Indoor Picnic

The kids wanted to have a picnic in their tent, but after realizing that the grass (and mud) are still wet outside after I watered this morning, we brought it all inside, tent and all! I think indoor picnics can be just as fun, if not even more fun, than outdoor ones. No bugs! But, as you can see from this first pic, the dog does try to get in on the action.








It might be kinda hard to tell, but this pic is taken through the tunnel that leads to the tent. What fun!

My sister tagged me with this survey, and I kinda love tags! It gives me something to post about.

A-Attached or single? Attached
B-Best friend{s}? I love everybody, but I would have to say that I'm closest to my husband.
C-Cake or pie? Cake. . . Chocolate cake!
D-Day of choice? Sunday. The sabbath is such a peaceful day.
E-Essential item{s}? chap stick, baby wipes.
F-Favorite color{s}? Purple
G-Gummy bears or worms? neither. I'm not much of a candy person, but I LOVE chocolate!
H-Hometown? Billings, Montana
I-Favorite indulgence{s}? Fudge
J-January or July? January, only because I live in Arizona and January sometimes feels like July everywhere else.
K-Kids? Yep! Three of them!
L-Life isn't complete without? Family and Friends
M-Marriage date? November 23, 2001
N-Number of brothers and sisters? 1 sisters 3 brothers
O-Oranges or apples? Oranges
P-Phobia and fears? Dying before I finish raising my children, and monsters under my bed.
Q-Quote{s}? Phyllis Diller: "My photographs don't do me justice - they just look like me." (I'm not a very photogenic person)
R-Reason to smile? Watching my children enjoy simple things reminds me to enjoy simple things.
S-Season of choice? Spring, I love the smell of rain (dido, what my sister said)
T-Tag three people: Brittney, Shye, and Deana
U- Unknown fact about me? I hate shopping, but love to get new things.
V-Vegetable? Pretty much anything baked or steamed.
W-Worst habit? I bite the inside of my cheeks.
X-X-ray or ultrasound? I've had both!
Y-Your favorite food? dessert!
Z-Zodiac sign? Libra

my new camera

After buying my new camera nearly three months ago, I finally took it out of the box and experimented with it. I took it to Freestone Park with us and found some really great places to take pictures. Of course, it was a saturday and I think nearly everyone one who lives in Gilbert must have been there, so I couldn't use a lot of the places that I liked. But, I did find one little hidden area that no one was in and took a few pics of the kids. Here are a few examples. The first one is just one of the kids feeding the ducks, just thought it was cute, but the other three I actually put effort into and there is A LOT I will too differently next time. These photos also have not been edited yet ( I still have to learn how to use my editing program) but I think their alright. I have a lot to learn and I'm so excited about this new hobby! so fun!

Yeah for ponytails!

I was finally able to get the tiniest bit of hair into a ponytail, enough to add a bow to it. And what's even more amazing is she kept it in most the day!

Last saturday we took the kids to Freestone Park in Gilbert and it was so fun. They have this cute little mini-carnival for small kids and a train that rides around the park. After the kids experienced a few rides we went and played on one of the playgrounds. Justin got such a kick out of watching Gracie go down the slide. She couldn't get enough of it and neither could he so he got it on video!

Hilarious! And Sadly True :(

I saw THIS video one my friend Jinny's blog and couldn't stop laughing. I though it was especially appropirate given the book I just started reading. You can learn about that on my reading blog HERE

Happy Valentine's Day . . . (yesterday)

Justin and I had the most fabulous Valentine's Day yesterday. One of our favorite musicians is piano player, Jim Brickman. He wrote most of the songs that we used for our wedding so a lot of them mean a great deal to us.



He had a concert this weekend but of course we didn't get tickets because we're trying to save and be frugal while Justin figures out his new career. So, I heard about a contest to win some tickets on the radio and I registered on line. I won! (I know! awesome, right?!) and so we got to go for free! It was the best concert and the most romantic evening to spend with my sweetheart.
Thanks to the Bushman's who watched our kids while Justin and I fell in love with each other all over again. Hope everyone else had a great day!

New haircut!

My friend Becki let me trade babysitting for a haircut, and I absolutely love it! I haven't done much experimenting yet to see all the styles I can do with it, but so far I love the low maintenance of it. I'm not a very photogenic person so these aren't my favorite pics, but they give the idea!

Book Club

I'm starting an online book club. You can learn more about it HERE

About two weeks ago I decided to teach Gracie some sign language since she refuses to say any words. It's amazing how fast she is learning them! Already, she knows dog, cute, please, thank-you, more, arms up (just a fun one for her) and milk. Those are the only ones that I know so now I have to learn some more so I can teach her. The hardest part about her signing is getting it on video. I've tried at least a dozen times and she just doesn't cooperate. But today she had her well-baby visit and while we were waiting for the nurse to come and give her a shot she decided she wanted to perform after all, so out came the video camera and here it is! (excuse the no pants. She was waiting for a shot on her leg).

Sleeping Angels

I love sleeping pictures. Recently I've been able to get one of each of my kids for various reasons.

First, Gracie was sick all day yesterday. I'm not sure exactly what was wrong but all she wanted to do was lay around. So she spent a lot of time like this yesterday. Poor kid! Melt my heart!








Cole missed his nap one day so he fell asleep sitting up watching a movie. So cute! (He has a band aid on his nose because he keeps scratching the same spot over and over and he's pretty much dug a hole on his nose and he won't let it heal, so we put the spider man band aid on his nose to help protect it and give it a chance to heal - funny kid!)


And last, last week my friend Shye and I threw a baby shower for our friend Becki. Rylee went with me and got very sleepy since we stayed later to help clean up. She was so sweet during the party. She found a bunch of blank paper and cut them up in tiny slips of paper, wrote "I (heart) U" on all of them and then passed them out to everyone at the party. Such hard work can tire a girl out! So when everyone had left she curled up on the couch and crashed. I'm not sure where she found this huge, stuffed dog, but she loved it and fell asleep with it.