Crazy Love Gamble-Style

We love to have tickle-fests on the couch. We also LOVE to snuggle. ...and fly. Or just hang out. Piggy back rides are fun. So is climbing all over other peoples furniture. All three of us fell in love with this bunk bed we came across at Dania. It is way more girly then I usually like but for some reason I LOVE it. After all that playing a girl has got to rest. If she gets her way, that rest will come in OUR bed. We are working on that though : )

First off, look at that face. Who wouldn't LOVE her? I mean seriously? She is so funny & happy! But did you know she can golf? Don't worry, either did we. I am not sure she knew either. But she did it, sort of. I can't say I didn't see her try cheating a time or two. But maybe she learned that part from me : ) The real skills she learned from Linda. Grandpa would be proud, if only he looked out his window : ) Next time... He did seem a little happier today, baby steps....I have faith that we are getting there. I couldn't be more proud to have a family that all pulls together and makes things happen. We are strong, loving and best of all totally there for each other. We rock.

I don't listen. Not when I don't like what I am hearing. I file it away in my brain hoping to not have to revisit that information. I have been struggling with this Grandpa-move for sometime now. Ever since I took on the project of helping to find a new place for him to live I have felt personally responsible for his happiness. That feeling has only increased along the ride. I was told he would resist. I was told this would be really hard on him and that it wouldn't go so smoothly. I was also told it would take time. Well I don't like those things. That doesn't work for me. I was determined to find the most perfect place where there would be no doubt of his happiness. And I did it, I found THAT PLACE. He would have to be happy , no question. So we got him all moved in yesterday and settled. Everything was perfect. Then it turns out all that crap people were warning me about was true. He hates it, he is already looking for a way out. He is resisting everythin...

Today was a big day for our family. It is truly funny how things work out. Just last week I was not sure Grandpa would be up for moving. He was digging in his heals. He didn't want to talk about it. He was extremely skeptical about everything. Then one day Erik called him and said he was coming unglued so I called to check on him. Him: "Why am I moving close to you? Why am I not closer to Linda??" Me: "Well Grandpa I looked at several places near Linda and I personally wouldn't want to live in any of them. If I wouldn't want to live there then I figured you wouldn't want to either, this is the only place I loved." Him: " Ok , I guess that makes sense. In that case I want to move on Saturday." Never mind that we were thinking March 1st, if then. Never mind that NOTHING has been packed or prepared. But guess what? We totally pulled it off. He is moved and I really think once he has had a week or so to take it all in he is going to ...

When you have weather like this you pretty much have to go to the beach. Mom, Billy, Amelie, baby Ben, Ava & I all headed to the coast for a quick trip. We all watched Ben wow us with his walking skills, he is only 9 months old and has it down!! Peace! Amelie doesn't always want me to take her picture. I have to sneak most of them in when she is not looking. She was cracking my up with her grape line. Here is Ava playing in "her" rocks. Time to head to the beach. Ben looks a little worried, "are you sure SHE should push me?" Rhi & Tyler came to join us for a beach play date! Tyler loved digging in the sand ...and standing in the water, guess he wanted to wash his shoes? : ) This was Ben's second trip to the beach, can you say: sand eating prevention? It is fun watching the kids get down and dirty. Tyler is so cute! The girls had a lot of fun playing together, Ava is reminding us more and more of Amelie these days, these girls are two peas in a ...

If you read this blog, you know that John and I decided to celebrate our Valentine's Day on Thursday, as in that is when we would go out, to avoid the crowds. Also because I work on Sundays. Sunday morning I woke up and was inundated with people all around me oohing and aahing over all the wonderful things their husbands and boyfriends were doing for them. It was all over facebook and I was even receiving cute little tweets about it too. Now I was super pro-active in giving John his gift. I went as far as to give it to him Wednesday, the night before our date. On Thursday he mentioned that he had not gotten me anything but that he had plenty of time seeing that Sunday was actually Valentine's Day. So when I woke up Sunday morning and noticed no card or any sweet sentiment going on in my household I felt a little left out. I kept going over it in my head. It wasn't like I wanted gifts or even a card (okay maybe that is a lie) but what I was really looking for was the ...

Okay that was sarcastic. Sorry. John and I lost our minds. Let me explain. Ava has not slept, at all, since she was sick. She has also announced "I am done sleeping" Like as in FOREVER. So if this wasn't enough on it's own to make us go completely insane I had the brilliant idea that we should potty train Ava right now . I was reading this blog about lazy parenting and I got into a debate with this woman named Kim about potty training our kids. She was referencing to a child that just turned 3 and was not potty trained and how the parents were lazy. This got me thinking. Yes I have been actively trying to get Ava interested in the potty for at least a year now. I talk about it all the time. I get her books on it & read them with her ALL THE TIME. We watch movies on the subject. I constantly bring up her little friends and how they are "big girls" and how she could be too, blah, blah, blah. So Kim asks me "but do you keep her in diapers?...