Avery Loo is 1

Happy Birthday Avery Loo! I can not believe my baby is 1! She is growing up so fast. We had a fun get together with our family to celebrate. The kids did a pinata and played and then we ate cake and ice cream cones. Avery was so excited about the gifts people brought but she didn't really understand the wrapping. Even on the last gift as I was trying to show her that there was something in the bag she kept looking at me and shaking her head "no" (as if saying I don't want the bag) she was excited when she realized there was a book in the bag! Thanks to everyone who helped make this day special for Avery:) I will post more party picts soon!
WE LOVE YOU AVERY LOO!!!

My baby is getting Baptized!

I can hardly believe it! My sweet baby boy is now at the age of accountability. Ethan is getting baptized tomorrow morning, at 10 am. I can hardly wait. I think I am ready with every one's clothes, shoes, white undies (thanks Lisa). I am hoping I have enough food..... It will be great, for him and me. This is a big step for a mom!

CONGRATULATIONS ETHAN
Mom and Dad are really proud of you!
and you look so handsome in your new suit:)

8 years old = 8 hour birthday PARTY!

Saturday morning 10am we load up and are on our way to celebrate Ethan turning 8!
Josh, Kobe, Ethan, and Haylee anticipating a LONG drive...(20 min is forever!)
Finally we are there.....

Our rule is always hold hands on "the black"....Haylee took full advantage of this. She has a small crush on Josh:) The kids can't wait for......

As soon as we walked through the doors the boys took off. They were convinced I should just drop them off and let them go. After "the rules" lecture we headed off to play...1st stop....bumperboats!

The kids were good and wet by the end. Which was good because it was HOT! Avery was already tired of the stroller:(

Next stop....Slick Track!

Dad and Haylee went on the "grown-up" cars together...all Haylee could talk about was how fast they went.

3rd stop.....Lazer tag!

This boy was behind the kids and took it upon himself to give the boys pointers on how to play!

Haylee kicked the boys BUMS. She got 985 pts. I won't even tell you what the boys got (so I don't embarsse them....but the closest one to Haylee was 1025 Pts. behind her) They had a lot of fun though. 4th stop...miniature golf

I didn't get to play....can you guess why?

Yep...Avery liked my purple ball. So we just followed everyone from hole to hole and sat in the shade and ate treats.

Dad gave Haylee putting lessons...

I got bored and took pictures of the flowers

Avery splashed in the fountain

The 18th hole. The lizard blows fire if you make it in the hole.

5th stop...the arcade! The kids (and Andy) earned over 800 tickets! Avery liked the tickets and didn't want to trade them all in.

After that we got ice cream and drinks and then headed home. We opened presents and then the boys played catch for a while.

Thanks Kobe!!! Thanks Josh!!!! You are the best friends a kid could have!

I sent everyone home at 5:30! It was a fun, LONG day:) Happy Birthday Ethan!

A day in the life of Summer....or a struggle for survival!

Thursday June 26, 2008
wake up at 8
change baby
make bed
make kids beds (they did it I just helped)
feed 3 kids
get everyone out the door to last day of swimlessons
have fun fighting Avery for 45 min at swimlessons
come home
start cleaning down stairs
don't accomplish much
feed Avery lunch
nurse Avery and put her down for nap #1
start making mac n cheese for Ethan and Haylee
Neighbor calls and asks my kids to come over for lunch (PIZZA...thanks Jess)
continue to make mac n cheese
drain noodles...add butter...oops out of milk (good thing they went to the neighbors for lunch)
throw mac n cheese away
finish doing dishes
Avery wakes up ( not nearly a long enough nap )
take Avery outside because she won't stop whining
go to neighbors to check on kids
end up staying for a half an hour (much needed social interactment)
Sam comes over (yeah)
go back home
feed Avery again (well, Sam did)
pick up living room
vacuum living room (much harder then it sounds when there are 5 people trying to play games and I am IN THEIR WAY)
wipe down chairs and kitchen table
clear kitchen floor (chairs, rugs, garbage cans, etc.)
Sam leaves
clear front entry way (shoes, shoes, and more shoes)
attempt to sweep all hard floors
Avery follows behind and attempts to eat the dirt from my pile
try to sweep up faster then Avery can scoot ( that was impossible)
collect kids from neighbors house
get Haylee dressed for dance try outs
do Haylee's hair again (3rd times a charm)
get Ethan dressed for baseball
find cleats, water bottles, and glove
start cleaning out the van
running behind...
hurry and throw together some toys, snacks, and diapers for Avery
take Haylee to dance
fill out paper work
leave dance
take Ethan to McDonald's for a quick snack before game (they have the best Diet Coke...for me)
Avery takes nap #2 in car (again not nearly long enough)
Go to Ethan's game and wait 20 min for it to start
Watch Ethan's game (he hit 2 home runs!!! Go Ethan!)
Hurry home to get Haylee
Neighbor calls to say she bought Haylee dinner (thanks Lyndi) and Haylee can play for a few min
get water ready to mop floor
Avery scoots behind me as I am mopping the floor getting her bum all wet
put Avery in her high chair with snacks
mop front entry way
start mopping kitchen
Avery throws food all over the floor I am mopping!
Mop around the high chair
Start mopping faster because Avery is screaming
Yell at Ethan because he can't take care of Avery for 2 min (sorry buddy)
Apologize to Ethan...Avery is hard not his fault
Floor not totally clean but better then it was before
pick up Haylee at neighbors
Haylee stubs toe
runs home gets blood on newly mopped floor
blood trail leads to bathroom
there's blood but no tears (I'd rather have blood then tears anyday!)
clean up floor (again) and scrub carpet (only a few spots)
Try really hard to look at the glass as half full:)


I spent most of my day preparing to mop the floor and it looks as if my kids mopped it (no offense to them in any way). Apparently it does take a village to raise MY children..Thanks to all the neighbors who fed my children today! Hopefully tomorrow will be better and I can get bathrooms clean...that may take 3 days! Wish me luck;)

What's on the agenda for the rest of the night? Feed the kids again (since Ethan ate dinner at 430 and Avery will be hungry again) Water garden, flower bed, and flower pots. Collect shoes towels and misc items left outside. Bathe 3 kids (again), blowdry Haylees hair. Fold 4 loads of laundry that have been waiting since yesterday. Put away laundry. Put kids to bed, and then pray I can keep my eyes open so I can watch another episode of 24 (we are on the 2nd season and I love it!)

Cheers and Toasts!!!

Tonight I put the kids to bed early. They have been staying up past their "extended summer" bedtime for the last several nights. So to my relief they were in bed by 8:30. I started putting laundry away and quietly snuck into Haylee's room. To my surprise I saw this....

and then heard this....

Haylee: Sorry mom I couldn't sleep!

Mom: Well, it is really hard to sleep while hosting a TEA PARTY!

The guest list (from left to right) Littlest Pet Shop Turtle (yup..that's her name), Snuggle Bear, and Lizzy the Leopard. Apparently there was a dress code because they all arrived in their finest dresses! Little girls are the BEST!

Do you think this happens a lot? Maybe I should always check on them approximately 1/2 hour after I put them in bed.

Girls are GONNA have FUN!

Haylee June 2008 performance from Summer Mac on Vimeo.

Haylee loves performing! She won't perform for me (or anyone else) at home, but when she gets on stage you can just tell she loves performing! She loves everything about it...the hair, the make-up, the costume, the lights, the stage, the cheers...she LOVES IT! This is her dance performance from a few weeks ago. We thought we would share it with our friends and family that weren't able to attend. She is the 4th one from the left. Good job BUG we are so proud of you! Keep it up:)

Like Mother Like Son

For the most part I am the klutzy one in the family. But every now and again someone else takes the title. Tonight Andy took Ethan outside to have a catch. This is something they have been doing pretty regularly. About 10 minutes after they went outside I heard screaming. Andy came in carrying Ethan. I asked what happened and Ethan turned his head...

They were playing catch and Andy threw Ethan the ball. Ethan got distracted by something at the park and turned his head. Andy yelled Ethan, and Ethan turned just in time to see the ball smash into his forehead! Poor kid...Andy felt so bad:(
Andy iced the wound for a while and it actually went down. The goose egg was actually much bigger. It was so big that I gasped loudly when they came in the house. It made Ethan cry harder.
We decided not to put Ethan to bed (even though it was 9) and thought we should monitor him for a while to make sure he didn't have a concussion. We turned on Alvin and the Chipmunks and had a family late night. Andy even went and got Artic Circle ice cream cones for everyone!
Avery was really concerned for Ethan. Every time she would look at him she would start "the lip" and start crying. After the crying stopped she kept trying to climb up the couch to see him.
Ice cream makes everything better!