13 boys...in my house!

Pizza:$84
Bonzai Boogie Board Slide:$60
Every Ice cream sundae topping you ever imagined:$35
Memories:Priceless

The 3rd annual Martin Family Summer Splash Extravaganza was a giant hit! And my house is still standing which makes it even better! This year we held our collective breath and allowed the boys to invite a few more friends so we ended up with 13 boys for 24 hours. We had an absolute ball! Water slide, Bonzai boogie boards, pizza, ice cream sundae bar, giant capture the flag game, 3 hours at the baseball fields, the fun just went on and on and on and on! We do this every year to celebrate the last day of school and the boys look so forward to it every year. John and I had a crash course in what it would be like to have 12 kids and we LOVED it! However do not stand by for pics of 8 more Martin children....uhhh, that's not gonna happen unless we buy a farm. The quantity of food that that many boys can devour is startling. We fed them all of their meals on the trampoline which makes for easy clean up! 4 Yankee candles later and I am happy to report that my house no longer smells like sweat socks! Only 364 more days till we do it again!

Kermit....IN MY HOUSE

Ahhh! What a terrible time to be without a camera! I mean come on, twins with the stomach flu alone is a blog entry! Further last night I was turning out lights a bit before 9pm getting ready for bed(yes, I have the sleeping schedule of a 2 year old, I am aware of this) and I pulled the blinds closed by our back door and something jumped. Yeppers, a frog in my house. Let me just say that again in case you missed it....THERE WAS A FROG IN MY HOUSE! Now for those of you that don't know me all together too well, let me just tell you....I don't do frogs. So like any normal wife and mother would do with a husband out of town...I called for my 10 year old who is always up late reading in his bed. 10 year old boys and frogs...now that is a match made in heaven. I asked him if he was ready to be the, "man of the house." He obliged, shoo, shoo, shoo and out jumped the frog to the backyard. Ahhhh, I love having boys. If I had four girls right now we would all still be standing on the kitchen table shrieking with voices only dogs can hear. Boys rock.

That's Major Martin!

Now that's a Major pay raise! John pinned on Major a few weeks ago. We had a Majorly good time! Instead of the tradtional stuffy AF pin on in the squadron we brought the party out to us on the baseball fields! We had a huge BBQ, sumo wrestling, jousting and a big pick-up baseball game complete with lots of friends & family. It was amazing, such a good time and wonderful memories!

Coffee anyone?

We have the stomach flu! Want to come over for a play date? A cup of coffee and homemade scone perhaps? Am I dillusional you ask? I think I am! Yes, indeed, I believe it has set in! John has been gone all of a day and so far I have two boys with the stomach flu, puke everywhere, a carpet cleaner on overload and one $40 Nintendo DS game stuck into a $250 Wii console which has rendered it inoperable(that's fancy talk for broken...just plain old broken)! This trip is starting out dandy! Just dandy! Don't ya just want to come over and hang out? :) I think I shall call the Red Cross? The USO? The first shirt? Anyone with a shirt? It's a good thing my camera battery is dead because ya'll know I would post photos of all the fun your missing! Wish me luck...err sleep tonight!

Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day! Have you thanked a solider today? I will thank mine next time he calls or emails, or texts, or faxes, or sky writes(just kidding, he can't sky write....can her? Hmmmmm, wouldn't that be nice!) Love ya babe, see you soon!

Hold me!

When the twins were born Jason and Jordan were 4 & 5...and they were boys. Boys do not carry around babies. They have no desire to, nor does there mother have the desire to let them. So it occurs to me that they never really carried them until Jack walked into the kitchen the other night.....you know, 6 years later and asked Jordan to pick him up. The result? Catastrophe free; I am happy to report. Though we did get a good chuckle at the sight of them.

Summer has arrived!

Ahhh, the sun...oh, how we have missed you! Nor Cal has two seasons, hot and rainy. I am happy to report we have moved on to hot! Woo-Hoo!

Two little Chapel Award Winners!

Jack and Justin were awarded their first Chapel awards last week at school. Jack's was for "Friendliness to all he meets" which is sooo Jack! Justin's was for "Academic excellence in reading" which is sooo Justin(this kid is so smart!) They were very proud and excited when their name was called in chapel. Jack's face turned about 12 shades of red and he made his cute little Jack face. Justin waltzed on up on that stage like he gets this award everyday. Too funny! Oh no, I just realized the pics of Justin's day are still on the camera, I will post them later!

Happy Mother's Day from Paris!

Jason's class had an afternoon in Paris theme for their Mother's Day celebration and it was lovely. Complete with chocolate eiffel tower lollipops....what says Mother's Day most if not chocolate eiffel towers!....and lovely tea sandwhiches. Jason was my waiter and I just love to watch what he picks out for me to eat! One tiny sandwhich and then about 10 cookies! Hmmmm, thanks bud!

Panning for Gold in Cali!

John had a gold medal dad type of week. First he went to camp with Jason for four days, then came home and packed right up again and headed out to Gold Country with Jordan's class. They didn't strike gold, but did strike anklets!(Refer to spelling bee previous post if you need help with that joke and wonder why pics of Jordan standing in front of anklets at the gift shop is funny. But trust me people, funny. Very, very funny.) It's a great trip, they actually pan for gold, and also get to explore deep into the mines. Fascinating stuff around here I tell ya!

It's been awhile!

I know, I know it's been like two weeks since I've updated anyone. I am convinced that end of the school year times are just as busy as Christmas! Gracious we have hit the ground running these days. Anyhoo, lots has been going on as always. John and Jason just got back from 5th Grade Camp. The entire 5th grade packs up every year and heads out to a camp in the Redwoods for a week. John got to be a counselor and they had way fun together....yes, "way fun" is a term I am certain of it. I am sad to say that neither of them ended up in the Bannana Slug Club; where membership is determined by finding and placing a bannana slug on the bridge of your nose for 10 seconds. Ahhh yes, the things that 5th graders come up with. No bannana slugs for my brave men! Jason conquered the "Flying Squirrel" which is a giant zip line; and he had a blast which for all of you that know my cautious Jason, that is a very BIG deal!

Where did the video's go?!

I am having some formatting issues so all of the videos are now at the bottom of the the page so you will have to scroll down to see them! Enjoy!

I thought I was a good mother

I so thought I had this parenting thing nailed. Everyone was alive, happy, their homework was getting done promptly every evening after baseball practice...and then Saturday rolled around. John was working at our church for a few hours that afternoon, then he went to Costco for groceries(because he's a cool husband) got my oil changed in the mini-van(because he's a REALLY cool husband) went to Sports Authority to get a new trampoline enclosure for the kids(because he's a cool, really cool, safety minded husband) and then went to the commissary to get even more groceries(because...well, you know, he's just cool like dat) Anyhoo, it was basically an errand day for him and the boys and I hung out at home and had lots of fun. We busted out the slip and slide, I planted flowers and mowed the yard, they "washed" John's truck, we played in the sprinkler, it was just an all around good day....until.... Until it was time for bed and we went in and my eyes adjusted to the indoor light. My precious twins were replaced by lobsters. Burnt red lobsters. Yep, I thought I was a good mother...until I forgot sunscreen. Go ahead, you have my address, send me your hate mail. I deserve it.

Bathing with dinosaurs...

I will miss it when I crawl into bed at night and don't find hot wheel cars in the sheets, or dinosaurs in my shower. There is nothing quite like showering surrounded by Star Wars ships, dinosaurs and R2-D2. You should try it! It's something else! Just be careful where you step, those war ships are killer on bare feet.

Long day at the office

Whew! Kindergarten is rough these days! There is all that painting and glueing and playground climbing! All that just wears a kid out by Friday afternoon!

How we doin'? One blog author checkin in!

How is the blog workin for ya? Are the pics & music working? Any trouble viewing anything? Feel free to leave your comments and tell me how cute my kids are!! Come on, it's easy! You are already signed in so leaving a comment is only one click away and the boys LOVE to read what people write!

Bella's new doo

The master and his apprentice

Jack's first time on skates...Jordan wanted to take him around the block....they got as far as the end of the driveway.

World's biggest Diamondbacks fan

The twins love to cheer on the bigs as they play...well, when they are not at the playground next to the field, or having a snack at the snack bar, or digging in the dirt, or climbing on the bleachers, or their gameboy battery is dead, okay well maybe they don't like to sit and cheer but they sure do look cute not cheering!

As if!

As if a double header last Saturday two hours away wasn't enough baseball we decided to grab some dinner with friends from the team and head over to a Minor League game in the city. It was the twin's first profesional sporting event and they spent most of the time rolling down the hill and playing tag but a good time was had by all. We left the base at about 7:00am that morning and rolled back into our driveway at 11:00pm. It's a good thing we are still young! 30 is the new 20 right?!