Team Pink

San Diego Christmas

2012-01-30T11:56:00.000-08:00

Since Josh had to work both the week before and after Christmas, we decided to head to San Diego to celebrate Christmas with the family a few weeks early. We had a wonderful time doing Christmas-y stuff and getting in the holiday mood...we went and saw Christmas lights, the kids got to open some presents, we played in the snow, went to the beach, and even managed to do a little Christmas shopping.

The kids waiting to open their presents from Grandpa and Grandma on "Christmas morning"

Charlotte's first Christmas present opening.

As expected, she just wanted to eat the paper, so she got a little help...

Look, its Wilbur!

We went to Julian one day to eat apple pie and play in the snow...

We found some fun Christmas presents...

It was super cold so of course we had to drink hot apple cider.

We sat and watched some guy cutting down a huge pine tree. It was really quite fascinating.

Charlotte rocking her Winnie the Pooh look.

We thought about putting JJ in the Julian jail, but we decided he was too cute to leave behind.

Our little future photographers....Here is Brooklynn taking a picture of us...

And here is JJ's attempt.
JJ likes to gallop so I thought I would join in on the fun...

The snowman was stopped to build. There wasn't too much snow but that was good because we didn't have any real snow gear anyway.

One night we went up to Viejas with Babci to enjoy the Holiday show and they had some "snow" (aka bubbles) to play in...

Me and my peanut

Poor Charlotte was having a rough time and we discovered after we got back she had an ear infection. Good thing she is such a little trooper. She got in a much needed nap with Dad.

This is totally a random picture but me and Mom had to go run outside real fast and this is what it looked like....what can I say, great minds think alike.

Deckin' Some Halls

2012-01-18T12:52:00.000-08:00

We got a ginormous tree this year, seriously it was huge, so luckily we had both Brooklynn and JJ to help decorate. Even though, lets be honest) I pretty much "adjusted" everything once they were done. They loved it though and I must say, I thought it looked pretty dang good when we were all done. Besides, nothing beats the piney scent of a real Christmas tree right?

Ready for some ornaments...

Getting a little boost from daddy.

Our camera died about halfway through so Josh used his phone for the rest of the pictures and some video but I haven't downloaded it from his phone yet so stay tuned for more...

Fun with Dad

2011-12-29T12:32:00.000-08:00

What should be a regular old pillow fight with dad is actually a "fall on the floor and giggle while daddy hits you with a pillow" fight. Apparently the kids find it more entertaining to get hit with the pillow than to hit someone with the pillow. Silly kids.

Have you ever played the games "chubby bunny?" Have you ever done it with the ginormous marshmallows? Have you ever done it with ginormous marshmallows and little kids mouths...cause its pretty funny.

JJisms

2011-12-05T13:13:00.000-08:00

So now that JJ has learned how to speak English, well sort of, he just keeps getting funnier. For awhile I was convinced English was his second language. He always talked like he was translating from Spanish or something. For example, instead of saying something like "red car" he would transpose the noun and adjective and say "car red." To prove my point, Josh once told him in Spanish to "come here and give Mom a kiss" which he totally did. So apparently my little glow-in-the-dark child is actually Mexican. So, on to his current English speaking phrases...he likes to say things like "probably" or "how about" or "that be fine?" which in and of themselves are not that funny, but he adds a little something to them. So it goes a little something like this...

Me: JJ what color is that car?
JJ: ummmmm...
Me: It's blue. It's a blue car. Can you say blue?
JJ: bwoo
Me: So what color is that car?
JJ: um, probably...
At which point I laugh because there is no probably about it. The car is not probably blue, it is blue...obviously.

Me: It's time to go to bed. Go get your pajamas on.
JJ: Um, how bout I no go bed. Watch movie? That be fine?
Me: Negatory kiddo. Get in bed.
JJ: How bout...read books?
Me: No sir. Let's go to bed.
JJ: How bout you carry me. That be fine?
The negotiating totally makes me laugh, although I am sure it will soon make me crazy.

This is not nearly as entertaining to read as it is to watch since you get to see him with all his extremely colorful facial expressions and listen to his sweet little voice.

And one last thing. He has figured out "sorry mommy." So now anytime he does something he shouldn't, especially if he is doing something wrong intentionally, he will quickly apologize with a "sorry mommy" in hopes of skating the punishment. It's tricky too because he's so cute when he does it it's hard to be mad at him. Little stinker.

Charlotte Clapping

2011-11-29T13:58:00.001-08:00

Charlotte has learned a new trick. She can clap! I think its really cute. She just started doing it today. Here are the attempts to catch it on video. P.S. Video taping while clapping is difficult.

Thanksgiving Kickball

2011-11-29T13:49:00.000-08:00

While the turkey was cooking we all headed out for a game of kickball. I love kickball because anyone can play, including the little people. We had a great time and I think everybody agreed it is gonna be the new family tradition. We played "original" Leavitts versus in-laws so even Mom was on the other team. Once again, I sucked at taking pictures, but hey I was busy playing. Here's the few we did get...

Axton up to bat...

Josh giving it the boot.

Bree getting some air.

Josh showing Brooklynn where to run next.

JJ up to bat...

Thanksgiving with Da Fam

2011-11-29T13:38:00.000-08:00

We had an awesome Thanksgiving. We had the whole Leavitt family clan here (minus Aunt Melanie who is on her mission) and it was so fun. Since Greg and Bree had Bree's family staying with them, we got to host Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt Katie & Uncle Spencer, and Uncle Jeff, Aunt Karen and baby Camille. It was so fun being all together. I totally slacked on the picture taking, but here's what I do have...

The cousin twins seeing each other and Grandpa for the first time this trip (they have met once before). Charlotte and Camille were born only a day apart.

But they totally became best friends...

I couldn't get a picture of both of them smiling, so I have one with Charlotte smiling and one with Camille smiling.

Three baby girls cousins. Kenzington is just a few months behind these two so they can be little triplets when they get a little bigger.

We headed to the park one day to play a little bolongo ball.

Spencer and Jeff working hard to get it all set up.

JJ didn't want to play with the play equipment, he wanted to play with Grandpa and the boys.

A little video action of the J-man showing the big boys how its done.

Feather Hats

2011-11-29T13:35:00.000-08:00

Brooklynn learned about the Pilgrims and Indians in preschool and they made these cute little feather hats to wear. Brooklynn totally wins brownie points for being a good sister since she made one especially for JJ to wear....ahhh cute.

Why do "silly" faces always look so creepy???

JJ demonstrating his Indian war cry.

Random Happenings...

2011-11-29T13:26:00.000-08:00

JJ has discovered real puzzles and he loves them! I remember when Brooklynn would sit and do them and its so cute to see him do it now too. It's fun to watch his little mind work as he tries to find the right piece. I love it.

Do you remember that game domino rally? My brothers and I used to build these crazy domino lines and knock them over, it was so fun. Since Brooklynn has a set of dominoes I was showing her how to do the same thing...here she is hard at work...

The kiddos like to dress up for no good reason at all except to play while in costume I guess. Usually the outfits they wear crack me up. And these ones are no different...

JJ as the masked bandit...he kinda looks like the Green Hornet right?

Mexican cowgirl?

Brooklynn's pose cracks me up...I guess I better go find all those vogue magazines she is hiding under her bed.

JJ getting a little reading in.

We inherited a helium balloon from a friends. Let's just say it was hours of entertainment...for me and for them.

Child Labor...uh I Mean Chores

2011-11-29T13:20:00.000-08:00

The kids are hilarious because they don't realize that chores aren't fun (I am secretly hoping they never figure this out and so I am playing along until they do). Unloading the dishwasher...awesome. Doing laundry...a blast. Cleaning the bathrooms...loads of fun. And when it comes to vacuuming, now that is just about the coolest thing you can do. And so, how could I ever deprive them of this opportunity for fun? Well, I can't and don't. Soon I will be sitting back eating bon-bons and watching soap operas while my little child labor force cleans my house, I am a genius (evil laugh) bah ha ha ha!

Grandpa Josh

2011-11-29T13:06:00.001-08:00

Josh likes to make a big deal over the fact that he is older than me (by like 2 months) and how it makes him so much more mature (yeah right) so I like to tease him about how he is an old man. Well, he turned 30 a couple of weeks ago and so now I just call him Grandpa. For his birthday he wanted to go to Vegas to see a show and our friends Danny and Bree so his actual birthday was pretty chill but his birthday weekend was awesome! For his birthday, Brooklynn and I made him some cupcakes...

On Thursday night we packed up the kids and headed for viva las vegas. We took the kiddos to walk around the strip a little and went to the M&M store, we played at the mall which had a totally legit playground complete with maze, just the adults went to a piano bar...which was amazing, and Josh and I went to dinner and a show while Danny and BreighAn were kind enough to watch our crazies. We were supposed to see Penn and Teller (Josh's favorite magicians) but they cancelled the show so we ended up seeing Criss Angel instead. We had such a good time hanging out with our friends and we were so glad they let us come party with them. Thanks guys, you are amazing!!

Danny and Josh with the kiddos

Us minus Charlotte...

...who was rocking her stroller.

Me and Grandpa

The M&M store had lots of big M&M's for us to take pictures with and LOTS of M&M memorabilia to enjoy. By far my favorite though was the little 3D film they have, not because of the film itself but because the whole time we were watching it, JJ kept trying to reach out and touch the stuff...hilarious.

Pumpkin Carving

2011-11-29T12:56:00.000-08:00

While we were on our cruise the kiddos went with my mom to a pumpkin patch and picked out some pumpkins to carve so of course Josh and I had to get some too. We were totally legit this year because I got a pumpkin carving kit with the stencil design things. The kids picked out their design and helped clean out the pumpkins then Josh and I went to work. The kids picked out some pretty intricate designs and since they were little pumpkins it definitely added to the challenge so by the time we were done with theirs we decided to go with the super simple ones for ours. I think they turned out quite nice and maybe we will be even more adventurous next year and design our own....

JJ was not a big fan of pulling out the guts and this is what his face looked like the whole time.

Brooklynn on the other hand was awesome at it.

The finished product from left to right: Brooklynn's, JJ's, Josh's and mine.

And to celebrate our pumpkin carving-fest we had corn on the cob from the garden with steak and potatoes...yum.

Check out those beauties...

Tricycle, Tricycle, Tricycle...

2011-11-02T08:56:00.000-07:00

I want to ride my tricycle, I want to ride my trike...

When we bought Brooklynn her bike for her birthday, JJ inherited her old "bike" (aka trike). He loved "riding his bike" but the only problem was he didn't know how to ride it. He had no idea how to use the pedals or really even what they were. And so, while Brooklynn was at preschool one day, I taught him how. He figured it out pretty quick and has since gotten really good at it. The only downside is due to little legs and little tires he has a hard time keeping up with Brooklynn. It's cute to watch them ride together though. Hooray for family bike rides!

The J-man in action, look at him go.

Incredible Halloween Part 2

2011-11-02T08:52:00.001-07:00

As part of our INCREDIBLE halloween celebration, we also went to Greg and Bree's INCREDIBLE community party. It was legit. We played some games, jumped in the bounce houses, went through a haunted house, rode on a hay ride and got a whole bucket full of candy. It was INCREDIBLE.

JJ and Daddy.

Bree and her little jailbird. (Kenzington's shirt says "I've been in for 9 months." Cute huh.)

And then of course on halloween we had to hit up some trick or treating. Cause lets be honest, mom and dad like candy too. We got a little too ambitious with the kids and went down about 3 streets which was about 1 street too long for their little legs. They were very excited to get home and eat their candy. We let them eat as much as they could while we sat on the driveway and handed out candy to other trick or treaters. They were in heaven! And I can't say for sure, but I am quite confident JJ ate his weight in candy. Delicious

All ready to go. (You will notice we are both holding Charlotte's hands so she will keep her mask on for the picture...little stinker!)

Spooky house complete with fog machine. Check.

"Mom, how do I get these tights off?"

My INCREDIBLE little cutie pie.
It's a good thing Mr. Incredible has some big muscles to carry tired little incredibles the rest of the way home.

Enjoying the spoils...

Incredible Halloween Part 1

2011-11-01T20:23:00.000-07:00

We had an INCREDIBLE time this Halloween. Since I made our INCREDIBLE costumes this year, I totally wanted to reap the INCREDIBLE rewards and wear them as much as possible without being a complete weirdo so we went to A LOT of INCREDIBLE Halloween functions. We had an INCREDIBLE ward trunk or treat, went to our INCREDIBLE community "festival," went with Greg and Bree to theirs (also INCREDIBLE), and then of course went trick or treating which was super INCREDIBLE. It was INCREDIBLE!! Hee hee, I am totally going to try and use this word as much as possible, man I am funny ;o). Anyway, I must admit Brooklynn was a little disappointed when we told her she couldn't be a princess because we were dressing up as a family, but once she saw how INCREDIBLE her costume was and probably how excited I was about it, she thought it was an INCREDIBLE idea too. She seemed to really embrace the INCREDIBLE superhero pose and use it frequently, as you will notice. So in case you haven't gotten my oh-so-subtle hints, we were obviously dressed as the Incredibles and we were incredibly cute if I do say so myself. It worked out perfectly since we happen to have almost the exact right ages and sexes of kiddos (yes, poor Charlotte was Jack-Jack or Jane-Jane as we preferred to call her). And besides who doesn't want to see me and Josh in tights, right??? I must give credit to my genius husband because the idea was his brainchild and it worked out INCREDIBLE. So now its time to enjoy some INCREDIBLE pictures and commentary....

Charlotte ready to go for Halloween Round 1

Our little Violet, complete with black hair (ok more like gray, that spray-on stuff does not last very long apparently)
JJ was clearly confused, am I Dash or Hitler Youth? In actuality, he was learning the superhero pose, obviously his first time.
Incredible superhero poses. Check.

Again.

"A whole family of supers."

And then we dragged Axton, Bree and Kenzington to our little community party....

Superheros ready for some action.

See what I mean about the superhero pose?

With a little pirate we picked up....arrrgh.

Rocking some fake teeth they won.

A little face paint. Check.
This shot took about 3 tries since everytime I would go to take the picture, Axton would move his head to help and I would wind up missing the ghost. It was pretty funny.

JJ playing on the INCREDIBLE inflatable maze thingy (yes that is the technical term).

And some INCREDIBLE cuteness.

And here's some little videos of the kids playing the INCREDIBLE games....

The INCREDIBLE ring toss.

The INCREDIBLE toilet paper toss.

The INCREDIBLE penny toss. (Apparently Halloween requires a lot of tossing).

And of course the INCREDIBLE bounce house.

Like I said, we had an INCREDIBLE time. Stay tuned for part 2 of our INCREDIBLE halloween...

Oral Hygiene 101

2011-10-27T14:53:00.001-07:00

My kids really like to brush their teeth. Ok, so actually they just like to chew on the toothbrush and eat the toothpaste, but baby steps right? I am trying to teach them to actually brush their teeth instead of just performing the aforementioned actions. I discovered that when JJ can watch himself in the mirror, he actually kind of does it. And I just thought he looked so cute I had to videotape him. What a big boy.

Daddy's Scary

2011-10-27T14:53:00.000-07:00

It must have something to do with the deeper voice, but Josh can totally scare Charlotte and I can't. Apparently we are bad parents too because we do it too to watch her react. It's so sad to see her little lip quiver and her look at me with that "save me" face, but so funny all at the same time. So watch out for Josh, he's scary.

Backyard Bonfire

2011-10-27T14:45:00.001-07:00

Now that the weather is finally starting to cool off (at least at night) we are ready to put our homemade fire pit to good use. We had a little marshmallow roast out in the backyard just for fun. And oh was it fun. Especially since we discovered little kid camping chairs. Bring on the marshmallows (well, not for me since I don't like them, but definitely for everyone else!).

Daddy getting the fire started.

Waiting so patiently.

Apparently the fire is too bright to look at.

Roasting the mallows.

Charlotte got regulated to the pack-n-play because she was too wiggly to hold.
A little self portrait of me and the wee one. This is the "what are you doing mom?" face.

Oh, taking a picture, ok I will just stare with my mouth open.

Caramel Apples Or An Exercise In Impulsivity

2011-10-27T14:23:00.000-07:00

Last year about this time I was making caramel apples with the young women and they were delicious. I kept seeing caramel apples and I kept thinking to myself, man I really want to eat those caramel apples again. And so as I was walking by the granny smith apples at the store I decided to stop craving them and just go for it. We bought some caramel, chocolate and toffee to coat our little apples with and boy were they yummy. Best idea I ever had, thank you lack of self control. The kids had fun making them too, and while they may not be the prettiest apples ever, it was totally worth it.

Crawling...Army Style

2011-10-27T14:10:00.000-07:00

This video was VERY difficult to get. For one, Charlotte is very easily distracted. Distracted by the camera, distracted by the other kids, distracted by basically anything. And two, she is not a performer. Anytime I want her to do something on cue she just sits and looks at me. As soon as I bust out the camera to catch something on video, she stops doing it. I have to be very sneaky with this one. But lucky for you, my persistance paid off and I finally got videographic evidence of her new talent...crawling. And now if you will excuse me I have to go vacuum. Constantly. For the next several months. (Sigh).

Just Goofing Around

2011-10-27T13:38:00.000-07:00

Here's some more videos of us just goofing around....

Brooklynn and JJ showing me how to slide down the stairs. (I won't show them what we used to do down the stairs at my house growing up).

This is what happens when you have two energetic (read crazy) kids who don't watch TV and spend A LOT of time playing together, they come up with crazy games to play. JJ is being a dog, hence the panting and tongue wagging.

Dad, also known as the spinning ride like at the fair.

Tackle Fight!

Making Charlotte laugh. She thinks JJ is hilarious.

Charlotte enjoying some corn at diiner, she was really hungry.

JJ doing some reading, what a little genius.
And Brooklynn practicing to join the circus, books are for balancing not reading.

Breakfast of Champions, Mexican Style

2011-10-27T13:37:00.000-07:00

Inspired by our trip south of the border, we decided to feed the kiddos some "Mexican breakfast." We (and by "we" I mean Josh) made juevos rancheros and they were delicioso.

This is Brooklynn experimenting with making a different silly face or getting her tonsils checked, I can't remember which one.

Souvenir Central

2011-10-27T13:28:00.000-07:00

Of course while on vacation we had to pick the kids up a few souvenirs, otherwise we would just be terrible parents, right? So we got them some sombreros which are awesome and they look awesome in them (plus they really like wearing them) which was a good buy. JJ looks like a miniature mariachi so I guess we should have picked him up the little suit as well. But genius me picked out some toys that they love but I have come to hate. Maracas and whistles. I guessed right that they would love these toys but for some weird reason I failed to take into account the fact that I would be in the same room as them (or close nearby) while they were playing with them. I guess I should have picked up some earplugs too. Viva Mexico!

He's ready to learn the Mexican Hat Dance.

And of course we need to have the "silly face" pictures

This is me convinces JJ to perform using his new "instruments." My favorite is when I ask him where Mommy and Daddy got his toys he answers "the store" and when asked which store, he answers "Wal-mart." Silly kid.

Brooklynn joining in on the fun.

Lean Mean Sitting Machine

2011-10-25T13:59:00.000-07:00

(Ok, well maybe not so lean or mean, more like full-figured, sweet, sitting machine.) As I have previously mentioned, while we were on our awesome vacation, my sweet baby girl learned how to sit up. I have been really looking forward to this stage for a number of reasons, mostly so she wouldn't want to lay on the dirty floor everywhere and also so I could take millions of cute sitting up pictures. Unfortunately for me she mastered sitting up at the same time she figured out she could propel herself around the room using rolling/crawling methods (so much for staying off the dirty floors). Fortunately for me, she doesn't mind my marathon photography and so here it is in all its glory (ok, well not all its glory since I took A LOT of pictures but you know what I mean)....

See she's so happy about it too.

Of course Brooklynn and JJ wanted to get in on the action

Charlotte seemed ok with it.

My sweet little chubbers. Check out her thick little thighs and wrist rolls. I love it. (And did I mention that where most people have knuckles she just has cute indentations because her little hands are so fat you can never see the bones = awesome)

And Then There Was Puerto Vallarta

2011-10-21T13:09:00.001-07:00

We were really looking forward to this stop on our vacation since this is where Josh served the first 4 months of his mission. Technically, he lived in Ixtapa which is like a 20 min bus ride from downtown. So, we planned a little adventure and then left some time to explore. Our adventure was a canopy tour through the jungle (aka zip line). They took us on a bus for about 20 min to seriously what good have been the middle of the Amazon (apparently they filmed the movie Predator there). I have never seen so many trees (and not just cause I live in Arizona). It was really beautiful and a nice change from the desert and beach we had already explored thus far. Honestly, we were both a little nervous because heights are not really our thing, but everyone said it was too awesome to pass up and so we went for it. We got all harnessed up and went through the safety discussion, which was entertainment in and of itself thanks to our tour guides (think Jungle Cruise at Disneyland), and then headed on up to the first zip line. The first few were pretty short to get some "practice" and then we went for the big ones. We were zipping back and forth across this canyon over a river and it was insane. The biggest one, "Dos Cajones" was 1/4 mile long and 1/2 mile in the air. Unbelievable. The coolest part was that you didn't realize how high you were at first because you were still in the trees but once you left the trees and were over the canyon, it was craziness. The experience itself was totally fun but it was made even better by our guides. They were 20 something yr. old Mexican kids and they were funny. You could tell they had been working together for a long time and were totally buddies and they were cracking jokes the whole time. P.S. if we look super hot and sweaty, its because we were. It was like 90 degrees with a whole lot of humidity, we were in the jungle, and we were hiking up a canyon. You do the math ;o)

Here is Josh "the mexican looking guy" landing on the platform

Yours truly

Like I said before, we took a lot of video for the kids so they could feel like they were there with us, so here is Josh videotaping as he was going across. This was about halfway through so we aren't as high, but you can kind of get a feel for what it was like.

Me so excited...

Josh is too!

Rocking the bandana and harness

Helmets. check. (Apparently we like vacation where you have to wear a lot of safety gear). Life's hard, get a helmet baby!

So jungle-y

At the bottom of the canyon by the river, can you see the zip lines over our heads?
A fun little mural at the "entrance" of our canopy adventure

So they had this "petting zoo" of sorts. Basically it was some small animals in cages you could hold and feed like monkeys and birds. We weren't really into it (especially since we had just watched Contagion right before we went on vacation) but the guy talked us into at least holding the bird.

And of course he put it on my head. I was smiling but inside I was thinking, "get this bird off my head"...can you see the nervousness on my face?

Like I said, we saved some time to go exploring so we took a bus out to Ixtapa to go check out some of Josh's old haunts. We saw his apartment and walked around the town looking for people he might know. We didn't find any, although we did get a lot of "what are you gringo tourists doing way out here" looks as we walked around. We even got some fresh tortillas from a little tortilleria. It's sad to see such poverty but it really does make me so grateful for all the blessings I have. I really do appreciate my modern comforts and conveniences.

Us on the bus ride back to downtown.

A pirate I found along the way.

We had already finished our shopping (since we really didn't buy very many souvenirs anyway) and so we decided to fore go the flea market and went in search of some tacos instead. We talked to some shop owners and asked them where they ate and headed to some taco stands a few blocks away. It was kind of a walk but it was definitely worth it. This might have been one of my most favorite parts because I really like eating, especially Mexican food, and these tacos were delicious. Plus it just felt like a more authentic experience than shopping for trinkets.

Making the tacos, I forgot this guys name, but he was really nice, and he made some AMAZING tacos al pastor...mmm yum.
Enjoying our tacos

Hello Coka. Delicioso.

This made us laugh. It's the "walk" sign for crossing the street but it looks like a guy doing the running man. The video isn't very good and it's really short so you might have to watch it a few times...but we liked it.

Cabo, The Sequel

2011-10-18T17:09:00.000-07:00

For day two adventure in Cabo we decided to ride some ATV's through the desert to the beach. It was a lot of fun. We chose to ride double which I am glad because I'm not sure I would have felt comfortable driving those puppies although it was pretty scary being the passenger too. Mostly Josh just wanted to go fast and in circles and I just kept picturing us flipping over and being crushed by our ATV's. Obviously dramatic, I know, but I'm not ready to die :o). Fortunately for me, he kept the fast turns to a minimum and just went super fast on the straightaways. The coolest part was when we got to the beach because it was totally secluded and wide open. We had fun taking a break and exploring the beach before our return trip home. We also befriended a few married men who were cracking me up. These guys were at least 40 and were probably pushing 50 but they were partying in Cabo with their wives like they were 20 year old frat boys. It was hilarious to hear them talk of their escapades. Once a partier always a partier I guess.

Helmets. check. Goggles. check. Bandanas to block the excessive dust. check.

Posing by the ATV's...awkward pose, I know. What I don't know is why i was sitting like that. Obviously I am no desert rat.

How do you like our ride?

The beach we stopped at.

A little video of the waves crashing on the rocks to show the kiddos. So beautiful.

Josh got a little hungry so he found himself a snack

Don't worry, it was already dead. And no he didn't actually eat it, ewww.

Beach, beach and more beach...

Self portrait on our way back through the desert (and in case you were wondering, yes Josh is smiling beneath his bandana)
We also took some video while driving to show the kiddos so they could pretend they were there with us. WARNING: amateur videographer (me), ride may be extremely bumpy, high risk for motion sickness while watching. (Don't say I didn't warn you)

Us on the beach (P.S. we were cruising, seriously, we got up to like 65 MPH)

Through the desert

Doing a little "chopping" before getting back on the boat (Josh rocking the hat we got my Dad for his birthday)

Back on the ship again...the Cabo arch in the background
Heading out of Cabo...and on to Puerto Vallarta

The Saga Continues...Mexican Style!

2011-10-18T13:14:00.000-07:00

I Love Mexico. Really. I have always wanted to be Mexican, I mean then I wouldn't have to make excuses why I want to eat tortillas, beans and rice for every meal, I could justifiably listen to mariachi music, I would be tan...the list is endless. And since Josh loves Mexico too, it was the perfect place to visit. Our cruise stopped two days in Cabo San Lucas and one in Puerto Vallarta. Since we had fully committed ourselves to lounging on the ship, we made the decision to live it up on shore, thus the perfect blend or relaxation and adventure on our vacation. When I asked Josh what he wanted to do, his only response was, "I just want to go scuba diving. I don't care what else we do." And so, our first day that is exactly what we did. Josh used to scuba all the time when he was younger but I have never been. I was a little nervous about getting eaten by Jaws, but decided there was probably nothing I could do to prevent that and so I decided to go for it. We did a "beginner course" since neither of us is currently certified which basically consisted of about 30 minutes of instruction, a shallow dive for practice, and then the "real thing" out deeper. I was surprised to find how relaxing it is. We just swam along slowly checking out all the fishies. It was great. The "real dive" was even better since it was out by the famous Cabo San Lucas arch. When we got in the water we were diving with the sea lions for awhile and then we headed over to see all the marine life. It was really beautiful. And now that I am totally a scuba pro, ok almost, we have decided to at it to our list of retirement hobbies. And hopefully I won't get eaten by Jaws then either.

Pulling into Port with Cabo in the background

The water is too shallow for the Cruise Ship to pull up to the pier, so you have to take a smaller boat from the ship to the shore...here's us on our tender boat.

At the dive shop, ready to get geared up and go

A little video of us heading out to our dive spot

Out on the water
Isn't it so pretty?
After our first dive. Do I look a little like I might vomit? Uh that's because I was SUPER nauseated from the dive boat. Note to self: me and small boats on big waves do not get along
See the wave behind the water taxi, that is what I am talking about, just thinking about it makes me seasick all over again. The arch is cool though, huh.
The arch, minus the boat full of tourists

Our sea lion friends that we were swimming with (look closely on the rocks)

Back to the nausea thing, we had our 30 minutes of instruction on the boat while we were bobbing up on down in the ocean over these big old waves. I thought I was going to die. Fortunately once we got in the water it went away, but then we went back on the boat to go over to the arch for the next dive it came back and I nearly tossed my cookies. I even got the "how to vomit in your regulator" lesson in case I couldn't shake it once in the water. Lucky for me we got in the water soon after and all though I was still feeling it, I survived vomit free. Hooray! P.S. Sorry if the vomit talk is a little too much for some of you, but I am documenting history here people ;o).

On a cool side note, some of our fellow divers were trumpet players from our ship out getting their scuba certification. It was fun chatting with them about life on the ship and I got to ask them all my fun questions about how they got their job, if they liked it, etc. etc. etc. Fun and informative. And also a pretty good gig for a post college, not ready to get a "real job," twenty-something year old.

Vacation Part One...The Ship

2011-10-13T15:35:00.000-07:00

So for those of you who don't know, for our five year anniversary present we decided to go on a legitimate kid-free vacation. You see, we have never really had one of those. We've had weekend getaways and the like, but never a true bonafide vacation. Not even our honeymoon, since I had to be back to start teaching a mere 3 days post wedding. So I think it is fair to say we were due (or overdue). And so we took a week long cruise down to the Mexican Riviera and left the kiddos with my parents. Fortunately my parents were kind and generous enough to put up with our little crazies for a whole week which made the week a fun little vacation for them too (with only a few "i want mommy's"). We began our vacation with a 2 hr couple massage in Long Beach before we got on the boat, best idea ever. I was a little nervous about the cruise situation since I am infamous when it comes to motion sickness (lets just say while pregnant I once threw up while I was driving) but fortunately thanks to some blessed motion sickness meds it wasn't bad at all. Overall, the cruise itself was good. The food wasn't as good as we hoped, the room was better, and all in all we had fun chilling and relaxing on the ship. The time in Mexico, however, was AMAZING. More on that later. But here are some pictures of us on the boat...

Josh with our big ole boat in the background

Getting onboard...can you tell we are excited?

Nervous about vomiting, um yeah

Chilling in one of the "lounges" waiting for the stand up comedy

One interesting thing we discovered on our vacation is that we are geriatric, honestly although we are both just shy of 30 we might have behaved like 80 year olds. We signed up for the "late" dinner at 8:15 thinking "no kids, we are gonna stay up late and party, yeah lets do 8:15." And for the record 8:15 is not even that late. Sadly, after the first two nights we realized we were falling asleep at the dinner table and requested the regular dinner at 6. We couldn't hang with the late dinner and the late shows, we had to hit up the early dinner and the early shows...that's right friends, 4:30 dinners, here we come. A total plus though was the table we sat at for the 6 dinner was filled with fun interesting couples (about 20 or 30 years older than us) versus the unbelievably boring couple (our own age) we sat with at the late dinner. Apparently we have more in common with old people too?

Us rocking the earlier dinner, hallelujah (don't we look so awake?)

Do you like the awesome ship decor? Brooklynn would have loved all the pink, we however, were not as fond of it. Just think 80's- great decade for music, horrible for fashion and home decor. And P.S. this picture was taken as I was exiting the bathroom, thanks Josh!

In retrospect, it turns out we were pretty boring on the ship. We were really excited about just relaxing, sleeping in and so we took full advantage of it. Like I said, it was awesome. And total props to my parents because A. they survived a week with 3 small, slightly (ok totally) crazy kiddos 4 years and under B. JJ was sick the whole week before we left and still hadn't completely recovered when we left so they had to deal with a sicky and whiny two year old C. the kids had a wonderful time and still continue to tell me the fun things they did with Grandpa and Grandma and D. they taught my six month old daughter how to drink out of a bottle (no thanks to my several failed attempts) and how to sit up all by herself. And as a side note, Charlotte may have fallen in love with Grandma and forgotten who her real mom was and it may have taken me a few days post-vacation to reestablish myself as her favorite person.

Half A Birthday For Charlotte

2011-10-13T15:13:00.000-07:00

That's right folks, she has hit the half a year mark. It's crazy how fast the past six months have gone. My sweet little baby is just growing up so fast (tear). My children are all my favorites for different reasons and Charlotte is my favorite because she is just so lovable and snuggable and kissable. Part of it is her "fulness" (read chubbiness) and the other part is her sunny disposition. Maybe its just the fact that I want to be more like her, happy to smile at littlest thing and so quick to bounce back from life's sucky moments (for her: starvation, sleep deprivation, and the inability to control limbs and bowel movements, for me: starvation (or rather inability to finish a meal in piece), sleep deprivation, and the inability to control the crazy little ones that rule my world). But in all seriousness, she is such a sweet little kid and I hope she stays this way forever (not this small, just this sweet). I just love her to pieces. And so in honor of this milestone, we had the traditional half a birthday party with the fam and it was wonderful.

A little half a birthday serenade

Cake and ice cream, yum.

Hannah and Charlotte...first cousins once removed (if my genealogy is correct)

All the cousins plus sweet Hannah

Charlotte and her presents, yes there were presents (and yes this is the only face Charlotte makes for pictures apparently)

Oh wait, there's presents???

Opening her very first present, she looks very focused doesn't she

Trying to eat the paper...typical

Great Aunt Kim (aka the Great) and JJ enjoying some bonding

Wanna Be a Boy Scout?

2011-10-12T16:06:00.000-07:00

Josh got a new calling at church, he is the scout committee chair. Basically he is in charge of all the boy scouts...keeping tabs on where they are at, helping them with their advancements, managing and delegating and all that jazz. It's a really cool calling for him since he gets to hang out with the young men and be part of the scouting program (both things he never did since he wasn't a member back then). He had his first big gig the other night, a court of honor. It turned out really great and we got the photos to prove it.

Josh MC-ing the event, doesn't he look so cute in his scout shirt? The whole time I was putting on the patches I kept thinking "Patches. We don't need no stinking patches." (That's from Troop Beverly Hills if you didn't know, which is a great movie by the way).

He set up a little boy vs. leader challenge which involved some tent take down, sleeping bag roll up and marshmallow eating. The leaders won, you've never seen a tent come down so fast, and it was great fun to watch.

Like I said, total success. Atta boy.

Fun with the Jonesies

2011-10-12T16:00:00.000-07:00

Here's some more of what we do for fun....

The Case of The Exploding Window

2011-10-12T15:47:00.000-07:00

I love a good mystery but I think this is one I could have done without. It all started a month ago or so when Josh rolled down the passenger window in the van and it forgot to roll back up. Try as we might it wasn't going to budge. Since we are cheap and didn't want to pay to fix the window, Josh jimmirigged it shut, no problemo...or so we thought. Fast forward to two weeks ago when I was driving on the freeway running an errand for Josh, trying to get all prepped for our big vacation, when seriously out of the blue the window explodes. Seriously, it just completely shatters and glass is flying into the car. Needless to say it scared me and the kiddos a wee bit. Fortunately, since its safety glass no one got cut and the passenger seat took the brunt of the damage. No idea what happened. Possibly a rock? Vibration from the road to a already fragile window. We will never know. What I do know is I had to clean up a ridiculous amount of glass from all over the car and the door was spitting up glass until the window got fixed. We did end up fixing the window because A. it was still unbearably hot outside and a/c just wasn't cutting it with hot wind blowing in and B. we were going on vacation for a week and leaving the van behind with my parents and C. who really wants to drive around without ever being able to roll up the window, I mean, what if it rains? So, all in all, it worked out just fine, no one was hurt, it was totally inconvenient, but hey, how many people can say their window exploded while driving. I can. Oh yeah, and here's some photos of the aftermath...

Crepes, the Breakfast of Champions

2011-10-12T15:41:00.000-07:00

So, as I have mentioned, we have church ridiculously late in the day. Since our children believe it is necessary to wake up with the sun that means we have A LOT of time to kill in the morning. And what better way to start the morning than a fancy Sunday morning breakfast and so this is our new tradition. Well, a few weeks ago we tried crepes. They were delicious. How could they not be? Especially when served with whipped cream...hello, its like dessert for breakfast. Yum. Well, the kids liked it too...can't you tell how excited Charlotte is...

Don't mind Brooklynn's crazy hair...

And yes, some of it did make it in JJ's mouth, although I am not sure how much...

Needless to say this is the best new tradition ever, although perhaps not for my waistline.

Bring On The Baby Food

2011-10-12T13:49:00.000-07:00

I am kind of a stickler for waiting until my babies are 6 months before feeding them "real food." Partially because that's what the doctors tell me but honestly partially because I am lazy and it is so much easier to just breastfeed them. But alas, my little peanut hit the six month mark and was ready for the change. It helped that we were planning on going on vacation for a week and leaving her behind with Grandpa and Grandma since I knew even though she refused to drink out of a bottle if she didn't learn at least she wouldn't die of starvation. Well, she apparently was really ready for the baby food stage. She was by far the easiest of my babies. That girl was all about it (I should have guessed this based on the girth of her thighs...my baby loves food) and she barely even made a mess. A-mazing. So here she is in all her glory...

Ready and excited...

Coy little smile

Baby food goatie, check.

Camping...again

2011-09-22T14:02:00.000-07:00

So we had a ward campout a few weekends ago and we thought, what the heck, lets do it. The campout itself was awesome. It was nice getting to know some of the people in the ward better, the weather was sooo much cooler, the kids had a blast running around getting dirty with other kids, you know good stuff. The sleeping on the other hand....horrible. When we went camping with Greg and Bree the kids did great sleeping, this time, not so much. The culprit was JJ. I think he is finally getting the rest of his molars so he was a monster that night. He kept waking up more or less screaming which was awesome, oops, I mean not awesome. For one, everytime he woke up, he woke up me, Josh and Charlotte. For two, it is kinda stressful when camping for kids to cry in the middle of the night when we are right next to a whole bunch of other tents, also with small children. And three, since he would wake up Charlotte, I would get him back to sleep and then by the time I got her back to sleep he would wake up again...BORING! But alas, besides pulling an all-nighter we really had a great time. So bring on the camping....I think.

Cute little kiddos all bundled up. Don't mind that they look homeless, when I pack for camping I should be thinking, oh what cute clothes can they wear for the pictures I will take, but instead I always think, what clothes do they have that they already have or can ruin without me crying about it. So alas, they look a little crazy, oh well, at least they were warm :o)

Some little people friends!

Can you see the rainbow? It didn't turn out that well in the picture but it was AWESOME! It was ginormous and had all the rainbow colors. Totally cool.

Slipping and Sliding

2011-09-20T10:36:00.000-07:00

So in case you were wondering...yes it is still really hot in Arizona (at least by my standards). Summer lasts just a wee bit longer here than everywhere else and by a wee bit I mean MONTHS! Thank goodness for a/c. Anyway, one such hot day, we were out enjoying the slip and slide. We are still working on the sliding part...its more of slip and fall or slip and jump rather than slip and slide, but hey they are having fun and that is all that matters, right?

Playing with Dad

2011-09-19T14:30:00.000-07:00

We inherited this cool toy from Babci. It's basically a do-it-yourself marble maze race track thingy. Technical I know. So you take all the pieces and you can make a whole bunch of different contraptions and after they are complete, you put a marble in and watch it go. Now this toy was meant to entertain the children but I think even as much as they enjoy playing with it, Josh might like it more. This has definitely become a "daddy and me" toy. The best part...their glazed over faces as they watch the marble move its way down = awesome.

Faker Baby

2011-09-15T13:55:00.000-07:00

So, as I have mentioned numerous times, Charlotte is the best baby ever. She is just so happy and chill. She really only cries when she is super tired, hungry, or poopy. And then, pretty much all you have to do to make her stop crying is pick her up. Its AWESOME! I guess being number 3 has its perks too because there is always someone there who wants to entertain you or play with you. Brooklynn and JJ are constantly trying to get her to laugh and smile and she definitely enjoys their attention. The best part though is she has this fake laugh, its laughing but not in a "oh my gosh this is the funniest thing ever" kinda way, more like a "you amuse me" kinda way. It sounds like a cross between hyperventilating and an asthma attack. And even though its not an all out gut-busting kind of laugh, it still makes me laugh. Plus, its pretty entertaining watching Brooklynn and JJ do whatever it takes to make her giggle.

Bicycle, Bicycle, Bicycle, I Want to Ride My Bicycle...

2011-09-14T14:56:00.000-07:00

I want to ride my bike. I want to ride my Bicycle I want to ride it where I like. (Thank you Queen). This is the song we now sing when it is time for a little bike ride. Honestly, I am still waiting for the weather to cool off some more so we can optimized bike riding, but we have gotten a little bit in. Here is the inagural bike ride in the driveway. Brooklynn was a little unsure of herself on her big kid bike, but after just a little bit of practice, she totally had it down.

We have since gone on a few more and she is really cruising now. I had to run to keep up with her. Now all we need are some bikes for Josh and I and then we can do some serious family bike riding....boo yeah! Especially since we have so many awesome "walking paths" to utilize.

Family Picture Fantastico

2011-08-30T15:08:00.000-07:00

Our old home teacher does a little photography on the side and so I asked him if he would take some family pictures for us. I think they turned out great...dontcha think? And P.S. these aren't fake backgrounds, AZ sunsets are just that cool. And yes we do live in a psuedo farming community and there are cornfields close to our house...its a far cry from San Diego that's for sure.

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Brooklynnisms

2011-08-30T14:47:00.000-07:00

Here's some more funny things Brooklynn has said recently.

When she got her new bike, she said to Josh, "Awesome new bike. Check."

I like to sing/say random lines to songs that I feel apply to any given situation. And Brooklynn has started repeating them and therefore you might hear her say, "I wanna rock right now" in reference to rocking in the rocking chair or "drop it like its hot" when Charlotte drops a toy on the ground. What can I say, I just radiate cool, its hard not to absorb some of it ;o)

At 8:30 in the morning one day, she turns to JJ and says, "JJ can you go play in the toy room by yourself for a little while, I've had a hard day." I find this hilarious because A. as a 4 yr old, really how hard can your day be? and B. it's 8:30 in the morning, you've only been awake for 2 hours...even I don't have a hard day by that point. Mostly this is funny too because its a phrase Josh has said to Brooklynn before if he's had a rough day at work and needs a little detox time when he gets home.

She likes to sing the primary song I Love to See the Temple and the end of one of the verses says, "this is my sacred duty." Well, when she was still learning it, she would sing, "this is my sacred booty." Hee hee. That's funny.

We always tell her she is a smart cookie or a smartie pants. Well, she isn't so good at making s sounds so it sounds a little more like an f. She said to Josh one day, "Dad, I am a fart cookie. I am such a fartie pants." I am so proud of my little fartie pants.

When The Cat's Away...

2011-08-30T14:45:00.000-07:00

...the little mice get to play. So while Brooklynn is at preschool I get some time with just 2 kids, man that is so much easier...its funny how your perspective changes. It's nice to have some bonding time with just JJ and Charlotte. And of course, who doesn't love a few pictures to commemorate the event?

JJ loves to hold Charlotte which is a little tricky because she is almost as big as he is

The ground is much safer, but obviously not as much fun for JJ

Preschool and Funny Faces

2011-08-30T14:37:00.000-07:00

So I was starting to feel a little guilty that Brooklynn was the only 4 year old I knew that wasn't going to preschool but my sense of frugality (i.e. stinginess) refused to shell out the dough they want for preschool..sheesh. Luckily for me, however, some moms in our new ward were putting together a little preschool co-op and asked if I wanted in. The upside, totally free and Brooklynn gets to go to preschool twice a week for 2 1/2 hrs. a day. The downside, I also take turns teaching the class twice a month. I already taught my first time though and I think it went quite well so honestly its a small price to pay. I am not really worried about her being academically prepared for kindergarten as she is a smart cookie but more I wanted her to get some more social skills and get used to going to "school" a little bit so real school won't be such a shock next year. My plan is working out perfectly (insert evil laugh). The funny part is she totally didn't want to go the first day (typical) but then was all about it after I picked her up. Silly kid. Anyway, so here are some pictures of her all ready for school...ahhh.

All ready for "cool" (how she says school)

Being a little sassy

Showing off the backpack

Pouting because JJ wanted to be in the picture too

Making silly faces

And then some more...

I just think its kind of entertaining to see their interpretations of a silly face.

Just Hanging Out

2011-08-30T14:03:00.000-07:00

Being a stay-at-home mom worth is simultaneously the best job and the worst job. The best job because I get to hang out with my sweet (ok well mostly sweet) kiddos all day long and help them learn and grow into healthy, happy, responsible adults. I get to hug them, kiss them, and tell them I love them all day long. The down side is no holidays, no vacations, no sick days, you ALWAYS have to take work home with you, so essentially no breaks. You get it. Most days, I LOVE my job, but lets be honest, there are some days I wish I were punching a time clock. That said, here are some pictures from our adventures just hanging out. Cause honestly, even though it is the hardest job in the world, it is also the best job!

Brooklynn rocking one of her princess dresses and sweet little JJ

Isn't she so cute??

Sisterly Love

Yep, that's JJ passed out on the floor, he was watching a movie with Josh and Brooklynn and totally conked out. That is one tired two year old.

So we like to play games. Some favorites of course being red light green light, duck duck goose, and hide and seek. One benefit to having a room without any furniture, it makes a great place to run around in. I will warn you, these videos are a little bouncy, sorry, that's what happens when you play hard ;o) and its so much more fun on video than in pictures so there.

Red light, green light

Hide and Seek

Making Charlotte laugh, sorry Brooklynn is still working on her photography skills

Some more singing time with JJ

And then of course some more singing time with Brooklynn

B-day for B-rook

2011-08-30T13:32:00.000-07:00

Little Brooklynn turned 4! Holy cow, how did that happen??? She is getting so big and is outgrowing her NARPness (Not A Real Person). She has a personality and a sense of humor. You can reason with her (most of the time), she asks meaningful questions like "what does that mean," she has opinions (oh wait she's always had those). It's amazing to watch her learn and develop. Since my parents happened to be in town the weekend of her birthday (mostly to see Greg and Bree's new baby) we stole them for an hour or so to take them out to dinner to Brooklynn's favorite restaurant "the peanut store" (aka Texas Roadhouse). Afterwards the fam came over for some Happy Birthday singing and ice cream eating.

I totally lost my fight to keep my daughter uncommercialized as her birthday requests were a bike and some princess dress up stuff. We totally got sucked into the princess world because she got two princess dresses, four pairs of princess dress up shoes, a princess camera (toy of course), some princess coloring stuff, a princess bike and matching helmet. Holy Princess stuff, sheesh. Needless to say, she was COMPLETELY in love so it was totally worth it. Thank you Grandpa, Grandma, Babci, Great-Grandma Leavitt, Great-Grandma Barbara, The Greats, Uncle Cheuy and Becky for spoiling her so. You are amazing!

Brooklynn showing off the shwag. For some reason I forgot to take a picture of her opening up her dresses, but don't worry, you will see lots of future posts with her wearing them.

And here's a little trip down memory lane, Brooklynn through the years...

Just a wee babe

One year old

The big two

And then she turned "free"

And then she was 4.

Speaking of Yard Work...

2011-08-30T13:22:00.000-07:00

So like I said, we have been doing some SERIOUS manual labor around the house. Mostly for right now, its been the yard. Since our house was a foreclosure, it needs a little love, most specifically the backyard. It has a really great backyard but it was REALLY dead, and I mean really. So, we cleaned it up, thatched it, reseeded, etc in order to get some grass which worked wonderfully. Since planting season is upon us, we also started phase one of the garden. And so, in honor of our blood and sweat, here is a little before and after.

Before

After

Ah, so much better huh? Obviously we are still working on it, but it is coming along quite nicely. And I will say this experience has made me all the more grateful for running water and a/c. I can't imagine living in AZ back in the day...I would have died. No, seriously.

Twinkies S'more

2011-08-30T13:15:00.000-07:00

No, this post is not about food. It is about my adorable husband and daughter being all matchy matchy. So...every Saturday we do yard work (yes I know it is the summer time and Arizona believes in 100+ degree weather, but hey you gotta do what you gotta do). Well in order not to soil our unbelievably expensive regular clothing (yeah right) Josh bought some camo pants to do yard work and then bought me a pair too. Since we wear them every Saturday we thought it would be fun to find Brooklynn some too. We couldn't find them forever, but then lo and behold there were some in a bag of hand-me-down clothes from nephew Jon. And they are totally Brookylnn's size=awesome. After asking all week if it was Saturday and time for yardwork, Saturday finally came and this is what we got...

The best part is, Brooklynn insisted on wearing a yellow shirt so she could match Josh. Isn't that cute? This was really special for her too because Saturday is their bonding day, they get up early, go to Home Depot together, and do some Saturday morning chores while I sleep in a little (hallelujah) and then make breakfast for the fam. It's totally a great Saturday ritual.

I'm the Favorite

2011-08-30T13:04:00.000-07:00

So I decided my new goal in life is to be everyone's favorite person...totally doable right??? Well, I figured I should at least be the favorite aunt. Now this is pretty easy on Josh's side since he only has one nephew, ipso facto I win by default. However, on my side there are a few more kiddos (9 grandkids and counting). Well, I just got a little new neice, my brother Greg and his wife Bree had a sweet baby girl, Kenzington, and I have made it my goal to win her love. By the way, she does not like me so much right now, she always cries when I hold her, but don't worry its all part of the plan. In order to help her remember how much she loves me I decided she needed one of these...

Awesome, yes? I am thinking of just making them in bulk. What can I say, I am a genius. And well on my way to being the favorite. Check.

Happy Anniversary!

2011-08-09T15:25:00.000-07:00

We celebrated our 5 year anniversary on Thursday...crazy huh? It's funny how sometimes it feels like we have been married forever (in a good way of course) and other times it seems like just yesterday. We didn't actually celebrate our anniversary very much because we are going on an awesome (kid free) one week cruise to Mexico in October to celebrate. We did go out to dinner and pay for our very first babysitter. It was a little nerve racking to leave the kiddos home with a teenager but they survived just fine :o) and it was nice not having to do a babysit swap either. Anyway, all in all it was a really good weekend and I am so glad to be married to such a wonderful man who loves me and who is an amazing husband and father. I am especially grateful that we get to be together...FOREVER! The last 5 years have been wonderful, don't get me wrong we've had our ups and downs...school, poverty, children, job changes, moves, etc., but we've done it together and that's what has made it wonderful. And we look forward to a lifetime more of love and adventure.

It went from this...

to this....

to this...

oh yeah, and we also added this...

What a great 5 years!!!

Seriously Sooooo Messy

2011-07-25T16:13:00.001-07:00

JJ is the world's messiest eater. No joke. This kid must drop or spill something EVERY SINGLE MEAL! If it weren't so hot outside I would make him eat all his food out there just so my kitchen would stay clean for half a second. I don't know if its the boy in him or just him but he feels the need to "explore" his food. He takes it apart, he purposely drops it to watch it fall, he chews it up and then spits it back out....it is frustrating to say the least. The truth is, he is a really good eater and I wouldn't mind the experimentation so much if it didn't mean having to sweep the floor and wipe down the table a thousand times a day. Anyway, I decided to document my sweet little menace today at the table and compare it to Brooklynn just so you can see what I am talking about. Oh yeah, and to document it so I can remember in the future that as soon as he is old enough to use the broom, he gets sweeping duty ;o)!

Brooklynn's area...yes there are some crumbs and such, she is after all a little kid, but for the most part her food remains on her plate or at least her place mat.

JJ on the other hand has almost no food on his actual plate but rather everywhere else...sigh. And notice his sandwich is completely dissected...this kid better grow up to be a genius scientist or something :o)!!!

Does anyone else have this problem or is it just me??? I guess its safe to say boys and girls are very different.

JJ's Serenade

2011-07-20T13:20:00.000-07:00

This video is awesome, not just because it is JJ singing "I Am A Child of God" and the Alphabet song but mostly because he is singing it in the most high pitch voice ever. Seriously, its awesome. I don't know why he was doing it since he normally doesn't sing in such a high voice but I found it very entertaining and I figure I should keep this one around in case I need to blackmail him as a teenager or something. Anyway, enjoy!

Backyard Shinnanagins

2011-07-20T13:19:00.000-07:00

So if you didn't know, Arizona is a little on the um warm side which means we are always on the lookout for new ways to beat the heat. Well, while I was running errands one day I came across these little beauties on clearance. Now technically I think they are sand toys but I thought to myself, "Self, these would make great pool toys." So I splurged and bought them (don't worry they were only about $1 a piece and I figured they can always double as sand toys in the winter). Josh had to work late so we had some time to kill after dinner so we busted out the inflatable pools and had a grand ole time.

P.S. It may not look like it in the picture but yes JJ is wearing a bathing suit in this picture

Gone Fishin'

2011-07-20T13:13:00.000-07:00

We have some catch and release lakes in our community and one right by our house so we decided for this last week's adventure to try our hand at fishing instead of just feeding the ducks. We weren't trying real hard to catch anything (which is good since we didn't) but it was a good experience. We decided we will have to up our game if we are gonna get serious about it and maybe we will someday but for now it is just a fun outing. The kids took turns fishing, eating snacks, and feeding the ducks.

Josh getting it all ready and showing Brooklynn how it works

JJ eating some peanuts...a snack that keeps these kids busy for hours!

Charlotte eating some keys in the shade

Relaxing and fishing

Feeding the ducks

Twinkies For Real Though

2011-07-20T13:04:00.000-07:00

So I tortured my family (again) by making us all take family pictures. And since I am slightly neurotic about it, not only did we need to color coordinate, but I really wanted Brooklynn and Charlotte to match. Brooklynn loves to be all "matchy matchy" with me or with Charlotte so its totally worth it. Well, I kinda slacked off on finding us outfits so I was under pressure and lets just say Target was not helping me out. I finally settled on some cute t-shirts and jeans for the girls that matched a shirt I already owned and a polo shirt for JJ to match a shirt Josh had. It worked out just fine (pictures to follow). The plus was the t-shirts were a two pack so now the girls have not one but two matching shirts...ahhhh. Well, on Sunday after church when we were changing out of our Sunday best I let them wear their new shirts and discovered that they both owned pink shorts so they could be SUPER matchy matchy. Precious. So of course I had to document....

Don't mind Charlotte's blank expressions, she was definitely ready for a nap and apparently a photo shoot was not high on her priority list.

Rollin' with the Homies

2011-07-20T12:58:00.000-07:00

As I think I have previously mentioned, Charlotte is learning to roll over. At first she would roll to her stomach and forget how to roll back, get stuck, and get angry. Now, however, she is doing much better at just rolling back onto her back when she feels she has gotten enough tummy time. Honestly, I'm not sure I am ready for her to be mobile yet, she is still so little and I kind of enjoy her being a sweet little blob...but what can you do?

And cute smiles just because (don't mind her "cleavage" or her drool). Just to give you a little perspective on how big she is, this is Brooklynn's 12mo. bathing suit because Charlotte doesn't fit into the cute 6mo. bathing suit that Josh's buddies at work got her...the little chunker!

Fun and Games

2011-07-12T15:03:00.000-07:00

One of my kids favorite "games" is Circle. This is game they made up where they run in circles yelling "circle, circle, circle" for hours on end. To me, doesn't seem that fun but they LOVE it. Apparently we just need an indoor track in our house. Luckily, we have a big empty room that still doesn't have any furniture (and probably won't for awhile) where they can play Circle to their hearts content. Last week I was babysitting all the Arizona nieces and nephews and they decided to play together. Watching 7 children ages 7 and younger was quite the adventure and I sat thinking to myself this is what it would be like to have a 7 yr old, 5 yr old, twin (almost) 4 yr olds, twin 2 yr olds, and newborn and then I thought, um no thank you, that is a LOT of babies. The kids had a grand old time though.

JJ was cracking me up the other night when he decided to become a "choo choo train." Although I got part of it on tape, its not as good as it was in person...his face was hilarious! But I figure you might enjoy it anyway. This kid is a character!

JJ started potty training yesterday and he is doing amazing. No accidents so far which is awesome. I wanted to take a picture of him in his big boy underwear (which is way to big because he has such skinny hips and a little butt) but he wanted to play Circle instead while I videotaped him...so here he is in his new undies, in motion...

Summer Summer Summer Time

2011-07-12T14:47:00.000-07:00

If you didn't know, it gets HOT in Arizona in the summer. Fortunately for us we have access to the community pool so that is where we have been spending our time. We go at least once a week, usually twice. It's nice because they have a "kiddie" pool that is only about a foot and a half deep so I can throw some floaties on JJ and take all 3 kiddos swimming by myself without worrying about someone drowning. Plus, as I mentioned before, my kids are chickens so going this often has really helped them adjust to the water. JJ is attempting swimming with the floaties and will float on his back and Brooklynn is even putting her whole head under water and kicking and using her arms (something she would scream bloody murder about last year). Who knows, maybe by the end of the summer we might even be able to teach her to swim for real. Mostly, its just nice to let the kids play outside without dying of heat stroke.

The Great Outdoors

2011-07-12T14:46:00.000-07:00

So Josh has really been itching to go camping and I have been less than enthusiastic mostly because the idea of 3 small children in the same tent sounds like death. But alas, I gave in. My brother Greg went with Bree and Axton the weekend before and had a great time but since we couldn't go with them, they agreed to give it another shot and go with us too. Fortunately it was only for the weekend (I'm not that brave) but surprisingly we had a really good time. Charlotte was not a big fan because even though she slept well at night she didn't get very good naps during the day so she was pretty cranky but Brooklynn and JJ did great. The weather was wonderful, all cool and crisp, which was a nice change of pace...I even got to wear pants and a sweater...ahhh. We stayed at a campground by a reservoir and it was B-E-A-utiful. Here is the view..

After setting up camp and eating dinner we headed down to the "lake" to play until it got dark. I say "lake" because although technically I think it is a lake it looks more like a river. The kids got to throw rocks (which they really enjoyed), Josh showed them how to skip rocks, and Greg tried a little fishing.

Siblings gotta hug (don't mind the fact that JJ's pants are a few inches too short, lets just say he's grown a little since last time it was cold enough that he had to wear pants)

Getting some rock throwing in
Uncle Greg showing off the fish he caught (it was small but at least he caught something!)

"Skipping rocks"

Josh showing them how its really done.

The next day we went down to the water again and did some swimming.

Greg getting ready to jump off that rock...I don't know if you can tell in the picture but it was REALLY high

Josh doing some rock jumping too

Brooklynn and Axton watching their crazy dads

Say cheese!

Drying off after some serious swimming

After swimming for awhile we decided to go check out the dam before heading back to camp for lunch. Since the water was still lower, the spillway wasn't open but I wish it were because I think it would have been awesome looking. Instead we just took a picture by the sign :o)

After naptime we were headed down to a nearby creek the rangers suggested for the kids to play in when the clouds came rolling in and we get hit with an afternoon thunderstorm. The storm was awesome with tons of heavy rain so we ditched the creek idea and headed back to camp and on our way got accosted by this wicked hail storm. I don't know if I have ever seen hail so big. I don't think the video does it justice, but maybe the sound will give you an idea of how much hail there was....totally cool.

Because of the storm (and my lack of overpacking which meant not enough "just in case" warm clothes) we decided to ditch Greg and Bree and head home Saturday night. It worked out just fine since we were planning on leaving early Sunday morning anyway to get back in time for church and by the time we left it was almost 6 anyway. We hit some stormage on the way home too so there were lots of pretty clouds to look at. I tried to take a picture but it didn't turn out so I went with the video instead...not as cool as it could have been but pretty nonetheless.

We had only one minor injury our whole trip. Brooklynn got hit in the forehead with a rock that Greg had tied a rope to and was using to try and hang something over a tree limb. It was her own fault since she was told to stay out of the way numerous times and failed to listen but it was a bit of a scare because it was a pretty gnarly cut. If we would have been home she probably would have gotten a few stitched but since we were at least a half an hour away from "civilization" and I has my first aid kit, I was able to patch her up pretty well. She will probably have more of a scar than she would have if she got stitches but war wounds are cool and its pretty close to her hairline so it won't even be that noticeable. She did rock some awesome seriously red streaks in her hair from the blood. I didn't take a picture since I thought first aid was more of serious concern than documenting it...aren't I such a good mom...but maybe when I take all the bandages off I can take a picture and post it.

Fireworks

2011-07-12T14:22:00.000-07:00

Since (some) fireworks are legal in Arizona and Josh is a boy (and therefore likes to play with fire) July 4th is really just a good excuse to light off some fireworks. We bought a bunch to play with and pretty much lit fireworks everyday for 3 days. It was fun. We decided not to go see the traditional fireworks display because they didn't start until late and the kids were already tired, plus all our friends moved away and we haven't made new ones in our new ward yet so we had no one to go with.

Here's some "practice" fireworks...

JJ learning to throw poppers

Brooklynn getting in on the action...and inventing a new method of detonation

The kids all ready for their personal fireworks.

What started out as a "get all pumped up for fireworks" discussion turned into a "firework safety" discussion...with my favorite being if you get burned then you die...talk about dramatic. At least you know we had a safety discussion with them before hand, although I don't remember anyone mentioning anything about death...hmmm.

And of course...sparklers. Notice how JJ is all mesmerized by the fire...another boy sheesh.

Jumping Beans

2011-07-12T13:42:00.000-07:00

If you know my parents, you know they have ALWAYS owned a trampoline (this is my mom's doing) and we grew up bouncing around on them. In fact, once in elementary school my class took a field trip to my house to jump on my trampoline...how awesome is that? That would NEVER happen nowadays. Anyway, my Mom still rocks the trampoline and can still do a ton of tricks (yes she is 50+) cause she is awesome. Well, the kids love to jump too and my mom, bless her soul, will get on and jump with them for hours. My kids are total chickens and they refused to jump without someone holding their hand. Fortunately this last trip to San Diego they mastered the art of jumping by themselves. It's much more fun to supervise then to stand there pretending to jump while holding their hands plus I'm all about them gaining some independence. So, here is proof of how far they have come.

Brooklynn jumping "so high"

JJ also decided to start singing some songs recently. Although he tends to repeat the same parts over and over (fun at first and annoying after awhile) so here he is jumping and singing, whoa talk about a man of many talents :o) (p.s. in case you can't tell the song he's signing, it's Twinkle Twinkle Little Star)

S'more San Diego

2011-07-12T13:12:00.000-07:00

Me and the kiddos took an extra trip to San Diego a couple of weeks after Katie's wedding to see "Best Friend Kellie" (my best friend for like 15 years now...whoa crazy how time flies). Anyway, it was awesome getting to spend lots of time together especially since we haven't lived in the same city now for almost 5 years...boring!!!! Plus, we also got to hang out with the grandparents and enjoy the nice weather. The only down side was Josh had to stay behind to work...LAME...although I am really grateful he was willing to bankroll my operation, what a nice guy! I didn't take any pictures of me and Kellie (I'm so boring) but we just got to hang out and chat anyway so I guess thats not too fun to look at pictures of. I did take some pictures of the kiddos though. We went to the aquarium with Babci, Aunt Jessie and Jon which was fun. I think JJ was the most excited by all the fish, he was pretty dang cute about it, but Brooklynn definitely enjoyed herself too.

Babci and the kiddos (minus Charlotte)

This was the HUGE tank and JJ sat and stared at it forever

Aunt Jessie with Brooklynn and Jon

Starfish! (Don't worry, they aren't real)

Lobster head

A little Star Trek action with some Mr. Spock ears

Trying to get the kids to pose for a picture...obviously less than cooperative

Aunt Jes with Charlotte rocking the angry baby face

We also had a buy one get one free pass for the SEAL tour (its a bus/boat that drives around and then drives into the water...its awesome) and the kiddos were all free so it was definitely a good deal. The weather was super June gloom which made it a little chilly out on the water, but we didn't care. The kids LOVED it, especially when we saw the dolphins and the sea lions. They also liked that they could stand up and wiggle if they wanted. Charlotte also enjoyed herself, although she slept through about half of it. It's totally fun to be a tourist in the city you grew up in.

Me and the kiddos getting ready to board the bus/boat

Obviously they like Grandma more

A little downtown skyline in the background

Out on the bay

Brooklynn wearing her sailor hat

Right before we left to drive home again, we met up at the park to see Babci, Aunt Jessie and Jon one last time (and to wear the kids out so they would take long naps for me in the car). Fortunately my kids are super good road trippers so we can go on fun adventures without having to leave anyone behind in the desert, kidding...sort of :o). Anyway, the park was a blast!

Boy cousins unite!

Poor Babci got stuck on swing duty for awhile

While I was just lounging on the bench (ok AND feeding Charlotte)

Did I mention my kids LOVE the swings...which is one reason I try to avoid parks with swings...it get super old (and tiring) pushing them for HOURS on end.

See what I mean???

Barbershop Basics

2011-07-05T15:38:00.000-07:00

If you haven't already noticed, my children don't believe in growing hair until about age 3. Brooklynn finally has some hair (thank goodness) and it was starting to look like JJ might too, but alas it was not to be. You see, JJ is rocking the grandpa hair do, yes he and my dad have the same haircut. He takes "receding hairline" to a whole new level, and while I was trying to mask it with the combover, it just wasn't working well. So...what other choice did we have, time to give him a "summer cut." That's right, we just shaved it all off. Now he has a cute little purposely bald head and he wears it well.

Josh and JJ getting down to business
The finished product, what a little cutie!

All About Charlotte

2011-07-05T15:24:00.000-07:00

My sweet baby girl is growing up so fast. She is ginormous. No seriously, she is the size of like a 9 month old. She is such a happy baby, always smiling and laughing. She is super low maintenance and will usually just fall asleep when she is tired, its AMAZING! I love playing with her and making her laugh cause it just so darn cute. She has chubby little cheeks and cute little dimples. She just recently learned a new trick, rolling over. Although usually she rolls onto her stomach and then gets mad because she is "stuck" and can't remember how to roll back over.

And here's a little video action

Oh yeah, and did I mention she likes to suck her thumb? It's so cute to see something so little just suck away, but I think that is really going to come back to bite me eventually. I am working on her loving the pacifier instead...wish me luck.

A Day In The Life

2011-07-05T15:12:00.000-07:00

So, what do we do at our house everyday. Well, it usually looks a little like this...

And then we usually do stuff like this...

And every once in awhile we do something like this...

Then just sprinkle in some cleaning, errands, and a trip to the pool in the summer and the park in the winter and that just about sums it up.

Next Time Won't You Sing With Me

2011-07-05T15:02:00.000-07:00

Although I am about as toned deaf as they come, we really like to sing songs at our house. I prefer to sing along to the radio, but the kids don't mind rocking the acapella. I love when I can get them to do it on camera so without further ado, here they are...

Wedding Bliss

2011-07-05T14:00:00.000-07:00

My Cute little sister Katie got married a few weeks ago and so of course we had to road trip it out to SD for the wedding. She married Aunt Pencer (as Brooklynn calls him) also known as Uncle Spencer. The wedding was beautiful and we had a marvelous time. My little sister Melanie also had her missionary farwell that weekend (she in now serving in the Dominican Republic) which was awesome! It was a fun-filled family weekend and we loved it. So here are some pictures...

Customize a slideshow design

Also, here is video of Brooklynn showing off her moves at the reception, sorry its crooked, apparently my video taping skills need some work...

Since it was an action-packed family weekend, Charlotte also got to meet her twin cousin Camille for the first time (my brother Jeff's little girl). These two are only a day apart. As you can tell, Camille was not happy I was making her take a picture.

Randomness

2011-06-09T14:02:00.000-07:00

So I don't really know where the last few weeks have gone. It feels like I have been super busy but then when I stop to think about it, I don't know what I am so busy doing. Honestly, we are still doing a lot of projects on the house (which will totally be our life for the next few years) and we have made some awesome progress on the backyard (now prepped and reseeded with grass so hopefully that will come up soon) and some general clean up to the front yard landscaping. There were a lot of dead bushes and the grass needed some serious mowing but now it is all clean and beautiful. We still have stuff to organize, like the garage and toy room...blah, but I am kinda holding out while I figure out what I want to do with it. Charlotte continues to grow like a weed. She just barely turned 3 months and is already wearing all Brooklynn's old 6 month clothes. She even almost fits into a pair of pajamas Brooklynn wore when she was learning how to walk! She is definitely my little chunker and so tall. Brooklynn likes to play with her and is already beginning to dress her up...yikes. Charlotte was asleep in the swing and Brooklynn decided she needed to be a little fancier I guess and so she added some dress up clothes, at least Charlotte was a good sport.

We also have church now from 12PM-3. Needless to say it is not my favorite time. Brooklynn is trying to outgrow her naps so she can usually function ok but poor JJ is miserable. We can usually get him to sleep on the pew during sacrament meeting (an AMAZING feat in and of itself!!) but then he is usually still pretty exhausted until bedtime. Last week he feel asleep again in nursery. Part of the problem is they get up so stinking early in the morning, no matter how hard I try to convince them to sleep in. Anyway, so when we get home we have been trying to find ways to pass the time until dinner time and bedtime that don't involve tired children fighting or crying. Well this week we decided to go for a little walk and feed the ducks. It was nice getting out of the house and even though it was definitely warm outside, the shade wasn't so bad. Plus, the kids really enjoyed feeding the ducks and looking at the fishies.

Smiley Face

2011-05-23T13:56:00.000-07:00

This little cutie is beginning to smile and coo. It is my new favorite. She is so cute! (at least I think so). I got some of it on video, even though she was so tired she kept trying to cry. Don't mind the sweater, yes we do live in Arizona and it is hot usually but we had this random rainy day that was really cold and I didn't want my little baby to freeze. Anyway, here she is...

Happy Birthday To You

2011-05-23T12:46:00.001-07:00

May is the birthday month in my family. In order beginning on the 17th, it goes my Mom, my sister Katie, JJ, and then my brother Greg. Its kinda funny they are all in a row and pretty amazing that no one shares a birthday. Since Greg and JJ both had a birthday and Greg wanted a pinata for his, we decided to do a little joint birthday party/family dinner. The pinata was a hit, both with the kids and adults, although Greg and Brad were by far the funniest to watch. Here are some pictures and videos from the day...

This video in on JJ's actual birthday. He had a little ice cream cake and we sung him Happy Birthday. He was pretty funny about it and very excited about all the birthday cards he got in the mail from his grandmas and great-grandmas.

JJ got the first chance to break the pinata...

Brooklynn gives it a try...

Uncle Greg's turn (which p.s. was hilarious)

Uncle Brad's turn (too bad he was so dizzy from spinning he could barely stand up)

Uncle Greg finishing the job

And this is what Talia was doing while the adults were hitting the pinata, yep she climbed up there all by herself (I have the little hand and foot prints on my windshield to prove it)...the little monkey!

I made rice krispie treats instead of cake since we aren't really cake people (we didn't even have cake at our wedding). However, a few individuals got an early start on the dessert and so there were some serious chunks missing when it was time to sing....hilarious! Old man Greg turned 28, but he only got to blow out 8 candles because we didn't want to burn down the house with all those candle :o) and of course JJ got his two.
And last, but not least, the ceremonial singing of the Happy Birthday song to the boys...

New House

2011-05-23T12:28:00.000-07:00

As promised, here are some photos of the new house. For the most part we are all moved in except for some general organization in some of the rooms (mostly the toy room and office). Our new house had four "real" bedrooms and two psuedo-bedrooms. Apparently to be a bedroom it has to have a door and a closet, one has a door without a closet and the other has a closet without a door. All the real bedrooms are upstairs with a bathroom and a master bathroom. Downstairs are the other two rooms plus the kitchen, family room, dining/living room, laundry room, and another bathroom. We have lots of space, which is wonderful, and a huge backyard which we are totally excited about. The house needs a little love, mostly just some new paint and backyard landscaping but we REALLY love it! It's in a great neighborhood with lots of parks, two pools, two lakes, and a whole lot of running paths. Anyway...so here it is...

The view from our bedroom balcony....the backyard that needs some loving

Our bedroom, we have a really big bed and this is the first time our bed has not dominated the entire room....its awesome!

Our bathroom and walk-in closet

Charlotte's room

Brooklynn's room

JJ's room

The view down the upstairs hallway

The upstairs bathroom

The living/dining room....and no we do not have enough furniture for this house

The office...please excuse the chaos

The toy room...complete with a bazillion toys

Looking upstairs from the family room

The family room part 1

The family room part 2

The kitchen complete with children (which might be my new favorite room because it has so much space! It's so much nicer cooking/cleaning in here than in any of our previous kitchens)

So, there she is. We love her and the best part is...room for friends!!!

Charlotte's Blessing

2011-05-23T12:13:00.000-07:00

We blessed Charlotte about two weeks ago and it was wonderful. It was especially nice because my family came out for the blessing and we got to spend the weekend together. We are so grateful to have this sweet little girl as a part of our family. She is by far the most angelic baby yet, she is a good eater and sleeper and such a happy and content little kid. We really love her and are so glad she's ours.

The Adventures of JJ

2011-05-23T11:43:00.000-07:00

There is never a dull moment with this boy. Besides being slightly accident prone (remember the busted chin accident) he is also quite mischievous and I really have to keep an eye on him. Well, while we were in the process of moving, JJ and Brooklynn went out to start getting the car while I grabbed Charlotte. As I make it out to the car Brooklynn comes freaking out that JJ hurt himself and he comes over crying with blood gushing from his mouth. Apparently he had tripped and fallen somehow and managed to tear his frenulum (you know that little piece that secures your lip to your gums). Anyway, so he has this nice hole in the inside of his lip, not to mention a fat lip, and is bleeding like crazy. Fortunately, upon closer inspection, I determined he wouldn't need to go to the emergency room and while we tried to ice it, he still ended up with a pretty gnarly fat lip. His wound healed in a few days and I think he will be just fine.

Showing off the damage

In addition, last week when we were at Costco he found money (a penny) and so I told him we would take it home and put it in his bank. I put the money in one of his velcro pockets and off we went. When we got home, I let him take out his money so we could put it in his bank. I turned around to put one bag of groceries down and when I turned back the money was gone. And our conversation went something like this, "Where is your money JJ?" To which he replied, "Mouth. Eat it." "What?!? You ate it?!?" And so I continued to ask him where it was, hoping he was mistaken, while looking all over for it. It was gone and I had no choice but to believe him since his story hadn't changed. I called the nurses line (once again worried I would have to take him to the dr.) and she said to watch for it in the next week and if it didn't or he had any other problems to bring him in. Well, he did pass it and so we were good. The best part of the story though is that while searching his poopy diapers for a penny (disgusting by the way), I found this...

Apparently, money was not the first piece of metal he decided to eat. This is a piece from his crib. We had converted it to a toddler bed and one day while he was supposed to be taking a nap, he somehow managed to get this piece out of one the crib pieces and eat it. Gross. (He has since lost his toddler bed privileges until he gets a "real" bed for his safety and my sanity). Unfortunately for me, this piece is necessary to return the toddler bed to crib form so I had to clean it off....super gross. Anyway, fortunately he seems to be doing just fine despite his injuries and diet....its a wonder we survive childhood at all.

Movin' on Up

2011-05-03T13:35:00.000-07:00

Did I mention we bought a house? Well, since Josh graduated, our time on campus has come to an end and while evaluating our options, we discovered it would be cheaper to buy a house than to rent and since we like living in Arizona and we plan on staying here, we decided what the heck, lets see what there is out there. We found a fantastic house for a fantastic price in a fantastic neighborhood and just had to say yes. We closed on Monday and have begun the moving in process. Stay tuned for pictures...

Table for Six?

2011-05-03T07:19:00.001-07:00

So our table has been "gently used" by our children and by that I mean demolished. So instead of just tossing it out (Josh's idea because he hates this table), I decided to give it a little face lift. Thanks to my friend Molli whose inspiration and know how were essential to this task, I think it turned out quite nice. I actually really like it and let's be honest, it could only get better right?

The before...sorry this is kind of an old picture, but you get the idea...

And the after...

Not bad, eh? I think we will keep it a little while longer.

Carrot Love

2011-05-02T20:54:00.000-07:00

As I have previously mentioned, we have been gardening, and by we I mean Josh...I just water :o). Anyway, we harvested some carrots and these little friends apparently were in love...aren't they cute? And very delicious by the way.

Easter Part 4

2011-05-02T17:30:00.000-07:00

On actual Easter, we got all dressed up for church (the kiddos even got some new church clothes)...don't they look purr-te? P.S. don't mind Charlotte's face, she hasn't figured out that she should not look drugged when I try to take her picture...maybe next time. And I know this is not the world's best picture of everyone but seriously...you try it!!

We also painted some eggs..

JJ just got to watch because he is too messy, but don't worry he got some input on the colors

some video action...

The finished product minus one that got super cracked

And last but not least, Easter baskets. Technically they didn't get these until Monday morning because they were being too crazy on Sunday (sheesh we are mean parents) but they enjoyed them nonetheless.

And some more video action...