Fourth of July in Payson

Believe it or not fireworks at the 4th of July in Mesa are pretty miserable. We have found if we go to Payson which is about an hour and a half that it makes for a much more pleasant experience. We had BJ's parents cabin in Pine, AZ for a while,m but since it was sold we don't have access to it. This year we took a little trip and stayed in a hotel to watch the fireworks in decent temperatures. Payson's firework display is at at local park with a lake it is very beautiful. We noticed this year that after it got dark there were bats flying over the water eating bugs. It was really cool.

I have found that no matter where I am I have 3 kids gravitate to me like magnets. So loved!

Sam giving the thumbs up that he is ready for the hike.

Brodi helping Hannah get a drink at a drinking fountain, cutest thing ever.

We hiked to Natural Bridges near Pine, AZ.

Brodi being Brodi.

Very warn out on the way home

Sam vs Vegetables

Sam does not like veggies. He has a 6th sense for knowing if there is a veggie in food. He detests green veggies the most. We have finally gotten him to eat the "leaves" off of broccoli. Silly boy.

The silliest silly face

These are the kids silliest face that they could make. Hannah couldn't sit still long enough for me to take a clear one.

My Vitamix

At the end of May I was at a conference on swallowing for work. We talked about blended formulas for kids with gtubes and how some high speed blender companies will donate a blender to families with special needs. I figured it never hurts to ask so I set an email to Vitamix to see if they would consider donating one to me because I work with families with special needs. A couple of days later I got a response that they would and a couple of weeks later I recieved this beauty in the mail. Horray for Vitamix!!

Really?

Hannah loves to play in the bathroom, or more accurately Hannah loves to get into trouble in the bathroom. She came out with blue paste plastered to her head. At first I thought toothpaste but no it was heavy-duty hair gel drying like a helmet. Oh  Holy Hannah.

Science Center

We bought a family membership tongue science center this year. The kids were a bit unsure about it I think. Sam was a little freaked out about the section about the body and Brodi was unsure of the bike that you can ride on a cable. They did all have a great time at the water exhibit.

The Mother God

Brodi came up with a very clever idea of how I could get more things done. She suggested that I take a pill that would make me grow more arms. I was looking for a picture that would illustrate this and came across this Hindu Goddess. She is rightly named the Mother God. Maybe Brodi is onto something. I sometimes do feel that it would take a goddess to accomplish everything I need to do.

Peach Picking with the girlies

The superising thing to me about living in the hot desert if Arizona is that we really can grow things here and it is a very agricultural place, but we just grow things at different times than otheer places. The girls and I went Agritopia Farms to pick peaches at their orchard. I think they were pretty impressed to see where peaches actually come from. When we git home I asked Hannah if she wanted some peach and she headed straight to the refridgerator to look for the canned peaches :) Since we were off to a farm I didn't reduce Hannah's hair.

Graduation Day

Today we had both Brodi graduate from preschool and Sam graduate from Kindergarten. Both of their programs were so cute. Sam got a good citizen award from his school because he did not have even  a warning from his teacher the entire year. He has come a long way with performing for programs. With his preschool programs with Ms. Janelle he would never even sing, now he is up there performing with all the kids.

Brodi's class this year in preschool has given Aunt Tiff a run for her money with behaviors and their personalities showed throughout the performance. It was rather cute because one of the little boys gave one of the girls a hug when she started crying because she froze during her line and things like that. Brodi had 2 of the little trouble makers sitting right next to her and kudos to her she sang every song so loud and realy tried to behave despite the caos going on next to her. We were really proud of both Sam and Brodi tonight.

Mother's day treasures

This is one of the first years that the kids were able to make mother's day cards and gifts. I will have to say that Brodi does get a failing grade on her accuracy of how well she knows me :) Feeling so loved :)

Changing

Hannah has followed Brodi's tendency to change multiple times a day, however she hasn't quite figured out how cloths work and will wear a shirt like pants. Whenever she does put on one of these fine outfits she will always remove her pull up as well. Brodi of course totally encourages this. The 2 of them have been playing really well lately. It is very fun to see but now I have double trouble as neither girl seems to have any inhabitants.

Free and easy is the way I go.

With turning 2, Hannah has decided that she is done riding in carts. She will flat out refuse and I will be darned if I can get her into the basket on the cart. Thus she is learning to walk with the cart. The down side of it is that she is not very good at staying with the cart as of yet. Most of the shopping is herding her around the store as her 2 year old curiosity feels the need to look at everything. Oh the joys of a 2 year old.

Protien Shakes

I recently went dairy and gluten free, since then I have been eating increasingly more healthy. I started a 21 day cleanse a week ago and have been drinking protein shakes for most of my breakfasts and dinners. This evening the kids begged me to make a smoothie for them. I told them about the berries, pineapple, and peaches, but neglected to tell them about the spinach, seaweed, and cucumber. The kids thanked me profusely as they devoured it. And now I have a new way to have the kids eat vegetables. I feel so devious.

Cute Hannah

Our Hannah is such a sweetheart she is always loving to give us hugs and kisses.

Butterfly Gardens

Yesterday we went Desert Botanical Gardens with some friends to celebrate National Gardens Day. Who knew there was even such a thing, but admittance was free so who are we to not celebrate it. After waiting in line for 30 minutes which I am very impressed the girls did we went to see the butterfly gardens. It was very fun seeing the girls watch all of the butterflies flitter around and drink nectar from flowers. Brodi was very sad that none of the butterflies landed on her. Apparently she wore the wrong color and butterflies don't like to land on black, which was the color of her shirt. We will know for next time.

Girls night out

While BJ and Sam went to Father's and sons, the girls and I went to a little carnival that BJ's dad invited us to. The big hit was the face painting. The girls sat in line for over an hour to get their painting. Brodi got a snake and Hannah got a butterfly. We also got to hang out with Ty anfand Tiff's girls.