Rachel's Sing/Dance Recital

About a year ago, I saw on facebook a video of my friend Nicole's little girl in a dance & singing recital, and it was exactly the kind of thing I wanted to put Rachel in but I needed to wait until she turned 4 so that she could try it out.  So we got her signed up for a summer camp (2 weeks - practice everyday with a recital on the last night) as soon as she turned 4 and she was the youngest in the class.  She had a great time with it and loved to show me what she was learning.  She also expressed that it was hard work to memorize all the words and to dance at the same time!!  

At the recital, I had such good intentions to sit in the very front so that I could get some good video, but when I got half way there, I realized that I had left the tickets on the fridge and had to turn around and go get them, so we were in the back and the video is horrible, sorry!!  And I will be the first to tell you that I know that she by far is not the best in the class, but she had fun and tried really hard - I was so proud of her!  

Our little performer!

Here's the recital video - it's so long (for gma/gpa/nana/papa).  I'll give you the spots that may be actually worth your time:  I mark where Rachel at a few spots.  5:40-6:30 & 11:25-14:30 are cute, then the little interview at the end 15:30 (her voice was nearly gone and she was so excited about a rainbow as we were leaving the recital).  She's in the middle row on the right.  Not that you can see her face very well since we were in the back, then I moved spots and the lights were so bright.  

PASSWORD IS:  sing

Pregnant Brain...

...it's not even funny.  My brain has not been working at full capacity for months now, and I want it back!

Here's some awesomely embarrassing examples:

On a recent trip to Last Chance, I bought Brandon the wrong size of pants.  And they have a "no return" policy, so I'm always extra careful before purchasing there.  I know that he's a 32x34 and I got some slacks that were 30x34.  Brandon humored me and tried them on - he's thin, but not that thin.

I had been SO looking forward to Rachel's dance/singing recital and made sure that we left early enough so that we could sit right in the front and get good video footage.  I had our bag packed, and everyone dressed and ready.  Brandon came home from work, and we rushed off to the recital with plenty of time.  Then, a good 10 minutes into our drive, I realized that I had left our tickets on the fridge, so I had to turn back and go get them.  We arrived just a couple minutes before showtime and had seats in the very back.

At girl's camp, there were plenty of ditzy moments, but my personal favorite was the fact that I forgot to take the flag down at the end of girl's camp and then left for home on the bus with the girls.  Oops!  Thankfully, the ward that was assigned to take it down that day did it without me and another leader had seen and reassured me that we didn't leave it there.  Phew!

The BIGGEST and most expensive mistake happened when I was in a hurry one morning to get somewhere with the kids - I was just feeling rushed as I backed out of the garage.  My brain disregarded the van's warning beeps telling me that the side door was still open until I HIT the wood panel on the side of the garage door (thankfully no major damage to the garage) and knocked the driver's side door off it's track and it would NOT close and definitely needed some new parts.  It was bad.  So then I rearranged carseats to the very back seat and drove it to our trusty car mechanic who lives fairly close (luckily) - with the side door wide open.  He was able to fix it for $265 (can you imagine what the dealership would have charged me? ouch!) and I felt so bad and cried to Brandon on the phone - he was very sweet and understanding.  I was much harder on myself.

From the mechanic's, we walked home (1 mile - about 20 minutes) in the heat while I quickly was trying to arrange a ride for Rachel to/from her dance/singing camp (it was some sort of dress rehearsal so I didn't want Rach to miss it).  I called Nicole, who's in our stake (her little girl was in the class too), and I told her the situation and she immediately dropped everything and came and got Rachel within minutes.  Not to mention that she lives closer to the studio than she does to me - she seriously went way out of her way to save my day and it meant so much.  She was so sweet to Rachel - she took her back to her house to pick up some things, got her a waterbottle (since I had forgotten to send her with one - dumb brain), and sprayed glitter in her hair like her daughter's since it was glitter/sparkle day at camp, then brought her home as well.  Nicole was absolutely amazing and I appreciated it so much.  With no family around, I have to rely on friends for favors and it's often hard for me to ask for help.

Fun family times

We dressed up as cows and went to Chick Fil-A for free meals on their annual Cow Appreciation Day in July.  The kids had a lot of fun with it, and Rachel was excited to help make our costumes.  I just made spots out of fleece and safety-pinned them on, and made (pathetic) cow ear hats.  We went in the middle of the afternoon (after the lunch rush) and stayed for nearly two hours while the kids made friends, played in the play place, and watched as all sorts of cow customers came in.  We were still there when Brandon was headed home from work, so he met us there and we (mostly Rachel) convinced him to put on a cow sign and ears so he could get some free food too.

The only good thing about summer here besides swimming is the monsoon storms and haboobs (dust storms).  One Saturday when we were all home as a family, it rained really hard all afternoon.  I remember getting Andrew after his hap and taking him to the back patio and just sitting together watching the rain.  In the desert, we don't get much weather action other than sunshine, so it's exciting when something else happens!  There was so much rain that we later discovered there was a large river flowing down the sides of our street.  We grabbed our plastic boats and headed outside to play in the rain.  We all got soaked, but had so much fun sending things down the "river" and playing in the water.  It was one of those moments where I felt complete joy just to be with my little family of four (almost five), and I was just taking it all in.

My little Superman

We got a hand-me-down pajama superman shirt from Kasey's boys (not the one in the pics - this one was definitely a PJ shirt with the superman logo), and Andrew was obsessed and wanted to wear it all the time.  Thankfully I found a nicer shirt at Old Navy (pictured above) and he can hardly wait to have it washed before he wears it again.  He loves superheroes and I have no clue where it came from because all we have around here are littlest pet shops and princesses!  I love the innate qualities that he has that make him ALL BOY!  And he's still a good sport and likes to play "guys" with Rachel (his favorite is Pooh Bear and Mickey Mouse characters), littlest pet shop, or kitchen.  But, the picture I didn't post was him in Rachel's yellow, plastic high heels when they play dress up - he just can't resist and it's too funny for me to not let him.

He melts my heart.  Have I said that a million times? 'Cause he really does.

Brandon's Birthday

Brandon turned 29 on the 30th, but we tried to celebrate all weekend, since we knew he'd be busy at work on Monday.  On Friday, we surprised him around lunchtime at work with balloons and treats and cookies to "pass out to his friends" (Rachel's idea).  The kids love to go visit daddy at work because they always get treats and sprite.  We also decorated his door with balloons and streamers, made him his favorite meal - spaghetti & meatballs with homemade sauce, and I attempted a german chocolate cake.  It was good for cake, I suppose - we're not really cake people.  We'd take candy any day over any type of baked goods - they just don't get eaten in our house.

Disclaimer:  I tried to be a cute and sweet wife, but girl's camp was just around the corner, so I may have been a bit distracted.  Poor guy!

Oh!  And this year he got something fun for his birthday that he REALLY wanted!!  He asked for a snow cone maker, but not just any crushed chunky ice cheapo one - a heavy duty hawaiian ice machine (shaves ice just like the texture of snow).  It's a top-of-the-line machine for making snow cones at home (kind of similar to buying a kitchenaid or blentec blender).  This is very out of the ordinary for him to ask for something like this for himself, so I was excited to get it for him!  He also got himself a woodworking router with his birthday money from the parentals.

29 things you might not know about Brandon...

1.  Allergic to all melons (watermelon, cantaloupe, etc.)
2.  Gives himself his own haircuts ... in the bathroom ... naked!  (too much info? perhaps!)
3.  Always on time - not just on time, but he's most likely early
4.  Dresses nicely to work everyday ... Fridays are dress down days, but he just can't bring himself to do it; he wears a tie to work almost daily
5.  His favorite drink of all-time is Goose Island Rootbeer from Chicago (and you can only get it in Chicago)
6.  He loves candy!  His favorites vary between york, reeses, sour watermelon, sour patch kids, starburst, skittles, etc.
7.  Even with all that candy, he's only ever had one teeny tiny cavity!!  No fair!
8.  He hates to go to the doctor or dentist and avoids it at all costs
9.  Never eats breakfast - I've tried sending him with nutrigrain / granola bars, but no luck - he just doesn't eat breakfast
10.  He only goes out to lunch at work if someone else initiates it- he'd never just go out to eat because he wanted to - I'm pretty sure he doesn't need food to function (and no, I can't send a lunch with him, that would be way too embarrassing - he'd rather just wait until dinner)
11.  At work, he has a hot chocolate every morning (I guess this could be called his "breakfast")
12.  Loves sports / talk radio and listens to it on his morning/night 30 minute commute
13.  Avid sports fan - most passionate about football (both NFL and college), but he also loves baseball; his favorite teams are the Cubs, Bears, BYU, Diamondbacks, etc.
14.  He hardly ever spends money
15.  Weighs about 150 pounds - a tough number for me to beat even on my skinniest of days
16.  Finished his undergraduate in 3 short years - thank you for that
17.  Has a gold sequin bowling-type shirt that he sewed himself (he wears it to an annual work party)
18.  Attorney by day, rock star dad by night!  He is so good at playing with the kids and is always willing to hang out with the kids while I go run a quick errand, or if he wants to go to Home Depot or something, then he offers to take them with him.  When he's home, he's HOME (meaning that he has a hard time working from home, so he just saves it for early the next morning at work).
19.  He's an early bird - he has an internal alarm clock that goes off around 5/5:30a, and he's left to work before 6a
20.  He takes a bath every morning - while he does he's usually reading the morning news or his email
21.  He's a hard worker!  Since he has to account and bill for every 6 minutes of his work day, he is a very efficient worker and doesn't waste his time.  He's gone for about 12 hours a day - leaves by 6a and is usually home around 6p.
22.  Loves the heat and Arizona weather!  He never ever complains about how darn hot it is.
23.  Served his mission in McAllen, Texas and learned Spanish as a missionary
24.  He tells me he loves his job (as much as you could love a job) - and I hope he really does!  I know he enjoys working with his co-workers and he enjoys working for a good firm - he's proud of the work they are doing
25.  He really wants to be on the show, "Wipeout!" and he would do really good, I'm convinced
26.  He's Elders Quorum President in our ward currently - also known as the move in/out specialist
27.  Shopping for any length of time makes him physically nauseous
28.  Loves woodworking and he's working on building a bed for Andrew right now; he also takes the kids to the Home Depot or Lowe's Saturday building projects a couple times a month
29.  A wonderful husband, and I'm so happy to have him as my best friend!