Just a little taste of life at the Alder house

Tonight Russ is going to be late coming home. I decided to try and get ahead of things and give the kids an early bath so that I can have all the kids to bed and dinner ready when he gets home. Since the weather today is SO WONDERFUL here I have all the windows open and the doors to the screened in porch open. The boys love to play out there and here is a little video of what I saw when I peaked around the corner. FYI, this is NOT out of the norm for our house. Oh, and by the way, if you can't hear what Ashton is singing, it is "What will we do with a drunken sailor." That is one of the songs that he and his daddy like to listen to in the office!! haha!! Only Russ!! Got to love him!

Elmo

Can I start by saying that I am so happy most of my friends haven't posted much over the summer? I feel like a terrible mom but wow, we sure have been busy. I am vowing to be better as soon as we get back in the swing of things.

Today I took the twins to see Elmo. Ashton wasn't able to come since he is now going to IC for preschool. Kellie, Owen, and my mom also went. We had so much fun! Everyone really liked it but I have to say that I really got my moneys worth with Henry's ticket! HE LOVED IT!! Never even moved a muscle!!

First day of preschool

Ashton had his first day of preschool today. He was a little unsure this morning when he woke up and had very little to say. On the way there I asked him if he wanted to listen to "his songs" and he told me no. I then asked if he wanted to watch a little bit of a movie on the way and he told me no again. I decided to just talk to him and he told me to be quiet. I guess it was the nerves because he never wants to sit in a quiet car.

As soon as we pulled up at IC he got very excited. That made me feel a lot better because I thought I was going to be in for a rough drop off. We walked in and talked to his teacher, Wendy Hindley. Next we walked to the room next door to see his cousin, Aiden. All was well until I took him back to his classroom and told him that I had to go home to take care of the twins but that I would be back in a little while to pick him up. Well, that is when things turned around. His little eyes swelled up and and he told me, "I not want to stay at big school with Miss Hindley. No thank you Mommy!" As much as I hated seeing him so upset I knew that it would only be worse if I stayed because that would just drag it out. So I kissed him goodbye and handed him to Wendy.

I am DYING to go pick him up this afternoon!!! I can't wait to hear how he did after I left. I sure hope he didn't cry for long.


Here are a couple of pictures of Russ trying to teach Ash how to ride a big boy bike. Look closly at his bike, YES it is a Dora bike!! I know that it is supposed to be for a girl but he LOVES Dora!!! I always say that he has a thing for older Hispanic women!! hahaha!! Oh, and yes he is wearing a pink shirt. He is very secure in his manhood. How else could he ride a Dora bike and wear a pink shirt at the same time!!

Such BIG boys!

The twins are growing so fast and are really enjoying feeding themselves! So, we decided to just give them a bowl of mashed potatoes and see what happened! They can definitely make quite the mess, but unless we want to feed them until they're 18, guess we'll have to deal with it! :)

And of course, we don't like to eat peas if the are on our plate, but if they belong my brother, I will eat them up!!

EXTREME bedroom makeover!!

I have been waiting very patiently to have my bedroom completely finished so that I could post before and after pictures. For those of you who don't know, Russ and I bought our house about 6 months ago from the sweetest couple! They are a little older than our parents and had pretty great taste as far as most of the house went but I have to say that their choice of curtains in the master bedroom was not very good to say the least. I couldn't wait to replace them. I swear I would wake up every morning looking at those curtains and just dreaming of the day I could replace them. Unfortuanely, all the light that comes in through the windows doesn't allow you to see how great my new curtains are but you can at least get a feel!
I am going to show you after first!

Ok this is before! How about ALL of those curtains!! I wish I would have taken some more up close!

Let me know what you think!!

Catching up

Ok so forgive me but I am having some blogging problems. I can't seem to get my pictures to work with me so this post it kind of crazy!
I was reminded last night by Leigh that I haven't posted anything in a long time so...here you go Leigh!!
This picture is from the Bahamas last week. Russ and I went ALONE!!!! The kids stayed here with Miss Lara. We had a wonderful and relaxing long weekend.

This is the only picture we have together and it isn't even on the beach!

This is a picture I took from our patio which walked out onto the beach. So wonderful! I had to take the picture of myself because my sweet husband had a little too many adult beverages that afternoon and he was taking a power nap! hahaha!!

This is what he looked like most of the trip. I don't really like him smoking cigars but I told him it wouldn't bother me while we were on vacation. Little did I know that he would have one in his mouth THE ENTIRE TRIP!!

This is just a cute picture of Henry from this week. He and Harper are both really coming into themselves and are both developing a precious little personality!

Today I was looking for the twins and I found them both with Russ in his office. I was cracking up over the Indiana Jones hats that are sooo big you can't even see their faces. Oh, and do you all notice the newest member of our feline family? SOOOO GROSS!!

How cute is this? I just love it!!

And now for the biggest news all summer......Does anyone notice who is wearing big boy underwear????? I have to say we are no where near potty trained but Ashton has not worn a diaper since Thursday. I may go insane before it is all over but I am determined to get this guy potty trained. We have accidents but I figure that is just part of it. I will keep you all updated but pray for me!! I need all the patience I can get during this VERY TRYING time!!

Oh, one last thing....my brother-in-laws, Tristan and Jon, who are twins and both married their high school sweethearts this last year, are BOTH expecting babies!!! Two more boys to add to the Alder family! We are so excited!! (If you don't know already, we know they will be boys because there hasn't been a girl on Russ' side of the family in 106 years. The chances are not good but I am still keeping my fingers crossed for Brooke and Amber. I know they would both love a girl!!)

This picture is of one proud little boy wearing his big boy underwear! Yea Ash!!!

And last but not least, this is what happens when Daddy sneaks the baby a cookie!

4th of July

We had a very fun and very laid back 4th of July. My parents and Russ' parents came over to our house for a cookout and we shot off some fireworks in the driveway and cul-da-sac. Thanks MiMi for taking pictures. Sorry you were not in any of them!

All the boys liked the smoke bombs.

Henry didn't really like the smoke coming right toward him!

Later in the evening, after the twins went to bed, we shot off some bigger fireworks. Ash was a little unsure at first but was fine as long as I covered his ears.

PaPa always loves to tease Ashton! You can tell from Ashton's face that he really doesn't mind!

Lots of fun!!! Now only two more days and Russ and I are off to the Bahamas for a vacation!!! NO KIDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't think I have ever been so excited about a trip! It can't get here soon enough. Momma needs a BREAK!

Harper's first steps!!

Look who is FINALLY walking!! Harper just decided tonight that he wanted to walk. I have waited a LONG time for this! I am one VERY HAPPY MOMMY!!!

Birthday party

Friday Ashton turned 3. Can you even believe it? Crazy! Anyway, we had a small school party and then a dinosaur party at our house on Saturday. Thank goodness we had good weather! It was so much fun and all the kids played SO hard!
We had a bounce around, a snow cone machine, did a "dinosaur dig", and also had a couple of dinosaur pinates.
So what do you all think of this dinosaur cake? Not quite what I was expecting! It reminds me more of the bleeding armadillo cake on Steel Magnolias!!
Oh don't mind how dark I am! Just had a spray tan. It only looks THAT dark right after I get sprayed. hahaha

Ashton and Maggie Rae on the bouncy


How about this awesome T-Rex watermelon? I would love to take credit for carving it but you all know that I couldn't do that! Thanks Miss Lara!

The best part of the party was when the kids were all eating their cake and Russ asked if Ashton is supposed to eat the candles? I totally freaked out and made him spit it all out and then cleaned off his tongue. Turns out that Maggie Rae gave him the candles to lick the icing of off and poor Ash got a little confused and just took a huge bite out of it! Too funny!!

I love this picture of Aiden! I have a very similar picture from last year but he didn't have any hair due to his chemotherapy. How things change in a year!!

This last picture is all the kids having their dinosaur dig

Happy Day!

What a wonderful day today is!!!! Henry IS WALKING!!!! He is still crawling a little but mainly walking! We have only waited 18 months and 2 days but who is counting!! Ha ha! Thank you to the Gregory Kistler Center and especially his therapist, Kristen Ricketts! Oh how I LOVE that girl!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now we just have to get Harper walking. Congrats to my baby Henry who isn't as much of a baby anymore but trust me, I AM NOT COMPLAINING!!!!!!!!!! Can you tell how excited I am?

Wonderful wedding weekend

This weekend one of Russ' twin brothers got married to his junior high sweetheart. They have dated since they were 14 years old! Isn't that amazing!! The wedding was at Russ' parents house. It really couldn't have been a nicer weekend. Russ' aunt came over from England and his brother Tim was also in town. We had so much fun hanging out with him. He has to be one of the funniest people I have ever met and he and Russ together are hilarious!

My wonderful father-in-law and mother-in-law

Russ and I at the rehearsal

My brother-in-law, Tristan (the other twin) and his beautiful wife, Amber

Brooke and her dad

The happy couple!

Jon and Brooke had been taking dance lessons. I have to admit, I laughed at first because Jon is really shy and I couldn't imagine him dancing in front of people. Let me just tell you, I haven't ever seen anything so sweet. It was amazing! I don't think there was a dry eye!

Here is the best father-in-law in the world! I love this man!!!

My sister-in-law Amber and my nephew Aiden. Can you all tell how healthy he is! You would never know that little boy is in remission for leukemia!

Tim, Ashley, and Russ

Cindy and Aiden