Mr. Maddox has been missing his little brother quite a bit lately, so here is a little video for Maddox to be able to see baby Rowan. He just started taking a bath without the liner in the tub, he loves to splash and make a big wet mess, it's pretty cute. We love you, Marx and Maddox. We all miss you tons.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
The Rest of Christmas Day
After opening presents from Santa we went to Nana and Papa's house to open more gifts and spend the day with the whole family. Cambria and Greg made it up from Mexico and Travis and Brook were there so we had everybody. It was really fun to have everyone together, and really chaotic. I did a terrible job at taking pictures, we got into the present opening and kinda set the camera off to the side. This is what I did get.
Count them! There are 9 as of right this minute. L to R: Maddox (mine), Molly and Alan (Cambria's) Will holding Jack (both Travis'), Marx holding Rowan (both mine), Charly (Travis') and Deacon (mine). They range in age from 8 3/4 to 6 months. Cambria will add another little girl in April. My parents kept shaking their heads and saying, "I can't believe I have 9 grandkids." They are all modeling the pajamas that Nana made for them, except Charly who simply adores her nightgowns.
Papa waiting for the kids to pass out gifts, Alan looks like he's ready!
Deacon insisted his picture be taken, he was even willing to push the button himself to make it happen .
Gee, I wonder where Deacon gets the cheesy grin! Couldn't possibly be his MOM! He wanted to sit on my lap so bad so he could "say cheese" for Daddy, then he didn't smile! Little stinker! And I look like a goofball but whatever, I was on could 9 cuz I had all my kids with me. I didn't want anything else but Ben did give me a nice pair of sunglasses (you can see them sitting on my head), he said since I managed to keep track of a pair of $10 ones for 3 years I was worthy of an expensive pair (he DID NOT pay the full retail price for them as he knows I would have killed him, thank goodness for Sport Chalet's employee discount and killer clearance sales!). It was a really good Christmas, one I was not expecting to happen at all.
Count them! There are 9 as of right this minute. L to R: Maddox (mine), Molly and Alan (Cambria's) Will holding Jack (both Travis'), Marx holding Rowan (both mine), Charly (Travis') and Deacon (mine). They range in age from 8 3/4 to 6 months. Cambria will add another little girl in April. My parents kept shaking their heads and saying, "I can't believe I have 9 grandkids." They are all modeling the pajamas that Nana made for them, except Charly who simply adores her nightgowns.
Papa waiting for the kids to pass out gifts, Alan looks like he's ready!
Deacon insisted his picture be taken, he was even willing to push the button himself to make it happen .
Gee, I wonder where Deacon gets the cheesy grin! Couldn't possibly be his MOM! He wanted to sit on my lap so bad so he could "say cheese" for Daddy, then he didn't smile! Little stinker! And I look like a goofball but whatever, I was on could 9 cuz I had all my kids with me. I didn't want anything else but Ben did give me a nice pair of sunglasses (you can see them sitting on my head), he said since I managed to keep track of a pair of $10 ones for 3 years I was worthy of an expensive pair (he DID NOT pay the full retail price for them as he knows I would have killed him, thank goodness for Sport Chalet's employee discount and killer clearance sales!). It was a really good Christmas, one I was not expecting to happen at all. Christmas Morning With Marx and Maddox
I was not planning to have Marx and Maddox for the Christmas holiday since we are broke and have been broke since before the rest of the Nation went broke with us. My Mom was not too happy about them missing Christmas with us since I am supposed to have them for any time they have off school. Finances were not going to allow for me to pay for it though so my wonderful parents flew the boys out about 5 days before Christmas and we were able to celebrate both Christmas and New Year's with them. I appreciate Kris for letting them come since I dragged my feet big time and we didn't get plane tickets till about a week before their flight. We spent most of our time at my parents house since they are in the city closer to everything and we would have been there anyway, but for Christmas Eve we had all the boys at our house in Coolidge. They left out some cookies from the ones we made with Nana and a glass of milk for Santa and they were gone in the morning. (for the record, Marx concluded that Santa must save most of the cookies he gets on Christmas Eve and freezes them so he can eat them throughout the rest of the year and he feeds the milk to the reindeer, otherwise he would get really sick from all that sugar and he would be super fat) There were presents under the tree in the morning and some individual cereal boxes in the tree branches (the tree is the one we bought last year at an after Christmas sale for $7. Not bad for a prelit tree!)
The boys examining the loot Santa left, they all passed out presents together. Both Marx and Maddox can read now so it was fun to let them be the little elves.
Marx was very organized in his gift opening. He was concerned that my gifts to him were wrapped in the same paper Santa used. I had the elves wrap his gifts along with the ones from Santa cuz I didn't have time ;)
Maddox had some interesting shaped gifts, Deacon just had a whole bunch. Marx and Maddox had Christmas in both Arizona and Florida so Santa broke up their gifts a bit. Deacons all came to his house.
Deacon tearing into his new Mack and Lightening McQueen (he adores the movie and got a whole mess of "Cars" stuff.)
We tried things a little different than I have done in the past, each boy opened a gift and then they all opened one at the same time. This was good since Marx and Maddox got some of the same gifts.
Marx got a Nerf Reactor Blaster. This makes more sense if you know the whole reactor blaster story but let's just say that Cambria started it with the Reactor Blaster she gave to Alan one year. Since then both Nana and Papa have aquired them, along with about 20 balls that Nana may or may not know where they are, Deacon got one for his birthday last year and now M & M have them. I think Will might have one too, not sure though. Great toy, BTW, lots of fun and no real risk of injury, plus you can get replacement balls for them and the balls are way more resilient than the goofy nerf darts. The guns are pretty sturdy too, Deacon breaks almost everything and the Reactor Blaster is still in tact.
Maddox with his Reactor Blaster and his transformer Bumble Bee. Once we transformed it out we could not figure out how to get it back to the car shape. I am hoping that Kris could figure it out, he's got a mind and eye for puzzles like that.
Ben helping Deacon open his new tool set. This was way cool, it has a hard hat, goggles and a tool belt! Nothing cuter than a 3 year old in a tool belt.
Rowan with the Woody doll from Papa Brad and sleepers from Grandma Patty. Woody came with a blanket, he also got a musical seahorse and a Johnny Jump Up. I'd say for bein a whole 5 months old he did pretty well!
Deacon really likes the tool set from Grandma.
Rowan loves Woody! Woody has velcro hands so he can hug the baby and he is made of all fabric so he's nice and soft. Rowan loves to chew on the hat brim and Woody's nose.
The boys examining the loot Santa left, they all passed out presents together. Both Marx and Maddox can read now so it was fun to let them be the little elves.
Marx was very organized in his gift opening. He was concerned that my gifts to him were wrapped in the same paper Santa used. I had the elves wrap his gifts along with the ones from Santa cuz I didn't have time ;)
Maddox had some interesting shaped gifts, Deacon just had a whole bunch. Marx and Maddox had Christmas in both Arizona and Florida so Santa broke up their gifts a bit. Deacons all came to his house. 
Deacon tearing into his new Mack and Lightening McQueen (he adores the movie and got a whole mess of "Cars" stuff.)
We tried things a little different than I have done in the past, each boy opened a gift and then they all opened one at the same time. This was good since Marx and Maddox got some of the same gifts. 
Marx got a Nerf Reactor Blaster. This makes more sense if you know the whole reactor blaster story but let's just say that Cambria started it with the Reactor Blaster she gave to Alan one year. Since then both Nana and Papa have aquired them, along with about 20 balls that Nana may or may not know where they are, Deacon got one for his birthday last year and now M & M have them. I think Will might have one too, not sure though. Great toy, BTW, lots of fun and no real risk of injury, plus you can get replacement balls for them and the balls are way more resilient than the goofy nerf darts. The guns are pretty sturdy too, Deacon breaks almost everything and the Reactor Blaster is still in tact. 
Maddox with his Reactor Blaster and his transformer Bumble Bee. Once we transformed it out we could not figure out how to get it back to the car shape. I am hoping that Kris could figure it out, he's got a mind and eye for puzzles like that. 
Ben helping Deacon open his new tool set. This was way cool, it has a hard hat, goggles and a tool belt! Nothing cuter than a 3 year old in a tool belt.
Rowan with the Woody doll from Papa Brad and sleepers from Grandma Patty. Woody came with a blanket, he also got a musical seahorse and a Johnny Jump Up. I'd say for bein a whole 5 months old he did pretty well! 
Deacon really likes the tool set from Grandma.
Rowan loves Woody! Woody has velcro hands so he can hug the baby and he is made of all fabric so he's nice and soft. Rowan loves to chew on the hat brim and Woody's nose. Minnesota or Bust!!
Yes, it has been way too long since I updated...all I have to say is I am doin better than both my Mom and Brook, so there! ;) I have probably taken 600 pictures in the last couple months so I will be posting more than once today. First comes the trip we took to Minnesota in November, the only time it worked out was earlier in the month because Sport Chalet actually thought they needed their bike Department Head in the store on Black Friday (that would be Ben), we were in MN from Nov. 11 to the 19th but the trip was originally intended to be for Thanksgiving. We had a blast even though we really didn't do anything too noteworthy. And I realized going through pics that I somehow managed to not get a single picture of Patty and Bob! Woops.
This is Jaedence (Jenna's daughter), she turned 5 on November 20th. She is absolutely beautiful and pretty fiesty, she was an awesome little Mama, holding Rowan whenever she got the chance and playing with Deacon. She handled the invasion of her space pretty well, I had a great time with Jaedence, she was so much fun.
Deacon was worn out playing with his cousins, this was even before his usual nap time and he slept in the chair for quite a while. Got some new duds too, the shirt is a hand-me-down from Donovan (whom I also managed to miss getting any pictures of!)
Auntie Kerra is the Baby Whisperer, she was so wonderful with Rowan and always managed to swoop in and take him off my hands right about when I was getting ready to pull my hair out. She could get him to sleep which I even have a hard time doing. Rowan soaked up the attention and made everybody fall in love with him in about 2 seconds. He got passed around a lot and barely got put down.
Rowan hangin with Auntie Kerra (also his God Mother) after his bath, she loves that little baby.
"Yes, I know I am cute!"
All of Brad and Patty's kids together! (And an extra) Me, Benny, Kerra, Jenna, Timmy. Right before we left to go out for the night! Thanks for babysitting Grandma!
Me and Jenna, actually not too bad of a pic. She is an absolute blast, I love hanging out with Jenna. She's almost as fiesty as her daughter!
Me in the middle of the beauties. I always feel like such a plain Jane next to these two! They are both so beautiful and the eyes are just killer, they turn heads everywhere they go, especially together. Add the boys in and it's almost funny to watch the necks snap as they walk by people.
Ben's new girlfriend. ;)
Me and Timmay!! He's almost 22, the youngest of Ben's siblings. He's a sweetheart and I have actually really missed him since he moved back to MN in July. He and I have been good friends for a while and it's been strange not to have my buddy around.
Ben and his other girlfriend again! No, really, that is Caitlynn (I am sure I didn't spell that right). They have known each other for years, she is the significant other of his high school buddy Kevin Anderson. I think he knows her independent of him, though. This was a strange trip for me (no pun intended) because I saw Ben in his element. He's a pretty adaptable dude and he has a ton of friends wherever he goes, he fits in pretty much anywhere, but this was the first time I really saw him open up and show everybody the goofy, silly Ben that only I usually see. He was probably the happiest I have ever seen him on this trip.
Me and Kevin Anderson! We joked that Ben and Kevin were going to trade partners.
That's me and Kerra, the guy we are with is Murad. He's one of Ben's REALLY good friends, probably in the top 5. Every time there was a get together or we went somewhere, Murad was with us. He and Ben met at a party Ben was throwing that Murad was not invited to and crashed. Ben tells it that he was standing on a table (not sure what he was doing) and Murad came in.....from there I think it's history. He's super loyal to Ben, loves him like a brother.
Ben and Jenna and the Sass EYES. Their eyes always come out that piercing blue in pictures.
Me and Andrea P-Fan as Ben calls her. They have been friends for ages, Ben grew up with her older brother Jesse, she is Dan's girlfriend and sweet Taylor's Mama. Ben calls her P-Fan because she has this super long and complicated last name and it starts Pfan---. Deacon loves her little girl, Taylor, who is only a few weeks younger than Deacon. I don't blame him, she is one of the sweetest little girls I have ever met, he totally has my permission to marry Taylor.
We spent one day at an indoor water park, which was a completely new experience for me! I was like, really? Such a thing actually exists? I grew up in Arizona, water parks are outdoors and close for like 3 months out of the year when the temp drops below 70 degrees. We have plenty of sun and really no need to take water rides in doors. Deacon had a blast, as did the other kids. He had to do his usual jump-off-the-edge-to-Daddy but I'll spare you more pictures of that. I did not take a bathing suit (who the heck thinks they are gona be swimming in Minnesota in November??) so I stayed on the edge with Rowan. But Deacon and Ben swam...
and Jenna and Jerry took a ride down the lazy river.
After the water park Rowan was worn out, his hat was a little large also. Great for sleepin in the middle of the day.
Miss Jaedence on the way to see Great Grandma Sass, it was about a 30 minute drive. This is a rare picture, she does not smile for the camera much, it takes a lot to convince her that she should. I'm tellin ya, Spitfire! She's gona give any guy who gets close a major run for his money!
Another rare picture, Ben and I hardly ever get a picture taken of us together, usually because I am the one taking the pictures so I get left out of them. Brad took this one. I so wish I had grabbed Deacon and pulled him in, darn it!
There he is! Papa Brad and Jaedence with Rowan. Love that man, great Dad, awesome Grandpa, just a good guy. he's really sweet to me too, that probably helps. :) We saw Brad almost every day we were there, he always has his camera on him, I am sure he snapped some pretty good shots that I haven't seen.
Ben with his Grandma Sass and Rowan. I am so kicking myself for not getting a picture of Grandma with Brad, Ben, Deacon and Rowan. I had 4 generations in one place, for Heaven's Sake, how often does that happen!?!
And the darling Rowan says, that's the end of that vacation and the end of this post! Thanks to all the Sass' for a fantastic time and a great family vacation for us. Jenna and Kerra, thanks for a place to stay (especially Jenna since we took over her bedroom) and all the new (old, too small for D1) duds for D2. Patty, thanks for sittin on babies so we could go out without them and for making dinner nearly every night, I gained about 10 pounds. Brad, thanks for the use of your vehicle and garage. All of you, thanks for hanging out with us and for making me feel like I am one of the family. :)
This is Jaedence (Jenna's daughter), she turned 5 on November 20th. She is absolutely beautiful and pretty fiesty, she was an awesome little Mama, holding Rowan whenever she got the chance and playing with Deacon. She handled the invasion of her space pretty well, I had a great time with Jaedence, she was so much fun.
Deacon was worn out playing with his cousins, this was even before his usual nap time and he slept in the chair for quite a while. Got some new duds too, the shirt is a hand-me-down from Donovan (whom I also managed to miss getting any pictures of!)
Auntie Kerra is the Baby Whisperer, she was so wonderful with Rowan and always managed to swoop in and take him off my hands right about when I was getting ready to pull my hair out. She could get him to sleep which I even have a hard time doing. Rowan soaked up the attention and made everybody fall in love with him in about 2 seconds. He got passed around a lot and barely got put down.
Rowan hangin with Auntie Kerra (also his God Mother) after his bath, she loves that little baby.
"Yes, I know I am cute!" 
All of Brad and Patty's kids together! (And an extra) Me, Benny, Kerra, Jenna, Timmy. Right before we left to go out for the night! Thanks for babysitting Grandma!
Me and Jenna, actually not too bad of a pic. She is an absolute blast, I love hanging out with Jenna. She's almost as fiesty as her daughter! 
Me in the middle of the beauties. I always feel like such a plain Jane next to these two! They are both so beautiful and the eyes are just killer, they turn heads everywhere they go, especially together. Add the boys in and it's almost funny to watch the necks snap as they walk by people. 
Ben's new girlfriend. ;)
Me and Timmay!! He's almost 22, the youngest of Ben's siblings. He's a sweetheart and I have actually really missed him since he moved back to MN in July. He and I have been good friends for a while and it's been strange not to have my buddy around. 
Ben and his other girlfriend again! No, really, that is Caitlynn (I am sure I didn't spell that right). They have known each other for years, she is the significant other of his high school buddy Kevin Anderson. I think he knows her independent of him, though. This was a strange trip for me (no pun intended) because I saw Ben in his element. He's a pretty adaptable dude and he has a ton of friends wherever he goes, he fits in pretty much anywhere, but this was the first time I really saw him open up and show everybody the goofy, silly Ben that only I usually see. He was probably the happiest I have ever seen him on this trip. 
Me and Kevin Anderson! We joked that Ben and Kevin were going to trade partners.
That's me and Kerra, the guy we are with is Murad. He's one of Ben's REALLY good friends, probably in the top 5. Every time there was a get together or we went somewhere, Murad was with us. He and Ben met at a party Ben was throwing that Murad was not invited to and crashed. Ben tells it that he was standing on a table (not sure what he was doing) and Murad came in.....from there I think it's history. He's super loyal to Ben, loves him like a brother. 
Ben and Jenna and the Sass EYES. Their eyes always come out that piercing blue in pictures. 
Me and Andrea P-Fan as Ben calls her. They have been friends for ages, Ben grew up with her older brother Jesse, she is Dan's girlfriend and sweet Taylor's Mama. Ben calls her P-Fan because she has this super long and complicated last name and it starts Pfan---. Deacon loves her little girl, Taylor, who is only a few weeks younger than Deacon. I don't blame him, she is one of the sweetest little girls I have ever met, he totally has my permission to marry Taylor. 
We spent one day at an indoor water park, which was a completely new experience for me! I was like, really? Such a thing actually exists? I grew up in Arizona, water parks are outdoors and close for like 3 months out of the year when the temp drops below 70 degrees. We have plenty of sun and really no need to take water rides in doors. Deacon had a blast, as did the other kids. He had to do his usual jump-off-the-edge-to-Daddy but I'll spare you more pictures of that. I did not take a bathing suit (who the heck thinks they are gona be swimming in Minnesota in November??) so I stayed on the edge with Rowan. But Deacon and Ben swam...
and Jenna and Jerry took a ride down the lazy river. 
After the water park Rowan was worn out, his hat was a little large also. Great for sleepin in the middle of the day.
Miss Jaedence on the way to see Great Grandma Sass, it was about a 30 minute drive. This is a rare picture, she does not smile for the camera much, it takes a lot to convince her that she should. I'm tellin ya, Spitfire! She's gona give any guy who gets close a major run for his money! 
Another rare picture, Ben and I hardly ever get a picture taken of us together, usually because I am the one taking the pictures so I get left out of them. Brad took this one. I so wish I had grabbed Deacon and pulled him in, darn it! 
There he is! Papa Brad and Jaedence with Rowan. Love that man, great Dad, awesome Grandpa, just a good guy. he's really sweet to me too, that probably helps. :) We saw Brad almost every day we were there, he always has his camera on him, I am sure he snapped some pretty good shots that I haven't seen. 
Ben with his Grandma Sass and Rowan. I am so kicking myself for not getting a picture of Grandma with Brad, Ben, Deacon and Rowan. I had 4 generations in one place, for Heaven's Sake, how often does that happen!?!
And the darling Rowan says, that's the end of that vacation and the end of this post! Thanks to all the Sass' for a fantastic time and a great family vacation for us. Jenna and Kerra, thanks for a place to stay (especially Jenna since we took over her bedroom) and all the new (old, too small for D1) duds for D2. Patty, thanks for sittin on babies so we could go out without them and for making dinner nearly every night, I gained about 10 pounds. Brad, thanks for the use of your vehicle and garage. All of you, thanks for hanging out with us and for making me feel like I am one of the family. :) Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Celebrating Benny!!!
30 years ago, on November 25th, 1979 Brad and Patty Sass brought this little guy into the world. They named him Benjamin Daniel after they saw it on a graduation card. His pictures all say Benji on the back. He says the nickname never stuck, most people call him Benny now. I call him Daddy a lot so that Deacon will, when I call him Benny all the time Deacon starts calling him Benny and he doesn't like that much. 
9 weeks old, trying cereal for the first time. I see a lot of both of our kids in his face. Rowans face is shaped like that, both boys have those ears and Deacon has that full mouth.
I have seen that smile on both boys faces. He sure was cute, and bald. Deacon and Rowan both had more hair than Ben had.
He looks so serious here. I would love to see who is to the left of him in this picture, what is making him concentrate so hard?
Showing off his muscles! He was about 3 1/2 months old in this picture. Brad said he took most of the pictures of his kids when they were young, which makes sense, he's still snapping pictures all the time and has an awesome camera. Benny's baby pictures look so much better than mine do. No offense, Mom. I think Brad just has an eye for photography.
His eyes got blue really early. They are still a super light color of blue.
This was at about 6 months old. Deacon is having a hard time with these pictures, he keeps fighting with me telling me they are of Brother and not Daddy. I don't think he understands that Daddy used to be little like him.
At about 9 months old, I'm not sure if he is actually walking or holding onto a railing, but he sure is cute!
So, this is where Deacon got his love for the toothbrush! I have never seen a kid ask to brush his teeth as much as Deacon does! He probably requests a tooth brush 3 times a day.
Love the teeth! This looks like Deacon did at about 1 year.
Two year old Benny playing in the leaves, he couldn't remember whose yard this was in. I can still see that baby in his face.
Awww, he had a trading card! Playin socker when he was 10. Now, that's the Benny I know. He sure was cute back then! That smile has not changed one bit, just got more hair around it now! Happy Birthday, Benny! I love you!
His eyes got blue really early. They are still a super light color of blue.
This was at about 6 months old. Deacon is having a hard time with these pictures, he keeps fighting with me telling me they are of Brother and not Daddy. I don't think he understands that Daddy used to be little like him.
At about 9 months old, I'm not sure if he is actually walking or holding onto a railing, but he sure is cute! 
So, this is where Deacon got his love for the toothbrush! I have never seen a kid ask to brush his teeth as much as Deacon does! He probably requests a tooth brush 3 times a day.
Love the teeth! This looks like Deacon did at about 1 year.
Two year old Benny playing in the leaves, he couldn't remember whose yard this was in. I can still see that baby in his face.
Awww, he had a trading card! Playin socker when he was 10. Now, that's the Benny I know. He sure was cute back then! That smile has not changed one bit, just got more hair around it now! Happy Birthday, Benny! I love you!
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