Week in Review...

Ashlyns caterpillar became a butterfly! Yea! She named it Elsa and then we set her free. It was such a neat experience being able to see the different stages of the caterpillar!

Jacob came home with this drawing that he did of George Washington, I thought it was adorable. I believe the big triangles are supposed to be his white hair.

Rick got an early birthday present from his parents, a new suit! Hopefully he'll be putting this to good use soon with some great interviews!

We checked out a new park this last weekend, it's right outside of the Cubs new Spring training stadium. It's amazing, it has a splash pad, zip line and tons of climbing structures, playgrounds, walking trails, fountains and even a lake! The kids loved it!

Abby had fun hanging out with me in the shade.

Haley had New Beginnings on Wednesday and she had a solo part in the song, I will try and get the video for it.

 I love this picture~ it looks like she's taking a selfie! Hilarious!

 I made lemon meringue pie for Rick when I was off of my challenge, which by the way I am back on! yea! It was delish!

 Rick took the kids to the train park a few weeks ago...

 The kids discovered that there are kids living kiddie-corner from us and so they talk to each other over the fence, so cute!

House Painting and Abby is 7 months!!

So we live in an HOA that dictates to us when we have to do certain things...I don't like it but it's very hard to find a home in Arizona that isn't in an HOA. So with that being said...we were told that we needed to paint our house, luckily it's tax return season. So instead of getting a new washer, dryer, stove, microwave, ceiling fans, the list goes on and on, we got to paint our house! I know that I'm bummed about where the money went, but it really did turn out amazing!! Here's the BEFORE...

And here's the AFTER...I think it looks like a completely different house! Much more cheerful and light!

Don't mind my screen door, it's always falling down...another thing that we need! ha!

And in even better news, Abby is 7 months!! The time really is flying by! I love this little sweetheart, she lights up any room! As soon as I get her in the morning she is smiling, such a happy baby!

 Now that's talent!!

Week in Review...

Jacob took this pic of Abby

 

So my healthy challenge ended on Tuesday and so of course on Wednesday after not eating sweets for 6 weeks I wanted nothing but sugar! So the kids and I made sugar cookies for Valentines Day and I was so sick!! You don't realize that sugar is poison until you've been off of it for awhile. I won part of the challenge!! I didn't win the overall weight part, but I won for getting perfect points! Yea! I also lost 12 lbs, so that was a bonus! Now I've got to get back to eating healthier and exercising again because I've already gained back 2 lbs:(. Yea, back to the grind!

Ashlyn holding Abby, she's finally figuring out how fun it is to hold her feet and that she can grab toys with her feet.She's also figured out how to roll both ways and has started to scoot on her back, she'll arch her head and back up and scoot backwards, it's hilarious.

Kids at the park..

I had to take a pic because shes been starting to tuck her knees under and her bum up when she sleeps, all of my kids have done this. It is so cute!

Ashlyns caterpillar turned into a butterfly!! We transferred it to a larger container, the kids and I are loving having a science project in our house!

We also found out this week that Haley got into the Mesa Youth Orchestra and that she scored the highest audition score for her whole school!! Yea Haley!!

Week in review...

Ashlyns class is studying insects and so they've had mealworms and caterpillars in their class to observe and study. They were so lucky to bring some home too! So we have a caterpillar that is currently making a chrysalis right now, it is the coolest.

We were able to go to the Gilbert Temple to tour it on Thursday night. It was the most beautiful temple that I've been through, with soft greens throughout, stained glass doors, marble floors, beautiful furniture, chandeliers and even the seat had an embossed velvet leaf pattern on them. Gorgeous! It had a craftsman type feel to it that I love. I love the attention to every little detail that is given, it was a wonderful experience to go through the sealing room and have each of the kids look through the mirrors and see that our family is an eternal one. Jacob didn't listen to his mom and didn't bring his coat out of the car, so he was cold and grumpy.

Haley auditioned for the Mesa Youth Orchestra on Saturday, she did a great job and we should find out if she made it early this week. If she did then she will be having lots of rehearsals for a big concert in the gorgeous Mesa Arts Center downtown in April. Even if she doesn't make it, I was proud of her for trying. She is so gifted when it comes to music, only a few students from her school were chosen by their orchestra teacher to try out for this concert.

It was a great week!

Week in Review..

I found some chicken at a great price so I decided to can it instead of freeze it all. I love canning.

I've been doing alot of babysitting lately to earn some money. The kids love it when we have friends come over. I have a little girl that I watch on Monday, Thursday and Friday and I'll be having two more kids join us on Thursdays.

Abby loves to jump and kick so with my babysitting money I purchased this jumperoo off of Craigslist. She enjoys it and thinks it is fun.

I'm still doing the healthy challenge and I'm now down 9 lbs! Yahoo! We went for a walk on Saturday morning and the kids were excited to go to the park. I love these green trees in the background.

We took Abby in for her 6 month appointment on MLK day and she was almost 14 lbs and 26 inches long. She's in the 10th percentile for weight, so don't let her chubby cheeks deceive you:)