Back to School!

Wow, summer's over and the kids are on to a bigger and better adventure. Cody started high school, Troy started junior high and the girls are the only ones left at the elementary school. The house is eerily quiet but they are all enjoying school very much.

Troy is taking guitar for an elective, how cool is that? He has to lug his guitar to school everyday which is a pain when your taking the bus but he's managing.

Cody loves high school and is having an easier time keeping himself organized thanks to the block schedule at the high school. With the block schedule you only go to 3 classes a day so on Monday and Thursday he has odd period classes, on Tuesday and Friday he has even period classes and on Wednesday, which is half day, he goes briefly to all of his classes. So much easier to keep track of assignments for 3 classes at a time instead of 6.

The girls got their favorite teachers, and no it had nothing to do with their mom being PTA president ;o) Thankfully, I will not have that responsibility this year thanks to Ty but I can't seem to pull myself away completely so I will still be on the board.

Lastly, I would like to thank the Fairfield Suisun Unified School district for continuing to provide transportation!!! You have made my life so much easier! The thought of transporting 4 kids to 3 different schools on 3 different schedules was going to land me on the funny farm! I now just have to take the girls to and from school...good times!

Whose cute children are those???

Cody exiting the bus on the first day

Troy exiting the bus on the first day.

The 3 musketeers; Troy, Eric and Olivia have grown up together.

You don't bite, you don't starve...

Ty Daniel's first tooth broke the surface on August 3, 2009 at the ripe age of 3 months! His second tooth broke through on August 15th. I'm sad to see his baby gums disappearing so quickly especially since there will be no more Addington children in our future. It's also sad to see him so desperate to gnaw on things but not quite coordinated enough to put the ring in his mouth on his own, so frustrating.
So far so good, only one close call during his feeding but after a short discussion, I'm hoping we have a mutual understanding...

So funny, he was more than happy to show off his new teeth!

After about 10 flashes he was done letting me take pictures of his teeth!

The coolest thing ever...

In the hunt to find a small point and shoot for my diaper bag, I came across the coolest camera ever! It's a sports camera that's shock proof up to 5 feet and waterproof down to 10 feet. As soon as I saw it I knew I had to have it for rafting. Now I can have pictures going down the river without relying on the professionals. Sweetest thing ever!!! And for those of you wondering what would happen if I dropped it in the river? Good question, I bought a float strap for it! Saweeeet! Can't wait for the cool pictures next summer.

Underwater pictures taken by Troy:

We are women, hear us roar!

Six women, sixteen children...no problem. After realizing that summer would be over in two weeks and my girls had done pretty much nothing all summer while the boys were off to all sorts of camps, I decided (out of guilt) to take my girls on a quick vacation. I called a handful of friends for an impromptu camping trip; just women and our kids.

I have to say, despite the teasing by the y chromosomes in my family, it was a huge success. We only had a couple of days to book a campsite and pack. I set up a tent for the first time, started the campfire, loaded and unloaded my car successfully and all the while taking care of my teething 3 month old without a man in sight. One man in the campground commented several times on how brave we were!

We had great fun socializing together, the kids had a ball with all the fun things there were to do. I have to give the babies credit, Ty and Carson were unbelievably good the entire time, they loved being outside. I think we will definitely make this an annual trip!

Ty sleeping on my air mattress


Carson playing out a scene in a really bad horror movie


Morgan and Allison on the jumping pillow


Brooke and Tim at the campsite


Ty, Morgan and Mom at the pool


Brooke and Claire in the spa


Brooke and Allison taken with my cool new underwater camera


Morgan


Brooke

And then there was light...

Last week my Granpa came down and did a few projects around the house. The most exciting (and difficult) project was my new windows!! I have wanted these windows for years. We get direct sun through our back windows so when we shut the shutters to block the sun it's really dark in the house; now there is so much more light, I love it!
I didn't get any pictures of Brian so I have to mention that he did all the interior moulding and it looks great!

Morgan's Pizzeria!

Morgan had a lot of fun during her birthday party this last week. We made a waterslide out of our inflatable slide jumper. Then we came inside and made pizza cakes. It was so fun! Each girl got their own pizza to decorate and they were yum to boot! So fun to have a summer birthday!

Morgan turns double digits!

Morgan was thrilled to finally celebrate her "double-digit" birthday. Ten is a really big deal in our house! On her birthday we celebrated by taking her to dinner at our new favorite restaurant Texas Roadhouse...yum!
The waitors at the restaurant had her sit in the birthday saddle and instead of singing, shouted out this:
Hey, we have a birthday, it's Morgan's birthday, Morgan is ten today. On the count of three lets give her a big yee-haw. One, two, three...YEE HAW! It was so cute the whole restaurant stopped and shouted out yee-haw; definitely my kind of place.
Morgan, thank you for giving me ten wonderful years of girlie time! We are so blessed to have you as part of our family. You are our nurturer and a great example to your younger sister. You never cease to amaze me, I love you.

Ty Daniel's first photo shoot...

I wish I could say that I was on top of things and that Ty went in for his regularly scheduled photo shoot but...that would be lying. I finally got him in today on his 11th week birthday to have his pictures taken for the first time. He did fantastic, although every time he smiled the photographer was a second late catching it. Half the time he just laid there cooing at the photographer, he really had a lot to get of his chest I guess :)
It's such a blessing to have a baby in the house again! I'm so happy to be Ty's mom. He's an absolute angel and all of the kids adore him. He's getting use to all of the kids being up in his face and giving him kisses all the time; it use to freak him out.
The other blessing of having a baby in the house is the silence...ah. The kids have learned to take the noise level down several notches now that the baby is here. Their voices are more quiet and calm, the TV stays turned down and there is little running through the house. Oh the peace :) Thank you Ty, you are just what our family needed.

Talkin', Talkin', Talkin'

I can't resist a baby's bum.

My cutiepatootie

Daydreaming of summers past

Having decided to take it easy this summer due to the birth of Ty, I've been thinking about what a great summer we had last year and how much I'm missing. It will be fun to get back into the swing of things next summer, hopefully having shed all this darn baby weight, and start doing the things we love.
I really can't imagine having to endure another dreary winter before I get out on the river again but I've resigned to it. I think Brian is planning a guy trip so that will be fun for him. I think we will make it to the beach towards the end of this summer when Ty is a little older, I'm just not sure I'll fit into my wetsuit! Anyway, here is a stroll down memory lane from last year:

Our week in Mexico

Sharing great times with cousins!

Riding our raft down the river with friends '08


Judy with her sweet smile


Duane concentrating real hard


Holy Cow!


Brother Paul, Duane & Judy, Steve & Leah, Brandon & Terri, Brian & I


The look on Leah & Terri's face is priceless!


Now you see them, now you don't!


Paul, Gail, Tim, Jillian, Connor, Brian & I


Jillian has no idea whats coming...

AND another one bites the dust...

I'm grateful for all my dear friends and family for all the great memories we share, last summer was a blast and I'm grateful for each of you!