Tornado boy

It is amazing the stuff Dawson gets into when we turn our heads for
just a minute. I'm still not exactly sure how he got up there.

got the scooter back

So, back in March my scooter was stolen for the second time. I had no plans to replace it this time. I just gave up the scooter dream. Well, a couple weeks ago Janis was driving and saw what looked like my scooter. She just happened to be next to a police woman who was nice enough to stop the guy and check. Sure enough it was my old scooter. The bad-guys had beaten it up pretty bad so I've spent some time getting it road-ready again. The kids were pretty excited. they want to help re-paint it. I think it might actually look better now than before. Now its kind of a Mad Max/Transformer combo.

Virginia Beach day

Daddy had a meeting in Virginia Beach. The meeting was in the afternoon so we had time to do some fun stuff first. We stayed in a Hotel the night before so we didn't have to waste time driving. Janis picked the hotel based on price... Good thing we were on the 12th floor because the hotel was in the projects and there was a huge block party going on.
In the morning we went to the beach. It was nice. The kids loved it. Zoe has been asking to go back to the beach ever since our trip in March. Jackson played and played in the waves. Zach joined him but he liked playing in the sand too. Zoe spent most of the time attached to daddy's leg. These are my first pictures on the new iphone. I couldn't see because the sun was so bright and I didn't know where the camera lens was so a few pictures have part of my finger in them.
We stayed at the beach until our parking meter was up, then we went to an aquarium. Jackson and Zach wanted to see Sharks and snakes, mommy wanted to see and octopus and I wanted to see a gorilla. It was fun but they didn't have an octopus or any gorillas. Zoe actually touched a real snake! The kids did great in the car. It isn't easy to spend 8 of 24 hrs driving but they did it.
Dawson had a super blowout requiring us to pull over and change him on the side of the free way. Sometimes it might not be good to have a camera so handy... Well, here's some pictures.

June 2009

Just a few pictures of the past few weeks. At Jackson's end of year school party he wanted us to get a picture of him and his "favorite girl". One night when Janis and I were out Jackson helped the babysitter get Dawson to sleep, so sweet. Zoe is all girl, she wears curlers to bed sometimes. Zach and Dawson love to play together! Daddy had a day off so we played with squirt guns, uh, I mean washed the car. I'm not sure how Janis got them all to pose for that square.

Zach's B-Day

We just had Zach's #5 b-day!
He had a great time. it was a Kung-fu Panda party. He was so excited. I had to work but when I got home we went to Toy-r-us and got some Star Wars Legos and a Star Wars game for his Leapster. He is still my little Star Wars buddy. Sunday Jackson and Zoe wanted to keep the party going so they got the cake back out and mommy put some candles on it and they sang happy birthday all over again. It was so sweet. Jackson collected some of his toys (even ones he really likes) and gave them to Zach for his birthday. You could tell Zach felt very special, it was wonderful.
We sure have a great little family.

2 posts in one day!?

We had Jackson's birthday party. It was a Harry Potter Party. We had a sorting hat, every-flavor jelly beans, and we played Quiditch. I put a few pictures of the party and a few from the Great Wolf Lodge and a couple from Zach's singing show.

If only everyday was like vacation...

This past week was really great. I had the week off work and school (which is VERY rare). We started the week by getting family pictures taken at our favorite park. Then we went to see our good friends (the Turley's) at Duke. We went to a river and swam in a really pretty part where there were rocks for the kids to climb on and little pools for the younger ones to splash in. That night they had arranged for a sitter and we all got to go out for a fancy dinner. We even ordered appetizers and desert. When we left their house we went to the Great Wolf Lodge. Its a hotel with a big indoor water park. Jackson had a great time playing a Wizard game where you wave a special wand at different objects all around the hotel and earn special items and quests. He could have played for several more days. Zach loved the big slides. He started going down with dad but soon was doing it all by himself. He fell off his tube once and went down backwards all the way to the bottom. It didn't slow him down. When I got to the bottom he was already half way up the stairs to go again. Dawson and Zoe played in the waves and fountains. We got home on Wednesday and Janis and I decided to tackle the house. We went through every room and purged a bunch of things. By Saturday we had a van full of old toys, clothes, etc for good will. I felt really good to go through and get rid of so much stuff. It should make packing up to move (next year) a little easier. Today (Memorial Day) I had to go into work for a couple hours but I'm home now and we're planning on going to a pool and BBQ with some friends later (if I don't get called back to work).
It was wonderful to be able to focus on just being a dad and husband. This past week was a little glimpse of what "regular" life could be like, and we liked it! I guess if every day was vacation then vacation wouldn't be as special... What am I saying! that's craziness! BRING ON THE VACATION!

Beach Week 2009

We spent Spring Break at a house on the beach in NC. It was fun!

Oct, Nov, Dec

Its been a LONG time since we updated our blog. So, here's a bunch of pictures of the past few months (not including Christmas morning pics, those will have to come later... maybe by Easter).

Update the kids' pictures (FINALLY!)

What can I say?  These are the most perfect kids ever!

Dawson - Best little boy

Grandma Connie said she wanted to see more pictures of me, so here I am!

Bouncy fun fun fun

Daddy had to spend 6 days in Richmond this week, but he had Friday off so we had a "Family Day" Friday. We went to a place with a bunch of big bouncy toys. Zoe was scared at first but she eventually figured out how fun it was. The boys played hard for hours and hours. Zachy had no problem climbing up the tallest slide. It was great fun! It was sure great to have a day together after being gone all week.

DC fireworks trip

View Album

Get your own

What kind of Crazies go to DC for 4th of July? THIS KIND!!!

Joel and Som Selway were in town visiting us from Michigan and we decided to drive up to DC to see the fire works. Just the Selways, us and 500,000 of our closest friends.
We parked and road the train in, which was nice. The fireworks were pretty good. The Finale was for sure the biggest we'd ever seen. There must have been a couple hundred fireworks in the sky at the same time. It was cool.
We got rained on a bit, Joel and I had to run through the rain to find someone selling umbrellas. Then we got trash bags and made a little shelter for the kids.
Taking the train home was nuts. We waited in line for a long long long time. every 10-20min we'd get to move about 3 steps forward. We finally made it back to Charlottesville about 3am.
I'll post some slides (as soon as I figure out how).

Dancing time

Family Update, June 1, 2008

Finely summer is here and the weather is nice here in Charlottesville. School gets out in 4 days and we are excited. This last week we went and picked yummy strawberries. The kids had red all over their faces and clothing. We also have been going to the sprinkler park. It was great to have mom here for 11 days when Dawson came. What a great blessing that was. Mom has made Zoe and Jackson scripture quilts. They are much loved. Justin's mom came in the beginning of May which was fun too.

Jackson has done really well in Kindergarten. He really liked his teachers. Jackson is reading chapter books and is really excited to have time to read this summer and play school with his brother and sister. Jackson is still in Karate and enjoying it. Jackson turned 6 in May and had a Pokemon Party. His favorite thing to do is play Pokemon with his dad and play the Wii (that he and daddy got mommy for mother's day!) Jackson continues to be a big help and a very loving and obedient child.

Zachary is growing to be a big boy. He potty trained himself 3 days before Dawson arrived. YEA! He absolutely loves Dawson and gives kisses to him and makes him laugh constantly. Zachary enjoyed his gymnastics class. He has started Karate with Jackson. He was very excited when Sensei gave him a white belt. Zachary will be turning 4 in two weeks. He wants a Pirate Party. He loves Pirate stuff right now. Zachary is love and always teasing or playing tricks on us…brings laughter to our home.

Zoe is 2 years old and busy. She can talk so much. She loves to help with Dawson by changing his diaper or pretend feeding him with her doll bottles. Zoe loves her daddy and if he is around she doesn't want anything to do with anybody but him. So, sweet. She continues to love Dora the Explorer. She loves to tell knock, knock jokes. She generally doesn't have a punch line for them. She loves to play outside and dance.

Dawson is growing. He is almost 4 months old. He is giving me a 5 hour stretch each night which makes a world of difference. He loves to cue and babble. He smiles for whom ever is playing with him. What a joy it is to have him in our home.

Janis is doing well. Continuing being busy in RS. This summer we are looking for fun activities to do around this area. Mandy and Martha Turley came and helped me make quilt squares for a quilt representing Michigan. Keeping busy with the house and little ones.

Justin is keeping very busy with work. He is finally done with being President of all the Residents in the hospital. He will still help in the different committees. They gave his a beautiful picture of Thomas Jefferson's School Building. He starts his Masters Degree in June. We are so proud of all the hard work he does for our family. Justin reads to the children every night. They love this special time with him. He continues to be a great father and husband.

We love you all and hope everything is going well. Hopefully I will get to come with the baby to mom's 70^th Birthday Party at Jay's house. So…everyone come!! We Love you all.

Love Janis Justin Jackson Zachary Zoe and Dawson

24 on 24 off

This was one morning after daddy had worked 24hrs putting epidurals in laboring women. Still had just enough gas in the tank to wrestle a little before heading to bed.

Dawson's growing up already

Gotta get some pics of the new cute boy. His brothers and sister sure love him. They are always hugging and kissing him and he loves it.

Jackson's 6th B-day

Jackson turned 6 last Saturday. He is totally into Pokemon right now so we had a big Poke-party.

Daddy gets a day at HOME

And one of our favorite things to do is make popcorn and watch cartoons!