Happy Father's Day

We had a great relaxing day which is pretty clear because the girls look a little haggard. We took the girls to Toy Story 3 which ended up being a long movie. It was good but Kate was ready to go by the end. The girls colored pictures for Paul and gave him cards they had picked out. The cards were interesting but just what you would expect a 4 and 5 year old to pick out. I didn't really take very many pictures but the ones I did take were of the dessert that they girls helped me make for Paul. He loves pudding and oreos so this just makes sense. I threw in the gummy worms for the girls and I know this is a classic treat but it was the first time we made it in our house. We had a really good weekend.....the weather was great and we spent a lot of time together as a family, which is rare these days. Another reason why I can't wait to move!!!

Our Kate is 4!!!

Kate turned four this month and I can't believe how grown up she is. I was so happy when she said she wanted a balloon party because if I had to do another princess or Tinkerbell party I think I might have killed myself. haha I thought it would be so fun when the girls got older and could help pick out what they wanted to do for their b-days and I think it still might but we just need to get through this Disney phase. We got a balloon party but of course she still picked out a Tinkerbell cake. It was a great party and Natalie helped set everything up. She even helped me wrap the presents and didn't tell Kate what they were.

Katelyn got Woody for one of her gifts and she has carried him around everywhere. Now Natalie wants Buzz for her birthday....of course!! She also got a bulldozer, from the Leavitt's, to go with her dump truck. She loves playing in the dirt and she has already used it several times. Thanks Emily!!!! Then after the party was over I gave the girls all the balloons and that is when the real balloon party started. They ran all through the house with balloons in tow. Lucky for me they took them all up stairs to their room and the toys went too so I did not have to pick that up....yet!

With everything up stairs it was a quiet night for Paul and I which I never thought would happen after they ate a large amount of ice cream and cake. It was a great day and we had such a good time. We will be celebrating Natalie's B-day in the new house and I can't wait...woohoo!!

Swimming lessons again

I have very few options in this small town that I live in and things for the girls to do are also limited. They do offer swimming lessons so we will be taking them throughout the summer. Natalie is doing well blowing bubbles out her nose and going under water.

Her class has changed over the first few days of lessons. The first day there was 5 kids. There were two girls that needed to be in the class above, two boys that weren't ready for this class and Natalie was in the middle. On that day I was a little worried that Natalie would get lost in the mix but the 2nd day the two girls had moved to the next class and one of the boys was moved down a level. So now Natalie's class is only 2 kids. Then the next day the other boy was gone so we have totally lucked out and Natalie now has private lessons...and I don't have to pay for it.

Katelyn is loving the lessons. This is the first time she has done a classroom type activity with a bunch of kids her age. She has done really good listen to the teachers and even gets ready in the morning without a hassle. One day after her swim lesson she wanted to point out her teachers to me and she has one boy teacher and one girl teacher. She pointed to the girl and said "that is the mommy teacher" and pointed to the boy and and "that is the daddy teacher. HAHA love the way kids think!!

Both of my girls have the back float down pat and are really enjoying the lessons. They were both very excited to show Paul how well they were doing and it worked out that he made it home one morning to watch them. Paul and I were both very surprised how well Katelyn takes instructions but then again they aren't her parents so of course she is going to listen better. Now that Natalie has private lessons it is amazing how fast she is learning.

Road trip.....

So I decided last minute that I would take a road trip. It was raining non stop, Paul was leaving on a long trip again and I was tired of being couped up in the house. I decided Sunday afternoon that the girls and I would go see some family and we left Monday morning at 3 am. We headed out and our first stop was my sister-in-law's Liz. Due to this trip not being planned she was working but we made plans for us to stop at her place on the way back. So on to Vegas...we went to my cousin Emily's house. It was a lot warmer then what we were used to up in Oregon so we lived in the pool and ate a lot of popsicles. We did manage to squeeze in a few activities so the girls weren't bouncing off the walls. We went to a museum and my girls and their cousin Sadie had a blast. I think Emily and I were done after about two minutes but they were loving it so we stuck it out. The blue tube thing was a hurricane simulator and it destroyed their hair. I was a little surprised that Kate liked it. I was worried that once it started she was going to start crying but she held it together. Natalie's favorite part was the big bubbles. I had to watch her because every time I lost track of her she had snuck off to go back to the bubbles. It was so much fun for her. Travis tried to do the bubble that surrounds you but I think the highest he got was maybe a foot. I tried it next and I got it to go fairly high because I just did it fast before the bubble would pop. Travis tried the slower method. I did have an older lady come up to me and say you need to do it slow to make it work. I just walked away but the proof was in the pudding I thought. (fast was working for us) We did work in a day where we went to a splash pad. This was a first for my girls and Katelyn didn't want to leave...even though her lips were turning blue. Vegas had a breeze the last couple of days that we were there so Kate got cold when she was playing in water but that didn't stop her. Yes in the last picture at the splash pad if you look closely you can see that Natalie is pulling down her swimsuit to get water on the inside. I told her when she did that people can see her boobies but at that time I don't think she cared. Which is funny because she is moving into the "don't want to be naked in front of people" phase. I guess it is not really a phase just her growing up. The last thing we did was go to Pump It Up. The girls had a blast. They ran and ran and ran and they slept really good that night so it was totally worth it. Sadie was such a superstar this time. She wanted to do everything and did most of it on her own. There was one time that she went into a maze and I had to go in after her. When I got to her she was standing there yelling "help me" but no tears....such a big girl. With Katelyn's birthday coming up Emily bought a cake and we sang Happy Birthday to her. The girls of course downed the cake and Kate loved having all the attention on her. I love the picture of them around the table because it is all the girls and little Brody is in it too...well kind of! So the next stop was St. George. We stopped and played in a park with my cousin Kali's kids. Natalie was so excited to see her cousin Kendalyn. She says she has 3 girlfriends and Kendalyn is one of them. I got some really cute pictures and we had a good time. Mia even warmed up to me a little at the end. I can't believe how big they are getting!! Next we drove up to stay the night at my cousin Lindsey's house. We just hung out and talked after we got there. We did try and take the girls out to play on a play structure but it is a lot colder there then it is in Vegas....so we didn't last long. Garrett and his new girlfriend came over and had dinner and it was nice to visit with them. When AJ came home he set the girls up in the bed with the computer and let them watch a movie. That was the best thing I think he could have done. They were big fans of him after that. I do have to say that Lindsey had the best chairs the girls have ever seen. I didn't get any pictures but the chairs spin and the girls just spun and spun and spun. I do have to say sorry because later that night Natalie got sick and threw up all over their bed. My kids have been sick in the past but normally they throw up once and it is over with. This time Natalie started at 2 in the morning and didn't stop for hours. We ended up using all of the towels that Lindsey had in the apartment...again so sorry!! I felt really bad for Natalie because after a few hours of getting sick she was crying and asking me why this was happening. We left Lindsey's that morning with barf bags in hand and headed back to my sister-in-law's. Natalie was still throwing up and it began to worry me. She couldn't keep anything down and I tried sprite but she couldn't keep that down either. I was really getting worried and I called Paul but with him on a trip he just talked to me.....which helped. We decided that I would just keep driving to his sister's and if she wasn't better by then then I would ask his sister what to do. His sister is a nurse and she could tell me if I needed to let it run it course or take her to a doctor. Lucky for me Natalie started turning around about an hour away from my sister-in-law's house. When we got there Natalie went straight for her couch and laid there for the rest of the visit. I feel bad because I was so busy taking care of sick kids that I didn't take any pictures. Liz has pigs, chickens, and horses that the kids did get to look at and they did enjoy that. Overall it was a good trip and we are so happy to be home!! Next year I wonder were our next road trip will take us.

Drama!!!!

I got the pleasure of witnessing Sadie having to sit in time out. When Emily tells her to go to time out she goes and sits down by herself but she is crying all the way. I just loved all of these pictures so I had to post all of them. So cute!!!

Finally some days without rain....

Natalie is climbing every tree she can get into lately. It is her favorite thing to do outside on good weather days. I do feel a little bad because we are moving to an area where there isn't a lot of trees and the ones they do have aren't very big. At least she will have one summer of tree climbing.

Kate on the other hand finds dirt any where and digs. There was a sand pit in the back yard that the renters had put their pool on and Kate loves it! I on the other hand could live without it because she gets so dirty. This picture was taken about 20 mins after a bath.

The other thing they like to do is ride their bikes. I don't think they realize how much easier it would be to ride them on the gravel rather then the grass. HAHA I can't wait till they have a paved rode to ride on.