I’m off tomorrow for another fun family reunion. I’ve been so busy, busy, busy. I don’t think I have sat down on my couch and kicked up my feet for a whole month. Oh, dear sofa… I miss you.

Before I leave bright and early tomorrow, I wanted to upload my photos onto my computer because my memory card is full. I’ve been so crummy at taking photos lately, I wanted to make sure I could take some good ones of this camping trip. I had to wait until Jer came home from work with his laptop because I think my desktop has a virus. Yikes. I shut it down and will not be turning it on until my superhero brother comes to help little technology-ignorant me. So I’m using Jer’s laptop and it seems to take me extra long to get things done on here.

I should be headed to bed soon so I can be well rested for our camping trip… but you know, Internet… I’m devoted to you. I was going to share a cute video of Leah gooing at the camera but I can’t seem to figure out google video tonight so I’m just going to give up.

I’ll update when we get back. Ta ta.

Summer has really taken off for me. I feel a bit crazy right now trying to do everything on the calendar. I’ve been back from my trip for almost a week and can’t seem to put my life back on track. Poor Leah is suffering in the nap department.

Here are somethings I should be blogging about but just can’t seem to find the time….

-Emma loosing her first two teeth
-Birthday stuff
-Experiencing CowaBunga Bay (a new water park in our area)
-The dreadful day of installing shelves in the garage
-The 4th of July (It was a bit crazy. We had a picnic up in the mountains. Rushing home for a neighborhood BBQ. Leaving early to catch the last half of the Stadium of Fire. Blasting out our ear drums listening to the Jonas Brothers.)
-Emma getting her Molluscum burned off and now being covered with 20 or so blisters
-Going to my church’s girls camp
-Having a rumor about mosquitoes ruin my plans for a lovely family reunion

Hopefully I’ll be able to catch up soon.

Today is my birthday. The big 30. I really haven’t thought that much about it. It’s just another day except that now it will be even more shocking when people ask me my age. Yes, I know, I have a baby face. Maybe I’ll grow into myself someday.

The day wasn’t much to write about it. It was full of basic mommy stuff. I spent a bit of time editing photos and trying to get my last beach post up. Leah wasn’t very accommodating with her naps and so it seemed to take me all day to do it. By 5:00 it was finally done.

Jeremy had arranged a babysitter for 5:30 and asked me where I wanted to go for dinner. He thought it would be nice to leave Leah with the babysitter so we planned on being quick and just go dinner.

When I got off the computer at 5:00, I looked around myself and realized the house was a complete disaster. I started rallying the kiddos to help me clean up which took more effort than just doing it myself. I figured I could get straightened up and dressed by the time the babysitter came. I started in the basement.

Isaac started wiggling around like he had to go to the bathroom so I hustled him into the basement bathroom and to my disgust I was greeted with poop smeared all over the place. The toilet seat was covered. There was a poor attempt at some sort of wiping. Drops of feces had plopped on the floor and some of it had been stepped on and smeared into the tile. I couldn’t quite figure out who was the culprit and when I asked Isaac he mumbled something about the neighbor boy. Gross! Whoever it belonged to, I figured it didn’t matter… I had to clean it up either way.

While I was scrubbing, Emma came and mentioned something about popcorn kernels on the stairs. I knew Isaac has asked for some popcorn earlier and I had ignored him so he must have tried to help himself. I told him to clean it up and he brought back a small handful and asked for help. I was a bit busy and told him I’d help him in a min.

While all this was going on Leah was on the floor screaming for me to pick her up. She had to wait.

At this point, I peaked around the corner to the stairs and saw popcorn kernels everywhere. Oh boy! had he helped himself or what!! Imagine this… I had bought a big huge gallon of popcorn kernels from Costco. A bulk year supply. There are probably thousands of kernels in that container. Well, it looked like Isaac had dropped the container at the top of the stairs and as it toppled on down it dropped hundreds of kernels on each stair, landing upside down emptying all of its contents into the carpet.

As I analysed the mess and how I was going to clean it up, my mom and dad showed up to wish me a happy birthday. Yea, but I had a mess on my hands, a screaming baby and very few minutes to get ready for my date. We had a good laugh about how I had to clean up poop and popcorn on my birthday but then I realized that the babysitter was just about to show up. My dad and I got started on the kernels while my mom held unhappy Leah. I went up stairs for a second and realized that a bomb had gone off up there too. The kitchen was a huge mess but there was nothing to do about it.

I asked Jer if we could call the babysitter and tell her to come a half hour late but he said she had some family thing and needed to be home at 7:00 so we’d better just hurray, clean up as much as we could and leave.

The stress kicked up a notch and all my efforts became unproductive. I was running around the house like a chicken. I realized Leah needed to be fed and put to sleep before we could go to on our date so I sat down to feed her feeling quite hopeless. I had to just shrug of the craziness and laugh about it. Oh well if the babysitter and to sit for a minute while I fed by baby and then live with my messy house.

She showed up while I finished feeding and Jer and my dad tried to vacuum up the kernels. It wasn’t working… my vacuum deserves two major thumbs down! We left in a big rush as my mom was trying to sweep my kitchen counter clean. I told her just to leave it and that I was paying my babysitter to be here but she said she couldn’t help it.

Oh well, I thought and left her to it.

We had a nice dinner at Outback and then headed back home. We talked about getting a redbox and grabbing some ice cream with the kids. I figured it was a nice enough birthday. As we walked in the house I looked up and there in my family room stood 20 or so people all of which were faces I knew well. I dropped my leftovers and practically fell to the floor in shock.

JEREMY PLANNED A SURPRISE BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR ME!!

I had no idea. My mom was in on it. The babysitter was in on it. Everyone knew but me and Emma. (She would have blown it, of course.) There stood a lot of my dear friends and I couldn’t believe it. It was so nice and we all just laughed at how shocked I was.

We had a lovely evening chatting and eating my favorite ice cream cake. After everyone left I felt so happy and it made up for all the of the poop and popcorn mess. It really made it all so much more memorable. I wont forget my 30th.

Happy Birthday ME!

We had an awesome trip to the East Coast. It was so much fun hanging out with Jer’s family and soaking up the sun rays on the beach. I have some more fun photos to share with you.

Here are some more of us the night we had a little photo shoot on the beach. I think beach pictures always turn out awesome. The back drop can’t be beat.

We set up a camera and used the timer to capture all of us. It was so funny trying to get all the kids to cooperate but we managed to get a couple good shots. Jeremy’s clan is really growing.

Leah is the 13th grandkid on this side of the family. Count them… That is a lot of little people! There are even 2 more on the way. Emma had so much fun with all of her cousins, especially the girls. We need more girls around.

While we were trying to capture the grandkid photo the tide came up high enough to wash grandma and grandpa away. It was such a hoot and I love their smiles and the way they are kicking up their feet.

Here is what Leah did for me most the time. The waves make perfect white noise for lulling her to sleep. What a dear little thing she is.

For some reason, the sand provides hours of entertainment for the little tikes. When they aren’t digging holes and looking for sea shell treasures, they like to go “jump the waves.”

I just love this photo of Jer and Isaac. Isaac is going through a stage where he just loves to play with his dad. I guess it’s because I’m always so occupied with Leah.

We did spend a day seeing some sites. Kitty Hawk is there on the island and we also drove down to Roanoke Island where the Lost Colony… was, well, lost. Isaac was a major grouch that day and wanted nothing but his mommy to hold him. In all that heat and humidity I had a hard time being patient but managed.

We had such a great time! There is nothing quite like the beach but it is always nice to return home. I missed my bed so much. I even missed the kids beds. It’s nice to have everyone back in their places.

On to the next adventure.