A week in review

We started swim lessons last Wednedsay. It is a new teacher and she really does a great job. She makes the kids go out of their comfort zone but does it in a nice but firm way. The kids are to jump off the diving board at the first lesson where Miss Allison waits for them and then they swim through a hula hoop that is anchored to the bottom of the deep end. Nathan was not too fond of the diving board so I had to get on with him and drop him off. First time went okay but the second time I almost went in with him. The look on the teachers face was pretty funny. I am sure she was thinking that she was going to get more than she bargained for. The rest of the lessons Nathan likes and he is getting more okay with the idea of the diving board and has informed me that next time he will go by himself. :-)Taylor does okay too. She also doesn't like going under the water or jumping off the diving board. I learned after the first time that she is quite strong and that my hair is too. She was clinging on to me for dear life. I finally got her hands off my shoulders and then she found my ponytail she was hanging from my ponytail. Fun times. She didn't cry as much the second lesson as she did the first. She told me after the first lesson "Mom, I NEVER want to do this again." My response, "Sorry but we are coming back in 2 days, you will like it some day." After the second lesson she told me. "Mom that was kind of fun." HUGE progress. She also pretends to be the swim teacher with her toys in the bathtub. It is quite entertaining. She will ask the toys if they want to go under the water. They respond no and she will say sorry you have to.

Last Thursday I took Taylor and Natalie to Espee Park. It is about a half mile from our house and they have a big splash pad to play in. I mostly stayed in the shade with Natalie on a blanket. Natalie hanging out.

Taylor was dressed and ready to play in the water at the spray pad but spent most of the time on the playground with her friends.

Friday night we went to a wedding reception for Preston's cousin. They had dancing and Taylor was happy to get jiggy. Here she is dancing with her Aunt Lisa and her cousin Chanelle
Taylor dancing with her Aunt Lisa. It was really quite cute, Taylor loves to dance.

Before going to bed I asked Preston if he had anything he was planning to do on Saturday morning. His reply was no. Well when I woke up around 6:45 am (when Taylor set off the house alarm) I find Preston has started a project of painting our swing set.

Preston is such a go getter. When I asked him why he was painting the swing set his reply was "Because I was awake and didn't have anything else I had to do." It took him about 4 1/2 hours and it looks really nice.
A few hours after Preston finished the swing set I left to a day spa. I finally redeemed some gift cards Preston gave me for my birthday and received a massage, facial and a pedicure. It was soooo nice and I have decided I need to make spa time a regular occurence.

Our Memorial Day Weekend

We had a GREAT 3 day weekend. Originally we were going to go camping and then decided to stay home and relax and get things done around the house. We did a lot more playing and relaxing than working but it was a MUCH needed break.
Saturday night we went to see Night at the Smithsonian at the Drive In Theater. The weather was actually quite nice. We had a good time. We got there really early to make sure we got a good spot and after getting all set up we ate some KFC. The above picture shows Nathan and Taylor chowing down.

Preston and Natalie posing for a picture.

My Brother and his family came to the drive in with us. These 2 cousins are closest in age to Nathan (Roo is 2 months younger) and Taylor (LaLa is 8 months older). They have a lot of fun together.

On Sunday we went to my parents house for a 60th birthday party for my Dad. I brought my camera to take a picture with my dad, but totally forgot to take the picture. OOPS!!!!! Happy Birthday Dad.

Natalie trying to raid the pantry. She turned 9 months old yesterday so I took this picture to demonstrate how much she is getting into things at 9 months for history sake. (I have a picture of all 3 kids getting in this exact pantry.)

Monday afternoon we took the kids to Hamilton pool to go swimming. It was really crowded but fun. This is after we had been swimming. After the pool we went to a barbeque at some friends house. Then that night I went to watch the Bachelorette at a girlfriends house and the husbands and kids came to our house to watch the Lakers Vs. Nuggets game.

Like I said before it was a fun and relaxing weekend. I did even make it to the gym a couple times so it wasn't guite ALL fun and games. Taylor has really been missing her Dad today, it is always hard for her after she spends a lot of time with him. She can never get enough, she is definitely a Daddy's girl.

Today was the first day of Harkins summer movie program so I took Nathan out of school for a couple hours so he could see Space Chimps (he hadn't seen it yet) It was a cute movie. Once again brought the camera but forgot to take pictures.

More Randomness

Taylor has been taking a princess ballerina class and yesterday was her last day. Here she is posing with her teacher Miss Danni. They learned a little dance that they performed for us. It was pretty entertaining, Taylor is definitely a free spirit that does her own thing.

On Tuesday my friend Stacy invited us to go to the Arizona Museum of Natural History in Mesa with her and her daughter Grace who is Taylor's age. She had picked up some of those cultural passes at the library so it was totally free. There were a ton of kids there on field trips so it was crowded. It was a pretty good museum. Taylor was in a mood so it made things a little difficult. I think Stacy and I were more interested in what we saw then the girls.

Taylor doing a butterfly puzzle at the museum and Natalie being her normal jolly self.

Last Thursday the running club from Nathan's school had a pool party. We went to the West Chandler Aquatic Center. It was wonderful to be in the pool and cool off.

Also last Thursday Nathan gave his animal presentation on the Wolf. I was able to go in the classroom to witness it. He did a great job and was very confident. I was very proud of him. All the pictures on the poster were removable. He would take one off and then read the information on the back. He thought of this idea all by himself, his teacher was very impressed and said he was the only one that presented like that. He is really growing up and it is hard to believe only a few more days and he will be a 2nd grader. Yikes I feel old.

What we've been doing

I just wanted to post pictures of what we've been doing lately. Last week after Taylor's dance class we stopped by the lock shop after it was closed for the day. The kids are showing off the cool house keys Preston cut for them. Taylor's has the Cardinals symbol on it and Nathan's has the Suns symbol. They are standing in one of the big safes we have for sale. Preston shut the door on them (very briefly) it made them a little freaked out.
Last Friday I went on a field trip with Nathan's class. We saw the Never Ending Story put on by Child's play at the Tempe Center for the Arts. It was a neat play. I was really tired though and was having a hard time staying awake during the first half. Few hours of sleep, benadryl and a field trip in a dark theater do not mix well. This is Nathan and I eating our sack lunches before the play.


Nathan and his friend Brandon and I before the play started.



Saturday night our Stake had a fair. The kids got their faces painted.




Then they played at the different booths.

We ate popcorn and sno cones and hot dogs. All the typical fair food. Then the kids got in line for a big bouncer obstacle course. They loved it and probably did it at least a dozen times.

I was so impressed that Taylor could climb this part all by herself.
This is what Natalie did while Nathan and Taylor played on the inflatables. She crawled around on a bounce house that had been deflated. She was in her stroller for about 2 hours before this and was such a good sport but she was ecstatic to be out and able to move around.

Finally My Mothers Day 2009

These are the kids that call me Mom. They are a great bunch with their own distinct personalities. I love them completely and would do anything for them. In the 7 years of being a mom I have dealt with every possible emotion imaginable about being a mom and have learned a ton. Some things I would like to forget and others I wish I could relive many times. I am so grateful to be a mom.

I received 2 bouquet's of flowers. One from Nathan and one from Preston. You can decide which is which. Nathan also made me a really cute card at school. The kids bought me presents at the $ store. Nathan bought me a fly swatter and a toy baton that he said is my magic wand. If they are not behaving I can wave it and say "Be Good" and they have to. I haven't used it yet, but I am curious if it works. Taylor bought me a pillow for the bath tub and a squeeze toy.

Our young women had a fundraiser and made corsages. Preston bought one for Taylor and one for me. She is showing them off.

Taylor and I modeling them before church. Nathan took the picture I think he did a pretty good job. I had a great mothers day. Preston made me breakfast (omeletes, bacon and orange julius) I got a nap after church and then we went to my Mom's to celebrate with the whole family. Happy belated Mothers Day to all my women friends whether you are a biological mother or a mother by heart.

Who needs a dog?

When you have a crawler in the house that likes to knock over the garbage.Then beg for scraps underneath the table.


The bonus is that this dog doesn't shed considering there is NO hair to shed.

Picnics and Gymnastics

I think we have started a new tradition. In the past week I have had 4 picnics with Natalie and Taylor in the middle of my family room. It started last Tuesday, Taylor asked me about 2:00 in the afternoon if we could have a picnic in the house. I agreed, but since we had already had lunch all we ate was an orange. To Taylor if was AWESOME to eat on a blanket in the middle of the floor. We have done it a few other times before, mostly when it has rained and so we couldn't go to the park. Now it is better to do it inside where the AC and fans are. I didn't realize it was going to be a new thing we did almost daily until the next day came. Taylor asked again if we could have a picnic. This time we hadn't had lunch yet so we ate cheese crisps and of course an orange. Every picnic since has been different main meals but we ALWAYS have to eat an orange too. I better make sure we have some in the house at all times.

The girls enjoying one of the picnics, notice the orange by Natalie's foot. Also Taylor thinks it is hilarious to make a goofy face like going cross eyed in almost every picture I take of her. It is hard to get a normal picture of her.

Taylor started a beginning gymnastics class last Friday. It is for kids ages 3-5. They pretty much just do an obstacle course over and over again where they jump over things, jump on a mini trampoline, roll down things, walk across a balance beam and overall have a lot of fun. The instructor does a really good job with the kids and helps teach them how to interact with each other in a polite and appropriate way while sharing and taking turns.

Family Resemblance

We have a pet turtle that came with our house. It is the least maintenace pet in the world. When we bought our house 9 years ago the previous owners said they had a turtle but they thought the neighbor kids took it. Well turned out the turtle was just hibernating for the winter and when we were doing yardwork in the spring time this turtle came out of the bushes. He comes out every once in a while (mostly after it rains or the sprinklers have been on) Sometimes during the summer I put a dish with water in it so he can cool down. Other than that we don't do anything. He just eats the bugs and plants in our backyard. Many of you probably didn't even know we had a pet turtle.

This is just a cute picture of Natalie in her trying to crawl pose. She is so close to doing it.