Curly Hair for the Girls

Awhile back my friend Amy put curlers in her daughter Taylor's hair. I thought it was the cutest thing. I was wanting to do that for my girls but never got around to buying the curlers and was nervous if they would sleep in them. During our trip to Southern California I found some spongy rollers and bought them for the girls. Aly was really happy to wear them. KK wanted some in just because Aly was doing it. KK didn't end up keeping them in though. Here are some pictures of the girls with the rollers in their hair and then after we took the rollers out!

Aly proudly wore her curlers. They were a nice soft spongy material with folding ties.

Here is my attempt to do KK's fine hair. I knew she would probably take them out anyway, which she did within fifteen minutes!

Doesn't she look beautiful? I love the curls. Maybe she will let me do it for school pictures. The only bummer was even with gel and hair spray it didn't last long...maybe I need some super hold hair spray next time!

Berry Picking with friends

On Wednesday we went berry picking with our friends Nick, Travis, and Jaedon. It was a bit hot and unfortunately there weren't many ripe berries? So, we decided to go to pizza instead! The kids had a great time and spent way too many quarters on the silly games and such at the pizza store. Oh well, it gave us adults some time for a little bit of conversation!

Here are Aly and Nick at berry picking. See how few of berries we got?

Here they are at the pizza place having fun in a little helicopter!

My girls love dalmatians

In case you didn't know my girls are totally in love with dalmatians. Specifically the 101 Dalmatians from Disney. They loved them so much they wanted costumes which they say they will wear for Halloween. Let's hope so. I found some on ebay so here is a picture of the girls wearing them:

Taco Stew

O.k., I know, my pictures aren't great. This probably doesn't even look appetizing but let me assure you, it is! Not only does it taste great but it is super easy to make! I make mine in a stew version because hubby is not so fond of soup. If you end up wanting it soupy, just double the chicken broth and taco seasoning.

3 chicken breast diced up
1 15 oz can of corn
1 can of black beans
1 15 oz can petite cut diced tomatoes with jalapenos
2 14 oz cans of chicken broth
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese--you may wish to add more
2 tbsp taco season--you may wish to add more to make it more spicy

Directions:
cut up 3 large chicken breasts and put in the crock pot. Add the 2 cans of chicken broth. Set crock pot timer on the lowest setting for about two hours. Add the corn, black beans, tomatoes, and taco seasoning. Let simmer on low for another hour or two. Add the shredded cheese, let melt and serve. Some people like to add sour cream.
1 4oz can diced green chilis

Aly finds a salamander

The same day we saw the cicada hatching Aly caught a baby salamander. She was so excited and the good news is she has learned to be very respectful over nature. She shared it and looked at it for a few minutes and let it go by the pond.

We have been finding so much wild life this year. It has been so much fun for all of us. We have seen guarder snakes, alligator lizards, toads, frogs, tadpoles, cicadas, salamanders, and many small bugs.

I think the pond hubby put in has really brought the wildlife around. I am really excited about it and feel like such a little girl again exploring the wildlife of my backyard.

Watching a Cicada Emerge

A few weekends ago I was able to see one of the most amazing things I have seen in my life. I got to witness a cicada emerge from its shell. I have never witnessed this before and am sure it was one of those rare things anyone ever witnesses. After all they spend most of their life underground. I think this particular species actually spends between 13-15 years underground beofre emerging as an adult. It was so cool to witness. The whole family got to watch it happen. Hubby discovered it on a flower stem and cut the stem and moved it to a bug box. We took some pictures but only a few turned out.

I provided some information on the link above. If you want additional information click here.

KK's Favorite Things

KK's answers to the questions:


Favorite color: green and red
Favorite number: 1
Favorite toy: pongo the dalmatian
Favorite thing to do: play dalmatians
Favorite thing at school: playing with rainy day toys
Best friend: Jordan
Favorite thing to play: dalmatians
Favorite thing to wear: dalmatian shirt
Favorite thing to draw: dalmatians
Favorite thing on the computer: disney playhouse
Favorite food: chicken
Favorite drink: chocolatea milk
Favorite place to go: Disneyland
Favorite movie: Magic Schoolbus
Favorite thing to play with friends: dalmatians
Favorite character in a movie: Ralphie from the Magic Schoolbus
Favorite place to go on vacation: Disneyland
Favorite thing to collect: rocks
Favorite art project: dalmatians
Favorite thing to do on a rainy day: play dalmatians
Favorite song: Pongo song
Favorite animal: dalmatians
Favorite amphibian: frog
Favorite thing underwater: dolphins
Favorite thing to do with Daddy: play dalmatians
Favorite thing to do with mommy: play dalmatians
Favorite thing to do with sister: play dalmatians
Favorite outfit: dalmatian dress
Favorite shoes: she wants to buy dalmatian shoes
Favorite stuffed animal: Pongo the dalmatian
Favorite place to play: at the park
Favorite dessert: icecream
Favorite TV show: Martha Speaks
Favorite book: Arthur's Underpants

Favorite Things

Last year I interviewed the girls about their favorite things so I thought it would be fun to see how they changed! Here is this year's favorite things from Aly:

Favorite color: green
Favorite number: 6
Favorite toy: stuffed animal dalmatian
Favorite thing to do: go berry picking
Favorite thing at school: race track running feet program
Best friend: Baily and Maya
Favorite thing to play: dalmatians
Favorite thing to wear: her dalmatian shirt
Favorite thing to draw: dalmatians
Favorite thing on the computer: playhouse disney
Favorite food: macaroni and cheese
Favorite drink: orange juice
Favorite place to go: to the mall
Favorite movie: 102 Dalmatians
Favorite thing to play with friends: 102 Dalmatians
Favorite character in a movie: Perdita
Favorite place to go on vacation: Disneyland
Favorite thing to collect: rocks
Favorite art project: making dalmatians out of clay
Favorite thing to do on a rainy day: play dalmatians
Favorite song: Abc's
Favorite animal: dalmatians
Favorite amphibian: frog
Favorite thing underwater: dolphin
Favorite thing to do with Daddy: play crabby
Favorite thing to do with mommy: do the dishes
Favorite thing to do with sister: play dalmatians
Favorite outfit: dalmatian dress
Favorite shoes: mickey crocks
Favorite stuffed animal: perdita dalmatian stuffed animal
Favorite place to play: at the park
Favorite dessert: icecream
Favorite TV show: Arthur
Favorite book: Dalmatians

So Proud of my nephew and brother

Around 5th grade many boys start to loose interest in school. This happened to my brother and I have personally watched it happen to many students. Unfortunately this happened to my nephew Sage this past year. He became completely disinterested in school, stopped doing classwork and homework, and his grades slipped to failing. My brother having gone through this first hand was going to do everything in his power to make sure his own son didn't do the same thing.

Sage began lying about his homeowork and assignments saying they were completed. My brother set up a system with the teacher to track his assignments and what needed to get done. Sage still tried to get out of it and lie. So do you know what my brother did? I think it was brilliant! He challanged Sage to beat his grades. You see my brother Tim is in medical training school. He has been doing well maintaining around a 3.8 grade point average. So he challenged his son to beat his grades. He also told his son he would pay him $10 for each A he earned.

Guess what? It totally worked! Sage got 5 A's and an A-! I am so proud of him. He also beat my brother on his report card. I am so proud of both of them. Good parenting Tim, way to go! Great job Sage on all of your hard work!

Aly does the monkey bars

For you video lovers out there I took video of Aly doing the monkey bars.

More Birthday Videos

Just in case you want to see more birthday videos I thought I would post a few more! This was their birthday presents from us that were the same present for both girls.

In this video the girls are opening up their dalmatian sleeping bags.

In this video they are both opening up their dalmatian blankets!

Celebrating KK's birthday

This year we celebrated KK's birthday and let her have her own special day. In the past we used to just do their birthdays together. For her birthday breakfast she chose chocolate chip muffins.

In the first picture the girls are celebrating wearing birthday hats. The second picture is KK enjoying her chocolate chip muffin.

KK helped to make sugar cookie cupcakes with vanilla frosting and m&m's. She loved making these cupcakes for her friends.

The first picture is big sis enjoying a cupcake. The second picture is KK's new friend Anna and her Daddy enjoying a cupcake.

These are KK's friends Landon and Baily.

For lunch KK chose pizza and for dinner, she chose McDonald's. She chose the McDonald's with the playcenter. She had a great time with her sister. We decided to walk over to Baskin Robin's for an icecream cake!

In the first video KK is opening her present from Mommy and Daddy.

KK really enjoyed her birthday and you could tell it really made her feel special.

Grandpa may you rest in peace

Last week my Grandfather passed away and joined my Aunt and Father in heavan. He had a long, happy life. He missed my father these past four years so I am sure he is happy to be reunited with him again. I went through some old photos with my Grandfather. It really made me realize he was always there for me in all of my important life events!



These first three photos are from my wedding. Do you know what was amazing? He stood up for me at my wedding and talked about the joy he felt being my grandfather and watching me grow up. It made me feel so loved. I will always treasure that memory.






These two photos are from my college graduation and celebrating one of my birthdays. My grandfather was a quiet man but you always knew he loved you and cared about you. I will miss him greatly but feel peace knowing he is with my father and they are looking over me day after day.

Aly experiments with taste

A while back Aly wanted to try and drink lemon juice. She loved sucking lemons and we would tease her and tell her to, "Go suck a lemon!" So here is a video of Aly trying some lemon juice.

The Girls' Birthday Party

Oh my goodness! Talk about crazy! I can't think of any other way to describe the events leading up to the girls' birthday party this year! The previous two years we had done their party at the local swimming pool. This year we wanted to try a backyard birthday party. Hubby worked hard getting the play set ready in time. Everything seemed to be working out just right, that is until the week before the party. We started having strange weather. This past week was cold in the 60's and we even had rain!

In a panic on Thursday I checked the weather report. The weather said Friday would rain and Saturday there would be rain all night and day. It was also supposed to be a mere 61 degrees outside. This would not work for a backyard birthday party. The way my house is laid out we really couldn't fit all of those people inside either. So in a panic I called the local gymnastics studio to find out if by chance they had an opening for a birthday party on Saturday. Can you believe they actually did? Lucky us. We booked it right away. The only downfall was that would change our party time from 11 to 12:30 start time. For most people it wasn't a problem but it did affect a few families. Aly's friend Nathan was supposed to be at another birthday party at 1 p.m. so he skipped our party and went to that one. Everybody else was still able to come though so that was good.

The gymnastics place decided to do KK first. She had a hard time blowing out the candles. I promise they were not trick candles! We'll work on that for next year...

Aly's video is much shorter cause she has it down now!

Aly and KK wanted to put dalmatian tattoos on for the party. They put paw prints on their cheek and dalmatians on their arm. They had Pongo, Perdita, Penny, and Patch.

The kids loved the gymnastics portion of the party. They had so much fun running around on the obstacles, jumping in the bounce house, and on the trampoline.

The kids enjoyed pizza, cupcakes, and icecream.

They decided to sing Happy Birthday to KK first. She was thrilled!

Aly said she forgot to make a birthday wish.

The girls opened presents and had a great time. Lucky me the staff took care of helping the girls and even wrote down what they got! This was the easiest party we have ever had!

Swim Lessons

This week we started swim lessons for the girls. I was lucky enough to find a local woman who does private lessons. The pool is only an 8 minute drive from our house versus a 30 minute drive to the public pool which would offer group or private lessons.

The girls will be taking lessons on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Their swim instructors name is Docia. She has been giving lessons for years. We had our first lesson this past Monday. I had it all pictured in my mind. I would be laying pool side on a recliner soaking in the rays and reading a magazine while the girls enjoyed their lessons. I couldn't be more wrong! I brought my suit and left it in the car. The instructor told me at the beginning of class it would probably be a good idea to get it. So while I was getting my suit she was checking out their levels. During this time KK must have been dunked underwater because as I was approaching she was choking. This scared her and now she was scared of her swimming lessons.

So I spent the rest of the week in the pool with the girls trying to help KK get more comfortable. She made good progress on Wednesday. However, both of the girls took a step back on Thursday. KK was tired and grouchy that whole day. Aly was nervous from the day before when she went underwater. My thinking is that for them and ideal schedule would probably be Mon., Wed., Fri. Too bad that wasn't an option.

Here are two quick pics I got on Monday before I had to get into the water.

Docia's two children help her out at the lessons. Her 13 year old daughter Larn is in these pictures. The girls love her.

My goal is that by the end of summer at least Aly will be swimming. We take the lessons in two week blocks so after each session we will evaluate and see if we will continue. Wish us luck!

Aly's Birthday Celebration

This week we celebrated Aly's birthday. This was the first year that I had decided to make sure and celebrate their actual birthday separately. Since their birth dates are only 8 days apart we typically have a birthday party with their friends and one family party and we celebrate them together. This year I decided the girls are getting old enough to experience their own special day. So they will get a lot of celebrating in. On the day of their birthday they will get the royal treatment and be able to pick the restaurant of their choice for dinner. Then they will have their friends birthday party together. So in all we will celebrate three times in a week! That is a lot of cupcakes. Here are some pictures and videos documenting Aly's birthday.

For breakfast Aly wanted Mickey Mouse pancakes. So I made them special with some pink, red, and white chocolate chips!

Aly was so excited to be able to have her best girl friend Maya over for the day! What a great birthday that made for her. They had fun playing store. I even got to buy goods from their store for free!

The birthday girl got to pick what she wanted for lunch. So cheese pizza and root beer it was! They loved lunch!

We got her 6 pink roses for her birthday. I think this was the first time she has gotten flowers with the exception of the day she was born.

Aly decided to go to Red Lobster for her birthday. Thank goodness I had a $50 gift card I had earned through mypoints.com.

Here are the dalmatian cupcakes I made for her birthday. I will be them for the party with their friends and for KK's birthday as well.

KK was in love with the dalmatian cupcakes. She has been pretending to be Pongo from 101 Dalmatians for about 6 months now.

Here is Aly as we sing Happy Birthday to her.

Here is a video of Aly opening her card and present from Mommy and Daddy.

Poor KK, she didn't understand that it wasn't her birthday.