Mother's Day

Here are some pics of Mother's Day:

We started the day with our usual waffles and bacon. Yum! I got cards and gifts and Ben even made me a comic book.

Then, we went for a nice hike.












Then, we went to the pool, and David grilled me a yummy fillet mignon, roasted red potatoes and brussel sprouts! YUM!

Then, I taught the kids how to roll their eyes into their heads.


It was a nice day.

Around Our House

The school year is quickly coming to a close.  They have 14 days left of school!  Now is the last three weeks where everything happens, final reports are due, music concerts are happening, volunteer lunch, field trips, graduation for Noah, assemblies for the other kids.  It's chaos.  

Usually, we have nothing going on for the weekend.  This weekend we packed so much in that I'm exhausted.  I try not to do that.

We went to the zoo because it was free day, and I don't pass up free.  Wow, our sky is really blue.  People who visit often say that and I just don't think much about it.  But, that is a blue sky.

There are some wallaby's behind the kids, buy you can't see them.  Iphone photos aren't the greatest.

It was also free comic book day.  Ben looks forward to it as much as Halloween and Christmas.  They let us take one of everything, so Ben got like 30!  Then, he spent about 4 hours in his room reading.


We had a block party in our neighborhood.  The best was David got out there to jump rope.  He's awesome.  It was a huge feast with tons of neighbors.  I love this little area where we live.


We went to see Avengers.  Ben always had a thing for Spider Man.  For Noah, it's Captain America.  He completed the outfit with snow boots.


My friend from high school, who now lives up here in Prescott, is moving to Hawaii.  They were getting rid of her daughters gymnastics stuff.  I got Emily this beam and mat.  She is in heaven!  So, this room has seen a airplane teeter totter, spider dome and now a gym.  I love it.


We desperately needed a new faucet.  We have for about 5 years.  It leaks and it's nasty.  They took some shortcuts building this house and this was one of them.  I bought the faucet at Costco and David thought he'd tackle it next time my Dad came up.  Well, my Dad and Suzy are on their way to Idaho in a few days and David decided to try it on his own.  I'm so, so proud of him.  It came with some frustrations, but not a single cuss word.  :)  He leaves that to me.

So, that was our weekend.  I'm beat and ready for next weekend.  But, it was fun!

Taylor Swift Pancakes and Other Stuff

Ben's third grade class won a recycling challenge at school, so they got a park day to help plant trees and stuff. They also got a tree to take home. That's the tree next to his left hand. It's about 2 inches high. I'm going to take a picture as him and the tree grow, providing I don't kill it first. The tree, not Ben.

Noah is OBSESSED with pancakes lately. I made him some the other day. He likes the little silver dollar ones and then he just picks them up and dips them in syrup. I made some silver dollar and then what I call penny pancakes for fun. They are super tiny, the size of a penny. Noah, said, "Oh, they are so cute, just like Taylor Swift." Now, he asks for Taylor Swift pancakes. That's what he had for dinner tonight.

The kids made obstacle courses with every cushion and pillow in the house. Then, they built a fort. They probably played with all of this for about 8 hours this weekend. It's been rainy, can you tell? I'm glad they can amuse themselves with each other and cushions for hours and hours.

I have to write down a few things the kids said this week that just made me laugh.

I gave Ben a pair of 8 slim pants as all of his pants were dirty. He put them on and he claimed they were tight in his crotch area. I told him they looked fine and would stretch out. To which he told me, "They are going to mess up my agility." What 9 year old says that? Ben.

So, this may not be appropriate, but it's hysterical. It's no secret around here that Noah likes boobs. Some guys like legs, some like butts, Noah likes boobs. This was our conversation:

Noah: Why do you have boobs and other girls don't?
Me: Because I'm older. Girls get boobs when they are around 10. Emily is starting to get boobs. All girls get boobs.
Noah: So, Jasmine and Benna (in his class) are going to have boobs one day?
Me: Yes.
Noah: Nice. (with a big smile on his face)

I tell ya, there is never a dull moment around here.

Spring Recital

Today was Emily's Spring Piano Recital. It's always so nice to get together and watch our girls perform.

She looked so pretty in her pink dress.


I know all the girls are nervous, but they all do so well.


Here's Em with her piano teacher, Ms. Stacy.


Here are all the piano girls. Ms. Stacy took on a fifth student a few months ago. It's crazy that they are all 9 and 10 year old.


After, she got a certificate and a framed picture of her little hands playing piano. Her teacher took a picture of each of the girls hands and they all got that as a gift. It's so cute.


I watch her little hands all the time as she plays, and I'm just so impressed. She's been playing for a little over 2 1/2 years, and she amazes me with her talent.

Here's a video of her performance. She played Spring, Can Can, Fur Elise and a duet of Aloutte with her teacher.

Salad Anyone?

Today, David and I tackled the backyard. We had been neglecting it for 6 months and the leaves from the Fall had sat there about as long as we could take. It was a big job and we worked great as a team and filled up our huge garbage can with yard clippings. I like that. It makes me happy to throw stuff out.

Noah was "helping". Then, he came inside for a bit. Then, when he came back outside he showed us his salad he made.

Yep, that would be some leaves from the yard. Then, he added about the entire bottle of crushed red pepper flakes and some vinegar.

My first reaction was OMG, don't eat that! He was so proud of himself. Can you imagine if he would've tried a spoonful? We'd still be scraping him off the ceiling it would've been so hot

You Tube

Emily loves making videos, as you all know. Her second most popular video is of me. Sleeping. Over 5,000 views. Nice, huh?


I'll get Easter pics up soon. Super busy.

Easter Festivities

It's been a fun filled few days filled with pre Easter fun. The kids were off from school for good Friday.

We dyed eggs.


Then, Emily and Noah wanted to try one. Ben didn't want any part of trying a hard boiled egg. Noah wouldn't try it either. That's Emily in the background washing her mouth out after trying the egg. Guess they don't like them. I don't blame them.


Here are their finished product.




This morning was the egg hunt at the clubhouse.

Noah was too scared of the bunny to get an egg.


He was in the 4-6 year old hunt. We were waiting for it to get started and I spotted the golden egg. It always has an extra special prize in it. So, he headed straight for it.



Inside was a half dollar, so that was cool.

These activities are always filled with so many friends and neighbors. It's like a big party. Ryan was trying to sit on David's lap. Those boys are silly.


Ben was getting silly waiting for his age group to start.



Then, there was some sword fighting with balloon swords.


Here are the older girls in the 10 plus category.


Then, we came home and opened gifts.

Grammie and Grampie sent cards and money. Thanks Grammie and Grampie!


And Aunt Pam sent goodie bags and cards.




They love the yoyo's Aunt Pam! Thanks!

Tomorrow, we are headed to Phoenix for a fun filled day at my Dad's with all the family from New York. I can't wait!