Update.

JULY:

We spent a low-key lovely & cool fourth of July at home painting our master bathroom (ran out of paint and it's STILL not done, sigh) and then going over to swim/bbq with family. We didn't even watch fireworks, lame.

I came down with yet another sore throat, and then had a bad reaction to a facial that week as well, so spent several days uncomfortably sick ON TOP of burns and fever blisters all over my chin too... it was not awesome.

We spent the rest of the month running around between piano lessons and swim lessons and swim meets and synchronized swimming practices and qualifying meets and and..... man, I'm going to start ranking the end of swimming events in July right up there with the end of school events in May in terms of keeping us busy! Here's A in her synchro outfits & makeup... we had to "Knox" her hair into a bun for the performances, which entailed mixing that unflavored gelatin stuff you use to make jam out of into a SUPER thick gel and then painting it on her hair... once it dries it's completely stiff and won't come out in cold water... Crazy. A HATED it. Middle photo is her with her Duo partner Rebecca.

M tried out a little synchro workshop one Saturday and now has the bug... she may be doing a year-round thing with the Arizona Aqua Stars. Stay tuned to see if she stays interested and I can get it all worked out...

N and I were able to go see Singin' in the Rain (my favorite movie ever ever) in a theater... so totally amazing awesome. I was in a good mood for days afterward. Thanks to Grandma and Poppy who melted out at a swim meet in our place so we could go.

SIDENOTE: We bought these super fun deals called "pogo passes" and have been able to do a ton of stuff so far... I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT - CHECK IT OUT AT POGOPASS.COM. We took the kids to Big Surf and to a Rattlers game.

The game was too loud and too late for them so they didn't want to go again, but I can say that N and I are officially HOOKED on arena football games! We used our pogo passes and went the next two weeks! For free! SO MUCH FUN. Total opposite of a baseball game, lol. High energy, fast paced, high scoring, lots of gimmicks, super exciting. No one EVER leaves a game early because the whole thing can change in a second! It's awesome. The Rattlers ended up as National Champions, by the way... we got to see all three of their playoff games here in Phoenix. Call it white trash football if you will... but don't knock it til you try it!!! Also was fun because I got to hang out with the lovely Janna at the games too! Don't mind my hair... I'm growing it out and it always looks like death.

A whirlwind trip to California brought us to the end of July. We alternated two days at Disney and two days at Newport beach, (necessary to recover from Disney days). So much fun. We had a 2-bedroom suite at our resort and were able to spread out and enjoy the space.

D-land: Both the girls got chosen (thank goodness) to be Jedis in the Jedi training show
. Next time I'm hoping J will want to do it! My favorite quote from one of the Jedi cast members to M, as she's standing in front of Darth Vader, was "Keep smiling. He HATES THAT!" Super funny. By the way they've redone Star Tours and it's great! We utilized our fast passes well and did everything and went ALL day long, even stuck it out for the Fantasmic light show too. J was a little concerned in some of the rides, don't want to say "scared" but he held on to me tight during Pirates, the Haunted Mansion, and Space Mountain. His quote of the day was "I want to grow up first before I go on that ride again". Cutie. Love him.

California Adventure was great, except for the whole losing-A-for-30-minutes-thing. California Screamin' and Tower of Terror were once again hits! Our favorite ride on the trip was Radiator Springs Racers... the big new ride in Cars Land. So much fun, and worth all the hype, surprisingly. All three of the kiddos were into their lanyards and getting PINS. Sheesh. I think M could look at pins in pin shops all day long. Oh wait, she did. We also got J his first set of ears. I love that he chose to go with the classic blue. :) The girls and I hit the "Mad T" concert (crazy Disney-esque costumed music group doing covers of a bunch of pop songs... they were actually really good and the girls LOVED it. Here is J in his 3-D glasses for Star Tours, and his newly acquired ears and lanyard!

Newport: Man, how I love this beach, We don't even try to go any other beach because I know it would just be disappointing. The weather was a little cold for me to get in the water, but I totally prefer to lounge on the sand and sleep/read anyway. Kids had fun boogie boarding and digging for sand crabs. Nick was in charge of getting dinner one evening on the beach...and he came back with pizza and salad.... ummm, can you say NOT beach friendly, especially with the wind blowing? Kids liked it anyway.

August:

Home again, home again... I threw myself into a huge vinyl order once we got back in town, and cranked out nearly 75 signs for a school in Texas in less than a week. Shipped them out and was kicking myself that I hadn't charged a little more... and then I got a dreaded email from the principal saying that most of the signs had arrived damaged... seems that even though I thought I had them wrapped up and cushioned REALLY well, the screws on the back of each one scratched the vinyl on the next one. UGH. I re-did almost 50 signs and sent the last of them replacements a few days ago. I'm trying to repeat the phrase "learning experience" over and over and over again so I don't get sick about it again.

We used our Pogo passes once again and all went to Jump Street for an FHE a couple of weeks ago... TOTALLY AWESOME. I swear I want a membership there instead of at my gym, my abs got a WORKOUT that night! N and Dave Meadows played dodgeball with the kids for a good 45 minutes. He was as sweaty and gross as he is when playing basketball... I think we all had a great time.


Also before school started we traded up to this beauty. I was kind of sad to see my old piano go, I've had it my whole life! Lighting is bad because it's in front of the window, but you'll just have to trust me that it's super pretty!  Girls are getting better and better at the piano, and I love the richness of the sound of our new one.

SCHOOL STARTED! Yippee!!

This little guy has taken it all in stride, having to wear pants and real shoes everyday, sitting in a desk, taking his lunch... I love it. He hasn't complained once and seems to like it a lot. Even when the bus takes FOREVER to get home sometimes. No discipline issues I've heard of either... I'm not even sure if his teacher does the whole color-system thing anyway. She's just so "teachery" I can't stand it. It's awesome.

Speaking of music and new stuff, J started a "Let's Play Music" class a couple of weeks ago and is LOVING it.  We have a super cute teacher in my ward. "Miss Jenni" is amazing.

I am quite enjoying having some peace and quiet to myself. Doing lots of projects... vinyl orders, hosting bridal showers, reading books, going to lunch... lol. I am doing things like cleaning and laundry too, I promise. Planning on going to a D-backs game tomorrow night (again, thanks pogo pass!) and looking forward to ASU FOOTBALL STARTING NEXT WEEK! YESSSSS!!!! GO DEVILS!

California.

Swimming. Jacuzzi. Disneyland. Pirates of the Caribbean. Indiana Jones. Astroblasters. Space Mountain. $40 pizza. Jedi training. Star tours. Carousel. Finding Nemo Submarine. Monorail. Leaving the park for a break and our timeshare owner update. (thanks for the Disney Dollars folks!) Ihop for dinner. Mickey's Soundsational Parade. Splash Mountain. Haunted Mansion. Fantasmic. Pirates of the Carribean. Bed. Sleeping In. Swimming. Reading. Newport Beach. Reading. Boogie boarding. Playing in the sand. Sleeping. Fish tacos. Shopping for new shoes for Mommy and a self-charging Iphone case for Daddy. Bed. California Adventure. Cars Land. Luigi's Flying Tires. Mater's Junkyard Jamboree. Toy Story Midway Mania. Carousel. Silly Symphony Swings. Goofy's Sky School. Jumping Jellyfish. $45 mexican food lunch. Soarin Over California. Shopping and pon trading. Play Parade. Monster's Inc ride. Bug's Land rides with Josh. Losing Allison for 30 minutes. Grizzly River Run. Radiator Springs Racers. California Screaming. Tower of Terror. Mickey-shaped pretzels. Mad T concert. House of Cards Dance Party. World of Color Show. Shopping. Back to Disneyland. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Bed. Newport Beach. Napping. Reading. Smash Ball. Pizza. Swimming. TV marathon of Property Wars. Reading. Bed. Done.

Palm Springs

This last week the kids and I took a trip to Palm Springs with a couple of friends. (I know, I know, it's totally hot there too!)  The kids were all awesome the whole way to and from in the car. Couldn't ask for better. Spent time in the hotel pool, at Ruby's Diner (where they have the MOST AMAZING sweet potato fries I've ever had), and then spent all of Tuesday at Knott's Soak City water park. J was a little timid at first, but by the end of the day was fearless on all the huge water slides. His favorite thing was to lay in an inner tube going down the lazy river... he is his mother's child.  lol. He also loved the wave pool.  Of course I was in the water and wasn't going to carry my camera around all day, but here are some images I pulled from online: This was like an enormous climber/splash zone, with sprays and waterfalls raining down on you everywhere... J in the morning was terrified of the big bucket - - (see that on top?) dumping on him... It would slowly fill up and then dump HUGE amounts of water when it was full... however by the end of the day J was begging to go over there to the "dump fing". Fun.

This was our favorite slide of the day... but oh, what a HIKE! There were two- and four-person tubes (and since I was riding with the kiddos, guess who had to haul that thing up the million and two staircases? ME. It was crazy steep at the top and then you hit this funnel that sloshes you back and forth... so crazy, you feel like you're going to fall out every time!

And this, my friends, is the Tidal Wave Tower that I was too chicken to go on... A did it once, but I think it freaked her out a little... but M went down THREE times. Wow, it was scary just watching her. Seven stories high. Insane in the membrane.

I had major shin splints (?) the next day from all the climbing up hills/stairs! Quite the workout, actually. The next day we took a tram up the San Jacinto mountains and hiked around. This tram rose like 8500 feet and is apparently the second largest in the world... who knew? We took our lunch and hiked a couple of miles, let the kids climb on rocks and explore caves. So fun! Oh, and did I mention it was like 70 degrees up there? Bliss.

Summer.

We're already half done, woohoo! What we've done so far: Picked up Aunt Cheryl and crew from the airport and spent the weekend in Safford with them and this cutie, AKA my great nephew Trenton!

Got new pillow covers made for my couch (so cute! Love how they coordinate with my lamp AND my yellow chevron pillows too) (with zippers, thanks to Cheryl)

and a valance made for my kitchen window. LOVE how it turned out. Yes Deirdre, I know I still need to iron it.

Other home improvement projects that first week of summer break included getting 90% of my kitchen painted, (HOORAY!!! Thanks to Lisa for coming over in the middle of the night and picking up a roller!) And, my dutiful husband got our new outdoor fans installed on the patio in time for J's birthday party. They are lovely. And Hunter brand, thank you very much Nate.

Though you may not be able to tell much from this picture, what this is is a finished and painted cabinet in our downstairs bath, Hallelujah. I'll have to find the "before" pics and show you those, so you truly appreciate this:

We spent J's birthday entertaining all of his friends and my girlfriends with a roarin' good time of a dinosaur party. More details on that in a different post. We then started our 8-week marathon of swim lessons, synchronized swimming, and swim team. Here are M and J waiting for A's class to finish:

I have read countless books sitting out in the heat waiting for kiddos every morning, and several evenings baking at various pools during meets. J is a good sport too:

M has been doing very well, and J has already moved up two levels since starting.

We've also hit the library multiple times to check out countless books and movies, and attend all of their free events/shows.

Here's A helping out the magician with one of his tricks. Still can't figure out how he did that one. Or any of them, for that matter.

The kids have also gotten to hang out with their cousins a bit, both at the children's museum and Grandma's house and Bass Pro Shop, and swimming at our house, etc etc. We tie-dyed shirts with Robyn and crew. Here's A's creation (I call it her "Ironman" shirt)

Dinosaurs ROAR

J turned FIVE on June 1st and we celebrated by having a big dinosaur party! There was lots of swimming:

And a super fun relay game, complete with dino feet:

Plenty of Finny to have fun with:

A fun dinosaur fossil craft:

lots of balloons, and dinosaur decorations on the walls (okay I can't believe I didn't take pics of all of that! Oh well. We also did a "dinosaur excavation" where I froze mini dinos inside water-filled balloons, and then peeled off the balloons. Each kid got their own egg to smash and find the dino inside. And the pièce de résistance of the party was this awesome dinosaur cake that my friend Kathy Walser made. Turned out awesome!

Clutter be gone!

Recently I have been trying to get organized and learn how to live with less clutter. I'm not a hoarder, nor am I a slob, but there are lots of corners and counters and piles of clutter in my house (and garage!)  (and computer hard drive!)  that 1)I'm used to SEEING and therefore don't acknowledge it and 2)have lots of homeless items where I don't know where to put them away, therefore they are "out".  And of course 3)  unfinished projects in varying stages of completion/design.

Found this blog today and now I'm inspired again to try and get to a state where I can "be" organized instead of "get" organized.  http://declutteryourhomes.blogspot.com/  I've only skimmed a few posts but this one totally hit home for me. This is the main reason I have such a hard time giving gifts... (and receiving them!)  because I want so badly for gifts to be useful and simplifying, rather than clutter/something new to take care of, learn to use, find a place for, dust, etc.

Here's the post in its entirety - a must read!

Gift Giving Shouldn’t Add Clutter/Junk To Our Homes!

Do you buy a gift just for the sake of giving a gift, because it is expected (or you think it is expected)? Several years ago I quit buying gifts just because someone was having a birthday or because it was Mother’s Day or Father’s Day! Don’t get me wrong…I love buying gifts for people! BUT…I realized that so many gifts add to people’s clutter! We all have faced the dilemma “I don’t like this, but it was a gift so I have to keep it”. I don’t feel that way anymore. I have been in many homes that are so cluttered and it is all things given to them by loved ones! I had a woman tell me one day “I bought this item because I liked it. After that everyone thought I wanted to collect things like that so I am constantly being given gifts. I don’t even like it anymore but I don’t know what to do!” Another woman told me “I like recipe books and so every birthday or holiday, my family buys me more. I have so many and I can NEVER use all the books I have!” I didn’t count but I bet this woman had over 100 recipe books!

Not only are we adding to clutter in people’s homes, but we are wasting our money! Have you ever thought about that? Every time you give a gift that adds to junk/clutter in someone’s home or life, you have WASTED your money!

This holiday season make a commitment to NOT do that! Be wise with your spending/giving. Put thought into your gift. ONLY GIVE A GIFT IF IT IS WANTED OR NEEDED.

Now that brings up another problem…children always think they want this or that. Don’t add to the children’s clutter either. If they do want new toys, help them make room for the new ones by going through and donating or throwing away some of the old ones. One toy out for every new one that is in.

So what should you do with Birthday’s, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, etc? Take your loved one to lunch, spend some time together. That is always so much better than a gift. Does this make you feel guilty? I announced to my sisters and parents what I would be doing. There were no objections. For my children (they are all grown), I give them money so they can buy what they will love. For Christmas I still give gifts but I have them complete a questionnaire so I know the things that are important to them.

Has this been a hard change for me? Sometimes. There are times I am in a store and I throw something in the cart because so and so will like it. Usually, I come to my senses and put it back, realizing that once again, I am falling into the clutter trap. Am I glad I made these changes? YES! Holidays and birthdays are so much less stressful and I know the gifts I give are loved and meaningful.

So my challenge to you is…change your gift giving habits! Make every penny you spend count and don’t add to other’s clutter!

April showers bring May HEAT

Another month has flown by.

We started out April sleeping through general conference... really need to grab that Ensign that just came and spend some time with it.  Nonnie and Papa came up to spend the weekend with us, so we moved our big TV downstairs so we could all fit on the new couch and watch... well, the TV is still downstairs — which I kind of like, kind of don't — and now it makes me more than EVER want to get our built-ins done! Anybody have a referral of a great cabinet guy for me?  (As if I could afford that right now) 
Easter was relatively low-key. By the time we had our own FHE about Easter, and I had done an Easter thing/lesson with the activity day girls, and we had ANOTHER FHE Easter lesson/egg hunt with all the Carter family, and then a neighborhood brunch/egg hunt, there was no way that the Easter bunny was coming to visit our house and bring a lot more stuff. All he left was marbles for the kids, and everybody was happy.
The next week was DADDY'S BIRTHDAY, which was fun. Birthday dinner with the in-laws included the biggest slab of prime rib I've ever seen on Nick's plate, wow. We went to Rustler's Roost by South Mountain, which is super full of ambiance and has a spectacular view and a live band and a slide for the kids. It was a fun place to take the kids.  We got up the next morning and went out for breakfast, Daddy went to his first-ever Lowe's workshop, we hit the library for an event... then basically went home and collapsed for the rest of the day. It was cold and windy and rainy and so nice.  Daddy finally went and got himself an Iphone, too.
J and I went to a sample Let's Play Music class the next week... I am SO excited about this program and the teacher, I think it will be just right for J come August. I wish I would have done this with the girls, they might have a better sense of rhythm if I had!  Alas, it was never in the cards when we lived in SoPho.
J and I have been hitting the gym 3-4 times a week, he doesn't mind the kids' room and I don't mind even if he watches TV in there for an hour since we don't have cable at home. I'm addicted to several of the classes and am loving the sweating and sore muscles, even though I haven't noticed any difference yet after 6 weeks... maybe because I'm also addicted to things like Nutella and trail mix. Oh, and QT Coke Zeros.  Having the TV downstairs means I'm not running at all anymore on the treadmill, which also needs to change.
Thanks to a couple of culture passes we hit the science center. Forgot how much I liked that place. Kids had a blast. Pictures forthcoming. I'm going to attempt to print pictures I took on my phone... I swear, if they turn out good enough I might consider getting rid of my big camera, since I NEVER use it anymore.
A has graduated to level 3 in gymnastics, which means I have to start paying for another hour per week. Sheesh. She's doing very well and is so flexible it's amazing... Both my girls are close to splits again, but haven't gotten there yet.  This gym hardly ever works on splits like our old gym did... weird. ??  
We are all signed up for 8 weeks of swim lessons, swim team, and synchro for this summer. Ugh. Need to find some great books to read to kill two hours at the pool every day!  I was surprised M even wanted to do swim team again, because last year at Stapley was no fun, so I'm happy she's trying again. We're at a different pool this summer.  A wanted nothing to do with swim team, so she's going to do synchro, which I'm sure she'll be much better at this year because she's been in gymnastics.  J did gymnastics for a while, but I decided it was a little expensive for playtime.
Idol... oh, who cares anymore. It's no fun to have to try and watch it live, since we don't have a DVR and it's not on hulu, but I'm not terribly upset if/when I miss it. I swear I'm going to boycott it in years to come if they make yet ANOTHER country singer win. Skylar? Smurfette?  Gag me.
More finds on Craigs' List:  a hall tree/coat rack thing for the laundry room, a new kitchen table and chairs, and a swing set!  Now I have three things to repaint:  our old kitchen table, so I can sell it, the coat rack, and a nightstand for M's room that I bought a year and a half ago. Yep.  Refinishing furniture scares me though! Who wants to help me/come do it for me?
Home improvement projects this month have included staining the new swing set and getting the pool ready.  We desperately need to start our big remodel job, but have to figure out how to win the lottery first. to afford it.
The kids spend hours outside every day playing on our the swing set. Definitely a good buy!
Next on the to-do list is to get our stinkin' upstairs A/C fixed. Called the repair guy last week and he supposedly "fixed" it, by repairing a small freon leak, but it's already not working again and our lines outside are frozen. Grrr.... I've been waiting all day for them today and conveniently they're not answering their phone.  In the meantime, we're all sleeping downstairs!
Also on the subject on unbearable summer heat... we're finally getting our sunscreens installed next week - - - HOORAY! I'm sure this will make a huge difference in the temperature of our home, not to mention how it's just going to make it look "finished" - which I've been waiting for since we painted the exterior!
Time to call the A/C people again, and for lunch. Peace out.