The Irvine Castle!

Since we are finally done moving, we decided it was time to get rid of all those boxes. Well, James and Jackson were reading a book together and it was about how everyone was bored and the Mom got the idea to build a castle, and whala - The Irvine Castle was born! Unfortunately I was sick when they decided to build it and didn't get to participate too much, but the boys sure had a good time with it. James even made a draw bridge, you can see the boys sitting on it in the picture. They have had a lot of fun with it, decorating it and hiding in it, especially Hailey - she loves to run away from me and hide in there! It's still in our front living room, I'm not sure how long it's going to stay, but for now it's alot of fun!

My best friend, Kelsey, had this on her blog... See if you can answer these "6" questions!

6 TV shows I like to watch: 1) Grey's Anatomy 2) The Office 3) ER 4) Desparate Housewives 5)Criminal Minds 6) CSI any of them!

6 Restaurants I like to eat at: 1) Daphne's Greek Cafe 2) Ruth's Chris Steak House (Hey, I like to think big!) 3)Red Robin 4)In-n-Out 5)Johnny Carino's 6)Costco Hot Dog and soda!

6 Things that Happened today: 1) Made pot roast for dinner in the crockpot 2)Laundry
3)Went to Mom to Mom at Church (great speaker about parenting!) 4)Vacuumed the whole house (we're talking 3500 square feet and it's mostly carpet!) 5)Gave Rocky his antibiotics on time! 6) Helped Jackson with his homework, even though he was complaining and on the verge of tears!

6 Things I am looking forward to: 1)Our vacation to Jamaica in less then two weeks! 2) My Mom coming down to stay with the kids for said vacation 3) Sunday, when James is finally off for a whole day! 4)My Dad coming to visit in December 5)Getting the computer chair back from James so I don't have to type on my knees! 6)Bed!

6 Things on my wish list:1) Getting our backyard, including a pool, done 2)a bottomless bank account 3)a laptop 4) new kitchen appliances 5)That my kids always stay healthy and happy and free from injury! 6) A housekeeper!

6 People to tag:1)Anita, if she had a blog 2) Laura 3)Jeni 4)Renee 5)Stefanie 6)Carla

Superstar Ry-guy!

Ryan has been learning lots of new little songs at preschool lately and he will sing them all throughout the day as he's playing. Well, I asked if he'd sing one for me while I video taped him and of course he obliged! It's a little long but the end is the cutest part, so you have to watch the whole thing! Enjoy!

Ryan singing the Five Little Ducks Song!

(PS. You can hear Jackson playing the piano in the background!)

Black Eye!

Last week Ryan recieved his third black eye in his short little life! It was a Wii Sports injury to boot! He and Jackson were playing Wii Baseball and Jackson swung right into Ryan's cheek, just below his eye! He came running down the stairs, blood running down his face and everything. Of course, James the EMT, had just left! I have to say, I think I handled it pretty well. Afterall, Ryan's given me a lot of practice! Oh, and just the other day he hit himself in the other eye with the ladder from his bunkbed. Not as bad as the Wii baseball injury, but enough to make a matching bruise on his other cheek! I'm afraid if he gets hurt one more time that his preschool teachers might be calling CPS on me! (I'm kidding!) Anyway, check out his shiner!

In case you're wondering, the third black eye was from when he fell and cut himself just above his eye. He had to have stitches with that one! I'm just counting down until he has his first broken bone!

Fire Station Open House!

We got to go to James' fire station last weekend for their annual open house and it was so fun! They had a bounce house, a giant slide, hot dogs, balloons, and they even did a mock drill where they slid down the fire pole and put on their gear and drove the fire engine away with lights and sirens blaring. It was great fun for all of us! The kids loved it of course and made sure to tell anyone who would listen that their Dad worked their, that he was a firefighter! I'm sure that James didn't mind it too much! It was really fun for me this year since we've gotten to know more of the guys James' works with and they know our kids! Enjoy some pic's of the kids playing!
That's Jackson going down upside down!
There's the Ry-guy. I think he went down about 10 times!
Even Hailey got to bounce! Last year she was still too little!

Having fun!

Ryan and Hailey are such good playmates! I was playing with them the other day and decided to take pictures and they immediately hugged each other and posed, well sort of! Hailey WAS trying to grab the camera and I think Ryan may have come one a little too strong, but still, aren't they cute!?!? I just love these guys.
a rare moment when Hailey wasn't reaching for the camera!
Hailey loves her big brother, can you tell!

Happy Birthday Ry-Guy!

We celebrated Ryan's 4th birthday last weekend and boy was it fun! About 10 of his friends joined him at Bounce U for an hour of non-stop bouncing fun! Even the Dad's got in on the action and had a blast. After the bouncing was over we settled down with pizza and cupcakes and then it was on to the presents! Ryan got a ton of new toys to play with and he is so happy to be four years old now! He is such a fun kid and he makes me laugh everyday. We got him a Power Wheels and the video of his reaction is to seeing it is great, I've posted it at the bottom. Hope you enjoy the pic's and video as much as we enjoy our Ry-guy! Happy Birthday, buddy!

Ryan playing hard at the bounce place!

The boys waiting for the big surprise! They were both excited to get a power wheels, even though it was Ryan's present. He was very good at sharing it too! What fun!

Gramma Donna!

Gramma Donna came down for a visit and to help me do a little decorating around the new place! I really appreciated all her help and most of all her company. There's no better shopping partner then my Mom! The kids LOVED having her around and I know she enjoyed them, too. They may have worn her out, but she enjoyed them. We can't wait to see her again in November! Gramma in front of our new house!

Gramma and Hailey wishing Jackson a good day at school!
Gramma and Ryan being silly together!

Baby Tilden!

Our good friends had their first baby on Sept. 16
and we got to go meet him at the hospital!

Waiting, waiting, waiting..... to meet baby Tilden!

New Mama, Brie and her BEAUTIFUL baby boy, Tilden James. We feel so lucky we got to meet him when he wasn't even 12 hours old yet. Brie's husband, Mark, and James are best buddies and co-workers at the firestation so we will get to see lots more of this cute little baby. Congratulations to Mark and Brie and welcome baby Tilden!

The Irvine 6?

So my too smart for his own good son, Jackson, told me the other day that I need to change the name of our family blog. I asked him why and he said because there are 6 in our family, not 5. A little confused, I asked him to explain. So he told me that Dad is one, I'm two, he's three, Ryan's four, Hailey's five, and Rocky, our dog, is number six! Oh!!! Of course, I said. He then told me again, that I'd better change the name of the blog because we are the Irvine 6, not 5. Well, here you go, Mr. smarty pants! We are now the Irvine 6, because Rocky is afterall, my first child!

Praise God!

For Laurel, that is! I just talked to my Father-in-Law and he told me the best news! Laurel is doing wonderful! She is done with her surgeries, can walk with just a little help, and as long as she does her physical therapy, she can use her right arm and hand!!!!! All I can say is thank you God! She has a wonderful attitude about it all, too. The therapist told her in order for her skin to grow back smooth on her arm she has to wear a sleeve, kind of like a leg warmer, from her hand to her shoulder for 18 months! Laurel's response - COOL! How awesome is that!? He also told me that she will be moved to the rehab center in Washington, (a little closer to home then Portland) by Tuesday or Wednesday next week. Then she'll have about 3 or 4 weeks of therapy there, and then she can go home!!!! I am overwhelmed with emotion as write this right now. I am so thankful to our God, who can do anything and in this case has done everything! Thank you all for your prayers, as you can see God does hear them and he has answered them! Amen!

My Big First Grader!

Jackson had a great first day of first grade last week and has since told me he LOVES first grade! His teacher's name is Mrs. Conaty (pronounced con-a-tee) and she is very nice and Jackson just loves her, so YAY! I asked him what his favorite part of school was and he said that eating lunch was number one! Next was having triple recess and flipping on the bar in the playground! Of course! I know he's growing up too fast because after about the second day he asked me to just drop him off and not wait with him anymore. Then, this morning we walked and he kept begging me to let him go by himself (which I didn't!). Oh my baby boy is getting so big. I just know he's going to do so good and have so much fun this year. I just don't know if I am!!!

Laurel still needs prayer!

My sister-in-law still needs prayer! She had surgery Tuesday and it didn't go as well as the doctors had hoped. Her temperature kept dropping, so they didn't get to finish it all. She is in a lot of pain and has to go in again today, (Fri 8/29) to finish the skin graft surgery. According to her cousin she is putting up a very brave front and knows that this is what she must go through in order to get past it all and out of the hospital. So, please keep her in your prayers that her pain is minimal and that God gives her the strength to get through this time. Thank you!

Update on Laurel

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for my sister-in-law. We appreciate them more than you know and they are working! Laurel was finally taken out of her medicated sleep state Tuesday night and she is doing remarkably well. She is in good spirits about the whole situation, which she does remember for the most part. She's had two surgeries, skin grafts, to her right arm and side, and has one more scheduled for tomorrow. The doctors are surprised at how fast she seems to be recovering, and that she has good pulses, even in the one that shows circulation to her right hand! Her right arm and hand were the most severely burned and there is still a question as to whether or not she'll have the function of them. She is drinking and eating on her own now, no more feeding tube, and she might get to go to the peace garden soon. That's an enclosed garden in the burn unit and in there she can actually get to be with her two younger kids who have only been allowed to wave to her through the window. So, prayers are definitley being answered and more prayers are needed as she is still in a lot of pain and has her third surgery tomorrow. James went to see her this morning, so I'll have another update soon. Again, thank you for your prayers for Laurel and her family!

Pre-school Days!

So, Ry-guy is officially in school now! He had his first day of Pre-school on Monday and things went way better than I had expected! For months now I've been asking Ryan if he was excited to go to school, like Jackson, and his usual response was "no, I want to stay home with you, Mommy!" Well this had me slightly worried that he wasn't going to have an easy time at school. The night before his first day things got even worse. He started crying and telling me he didn't want to go to school because I wouldn't be there and nobody was going to stay with him. I spent about an hour convincing him that it would be okay and that he should give it a try and then we'll see. So bright and early Monday morning we went to pre-school and he clung to my leg, just a little. Then he saw his friend, Alexa! Well, that changed everything and Ryan was good to go. When I went to say goodbye he actually gave me the quick head nod and wave! No crying, no screaming, no begging Mommy to stay. He has been fine all week, and really loves it. Way to go Ry-guy! I'm so proud of him, he's such a big boy now!

Jackson turns 6!

That's right, our big boy is now even bigger! Jackson celebrated his 6th birthday with a whole day of fun and excitment. He decided that this year he wanted to spend the whole day at Sunsplash, our local waterpark and arcade place, instead of the traditional birthday party. So we set out fairly early, around 10am and started off with a very hot round of mini-golf (it was forecast to be over 100 degrees that day!) Of course the next thing to do was go to the WATER PARK! I have to say it was the perfect day for it. We spent about 4 hours swimming, sliding, splashing and jumping the waves in the wave pool. We rented a little cabana and had our pizza and root beer lunch delivered right to us without missing a moment of fun! Once we were all ready to drop dead from exhaustion we moved onto the arcade and played some video games, Disney Dance-Dance and MarioKart being the favorites! Now you would think that we were pretty much done for the day, but oh no, we still had presents, cake and ice cream to do!!! My favorite part of the day was when Jackson opened one of his presents from us. He really wanted a new Wii game for his birhtday, so I wrapped it in an old shoe box to trick him. Well it worked! I wish I would have video tapped it, he was so upset when he saw the shoe box. He kept asking why I got him shoes he didn't like and in the wrong size (the box was from Ryan's old shoes!) I finally convinced him to open the box and he went crazy when he saw the game! It was pretty darn funny, if I do say so myself! It was a great birthday and I think Jackson would agree. Of course he's already moving on to his 7th birthday... ugh! Why do they have to be in such a hurry to grow up!?

Please Pray....

for James' sister, Laurel. She was in a terrible car accident on Wednesday and suffered major injuries. Her car caught fire after the crash and she has burns on about 40% of her body, mostly her right side and arm. She is in the burn center in the hospital and will remain there for at least a month, undergoing several surgeries and skin grafts. Please pray for her to make a full recovery, including keeping the function of her arm and hand, and for her family during this very hard time. Also pray for James to be able to see his sister soon, and for their parents who are helping to take care of the kids right now. Thank you! God bless.

Our new house!!!

Yep, that's right. We bought a new house!!!! After months of searching and even losing out on one house, we have finally bought our dream house! We will be moving in early September and can hardly wait. Jackson will even get to go to his new school from the beginning, no switching schools after a month or year! We feel so blessed and thank God for this awesome home that He has provided for us. Yipppeeee!

Grammy & Grumpy!

Grammy loving on Miss Hailey!

Jackson being silly with Grammy!
Grumpy being silly with Ryan!

Family time is fun time! Upon returning from our trip to see Gramma Bubba we got to spend the week with James' parents, fondly known as Grammy and Grumpy! What a fun, and exhausting week it was. The boys got to go to the zoo one day while I stayed home with Hailey, thank you so much! We went swimming as often as possible, took a tour of the Old Auto museum, (very interesting), and even got to go to the firestation and see James in action. Well, not really in action, but he did let the kids spray the firehose and drop water (gloves) balloons off the roof of the firestation! Don't tell anyone, though!! Pretty cool week, I think. On top of all that, we even found and bought a house! I'm so glad that Grammy and Grumpy were there with us and got to see the house first! Thanks for spending time with us, we love you!

Gramma Bubba!

That's right, I said Gramma Bubba! My grandmother has always been named Bubba and I don't see anything wrong with it! We went down to visit her last week and had tons of fun. We got to go to the Long Beach Aquarium, Newport Beach, visit James' cousin and family in Ontario, and we got to see my Aunt, Uncle and cousin in Anahiem! What a great vacation!