Holly potty training herself???

Holly appears to be potty training herself. Meaning she takes her diaper off right after she goes to the bathroom for the last few weeks. Well now she took off her diaper and went potty on the tile by her toilet. I'm not sure if I'm ready for this...yet...

I still love you!

After Meg does something wrong, like draw on a wall, she says "I'm sorry, but I still love you!" Very cute way to make us laugh.

Princess Megan's request

Meg was snuggling with me and said "Hey mom I have an idea, let's go get ice cream and then a pedicure. That's a good idea, huh?" Yes it is Meg. Brian and I were just laughing. She is such a cute princess, a total girlie girl.

Yesterday we had to decorate a Turkey for Meg's school as a family- Megan made it a pink Princess turkey, including diamonds and other jewels and lots of flowers. Mark even had fun putting the bling on it. We had all my scrapbooking supplies everywhere. Thank God Holly and Jenna napped.

Always fun at the Goudge house especially when no one gets their hair cut!

Megan's charming Thanksgiving picture

Halloween pics with the Hills

School pics

Megan

Megan's parent teacher conference went very well. Her teacher reported that she is the most polite, respectful, and helpful child. She gets along well with everyone and is very secure of herself. She has great self esteem and a great outlook on her life. There is a little girl who tries to get kids to not play with anyone but her and Meg tells her "I am everyones friend and I will play with all my friends, not just you." or if she is the one the little girl is telling others not to play with Meg tells her "I don't care if you are my friend today, I have other friends and my best friend is Gracie!" Good for you Meg! She was able to piece together her first and last name correctly from cut out letters and her teacher said she needs to practice cutting more, but I told the teacher she will have to cut at school, as Meg has given herself too many hair cuts and I don't want her to try to cut anything else. Meg is doing great! PTL!

Mark

Mark is staring to read! All it took was some bribery from his teacher and competition from me. We race to finish his homework, the loser clean up after the dog- but of course I don't actually clean up after the dog, so when I lose Brian has to do it and Mark thinks that is really funny. Mark is earning pizza coupons from his teacher for his reading. 3 weeks ago he read 17 words in 1 minute, 2 weeks ago he read 33 words, and last Friday he read 74 words in one minute- ythe most in his class! Great job Mark! We are so proud of his hard work. practice does pay off. Also, Mark received a award at school this week for his fall Math test. He scored advanced in math. We are so proud of our young man.

Mark had a excellent report from his teacher for his parent-teacher conference. She said he just needs to work on his reading. He gets great scores on his spelling tests- usually 100% plus his challenge words, excellent on math, listens very well, is respectful and polite, and loves to play tackle football. WHAT??? My son loves tackle football, what will I do? Pray, pray, pray.

Brian and his Pearlie girl

Brian called Megan into the bathroom, to admire her new artwork on the bathroom door. Meg loves to write her name on anything and everywhere she can. As they were looking at it Megan looked at Brian and said "Sorry I drew on the door, Dad, but I still love you" and with a hug she was off to play with Gracie.

Mark, Jenna, Holly, & Meg together Holly is very proud of her creation- that Daddy carved.

Mark and his "Jack Skelenton" pumpkin

Jenna and her first pumpkin.

Megan wanted to give her pumpkin a tiara, but chose a scarf so it wouldn't get cold.

Happy Halloween 2008!

It's hard...

Megan and I were driving to school and she said "Mommy, its hard to be the Megan." What??? "It's hard to be a good princess, it's easy to be bad." That's my girl!

Disneyland at Halloween!

I actually went on the teacups! Me with the silly kids by Winnie The Pooh














Eve and I with Carter, Cameron, Gracie, Holly, Mark, Megan, and Jenna. The first four looking adorable in their matching shirts, actually all 7 of them were matching and looking great. Brennan and Brian were veryy happy we didn't include them. Maybe next year we will make tye died shirts for all!

Super kids!

Chicken Clucks

I had to rush to Mark's school today because he was getting a rash that was spreading quickly and he "needs to go to the doctor or hospital" per the school nurse. Well, I got there and said hey buudy, whats going on? He said "I have chicken clucks" What??? I looked at him and said no, its not chicken clucks. We went to see the doctor and found out he had "Hand, Foot, & Mouth disease"- which apperantly is a virus that shows its self in rash form and thats it! No vomiting, diarrhea, fevers- I like this virus. My pediatrician said "of all the viruses out there this is the best one for the kids to get." Megan & Holly are almost certain to get it, Jenna is iffy. We'll see if they get spots! LOL!

Mark vs. homework

Mark HATES homework and I don't like it either, but I try to keep a good attitude about it. Mark said "This homwork is from the devil, its evil." My poor little guy has so much work to do- we have 5x each spelling word, 10 minutes reading high frequency words,1 languauge/writing page, 1 math page, plus reading a book everyday. It is a lot for my poor boy and for me!

Meganisms

I think I need something dedicated soley to things that Megan says. She is so funny and adorable. She asked me if she lookes pretty (after she out on make up) an dI said of course you are pretty, but you are pretty before the make up. Make up does not make you pretty. And she replied "No, but it makes you sparkle!"
Thats my sparkling princess Megan!

Literal Megan

I was driving Meg and Josh to school and they were bickering. I was trying to stop the bickering when Josh whispered something to Megan and all of a sudden Megan reached out and (tried to) hit Josh. Josh said "Ms. Pam, Megan hit me HARD" and he told her that "I got you in trouble" and I started to tell Megan that we don't hit, etc... and she said "Mom, Josh told you a lie- I didn't hit him, I couldn't reach him. I did this" and she hit the car seat. She procedded to explain that she tried to hit him, but she couldn't get to get him! With the issue resolved Josh announced that "Megan is my princess girlfriend! And I am going to take her." Megan said "Am I your girlfriend cause I'm a princess?" He said "Yes" and She said "Mom, I am the princess!"
We know, Meg, we know!

Jenna

Jenna gets to have food! I get to add an extra hour into my day, we'll see where it fits in. Here are a few pics of her first meal- rice cereal- yummy?

Disneyland

We went to Disneyland on Sept. 1 for our anniversary- we had the BEST time! We didn't even stay to close down the park, we left before it closed and everyone left LOVING Disneyland- which I know is unbelievable to some, but never to us.

Here we are with Mickey. My how our family has grown since we were married 7 years ago.

Old woman who lives in a shoe

Eve was telling the kids nursery rhymes and told them about the Old
woman in the shoe who had so many kids she didn't know what to do amd Megan asked her "Was the shoe very big or were they little people?"
That's my girl always full of questions.

What is it with my girl & Spicy?

We were eating dinner and Megan asked for "milk because my toungue is spicy" and I said ok, as I was pouring the milkshe walked up to me and said "Can you see the spicies on my tongue?" I said no and she said "Well spicies are poking my tongue all over!"
What a cutie!

Its Spicy!

I completely forgot this, but I saw it on our MOPS yahoo group.
Megan was 28 months old-

When she hurt herself and I was cleaning her knee with Hydrogen Peroxide and she told me to stop because "Its spicy"

SOOO cute, I love my Megan!

Megan's first day of school

Meg went to Pre-K, Tuesday Aug. 19 (she goes from 8-11:30) and Holly loves it! Meg came home and I asked her how was school- she replied "REALLY AMAZING- they had playdough there!" I said "We have playdough here" and She said "It was totally amazing, mom. Can you leave me there for a long, long time?" Her teacher has said thet she is a joy to have in class, she listens very well, and is a great helper. Are we talking about my Meg? That's our girl!

Back to School

How many more days till scholl is out? 177! I am already tired of waking up extra early. Mark went back to school on Monday Aug. 18 and had a great day. He was very happy that he had 4 recess times. he likes his teacher and his class. The best part is hid friend Kenny sits next to him. He thinks he is never going to play with Carter, but at least I know Eve is hearing the same thing from Carter. He rode the bus and said "It took like 10 hours to get home! I never want to do that again!" That's okay with me, I don't mind getting my boy home quicker. I sure do miss him when he is gone. Its a very long time to be away from me, or should I say for me to be away from him?

Oh, how I miss Jill

Jill has gone back to Cedarville (OHIO) for school and the kids miss her sooo much. I think I miss her more. She was such a delight and a pleasure to have around. She was great with my children, taught them how to swim, and was always willing to make them tired, even when it was 110 out.

The kids call her "Jiily Beans"- what is it with them and cute made up names? Holly Berry? Jenna BennaRose? I guess they get it from me- Monkey Bones? or Brian "Meggie Pearl?

Anyways-I can not wait- she is coming home for Thanksgiving and Christmas break. The kids want to take her to Disneyland- which of course sounds great to me. She really endeared herself to me, going to Disneyland with Eve and me. The kids fell in love with her there, too. Mark wanted to ride all the rides with Jill, he started the day wanting to ride with me. (I lost all my pictures from that trip, and no one else had a camera. At least we have our memories.) An added plus is that Jill gives me a lot of hope. Her mom and her have told me how much like Megan she was- ornery, strong willed, a diva princess and to know her now- you would never know she spent lots of time in time out! We all know Meg is wonderful and I treasure her dearly, but boy oh boy does she have her moments of personality! The Lord is amazing and can work miracles (as we know). He is in the business of change!

Mark's "Late" night

Tonight was Mark's night to stay up, 30 minutes later then the girls, and he wanted to go swimming. Brian and I took him swimming and we had biggest splash competitions (Brian won), Smallest splash (Mark won), and a ton of swimming races that Mark won- though some were under protest. *Thanks Jill!* Competition comes so naturally to him, sometimes I am guilty of using it to my advantage (I bet you can clean up more/faster than Meg). He wanted to do a mini Olympics in our pool. We had so much fun, then we all floated around. Mark had fun spraying Brian with the hose and vice versa. He really loves diving! He dove in, off the diving board, and touched the bottom of the pool! Way to go, buddy and he said "How do you like that one mom?Jill taught me that!" Jill really taught M&M a lot this summer. Mark was finally showered and it was 8:30 so as I snuggled with Mark he said "I don't want to go to first grade, it won't be any fun." I asked him why? He said "All I am going to do is go to the playground then learn then lunch, then learn then playground then learn, learn, learn! I just get the playground two times." I reassured him it will be fun playing and learning. I can not believe my little man is going to be in 1st grade tomorrow! Aug. 18, 2008- seems like he was just born. Then I kissed him goodnight and tucked my little man in.

The Nut Farm? No Meg, its the Zoo!

Today we went to church and as a suprise to the kids we went to lunch and then took them to CALM (Bakersfield's California Living Museum). We felt like we needed to do something special on the last day of summer vacation. But not too special, don't want to set the standard too high.Calm is a small zoo- takes us about an 1 or so with Brian- 30 minutes max with the kids and me, if we don't play at the playground. So the kids ask where we are going and I say its a suprise. Meg asks "Are we going to the nut farm?" She did not mean Knotts- she actually ment a nut farm. Of course we reply no and she continues to guess where we are going when Mark says "This is dad's way of going to CALM, silly". Brian did comment on how maybe he should take a different route, as the kids seems to know the back way as the only way. We had a great time, despite it being 105 (at least). We had lots of water, met a snake named Jewel- red to black: friend of Jack, red to yellow: will kill a fellow. Meg tried to get a kiss from the deer (YUCK!), but it nibbled on her dress, instead. Holly yelled "Bear" and enjoyed seeing the bears, Jenna hung out- being her joyful self, and Mark just wanted to swing from the monkey bars.

Knotts Berry Farm

Naturally it had to be HOT! The internet said it would be 84/65, more like 96/85! We had a blast. There were 19 of us in our group. My mom, sister, The Maciels (6), The Hills (5), and our family (6). Boy we were a slow moving group. Mark loves roller coasters! Montezumas Revenge, Sidewinder, Ghost Rider, Big Foot Rapids, etc... he loved them all. Loved going upside down, spinning- you name it- he loved it. Staci- not quite as excited as he was. Brian and I finished the night on the Accelerator- pretty crazy, very glad we didn't die! We had a great time celebrating Mark's b-day. We finished the weekend by going to IHOP for b-fast- turned out to be brunch. Mark ate an entire smiley face chocolate chip pancake thing- it was huge! The we finished our trip with a visit to Brian's parents and had a great time with them. I even found a new table- which is being stored in their garage (thank you, Nancy). :) We had a wonderful time and Mark is 6! Mark loved his b-day presents and he had a great time with all his friends at the Nut farm! He really loved the berry juice, like his mom!

Glasses & Libby Lu

Today Megan & Gracie went to Libby Lu, their friend Diamond joined us. Megan chose the "Royal" package, with a headset accessory & clip on funky hair extension. Gracie chose the "Sporty" package with the same accessories as Meg. Diamond did the same as Meg. The girls had their make up, nails, and hair done. They loved it. It was even fun for us mommies to watch. After Libby Lu, we went to the eye doctors to pick up- SURPRISE- Megan's princess glasses (for reading, coloring, watching TV). Meg is very excited and Mark was a little upset. he said "I want to get glasses, too!" Little does he know that once your in them you rarely get to stop wearing them. The eye doctor thinks Meg will only need them for a little bit, we'll see.
What a day- I am ready for a nap, wish it could happen.

Our newest addition

Waltzing Matilda is our red merle puppy and Red is the Hill's red tri, the brother of Tilly. We love our Aussie!

4th of July Family Pic

Lipstick

Megan said "Mommy do you know why God made lipstick?" I replied "No, why?" She kissed me and said "For mommies and daughters to kiss!" and gave me another kiss.

That Man?

Back in April 2007, as we were getting ready to go to Disneyland, Megan looked at me and said "Is that man going with us?" I said of course, your daddy is going with us. Brian decided to shave right after we got back!

The Nut Farm??

Mark was at his Grandma's house and told her that "Papa needs to go to the nut farm". My mom said "What?" (She's thinking what have my children told Mark?) and Mark said "He needs to go to the nut farm, for my birthday." My mom realized what he ment. Knotts Berry Farm- he thought we were going to take him to a Nut farm!

Dentist

Today Mark had to go to the dentist to get a cavity taken care of. We had prepared him, sort of. Brian told him they would rub gel on his gums and then he would get a shot, but it wouldn't hurt. Mark went in, not to happy, and came out 30 minutes later smiling and happy! He said "That was fun, my doctor is a funny guy!" Apparently, they rub gel on his gums and gave him laughing gas- NO SHOTS! He was a bit silly for a while, but isn't he usually.