Christmas finally

I know it is late, but it is still December. We had a great Christmas! Three actually. My mom's Christmas Eve, our house Christmas day, and Dodd's mom's the day after! My sisters Teresa and Emily did cute blogs of their Christmas decorations... since they live so far I thought it was a great idea so we could see their things. So here is mine.

I only know a few songs on the piano and don't play much... but it is a great place to display Christmas decorations. Hope this doesn't offend you Emily! Kelsey loves baby Jesus and tries to swipe them all. The puzzle nativity is Jake's favorite, he does it at least 5 times a day.

Yes even the piano bench gets a nativity.

Growing up we didn't have a fireplace in our home, so we would pin our stocking to the couch for Santa. We do have a fireplace in our home now, but it is in the other room and I still like hanging them from the couch. I also have the most awesome tree this year.... it spins!! Thanks Tammy. I smile every time I see it!

This is our Santa dog. Brooke and I found the suit at the dollar store. Poor dog... so humiliating.

I can't leave out Dodd's contribution.... the lights. Cars always slow down to check out our house. Nice job Hun.

Oh... have to have one family photo.

Well there you go... Christmas at the Stolworthy's.

How we entertain Micah

Brooke is 7

My baby is seven. She is getting so big! She is the sweetest girl. She is always very helpful and an awesome big sister. She does great in school and is learning to read so well! Brooke is always so good, we are so lucky to have her!

She wanted a Shamu birthday party, probably from

our recent trips to Sea World. I hit the dollar store and got really lucky finding these blow up killer whales. We had an obstacle course which the kids had to do while "riding" on their whales. Then they took them home as a party favor. I made her cake and sculpted little whales out of fondant. The party turned out nice and Brooke loved it.

Air Force One

No Ashby holiday get together is complete without crashing /I mean flying an RC airplane. This is Dodd's plane he got for Christmas last year. The first flight wasn't so great = he crashed it. The next day we tried again at the park by our house, and it flew great = he didn't crash it. Watch for Kelsey's duck and cover on the second one, too funny!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Jake the Indian and Brooke the Pilgrim!

Kelsey as a Pilgrim too

They are back!

The kids with Grandma and Grandpa

My parents went on a cross country RV trip in September when my dad retired. They went to Boston to see Emily, hit Kansas on the way back to see Teresa and many other places along the way. I have always lived close to home and the past three months is the longest I have ever gone without seeing my parents. I handled it okay, but I am sure glad they are home!!
Jesse and Kelsey with the Turkeys they made.

She did it!!!!

Sunday was our Primary Program at church and this is how Brooke felt about it. She is very self conscience and doesn't like a lot of attention. Since she was a baby she has hated people watching her. She has never had a part in the program before, but this year I thought she was old enough to handle it. Obviously she was very nervous but she did it!! She was great!

Family Kayaking

Saturday we took the big kids kayaking. We thought it would be nice to do something fun with just the big kids. They were less then thrilled when we told them. We told them it was stay home and take naps or come with us. Crazy kids. It was very windy for the first half and it was harder than I thought it was going to be. We paddled up into the Keys where is was less windy. We checked out all the nice houses and big boats and saw a few seals. It ended up being a great day and I would love to do it again someday when the kids can help paddle!

Jake update

Soccer is over!! At the party they gave out trophies. Jake was so excited about his first trophy. They also got medals and shark tooth necklaces. Playing soccer was so good for him. He really improved and had a great time playing.

Last Monday Jake had a little surgery to remove a lump in his neck. He had a large lymph node for over a year and had some night sweating so the Doctors (and mom) wanted to make sure it was nothing serious. Everything came back fine and we are so thankful to have a happy healthy boy!

I am 10,950 days

On the Sky Room.

Kelsey loves Elmo!

I had my 30th birthday on Monday! My kids like to say it in days. I am so old! It was a great day. We went to Sea World to use our passes. The weather was so nice, and there was no one there!! The kids had an awesome time at the Bay of Play. We walked onto all the rides and got to ride several times without getting back in line. We both decided we will never do Sea World in the Summer time again!

Halloween 2008

Kelsey-Bunny, Dodd-Dad, Jake-Skeleton, Brooke-gymnast

Me-50's girl, Micah-Dogie

Shelsi and Eric -Throwing candy at kids.

Everyone in Halloween clothes except Brooke

It was Red Ribbon Week at school so she is in red.

I love Halloween! Our neighborhood does too. We had tons of kids come. We had so much candy and still ran out. We had family and friends over for dinner and then Trick-or-Treating. We sat out in the driveway, passed out candy and watched the kids in their costumes (or lack there of). I don't know why the trend has become to see who can wear the least clothing, but we saw a lot of skin last night! 15 year old girls wearing things that are only appropriate in an adults bedroom. I don't understand why parent's let their girls dress like that. Next year I want to make sign "No skanky costumes allowed".

This is the back of a "bunny" I chased across the street for a picture, but it was too dark. Tiny costume, black fish nets and black high heels. What?

Micah says No

Deja vu

Brooke and Jake (Paci babies, very serious)

Kelsey and Micah (no paci, very happy)

The Money Tree

Jake and Brooke helped Dodd pick avocados at Grandma's last week. Dodd climbed up high and dropped them down to the kids who caught them in a towel. Our kids make big money selling them to the neighbors. They are in high demand... we have people coming over asking for them. It is funny that Dodd used to sell avocados from this same tree when he was a kid. It is a family business now! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

New Pictures

Terrific Twos

Kelsey is really showing us how "terrific" two can be. Brooke and Jake were so mellow, now Kelsey Lou is making up for it. This is how I found her when she was up stairs "napping". A little too much lipstick there Kelsey. Later that same day Brooke was painting a project in the garage and Kelsey got into it of course. Nice legs baby. She is in to everything and is the first of my children to color on the walls. She has a favorite spot behind the door of the playroom. She has so much personality and energy!! She definitely keeps us on our toes! (Maybe we should stop encouraging her by taking her picture.)

Love that boy

Jake cracks me up all the time. These are just two I don't want to forget.

The one of our neighbor's house alarms went off. We where up stairs getting the kids ready for bed. So we watched out Jake's window as the police men drove up. Jake says "how do the policemen have such good ears?"

Taking Jake to school one morning I had two bags of emergency supplies to turn in. One with extra clothes and one with snacks. Jake saw them and asked if he was the Snack Leader for the day, so I tried to explain the bags. I didn't want to scare him so I started to tell him that we live in a place that has earthquakes, when the ground shakes. He says "what are the fruit snacks going to help".

I love him!!!

Feed Me

Micah had his first real food today! Being a hefty boy we decided to skip the baby food and go straight to the chicken legs! He is my biggest baby weighing in at 19lbs at 4 months, that's bigger than Jake was.

He would probably love chicken legs but rice cereal will have to do for awhile. All the kids had fun taking turns feeding him. He didn't have much of a reaction, not too impressed. It will get better Micah.. promise.

Jake on fire!

My little guy turned it on today at his soccer game and made 2 goals!! Something just clicked and he figured out what he was supposed to be doing. A big difference from the first game when he just sat down in the middle of the field for a break during the game! He was awesome! Can you tell I have become a proud Soccer Mom!! I got a clip of his second goal. It is really short and shaky but I have to share it. He is #6! Go Jake.

My New Fav Blogs

These are my new favorite blogs. I have no idea who they are, I found them blog hopping! One is fake, one is real, both are hilarious!!
http://seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com/
http://mormonhusbands.blogspot.com/

Professional Photography

As I have confessed before I am a nut when it comes to my kid's pictures. I have them done every month for the first year. Well Micah turned 4 months and I never had the time to take him in, so I set up a blanket in my living room and did my own photo shoot. I thought they turn out really cute and today while at Costco I had one printed. When I went to pick it up the lady asked if they were professional and where they were taken and made me sign a paper saying they were mine. Overboard! Next time I will have to print some of these out takes so she knows it was no professional!

Jake is 5!!

My little Buster is 5 today. I keep telling him I want him to be 4 again but he just won't go for it. We took him to Lazar Star with Cody, Jesse, Tammy and our friends Ricky, Nicolas and Veronica. He was so excited. This morning Brooke asked me what kind of cake I was going to make for him. I had totally forgotten about a cake!! So I asked Jake what he wanted and he said "A cake with monkeys chasing bananas". What?? I tried to get him to do a Spiderman or Batman... something I could go buy, but this is what he wanted. Not bad for being thrown together last minute! Jake is the best little boy! Happy Birthday Jake!

Soccer

Jake is playing AYSO soccer this fall. Yesterday was his second game. It is really the funniest thing. Of course it is not real soccer... all the kids crowd around trying to get a kick in. We need to teach Jake to be more aggressive. He is so polite, he won't even try to kick the ball if someone else has it. He is getting better and is really enjoying it.

This is him chatting to a team-mate while the game is going on behind him.

First Day of School

School started yesterday. Brooke is now in first grade! She wasn't too happy getting up this morning, she was really nervous! Once we got to school she did great. She came home happy and said she had a good day. YAY School!!

4 months

This is Micah at 4 months! I can't believe how fast he is growing! We just love this little guy! He is so happy and sweet!!

Can the world handle it!?!?

(The other Amy and Dodd Family!! )
Two Amy and Dodds!?!? I guess so. A few years ago one of my sisters slightly mixed up my e-mail address and started sending e-mails to another couple named Amy and Dodd! It was very funny to meet people with our names and with very similar e-mail addresses! They have two children, a girl and a boy, and live in Louisiana. We lost contact for a while, then last week Amy e-mailed me with pictures and asked how we were doing. She is a hoot and we have come up with more similarities.
-She love deals too!! People at her work call them "Amy Deals".
-Dodd is the fun one in their family! We all know that is true for us! Her Dodd put his fishing boat in a pond on their property so the kids could knee board. So something my Dodd would do!
-Her Dodd does Iron Man competitions just like my Dodd!! Oh wait! No that wasn't one of them!!
Anyway, I think it is so fun and I am glad we found them. Someday we will have to do an Amy and Dodd reunion. =)

San Diego

This week we took the kids to San Diego. We stayed Wednesday night at the KOA campground in these cool cabins. The campground was so clean and nice... we can't wait to go back. We went swimming, cooked dinner, played at the parks and rented bikes.

The next day we went to Sea World. Overall we had a nice day. It was sooo hot so we went to the Shamu show and sat in the Soak Zone so we could get wet and cool off. We put the kids in their swim suits and prepared ourselves for the tidal wave of relief! Shamu came out and splashed everyone but us. Seriously we didn't get one drop!! Thanks a lot Shamu!! The kids loved the new Bay of Play. It has a huge climbing structure and all the Sesame Street characters.

We have a second trip free to use by the end of the year so we are thinking of going back in October when the kids have their fall break.

After I had nursed the baby all over the park in very public places I found this nursing room. I thought the sign was funny. I should just have a big sign to hang around my neck.