A Murder Mystery New Year!

We drove down to Joe and Michelle’s house for the New Years weekend. Prior to traveling, we got emails with our character’s description for a murder mystery! Horror seeped into every pore of my being when I realized that I had to sing every word that came out of my mouth! There were other characteristics of Pepper Keegrip, but all of them paled in comparison to the fact that everything I said would be vocalized in different octaves.

Buddy the Elf comes to mind.

“ I’M HERE WITH MY DAD. I’VE NEVER MET HIM AND HE WANTS ME TO SING A SONG. I WAS ADOPTED AND YOU DIDN’T KNOW I WAS BORN. BUT I’M HERE AND I LOVE YOU, DAD!!!”

Anyway, Michelle and her friend did an AMAZING job hosting the party! It was decorated beautifully.

The best part of the masquerade decor was that we found Christmas ornaments for 70% off, so these little masks and fans were pennies, AND they were in the right colors!

It was a lot of fun! Two things I had a problem with: 1) The singing, of course. But also trying to gather valuable info WHILE singing. 2) This was the first impression that most of the guests were getting from me!

Josh’s character was a radio DJ, and so he channeled Will Farrell as Harry Carey. He was spectacular! I still laugh whenever I think about him.

It was so fun to ring in the new year with all these fun people! Thankfully, Pepper was able to stop singing once the murderer was revealed around 10pm !!

The next morning, I woke up earlier than I wanted to, but I took advantage of the quiet and had my coffee out on the deck, wrapped up in a blanket while I read my Bible and took in the beauty of the Natural State.

After church, I sneaked out for a few hours to visit one of my best friends since college. As expected, we had a terrific time catching up. I asked her if we could just drive around Siloam and JBU for a while, and she obliged. It’s always so nostalgic to be there, because so much LIFE happened there!!

That night, Joe made spectacular ribs for us adults. I love nights like that, when we feed the kids and put them to bed, and then we sit down to an amazing Joe-sy meal!

I just snapped this pic on our last morning because I thought Simmy looked so adorable sitting like a big boy at the table!

 

 

Traveling and Partying

Ick, it’s Cyber Monday and I have to spend my computer time catching up on this! Oh right, plus there is laundry to do. I’m about 10 posts behind so, as only a mom of five can do, I’m going to multi-task and roll it all into one post, check out the cyber-sales while the photos upload, and perhaps fold the laundry with my feet while my fingers furiously dance over the keyboard.

Rewind back to November 11, which is Bella’s birthday! When she is in the US, she gets the day off school AND a parade, with many thanks to our brave veterans who have sacrificed for our freedom!

We started the day with the largest Veteran’s Day Parade in KS! It was a gorgeous day and the kids loved the fun parade.

I felt like I was in Radiator Springs.

After the parade, we picked up Popeyes, which was Bella’s birthday choice. We enjoyed a quick lunch with Josh’s parents, celebrated with a Junior Mint cake, and gave Bella some presents, which included gymnastics lessons! She’s super excited, as am I.

After that party, we headed to AR to celebrate with cousins! They just moved into their beautiful new home and we were thrilled to be their houseguest! Not only was it a super fun weekend, but it was also so relaxing! The kids played outside all morning, so us big kids played Settlers of Catan.

They made our visit extra special by making Bella a cake and giving her Pie Face and cozy slippers. The kids had stomach aches from laughing so hard while they placed Pie Face.

We also ate an insane-but-not-surprising delicious meal by Joe.

When we returned from AR, we jumped into more fall activities, even though it was in the 70’s!

On the weekend, Josh built a fire out at the fort and they all roasted hot dogs for lunch. It was one of those beautiful days where its cold, but not windy, so very fun to run around in. No, I didn’t run that day. What a waste.

At the end of the week, we all got to go to Seussical: The Musical at the high school. My mother-in-law played the keyboard for the performance, so it was extra fun to see it. Faith Academy did the same show a few months prior, so Mackenzie and I kept whispering to each other our thought, comparisons, and contrasts.

The next day, our AR cousins came to visit and to watch the show. I sat with the second batch of kids, just to make sure they behaved and didn’t start marching around the theater to I Do Not Like Green Eggs and Ham!

After two days of school, it was time for Thanksgiving! It’s super special to be in the US for this holiday, as we don’t celebrate it in the PI. It’s so fun to pack up and hit the road, knowing that on the other side, family, food, and fun is waiting!

We drove up to my sisters house for Thanksgiving. I finally convinced Josh to listen to Hamilton on the way up, and now he wants to go see it!

I ran my first Turkey Trot with my Heather, Mackenzie, and my little niece, Isla!

After bagels and apple cider at the Trot, we headed home by 10am. By noon, my sister had an amazing Thanksgiving feast on the table! It helps that she made a career of cooking for the masses for a long time.

I made a sweet potato casserole and I was also in charge of weaving some bacon around our family fave- brussel sprouts. Genius.

It was spectacular.

Since we ate at noon, I had time for a nap, and still had time to go shopping! Heather and I hit some sales together. It was so much fun to hang out together, and talk each other and and out of buying.

We were in a long line at Kohls, so we had to facetime my mom. We were, after all, in her kingdom.

That night, my sister and I HAD to check out the new Anne of Green Gables on PBS. It was cute, but doesn’t even come close to the original!

We went to sleep dreaming of the new Gilmore Girls on Netflix!

As soon as we woke up, we got our coffee and settled in for an entire day of binge watching. It was glorious!

We kept having to pause it to deal with one kid or another, so around lunchtime, Josh took ALL the kids out to McDonalds and the mall. He’s such a great dad!

Heather and I had so much fun aww-ing and squealing when one of our favorite old characters would pop up on the screen. We decided of the two marathons we’ve now done together, the Gilmore Girls one was way better than the Chicago one. AND we got to cross the finish line holding hands in this one.

Another great dad, Uncle Bryan won all of the kids love when he pulled out ice cream cones in between meals.

The next day, we had to trek back home. We left nice and early in order to be back in time for another Thanksgiving dinner at the homestead. It was amazing, and it was miraculous that we got everyone at the table, as well as all the food! I didn’t take any pics unfortunately, but it was just a teaser for the hoopla that is to come at Christmas time!

…which is probably when my next post will be.

 

 

Birthday Surprise!

My sister turned 40 this weekend! I had no big plans for the week or weekend, but with one phone call from my parents, I had a car rental, a road trip, and a few days with my parents, who were also visiting, and my sister and her family!

Last Wednesday, Simeon and I picked up a great rental car and hit the road for a 6-hour drive. We had snacks, blankies, and his Nuk, so Simeon was as happy as a clam for the entire trip. I did have to play peekaboo for a good 30 minutes, but I was getting bored with the corn fields anyway, so I was happy to oblige.

When we arrived at my sisters, my mom called Heather to the front door. I was literally trembling with excitement! It was so fun to surprise her and her girls. We took the party over to Red Robin for a birthday celebration. All this excitement, and I didn’t take any pictures!

My sister had to work the next day, so my mom, Simmy, and I spent the day doing our favorite activity together – hitting the sales! I told my mom that I always get a little jealous when I see women out shopping with their mom and babies. I felt so happy and special that I got to be that woman that day!

Heather was able to get the day off on Friday, so she and I hung out. We spent the morning in our jammies on the couch, an activity that Heather and I both adore. Simeon had thrown up during the night, so he napped for most of the morning! After a Olive Garden and more shopping with my mom, we headed back to Heather’s house. Heather and I both hopped right into the new jammies that mom bought us, and settled in to watch the World Series. We talked about going to a movie, but we didn’t want to get out of our PJ’s. My 40 year old sister said that we should just go to the movie in our PJ’s.

Meanwhile, the nieces found the Halloween snapchats.

Isla goes, “I look so pretty!”

…and then it was time to head back home! But not without leaving Simeon’s illness there. Every other person in that house got sick the next day! Heather and I just kept quoting Hamilton – “If it takes fighting a war for us to meet, it will have been worth it.”

Speaking of Hamilton…

Simeon wasn’t so happy on the drive back home. In fact, he was pretty inconsolable. The snacks weren’t working, he didn’t even want his blanket or his Nuk. So I switched from the radio to the Hamilton soundtrack, and not only did he stop crying, but he started dancing, laughing, singing “Rise up!”…and then he fell asleep! I knew that I had been listening to it a lot, but I didn’t think that Simeon had been paying attention! Apparently, he’s going to do just fine when it’s time for US History in school!

 

 

Josh has been in the PI this last week, and I haven’t even given a single thought to blogging. Until tonight, that is, when I was somewhere between picking Kenzie up from volleyball, taking Bella to soccer practice, or cheering Deacon on in his football game! Oh-and this is all being done with my in-laws car, because as usual, our vehicle flips out when Josh is gone. Only this time, it flat-lined. The transmission is shot, so we have some decision-making in our super-near future.

Onto happier thoughts….

Or not just yet.

Poor Caleb. This was because, well, take a guess.

1. He fell down and hurt his knee.
2. His brother took his brand-new toy.
3. His dad pushed the garage-door button before he could.

Yep. 3. Day – ruined.

Thankfully, he was easily distracted by his weekend preschool project. He brought Nemo home and we had to document all the fun things that Nemo did over the weekend. Fortunately, we had all kinds of fun things prepared for the weekend!

First, Nemo got to cheer on Mackenzie’s volleyball team to a big victory. (PS: They are 10-1, hello!)

The next morning, Nemo got to cheer Bella on in her volleyball game! (Yes, there is a trend.)

I have yet to get a good pic of Bella’s volleyball game, because so far not much as happened. It’s pretty much a service ace or an error, and then rotate. Lather, rinse, repeat.

That afternoon, cousins came over! The weather was gorgeous, so everyone played outside and Nemo got to jump on the trampoline with them.

Later on, I got some cuddles from baby Eve. She was so super sweet. It turned out that she had a slight fever, which was probably why she was so cuddly. No, never mind. It was definitely because Aunt Val was snuggling her.

On Sunday, we went to sunday school and then onto the KC Royals game! It was Star Wars Day at the K, so we bought tickets for Deacon’s birthday. Everyone was so excited!

Kenzie and Deacon got in costume. Kenzie was Rae and Deacon was Finn. Sidenote: I got Deacon’s costume on Kohl’s clearance for $3.50! Mackenzie put her own outfit together and did a great job, I think!

Deacon LOVED being at the game! He cheered for the Royals and engaged in all the activities.

The tickets that we bought came with food credit, so the kids all opted for cotton candy! Nemo got in on the sugary goodness as well.

So did I.

And so did the girl behind us.

Kenzie took a Snapchat break.

They did a great little video on the jumbotron where Darth Vader used the dark side to pitch the ball to Sluggerrrr (the lion mascot), who used a light saber to hit it out of the park, and out of the universe, where the ball went on to destroy the Death Star! I wish I had videoed it. It was cute.

Another favorite crowd activity was like the KissCam, but instead, they used The Lion King music and focused on a baby. When the camera was on them, the parent had to lift the baby in a way that only a baboon would lift a royal lion cub. It was super cute and definitely my favorite.

After the game, our kids got to join every other last child in Kansas to run the same bases that our 2015 World Champions ran. It was great!

On our way out, we ran into everyone’s favorite evil minions (except for the actual Minions), the Storm Troopers. Have I mentioned that Caleb has always called them Storm Poopers? And not even as a potty joke. That’s what they are, and we may or may not have corrected him.

It was definitely one of our best days yet, and another must-do checked off of our furlough list!

 

 

 

Football and football

We’re loving the all-american experiences that we’re getting this year! (As I write that, the weather is unusually Filipino for September in the US. We’re looking at a feels-like of over 100 degrees!)

Anyway, Bella got to do a two-day cheer clinic that ended with a performance at the high school football game. So we all headed over to the new and amazing high school stadium for the football game. It was so fun, with the cheerleaders, dancers, flag corp, and marching band. So much sensory stimulation!

The evening started with Bella’s performance. Bella is the one with yellow shirt, black pants, and ponytail. See?

We loved all the hoopla!

The next morning, Caleb and Bella had soccer games. It was 65 degrees out and sunny, so it was incredibly pleasant to sit in our stadium chairs and watch the kids with a hot cup of coffee. Could’ve done it all day! Josh and I couldn’t help but compare it to Saturday soccer in the PI, where we have to box out the other moms and dads for shady spots!

There were two little dachshunds there, and I know Bella would’ve much rather played with them than play soccer! It was cute to hear her belly-giggling as the puppies jumped all over her.

Caleb’s division just plays 3v3 with no goal keeper, so there is much less crowding and more passing (attempts.) They were so adorable. The score must’ve been 37-23.

Bella’s team won too!

Afterwards, we kept up our tradition of post-soccer drinks at Sonic. What I wouldn’t pay for their slushies in the Philippines….many, many pesos.

The August Bdays

Even though we’re in the land of easy celebration-planning, I found myself stressed out about celebrating Mackenzie’s 12th and Caleb’s 5th birthdays just a few days after settling in KS.

Enter Groupon.

The light bulb went off in my head to check out Groupon for any fun deals that would take the party planning off my hands. The first one to pop up? Worlds of Fun! They had a great offer so we jumped on it!

So we woke the kids up early and told them that we needed to run some errands. They obediently, yet unexcitedly, piled into the car and onto the road we went. 40 min later, we turned the corner on 435 and the kids saw the Mamba and Detonator towering over the park and they were all excited just to see the place. It wasn’t until we were in the parking line that they realized that we were spending the day there! Then they really exploded with glee. It was so fun to watch the wheels turn in their heads.

We had spectacular day! It was hot in the sun, but cool in the shade, and that we enough to keep the crowds away. We really didn’t have long waits on any of the rides. It was so reasonable that we often would have Josh ride with the older kids, then the kids would get back in line to ride it again with me.

Of course we made our way to Camp Snoopy for some kiddie rides. They all really loved it and Sim even rode a little roller coaster!

A nice break in the day was the sing-along time in the the air-conditioned theater. Sim even got up on stage and joined in the singing and dancing.

A must-do at WOF is the log ride. It was one of the first rides that opened there, and you can tell! It’s so rickety, but still a blast.

Speaking of rickety, I didn’t dare go near the wooden roller coasters! I went on one during our wedding party excursion there before we got married and I remember coming off of it thinking that I should bring a chiropractor with us on our honeymoon.

Caleb really wanted to go on the train, so we made sure to do what the birthday-boy wanted.

Mackenzie really wanted to do one of the games too, so she did the “Guess my age” booth. We figured that it would be an instant win, since her height makes her seem a lot older than she was. Bingo! He guessed that she was 15, so she won a stuffed puppy!

We were supposed to leave around 4pm to be back for Deacon’s open house at school. But we were having such a fun day together that we scrapped it! #parentsoftheyear So we stayed from opening until the very last minute and had a blast the entire time. Bella and I rode the Patriot 3 times in a row, just running from the exit back to the entrance with very little wait. I was a little dizzy by the third time, but it was worth it. We calculated that the kids rode the rides 40 times throughout the day. That, and the red velvet funnel cakes, made the day a complete success!

We finished the fun day with a trip to Red Robin, which still hadn’t been checked off of our must-eat list. They even brought the birthday kiddos special hot fudge sundaes.

It was the perfect day and the perfect way to finish up the summer and celebrate the birth of our super-special Kenzie and Caleb!

Together Again!

We arrived into Kansas on a Thursday and Joe and his crew arrived for a big family visit the next day!! Our stuff was packed, unpacked, dumped, and flung all over the house, but it was a fantastic weekend! The cousins had a blast reuniting, and since the majority of them are older now, the really create their own (unsupervised) fun. I’m sure we’ll hear some stories when they are too old to punish…

They spent a lot of time in the fort. The uncles and daddies built a fire for them to feel extra campy. Then after they went to bed, Joe & Michelle and Josh & I would hang out by the fire until it burnt out. It was so fun and not at all Blair Witchy.

Snapchat wasn’t invented the last time they saw each other.

Of course the Olympics were on in the background all weekend!

GG came by for the afternoon on Saturday, and I caught a sweet moment between her and Mackenzie.

On Sunday, we all went to church together and then partied at Jose Peppers,  which Josh and I were dying to have in the few days since we arrived in Kansas! I don’t think any of us were quite sure how it would go with 24 people, the majority being under 11 years old, but we were rock stars! The kids divided up into three booths in their respective ages and genders, and the babies came with us adults. It was pleasant all around!

Then everyone went home…

That meant that I couldn’t ignore the suitcases any longer, and once again, it was time to unpack. But this time, it was for a long time!

 

Red Sox/Yankees

We survived the summer! I just sent the kids off onto the bus for their first day of 7th, 4th, and 2nd grade, so I’m going to take the few quiet minutes before Simeon wakes up to continue catching up!

One of the best and most memorable night’s of my summer was going to a Red Sox/Yankees game with my dad! I had to borrow his XXL Boston gear, but I couldn’t NOT wear Red Sox paraphernalia to Yankee Stadium!

We rode into the city with two guys from my dad’s church. They are die-hard Yankees fans, so it was so nice to tag along with someone who knew exactly how to navigate the Bronx!

Even though we have strong negative feelings towards the Yankees, it was pretty amazing to be at Yankee Stadium!

 

We got into the city in record time, so while we waited for our table at the in-stadium Hard Rock Cafe, we went to Memorial Park at field level.

It was such a fun time! It rained for about 15 minutes. It wasn’t enough to delay the game, but I left our seats and took cover because I was afraid that I’d get cold. Rain here is cold!

I’ve heard that Yankee fans are especially harsh towards Red Sox fans (about as harsh as Red Sox fans are to Yankee fans at Fenway), so I was too scared to cheer too loudly when we scored, but we were surrounded by a bunch of Red Sox Nation. My dad even started a “Let’s go Red Sox” cheer! It was answered by a much louder, “Let’s go Yankees” cheer!

BIG PAPI! It was so fun to see everything live.

It was such a fun night with my dad, especially because the Red Sox won!

Last month….

Wow, so much has happened since my last post! I want to just shut the computer to the tune of out-of-sight-out-of-mind, but I just ran 17 miles today, so my legs are totally cool with parking it on the couch with the laptop. So blog, I will.

Since my last post, I had a birthday! Everyone was here for it (except for Josh, who was en route from Chicago with our car), so it was extra special.

Mackenzie made a cake for me and Sarah brought cannoli! They are one of my favorite desserts, and Sarah knows a guy…

In addition to the celebratory desserts, I picked pizza for my birthday dinner. No prep, no cooking, no clean-up – just the way a mom of five likes it! My mom also took me shopping at some of my favorite stores. I couldn’t take a break from marathon training, but I allowed myself a break from pushing a faster pace. It was a perfect birthday!

While everyone was still visiting, we headed back to the beach. We were a comical sight with all of our kids and beach gear!

My parents church is a couple of blocks from the beach, so rather than pay to park on the beach, we parked at the church and walked.

Simmy was a gem at the beach! He didn’t really like the sand, so he hung out with us under the umbrella on the beach chairs.

He ventured out when he saw his cousin, Audrey, laying out. He even stole her pink hat and struck poses that can only perfectly describe him as a beach bum.

 

On the way home (look at those sun-kissed cheeks!), the group in the back row was getting unruly, so I told them to fold their hands until we got home. When I looked a few minutes later, the twin gems were both folding their hands even though they hadn’t been told to. These two twinkies crack me up and I have oh-so-many stories of their week here.

Summer = peaches and beaches, amiright?

Another fun family outing was our trip to Jenkinson’s boardwalk

We didn’t have Josh or my brother there because they were living it up in San Diego at the MLB All-Star game, courtesy of PepsiCo. But we tag-teamed and were able to all have a blast and only lost one kid for a few seconds! My phone died fairly soon after we got there, so I only have a couple of pics.

The little kid swings

The big kid swings.

Jackson = such an 8 year old boy. He saw the name of this ride and shouted out to the world that this ride was a bad word!

These two were mesmerized by the ride in front of them. It just spins and spins you right ’round baby, right ’round. They ended up going on it 3 times in a row! Mackenzie was big enough to count as an adult who could accompany small children (shhhhhh), so I asked her to go on it with her little cousins. The poor girl felt so sick after riding it two times in a row!

That night was topped off with some italian ice from Strollos, our favorite Jersey shore hot spot. We’re leaving the shore tomorrow, so we made sure to hit Strollos one more time! We’re going to miss our italian ice, but we’ll probably be so much wealthier now!

 

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We’re Best Together!

My sister and her family arrived in town just over a week ago! We had such a blast together. Her girls are so adorable! They are hug monsters and say the funniest things. We kept telling my sister to write them all down, because you think you’ll remember your daughter saying, “Mom, I have to whine. Whining is my thing!”, but you forget!

Anyway, the cousins all loved being together 24/7. Here they all are, piled together on a tablecloth, eating Klondike bars.

The day after they arrived, my sister and I ran the Belmar 5-miler together. It was down by the ocean, and such a great course! Unfortunately, the weather was crummy. Or rather, it was crummy for my tropical blood. Everyone there LOVED the cool air and light sprinkle. I warmed up once we started running, but the wait was brutal for me!

 

Our family was waiting for us at the finish line! We thought that we’d see them sooner on the course and when we didn’t, my sister yelled, “Where are my people!?” But they were there, cheering us on to the finish, with towels and hugs for us!

This sign was waiting for us in the elevator when we got home. Oh…yeah….my parents house has an elevator.

The girl cousins all got together and had a tea party with Grandma’s fine china! My mom is Canadian, and they love their china up in the Great White North, so she has some of her own, some of my grandma’s, and some from other friends and family. It doesn’t get used much, so a girls tea party was long overdue!

A couple of nights in, Grandpa huddled all of the kids together for a team meeting. He was eloquent and loving, but I could’ve said it in 4 words—Stop breaking my stuff!

We discovered that the beach was the perfect place to take all of the kids. It’s constantly changing, which keeps them engaged. There is no clean-up (if you don’t count the sand in the car, their clothes, the shower, their room, their hair, their shoes…need I go on?). The best part— It burns all kinds of energy!

We went a bunch of times, but the first time was in the evening. Actually, it was at 8pm! I still can’t get over it, how great the light night’s are.

The twin-cousins loved playing on the shoreline together.

I was chilly, of course. It was 75 degrees, but feels so cold at the ocean! The kids were playing in the water, but my toes weren’t going close to the waves!

The mansion has a great little playground in the shade of a big tree, so even when it’s sunny and hot, the playground is very pleasant! Simmy loves his personal swing.

This picture was just seconds before my little nephew discovered a wasp nest under the slide and got stung 5 times on his leg! Poor little guy!

And…to wrap up this post for now…a snapchat beauty.