John and Ashley

John, Tom's brother, and his wife Ashley were recently here to visit. (Oh, and I can't forget about their dog - Pudger.) We really enjoyed their visit. Our kids were so excited. We miss them already and can't wait to see them again.


John and Ashley with Pudger

Uncle John-O and Auntie Ashley with the Kiddos

Uncle John-O Feeding Addy

Food makes this kid HAPPY!

John and Ashley
Uncle John-O pushing Addy in the swing- He looks like a mean killing machine doesn't he.. (He is a Marine)

Liz (Tom's Sister) and me.

Dan, Liz, me, and Tom

Ashley and John with Tom and I

Who would win a wrestling match out of these two???

Blogging Time Well Earned

I thought about naming this post For the Love of a Mother because today I learned that Love
is part of being a mother for a reason. It was really one of those days. I write this not to complain, because right now I am having my time to blog and so I don't feel the need to complain; However I am writing this to share a crazy day in the Maseda household. We all have days like this. sometimes we can get a good laugh out of some other person's craziness and helps us feel normal. So here we go...
My day started not having to get up to make Tom a lunch. He had a lunch meeting - It was nice to lay in bed a few extra minutes. All of the kids came and crawled in bed with me. (I need a bigger bed). I really enjoy snuggling with them in bed. And then the fact that it was a new day kicked in. Addy was kneeling on the edge of the bed looking at a book. I couldn't any sooner of said "Addy your going to fall" that Parker decided to get rid of Addy so he could have me all to himself. As I was sitting up to grab her, he kicks her right off my bed. She fell on her back and head first onto my wood floor. (Yes we have wood floor in our bedroom, don't recommend it.)
She was really upset. Shortly after this she was standing on the toilet and as I walked in the bathroom to get her out, she fell off the toilet. I seem to be moving just a few seconds to slow today.
As my kids were already bickering about this or that, Parker and Taylor get in to their first real battle. Yes they have fought before, but not like this. It was over a dollar. Taylor said that it was his while Parker said it was his. I walk out into the hall to see them rolling around on the ground and Parker has scratch marks all over is bear stomach because the kid won't keep a shirt on. I didn't explain to Taylor that scratching is what little girls do when they fight but I did explain to him that Parker could get an infection from his nail marks. Don't know if my scare tactics will work, only time will tell. I am sure that this is the first of many between two brothers that are pretty close in age. They were in their rooms for awhile, probably the longest yet. This was followed by cleaning of base boards and dirty doors that they were not happy about doing.
My wild Addy smeared Carmex in her hair and in her eyes - crazy girl. I will save this for a latter post. Addy's diaper leaked on me which is always wonderful. After I changed my clothes, I gave her a bath. She decided to splash me. As I say if you splash me again I am going to get you out, she splashes me again. We pull the plug. She accepts it and says bye-bye water, bye-bye fishies. How cute. Bailey went to activities day and I hung out for a few minutes for the quiet, not that it was quiet but it wasn't from my own kids. I really appreciated seeing her sit respectfully while her leaders spoke to them. Tom was able to stay home tonight, which is why I am sitting at the computer. Usually he has to be at the church on Wednesday nights, but tonight he was able to stay home. As I was going to tell him how my day was - Horrible- I thought about it and I didn't feel that it was so horrible after all. Yes my kids are crazy and seem to be undisciplined, but the moments of the day when I was not yelling - I really enjoyed my kids. I did pray this morning and that is the only possible reason why I can say this. The Lord truly did sustain my today.
I am so glad that Love comes with mothering because that is the only reason why we would want to creep into the little kiddos rooms, after a crazy day, while they are sleeping to give one last kiss before we go to bed. Children really are beautiful little angles. It is amazing to see how forgiving they are of each other. They truly have Heavenly Father's spirit of forgiveness with them. They not only forgive, but they forget. They don't dwell on the things that someone has done to wrong them an hour ago. They just forget and play and have fun. I am so grateful for these sweet little spirits which I have been given to care for. I know that I will miss these little years that will be only a moment in time.

Shell Beach 2009

Going to Shell Beach is turning into a yearly tradition. I wasn't able to go last year because Addy was sick, so I was very excited to go and see what was so exciting about this beach. Well let me tell you - it was so much fun. We spent hours exploring. We arrived when the tide was first out so there were many tide pools to explore. It was a beautiful day. Tom waded out into the water to pry fresh oysters off of one of the big rocks. Yuck! I am willing to help him cook them, but I am not a fan of mussels. We grilled them when we came home and he had a feast with Heather, Tom's sister. We were able to take her daughter, Celine, with us and we were so glad the she came with us. Bailey and her had a fun time together. A word of advice, don't leave the sea shells in the car that the kidos have collected. There are many shells on this beach, however most of them are Oyster Shells and Abalone. After a two hour drive home we forgot about the collected bag of shells, and well lets just say that we will never do that again.

Taylor and Tom looking for starfish.

Bailey and Celine posing for a picture on one of the many rocks. This is not a surfing beach.

This is an eel that some Boy Scouts found under a rock. They said that it is endangered, I would of never of guessed.

This is the dead Sea Lion that had washed up on the beach. Sorry to be gross but our kiddos were fascinated by it.

Taylor caught 3 little tropical fish. He was so excited.

Bailey with Celine holding up a piece of Kelp from the mound of Kelp that is washed up on the beach.

Taylor with an empty crab shell.

Parker's looking for a spot to dig.

Taylor and Addy Coming up from the little hike from the beach.

Tom is showing Addy a crab that he caught. She is not sure what to think. They chased this crab for awhile until they finally cornered it between two rocks. I love the sound of waves crashing against the rocks.

Addy discovered a tide pool to splash in.

Bailey with a Starfish. This Starfish tried to suck onto her skin. She screamed very loud.

A hiding Starfish.

Pumpkin Plantin' We Will Go

For Family Home Evening we planted our pumpkins. Our kids love to garden. We had a great time. A little hard work followed by crack the egg on a trampoline makes for a great night with four kiddos. Bakc to the pumpkin planting, we were able to get some seeds from Granpa Maseda. His pumpkins get huge - 100 + pounds big. Our kids can't wait to watch them grow.

Our Music Baby

Bailey has been taking piano lessons and is doing an amazing job. It is so wonderful to hear the piano playing in our home. Adelyn watches everything her siblings do and expects to be able to do it herself. She has learned that you sing and play the piano when you open up a piano book. We first watched this last night. I tried to grab the camera quickly, but she caught me. If she sees it, she has to say cheese.

FATHER'S DAY

I am still working on my father's day gift. Here is a peek at what we are doing...

Memorial Day BBQ

For Memorial Day we celebrated by having a BBQ with some friends. We really had a great time. I am so grateful that we have a holiday to reflect upon the sacrifices that brave people have made to keep us free. We do live in a great country full of wonderful people. Hopefully we can all do our part in making our country a better place to live.



Addy's ready to eat.

Swimming in the pool. The kids had a great time in the water.

Our friend Kipp taking a snooze.

Taylor being launched into the air. He was so happy that I was able to get a picture of this.

Addy's had a long day and is tired.