Let's Learn to Swim!

Makena has been learning to swim this summer. A friend of mine from Gymnastics offered to teach Makena and her daughter, Kaitlyn. It has been fun! M has learned to swim a little!!!

Gymnastics Show in the Backyard

M wanted to put on a gymnastics show last night! She takes gymnastics once a week and really loves it. Enjoy!

CHECK THIS OUT!!!!!!!!

http://lets-explore.typepad.com/weblog/

This lady has done some wonderful activities with her children. I have browsed this site and it has really given me some great ideas or reminded me of some. You have to check this out!

Frozen Tempra Painting

Today we painted with frozen tempra paint. Pour a little paint into ice cube trays and freeze part way. Then insert popsicle sticks into them and continue to freeze. (I used the bendable trays.) Once they are frozen, pop them out and start painting. It takes just a few minutes for the paint to defrost enough to paint so don't wait too long before you get started! Enjoy!

Shaving Cream Letters

We played in the shaving cream outside tonight! Makena had fun making letters in the shaving cream. We are working on the letter K. That is the one she doesn't quite get when writing her name. Enjoy the video!!

Video fun!

I am trying to add a video clip so you can see the kids in action. I had a better one but Makena's dress got wet and she runs across the screen showing her undies...not too cool for the internet! Yesterday we played in the water table for a long time. They had a blast!

Update

Well, I talked to my friend Mina tonight and she was mentioning that Hand,Foot, and Mouth disease is apparently all over the place currently! Yes, it is not just our household or my dear friend Katherine, who is soooo sick right now..., it is all over the place. So watch out!
M is much better and B is cutting three teeth and so adorable! R is feeling better and is headed to the US Open! Yea for him! He is so excited to go!
We found a new babysitter who is GREAT! I called her today to ask if she could watch the kids tomorrow for about three hours while I go to a retirement party. She called me back two hours later, apologizing b/c she can't since it is her mom's b-day and then said twice that she really wants to watch the kids again. I am impressed that she called back! Plus, when she watched them last week, my house was picked up, the kids had fun, B did not cry, and she is a Christian. A good sitter is HARD to find. As you all know, our first sitter moved away years ago and she is what we measure all sitters by. (Yea for Sarah!)
Ok, so here is the best news of all...I am going to the spa on Saturday for my friend's b-day! A big thank you to Ang, Kevin, Lori, Tim, N and S for the b-day present so I can go and enjoy the day! Ahhh...think of me relaxing with friends! WOOO-HOOOO!

Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease

That "disease" is currently running its course at my house. Dubs could barely eat a few ice chips yesterday and has been on a strict course of pain meds these past two days. Her mouth has lots of white blisters and we feel so bad for her. Brody is getting another tooth! :) Ryan came home from work at 2 p.m. and has a fever. UGH! I am drinking OJ b/c I am NOT about to get sick. :) Oh, and my good friend's daughter has h,f,m too! Attention all parents, get the hand sanitizer out and Clorox. It's time to kill the germs!

Brody's First Haircut

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Our little boy had his first haircut on June 3rd. He looks so cute!

For the English Girls

Hi H and L! I gave Makena my old Gerber baby. Remember those dolls? She loves playing with Gerber baby. I fondly remember playing with GB and you two as kids! How fun! Do you still have a Gerber Baby?

A Pirate and A Princess

Makena and Brody went to a party today where the children dressed up as pirates, mermaids, or princesses. It was so cute! They both had a great time! Last night, we put together her outfit and she was so excited to wear it. At 5:30 this morning she came into our room asking for her dress so she could put it on; I sent her back to bed. When she finally woke up, she called out, "Mom, where's my dress?" She was so eager to put it on! Brody borrowed some pirate gear from my friend Katherine. They both looked simply adorable!!

Thanks Aunt Jill

My Aunt Jill is awesome about sending birthday cards. Each year she sends one to me and includes a special little card with a saying and bible verse. This is the one she sent me this year:
You can TRUST GOD
Blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like tress planted along a riverbank, with root that reach deep into the water. Jeremiah 17:7-8

Thanks Aunt Jill!

Mother's Day 2008

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

I had a great Mother's day this year! In the morning, Ryan went a purchased yummy bagels and cream cheese from a restaurant I love. Then we went to church, where I did not get paged to go get Brody. After church we headed to Daphne's Greek Grill which is another favorite restaurant of mine. Then we headed home where I got to do whatever I wanted while Brody napped and Makena played. (Don't laugh but I touched up the cabinets with paint! I had been wanting to do that and w/o kids around, it was a breeze.) When Brody woke up, we took some riding toys and headed to the park for a couple of hours. My day ended with a picnic in our backyard. It was perfect!

Ocean Motion

We speent Thursday doing some fun ocean things with Makena's friend Connor. I have found that in planning this time, it makes me busier and more purposeful about spending time alone with Makena. However, it also made me realize that Brody is not getting the same one on one attention. Hmmmm... gotta fix that one!
So, guess what? I haven't really been into cleaning this week. Yes, I have done it but not to my normal standards. I think the culprit is that I usually clean during the morning nap of Brody which is when I am spending all of the time with Makena. By the time the last nap comes, I don't want to clean b/c I have other things to do and after the kids are in bed??? Forget it! That is my time or our time. Ryan is so awesome; he says that the house is clean. :) I am lucky!

Ummm we have a problem

Note to self: when going to swim lessons, wear contacts so you can actually see your daughter who is 15 feet away. :) Brody SCREAMED the whole time, which I expected and Makena had a blast. She told me this as I could only smile and wave at what I thought was her smiling. Hee hee I liked that place but we will be using the lessons at my community pool again this year. I will do the other place in the fall. Brody will not have lessons for a while as I think he just needs to get used to splashing in the water. My letter is finished and will be dropped off after gymnastics. I am relieved to have it finished! Day 2 of Ocean went well: read a book on sea stars and one on the sea shore. Cut out sea stars, painted them with glue and shook sand on them. I cut out "coral" from blue paper; she put glue and blue glitter on it. We had fun! Tomorrow: sea jellies!!!

All about the Ocean

Makena is off from preschool this week so I thought we would spend time learning about ocean life here at home. (Her preschool does not study themes which is one reason she is not attending there in the fall.) This morning we talked all about what she already knows about the ocean, read two books about the ocean and fish, learned a fishy song, and painted two fish with tempra paint and glitter. It was so fun! Later we headed to the library to get some fish books. (It's a good thing that I have a lot already b/c they were lacking in that area.) I am quite excited to teach her more about the different animals and do fun art projects! I like having a focus! My goal is to also show her a different letter each day and practice but guess what? It didn't happen today! :) I think I am going to choose a different theme every week or two to read about and do art projects. We'll see if that happens!
UPDATE ON THE GARAGE:
It is FINISHED!!!!! Ryan worked very hard on building these awesome cabinets from scratch and our garage in now a "basement". I have set up some toys, easel, and a small table and chairs with a plastic table cloth under it for art projects. That is where we had our fun this morning! Yea! I will post a picture for you Lori as soon as I take one. :)
RANDOM INFO:
Brody woke up at 5:30 Monday morning and we didn't get him. He cried and finally fell back asleep until 7 a.m. Yea! Then this morning he slept until 6:45 a.m. and woke up happy. Yea! I got up and had 10 minutes to myself before M got up at 6:30. It was so great!
We are going to a trial swim lesson for the kids this afternoon. It is really for Makena as I won't actually put Brody in it after this lesson.
I am going to write my resignation letter today and drop it off tomorrow. WHOA! Yes, this is it. It has come down to wire and I will be offically parting ways with my district. I called HR today and found out how to do it offically. They were so nice and friendly. (There is this new lady who took over and handles most of things I have had to deal with and she is WAY nicer than the former one.)
We have planned our big trip to see our families this summer and are looking forward to it! We love going back in the heat of the summer. It allows us to have green all around us, instead of brown. (I am talking about the grass, plants, hillsides, etc...) Well, that is all. I am going to get a chair and write my letter of resignation! :)

Morning Person

Brodes is a morning person. This is fine for me, as I too am a morning person. However, he wakes up at 5:45 a.m. almost daily; when he does sleep it is only until 6:07 a.m. I've chatted with some friends and researched on how to solve this early morning rising and basically came up with two things: earlier bedtime and let him cry. Ok, so the bedtime thing, I can handle but if I let him cry for a long time, he'll wake up Makenabee and neither one goes back to sleep. So ideally I'd like him to sleep until 6:30 and Makena to sleep until 7:00. I want to wake up at 6 am and have 30 minutes to my self. Any hints????

Presenting MakenaBee's Glasses

After many years and three visit, Makena was diagnoised with eye turns in both eyes. Her eyes turn when looking close and far away so she has bi-focials like her mommy. :) We searched and searched and had them order frames to try out until we found the perfect ones! They are princess and have sparkle dust in the stems! What a beautiful little girl!

Splash Time!

The past few days have been in the upper 90's-100's! WHEW! It's is an oven and when it is an oven guess what creature slithers out from its hiding place? Rattlesnakes. UGH! They have been spotted all around our community (subdivision) and even across the street from our house at my neighbors. I now have to check the backyard everytime the kids go outside and be careful when we take the trash out or turn on the sprinklers at night. Yuck! On a better note, Auntie Lori, Uncle Tim, and the kids got Brody this cool splash pool for his first b-day. M and B had a blast playing in it the other day!

Sunscreen Baby

Ok, this happened when we were getting ready to play in the splash pool! I am "wrestling" with Brodes to get his suit on and Makena leaves the room to go play. Brody is cracking me up and I call out to Dubbies, "M, where are you?" She answers in her sweet voice, "I'm putting on sunscreen." I said, "Ok!" Then in she walks looking like Santa! I said, "Don't move! I have to take a picture!!" She is so funny!