My Pretty Pretty "Prince"

So time to catch up on a few things that are blog worthy...in my eyes anyway. Last Thursday night, Ben took Aubrie and Boston to baseball practice and Ethan was all upset because I told him he couldn't go. To make the whole situation seem more attractive I said, "Don't you want to stay home and have Mommy all to yourself? After I put Sophia to bed we can play puzzles and games and read books?" He took me up on that. As soon as I walked out of Sophia's room, he was in PJ's with his teeth brushed and had puzzles out on his table, in his room. We had a great time doing 4 puzzles, which he was really good at! It was fun watching his mind work! After the puzzles I told him to pick any game. Do you want to know what her picked??? Pretty Pretty Princess. Here is a picture for proof one day when he doesn't believe me. I thought it was funny how he clipped the earrings to the top of his earlobes! He was so excited to get each piece of jewelry, but for Ben's sanity and peace of mind, he kept saying, "I look like a King!" When he didn't get to take a piece he would make cute comments like, "I'm getting so frustrated here!" Does that sound like something I would say? After the game, he picked a story and I ready it to him twice and he went right off to sleep. He was so agreeable, obedient and sweet the whole night. I wondered if that was what it would be like to only have one child! I have to admit that I loved the one on one time and wish I had more of it! Friday was the last week of the kids camp that he loved so much. He was so excited for the last day. He got ready so fast that morning. My friend was doing the morning carpool for it, and when Ethan went missing this is where I found him....waiting in the front yard for her to come!

Here is one of Ethan's creations that he came up with later that day!! That boy blows me away with some of the things he comes up with. Supposedly this was some type of trap for the cat? How? I don't know...but he does!

Saturday was a long day for us! If your wondering why Boston and Aubrie look so haggard it's probably because they had to wake up at 6:15 AM to get to 7:00 baseball pictures! Ben was great enough to take them, but I still was up early because Sophia decided to wake up early, too! I met up with Ben and the kids for breakfast, after the game. Our plan was to all go to Ethan's game afterward. Half way through breakfast, Sophia's eye started looking goopy!! I instantly knew it was pink eye and headed back home with Aubrie and Boston and had to miss Ethan's game. I got some things done around the house and then Michelle texted me to see if I wanted to get a pedicure. I'm sure she saw how bad my toes looked and was hoping I would say yes! (j/k michelle). I jumped on that idea, and we took Aubrie and Maya along!

The girls had a great time getting their nails and toes done. They got little zebra designs! It was more than I was expecting to pay, but they had a great time, and so did we! My Mom showed up half way through and had to sit a few seats down from us. She was laughing it up with all the ladies and workers like they had known each other for years. That is one of the many great qualities about my Mom. She is so warm and friendly!

Later that evening, I joined Erin and some other YW leaders to go see one of our YW perform in her school play, "Up the Downstairs Case", (or is it down the up staircase?). We grabbed a little dinner before, at Paradise Bakery. It was a nice girl night out! I ate way too much though, and bought a brownie that I ate all by myself the next day!!! I have no self control!

Sunday I stayed home with Sophia the first two hours of church. I had so much fun playing with her. Another great moment for some one on one time! Ben and I switched for third hour so I could teach my lesson. It was on "The Word of God as a Standard". I thought that was so appropriate in light of the recent terrorist acts against the supporters of Prop 8! It was a good reminder that God never changes, only the philosophies of men, and how important it is, no matter what issue, to lean to the scriptures and prophets for direction and strength. The girls really got into it, too! I know they like the lesson when they have a lot to say!

The rest of Sunday was so enjoyable. After church, we all spent some time by the pool. Well, Sophia and I sat in the hot tub, while the kids dared each other to jump in the pool. The hot tub tired Sophia out! She took a 3 hour nap and may have gone longer if Ben hadn't woken her up! Ben let me nap, too, and he rested upstairs while the kids watched a movie. I made a nice dinner, with rolls (the kids favorite). While dinner was cooking, we played a game of kickball in the backyard. It felt great to have some fun quality time with the kids! Sometimes life comes at us so fast I don't feel like we have enough of that! Rushing from school, to activities, to games, etc....that stuff seems to get lost somehow! Thank Heaven's for Sundays!!!

Monday Ben and I saw the new Bond movie, after the kids went to bed! It wasn't as good as the last one, but Daniel Craig's eyes are so dreamy! I can say that because Ben agrees (not that they are dreamy...he says they are "cool"!) It's great to be in a relationship where we can openly comment on the attractiveness of others and agree...don't you think?!

Tuesday we took the kids to Red Robin for dinner and I had them sing Happy Birthday to Ben. He wasn't even expecting it, but is always a good sport for things like that. He was happy for the free ice cream! Ethan ate most of it! After Red Robin, we stopped by Cold Stone so Boston could use his coupon he got from his primary teacher. He could have gotten anything he wanted but he chose a single scoop of Cotton Candy ice cream. He gets that flavor EVERYWHERE we go! I can't stand it! Guess that's one thing where we differ! Aubrie got a scoop of pumpkin...I came out with the same thing as always....Mint MINT Chocolate Chocolate chip!!! YUMMMMM!!

Today we ran, again. I went further than last time, before walking, but I'm still so out of shape. I'm holding back the other's for sure. I'm glad they are being patient with me. After my run, I got a bad headache and it never went away. I had a lot to do, so I had to deal with it and move on. Tonight Ben and Marco went out of town, so Michelle came over with the kids and we ordered pizza. They had fun as always. After they went home and I put the boys to bed, Aubrie and I talked for over an hour. It was a good girl talk about her friends and her problems. I like when she opens up. She usually is an open book, but we get the best talking done when Ben is out of town and she sleeps in my room for the night! It's great mother/daughter late night talk! I hope she never grows out of that!

Here is one reason I love Arizona! This picture was taken from our backyard!

7!

Look who's SEVEN!!!! I can hardly believe it. When we moved to Arizona Boston was only 18 months old. He wasn't even talking yet! I remember taking him to Disneyland and trying to wrestle him while we waited in line. Now he is riding the big roller coaster, reading like crazy and likes Pokemon and Indiana Jones. I feel so blessed to have such an amazing boy. He is very focused and loves doing what's right (most of the time:). The first time they put Boston in my arms I had a feeling that he was going to be a special boy and so far has lived up to that. It's been an amazing 7 years.

His birthday was this Thursday. Wednesday, when he came home from school, he said, "Mom do you want me to help decorate this place?" I asked him for what, and he said, "For when I wake up tomorrow, you know it's my birthday!" So Wednesday, after mutual, I ran to Party City to get some decor to surprise him the next morning. I put up streamers, balloons and hung pirate decor on the kitchen light! Before he went to school, my Mom gave him a card with a 20 dollar bill in it. When he opened it he said, "TWENTY DOLLARS!" and pretended to faint on the floor. After his lunch period, Ben and I showed up to his class with cupcakes and we joined his class in singing "Happy Birthday". He was hamming it up big time! Big surprise (not)!
His "Birthday Dance"!

For his birthday dinner, we made is 3rd favorite dinner, pancake and eggs!( He was having pizza for his party and he had Mac and Cheese the night before) He reminded me of the "special plate", since I always forget about that thing. That night, after baseball practice, we gave him his gift. We'll we didn't give it to him. We hid it and played hot and cold. He liked that. His gift was the Batman Legos video game. Ethan was excited for that present, too! Boston and Ethan woke up EARLY the next morning, dressed and beds made, so they could play it! Friday afternoon was his party. It was his 3rd Pirate Party in a row. It's a lot of fun to use that theme because we can do a pretty cool treasure hunt in our yard. I make several maps (this time 10) and they follow one to the next until it leads them to the treasure! This time I took a cardboard box and spray painted it gold, to make it look like a treasure chest. The boys thought that was cool. I also had a bean bag toss, which was a hit, and a pirate version of pin the tail on the donkey. The boys also enjoyed playing tether ball and kickball in the yard. Boston got a lot of great gifts, and had a GREAT time! Boston said, when it was all over, "That was an awesome party, THANKS MOM!" That was one reasons why I was so willing to quickly throw him one. He is always so appreciative. I'm glad that I ended up giving him a party that he deserves. I can't believe that next year he will be 8! That means I will have two kids, "under the water"! (baptized for those who aren't getting it) That is almost unreal! I keep asking my kids to stop growing and they just won't listen to me!! UGH!

Disney Vacation in Reverse

So I just downloaded all the pictures and realized I don't feel like putting them in chronological order, therefore you are going to get our vacation details end to beginning.
Day 5 was just driving home. Very peaceful I must say. No worrying about crying babies. I actually got to put my seat back and take a little nap! AHHH!!!)
Day 4 Here are the kids on the last night of our vacation, which included a day at the beach and a late evening with our friends kids. We were on our way to a nice hotel close by (thanks Trimbles for giving us your extra days at the resort) and Aubrie is the only one who could stay awake (barely) to watch the movie. Guess that's what 4 fun filled days will do to you!

Here is Aubrie struggling to stay awake. Notice her new cute hat (it says "Fabulous") she got at the newly discovered store, Libby Lu! She never was interested in hats, until this one. When I saw it on the shelf, it had her name all over it! Ethan down for the count. He was asleep before we loaded in the car!

Boston was in and out! He is actually asleep in this picture....Yes, he can sleep with his eyes like this....freaky!!!

The Great View from the Hendrickson's new house by the beach!!! The Hendrickson's are great friends from College! It's always great to get together. We all went to the beach together, and then met up with the Hellewell's and Greg Rossiter (more college friends) for dinner. Good times!

Day 3

Here are some pictures from the rides!!! I love getting off the rides and seeing what everyone looks like. Here is how the seating arrangement's usually worked for us. Maya and Aubrie, Boston and Alex, Michelle and Marco, Ben and EThan, and then me! Sometimes I got to ride with Ben and Ethan. Some rides, like Splash Mountain, got tricky with 9 people and we didn't think about it until we got to the front and we were holding up the line as we were trying to figure it all out. (long enough sentence?) I'm sure their used to big, indecisive groups.....right?

Tower of Terror (my personal favorite!)

Ben was pulling a "Boston in this picture. In most of the pictures Boston had the most serious face imaginable. I was very proud of Boston. Before our trip, he was panicked to go on Space Mountain and told us that he would NOT be going on the Tower of Terror. By the end our trip those were his favorite rides, along with California Sceamin and Indiana Jones (of course!)

More Splash Mountain!!

Friday Night, after our nap, we headed over to Disneyland early to ride the Fantasyland rides, and the Nemo ride. The concept of Nemo was cool, but as my kids put it, "That ride was boring!" Glad I did it though. I think Sophia might have liked it. Here are some pictures in the Mr. Toads Wild Ride line. (one of Ben's all time favorites)
The girls (minus Sophia)

Our biggest picture taking challenge....getting Ethan to make a straight face!

The boys!

Friday we all went up to Venice Beach after breakfast at IHOP. It was so warm. I told Michelle that I wouldn't be putting the kids in bathing suits because it would be too cold. I had them in jeans and even brought jackets. The jackets were off before we got out of the car, and the kids had fun in the water. So much so, Ben had to buy Ethan a "miniature" muscle outfit (it was 2 sizes to small) because he was freaking out with his wet jeans. Of course, I warned the kids not to get too wet because wet jeans would hurt their skin. Who listened??....just Boston. They did have a fun time in the water (it was nice). The boys also played a little football on the sand. I totally blew it with the "no bathing suit" thing. Sorry Michelle! What kind of California girl am I anyway? After the beach, we walked the Venice Boardwalk for only a short while, realizing that was not place for our children, or us for that matter. I kind of got that feeling as we passed someone offering prescriptions for Marijuana! We headed back to the hotel and took a nap while the kids did homework!

The girls and their new sunglasses. They found theirs when I had to get a new pair (therefore my dorky sunglasses). I left mine on California Screamin and when I went right back, they were already gone!!! I thought I lost the new pair later that day. Ben was not happy. Luckily I ended up finding them in the bag, where I swore I had left them. Still wish someone wouldn't have stolen my favorite 10 dollar Nordstrom glasses. Hope they feel guilty every time they wear them!!!

Aubrie...looking so old to me here!

Ben.....having a boyish quality here! I LOVE this picture of him!

Day 2 The second half of day two, we headed over to Disneyland. They have this new "Jedi Training" where they used to have the Buzz Lightyear show. They pick about 30 boys and dressed them up in these brown robes and "trained" them with the light saber. All the boys (Boston, Ethan and Alex) were chosen. Boston was very serious the whole time, of course. Ethan really got into it. Boston fought Darth Mal and Ethan fought Darth Vader. The instructor asked Ethan to use the force on the Storm Troopers and he new exactly what to do. The instructor said something like, "where did you learn how to do that, on the streets?" The Jedi training was definitely the highlight of Ethan's evening. He was jumping around the park with his little rolled up certificate, like it was a light saber, going through the motions they taught him! I'm so glad he got picked!

We started our day at California Adventure. We walked on all the rides and rode all the good ones twice. Boston got on to Screamin Califonia by a hair, literally! Luckily we were all able to go on the Tower of Terror! We also did the Roaring Rapids and Michelle got soaked. That's what happens when you sit by the door! As we were winding down at California Adventure, we ended with the High School Musical Performance. They chose Boston (me pointing to him of course) to come up and be a part of the show. They introduced him as Austin from Arizona , because who would ever think he was saying "Boston"?! They dressed him, and the other kids they chose, in top hats and gave them a cane and then danced around them. Boston couldn't fight the music and started jigging a little. The other "volunteers" just stood there. When they were done they gave them these pins. Boston comes running back saying, "Look! I got a trophy! Now I have two trophies!" I didn't have the heart to tell him it wasn't a trophy, so I just went with it and now it sits next to his baseball trophy!!

Parade time!

Aubrie and Maya, in the front seats of California Screaming, about to take off!

Day 1

We got to the park around 3:30. By the time we got our passes, we were in by 4:00. While we were in line, we saw the Lorenzana's leaving. The kids ran and greeted them and then we parted for a few hours, while they tried to go to the beach. The park was empty and we were able to walk on the rides. Our first ride was Space Mountain. That is my favorite ride at Disneyland (and Thunder Mountain). After a few hours in the park, we met up with the Trimbles and Lorenzana's for dinner. EThan had a melt down and then Aubrie spilt her drink and had a melt down of her own. Dinner was such a circus show and I wanted to cry because we hadn't even been at Disneyland for more than a few hours and I was having to deal with that. I just wanted to enjoy the only time I had with Erin before they went home and instead I

was dealing with drama and ruining everyone's dinner! Luckily the rest of the trip was great! Look how happy and loving they are!

California Adventure all decorated for the Holiday's. Just the day before they looked like Candy Corn! Where do they keep all that stuff???

The walk to the ticket office! Such anticipation. I was so excited!

We headed out early Wednesday morning. We left at 8:00 and Sophia hadn't woken up yet, which was a blessing. She didn't have to go through the whole separation thing and my Mom said she never cried the whole time we were gone. It was hard to leave her without giving her a squeeze, but it was for the best. After being on the rode for about 30 minutes we stopped at Cracker Barrel for breakfast. It was so weird to be able to just relax and not have to deal with the baby. After a nice breakfast, we got back on the rode and made one more stop at the outlets before we got to Disneyland. Ben bought himself his birthday present, and I didn't buy myself ANYTHING!!! I wasn't feeling well and just wanted to get back to the car! Also, after Ethan ran into the parking lot and almost got hit, I was done with the outlets. That kid can be so spacey sometimes. He is in his own little world and means no harm, but it drives me crazy sometimes!

WEll there it is, end to beginning! What a great time! Ben is ready to go again. I keep reminding him that it won't be as laid back when we take Sophia. I did miss her, though, and we were all anxious to see her as we were getting close to home!

Only in Arizona

Where else, in the US, can you do this in November.....COMFORTABLY???? One reason we stay here (besides the fact we couldn't sell our house if we wanted to!) Ethan in the middle of a game of tag!

Ben coming out of a flip!

Aubrie's sweet dive!
Sophia floating and blowing bubbles!
To make you non-Phoenicians feel better, check out our temps in August!

Finally....Orgnanized!!

So those of you who know me well, know that I LOVE organization. Not to say that I am always organized, but I love the feeling of getting there! Ben said we should buy stock in the Sterlite company. (The ones who make all those plastic storage container's). Anywho...I have been waiting anxiously to transform this mudroom into a great organized "haven", where my kids stuff can all have a place, and where I can orderly store our food storage.

My favorite part....the drawers under the "lockers" hold the kids shoes and socks...no more scattered shoes everywhere, or running upstairs for socks!! (Ok before I used baskets, but just not as orderly)

Ben's Uncle has a business up in Prescott, and he just came down and installed these on Friday. They are beautiful. He literally spent all day putting them in, leaving just as we were getting back from Trunk or Treat! I was in seventh Heaven putting everything in the them on Saturday. I know...it's a sickness. Either I will ruin my children to the point where they will hate organization, or to the point where they have to be organize, too! Ben is just happy that I'm more relaxed!;)

On a similar note....Ben finally put this on Craigs list! Can't wait to get the garage organized once this is gone;)