Thursday Ramblings

I finally finished my blog book. All 254 pages. From 2010. I'm glad I procrastinated on it because Blurb sent me a coupon good for 25% off and it saved me $18.50. Now I need to start 2011 which I should zip through on my new laptop.

Natalee has been a mess this week. Her poor teeth are just driving her nuts. That and she's had 2 busted lips this week. She had to learn the hard way not to walk infront of a swing at the playground :( Good thing she is one tough cookie.

I took the girls to our first Summer Movie Fun yesterday. It was Happy Feet 2 and I just think that movie is kinda boring and doesn't really keep kids' attention. Natalee did ok. She was in her stroller most of the time and then on my lap for awhile until the kid infront of us started walking all around and down the walkway etc. Then Natalee decided she wanted to walk around too. Luckily she stayed right infront of us and never left the aisle. I didn't realize they have 5 theatres reserved for SMF; I've never seen so many kids in my life! I'm looking forward to Horton Hears a Who next week and hopefully Natalee will hold still a little longer.

Haylee loves being my big helper. When Natalee wakes up from her nap Haylee will go upstairs and climb in her crib to talk to her until I finish what I'm doing. I love how they both can get in the crib, but neither can get out.

I thought when summer started we'd be stuck at home bored all day because it's too hot to leave the house. Boy was I wrong. June is by far the busiest month we've had. Monday and Friday Haylee has Craft Club. Wednesday is our Summer Movie Fun. Thursday is Kids Club at the mall and then the last 2 weeks of June the girls have swimming lessons Monday-Thursday. Throw in a couple birthday parties, a photography workshop, a dentist appointment for Haylee, breakfast with Aunt Roxie, Prowl & Play at the Zoo, the Circus and Rapunzel at Hale Theatre. And don't forget Father's Day, My Birthday and Haylee's 5th Birthday! Busy busy month for us!

It is definitely heating up around here. Today there is an Excessive Heat Warning with temperatures at 108 degrees. So not ready for this heat!! Apparently Natalee is. She'll just run around in the nude to stay cool!

Memorial Day Weekend

Yay for the 3 day weekend! And yay for beautiful weather and a ton of fun!

Our weekend started out Friday night when we went to the Dbacks game. I bought Josh tickets for his birthday and I don't think we've been there in about 5 years. We had fun despite the Dbacks losing. Kayanee & David watched the girlies and hopefully they were on their best behavior.

Saturday we finally celebrated our Anniversary. We've been married 3308 (as of today) days. And we've been together 3824 days. Pretty crazy!

Sunday we took the girls to Enchanted Island. We have never been there but I bought a deal online.I think I paid $18 and we got 4 wristbands, 4 large sodas, 1 hour pedal boat ride and unlimited Castle Clash (a water feature). When we added up what it would have cost us for all of that (about $90) we realized we got a smokin' deal and should have bought more. We had such a fun time and the girls were so good.

In fact, this is the first time Natalee has ever gone without a nap and she did really good. We rode the Train, the Carousel and Rock n' Roll a couple times each.

Then we rented the pedal boat and pedaled our way around the lake and fed the ducks.

I guess I should add that while we were waiting on the pedal boat the girls enjoyed some Otterpops. What are the odds they sell Otterpops at the Boat House?! My girls were stoked!!!

The girls also rode the Parachutes (just me and Haylee), Kiddie Cars, Mini Enterprise (helicopters) and Red Baron (airplanes). They were so happy to ride the rides over and over and it wasn't crowded so sometimes they just stayed on the ride.

They had a splash pad but our girls haven't gotten the hang of that yet. Haylee use to jump right in when she was little but now they both just stare at it. They are afraid to get wet I guess. Doesn't make sense because they aren't afraid of the pool, water table or the slip n slide at our house. I told them they better get use to it or they won't survive this summer! It's too hot to be outside if you're not in the water.

We had lunch there and the girls got cotton candy when we left. It was such a wonderful day and we enjoyed spending time with our munchkins!

Yesterday we had a pool party! Just us and the girls....in a Princess pool! Hey, it fits 3 comfortably. We had some of our favorite drinks and Josh cooked steaks on the grill. We had a lot of fun!

When I think about it, the girls have gotten so much better in just the past week. We're at a really good spot right now in life and I'm no longer dreading each day. Seriously. My life was at it lowest just a couple of months ago when we found out Jackson had cancer and the prognosis was grim. That along with constant back pain for me and 2 little girls who had turned into devils. Life has gotten so much better and I am so thankful for answered prayers. Jackson is doing great, no changes whatsoever. Haylee seems to be talking back less and giving me an attitude less and has starting helping me out more. Natalee is still getting into things but has been super sweet lately and listening a lot better. She's also gotten better at holding my hand and not running off. Well except for the 2 instances Sunday at Enchanted Island....ok maybe she needs to work on that a little more! There are things I am working on too, like having more patience (I've been working on this for 5 years!) and finding fun things for us to do during the day. I pray we make it through this summer and the horrible heat that will keep us inside for the next 5 months!

Also I have to add that Natalee has been sleeping in way late lately. She wakes up between 8-9am and usually takes a 2 hour nap. I was definitely blessed with great sleepers!

9 Years

In honor of us being married 9 years, these are the top 9 reasons why I love my husband-

1. He loves me unconditionally.
2. He is such a wonderful Daddy.
3. Definitely a hard worker.
4. We are so much alike and have the same interests.
5. I love the little things he does that shows how much he cares.
6. He knows when to listen and when to share advice.
7. He is patient with not only the girls, but with me too.
8. He's always willing to help others.
9. He's very thoughtful. Every holiday I am stumped on what to get him but he never fails to find something I absolutely love. .

Josh and I finally celebrated our Anniversary last night. He was out of town for our Anniversary and I woke up to this text-  "Happy Anniversary!! Thank you for everything you do everyday. You are a wonderful wife and mother and I don't tell you enough. Try and have a good day. I love you so much. Go look on our closet shelf behind my jackets......."So I looked and found a big wrapped box and the sweetest card. Inside the box was a brand new laptop. Seriously....he is the BEST!!!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE my new laptop. I finally have everything transferred and I'm enjoying how fast it is!

So Saturday we left the house around 1:30pm. Josh had no clue where we were going, I just put addresses in the GPS and that is where he drove. First I have to say that there are not a lot of choices of places to go around here that we haven't been before. We didn't want to spend a lot of money and I'm not very creative so it's not like our date was very extravagant, but we had a blast! So first up was
Outback because that is our favorite restaurant. We had teriyaki sirloins washed down with Wallaby Darned's. Super Yummy!

Then we went to see a movie. The theatre we went to didn't have many options and I was hoping to see 5 Year Engagement but that was no longer there. We ended up seeing What to Expect When You're Expecting and it wasn't very good. And no, we didn't get any ideas. No more kids for us!

After that we headed to Fountain Hills (we were in Scottsdale) where we went bowling. Cosmic bowling actually. lol. I had bought a Groupon deal and it was fun. I can't tell you the last time either of us went bowling but we were both getting strikes left and right. Josh more than me but I was proud of the few I got.

After that we went to the fountain where Josh proposed to me 9 1/2 years ago. Unlike that day, we did not lock the keys in the car (ya Josh locked the keys in the car the night he proposed and my Mom had to rescue us). We haven't been back since the night he proposed so it was crazy to look back at how much our lives have changed since that day!

We went to the casino after we left there, but we just ate and left. I can't deal with the cigarette smoke very well. I was getting a headache.

We had a wonderful day and we're thankful for my Mom for watching the girls. She said they were angels.

Happy 9th Anniversary babe! Here's to many, many more!!!

Weekend Recap and Ramblings

Saturday was Haylee's last soccer game. Her team, The Monkeys finished the season 3-2 and the 1st game was cancelled due to weather. Haylee made a goal the first game and continued to keep up with her team and play with all her might the entire season. We are so proud of her. The Thursday before the game her team met at Sweetie Peaz to eat frozen yogurt and receive their medal. Haylee was so excited.

Saturday night we took the girls to San Tan Mall. The girls weren't too sure about the splash pad so they mostly hung out in the play area. We had dinner by the fountain, rode the train and ate ice cream cones. The girls were pretty good and it was overall a great night!

On Sunday I took Haylee to Pinkalicious at Broadway Palm. I thought the show was funny and super cute! Haylee had a great time too and I really love taking her to all the shows there. The theatre will be going through some changes this summer and I am hoping they will continue to have children's shows because we will be so sad if they don't.

The girls have been playing outside in the evenings on the slip and slide. I am so glad it's still tolerable outside when the sun starts going down. I look forward to about 5-5:30 when the backyard is shaded and they can go release some energy outside.

Natalee's top 2 molars have finally popped through so now we're waiting on the bottom 2. They have been driving her crazy. Her naps for the most part are around 1 hour. Sometimes she'll take a 2 hour nap and when Daddy's watching her she sleeps 3 hours! lol. Figures.

I can't turn around for even 1 minute without her getting into something. Usually the fridge, my purse, Josh's desk (looking for chapstick) or the pantry if I forget to tie the handles together. She is starting to climb on more stuff and is just an accident waiting to happen. I love when she climbs in her crib though because she can't get out. Hahahahaha.

Aside from getting into things and climbing on everything, she really is a sweet little girl. She has actually been behaving better than Haylee lately which is sad because Haylee knows better. I heard Haylee on the monitor the other day telling her to take her dress and diaper off and throw all of her toys out of her crib. Natalee is so confused with what is right and what is wrong because Haylee is constantly telling her things to do that will get her in trouble.

She is talking up a storm and putting words together and she is as funny as can be.

I need to really buckle down and start potty training. I'm just dreading it so much.

Haylee is the newest graduate in town. Sassy as always and currently serving time in her bedroom for hitting her sister in the head because she didn't want to play Lion King with her. That was probably the 3rd or 4th time I've had to tell her to behave today. She loves to yell at me, talk back and give me attitude and it drives me nuts. What happened to my good little girl who use to behave? She's been missing for quite some time now.

She can be good when she wants to be and is always good when it's just me and her. It seems she gets worse when Daddy comes home and she's always worse when Natalee is around. I don't get it.

Jackson is doing great! He is now taking 5 Apocaps a day and his Prednsione, Benadryl, Pepcid cocktail. Still loves to play ball in the evening and occasionally go for walks.

Poor Charlotte became a victim of Natalee the terror the other night. She was walked around minding her own business when Natalee came and picked her up.

Then dropped her :(

I am finally finishing up my blog book from 2010. Josh (the genius) figured out how to transfer everything I've already done to my laptop and now I'm cruising through it. My old computer was just too darn slow. I couldn't get anything done on there. So now I'm trying to finish the 2010 book and I'll start on 2011. It's funny to look back at how small the girls were (and well behaved) just a year and a half ago. How times change.

Friday Josh and I are going to the Dbacks game. I got Josh tickets for his birthday since we haven't been to a baseball game in years. Hopefully we'll get to celebrate our Anniversary soon too because I have a fun day planned.

That's all for now. Time to work on my blog book.

Last Day of Preschool

Today was Haylee's last day of Preschool with Mrs Brianne. I have to admit, I got teary-eyed.....twice. Once when I read what her teacher wrote in her book and once when I picked up Haylee and saw her teacher starting to lose it. Poor Haylee girl just put her head down and went right to the car and got into her seat. She was very sad. I assured her that we will keep in touch with her teacher and probably see her and some of her friends next year at Legacy. Haylee wants me to print the picture of her and her teacher out so she can have it and she said whenever she misses her teacher she will wear her necklace she got today (details below).

Today they had a Movie, Popcorn and Pj Party! That is why you see Haylee (and her teacher) wearing pjs in the pictures below. They watched the Lion King and had popcorn, candy and Capri Suns. They got to bring a pillow, blanket and stuffed animal too. Haylee had a blast!

I saw so many awesome ideas on Pinterest for the last day of school and I am so excited I was able to do a few. These are traditions I'd like to do every year.

*Make a collage print of Haylee on the first day of school, the last day of school and with her teacher.

(the sun was in Haylee's face)

*Graduation Day Certificate with Hand Print

*Recordable Book (above). I asked Haylee questions about Preschool and recorded 40 seconds of her sweet little voice to remember how cute she sounds.

*Last Day of School Picture with Favorites

*Oh the Places You'll Go Book. Her teacher wrote the sweetest thing about Haylee. It actually made me cry.

*Letter From Us & Gift. I wrote Haylee a letter about how much we love her and how much she has grown in the last year. I talked about her different likes and things she does that make us laugh. We gave her a hand stamped necklace that her teacher made for her that has her name and a princess crown charm. Daddy also brought her home some balloons.

I also found the gift ideas on Pinterest as well. We made little candy bar wrappers that say "owl miss you" and I wrapped those around little Hershey Miniatures. I also found cute treat bag toppers so I used those too. It turned out so cute and Haylee even wrote each kids name on it along with hers. We got her teacher a M&M Tumbler with M&M's, a Poem and a Target Gift Card.

I can't believe in 2 1/2 months I will have a Kindergartner! Oh, and Natalee will be in Mrs. Brianne's class in just 2 years. Yikes!