2014: Day 20 and 21

 Day 20: This month.
Day 21: A moment
Don't ya think we could just take "a moment" from "this month" and count that? Since I've been so busy with homework, that is what we are doing for this post.
I found my camera a few weeks ago when school started {It was in my backpack} and I wanted to update you on some happenings from this month. It's been a good month so far.

The day I started school, Spidey was pretty bummed that he was the only one not going to school during the day now so I packed him a backpack to take with him to Grandma's house. Doesn't he just look so happy? He thought it was pretty cool that all 3 of us had backpacks on that day.
School has been good so far. I am taking 2 classes at the college and 3 classes online---because I'm crazy. So far, only some minor hiccups in my math class. I'm getting the hang of the schedule and learning how to balance my time, which really just means getting on the computer to do homework every free second I have.

 Petey has been busy busy busy with dance! They have started basketball season and she is going to have performances every couple of weeks now. Her schedule has been killing us all because it's 6-8pm instead of the normal 4-6pm so that they can be combined with the older girls. Coming home at 8:30pm on school nights messes up our nighttime routine. But it's ok because she's happy and we are happy to support her.

 One of the nights she was at dance, some other dance moms and I went to get pedicures. We all have a little boy with us and Spidey loves hanging out with his best buddy. They played so quietly on the iPad. I'm so glad they have each other to stay entertained while we are busy doing dance things with their big sisters.

 Last Friday, Petey came running in crying, saying her finger was cut. Then Spidey comes in, puts his hands on his hips and says, "I told her not to play with the box cutter." What?! It was bleeding like crazy and I drove her to our favorite pediatrician {Grandpa}. Luckily, she didn't need stitches because of how it cut her finger but it had to be wrapped in gause for a few days.

 We celebrated Ellie's birthday! How is this girl 2 already? And yet, how is she not 3? She is the smartest 2 year old I know. And the silliest. You'll see more of that later.

The weekends I have without my kids are usually spent like this...

 This would be about 2:30 in the morning.

 Seriously. My friends are awesome. And last weekend was so much fun, even though I only got 2 hours of sleep and didn't even take a nap the next day. It was a miracle that I was functioning!

Then yesterday, we all went to our favorite pizza place, H&H City Pizza in Chandler because my sister is visiting from Virginia.

 My cousin owns this restaurant and I'd eat there every day if I could. It is always so delicious!

 I love these girlies together. Petey really loves Ellie.

 Isn't this newest addition just precious?! I love holding him.

This last series of pictures is Ellie with her MANY "silly" faces. She is such a ham!

 This one is a true scowl---she did not appreciate that Petey was trying to get in on the pictures too. ha!

It's been a whirlwind of a month. I'm grateful I have the opportunity to go to school, be a mom, participate in church activities, hang out with friends and family, and so many other things! My life i hectic and busy but I feel like I've done pretty well with this 30 day challenge, all things considered. :)

Oh the fun we've had

 In case you were wondering, we are having loads of fun over here. With Christmas coming so soon, we've been lucky enough to have out of town family come to town!
My sister and her husband dropped their kids off in Arizona this week before they headed back to California to go on a cruise together. Lucky for me, that meant tons of time with my niece and nephew!

On Tuesday, my mom took us all to the Az Museum for Youth. The kids love going there because of all the crafts and toys they get to enjoy.

 K Bear was excited to be cooking something delicious for us all to eat.

 Petey was just enthralled with the pink wedding cake.

 K Bear is definitely the son of an accountant. He walked around with this calculator for a long time.

 Ellie sat and played with this abacus for the longest time and was smiling and saying, "Ooh! Ooh!" over and over.

 The 3 big kids. They have loved being together all week.

 Adorable, right?!

 On the other side of the museum, there is a big play place for kids and they have a corner area just for kids under a certain height. It is meant for babies but Spidey was actually shorter than the height limit so he got to enjoy the baby area as well. ha! I guess sometimes it pays to be short!

 Ellie loved looking at herself in this mirror. That is the most I had seen her smile since she was born. Seriously, though...that girl is usually so serious.

Lucky for us and unlucky for my dad, he had surgery the next morning so we got to keep K Bear and Ellie at our house for the night. Besides one little 2am mishap where K Bear woke up and realized he didn't have his special moneky at our house, they both slept all night.

 Ellie actually cried when we took these Minnie ears off of her. She wore them almost the whole time she was at our house. :) Don't you just love that little tongue?

 She also loved Petey's dollhouse. Such a little girl. :)

Mid-morning, we turned on some Dora and the kiddos all looked adorable sitting on the mattress we currently have laying out in our front room. My mom came and got them shortly after but we are getting tons of playing time in with them at her house now.

Time Out for Women 2012

Well, it's official. Both of my out of state sisters have gone back home to California and Virginia. I wish they both could've staye forever but I guess their husband's and homes were important to them or something... ;)

This past weekend was Time Out for Women, which has become a tradition that my sisters and I usually do with my mom. It was, of course, a wonderful weekend but what was even more wonderful was having my sisters here for longer than just 2 days.

Last Thursday, before TOFW, we headed to Vertuccio Farms with all of the kiddos.

We started at the front and the kids spent a lot of time in this bounce house.

 My sister, Andrea, with her beautiful daughter, Ellie. Just click on the links on the side to baby Ellie if you want to see how BIG she's gotten since the last time I saw her. 5 months makes a huge difference on a baby!

 Petey was having so much fun being surrounded by cousins.

 I love this picture of my nephew, K Bear, in mid-air. I wish the lighting was better but click on the picture to see that silly kiddo flying.

 Of course, all of us adults had to try this out to see who could get the highest. I am proud to say that I am still the strongest because I got a 7.5 and noone else went higher than that. :)

 Spidey decided it was more fun to hitch a ride on the teeter totter and let the other kids do all the work.

I wish I had the super hilarious pictures of us jumping on the huge bubble thing at Vertuccio but sadly, they are on my sisters' cameras. If they ever send them to me, Ill make sure to post them.

 That night, I did a lot of snuggling with this sad little boy, whom we've nicknamed Bugsy. I'll explain why in a couple of pictures...

 Poor Bug has colic and reflux and has a hard time whenever his tummy is hurting.

 But >this< girl is apparently really good at getting him to calm down and sleep...and sometimes even smile! He is such a cutie and I love my nephew so much!

Here is why we call him Bugsy. If you've ever seen Bedtime Stories, you might know what I'm talking about. :)

 Here are all of us at TOFW. Yay for breastfeeding parties. :) I love Karin and my face in this picture. I promise we were just being silly. Nursing doesn't really gross us out. Well, maybe a little...but not really.

 My buddy during TOFW. This kid really likes me! Everyone would have trouble getting him to sleep and I would hold him and he'd be out in a minute. I loved feeling needed by him. My arms were feeling pretty empty with all of the babies around and I am so grateful to Bug for letting me be his second mom for the weekend. He really made my weekend a lot happier and easier.

 Jamie took a picture of Andrea and I with Jericho Road. Unfortunatly, I look like a complete idiot but this is the ONLY picture we got with them. I absolutely loved them performing at TOFW. They are pretty hilarious and amazing singers.

 Jamie stuffed Mini G in her TOFW tote bag. :)

 Karin did the same thing with Bugsy but looked a little bit creepy doing it...

 Isn't this the cutest picture? I am not sure why it's half blue but I do love that Bug was smiling for my picture too.

 We came back Saturday night and Sunday, the whole family got together again. We tried to get a picture of all 3 granddaughters but Ellie just wanted to grabb Mini G. :)

 Later, I got this adorable picture of the two oldest granddaughters. Aren't they beautiful? Petey has been the only granddaughter for almost 4 years so it has been so fun to have more girlies around, even if they're a lot younger than her.

 Ok, this procession of pictures is hilarious. I wanted a picture of everyone snuggling on the couch but K Bear closed his eyes.

 Then, after we told him to keep them open, Spidey purposefully closed his.

 In the last picture, Petey and K Bear are trying REALLY hard to keep their eyes wide open. Maybe we should've nicknamed one of them Bugsy...

 Two buddies. They are exactly 18 months apart and they get along pretty well. I love Petey having so many cousins to play with.

And let's just end it on this note...I have the cutest son!!! :)