Basketball boys

My parents got Lewis a basketball hoop for his birthday and he loves to play with it. The other day I was noticing how good he was getting at making a basket every time and then I realized how tall he has grown since October! He has really sprouted. Almost all of the 2T clothes are too small and we were only able to wear them for 4 months before I had to bust out the 3T clothes (thank goodness for hand-me-downs!)

So after taking these pictures we have raised the basketball hoop up to the 4 foot stand and Lewis still makes a basket almost every time! He's got skills!!!

Lewis in October

Lewis Now

The Griffinator was a mouse at school and you can still see the whiskers.

Helen's recital songs

Mary's recital songs

1st 2 songs on first clip then last song on 2nd clip

Piano Recital

The girls had a piano recital on Saturday. My parents came down from Flag for it. They both did a fantastic job and all their pieces were finished in 2.5 minutes. Well worth the 2 hour drive for my parents! :> I did video it but I'm not sure how to compress the files so they will download onto the blog but I'll try and add them if I figure it out!

Mary played 3 songs, 'Oh What do you do in the summertime?' 'Love one another' and 'I am a child of God'

Helen played 2 songs, 'Popcorn Popping' and 'Lavender Blue'.

Their teacher is Ruthie Davidson and she had quite a few students. She teaches special needs Kindergarten and then after school does piano. She isn't a member of the church but somehow all of her students are Mormon! We had the recital at the church in the primary room. Milk and cookies were served and the whole thing from start to finish to clean up afterward took 56 minutes! Sweet.

The pictures I took with the girls and my parents a the recital were terrible so I took a good one at church the next day, we were late and my dad didn't want to stop to take a picture but we were only 5 minutes late which for me is early!! We usually don't get there till 8:15! We were even in time to hear the announcements which has only happened once this year since changing to the 8 a.m. schedule...and that would have been yesterday. I asked the bishop if he could do the announcements at the end of sacrament and he said he'd think about it, he is so funny!

Brad and I took advantage of the free babysitters and went over to the Mesa Temple for our Stake Temple Night. We went to the 4:30 session and afterwords went out to dinner with 3 other couples from our ward. (We had 9 couples from our ward in our session which was great.) We had a great time with the Olsons, Bates, Griffins & Jacque--she was solo since her hubby was sick. We got to talking about mission stories and it was a laugh riot! It's fun to get to know people better from our ward.

So our weekend was pretty fun. Hope yours was too!

P.S.
here is the forecast for this week. 80's people! It's in the 80's!!!!

Laundry Helper

Lewis loves to help with the laundry. He likes to throw the clothes into the washer and push the buttons to make it start and stop. He used to stand in front of the washer and watch the clothes go round and round for 5 minutes at a time. He also likes to take the wet clothes out and put them in the dryer and help turn it on. If only he'd fold it and put it away it would be the perfect laundry relationship!!

So I had my little helper with me and when I got the last of the laundry out of the dryer I told Lew to close the door. Since my hands were full of laundry, I didn't supervise this part of the process. After taking the clothes upstairs and putting them on the bed, I realized my helper had abandoned me, so I went searching. Found him! Cleaver boy can climb in and out of the dryer. Now we know why we keep the doors shut (he can't open them without help) when they are empty.

President's Day

On Monday, Presidents Day, my cousin Julie and her kids came over for lunch and to visit for a while. Brad grilled hot dogs and Julie brought salad and fruit and I set the table! Griffin must have been starving because he ate 4 hot dog buns, 2 with hot dogs in them, 1 with ketchup and relish only and 1 plain, plus his salad, some apple slices and 2 chocolate chip cookies! Everyone else just ate like normal people.

Julie, Nathan and I sat downstairs and had lots of fun catching up. The kids and Brad stayed upstairs playing games, the 4 girls played hide and go seek, Little Petshop, and watched some TV. Brad and Griffin spent the whole time playing on the DS's, on the chair in Helen's room, it was like they disappeared! Lewis was kind enough to sleep through the entire visit, (yeah 3 hour naps!) We had lots of fun and were glad they came over to play for the day.

Nathan is getting so big--11 lbs already! Hard to believe he started out so tiny. He was asleep most of the time but woke up at the end, so we could enjoy his smiles and cuteness. Julie and I discussed how much easier a single child is after having twins. No comparison people! Not that we'd trade our twins but a single child is a cakewalk after that!

Here are some cute pictures of Nathan, enjoy!

Valentines Weekend

We had a great Valentines Day weekend. On Friday, Brad and I went out to eat with our friends the Kidd's and then went to a dance at the church, adults only. Sweet! We had lots of fun dancing and mingling with only big people. The girls were tucked in bed but not asleep when we got home. They tried to pretend to be asleep but I've got lots of skills at knowing how to pretend since I did it for years and years when I was young so I knew they were tricking and when I told them "Nice try trickers!" and they all popped up out of bed laughing to give us some good night kisses and hugs.

Valentines morning I got breakfast in bed--Eggs Benedict--no picture it was too yummy to wait. They were delish and I also got some lovely flowers from Brad and the children. They are so pretty and make my room smell great!

7 day forecast

Can I just say what a bummer it is to live here in the valley of the sun this time of year? here is our 7 day forecast. it looks bleak doesn't it? yeah, I am really roughin it here!

Feb 19-Feb 25

Lew, Grammy and the Cheerleaders

My mom came down to Cardinal Stadium the other day for some Del Taco Meetings and they had some of the cheerleaders there for pictures. Grammy was kind enough to pose with them so I could get a pic with them and Lewy. So chute! What a fun Grammy to make sure Lewy get's to know the cheerleaders. We had a yummy lunch after the pictures and then Lewis and I escaped before the technical Del Taco stuff got going. Thanks for lunch Grammy!

Early Out=Picnic at the Zoo

Friday the kids had early out so we packed a lunch and headed to the zoo. We are looking for cheap fun right now and that zoo pass is really workin for us! We had a great time and since it was a mild 80 degrees most of the animals were out and about and we got some good photo's.

The lions were funny, the daddy lion was sleepin and mommy lion walked over and got him up, so he stands up and gets a little nuzzle going on and the next thing you know, bam, she drops down right into his nice shady spot! It was hilarious! But it was kind of her to get him up so we could get a nice photo.

Just down the road there are 2 new cheetah brothers who were busy walking around and marking their new territory.

We had a great time and it was fun to be out in our fantastic weather enjoying quality time as a family.

Crush's new do

We have a desert tortoise, Crush, who lives in our backyard. When we got Crush we were told he would hibernate from October to March-ish. No problem, Brad built him a den and he hangs out there to hibernate. Someone forgot to tell Crush he is supposed to hibernate for 4-6 months. He cruises around the back yard until late November and comes out in Feb. He must have a thermometer inside of him that perk's him up when it gets over 70 F (21 C). So, he has been out and about since the last week in January--that's maybe 2 months of hibernation for those of you keepin score. Yes, that means that we have been enjoying temperatures in the 70's for the last 2 weeks, the last 2 days it's been 80 F (26 C)!!!

Anyway, Lewis loves Crush and pat's him all the time and sits outside and talks to him often. So, the other day Lewis is outside playing with the sidewalk chalk and Brad and I are organizing the cupboards (oh the fun things you get to do when you've been laid off!) Lewis is just having a great time and is entertaining himself and is so happy. After Lewis goes down for his nap, Brad and I go pick up all the balls he has tossed all over the backyard and pick up the sidewalk chalk and then we notice Crush. Hmmmmmm, what is all over our sweet tortoise? Well, bless my soul, its blue chalk!! Lewis just decided the sidewalk wasn't enough for his lovely scribbling, he needed to get Crush in on the action!!! AWESOME! So, until it rains or just wears off, Crush is sporting a new look.

Lynette turns 40

2009 is a big year for me and Brad and some of our friends. We will be hitting the big 40. I am not to thrilled about this fact and plan to run away from home at some point to celebrate with Lynette because Brad doesn't care about turning 40 and Lynette can feel my pain!

Lynette was the first to hit her 40 mark and since some of her sisters were in from out of town they had a surprise party for her a week early! You had to bring 40 of something for her present, so we made her 40 coupons good for 1 won ton each. She loves Brad's won ton's! It was a fun party but she wouldn't stand still for a picture so I just got the blowing out the candles shot and one with her, her mom and her sisters after the party was over. So enjoy.

PS Lynette comes from a family of really short people. She is 5' 13" so just think how tall all these lovely ladies are!