To Do Lists

I've been writing out little To Do lists for Hailey and JoLynn after school because I'm tired of being a naggy mom, having to remind them over and over again to do things like homework, practice piano, empty the dishwasher, pooper-scooper duty, etc.  So when they get home from school, I hand them their little "To Do" sticky note and when all the things are crossed off, they have the rest of the day to do what ever they want.  It's been a pretty effective system so far.  I might say a little too effective.  While I was in the middle of making dinner,  JoLynn stuck a little sticky note on the counter in front of me with some To Do's of her own for me. It said:

-Play with JoLynn after dinner

-Eat otter pops

-Go for a walk

Oh, if only!  I wish I could frame it and make it my permanent everyday To Do list.

This is JoLynn being...   JoLynn :) :) :)  Love this girlie!!!!

 This crazy girl of mine LOVES to be outside with our dog.  Rain or shine, day or night, if ever I don't know where she is, this is the first place to look.  She gets so dirty and sweaty out there, and always comes in smelling like the dog, but hey, it keeps her happy!  She has discovered the joy of dress-ups and usually leaves a trail of diaper and clothes from the dress up box to the back yard.  She was outside coloring in the 115 degree heat when I took this picture.  Right after I took this picture, she decided to go for a swim in Rocky's water dish.  Right after that, she decided to let herself air dry for the rest of the day naked in the back yard.  

 Shae is by far our most head-strong child.  She's not one to wait around for someone to help her with things.  If she can't reach something or do something the right way, she will figure out a way to get what she wants, and FAST.  When she's trying to do something she knows she's not supposed to do, she will grab my hand and take me to the other room and tell me, "go way!" so I don't see what she's doing.  Most days she leaves me wanting to cry and laugh my head off at the same time.  She can be so infuriating, yet so dang cute all at once.  She has learned the phrase "I mean it!" and uses it all the time:

I wan wacha moomie, I meeenut! (I want to watch a movie, I mean it!)
I nee dink a mok, I meenut! (I need a drink of milk, I mean it!)
I hat furth, I meenut! (I had it first, I mean it!)
 Stopet, I meenut!  (Stop it, I mean it!)

I luloo, I meenut! (I love you, I mean it!)




... anybody want a peanut?

First Day of School

Oh how lovely was this morning!!!!!!!!  I love my girls more than life itself, but I am SO glad that school is in!  And so are they.  We switched schools this year and I wasn't 100% sure it was the right decision, but so far they have loved it.  They both got fabulous teachers and have made some really fun friends.  Hailey was getting really board at her previous school and wasn't enjoying it at all.  Every day this week I've been asking her what her favorite and least favorite part of school was, and yesterday she told me "I love all of it!  Every part is my favorite part, and there's only one worst part, not like my other school where there were tons of worst parts." 
 I asked her what the one worst part is and she said: 
timed tests. Who doesn't hate those!?  

Behold, the 2nd grader!

She is in love with her "shoulder bag".

(p.s. Joel was the photographer here, otherwise I would have more pictures of Hailey to show
... love you babes :)) 

Behold, the Kindergartner!

JoLynn has been SSSOOOO ready for Kindergarten!  She was so excited to start.  She wanted her hair to look like Fancy Nancy for the first day.  Are you jealous of those locks!?  I am. 

 JoLynn goes to 1/2 day K-garten in the afternoon, which I thought would be perfect so I could have some peace and quiet while Shae takes a nap, but of course Shae has now decided to completely phase out nap time... can't a girl get a break!?

 Does this girl look ready for Kindergarten or what!?  She was pretty bummed that Kindergartners aren't allowed to bring a backpack (isn't that weird!?) so she made sure to pick out an extra fancy folder.  (white dove perched on a psychedelic guitar with a rainbow background)  Peace out sister.

Last Day of Summer break

To finish off the last day of summer break, I took the girls to San Tan mall to play on the kids area, eat ice cream, and see the puppies in the pet store.  They loved checking out the Disney store and Boarders Books.  Hailey found a book on "How To Draw Cats" and is now saving up to buy it.  She cracks me up!  

Nothing like a good cheese nip :)

 JoLynn kept posing and telling me to take her picture.

 What a goof ball!

At least we know she has a chance at modeling for a back up career incase Kindergarten doesn't work out.  

Just horsin' around

 Hailey and JoLynn have created this new game that they can't wait to play every night with their dad.  Remember that game "Dead Man"?  Well, they ripped the horse head off our rocking horse to use for a blind fold, and re-named the game "Dead Horse".  Doesn't that just sound like an uplifting game for children?  They keep asking me to call their friends and invite them over to play Dead Horse.  I just don't think I can make that phone call!  Ha, ha, ha!  

 "Dead horse, dead horse, come alive

when we count to the number 5!"

The Dog Days of Summer

We got a D-O-G:  Meet Rocky.  He's our 10 month old bulldog/pit bull mix.  Sounds mean, right?  His original name was Sparticus, but the girls couldn't say it right ("Barky-sis... Sparky-tits... Carby-stuck... what's his name?") so we told them they could rename him.  "Rocky" was the best of the choices they came up with (Rainbow, Shadow, Brownie white socks, and Bubby were the other gems they were deciding between.  Joel and I had to convince them that Rocky fit him best).  

Our previous super awesome bulldog Beau who we loved to pieces died a few years ago from parvo (JoLynn still prays for Heavenly Father to take care of Beau while he's in heaven) and we've been wanting to get another dog ever since, so when our friend mentioned that she was giving her dog away, we asked if he could come stay with us for a few days to see how he fit in with the fam.  That was about 3 weeks ago, so I guess that means we're keeping him.

I was a little nervous at first because pit bulls have such a bad rap, but he has been so gentle and submissive with the girls and is really obedient.  And I have loved having a mean-looking dog to run with in the mornings (but don't tell anyone that he's really just a big baby - he's got a reputation to protect!).  We run 3-4 miles every day and I'm hoping to have him up to 6 miles by November for the Turkey Trot (btw, who's up for running it with me?  Anyone?... Buler?  Buler?).

Shae loves him like crazy!  She will spend all day out on the porch (beads of sweat dripping down her face) feeding him (and herself - gross!) dog food, one piece at a time.  She'll pull at his ears and lay on him and laugh her head off while he just lays there and ignores her.  Hailey and JoLynn have been so good at making sure he's fed and his poop is cleaned up every day.  
Hope you like your new home Sparky-tits, I mean Rocky!   

Cha, cha, cha!

Shae turned 2 last week.  I can't believe our little Pioneer Day baby is 2 yrs old!  She has been making us sing "Happy Birthday to You" every night before bed for the last few weeks and she insists on inserting the "cha, cha, cha!" after every line of the song.  Goofy kid!  Her silky, angel-hair mullet is slowly growing out, so now she has wings on the sides of her head.  She is SO busy all the time and loves to make us laugh.  I love you so much my sweet Shae bird! 

Oh, She is my dear my darling one,

with eyes so sparkling, full of fun!

No other, no other could match the likes of Her.

Oh, She is my dear my darling one,

my smiling and beguiling one,

I love the ground she walks upon

my darling, sweet Shae bird. 

Camping

Our ward camp out was last weekend.  Since Joel couldn't get off work until late Friday night, I decided I was brave enough to take the girls up by myself on Thursday.  It was a little bit crazy, but oh so fun!  These girls LOVE camping!  It RAINED like a beast, but when it's Summer in AZ, I guess you'll do anything to escape the heat.  There was a pond near by with millions of frogs that kept the kids entertained for hours on end.  While I was cooking dinner, one of my elder daughters who will remain nameless was supposed to be babysitting Shae when she wandered into the firepit and started screaming, but no burns were to be found - fhew!  Then Shae tripped and smashed her eye into a camping chair, after which JoLynn got stung by a bee.  But other than that, we made it back home safely with some fun memories.

Meet "Sunshine" the frog

Poor, tender-hearted JoLynn was so upset when she realized 

that we weren't going to be taking the frogs home with us.  I told her I was going to take them back to the pond right before we left, when she lowered her eyes to the ground and said in a forlorn voice, 

"No mom........ I'll do it."

My tough little campers taking cover while we waited out the rain.  

It was so relaxing listening to it pound the outside of the tent (really, it was!)

"Is it done raining, yet?"

"We NEVER want to go home!"

We wish to welcome YOU to Munchkin Land!

Hailey got to be in the Queen Creek Community Theater production of Wizard of Oz in June.  She played the all-important roll of Munchkin Citizen.  She was awesome!!!  She danced and sang like it was nobody's business and was so animated on stage.  It was a super fun production and the colors and costumes were so cute!  She really loved going to all the practices and keeps saying she wishes she could do it again.

JoLynn wanted to be in it too and was so sad to find out it was only for kids 7 and older.  But she was a great Munchkin groupie and cheered her sister on.

I wish we would have gotten a picture of the Lollipop Guild - they were hilarious!

Thanks to all the family and friends who came to support her!

Adventures with Shae

This was the day before I left for YW camp:

Peach Pickin'

We heard about a FREE peach pickin' day at Schnepf Farms, so we loaded up boxes and boxes of scrumptious FREE peaches and we (I) made LOADS of Peach-Raspberry jam, and then canned the rest. 

Yo, that's good stuff! 

Family Fun

In June, our long lost cousins (Joel's sister and her family) came all the way from Indiana for a visit.  It was SSSSOOOOO fun to see them again and let the kids play.  We miss you guys!!!

(p.s. the quality of this picture stinks - did anyone get a clearer picture that you want to send me?)

These guys are at the age where Bunny Ears is the funniest thing in the world.  

They were crackin me up!

Bustin' out the gun show! And more bunny ears.

How do you know if your toddler 
is ready to be potty trained?  
If your husband tells you that while you were away at Girls Camp he took said toddler to the public library and while he was perusing the DVDs he turns around to see her streaking down the isle completely naked and when he goes to catch her, he passes the bathroom where her clothes and diaper are laying on the floor next to a flushed toilet,         that might be a sign.

Summer with Shae

A bit of what Shae's been up to the last few weeks:

Shae keepin it real during Hailey's play practice. 

 Hailey landed the all-star roll of "Munchkin Citizen" in our 

community theater production of Wizard of Oz which opens at the end of June.  

Hailey's loved learning all the music and dance numbers and we've loved watching her.

We went to Peter Piper Pizza with some friends and had loads of fun!

Just swinging naked in the backyard with a slice of watermelon.

Soakin' up some sun with her long lost twin brother.

Joining forces with her cousin Tyler to make this guy the happiest Grandpa on earth.

It's tough being almost 2, but Shae is doing a good job of keeping us busy and on our toes 

from sun up to sun down!  So far it's been a fun summer!