Big Girl Room

Before the baby comes (in 48 hours!!) we have been trying to get Addilyn's "big girl" room done. It has turned out really cute. I still want to get some more accessories, a tree for the corner, and I need to get pictures in frames (obviously because of the store pictures in some frames) but all in all, it's getting there. I had an interior designer friend lead me in the right direction and an awesome and VERY reasonably priced girl do the pillows and window treatment. One of the reasons I love it is because it will work for her until we move. It's not too juvenile. She's having a little trouble staying in bed when it's time for sleep but I think we have found the trick. We just have to mention the "c" word and she cries and stays in bed. "Addi, do we need to put you in the baby CRIB?" We've been telling her what a big girl she is so the baby crib is a four letter word around her. She looks so little in her big bed though. I remember thinking the same thing when we changed Carter into his bed. They grow up so fast! :) (and they're only 4 and 2!!)

So cute!!

The Best Weather EVER

I'm the very first to admit that Arizona summers are the pits. BUT, along with the retched heat we get these killer monsoons. They are so amazingly beautiful and we don't really get a whole lot of rain so we have to enjoy it. The other night I was putting the kids in bed when a major monsoon hit. They were absolutely enamored with it. So, instead of bed, they stood on Carter's toy box and watched it for at least 10 minutes. They would yell and giggle every time they heard thunder. It was so cool. It makes me sad that we don't live somewhere with a little more rain.

Pottery and Such

Grace doing the kids ropes course.

And Abby. They were both so proud of how high they got... which was about as high as the picture shows. :)

Carter really enjoyed getting his face painted. This day he was a T-Rex. See, I WAS there! Rifle shooting, which was so much fun!

Bry and I worked together to create a masterpiece on the wheel.

Carter's pottery turned out better than ours... we aren't the pottery type apparently.

My mom had a manual wheel so Hills and my dad helped with the turning of the wheel. I put this picture on rather than the one of Hills... I figured she wouldn't want a picture of her tooshie for all to see... even though is SO cute!!

Ropes Course

Aspen Grove has this really cool ropes course. Everyone did it except for me. You get to climb up a log and a rock wall, walk across wires, and repel. It sounds much easier than it is. I did it when I was a kid (probably 11 years old) and remember being scared to DEATH!! While I was bummed to miss out on a lot of the activities at Aspen Grove, I was okay passing on this one.
Bryan repelling.
When he was finally done... such a tough guy. :)

My parents and their "check out how cool we are" faces.

Work it Mom!!!

Ryan and Bryan (who refer to themselves as "The Ryan and Bryan Show") acting like dorks stretching out before they started.

Hillary allowing herself a little free falling at the end.

Check out Ryan's face.

Going Fishing

Carter had a lot of fun fishing. He was able to catch a fish... which means Bryan was doing all the work and when they got a bite Carter helped reel it in.

Patiently waiting...

Yummy...

Grace, Carter, Bryan, and Abby

Bryan got Carter to touch the fish.

So proud!

So... Brave?

While at Aspen Grove we went fishing in their little lake. The kids LOVED it!!! When anyone caught a fish it was immediately THEIR fish and THEY were the ones that caught it. Grace was a little more like me when it came to the fish. She wanted to be brave but if you got remotely near her she would back right off. Abby... well, she was much more brave... at first. Observe the pictures in order of her touching and holding the fish.

Grace being sure to keep her distance.

This first one is Nona having the fish "talk" to her.

By the way, the fish was still TOTALLY alive and flopping all over the place.

Horrible Mom Alert

Yesterday we were at my in-laws for dinner. Towards the end of dinner Carter came up to me with juice all the way down his shirt (we're talking a FULL glass) and said, "Mom, do we have any Clorox?" Clorox... hmmm... wonder where he got that. "Not with us buddy but we'll put something on it so it doesn't stain your shirt." As Bryan took his shirt off him I asked him if he told Carter to ask me for Clorox. Nope. Not him. I asked my mother-in-law. Nope. Not her. Strange. Oh well. I'm sure someone told him to come ask me for Clorox for his shirt. About an hour later when we were leaving with his juicy shirt in hand he asked me again. I told him that I would get it clean and not to stress about it. Then I asked him where he learned about Clorox. "On TV." Wow. That's a blow to the mother that I thought I would never become. We'll chalk this one up to being a week from delivery and beyond exhausted. Yes, my children watch more TV than they should right now.

The Hula Hoopers

While we were at Aspen Grove several of us (excluding me, of course...) brushed up on our hula hooping skills. It was entertaining to say the least. I got a great laugh, squeezed in a contraction or two, and took some wonderful blackmail pictures. I don't know if the hula hooping or the facial expressions were funnier.

Carter... so cute!
Abby would run in circles while hula hooping. It was awesome but we had to give her a wide birth.

Grace was just as entertaining as Abby.

I think Hillary was the best. She started at the neck and worked her way down.

Work it Papa!!

Bryan showing off his mad skillz.

Family Games

One of the first days at Aspen Grove we did family games. It was really fun (I mostly just watched...). The camp even took care of the super little kids (like Addi) so everyone could get their undistracted game faces on. We tore it UP! (not really... we actually sucked but boy did we have fun and laugh a lot.) The kids were HYSTERICAL!
Ryan and Hill taking a time out.

are you dying over this face Abby's making as much as I am?

Perty mountains.

They had to push this ball all the way up a hill. The competitive side of the boys caused the kids to be left in the dust.

Everyone had to climb through this hula hoop without letting go of each other's hands. Grace was between Bryan and my dad so she got a free ride.

Go Hill-dawg! GO!

The WHOLE family. Can you believe EVERYONE is looking at the camera? It's a miracle.

Carter didn't quite understand the concept of getting water in his cup. Notice he's holding it up-side-down."You want us to put our fingers in tiny holes gushing with freezing cold mountain water? Are you nuts?!?"