Welcome visitors!

Well, we have visitors coming this tomorrow!  My brother Mark and his sweet wife Malinda and their 4 kids are coming.  I just wanted Mark to see the rooms they will be staying in.  Don't worry Mark- call me when your about 10 minutes away and I'll have my kids clear a walkway to the beds. 

This is where all the 8 kids will be staying.  I guess it's only 7 since we will put Gabe in our room.

Here's your room Mark!

                                      See that empty spot of carpet?  That's for your suitcase. 

Can't wait to see ya!!

Ellie

Here is a cute poem that Ellie wrote about herself.  It helps you to get to know my sweet little Ellie better.

 Ellie
blonde hair, green eyes and sweet
Sister of Paul, Kyle, and Gabe
who loves family, soccer, and webkinz
who needs hugs, holidays, and family
who fears BUGS, monsters, and strangers
who would like to see the world
who Dreams of being a wonderful mom like you!
A student of Mrs. N. Smith and Anselmo

Then she put "Chunga" around her picture.  That's her nickname.  We just love our sweet little Ellie!

Comparison

So I have been going to yoga on the beach Saturday mornings.  Ok, I've gone twice.  But I love it, and plan to go more.  The beach is absolutely stunning in the morning.  Serious, stunning.  Anywho, this week our yoga teacher said something that stuck with me.  She said, "let go of all comparison, if you compare yourself, you either end up superior, or inferior, and neither is good."  I like that so much, it made me think of this poster I saw on the internet.  I loved it. 

So, I have been working on not comparing my self to anyone, and I love it!  It's freeing!! I know it sounds cliche, but I try to just be my best self.  And it honestly is great.   Try it for yourself- next time you find yourself comparing you to someone else- stop it!   Lets all free ourselves from comparison!

Paul is 10!

Happy Birthday to my first born!  I love this kid.  It is so fun being his mom.  He keeps me on my toes.

Bright and early on the 17th he was us ready to open presents!

We got Paul this really cool helicopter that doesn't really work!

Paul put these signs out for his party.  Here is his birthday invitation:

You’re Invited to a Reptile and LEGO Birthday Party!

For Paul Ernst who is turning 10.

Time: Saturday, May 19, at 11:00 to 1:00 A.M. and P.M.

Things we will be doing: Piñata, Lunch, Lizard catching, cake, swimming, making LEGO houses, and other stuff.

Place: 15574, Marcello circle, Naples, Florida.

Phone number: 1-423-863-4433.

Paul really wanted a big cookie for his cake.  It was easy and cheap.

Paul and I made this fun pinata where everyone pulls a string.  All the string are fake, except one, which opens a trap door and all the candy falls out.  Much easier and safer than the traditional pinata.

The party started out at our house where we dumped a huge thing of legos in the middle of the floor.  Everyone made lego projects.  Then we had pizza, cookie and ice cream, opened presents, then walked to the pool for a pinata and swimming.  It was lots of fun and not to much work. At Ellie's last party-  I made her invite all the kids in her school class and church class so no one got their feelings hurt.  My mom used to make us do that, well we had over 30 kids come.  Even though the kids had a great time, it was petty much a nightmare for me.  Hurt feelings or not, I swore I would never do a party that big again. So I put a limit of 15 invitations.  I figured about 10 kids would come and that was about how many I could handle.  It ended up being just perfect.

Happy Mothers Day!

Well, Mothers Day was over a week ago- but it took me that long to get this post finished!  When you see all the stuff I got you'll know why!  It was practically like Christmas here!

What can I say about being a mom?  That i love it more than anything! When I was a little girl I wanted nothing more than to grow up and be a mom.  I wanted to have 10-12 kids.  After having 4 kids I decided 5 sounds about right to me.  We will have to see what happens.

Anyways, Mothers Day Eve I heard whisperings of breakfast in bed for mom.  Sure enough I woke up the next morning to a delicious breakfast of crapes with strawberries and whipping cream and eggs.  The kids had put their gifts and flowers all around the bed. 

The kids were even in their church clothes and it wasn't even 8:00 yet.  Look at that chubby cute baby!  The following gifts were all from my kids.  It's interesting to see their point of view on me as a mother. 

A Mother's Day Quiz for Kids:  filled out by Ellie Ernst

1. Her favorite color is: White or Pink
2. Her favorite television show is: Avatar, (that's the cartoon with Aang, not the naked blue aliens)
3. She likes movies about: romance
4. My mother's favorite outfit to wear is: swet pants 
5. The outfit I like her to wear is: a Dress
6. An expression or saying that my mom always uses is:  I Love you!
7. My mother get angry when:  I don't do my jobs.
8. My mother's favorite sport is: Soccer
9. My mother's favorite foods are:  doants, craps, and pizza.  (translation, donuts, crapes and pizza)
10. I like my mom to cook:  Everything
11. My mother's favorite restaurant is: Perkinz   (LOL)
12. Her favorite vacation is: when we visit her mom and dad
13. My mom has a funny habit of: haveing boys.   (sorry Ellie!)
14. My mom looked beautiful on the day she: got mardedy  (married)
15. My mom looked funny on the day that she:  She awsly looks beautiful
16. My mom doesn't know:  How much I love her
17.  My mother's best friend is:  She dose not have one. 
18. My mom's pet name for me is:  Smerf and chunga

 

A Mother's Day Flower by Paul Ernst

1. My mom makes the best:  Food

2. My mom loves me because: I'm cute

3. My mom teaches me: to be nice

4. My mom is as beautiful as: a flower

5. My mom is good at: Being kind

6. My favorite thing to do with my mom is: Go to the movies!

7. I love my mom because: She is nice

My Mom is Special by Kyle Ernst

My mom is pretty as a:  Flower

She is: 33   years old

She weighs: 103 pounds and 5 feet tall.

Her favorite food is:  Pizza (it seems like my favorite food is whatever that child's favorite is)

My mom loves to make:  art

When she was little, she used to:  Play with dolls.

I think my mom is funny when she: tells jokes

She always says:  I love you

I wouldn't trade my mom for: infiwitys  (infinity) 

Kyle also made this plate and these cute flowers for me.

Here is a letter preparing me for the gift from Paul that he had been telling me about for weeks.  The night before Mother's Day he gave me this note:  On mother's Eve, I will give you a small present.  But in the morning, you will have an AMAZING Present.  Happy mothers Day, MOM.   

The present was a book of poems he wrote about me!

         Dedication:   This book is dedicated to my mother, Emily.  Happy Mothers day, 2010. 

Acrostic Poem:
Misses me when I'm gone
Outstanding
Teaches me
Happy
Exiting
Really awsome

I Love You More Than Candy:
I love you more than candy,
Than red blueberry pie,
You are very handy,
And definetly high.  (LOL)
I love you more than chapter books,
and millions of Legos,
Than tons and tons of fishing hooks and
my very own computer, very only mine,
I love your more than Dinosaurs,
Than a big numangus roast,
I love Kanoodle anytime,
But I love YOU the most!

A Day At The Beach
Dear mom,
   I loved it when we went to the beach with aunt Julia and saw a squid!  It was fun when we saw the dolphins and the hermit crab.  I had fun with Aunt Julia and I wish I could see her again, and I bet you wish that too.  It was cool finding shells, and I had a VERY special time with you.

Mom's Love
Love is eating yummy food,
Love is being in a good mood.
Love is a big hug around the waist,
Love is having nothing to waste.
Love is being just so tall,
Love is dodging a big wall.
Love is going to the mall,
Love is having a cute doll.
Love is going up to your mom,
and saying, "I Love You mom!"

Diamante
              Mom
        Warm, Cozy
   Kissing, Hugs, giving
 Care, kiss, share, hugs
Helping, Supporting, Caring
         Kind, Livley
               Love

These Little hands
These little hands can hold a hand,
Lend something or give a hug,
Show you the way to have fun,
Play a game, or help you run,
Go to the mall Just with you.
When when I'm grown up and faraway,
These little hands with you will stay.

Top ten reasons why I love mom
10. I love my mom because she reads me "The Giving Tree."
9. I love my mom because she helps me clean my room
8. I love my mom when she makes me laugh by tickling me.
7. I love my mom because she taught me how to be kind.
6. I love to hear my mom sing "We are Young"
5. I love my mom because she finds time to be with me
4. I know my mom cares because she loves to be with me.
3. I know my mom is smart because she helps me.
2. I love my mom because she works so hard at being kind to me.
1. I love my mom because she is the BEST MOM EVER!

 

My Favorite thing about my mom is her Personality- happy! 

I Enjoy my mother most when we go to the movies. 

My mom says the most important rule is not to fight.

My mother looks prettiest when we go to church.

The funniest thing that happened to my mom is when she saw a huge spider and screamed!

If I could give my mother anything from me, It would be whatever she wanted.

                                                       Happy Mothers Day!!

Darren and  Paul bought these beautiful flowers for me.  They smelled SOOO good.   Paul was in charge of them, and the poor sweet boy wanted them to be so nice for me.  He tried so hard to take care of them, and ended up over watering them.    

Ellie also gave me this cute bag with some things she gathered from her room. 

Another cute letter from Ellie.  I love my kids!  Being a mother with 4 kids and awesome husband makes Mothers Day practically as good as Christmas!

Oh- and I didn't even mention that Darren gave me a Metal Detector !  I have wanted one forever! I'll have to post a picture of it sometime.

Taking a break

I have decided to quit doing so much stuff.  Next week will be official "electronics" week for my family.  Why? Because I am WAY behind on my blog.  I have like 5 posts I want to post, but never have time, cause I'm off doing the next adventure- which in turn puts me further behind.  So, I plan on next week to be boring so I can get some stuff done.  Then I'll get back to our adventures.  Bo Ya!

Dinner is served

While Erica and Rachie were here Paul wanted to make dinner for us- and do the whole thing himself!  He made menus, took our order and served the food.  Ellie wanted in on the action too, so she helped serve us. It was so cute.

Here is the table set with menus and all!

The Menu: On the left is food for all us- Annie, Chickie (Rachael), Emily, Darren, Ellie, and Paul.  On the other side of the menu you will see it says, "for Kyle:"  That's because Kyle is the pickiest eater in the world.  That kid has given me more headaches at dinner time than I can count.  His choices are: Cereal, Pears, a Sandwitch, or  anything we have.  Yea, we get that desperate.  It reminds me of the time we bribed him with an ice cream cone to take a tiny bite of shepherds pie. Before he had even swallowed he threw up all over the table.  Yea.  Fun times.  But back to the menu.  Notice that all of the food is free, free to my kids and guests that is. 
Under the "Protein" section we have a choice of: Orange Chicken or Nuts.  Not a lot of choices there.   Next is the "Fruits and Veggies" section.  The choices include: frozen grapes, pears, apples,  kiwi, and bananas.   hmmm, maybe it should have just been a "Fruits" section, but it makes me feel better that he wrote "veggies" on the menu. 
"Grains" is next with rice, crackers, or toast.
"Dessert" includes one item: Pudding.  Which no one in my family likes, nor do I ever buy, so I have no idea why that was even on there.  No one had dessert that night.  My kid is smarter than me.  I saw that and thought, "how cute, he spelled dessert wrong, it only has one s in it.  Like desert, hmmm that just doesn't look right, I feel like going on a walk through the desert.  ok I'm dumb."

Waiter Paul!

Cheers!

You know it's funny for me to look at that menu.  It says a lot about how our family eats.  Typically during dinner I will point out what food we are eating will go into which category- like protien, carb, etc.  When it's time for the veggie, there usually isn't one and I have to dash to the cupboard for a can of corn while my food gets cold.  We always have a protein, a carb, lots of fruits, and usually no desert.  Yea, that's right no desert.  So, this meal is pretty much a typical dinner at the Ernst's house.  Come join us sometime- my kids would love to serve you! 

Captain Jacks

Another fun thing we did while Erica and Rachie were here was go out to lunch at Captain Jacks Coconut Grille. This is a super fun place to eat. It is close to our house, right on the water, and the food is great. Plus they have free valet parking.  

LOL, this picture is hilarious. 

Almost all the seating is out on a patio over the water with this really fun thatched roof.

Dunkin Donuts was a daily stop for the girls and my kids. 

Beaches

One of the favorite things Erica and Rachie liked doing was going to the beach.  So we did- a lot.  They went everyday, and sometimes twice a day.  Each beach is different, and every time you go it's different.  So it seems as though we can never get enough of the beach!  It's fun to go to the beach on Sunday and watch the sunset. So that's what we did.  The ocean was so calm- there were no waves- it was like a lake.   It was beautiful. 

Darren and me hanging with baby Gabe.

One day Darren went with the girls to Barefoot Beach.  Look at how beautiful the water is!

Look how beautiful those girls are!

Here is a picture of Darren just looking hot.  I swear, swim shirts are the best!!