For all the mothers out there...

Water play with Grandpa Jim

Grandpa Jim came to visit and bought Grace and Noah a really cool water play blow up thingy (for lack of a better name.) The kids absolutely love it- I can see them playing in it for hours this summer!

Joseph Pilates eat your heart out

Chandra and I have been going to the gym a few times a week, taking some classes (mostly its us and the old ladies doing aerobics), but today for multiple reasons we weren't able to make it to our usual Friday class, so we decided to do a pilates video at my house. Noah was napping (of course) and Chan brought Abi over- we figured they could play together. Grace soon got bored with the dvd she was watching on her portable player and came out to see what we were up to. She got so excited when she saw that we were exercising. She quickly laid her blankie down like a mat and joined us...hilarity ensued...










After about ten minutes of a grueling workout, Grace turned to me and said..."my knees are tired, I need to go to bed now" and trotted off to her room.

Mercury rising...

I can't believe it has been over 100 degrees for the past three days...yuck! It's April! What pioneer in his right mind decided to settle here? The only thing I can figure is that they first came in November when it is a balmy 80 degrees, settled, and the spring hit and they said "oh drat" (or whatever terminology they used back then) but it was too late..they were stuck. Thats all the complaining I am going to do for awhile (no guarentees after we hit the 120s) because we do have air conditioning and a great house with plenty of space for the kids to play inside where its cool. The kids, unlike their mother, LOVE the heat. They spend hours every day playing with the hose (probably shouldn't have left the water running for that long on Earth day...hmmm) and in the kiddy pools. Today Grace helped me plant flowers while Noah watered them- we had a small lake in our front yard! I didn't get pics of the flowers- we were all too covered in dirt!

Old Mcdonald had a ranch...

This weekend we took a trip up to visit Mema and Papa at their horse ranch in Skull Valley, AZ (nice name huh!) The kids had a blast! For some reason Grace has been nervous around animals so she took awhile to warm up to the idea of visiting a ranch. Mema: "Grace, what animal do you want to go see?" Grace: "Chickens" Papa: "We don't have any chickens" Grace: "But, this is McDonalds farm" Papa: "Actually, its a ranch" Grace: "A ranch? hmmmmm". So we decided to offer her the very cool option of riding her own kid-sized, motor-powered "gator" (like a tractor). She told Mema she would rather help her scoop dog poop (see pic)




The Old McDonald theme continued...for some reason, everytime Papa entered the room, Noah would sing "EIEIOOOOOO"...that kid cracks me up!



Grace finally warmed up to the gator, which she used to chase down whoever was closest to her (thanks papa for encouraging that!). Noah spent his time dodging Grace's driving! Most of the time she drove she would sit back and put both of her arms on the seat behind her, totally relaxed, and then put her foot on the pedal as if someone else was chauffeuring her around. We would have to dive out of the way, or run after her and pull the gator out of the way of trees, rocks, animals, Noah, etc. And to think I was worried about missing my gym time!






Noah played on a pedal tractor, although he really preferred to ride in the wagon attached to the back. His legs were not quite long enough for the pedals, so papa roped the tractor and pulled him around.




Grace's best (and only) animal friend on the farm was Scrappy Cat. Scrappy normally does not let anyone near her, but she and Grace bonded from the get-go and spent most of the day "hunting" mice together. Grace: "we will have to dig veeeeery far Scrappy!"



Steve and I got some much needed rest time (I even took a nap!) and enjoyed being out of the heat for the weekend. I can't believe it's already 95 here in Tempe! blech!
Here's a slide show of all the pics I took over the weekend (not one of me! I am going to work on that- I may take Shannon's 52 week challenge, a pic of me and the kids together a week...we'll see)

Easter (sort of) pictures

So the entire family (except for me..yay!) got a horrible stomach virus over Easter. So instead of hunting for eggs and wearing our new pretty Easter dress (Grace) and shirt (Noah), everyone was throwing up for 3 days straight. I have never ever been so thankful for my washing machine!!! I really wanted some pictures of the kids for my bedroom wall, so we dressed them up tonight in their Easter outfits and went out to take pictures, only to find out that ARGH! one of the settings on my camera got switched (who knows which one!) and it WOULD NOT autofocus no matter how much I begged. So, here are a (very) few that actually turned out while I tried to manual focus with three very active kiddos! Noah thought that we were playing a fun game of chase and was belly laughing as he dodged the camera- so funny!(PS Thanks Dad for the great new portrait lens!) I did get the camera figured out, but only after the sun went down and the moment had passed...sigh

AZ or bust! (a little bit early!)

Okay, so I owe my seminary friends an apology! You are probably a bit confused, but any of you that have kids will understand. There we were packing, in our tiny apt (again, u guys can relate!) and it was windy and rainy so the kids were stuck inside. Every time I went into one of the bedrooms and came out Noah's feet were sticking out of a different box upside down because he had climbed into one and gotten stuck. Grace was starting to cry at anything because her whole world was being put into boxes. Sunday night Steve turned to me and said, "you know, it might just be easier if you just take the kids to my moms house now." At first it sounded crazy, but after looking at it, we would save over $1000 if I just drove the kids instead of flying, and they would get to be with their grandparents having fun instead of stressing out in our tiny packed apt. So on a whim I packed our suitcases and off we went. It turned out to be so good for them, although so sad for me. (I will either come back with Steve at the end of April or during his week long session in August to see all of you guys then!) The kids didn't cry once during the 13 hour straight drive, although since Grace seranaded me with her new recorder and Noah with his keyboard, I shed a few tears :) The kids had a blast with his parents for that week, and by the time Steve got here a week later I had a chance to get our house all prepped for the move-in. It was nice not having too much stuff to move into the house- I know you always accumulate stuff, but hopefully we can keep the furniture to a minimum for awhile. I did have to find a dining room table, but I am so excited that I found one on craigslist for $40. I am going to sand and refinish it! Steve started working right away, two days after he got here. It has been such a blessing that there was a need at his families company that he has been able to fill, although I know it was hard for him to not take a break after the move. The kids and I have already joined the zoo and the children's museum here where we go several times a week. Grace has been very happy to be reunited with "her Dallas" (her best buddy here.) She still prays for baby Carsyn and asks why Ms. Megan can't teach at her school this coming fall. Although it has been sad, I really feel like the kids are thriving here. Noah was given a good checkup at the doctor here and he is now off of all of his meds (even his breathing treatments!) We really look forward to seeing all of our Mill Valley friends when we go back for Steve's school, and we hope that if you are ever in the area, or want to visit the valley of the sun, that you will come stay with us! (I recommend the winter time as it is already in the mid nineties now.) I miss you all so much and brag about what great friends we made in Mill valley often!