Waterskiing!

 Our new neighbors and friends, Rebecca and Taylor Konkin, invited us to go water-skiing them last Saturday.  We had a totally great time attempting to ski, and the kids loved riding around in the boat.  This photo proves that I actually got up on skis!  I was excited.  I stayed up for a bit until I (accidentally) went over the wake and had a rather painful landing.  Mike showed off his slaloming skills.  Thanks Konkins!

 

It happened again!

Just as Emma's hair was starting to look normal again, she cut her hair again!  Except this time she had an accomplice.  It's bad.  Really bad.  I just can't bear to post a picture of her.  She's always adorable, of course, but I miss her beautiful, perfectly-highlighted, side-swept, beachy locks.  She's going to be in Kindergarten by the time it looks normal again.  *Sigh*  

Mike was out-of-town and I was exhausted at the end of a very long week.  I put the kids in their respective rooms for a little "quiet time".  I retreated to my own room for a little quiet time myself.   Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep.  Emma came into my room and woke me up to tell me something.  As I was staring at her through bleary eyes trying to understand what she was telling me, something looked amiss.  Then it hit me.  I screamed, "YOU CUT YOUR HAIR AGAIN!!" as I jumped out of my bed still half asleep.  She cried and cried and I put her in timeout where she actually fell asleep in a chair for a couple hours.  In the meantime, I found the hair in the trash, and I thought, hmmm, I just don't think Emma would know to hide her hair.  I asked Brayden if he had anything to do with it and at first he completely denied it.  But moments later he just couldn't take it anymore and admitted his guilt.  His defense was, "But Emma did it too!"

Potty Trained!

The same week that Brayden started Kindergarten, Emma hit a pretty major milestone of her own.  Emma potty-trained herself overnight!  One afternoon, a friend called her "stinky," and later that day Emma put on underwear and kept them dry until bedtime.  The next day she was nearly perfect with only one or two accidents.  She is now completely potty trained!  Her doctor told me that because of her personality, Emma would probably just one day decide that she's done with diapers.  And that's exactly what she did!  No amount of bribery on my part could do what a little peer pressure could do!  (Am I in trouble??)  In all honestly, you will probably think I am a little nuts, but I am actually a little sad.  I am probably the first mom in the history of potty training that is sad that she doesn't have to change diapers anymore, but I think the reality that I no longer have a baby in my home has hit.

Brayden's FIrst Day of Kindergarten!

Brayden started Kindergarten this week!  I cannot believe that my baby boy is truly old enough to be going to school.  He has been quite excited to go to the "big" school with all the big kids.  I am glad he was enrolled in preschool last year because I think really prepared him in many ways.  I did okay leaving Brayden in class, (he was so brave and didn't complain once) but as soon as I walked out the door I got a little emotional.  It was a moment, and I got over it, but it's kinda hard to see your kids grown up!  Brayden felt a lot more comfortable when he learned that his good little buddy, Luke, is in his class.  They even sit at the same table!   Today when I got to the school to pick him up, Brayden and Luke were goofing around together and giggling themselves silly.  Brayden said to me, "Mom, Luke is my best-est friend EVER!"  I think he will have a great year.

Salmon Skisco!

We recently took a little weekend trip to San Francisco, which Emma calls "Salmon Skisco".   My dear friend Michelle Gillette called me to let me know that she was going to be in the Bay Area to see her sister, Debbie.  We made the drive to SF and enjoyed the day walking around the city with Michelle, Debbie and their mom, Theresa.  The highlight of the day for Michelle was seeing the "Full House" house.  It was so great to be able to spend time with Michelle and to be able to catch up with her.  She is such a special friend to me!  We spent the night in downtown SF and then spent the next day walking the beaches of Ocean Beach and Half Moon Bay.   At Ocean Beach, we saw the amazing ruins of the Sutro Baths, a huge swimming complex built in the 1800's and burned down in 1966.  We were there during the release of Breaking Dawn, the fourth and final book in the Stephenie Meyer Twilight Series.  I wanted to go to the release party in SF but it didn't work out, so I bought it the next day and brought it with it to the beach.

Family Garden

This year we decided to try to grow a garden.  I've always wanted to grow tomatoes.  I love homegrown tomatoes.  I've never successfully grown anything before, so I didn't think it would actually work, but it did!  Brayden and Emma really got into it.  Everyday they would run out back to check on the plants.  They were so excited to see things grow, and to see the tomatoes appear and then change from green to red.  Brayden would ask, "Are they done yet?" and "Are they tomatoes yet?"  We also planted a few green bean and carrot seeds.    I was really surprised when those actually grew!  It was a really great experience for our family.  I plan on doing it again next year, and even trying our hand at growing a few other things. 

Disneyland!

We recently went to Disneyland with my parents, my siblings and their families.  It was so wonderful to be able to spend time with my family and to see Brayden and Emma spend time with their cousins and grandparents.  We had such a wonderful time!  My sister spent many hours formulating a plan for us using a software program called "Ridemax" (which I highly recommend to anyone who will be visiting Disneyland.)  Even though we went during the middle of summer, were able to minimize our wait-time and maximize our fun-time!  Thanks also to Mike and Brian who ran around the park and got FastPass tickets for everyone.  Brayden's favorite part was, by far, the Star Tours ride, as well as the Jedi Training Academy show.  We tried to get him to go on some of the bigger rides like Space Mountain, but as it was kind of like trying to get a cat in a bathtub.    Mike got waved off of Space Mountain, as he was physically trying to force hysterical Brayden to sit in the ride.  Emma's favorite part was all the characters, especially Minnie Mouse.  She LOVED Minnie!   We went to a character dinner at Goofy's Diner and loved and kissed Snow White, Goofy, Minnie, Chip, Pluto, and Fairy Godmother.  The highlights of the trip for me were seeing the kids faces at the character dinner and at the parades, and a really great Broadway-quality performance of Aladin, and couple really great rides at California Adventure, Soaring over California and California Screaming. After my brothers and parents had to leave, we went with Ashlee and Brian to Newport Beach for a day.  We went to the beach and visited the beautiful Newport Beach Temple, which was paid for by the members in the area.

Brayden and Emma's Birthday Party!

Since Christmas, Brayden and Emma have been asking how many days until their birthdays (Brayden actually got really good at counting backwards).  Their birthdays are only a day apart and so we decided to throw them a "Star Wars and Starlets" birthday celebration!  We had a water party with balloon lightsabers and a Darth Vader helmet for boys, and feather boas and star-shaped sunglasses for the girls.  My friend Alison helped me make an invitation, and my friend Kerri made a two awesome signs as well as let me borrow her super fun waterslide.  We had pizza and cake and ice cream.  Except for the chaos that ensued during the gift opening, I think it was hit.  It wouldn't have been the same without the kindness and generosity of my talented friends!  

Bringing Back the Mullet

A few weeks ago while I was in the shower, my darling Emma decided to give herself a little haircut.  She came to me with a huge smile on her face and said, "Mom, look at my hair."  And then I noticed the scissors in her hands.  And then I noticed she now had bangs.  I kind of freaked out and she ran off sobbing.  I think she really thought she had done a good thing.  On closer inspection, I discovered she had cut her hair really short on one side of her head, creating a sort of "mullet" effect.  UGH!  Just when I thought I had cleaned up all the hair, I would feel a lock become tangled in my toes walking around the house.  We took her to the hairdresser to even things out a bit.  Good thing she is cute enough she can even pull off a mullet!  

Brayden Graduates Preschool!

We have been so fortunate to have Brayden at two wonderful preschools this year.  One was a neighborhood preschool with our friend, Alicia Dimmitt, and the other was at a local charter school.  Brayden learned so much and enjoyed seeing his friends each day.  I cannot believe that Brayden will be starting Kindergarten in a matter of months!