Picture page, picture page

It's that time of year at the Watson home where we take our annual pictures of the kids. It was time for Maddox to take his 3 month picture and with all the other kids having summer birthdays we take pictures of them around this time of year. Although with this new year there was an addition of a child and all the others were a year older, including the one hitting his terrible two's. I don't need to go into it but if any of you have had the joyful experience of trying to get your child to sit still long enough to take a decent picture it's a chore in of itself. Times that by 4 and it's a wonder we got anything worth hanging on our wall. I'd have to give props to the photographer who was wonderful with the kids and had tons of patience with them. He just started clicking away like mad and that was the best thing he could have done. So thanks to him we got some decent ones of the kids. Until next year.....

What’s for lunch?

So what do you do all summer with all the kids home asking “what’s for lunch” about ten times a day?  You get creative.

Make home made orange Julius drinks with frozen burritos during a swim break in the back yard.  Nothing says hello summer like a frozen burrito and cold drink out in 106 degree weather!

 

Too hot outside?  Why not bring the picnic inside?  My kids love to finish off almost every meal with warm tortillas with melted butter on it.  They get this recipe from their dad.

 

Picnic not good enough any more?  Go ahead and play “train ride” while mom tries to mop the floor.  They are in the dining cart eating more frozen burritos and sandwiches.

 

Hmm, so what’s for lunch today?  Any good ideas?

Shave and a haircut

So if you’ve known me a while you know I have this comfort with long hair.  I’ve had long hair for well, a long time.  I finally decided to cut it and each time I went in I felt like I had gotten a lot cut off only to realize two weeks later that it’s still long.  I’m not brave enough to do it all at once.  I like to go in stages.  So here are my stages.  I didn’t realize it had gotten so long.

Hair was at my waist about a year ago:

8 inches later:

4 inches after that and here we are today:  

If they could see me now

This summer has been busy for Abigail. Between dancing, singing and acting, she's got quite the theatrical bug in her. She had her dance recital a few weeks ago and it was great. They performed the ballet "Cinderella" where she was a pumpkin. Then she did a tap number to "Surfin' Safari". They did a great job and her dance skills have really improved since last year.

Then she did an acting camp at Stockdale High School where they did a "Night at the Improv". They did about 20 different variety numbers. I had no idea what it was all about or what she was even doing until the night of her performances. She was in about 9 different numbers where she sang, danced, and was a puppet for a skit.

She loves dancing around the house, singing all sorts of songs and making up a bunch of her own lyrics and moves. Now that the performances are over we are taking a break for the rest of the summer and will start up again in fall. Can't wait to see what this next year will be like. She has decided to move from tap and ballet to jazz and ballet. She keeps us on our toes for sure.

Pumpkin

Surfin Safari

Not liking all the make-up

She gets these lashes from her dad. Lucky girl.

Action…..

Here is what happens when the kids decide to put on a “movie” for me this morning.  They called it “digging for dead dinosaur bones”.  They laid out all the dinosaur toys they had on the carpet and pretended to dig up the fossils.  While they were getting them out they started to sing “bones and bones and dry bones…”  Well, you just see for yourself.

High 5!

Happy 5th Birthday Walker! Walker turned 5 a few weeks ago (I know, I'm a little behind on the posts) and we had a great weekend celebrating his birthday. We spent a few days in San Diego where we went to the beach and Legoland. The boys loved digging in the sand while dad and Abby spent the entire time in the waves. She's more adventurous that I thought. It was a lot of fun and we plan on many more trips to the beach.

Legoland was a lot of fun as well. Walker loved the legos and again, Abby loved the rides. We spent all day there and had fun. We also went to the new Sealife exhibit that is part of Legoland. That was pretty amazing. We saw all sorts of cool things and the kids really enjoyed the hands on part and exploring the different tanks.

We got home Saturday night to get ready for Sunday which was his actual birthday. We had the Watson's over and all the cousins to celebrate his birthday. It was low key with some animal cookies we made and some ice cream.

All in all it was a fun weekend and I know we all enjoyed the adventures. I still can't believe Walker is 5 yrs old. He will be starting Kindergarten this year and that makes me so sad. Walker has had a little bit of a rough start as a kid but with the help of many great teachers and specialists he has come a long way. He had is first real experience at preschool last year and it is just what he needed. The teachers could not say enough about him. You never really know how your kids are outside the home unless someone goes out of their way and tells you. At least it was nothing but good news with him.

Walker has grown up to be such a caring and helpful boy. He is so good natured and is a problem solver. He likes to make peace and does so at home with his siblings. He does what is asked of him, helps pick up and loves to cook with me. I guess that's why it's so sad to see him start growing up because he's not a little boy anymore. I can't wait to see what school holds for him. He is so talented and detailed in his work. The things that this boy can do has amazed many.

We love you Walker and are blessed to have you in our family.