Me

Ok this is for everyone who gets mad at me for not posting pics of myself. I cut my hair yesterday and wanted to show off the new style. Here ya go!

I will have more to post later this week, but wanted to get this one up. Thanks for stopping by!

Random stuff

Well things are good here. We started school this week, officially we are now homeschooling. :) Our first week went well. The kids seem to be picking things up well, and we actually managed to keep to a decent schedule this week. So all in all it was a good and productive week. We had our first home-school group meeting on Friday too. Mike was off and so we all went to the park and met a bunch of other homeschooling families. It was fun, the kids played and then Mike and some of the older kids helped the younger ones to set off some model rockets. It was pretty cool.

Well, not much else going on this week, although we did manage to make it to an indoor play area to let the kids get some energy out. This was the first time Erika was mobile enough to go exploring. She loved it.

Because it has been warm still we have been eating a ton of Popsicles. Erika has taken to licking things now to see if she likes it. Here she is deciding on the Popsicle I am trying to give her. I love her expression. LOL

Today we just took it easy. We decided to make something different for lunch... so we made hot-dog octopuses. We got the idea from some friends. The kids had fun putting them together. They came out cute and the kids even ate them up too.

Anyway, that is about all for now. For a really cute picture of Erika you can check out my other blog here.

Thanks for stopping by and take care.

Outdoors

Well it's still hot, but my kids were tired of being cooped up all summer. I think a typical conversation went something like this: (kids) "Mom can we go outside?" (me) "No I'm sorry it waaayy to hot to be outside." (kids) "PPPPPLLLLEEEEAAAASSSSEEE!"
(me) "(Sigh) I'm sorry but no." (kids pouting as they slump off).
So at the first break in the heat, out we went. The mornings are not terribly bad now, so we took full advantage this week, and spent one day at the park and one at the zoo. The zoo was especially nice because when it did warm up the kids were ready to get wet. LOL Tim cracks me up. He found these pictures carved in the rocks, and told me he wanted to read me the story on the rock. So then we got to discussing hieroglyphics and all that. Hey we are homeschooling after all. :)

I actually will admit to forgetting to take Erika's 10 month picture with the bear. This one was taken a day late. This was another time when she pretty much refused to straighten out... LOL It's cute anyway. We have entered a new phase with Erika... she is now cruising around the furniture. It won't be long now I don't think for her to start walking. I am ambivalent, as I want her to grow up... but some days I really miss her being a baby. She is also starting to get her own mind about things... food she does not like ends up on the floor, toys she does not like are tossed aside, and when she is excited about something you know it. She still only has the two teeth, but the top ones are poking through a little, so she has been a little grumpy this past week.

Oh and speaking of teeth. Tim's two bottom teeth are loose. He is excited about getting a visit from the tooth fairy. I am sure it will be pretty funny if he looses both of them about the same time. I will post pics once they come out.

Well, in other news things are progressing nicely on our big news... we are hoping to have something to post in the near future (wink).

So for now, I leave you all with a nice picture of Tim and Lex and we hope you enjoyed the update. Thanks for stopping by.

Random stuff

Well we ended the month of July with a trip the Children's museum. The theme was monsters... as you can see the kids had a blast.
They got to dress up, create monsters and even make a movie. The black lite room was very cool too. The kids had lots of fun coloring and just being "monsters" in general. The last one of Tim I asked him to pose nicely for me so we could get a a good picture to send to granny... this is what I got. LOL!! Silly child! Even Erika had fun in the baby section of the museum.

Unfortunately for us a few days later Erika got sick... then Alexa got it... then I got it... then Tim... and finally Mike... Although by the time it got to Mike it was a pretty mild case of whatever the rest of us had. Ugh, we were out of commission for over a week and Lysol was my best friend.

Well, once we were feeling better things got back to normal... Erika is now my little fashionista... LOL. Love the Mohawk look. She is also standing now on everything... this was the first time I caught her standing in her crib. I love the two teeth. She is just so cute!

All of my kids are cute (not that I am biased or anything) Here is a good one of all three.

Ok and last we have proof that it does rain in the desert. The kids had a blast puddle jumping and getting wet. The cooler temps are kinda nice too.

Anyway, so that has been the last two weeks. Hope you are all well. Take care and thanks for stopping by.

Summer fun

Well, we have certainly had a busy summer so far. There have been birthday parties and swimming, friends and family.
So for the moment that about sums up our summer so far. LOL

Erika is now 9 months old. I cannot believe in just a few months she will be a year old. It's amazing how time flies.
She now has two teeth on the bottom and is working on getting more in on the top. Just be careful she bites hard (ask me how I know this... LOL). She is also fully mobile. She has been crawling now for just over a week. She started out doing the army crawl with her arms, but is now on to the full body sprint crawl. She is one fast baby. She is growing like a weed... I still remember when that bear was as big her. (sniff)
Anyway that is about all for now... we don't have a lot going on in August... yet, but I am sure I can come with some pictures to post... I do have cute kids after all. :)
We are hoping to start (home)school in September, so things may slow down some then as we try and get on a regular "school" schedule. Please pray for Mike and I, as we have some big decisions to make in the next few weeks. I will write more once we have somethings worked out and get everything in order. (Yes this is a teaser to get you to come back and read the blog every so often... LOL)
Anyway thanks for stopping by and come back soon!

Zoo

Ok here are some photos from our trip to the zoo. Yes it is hot here in AZ but the mornings are still somewhat nice, plus the zoo now has a splash pad area. We go very early and by the time it gets hot, the kids are ready to play in the water. LOL
Anyway enjoy the pics... (and for more pics from a different perspective click here)

Update

Ok well... sorry for the delay in posting... between a mini vacation, sickness and life in general time just got away from me. I will try and be better... at least two a month... LOL
Ok I will start where the last blog left off.
We spent some time, with some good friends, at the zoo for the grand opening of the water area. It was a lot of fun... and very wet.

Not to long after that we spent some at my folks. We go every year for Vacation Bible School. Lex was so excited to be in the bigger class with her brother. Unfortunately we only managed 2 1/2 days of VBS, as the kids both got sick. We stuck it out at my folks for another few days, but when Mike came we decided it would be best to go ahead and come home. Of course, the decision was made when I also got sick.
One virus 3 different effects. Tim had a high fever for about 3 days but continued running a mild fever for almost a week, Lex had the beginnings of Pneumonia and I came down with a severe ear infection. It was not a fun 10 days or so till all of us started feeling a little better. I am extremely grateful that Erika nor Mike caught it. Mike was wonderful during all this as well, he really stepped up and helped out. I am very blessed in that way.
We did not get to many pictures being that we were all sick, but I like the one of Tim and Erika... I am so glad he is such a good big brother to her.

I did not forget Erika's 8 month pictures, I just had not uploaded anything from my camera in awhile. She is getting so big now. She is still small weight wise (barely cracking 15 pounds) but she is long. She is now pretty mobile, rolling all over and getting into everything. She is also trying to crawl, but so far has not managed much more than pushing herself back and flailing her arms and legs so she looks like she is swimming. She is also going from the laying position to the sitting position now. She babbles all the time now... I am convinced she will be a talker like her brother and sister... Mike and I are working on some forms of silent communication/sign language just so we can have a conversation. :)

We have also managed some trips to the mall in the play area. The kids always have a good time, and we are thankful they have someplace air conditioned they can play in.

We spent our Independence day with some good friends. We had a great time swimming and making s'mores in the afternoon. After that we spent the evening watching fireworks with some friends from church. It was a good (and very late) day.

Anyway so now you are all caught up for the moment. Like I said I will try and get better about posting so please make sure to check back. Thanks for stopping by and I hope this finds you all well.

testing

I was just testing to see if I could post from my phone. More to come later.