Silly Boys- and some forgotten pictures

Drew and Kyle might be some of the silliest boys I know.  They are amazingly charming and pretty darn cute, though they can also be particularly infuriating.

Today, I went to check on them watching TV in my room, and found them like this:

So much for making my bed.

Drew loves to play on the bed- he always has.  In fact, I mentioned here when he was a baby that it was often the only thing that would make him happy.  I took a few shots of him and love the pure joy on his little face.

Drew turns two next month:  As he nears that defining age where he will leave all babyhood behind, I find myself feeling a little relieved, a little sad, and a little more determined to enjoy all the squeals and giggles as long as possible.

As I was uploading the pictures to our computer, I found some pictures we took at the Dbacks game last month.  We had our usual seats just above the bullpen, and unlike last time, this time the children were really good!

Very little squirming, no whining for extra drinks or treats, and we actually go to watch the game.

Of course, this might have helped a little.

The crowd was energetic, and the Dbacks won!  It's a lot of fun to be a fan when your team is actually doing well for once!  Go Dbacks!

Rose Garden Round-up

Last night we went to our ward party, the Rose Garden Round-up.  It was sure eventful!

First of all, it was good to see such great turn-out.  A lot of times our ward hasn't been great at supporting activities, but last night there were tons of people there!

We started out with dinner- sloppy joes and hot dogs, veggies, and chips.

Many people brought desserts to share.  I brought Cake Batter Blondies.

They weren't the hit I thought they would be, even though they are super delicious.  The recipe is here if you want to try them yourself.  I guess that means there are plenty left over for us to enjoy!

After dinner, Dusty the Singing Cowboy put on a show for the families.

It wasn't such a great thing for my kids.  All the kids were given straw cowboy hats to wear, and as Dusty walked his (real) horse into the gym, the horse decided Kyle's hat would be good to eat.  Unfortunately, it was fastened under his chin, and as the horse lifted up the hat into his mouth, it choked Kyle.  Luckily, a good friend grabbed him, and comforted him, as I was dealing with Drew in the corner.

See, Drew doesn't like animals at this point in life.  He is even afraid of our giant teddy bear.  So when I put him down for a minute so I could grab the camera, he freaked out and started screaming and crying.

Mother of the year award-- pass it on over!  Make one kid scream and cry while missing your other child get choked by a horse.

Anyway, they also had fun activities like "bull riding", roping, and an obstacle course for the kids to ride stick ponies through.

Sorry these are blurry- my camera doesn't
quite capture "action shots" cleanly.

I'd say everyone had a rootin' tootin' good time.  Except maybe Kyle.  He's afraid of horses now.  He might be scarred for life.

First Day of First Grade

I can't believe school is starting again!  I dropped Emma off this morning, snapped a few pictures, and her class got right down to work.  I know it will be a great year!

School Year:  2011-2012
School:  Adams Traditional Academy
Teacher:  Ms. Brown

Camping with Children in Christopher Creek

It's becoming an annual tradition for us to take the children camping for a weekend.  We all have a great time, get really dirty, and find some fun ways to enjoy the great outdoors.  Marcus gets to go camping a lot with the Scouts, but camping with your family is a completely different experience.

We decided to try out the campground at Christopher Creek.  We went up Thursday afternoon and set up our campsite.  It wasn't too crowded the first night.  In fact, from this view, you'd never know we were surrounded by people the rest of the weekend.

We let the kids get oriented, then took them exploring by the creek.  

In the summer, Christopher Creek runs pretty dry, though it is prone to flash flooding.  Drew practiced his favorite pastime of throwing rocks into the water.  

Marcus helped Kyle work on his baseball throwing skills, using rocks for practice.

It only took a few minutes for Kyle to get wet and dirty.

After that, we made dinner and the requisite Smores.  The kids were pretty tired and fell asleep quickly.  Marcus and I enjoyed the fire, then turned in ourselves.  Our tent was on a slight incline, so we basically rolled down the hill all night.  Good times.

Friday began early-- Drew was up at about 5:30.  Fun fun.  

It was our hiking day.  Marcus found this great place between Payson and Pine called Tonto Natural Bridge State Park.  

It's a little hidden valley with some great undeveloped hiking trails.  This means you climb over gigantic rocks, following the creekbed to the natural bridge.  

The trail ended at a swimming hole, but it was too rocky and cold for the kids to stay in very long.

A day of hiking must end in a trip to Dairy Queen.  

My kids are still new to ice cream cones.

We drove back to the campsite and rested, then finished off our day with dinner and more S'mores.  

Saturday morning we packed up, went on a nature-collecting hike on the mountain behind our campsite, then drove on home.

I really enjoy camping, but I don't like campgrounds.  We've used them because they are convenient with small children (bathrooms, drinking water, a fire ring, etc).  But it's hard to "get away" when you have people 50 feet from you in all directions.   I think next year we might venture out and try dispersed camping- you still use a tent, but you don't have any amenities.  

School starts in a week- so we have a busy week preparing.  What are you doing to enjoy the last days of your summer?

Summer Movies

This was the first summer I signed up for Harkins Theaters weekly Summer Movies.  A few of our friends all signed up for the same day so we could get the kids together and have a little fun.

We saw some winners (Megamind, Despicable Me) and some....not so great movies (Cats and Dogs, Alpha and Omega).  More than a few eyes were rolled

But getting together with friends and keeping cool in the summer heat are priceless.

Drew had a hard time the first few weeks, as he didn't like loud, startling noises, but as with everything, he got used to it over time.

We'll definitely be back next summer.

Last Minute Lake Trip

I haven't posted in a few weeks.  We've been doing things.  They're just not necessarily blog-worthy things.

Our routine is this:  Mondays- swim lessons.  Tuesdays- run errands.  Wednesdays- Summer Movies.  Thursdays- errands or stay at home and fight play.  Fridays- Water Park.

So, you see, we're keeping ourselves busy, but it's probably not too exciting to read about.

On Tuesday, Marcus planned to go to Lake Pleasant with the youth for their combined activity.  He came home at 1:30, and we suddenly decided it would be lots of fun to wake the boys up from their naps, throw a bunch of stuff together, and take the whole family to the lake.  And we had to be at the church by 2:00.

Now, if you've ever made a trip to a lake or beach with small kids, you know you have to bring a lot of stuff.  Towels, sunscreen, water toys, drinks, food, diapers, etc.  It was a bit of a mad dash getting everyone ready to go.  We didn't make it to the church right on time, but soon enough, we were loaded up and on our way.

Emma and Kyle are getting to be stronger swimmers.  In our rush, we could not find their life jackets, though, so we let them swim wearing innertubes.  They had a great time hanging out with the older kids, who were nice enough to put up with them.

Drew as usual wasn't too interested in going in the water (which is a lot easier for me!)  He spent the afternoon throwing rocks into the water or sitting on my lap.

The older kids even got to go out on the boat and get pulled around in the raft.  They loved it!

We stayed for dinner- a BBQ on the "beach", then headed home when Kyle decided to throw a screaming fit on the canoe.  That was an obvious sign that our day was done.

With that bit of excitement, we are back to normal.  Summer is rushing by- we need to do something else fun before it's over.  Less than three weeks, folks.  School is beckoning!

What We Did for the 4th

This post doesn't have any pictures.  We did a lot last weekend, but I didn't take any pictures.  I apologize!

Two short days of recovery after our trip, Grandpa Steve flew in for a visit.  That means we had an excuse to get all the Arizona Earnests together.  

Friday we met up with Chelsea and Taylor at BJ's Restaurant for a Pizookie.  And dinner.  

Saturday, we drove down to Todd and Amber's for a BBQ and some fun with the cousins.  I discovered that Drew is terrified of dogs, as is Emma.  After some delicious food, we made our way to the Mesa Freedom Festival.  The kids jumped on bouncy houses and we tried to make our way through the crowds to check out the vintage cars and fun booths.

I should mention that the high was 118 that day.

I think we must have been crazy.

At 8:45, we had had enough, and headed for home.  We saw a fireworks show on the way home, then watched the local show from our front step when we got to our house.  It was a late night for my early risers.

Sunday was the big day.  See, Steve flew in because Marcus wanted him to be the one to ordain him to be a high priest.  That's right- Marcus was called to be in the bishopric for our ward.  2nd Counselor, to be precise.  Thanks to Todd and Amber's family, and Chelsea and Taylor, for coming up to join us for that special day.  We are excited about his opportunity to serve in this way, but of course apprehensive of the changes it will bring.   He will be gone on Sundays and evenings during the week a lot more, and I will now be wrangling my three young children in the pew by myself.  The only thing I can think is that they are getting older, and (mostly) better at being reverent each week, so it will only get better from here.  

After church, we had a quick family lunch, and then Steve was off to the airport.  Thanks for coming, Grandpa- we loved having you here!

Monday was the actual 4th of July, as you know.  Marcus went golfing with some friends (the high was only 108), and my friend Anissa and I took the kids to see Cars 2.  Then we got lunch and did a little shopping.  The kids swam in our little backyard pool all afternoon, and we celebrated the 4th with a little BBQ and some legal-to-buy-but-not-to-use fireworks.  We just used sparklers and pop-its, actually, which were approved to use here in Phoenix.

I am thankful to live in America, and thankful for the freedoms we enjoy.  I appreciate our armed forces for serving so faithfully in times of war and peace.  I can't think of a better gift than spending a holiday with friends and family.  I hope your 4th was just as fun.

Dancing in the Reign

Before we left for Mexico, Emma had her dance recital.  Its theme was our blog title.  This year, she was in two dances:  Hot, Hot, Hot (tap) and Totally Minnie (jazz).  They were cute, as always.  Her class has gotten so much better since last year.  Last year, they all had to look offstage at their teacher the whole time, and half of them forgot what to do next.  This year, (mostly) no one watched the teacher, and while they are still dancing at a very  basic level, their rhythm was better, and they even tried to smile and dance at the same time (tough for 6 year olds!)

 Here they are at dress rehearsal, all lined up to go.  So pink and girly.

Emma loves dance so much.  Though rhythm and movement don't come naturally to her, she has an amazing memory and can always remember all the steps.  I am excited to watch her grow each year as she keeps dancing.

We weren't allowed to film the recital, so this is one of her dances from their dress rehearsal.  Their dancing makes me laugh (especially when they try to shake their hips!), but they're so cute, and really, they have learned so much this year!

Our Trip to Tulum, Mexico

We just got back from a wonderful vacation to Tulum, Mexico. In case you haven't heard of it, it is about an hour and a half south of Cancun on the Yucatan Peninsula. We stayed in Cabanas Tulum, right on the beach, and loved every minute of it.

I have a synopsis of our trip, and a slideshow made from most of our pictures.

First the fun stuff:
--My hair is wavy there. It was pretty much pointless to do anything but pull it up.
--Topes. Speed Bumps are everywhere, often with very little warning. Won't miss those.
--Bathrooms aren't free in Mexico. If you don't buy something at the shop or restaurant, you pay.
--Marcus spoke Portuguese to everyone, and enough translated that he got on quite well. I found the locals were much friendlier if you attempted to use Spanish.
--I was not prepared for how people accost you and hover over you at tourist sites and in stores. Even when we flew in at the airport, you walk out the gates and everyone starts yelling at you to try to get you to hire them to drive or to buy their timeshare crud. In stores and at tourist sites, they follow you around and try to entice you to buy by saying "Almost Free" or "Only One Dollar".

We arrived in Cancun an hour late on Tuesday, then rented a car and drove down to Tulum. It was a nice, easy drive. We checked into Cabanas Tulum and ate dinner at the on-site restaurant, El Bistro. The food was amazing, though the portions were huge.

Our first full day was spent at Xel-ha (pronounced Shell-hah). It is a natural aquarium, and our ticket included snorkeling, bicycles, inner tubes, swimming, and more. Plus all our food and drinks were included for the day. We spent a long time snorkeling. Then we explored the other areas, finding some ziplines, the Cliff of Courage (like a jump off a high dive), a "river" to tube down, a Mayan cave to explore, plenty of hiking, some cenotes (pools that lead to underground rivers leading to the sea), and even some bicycles to ride. We were there from open to close, and loved every minute of it. We also learned that our sunscreen wasn't strong enough, or we needed more, because even with 3 applications of sunscreen, we both got very sunburned, in places.

Thursday, we spent the morning at the Mayan ruins in Tulum. I was unprepared for the barrage of of vendors selling items as you walked in the entrance. Once you got past that, it was a 10 minute walk to the ruin site up on the cliffs. It was 93 degrees and 100 percent humidity. I haven't been that hot in a long time, and I live in Phoenix! After about an hour, we were ready to cool off in the beach below. Then we returned to our hotel and spent the afternoon relaxing on the beach.

Friday, we drove up to Xplor- an adventure park near Playa Del Carmen. We started off with two zipline courses, of varying heights and speeds. They had tower landings and water landings. It was so much fun! Then we drove tractors through the jungle and into caves. We also paddled canoes through a cave, swam in the underground river, and ziplined in hammocks. We were at Xplor all day (meals also included) and had a great time!

Saturday was another down day, so we drove a few KM from Tulum to Grand Cenote. It was this sunken pool of crystal clear, blue water. We snorkeled and explored the caves. These cenotes are really cool for scuba divers, but we aren't certified as such, and so just stayed to the top. After that, we ate lunch and spent another afternoon relaxing.

On Sunday, our plan was to go to Chichen Itza, but it was POURING rain, and our car battery was dead. We had found out the night before, and spent thirty minutes trying to track down jumper cables, but apparently no one carries them. We ended up having to call the rental car company to come give us a jump. Some humor ensued when the driver then proceeded to lock our keys in the car. Call us unlucky in cars.... Anyway, the weather was just awful, so we pretty much just hung around the hotel all day.

Monday was overcast, but not raining, so we drove about 2 hours to Chichen Itza. We got up early and made it there right when it opened so we could avoid the tour bus crowds. We spent three hours exploring the ruins on our own. We had a few more buildings to go when the skies opened up and soaked everyone. We waited it out for a little bit, but decided to head on out of the park. As we did, hundreds of tourists began pouring through the gates, as the tour bus crowd began arriving. Good timing! Unfortunately, this also began my 12 hour stint with Montezuma's Revenge. Try driving through the Mexican jungle and trying to find a bathroom in a tiny town, when you don't speak Spanish or Mayan and they don't speak English. We finally found one that charged me 5 pesos.

Tuesday was travel day- cleaning up, packing up, and driving back to the Aeropuerto. All went well, and we made it home to our kids!

We had some great food in Tulum. Tacos Diaz was fabulous- simple, but so tasty. Marcus especially liked the fruit waters and rice pudding. We had some extremely spicy tacos at Don Cafeto's (which my lips are still recovering from), and some good Pollo Mole at El Tacquetto (although this might be what made me sick. I tried to be really careful, but who knows?)

We enjoyed breakfasts at El Bistro. I most often had Chocolate Caliente and a Cuernito con Nutella (Croissant with Nutella). So GOOD! We also went there for drinks some evenings- shakes or frozen lemonades.

All in all, vacation was wonderful. It was nice to get away- just the two of us. And, it was nice to get home and see our lovely kids. Thanks to my mom for watching them while we were gone. Now, I hope you enjoy our pictures!

Make your own slideshow design

Pierced Ears

Emma got her ears pierced yesterday!  I got mine pierced when I was in kindergarten, and I told Emma she could too, when she felt ready.  She's been asking for awhile, and we finally got it done when we were out shopping last night.

She was so brave!  I was really proud of her.  She loves her sparkly new earrings!

I have a First Grader!

This has been a crazy, fun week.  To celebrate the last week of school, Emma's kindergarten class had a variety of fun activities.  Monday was Game Day, where each child got to bring in a board game and teach it to a group of friends.  Wednesday was Water Day, where they played fun water games and got soaked outside!  Thursday was a special End-of-theYear Program and Ice Cream celebration!  Today, Friday, was the last day of school.  An assembly was held, awards were given out, and pizza was eaten!

Emma received several awards from her teacher.  She was recognized at the assembly for exceptional attendance (she only missed one day!) and for being in the Phonogram Club!  Emma's school uses the Spalding method for reading and writing, which is based on a series of phonograms.  They learn 70 phonograms over the course of the school year, and learn to write them correctly.  It's a very logical way to learn reading.   Anyway, Emma was one of six in her class to earn 100% on the final phonogram test.

Emma also received an award for being a hard worker and a good listener in class.  I am so proud of her for working so hard in school!

Emma has just loved kindergarten.  Every day when she gets in the car, she says "I had a good day today!"  When I ask her what she liked best, she has her favorites.  But when I ask her if there was anything she didn't like about school, she said "I like everything!"  I know she just has an appetite for learning, but I also credit her amazing teacher, Mrs. Perkins.  She was the perfect teacher for Emma's first school experience, and we will miss her a lot.  Luckily she is in our stake, so we'll see her around from time to time.

Mrs. Perkins was so nice to share some pictures of the kids from throughout the year, so I picked out a few of Emma to share with you.

This is Emma right before school started.

And  this is her on the last week.

Celebrating 100 days of school

Thanksgiving

Dr. Seuss's birthday

Hard at work in the classroom

Emma and her friend Carston- she plays with him and Adam
at recess because "they love me"

We will miss her friends and classmates this summer, but we are definitely ready for first grade.

My Birthday

Sunday was my birthday.  If you've read my craft blog, you know about some of it already.  But for those of you who don't, I'll give you the full run down here:

I woke up to the usual birthday banner and presents.  Even though we have 9:00 church on Sundays, my children get up so early that we had plenty of time to open presents before it was time to get ready.

I got gift cards aplenty, which means a lot of crafty shopping in the next few weeks!  Thank you to everyone!  I also got some cute bags, some candles and lotion, and some great fabric from my sister, whose family is stationed in South Korea.  I have great ideas for many of the fabrics already churning in my head.

I already completed one project, a dust cover for my sewing machine,

and am hard at work on sewing a new skirt from one of the other fabrics.  I would have finished it to show off today, but I ran out of white thread.  Oh well-

Anyway, after church and a lazy afternoon, Marcus made us a really nice dinner.  I was a little bummed because I kind of wanted to share my birthday with friends, too.  I love my family, but it's even more fun to celebrate with more people.   Anyway, I do have two close friends, Lee and Anissa,  that we do lots of things with, but they weren't able to come over due to a prior dinner invitation from another friend.  So, I was kind of moping- wishing someone could have come over so we didn't have to waste all the food Marcus was making.

Then the doorbell rang- and it was Lee and Anissa!  Their "prior dinner invitation" was from Marcus, who told them to make up an excuse when I invited them to come.  Ha ha- very funny!  I was completely surprised to see them, and so happy they were able to come share my birthday with me!  It really made my day.

Marcus is great at surprises.  Last year, he flew my sister in from Virgina for my birthday.  This year, it was our friends.  I don't know what he'll come up with next....

Anyway, we had tri-tip steak, Asian salad, rolls, and of course, birthday cake and ice cream.  Everyone sang to me, and after we put the kids to bed, we even got a card game in.



Sadly, this was the best picture of me....



Thanks, friends and family, for a wonderful birthday!