Why don't I think of these things more often?

Giving their animals a bath kept them busy for an hour while I made dinner. Brilliant.

One Lump, or Two?

Just Cute

Tucson

On a hike in the hills

We were able to go on a fun vacation/conference to Tucson recently! It was the managing directors conference, but it was really more for pleasure than anything. Tony had a lot of free time and it was just so relaxing and restful! This was the exact opposite of the time my parents were having with all three munchkins... but we appreciated it very much Dad and Mom! =) It was the first time we were ever able to get away from all three for a vacation and was wonderful, although we did miss them terribly. Here are a few pics in case anyone is interested. =)

a natural waterfall

The rock steps that did away with whatever was left of my knees after two nights of high heels!

Some unusual but beautiful homes in the hills behind our resort.

My favorite little sitting area, overlooking the golf course.

Beautiful view

Fiesta Theme night

The view from our balcony

More crazy homes

A view of the golf course and the whale sized koi

Our Garden

What have I been up to lately? Well, among other things, I've been turning this little stretch of dirt into a garden! I always have these grand ideas. As I've gotten older and wiser, I've learned to temper myself a little and follow through a little more. Baby Steps. Anyway, here we are standing here with visions of grandeur in our heads... well, my head. Jaden just wants to use the tools for some sort of a battle. I added that I tempered myself because instead of using the entire stretch of dirt along our back fence like I wanted, I opted to use 1/3 of it. This ended up being as much work as I ever could complete by myself and now I still have room for my next project! =)

The Ground Work

It doesn't look like much, but this was a lot of work for one girl with a shovel! Especially when you have the added stress of keeping track of three little ones eager to grab tools they shouldn't. =)

Where I left it for about 3 weeks...

I was so proud just to get this far that I took a couple of weeks off. Technically, Tony did help me at this stage by hauling the barrels out there from our side yard, and picking up some soil for me from Lowes. He also killed a couple of big black widows that were hiding under the barrels. I can say that I did all of the brick laying, which I am happy about now, but half way through I was thinking "what in the world are you doing???"

Finally Finished!

Isn't it cute? I just love gardening once I can get to the actual planting part. We have some tomatoes, peppers, squash, watermelon, herbs and strawberries!

The Finished Product

Bunkbeds!

Another thing that has been making me a little crazy lately is the bunkbed! The kids absolutely love it, no one has been seriously injured yet, I'm just a much too nervous mama to have bunkbeds. =)

Ouch!

This did not involve any gardening tools.

Big Girl Bed!

We finally made the transition to a big girl bed for Baylee! She loves it and it was a breeze. I've learned my lesson... it is better to wait! Or maybe girls are just much easier. That is entirely possible. Anyway, she has been sleeping in her new bed and doing great. We also finally transitioned them both out of pull-ups. I've just got a house full of big kids! =( (we are still working on the binkie)

Aubrey wants to be a big kid too and crawls into Jaden's bed every chance he gets...

Three to a room!

So much fun!

This is how it looked for a few days until we got the bed frame for their bunkbed. Aubrey loved it!

The Day Suzanne Left =(

As you can see, Aubrey was not happy. I really think he understood that she was leaving for good. This was taken as we were driving away from the airport. Luckily, she missed her plane and we got to spend one more day with her. Aubrey didn't believe me the second day and didn't cry. =) He does miss her though and continues to talk about her. It is so sad. Jaden still thinks he's going to Tokyo to visit her and "the husband" as he calls Bernard. We'll see about that!

Playing Catch-up!

I'm going to try to go in order. So much has happened in the past few weeks! Suzanne is back in Tokyo now with Bernard. We miss her very much! It was so much fun to have her in our home and learn about her culture. We are happy for Bernard though, as I'm sure he missed her like crazy.

This picture is from the second to last night she stayed with us. She made a special dinner and showed my how she made this yummy chicken in fresh tomato sauce. Here she is with Kattina who was her classmate and also speaks French.