Sister's Birthday

We celebrated our sisters' birthdays this weekend and had so much fun!! Since Krista, Haley, and Tamara have birthdays all within about 5 weeks, we combined them into one big party. First, I took them to get their toes done. It was Haley and Tamara's first time getting a pedicure and I think they were a little nervous. We had such a fun time, though!! It's always fun to go somewhere with all of them and have people ask how we know each other. When we say we are sisters, they get all confused. Yes, I have Asian sister-in-laws and it is ok. The other Asian workers weren't quite sure what to think. And we are pretty sure they thought I was their mom. Hahaha...

Here are our cute toes... Then, we went back to the house to have dinner and cake with the boys. Matthew loves cakes, especially birthday cakes, and was so excited to watch the girls blow out their candles.

Here is Matthew and Micah being silly. They both put on Haley's boots and thought they were so cool!

Micah and his Puzzles

Micah has become a puzzle monster!! We barrowed some 24 piece puzzles from Grandma Mell. He loves them and lines them up in the kitchen as he finishes them! It is so funny! You see he is in his jammies in this picture. That is because he starts his puzzles the minute he opens his eyes. By the time we have breakfast, there are finished puzzles everywhere.

Back to School

It is time to head back to school. We started all three boys out with "back to school blessings" from their daddy. The twins are starting preschool this year, so they got blessings, too. They were so excited!

Dalin has done this many times now, but still loves it. He is heading into 4th grade now.

Here we go!! Back to school!

At the end of last year, Dalin asked me not to go to his end of the year party. He told me I come to everything and none of the other parents do. Of course, he broke my heart, but I respected his wishes and stayed home.

So, naturally, I expected that he wouldn't want me to walk him to his class today for the first day. I drove him to school, stopped the van, and said, "Have a good day!" He looked at me with a terrified expression. "You're going to walk me to my class, aren't you?" He couldn't have made me happier!! Even though he is big now, he still needs the security of his mommy. So we all unpiled from the van and walked him to his class. Once he found his buddy, Carson, he was fine and we were able to go.

Then, we went home to finish getting things ready for preschool. The twins don't really understand that their new preschool is at their house and that I'm their teacher. It will probably not be as exciting as they are imagining in their head, but we still got these cute pictures of their first day.

(It was a little, too sunny for Micah.)

It is crazy to think that all of my kiddos are old enough for school. I guess my babies are all grown up!

Time for Preschool

The twins are three and potty trained and ready for preschool. Rather than spend thousands of dollars paying someone to teach them, I decided that I should go back to work. We have spent months getting ready to launch our preschool, but finally, it is ready to go!!

The front room has been redecorated and made into the cutest little preschool room.

Now, all I need are students, right?? The classes are about half full, but I've been reassured by other moms who have done this, to start classes anyway and the classes will fill themselves. Wish me luck!!

Arizona Monsoon Storms

As I headed to a doctor appointment, I saw the monsoon clouds build in the sky. I love Arizona summers and the storms that develop. After spending an afternoon in 115 degree weater, there is nothing better than to see clouds like these.

After my appointment it was pouring rain. It was raining so hard that I actually stayed in the lobby of the office complex for a few minutes hoping the rain would die down enough for me to get to my car. When it didn't, I just ran to the car in the pouring rain.

When I got home, I found my boys outside with their umbrellas. There is nothing cuter than Arizona boys with umbrellas!!

Donuts and a Car Wash

The car wash near our house has a giant window where you can watch the cars as they go through the automatic wash. Everytime we go inside, my boys want to stay and wash and seems that we are always in a hurry and don't have time! So today, we made time. We didn't even have to wash our car or get gas. We went just to have a donut and sit down to relax!

A few minutes into our donuts, Dalin noticed there was a giant squirt gun attached to the window. It had a sign on it giving us permission to use it. There was a small donation container that we put some money in, to cover our cost of water and soap, then the boys proceeded to squirt the dirty cars as they went through the car wash!

What a fun summer morning for my three boys and I. We had a blast and can't wait to do it again!!

Summer Zoo Trip with Fridnds

We decided to brave the heat today for one last zoo trip before school starts! Luckily, we found some friends to come with us.

Thanks, Jacobsens!! Hunter and Matthew looking at the frogs...

The prairie dogs were all out today and had babies with them. They were adorable and we watched them for quite a while...

Look at all of them...

Here is our little "Duck Whisperer"! They loved him because he shared his food, but shhhh, we don't want to spoil his little secret...

No matter how many times we go to a splash pad, it is always a hit... All of the kiddos got to practice their water bending...Uh, not sure this was a good idea, Dalin...Micah was quite the little character in the water cave... Matthew patiently waiting! Hmm, saw Dalin try this earlier...

Another fun day at the zoo...

Our Latest Champion

Micah has been going to swim lessons for quite some time now. He's struggled to learn to float, but stayed happy as his poor teacher, Brandon, pulled his hair out. I'm pretty sure that today, when Micah passed the first level, Brandon was as proud of him as I was!!!



Way to go Micah!! We sure love you!

They are Reading!! Really Reading!

Matthew and Micah both love to read books! This week, as we read, they memorized the stories that they loved and read them back to us. They read the books over and over again!!

To some moms this is just cute, but to a mom who is a teacher, this is the first step in the right direction and I couldn't have been more proud!! Dalin kept saying, "They aren't really reading, are they?" And I kept saying that they were. To me, this is reading!!