Monday, September 08, 2008

Birthday Central

Photo below: Johnny blows out a candle for his 8th birthday and Jude blows out the candle for Jacques 16th birthday

It's been pretty busy around here so I have not had much blog time (and if I get the time I need to fight the children for computer time). So please forgive me as I just jumbo post these days. Last Wednesday through yesterday were action/fun packed!

Sunday/yesterday~ Johnny James turned 8! Oh, I'm so proud of how sweet our little boy is. Somehow he looks bigger then he did Saturday night. Can you guess where we went for his birthday? Right, Disneyland. ;) On birthday Disneyland trips we let the birthday kid pick what we do together all day. Johnny had a request that we do a couple things together and then said that the older kids and Dad could split up and go ride the scarier and faster rides together because he wants them to have fun too. Afterwards we headed to one of our favorite places~ Rainforest Cafe for Johnny's birthday Volcanoes. It was Stephanie, Jude, and Lovenie's first time there so it was fun to watch them seeing the animals, thunderstorms, and plants.

Saturday~ Saturday's have become my "day off". We quickly learned that for me to stay home 24/7 with six kids and all the adjustments we have going on, I'm going to need time alone to decompress. So now I get to do what I want with my Saturdays and then spend Saturday night with the family. This Saturday I wanted to do some shopping. I broke my "absolutely no children can come with me" rule and took Stephanie. We had such a neat Mother-Daughter day of shopping and had lunch alone. It went a long ways towards building our relationship and we both had a great time.

Friday~ Jacques turned 16! He was not here to celebrate with us but we decide to celebrate as if he was here. A friend delivered a birthday gift to him for us just a week before his birthday so we were glad he had that. We spent hours at the pool, in his honor, just laughing and playing together. Then we had pizza for dinner and a giant cake for Jacques and Johnny to share.

Wednesday~ Another trip to Dland. It was GREAT! The summer crowds are gone and we could get off one ride and get right onto another. LOVE IT!

Here are some moments from our last few days:

The sweet six pack (of kids of course) get ready to wish Jacques and Johnny a happy birthday.
Our kids are always THRILLED to get cash! Thank you so much (you know who you are)!
Johnny has asked every birthday for years for a remote control car that drives on the wall and ceiling but we could not find one~ until now. I was excited when I found one but we played it up this year again with reminding him how hard they are to find. He was convinced he wasn't going to get one. That explains the shocked look on his face. ;)
Another Rainforest Cafe birthday celebration!
Now that Johnny is 8 he is able to manage driving one of the Autotopia cars. This is great because he couldn't do it when he was 7 (you know... like... Last Wednesday!)
Stephanie, Jude, and Lovenie were especially impressed with the huge fish tanks at Rainforest Cafe
Jude, Stephanie, Kyle, and Johnny with their new friend Pluto. Luke and Lovenie refuse to go near any dogs~ fake or real.


Kyle and Jude and Stephanie and Johnny were holding hands while walking towards a ride. It was a sweet moment so we tried to take a picture but missed it. That's okay... I know it happened. ;)
DAUGHTERS! I have daughters!!!
Practising for our new family band act. Wait, I've got video of them singing. I think we'll stick to finding them day jobs.

Lovenie just being sweet. She does that a lot. She is such a cheerful and silly girl and we are enjoying her so much (when she's not making huge messes, must be watched at all times).

Soon I'll try and update more about how the family is adjusting. For now I'll just share that the last couple of weeks have been SO much better! Thanks so much for all your prayers and please keep them coming.

6 comments:

Amanda said...

Oh I'm so glad for you all! Looks like FUN!

Beautiful Family, Angela! Have you tried to start school yet?

Anonymous said...

Beautiful family, indeed.
Thanks for the posts.
I don't mind if they're jumbled or out of order...just keep them coming. :)

Easier said than done, I know. I struggle with keeping everyone informed.

Happy Birthday, boys.

danellejoy said...

I'm so glad things are better for you, Angela! Your family is adorable and I'm glad you are having fun being a Mom to daughters! =)

Ericka said...

Thanks for the post sweetie. The kids look awesome and happy!
Happy Birthday Guys!!!

Anonymous said...

I have been here catching up on your last three blog entries. I cannot tell you how much Beverly likes to see photos of "Lovely!" And, then she begins to tell me a long story in Creole about Lovenie.

We are continuing to have a difficult adjustment. Well, specifically, Marissa is struggling. I am unsure if this would have happened without the kids coming home. But, for sure their presence has been a catalyst for some rather negative behavior. And, of course, she has the kids to blame for her poor choices.

One thing that I didn't anticipate though is that Marissa is newly aware that she isn't white. Oh, she always knew she wasn't, but now she is aware that others see her differently. She has been asked twice if the kids are hers. More frequently, she is asked if they are her biological brother and sister. She is newly aware that some boys might not want to go out with her since she isn't white ~ this is truly a problem when you're 16 and, "When you're 16 you should have a boyfriend."

Anonymous said...

Johnny looks so grown up!! Hard to believe he is 8!

Happy Birthday, Johnny! What a sweet boy you are :-)

Linda