Clara turns 5

I can't believe how time flies! It seems like just yesterday we were preparing for our trip to China. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLARA!.
We don't have many photos of Clara as a baby, so we treasure the few that we have. The face shot here is the 1st photo we ever received of Clara. This was our 1st glimpse of what our little girl from China would look like.
Next came this shot from the orphanage of her propped up against the wall. Funny thing she could barley sit up when we got her at a year.

This is our 1st summer with Clara.

Our family is so lucky to have this little peanut in our lives. She is a strong confident girl and she knows what she wants. Clara has so many little friends. She loves to play pretend. I find her all over the house with a little "store" or "office" set up. She talks to herself and loves to pretend to be a mommy or an "office girl".

She is starting kindergarten this fall and I am really sad about it. She has been my little helper for so long. I am having a hard time cutting the cord.

Clara loves to sing, dance, pretend and get what she wants. She can throw a fit and pout like no other kid. She has her older brothers wrapped around her little finger. She doesn't eat much, and she runs her self into the ground ever day. Going going until she just can't. Clara has the most contagious laugh. Her tickle spot is just under her neck. Sometimes she will laugh so hard I think she will not be able to catch her breath. She loves to talk and say that she is from China. I hope that she will always have pride in her Chinese heritage.

Boy, we just LOVE this little girl!

Happy Happy Fifth Birthday Clara!

School Sock Hop!

Our School had a SOCK HOP! So of course we were there. I made the girls poodle skirts and Isaac had his slicked back hair. We went to Shake-Rattle-N-Roll. It was fun and the kids had a BLAST!

This Girl Can Hit

Camilla is in her 3rd year of softball. She LOVES it and is great at it. She is on the Ashburn Aftershock and they are doing so well. They had a great game on Saturday, winning again. She plays with her best friends Claire and Hanna. I love to watch her play. She is always giving hi-fives to her team mates out on the field. She has gotten so much better at hitting this year. It sure keeps her busy with 2 games a week and 1 practice. Great job Mills!
Man I love this girls energy and excitement for life!

Dylan is a Rock Star!

This weekend Dylan turned into a Rock and Roll star. Dylan goes to the Paul Green "School of Rock". Each week they take a lesson at the studio (for their instrument) and then have one or 2 band practices. They put together a show about every 3 months. His 1st show was "New Wave" 80's music.
We got the whole family (and our great friends from Arlington) to go to a local club and watch the awesome show. He was so nervous, but did such a great job! We are so proud of all his hard work and energy that he put into learning his songs. Here are a few photo's of Dylan and his awesome 80's hair! I also tried to capture how much he flirts with ALL the girls. I just had to video him talking to this girls across the room. My friend and I were the commentators. It was fun to feel like I was in High School again, but quickly got a reality check when I saw all the "girl" attention he was getting.... wow am I ready for this? I guess that is what being a Rock Star is all about!

D talking to Zach before he goes on stage!

This is Mark, the music director of School of Rock. Nicest guy ever. Gotta love his great 80's look that ,by the way, he has on everyday (not just during the Rock Shows)

Dylan and his biggest fans!

Dylan with some of the other rockers!

This is the flirting video that is hilarious. (sorry it is so blurry, but I am all the way on the other side of the room!

For our Family: If you can't see the video then you may have to log onto our Blog at www.slatterseven.blogspot.com

Song #1



Song #2

Our "new" Home away from Home

In January Jason and I bought a travel trailer/camper/RV. We are not sure what to call it. We are so "new to this" that we don't quite have the lingo down yet. We have been so excited to take it out for our 1st camping adventure. So last weekend we went to Pennsylvania and opened our family up to a new adventure. Our niece Thea came to join in on the fun all the way from California! It was the best trip. All the kids had a great time. Jason and I can't wait to do it again. We now just need to find a quiet weekend without sports etc so that we can go again before Memorial Weekend.

So we loaded up our car with 6 kids and our dog Joey for our trip to State College, PA. for a couple of days and then on to Hershey, PA for the rest of the week.

Here we are eating our 1st breakfast in the camper.

The Easter Bunny even knew we would be "on the road" but he stopped and filled our camp sight full of eggs.

At the Hershey Campground they had a huge Easter Egg hunt, so the kids got even MORE candy!

Here are a few photos that I hope capture the really great time that we all had. From a 15 year old down to the 4 year old. Everyone loved the trip. The only question Jason and I asked ourselves was "why did we not do this sooner"

The kids borrowed these cool bikes that they had at the campground and raced all around.

All showered up, sipping on Hot Coco and getting ready to start our card game on our last night.

Camping can actually be relaxing, CLEAN and fun!

It was so exciting and really eye opening to meet and see all these other "camping families". Everyone was so nice and friendly. Families sit out and talk, kids ride bikes and play games. It was awesome to just sit and enjoy each other. Spending time together as a family for a little while in this crazy life we live. I love these kids, they are so thoughtful and loving to each other. I love Jason for pushing me on buying this trailer. He usually knows what this family needs better than I do. Happy Camping!

Hershey Park!

We went to Hershey Park for Spring Break and boy was it fun. It was totally different than I had expected. I had no idea it was so big and so fun! Why have we not been going there every year? I think that we just found our new Spring Break destination. Hershey World is a store/visitors center/factory tour/restaurant. The kids loved learning all about the Hershey Family and CHOCOLATE!

Hershey Park is a great amusement Park. We spent 2 days riding ALL the roller coasters! We invited our cousin Thea all the way from California to join in on the fun. It made our Slatter Seven ---- Slatter Eight so everyone had someone to ride a ride with.

Here are the some of the kids getting measured to see what rides they were able to go on. (don't know who the Reeses girl is... she ran in the photo at the last second?)