Excited Much?

What?  Your kids don't watch tv waiting for Dad to come home from a business trip in their Halloween costumes in May?  I found a steal on Halloween costumes (between 4-8 bucks!!!) I let them wear them that night, but then put the costumes away til Halloween. At that price, I also grabbed a couple for just fun dress ups to bulk up our poor kid selection. I love dress up! They were hilarious and are overly excited about Halloween in um...5 months.

Our Graduate!

I feel preschool graduation is such a ridiculous affair, but Isabelle's at least had a cute little end of the year program full of singing and whatnot along with it.  She always outshines all the kids around her during her programs, singing every word and doing every action. It was cute. In fact the person over music for vacation bible school came up to me after the program and said, "I HAVE to have her!!! Please sign her up. She's too great to not have."  Haha. 

Her teacher Mrs. Robinson


Showing off her classroom one last time.


This is with her "Best sister" Addy.  Addy is in our ward and happen to go to the same preschool.  Addy's mom came and got Isabelle every single morning for preschool, knowing I couldn't return the favor with the number of children and buckles we currently have. She has earned free babysitting forever!  Haha! These two are so cute together.  They both only have brothers and claim they are sisters.  Never an argument or mean word, just happy playing when these two are together.


Preschool is over for Isabelle. We have enjoyed having her home all the time.  She really enjoyed her school, teacher, class, and friends. It was a really good thing for her, and good for the boys to learn to play together without her around.  Even though she was bored with preschool academics, she really enjoyed the social atmosphere and improved her fine motor skills a ton. All in all, I'm glad I took the plunge.

Love my Job

This week was a rough week as far as activities go.  We had something every day.  Can I tell you I'm not excited about what the next 20 years are going to bring with school EVERY day, making lunches, sporting events, dr. appointments, running around every evening trying to get dinner in, etc?  I'm exhausted just thinking about it.  Friday after Isabelle's school got out for the summer, we came home to just BE HOME!  It was so fabulous!  We ignored the mess from the running in and out all week, and we just played. We played legos and dress up and giggled to our hearts content.  I love being a stay at home mom to little kids.  It's going to be a hard transition for me as I start real life.  But until then, I'm going to soak up every last second I can!

Also, a few funnies from the kids....

Isabelle: Driving in the car, out of the blue, "I'll be interested to see if the baby has light skin or dark skin."  Not alot of cultural diversity in Utah or Spokane.  Being the only white kid on our street, she's started to notice.  Haha!

Michael: Every time I give Michael a few acceptable to me choices for his activities, food, etc....He now says, "No, dat's not my choices!"  and gives me his options. "I all done eating and get dessert." or "I can watch a show or play the iPad."

Luke:  If you say, "Luke are you crazy?"  He shakes his head no. "Luke are you silly?"  He shakes his head yes.  "Luke are you cute?"  He tips his head to the side into his shoulder and smiles.  The picture I took looks funky.  I'll try again, but it's funny.

Nature vs. Nurture

What does a boy do with a doll stroller?  Fill it up with balls and ram things, of course.  Specifically my legs. Hard.  What does a boy do with the dolls that should be in the doll stroller? He uses them as balls with the basket ball hoop.  The kid is obsessed with basketball.  Anything works as long as it fits through the hoop. It always makes me laugh to see how different boys and girls are and just how early it starts.

Happy 30th!

For my birthday I wanted to spend the day with my family.  We still had some trips to Disney World on our pass, so we used another day!  We had a slow morning and didn't leave the house until 9.  We decided to check out the Animal Kingdom this time.  I had heard it wasn't a full day, so with a late start (after 11) it wouldn't be a problem.  Sure enough, it wasn't a full day.  We enjoyed the day and left around 6ish.  With Luke, Michael, and I not able to ride the good rides, and Isabelle not interested in big rides, Mike passed. We still had a good time.  I'm adding it to my list of visited zoos. :) It's definitely not worth the money if you pay to go for a day, but as part of a park hopper or a pass, it was a fun fun day! We grabbed pizza on our way home.  Michael fell asleep and just wanted to go to bed without dinner or cake, so he was absent for my cake picture. My siblings always do something funny for 30th birthdays.  They didn't disappoint!  They made me a hilarious book making fun of me illustrated with cute stick figures.  It was so funny!  I didn't have to cook a meal, or do any dishes and spent the day with my family.  It was perfect!

Michael's First Swim Lesson

At the YMCA day, it was the first day the pool was open. They had a one time free lesson for a few kids 3-5. I got the last 2 spots!  In Spokane we got to swim year round in our YMCA indoor pool and went ALL the time.  We haven't really been swimming since we moved, and have missed it!  Not to mention, the kids skills have gone downhill.

Anyway, Michael's lesson did not go well.  He sat on the side crying that he was cold and barely got in.  He is not excited that swimming lessons are on the calendar.

More Fun with the Folks

We hit up Daytona Beach on our way home from Disney.  A stop half way home is a big help after a very long day at Disney.  We woke up hit the beach and pool for a bit, and then headed home.




Michael just doesn't last long at the beach playing.  He gets cold and doesn't like getting his hands dirty.  He likes to completely get covered by a towel, wrapped up like a cocoon. And then doesn't complain much.



Drive home, needing Luke to quit crying again....yeah he's still not happy in the car for long, gave him the pad and pen, sure enough, quiet! This is after him throwing everything else we handed him.  He even threw gummy bears!  Who does that?!



Our YMCA had a kick off summer party.  They had a bounce house, pony rides, face painting, balloon art, a fire engine and police car to check out and a free swimming lesson.  It was a fun way to spend a Saturday morning.



The rest of the time, Dad helped Mike finish up the swing set, watched the kids play on the finished product, played games, and just enjoyed visiting.  A fun fun time with the folks!  We love getting visitors! Disney and/or the beach, who wants to come next?!?!?!?

Disney World!

While my parents were here we also went to Disney!  It was a fun fun day!  I took lots more breaks this time and was not exhausted by the end of the day and was able to function the next day.




Last time we went, all Isabelle wanted to do was go in the castle.  It apparently gets closed ALOT during the day, at least every time we tried, so it was the top on the priority list.  It was still partially closed, but it was good enough for her to dance in and smile and be happy about.


In attempt for "down time" we rode the train around twice.  Well Mom and kids and I did.  Dad and Mike hit up a few "big kid" rides. It was good for me to keep my feet up for a bit.  I must be getting older, or this is not my first rodeo when it comes to pregnancy, I'm already at the point where I can't do alot of hauling kids and walking all over tarnation.  Lame.



The kids got bubble guns as a souvenir this time.  We have now gone through a gallon of bubbles and lots of batteries since. :)


Two things we learned about Luke this trip.  He LOVES a paper and a pen.  He will sit silently with a pen in hand and something to scribble on.  In fact on the 2 1/2 hour drive down he cried for most of it, until I gave him a pen, then he was silent for the rest of the ride.   He also got fussy a little bit at Disney, handed him a pen and paper, and he was happy.  He also is very intrigued with maps.  He played with this map for I don't know how long, while Mom and I sat with kids eating and Mike and Dad went off to play.


Mike, Mom, and Dad went to ride splash mountain and I stayed with kids.  We tried to get Isabelle to go, but she refused. Isabelle started getting really bored.  She said, "I guess I should have just gone with them.  But when they said Splash Mountain, I thought it was that mountain that has that big splash at the end of it, and that doesn't look fun at all."  Haha!  Smart girl. :)


Mike and Dad took the big kids on some other rides Luke and I couldn't so Mom hung out with me. :)  We went to get fast passes at another area and did some other things.  Needing to sit down again, we went to the Tiki Room.  Luke went NUTS!  I've never seen him so enthralled!  He was pointing and squealing and yelling and dancing.  He was completely glued through the whole show.  It was so cute!



Sad when it was all over, he did at least wave on our way out.


The kids did absolutely fabulous for the entire day!  We were able to stick around for fireworks and found th e perfect spot to watch and beat the crowd out.  It was such a wonderful day!

Butterflies!!!!!

My kids have been overly interested in butterflies lately.  We've been reading about them, and watching shows about them. I love when they get on kicks we can research together!  Growing up, we had a "butterfly bush."  It was always so fun twice a year to see the plant fill up with eggs, then watch the little caterpillars devour the leaves, cover our house with cocoons, and then watch them hatch.  I told my kids about it and Isabelle wanted a plant too.  My parents were coming, so Isabelle called my mom and asked her to bring some pieces for us to plant here. Not only did my mom bring us two bits to plant, but she also brought us 5 cocoons!!!!  My kids were ecstatic!

This was the clever way my mom figured out how to bring us cocoons.  Isabelle was giggling so much.


A few days after my parents got here, the kids found monarch caterpillars on the plants.  Mom apparently brought us some eggs to! :)  Super bonus! There were 7 or 8 caterpillars, but thanks to my kids enthusiasm, none of them made it long. The plants we have aren't big enough to have gotten even one of them to chrysalis phase anyway, so not too big of a deal this time around.



The kids checked on our chrysalises often and watched them change color. Then a few days after my parents left, we got butterflies!!!!  We got 1 one day and 4 the next.  They watched them hang dry and then took them outside on their fingers just as it was time for them to fly.  We stood outside for a while watching them.







Luke is into waving all the time.  He kept going to them and waving, but was scared to get any closer.


This was so much fun!  I can't wait until fall when they migrate through and we get to do this again.  Thanks mom for the effort!  It paid off!  We loved every second! My favorite part of this is the way Michael says chrysalis.  It comes out "Tisawis."  It's pretty stinkin adorable!