Big Kid Play Time

The boys stood for a few minutes discussing the best way to get over there. Arm over arm, or sit on top and slide.

Tim built a HUGE playground for the kids to play on. Tim is simply a big kid in a man's body. During the construction of this playground it has morphed into a playground on steriods.

Tonight's dare was...see who could go all the way out to the end of bar where the tire swing is suppose to be... three were up to the challenge. Check out to see who was first...

Here's a hint...it wasn't these two!

My idea...build me a playground with a slide and swings. I want a tower that the kids can play on, and have shade underneath it.

Tim's idea...slides ~ multiple slides, rock wall, rope ladder, and zip line.

My humble playground is so big that my big kids can play on it... Ironically, it is not yet finished. I'll give you a tour.

Do you see Ashley? She skipped the whole "shimmy across the swing pole" and went right for the edge!

Cheater!

Here is Ashley on the right. She didn't use any stinkin' ladder to get up, she swung up and started halfway! There are three swings, and the pole that is at a 45degree angle is where the tire swing will go. I have to find a retractable metal shade for my large window first.

This is now unofficially my favorite picture. I love the cross in the background. I looks really cool! Good Job, Tim.

Tim added the cross, and even put electricity up there. That way we can string lights on it.

My fear: electrical rod.

I had forgotten that I haven't posted picts of the remodel. I'll have to get busy. You can see in the background that the a/c unit is up and the roof is there. We are puting on a tin roof. Very cool. I love it. We will do the entire house eventually. We will definately have to wait until the rainy season is over. Tim fell off the roof this week. It wasn't pretty.

A True Soccer Mom

How scary is this?

I'm now, officially... a soccer coach! Yep, took the class, took the test, and guess what?

I passed! On the first try!

Now I have to figure out how to dribble a soccer ball.

Why? You ask why?

a. I felt left out when Tim got his certification, and coached the girls' team.
b. I was bored with 18 month old twins, a 3 year old, and a 15 year old.

c. I had too much time on my hands. Boredom, mundane chores...

d. Ashley wanted to coach a boy's soccer team and needed an adult coach.

You decide.

I have to admit. I'm pretty excited! Coaching U8 boys will be a fun challenge. By the way, I don't have a 6-7 year old boy. Nor do any of my friends. I LOVE my daughter.

Pizza Night!

Chandler piling on the sausage. He ate sausage, pepperoni, and olives on his pizza!


Cameren, still trying to get used to Aunt Robyn's camera constantly in his face.

My nephews have been staying with us off and on this summer. Chandler is 11, and Cameren is 10. The boys are amazing to have around. They play with the little boys during the day, help Ashley with her chores, and then watch HOURS of Gilmore Girls at night with Ashley. Poor guys...

Friday night we had PIZZA! My all time favorite. At our house, we grill our pizza. Since none of us eat the same kind of pizza, the whole made from scratch plan is handy. This is how our evening went...

1. Make the pizza dough.

My dough recipe came from allrecipes.com. It is called Pizza Dough III. It is a really good dough that does well on the barbeque. In addition to the basic ingredients, I add 1/2 cup bread flour, 1 tsp garlic, 1 tsp thyme, and 2 tsp italian seasoning. (Just a tip: bread dough has more gluten in it therefore it is better for the barbeque. It seems to stick together better.)

Can you see the spices in the dough? Yummy!

I divide my dough into quarters or whatever works. This way everyone gets their own pizza.

2. Assemble the toppings.

None of us eat the same kind of pizza. We all like different toppings so this gets a little crazy. If you are barbequeing your pizzas, make sure you have all of your toppings ready before you put your dough on the grill.

From the top and clockwise: Feta cheese, pesto sauce, pineapple, pepperoni, sausage, marinara/pizza sauce, black olives, mozzarella cheese, kalamata olives and artichoke hearts chopped and mixed.

3. Place dough directly on grill, and shut the lid.

Allow your dough to cook. You don't want to burn the bottom side, but cook it until the top is no longer doughy. I usually get ours lightly brown on the bottom.

See the bubbles forming? You want to take a knife and pop them. You can tell that the crusts on the sides are cooking nicely. They are about ready to take off the grill to "decorate".

4. Assemble the pizza.

On a plate, put the cooked side of the pizza up. You will assemble your pizza then stick it back in the barbeque.Tyler had to have the "perfect crust." He chose this one! You can see that the crust is lightly browned.

Oh dear. This is one of those days that the twins don't have clothes on. Trust me when I say that it DOES NOT happen often. I truly dislike looking at kids in diapers. They should at least have shorts on. Sorry.

Tyler is scoping out the toppings. He said he didn't like olives but he likes the raviolis. He calls pepperoni ravioli. Took me a few minutes to figure that one out!Ashley "saucing up" her pizza crust.

5. Heat it up!

Almost done...once your pizza is assembled, put it back on the grill. You will want to close the lid again. You are going to cook it until the cheese is melted. I use a pesto sauce on my pizza so I like my crust a little crispy. I usually leave mine on a little longer.

There is not a single pizza on this grill that is the same. Cameren was pepperoni and sausage only; Chandler is pepperoni, sausage, and black olive; Ashley was pineapple; Tim was pepperoni, black olive, and my kalamata olive/artichoke heart combo; Tyler was simply cheese, pepperoni, and more cheese; and the twins...just cheese. Mine isn't there yet...I use pesto sauce, mozzarella cheese, feta cheese, little sausage, and lots of kalamata olives/artichoke hearts combo. Mmmmm.....

6. Cut and Eat!

Enjoy your favorite hand tossed, barbeque cooked, homemade pizza!

Chandler folded his like a pizza taco.

Post Adoption Party

After the ceremony at the court house; grandparents, cousins, and friends finally made it to the house to help "welcome" Tyler to the family. I made a homemade, ice cream sandwich cake. Nope, you can't have the recipe. It sucked. We had fun being together though! Enjoy the photos!

This is Chandler, Gage, Cameren, Larry (Pop), and Grandma Goof.

Grandpa and Tyler.

Aunti Deb! We are so lucky to have Debi and her husband Bobby in our lives. They are honorary Auntie and Uncle.

Aiden

Isaiah

Adoption Ceremony

Wednesday, July 17, 2009, Tyler Stephan Roth officially became our little bundle of joy.

We are now the proud family of 6.

Yep, count them. Who knew that in 18 months time we would go from a double income, single child, family ~ to a family of 6... and with one income! Thank you for your prayers. Keep them coming! :)

Tyler was so excited for Adoption Day. (Shoption Day is how he pronounced it. Not sure where the "sh" sound comes from.) We had been talking about what adoption meant to us and to him. We told him that we would all go to the courthouse and the judge would pound his gavel and say, "Tyler Roth, you can now live with Tim, Robyn, Ashley, Aiden, and Isaiah forever." He would get a big smile on his face. It was so cute.
The day of adoption was special. He got to choose breakfast (cinnamon rolls and eggs), and lunch (corn dogs and tater tots). We had planned an ice cream celebration for afterwards. The grandparents were invited, as well as a few friends.

Before we were all sworn in, Tyler wanted to know who everyone was. He would point (something I'm trying to break him of) and say, "Who's that?" or "What is she doing?" He paid very close attention to every detail. Tyler even raised his hand and listened intently to what we were suppose to repeat. He made sure to tell the judge his name is Tyler, and then he made sure the judge knew that he had gotten a hair cut that morning. Nice. Fortunately, the judge is very nice and LOVES presiding over the adoptions. Adoption Day is his favorite day of the week ~ or so his secretary told me.


Here we are. I'm holding Isaiah, the judge is holding Tyler, Ashley (our vision in orange), then Tim holding Aiden. If you scroll back to Dec. of 2008 you will see a similar picture from the finalization of the twins! Same judge! Hes got my vote!

The Roth Six!

Not quite a soccer team, but we seem to be heading in that direction! Please, continue those prayers!! :)

Auntie Deb, our very good friend came to the ceremony. It's a good thing she was there ~ my parents were traveling up from the city, but got stuck on the freeway ~ so she took the photos. There was a wildland fire, and the fire crews had to close the freeway. They were stuck in 100 + degree weather. Yuck. Fortunately, they were able to get by and they made it to the house for the Post Adoption Ice Cream Sandwich Party. Yippee!

Aaaggghhhh.....Blog Twitter Time

Man, I just spent the last hour glancing through my old blog posts. I forgot that my kids were babies! They are so sweet.

Wow. They grow so much in a year. There was even a change in Ashley.

Oh the memories... and the hair styles... I didn't realize how often I change my hair...

I forgot about the Brad Paisley concert...that was fun.

Oh Yeah...I Forgot!

Ashley and I got new hair do's in June. I didn't realize that I hadn't posted the picts. The pictures were taken the day after our trip to the city for girl night.

As many of you know, Ashley and I head down towards Phoenix to get our hair done. Roland, my wonder with scissors hair stylist, is awesome. He can cut curly hair so it can be worn curly or straight. (Those of you with curly hair are well aware of this dilemma.) When we got there, I showed Roland two hair styles that I really liked. Neither of which were curly hair styles. Nothing new there. Everyone knows how much I love thick, straight, brown hair. (Note: my hair is curly and blond) Roland gently reminded me that I was married, and asked if I was sure I wanted to "chop it off". ("it" being my hair ~ not my marriage ~ reminding me that Tim isn't fond of short hair) I had a confident "Yep!" and told him to ponder my "New Do" while he worked his magic on Ashley.
Ashley, already having a nice wave to her hair, wanted a curly perm. Think back to the 80's/90's spiral perms. That is what she wanted. Isn't it cute? She loves it!

Want to know what else we did on our Girl's Night Out? We shopped for a weight bar. Ashley is into lifting weights, and she had to have a weight bar. Yes, of course I bought it for her. What else was I to do?

We have appointments in 2 weeks for trims and color. Wonder what we will do next...

"Hat"

Have you heard about "Signing Time"? It is a program that teaches babies through adults how to sign.(OK, so perhaps it is directed towards the baby/toddler age, but I'm learning too!) It's well worth the money to buy the entire program.

We got started on Signing Time when Isaiah's speech therapist suggested I have Isaiah watch the show. Not having cable/dish/satellite/etc. we don't get the appropriate station. I did the next best thing - I bought the baby program. Let me tell you ~ Baby Signing Time is awesome. The "littles" don't normally sit through any show. Baby Signing Time isn't any different, but even when they are roaming through the house, they can still pick up a couple signs here and there. Tyler is enthralled with it. He loves to watch it. (Yep, he will watch almost anything...) Below, is a picture of all three kids signing "hat". Tyler knows quite a few words to sign, and the littles are picking it up slowly, but surely.

I think they have their own language and don't much care for anyone else's language. I would say that it is a "twin thing", but Tyler can sometimes interpret. Hmmm... a brother thing?

Adoption Day!!

Here is our big boy. He is all ready for preschool this morning. Today was special though because it was...

ADOPTION DAY!!!

Tyler, is now officially, Tyler Stephan Roth. We are so blessed to have such a great family.

(I'll post adoption and post adoption photos later...)

Time an Frustration

Blogging Sucks!

I blog on another site, and tonight, when time is so precious, I posted my new hair post on my other weight loss site. Dang it! Now I have to start all over again.

Later, after exercising and laundry... then it's bed. Ok, maybe tomorrow...

Story Time

Tyler is so good when it comes to reading to his brothers, but they tend to ask too many questions and he gets frustrated.

Check out Isaiah's belly! Remember back in October when he and Aiden had the belly discussion? If I connect it correctly, you can review it here. Then scroll down to "Traditions" Nov. 2 or 3...
What's this?


What's that?

What's this?

This one too...

(Can you see Tyler's frustration?)I think he has resigned himself to questions, questions, questions.

Why? Why? Why? What? What? What?