Back Yard Play

After dinner we all like to go outside and sit on the patio to talk while the kids play. The first collage is the result of me saying to Katelynn, "Now stand still and smile at the camera". It's not perfect, a bit of an exaggerated smile, but we're making progress.

The second collage shows Katelynn pushing Christopher around in their little Radio Flyer truck. He loved it, and so did she until she wanted to turn him around and said "He's heavy!". She also liked climbing on (and falling off ) the little wall surrounding one of my flower gardens. A pleasant evening for all.

Charitable Causes

I've always been an advocate of donating to charitable causes, I even donated a car once! So when the new Goodwill store opened up nearby, I knew that I would find something to give them. Yesterday Brent and I took Katelynn there and we donated two large bags of clothes and then wandered inside to take a look.
Brent bought himself a book and Katelynn bought a book Pooh and Roo for 99 cents and a very nice pink keyboard for $1.99 which actually works and plays some very nice tunes. But when I saw this plaque, I just had to buy it. It expresses my sentiments exactly of life in my house. It's not perfectly made; the cow is a little off center, but hey, it came from the thrift store, and right now it's outside my front door as a warning to all who wish to enter!

A Mischievous Week

Katelynn has been just a little mischievous this week. Here are a list of some of the things she has done.

• A few days ago she found some wax crayons and scribbled on my bedroom door, the linen closet door and the adjoining wall. Thankfully I found that baby wipes (the nearest thing to hand) gets it off good.
• On the same day I was downstairs and heard some banging. I kind of tuned it out as having been married to a carpenter for all these years, it's a noise that you get used to, although I must say, there hasn't been a lot of that kind of work done around the house recently. Eventually though I went to investigate and found Katelynn in her parent's room with a hammer that she had found and nails all over the floor. I still haven't discovered what she was banging at, but there were no obvious dents in the walls or door.
• She was a naughty girl at the park and ran off towards the road. Christopher was in the stroller and Olivia had to leave him whilst she went running off after Katelynn who by this time was in the road!
• When I came home from work yesterday afternoon, she looked a little dark around the eyes and said to me, as proud as punch, "I've been playing with my Mummy's make-up. I put it on my eyes!" "Well, " I said, "your Mummy used do play with Grandma's make up when she was a little girl, so I guess it's okay." She then lifted up her T-shirt to show me a tummy painted with pink lipstick. "When did you ever see Grandma putting lipstick on her tummy?" I asked her.
• Today, we missed a phenomenal photo opportunity. She got hold of a box of her Mom's sanitary pads, took off the sticky tapes and stuck them all over the bedroom wall and one on her bottom!!!

Never a dull moment in this household!

Bathtime is Playtime

Last night when Olivia bathed Christopher in the sink, Uncle Jordan had fun with the soap suds and made a Mohawk out of it. It was just too good a photo opportunity to miss. Christopher used to scream and scream, but now he really loves the whole experience. My sink is really deep, so he can get a good soak.

Summer's Here

Yep, here in Arizona the weather is already in the 90's and should hit 100F by tomorrow, so it's time to cool off a little. We don't have a pool at our house, but we brought out our little paddling pool which is just the right size for Katelynn to splash about it. Here she is with her mammy. It was really difficult to get good photos as the light was so bright reflecting off the water, but I think these do show the fun she was having.

After they had finished, Olivia caught the dogs jumping in the pool. I told her not to encourage them as they easily get dirt in the water or could rip the pool itself, but she thought they were too cute and threw little cocktail sausages into the water just so I could get these pics. Bad girl!

Handsome Little Devil

Here's Christopher just a couple of weeks away from his first birthday. I found this T shirt a few weeks ago and have waited for an opportunity to have him pose in it. Easier said than done. He is such an active little guy. He never stops moving. These were taken either in the confines of his Granddad's arms or his stroller. He looks cute, but beware. His Grandad and I have re-named him Piranha as he loves nothing more than to sharpen his teeth on any part of your anatomy that he can wrap his mouth around.

Easter week life

I woke up on Sunday morning with a sore throat, hoping and praying it wouldn't develop into anything, even though I had been in contact with people both at home and work who had been ill. Other than the throat, I felt okay.
The girls had their pretty Easter dresses on but defied Grandma to take a nice Easter picture of them together. These were the best I could get. Danielle just wanted to play with the truck and Katelynn just wanted to put the stickers she'd got as part of her Easter basket all over her face!
As Monday wore on, I got sicker with fever and chills which lasted until Wednesday. I lost 5lbs just through sweat alone! Now I just need to figure out how to keep that off. Whilst those symptoms have gone, I'm left with a nasty upper respiratory thing. Tons of coughing and a problem that little Miss Kansas doesn't need to worry about any more! :) I've already had two days off work and tomorrow will be my third. This is so unlike me, but I really feel yucky right now.

He Is Risen

Christ the Lord is Risen Today. Alleluia!

The Easter Pageant

Last night Brent and I along with Daniel, Heather and Danielle, Olivia, Katelynn and Christopher, went to the Easter Pageant at the Mesa Arizona Temple. It's the world's largest outdoor Easter pageant and is held each year on the north lawn of the temple during the week running up to Easter. As Jordan once said when he was about 13..."It's the same as last year!" The story is the same, but I always still enjoy going to the event.

This is a view of the Temple from where we were sitting.

I wouldn't normally include this picture of me. When Jordan saw it he said "Mam, you look mean!" I agree I do. Somehow I went way overboard on the eye makeup and Olivia caught me not smiling, but the picture serves a purpose. Can you see how far we are away from the stage? Brent just hates to be near the front and this year he got his wish that we sat further back. Next year, I told him, we'll go on our own and I'll get MY wish to sit near the front.

From the distance that we were sitting at, I thought these pictures were not too bad at all. Remember you can click on each photo to make it bigger.

Here's the angels singing. Katelynn was fascinated by them and kept pointing at them saying "Angels!".
The Last Supper.
The Crucifixion.

Here are three shots of Jesus' resurrection. This is my favorite part of the performance. It truly looks breathtaking. Katelynn can't say Jesus properly, it comes out as Je-ass, and she kept repeating "Je-ass died, Je-ass died". How do you explain the glorious resurrection to a 2 year old?

The whole experience tired Katelynn out and I just thought this picture of her asleep in her car seat was too cute. Look at her with her leg propped up like that!

Mam's Memorial

April 9th would have been my sweet mother in law's 75th birthday. When she died last August, none of us were able to go to her funeral in England and we weren't even all together as a family, so we weren't able to say goodbye as a family. With Olivia moving back to Arizona last month, we thought that Grandma's birthday would be the ideal opportunity to have a small "memorial" for her. Nothing fancy, no hymns or prayers, just us taking time to get together and say "We Love You, Grandma"
We managed to find 30 minutes in our busy lives to gather at Discovery Park here in Gilbert to take a few pictures, send white balloons to heaven and just spend some time walking around the park with each other.

This is a rare picture of all of us together. The sun was shining brightly in our faces making us all look rather grumpy, but we weren't at all. The children didn't like any of the photo taking (nor did Brent) as they just wanted to be off running and going to see the ducks, so it is what it is.

Each of us sent a white balloon up to Grandma in heaven,,,eleven in total. It looked beautiful. They went so high that eventually they just looked like bright stars in a blue sky.

I even found time to tease Brent a little and Jordan snapped this picture of us.

Here is a collage of the rest of the time we spent at the park.

Toddler Happenings

This week Katelynn progressed to a toddler bed. As they're all "camping" at my house, there isn't enough room right now for an adult size twin (single) bed but Katelynn is now a big girl and needed to get our of her crib. A trip to the store and this was the answer. They had pink beds with Disney Princesses on them but Katelynn's hero right now is Sponge Bob Square Pants, so this is the bed she chose.

Potty training...aarrgh!!!! When Katelynn was supposed to start potty training, her mammy had just had a baby who then had medical problems and needed to have surgery. Then it was a cold New York winter and then they moved here, so lots of traumas to deal with and a late start with the potty. At first, she would scream and scream, but today, we had our first success. We all sang and danced the PeePee in the Potty song and clapped enthusiastically. She's a very stubborn girl though (not sure where she gets that from!) and won't do things if she doesn't want to, so lets not claim true success just yet!!!