Sum-Sum-Summertime

Summer is coming to a close. We have mixed feelings about it around here. The kids are SO excited to start school, but it's been fun to play and sleep in and not stick to much of a schedule. So, what have we been up to this summer? Our summer began by hanging out with the UT McMillan cousins! It was such a treat. Ryan and Aubrey and their two sweet boys came and stayed a week. It was a week jam packed with swimming, Chuck E Cheese, bbq's, splash park, and more swimming.

Aiden and Cade

Gavin and Ollie

I found my point and shoot camera and I was a little excited to see what was on it. It's been awhile. I love this picture. Could he get any cuter??

Um, who is that? Not my husband. :)

We went to Jump and Shout at Riverview several times. The kids love that place. As do I. It's air conditioned, the kids get out and exercise and it's very family friendly. What's not to love?? They have special family days where admission is discounted. Perfect!

Slip n Slides

What do you do when you don't have a pool? Bust out the slip n slide!

Seeing Lifehouse and Daughtry with my mom and sister.

(A highlight of my summer!)

Swimming with friends!

Playing in the monsoon rains.

Celebrating National Cheesecake Day!
This was a very yummy and easy cheesecake. I got the recipe here.
The only thing I did different was double the crust and make the crust from graham crackers instead of chocolate cookie crumbs. It's a must try.

Hope you all enjoyed your summer!

Don't forget to enter the giveaway. It ends tonight!

Back to School $25 Kroger Giftcard Giveaway

Can you believe it's that time already?? Around here, we have less than two weeks before school is in session. My oldest is starting kindergarten and I've got a huge case of the school jitters...and I'm not even the one starting school! Anyway, we've been doing some back to school shopping here and there. I've found that history definitely repeats itself. Cade, faced with a zillion cool backpacks to choose from, chooses a Super Mario Brothers backpack. He's all about Mario these days. He even told me he will name one of his ten (yes, TEN) kids Mario. I have to giggle.

I digress...

Coming up on August 8th through August 21st, Kroger stores (Fry's around here) will be having an "Add Up the Savings" Event where you can stock up on all your favorite General Mills and Kimberly Clark items. (If you're anything like me, you need to know that those items include brands like: Cheerios, Huggies, Yoplait Yogurt, Pillsbury cookies and biscuits, Kleenex, Betty Crocker brownies, Cottonelle and Lucky Charms.) When you buy 8 of the participating items you'll receive $4 off. All you couponers, get your coupons ready!

On top of that, be sure to take advantage of the special Bonus Box Tops offer. All you have to do, if you haven't already, is sign up at www.rewardyourschool.com. Once you register, you automatically get 5 bonus box tops. You will also receive custom offers for box tops for buying participating items. These offers are:

* Buy any 4 Box Tops items and get 10 Bonus Box Tops

* Buy any 8 Box Tops items and get 25 Bonus Box Tops

The offers you select are loaded directly onto your Kroger Shopping Card to be redeemed once you purchase the item. They go directly to the school of your choice, so you don't have to clip and save anything. I like that feature because I can't pretty much assure you they would never get to the school.

Okay, still with me? Now is the fun part: the $25 Kroger gift card giveaway! To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment. Any old comment. Need ideas? How are you feeling about school starting? Happy? Sad? A little of both? What do you do to prepare? How do you deal with the Mommy school jitters? What do you do with all your "free time" once the kids are in school? (Funny, huh? I've gotten that question a few times.)

You have until Thursday, August 5th, 11:59pm to enter. Good luck! I look forward to checking out all the back to school blogging that will take place. :)

** General Mills, Kimberly Clark and Kroger Foods provided the giveaway gift card through MyBlogSpark.

Camping 2010

I haven't been a very good blogger lately. This summer has been busy! Kevin and I have been working a lot more this summer, so it's been crazy. We decided we wanted to get out of town for a weekend so last weekend we went on a campout with my brother and sister and their families. It was so fun! We haven't been camping since Cade was a baby, and it had been too long. We threw this little camping trip together last minute. We went up to Canyon Creek where we used to camp as kids. It was perfect. There weren't a lot of other campers and the weather was great. Here are some pics of the fun:

The McMillans

The Haws's

The Webbs

All the Webb cousins

Playing at the creek

Cade

Kevin and Gavin

Gavin on the swing

Cade on the swing

Myla on the swing

I have so many other pictures, but it takes so long to upload these days. Maybe I'll get around to uploading more soon.

I learned a few things this camping trip:

* Pack double the clothes for the kids you think you'll need.

* Don't make your daughter go to the bathroom behind a tree instead of the outhouse in the middle of the night when she has never done it before...even if there is a random bear roaming the woods. She'll inevitably get her pjs totally wet. That is where packing double the clothes for the kids comes in.

* I really don't like sleeping in a sleeping bag. Claustrophic feeling. I do really like sleeping on top of one though.

* A little rain is heavenly. A lot of rain, combined with windshield wipers that bust in the middle of the storm while driving down the winding highway, can be almost disastrous.

* Just when you think you can't get any dirtier, you can.

* Just when you think you can't have more fun, you can.

* Just when you think you can't love your family any more, you can.

* Just when you think you can't be attacked by any more gigantic beatles while trying to play games at night, you so can!

* Just when you think you can't possibly laugh any more, you can.

The Princess Turns 4

This is my baby...who isn't such a baby anymore! Gavin turned the big 2 recently and we had a great time celebrating him.

A few tidbits about Gavin:
* He is so independent. We have to keep a really good eye on this kid because he just wants to run. He doesn't really care if mom or dad is around. He's outta here.
* Gavin doesn't really say much yet. But he definitely knows how to communicate. He says a few words on his own: down, no, stop, mama, cheese. You know, all the important words. But mostly we hear: na na na na na. Gavinese.
* Gavin loves his brother and sister. Anything they are doing he wants to be doing. It's sweet. And they are so good about playing with him.
* We've been doing Mommy and me swimming lessons and he likes it. He doesn't want to do anything we ask him to do, but he likes being in the water and roaming around.
* We moved all the kids into one room because Gavin was so sad about being left out. Every night, at bedtime, we'd put Gavin in his room downstairs and he'd make the saddest little cry as the rest of us walked upstairs to our rooms. I'm so glad we moved him up with everyone else. Now his room is the playroom and all the toys are in there.

On Gavin's birthday we went up to a cabin in Pine with about 4 other couple friends of ours. They brought their youngest kids, who happen to be Gavin's friends. All girls and so cute. We brought balloons and stuff and celebrated a little up there. The next day, when we got home, we had a family dinner with cake and ice cream.

Trying to wrangle two year olds into sitting still for a picture is fun. :)

Here we are after all the kiddos are put to bed. We played games and laughed and had a great time. It was nice to get away for a bit. Thanks Picketts!

Cade's Celebration

Today we went to Cade's preschool celebration. The kids sang songs and we watched a DVD of the year. It was kind of emotional. Cade has had so much fun and has learned so much this year. He is ready for kindergarten. He told me the other day, "Mom, I'm going to kindergarten and that makes me happy. But I'll be gone from you all day and that makes me sad." That is exactly how I feel too. But we still have the summer and we will enjoy it to the fullest! Here are some pics of the day:

Cade and Friends singing songs

Gavin and Myla watching the show

Cade and Shayna
Cade says he's going to marry Shayna when they are grown ups. So cute!

Cade and Cole

Cade with his teachers, Teacher Cece and Teacher Hope
I couldn't ask for better teachers. They were amazing. They sincerely loved these kids.

Myla's Preschool Graduation

Myla completed her first year of preschool at Tiny Footsteps Preschool. She loved it! Yesterday was her super cute graduation. The kids all sang a couple of songs they learned during the year. Then each child was called up to receive their diploma. They told how old they were and what they wanted to be when they grew up. Myla said she wanted to be a mom. So sweet! Usually she says she wants to be a dinosaur. Hmmm, maybe that's in the same category as a mom in her mind. :)

Myla receiving her diploma from Ms. Lisa.

Myla loves her Aunt Jamie and loved that Jamie was her teacher too!

Myla with her other teacher, Lisa.

Myla and her cousin Bradley (or as Myla calls him, Brabley). They got to be such good friends. See that cute book Bradley is holding? Each child got their very own book with pictures and things they colored. They also got a DVD of their school year. Very fun!

Tiny Footsteps Preschool is registering for next year. They are holding two day classes and three day classes. Go here for more information!

Little Ballerina

Myla had her dance recital last weekend. She did a fantastic job! She was really nervous, but she did it anyway. I wish I could include pictures of her whole group. They were so cute! But I didn't have permission from the other parents. Here are a few of Myla:

Myla in her tap costume.

Myla in her ballet costume.

We are so glad we put Myla in dance. She LOVES her dance teacher and she LOVES dancing. She's showing me her moves all the time and tells me she's going to teach me how to dance. :) She already can't wait until the next session starts in the fall.

Kevin's Graduation

Kevin graduated!! Kevin successfully completed the nursing program at Scottsdale Community College. All he has to do now is pass the nursing boards and he will be a full-fledged RN! We are so proud of Kevin and all the hard work he has put into his schooling. Here are a few pics of the pinning ceremony.

The processional

Receiving his pin. They did a pretty cool thing here. They told a little bit about each graduate and what their future goals are. It was sweet.

Handsome graduate

I've learned a few things about Kevin throughout this whole schooling process.

* He's not a complainer. Kevin's first clinical rotation was in a long-term care facility (nursing home). Basically he changed diapers all day. Adult diapers. Crappy job. (Ha ha) But not once did I hear him complain. Not once! In fact, I had to ask what he did at the nursing home. He just does his job without complaint. I admire that. Because, believe me, I'd be complaining about changing poopy adult diapers.

* Kevin really loves his kids. Like really a lot. He didn't like being away from them so much. He made every minute count that he was with them.

* Kevin very rarely stresses out. He gets busy. Most of the time there were four or five different important things he needed to focus on, but he rarely gets stressed.

* Kevin was called to be the Elders Quorum president in our ward about two weeks before he started nursing school. He also worked 20-30 hours a week at his regular job. And he has a family. He was really worried that he wouldn't be able to give everything 100%. There were times when one job had to be put on the backburner so he could focus on the others. I know he has given his very best effort in all things. He had almost no free time. He was going, going, going. Always. He had endless amounts of energy. There were many times when I sat in awe of everything he was trying to do. We know that the Lord was strengthening him. And we are so thankful for that.

* Working hard is good for the soul. And for a family. I've said this many times throughout the past several years, but I'll say it again: Anything worth having has to be worked for, sacrificed for. Kevin has proven that.

* I always knew this about Kevin, but he is a very compassionate person...especially for a guy. He'd worry about patients long after he worked with them. He'll make a great nurse.

* Kevin is good at a lot of things, which is why it took so long to really find a major that he wanted to stick with. This came in handy during nursing school. For projects and presentations he'd write scripts, make movies and put all that computer knowledge to work. (Before nursing, Kevin's majors were computer graphics, screenwriting, drafting and pharmacy.)

Let's Get Personal

It's 11:00 on a Saturday night. My kids and hubby are snoring away in their beds. I'm listening to some Brandi Carlile while catching up on my favorite blogs and enjoying the breeze through my window. Down time. Nice. I haven't done one of these in a while and saw it on this blog. Remember when tagging was all the rage in blogging? Anyway, I like these questions. They go beyond "Who did you talk to last on the phone?" and "Chocolate or vanilla?" So feel free to play along. Or not. We are pretty laid back around here. :)

1. When do you feel happiest? When my life is balanced. As much as it can be balanced.

2. How do you take care of yourself? As most adults know, when you have limited time, limited money, many responsibilities and precious little people depending on you, you have to pick and choose the best way to take care of yourself. I choose to buy fabric. It's that simple for me right now. Why? I love the process of finding fabric. I love the colors, the smells, the textures, the patterns. I love combining fabrics for a unique look. I love deciding what I want to create from the fabric. And when I buy fabric it's mine and only mine. No one else cares about the fabric I choose but me.

3. Are you internally (by yourself) or externally (by others) motivated? A little of both. I prefer to think that I'm inspired by others' successes and ideas. But the older I get the more I am internally motivated. I think that comes from knowing more what I want to accomplish in life and knowing what things don't fit into my ideals.

4. What do you do for fun? House cleaning. Just kidding! Have you seen my house lately?

I love fun. Isn't fun, fun? What movie is that from? Anyway, there are different kinds of fun. I'll break it down for you:
Kid fun: playing in the water, tickle time, looking through old pictures, dancing to Mamma Mia
Kevin fun: Talking. (These days we are lucky if we even get to have one conversation during the day, but I do love talking to Kevin.) Playing Super Mario Brothers on Wii together.
Girl fun: sewing nights, midnight showings, talking
Me fun: listening to music, reading, fabric shopping, sewing, vegging in front of the TV

5. What intimidates you? Supermoms. I will never be one. I'm not really going for the Supermom title, but sometimes I wonder what I'm missing. What is it about me that can't keep it all together? I'm not looking for any psychological advice. I'm not really worried about it.

6. What is something you're proud of? My family. My heritage. I'm proud of my wonderful, hardworking, talented grandparents who passed down their wisdom, their faith and their beautiful qualities. I'm proud of lovely parents. I would not be who I am without them...all of them. I'm proud of my brothers and sister and the lives they have created (with the amazing people they married) for themselves and their families. I'm so proud of my husband and the good man that he is. He is hardworking and kind and tries so hard to do the right thing. He has taught me so much. I am so proud of my beautiful children. I'd like to take credit for the amazing little people they are. But I can't. They are the way they are.

7. Finish this sentence. I never make my bed. I don't. There, my dirty little secret is out.

8. Favorite vacation spot. California. Hopefully someday we'll be able to expand our travels to experience more of the world than the southwest.

9. Today is a (rate from 1 - 10). To be honest, I'd rate it a 4. I'm glad it's over. I won't bore you with the details. :)

10. Finish this sentence. If you knew me really well you'd know that I'm a worrier. I'll probably have an ulcer in a couple of years. If Kevin is home 15 minutes late I've already got his funeral planned. If one of my kids cries for an unknown reason I'm convinced they have some crazy disease. I'll analyze a conversation I've had with a friend over and over again to make sure I didn't say anything offensive. I worry about the future. I worry about the past. I worry. It's annoying. I wish I didn't worry as much.

So there you go. This is my fun on a Saturday night. I was hoping to cuddle up with Kevin and watch Avatar. But since he hasn't slept for 28 hours I'm thinking sleep is more important that watching a bunch of blue people run around a jungle. On a side note about Avatar, have you heard that there is a hotline for people who are depressed that they can't live on Pandora? There's a hotline for everything these days. I need a hotline for people who can't figure out how to get their almost two year old to sleep through the night. And on that note, the Gavman needs his mom. Good night!

Giveaway Winner

The winner of the Simplify your Life giveaway is Aubrey! She says: Here is my favorite snack for kids: Sliced apples, a gogurt, and string cheese.

Thanks for all your ideas and suggestions for healthy snacks. It's nice to try a new thing or two. Don't forget to grab your coupon for a free box of Simply...GoGurt. (For friends who live around here, I found Simply...GoGurt at Albertsons. They may have it at other stores now, but when I checked a couple of weeks ago they didn't.)

The Final Countdown

Do you have the Europe song in your head now? I do...in all it's '80's glory. :)

Like the cap and diploma made out of Lego? It just screams Kevin. Once he sees this he'll probably put it on his list of things he wants to build with Lego. That list is getting pretty long. :)

The day is coming. The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter. Kevin is almost breathing a final sigh of relief. He has three weeks until he graduates! He has taken his finals and finished lecture. Now he just needs to complete three weeks of a preceptorship at Mayo clinic and then he graduates. After than he'll still have to take the NCLEX to get his RN license, but the majority of the work is done. He's done a fantastic job and I'm so proud of him.


MySpace-Countdowns

Simplify Your Life giveaway

GoGurt....one of the best creations invented for the modern mom. I love that I can throw a few frozen GoGurts in my diaper bag and pass them out to the kids on the run. Yoplait, through MyBlogSpark, sent a free coupon to try out their latest product, Simply...GoGurt. Simply...GoGurt is made from simple ingredients and doesn't have all the added stuff we don't like, like high fructose corn syrup or artificial flavors or colors. We tried it out this morning and I got the official thumbs up from Cade and Myla. They are all about yogurt. We go through it pretty quickly around here.

The great thing is that Yoplait has provided a link for 30 readers to get a coupon to try Simply...GoGurt for free. So if you are one of the first 30 people to click on the Free Yogurt tab below you'll get a coupon for a free package. After the 3o coupons are shared there will be a new link for $1.10 off coupon.

Yoplait, through MyBlogSpark, sent this great "Simplify Your Life" prize pack that includes a pocket Etch-a-Sketch, backseat organizer and and pretty little weekly organizer. They have also provided one to give away to you!

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment sharing some wholesome snacking tips for the kids. Giveaway closes Thursday, April 22nd at 11:59pm.

To the ballgame

There's just something adorable about watching 5 year olds trying to play t-ball. Some of them kinda get it. Most of them don't. But they have fun. (Although the enthusiasm over the treats at the end of the game makes me think that's what they really look forward to.) Cade got to play first base last night and really had no idea what to do with all these balls that were coming his way or the kids running their little hearts at towards him. Most of the time he just moved out of the way. When he hit the ball he kindly took the bat back to the dugout and then trotted leisurely to first base. Like I said, pretty adorable!