new beginnings

Six weeks ago the girls started school at Ryan Elementary.  I guess I'm saving this post because until now because I miss school starting after Labor day.  I mean really, school in July! It's been so hot they have only had recess a few times.  What we will take advantage of is the cooler weather during their long fall break!  We enjoyed out short summer but the girls were excited to start school and meet new friends.  

Lily left friends back in Surprise she'd been in school with since preschool.  She is a brave, independent and friendly girl.  I knew she would make friends.  So I was surprised when her nerves set in the night before the first day.   She was scared.  I felt terrible for her.  Eight years old, third grade, it can be tough on a girl.  Cliques are already formed.  Where would she fit in?  

Just before we moved Ava realized Mrs. Coronado would not be her kindergarten teacher.  She was Lily's kinder teacher and Daisy co leader. Would she have a teacher who is just as special?

That day they asked me to return for lunch.  Ava's was first.  I knew she was having a great day when I saw that big smile on her face.  And Lily, she makes friends at the grocery store.  Her first day jitters were long gone by lunch.  So today I am happy to report the girls are loving their new school and friends!

six

and there he goes

Jack is off to preschool and I'm pretty sure he loves it!  He started a couple weeks ago, 2.5 hours two days a week.  My baby is growing up! 

ten on tuesday

Well I owe you at least that!  I've been sending blog posts from my phone but didn't realize they never posted until yesterday.  Here's a quick list of what we've been up to.

1.  Did you know we moved?  It's been crazy around here so I guess I left out an offical "we moved" post. We now reside in Chandler and love it! We found the perfect farm and bought it!  For the first time in over 5 years we get to have breakfast with daddy before work! 

2.  Daddy is now an Engineer! He was promoted on Father's Day/Jack's birthday.  We are so proud of him.

3.  Ava lost her first two teeth last week!  She was quite happy to receive the golden dollars from the tooth fairy. 

4.  Ava starts kindergarten on Monday! Lily starts the third grade on Monday! I am in shock our summer vacation is over.  I guess our summer list will just have to carry on into the school year :)

5.  Meet the teacher is tomorrow. We are dying of anticipation over here!  New school.  New teachers.  New friends. 

6.  While I am sad summer vacation is coming to an end, have you ever tried unpacking a house with three small children.  Impossible!  Looking forward to finding my stuff!

7.  We have 4 new baby chicks!  They were hatched on June 29th and are an adorable addition to our farm family. 

8.  Candice and Mellow are both laying eggs now.  Waking up to fresh all natural eggs is such a good feeling.

9.  Did I mention we live off a dirt road?  With irrigation? And horses for neighbors?  It's true.

10.  We love our new house and are settling in, but we do miss our friend.  We made some amazing friends during our time in Surprise.  We will miss spending time with them all.  Thank goodness for facebook!

treasures

My little treasures. I hold these memories in my heart <3

on the eve of three

Today we drove to San Diego. We played in the sand. We ate pizza. We watched a movie. We snuggled in bed. Today we made memories. Today was the last day I will have a toddler. Tomorrow my baby will be three.

she's a hen

Today Candice laid her first egg! We were expecting it to happen any day now since the girls are about six months old now. This morning Ava ran out to check the coop and there it was. Her first egg.

new beginnings

My new morning view.

may

Is over! It was a terrible month for blogging. We've been too busy over here doing fun stuff like this :)

Class of 2011

Thursday my beautiful niece Ashley graduated! Congratulations Ash! We love you!

yay!

My girl was student of the month today! We are so proud if her! Way to go Lily bells <3

just keep swimming

That's how I feel this time of year. Just trying to keep my head above water with all the end of the year activities. Only two more days! Tonight I'm busy working on Lily's class slideshow.

mad dog

That's what the coaches nicknamed her. It's a terrible phone photo but the only one I took today. The BEST softball team ever!!! Oh, and if you can't find Lily, she's in the first row with her new faux glasses :)

lemonade

It's a great day for some lemonade!

shhhhhh

He's sleeping like a baby.

yuck

Baby girl and her Mama are sick today. Not so happy with the stomach bug that keeps landing at out house.

1st

Today she got her first trophy. She was proud. So was I.

ready, set, go!

Finally! No training wheels!

it's an addiction

Girl baby clothes. Yes all the diaper boxes too!

lunch box

What's in yours? Today Ava is having strawberries, carrots and a turkey,spinach,tomato rollup. I purchased these containers this year in attempt to rid the house of sandwich bags. They've worked out pretty well. I will purchase the larger size for next year for bigger lunches. I would love to hear of any successful lunch containers you have used.

*Here's the link for the containers we use.  I really love them. 

I love that my babies are excited to wake me up and shower me with gifts on Mother's Day. They served me breakfast in bed, a veggie omelet and toast made my girls. Served on this beautiful plate made by Lily. I'm one lucky mommy!

Today I am so proud of daddy. He raced his first Olympic distance triathlon! I on the other hand chose the safe route and raced the sprint. I'll get there someday....

All sacked out. Lookin like a rock star. She's my fashion girl and had to have these shades today.

the best of both worlds

Yep, It's Hannah x two!  These two crack me up and are the best of buddies.

Time

Where does it go?  Sometimes I feel like my babies are growing up without me.  In a blink of an eye they're bigger than the moment before.  I'm determined to soak it all in.  Slow it down.  Eat every moment up.  Even the difficult ones.  They will pass.

Easter morning.  The few snapshots I took before they headed off to gather eggs.  They patiently waited for daddy to get home from work and were ready to go!

blah...

Not feeling so well tonight.  I think I'll veg out tonight and blog tomorrow :)  This is an image of my favorite bloom this time of year at my new favorite place!

i tried!

I did! For some reason my blog updates are not working from my phone.  So here's yesterdays post...

My little spidey boy on Sunday before going to see Rio. About ten minutes after the movie started he vomited all over the theater.  Poor little dude :( He's feeling much better today!

it's may!

And I'll be working on my post a day! It's going to be a busy month but I'll do my very best. The blog has been seriously lacking.

This week is teacher appreciation week. Tomorrow we are delivering this...

summer movie nights

I would love to have family summer movie nights just like this. 

yep....

Almost a month and no action over here.  Things have been super busy but exciting!  I will post new photos soon but my only pair of glasses have gone m.i.a. which makes looking at the computer quite difficult.  At least I can zoom to see on the iPad. 

Here's some fun Easter ideas I thought I'd share :)

This year I'm going to try dying our eggs naturally.   Has anyone else done this?  I'd love some tips.

So easy.  Why didn't I think of that?

Pretty sure my children would devourer these...

Oh my how cute are these!

We love making these.  Super easy for the little ones.

it's spring

and this is by far one of my favorite parts!

coming home

It all started when we began looking for a house earlier this year.  I mentioned to Scott how I wanted a place where we could have chickens.  Not a big farm, an urban farm.  A cozy place with about an acre nestled within a neighborhood.  So before be bought the farm we decided to get the chicks.  It was important to be sure we could all get along.  So we found the chicks and brought them home.   The cutest babies ever!  They were just fuzz so they nestled together to stay warm.  Today they are all feather and almost full grown.  I'm pleased to say that we are now one big happy family.  So we've decided to keep them and add a few more when we get to the farm.  This was the day they came home, January 31st.

just because

it's love and today it's been 15 years.

Our family photo shoot by Jay last June.

does your chicken have large talons?

How could I resist!  Introducing....Candice in black and Mellow in brown. 

ten on tuesday

1.  I am broken.  Last September I injured my hip while increasing my running distance.  I limped for a week and let it rest a month.  Raced and limped for another week.  Repeat.  While I was busy with the holidays I let it rest some more.  January came and It was time to start training again.  My hip was still sore.  I started seeing a chiropractor who said it was probably bursitis.  I had a MRI a last week just to be sure there wasn't anything else going on.  The MRI looked good.  So now I'm back the the chiropractor for some acupuncture. Fingers crossed this will work.  I love running and miss it daily.

2.  Just in case you haven't had an MRI....I'm going to give you advance warning, it's obnoxiously loud! Not only do you have to sit in a tube perfectly still for 20 minutes with earmuffs, there are extremely loud banging and beeping and buzzing noises going on.  That is where my yoga practice came in handy.  I highly recommend using meditation during your MIR. 

3.  There are less than two weeks until my first triathlon of the year and yesterday was my first day of training!  2.5 mile run (omg that was hard) and power yoga.  Today I bike.  Tomorrow I swim (maybe).  I'm not anticipation any record breaking this year.....

4.  Today Lily starts softball and Ava starts tball!  So excited for my little sluggers!

5. This week I stumbled across this you tube video.  Elic is an old friend from Jr. High.  Hilarious! 


6.  Here's an interesting article I ran across today.  Scary, the things we put in our body and have no idea they're there....

7.  I've been photographer shopping!  I just found one that makes my heart beat a little faster!

8.  I've also been house shopping!

9.  And when I move I'm going to fill my kitchen with this and this, these and these and these too.  But I must have this!

10.  It took me all day to complete this list.  Five minutes here, five minutes there.  I really need to find more time for this.

ten on tuesday

1.  I'm thinking February needs two additional days.  I honestly had no clue today was March 1st until I looked at my iPhone this morning.  I'm feeling a little cheated today.

2.  I love March!  So long winter blues, the sunshine is back! Spring training, the pool opens, t ball and softball for the girls, spring shopping!  Spring make me happy :)

3.  Guess what?  Our 15th wedding anniversary is in two weeks!  And you all thought we'd never make it ;)

4.  We planted our first organic garden last weekend!  Ava loves to garden and Lily loves tomatoes.  It's a win-win!

5.  To go along with our organic fruits and veggies, we picked up a couple chicks last month.  Yes, we are officially farmers, or hillbillies :)  Candice and Mellow are toddler hens now and will soon be free range in our backyard providing us with farm fresh eggs!  In case you were wondering, Sammy's a great mother hen.

6.  So why the big lifestyle change.....It's been coming for a while.  I believe we are what we eat.  Not only what we put in our bodies but on them.  So over the past year we have made little changes.  Each time I go to the store I change at least one item to an all natural or organic product.  Some films that motivated us you should for sure watch.  http://www.foodincmovie.com/   http://www.foodmatters.tv/

7.  I registered Ava for Kindergarten last week!  She is counting the days!

8.  She's reading!!! I don't think I've talked about it yet but she is!  Ava started blending at the beginning of the year but would get really frustrated with me.  So I backed off a bit.  Then last month she had a new interest and is doing fantastic!  Reading is one of my favorite developments and five is an amazing age!

9.  I really want these boots! But they're gone. Not in my size. Anywhere.  I've been looking since December.  Let me know if you come across them in an 8.

10.  I really want these shoes! But again not in an 8.

umm.....

February....What happened there?  It's been quite a blur so I'll just start here.  Valentines weekend, the Father daughter dance.  Lily and her daddy on their special date.  Just like last year, she fell asleep on his lap before it was over.  And in case you didn't notice....yes, she had all her beautiful hair cut off.  She loves her short cut!

rest

It's been quite a month.  I'll be back soon.

52 weeks of my babies

We've been sick here.  Sicker than I can ever remember.  I'll be back with more on that but first.....

I've decided to change things up on my 365 this year.  I am photographing my 365 from my phone, it's easy and always there.  I've also decided to photograph my babies every week and our family every month for the year.  So far I'm on track!  Woo Hoo!  I've already posted 1/52 so here's 2/52.....before Flu 2011!

squeaky clean

It's a new year.  Time to clean up.  food, household toxins and clutter are at the top of my list!  I'm feeling good about this....

1.1.11

It's 1.1.11. Make a wish!

Happy New Year my friends! I hope this year bring you peace, health and happiness. I've been quiet this past year. Sometimes I just feel like keeping things to myself. Hiding in my cozy house with my babies and letting the busy world move on without us. I crave those quiet days when we don't leave the house, stay in our jammies and play. This past year I took advantage of those days. They leave a much bigger impression on my memories and I hope my kiddos too. I also took the time to cuddle on the sofa with daddy after the babies were tucked in bed and left the computer off. But as I look back at this past year of blogging I am missing something. I am missing words and thoughts that belong with these precious memories. And now I find myself disappointed that I didn't write it all down. I owe it to my babies and myself to document not only in photographs but in words. So this is my resolution.