3 Men & A Little Lady

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

{Church Ball}

Kenny loves basketball and has been a part of the Banning Basketball team, also known as church ball, for many years! There aren't any tryouts or practices so its just a bunch of "old timers" trying to relive their glory days, as well as complete basketball novices. And everyone gets to play. Sometimes it can be quite competitive and comical. Lets just say there are lots of laughs from the wives and the players during the game!

The men just played their last game of the year and we decided to surprise our men by coming out ready to cheer them on!

The little girls were excited to have posters and pom poms and yelled for their dads the whole game!

Someone had to show these girls how to cheer, plus I wanted to see if I still had my moves from cheerleading many moons ago!

These men came out ready to play and stomped on the opposing team! Kenny played awesome and made the "Summers Fan Club" very proud!

Kenny's biggest cheerleaders!

Kenny doesn't like attention drawn to himself, but he did have a smile on his face as he saw the sign we made for him! He might have gotten some teasing from his friends, but he is a Super Stud!

Kenny's love for church basketball is being passed down to the younger generation! On his day off he picked up 13 boys and brought them down to the church to play.

He was going to referee, but that wasn't as much fun as playing, so he joined in too!

You would think he would take it easier on the kids, but he is too competitive to do that!

After basketball they played kick ball. They played for hours and all the boys left tired and stinky! Kenny is such a great dad and a great leader for the kids. He made sure everyone had fun and was a great coach! I sure do love this man!!! I am his #1 FAN!

Saturday, March 9, 2013

{Baby Wyatt}

Mya loves babies and is a little Miss Mom! Her dolls are all named after my friends babies, who aren't quite babies anymore, but they always will be in Mya's eyes!

This is Wyatt, but Mya only refers to him as, "Baby Wyatt!" She was so excited that he came over to our house and she kept saying, "Mom I will take care of him!"

She wanted to pick him up! He is about her size, but that doesn't stop her from trying!

She followed him around everywhere and tried to hold his hand every where he walked, even though he can probably run faster!

She took him up to her room and introduced him to her doll Baby Wyatt! Yes it is a girl cabbage patch kid, which was mine when I was a kid, but it is Baby Wyatt to her!

She was in heaven having Baby Wyatt all to herself. The poor kid will probably not want to come to our house again after being smothered by her, but it was out of love! Mya will be such a good mommy some day!

***Mya is having a bad hair day! We were trying something new and it didn't quite turn out! I am horrible at girl hair***

{Seeing Double}

Yesterday at school was twin day. Ian and his best friend Max went as twins. As Ian was leaving for school he said, "Wouldn't it be so awesome if Max and I really were twins?!!!!"

I love how well these two get along and am so grateful that they have each other. Even though they aren't twins, they do make a great pair!!!

So this is Mia, Max's sister who is in Owen's class. She is so adorable and Jessica and I thought it would be fun to have them dress up as twins too! Of course Ian teased Owen about being a twin with a girl and even made the comment that he was going to have to kiss her!

I did ask Owen to put his arm around Mia. He hid his arm around her back but didn't actually touch her! It was pretty funny!!!

Ian has decided that Mia and Owen must get married some day so that Max and him really can be related some how. I wouldn't mind it at all!!! We will see.....

Friday, March 8, 2013

{Future Profession}

Drew had a big project due this week. He had to write a report and give an oral presentation over his future profession. He had to talk about the schooling needed, the skills required, and the characteristic traits that his profession needs. Drew decided years ago that he wants to be a Fire Fighter and that is still what he says he wants to be today! We will see.....

We are so lucky to have a friend who is a Fire Fighter! I asked our friend Mario Westbrook what schooling he needed and told him about Drew's project and he asked if he could come to our house to talk to Drew!

Drew was so excited and made a list of questions to ask him. He wanted to know how to be the captain, so that he can be one some day too!

He got to dress as a Fire Fighter and realized he has some very big shoes to fill!

He can't wait to be a Fire Fighter so he can pull the hose all the way out and climb to the top of the ladder.

His favorite part was getting to sit inside the fire truck.

I think Drew will make a great Fire Fighter! He was told that the most important thing for him to do now in preparation to be a Fire Fighter is to do well in school, to be healthy, and to be a good team member. Drew has vowed to work hard in all those areas so that his dream can come true! I know he can do it!

Of course while Drew was interviewing Mario, my other children were busy "playing!"

I am so grateful for the service men and women who protect our community everyday!

{We Must Face our FEARS}

Owen's battle wounds have healed nicely from his fall off of "Fish Head Rock." We decided we must make him face his fear and go back hiking in the same place so that he will again have a love for our beloved rock! He wasn't too excited to go back, but the dogs sure were!!!

We love the trails and all the rocks to climb all over.

Kenny is standing on the ground where Owen landed after running off the edge of the rock. He is 6'2" and thinks the drop off is around 11 ft high.

He was lucky not to land on the rocks at the bottom! Fortunately he landed on the dirt trail.

I kept reminding the kids to stay away from the edge and to not be silly! Look how well Owen is listening!!!

This time Owen can be, "King of the World!"

Everybody was kept safe on this outing to Fish Head Rock. I think the love for our rock has been restored in Owen! I am so grateful that Owen has healed from this experience. I just wish I could get that image of him falling out of my head!

Saturday, March 2, 2013

{Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss}

Today we celebrated Dr. Seuss's birthday! We honored him on what would have been his 109th birthday by starting the morning off with Green Eggs!!!

On Saturday we honored him by partying with the community! We went to the community center where the kids picked out a book, jumped in a jumper, had hot dogs, and went from table to table playing games and making crafts! I thought we would only be there an hour, but it quickly turned into three hours, and my arms were overflowing!

During March our school holds a read-a-thon and Owen's goal is to read 100 books! He has read several "Clifford" books and was eager to meet him!

Mya's favorite game was going fishing for goldfish snacks!

Drew loved planting flowers and went a couple of times, which led to me carrying several cups of flowers!

Why is it that kids think face painting is so amazing? We spent half an hour in line just to get some paint on their little cheeks!

Mya and her "sister" Elliot

Owen or Bat Boy!

Ian is proud to be in Sundance school and ran straight to the principal to show her his school spirit!

So not only was I balancing books, plants, and bags of goldfish, I also had wet paint murals hanging from my fingers! Our principal took one look at me and started laughing! As I was trying to balance everything she said, "That shows you how many kids you have!"

We had a fun day and were glad that we were able to celebrate Dr. Seuss, who is one of our favorite authors!

Thursday, February 28, 2013

{Reconnecting}

We purchased my parents a web cam a couple of years ago and I love that we can reconnect with them so easily even though we are several states apart! However, it seems like our kids turn into the Energizer Bunny whenever we try to skype and their voices go up three octaves making it very hard to hear! They each want to be in front of the computer and hate taking turns. They do love showing off any new tricks they've mastered that week. This week Mya was able to demonstrate he tongue clicking skills!

Owen was showing Ge and Grandad his battle wounds from his fall off Fish Head Rock.

Mya was excited to share her popcorn with Ge! Ge LOVES popcorn!

Besides reconnecting with my parents this week, we also had the great privilege of having my Aunt Shirley and Uncle Harold from Kansas come out for a visit! Aunt Shirley is my dads sister. They were fortunate to be here in California and missed the blizzards that have been covering Kansas with snow!

Our kids quickly warmed up to them!

We had an enjoyable dinner together and I loved hearing all the updates on my cousins. I'm hoping my Aunt will take the initiative and plan an Elliott reunion, so we can all reconnect! I sure do love my family!!!!

They say the cutest things.....

Mya, my little girl, said in her prayers last night, "Please help us to be strong and healthy like the Hulk!"

Owen almost ran straight into a woman as we entered a dark parking garage. As I told him to watch out, he quickly yelled, "Well she's all black!" Coincidentally she was African American! She was wearing a black dress, which is what he was referring too!

Owen told me today, "You are the best mom I ever had! I love you all the way up to Jesus!" He also loves kissing and told Kenny, "I just want to stay home from school and kiss mom all day!"

Drew lost a tooth at school when he bit into his apple. He felt the tooth inside his mouth as he was chewing and when I asked him about it, he said, "I didn't realize it was mine and I wondered if it was one of the workers!"

While at church, a teacher asked the kids what happened to Jesus right after he was baptized and brought up from the water. Ian enthusiastically raised his hand and said, "He asked for a towel!"

After a long struggle with my boys, to get them inside, bathed, and into bed, I yelled, "I am done, go to sleep!" Owen looked up at me and said, "Mommy I'm sorry you're sad, but the problem is that you don't beat up Drew and Ian. Just beat them up and I will be on your team!"

We are not a family who eats beans, so when Drew went to a friends house to play and eat dinner, he was hesitant to eat the burrito that had refried beans in it. When I picked him up he said to me, "Mom she put mud inside the burrito!"

Aunt Connie pleaded with Owen to shoot his daddy with the gun instead of her and his response, "No, he's the best daddy i've ever had!"

I begged the boys to quit fighting and Drew looked at me and said, "Its not Mothers Day anymore mom!"

Owen got kicked in his "man hood" and said, "Oh, I hurt my Tenders!"

Drew asked this morning, "Mom in 2011 can we get a cat?"

Everytime I feed Mya prunes, Owen comes up to me and says, "Me like chocolate mom!" I give him a bite and his face turns to total disgust.

Owen ran up to me after wrestling the dogs and said, "Me see Cassie's boobies!"

While I was nursing Mya, Drew walked in and said, "Is she done drinking from your boob?" I replied, "No and it is called a breast, thats the proper way to say it." He looked at me puzzled and said, "No thats the Spanish word for it."

Kenny opened the fridge and said, "Something in here stinks." Ian looked at him and said, "Dad, sometimes I toot over there!"

Last night as the boys were saying good night to Mya, Drew looked up at me and said, "Mom, Mya has a boy haircut!"

Drew was reminding me about how when we saw macaws in Hawaii, that one of the macaws was chewing on a woman's hair. He said, about the macaw, "Thats not very nice, it's not choosing the right."

My favorite word Drew and Ian used to say when they were toddlers was, Laddie- for water. I thought it was such a cute word. Owen comes to the fridge and points his little finger and says, "Wa-Wa" for water. So cute!

Last night Kenny went in on a call to deliver a goat and Ian came into our bed. He climbed in and snuggled up beside me, he usually snuggles into Kenny. I asked him why he was snuggling with me and he said, "I can snuggle you because daddy isn't here mom!" He is such a daddy's boy.

Ian is such a daddy's boy. The other night Kenny had to go to the clinic and Ian was sobbing for him for a good twenty minutes because he wanted to go too. When I asked him why he was so upset he replied, "I just want my daddy, he is my favorite boy!"

Birthday parties celebrated in California are usually BIG! There is always a huge jumper, pinata, food for the whole family, and tons of presents. Well we went to a party last night and the boys spent 2 hrs. jumping in a big jumper. On our way home we saw another party going on that had an even bigger jumper with a slide attached. Ian asked, "Can we go to that party too?" I replied, "We don't even know who those people are. " His response, "Well lets just go ask them their names."

As we prepared to go to the Glenwood Springs pool in Colorado with Kenny's four sisters Drew impatiently said, "Come on girls, you're taking too long!" Kenny told him, "Get used to it, this is what men do, wait for girls to get ready."

Much to my dismay I found black ink all over our white sheets on our bed. I of course went straight to Ian and asked very sternly, "Did you write on my sheets with a pen?" With an innocent look he replied, "I was just trying to write my name."

Drew was watching me as I divided my hair into sections with clips to straighten it. He looked up at me and said, "Wow, you look beautiful!" Then when I was completely done with my hair he said, "You're a cute little mommy!"

Ian was dipping his finger in Kenny's contact solution and then touching his eye. I asked him what he was doing and he replied, "Just putting my eyes in mom!"