A sunburn in February!

I thought it was funny that I got a sunburn today and it is still February!! Didn't think to put on my sunscreen before I headed out for my 6 mile run this afternoon. Once I was out and about it was warmer than I thought it would be and regreted wearing my long sleeve shirt. Oh well. It was suppose to hit 68 degree's today, and 70 degree's tomorrow!! I am loving this weather!!!

Alphabet DVD

This is an awesome video that teaches the letters and the sounds they make. We bought it about 2 weeks ago, and Bethany now knows almost all of her letter sounds. There's maybe a handful that she get's confused. She picked up on it so quickly. Yesterday I sat down with her and I was teaching her how to put the letters together to read, and she could do it. So in less than 2 weeks she is starting to read. I need to go get her some beginning reading books, that will make it a little easier. Anyways, just wanted to put a good word out for this dvd. The kids don't even know they are learning, they love to watch it. They ask to watch it almost every day. Hannah is even learning some of her alphabet sounds, and it is helping her to recognize her letters!! They also have some other dvd's that teach how to put the letters together to make words, I'll have to check them out.

What happens when...

A sick daddy stays home with a very energic almost 3 year old??? Let's start with the gum. Ky was trying to take a nap since he was not feeling very good. He puts a movie on for Hannah in our room, so she would stay put. While he is sleeping, Hannah finds a packet of gum from their store, that they are suppose to buy with their pennies. She opens them and eats 4-5 pieces of gum. I later asked her if she spit them out or swallowed them, and she swallowed them. Then Hannah told daddy that she needed to go potty, so he lets her go. She might of gone potty, but she also went into Rylan's room and woke him up from his nap. So now daddy has two kids awake...so much for his nap. Ky went to go change Rylan's diaper, and Hannah wanted to go find mommy and Bethany (who were at church). Ky not caring said ok, go look for mommy. Later Ky went out in the garage to look for something, he was surprised when the garage door was open, and Hannah's bike was half way down the driveway. So when Hannah went looking for me, she went out in the garage. We have a cooler by where the button is to open the garage door, she had pushed that over and got it open. I asked her if she rode her bike down the driveway, and she said no just in the garage, so I am hoping that it just rolled down the driveway. So needless to say, when I get home from church Ky had just about had it with Hannah. I felt so bad, I was hoping that he was going to get some good need rest, but I should of known better. I just had to share, I thought it was pretty funny!!! I can just picture Hannah doing all those things too. Got to love these kids!!

This is a video I took of the kids this morning. They love these easter bunnies that sing and dance. They got them a couple years ago, and they drive me crazy!! Especially when they have them both singing at the same time. I wish I had this much energy in the mornings, kind of makes you dizzy, huh!!

Painting Fun

We have been busy the last 2 weeks painting. After 1 1/2 years we are finally getting to it. Here is the living room, we painted it brown. It is probably my favorite room so far, and it was the first one we painted.The Family room. We did a green. I am still deciding if I like the color green we picked out. The loft, it is the same brown as the living room.

Rylan's room, which is only half done. It is the same green as the family room, and I love the color in his room. I don't like how the blue turned out, so we need to go get something a little darker. Then we are going to put either a border or paint a darker blue in between the blue and green. I will post a updated finished picture when we get it done.

Next on the list, is the girls room. They have been patient but can't wait to have a purple and pink room. I am still deciding how I want to paint it, but it should be fun!!

Climbing the stairs

Rylan has learned a new skill, climbing the stairs. So far he has done really good and has stayed away from the stairs, we have hardly had to use the gate. Which has been nice. He has discovered them now, but is already pretty good with them. He can crawl all the way up to the top, and he has also figured out how to get back down. The funny thing is we didn't show him how to go back down, he figured it out by himself. Smart little boy:) Here's some videos of him climbing up and down!

Aquarium

This last week we also went to the aquarium. The girls had fun with their friends Maija and Brielle. Maija loves having her picture taken. These next few were inspired from her, Take my picture please... :)

Rylan favorite part was going up and down these steps. Silly boy!

The Couch Car

Thursday while Bethany was at joyschool, Hannah and Rylan had a fun time playing together. The couch was their car, and the toy bins were their carseats. I was surprised that Rylan actually played along and stayed in his carseat. It was pretty cute to watch them. You can see how happy Rylan is to play with his big sister, they had a good time.

The Zoo

Last week we took enjoyed the nice weather and went to the zoo with some friends. We had a lot of fun. Here are all the girls.

Hannah and Rylan looking at the zebras. Rylan was more into the animals this time around. He is at the age where he actually notices them. It was fun watching him. I have also been wondering how he is going to do in the stroller. Up till now, I would always put him in the baby bjorn, I was borrowing from my sister. So Rylan was used to being carried all the time. But he was so good in the stroller, I think he really liked it. It also helps that he LOVES to be outside, so he was probably just happy to be out and about.

Watching the ducks.

Fun

While Bethany was at joyschool on Tuesday, I took the two little ones to run some errands. The last stop we made was at the mall play area. They had fun playing. I think Hannah was a little lost without having Bethany there with her, but had fun with Rylan. Here are some pictures. Hannah is our little climber. She climbs up everything. She taught Bethany how to climb up the end of bunkbed, not where the ladder is. We found out the other day, that she climbs up storage containers in her closet to reach the blankets that are up high. Silly girl.

The Park

On Monday, Ky had the day off from work. We decided to go do something fun with the kids. We were going to take them to the zoo, since we haven't been there forever, but the girls said that they just wanted to go to the park with the tire swing. It is the park by our house. So we took them to the park, which was nice, because then we got some other things done that we needed to do.
This was Rylan's first time on the tire swing, and he just LOVED it. He was laughing and smiling. He is so funny!

We took the girls bikes for them to ride. They had fun with them. Hannah is outgrowing her little bike, as you can see, so she is getting a new one for her birthday! So that should be fun!

Hannah's birthday

Hannah's 3rd birthday is coming up on me quick! I can't believe my little girl is going to be 3. It is so exciting to watch her grow up and discover life...but bitter sweet, since she will never be my little baby again. Not that I would necessarily want to go back, but can't we just push pause for a little bit! That's the wierd thing about time I guess, it never stops!!

I am excited for Hannah's birthday though. She want another ladybug party, she had a ladybug party for her 1st birthday. Same thing that Bethany did with her 4th birthday, she wanted a butterfly party, just like her first birthday. It makes it easy for me, since I have already done them. Here is the invite I made for her party. My friend Jacque made these papers and elements. Aren't they adorable! Just perfect for the ladybug theme. I'll post a update after the big party!!

The Penny Store

Since we have been home from our last little trip it seems the girls have been running the house. Surprise, surprise. They have just been kind of crazy, so we have started a new obedience/discipline approach in our house. The girls get to earn pennies for doing chores around the house, and stuff that is extra nice or special. They lose their pennies for not obeying mommy and daddy, fighting with their brother or sister, or yelling or whining. Yes we have had lots of yelling and whining. And sometimes the yelling is for fun, they are playing. But I am tired of the headaches.

So once the girls have enough pennies, they get to spend them in the mommy and daddy store. I have a bunch of fun stuff that they want, and I have marked on them how much they cost (aka: how many pennies it cost). So far it has been proving to be working really good. The other morning the girls had enough money to buy some stuff, they were so excited. We used to do a similar idea where they would earn pennies for doing similar things, but they would get 10 pennies and then they would get to chose a reward. But I like this better, because they can see what they can earn. And for Hannah, if she can see it, it helps to motivate her. They can ask to look in the store whenever they would like, so they know what they are working for. I stole this idea from my friend Heather's blog. Thanks for sharing Heather, what a great idea!

Here are the girls from yesterday when they got to go shopping at the mommy and daddy store! They seem to enjoy it, and it has made our house a little happier...which is always a good thing:)

Clifford, the big red dog

At a elementary school close by, they were having a book fair and who came to visit? Clifford, the big red dog. Bethany was being funny and would not go up to clifford until her friend Joseph went with her, then she was ok. Hannah on the other hand went right up to him, first even. It is usually the other way around. We we left the library, Bethany was a littlel upset that we didn't stay for the video. Me and Ky did not know what she was talking about. We figured out that she thought they were going to show a clifford movie while we were there. A while back we went and met Barbie, and it was a a sneak peak of one of the barbie movies. So we got to see barbie and see a movie. And so, that is what she expected with clifford too.

Odds and Ends

Hannah and Rylan pushing Bethany in the shopping cart. It was fun to see Rylan play with the girls and actually be able to play and not just get in the way. It is always so nice when all of your kids are playing nicely together!

Rylan was playing and he crawled into this bin and was just sitting there content playing. It was so funny. Rylan is finally cutting his 1st tooth. Yes, our kids get their teeth pretty late. It will probably pop through any day, I'll keep you posted.

A conversation with Bethany:

This morning Bethany and Hannah crawl into bed with me at 7:30, which is late for them. Ky (Kyle or Kylie, whichever you prefer), is long gone to meetings by now. All of the dogs started barking outside, them seem to do it all together. I usually make a comment about how we don't like it when the neighbor dogs bark. So Bethany goes, "we don't like it when our neighbor dogs barf, huh mommy." I said "when they barf?" "Yah when they barf." I was laughing so hard. Then I informed her on what barf was, and that the dogs bark. It's so funny what they come up with.

I have vent about mymorning, before church. So all of the kids were up around 7:30. The kids are still recovering from our trip, and the last couple nights we have gotten them down late. So they were SO GRUMPY this morning. I had about an hour to get me and the 3 kids ready for church, since Ky is at his meetings. They whined and cried the whole time and all at the same time! I don't do good when they are all crying together it drives me crazy. So a little after 8 Ky calls to see if I need him to com home and help. So of course he comes home. Now he is complaining about the kids and he was with them for about 15 minutes. That's when you know it's bad. I was hoping to have a couple minutes to go over my sharing time for primary, and get my stuff together for conducting...but that of course didn't happen. What a morning!!!

Tonight we had a new family in our ward over for dinner. We had a really good time. The older kids went upstairs and played nicely, while we visited. They have 2 boys, the older one is 2 days older than Hannah, and the baby is 1 day younger than Rylan. Kind of funny that our kids are so close in age! Even the babies played with eachother, it was very cute! They would sit next to eachother and play, I should of gotten a picture!

Here's a picture of Hannah in the dress her Aunt Amber gave her. I thought it was pretty cute!

The Family School

For those who know a little about Albuquerque, you know that the schools here are not very good. Especially out where we live, all of the schools in the west cluster are failing schools, which means all of their test scores are under 50%. This has been one of our big concerns living here, and with Bethany going to kindergaren next year. We just weren't comfortable with the school she is suppose to attend.

While we were in our last ward, Academy Heights, one of our friends told us about the family school. It is a school within the APS system, but is more like a charter or private school. This school is a half school day and half homeschool day. I just love this idea! I have thought about homeschooling, but think it would be nice to have a break during the day. And I don't want to be the only one teaching my children. So what a perfect solution to have the school day, with a teacher and interaction with other kids, but still be able to have them home more and be able to help teach them. So they have school Mon-Thurs for 4 hours. Then you are required to do 10-12 hours a week at home with them. Most of the time they will send homework home that you help them with. Also you can count any class that has a teacher as school. So Bethany's ballet class will count, and primary. I think it will work out well.

So this last 2 weeks we have had a couple meetings at the family school for Bethany next year. The 1st one was an information meeting, where they tell you about their program and the committment that is involved. We also attend one 2 years ago when we got Bethany on the waiting list. It was nice to attend a 2nd one to hear it again. At this school they also have multi-age classrooms. They have a Kindergarten - 4th grade, and 4th - 8th. This way they test your child and they can learn at where they are at. It also creates a family enviroments where the older ones take care of the little ones, and the little ones look up to the older ones. One of the other things I like about it, is they actually teach your kindergartener. They will learn to read, write, do math, they won't be learning their colors and shapes. The family school also has some of the highest test scores in Albuquerque, and in some grades the highest in the state.

This last Friday, we went to the kindergarten panel, which is where all of the teachers tell a little about themselves and how they run their classrooms, so you can pick a good fit for your child and family. Since you work so closely with the teacher, since you are pretty much joint teachers. Then we wrote down our top 3 teachers, and hopefully we get one of them. I like that they let you pick your teacher.

We are really excited about this school and are glad we have this option, and are glad that we heard about it. I think it will work really well for Bethany and our family. If you want to learn more about it here is the link for The Family School.

Hotel and Girl Cousins!

I am finally getting around to posting pictures from our trip to Utah. I once again took way too many pictures, so I hope you enjoy. Our drive up was uneventful. We stopped in Green River at a hotel and then finished up the drive Saturday morning. It was a good stopping point. The kids had fun at the hotel. They love getting to swim and they think it is so cool that they have breakfast for us. So those are our 2 requirements for hotels. Bethany had to have a turn in the froggie, which she was too small for her.

Hannah finally swimming with floaties. She has been too scared the other times when we try to put them on. This time she had a lot of fun with them. The only problem was when we took them off and she kept telling us that she was fine by herself....but really wasn't. The other problem we had was the girls had to share the floaties. Bethany is SO used to having them on all the time. Well we were in the hot tub and Bethany had jumped off the bench in it to the middle. Well Hannah was wearing the floaties, so she went under the water. Me and Kyle were looking the other way and did not see her do this. I finally looked around wondering where Bethany had gone, and here she is with her head under the water, just sitting there. She was not kicking or swinging her arms, just sitting as still as could be. I pulled her up and she was fine, still breathing. She was so scared though and wanted to go home. I felt SO bad that we did not see what had happened. We will not be going swimming again until BOTH girls have their own pair of floaties.

Our first stop once we got to Utah was Kyle's sister's Angie's house. His family all gathered there so we could visit with them. We had a nice lunch and had fun visiting with his family. The girls were in heaven playing with their girl cousins! They had to play dress up, one of their favorites when they get together!

Charlotte, Emily, Bethany and Kaitlynn. Hannah was playing too, just not in the picture.

The Mayan, Baby Blessing and Temple Square

Saturday night we met my Dad, Carrie and Amber's family at the Mayan. It was fun to be able to spend some more time with my Dad, twice in a month. That usually doesn't happen. Him and Carrie had fun with the kids, and the kids had just as much fun. Of course, Bethany and Drew were inseperable, which I love.

I always have to snap a picture when Rylan will let other people hold him. He is not used to having other people than mommy and daddy hold him. Plus he is at the age where he notices if it is not mommy and daddy. So the combination is usually he will just cry. He did pretty good on this trip though, and gave me a little bit of a break!

After the blessing, we wanted to get a picture of Grandpa with all the kids. Rylan had had enough by then, so there I am.

After the blessing we went down to temple square with my dad and carrie. We had about an hour before Kyle had to go catch his plane, and my dad had a couple hours. We had fun and got inside the vistor center to stay warm.

Rylan and Carrie.

After we got Kyle off to the plane we went back to Amber's to let the kids play some more. It was snowing of course! There is WAY to much snow in Utah. I think it snowed every day I was there. I was so sick of it by the time I left and I wasn't even there for a week. Kind of glad we don't have to deal with the snow like that. This is when we were leaving to go back to my mom's for the night.

Bethany took this one of me and Rylan.

My mom and Rylan at the blessing.

Birthday party!

While we were here we decided to celebrate Jerrod's, Hannah and Rylan's birthdays. They are all within a month of eachother. It was a lot of fun! Waiting for their cousins to arrive, they were making their own fun!

I thought this was a cute picture of Gideon with his daddy!

My mom with the girls!

Rylan opening his present.

Jerrod with his famous boxing move! He like to play the boxing game on their wii. And he also like to go around and pretend he is boxing people. So he would go up to Bethany and Hannah and do this, they didn't quite know what was going on. I think by the end, Bethany starting boxing back. It was really funny when he did this to Rylan. Funny boy!