Inside the Coulombe Home

Highlights since I've last posted....

2009-10-15T23:45:00.000-07:00

My birthday...we celebrated on the 24th at my parent's house

One my actual b-day we headed to D-land in the morning. We got my $72 bucks and let the kids pick out a toy. From there we went to Palm Springs and celebrated my mom's 50th with my dad's side of the family. Calvin's turned one that weekend as well.

Eating his first b-day cake

Owen is branching out..he's wearing a knight costume.

The LA County fair.

A weekend in Moorpark, visiting so many of our dear friends, eating at Toppers (my favorite pizza place), attending the church we planted, me: getting to play Bunco with a group of girls, and our 4th annual visit to Underwood Farms with the Doane family.

My first attempt at a homemade chicken pot pie...so yummy...I love cooking in fall!

My cute boys...

My dad took Owen on a date night tonight.

I just posted 130 pictures on facebook...so if you didn't get enough of the Coulombe's whereabouts, there's more there!

My College Girls...

2009-09-28T09:49:00.000-07:00

The six of us attended Cal State Fullerton together. We were all in the 4 year fast track program to get our BS and teaching credential, which meant we had just about every single class together. I am blessed to have these girls in my life! I am go glad that we are still connected...ten years later.....6 weddings later....7 kids later (and two more on the way)!! I love when I get to hang out with these precious girls! We can always pick right up where we left off! I love you girls!

A very long post...recapping september

2009-09-18T23:11:00.001-07:00

Bear with me...this post is kinda long...have lots to catch up on...it's been a busy month!

The month of September includes: my mom's b-day (the 2nd), Owen's b-day (the 5th), Tim and my sister Tawny's b-day (the 13th), my b-day (the 25th) and Calvin's b-day (the 26th)

We have a tradition in our family to decorate the kids doors on their birthdays....so here are the kids once Owen woke up and saw his door.

We bought Owen his very own pair of turnouts for his birthday.

Owen and Tim both trying their turnouts on.

Thompson wanted to be dressed up too, so she went and got her SnowWhite outfit on.

Calvin was just sick of the highchair,,,,

On the 5th we had Owen's 3rd b-day party. Fulleton Fire Department was so kind and they brought a truck to Owen's party for a few minutes. Notice the veins popping out of Owen's neck....pure excitment. You would think it was the kids first time seeing a fire truck.

Getting to sit in the driver seat. I am just soaking it all in because I know there will come a day when Owen will "get over" this phase....and will move onto another obsession like Star Wars or something...but for now....we're just going with it!

We created an obstacle course for the kids during the party. (Wearing the fire truck costume, running at the sound of the bell, saving a cat from a tree, climbing a ladder, going through a tunnel, spraying a "fire"with a hose, etc). Here is Owen on the last step of the obstacle course.

Owen is such a fun kiddo. He loves loves loves to be silly. He makes us laugh constantly. The smallest things make him giggle. So we sang Happy Birthday the normal way. Then we sang it the silly way...."happy b-day to you...you live in a zoo...you look like a monkey...and you smell like one too." I love this picture (below) because you can tell he is really enjoying himself!!

Can't get enough kisses

Again...notice the veins popping out of his neck as he unwraps a firefighting book. We probably own 10+ fire fighting books...does that matter? No! Owen is THRILLED to have one more!

Owen riding his fire engine scooter from Aunt Posey. Tawny made this normal scooter into a fire engine scooter after Owen kept telling everyone that Posey was going to buy him a fire engine scooter for his birthday. She didn't let him down! Such a good auntie!!

This is another one of our traditions. I've made each of our kids a sign like this. Every year we add one more tally mark to show how old they are and we hang it up and take their picture in front of it. Happy 3rd birthday Owen!

Last weekend the five of us headed to my parent's condo in Palm Springs. It was great getting away just the 5 of us. Friday night we took the kids to Boomers and rode the race cars. Saturday we took the two older kids to Soak City before heading over to Nana and Papa's house.

Swimming at Nana and Papa's house. Of course, the USC football was enough reason to get together for a celebration but we celebrated Tawny and Tim's birthday too!

Calvin is walking everywhere now! Here he is roaming the golf course. At 11 months (when we were in Idaho) he really started taking a ton of steps. And about 2 weeks ago, he officially decided he was done with crawling and now he walks everywhere he goes. I love those chubby little legs!!

Owen...practicing his golf swing!

We went to Lucille's on Tim's actual birthday with both of our families. My dad (Boppa) and Calvin just happened to be matching, so we had to take a picture.

Tim and his girl

Thompson is going to a little kindergarten co-op class with 4 other kids. We've hired a teacher (Miss Char) and she and the kids meet in one of the kid's homes. Thompson goes Mondays and Thursdays from 9am-1pm. So far, she likes it.

Owen...putting his turnouts to great use. He thought up all this on his own. Eventually he was killing ants to "save" me and Thompson. He took his task quite seriously.

My Boys

2009-09-02T00:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Owen's 1st day of preschool. A few other families, along with us, hired a teacher named Laurel. He goes on Mondays to one of the kids homes from 9am-1pm. I am excited for him to have this little group of friends. Here he is with his friend Jack Rosenkranz. Jack goes to our church and he is our neighbor. Our backyard backs up to his backyard. We are thankful to have the Rosenkranz family in our lives. Their daughter, Elizabeth, is the same age as Thompson.

Owen's preschool class

Do you notice the hair? Yep! Thompson cut his hair on Saturday while I was feeding Calvin and Tim was cleaning up breakfast. Happened in about 5 minutes. We were pretty shocked. She took it down to the scalp...so buzzing it down to a 2 only did so much. Luckily it will grow out! Hopefully sooner than later.

On the way to visit Bekah a few days ago we found these two deer. The kids were really excited. We pulled over and watched them for about 15 minutes. They were eating from some bushes right on Bekah's cul-de-sac.

My little man is 11 months....how is this possible? I love this little guy! Just the sight of him melts my heart!

Idaho

2009-09-01T23:35:00.001-07:00

Here are some highlights from our trip to Idaho. The first picture is of a moose.....my FIRST live moose I have EVER seen. I have been going to Idaho for the past five years and everyone in my family had seen a moose besides me. Not anymore! I was thrilled!!

The first few days we had thunder, lightning and pouring rain. Although it kept us off the water skiis it was a fun change from the summer heat at home.

My extremely happy husband...getting ready to single skii! SOOO fun!

Tom and Trish had their wave runner shipped up to Idaho. So we were lucky to be able to use it. I was surprised because Owen LOVED it and Thompson DID NOT. Not typical of their personalities. Owen even enjoyed a few rides with just Connor (my 11 year old cousin).

My kiddos watching me wakeboard and cheering me on!

One of my favorite memories from this trip was picking fruit with the Bass'. We drove about an hour away from spirit lake and went blackberry and apricot picking. It was gorgeous. It is something I will always remember and we would love to do everytime we are in Idaho in the summer. After berry picking...we went home and made fresh blackberry pie. Yum!

How did I survive having my other two kids without an ergo carrier?

I don't know! I LOVE this thing!!

Matching boys....berry picking!

My cute girl....searching for berries!

Found some...

I love this picture.

I could seriously see myself living in a place like this....I was in heaven!

Riding a pony. He kept saying, "Hi Moo Moo" as he rode

behind Thompson's pony. He loves his sister.

Our family....we went fishing one of the days on Spirit Lake, the lake we ski on.

Corey and Tia Rose (both firefighters) came to vacation in Idaho too. Tim met Corey in the LA City fire academy and they became good friends. It was fun getting to spend time with them. They are a fun couple and are great with our kids. Corey got us all set up to fish.

My cute boy...holding the one and only fish that was caught (Tim caught the fish first thing...and then that was it). At least we caught one.

We love visiting Idaho. It's so refreshing to get away and be in a place where you are constantly surrounded by beauty. Can't wait to go back.

Spending the Day in Long Beach...

2009-08-09T23:10:00.000-07:00

A couple days ago we went to the Acquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. The jelly fish were a highlight for Owen and Thompson. They also loved touching the sting rays and sharks. At first Owen was too scared to touch them. But by the end of the day, he felt brave enough to tap them very quickly.

Making Memories in our Homes....

2009-08-09T22:49:00.000-07:00

Last week we visited our house in Moorpark. We had to meet our tenant and do a final walk through now that he's moved out. It was fun and sad to walk down memory lane. It was amazing how much Thompson remembered. We showed Owen his old room...our walk-in closet in the master bedroom. He liked it!

There are many reasons we love living in Downtown Fullerton. But here's one of our favorite reasons...walking to Spaghetti Factory on Thursday nights for dinner. Watching trains at the train station. Then heading to the Farmer's Market for some good produce, a balloon princess or sword and maybe a pony ride. This has been a fun tradition for most of the summer. Thompson took this picture.

The Past Week....

2009-07-30T12:15:00.001-07:00

Some of the things we've been up to this past week:

Concert in the park last night with some of our friends and their kids! Here is Lincoln Sailhamer, and Madi Mariani with Thompson.

Here are the kids enjoying a $1 icecream cone from B and R on Tuesday night

Tim and I went away for our 7th anniversary. We stayed at the Hyatt in Newport Beach. We had such a great time....laying by the pool....eating out without kids...and then playing tennis twice! So fun! So very blessed and thankful to be married to Tim! I love you, babe!

Enjoying beer and biscuits....yum!

Also, last week we gave Owen a mohawk....pretty cute!

Visiting Daddy at 58's

2009-07-24T21:10:00.000-07:00

Today the boys and I went to visit Tim at work.

(Thompson is staying two nights up at Matt and Cory's).

Tim is working a 72 so the kids hadn't seen him

since Tuesday night. We met Grammy, Papa, Brandon

and Bryan (our two oldest nephews) there too.

Calvin is not as big a fan of dressing up

like a fireman as we all know Owen is.

Grammy and Papa and a few of their boys

Owen loves to try on Tim's turnouts, etc.

Here he is trying on Tim's breather.

Brandon and Bryan had never visited the station before
so it was fun to get a tour from Uncle Tim.

And of course....
climbing and sliding down the pole was super fun too!

And we can't forget...getting a ride on the fire engine
with head phones and sirens blaring too!

Calvin getting some loves from Grammy

It was a fun day....visiting 58's!

Can't wait to have you home tomorrow, babe! Miss you! Love you!

The Circus

2009-07-22T23:28:00.000-07:00

Today Tim's parents took Cory and I and the kids to the circus at the Honda Center. Tawny took Calvin to the beach today so I could go to the circus with the two older kids. Thompson decided she wanted to dress as a cheerleader last night. She laid out her clothes last night....red skirt, red shirt, red head band, lacey socks, and white tennis shoes. She also brought two red pom poms with her to the circus. She thought it would be a good idea to cheer the circus on.

Adelena Water Park

2009-07-22T00:39:00.000-07:00

I love this water park! It's only takes 5 minutes to get there. We pack a picnic lunch and then play in the water until it's time to head home for naps.

Some things I never want to forget...

2009-07-22T00:25:00.001-07:00

The way Owen dresses....EVERY single day!

The way Calvin balances on Tim's hands...several times a day!

The way having a girl affects the amount of laundry I do...because she changes her clothes mutliple times each day!

How Time Flies...

2009-07-21T02:10:00.000-07:00

I just came across this video of Thompson reading to Owen. Makes me very sad......brought tears to my eyes when I found this video...I didn't even know it was on my camera...I had to watch it a few times...can't believe how much they have already grown. I wish I could go back to that day! Although I am really enjoying their current ages, I would love one more chance to know them at this young age!! It seems the more kids I have, the more I appreciate their different ages. I love interacting with Thompson and talking about things such as "does God eat?" I love seeing her be a big sister, seeing her cuddle a kitten or wrap a baby doll. I love that I get to teach her to read. I love that Owen is silly and cute and doesn't quite know it yet. I love that he wears fireman boots and a fireman tshirt every single day!!I love that Calvin is so smiley and never disobeys. :) I love his facial expressions, and his giggles. I love that he likes to sleep next to me and still wakes me up about 4 times each night even though he's almost 10 months old.

A typical morning....

2009-07-20T23:54:00.000-07:00

A few days ago we started a chore chart. So far so good! We'll see how long this lasts though. The kids are learning to make their beds,

brush their teeth, put away their dirty clothes, and clear the breakfast dishes. They are earning tickets and then once a week they can purchase different things from our treasure chest with their tickets.

About a month ago I started putting Calvin in the bath by himself with a couple inches of water. He loves to play in the bath. Here he managed to let all the water out when he started playing with the plug! While he is in the bath, I am usually doing laundry, making beds, putting out fights or cleaning up breakfast.

Daddy came home this morning...but he didn't sleep much last night! So he's back in bed! He has no idea I took this picture...out like a light!! Glad to have you back home, babe!!

Dedicated to Sarah Fitzpatrick

2009-07-07T17:16:00.000-07:00

This will be my second post (since November) and I dedicate it to Sarah, my BFF since the 4th grade! This picture was from a few weeks ago when Sarah visited me and we walked to the train station with all 6 kids and ate Spaghetti Factory on the sidewalk next to the trains. It was quite an adventure. Six kids 4 and under...yikes! :)

Sarah has inspired me to start a blog. I have been following hers for quite some time now and I always secretly wished I had one of my own. However, I was a little timid because a. I don't really enjoy writing and b. I am a not a particularly funny, or entertaining writer like my friend Sarah is. But here I am....starting a blog....which was one of my summer goals! Now we'll just have to see if I can actually keep up with this. :)

Here is Ben and Thompson being silly. These two crazy kids were born 4 days apart.

OK. That's it for now!! :)

Am I really going to become a blogger?

2008-11-13T22:58:00.000-08:00

This is my first official post. Let's see if I actually do this!