Memorial Day

When you live rather close to the coast and it's been in the 90's all week, the best thing to do on Memorial Day is go to the Beach. Wooooo Hooooo! We were there from 8:00-3:00. We are all burnt, but not too bad, since this year we remembered to reapply the sunblock.

We brought Charlie along for the ride. We had to physically lift him into the truck, lazy bum. But he had the time of his life for his first water experience.
Phoenix with the wake board. He did good and even caught a few waves.

Phoenix and Addison's feet (our friend) on the blow up floaty mattress. They had a blast pushing each other over.

Jared/Sicily, with Aspen/Julie. Love the floaties.

For an example of the wonderfulness of things that float, enjoy the video.

So when things finally calmed down, we made some new friends and castles to go with 'em.

Those boys tried really hard to beat the girls, but they were just too slow. And built a bit to close to the water. Didn't you ever hear of the "wise man" and the "foolish man?" I mean, come on boys.

Time for some cool down, and what better place to eat some watermelon. Cause when you're all done you just jump back in the water and wash off. Gotta love the beach.

Back to Charlie. He loves the water.

But mostly I couldn't get him off my tail. He was about 2 ft behind me all day.

Shake, shake, shake! I think he shook on everyone at least once.

POOF!

Give you 2 guesses what she's doing.

Don't forget to wash your hands.

And let's not forget all the creatures we found on the beach. No we didn't catch these, but some nice people let us take pictures with their Sea Trout.

They also caught this Hammer Head.

And this Jelly Fish with their casting net. But we did catch this little guy.

And all his friends.

Hope you all enjoyed your Memorial Day, and didn't get as Sunburned as us. By the way Phoenix says his skin is red because he ate so many Hot Cheetos.

Calvin & Hobbs Dinner Time

I grew up in a family that was devoted to the Comics. That was the only thing I ever read out of the Newspaper. And one of my all time favorites was Calvin & Hobbs. This story may remind you of one of his.

Phoenix has taken to not wanting to eat ANYTHING ever placed in front of him. Unless, of course, it's Mac & Cheese and Hot Dogs. So we have a struggle every night to get him to stop whining and start eating. This was the latest conversation to convince him to eat:

Mom: Eat your soup!
Phoenix: What is it?
M: It's Sticky Green Soup (Cream of Broccoli for all you non-Walkers)
P: What's in it?
M: Cow Eye Balls.
P: What? ... Really?
M: Yes, but I had to chop them up because they gross me out when I see them. So they're the little white chunks in there. (onions)
P: Why's it green then?
M: Oh! That's the caterpillars (broccoli). When you cook them up they turn soupy.
So he finally tries it.
P: It's pretty good. (another spoonful) Those chunkeys are the eyeballs?
M: Yes!

He ate the whole bowl.

Mind this was a family dinner. Trying to convince Phoenix of all this while getting London and Aspen to keep quiet and get Jared to stop laughing was a major feat.

1st Grade Class Party

Our wonderful 1st Grade teacher invited her entire class to her home for an end of the year Class Party. It was so fun to meet all the parents, see the kids interact and really get to know Aspen's teacher.

Our mascot is the Navigators, nick-named The Gators. So this cute cake was made in honor of that, it even has all the kids names written on his scales.

And what good is a party with out a crazy slide bouncy castle. She even had a slushy machine, which was good seeing as it was 95 degrees at least, with 90% humidity. Those kids faces were bright shiny red the entire time. Why don't kids feel heat?

That's Mrs. Hobbs cutting the cake, and of course there's Aspen sitting on the counter, you'll even notice Sicily there in the background. Aspen just loves Mrs. Hobbs, and I know the feeling's mutual. Aspen's a bit of a teachers pet.

Thanks Mrs. Hobbs for a wonderful school year, and an excellent party.

FHE Twister Night

Aspen was in charge of our Family Home Evening Activity. And she chose the best game in the world, Twister. It was hilarious to watch, especially when they don't exactly know their Lefts and Rights all that well.
I must admit it's easy to forget where your right and left are when your twisted all together. And sometimes it's a bit hard to not squish your own kid. Especially the one not playing that just wants to play Army.

And just so you know, Twister is the best form of Yoga there is.

Aspen at Swim Team

We're only a few weeks into it, but we are loving Swim Team. Here's a few shots of Aspen getting ready to show her stuff.
Dripping wet, she just finished her lap. They go strong for 45 mins 4 days a week. Back and Forth laps the entire time. Go Aspen!

Morning Walk

Since it's no longer freezing in the mornings and also not too hot we've started our Morning Walks again. We saw quite a few fun things and had a lot of good Science lessons.

Though Phoenix was riding his bike, he was quick to spot this fuzzy caterpillar amongst some flowers.

Yes, Sicily is wearing a bib, she tends to sleep-in in the mornings so she had her breakfast while we walked. She had a tough time of keeping Charlie away from her bagel and boiled egg.
I do have an alarm that wakes me in the mornings but this is what I typically wake up to. RIGHT OUTSIDE MY WINDOW! Pretty sure it's a Mocking Bird. Yes, it's pretty cool, but I am not a fan when I'm in bed, though I did enjoy making this video. It amazes me how many sounds one bird can make.

And Phoenix's favorite, the Worm Tree. I loved these when I was a kid.

Spring Cleaning

Most people this time of year start to empty out the closets and cabinets in order to make more room for more things. Well for a rather long time Jared has been in denial about his hat collection. As you can see there are 14 hats that were found all over the house now gathered in one area as PROOF that he needs to get rid of some of his hats. By the way, this does not count the 15th hat that was on his head at work today.
Aspen was kind enough to inform her dad that, "He does have a pretty fat head, so maybe he does need a lot of hats." Funny enough, Jared just laughed this off, almost in agreement. I think that's a pretty lame excuse to keep 15 hats.

Laundry Day

It is a common past time of my children to pile the laundry on top of each other. After a good 20 mins of this this morning I was sick of waiting to be allowed to actually wash the laundry. So after Phoenix was kind enough to put it all in the basket, I picked it up and did my laundry.

As you can see it wasn't all just clothes, and Phoenix was non too happy to part with his game.

The Joy of 2 Year Olds

Sometimes I wonder where my kids come up with the things that they say. But when I really sit down and think about it I know they get most of it from me. So here's the latests:

Phoenix, "I don't want to take a bath"
Sicily, "Tooooo Baaaaad!"

Mommy, "K, guys we're at Daddy's office so we need to be nice and quiet."
Sicily, "Someone seeping?"
Daddy, "Sometimes"

Mommy, "1....2...."
Sicily, "3 - Timeout"

After dropping her sunglasses on the floor, Sicily, "Cwap!" I've since tried to correct her and I on this word to saying "Nuts!" But 2 days later she dropped her fork at dinner and "Cwap!" came out again. CRAP! I mean, NUTS!

And last but cutest:
Mommy, "Let's go on the Elevator"
Sicily, "Yeah, de alligator!"

It's Raining It's Pouring

She's learning new songs everyday and this was just too cute to pass up.

More Yucky Bugs

This is one of the first bugs I've even bothered to catch and add to our bug collection since we left Australia. He's HUGE! And I have no idea what it is.

Phoenix and Sicily actually discovered him on the trampoline while they were jumping. They panicked and said there was a bug, so I told them to spray it with the hose. Well, 2 mins later Sicily was screaming for help to get down so I finally went to see "the bug." HOLY COW!! No wonder she was freaking out. I was actually a bit nervous to capture him, not sure if he could fly. And those big, creepy, wiggly antenna were not my favorite.

Just a side note, I put him in the freezer for 12 hours before we put him in the bug collection.

Mix and Match

For one of the few times in their lives I let the kids dress themselves for school today. As you can see, they did a very fine job of it.

But just so you know they were supposed to dress like this today. No matching! Aren't they cute. I love when they get to do fun things at school.

Crazy Girls

Aspens nick name has always been "Little Monkey." She's always been one crazy little girl, and her baby sister is following right in her footsteps. I'm just glad they get along so well even though there's a 5 year gap. It's always great to have an older/baby sister.

This is the Sicily Sumo Stance. She'll strike this pose any random time of the day. The best part is when she then walks around in this squat position. She just thinks she is just the funniest thing. Which I have to admit, we all crack up when she does this.
Not sure what was going on here. Random blank stares do occur every now and again. But it's rare to catch it on film. I just thought this shot was hilarious.

My New Garden

Obviously this is not it. Here's our old garden. Brick boarder falling apart, crappy rabbit fence falling down due to animals. Not a pretty sight. Oh, and this spot also gets full sun all day so my veggies got fried last summer. Not the best picture for our back yard.
So here's the shady side of our house, and the beginnings of our new garden. Jared, with all his WONDERFUL handy man skills it building this for me.

And here's the final results. YEAH!!! It's beautiful. And it's right outside my Front Room side window so I get to see it and enjoy it's beauty all day.

And look at my "Big Boy" Tomatoes that are just getting bigger by the second. We are hand watering everyday, and doing Miracle Grow once a week. It's my hope to have the tastiest tomatoes EVER. I'm so excited.

Stinkin' Animals

I swear, if I ever have a nice looking back yard I'll be in shock.

No, it's really not that bad, but there are parts of it that could definitely use some improvement. Like right off my porch for example. This is what I found yesterday afternoon.
If you can't tell what that is let me back up just a bit. Yes, that is my bunny's butt. I'm not sure how long she's been digging this hole, but you can see the foundation really well. I don't think she was too happy when I filled it all in. The eventual plan is to extend the porch. So there will be cement over this nasty spot. Kind of hard to dig through cement.

One of the many reasons we are moving the garden to a Non-Animal side of the house. That's one of Charlies little dolls, silly dog.

To My Mom

Mom,
I know this is late and I sent your gift off today, but I'd just like to say how much I love you!!! You are the bestest Mom any kid could ever ask for. And even though this kid is now 31 I still know I can count on you for everything. You know how to fix every boo boo, cook any meal out there, you know how to remove every stain, give the best moral support there is and just be a down right awesome Mommy. Thank you Mom for being the greatest example to me of what a Mom should be. I love you!!

My Mothers Day

I had a great Mothers Day thanks to my awesome Husband. Our Stake had a Father/Son Camp out Friday night and they didn't get home till Noonish on Saturday. So when they walked in the door Jared told me I had the afternoon off. I was meant to go shopping with $50-$80 in tow. "Go buy a couple new outfits, go hang out at Barnes and Noble. Just don't come home till around 5. So I left the house at 12:30 and came home at 5.

I have never been a big shopper, but this was quite the experience. I walked into Kohls and 2 hours later, walked out. I think I tried on just about everything they had. Even stuff I knew I wouldn't buy but just wanted to try on for fun to see how it looked. Shopping can actually be a fun experience when you're not dragging kids through the store. And I purposefully avoided the children's sections. That was harder to do than I thought. :)

So also for Mothers Day I got to take Aspen to the Eye Dr. As we left they gave me this rose. They were giving one to every Mom as a gift. I thought it was sweet.
So all said and done I love my little family, and they really do treat me well. Jared also cooked just about everything on actual Mothers Day, and let me sit and read my book, take a nap, and play with my kiddos. It was a lovely day.

Sicily at the Recital

While everyone else was eating cookies, Sicily and her little friend, Courtney, had a little go at the keys. And even though they didn't play the best, they definitely had their hearts into it. Just look at those faces.

Spring Piano Recital

You can't really tell by the picture but our wonderful piano teacher, Miss Brooke, is having baby #4 this summer. And because it's #4 she will no longer be teaching piano after this recital. We just want to say how much we have LOVED playing piano with Miss Brooke. My kids have learned so much, and so have I. Thank you Brooke for all the time and love you have put into building my children's talents!
Aspen and I were lucky enough to get to play a duet together for her piece. Aspen did such an awesome job. She stayed on tempo and played clear as a bell the entire time! And she was a cool little cucumber, where as I was a bit nervous. Way to go Aspen, you're moving up quick!

London is our piano whiz. This is the 2nd recital where he has been featured amongst the final to play, which is really a big compliment. He did such a good job, and has practiced hard for this moment. Keep moving forward London, you're going to go far.

P90X

Jared has finally found a program to do for him what he needs it to. P90X!!! Please do not go into this program half heartedly. It is Butt Kicking hard. But Jared loves it. LOTS of pull ups, LOTS of push ups, way too much Plyometrics and it will definitely do for you what you want it to.

As you can see the kids love to join in. Jared does his best to do it in the mornings before he goes to work. But sometimes late nights don't allow for a 5 AM wake up call. Sicily is a good little Cheerleader, but sometimes gets run over when Jared's not paying close enough attention. :)

Swim Team

Our city has a summer swim team that goes from May 10th-July 14th. We decided since we're not planning on going anywhere this summer that we'd give it a shot.

They had a Meet the Coach practice this last week for all the new swimmers. The kids really liked it overall, Phoenix was a bit scared of the water, but London and Aspen did awesome. I'm really excited to see how well they'll improve over the summer.
This is London doing the backstroke. It's kind of long, I know, but if you look in the background you'll see Phoenix and Aspen waiting their turn.

Summer Hair Cuts

Well as you can see London's hair was getting a bit out of hand. I tried to convince him to just let me cut the sideburns. But he would have none of it. So I tried another tactic. "Swim Team starts next week. We either buzz your head or you have to wear a swim cap." Guess which one he chose.?!
Ok, I admit. It wasn't required to get the for swim team. So I did let him keep this cut for 1 day, the whole day. And we did go to Swim Team like this. But man, those Mohawks create good water resistance. Flows right off the spike.

But he was not about to go to church with that on his head. So Saturday night we finished the job. Looks much better, and just in time to get a nice tan line in the hair too.

Kindergarten Shots

Phoenix just has the worst of luck. We are currently getting him registered for Kindergarten, and he had to get a few shots. 4 to be exact. It was NOT, I repeat, NOT a fun experience for him.

First off the check up was totally fine. The Doctor was a sweetheart, like usual, and he loved her. Then the nurse came in with 4 HUGE needles. She had him lay down with his legs dangling over the table, which she then leaned against. I got the joy of holding his arms. He was good and fine and we were cracking jokes to distract him, but then she stuck in the first needle. And all HECK broke loose. He was screaming his brains out and fighting to get away.

Man I hate when they have to get shots, but we all know they need them. I was the best mom in the world afterwards and took him out for a Blizzard.

But 2 days later his leg looked like this.
We called the emergency Dr number and she told me it's a type of reaction some kids get to the Tetanus shot. It was hot and inflamed and nasty. We gave him Benedryl and I-B Profen for the next few days. And thank goodness, it came and went really fast. Showed up the 1 day and was gone 2-3 days later. Gone! Thank you!

He's my 3rd child of 4 and the first one to have this type of a reaction. He acted totally fine the whole time, unless we touched it of course, it was a bit sensitive. And he's completely fine now. I am so glad we're done with shots. (That is if you don't count the booster we have to do in 6 months, Dang it!)

My Crazy Zoo

Since we do own so many pets I post on them as much as my kids. It's kind of hard not to when you have a 90 lb dog, breathing in your face half of the day, not to notice him. So here's a little note on what my Crazy little animals are up to.

We live in a double circle with kids in every house, so people tend to drive rather slowly on our street. But even still, I don't know all of my neighbors. So when I send the kids out front to ride there bikes, Charlie goes with them. And more often than not, those kids of mine frequently forget to let Charlie back inside with them when they're done playing. So this is the sweet, pathetic little face that sits patiently at the front door, waiting for someone to let him back inside.
And of course there's the usual breakfast entertainment. I think Charlie is the most patient dog in the entire world. Not only do the kids jump all over him but so does the rabbit. It's just so cute, I had to film it.

But here's the not so cute side of pets. They dig and dig and dig. Then the rains come and make the back yard even prettier. And I'm not too sure if Charlie was trying to wash his little doll toy or drown it. But I thought it was funny anyway.

30 Minute Pet

While talking on the phone in the kitchen the other morning I heard a very loud THUMP on my sliding glass door. Only to look up and find this poor little baby Cardinal flopping around on the ground. I thought she was a gonner for sure. Especially when Charlie walked up to have a sniff.

So dog in the garage, I made a call to the vet. She said to just let him be. Apparently they hit the glass with their chests and it just knocks the wind out of them. When they get their wind back they'll fly away.

So for 30 mins we had a pet baby Cardinal. We all got to pet her, Phoenix put a handful of bird seed in front of her, which she ate all of and we got a few pictures. Then she flew away. I'm REALLY glad she was ok. Kind of sad we couldn't keep her, but really, I'd rather have a boy cardinal anyway...if I had a choice that is.

Hair Raising Experience

I know I probably show off Sicily's hair way to much, but there's a very good reason.
I never got to do this with Aspens hair. NEVER!! When Aspen was about 3 SHE chopped her shoulder length hair to the top of her ears, both sides. One nasty looking mullet. So from 3-5 her hair more or less looked just like her brothers.

So the fact that Sicily actually has hair I can do something with, plus it's beautiful Strawberry Blonde color, we have a lot of girly hair fun in our house.

That is, when she sits still long enough to let me do it. :)

Primary Hoe Down

I am now the Primary Chorister in our Ward and as such I got to help out with the Primary Activity, leading all those cute kiddos in song. But these were not your ordinary Primary songs...

1st off here's Sicily modeling our cute, church safe, camp fire (we had to turn it off because the lightbulb was melting the plastic). And here's the fun kids I got to sing with. Some of their favorites included:

Baby Bumble Bee, Father Abraham (I got my workout here), Waddle E Atcha, This is the song that never ends, On Top of Spaghetti, Little bar of soap, Boom-Chicka-Boom (I think this was the ultimate favorite)...and on and on. At least 17 in all.

They had the kids split into groups by class, I think I had 6-8 groups come through. So you can imagine singing Father Abraham 8 times and see how tired you'd be at the end.

They also got to dig through Hay to find little candies and toys, Jared ran the relay races which included dressing up in real cowboy gear, and they got to make WAY awesome trail mix. All in all it was a very fun Saturday morning.