loving/hating aerobics

Last night I went to the first of 8 aerobics classes at the rec center. My friend Rachel wanted me to sign up with her and as much as I hated it I'm glad I did. Rachel & I walked in just before class was going to start & one look at our instructor, JJ, and I knew I was in trouble! He's this big black ripped man and during the class we found out he's 54! He could run circles around me! I kept my body moving nonstop for 45 minutes and that was followed by squats, crunches, weights, THE WHEEL!, push-ups, etc.! It totally sucked & if I didn't have Rachel to go with I'd have a very hard time (harder than it'll be anyway) going back on Thursday, but I was really proud of myself for being able to keep going the entire time. I love that I could do that! When I was going to the gym w/Ashley I'd walk/run on the treadmill most of the time & I'm SO not a runner & on my very best day ever I ran for 10 minutes (I know, you can laugh). But going to this aerobics class (which was supposed to be light and was anything but) kind of made me think if I went running with Ashley (not next to her on the treadmill) I think I could keep up. I really think I could do it! So I'm glad I went to the aerobics class. Now if I could just give up sugar or at least cut back! Maybe between my regular morning workout & these added aerobics classes I'll be able to burn off a few pounds this month.

Park Day

Today was preschool park day! Summer volunteered to watch Ellie if I would take Kenadee. Great trade! :) Although it was a lot of work to keep track of 3 kids with their own ideas about what they wanted to do since there were many options:

jump house
face painting
tattoos
dinosaur dig
bubble table
parachute
horse shoes
ring toss
potato sack races
sidewalk chalk
popsicles
playground
did i miss anything?!

Callie, Jackson & Kenadee had a fun time running around & playing with all the other children there from the girls' classes. I enjoyed watching them & I was so grateful there was tons of shade at the park so that it was actually pleasant! When we got back to the car my thermometer said it was 92° (at 11:00am)- yuck!

No more homework, no more books!

I'm pretty excited to have summer break. Oh my gosh! I can't believe I'm a mom that looks forward to the summer! Where has time gone?

Tonight we went to Callie's preschool graduation. Not really sure why preschoolers graduate, but whatever. We went, she did, it's done! Of COURSE we were late getting there because just as we were ready to walk out the door Jack had to go poop and you just can't rush him!

Also I kind of assumed Jeremiah would tell my parents about graduation since he sits in an office with my dad all day but he didn't & he figured I'd call them & I didn't so they didn't make it. Callie asked why they weren't there as we were leaving & I told her what had happened & that it was my fault & she said it was okay & that she still loved me. :)

Callie's Teacher

First day of school

Last day of school

Spring Dance Recital

This evening Callie had her Spring Dance Recital! Her dance class is awesome! A family in our ward does it & they have several age groups. Last year Callie took dance from their oldest daughter. That daughter has now moved away so Callie took it from a younger daughter. Sure, it's not a real technical class, but it's fun & it's cheap. Really cheap! $4/1-hour class! We love the family that does it & really appreciate all their hard work & pretzels/stamps! :) Callie's class was made up of mainly 4 year olds and they danced to a song from the Enchanted soundtrack. What a bad mom am I? I don't even know what song it was because I was concentrating too much on getting {bad} pictures! Callie had a great time & I'm SO glad she danced this time (she wouldn't dance at the Christmas recital - she didn't even want to go to it [and we didn't]!) She was most excited about getting flowers afterwards from mom & dad just like at her last year's spring recital. While I was getting her ready for the recital she said "Oh no! You forgot to get me some flowers for my recital!" Little did she know I have a few tricks up my sleeve. Or one. Called Grandma Darcy. Thanks mom for making that stop for me so that Callie didn't see her flowers before the recital!

I left the faces of known bloggers' children! :) Plus their teacher. I don't think you can really tell in the other pictures. (Although as a side thought does it matter? Does the newspaper get permission from parents before printing their children's pictures? I'm just reporting the facts!)

Callie & one of her best friends Kenadee.

"At the top of Dragon Mountain"

That's from The Backyardigans (we {heart} their cds) and the kids sing it as they're climbing up to the top of their dirt volcano!

Jeremiah brought the skid steer home from work on Saturday & worked on moving dirt so we can get started on our backyard. And just to be nice he made this volcano for the kids to play in/on. The backyard's going to be a long, slow & expensive (and that's doing it on the cheap) process. We're very fortunate though that we have lots of the equipment we'll need for our backyard & we can also do lots of the stuff at cost & hopefully find a hookup on a few of the other things we have planned.

I'm glad that the kids are loving the dirt pile, but can I just say it sucks! Somebody (won't give the guilty party away) came in for a time out the other day and when he/she went back outside I had to clean off a layer of dirt from the time out chair! Jack took off his pants to get in the bath & a cup of dirt went all over the floor. I'm NOT loving the dirtiness of the dirt. But the kids are having the BEST time! I figure I can endure it for one summer. It won't kill me, right? Right??

And just for fun & because I'm not in many pictures with my children, Ellie & I on Mother's Day.

rocking chair

I can't find pictures of Callie & Jack in this chair but they have loved (and still love) it, and now Ellie has discovered it & loves it too. The chair plays music as you rock and it was given to my mother on her 2nd birthday from her grandmother(?). I love having it in our home!

Dining al fresco

The last several evenings have been beautiful! Last night I cleaned off the kids' picnic table so they could eat outside. This was Ellie's first time eating at a table instead of in her booster/high chair & as cute as she was, I'm not sure it will be a regular occurrence for her just yet! :) After she'd nibbled a little she dumped the rest of her food & said uh-oh. Then she'd pick up pieces & say "here-uh-go" as she put them in my hand.

Callie & Jack love to be outside & Jack spends tons of time playing with their sand/water table sans sand (but usually w/dirt).



Different night - I don't need an apron to make chicken salad sandwiches for dinner! :)

Spider-Man bike

Jeremiah decided Jack's birthday was just too far away to wait for a bike so we let Jack pick one out while Callie was at school last Thursday. There were some cool choices but Jack was set on Spider-Man. He was SO excited to get home & start riding but had to wait for me to put it together. And can I just say, that manual was ridiculous! I'm sure I could have put it together without the manual, but I'm one of those manual readers so I spent the better part of the assembly time just trying to figure out the manual. As it turns out it's not even for the same bike! And it talked about stuff like torque & psi. Who do they think is putting the bike together? A mechanic? Anyway, I'd set out the tools but had to take care of Ellie for a minute & this is what I came back to. Seriously, this is not posed! How cute is this?!!





Here is one proud owner of a new Spider-Man bike!

Farewells

Easter weekend was full of farewells for our family. First to Jeremiah's brother Jonny who lived with us for the past 3 months. This was the 3rd time he'd come to live with us in between school breaks at BYU-I so that he could work for Jeremiah & earn some good money. Callie & Jack were sad to see him leave, although Callie was glad to get her room back to herself. Ellie's been in there & while I am all for children sharing rooms, I think it sucks to have a baby sharing a room. Bedtime was a real challenge because we'd have to do Ellie first & then if Callie wasn't quiet she'd wake Ellie up. And Callie & Jack are not easy-going bed-timers! So finally I was just putting Callie to bed in Jack's room on the floor in a sleeping bag & moving her into her bed once everyone was asleep. Plus naptime meant no toys or anything else from the bedroom. So it's a relief for me. And Jonny was so awesome & moved Ellie's crib back into her room while I was out grocery shopping before he left. I was so surprised & grateful! Here's Jonny with the kids as he was leaving:

Secondly my brothers left Monday morning to go to Provo so they could check into the MTC (Missionary Training Center) on Wednesday. It wasn't sad saying goodbye to Jonny for several reasons. Not that I don't love Jonny, but I'll see him in a few months probably, we can talk to him anytime, and if you've ever had an extended house guest you know it's nice to have your house back to yourself. But my brothers will be gone for 2 years & the only contact I'll have with them will be through weekly general emails. It's crazy to think that when they get back Ellie won't know them except through pictures. And most likely we'll have another baby too! My sister Chelsea moved to KS and although I probably won't see her very often, it's nice to know that I can talk to her anytime & there's always the option (if money allows) to get in a plane & visit each other. But even though it's a little sad, I'm extremely happy & proud of them for serving missions. It's what Heavenly Father wants them to be doing.

Easter Sunday

Callie & Jack had asked every morning the week leading up to Easter if it was Easter & if the Easter Bunny had come. Callie was up bright & early Easter morning hunting for baskets (a tradition Jeremiah brought to our family). She'd found Jack's & Ellie's baskets & had gone through both of them. Although she'd replaced the contents, there was definitely evidence of tampering! She'd already taken the wrappers off all the bubble tape (a much requested item) so she could see what color the gum on the inside was! We had to have her re-hide Jack's & Ellie's baskets & suggested places for her to look for her own. They had fun hunting for the eggs we'd colored the day before too. The EB kept the baskets simple this year. Ellie got a book, Callie got a package of rings, & Jack got a new Transformer. Callie & Jack got Silly Putty (they love it!), they all got a few cheap dollar store items, & some classic Easter candy inspired partly by The Berenstain Bears: a chocolate bunny, jelly beans, & Robin's Eggs. Oh, & the bubble tape. Which was gone in a few hours. Which is why I had no problem with it!


Jack was seriously excited to see that the EB had brought Silly Putty!



Callie had been wanting a pack of rings for months. That Easter Bunny sure knows what they like!

Robin's Egg lipstick (how do you like that Liz?)!

Little Happy Spot

I'm so glad Ellie's not as crazy as the other 2 yet! Because it's impossible to be angry with a baby, today she was my favorite!

(she'd just finished eating a Kiss that I don't even know how she got or from where)

Oh, & here's my favorite from tonight:

After being sick for the past couple days & feeling like junk & taking care of the kids & doing bedtime by myself because Jeremiah’s been working late, I’d had it with the kids. I was saying our family prayer & as I said, “Please bless Callie & Jack to be more obedient so they don’t make their mom so sad” I started to cry a little (Pathetic! I know!). As soon as I said “amen” a moment later they both started crying & asked why I was crying. I turned the question around. Callie said, “Is it because it was such a wonderful prayer?” I stopped crying then because I started laughing. Thank goodness for bedtime!

stupid bookcases

I bought a couple of these bookcases from Target in like December & January and had planned on buying 1 or 2 more for my front room. They were $99 each & I think for the money it's a great bookcase. I'm always amazed at how expensive furniture is so for $99 I love these bookcases! Funny {not really} thing is that just last week I was talking to Wendy & she asked if I'd gotten my other bookcases yet & I said I hadn't because I've been putting my money into other house/decorating stuff & was waiting (and when I say waiting I mean that I can't really afford them right now). She suggested I buy them anyway because how terrible would it be if they were discontinued since she'd had that problem a few months prior when she'd finally decided to buy a piece of furniture she'd been thinking about. I said I was sure that wouldn't happen before I bought the last bookcase or 2 since it wasn't that long ago that I'd bought the first ones. Not that a week sooner probably would have made a difference, and why I checked online the day I did I don't know, but my bookcases are DISCONTINUED! I canNOT believe it! I have spent hours on the phone calling Target after Target after Target, each one sending me to another one who shows the bookcases in their inventory only to be let down again. I finally found some in Oregon near the Portland Temple where Jeremiah's parents could possibly get them for me, but I don't know if that will actually pan out. How will I get them here to AZ even if they do get them in OR for me? We never see his parents & who knows when we will again & even if we do in the next several months I don't know if it will be by car or plane. I've also been checking the stock on the same bookcases in the 3-shelf style because even if I had to have different heights at least they'd be the same bookcases, but of course those have been next to impossible to find as well. Fortunately my amazing sister Tara is going to her company's Bountiful, UT office tomorrow for a few hours & is willing to pick up the ones I've located there (yeah, there are seriously none any closer!). And Tara just told me she's coming to town this weekend! But I'd still for sure rather have the 5-shelf. This sucks! Oh, and Jeremiah said to me when I was telling him my frustrations, "They don't have to match!" What?! YES THEY DO! It would be one thing if we were making due with hand-me-downs but we're not! Why would I buy NEW, mismatching bookcases?! How is it that {most} men just don't get this kind of stuff? "They don't have to match." Whatever Jeremiah!

Recent play

One of the kids' favorite things to do right now is play store. If only they could inventory & return things to the back when they were done playing!

Did you take this picture Kate? Jack loves to read! When I stumbled upon this picture I just thought it was SO cute! That's the kids' friend Kiera with Jack.


There's this great, fun new way to watch your favorite show. Have you tried it?!