Camping Trip!

Our Church is going camping in Payson July 30th for 4 days. We're going with and are totally excited! We have never been camping as a family before so it should be interesting! We're really excited to get closer to the people we've made friendships with, and get to know those that we don't know yet! We're also happy about getting out of this heat for a few days! The kids are really looking forward to sleeping in a tent, I however am a little weary, but I will do it for them! If all else fails and I'm too freaked out about sleeping in the tent, I will sleep in the Car! LOL. We have to go today to pick up our camping gear, we're borrowing a bunch of stuff from our friends. So it's making it more exciting! One week to go!! Fun times!

Christmas Plans!

So, Chris and I decided we'll be spending this Christmas up North with the girls. Just the 4 of us! We take the girls on the Polar Express every year, and this year they started a Christmas Eve train, it's longer, and has more things on it. So we are going to take the girls on that train, and stay up in Flagstaff for Christmas, it should be awesome! There will be snow on the ground by then and it will be our first white Christmas! We're really excited to go, and so are the girls! We're looking forward to being alone as a family, and enjoying the nice cold weather! Can't wait!

Meet Miley!

So the girls were pretty broken hearted about not having Chubbs anymore, so this past weekend Chris and I went to the Humane Society and picked out a kitten for them. She is 13 weeks old, all black with green eyes (very cool). Cats do fine in apartments and can hide when they need space, unlike dogs. We went and picked her up on Sunday and the girls were SO stoked!! They screamed like crazy and it was the highest pitched scream I've ever heard, after being a Mom of girls for 7 years...I've learned the higher the pitch the better! LOL.

We brought her home, and she is just a love. She purrs all of the time, and loves to knead you. She is a good girl! I LOVE that cats are automatically potty trained! Woo Hoo! The kids are very happy...oh and they named her Miley (after Miley Cyrus) lol...

Also, I am very proud of my Hubby, he is SO not a cat person, but he'll do anything for his girls. He's actually warmed up to her, and even lets her sleep in our bed. She likes to lick his head in the middle of the night...he's not a big fan of that, but he allows it :o) Thanks Hunny for being such a sweet Daddy!!

She likes to climb onto the Entertainment Center and sleep next to Chris' PS3 (he doesn't care for that too much lol)

Finally all moved in!

We've unpacked everything and are settled in, man it sure feels good to been in our own place again! We've been using the pool here a LOT the kids love swimming, and we've been enjoying time together as a family.

The girls had their Birthday Party on July 12th, we went swimming and had a great time with friends and family. Still can't believe our babies are 7 & 4...wow!

We had to find a new home for Chubbs and we are so sad...she just wasn't doing well in the apartment, she had no space of her own, and she started acting out (no fun!) We think she was missing having a big backyard to run in and a place to escape from the kids. So we talked to Terri, (the breeder we got her from) and she found her an awesome family (whom she is friends with) they live in Gilbert and have a huge house, big backyard, two kids and the Mom stays home. So she'll have everything she needs. It was really hard to say goodbye to her, but we know it was best for her, and we love her and want her to be happy.

Other than that, we're doing the same ol' thing :o)

Here are some pics from the girls party! Enjoy!

Date night! Woo Hoo!

The girls LOVE to go and stay at Great Grandma Norma's house, they're like 3 little old ladies together, they dance around the house, they garden, they sew doll clothes and read books. So this past Friday the girls went over to spend the night with her (they do it a few times a month) So Chris and I took advantage of the situation and had an official date night!

We haven't been alone in ages, so it was SO nice to just hang out together. We went to dinner, a movie and then to Abuelo's (our fave restaurant) for drinks and then back to our house and hit the hot tub for a few hours! It was SO much fun! We'd forgotten what it was like to be alone, and I'm glad we did it. We really needed it! I love that boy so much, he still gives me butterflies when I see him, or hear his voice. I'm one lucky gal to have a guy like him!

Our girls!

Had a few minutes, thought I would update on the girls a bit.

Kaitlynn turned 7 on June 5th...yeah you read that right....7!! I know EVERY Mom says it, but it honestly feels like just yesterday, when the Dr. layed her on my chest as a brand new baby. I can't believe how fast time flies...it really makes me want to cherish our time together even more. She's growing up so fast, and she is so smart, beautiful, sweet, caring and just makes us so proud!
She just finished the 2nd grade, and will be starting 3rd in August. She was on the honor roll this last year!! Her school sent her a really nice certificate, which we will be having framed! LOL. We are so proud of her, all A's and one B this year which is AMAZING! She is really thriving by doing the distance learning, it's a really good fit for us.

Ashlynn will be 4 on June 25th...again....you read that right...4!! Time has definitely flown by with her too! She is a spunky little thing and just lights up this house with how funny and sweet she is! She just finished the first half of her preschooling, and in August will start the second half. We're going a little slower with her than with Kaitlynn, because she doesn't seem to grasp things as easily, but she is still very smart! She talks like a little grown up and it cracks me up.
She is still underweight and not as big as she should be, but that's expected because of her being premature. She looks like she is 2, but that's ok with me, cause they're growing up too fast anyway! LOL

They're both doing wonderfully and are so strong. I thank God everyday for these two girls!

Here are a couple of pictures of them from recently!

It's been a LONG time!

Things have been pretty crazy for us the past 3 months. As most of you know, Chris lost his job, we lost our house and for the next couple of months bounced around staying with friends and family. We had planned on moving to Michigan to stay with Chris' sister Heather, and about 5 days before we were scheduled to move, Chris got a job offer here in Tempe, AZ! Obviously the Lord wanted us to stay here, and he made that possible by finding Chris this job.
I'll admit though, that we were all bummed that we didn't get to go to Michigan because we know we would have had a blast, but God has his plan for us and we just have to follow him! We're still trying to plan a trip to visit them soon though!

So far, this job is great. Chris is less stressed out and is working normal hours, and is usually home around 4:30 everyday, which is so nice! At his old job we wouldn't see him until 6:30-7 and would only have a short time to hang with him before bed time. So we are all defnitely loving the hours! We're so thankful that he has this job.

We also finally moved into our own place! As much as we appreciated our friends Ronney and Angie and Chris' parents giving us a place to stay, and had so much fun being with them, there is no place like your own home!
We moved into an apartment in Goodyear last Saturday and are loving it!

Going through what we've been through these past few months has been a blessing in disguise, because we were able to get our priorities in check and realize what is truly important to us, and what this life is really about.
We were also able to see who our real friends and family are, and it made us so grateful for the ones who stood up to help us out, no questions asked. We're so thankful for the people in our lives that love us unconditionally and who are there for us no matter what!

Well, thats about all I have for now, I need to get back to unpacking and get some laundry done! I'll update with pictures as soon as I find my camera! It's buried some where in a box I assume! :o)

My camera broke...Boo!

Well, I was trying to be nice, and let Ash play with my camera. She likes to take random shots of all of her toys, the house, etc. She never does anything to hurt it and is careful. Well last night, she used it, and brought it back to me and said the screen was black. She swears up and down she didn't drop it or do anything to break it...so I guess I have to believe her lol. But the screen is black, so you can't view the pictures. I'm pretty sure it still takes pics, but I haven't checked it yet, I'm afraid to. Oh well. I guess it's the kids camera now, and I'll have to pray for a good deal on a new one! Ugh! And yes, in case you were wondering, Chris was mad! LOL
On a fun note, we planned our family vacation last night. We reserved a hotel for 5 days in San Diego. We plan on going in May, Chris has 6 days off, so it should be lots of fun! Our hotel is just a couple of blocks from the beach, so we plan on spending most of our time there, and might hit Knotts Berry Farm while we're out there! It will just be a lazy, day by day vacation and I can't wait! Woo Hoo!!

Tee Ball

Kaitlynn has her first practice tonight, can't wait! We love it when she plays tee ball it's so much fun! Today is a busy day of spring cleaning and setting up school stuff! Kaitlynn is at Grandma Norma's house for a sleepover. She sure missed her while she was in Puerto Rico. She loves spending the night over there on Tuesdays, so she can go with Grandma to her dance class on Wednesday morning. They have so much fun, they crack me up!

Ash and I have been hanging out today, she's been helping me clean and we played barbies and Wii fit. She likes having a little one on one time with Mommy.

Well, back to my cleaning and then off to pick up Kaitlynn!

Here are some pics of her practicing with Daddy!

Holy Mojito's I'm bad at this!

Ok, so I was just surfing the net, and went by a few friends blogs and realized, how far behind I was on mine!!
Every day goes by pretty fast and I forget to catch everyone up!
We're doing great, the girls are getting big. I'm freakin out LOL. I just can't believe that my baby girls will be 7 and 4 this June...crazy!
They're both doing great, Ash is in preschool and Kaitlynn is finishing up the 2nd grade. They're both super smart and love learning! We're doing the home school thing again. Kaitlynn was having a really hard time getting by in regular school, due to her ADHD. So we decided as a family to go through a public school, who specializes in kids with learning disabilities, that we are able to do from home. She's thriving, doing it here. And I'm glad we've found what works for her. Not to mention, Ash is very happy to have her big sissy home again.
Tee Ball started back up, actually tomorrow night is Kaitlynn's first practice, we're looking forward to it. It's so much fun!
Chris is doing good, working tons (as usual) I'm doing good, health is in check! (Praise the Lord!) I spend my days holding down the fort, schooling the kids and trying to find a little breathing room LOL.
We're all happy, healthy and blessed! Here are some pictures of our trip to the Zoo and Aquarium this week!

My adorable niece Addie

Eye opener

It's amazing how children can open your eyes, just by saying what is on their heart. My girls bless me, and they keep me grounded. I am so thankful for them. Today was a long, hard, frustrating day...but just a few sweet words from my girly and it all goes away! This is why God gives us children!

Disneyland!!

Well, this year we did something a little different. Instead of showering the kids with a ton of presents (that they really don't need!) We decided to use the money, that we would have spent on gifts and head to California for 4 days! It was SO much fun! The girls had a blast! We went to Disneyland, the beach and just enjoyed the scenery!! Here are some slideshows from our trip! It was a great time! My parents and youngest Sister also came with us, and it was nice to have them there! We all spent Christmas together and we were lucky enough to have some alone time at Disneyland while my parents and the kids went back to the hotel to sleep! :o) 2008, was an incredible Christmas!! Hope your's was great too!!

Videos!!!

Ok, Updating some videos on here too! Enjoy!!

This is Ash rocking out on the drums...too funny!

This is the girls with a serious case of the giggles!

Christmas concert!

Kaitlynn's School had their 2nd grade Christmas Moose-ical! It was So cute!! Here are some pics. We're so proud!!

Holidays!!

We LOVE the Holidays around here! We are totally diggin' this colder weather and baking cookies, decorating the house, watching Christmas movies, drinking hot chocolate and looking at lights! It's truly the MOST wonderful time of the year! Here are some slideshows, one of Thanksgiving and one of our Christmas preparations! Enjoy!

Addie is here!!!

My sweet little Neice Adeline Lauren was born around 6:00pm on December 4th! She is absolutely beautiful! And healthy! We are so blessed and love her to pieces!! She was born a healthy 8lbs 2oz to two of the proudest parents ever! Needless to say I am the proudest Auntie ever too!! I have been at their house as many days as humanly possible so I can be there for all of the new things she's doing and enjoying "Baby Lovin" time! Congrats again Heidi and Andrew! Love you!!

She kept blinking so I said "hold your eye balls open girly" And she took me literally! LOL

Chubbs Update!

She is getting so big, and she's a huge pain in the butt (in the most loving way possible)! But we love her tons! Thought we'd share some pics of how big she is getting!! She's 4 and a half months old now!

So ugly it's cute!

Huh?

Yes, she sits like this, weirdo!

Cuties!

Yikes, it's been a while!!

Ok, so I just realized how long it's been since I've blogged. So here's a quick update!

We went to the Polar Express November 21st and we had a blast, we were able to bring my Mom along this year and it was her first time and she really enjoyed it! It was nice to have her with us!

The girls are doing great, Kaitlynn is doing awesome in school and Ashlynn is doing awesome just being her!

Chris and I are doing good too, very busy but good!

I'll update again soon, enjoy the slideshow from our trip!!

Crazy week!

Whew, well this week was a doozy. I was admitted to the hospital on Sunday, because I had a super bad asthma attack and my rescue inhaler didn't work. So they kept my butt in the hospital, and gave me breathing treatments every 3 hours until I got better. God is good, he took care of me and I was discharged on Wednesday and now I am A-Ok!

On to other news, Kaitlynn was accepted to a private school this week. As much as we loved the homeschooling, she was missing something, she missed having friends, and interacting with kids her age. And I am, of course not a trained teacher and I knew there was more out there for her. Not to mention, Ashlynn wasn't getting nearly as much attention as she wanted.

When we first decided to home school, I promised myself (and her), that I wouldn't force her to stay home if the time ever came where she didn't want to do it anymore.

So we discussed it as a family, and decided this was best. I gave it 110% and so did she, and it was a blessing while it lasted!

We're really excited about her school, it is one of the top performing schools in the valley, and they have SO much there for her, it's just down right crazy!

The other news we have, is that her new school received her records and test scores from AZVA (the homeschool program we did) and based on her test scores from DIBELS and Terra Nova testing, they placed her in 2nd grade!!! She was able to bypass an entire grade!

I'm telling you, she is SO smart!!! We're so happy for her, and very proud, she's going to go so far in life with her education, and we are really excited to see where it takes her.

So here's to our SECOND GRADER!!! Wow!!!! She's amazing!!!!!

Another video

This is video of Kaitlynn driving around the back yard in her jeep. She was pretending to be an old man driving! It was hilarious!!

Video of Kaitlynn!

This is video of Kaitlynn singing Hannah Montana in our backyard! Too funny!!

Pictures...

This is mainly a picture update. Not much is new here. Everyone is doing well and busy as ever! Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!!