Spelunking

Kevin took the girls to Peppersauce Cave this morning to go spelunking, with Duane and two of his kiddos too.  The dads were a little worried how the kiddos would do with having to crawl through a small hole and then rely on headlamps and flashlights to see anything...but it turns out the kids had a GREAT time and they spent WAY longer in the cave than they thought they would.

 

I'm so glad the girls have a daddy who enjoys doing all sorts of fun things with them.

One day Barrett will be old enough to join in too!!

 

..::Circus Circus::..

The circus is in town!

We took the girls tonight and we had a blast!

I haven't been since I was a kid so it was really fun to take my own kids!

I think Kevin and I enjoyed it as much as the girls did!

(we left Barrett at home with a babysitter since it was past his bedtime)

S-U-M-M-E-R = Swim Lessons

It's that time of year again!

When we spend soooo much time at the pool...the kiddos need to know how to swim!

It's a must.

We were supposed to do lessons the first two weeks of June, but Alexa breaking her arm kinda threw a bit of a wrench into that plan...so we pushed lessons back a couple weeks.

 

The first couple days, Alexa was pretty hesitant to use her arm but by the end of today (the 4th day), she was doing really well!  Next week will be even better, I'm sure of it!

 

..::So Long Rosa::..

Poor, poor Rosa.

She has been a good car for us.

She's been with us for a loooooong time.

We prayed all through dental school that she would just last until we were done.

That was THREE years ago!

Despite many things not working properly on her anymore and things literally falling apart on her...she has survived.

Until this weekend. :(

The A/C went out for the 2nd time in a month. That was the last straw.

She wasn't worth putting more money into...so we went truck shopping!!!

Goodbye Rosa!

 

 

Meet Jorge.

The newest member of our family.

(pronounced hor-hay)

He's a long-anticipated, much dreamed-about addition to our family!!

And Kevin couldn't be happier!

We look forward to a long and happy, adventure-filled relationship!

Alexa: No More Cast!

Today we went from THIS: 

 

 

to THIS:

 

By doing some of THIS:

 

And then we went and did a little of THIS to celebrate!

 

Children's Museum

We haven't been to the Tucson Children's Museum since Alexa was 3.  It was right after we moved back here and I wasn't all that impressed.  I mean, our only other experience with a Children's Museum was the one in Indianapolis (only the LARGEST one in the country) and so this one just wasn't up to snuff.  Plus...Alexa had a massive tantrum.  So there was that!

 

Anywho, we thought we'd give it a try...plus it was time to spend with some of our bestest friends before they take off for a few weeks!

 

And I'm happy to report that we had a really fun time!  Sure it's smaller...but the kiddos were all entertained and we even managed to keep Barrett somewhat happy the entire time!  He especially loved the room with the trains!

 

 

 

 

 

Crazy Kids

I'm not sure why my bed is a favorite place to play, but it is.

Especially AFTER I've made it for the day!

These crazy 3 musketeers thought it'd be fun to pretend they were sleeping!

Oh well...at least it keeps them entertained while mommy is trying to get ready for the day!!!

 

 

Super Hero Day at the Y

I got done with my workout this morning and went to get the kiddos...and found this!

 

I now have 3 little super heroes all my own!

 

 

And what are superheroes...without superhero friends??!!!

..::Barrett: First Movie::..

Our local theater has a summer kids movie deal...you pay $5/person for 10 movies, one each week throughout the summer.  Pretty darn good deal!  I knew the girls would love it...but was a little skeptical, okay a LOT skeptical as to how Barrett would do.  He's never been to a movie before.  And it's only been in the last few weeks that he'll actually sit still for an animated movie at home.

 

I'm not sure why they chose Mirror Mirror as the kickoff to the summer movies...but it wasn't a good one for Barrett.  So even though he seemed excited at first for this new experience...we only lasted about 1/2 the movie before he and I were wandering the halls.  Thankfully, I had taken one of our regular babysitters and her little brother with us so she was able to watch my girls for me during the rest of the movie!

 

Hopefully next week will be better!  It's a cartoon, so it should be!

Memorial Day

We normally like to get together with friends or family to have a BBQ on Memorial Day.

But plans with a couple different friends fell through so we decided to just hang out as a family.

And it was great.

We still had a BBQ but we also played at the pool.

Sure glad Alexa's cast is waterproof!!

It was a fun day with our little family!

 

..::Alexa & Ally::..

 

Alexa couldn't ask for a better best friend!

She lives across the street.

They ride the bus together.

They were in the same Kindergarten class.

We go to the same church.

We're friends with the whole family!

It's been fabulous!

Alexa: Last Day of Kindergarten

Someone is excited (and yet super sad too) about her last day of Kindergarten!

She's ready for school to be done and very much looking forward to summer break.

But she's sad to be leaving her fabulous teacher, knowing she won't ever have her as a teacher again.

 

 

First day of school...Last day of school!

The sassy-ness is still there!

 

I started a new tradition.

I ordered shirts for each of the kiddos with the year they will graduate from high school on and I plan on taking a picture on the last day of school every year so that I have a year by year picture of them, wearing the exact same thing, to see how they grow!

Kind of a fun memento of their school years.  Thanks Pinterest!

 

Getting off the bus for the last time as a Kindergartner!  Wahooooo!

 

 

It's SUMMERTIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Payton: Last Day of Gymnastics

Today was Payton's last day of gymnastics. She really enjoyed doing this with her little BFF.

I enjoyed it too because it gave me time to chat with Gretchen!

However, now that we are at the end of two straight terms of gymnastics...I can say I'm glad to be done!  I'm ready for a break!

Say It Ain't So...

Yesterday after church, the girls were playing in the living room.  They had spread out a bunch of books on the carpeted floor.  Alexa got up to run around the books and slipped and fell right on her elbow.  She immediately started crying, saying it hurt really bad.

 

Here's where our fabulous parenting comes in...we didn't believe her.  Here's the thing though, this happens just about EVERY NIGHT at cleanup time.  I'm not joking...something starts hurting, whether its a tummy or a foot or an elbow, something without fail starts hurting RIGHT when it's time to clean up.

 

So we sent her to bed with some Advil.  And she slept through the night!

 

But when she did wake up to get ready for school, her elbow was swollen (which it hadn't been the night before) and so I knew I needed to take her to Urgent Care to get it checked out.

 

And lo' and behold...it is broken!!

 

So we rushed right over to Children's Orthopaedics of Tucson, where she got a pretty purple WATERPROOF cast put on.  Yep, I said waterproof.  We've come a long way people!  No more stinky, smelly casts around these parts! She can shower, go to the pool, run in the sprinklers!

Can I get a woot woot??!!! :-)

 

AND, she only has to have it on for 3 1/2 weeks!  Hopefully it will go by very quickly!

 

Alexa: Kindergarten Promotion

Today is Alexa's BIG day!

She graduated from Kindergarten!

She's officially a 1st Grader now (although she technically still has 3 1/2 days of school left!!)!

 

She has been looking forward to this day for a looooong time. So have I.

And then Payton got super sick this week. I agonized about having to miss Alexa's promotion today.

But thankfully I didn't have to stay overnight at the hospital with Payton last night, AND a sweet friend came to the rescue this morning...offering to come stay with Payton while I went to the school.

It broke my heart though to leave Payton screaming for me because she wanted to go and because she was so sick!

 

The first part of the Kindergarten Promotion was an ABC Parade.

Each of the students was assigned a letter.

Alexa got "B".

She was a Beautiful Bride!

A fun new friend from the gym happened to have this perfect bride dress up dress that she let me borrow!

Isn't she adorable??!!!

 

Beaming during the parade!

 

Then there was a musical performance.

They sang some really cute songs.

I wish I could figure out how to get my videos to upload!

 

Barrett thought the songs were too loud!

 

Then there was a class presentation back in Alexa's classroom.

Her teacher, Miss White, is seriously amazing!

 

Getting her certificate!!!

 

I am so proud of Alexa!  She has come so far and learned soooo much this past year!

She has LOVED Kindergarten and LOVED Miss White!

 

There was a family picnic to finish things off...but I left early to go home to be with Payton, and Alexa enjoyed having lunch with her best friend, Ally, and her mom.

 

1st Grade...HERE WE COME!!!!

Sick Little Girl

 

Miss Payton got really sick this week.  The above picture was taken yesterday.  It happened to be mine and Kevin's 9th Anniversary...good thing we went out for dinner and to the temple last weekend to celebrate.  Because I was taking care of one sick little lady on the actual day!

 

She was puking and her fever got up to 104.4 so I called the pediatrician today and they told me to take her to the Children's Hospital.  We were worried it might be appendicitis because she kept complaining that her tummy hurt and she even screamed out in pain a couple times when I was trying to help her move to go to the bathroom.

 

So off to the hospital we went.

They hooked her up to an IV to get some fluids in her and to draw some blood.

They wanted to insert a catheter to get a urine sample...but I vetoed that and told them she could pee in a cup!  Can you imagine how traumatized she would have been?  This is the little girl who I had to hold down kicking and screaming last week to get her immunizations.  And we were successful in peeing in a cup!  Yay!!!!

Then she had an ultrasound done.

 

Turns out she has a REALLY  bad UTI (urinary tract infection)...that was starting into her kidneys.

OF COURSE she was in pain!!

 

They gave her some IV medication and then sent us home with a prescription.

 

Here's hoping we see some improvement soon because she's been sooo sick all week and it breaks my heart to see any of my kiddos like this!  Plus, she JUST got over strep (both she and Barrett had it the week of her birthday), so the poor thing needs a break!

Thankful to be a Mommy!

These three kiddos have taught me so much, tried my patience like no other :), and filled my heart like I never knew was possible....I'm soooo thankful to be called "mommy" by each of them!

 

 

Happy Mother's Day!

..::Payton is FOUR::..

Payton's birthday celebrations started out last Saturday.  After daddy got home from camping, Payton and I set out on a mommy/daughter date.  Payton had requested to go to Build-A-Bear for her present from mommy and daddy, just like Alexa had back in November.

 

She had a lot of fun building her bunny!

 

 

 

 

Then she requested Chik-fil-A for dinner. 

 

On her actual birthday, she woke up to presents!

 

She kept asking why it wasn't decorated and I had to keep reminding her that all of the decorations would be put up before her party (which was today).  She had to wait for the cake too...poor little duffer!  But we compromised with white powdered donuts on her actual birthday!

 

The next morning, our favorite worker at the gym, Maria, gave her a present.  She was feeling a bit under the weather when I went back to pick the kids up after working out, so she waited until we got home to open her present.  Can I just say how much we LOVE Maria!  She is so good with my kiddos and has been super sweet to them.  She didn't have to get Barrett and Payton birthday presents, but she did and it was so super and thoughtful of her!

 

Finally, the day of her party arrived!

She requested a Sleeping Beauty party.

 

Here she is, the birthday girl...AKA Princess Aurora!!

 

The entire party consisted of a Sleeping Beauty themed scavenger hunt.

We started off by reading a letter from Sleeping Beauty herself.

 

 

 

She also gave some instructions:

There will be 7 clues on our journey to find Prince Phillip's kiss

There will be games and activities on the way

All princesses must stay together

Each clue will be read and everyone will work together to guess the

Disney Princess and uncover the clue

Take your baskets to gather your goodies along the way

 

First Clue:

When I need to rest my head

I look for a pillow so fancy

When one could not be found, instead

We made one for her happily.

Name the princess: Sleeping Beauty

What are we doing: Decorating pillow cases with fabric markers

 

She wasn't really wanting a picture with mommy!  At least I got a little bit of a smile!

 

Second Clue:

With the jewels all shiny and bright,

I will be ready for the big night

We will make one of these for our head

The Fairy Godmother loves these, she said.

Name the Princess: Cinderella

What are we making: little tiaras decorated with stickers

Third Clue:

Now that the crowns are complete,

We are ready for a real treat.

Off with Aladdin we run,

To find the Magic Carpet of fun.

Stories await us when we’ve arrived

And make-up will be applied.

Name the Princess: Jasmine

What are we doing: go to the playroom and read Sleeping Beauty while the girls put on lip gloss.

Fourth Clue:

We have found Jasmine, Cinderella and Aurora

We wonder what now lays before us.

With so much fun to be had,

You are sure to be glad,

To solve a ‘puzzle’ with the Beast’s love and her friends.

Name the Princess: Belle

What are we doing? Divide the girls into two groups to put together a princess puzzle from the Dollar Store.

Fifth Clue:

Solving puzzles with Belle was quite stellar

Next we will dabble with some color

This Princess with her long hair loves to paint,

And hits Flynn Ryder so hard that he faints.

Name the Princess: Rapunzel         

What are we doing? Coloring a princess picture.

Sixth Clue:

This Princess must kiss Naveen,

The only problem is that he is green.

Lay a smacker on his lips,

And there won’t be any tricks,

A Prince you will have at last.

Name the Princess: Tiana

What are we doing? Play pin the kiss on the frog

Seventh Clue:

Tired and ready for a treat,

There is cake and ice cream that is ready to eat.

Let’s have some right now

And find Phillip’s kiss somehow.

When our tummies are no longer grumbling.

 

 

I forgot to take a picture of the girls finding the little bags of kisses hidden under the kitchen table.

We moved onto cake quite quickly!!

 

I'm pretty proud of myself with how this cake turned out!!

 

My friend, Gretchen, insisted on me getting a picture with the cake...

too bad it was AFTER we cut into it!!!

 

And then there were presents!

What a lucky little lady with such special and generous friends!

 

Thank you to all the little princesses who made Payton's day so special!

 

Happy Birthday Sweet Pea...we love you to pieces!!