She's standing!!!!

This isn't the clearest shot, but I love that you can see Blythe's excitement in this shot. Yes!!!! Isabel can FINALLY lift her fat butt up off of the ground. She's not too steady, but she's quite proud of herself for getting there. This is the actual first photo of her accomplishment.

This milestone reminds me of a discussion I had with a friend of mine when our first babies were starting to walk. (I'm pretty sure it was Melissa who also, ironically, has 5 kids)

The discussion was about the fact that we wondered if you got THAT excited about every child's little milestones. Our conclusion (about 9 years ago) was that once you just said, "oh yeah, that's great" and went back to stirring your pasta sauce, you knew you were done having kids.

Well, even though I can say, positively, without a doubt, that we are done having kids.....it is still just as exciting when our babies/kids reach ANY milestone. And the great part that Melissa and I didn't yet get was that you have that many more loving family members getting sooooo excited. I mean, really, you can just see it in Blythe's face. And what the camera didn't capture was a bathroom full of Adams kids ALL cheering for their baby sister.

Slash Live and In Person!!!!

Oh, yes. I realize not many of you will appreciate this post, but who really cares. I got to see Slash in concert!!!!!!! Yahooooo!!!! For those of you younger than myself, He's from Guns n' Roses. I found out about him playing at the Red Rock out at their pool on Saturday afternoon and figured I wouldn't be able to find a sitter or friend who could do the same and at the last minute managed both. For those who love rock, picture Jason Bonham on drums, Jerry Cantrell, Royston Langdon (rocker guy married to Liv Tyler) and guest appearance by the lead singer of Jane's Addiction (I forget his name, whatev...google it) They played a ton of classic rock including Led Zeppelin, of course, some blues, and some Guns n' Roses!! again yahoo!! It was so much fun to kinda relive those days, but then, my ears rang for a day and a half after from being in the front. I seriously thought I permanently damaged them, but figured it was worth it because I couldn't hear my kids fighting as loudly. MAN, I am getting soooo old. Who cares, so were half the people there. So much fun!!! Oh, and my kids were totally jealous. They, of course, love classic rock and 80's and 90's rock, including, but not limited to GNR. Oh, and they're huge Guitar Hero fans, too. But I can still kick their butts at it!!

The Gnome

So, a friend of mine started this really funny thing with a gnome. Sounds strange, but it actually started by stealing her brother in law's gnome, because, really, isn't a gnome in the yard just ASKING to be taken?? Anyway, it's a funny idea she came up with and you should check out the blog. It explains the whole thing. www.gnomewhereabouts.blogspot.com or the link is on the right of my page.

Finally...

A little catching up would be nice. I have FINALLY figured out how to get the pics from my camera onto the computer. Actually not that hard, but in my defense, I was a bit intimidated with this camera. My Dad gave it to me after he upgraded to a newer one. To give you an idea, he was a professional photographer in the 70's and the digital camera he gave me has many lens attachments and I have yet to take a clear picture. Sooooo intimidating and I really don't have much time to read the manual. Anyway....I had better include some milestones for the brats. Oliver got his orange belt in February. He's only been doing karate for about a year and rec'd his yellow belt last November. Such a great thing for him to focus on. Blythe, Oli, and Sophie are getting busy training and practicing for their big concert in August put on by Fern Adair (where they take dance and karate) to benefit the Make a Wish Foundation. They do it every year and it's the kid's second year doing it. They work VERY hard practicing for it and we all LOVE seeing their proud, happy faces at the performances.

More recently our 4th of July festivities included a hair brained idea of a friend of mine who thought that it would be SOOOOO much fun for us all to tie dye t-shirts for the 4th. About 5 minutes in I thought surely she's insane/younger and has more energy/has a few less children/couldn't have anticipated the chaos. However, it actually turned out to be a fun project!! We did it in the grass and had the kids in underwear to minimize the mess. The shirts actually turned out pretty cool. It was the kind of thing that they couldn't mess up. ALL of the shirts turned out cool. And in my effort to keep the dye off of the kids, I had purple hands for 3 days afterward. Oh, and don't you looooove Hayden's (far left) big belly in this photo. I love his squishiness still. It won't last much longer.


Here's Izzy modeling her tie dye onesie while stuffing her face. Oh, and at 10 months she is finally crawling. Hey, don't mock, it's quite a task to lift all that fat off of the floor.

The Cutest!!!

So, I just had to post this picture my brother just sent cuz it's the cutest!!! It's of my nephew, Louis at 17 months. He totally reminds me of my kids in this picture.

You call them that??

So, I was pondering (yes, I am capable) the term brats in my blog name, wondering if folks might think I'm a bit harsh, then I reconsidered. Frankly, anyone reading this will obviously know (and of course love) me for my sarcasm. This naturally includes my most beautiful, amazing, intelligent, adoring, perfect children. (she said mockingly, but truthfully this time) Because they love to look over my shoulder and read what I'm doing. Good thing it's clean. I'm reconsidering this whole teach them to speak and think for themselves thing, though.

This gets me thinking about why I've started this whole blog thing. (Haven't you heard, it is THE in thing to do these days. hehe) Since my beloved friends and family live so far away I should maybe give you all a little update on what makes them tick and their little cutie patutie doings these days. So, here goes.....

Blythe (9 yrs.)- My beautiful ballerina (more to come on Blythe, Oli, and Sophie's upcoming concert later) She is a good example, sister, student, dancer. She's maternal, giving and when I'm asked how I DO 5 kids, I answer "Blythe" (no offense to Jay, the most selfless, loving, best father/husband ever. Did that cover it?) My bro, Bobby, jokes that she ought to dumb it up a bit so that guys won't be so intimidated. haha.

Oliver (7 yrs.)- Where do I begin?? There are many layers to Oli, but underneath it all, he genuinely wants to be kind and loving to everyone. Oliver can turn a bad situation good in 10 seconds flat (or sometimes the opposite). He is also an excellent student which is no small feat with some ADHD struggles. He loves karate and is the only orange belt in an advanced class.

Sophia (4 yrs.)- The drama queen. We call her Sophie in Charge. She has more attitude than the other 4 put together(no easy task). Tiny and sweet despite the 'tude. So much so that she has all dance/pre-school/sunday school teachers convinced she's sweet as pie. She constantly makes us laugh with her big girl comments from a lil girl. She starts kindergarten in the fall.

Hayden (2 yrs.)- Was once my sweet baby boy until he turned 2. Despite the fact that he's a hitting, screaming, fit throwing, typical 2 year old, he's an extremely loving big bro to Izzy. He's a bit gender confused at times with Dad working in OR and being at home all day with 2 sisters and a Mom that loves high heels and handbags. But he adores Oliver, trucks, and throwing balls, as well as (most recently) pointing out others misbehaviors. ie. "Oyi (Oli) BAD or Soapy (Sophie) BAD!!!

Isabel (9 months)- For starters, she's in that perfect phase where she takes good naps and kinda sleeps through the night, she can move around and somewhat entertain herself while attempting to keep up with the big kids. But, most important, she's not a terrible 2 yet. This week she finally started sitting up on her own, which we knew she could do, but chose not to. She crawls a little, but mostly drags herself around like Ursula the Sea Witch from The Little Mermaid. And she has the SWEETEST personality. She really is always happy. Oh, and not only does she slither like Ursula, but she's a big fatty like the Sea Witch!!

I am NOT a runner!!!!!

So, I have officially registered for the Bryce Canyon half marathon. What the H am I thinking?? Whatever. Now Cindi and Sara better sign up cuz I'm not doing this on my own. Maybe Ashley could do it next year if she's not knocked up AGAIN!!!
Stupid Slater sisters!! I'm seriously rethinking this whole adoption thing. My own disfunctional family seems like quite enough. hehe.