June phone pics

I was totally gearing up myself for June because school would be out and it's super hot, so I had lots of things planned for the kids to do.  I made chore charts, and we had all sorts of "summer fun" outings planned.  We also signed up Rachel for swim team at 5p - practice on M, T, W, F & meets on Thursday.  Gratefully, the pool has open swim at that time, so I could swim with the little kids at the same time rather than wait in the heat.  The kids will have dinner next month, I guess!

All month, the high has been over 100 degrees, but most of the time it has been over 105.  And shockingly, this has been the sickest month of our year!!  What?!  It started with Rachel having a nasty cold with ear infections, then Andrew, then Kendall, then Kendall and Andrew got pink eye, Rachel got sick again and this time it was strep (right before her friend party, but thankfully she had been on the meds for more than 24 hours), then Rachel had the barfies, which thankfully did not get passed around.  I also got a brutal sinus infection that lasted for 2 weeks (I get a horrible night-time cough just like Rachel).  Needless to say, our summer fun outings were far and few between and we barely made it to all the swim team practices and meets that we needed to be at.  We swam a lot, but that's about it.  I also had made big goals for myself in going to the gym this month, but when the kids are sick, I can't take them to the kid care unless all three of them are totally well, which was like - twice.  That is why I have a hard time paying for a gym membership, because I don't want to get disappointed if I can't go because the kids are sick (which the gym may even be the root of the sick problem in the first place).  :)  

OH WELL!  We are so excited for July and our trip to Utah!!  Goodbye June!

p.s.  Rachel really did not like swim team, but she stuck it out!  She was one of the youngest swimmers, and practicing for an hour a day was hard work, but she did it.  She competed in one freestyle race, one backstroke race & one relay.  She got last place in all of her heats, but that meant she got a pink ribbon! :)  There was no urgency to her swimming, but she did enjoy the meets and didn't ever give up.  I am very proud of her.

Andrew waiting "patiently" for his blankies to get dry.  He waited for them for 15 minutes in the laundry room.

Organ Stop Pizza - I can't believe this was the first time we have been here.  It is THE most random old-school Mesa restaurant, but we love it.  There is an lively organ player who plays well-known songs, and the kids loved it.  

More chalkboard art for me - I'm getting recruited to make some chalkboards for baby showers :)

This is the chalkboard in our house that I change seasonally

We were too sick to go to the pool, so we blew up the backyard pool

Our family went to the Diamondbacks game - and this is what I did - I just followed Kendall around and she wanted to climb to the very top of the stadium and then walk around on top.

More climbing.  Go D-backs!

Those play glasses are too cute on her!

Swimming Ribbons!

Father's Day

We have a pretty awesome dad at our house!  And he actually got to celebrate Father's Day this year ... usually it is the weekend of mine and Rachel's double birthday and it's hard to squeeze everything in.  But this year, it came before the birthdays, so he got treated like the King he is. The kids gave him something similar to a coupon book of sorts where he was able to pick items that he wanted the kids to complete.  Rachel came up with the ideas and daddy picked 1. clean out his car  2. watch sports with him  3. put on a party for him  4. snowcone of your choice  5.  draw a picture for him  ... so the kids and I had a busy day.  The funniest part, was the "party" they put on for him.  They got out the birthday decorations box and decorated with all sorts of pinwheels, flamingos, mustaches, signs, etc. and then we had ice cream and then they knew how much dad would want to watch a kid's movie with them for his party.  :)

Brandon is still enjoying his job at Osborn Maledon, and when he isn't working, he is playing with the kids.  When he tuckers them out, then he is in his wood shop in the garage.  He has been working hard on lots of wood projects for the house.  He is building plantations shutters for the inside windows (which is such a long process, but they are looking nice), garage storage that keeps the sawdust off the holiday boxes and other garage storage, a wood banister for a more finished look, and seriously built a shed in one day - he's still working on the finishing touches, but it's looking great.

Andrew took all these pictures of Brandon at a swim meet - it's what dad looks like from his perspective.  :)  

Just a few wood projects Brandon has been working on - garage storage with doors and a wood banister

Happy Father's Day!!

Impromtu Father's Day party :)

Father's Day party contributors

Happy Father's Day (Kendall's face!)

Rachel turns 6 (and Mom turns 31)!

We had a successful double birthday!  On June 17th, we celebrated at Arizona Air Time with our birthday twin - Suzi Pearson, who's birthday is on June 16 & her daughter, Abby, who's birthday is on June 17.  Then we got all the free food that my kids could handle - 2 free sprinkles cupcakes, 2 free Kneaders desserts (even in the drive-thru), and $20 of free food at Joe's Farm Grill for lunch.  Then we watched movies and sang the birthday song and played with our presents.  Rachel got the Frozen castle, some Frozen toys (impossible to find!), Frozen pajamas, legos, magic treehouse books and other miscellaneous toys.  I got a new sewing machine, pedicure, rice cooker, popcorn popper & Target money.  

Then we decided to let Rachel have a friend party - Frozen themed, of course!  I'm weird about birthdays, and I wish I wasn't, but I just am!  I want them to be special for my kids, but they get me all stressed out!  I don't love "friend parties" until they are 5 years old, because having kids over under 5 is too much babysitting and not enough party.  So we liked the whole "family party" idea - except that a family party for us consists of just us five.  Not having family here, makes the idea of the family party tricky.  So in the past, we have invited one family over who is gracious enough to let us have a little party with our kid with them there to make it more special.  And it has worked pretty great so far.  But now we have a 6 year old, and we are first-timers just flying by the seats of our pants and figuring things out with our oldest as she gets older.  

Initially, I thought we would have friend parties starting at 5 and then only every few years, but then I changed my mind because I knew how much it would mean to Rachel to have her friends over and have them sing to her!  Plus, she had been to quite a few birthday parties during the school year, so it was tough to come up with a good solution - maybe just invite a friend to do something super fun, but these little 6 year olds don't process the value of money very well, and I knew she would "just want a party, mom!"  Brandon wanted to help me throw a friend birthday party that was simple and not stressful.  I wasn't stressed about it until about a day before when we literally hadn't done anything and I knew I had to work the night before.  But Brandon rose to the occasion and pretty much did everything.  I planned lunch and got the house somewhat clean, and he made the cake (like he always does) and came up with the activities and party bag.  

The girls (we had 9 total) built Olaf snowmen out of marshmallows, played pin-the-nose on Olaf and had a real snowball fight (using his snow cone maker, he made a whole cooler full of snowballs) and threw snowballs at Brandon, who was pretending to be the Snow Monster.  They also had an impromptu dance party and watched the movie, "Frozen" (This was an added bonus. I texted the moms to see if their girls could stay for an hour and half extra to watch the show - not shocking that every mom said YES!).  Rachel and the girls absolutely loved it.  I am grateful for a talented husband who is so great with kids, and is patient with my birthday stresses.  

Real birthday - shared with mommy called for Sprinkles cupcakes

Birthday buddies - Rachel & Abby Pearson

Brandon's creation

Kendall giving Olaf a big hug

Ellie, Paige W., Holly, Brooklyn, Abby, Rachel, Veronica & Paige C.  (Shea came later)

Soccer, Tumbling & Swimming Lessons, OH MY!

We had lots of activities to wrap up in July!  Rachel has been in tumbling for a few months at Flips, and she has made dramatic improvement on her cartwheel, running cartwheel and she can do a backbend.  It actually has not been her favorite, but she needed to finish out the season.  Her complaint was that they yelled a lot and she didn't want to get in trouble for forgetting where her spot was, and I noticed her getting stressed out about going.  I think it was a little more intense than Rachel bargained for and so we will try something else.

Sidenote:  I posted pictures of her below with Stella, Maddie & London (sisters), who are the sweetest things ever.  Stella (2nd grade), Maddie (4th grade) & London (6th grade) were all older girls who always went out of their way to make Rachel feel special at Ishikawa.  I know Rachel gave them hundreds of hugs and always said hi to them and they always were happy to see her and say hello.  Rachel had gone to preschool with Maddie & London's twin brothers, Max & Luke, which is how she met them in the first place.  But really, these adorable girls were so sweet to my daughter, and I couldn't help but thank their mom every single time I saw her.  I hope Rachel will be that sweet to a Kindergartener when she is an upperclassman one day!

Andrew's soccer season also ended (hallelujah!).  It was a long, painful, hot experience (sorry, Andrew!).  He was the biggest one on the team, but was not aggressive or competitive at all (and it drove Brandon crazy).  He also complained the whole time about running or being too hot or not getting the ball.  Goalie seemed to be a good fit (since he wouldn't have to run), except that he wasn't the greatest at it, so he got frustrated.  I think the most frustrating part for Brandon and I was that we knew he wasn't trying his hardest and kept giving up.  All in all, I am proud of him for participating and that he is starting to learn about being a team player (since their were other kids who absolutely refused to play).  Finally on the last game, I opted for running right along with him and holding his hand, and you know what - he had more fun than he had had all season.  So we took turns running with him and it went much better.  He was really looking forward to a soccer medal at the end of the season, and it did not disappoint.  He slept with the medal the first night and doesn't like Rachel to touch it.  We love our gentle giant, Andrew!

Although tumbling and soccer weren't the best experiences, I can say with confidence that kids LOVED swimming lessons.  Rachel is a fish in the water, and she is participating on swim team this summer.  It took Andrew a couple times to warm up, but then Miss Allison won him over like she always does.  Andrew says her loves her the most, but that he loves our family too.  Rachel completed one session of lessons, and Andrew did two.  Andrew hasn't got the breathing down, but he is swimming much better underwater and I am confident that if he fell in, he would have no problem swimming to the side of the pool and getting out.  I loved that Andrew loved swimming lessons!  Kendall was as patient as an 18 month old could be with watching swimming lessons.  She was good until the last week or so, and then she thought she could run laps around the pool and climb on the diving board.  Yikes.

One of the best things about swimming lessons is making new friends!  We met another family, and Rachel & Paige are the cutest of friends and she has a little brother Andrew's same age (Bryce).  They go to a different elementary school, but don't live too far away.  Since lessons ended, we have met them at the gym, park, and the library.  And as an added bonus, the mom's not crazy (which is what she said to me when we exchanged numbers) ha ha!  I think we're all a good match and grateful that we met them!

He's coming over to tell me he needs a break, I am sure!  And he never wanted to wear long socks over the shin guards, "the socks go under them mom!"  Ok then!

Soccer supporters!

Go Tigers!  (Top Row:  Andrew, Austin, ?, ? Bottom Row: ?, Tyler, Riley, Jillian, ?)

Sleeping with his soccer medal

Paige & Rachel

End of Kindergarten - Rachel

Rachel had a wonderful Kindergarten year!  She made some great friends in her class and had a wonderful teacher, Mrs. Kelly Caha.  She thrived socially and academically and loved being at school!  

Favorite color:  green & blue

Favorite book:  Junie B. Jones, "The Dumb Bunny"

Best friends:  Holly, Veronica & Sophia

What do you want to be when you grow up:  Veterinarian (although is the Kindergarten slideshow, she said horse back rider ha ha)

Favorite part of Kindergarten:  when it's Friday because we watch IN news & the gummy bear dance

End of School Playdate with friends from Mrs. Caha's class
Veronica, Rachel, Sophia & Holly

Last day of Kindergarten

Ishikawa Elementary Kindergarteners, May 2014

Mrs. Kelly Caha, Kindergarten Teacher

Mrs. Hampton, teachers aid

She looked like this on stage most of the time (wanting me to take more and more pics of her!)