What a Day!

This has been a much anticipated day...Lukas' first day of kindergarten!! I wondered if I had done enough to prepare him. Will kids be nice to him? Will he be nice? Will he listen to his teacher? Too many things go through my head. He is in afternoon kindergarten so we had all morning to get ready. He was more interested in watching cartoons than picking out what he was going to wear. He looked cute anyway and FINALLY the time came to take him. I was more anxious than he was. He was excited, but mellow, which is not at all like him. He didn't know anybody in his class and felt a little shy standing there on the playground with all those other kids. But he did great and lined up with his class to go in. I waved with my camera and off he went. No tears, no hug, no problem. I was expecting tears and hugs and this heart wrenching moment. Not so much. I didn't know what it would feel like to send my first off to school. I was sad, happy, excited, nervous, anxious. Then I'm thinking that Max and I would do some fun things together with time away from Lukas. Instead he had a huge tantrum moment and spent most of his time with me in time out. SAD!! I picked up Lukas from school and he said he had a good time, that he loved it and couldn't wait to come back tomorrow. YAY! That was a huge relief. I'm so thrilled that he had a good first day. So...thinking I could make this day special I took them to In 'n' Out for dinner. Lukas squirted ketchup all over, Max was out of control, neither of them ate their food. Grrrrr! Finally, I took them to the park as my last attempt to make this day special. They had fun and played until they were too thirsty to play anymore. And we ran into Mandi Smith and her kids there, so at least it ended on a good note. {{ I don't know what I'm going to do with Max and his naughtiness lately. He's been in Time Out at least 3 or 4 times a day. And Lukas has never been so whiney. They fight just watching TV. I mean, how hard is it to sit and watch a show? Well, they find ways to pester each other and fight and call each other names. I am at the end of my rope. I've even had to make them take separate baths. Stinkers. Big Time.}} I think I pictured this day going a lot different so it was a big disappointment when it didn't go as I'd hoped. Thank goodness this day is over and that tomorrow is a new day.

You know it's "Girl's Night" when...

there are 6 pairs of black flip flops in my entry way! Love ya girls!!!

I {heart} Boutiful Baskets

Some girls in my neighborhood introduced me to a food co-op called Bountiful Baskets. Every week I pick up my basketful of fruits and veggies (different stuff every week) for a steal of a price ($16). And every week we enjoy fresh, yummy, healthy food. Look what I got this week!!! (Anyone know how to cook egg plant?) I love it. The kids love it. Pat loves it. Thank you BB!! Want to know if they have it in your area? Visit http://www4.bountifulbaskets.org/

Wolfies ONE!

Happy Birthday Wolfer Dog! Our miniature schnauzer turned one yesterday. I've never celebrated a doggie birthday, so I didn't know what to do. I wanted to make him something special, but I ran out of time. We made cupcakes and Lukas drew Wolfie some pictures that he hung by his bed. Then we had our good friend Calah come over for dinner and then went for a walk with her two dogs. Max was the expert dog walker and LOVED walking Maverick. It was quite a night, and super fun. Thanks King and Maverick (and Calah) for making Wolfie's day special. Wolfie loved all his new toys and treats.

2nd Annual Neighborhood Campout/BBQ

{One of these times we will find a way to plan and spread the word better instead of just saying, "Hey let's have a neighborhood BBQ today!"...} This was our 2nd Annual Neighborhood Camp-out, which really was just a BBQ {except for Whitney and Windy + kids being the only ones to camp out, troopers!!!}. We are making it a tradition, so if you didn't come this year, plan on it next year!!! There was a lot going on and nothing better than pictures can explain. (Side note: I sat on my bum the whole time then realized I better capture the moment and by then it was dark, so most of the pictures are in the dark and I totally didn't get pictures of the Watsons or Timette or the Howards or Whitney playing games with the kids and my only picture of Laura and family was blurry. Lame. Sorry.)

• This is the view from my seat.(see picture below)
• This is the reason I sat on my seat the whole time.
• Here's the Host/Hostess couple! Thanks Kener's for letting us use your driveway & lawn. :)
• Here's the "cool" couple
• Here's the "wannabe cool" couple
• Here's the lone lonely loner (where did everybody go? you mean you don't want to sit next to a fire pit when it's still 90 degrees out?)
• Here's the "ladies man"--nice planning Lukas, a card game with all the cute chicks
• Here's the "Man's Men"
• Here's the party animals (can I say swingers...not I cannot)
• Here's the kids trying to be next to the cool man (are we sensing a trend here? If you want to be cool, invite Matt!)
• And here's what happens when Max's face fights with the concrete!!! (Poor Max. No stitches this time, just a fat black eye!)

Pioneer Day

For Pioneer day we went to Woodland Hills. Pat was working so I brought the kids to sleep over at Papa and Nana's house. They always have fun running around outside. I got the kids to bed and Nana and I stayed up a little too late visiting. We got up early (a little too early) the next morning for the parade in Spanish Fork and then had a fun BBQ in the afternoon. It was a little stressful (and a little hot) getting to the parade and the parade lasted FOREVER, but we got to be with family and that was fun. (The sirens were a little loud for Zoey). The kids loved being with their cousins, and the cousins loved holding Zoey. :) Did I mention that we got to see my mom and her tap group perform at Fiesta Days? She did great.

Secret Sisters

I have the best sister in the whole world. Speaking of world, it seems like she lives on the other side of it {Alaska}. Since I can't have her as much as I want, I have the next best thing. Friends!! This weekend some girlfriends and I went to Snowbird and stayed in The Cliff Lodge. It was so much fun. We ate out, stayed up late, exchanged "secret sister" gifts*, went in the hot tub (which was just outside our balcony), ate all kinds of yummy treats, played games, laid out by the pool, chased off wildlife and just enjoyed each other! It was over too quickly. Thanks girls for so much fun! *We each shared our favorite things with each other. These girls are too cute!!

• Whitney's favorite thing was Flip Flops!!!
• Windy's favorite thing was cleaner & sponge and a cute magnet!!
• My favorite thing is photoshop and friends, so I photoshopped everyone a picture of themselves.
• Erin's favorite thing was nail polish and bubble bath

C O L O R F U L * C O L O R A D O

What an awesome weekend! We drove back to my old hometown of Rifle, Colorado. (My sister flew in from Alaska for her 20 year high school reunion, and we decided to make a vacation out of it to go see her.) I realized it would take too long to journal the entire trip, so here are highlights:

• a trip to Urgent Care for Max who had an ear infection, and later a sick Lukas from a stomach bug (ugh!)
• a surprise visit from Aunt Mary & Christy from Denver (thanks for the darling quilt and the play-doh...it was a life saver for the boys and provided hours of entertainment!!)
• The Lord's house (no, not the temple...Jim & Kelly Lord. They are the coolest couple ever and Kolby and Kaiden are now my boys hero's!!!! We want to come back, the boys miss them already. Kelly is Mindy's BFF since 6th grade.)
• the Glenwood Hot Springs (way overpriced, but a must do if you are in the area).
• fireworks from the City Market parking lot
• Rib City (yummiest ribs around)
• a blast from the past--0599 Mesa Drive (my old house growing up), Rifle Creek Estates, Rifle Falls, Fish Hatchery
• the caves at Rifle Falls (this was the boys favorite besides Aunt Mindy & Kelly's boys).
• our hotel overlooking beautiful Colorado scenery and the Colorado River
• spending time with our favorite sister, sister-in-law and aunt (all three being Mindy)!