She's Only 10!!!

Tuesday afternoon I took the kids down to Lyster's flu shot clinic. It was a bit of a madhouse and of course fell during Landon's usual nap time. The children were not happy to be there. I was the picture of the harried mother. I noticed a boy who looked to be around 14-15 staring at Whitney. I asked Whitney is she knew this boy though I couldn't imagine how she might. She said no. I was then distracted by Ashlyn who was doing a great job of being in some one's way at all times. Then as we were walking out to our car, I noticed another adolescent boy staring at Whitney. As he passed us by our eyes met and his face was overcome with embarrassment and it finally dawned on me . . . he was checking Whitney out!!! Of course, I knew this day was coming. I even knew it would come earlier than expected because Chris and I were both early bloomers. But it was still quite the shock to my system! I wanted to yell at him, "she's only 10"! I wasn't nearly as prepared as I thought I was. Thankfully she is pretty much oblivious to the opposite sex. She still spends a lot of her time playing with her LPS toys. I just hope she is not forced to grow up before she is ready. I was actually pretty traumatized by my own early maturation because emotionally and socially I was simply not ready to deal with the expectations and assumptions that people make when they think you are 3 years older than you actually are.

Introducing Oddball...

Oddball

July 24, 2009

2009 has been quite the year for boys at our house! Oddball makes #3 to be exact. We brought the newest addition home this past Saturday and he is settling in nicely. I feel kinda bad naming any living creature Oddball but it seems to have stuck! Chris and the kids would make trips to go visit Aladdin while he was still too young to come home. While they were visiting they got to know Kathy (the ragdoll breeder). Chris thought Oddball was really cute and had asked about him. Kathy said she was glad someone thought so because he does not fall into any of the color patterns ( Aladdin is a Blue Colorpoint). Almost all of the people on her waiting list have very specific requests as to the sex and color of the ragdoll they want. When she said that, Whitney said, "he's a cute little oddball!" "Gavin said that's what I would call him if he were mine." Plus he had some health problems and she did not want to place him in a home until she knew he was completely healthy. She called Chris about a week ago and said she would like to give us Oddball as a gift because she was so impressed with "our wonderful family" and as a thank you for our military service. She said, "Ever since your little boy called him Oddball it has just stuck." Bless her heart! I think she could see that the math wasn't adding up either, 1 cat to 3 kids just isn't a good ratio. Wit and Gavin were both really excited for Aladdin to have "a partner in crime".
I love how he looks like he is wearing a mask. I suggested Zorro or Bandit but the kids insisted on Oddball.

Sleeping with Gavin his first night at home.

Getting some loves from Ashlyn.

First Helicopter Ride

On Saturday, Chris treated Whitney, Gavin and I to our first helicopter ride! Ashlyn was not old enough and thankfully did not want to go. Chris has been a pilot for over 8 years now and it was fun to get a small taste of what he does everyday. I have always been curious about what it was like. It kinda reminded me of riding a motorcycle. Same vibrations, very loud and wind whipping your hair every which way! Whitney and I agreed to let Gavin have the front seat since he was probably the most excited out of the three of us. I just wished I could have seen his face while we were flying. It was about a 10 minute ride around Ft. Rucker. Whitney was a little scared when we first took off and held my hand the whole ride. Since there were no doors on this helicopter it was a little freaky to know the only thing keeping you inside was your seat belt. I double and triple checked to make sure our seat belts were secure!

Getting ready to land.

Gavin didn't stop smiling all day long!!!

Georgia Aquarium & The Varsity

This past Monday we headed up to Atlanta. Chris is determined to get our two year food storage in order and wanted to go pick up some food from the storehouse. Since we aren't close to our weight limit for our move he figured out that it will pay for itself plus net us a profit! We decided that as long as he was going I would take the kids to the aquarium. We went once almost 3 years ago and it was great! It is the largest aquarium in the world and even has whale sharks and beluga whales. I was pretty disappointed because the beluga whales are off exhibit until the new year due to renovations. But still totally worth it. Chris spent most of the day at the storehouse helping some elderly brothers can and load their food. When he came to pick us up he was on a service high! He said, "I don't know how they would've done all that without me to help."

Aren't these two the cutest fish you've ever seen?

I didn't take as many photos as I normally do since I was trying to herd all 4 kids by myself. Even though it was a Monday it was still pretty crowded so I would hate to see it on a weekend.

This was the first exhibit we saw. I decided I would let the kids set the pace for the day. I think we stayed at this one for a good 25 minutes just watching all the sea life before Gavin asked to move on.

Even Landon was mesmerized by the giant fish tank.

Notice Ashlyn's pink My Little Pony she got in a Happy Meal is featured in every shot she is in! She even made me take pictures of the pony all by itself.

Gavin petting a bonnet head shark. I think Gavin's favorite part was the touching the bonnet head sharks and sting rays at this touching pool.

After that we were ready to eat! Chris saw this restaurant on the Travel channel's show of the 10 best hot dog joints in America. He decided that he must take me there since I love chili cheese dogs. The Varsity has been in downtown Atlanta for 80+ years. It was a fun experience!

I love this goofy shot! Especially Ashlyn's pose. Chris was a party pooper and refused to wear a hat. I think he was just worried it would look absurd on his giant head.

Chris basically inhaled his food after his day of work.

Gavin's meal was consumed with lots of ketchup. This kid loves ketchup!

2 thumbs up from the Weaver Family!!! We all cleaned our plates. Though Ashlyn had a little help from Dad.

Tinkerbell, 2 Vampires & A Duckling

Ready to rock n roll!
Left to right: Whitney's, Gavin's, Ashlyn's is the grey one and the bat one is also Gavin's from school.

Halloween morning Chris took Gavin and Whitney to do Fort Rucker's 1 mile Spooky Fun Run. This is them showing off their medals.

We started off our Halloween fun Friday night at our ward's Trunk or Treat/Chili Cook-off. Chris's chili took 1st place to his complete delight! Here he is holding his empty crock pot and cool prize.

Ashlyn's was so excited on Halloween night that she was actually running from house to house. Something she rarely does! It didn't last long though...

This is her after she ran into her first truly scary costume. I hate those adults who wear the really scary costumes and try to freak out the kids! What is wrong with those people?!?! You scared a 4 year old! How hard is that?!?

Trick or Treating

Ashlyn wanted to go home pretty early on so we went home and passed out candy. Which she loved even more than trick or treating!!!! She had her own set of rules though. Scary costumes didn't any candy from her. Girls in pretty costumes got handfuls of candy. When we ran out of candy she was so sad. She wanted to give out all of her candy! I was trying to explain to her that if she gave all hers away then she wouldn't have any candy. She said, "Mom, its called Teamwork! You hold the bowl and I'll give the kids candy! See Teamwork!" We did give away some of her candy but not much before she decided she was done.

Check out that pile of candy!!! Everything is a competition to Chris including trick or treating! This is what two hours with Chris can get a kid on Halloween night! Some of his tips for netting the most candy on post are to concentrate on small side streets and to empty your treat bag frequently into the pillowcase Dad is carrying. This makes it look like you don't have much candy and people will feel sorry for your child. You must also keep up a fast pace bordering on jogging. No leisurely strolling allowed.

Here is Landon looking very sleepy on Halloween night! I still need to take photos of him, so stay posted for what are sure to be some adorable ducky shots. =D

Gavin totally got into character and was giving me some fierce poses!!!! It was so cute! He was really pleased with his costume and kept asking me how his make up was holding up all night long. He and Whitney wore their fangs all night long giving them the appearance of serious overbites. I thought they'd wear them for a few minutes at most.

He insisted that he needed "one of those necklaces vampires wear".

I vant to drink your blood!

My pretty girl looks so grown up!

One of my favorite moments of the night came when we ran into one of Whitney's friends. This little girl lives with her Dad and twin brother and has some rough edges. =) Right away she informed us that her Dad was letting her go trick or treating by herself for the first time. After awhile she asked me if she and Whitney could go off on their own. I said no, that Whitney had to stay with her family. Not long after this she started loudly telling Whitney how glad she was that her Dad was finally letting her "enjoy the privileges of being 10 years old" and letting her go by herself. I'm pretty sure this was mostly for my enlightenment. =) While she was saying this I was wondering if Whitney was thinking how lame her Mother was. But Whitney said, "I like going with my family. I think I would be lonely if I was all by myself." My heart literally leaped with joy and love!!! Because she meant every word of it and wasn't afraid to say so.

Aladdin kept attacking Whitney's dress so we decided to take a picture with him. He is getting big and is one very feisty kitty! His face, paws, and tail are all turning a dark gray. Every vampire needs a faithful cat, right?

Ashlyn's favorite movie right now is Peter Pan or as she calls it Peter Man. She really wanted to be Tinkerbell and she really wanted Gavin to be Peter Pan! Gavin refused to be Peter Pan. He said he would NOT be wearing tights, that it was a baby costume. I tried to persuade him but he wasn't having it. Ashlyn alternated between being mad at him and living in the delusion that he was going to be Peter Pan.

This little girl was over the moon when she got all dolled up in her Tinkerbell costume! I don't think I will ever forget how excited and thrilled she was with herself. Though she was a tad disappointed that she couldn't fly. I love that she thought she would be able to once she got her costume on! Some of my most favorite pictures of my kids are of them in their Halloween costumes.