Last Days of Summer

We spent our Labor Day weekend soaking up the sun at two of our fave places...the lake on Sunday and the pool on Monday! Although I will miss the freedom that summer time brings with the relaxed schedule, I look forward to the cooler weather and holidays.

This is one of my favorite pictures of the summer...three smiling, sun-kissed girls!

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Three Wise Monkeys

Easier said then done right?

Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil

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The Harvest

It's carrot picking time in Auntie Jessica's garden so the boys next door invited the girls over to help with the crop. The kids had SO much fun picking carrots right out of the ground, rinsing them off with the hose, and eating them on the spot.

Auntie taught the girls how to grab the stem close to the ground, wiggle it around and pull!

Lissy was so proud of herself.

Riley found a little cluster of carrots and pulled out a handful at once.

If I wasn't such a poor gardener, and by poor I mean the kind of gardener who forgets to water her plants, we would definitely plant a garden of our own. So instead, I'll just send the girls over and let Auntie take advantage of the three additional child laborers when her crop is ready to pick. They work for carrots.....and the occassional jellybean which was used to bribe them all into standing still for a picture!

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Sunscreen Queen

The girls are at that oh-so-helpful stage where they want to do everything themselves. When my back was turned at the pool, Makena helped herself to the sunscreen and made sure to thoroughly apply it to her arms and belly.

Buying more sunscreen has been added to the "To Do" list.

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Wordful Wednesday and The Future Class of 2023

Another milestone has come and gone in our house. The girls graduated from preschool last Friday. It was an exciting day for them and a little hard to believe for their mama. The last two years have flown by. They started out going to preschool two days a week for the first year and a half, but started going five days a week this past December. They have shown so much growth in the last six months. They learned so many school readiness skills that I couldn't have taught them at home and thoroughly enjoyed all of the classroom activities that they were exposed to. Paying for preschool has been a tremendous sacrifice, but has been worth every penny.

I had to search through the picture archives to find the 1st day of preschool pictures that I had taken. The girls still have the "baby look" in their little faces! They were newly potty-trained and experienced quite a few potty accidents when they first started going to preschool. I also vividly remember having to chase the girls out of the preschool building because they would all bolt in different directions on the way to the car. FUN TIMES! I don't miss that part of the preschool experience. They quickly learned to hold hands and stay right next to me on the way to the car.

My 3 year-old "Penguins" with their first teacher, Tami. She is such a loving person who really cared for the girls and helped them adjust to their new school routine.

The girls on the first day of their 2nd year in preschool. They were now in the 4 year-old "Dolphin" class and loved to remind me how they were too old to be in the "Penguin" class now.

Their graduation ceremony was very cute. They sang quite a few of their favorite songs and braved the unseasonably windy June weather. Their teachers set up carnival games for them to play after the ceremony.

The girls with Teacher Mary and Teacher Stefanie. The woman in red was a representative from our local Congressman's office who helped hand out the diplomas for the kids.

My happy graduates!
From L to R:
Alyssa, Riley, and Makena

Daddy with his girls!


The girls with Teacher Diana. She has helped in the girls classes both years and has a true talent for working with kids. She has the patience of a saint!


The girls with Teacher Stefanie. She has made this second year of preschool tons of fun for the girls. We will be seeing Stefanie again in July when the girls return for swimming lessons with her.

We are looking forward to relaxing over the summer and spending lots of time with our friends. It's time for our summertime playdates!

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Wordful Wednesday and Sprinkler Time

We have had really mild Spring weather in our area for the last 2 months, which I have enjoyed, but it has pushed back our usual outside water activities that started in April last year. The girls were thrilled to put on their bathing suits and play in the sprinklers on Sunday afternoon and I had a blast watching them. Trying to take pictures while dodging the hose that was in the hands of my 4 year olds was a challenge but my camera survived!

Three giggling girls

Miss Makena

Miss Alyssa

Miss Riley

I hope you are all enjoying the sunshine too!

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Wordful Wednesday and Tasty Treats

Although we've never taken the girls camping, I decided that they were long overdue for their first s'more. So BF Jess and I searched our cupboards and made a quick trip to the store to get all the necessary ingredients. It was a perfect dessert to share with our neighbors on a Saturday night. Instead of melting our marshmallows over an open fire, we made our s'mores suburbia style and just melted them in the oven! Whatever works right?

Ooey Gooey goodness! All of our little peeps were happy with their tasty treat. My girls went directly into the bath.....sticky marshmallows and long hair just don't mix!

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Wordful Wednesday and BUGS

It's bug week at preschool and apparently the girls have NO problems letting the creepy bugs (including cockroaches) crawl all over them. I had the heebie-jeebies just trying to take their pictures because I was scared the bugs were going to leap onto me and attach themselves to my face.

I get grossed out just looking at the pictures. Do you SEE the size of those cockroaches?

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Wordful Wednesday and Mama's New Toy

Check out mama's new toy. I was up waaaaayyyyy past my bedtime last night admiring all the ways that this little gadget can improve my life. I know I am SO 2007 with all of my rookie iphone excitement, but hey, it's new to me. So for all of you iphone experts out there, which apps are must haves?

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Wordful Wednesday and Ten Things

1. I have an off/on relationship with the gym and right now we are so ON right now. Blame it on Zumba...my latest work out addiction.

2. Only 31 days to go until my summer vacation. I've only got a bazillion things to finish before then and not nearly enough time to get them all done. If I make it to June 18th without my head exploding it will be a miracle.

3. I've got a killer sweet-tooth and it takes major willpower for me not to bake something a couple times a week to satisfy my craving. But if I'm not baking, luck will have it that my BFF sends me a text at 9:30 p.m. telling me that hot chocolate chip cookies have just come out of her oven. Her oven happens to be in the house right next door. Willpower loses every time.

4. I don't fool myself into thinking that working out will lead to me losing weight. I exercise so that I can eat BFF's homemade cookies with a little less guilt.

5. My fave song right now is Billionaire by Travie McCoy (*Warning* f-bomb dropped in this video. Couldn't find the clean version online.) The best thing about music is that it makes me feel young and I LOVE belting this song out it the car. Singin' like nobody can hear me.

6. The adventure with Riley's eye-patching is going better than expected. We patch at night when we get home, so unfortunately we don't have enough time before bed to get in 4 hours, but we get somewhere between 2-3 hours and she isn't fighting me about wearing it. HUGE relief.

7. I rarely manage to get myself in bed before 11:30 p.m. and I curse myself for it every morning when the alarm goes off. Can't seem to break that cycle.

8. We recently splurged and hooked up Direct Tv. I've now added atleast 3 new shows to my reality t.v. show rotation. Tori and Dean, Kendra, and the Kardashians are now on the list. Completely mind-numbing, but oh-so satisfying while I'm eating a hot chocolate chip cookie.

9. I love this random picture I took of the girls hanging out with some of our peeps a couple weeks ago. Gotta love the little people flashing peace signs!

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Wordful Wednesday and I Spoke Too Soon

So it turns out that we were only patch free for less than 2 weeks. Alyssa got the all clear, but Riley must now endure the eye patching experience. We had her yearly eye exam yesterday and found out that the vision in her right eye is not as strong as her left eye even with glasses. And getting her to wear her glasses is a whole other story.

This go around with eye patching is not going to be as easy as it was with Alyssa. Riley wore her patch for about 2 minutes this morning before ripping it off her eye. It doesn't help that she is not a morning person...atleast Monday through Friday. I didn't fight her about it this morning and we tried again tonight. She kept it on for 30 minutes. Hooray for small victories. We are supposed to build up to her wearing the patch for 4 freaking hours. The dr. says that patching is only therapeutic after 2 hours.

So I've got my work cut out for me. My feisty Riley will challenge me every step of the way. She has enjoyed challenging people from the get go. When she was 20 days old in the NICU, weighing less than 2 pounds, she pulled her ventilator tube out and made it clear she didn't want it back down her throat.

I better keep my bribing pants on....she worked for a fortune cookie tonight.

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Wordful Wednesday

Is there a better way to eat olives when you are 4?

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Wordful Wednesday and Picture Overload

The girls had a whirlwind Easter week with FIVE egghunts and THREE chances to meet the Easter bunny. We also had a week of rainy weather but had enough breaks in the rain that the egghunts weren't spoiled.

Easter bunny pic #1 at their preschool party

Miss Alyssa Cottontail

Miss Riley Cottontail

Miss Makena Cottontail (striking her best modeling pose)

Easter bunny pic #2 at our neighborhood picnic on Saturday

The girls posing in front of the "sea of eggs." Our local mom's group stuffed 5,000 eggs for the neighborhood picnic.

My BF Ly and her kiddos joined us for the picnic.

Lissy was proud to show off her bunny face!

Riley showing off her eggs.

Makena frosting her Easter cookie. Girlfriend loves the frosting!

Pony rides were a big hit with the girls

Cousin Katie joined us for more egg-hunting at home after the picnic.

The Crew
from L to R (Makena, Alyssa, Riley, Alani, Aidan, Evan, Calum)

The girls were excited to see what the Easter bunny brought them on Sunday morning. New bathing suits and coloring books were the biggest crowd pleasers!

Easter bunny pic #3 on Sunday

The rain started to come down on Sunday afternoon and this was right before the downpour. It was pretty chilly but the buckets full of Easter eggs kept the girls happy.

We crashed at Lolo and Lolo's house after our rainy Sunday at the park. Alyssa came down with a fever by late afternoon and managed to fall asleep on the couch in the midst of her sisters running around all hopped up on Easter candy. A little Motrin cocktail made her feel much better.

Hope you all had a Happy Easter! If anyone is in need of some candy, let me know and I will send you a bucket full!

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