Why yes, I do have a blog

Well, after three attempts at my blogger password, I'm in! I know it's been way too long, and I don't have the energy to give an excuse (wedding season) I'll pretend like there was no 5 month block out. I did have a cute catchy blog all worked out, but somehow deleted that. Cool, smooth move. Just trust me, it was great.

Any who. I decided that was taking to long, so I'll just narrate this post with one million pictures of our trip to Oceanside. Here goes.

For most of this road trip Andrew and Abbey were heads down in video games or movies. After we arrive home, we discovered Andrew had pretty much documented the whole trip on a little video recorder he kept in his pocket. These clips included: a perfect karaoke number to "Don't Stop Believing" in the backseat, a trip to the bathroom in Olive Garden and several moments in the condo. All pretty hilarious.

Here, Abbey gave her obligatory "I'll just put on this fake smile so mom will leave me alone" smile.

Yes, he was driving. No, not recommended. Yes, this was our third attempt.So we finally made it! Ocean. Here are some pictures I took with no Weems'.





We spent one day at LegoLand. Actually, the only reason we had to go there was for the cars. Abbey needed her driver's license.

Yes, she drives like her mom. Pretty much broke every rule. I'll have to teach her later how to look cute when the police request "license and registration"
Waiting in line pretty much sucked. We are all very impatient people.
The lady said "Everyone put their gun's up." I guess I was the only one not excited about this ride.
Jellyfish display.
Abbey wanted to touch and feel everything. Andrew, not so much.
Yes, I handed my camera to a stranger with strict instructions.
That fish in front of Abbey could not have had any better timing.
I just love this one. Ross was taking a picture on his phone. I just love that profile :)
Waterproof camera, check. Waterproof phone.....uncheck. Close call.
We met up with some friends from Phoenix one afternoon. This was my only shot at a decent family picture. I'm pretty sure I was promising Abbey a puppy and a small amount of cash here. She never cooperates.....ever.
Yay! Thanks Nicole. You can almost not tell I'm threatening my kids behind this smile.
We also pressed our luck by passing the massive camera to my 10 year old. Not bad Andrew.
Yes, he could not resist the stupid shot of mom.
We had tons-o-fun out at the beach. These two kids could totally spend 24 hours out in the sand.


Did I mention Abbey's love for the camera. The lighting could not be any more perfect here. Believe it or not, I have a whole collection of pictures of a face covered mystery child.
We did have one set back. Andrew decided to spice up the trip with a vomiting and fever spell. The day he decided to start that up, Abbey and Ross took the camera and set out. Here are some of their shots.

I took this one from the balcony of the condo.
Later that day, Abbey decided that sand castles were too hard. She got so tired of them washing away to sea. She decided to build a "seaweed castle". I'll have you know this "castle" was still there in the morning.


Later that night we decided to eat dinner at the end of the pier. By that hour, Abbey was in peak performance. He was tired and moody. She declared that she could put her jacket on herself. When I asked her if I could tell her a secret about her jacket, she said "no". So, I did what any good mother would do. I laughed and took a picture.

In desperate attempts for a fun family shot, I put my camera on the ground by the building and set the good 'ole timer.
A nice lady noticed my struggle and constant running back and forth, so she offered to take a couple pictures. Of course, one of us is always looking like a total dork.


Ok, it's time to hit the road back home. Have I mentioned that my husband unpacked my tripod yet? Any way, the only spot to put my camera was about 50 yards away. My camera timer max's out at 10 seconds, so we offically have a problem. We never really made a good family shot here, but the attempts of setting the timer, running in sand, up a set of stairs and not hitting your head are freaking funny. Enjoy our many failures.
FAIL.
FAIL.
FAIL.
FAIL.
One last dip in the water. We will see you next year Oceanside!


Not sure, just weird. One last note, there's no proof read tonight. Please excuse any mispellings or incomplete thoughts.

What Are The Odds?

Well, I never thought I'd be blogging about another broken arm this soon. Our official count is now 3 broken arms. Seriously. What the heck?

Instead of bore you with the confirmed dangers of dancing in a swivel chair, I'll take the friendship angle on this one. Lily and Ab are always the best of friends or worst of enemies. For the most part, they are true blue BFF's. Yesterday, Lily was over when Abbey broke her arm. She was very concerned for Abbey yesterday when we left, so I was not too surprised to hear that Lily wanted to come over to cheer Abbey up. Watching these two girls is pretty fun and a bit nostalgic. There are only two or three friends that I can sit and do nothing with. I've always said that a good solid friendship sometimes means sitting in the same room and saying absolutely nothing. It seems these two little girls already get that.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow

There we are. Family pictures are so hard to get but here is a keeper.

Eating snow. for whatever reason, was fun for all the kids.

Seriously, this kid is so hard to photograph. Ugh.

Kinmans: Baylee, Remini, Lorie and Jarrod Kinmans pretending to not be freezing. Living in Phoenix, we don't see much snow. In fact, we see much of anything falling from the sky. For all that Phoenix lacks in winter weather, we can always drive a couple hours north and get all the white stuff we want. So after almost 5 years, we decided to take the kids up to Flagstaff to get our winter fix. To make the trip a little more exciting we cohabited with the Kinman Klan. Good Times.

The kids first reaction to the snow was very similar to a Christmas morning excitement. Squeals and screams of anticipation in the car driving up were fun to hear, but only for a minute. Prolonged car screaming is never cool, just a note to self.

As soon as we got there, and immediately following a conversation about who would bust their butt first, Ross fell on his bokahonkas. Don't worry, other than an injured pinkie and elbow, he was fine. The rest of us, however, grew pretty weary of hearing of these injuries all weekend.

The first day, we discovered a great sled hill. Well, it was great if you don't count Abbey and Remini's minor whiplash, and Abbeys face plant. Soon after this sled trip Abbey decided sledding was not her bag. We also made a small attempt to make a snowman. Eventually our efforts seemed pointless when our ADD crowd decided to just eat snow and climb wood piles.

The second day, we decided to actually leave the house and get some lunch. After 40 minutes waiting for a table and about the same amount of time waiting for our food, we were off to take some pictures downtown. The kids were pretty over the whole deal before we ever started, but I thought it would be nice to get a couple Weems family shots while I had someone there to help. Normally, our family shots involve me setting up the tripod and timer while hurling threats to my children to "smile or I'll spank" while trying to smile. So after some photo advice from Andrew to "suck your butt in Mommy!" I did my best. After getting home, I realized he was very right, profile shots are not for me or my bootay.

A Decade In Parenting

#1 Every kid needs a picture with antlers. #2 Durango, CO #3 Not real spiders #4 Partners in Crime

This morning someone suggested that I start a blog. That was my first clue that too much time had passed since my last blog entry. So, one of my New Year's resolutions will be to be more consistent with my blog. Here goes nothing. No really, I mean this resolution could be dead and gone within a week. I'm horrible at this stuff.

11 years ago I was in my early twenties. OK, maybe not too early, but not exactly late. I was young and fancy free. Not sure what "fancy free" means but fun to say and slightly poetic. We came and went anytime any place. Heck, we even bought a black convertible. Speaking of black convertible...I remember feeling so sick and miserable waiting for our fiance agent to work a small miracle with our income and lack of credit history. I had been feeling sick for 7 weeks or so, but I was pretty sure I had a bug. Who cares anyway? We are young and now is the perfect time to buy a convertible (at least this is what we told my parents.) Long story short, yep, I was preggers. Telling everyone was fun but met with several odd responses. My mom asked "how did this happen?" I was not sure if she needed me to answer or if she was completely caught off guard, but odd moment to say the least. My friend Tammy, with whom I saw almost everyday, cried. Not a happy cry, just a 'my fun time with you is over' kinda cry. Eventually, we all rolled around to the idea of my parenting a child. Scary for all involved.

After a long night of putt-putt and Mexican food on New Years Eve, I settled in for the night. We celebrated the big millennium starting, and we were thankful that we had power, water and our computers were all working. Around 1am is when my life began to change. After many hours of laboring, pushing and getting to see how the vacuum and forceps felt, my child was out. I can still remember starring in complete confusion and amazement at this perfect child that they pulled out of me. Wow, that beautiful baby was mine.

In just 10 short years he has said his first word, took his first step, made friends and advanced in his education far beyond expectations (obviously, from his mother.) I can't wait to see what the next decade has in store for us. I love you Andrew!