Buffalo Heat

it's been nice and hot here for a few weeks and the boys have been having a grand time in the outdoors! they love "double boy" swing time, and often cabes jumps on even when toran is hoping for a singles ride. we had to purchase a new hose and sprinkler, because we left ours in oregon-angie go get it and you can keep it! caleb had lots of fun for a few minutes, but of course the wild buffalo wind kicked in, and it was towel time!

Open During Remodeling....

i'm feeling a little more comfortable in this blogging world. i have even opened a new blogspot up for business. it's my space and i think it'll be fun. check me out!
glenny thinks the new blog is a bit confusing, so scroll down to the bottom the first time you go and read everything from the beginning. i think it'll help the confusion. and please leave feedback, i'm open for ideas of all kind! new pictures of the fam will be up and running shortly, we have been busy. of course, when are we not? happy official first day of summer and break out the a/c's-it's hot! i like this new layout, but the pictures are a bit wonky, don't ya think?

Happy Birthday Glenn!

well, the big strappin' man who sometimes hangs around here recently had a birthday, and it mostly was no big deal. the kids wanted to take glenn out for burgers and here that means red robin, since there is no selection of good american food, or maybe even any food for that matter. i digress...the timing was perfect since his birthday was the day before we headed out on our trip, and i really didn't want to cook (code for: i didn't want to clean, i almost always want to cook)so we had delicious burgers and milkshakes and mudpie. although, to whomever in the ashworth clan devised the mudpie we eat at family parties-yours is better! then, in virginia we had another celebratory meal of taco bar, and yummy ice cream. we also celebrated mom and daddy's day for my parents, so glenn did have to share the spotlight a little. he hasn't complained of any extra ailments and he seems to handling all the aging quite well, i know i am a bit one-sided in my comments here, but i find him quite sexy! pardon, to all those "g" rated readers, but he's a keeper! we love him and miss him too, since we often don't get to see him for much more than dinner and bathing (the kids, you dirty birds!!). he is currently practicing drilling holes and filling holes. man, that makes him sound like a construction apprentice of sorts, huh? he has a practical exam on tuesday, and then done on fri. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY LOVIN" MAN!!

Our House

we've been asked what are current digs look like and so here's a few pic's of our humble abode. it's a green farmhouse, in desperate need of a scrape and paint job with a nice front porch that we use for a variety of things (slightly white trashish, but we have no shed or garage to house yard needs). we have a huge front yard with no fence and a sideyard that heads back and back...there is a little backyard but that's where don drives his tractor or frontloader or backhoe or other large digging vehicles and where there is a well, and where the snakes used to habitate (we haven't seen any live ones for several weeks, maybe good news?)there is a full basement which we use most of for a playroom, a bit of storage, a very good sized laundry area and a bar, where glenn sets up "shop". the main floor consists of a front room which is divided into 2 unequal parts by a slight arch wall, the bigger side is the dining room and the smaller side houses the tv and couch. walk through the front room to the good sized kitchen and continue on to a fork in the hall, well a 3-pronged something. on the left is the office/craft/dump spot, straight ahead is the ONE AND ONLY BATHROOM, and to the right are stairs. up we go, and come to a nice landing where there is a large linen and game closet, and a book shelf and the attic entry. here is another 3-pronged set-up. to the left is door #1 our bedroom,to the right #2 is haven, #3 is caleb/ciela. continue on through caleb/ciela room to a new door-and toran's loft space, which brings us to yet another door and a new entry to our bedroom. that's right folks, our house is one eternal round of bedrooms! the attic is big and currently half for storage with plans to turn the other half into a bedroom for toran and shuffle the kids around so everyone has their own space. we have lots of trees on or property and flower beds in need of attention, which i just started tackling, and which will take all summer and probably into the next summer before they are functioning properly. behind our house is the garage that we can't use, a huge shop, and a shed (again, not for our use), a small creek and then a beautiful park. thanks for the tour, come back again!

To Virginia and Back Again

whilst in virginia we went to a little farm/park and found this great sign with one of toran's middle names perfectly spelled. we went swimming and the kids had great times with nana and papa and cousins and liz and patrick. we had a date night out-woohoo! and we stayed up late chatting about nothing. on the drive back we first turned haven's carseat to the more comfortable and sleep happy rear facing then visited one of my friends from byu and her family in maryland, and had a fabulous time. the rest of the drive was bearable until about 2 hours away from home when it turned decidedly miserable. but we made it home and everyone slept in on tues, and on wed. even though the drive made glenn and i realize even more clearly that we are not a road trip kind of family, we were so happy to get to spend a couple of days with some of our extended family. now to put away those pesky suitcases....and save for airline tickets...

ROAD TRIP-YAHOO!

we actually went somewhere! we went down to virginia to visit my sister and her fam and my parents were there! the drive down took 10 hours and the kids were pretty good, except for poor haven. we had turned haven's car seat forward facing, finally, and she was so miserable with the lack of recline that she didn't sleep the whole time! we got to see beautiful pennsylvania with lots of hills and turns and funny signs. at each and every bridge it said "Bridge May Be Icy"(funny in the 75+ hot weather), then there were the seat belt signs: fasten seat belts for the next million miles. then maryland, very pretty. and finally virginia. crazy. the perfect word. the drivers are insane! the traffic is random! and lizzie and patrick are oughta there!

Princess Haven

haven has found the love of dressing up, and LOVES it! for several days she would find the crown in the morning and ask to put it on and be sad when it came off accidentally, like when she forgot it was there and would pull on it, or bonk it on the table, or try and comb her hair. she is a princess and loves to walk around with a sparkly bag and play with her own train, rosie. caleb loves to play with her and they play trains together, although cabes let's haven wear the crown the whole time. he doesn't fight for that toy.

ZOO

on another cousin escapade we went to the zoo. our little zoo is a bit sad, but you can see the giraffes from the street, and hear the sea lions too! there is a pretty sweet little "dig" where you can find fossils and get sand in all the hiding spots of your little ones body.

Bounce, Bounce then FLLYYY!

more updates from the cousin brigade. the little kids and the babies and the mama's went to a place called roly polies. it's a super fun kid playroom/gymnastics center that has been a hit for a bizzilion birthdays that our kids have partied at. oh, and also the scene of toran's head wound in the fall that required stitches! we all had so much fun, bouncing on this huge long tramp, and climbing on all sorts of things. the babies just loved to walk and be free, and haven loved this little baby rollercoaster. at the end the kids got to go crazy on the zipline! 90 minutes of exhilerating exhaustion, that thanks to toran's injury was FREE!

"Tagging" the Sheets

i found this excellent outdoor craft idea from family fun magazine, and the kids all loved it! crazy and messy which seems to be necessary for good kid fun! cabes had a few moments of sadness when he had to share his green "special color" with the others.

Our Backyardigans

afton and cabes had much fun outside: on the rope swing, picking pine needles off the tree, playing restaurant or as caleb calls it "fooder", digging and digging and more digging. the rest of the kids, especially the babies, loved it too.

Quick, Look It's Niagara Falls

We ventured up to the falls for a very brief visit. the coolest part about for the kids: the bus ride to and from the parking lot!

Looks Good, But Don't Eat It!

liz and i tried hard to find some tasty cupcakes, and other treats during the visit. so far we've come up empty. i think i'll have to explore patisseries with glenn on date nights!

Cousins, Cousins Everywhere

we had a fabulous time with lizzie and afton and abel. we had many adventures, and crazy fun!

Happy "Tin"-th-aversary

so my man and i celebrated our big 1-0 on april 25th. we went out on the town, and had fish. expensive, super tasty, fish. it was delicious, and we also had a spinach loaf. now hold on, its not what you think. take yummy french bread and load it up with butter and garlic and spinach and cheeses. hello! yumm... we finished off with perfect desserts i had a mandarin mousse and glenny had some nut thing that he liked. the kicker was that we were in buffalo, and the way we knew that was because near the end of dinner, there were yells and everyone hustled towards the beautiful bar that had the wonderful pianist to watch THE GAME! waitors included. crazy, but yes supportive of the beloved sabres.

Has Legs Will Travel

haven has found the kitchen drawers and she means business! this girl tosses cups like a crazy person, and has also located the baking ingredient cupboard. that means piles of salt and croutons and flour throwing. baby locks will be up and running asap!