Thursday, June 30, 2011

Progression of a masterpiece

Every picture starts somewhere. Ryann is loving taking pictures. She like to place objects and then take pictures at each stage. Maybe she is practicing to make her own "claymation"
I love watching how her little 4 year old mind works. It is so fascinating and entertaining.

There you have it. Her masterpiece. A line of random animals.



Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Me and My Girls


I like to love on these little girls when I am at home with them. Sometimes it gets a little wild and crazy and we end up taking endless amounts of silly pictures.

Have a great day!
Auntie Devyn and Uncle Jason and Meriweather (baby inside her tummy) are coming to visit this weekend and we are so excited to play!!

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

In other news...

Today was a rough day at home.
Daddy is feeling sick.
Ryann was puking.
Cara was getting over being sick.

Finally Ryann ate some saltines and some mushrooms.
She loves mushrooms. I hope that one doesn't come back to bite me tonight around midnight.
They spent most of the day on the couch, while Cara ran around and got into trouble. She was feeling the best out of all of them. She gets to go to daycare tomorrow again.
Oh wait- maybe Ryann is on the mend- we will have to wait and see- but she was feeling well enough to wake up for this funny face picture.


In other news...
We got our first Roma tomatoes from our garden today!!
I can't wait to try them.
We have a lot more coming, hopefully enough to start making some good salsa.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Markers

Cara isn't allowed to color with markers because she draws all over herself.

I caught her with some markers the other day and I looked at her and was about to praise her and give her the marker back because she hadn't colored all over herself.

Guess what? She did. She is just getting sneakier and smarter.
She only colored where mommy wouldn't see it.
Really Cara? Next time go for the bottom of your foot. Or inside your mouth or armpit or something. Not your belly.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Q...I mean L

Ryann is loving doing puzzles and I love having her do them because she can do them all by herself.

She has this adorable one on the alphabet.
I love that she is searching so hard for the Q and then when she finds it she realizes she is actually looking for the letter L.

Oh I love her silly face.
Cara too.
I am glad Cara tried to help.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Lake Trip: As told by Ryann

If you want to have a successful family trip to the lake there are a few steps you must take.

First you should stop for gas, potty break, and a pack of mini powdered donuts.
Once at the lake you must find your big, strong, handsome daddy to get you in your life jacket and take you on the jet ski. Not very fast. Like 12-15 mph. MAX. You must go over lots of "bumpies" to make sure the ride is fun. Please do not let go and do not let water get in my eyes.
After your jet ski ride take a little break for some chips.
Don't forget adequate hydration.
And when the day is done- catch a few Zzzzzz...
That, my friends, is a successful trip to the lake.
Minus the part where Cara kept throwing up.
Cause it stinks when Cara throws up.
Not to mention that Ryann and Daddy have the same gag reflex so mommy is stuck cleaning everything up all by herself.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Growing Up

My babies are growing up. Cara has spent the past 3 nights in her bed and she has done pretty well with it.

She did cry when we took down her crib. I think when we finish doing the room and getting all her "big girl" pillows and bedding she will be a little more excited.
Hopefully I will get to paint this weekend. We will see.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

New Bed

I found an ikea toddler bed for Cara on craigslist. It was a great price for the mattress, bed, and bed sheets. It was pink though.

If you have ever seen Ryann and Cara's room you know I have more than enough pink.
So I gently nudged Rich to paint it white for me.
And he did. In the 113 degree weather.
I hope Cara appreciates it. Cause I sure do.

I will be posting steps of their room makeover over the next couple weeks.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Dinner and a Date

My little 4 year old photog took these pictures- including a self portrait. She was my dinner date.
We made our own pizza for dinner tonight. I was going to make the crust but ended up going into work for part of the day when I wasn't expecting to. So this crust is wonderfully crafted by Fresh and Easy. Delicious.
Of course no random picture taking is complete without Rapunzel riding Maximus.
My cute, crazy nugget!

Monday, June 20, 2011

Pay the Time

If you do the crime... you pay the time?

Is that a real phrase?

Well, Cara colored all over the tub the other day and THANK YOU for a magic eraser.
I made her scrub and scrub- or wipe a few times across the tub- but obviously it was SOOO HARD for her to clean because she threw a little fit and finished it leaning over- very dramatic.
She sure was cute cleaning it up though.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Happy Father's Day

I have so many reasons to celebrate Father's Day. I have a wonderful father and two amazing grandfathers. I have been so blessed with wonderful influential men in my life- those who have taught me about healthy relationships and how to raise a family with love. They have taught me to be strong, active, adventurous, loving, family oriented, and to have confidence in myself.

They have taught me these things and words cannot express my gratitude for them- they helped shape me to become the woman and mother I am today.

I am also so thankful for a wonderful husband who is the father to my sweet girls. I know that through his actions and love towards our girls they will have a wonderful childhood and grow up to be strong and confident women.
They adore him and I hope he knows how much we love and appreciate all his hard work for our family.

We love you daddy! Happy Father's Day!

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Pretty Nails

I read an article TODAY about something that Rich and Ryann did YESTERDAY. Sweet to know that my husband is a wonderful father!

Here is the article.
This weekend he personally did 1-6, 8, and 10.
Wow. He is a stud.
Ryann picked out the colors and black and blue--- you know, because those are boyish colors.
The finished products!
Ryann was having a blast!

Friday, June 17, 2011

Story Time

This is a 3:02 minute video of PURE Ryann awesomeness.

Kind of lengthy and mostly for the Grandma's and Aunties out there.

She has every component of a good story.


Thursday, June 16, 2011

Hiking Boots

So I bought these hiking boots for $16 at big 5 about 4 (?) months ago. I figure that was approximately $1 a week to be able to hike every day, stay in shape, and do something I love. Way cheaper than a gym membership. That is like 20 cents a day (I mostly hike 5 days a week)
I was not sad to throw them in the garbage this morning and start fresh with a $19 pair of boots.

I will let you know how long these new ones last me. I can already tell that the sole is a lot thicker. There isn't as good as ankle support as these old boots, but I ran all the way down the mountain this morning and made it in record time.
So long $16 boots.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Sunglasses

We are trying to get in the habit of wearing sunglasses all the time when we are outside and in the car.

Cara thinks they are to play with, you know, more of a fashion statement, but whatever.
sorry the pictures are blurry- probably shouldn't have been taking them while I was driving.
I promise I wasn't looking backwards when I was taking the pictures- just hold up the camera and snap away.
1$ sunglasses from Target are amazing. I stocked up.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

AMAZING

Rich sometimes hates it when I try new recipes. I try a new recipe at least once a week. He always tells me to print out only the favorites so that I can repeat them and I won't make the bad ones again.

I don't have that kind of patience (???) seriously, I just like grabbing the ipad, typing in the ingredients I have and then seeing where the wonderful internet takes me.

Occasionally I fall back to The Pioneer Woman (I do have her cookbook and all!) and sometimes I dig into my recipe swap files.

But this past weekend I made a keeper. So much that it made it to the blog.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Swimming


This weekend we were lucky enough to spend some time with some friends in Gilbert. They recently put in an above ground swimming pool. Can I say "LOVE IT!"

The girls had a blast, it was relaxing, and hardly any maintenance involved.
See Ryann's little bruise from her shots on her leg?
Cara hanging out- both girls had floaties but we were always close by. Ryann could actually touch the bottom which made her a lot less scared to be in the water.
Ryann loved jumping to me from the water.

It was perfect weather. Thanks Arizona.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Steam Clean

I spent about 3 hours yesterday steam cleaning our carpets. It was so nice to see the pretty lines in the carpet.
And so gross to see the water afterwards!

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Progression

We ate dinner last night up at the Camelback fashion park. They have all their misters on so all the pictures seem a little foggy because of it. There were a ton of kids up there just playing and having a great time. We let the girls loose for a little while and this is what happens:
Cara looking curiously at the water fountain.
Then Daddy moves in as he realizes that she needs a little more adult supervision.
He reaches to keep her safe.
And finally we realize that she is about to head dive- disaster averted. Thanks to our superhero daddy!!

Cara doesn't seem to think there was any sort of problem there, hence the ticked off face.

Friday, June 10, 2011

This one?

What about this one? I am working on getting my pictures ordered for my house and for my family and I am having a hard time picking my favorites.
Maybe I need a whole wall dedicated to pictures of my cute nuggets?
I mean, that is what the blog is- right?
So why not my house?
hehe

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Date Night

So how come my husband got pampered with an organic hand scrub on our date night last weekend??
It was quite funny. The sales girl told him to scrub really hard because it would make his hands nice and smooth.
Poor guy made his knuckles bleed. I guess he needs some more pampering in order to figure out how to really pamper yourself. Pain isn't always beauty.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Meet Achilles

We have a pet! I know, you are thinking... "WHAT? Rich hates animals!"
Not entirely true. He doesn't hate them. He just would never want to own one that he had to pay for on its own. For some very good and very valid reasons of course.

However, we currently have this sweet kitty Achilles living with us along with his proud papa, my cousin, Rob. Achilles is a very smart cat. He hides from Ryann and Cara all day long and then comes out when they go to sleep.
Like clockwork. If the girls get in their beds, he comes out.
However, we convinced him to come out of hiding and Ryann had to walk VERY SLOW in order to not scare him away.
She finally got to play with him and was so excited.
Ryann and Cara pray for "killies" every day so he won't be scared of them.