Mark and Ryleigh (20 months)
Ryan (9) and Austyn (3.5)
Ryan and Jack (15 months)
Gammie and Ryleigh
McKenzie (3.5)
Mark and Austyn (3.5 years)
Austyn (3.5), Taylor (7)
Don't let that face fool you, he's probably up to something
Ryan's infamous hand-stand
Jack getting a little too close to the camera
The Rummel KidsThis is how I feel each and everytime I blog....hearing the words of my husband saying to me "does anyone read your blog?" Open mouth, insert foot, right? Husbands....don't ya' just want to smack them sometimes? But seriously, I sometimes cannot help but hear those words in the back of my mind. Am I talking to myself? Maybe it's not so much who I'm talking to as to what I'm talking about and journaling for myself. Before I started this post, I ran back through all my previous posts since I started in October. I've only been blogging for 8 months now but it was amazing to see where we were....where I was 8 months ago in my life. It's true what they say....time flies when you're having fun and that's precisely how I feel. My kids keep me VERY busy but I love every minute of it. Sure, I have an occassional breakdown where there's alot of mochas and tears involved ...but at the end of it all, I am so blessed. So, this leads me to my actual post. I haven't blogged in about a week. I'm not in a blogging funk, I just have been, as usual, super busy and have not had one minute to just sit. The kids were in school up until last Thursday, the 18th, so for those of you moms you understand the chaos that is and now having two high schoolers that had finals all week last week....well, let's just say I think I aged about 10 years. On Friday my mom flew in from Washington and is here until the 30th which I absolutely love because her and I always do such fun things even if it's just hanging out and watching a really great scary movie and laughing about nothing until we pee our pants.....literally. Also on Friday, my brother Mark, his wife Stacie and their 3 kids came to stay with us and just left today and will be back on Friday for the weekend. Mark is taking a class down in San Diego so Stacie and the kids have been just hanging out which has been alot of fun but crazy having so many kids here. Saturday Doug and AJ left for Vegas because AJ got scouted and is attending a clinic there...pretty exciting! Also on Saturday Ali left for a mission trip to San Francisco and will be back on Thursday. I've talked to her a few times and they seem to be having alot of fun helping and witnessing to the homeless there. Go Ali! Sunday and Monday was spent mostly out in the pool or inside since it was like 100 degrees and very humid! We even went and took the kids to see Kung Fu Panda which was a super cute movie...even Jack liked it. So, here we are today. Mark, Stacie and the kids just left a few hours ago to go hang with their friends in San Diego so the house is suddenly really quiet and empty....just Mom, Ryan, Jack and I. I have no clue what we are going to do tomorrow...I have to work a little in the morning but other than that I think we will wing it. It's only going to be 80...thank God, so maybe we can actually hit the park or something....also I think Disneyland is in the near future but we will see. Doug and AJ are back on Friday, Ali is back on Thursday, and Mark, Stac, and the kids are back on Friday and then mom leaves on Monday. Oh, did I mention that 3 days after mom leaves, Micah and the kids will be here? You see, my life NEVER stops...............
When he wants to get somewhere really fast, he usually crawls... but having his friend Aidan over who's 6 weeks younger than he is and has been walking for probably 2 months now, I think has inspired Jack to do the same.
Today Doug and I have been married for 11 years. I cannot believe how time has flewn by but I guess that's what having 4 kids will do. Not much going on today....it's hockey tryouts you know so that means I lose my husband to Beach City Lightning today and am hoping to go out for coffee later or maybe even dinner....we'll see.
Counting fingers with my dad. (1976?)
I love this picture @ Adam & Jenn's wedding ('05) Notice the hair loss....did I do that to you Dad??? XOXOX 
Yesterday I was at Target and saw this great pool for $9 for Jack! Yes, we already have a pool but this way I don't always have to get in with him and he can have his very own shallow end! The only negative is that I couldn't get it as warm as I think he would have liked but as you can see, that didn't bother him so much.
Smiling at Ali
So, after a hard day of napping and swimming, since Doug and AJ were gone at hockey tryouts, Ali and I decided that we needed a Nordstrom fix.....meaning, she needed clothes and we BOTH needed some dinner. If you have never tried Nordstrom Cafe's Tomato Basil Soup,
you don't know what you are missing. By far the best Tomato Soup I have ever had. Also, instead of shaving the dog for the summer, we decided to shave Ryan...
and I decided that brunettes DO have more fun!
I apoligize for not blogging until now........the readers digest version of the past few days is.....Ali's doctor called and her platelets were UP so that's good...she was able to do cheer on Thursday although I am going to make her get her blood drawn again on Monday to make sure they are still UP and then she can do cheer next week as well. Only 12 more days until the kids are out of school...yeah, I think.???
By the title, can you tell I'm a child of the 80's? Well, today was somewhat normal. I think Ali and I are just happy to get through a day without seeing a doctor....today wasn't one of those days. Ali had an appt. with an ob/gyn today to see what we should do about the ovariancyst she has along with maybe some ideas of why she is having these pains still. Long story short, we came up with some ideas one being IBS (irrital bowel syndrome) which won't be diagnosed until we see a GI specialist and another being a female issue that I won't get into. So, let's just say that the doctor gave Ali something to help with regulating things so she may not have so many issues as well as help with her iron loss.....does that make sense without being too graphic or giving too much info away? As a mom, I am saddened to have crossed this threshhold but having crossed it for similar reasons when I was her age, I emphathize.
Ok, change of subject, this weekend Adam and Jenn had a garage sale which meant we dumped some of our stuff on their driveway and hung out for a while. Ali and her friend, Nicki helped out pretty early since in California we get alot of people from over the border (trying to be pc) that come at the crack of dawn....literally. Doug and Adam were putting out signs at 5am and people were following them in their trucks....pretty scary! I walked over about 9:30ish with Jack and Ryan and when I saw Kenzie I asked Jenn "how much?" and she said I could have her for $3.00 which I thought was a pretty good deal until Gammie Buns offerred $5.00.....jerk! Also Kenzie was selling donuts for 25 cents and she asked me "Lo-Lo, do you want a donut?" and I said, "No thanks Kenz, I didn't bring my money!" and she replied, "That's ok, I have some money you can use." Then she pulled out a quarter and offerred it to me....so cute! Overall I think Adam and Jenn did pretty well....I think we made like $35 which was more than we had before the sale so pretty good I guess.
Later that day Ryan had his baseball party. Yep, it's finally over! What a great season though! Ryan was named best short stop which I know will make Uncle Adam and Uncle Mark happy! Speaking of Mark, he's coming home tomorrow! I am sure that Stacie won't sleep a wink tonight and the kids are sooooo excited! And speaking of sleep....goodnight!
