Candi mom of SIX

Jackson, Grace, Kailey and Rita ... four years ago

I have a dear friend Candi. She has 6 children. I just love to tell everyone that and make fun of her husband for it (big jock, played pro baseball, cool guy, baseball coach, etc.) In fact, my husband likes to tease him about being the weirdo family because they have 6 kids. I just love it! She sent me something really funny that her fourth said yesterday in her words:

Last night Jackson (5 yrs old) said, "Mommy isn't baby Brooks (3 mo - their 6th) the cutest baby in the whole wide world?"


Of course I agreed.


Then he said, "Well ya know Andrea's baby sure is cute too"


I said, "MISS Andrea's baby Ellen"


He said, "yeah she is REAL CUTE."

West Coast Meets East Coast

My brother and his family from California came to visit for two weeks. Here are some highlights. This is Theo (10) and Bryce (8).

This is Audrey (6) and Grace (5). They are 2 months apart to the day!

This is Ellen (4mo) hanging out on the blanket in front of the American History museum in DC. We had many picnics in DC and this was one beautiful day.

This is in the basement of one of the Smithsonian museums. It is a center called the "Spark Lab." The kids loved it from the young ones up to the older ones. It reminds me of a children's museum. From left to right, Grace (5), Sam (2), and Martha (3).

This was at the National Zoo. There was a sign teaching children how to approach the gorillas. Apparently they are very shy animals and like you to approach them with your back to them and slowly turn around. So Grace and Joy were doing this and a gorilla actually sat at Grace's back!

This is at my new favorite hot spot in DC called The Cereal Bowl. They only serve cereal and it is near the zoo so perfect for a quick bite in the morning. The kids LOVED it.

This is Julius (14) and Theo. They are brothers. Julius has only been in our family for 6 months but as you can see, he fits right in.

This is Sandy and Don ("Donnie"). They have four children. Don likes coffee.

A group shot, we really had fun here.

This is my brother Brian with Ellen on the left and his daughter Anna on the right. They are one week apart to the day. Ellen is older. Aren't they both hilarious sitting there??

This is the playground behind our house. The kids love to jump the fence and play there. You can see that this particular evening, they decided to destroy the house in the background. They did fix it but it was quite the event watching them put it back together. We were doing an egg hunt and they were running back to our house.

The kids by the fence.

Happy Birthday to Donnie with some Washington Nationals peanuts.

We had a wonderful week and can't wait to see everyone this summer!

Don't Ask, Don't Tell (Volume 6)

In case we didn't know which room we slept in... found these one day taped up.

My computer has been infected so I am using Nate's laptop for the week!

Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day

The annual tradition - it has been part of my life since junior high - Ben & Jerry's. Had BJ parties in high school where your admission to the party was a pint, drove friends there during college in my minivan, had it at my wedding and I take my kids there for cone day.

Grace, Ryan (our close family friend at school/church) and Rita

Farm Vacation Highlights

We went on our farm vacation with our wonderful neighbors.

Here are their children (squinting in the sun!)

... chicken coop ...

the table set for breakfast in the morning at 8 AM

... feeding the goats ...

Sam feeding the goats... none of the kids were scared of anything!

on the hayride to the dairy farm

This was in one of the many cow houses (notice the solar panels?) This was a very modern and reputable farm. I did not feel like being a vegetarian after seeing how the animals were treated. Although the smell was awfully strong!
Our family minus Ellen who slept in the pack n play back at the B n B.
This is how cows are milked.
This is Leah - who is just wonderful with children. She is our neighbor. She held Ellen a lot. Leah had a horrible fall off of a wagon and got really banged up. She had to go to the ER that afternoon so that was too bad. On the other hand, we actually got to see a calf being born! AMAZING. (no photos of that though - Nate said no!)

Ice cream in the little town of Lititz, PA

9 day old kittenFarm cats were everywhere!

Inside of the bed and breakfast...

We really had a great time and the kids have been talking about it. We made some fond memories. I hope to go on another trip like this in the fall but I have a different destination in mind. Anyone want to come? We love vacationing with other families with kids!

Quick Farm Preview

Just got back from our farm vacation in Pennsylvania. What a wonderful and beautiful place this was! We had amazing weather and enjoyed the scenery and time as a family.

This is the bed and breakfast where we stayed.

This is the other side of the farm.

Priceless! Grace holding a lamb.

A beautiful stream on the property.