its really considered "vacation" for the parents of a combined 8 children including two babies. But after a hot, fun filled week it was all worth it. One of the best parts was the "men" drove with 5 of the kids while the "mom's" took the babies and one two year old a nice little Southwest flight. I admit, I felt pretty spoiled. Grayden was a dream on the airplane, sleeping for most of the flights (we had a layover in Vegas). I love the people that roll their eyes when they see you coming but are the first to comment how good the baby was at the end of the flight. Anyhow, we packed in 4 days at Disneyland/California Adventure, 2 days at the beach, and 2 trips to In n Out Burger. Lauren rode everything...she never has and probably never will have fear of any type of roller coaster. She did however have hesitations about going on Splash Mountain because she didn't want to get wet (that's the diva in her). Nathan was a little more hesitant about certain rides but ended up going on everything his sister did. He even reluctantly went on Tower of Terror a second time. He loved California Screamin' because of the "loop de loop" and of course Space Mountain. Luke couldn't go on much because of his height and kept asking at every ride if they had to measure. It was so cute and a little sad at the same time. He did get to go on Materhorn. The second time he went I went with him. He was really scared after the first time he went so I was surprised he said he would go with me. About half way through the ride I looked down and his head was hanging down and his eyes were closed. He was limply holding on to my legs. I panicked. I thought he had passed out from fear. I started shaking him and yelling his name all the while trying to figure out how I would stop this stupid ride to get him off. After a few seconds of insane shaking, he looked at me and said "what, mom?" Most kids scream, put their hands up, cover their eyes...not Luke. He took the calmer approach. "I'm going to put my head down, wait for this ride to end, and not succumb myself to any childish behavior to exhibit my fear." Grayden was great. Despite sweating half his body weight each day, he was really happy in the front pack and spent most of the week there. His first ride was the exciting, laser shooting, Buzz Lightyear ride...and he fell asleep. And as usual, he got a lot of attention from strangers for the ridiculous amount of hair on his head.

Smiley Guy

Grayden has been giving us lots of smiles lately....and we are loving every minute of it!

I did it!

(This picture is proof for the disbelievers...)
After 34 years of not eating fish I finally took the plunge the other night for the sake of my children! i got the recipe from my sister and bought all the ingredients days before. All day I was so nervous about making this dinner! Jason has been trying to encourage me to include fish in our children's diet. This has always been a struggle for me because I have a hard time even handling fish. I was glad I finally decided to try it because I loved it! I ate two tacos and had leftovers for lunch the next day. I am going to take my journey into eating fish slowly but I will definitely be making these again. The kids loved them too.

Fish Tacos

1 lb fish (I used mahi mahi)
1/2 t. cumin
1 t. chili powder
1 t. garlic salt
1/2 c. sour cream
1/2 c. mayo
1/2 t. cumin, dill, garlic salt
1 whole lemon, juiced
1 bag coleslaw mix
2 c shredded monterey jack cheese
flour/corn tortillas

Combine cumin, chili powder and garlic salt and rub onto fish. Cook according to pkg directions (I baked mine). Combine sour cream, mayo and spices. Add lemon juice. (I thought the whole lemon was too tart, so I would only do half next time). Layer fish, cheese, coleslaw mix and sauce into tortillas. (We ended up mixing the sauce with the coleslaw to make it easier to layer in the tortilla. This makes a lot of sauce...plenty for leftovers!) Enjoy!

Toothless

Nathan has lost another top tooth! We think he looks adorable and sounds really funny. This time he let his sister pull out his tooth...pretty brave!