Our Little Gymnasts

Madison and Jamie really enjoy taking gymnastics. They aren't at the competing level at this stage. They just started at the beginning of this year. They do enjoy learning new "tricks" and they are constantly doing cartwheels and flips around the house (especially Madison who can now do a one-handed cartwheel).

They get their flexibility from their dad!!!

This is such great exercise! I highly recommend gymnastics for all kids. It helps with coordination, concentration, fitness, etc.

They have so much fun!!!

Our little stars!!!!

Blake's First Haircut

This weekend while my mom was with us, Blake got his first haircut. Josh was really anxious for him not to look like a redneck with a mullet any longer. I thought his little curls were darling! Away we went with the haircut!!! We are so lucky Grandma Deanna is a cosmetologist!!

This pictures sums up the madness going on during the haircut. Do you see all those little hands in their trying to catch Blake's hair as Grandma cut it??? They now all have their own little sandwich bag with Blake's hair in it. Jamie says she is saving it to show Blake when he is her age. I reminded her that she probably wouldn't even be living with us when he is her age. Then I had to leave the room because I was crying because I know that will be here in a blink of an eye.

Isn't Grandma Deanna so talented to cut a moving target with all those little hands around???

Blake did so great! No tears!!! Just patience.

Thanks Grandma Deanna for making me look like a toddler and not a redneck. heehee

We Are Thankful!

Who wouldn't be thankful for these beautiful kids?
This Thanksgiving was spent really enjoying time with each other as a family. No stress. No cooking..... We went to Golden Corral for a festive meal. My mom and dad were here and went with us. We didn't have to spend hours in the kitchen cooking and cleaning. We simply loaded up in the minivan and drove over to dinner. We ate lots of yummy things like turkey, ham, rolls (the BEST), pumpkin pie, green bean casserole, sweet potatoe casserole, banana pudding and much more. Well, I say "WE" but I mean the grown ups. My kids just ate pizza and mac and cheese. Whatever makes you happy on Thanksgiving!!!!
After dinner, we drove down to the river and had fun taking pictures.

Josh had a clever idea that we stand on some posts and be funny. My dad helped me up and held my hand for a second and that was fine. Then he backed away and I was flying solo on that 2 1/2 foot post. heehee This picture really has a funny story behind it - Josh and I were originally holding hands and that was fine but then he let go and said, "grab my foot". I started screaming, "I can't!!! I can't look down. I am going to fall!!!!" I was really terrified. I am still such a chicken!!! Good grief!

I am thankful my parents came to stay with us for a few days. When they come here, we don't have to share them with anyone else. With 4 of their own kids and 13 grandchildren, sharing is a must. So I am glad they were just ours for the weekend!!

I am also thankful that my dad got up at 4:30am on Black Friday to wait outside of Staples (that didn't open until 6am) with me. :) After getting really awesome deals (like this new laptop that I am using right now...finally a computer not from the stone age!!), we went home and traded shopping partners. He stayed home with my kids while Mom and I went shopping ALL day long. Talk about "shop until you drop"!!! After getting up so early, he took care of the kids for another 7 hours. Thanks DAD! And thanks for shopping with me Mom!!! Good times. AND thanks for going to work to "make the money" Josh!!!! I love you all!

Do you notice a theme with our attire?? Yes, it is Josh's favorite NFL team - Philadelphia Eagles. He has liked them since he was a kid. He is very loyal to his teams, whether they are having a good season or not. That's my Josh...loyal and true!!!!! Go Eagles!!!

I had a GREAT Thanksgiving letting someone else do the cooking, having fun with the family and shopping like a crazy person. Life IS good!!!!

Fall Pictures

I love school pictures! It takes all the pressure off of having to go to a studio for portraits! I thought these pictures turned out nicely. What happened to my babies???

Jamie - 4th grade

Tyler - Kindergarten

Madison - 1st grade

This is how we roll....

A dear friend from High School, that I haven't seen in ages but recently reconnected with (Yeahhh!!) asked what a typical Friday night at our house looks like....Here you go!!!

Having friends come over for games while the kids entertain themselves. This week the kids were dancing in the garage! Good times!

Well....almost all the kids. The girls always keep going strong, but Tyler and Blake usually pass out much earlier!!! Tyler was watching Transformers on the portable DVD player and then fell asleep. So cute.

Halloween Craziness!

Happy Halloween from the Martins!!!!

I don't think I have ever experienced a busier Halloween season! It was CRAZY but oh, so fun!!! We started the week at a Halloween Party at a friend's house. There was homemade rootbeer (BIG hit with the kids~all the "smoke" from the dry ice), caramel apples, spooky Aunt Edna (long story...just trust me...spooky!!), carving pumpkins (thank you Josh for taking so much time and effort to create the BEST jack-o-lantern EVER!!) and just having so much fun!!!!

Of course the kids had Halloween parties at school. I tried to go in and help as much as possible with that.

We also had the annual Preschool Parade downtown. One of my friends from the kids' school said she was jealous because she misses those little things from the younger kids' activities. I told her that is why you keep having kids - so you can keep doing all the fun stuff!!!! :) Blake was a cow this year for Halloween. We have been practicing for over a month now on what a cow says. For Blake, it is somewhere in between "moo" and "boo" - perfect for Halloween! He was a little shocked to see a BIG COW stand next to him at the parade! This is actually the first Halloween in a LONG time that we had to wear jackets at the parade!!! It was nice and crisp. Not hot and muggy! Blake and I had fun!!!!

Moo!!!!! His cow tail is the cutest thing about the costume! It sticks straight up when he crawls around. Thanks to my stupid camera and the flash not working, I couldn't get any pictures of that. Thanks Melissa for letting me borrow your camera at the party! I am going camera shopping this week!!!

After the parade and school parties, we went to the local library Spooktacular. All the kids had fun doing crafts, games, snacks and stories - except Blake who was just trapped in a stroller for 3 hours. Long day...but fun for the kids. Lucky for us....no school the next day on Halloween.

On Halloween we went to our church for dinner. The kids decided they would rather do the traditional trick or treating this year versus trunk or treating at the church. Since this was my first year in 6 years not in charge of the Trunk or Treating, we decided to go with the flow.

After dinner, we went to a big carnival hosted by another church. It had a ton of jumpy things and slides, pony rides, hot dogs, funnel cakes, cotton candy and lots more. Then we went trick or treating on probably the busiest street in our town. It was fun but we'll stick to our church or neighborhood next year - more light and less people.