The Port Side of Life

Maybe I should stop kidding myself

2010-05-20T12:27:00.002-04:00

I think about updating the blog. I talk about updating the blog, I just never actually update the blog. With everyone on facebook these days, it seems like a waste of time since everyone sees our pictures on there. But I miss a place to write down what is going on in our life. A place to record the funny things that happen in this household and a journal of sorts of our lives. With Jason once again away, maybe the thinking and talking about updating will be replaced with an actual update. We shall see. :) Nobody hold your breath, or perhaps no one even bothers to check anymore??

The Christmas Cards that never came to be.....

2010-01-05T14:03:00.004-05:00

I had good intentions of getting Christmas cards out this year. Even took the photos weeks in advance. I actually "made" the cards on Shutterfly, but couldn't make up my mind on which ones I wanted and couldn't decide on the photos. We didn't really get a good family one, but got some great ones of the kids. Jason didn't want to send one of just the kids, I didn't want to do what we did last year and have separate pictures......so we didn't make a decision. Then on December 12th I got sick. And stayed very sick until just a few days before Christmas. When you are laying on the sofa, sick as a dog, with 3 kids running around doing whatever they please, your husband is gone for 10 days and you can't see the floor from the mess, Christmas cards kind of get knocked off the list. :) Here are some of the ones of the kids we were considering. I think this first one shows their personalities so well. Kyle - happy go lucky, Ryleigh - goof ball, always hamming it up, Aiden - serious first born. :) I love this one too!

And this one!

Aiden is looking a little goofy here....

Hope everyone had a great Christmas!! Thanks to everyone who did send us a card, sorry we didn't respond with one! Maybe my New Years Resolution will be to update my blog regularly. :)

Some pictures!!! Wahoo!!

2009-12-08T09:06:00.000-05:00

I have been uploading these pictures longer than I care to admit. :) So I am not even going to try and upload more....I am just going to publish these....

Aiden at one of his football games this fall. This was his first year playing football and it was flag. He was very disappointed that it wasn't tackle, but that does not start until next year. He seemed to have fun, especially when they would win, which was only about half of the time..... I enjoyed watching him play. I was not too fond of the 3 practices a week and early morning Saturday games. But the future does not look much better, so I just better suck it up.

Jason and I at the ball. Red eyes and all. You think I am actually going to take the time and edit it??? Our ball was over 2 hours away this year so we had to stay the night. With no family around I didn't think we were going to be able to go. Not too easy to find someone willing to watch 3 kids for 24 hours. But, we have been blessed with AWESOME neighbors/friends and between a few families they took them for us and we got to have a 24 hour date.

Halloween. Again with our awesome neighbors. Here we are craving pumpkins in the street. Fun times. :)

Jason did one of a deer with antlers. Kyle thought he should wear them.
Ryleigh hanging out on her bike. She has since graduated to a big girl bike and as I type this I realize I have no pictures of her riding it.....I am so falling behind.
Pizza night with friends. There are lots of boys in our neighborhood for our boys to play with!
Ryleigh and Kyle playing around at one of Aiden's football games.

Unfortunately this did not really keep them contained....

See? They escaped and now are trying to throw chains over the fence to escape even further. And it looks like Kyle is lassoing a chain. Nice. Luckily it didn't hit posing Ryleigh.

More red neck training.
The kids at a football game.

This was short and sweet. But now on to help Aiden do a research paper. Yes, I said a research paper in 2nd grade. We get to do it on poster board so that makes it more elementary.

The Last of Summer

2009-08-25T10:09:00.007-04:00

Well same old story here. No time to update the blog. Jason leaves for 2 weeks on Wednesday so maybe I can get caught up. But with soccer practice, football practice and LIFE I wouldn't count on it. Here are a few pictures left from this summer and a life update. :) Kyle still has to climb everything. No change there. Just this morning I heard him talking about one of the things he wanted to play was "climb doorways". We are still working out his stomach issues and some things have been discovered that makes my mom heart worry. I hate how much pain he is in sometimes and that Dr.'s haven't been able to figure out how to make it go away. We go for some more tests tomorrow so hopefully soon we can get him healthy. Kyle is super sweet always looking out for the needs of others. If someone needs something Kyle notices and gets it for you. If you run out of candy and he has some left he offers to share his remaining stash. He is also quite the comedian without really knowing it. The other day I was frustrated with something and called it "stupid". All the kids were in the room and Kyle said "Mom you really shouldn't say that in front of your children."

Love this face! She is 100% a stinker! She has been a challenge lately in biting her brothers (no one else so far thank God) and spitting. I told her the other day she was going to get pepper on her tongue if she kept spitting. She repeats me in everything so here is a little conversation we had the other day. ME: "Ryleigh please sit still and eat your lunch!" RY: "Mom, I going put pepper on your tongue." ME: "Ryleigh you can not talk to Mommy like that, mommy was not spitting or saying anything bad." RY: (totally ignoring me and putting her hand to her ear like she is on the phone) "Yes Daddy, Mommy needs pepper on her tongue." ME: I don't remember what I said - I was just trying not to laugh! RY: "Ok Daddy. Bye. (puts down her pretend hand like she is hanging up a phone) Mommy, Daddy said you need pepper on your tongue." She definitely keeps us smiling around here.

The three stinkers.

A moment of sibling love caught between Ryleigh and Kyle. This was not staged. I was in the kitchen and looked out to see them sitting like this on the deck. I ran outside and caught the moment! Even though she bites and spits at her brothers she adores them! She says with pride "I got 2 brufers" and holds up 2 fingers.

Aiden - our little man. I wish I would have known that 2 is not the only terrible age. It seems 7 is the magic one for Aiden. He has always been a headstrong little guy (I admit he gets it quite honestly from both of his parents) and as he gets older he is using that stubborn streak more and more. He keeps Jason and I on our toes in the parenting department. Thank God Jason stands behind me, I don't know how I would do it without his support. I just hope we can direct his strong willed spirit into the right direction. But on the whole he is a sweet boy. His hugs are amazing and he has such a huge love for all of us and everyone in our family. He started flag football last week and he loves it! Glad to find a sport he enjoys, he wasn't really into soccer.On the way fishing. Ryleigh dosen't get to go and it kills her. I always tell her that we are the girls and we have to stick together. She likes that and now tells me that all the time "We da girls mom, we stick gether!" But she still has to get her picture taken with the boys. :)Gosh he is growing up fast! He looks like a teenager here to me! How do you guys like the long hair Marine sons? I think it is my rebellion to the military haircut. :)

My boys. Fishing and hunting is in their blood and they LOVE it!
These pictures are from Jason's cell phone - so not too clear.
Showing off their catch.
Enjoying their packed lunch and coke, and extreme rare treat. These boys do not need caffeine.
Home and showing me what they caught. Usually they do catch and release, but Jason told them they had to catch dinner that night. So they brought home a few sun fish.
Jason gutting the fish.Getting the creek dirt and fish guts off. :)
The end result! It was actually pretty good!
He likes it!

So does he! They were so proud that they caught dinner!
And she kept asking for more!

A tower creation on a lazy summer day. If you look closely you can see little Lego men on the top guarding the tower.

I know I rambled on a little about the kids... but haven't had much time to write things down lately and I don't want to forget life these days and I use the blog as a journal of sorts. So just scroll and look and the pictures and ignore my writing! :)

For Chelly

2009-08-14T00:23:00.004-04:00

Well, like I said in my last post, Chelly has been begging for updates on some of the things we have done around the house. I wasn't planning on putting them up in the blog, but she just won't take no for an answer! :) Plus, there is always something else that needs to be done, so I always feel like nothing is ever finished. I want to wait until I have it ALL done, but who knows when that will be! So today, is a rainy day. The kids are playing quietly at the moment (I am sure that will change ANY second now) so I thought I would finally give Chelly her wish! :)

The kitchen windows. I really wanted plantation shutters for these windows, but we just couldn't see spending that much money (over $800) when we will only live here a few years and can't take them with us! Maybe in our "forever" house. :)

Since I wanted plantation shutters it took me forever to figure out what I really wanted to do here. I didn't want to spend a lot and covering windows is not cheap, especially when you have to do three.
I bought a place mat at Pier One a few months ago and that got my juices flowing on what colors I wanted. I finally found some material I liked (and at 60% off it was a deal too!) and got to work on making them. I bought more place mats from Pier One and used them as fake "blinds" to give some color, but not too much since the kitchen is open to the family room and I didn't want to colors to clash. So the kitchen is on it's way to being finished! Now time to tile the backsplash....

Ryleigh's room. We painted it a light pink. Still have to fix her curtains and hang a few things. And eventually get her out of a crib!!

The guest room. We originally had our old bed in here, a large wooden sleigh bed, but it took up the whole room. So we sold that, bought a bed frame and made a headboard. It gives us so much more room in here now! This room is still pretty blank, needs curtains, bigger pillow shams, a chair, some kind of small dresser and stuff on the walls. But it is open for company! :)

Oh and another lamp on the other side. :)

The boys room. My cameras flash is acting up so I wasn't able to get very good pictures. But it is pained a very light blue.

A close up of the initials over there beds. I have a thing for letters and monograms! :)
The back deck. This deck was already here when we bought the house, Jason added the pergola. Still need to find cushions for the wicker.
Then he added the step down deck for our table.

He put the white vinyl fence up so we could eat out here in the evenings without the sun shining right on us.
The whole thing from the back. I plan to landscape all around it and from the white fence all the way over to the end of the house. But I think that is going to be a fall project....
The dining room. Chelly and I have pretty much the same dining rooms! :) We like plates, something started from our Aunt Debbie I think. :)

That's all for now! Hope you are happy now Chell! :) lol

A swing full of kids

2009-08-05T10:27:00.003-04:00

The other day I looked out on the swing and saw that all three kids were on one. Guess we kind of need a swing set....Maybe that is the next thing Jason can build! :) He just loves when I think of new projects for him. hehe Poor guy thinks he has to do everything that I even mention. We wouldn't be using it too much right now even if we had a swing set. It is so brutally hot that we only really go out in the evenings. So a swing set sounds like a fall project to me! We will let Jason have a little break. :)
It looks a bit tight to me, but they seemed to be having a lot of fun!

I am going to try and post soon some pictures of the house. Chelly has been begging me for months to post some. But that requires actually cleaning up each room and taking pictures! Sounds like a lot of work to me. But for her sake I am going to try! Why can't she just be happy with text pictures?? :)

July 20th

2009-07-29T15:57:00.005-04:00

Ryleigh's actual birthday was a few days after her party, on the 20th. I know this because I looked it up on her birth certificate a few months ago. Yes, I actually forgot her birthday. I called the insurance company about something for her and they asked me to confirm her birthday. I gave them a date, they said "that is not what we have here". "Well you have it wrong" I told them. I know my daughters birthday. Or at least you would think I do. They told me I would have to go into the insurance office on base with her birth certificate to have it changed. So, I dug it out to do just that. That is when I noticed I had it wrong. Oops. Maybe I should start taking Ginga Biloba or something.....

We started the day off with hot chocolate with whipped cream on the deck. A favorite with our kiddos and a treat. She is just a little bit happy. Notice the princess pj's from Megan and Sarah. :)

We saved a few presents and gave them to her that afternoon. She now has Barbies and she loves to brush their hair. :)
She also got a piggy bank. The boys each have one and she is very excited to have one of her own. We gave her some change and she had fun putting it all in her little bank.

We made pink cupcakes later on that afternoon and decorated them with purple frosting. The boys refused to eat them. Too many girly colors.

We spend the evening outside on our deck with a dinner of hot dogs. That was her request! :)
Looking cute in Daddy's John Deere hat.

Time for another singing of Happy Birthday. She sang along. :)I think she likes them. The icing at least. She just licked all the icing off and said she was done. Could have saved myself some trouble and just given her a spoon with a bowl full of icing.

She is Three!!

2009-07-29T15:51:00.002-04:00

Ryleigh turned three last week! She is pure sunshine. Sure, she is strong willed, head strong and more independent than the boys, but sunshine none the less. :) Her smile could melt snow. Her eyes twinkle and she has more than one person wrapped around her finger. How did God know we needed just this person in our family? I don't know, but thankfully He did!

Ryleigh's Birthday Party

2009-07-25T09:17:00.013-04:00

My camera is not taking inside pictures very well at the moment, so all the pics from Ryleigh's party did not turn out very well. So, I had Ashleigh send me some from her camera, still waiting on a few (hint, hint Ash!), but I decided to go ahead and post what I've got. Ryleigh and her gal pals all dressed up. Ryleigh's friends and family know her well. She got lots of dress ups and adorable dresses. Thanks everyone! Opening her presents. She was very methodical about it. :)

Focused here.

Happy girl!

She was very excited about her princess cake. It was so fun to have a princess themed party. For so many years now it has been one superhero after another with the boys and frilly stuff is a nice change!

Kyle and Lindsey

Ryleigh, Kyle and Lindsey hamming it up. Sarah and Ryleigh

Lindsey and Ryleigh

She has fun with her aunts!

Wonder where she gets that attitude from?

The umbrella from Mom Mom was a favorite gift.

Yay for Princesses!

These photos were all taken by Aimee.

Ryleigh's friend BrooklynTime for cake!

Looks like we are about to be invaded by pirates......

Cake on the deck.

The video of us singing Happy Birthday!

The BEACH

2009-07-24T15:14:00.012-04:00

I didn't take near as many pictures as I thought I did while we were at the beach. Everyone else was taking pictures and I guess I thought I did too! But looking through them, this is all I have. We had a really good time even though we missed everyone that couldn't be there. Getting a family as large as ours together is difficult with so many work schedules involved. But, I have faith it will happen one day! Here is the crew that made it this year: Rainbow taken from the porch of the beach house.

A row of girls. :)

Hanging out with Granddad in the waves.

A row of girls with Jason in the middle! Jason only got to come on Saturday.
A lot of reading was done on the beach last week. How do you like Aimee's hat? :)

Ryleigh singing and dancing in the water. She watched a Hannah Montana episode one day with the kids and she heard one of Hannah's songs called "You could be the one". She sang it every day after that. Only she sang it like this "He could be the one, he could be the one. My dad could be the one." All on her own. No one said anything to her about daddy, she just started singing it about him. Jason hopes to keep it that way for many years to come.

More fun with Granddad.
Aiden running down the beach!

Kyle is absolutely hysterical to watch at the beach. He does some crazy stuff. All week long he would run to the water and actually dive, like a belly flop, into the waves. It couldn't have felt that great, (in fact, someone said "I tried that and it really doesn't feel that good!") it actually looked like it hurt. But he did it over and over and over again. Should have got it on video....

There he is behind Lindsey, diving straight in.
Luckily, for now, Ryleigh is content to stay on the edge of the water and just play in the surf. That way I only have to watch 2 in the water, not 3. No reading books for me on the beach!

Jason throwing Ky into the waves.

Our row of chairs.
A popular discussion this week was Ashleigh's wedding. I think we pretty much got it planned! :) After a day at the beach we were checking out some bridal magazines.

This was towards the end of the week and as you can see from every ones faces, I think everyone was worn out! Too much sun, late nights and junk food! Ahh vacation!Our fabulous sand castle!
Aiden working on the bridge over the moat. The moat was huge!

Kyle in his own world, just sitting in the surf. Would love to know what goes through that boys mind sometimes!

I know this boys mind goes at rapid speed. You can tell by the questions he bombards you with.Looking for sea shells for our castle.
A closeup of our creation.
A "tent" I made for the kids one day when they wanted to get out of the sun for a little while.
She is not asleep. :) That would be too good to be true!
A lunch time break. Since the house was just steps away from the beach it was nice that we didn't have to pack anything. We just took a few small coolers with water and Capri suns and came back to the house for lunch or snacks. Lunch on the deck.Fun in the water! Josh and Aiden making something on the beach. I don't know what it was, but it was some kind of game.

The Mrs. Steven Garrett to be. :)

Lindsey and Kyle.

Annah and Ryleigh jumping in the waves. Thank you guys for making the trip down here! We LOVED having you here and having you at our house and at our beach! We loved spending so much time with you, even though it is never enough. We look forward to the next time!

The rest of the visit....

2009-07-23T22:26:00.006-04:00

And now we are at the last of the PA visit pictures! We can now move on to the beach! Yay! Just a few random pictures that didn't fit in any of the other posts. Here are the kids having dinner one night. A sister picture - minus Aimee. She was at work. :( Somebody always was.

Lydia was kind enough to have her baby while I was in town so I could see him before I left! :) Thanks Lydia! lol Grant Joshua. He is so cute!! But he didn't seem to like me much, he cried a lot when I held him.

I won't be getting the mother of the year award now that I am posting pictures of my kids playing on a shed roof. But, I remember playing on the shed roof when I was a kids (especially with the Johnston kids!) and we used to have a blast! Aimee took the photos though!
I don't know what it is about mom's swing set, but my kids play on it for hours. They never played on ours that long. But at moms, literally hours of just swinging on the tire swing and running around the play set. This spot will definitely be dear to their heart when they get older, rich with memories.

Kyle likes to be upside down.

I think this just might be Aiden's favorite spot on earth. On the tire swing.

We loved being home for a week. Thanks to my parents, who instilled deep family roots in us all, my family are my best friends. Family means everything to me and I wish we were closer to everyone. But since we can't be for now, visits will have to do. And we make the most of them! :)

Aiden's 7th Birthday

2009-07-23T16:53:00.008-04:00

Once again Aiden got to have his birthday at his favorite place on earth - Mom-Moms. I didn't want to be away from home (and Jason) for his birthday, but it was the only way we could work it out with everything else that was going on and there were of course no complaints from Aiden. Who wants to have a birthday at home with just few friends when you can have a party at Mom-Moms with countless aunts, uncles and cousins?! It's a no brainer. :) The morning of his birthday he came downstairs to a decorated dining room and his breakfast request - donuts. Wonder what age they will start asking for things like eggs benedict or omelets? For now, it is easy on me and they are happy, happy, happy. (we don't get donuts very often!) :)We let him open a few presents that morning.Ryleigh wasn't complaining about the donuts either of course. Or Kyle.... :)Aiden convinced Megan to play the game Mouse Trap with him using the "but it's my birthday" whine. Worked like a charm.Ryleigh and Adam enjoyed the balloons.

His request for lunch - McDonald's. And everyone came along! He is one lucky loved little guy.Happy Meals with aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents.

Steve and Ashleigh didn't eat McD's. Steve says he only eats it when Ashleigh isn't around and looking. hehe But, they came to hang out! More family.

And some more.

Wonder what Adam is telling Ryleigh here? :)

This pose was Allie's idea. :)

Time for presents. Love that grin!

Sitting at the table contemplating a serious move with his new game "Sorry Sliders"

It was an intense game of sliding little game pieces..... :)

Me and my big boy! He is growing up so fast! I knew it was going to happen. Just still am not ready for it!

Creek fun

2009-07-23T12:28:00.007-04:00

Since we took the kids photos at a park that had a creek, keeping the kids out of the creek while we did pictures was another big challenge. We promised them after we were done they could get in and have fun. They did just that. :) I tried to keep them from getting totally soaked. Not that I minded them getting wet, but I could just hear the moans of how cold they were on the way home.

No moaning going on right now.

Skipping rocks is one of the boys favorite things to do. Or should I say throwing rocks? Wonder how many times that day I said "Don't throw the rocks!"

Looks like he was really listening. For the record, Aimee was taking these pictures, so I wasn't telling him not to throw rocks and taking pictures of him doing it at the same time. :) Aimee caught these photos of Kyle and Allie. Love them!

Going all the way. Forget just getting your feet wet.

These pictures just say summer time memories to me! I think we did a good job of creating some great memories this summer.

All the cousins

2009-07-10T17:57:00.006-04:00

Since we had all the cousins together while we were home visiting we decided to play photographers and try to get a picture of them all. We thought about taking them somewhere to have it done, but that sounded like a nightmare, so we just experienced the nightmare for ourselves, rather then put someone else through it! :) I really don't know how photographers do it. Getting kids ages 6, 5, 4, 2, 1 and 3 months to all look at the camera, smile and not run away was a huge challenge. But we actually got some great photos! Aimee was doing the actual picture taking, these were just snapped with my camera from behind her. For better shots, check out Chelly's blog. There they all are, Maddax 3 months, Adam 1, Allie 4, Aiden 7, Ryleigh 2 and Kyle 5. And this is just 3 Aguilar girls married! What will cousin picture taking be like 10 years from now????

Love this one and how Maddax head is just peeking up! Liz did a good job of hiding behind the post and holding him up! Our biggest fear with this picture: the boys deciding to climb up and jump off the bridge.

I love this one!! Just wish you could see that they were sitting at the entrance to a covered bridge.

We are starting to lose it here....
We are growing Aiden's hair out. I think it is a little of rebellion in me growing the boys hair long, trying to look as far from military kids as possible!
Our other long hair little guy. :) Aka - Skater dude.
Ah, such a Ryleigh face. Buddies!

Really never got it together here.....
One of the last shots we tried and to say the least, these smiles were forced!

Ryleigh chillin' between photos

I love, love, love this one!! We put them all in a line and told them to walk very slowly. It was hysterical. Starting with Adam at the end he just kept going towards the center until they would all be in one big huddle.
What a cute bunch of kids! :)

Aiden was SO careful holding Maddax here. We told him to walk tiny baby steps and he barely moved he walked so slow! He takes his job as biggest cousin quite seriously. :)

I guess by now you have figured I never reached my goal of getting all the pictures up of the PA visit before my family arrived. So lots of pictures ahead, rest of PA, beach visit, Ryleigh's birthday and house projects. But considering I didn't remember we were having company for dinner last night until 30 minutes before they were supposed to arrive, blogging is not looking so good. Desperately seeking a new brain.......

Exhaustion, Nail polish, Maddax and The Cafe'

2009-07-10T17:15:00.004-04:00

One day we all met at the cafe' lunch. Since we couldn't get every ones schedules figured out where we could all eat together at once, we just met for lunch where Aimee and Ashleigh work so we could all be together. The cafe' is our favorite place to go anyway when we are all home. Maddax was trying to get a little rest, poor kid can 't even sleep in peace. He had his cousins watching over him while he slept. Me and Ryleigh

Twins!!

Aimee was our waitress, and came out and sat with us when she got a chance.

Chelly, Liz, Erin with our Grandmom.

Ryleigh and Lindsey.

The kid table.

Even with a room full of moms, stuff like this can happen. :) Adam had a bottle of nail polish in his hands sitting on Chelly's lap. I was standing right in front of them, and saw just as he got it opened. I barely got out of my mouth "He's getting it open" and he flung it up and it hit him square in the face. Poor guy. It stung. Of course this happened on the day we were taking the kids pictures.

Maddax is a hot commodity these days. All the kids fight over him.
Allie's turn.
Finally getting a break from his countless aunts, uncles, grandmom and cousins. As you can see he is pretty happy about it!
Excuse the mess, but I had to put this picture in here. (I think most of the mess was from Megan cleaning out her purse. You wouldn't believe the stuff that girl has in her purse. I think even that big Barbie care was in there...... ) Anyway, this is what happens when we all get together. We stay up way beyond what we are used to and talk for hours. And then we all fall asleep all over the place because nobody wants to go to bed. Fun times, but exhausting!! :) I love it!!

Kittens and Movies

2009-07-08T23:45:00.007-04:00

Ryleigh giving us a "show" one day at moms. She tries to dance like they do on "So you think you can dance." It is hysterical. Her hair needs some help though.....Mom and Dad got 3 little kittens to help with the problem they are having with mice in their shed. It was getting out of control. Ryleigh really likes the the solution. She LOVES animals. Me and Ryleigh. Liz, mid sentence in the background.

Movie Day with Mom Mom. She took all of these kids (expect Adam) to see Hannah Montana. Brave woman. They had a blast!!
Maddax and Adam did a little shopping with the ladies....don't they look thrilled? :)

This was only day 2 at Mom Moms and Kyle could not even stay awake on the way to the movies. Imagine how tired he must be now?? :) I caught a picture of Ash in the kitchen of the cafe'. She was chief in charge that week. The owner was out of town and left everything in Ashleigh's lap. She did all the cooking and ran the place, with the help of Aimee!
Aimee at work. She can make a mean cup of iced coffee!
From the looks of this post you would think I never brush Ryleigh's hair. Here she is one morning giving her favorite a car ride. The kitty kept trying to escape. She never succeeded.

Pure happiness.
Adam and Ryleigh (another great hair day - I am losing it in my old age) watching Aunt Chelly get her hair done at the Salon.

Oh look, her hair is combed! The girls had a lot of fun together and only had a few little spats!

Lunch with Granddad Aubrey

2009-07-08T23:27:00.003-04:00

We came home from the beach late afternoon on Sunday and immediately started packing to head up to PA! Unpacked one bag and filled several more. :) The kids and I got up bright and early Monday morning and headed north. My plan was to get up so early that the kids would just go back to sleep for a few hours, ha! Why did I actually think that would work?? I did snap a picture of them when they finally feel asleep around 6:45 a.m. (we left at 4:30 a.m.), but this only lasted for about a 1/2 hour. But we only had a 6 hour drive to Granddad's house, so it wasn't too bad.

My mom, 2 of my sisters and 1 nephew drove to Maryland to have lunch with our granddad and meet us. It was a nice way to break up the trip! Here is Grandad with his great grand kids.

My mom, with granddad, me and kids.
I love how Aiden has his book on display in all the pictures. :)
Granddad with 3 of his 10 granddaughters and 4 of his 6 great grandchildren.

We had a fun visit. My kids love this tree. Wish we had one like it in our backyard. The kids would LIVE in it. My mom took the kids after lunch back to her house and let us girls stay and visit with Granddad in peace for a few hours. We had a nice relaxing afternoon on the back porch. So many memories there as a kid. Then we headed up to PA! It was a fun ride with Chelly and Liz. It is not often that we all get to hang out with each other like that and with only 1 kid between the 3 of us!

Lots more PA pics to come......

Beach weekend

2009-07-08T08:55:00.007-04:00

Father's Day weekend we rented a little cabana at the beach on base. It is just 10 minutes from Jason's office and about 30 minutes from home. Not a far away get away, but a get away still! We got there Thursday night and Jason met us there after work. He had to work on Friday, but we got to hang out all weekend together. It was perfect family time before we left for PA that Monday. We had a great relaxing time!

Sandy kids!

Ryleigh on the deck of our cabana, looking out at the oceanMommy and Ryleigh

This is why I love beach, the kids wear themselves out and play for hours and sleep like rocks all night long!

Kyle and Ryleigh took turns burying themselves (the kids has abs! - no fair!!) :)

Aiden made many a tunnel, castle, whole etc., etc., over the weekend
Family photo!
A few friends joined us on Saturday. Ryleigh and Micah
Jason, Nate, John and Kyle

Addison, Ryleigh and Brooklyn
I love this photo!
Happy kids! (those are the cabanas in the background)
Aiden riding waves
Ryleigh stood at the edge of the water a lot. Keeping an eye on the boys. She would yell "BOYS! That is far enough!" Wonder who she hears say that? :)

Kyle riding the waves

The boys just laying aroundDaddy after work one night with the kids
More sandy kids!

I have lots of PA pics to put up. Trying to get it done before my family gets here to go to the beach or I will never catch up. The kids are in PA and you would think I have lots of time, but painting is taking over my blogging time!

Summer, Summer, Summertime!

2009-06-16T10:13:00.007-04:00

Summertime is here and in full swing. We are loving not having to get ready for school, do homework or be stuck to a schedule! I love having Aiden home all day and so does Kyle and Ryleigh! I am hoping for a really SLOW summer. :) I let the boys get up one night after I had already put them to bed and have ice cream. As you can see from the photos they were having a good time! This isn't even half of the pics I took of them. They kept asking me to take them.....so I did. :)

They just love to be silly.

Crazy kids...

We have started to hit the beach! Yay! LOVE living near the beach. We have beach bum kids and they take after me and would stay on the beach all day everyday! We are going to spend the whole weekend there this weekend. We rented a little cabana right on the beach Thurs-Sunday.

Aiden's last day of school party. We went and celebrated with him. Kyle and Ryleigh loved being part of it.

Aiden with his teacher aide and teacher.Time for more projects! We started a pergola over our deck this weekend. Thank goodness for a handy husband! :) We finished the pergola, now we are going to extend the deck off the steps to make a deck like patio. I will take pictures of it when it is all done.

In progress....

Our wicker is looking a little old so we decided to paint it. Here it is before.....And after. Now I need to find cushions....

Lots of imagination going on around here. Here is a superhero fort.

And the creators of this fort.Fun brother time!

We head to the beach this weekend and then the kids and I leave for PA for a week. I will try to put up the beach pics before I leave, but that is probably not going to happen! :)

Ryleigh's Gal Pals

2009-06-13T08:08:00.002-04:00

We were lucky that when we moved here Chelly already had a great group of friends that I got to know through her! Ready made friends! Thanks Chelly! hehe :) Most of them moved away when Chelly did, but two of them are still here and they have girls Ryleigh's age. We get together regularly and Ryleigh loves "her" girls! One day when they were all over, they wanted to get in the little pool and Ryleigh was happy to give them all a swim suit! So this is Ryleigh's 2009 swimsuit collection! Every morning, before I even see her, she gets up, takes off her pj's and puts on a swimsuit. A different one every morning. Thanks to having a cousin one year older, she has quite a few to pick from. :)

These three are all just one month apart in age. One born in May, one in June and Ryleigh in July. They are all going to be taking ballet together this fall. How cute will that be?? :)

Field Day

2009-06-09T11:38:00.005-04:00

Aiden had a field day at school last week. It was hot, hot, hot!! But I told him we would go, so Kyle, Ryleigh and I went to cheer him on in the blazing heat. :) It was fun, but I do think the kids were a bit miserable with the high temperatures! Enjoy the pictures!
Sack races!

Relays!

Jump rope....

A break inside from the heat to play in the gym.

Football....

Dancing.....

Ball relay....

School ends tomorrow!!! Yipee! I think I am just as excited as Aiden! We can now hit the beach!

Daddy's girl

2009-06-05T14:33:00.002-04:00

I caught these pictures the other night while we were outside roasting hot dogs over the fire. I love how she is leaning on him and sticking so close to his side. She is a true Daddy's girl. Ryleigh has Jason so wrapped around his finger it should be blue! She runs up to him every night when he comes home yelling "My daddy! My daddy! My daddy is home! I missed you day!" as she hugs his legs. Who can resist little girls? We are so glad God gave us one!

Meeting Maddax and various other things...

2009-06-02T09:25:00.011-04:00

For as long as I have been doing this blog, about 3 years, I still never remember to upload the pictures in the right order! So once again, these are not in order and I don't have the time to move each one today! :)

Liz, Matt and Maddax made the trip south to see us last weekend. It was a last minute decision and we were so excited when they said they would come. I have been begging Liz to bring the baby down and we are so glad she gave into the begging! We had a fun weekend and Maddax was loved, loved, loved. Kyle asked if we could please keep Maddax. He said he would trade Ryleigh for him....poor Ry. :) Though I don't think Ryliegh would mind. She adores Liz and Matt!

On Sunday evening we tired out our new fire pit. It was a bit hot and the bugs were awful, but we had fun!

Nothing like a hot dog over an open fire!

The kids in the new wagon. I had been planning on getting Jason this wagon for Father's Day because he has tried to get it every time we have been to Lowes lately. I have been able to divert him every time so far. But, on Saturday while he and Matt ran out to the store, he came back with the wagon!

The hot dog sticks are also great swords of course.

Men! Working on fire! :)
Our new fire pit. It looks like we had a fire all around our pit because the builders grade grass they put down dies apparently very quickly. We just planted new grass, hope it takes soon. Again, I miss PA grass! If you live up north don't take for granted how easily and beautifully grass grows. It does not work that way in the south.

The wagon works great for Jason to put the kids in the back of and let them water!

Saki came too, he loved our big backyard.Maddax hanging out in Ryleigh's stroller.
Future skateboarding buddies!
All love for baby Maddax!
Cute cousins!!I think Kyle was taped up here.....

Ryleigh was thrilled to be able to have a bath with just her and Maddax. We took these pictures so we could embarrass them later in life. :)
He is a chunk of cuteness!!The kids took turns begging to hold him all weekend long. He probably was so glad to get home and get some tummy time.

Every time one of the kids would hold him they would say "Take our picture!!" Such vain children!
Popsicle lip stained kiddos :)

Some evening bike ramp fun. Don't worry the kid on the ground is not seriously injured. :)Kyle done with his helmet.Another attempt.

Almost!
The land was not pretty on this one.Aiden and Maddax.

The boys! Add Adam to this mix and I think we may have some trouble in the years to come. :)

Wild boys

2009-05-26T19:56:00.006-04:00

The boys asked to be video taped last night as they were running around being boys. :) Includes their newest thing, "the chest bump" that they discovered they loved doing this weekend while we were taking too long in Lowes. If you don't have boys this video looks a little rough, not if you do, it looks normal. As I watched over it, it looks like Kyle is totally being beat up, but only moments before I started taping, it looked like Kyle was beating up Aiden relentlessly! So don't feel too bad for Kyle, he must have just been tired! And he loved every minute of it. And no, they did not just have sugar......this is just their energy level at the end of the day. Makes you glad you are not here in the mornings, huh?

(You can pause the music on the side while you watch the video)

Tis the season to....sneeze

2009-05-14T17:58:00.008-04:00

And time to move outside! And sneeze while we are out there. These southern states are thick and heavy on pollen. Even though we have lived in the south now for almost 5 years, our bodies don't seem to be acclimating. We are all on some kind of hay fever medication or another. I hate being on it, but to see a kid rub their nose until it almost is about to fall off, you figure you should do something about it. They also ALL, at the same time, developed ear infections and strep throat due to allergies (that was a fun week)....so on medication we went, hopefully for only a few more weeks. So with being outside comes outside chores, planting flowers, working on our lovely southern lawn (I am being sarcastic here), and as you can see by the picture below, pressure washing the house. This was the view out my kitchen window the other night as Jason pressure washed the house. :) Another fun thing about the south - mildew on your house. Jason works hard to make sure not a speck grows. ;-)
Ahh, our beautiful yard full of clover. How I miss the lawns of the north. Growing grass down here in the sandy soil is not an easy task. We are slowing working on it, but it will never look like the lush, green lawns of PA. We have killed most of the clover.

Ryleigh checking out the John Deere.

Ryleigh declared herself queen of the weeds!

The kids loved the clover and its time here in our yard. They picked huge bouquets of it for me daily. I had them all over the house!

A good example of one of my many bouquets of "flowers"

Here she was throwing clover and grass in the air.

So was Kyle....

And Aiden.....

Kids on the tractor.

We are trying our best to raise country bumpkins even though we are not really in the country. :)

Kyle wanted to make sure everyone was protected while they were on their wagon ride. He asked me the other day who our enemies were. I wasn't sure how to answer him. Before I could answer he said, "Is it the Japanese?" Sounds like someone has been telling him about WWII.... I told him no, they were not our enemies anymore that was a long time ago. He said "What happened? Did they repent to God?" Sounds like he is also been listening in Sunday School!

Daddy giving rides on the tractor. He rode them through the neighborhood.

Tis also the season for mowing. I am very grateful to have Jason around this year to take care of the yard! I know it won't last forever so he keeps making me practice backing the tractor in and out of the shed so I don't wreck it. It's not a bad idea, backing up is not my forte'. :)

Soccer Awards!

2009-05-13T12:19:00.004-04:00

Kyle's award party was a much anticipated event around here. Kyle counted the days. He asked about it several times a day. Then when the day arrived, he counted the hours. Or should I say he had me tell him how many more hours every few minutes. :) Like most kids, ours do not do well waiting for things. Days away seem like years to them. If only I could get them to see life the way I see it now. That it goes fast, treasure every moment. Kyle and his team!

Can you say proud?

Aiden had a little party after his last game and the coaches gave them trophies. Which was a pretty big deal to all the boys! The smiles on their faces were so cute as the coached called them each up each by name, and said a little about each kid and then presented them their trophy. I am really grateful that both the boys had great coaches. They were laid back, yet taught them the game, pushed them to do better, but never got upset. I didn't see that with all the coaches and I am really glad we got good ones!

The Southwest Flames! :)

Soccer was fun, but I am glad to have a break! Two practices for each of the boys, sometimes 3, plus a game, sometimes 2, each a weekend, added to our already busy lives. We have a break for summer and then start again in the fall. Kyle is counting the days, Aiden is still debating if he wants to continue soccer or move on to a different sport. :) Is there a sport for reading??

Remembering Grandmom

2009-05-13T10:36:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was my grandmothers birthday. I wanted to put something up on the blog, but the day got away from me. When I saw Chelly's blog this morning, http://cmyoder.blogspot.com/, I knew I wanted to put something up anyway. Even if it was a day late. The picture above is an old one, from probably at least 8 years ago on my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary. But, it show something she loved, her grandkids around her. She loved having us around and we loved being around her. She has been gone for over a year now and I can't believe how often I think of something I want to tell her. Or see something that reminds me of her. She has her fingerprints all over my house from little things that she would find and give to me. One of the hardest things about losing Grandmom is that my kids will never know her like I did. I tell them about her all the time and they do remember her, and I want to keep that memory alive. From showing them the sweater they came home from the hospital in that she hand knitted, to letting know that we are eating Grandmom Jeanies marconi and cheese recipe. :) She lives in all of us because she invested so much in our lives.

Outer Banks

2009-05-11T17:02:00.000-04:00

We had an awesome Spring Break in the Outer Banks with Jason's family (well as many as could make it this year) for a week. It was our first visit to the Outer Banks, but it will not be our last! We loved it! We stayed on a 4x4 beach, so you could only reach the house if you had 4 wheel drive. Our house was about 7 miles down the beach. Here we are driving on the beach to get to our house.
Up the dunes to the house!

Our house for the week! Lydia did a great job picking it out and organizing everything.

View from our porch. Even though it was chilly for most of the time we were there, we didn't mind. Just looking out at the view was a vacation enough.

Jason was not able to get off for the week. But since it was only 4 hours from our house, he came down for Sunday and left Monday afternoon. Ryleigh enjoying a snack on Daddy's lap.
A family picture on the porch.
Kids chillin' with Katie on the couch.

Josh's family was also there, and we have known them for years too, so it was fun hanging out with them too. And as an added bonus Mr. J can really cook! :)
Another porch view.

Even though it was cold the first several days, we made it down the the beach everyday. Here Kyle is trying to catch a free ride on Aiden's back. :)
Family photo on the beach. It was windy!

Jason got this photo of the boys and it is my new favorite!
A rare photo of me and Jas.

Daddy and Kyle enjoying some time together before he leaves.
There were wild horses on the island everywhere. This one was right outside our house.Getting some energy out on the beach.

Aiden is getting so big!! We have had to recently buy all new pants for him, he shot up so fast!Katie and Kyle
Kyle had been talking about showing Grandmom when we got to the beach how he can write his last name. He wanted to do it in the sand. :) And he remembered and did.
We went 4 wheeling in the back of Josh's truck looking for horses one day and we saw this, thought it was interesting.
We found some horses!

It was a bit chilly that day and even colder riding in the back of the truck. We kept warm with beach towels!

Driving along the beach.Further inland. There wasn't much between the sound and the ocean.
The first level of the house had a pool table that got a lot of use! It was a great game room and Grandmom keep them busy with craft projects everyday. They loved it!
Ryleigh with a serious ponytail. :)
Kaite and Ry awaiting breakfast.
More horses.

One chilly day we turned the jet tub into a swimming pool for the kids. :)

Another of Grandmom's projects. Painting Easter eggs.
And another project, paper mache masks. You can see Ryleigh is getting quite frustrated because her balloon will not stay put/
Grandmom also put together a treasure hunt. Complete with treasure map that they "happened" to find. Here they are racing to where they think the treasure is.

They found the spot!!
It was clearly marked, as you can see.
With the loot. The kids were excited digging for the first like 3 seconds, then they wanted to move on to another spot. But since we knew it was buried in that spot we tried to get them to keep digging in that area. It didn't work and the adults had to take over (Josiah buried it REALLY deep!) At one point I was digging and Katie said "You can do it Aunt Erin! You can do it!" In other words, they wanted that treasure!The sun finally did make an appearance later in the week and we soaked it up!
Two little bating beauties. None of them stayed still for long. I can't believe I even caught it on camera!

Playing a pirate game with Grandmom with real chocolate coins!
Ryleigh is a huge dog lover. Don't know how long we are going to be able to keep saying no to the pet thing around here. I am holding my ground as long as possible.

Beast needed a little sunscreen on his nose. He was getting a bit pink. :) Dig, dig, dig. They do this for hours.

Cuties!What is vacation without breaking a few rules? Popsicles in the morning!

Our last morning, getting a picture of each of the kids....

Ryleigh did not want to cooperate. So this is her picture.Playing in the dunes while we packed up.

Time to leave...

We already can't wait to go back next year!

Kyle's birthday party

2009-05-11T15:34:00.004-04:00

Here are the pics from Kyle's birthday party. Which was weeks ago, but better late than never! :)His soccer cake. The boy loves soccer. He cried the other day because there is no more soccer until the fall. The nice little mess up in the cake happened before I even got it home. I walked out of the store with the cake and the wind was so strong it blew up the top of the box and smashed the cake in the front. Didn't even make it home for the kids to mess it up. :)We had to postpone Kyle's party for a week because I got sick with strep a few days before his party, so he had been anxiously awaiting this day.Still can't believe he is 5!Loving life! Can't turn your back for a second....

The party!

Time for presents.

Fun with Collages

2009-04-23T16:51:00.000-04:00

I started out doing a collage for Kyle for his birthday with some of his soccer pictures. Well, it took way longer than I thought it would and then I thought I should do one for the other two, but it took me weeks before I got back around to making theirs. Then I just didn't have the time, so theirs ended up being only 2 pictures instead of 4. So, no favoritism here, just time hacks! :)
You can click on them to view them larger.

Hope you enjoyed!

A little of everything....

2009-04-22T13:12:00.008-04:00

Once again I find myself very far behind in blogging..... Blogging used to be something I did at night. Jason was gone 3-4 nights a week and worked late on the nights he did come home, so after the kids went to bed, I had lots of time. Now that Jason actually comes home every night (yay!) I find my blogging has gone out the window. Once he leaves again, I am sure I will be better at keeping it up. Though I am not anxious for that to happen.

Here is a little peak at the last month in pictures:

Kyle with his new ball for his birthday (which only lasted 2 days cause it got so much use)

Kyle on his birthday

On his birthday we went and had lunch with Aiden at school and then took Aiden out early and headed to a park.

Our kids love to climb, climb, climb.

Jason doing some pull ups - the boys followed suit.
He does not look like it here, but he was very happy to be taken out of school early
Going backwards - this is the morning of his birthday.
Not quite the breakfast of champions, but the breakfast for a birthday boy. Donuts and chocolate milk.

From the look of these few pictures you would think all my kids do is eat sugar. Yum! Cookie dough.
Ryleigh doing her "homework". A lot of times when Aiden is doing his homework she gets this out and says that is what she is doing too.
Jason put this swing up in the only tree we have it our yard.
The new steps leading up into the fort.

A few weekends ago Jason's battalion had a function and they had a little petting zoo. I think these goats were pretty hungry. One is going for Aiden's shirt and the other one looks like it might break his neck trying to get food. They also had pony rides....

And this thing, which the boys thoroughly enjoyed!
One night the boys had a sleep over in the fort. I got a call at almost midnight asking for snacks to please be brought out in something that could be brought up in a bucket. :) I made some popcorn and went out and saw that Jason had made a pulley system and they were anxious to try it out. So up went the snacks in the bucket!
The stuff that memories are made of!

Jason also made this rope from them to go down. Up the stairs, down the rope. Over and over again!

That is all for now. Still have Kyle's birthday party and our Outer Banks vacation to put up. Hopefully it won't be another month before I get around to actually getting it done. :)

Welcome Maddax Austin!

2009-04-22T12:27:00.002-04:00

To say I am behind in blogging is quite an understatement! I thought I should start with the most exciting family news and that is the birth of the newest member to enter into the extended Aguilar family. Maddax Austin was born on April 8th to Liz (one of my many sisters) and her husband, Matt. He weighed 7lbs. 9 oz. and I don't currently remember his length. :) Since I live far away I have yet to meet him. :( But I get daily text pictures to keep me up to date and I can not wait to meet and hold him! Congrats Matt and Liz!!

Kyle turns 5

2009-04-01T16:21:00.002-04:00

I have no idea where the last 5 years went. But, somehow they are gone and Kyle is now 5. He is very proud of his new age and did not want to stay 4, even though I begged him too. :) He is our soccer star, our ever moving, always doing something dangerous boy. Yet despite his wild side, he is super sweet and gentle. He tells us over and over, almost hourly, how much he loves each one of us. Some of his favorite expressions are "I love you infinity" or "I love you to the stars". He had a fun birthday, full of sugar, and is looking forward to his party on Friday.

Indoor skateboarding

2009-03-28T08:42:00.005-04:00

The other day, while I was working on some projects in the garage, Kyle and Ryleigh decided to use the skateboards in a different way. This way works quite well for Ryleigh, who can not stand on it and make it move, but still wants to be able to use it like her brothers. The helmet is supposed to be on her head, but it is too big for her and kept sliding off. She was showing me how dirty her hands were getting.Kyle taking a moment to chill from his riding. This is the kid that thinks of all sorts of ways to use his board. One day, back in Beaufort, I found him using a serving tray, as a skateboard, to ollie off his, taller than him, dresser. It didn't end pretty. He had rug burns on his forehead. Ouch.

Quite a fun little game that kept them busy for awhile! :)

The shed that Jason built

2009-03-26T07:28:00.001-04:00

When we moved here we knew that one of the first things we were going to have to do is get a shed, since this house did not have one. Jason is a firm believer of parking our cars in the garage, so the garage for storage just wasn't going to cut it. :) We priced sheds everywhere and found that they are not cheap! So one day Jason draw up a plan and figured out everything he needed. His plan was way better looking than any shed we had seen on our shed shopping adventures, so we decided to do it ourselves. (When I say we, I mean I wholeheartedly supported Jason building the shed.....I can not take credit much on this project!) We found a Lumber discount store and was able to get the supplies for way under the retail store prices. Always love to find a good deal thanks to frugal parents! :)So one Friday night Jason started the foundation and here is the progression all along. This post is for you Granddad! I knew you would be interested! :)He was never short on helpers! The boys LOVED "helping" out. Jason kept them busy though and he said they were a help!One wall up!And another.Framing out the door and window.I helped a few times, and Ry was not that happy to have to sit and not get in the way. Kyle tried to help. It wasn't working....Our friend Val, helped a lot! He was here helping whenever he could and he was a huge help.Almost ready to put the siding on.The boys loved when it came time to help on the roof. I was not so excited, but Jason assured me they were fine and boys just need to do these things.This does not look very comfy to me, but they said they wanted to live in there. Aiden did say he wished he could shrink first, then move in.Siding going on.Building the loft inside.That tongue comes out whenever he concentrates.Hammer happy.Ryleigh wanted to try too. All done! I think he did an excellent job! We just need to do some landscaping and put a weather vane on top to complete the look. :)He hung a swing from a beam on one side for Ryleigh since we don't have a swing set yet. She loves it!

He built two lofts in the shed. One side for storage and the other side a "fort" for the boys. They quickly made it their own.

More swinging!

Now we can work on getting some things done inside the house! :)

Last days with the cousins

2009-03-05T09:43:00.005-05:00

About two weeks ago said goodbye to Chelly and Chris when they moved to PA. It was hard to see them go. After 11 years of living away from family you don't know how nice it was to have a sister in the same town! It was extremely short lived, only 3 months, but it was fun while it lasted! We were able to trade off for date nights, help each other with kids for doctors appointments, have family dinners and just hang out. It was fun. The kids loved being together and our kids are constantly asking when they will see Allie and Adam again. Hopefully those 3 short months will have cultivated a friendship between them all that will just rekindle when they are all older and we all live good ole' PA!!

Best Buddies! Aiden was at school so he missed out on the pictures and I forgot once he got home! :(

Kyle and Allie, rowing to nowhere.

These three like to have their picture taken together!

I have a feeling these two could be big trouble together when they get older! lol
Ryleigh and Adam enjoying a morning snack.
Sweet Adam. Allie and Ryleigh would fight over him a lot. "He's my Adam!" Ry would say. Then Allie would say "NO! He is my brother!" They would go back and forth forever on that one! Adam just getting a taste of girls fighting over him in the future. :)

We really miss you guys! We are still hoping you move in down the street in 3 years! :) I'm glad you are still just a phone call away though! Thank God for Verizon.

Soccer!

2009-03-04T16:59:00.003-05:00

Soccer started a few weeks ago and I guess I am now officially a "soccer mom". Got to get myself one of the soccer bumper stickers. :) The boys are on different teams, but have the same name "Flames", and the same jersey number, "8". Just happened that way.Aiden during a practice. They both have practices twice a week, luckily at the same time. So Jason and I take turns going back and forth watching them both play. We constantly are passing each other in the middle of the field. :)
On the one practice I finally remembered to bring my camera, I mostly got photos of Kyle. By the time I got over to Aiden's field it was getting dark and only got one. Will have to switch up my routine next time! Kyle mid air ready to kick!

Kyle is on the U-4 team, since of course he is 4. His coach coaches both U-4 and U-7. After one practice he came up to us and said that Kyle was good enough to practice with the U-7 if he wanted too, even though he was too young to be on the team. Kyle jumped at the chance! So, after he practices with his team, he goes over and plays with the big boys and he can keep up!! He loves it!

Another kick. :)
I caught him in the air a lot.
At his first game. He was the star!! I forgot my camera again that day, so I stole this pic from a friend.

Aiden's first game. Getting ready to go play.

Running with the pack. Don't know where the ball is. Aiden is not quite as in to soccer as Kyle!

Kyle and Ryleigh playing soccer while Aiden is playing.
Watching another game.

Aiden and his soccer buddies. :) Love this photo.Aiden going after the ball.

Having 2 practices, 2 games, sometimes 4, a week has added to our busy lives. I guess this is where it begins! It only gets busier with sports from here on out. I keep telling Jason "wait til they are in high school!" It is fun watching them play though and we are enjoying it! Wish family was closer so they could go to games with us!

"I got shot."

2009-02-16T17:41:00.003-05:00

The only explanation I have why my 2 year old little girl thinks that she got "shot" when she gets a scratch, is she probably did. From a Nerf gun, or something of the sort. She has 2 big brothers, what can I say? :) We had just dropped them off at a birthday party, so I couldn't ask them if they were the "gad (bad) guys." But since she says in the clip she says something to the fact that she lives with "gad guys" I am thinking they were the culprits! Hope it brought a smile.

More Mud

2009-02-02T16:09:00.004-05:00

More of the boys fascination with mud. This time I found them flinging it at each other. Making nice big mud balls. Lovely. "Look Mom! Isn't this great!!?"

That face right there, that smirk, he is trouble. :)

Nice big glop of it on the neck.

He threatened to throw it at me. He didn't follow through. :) Doesn't our grass look great?! We have a lot of work to do in the spring.

Why do they look at it like it is gold? Pure bliss. A wonderful discovery.

I don't know about you, but if this was in my hands, I would not be smiling.

I wasn't smiling when I was cleaning up the bathtub and their clothes afterwards either. But, boys will be boys and this mom knows that a little dirt never hurt. Though some may argue that this was more than a little dirt. :)

Snow in the South

2009-01-23T15:07:00.006-05:00

I had been hearing rumors that we were supposed to get snow, but since I don't really watch the news and I didn't think it snowed here, I thought it was purely rumor. Especially on Monday morning when we woke up to a beautiful day with temperatures in the 60's. Alex and Ryan left that day and I remember saying to them "Yeah, I don't think we will be getting that snow I have been hearing about." Tuesday morning we woke up to colder temperatures and what looked like rain, although I thought I saw a few snow flurries in the air. Jason had off that day, so after I got Aiden ready for school, he took him. Then, since it was Inaugural Day, I thought I should at least take a peek at the news and see what was going on this historic day. When I started watching the news I saw at the bottom of the screen all these schools closing, which I figured had to be more north of us, but not here, for goodness sake it was just flurries! But sure enough in a few minutes I saw Aiden's school scroll across the screen. I called Jason, who by now had gotten to the school and already figured it out, since no one was there. :) Aiden was thrilled of course, I was amused. Cancel school for this?? But, we were excited to have another day home and then we were excited to see it actually did start to snow. By afternoon the roads were covered and it was coming down "hard" for southern standards. I heard that the last time they had a "snow storm" here there was an 102 accidents on the main highway in one afternoon. So I guess it was a good thing they closed the schools!

Now, don't laugh, but this was a big deal to the kids! They have never had snow at their own house!

Later in the afternoon it was coming down a little harder

Snow angels!

A reverse snow angel??

We don't even have proper snow gear, but we made do. :)

Aiden is saying "I LOVE snow days!!!"

Our back deck In the morning - across the street

In the afternoon - across the street.
A perfect day to build a fort

There is nothing like a snow day. Everyone home, warm in the house, just hanging out. Been a long time since we had one of those and we thoroughly enjoyed it!

A visit from the Columbia Cousins

2009-01-23T09:25:00.005-05:00

In order to stop receiving texts from Alex asking where the pictures of their visit are, I thought I had better update sooner than later. :) So here you go Alex!

Alex and Ryan, my cousins from Maryland, come stay the weekend with us last weekend. Since Chelly and I both live here now, it made the trip worth it for them to see two cousins at once! We had a good time and did a whole lot of nothing! Just sitting around, eating, playing games and watching football. My idea of a perfect weekend! The kids loved having them here, Ryan played lots of PlayStation with the boys and Alex gave Ryleigh a lovely new hairdo. Alex was a huge help in the kitchen, it was like having my own cooking show! I was making stuff and before I even turned around things were washed and counters were cleared. Maybe she can come live with us?? :)

Enjoying a breakfast of sausage gravy over biscuits. A love we got from our Granddad, who can really make some good gravy! Ryan asked me when I was making it "Now is this authentic sausage gravy?" Meaning, "like Granddad makes?" :)

Kyle, Allie, Ry and Aiden watching a movie while we tried to watch in peace the Ravens/Steelers game. It didn't work. I think Aiden was the only one that actually stayed in there and watched the whole movie.

This is what watching most of the game was like. See Adam crying, Aiden trying to make him stop, Ryleigh and Allie ready to make an escape and Kyle pretending to be good. Ryan looks like he is thinking "why did I want to come here and visit again??" Not easy watching a football game with 5 kids ages 6 and under. :)

Alex playing with Allie

Jason and Ryan
Playing cards one night. We also had friends in town that weekend that are moving here and they were up looking for a house. It was a full house last weekend! Just the way we like it!

Alex and Ryleigh

Alex and Ryleigh again, this time in the car. Just the girls (and Adam) went shopping to help Alex find some stuff for her new apartment.

Adam and Ryleigh in the car

Ryan, Chris and Jason grilling at Chris and Chelly's.

Thanks for coming guys! We hope you had a good time. Come back this summer when we can go to the beach!

Superhero cousins, Lobsters and Chess

2009-01-21T09:33:00.009-05:00

The knight costume has been getting used quite often these days. Kyle taught Allie how to wear it, as you can see, and prepared to battle her as Darth Vader. They brought out all the dress ups after they dumped all the Lego's. Ryleigh likes to switch things up. She is a Knight Power Ranger cowgirl. I hear they are dangerous.

Kyle had to have an action shot.

Now they are Batman and Superman. Or excuse me, Batwoman and Supergirl.

A fierce battle going on. It is more of a challenge when you have to step around Lego's. They hurt when you step on them. Adam wasn't so sure about Kyle's mask.
Adam preferred to follow in Uncle Jeff and Uncle Matt's footsteps and be a fireman.

One night all of Jason's Logistics class came over for dinner, about 25-30 Marines. One guy wanted to cook lobster for everyone. So we all pitched in and bought lobsters and he (with the help of many) cooked for us all. My kitchen was a MESS! But everyone had lots of fun. You could barely walk there was so many people helping cook and prepare the lobsters, but that is what made it so much fun.

I didn't think to get a picture of all the lobsters in the sink until we were down to just one. It would have been a cool picture. The kids thought it was awesome.

In the midst of it all.

Some of the outside crowd.

The tails, which they took all the meat out of, cooked in butter and garlic and then made tacos. Yummy.

Aiden has always been interested in Chess. When he was like 3 Jason would get it out and let them pretend play with him. Back then he called it "Chest". I guess that cultivated a love for the game, because now he really likes to play. One of Jason's buddies went to South America over Christmas, and brought us back a new set, Aiden couldn't wait to try it out.

Can you say "Chess club" in high school? lol Might have a nerd on our hands. :) Ok by us.

Happy to see Daddy one day after work.

Kyle during one of his sick weeks. He has been doing a lot better, but we still have a lot of tests to go through. You know Kyle isn't feeling well when he falls asleep in the middle of the day!

Aiden brought this home from school the other day and totally made my day! He said he made it during free time.

Makes being a mom worth it all when you get a note like this!

High Heeled Lady

2009-01-20T14:55:00.002-05:00

Ryleigh turned in her breast plate and shield for a pair of high heeled shoes. She LOVES high heels and can be found in them quite regularly. On this particular day I found her just hanging out looking out my bathroom window. She stood there for the longest time just talking to herself. She got a whole box full of play high heels for Christmas, but she prefers mine, and I find them all over the house as she drags them out of my closet. We are in the midst of potty training and the other day I found my black high heels at the scene of an potty training accident. They were quite wet and I am just glad she came and told me what happened and I didn't find out by putting my foot in there. :)

A knight and a "princess" knight

2009-01-14T08:24:00.003-05:00

I am not sure what kind of knight wears his breast plate on his back, but whatever kind does, that is who Kyle is! He has always worn it this way, even after being told about how it offers no protection to the vital organs. He is still not convinced. And he has led his "princess" knight to believe that his way is better. Maybe the Star Wars light saber, is all the protection he needs. Best buddies.

A close up of the pink dress, saddle shoe wearing, knight.

She was running here, from what I can't tell you.

This picture was taken by request. He wanted to see himself shooting the light saber. We don't use anything around here the way we are supposed to. :)

Keeping that back protected.

I like how she has the she is holding the shield on her arm like a purse.

Many times that day I looked out and saw them sitting on the bench, talking to each other. I wish I could have heard their conversations. I am sure they would have been entertaining.

Happy Birthday MOM!

2009-01-12T19:16:00.004-05:00

Happy Birthday Mom! Here is a picture of me and my mom on one of my birthdays, way back when. I look like I must have just swiped some icing while moms back was turned! :) (I still have that dress and it now fits Ryleigh! You can see a picture of her it in in one of the Christmas posts.) Thanks mom for the mom that you are to me, to us all. You continue to be a big support and help even from miles away. I appreciate all the advice you give, but only when asked. I appreciate all your medical advice (especially lately with Kyle). I still have a tendency to call you before I even think about calling a Doctor! Thanks for being a wonderful grandmother that our kids adore. I want to be just like you when I grow up.

Here are what the kids had to say when I asked them what they thought about Mom-mom:

Aiden - "She lets us do fun stuff. She lets us do stuff that you don't let us do. HA! She gives us candy and you don't, a lot. I love her so much I could hug her all day. She takes care of us while you are gone. She's fun to be at her house. I like to play at her house. She is the best grandmom! Happy Birthday Mom-mom!"

Kyle - "I love her and I want to play with her and hug her."

Ryleigh - "I wike her, I wike her!! I want elp her make drink!" (jumping up and down)

We love you and hope you had a great day!
Love, Erin, Jason, Aiden, Kyle and Ryleigh

Boys being boys

2009-01-05T11:38:00.005-05:00

Here are some recent pictures of boys doing boy things! :)

Jason shot a deer one day and came back to the house to get the boys to help track it. They LOVED that. Following a blood trail, finding the deer and all that other hunting stuff. They are counting the years until they are old enough to actually hunt themselves and get a real pocket knife. Team Real Tree in the making! I like how Kyle just has a small little grip on a piece of the ear!
Motorcycle rides! I must admit I am not really for this. My motherhood protection instinct screams "NO" in a very loud voice in my head. Jason assures me he goes slow and they only drive through our neighborhood, which is a dead end road, for all you other mothers and grandmothers that are worried. :)As you can see, Kyle is as for it as I am against it. He is in heaven when he is doing anything that I consider dangerous.It's all good Mom!Mud, my kids favorite. The ditch at the end of our driveway always seems to be full of it. And the moment the boys walk out in the front yard, this is where they head. It is like a magnet that pulls them. I saw I saying, sort of like a dictionary definition, once, it fit my boys, "Boys n. a child with dirt on it."
On this particular day their soccer ball went in the drain, so it was not to be avoided, they had to go in the drain. What a shame! Does he look upset? Pure bliss. Once he was in there I just let him play in it for awhile. He was stomping in the mud in his bare feet and I heard him say "Ahhh, mud!"
Jason relaxing (something that you don't find him doing very often) while the boys played on the Play station.

Playing "Kung Fu Panda" a huge reward and treat in our house. You can see why, they are like in a trance when they play......not good for the imagination I always tell them. After they play I always say "Quick! Go build blocks or something before your imagination dies!!!" They always fall for it. Poor kids are always thinking their imagination is in jeopardy.

Our Christmas morning

2008-12-31T09:45:00.014-05:00

I am trying to get all the Christmas photos done before the new year! I have mere hours left. :)

I never got around to making Christmas cookies this year, you know due to the whole Kyle sickness, so Christmas Eve I had no cookies made. I had grabbed a tube of cookie dough at the store that day, hoping I would at least have time to let the kids make cookies, even if they were store bought (sorry Mom). But, it just wasn't going to happen. Luckily our friend Gail brought us this wonderful gingerbread man and we knew Santa would love it. (hope you don't mind Gail!) So Santa had gingerbread this year, and he even left a little on the plate for the kids the next day which they were very happy about and promptly ate. Because if you look closely at their letter to Santa, you will see that they apologized for licking it. I guess they figured they better cover their bases, since Santa probably already knew. :)
That trademark tongue coming out while concentrating.Kyle was not happy about having to do a chore. And Jason overwhelmed at the project ahead! This is what Christmas Eve means to parents, right? Staying up all hours putting together toys for their kids. I remember hearing my parents set up for Christmas morning as a kid and it is a happy memory.Finally around 1:30 a.m. we were all done!

Please excuse the look on Ryleigh's face. Ever since we babysat Adam for the night she has decided to act like a baby all the time. She gets this stupefied look on her face, waves her hands back and forth and grunts. As you can see she is doing it here. The boys are excited to see what is around the corner. I was so excited to see Ryleigh's reaction to her kitchen. She is usually so expressive. But, she choose to do the baby act that morning and no reaction was given. She kind of gradually made her way into the room, then just sat there for a while. And then eventually went up and started playing with the set. So much for squeals of delight!

The boys gave some good reactions - though, not captured in this photo.

Aiden sporting his new helmet. This was one of those needed gifts, his had gotten too small, so not much excitement there.

Kyle was excited about everything. And we were excited that he was well again!

Jason captured it all on video, I captured it all on film. These kids lives are well documented. :)

The best reaction of the day goes to Aiden. He has been asking for Star Wars Legos for months and months. He has even been saving his money for them. We don't buy toys around here unless it is a birthday or Christmas, so he has been waiting a long time for these. When he opened this box, he fell over. :) They have been playing with them everyday since.

Ryleigh finally decided to start opening her presents. Look at the pile of dress up shoes! Since we have moved here she has been playing with more little girls and has discovered what princesses and dress up are all about. Though she will still pick up a bug or chase the boys with her "shutgun", only now she does it in high heels with a "pincess" dress on.

Jason's turn!

Daddy assisting in some high heel trouble.

Enjoying the toys! I think I am being shot at by Kyle with a candy cane full of smarties.

Aiden wanted me to take a picture of him with his gifts. He is just like a firstborn, like Jason and myself. He opened each present and then sat it in a pile, neatly. He was always in control of where his stuff was. Kyle and Ryleigh.....another story. :)

Kyle with his pirate ship. This ship is awesome and extremely detailed. It took Jason and I forever to put it together.

We hope everyone had a great Christmas!! We missed seeing family, but really enjoyed all the time we got to spend as just a family. After the last few years, it was just what we needed!

Twas the night before Christmas - and it feels like spring!

2008-12-26T20:13:00.010-05:00

It was a beautiful day of 70 some degrees on Christmas Eve here in the south. I still can not get used to it being Christmas with this kind of weather. Even though we have lived the last almost 11 years in warmer climates, the holidays still mean cold weather to me. I guess 21 years of bundling up at Christmas time is what makes me associate a certain kind of weather with this time of year. I wonder if at the 22 year mark of living in warmer places I will feel a spring like day and think "It feels like Christmas today!" Somehow I doubt it. :)

We did not go home for Christmas this year, but we did have the annual steak dinner. A tradition started by my mom years ago. The meal consists of steak, french fries, croissant rolls, corn and ginger ale and grape juice punch. Why all the starches you ask? We have asked the same question. No one has a good answer. Who knows how it started. To make it a bit more healthy we had green beans instead! Chelly, Chris and kids came, along with their friends (and now ours!) Earl, Gail and Joey. But, somehow I don't have any pictures of them! :(
The table all ready for dinner. Yes, we are lacking curtains in most rooms of the house. Whenever we have dinner in the dinning room, everyone driving by can see how much we are enjoying our dinner. Or, how badly the kids are misbehaving, or how messy the room is.....The kids ready to open their presents send by Mom-Mom and Granddad. Mom sent a box with gifts for us all.
Jason loving his new Harley Dude mug. Chris and Jason both look like they were really getting a kick out of something in these pictures. Make-up kits for Allie and Ryleigh. They were thrilled! Michelle and I, not so much......And this is why.... I thought I got a picture of Allie too. I did on my cell phone, but I guess I didn't get one with my camera. Chelly and I were standing right in the kitchen and the girls were sitting at the table. We thought we had it under control. Allie had finger nail polish on her eyebrows. For the rest of the night both of their faces had a pink/purplish glow to them.The kids table! Once again, you can see the lack of curtains.....Since it was such a nice night, the boys were outside playing soccer for a little while. A family photo. I have no idea what Aiden is doing. Perhaps praying for good gifts?

The cousins - all in their new PJ's and ready for bed. Another tradition, new PJ's on Christmas eve.

Our kiddos all ready to be tucked in bed. Surprisingly they all went to bed really well and fell asleep quickly. It was a Christmas miracle folks.

Holidays on the Port side!

2008-12-26T17:13:00.011-05:00

It has been a busy month for us just like it is for everyone, everywhere. I thought I was doing so good with my Christmas preparations this year, having the majority of my shopping done two weeks before Christmas That is super early for me! I just had little things to do and baking. I should have known it was too good to be true. On the 14th Kyle got sick and each day continued to get worse. By the 16th we had to take him to the ER and that is where, off and on, we spent the next 3 days. And then the Dr.'s office the next 2. Yep, now I was completely behind. But, you don't really think about those things when you have a sick kid and they can't find what is wrong. Long story short, he ended up having pneumonia along with a bad case of the flu. Once he got on the right medication, he started to improve. Suddenly making cream cheese breads for the neighbors and getting stocking stuffers didn't seem like that big of a deal. We were just extremely grateful to have our Kyle back to normal. Without further ado, pictures!

Santa rides a Harley!

Santa came to the Harley dealership last weekend and of course we had to go see him. I told the kids where we were going and they were a bit confused. "Santa does NOT have a motorcycle" Aiden said. "Yes he does, he is going to ride it today" I told him. "He does not have one Mom!" This went on for quite some time before I just told them that it was new this year and he just got it. That seemed to satisfy him. Kyle just thought it was cool that he had one. He didn't care when he bought it or how long he had owned the thing. Santa earned cool points with this one in his eyes. Aiden needs details, facts.

So, if you are going to a Harley dealership to see Santa, you can't show up in your vehicle! So of course the guys had to ride separate on their bikes and met us there.

Earl, Chris and Jason

Waiting for Santa to arrive!

Here he comes!!

Kyle telling Santa what he wanted. Luckily he asked for things that had already been purchased. :)

Aiden was a little shy to get on his lap. Could he possibly be getting too big for this?? Surely not yet. At least I hope not.

There is no picture of Ryleigh because she screamed when we even got near Santa and I failed to take a picture of that. She told me today "I don't yike Santa."

Trimming the Tree

A fun time to bring a tree into your house and do your best to make it stand straight in a stand, spend hours untangling lights and trying to replace bulbs, only to go out to the store and buy more when you realize it is impossible. Next you put on the newly bought lights on only to realize you started at the wrong end and now you can't plug them in to the wall. Ahhh. This is supposed to be fun! And it was, after we got past the initial setting up part!
Then there is the ornament throwing from the youngest member of the family. This year she broke two special ornaments. I guess that is not too bad. They are only things.

Each kid placing their ornaments at the bottom of the tree, which is where most of the them were placed and stayed. :)

I kept telling them to try and not put them all at the bottom, and they tried! I caught Aiden lifting Kyle up to reach a little higher height! :)Time for the angel. This photo is staged.... I missed the real thing.

What is the Port kids favorite thing about decorating the tree? The cookies of course! Ryleigh had to work very hard not the eat one of these cookies before she was supposed to.

Relaxing after it was all done, probably watching a hunting show. Jason subjects us all to his hunting obsession. We have to watch Dan Fritzgerald shoot fish out of a moving boat with a bow and arrow. Fun times!

Our finished product. All that is missing is the fire in the fireplace, but it was too hot for that, and it is not hooked up yet.The extent of our outside decorating this year.

Christmas Eve with Chris and Chelly and Christmas morning pictures to come!!

Making Pies

2008-12-14T12:26:00.003-05:00

Ryleigh really has become my shadow. Making every move I make, copying everything I say, wanting to do everything I do. She pulls a chair up to the counter to help with every meal, dish washing, counter wiping thing I try to accomplish. She helps me make beds, do laundry, clean etc., etc. She cheerfully says "I helpu mommy!" When I say "thank you" she says "welcume!" With her happy, helpful spirit it is hard to get frustrated, but I do when I am in a hurry or have to accomplish something in a timely manner. But, I am trying to let her be a part of all I do when she wants to, maybe this will keep the love of helpfulness alive?? I love having a little girl! On Thanksgiving I let her help me make pies. And with the leftover dough, let her make her own cinnamon and sugar pie (video below -be sure to pause music on right side to watch video). I think this created a lifelong love of baking! She woke up the next morning and the first words out of her mouth were "I wanta make a pie". So to appease her, since I can't make pie dough everyday, I gave her some frozen cookie dough I had and a rolling pin and let her make "pies" to her hearts content. Well, she tasted the "pies" of course and discovered it was cookie dough! The pictures below tell the story of her new obsession with cookie dough. I came downstairs one day to find this:

A chair pulled up the freezer and the door wide open.

An empty cookie dough container.
A little girl eating the whole entire tub of cookie dough!
She dressed herself that morning. A summer shirt with a pair of bloomers.

Here is the pie making video. Enjoy! :)

A little bit of everything...

2008-12-11T12:54:00.013-05:00

This is quite a hodgepodge post, and not in order, but a post none the less! I still don't have my camera cord, so when Chelly came over the other day she let me use her cord to download these photos. Enjoy!

Here is Aiden on his first day at his new school. Excited and ready to go!

He wouldn't let me take a picture of him at his desk, I guess he was embarrassed, so I snapped this one as I was leaving. His new school is really nice and brand new. Just opened this year. We really like his teacher and he seems to be adjusting really well.
Chelly's 30th Birthday! It is nice to have a sister in town! Even if it is for a little while. We had her over for her birthday for lunch and then had a surprise party for her on Sunday. Those pictures are still on my camera. Here is Kyle with his buddy Adam.

Our little party!

Chelly and her "cake" - she is not crazy about cake so we had turtle brownies.

Now we are back to PA! This was the Wednesday before the wedding when we were making cookies for the party favors. We made 7 batches of cookies! It was an all night affair. And don't worry folks, we really didn't eat this much dough. Liz was in charge of baking them.Me getting ready to start bagging them all. We started out with lots of helpers, but by the end of the night, it was just me and Liz. I wonder where everyone disappered to??COOKIES GALORE! :) The piles never seemed to go down.The end result.

The rehearsal dinner. Mom with some the girls. Oh, and Aiden.

Me with Megan and Sarah

Aiden and Lindsey. Excuse the food in his mouth. I have taught him better than that.

The Bride and Groom to be...

Cait and Ash

Jason, Erin and Joe

Wedding Day! We kind of took over the whole hair salon. :) I heard one of the stylist say when I got there (me with Aimee and Annah) "MORE sisters?!" We are quite a crew!

Ryleigh with her buddy Ash. She LOVES to call and talk to Ashleigh. And Ash is so sweet, just puts her phone on speaker, goes about what she is doing and lets Ryleigh talk on and on. No wonder Ryleigh is so in love with all her aunts!

I wasn't able to get any photos of us getting ready. I was too busy arguing with our moving company. They called me in the middle of getting ready for the wedding and asked me where we were meeting them to drop off our house hold goods. What??!!! Yeah, it arrived 5 days early. I was not happy. Someone messed up and it was a big headache, but we eventually did get it worked out.

The wedding! The adorable flower girl, Linsdey and her handsome escort, Aiden

Josh hamming it up while Aiden is trying to have a photo shoot. :)

When you hand over your camera to someone in my family, you are never sure what will show up on it when you get it back....

More of Aiden. He is not camera shy. I think I heard he asked for this photo to be taken.

Ashleigh, Erin and Sarah

The back of me and Ryleigh

Aimee and Aiden

Mom and Dad ,with Ryleigh, watching the picture taking process

Oh look! Another one of Aiden. Annah and Ashleigh

Caite and Aimee

That is the end of my wedding photos. I was not able to get any photos of the reception. Ryleigh ended up being really sick and I spend most of the reception trying to find medicine for her and her pacifiers. Jason even had to make a trip to Wal-Mart in the middle of the reception to buy her pacifiers. Somehow at the church we lost them and she was so miserably sick the only thing that would calm her down was a pacifier.

Here is Ryleigh washing dishes at moms. She absolutely loves to wash dishes. I wonder how I can make this love last?? The whole kitchen floor would be soaked, along with her clothes and counters, but it kept her busy for a really long time. :) And sometimes 2 year olds need to be kept busy for a really long time, regardless how messy the outcome is.

Football. One day Josh decided it was his job to teach the boys all about football. He would say he was training them, not letting them each junk food, making them do push ups and getting them up early to "train". Most training sessions didn't last too long though.... :)

I think Aiden was in trouble in this picture....

Jason playing football with all the kiddos

Ryleigh wanted to be a part of it all

Chelly is coming over today, we hopefully I can download some more pictures. And Uncle Jeff, I heard you did not like my music selection. I am changing it just for you..... for now. :)

Happy Birthday Granddad!!

2008-12-08T17:36:00.004-05:00

I think that I have used this picture in the past for Granddad's birthday, but it is a good one! :) It reminds me of so many things about growing up. The antiques in the background, that floor, braided rugs, hanging out at my grandparents house, which I did a lot of, all my life. It reminds me of so many things that I miss. Granddad, I hope you had a great birthday! I am glad you got to spend the day with Mom and Uncle Jeff. I am glad you are my granddad. You have always been a good one, you continue to be a good one, and you have carried on and been a good great-granddad to my kids. We are luck to have you! We love you Granddad! Love, Erin, Jason, Aiden, Kyle and Ryleigh

Two birthday posts in one week! I am still not committing to doing this again........ :)

Happy Birthday Joe!

2008-12-05T09:12:00.003-05:00

I know I have not been doing birthday blogs for a really long time, and I probably won't do them very often. But, I actually remembered to do one AND had a recent picture of Joe, so I decided to go ahead and make a post. :) So, Happy Birthday Joe!! I enjoyed spending the summer with you, talking around the kitchen table, watching Friday Night Lights (or discussing it) or watching you play soft ball. Your a good guy Joe, and we are lucky to have you in our family! Love you and hope you have a great day! Lots of love, Erin, Jason, Aiden, Kyle and Ryleigh

Home at last!

2008-11-30T10:25:00.004-05:00

Well, we are finally moved in, have all our stuff under one roof again, and our whole family in the same house! After almost a year of family members and belongs being spread over 3 states, it feels very strange. Thanksgiving night we were driving home from dinner with our friends, it was dark, all three kids were cozy in the backseat and Jason was sitting beside me. We had 3 more days off to look forward to with no separation in the near future. I told Jason I felt like I was in a commercial. :) Like, "you too can be this happy if you drive this car..." Just haven't had that feeling in so long. It hasn't all been rosy though, it has also been an adjustment. I have been very independent for a very long time, going everywhere alone, making all the major decisions, from selling a house, to moving, to buying a house and everything in between. Now that Jason is a more normal part of our lives, I have had to learn to listen to his opinions and re-learn how to be a team. It is an adjustment I am happy to have to make though, and I am glad to have my partner back. It has been a long 4 1/2 years! I know lots more separation is ahead, you can't get away from it in the military, but I think we have a bit of a break ahead and I am looking forward to every minute of it. Adjustment and all!

I know family members are waiting for pictures, but one thing I can not find, and I think I left at my parents, is the camera cord to download pictures. So if you want pictures Mom, send me the cord!! :) The above picture is all I have, from when we were looking at the house and I took this picture to show Jason.

Another Graduation

2008-11-12T12:42:00.004-05:00

I know, I know, a new blog two days in a row!! Don't get too excited, it won't happen again.

Here are the pictures from Jason's Family Day and Graduation last week. I think we have now been to every Family Day and Graduation the Marine Corps has to offer. Literally. But to boys seeing military trucks, helicopters and guns never gets old, so we went to the Family Day. I think I might take their pictures a little too much. Every new thing we came up to they said "Take my picture Mom!" And then when I wanted to take their pictures, like for a family photo, they would whine and whine, but smile perfectly right before the picture was taken. They are well trained. So the following pictures are just boys and things that boys love to see, but probably things that don't interest anyone else to much.....

One thing I wish I would have gotten a picture of is Aiden doing pull ups on the PT field. We had a pull up bar at our old house that he used to play around on and do pull ups. Plus Jason has been putting him on them since he could barely walk. He can actually quite impressively do a few. Dead hangs too. So when when we pulled up to the barracks and Aiden saw the pull up bars he ran to get on them. There was a whole group of Marines standing around talking. They all watched Aiden run over and pump out several pull ups. It was hysterical to watch the Marines watch him. They all were like "Oh my gosh!! Did you see that kid! He can do pull ups!" or "Hey Smith! Did you see that kid? He can do more than you!!" He was pretty impressive. :) I guess by the time he joins he will be a 300 PFTer. Below is a picture of the stud himself. :)

Ryleigh was confined to her stroller. She was not that happy about it, but she was fairly cooperative.The Graduation. Jason received the Mustang award, I don't remember exactly what it is all about, but he was one of only 9 Marines that received awards, out of 240, so whatever it is, it is impressive. :) The picture is not that great, because I had to take it as the official photographers were taking it and just snap it the best I could, but it is really the only picture I have of the graduation, so it was this or nothing!The family! This is the one where they were whining, but stopped long enough to give an official smile for the camera. They also were a bit antsy after sitting through a ceremony where they named 240 Marines, plus a speech from someone. The only seats I could find, even arriving 45 minutes early, where all the way in the back and smack in the center. I almost opted for standing the whole time instead of wading through tons of people and risking having to get up during the ceremony. But, I braved it and we all sat down. I prayed the entire time that no one would have to go to the bathroom, or throw up, or make a scene and I have to walk out with every eye on me. My prayers were answered! It got a little hairy towards the end, but we made it.After being gone 11 months, he promptly assumed duty of all three. :) I haven't done bedtime since! Jason and his dad. His mom, sisters, brother-in-law and niece came also, but I didn't get a good picture of everyone.

Ryleigh, singing in a field, waiting for daddy to get the car. :)
Afterwards, we all went out to eat. Here are the girls with Jason's mom. They wanted to be on her lap the whole time. She barely got to eat. She brought games to play and it kept them all busy the whole time. I wish she could go out to eat with us everywhere we went!

The kiddos! They are smiling this big cause we have Daddy back!!

Ryleigh, Ryleigh, Ryleigh

2008-11-11T09:33:00.007-05:00

Ryleigh keeps us all entertained, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. She is really talking now and says some of the funniest things. She now rivals the boys in the crazy things she says. I am writing them down, so one day I will post them. She still LOVES to listen to music and I posted a video at the bottom of this post of her sitting at the computer, watching a YouTube music video of David Archuleta singing "Crush"and trying to sing along. Living with teenagers has given her an early love for pop music. lol Jason graduated from 11 months worth of schools last week, so we are happy to finally have him back in our lives! I have pictures from his graduation last week that I will try to post soon. For now, it is a post full of Ryleigh, enjoy! :)

Around here - a little catch up

2008-10-30T15:06:00.005-04:00

Life is in full swing as usual around here. We are counting down the days until Jason's graduation from TBS in just one week!! I made a trip down south last weekend and found a house. Lord willing and the creek don't rise, we will settle on it on November 17th. Liz's wedding is just a few week's away, and with our move just one day after, things by no means have settled down. :) I am on the phone for hours a day getting insurance and interest rate quotes, all the while trying to do school with Aiden and Kyle and keep Ryleigh out of every one's hair (that I do not succeed at, ever). Aiden asks me everyday "When I am I going to be able to go to real school??" I told him this is real school too, he says it's not, it is fake. Doesn't feel fake to me!

Kyle and Ryleigh using an outdoor toy indoors. Crazy kids. :)

Aiden and Lindsey goofing off.

So in this household there is A LOT of everything. Shoes are one of them. :) There are always shoes everywhere! We took this photo and used it as the header for mom and dad's blog. Another thing that there is a lot of around here is cell phones. With three different levels to this house and so many people, sometimes texting is the best way to find someone instead of physically looking for them! Ryleigh has caught on. The other day she had someone's cell phone and I asked her what she was doing, she said "I texting Jason". Guess she hears me say that a lot. :)
For a field trip a few weeks ago I took the kids to an animal refuge center. Here they are, after checking out a bear.

With all the wild animals they had, lions and tigers and bears, the boys were most interested in the big buck. He seemed interested in them too, he followed us all along the path.

The boys kept saying "I bet Dad wishes he could be here!"

Ahh, school! Don't be fooled by this happy face. It does not always look like this. Apparently I do not hold a candle to Mrs. Dubbs.

Kyle showing his true feeling for having to sit at one of Annah's volleyball games. Sitting is not his cup of tea.

Aiden and Ryleigh at a game. Ryleigh got the hang of the whole cheering -someone- deal a few games into the season. She would just randomly say "Go Annah!! WoooHOO!"

Aimee (or as we affectionately call her Baaimee - so dubbed by Ryleigh) cutting onions. This particular onion was really making her cry and I told her that I had heard if you put a piece of bread in your mouth while cutting them, it would absorb the oils, she had heard the same thing about sunglasses. So she tried both. :) It made dinner prep just a little more interesting. If you try this at home you won't be hungry for dinner though, you eat too many pieces of bread.

Annah all Grown Up!

2008-10-18T19:12:00.003-04:00

Tonight is the big Homecoming dance at Annah's school. Her first dance in high school! I know Michelle and Ashleigh are anxious to see how she looked, as well as Megan, Sarah and Liz who were not here tonight. So girls, here is your first look! Be sure to check mom's blog tomorrow for more pictures! I will make sure she puts more up. :) I am her blog conscience (even though I am not doing much better than her!) The link is http://theaguilarhome.blogspot.com Aimee was her personal hair stylist and make up artist. It pays to have lots of sisters!
Ryleigh wanted to be in the pictures! She kept going up to Annah's dress and feeling it!
Here she is! All ready to go. Doesn't she look gorgeous??
It is really hard to believe that she was just 4 went I left home! She has come a long way since the little flower girl in my wedding who ran up the aisle and then cried because she saw everyone else crying! She said she remembers thinking that she figured that is what you are supposed to do since everyone else was doing it! Standard protocol for a flower girl - at least at our weddings! :)

Some much needed FAMILY Time!

2008-10-16T12:48:00.013-04:00

This past weekend, was 3 day weekend for Jason. Usually he comes up to see us late Friday night and has to leave fairly early on Sunday. It does not give us much time together and since we are staying with family, we don't get to actually be just a family very often. So this weekend we decided that the kids and I would go down to VA to see him. That way we could get there just as he got off work on Friday and not have to leave until Monday late afternoon. It was such an awesome weekend! Having Jason around is more than wonderful for me. When he is gone, I feel so overwhelmed so much of the time. It is me against three! But when we are together, it is fun and we are a team. I can not wait to actually be a family again! Only 3 more weeks and this 11 month separation will be over! Yay! We had a fun filled weekend. We went to a couple different lakes and parks, a museum, took a boat ride, did some shopping for the kids winter clothes, went to lots of yummy restaurants, slept in late, watched Tom and Jerry together as a family and just had quality time together. One day I overheard Kyle saying "We are just having some good family time!" Speaking of Kyle, he did not survive the weekend without injury. I think that this pretty much is a preview of the rest of his life. By the time Jas got to our hotel Friday night is was close to 7 pm. He walked in and then we pretty much turned around and walked out to get something to eat. We stepped out of our hotel room and all three kids took of running down the hall. We yelled for them to stop, which they did, Kyle stopped and leaned against the corner of a wall. Aiden ran right into him. Kyle immediately started to cry and Jason ran over to pick him up. Immediately we saw blood gushing out of the back of his head - a lot of it. We ran back to our room and checked out the wound. It was not as terrible as we imagined, but probably could use a couple stitches. We opted instead of going to the ER, to go back to Jason's room on base and get some liquid skin. The trauma of getting his head shaved and stitches was worse than the wound. Which we did. It was a bit embarrassing to meet some of Jason's friends for the first time with our sons head full of blood. All was good until the next day Kyle and Aiden were playing around in the hotel room and Kyle fell off the bed backwards and landed on his head. He reopened the wound and more blood was gushing out. And you guessed it, we were on our way out. We cleaned it up and applied more liquid skin and forbid rough play until Kyles head was healed. I am sure the hotel staff probably thought a murder occurred in our room with all the blood soaked towels and clothes in our room. I cleaned everything out as best as I could, but blood is hard to get out! I don't even have the time to tell you about how he fell through dead branches on the nature trail. Luckily that fall did not have blood involved......

Checking out the tadpoles in the water.Aiden trying to catch one.
This picture took forever to get! lol Sometimes I wonder why I even try! I hope they appreciate all these photos when they are older!
Ry loved running up and down the dock.

One day we went to the Marine Corps Museum and looked around for hours. This place has so much to see. If you are ever in the area, I would highly recommend it. I know I might be a bit partial to anything Marine Corps, but it is really neat. And it is free!

The Marine Corps Museum.
What is more exciting to boys then a whole museum full of planes, helicopters, tanks, guns and war exhibits? Well, probably actually getting to use them or ride in something would be more exciting, but they did have a blast.

This is the Cold War area, it was actually cold in there! This museum is truly amazing.Listening to real recordings of men from the Vietnam war
In a tank
Aiden getting up close to check out an exhibit

Kyle checking out a gun in the Vietnam exhibitRyleigh did pretty good in the stroller the whole time we were there. She only really cried once when we stepped in to the Cold War area and they have all the sounds of battle in a closed in space. It scared her a bit.
On one of the observation decks on the museum.

We stopped at a Nature trail to let the kids get some energy out. They had a blast running up and down the trails.

Getting ready to check out the trails.

Kyle checking out the wildlife, he is aiming a bit high though, he was probably looking at pure sky.

Jason didn't get to see too much, except Aiden

Happy to be out and RUNNING. They were always way ahead of us.

Aiden looking for wildlife

Ryleigh checking out the scenic overlook on our nature walk

Picutres like this are why I keep my camera close. I love this picture!! You can see how much she loves her brothers.
Trying to get a good picture of all three kids - it just was not meant to be that day. Ryleigh taking a break to give Daddy a hug.
Daddy teaching the kids something about a tree or something about nature. Jas lives to be in the woods, so he is in his element.

We also went out to a lake one day and rented a motor boat and took a ride around a lake. It was a big lake and really beautiful. The kids loved being in a boat and Jason thinks we need a new one now. :) The old John boat with oars just is not the same I guess!

Aiden having a ball!
The family in the boat

Ryleigh was a little nervous at first, and clung tightly to Jas (and Jas clung tightly to her!), but she warmed up after a bit and had a blast!
Here the boys are pretending that they are scared. Not too convincing.
Happy, happy kids.
In this picture I am not clasping my hands close to my heart, tilting my head and admiring my lovely, well behaved children. On the contrary. I am clapping my hands and making noises trying to get Ryleigh's attention. :)
Jas let the boys each take a turn at the steering the boat.

Captured a great Father/son moment! :)
Kyle's turn

On the way home we stopped to see Granddad and the kids and I stayed the night with him. Thanks Granddad for your hospitality and putting up with the kids! I know it was a bit louder than you are used to! The kids had fun at McDonalds and enjoyed playing with Buddy! Hope you enjoyed the blog since I know you have been missing it. :)

Welcome to the Bridal Shower!

2008-10-07T14:59:00.010-04:00

These pictures are for Chelly, Ash, Alex and Aunt Debbie who were not able to come up for Liz's shower over the weekend. They were missed! It took me all afternoon, between doing other things, to get these on here, but, I actually got it done! :) Hope this makes you guys kind of feel like you were there.

The chalkboard at the cafe' - welcoming everyone to the shower. Drawings courtesy of Megan.
The party favors.

A partial picture of the gift table. We should have taken a picture of the whole thing. It was filled to over flowing!

The cafe', all ready for the party.

Everyone is here and waiting for Liz to arrive.

Lindsey was on watch for Liz.

SURPRISE!!! She said she was totally shocked and had no idea.

Opening gifts. Not the best pic of Lindsey - but Liz looks happy!

Annah took pictures while she was opening gifts and I think she took one every single time she opened a gift. :)

The mirror from Megan and Sarah.
I think she was pleased with all her presents. Thanks everyone!! All of us girls, with mom and Caitie.

Sisters. Of course we are missing Michelle and Ashleigh. We REALLY wish you guys could have been there. It was not the same without all our family there (that means you too Alex!)

Goodbye Summer

2008-09-24T12:30:00.002-04:00

I thought I should at least put up a quick note to let everyone one know that we are still alive! And change our header since summer is gone. I know you have all been hearing the same thing for months, but there really is no blogging time in our current world. I wish I could be like Chelly and put up one a day, but alas, I can't! :) There are two computers in this house and well, way more people than computers. :) Not to mention that summer is now over and I decided to home school........I could blog forever on that one. lol We are a few steps closer to settling down though. Jason was assigned his new MOS last week and we should found out our new duty station this week. We are anxious to know where we will be moving to, east coast, west coast or overseas. We asked to stay on the east coast, but hey, this is the government we are talking about, they kind of send you where they want ya. So we will see! Sorry I can't put up pictures! School break is over and I need to go conquer English with Aiden, an art project with Kyle and change a stinky diaper on Ryleigh. :)

P.S. I put up a live feed and I see we are getting lots of visitors, even if some of them are the result of google searches. Leave a comment, we would love to hear from you!! :)

Finally a post!!! :)

2008-08-23T13:53:00.008-04:00

I hope no one fell off their chair when they checked my blog and found a new post. I apologize for any injuries that occurred. :) That is if anyone is even checking any more. I have been getting complaints about my lack of blogging, but it can't be helped. Our life is just one big ball of insanity and I have found that blogging and insanity don't really go well together. One day we will live a somewhat normal life again and I will resume my blogging. Who knows when that will be, but I have faith that it will happen at some point! We are still in PA, still juggling living with family, still only get to see Jason once a week, and still wondering where we are going to be moving next. I have tried my best to keep our kids and myself out of every ones hair, but I am sure everyone is as anxious as we are to get settled again! We are very grateful for our families, giving us a place to stay during this transition. They might all be regretting their generosity at this point, but they are being gracious and not saying anything! We did sell our house, but it did not come without crazy circumstances. I don't know how many times I heard "I have never seen this happen!" From lawyers, to contractors, to real estate agents. But, I am not going to blog about that, it is behind us now (well almost) and I just want to forget about it all. In this declining market we are counting our blessing that we didn't have to PAY to get rid our house, which many people we know have had to do. Enjoy the pictures, it may be months before you see more! :)

Fun at the creek!Kyle throwing a stick for Beast
Climbing a tree, second nature to the boys and Ryleigh always tries to follow suit. Whenever I tell the boys not to climb something their response is: "Mom, we are monkeys, we have to climb"
Katie and Ryleigh sharing a moment. :)
Kyle in his natural habitat, a tree.
More creek fun.

Celebrating Ashleigh's 21st birthday!
Around here wearing a batters helmet to eat cake really isn't that bad of an idea, you never know when someone could hit you in the head. It is always better to be safe than sorry.
The ultimate slip and slide! Josh and Lydia made this great slip and slide at their house and the kids have had hours of fun on it this summer.

All wrapped up after a swim in the pool.

Yummy, Auntie Liz makes great icing!
"Helping" Liz bake. Ryleigh adores Liz and won't let her out of her sight when she is around.
Cell phone overload!! Ryleigh is completely hooked on cell phones. And there are plenty to find at moms. She is in heaven when she finds a bunch together.
Aimee and Kyle hamming it up for the camera.
Here they are "pounding it". Something he learned from his skateboard instructor.
Hope everyone is doing well!!