3 Lil' Pumpkins

The kids had lots of fun painting pumpkins this year, as always. They actually gave them some thought and designed them on paper first. Here they are, hard at work...

and the finished product!

3 more lil' pumpkins

Girls Night

It was so fun to spend some kid-free time with friends (because we figured out that there would be 21 kids between us all!). Lots of laughing and catching up and well, it's always a good time hanging out with these girls.

Party like a Rock Star!

Gabby wanted a rock star party this year, so we did our best. The celebrities/guests all got to walk up the star studded entry and onto the red carpet, where they were greeted by the paparazzi.Instead of birthday cake, they got to decorate their own star-shaped cookies (P.S. Kids + sprinkles= empty bottles of sprinkles, my apologies to their mothers). They played dress up games and chased the paparazzi aka Robert and danced and sang to plenty of Justin Beiber songs.

Thanks to all of Gabby's Rock Star friends who made it a fun and special day for her!

Gabby's 5th Birthday

Gabby had been waiting for her 5th birthday ever since Carter's birthday, way back in January for one reason...she wanted breakfast in bed just like Carter had. So her big day finally came and she got her breakfast of choice, Fruit and Maple Oatmeal with toast. Unfortunately, she could barely touch it and looks a little green in this picture. Poor girl, right after she got to school she barfed and had to come home. She ended up sleeping the day away and woke up just as the bus came to drop the kids off (in the middle of a hail storm!) She woke up feeling much better and was soooo excited to try out her new...
bike, complete with a bell, streamers and baby seat for her dolls. The girls had fun riding in the cool weather and if you look closely, you can see their hair standing up from the electricity in the air. (Carter insisted on riding through the gutters and splashing the muddy water all over herself, it was fun though) So, even though the day got off to a rocky start, it ended up being a good day afterall. Happy Birthday Gabby. 5 years old! Wow!

Here's some of her favorites right now:


Color: Gold
Food: Spaghetti
Movie: Gnomeo and Juliet
Animal: Giraffe and Bunny and Cat and Dog
Treat: Cake
Thing about school: Her teacher
Song: The Tangled Song

Nate as of Late

Nate is just a funny boy. Here's a few of his latest quirks...

-He thinks a giant lives in our entry way by the front door. He will run away screaming sometimes but he claims it is a nice giant who likes macaroni and cheese.

-He thinks hiccups are so funny and he hates hangnails.

-After he drinks a big glass of water he will say, "Woah, I a thirsty guy!"

-He loves the ABC's. LOVES them!

-During the girls' soccer practices and games he will yell, "No hands!"

-If he sees a picture of himself he will comment on how handsome or awesome he is.

-He sings this song so much that I had to record it and put it up here...

First Soccer Games

The girls had their first soccer games of the season. They were really fun to watch! Carter's team, the Snowbunnies, tied 3-3! Good job Carter!Carter is right in the middle in this shot with the ball coming her way...
Gabby's team, the Blue Sharks, lost 1-3. However, their team scored 2 of the other teams goals. That pretty much means they won, right? ha.

Here she is throwing the ball back in to play and practicing before the game.

The best part was that both girls gave their best effort and didn't complain about the scorching heat, not even once. It looks like it will be a fun season for them both!

Triathlon

Robert completed his first mini-triathlon this weekend. He started off swimming, then biking and running. He did really well and was happy with his time (which we haven't gotten an official time on yet). We were very proud of him competing ,despite the crazy heat, and he has worked hard to get in shape these last few months. Way to go Robert!!

1 leg done, 2 to go...

I don't have any pictures of Robert riding his bike...just this random guy who we thought was Robert until we drove past. Good thing I rolled up the windows before the kids started yelling "Go Dad!"...
....okay here is, crossing the finish line.

He did awesome!

First Day of School

After much debate, we decided to have Gabby start Kindergarten this year. I was a little sad to drop her off this morning. She is my sunshine girl, always happy and bubbly. It's already a little weird and quiet with just Nate and I at home. But, her teacher is fantastic and I know she will do great!Carter was sooooo ready for the first day of school to get here. She walked into her classroom yesterday and drooled at all of the books her teacher has for them to read. She also has a good teacher, very kind and matter of fact, perfect for Carter.

Carter was a good big sister making sure Gabby knew where to go and had a friend to play with. I also heard her say that she would pick her up after school. Way to go Carter....and now, we just have to wait until school's out to hear how it all went!

Summer Storm

There was a crazy afternoon monsoon storm last week that my kids just had to play in (and so did all the neighbor kids too!). It rained so hard and fast, it filled the park up with water in no time. They soon ditched their umbrellas to go "swim" in the muddy lake/park and had a blast. It was like going backwards 20 years :)

Pioneer Day 2011

Pioneer Day was a lot of fun. The girls got to be on a float in the parade (which was much better than the 4th of July parade!). Carter is above and Gabby is below.
It was kinda weird to only have to look after one child during the parade. That never happens.

After that we all walked down to the football field to watch fireworks. This is one of my favorite pictures from the night, even though it's blurry. Our neighbors sons are always playing with Nate and Nate adores them. During fireworks, Dylan sat with Nate and made "boom" sound effects to entertain him. It was very sweet.

Little Pioneer Children

Carter has been crazy about all things pioneer-ish lately. I am assuming it's because she is just finishing up the Little House on the Prairie books or because Grandma Diane made the girls super cute pioneer bonnets. Well, Carter got the idea to start a singing group, run by herself, to perform for pioneer day. She recruited Gabby and the next door neighbors and they had been practicing for a couple weeks.They wore their most authentic pioneer costumes while they sang a song from the Children's Songbook.
They even made a covered wagon and campfire with some wildlife.

It was very cute. The Dads even videotaped it for posterity :)

Gabs

Just trying a few things with my camera and Gabby volunteered to come. Thought these were cute of her...

4th Of July

The 4th of July was such a fun day! We spent the whole day with friends; swimming, at the parade (a short parade but it was okay since it was sooo hot), BBQ-ing, Rock Band, Fireworks. The kids were exhausted by the end and fell asleep on the way home from the fireworks. Actually, Nate woke up mad the next morning because he still had his clothes on and not pajamas, ha ha! The Burbanks and Sparks waiting for the parade to start. (Nate was using that trash can for shade)
Uncle Sam, probably gonna get heat stroke wearing that jacket

Gabby and Ethan

Carter and Macie

Happy Fourth!

Hard at Work

What could have a 2-year-old concentrating this hard during lunchtime?
Getting the Mac n' Cheese lined up just so for the perfect bite!

Karate, Ceramics, Lemonade...oh my

Last week was busy! Gabs was in Karate and loved getting her white belt :)
I was going to crop this picture closer but then I would have cut out the kid in the corner in the gray shirt. Hilarious.
Carter chose cermaics and painted a new project everyday.

Then on Saturday, the girls set up a lemonade stand. Who could pass up these cute sales ladies?

Excuses

So, here's my list of excuses for not blogging lately... ...potty training. My nemesis. I don't know why it suddenly becomes acceptable to ride down the street in your undies when you're potty training, but it does. Nate hasn't worn pants for a few weeks now.
...end of school/ start of summer. Other than Christmas, it's the busiest time of year. Gabby has been especially enjoying that her sister and her friends are home all day. ...lots of cousin time in Show Low and Mesa. The trips are always too short :)

...so there you have it. My blogging hiatus has ended!