Meet Cole

The wait is finally over. 

After years of begging and pleading, mom (me) finally gave in. 

We got a dog!  

He's a very mellow (so far! it was one of my requirements) and wonderful white Golden Retriever named Cole. 

He just turned one, and has been trained.

My visiting teacher was over last week and I told her we were finally getting a dog and she told me about her sister-in-law who's a breeder nearby.  We got in contact with her and she told us she only had dogs for $7,000 - $10,000 (gasp!).  Then she found out we were referred by her family and she let us know about Cole.  She wanted him placed in a loving family.  A family we are, but probably more crazy according to a dog than loving at this point.  

(right when we got home)

He's a bit overwhelmed at the attention and doesn't know who he should be listening to.  Everyone keeps barking out commands.  I think we'll spend more time training our children than we will this dog.

(exploring our backyard)

(At "Golden Meadows")

Oh yeah . . . she's happy.

He looks pretty happy, too.  

The Birthday Fun Doesn't Stop . . . Nor does the size of the gifts!

Tonight we celebrated the Norris Family March birthdays at Chris and Tommie's house. 

It's always like Christmas since there are so many birthdays in March, and the food is always fabulous, and the company even better.

Ashlyn was very excited to get the first of her birthday presents.  Her birthday isn't until the 31st, so she thought this was pretty cool.   Madison ended up getting sick and wasn't able to open all her presents.  She had a raging headache and a fever.  Poor thing! 

Ashlyn's in a Princess stage . . . so anything princess suits her well. 

The big surprise was this giant dog from Grandma and Grandpa.  

(What were they thinking????  Oh I know, torture the parents . . . where in the heck are we going to fit such a beast?)

Ashlyn was so excited about this canine monstrosity.  She was giddy when she pulled him out of the bag.  She rode on him and hugged him and had the best time.  In fact, all the kids did.  

She had him like this in the car the whole 45-minute drive home.  She wanted him to be in her bed too, then quickly realized there was not enough room for both of them and he is instead on her floor right now being a good guard dog.  She named him "Bernie" as he is a Bernese Mountain Dog.  I think he's part Wooly Mammoth.  

Maybe Madison will be satisfied with this dog in the house for a while as we search for real dog.  Hmmm . . . I may be on to something.

One Decade Old!

Happy Birthday Madison!!

You are such a wonderful big sister.  You look out for your siblings and are so patient with them.  Mom and Dad can't wait for you to be old enough to babysit only because we know we'll be able to trust you.

You were such a trouper when you almost had to have your appendix removed.  We are all very glad that you did not undergo surgery!

Cute and fun!  This was taken at Foster Freeze in Carpinteria . . . a tradition! 

You are such a good missionary - always have been and still are.  There were many, many non-members at your baptism and friends are always joining in whatever activity you are participating. 

You've grown so much now!  

Your birthday present from us:  a pooper scooper!  Love that expression of not knowing what in the world that thing is!  Also included was a bowl, leash, and bags (for the scooper).

The realization hits!  I'M GETTING A DOG!!!!!!!!

Can you tell she's a teensy weensy bit excited?

Note:  we've been searching for the 'perfect' dog for our family.  Now Madison can be in on the search.

Pure Joy.  So worth it. 

We celebrated at night with Grandma and Grandpa Merrill, Carnell and Lisa & Danny. 

What do you think of our ice cream cake???

Madison, we love you.  You are an awesome, beautiful, smart, kind and compassionate girl.  Friends are always drawn to be with you because of your sweet spirit.  You are our angel, Maddy Boo!

 

A Slumber(less) Party Breakfast

The Birthday Girl requested chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.  

Some girls have never tried chocolate chip pancakes before (!?) and they were a HIT!

The stack was devoured.

The morning was fun with more performances, skits, songs, and Wii Sing It

It was a beautiful morning . . . John was smart to escape to the much quieter backyard. 

Madison and her friends had a great time . . . that's what was important and I think we could chalk this up to another successful birthday party.

Happy Birthday Madison!

A Slumber(less) Party!

Madison has always wanted a slumber party

so

for her 10th birthday, she invited 10 (or so) friends

and had a rip-roarin', screamin'-fun party.

You can't imagine the decibel level 15 children (14 girls) can achieve! 

Amazing.  I'm surprised my neighbors didn't complain or the coyotes didn't join in.

Pizza, pizza, and more pizza!

The "Lava Cake" (for lack of a better name) was quite the experience . . . delicious and messy!

They played American Idol and did such a great job! Some performed numbers from "Wicked" while others, like Brooke and Jenna, made up their own song:

When ever we get scared we jump into Maddy's arms

So that is how we know Maddy is our friend

She is the best

She is the best

She is the best

She is our really truly best friend

She is the rose of our hearts

She is the best ever.

So cute!  She strummed the guitar and sang her little heart out.  What a doll!

FREEZE Dance!!!

Scavenger Hunt!  We ran through the neighborhood looking for 10 odd items.  The neighbors were all very cooperative and happy to accommodate.   The girls LOVED it and had a super-fab time!!

John called everyone in for a surprise . . . Madison's baby video!  I didn't even know he pulled them out.  She was the cutest little one and all her friends loved it. 

Present Time!

It's slumber time!  We set up a projector in the living room for the movie (Penelope).  Fitting 15 kids comfortably was quite the feat. 

The last girl fell asleep at 1:15, then they started waking up at 6:20. 

I think I'm still recovering! 

Weekend Update

Sometimes you just have to go with the flow. 

Sometimes impromptu soirees turn out to be much more fun than the stress-induced planned parties. 

That's exactly what happened Friday night.  We just planned on having Brooke's friend, Victoria, over for our traditional Friday-Night-Movie-Night activity.  Plans changed.

We stayed after school until nearly 5:30 due to a budget meeting (crazy economic times).  

I wasn't planning on getting home that late - neither were the kids.  They look forward all week long to Friday after school so they can have their play dates.  

We brought our other friend, Monroe, home from school too as her mom was still stuck there facilitating the meeting.  No big deal:  Monroe lives across the street and is very accustomed to coming over.  Then I got a phone call from a friend who's new in my ward looking for a babysitter that's not involved in road show (all the youth were tied up at dress rehearsal).   She  needed a break from the kids . . . long week . . . I am one who completely understands that concept.  I suggested, then pleaded, then demanded that she just bring her two cute kids over to my house since we were home anyway with friends over.  That way she could go to the mall and get a much-needed fix of Godiva or whatever floated her boat.  

As she was dropping off her kids, my RS Pres called and said one of my v.t. girls' father is passing away and to see if I could help out.  Sure!  She lives up the street and I could see her kids (as well as the cousins- my other v.t. girls' kids) all outside playing.  I headed up the street, and had all five kids come over too.  

What to do with THIRTEEN little kids - all under the age of 10?  

I took a few of them with me to pick up some pizza at Tony's, our local joint.

Some got electric guitar lessons from John.  Some danced along with the player piano.

Some played Wii, some watched a VegiTales movie, some played baby dolls, 

some (well one) cute little crawling baby discovered kitchen cupboards.

And some entertained themselves on the stairs. 

I much preferred this to playing football on the stairs (that I sent out back).

Here is my friend Melissa, all refreshed and returned from getting her hair done (and a Godiva fix) playing train down the stairs.

It's important to note Ashlyn's dress-up:  it's a Good Ship Lollipop outfit Brooke used for her dance recital when she was Ash's age!  How could that be?

Turned out to be a very fun night.  Even my niece Domonique stopped by to borrow a book (Twilight) and hung out for a spell (and ate pizza).  If you want a party in Newbury Park, you know where to come!

Saturday is a Special Day

Saturday proved to be just as crazy.  Well, almost.

Victoria ended up sleeping over, I went to kickboxing in the morning, then

picked up Madison's friend to go running, took all the kids to the park, then got them to archery lessons, then picked up In-n-Out for lunch, and Golden Spoon, then home to eat and get ready for the Road Show at 3:00.  Right as we were walking out the door for Road Show, the missionaries called to remind me they were coming over for dinner (gasp!!).  

The house is torn apart, we weren't going to be home until 5:30 - I'd been gone all day and didn't have a plan for dinner.  

Since John was busily trying to get the floor finished, he wouldn't have time to stop for dinner anyway.  Looks like it was time for Tony's Pizza again.  The missionaries were THRILLED to have their own fresh hot pepperoni pizza delivered to them at the church in between Road Show performances.  

I was thrilled to have everything work out so well and everyone was happy.  

After we got the friends home, everyone fed, bathed and put to bed, I was able to clean the house and settle down for a Saturday night movie date with my hubby!  

If you haven't seen Fireproof yet, I highly recommend it.  

I am also grateful for John working so hard to get the wood floor in the office installed. 

Next is the living room/dining room!

Saturday is the day we get ready for Sunday:  Ward Conference!  My third one.  I'm having a great time going to the different ward conferences.  We are handling the entire primary for sharing time so the adults can go to a 3rd hour joint meeting.  3 down, 3 to go.

Singin' in the Rain

Since we have a short rainy season here, when the rain comes, it's cause for celebration!

The kids love to play in the rain.  I particularly love the spring rains when it's warmer and there are bouts of sunshine - just right for rainbow making.

It's raining outside, so go ahead and put on your rain gear and have some fun! 

As kids, we loved to make boats out of leaves or paper and watch them float down the swollen gutters, down the drain, and then we'd run to the bridge to see the boats make their way down the wash.  

Now when my kids dress up and play outside in the rain, neighbors will stop their cars to watch as if they've never seen children playing in the rain before.  Simple entertainment is such a novelty these days.  

  

This was taken one year ago, March 2008:

Christian, Ashlyn, Brooke

Four Years Ago March 2005:

Christian is the baby,

Brooke and Madison

It's also funny to see the rain gear recycled from one kid to the next.