Farmer's Market

Last night we (Jillian, the triplets, Jenn & her kiddos) went to the Twilight Farmer's Market.

The kids all started holding hands on their own, without being coaxed. They were so excited to see Natalie.


We watched a 'fire show'. Michael turned to me and, "This is the best movie, Mom." He was mesmerized, especially with the pretend sword fighting routine. He's been obsessed with sword fighting lately. One of the girls in the show seemed to be taking it very seriously. You could see her thinking to herself "I am the best fire swinger here. Check out my awesomeness."


Jenn & I decided that it must be important when swinging fire sticks to wear skimpy clothing.


I personally would want to have *more* material covering my body, in case something went wrong, but that's just me...


During the show our friends Pam & Austin came up to us and we had a lovely visit. After the show we followed their suggestion and got $1 snow cones. It wasn't the largest farmer's market I've been to, but it was kinda fun to get out of the house.

Introducing Princess Dolly

A couple of weeks ago we got a kitten!! She was, we think, 8 or 9 weeks old when we got her. We got her from this lady who rescued a group of cats from a construction site. We took the kids with us and let them help us decide which one to take home. As soon as we got there, Michael picked her up and said, "This is the one I want." They are so in love with her.

The name we came to a consensus on is Princess Dolly. Why, you ask? Well, when Scott's Dad was growing up they had cows, and they would name the cows after ex-girlfriends of Scott's Grandpa. Everytime we see his Grandma she talks about how "they always had a cow named Dolly". It's kind of a family joke. So, when tossing around names for the cat we said, 'Well, we don't have a cow, but how about Dolly?" The kids liked that name. They also liked the name Princess. We ended up just using both names and settled on Princess Dolly.

Sometimes we catch the kids giving her too much love, but I think getting a cat has been a good thing for the kids. Michael is always saying things like, "That kitty is so cute, huh." and "I just love that little kitty."

The kids sitting on the couch with the kitty the night we got her.

Michael cuddling with Princess Dolly during a movie.

Katelynn taking a turn with the kitty.

Michael showing his true feelings about her.

Pretty kitty.


Oh, and Nate & Nathan...she's still alive, so I think you BOTH lost your bet. Ha!! ;)

Birthday?

The other day the kids grabbed my hand and brought me into the kitchen, where they had this candle sitting on the table. They started singing, "Happy Birthday to Mommy", then told me to 'blow out' the candle. Then they presented me with my present--a castle made out of legos.

I don't know where they get this stuff, but it was dang cute.

Swimming & BBQ

On Saturday we went to our friend Brittnee's parents' house for a little BBQ/swimming party. We had so much fun! The kids had a blast swimming & playing with the other kids, and Mommy & Daddy had fun chatting with everyone.

Emma, Katelynn, Natalie & Logan playing in the pool.

Katelynn & Michael swinging on the swingset.

Emma & Natalie playing in the sandbox.

Scott enjoying some yummy food.


Okay, this is too crazy. Scott was going off of the diving board with Emma & Katelynn ON HIS BACK!! And they LOVED it! They also love swimming underwater with Scott. Those girls have a good set of lungs on 'em! I can't hold my breath that long!

Here are Katelynn & Daddy going off the diving board. I love the 'action' shot.


And Emma & Daddy. Notice the huge smile on her face as they are coming up to the surface.


A couple more pics of the kids playing in the pool.


Emma loves to go underwater! She is definitely a water baby!


One crazy thing that happened is that I got stung by a bee! I was just standing in the pool, minding my own business, and all of a sudden I feel this pinching on my neck. I said, "Is there something on my neck? It almost feels like I'm being stung by a bee or something." Everyone started freaking out. Scott had to pull out the stinger, while Nate Judd started hitting the bee in the water with a boogie board! Luckily, I'm not super allergic to bee stings, but it was still a bit freaky. Now I'm a little swollen around the sting, and the right side of my neck is kinda stiff. Other than that, no biggie.

Thanks for the invite, guys. We had a blast!

Loves

J: Hey, Emma. Guess what...I love you.
E: I know. You love me. And Daddy...Daddy loves Michael.
J: I know that Daddy loves you, too.
E: Yep. He loves me. And...he loves Michael.

totally random, but totally cute.

Lenny's

Some good friends of ours (You know who you are!) took us to this awesome 50's dinner in Glendale called Lenny's. It's a tiny place, but the food is good and the ice cream cones are 50 cents! Here we are enjoying our cones.

Emma & Michael. Michael has been requesting ice cream everyday since then!

Katelynn cheesin' it.

Katelynn & Daddy sharing a cone.

Smile you two!

Mommy, Emma & Michael. It looks like Emma is too busy looking at the decorations to look at the camera.


Thanks for the tip, guys! We'll have to go there again sometime!

At the Mall

On Thursday we met some friends at the mall. We let the kids play in the children's playarea. It was nice to let the kids run around. It was a little frustrating, though, because there is a height restriction to be able to play there (my kids are barely short enough to be there), but there were all these kids who were *way* too old in there. They were playing really rowdy and jumping off of the play structures. One of my friend's daughters got a black eye, and another friend's daughter had this older girl kinda stalking her! We were, like, "Where are these kids' parents? Can't they read the sign about the height restriction?!" But, at least the kids were able to play & get some of their wiggles out.

Later, at Aeropostale, the kids were trying on these sunglasses. I thought they were so funny & cute that I just *had* to take a picture. Enjoy!

I love Michael's little smile in this pic!

The girls just have to get little purses! Katelynn has to inspect it to see if it's the one she wants. Emma's grabbing another purse.

I love Michael's face in this picture. It almost looks like he is this famous person saying, "No pictures, please. I know I'm amazing, but please." as he adjusts his glasses.

Crazy kids! But, I love 'em!

Pool Party

On Saturday we went down to Dave's house (Scott's friend from school) for a pool party. The kids were excited to go swimming and to see some of their friends. Everyone had a good time.

We did have one little scare, though. Michael was on the other side of the pool from us and decided to take his floaty ring off & get in the pool!! We looked over and saw him kicking and pushing his little head above the water. We ran over and Scott jumped into the pool with all of his clothes on to grab Michael. He was totally okay, and didn't even cry or anything. All he did was scold us for not helping him. (He's been doing that lately. If he gets hurt or something doesn't go his way, he says, "I *told* you to help me!", like it's our fault that whatever happened, even though he hasn't said a word to us. For example, he was climbing on a shelf to get a toy down, and when he lost his balance he yelled, "I TOLD you to help me!!", when we had no idea he wanted a toy off that shelf. Anyway, back to the party...) We are happy that he was alright. I'm glad that the kids took some swimming lessons this summer, because I don't think Michael would have done as well with that situation before he had the lessons. Rather than freaking out, he was able to kick and keep his head above the water. We are very grateful for that!

Here are some pictures from the day. Yea for having a fixed camera!!

Cook-Off

The other night Scott & I were trying to decide what to make for dinner. We remembered having this awesome broiled sandwich thing on French bread at my friend Shelley's house, but couldn't remember what she put on it. One thing led to another, and before I knew it we were having our own little "Iron Chef" cook-off, with each of us working on our own half of the French bread. You can see the prize winning sandwiches here.

A few of the ingredients.

Some friendly competition.


Both sandwiches turned out pretty good, and had a totally different flavor, so we didn't really choose a winner, per se. But, I think there was less of my sandwich left over at the end of dinner. *hee hee hee*

Why I Had Triplets

Okay, this isn't really the reason I had triplets, but I thought it was funny anyway. I was working on mopping the floor, and the kids wanted to "help", so I said, "Sure. Why not?" Needless to say, they weren't' much help, as I had to go back over all the spots they had done, but they were happy to help and were learning to work, and that' s what matters.

Muddy Buddies

"Playing in the mud is good for the soul."

~ Jillian

Drawrings

The kids have been drawing a lot of "people" lately. Michael especially loves to draw and color.

Here is a picture that Michael drew yesterday.


The interpretation: This is Michael and the Holy Ghost is next to him. The other little 'people' around him are all Holy Ghosts. When he said it was the HG next to him, I said, "Oh, so that' s the Holy Ghost standing next to you?" He said, "The Holy Ghost helps you when you're scared from a monster, and the Holy Ghost helps you feel happy!" Out of the mouths of babes...

Here is a picture Katelynn drew yesterday.


The interpretation: "These are two kids standing next to each other. This girl over here (the one on the right) has a short haircut." I'd say so!

Just Hangin' Out

The last little while has been HOT HOT HOT, so we've just been kinda hanging around the house. Here are some shots of our lackadaisical life as of late. (I *must* be hot & tired if I'm resorting to alliteration for entertainment.)

Emma playing in the sprinklers. I love the 'action' shot.


Michael giving me a smile. This kid is just too cute.


Katelynn & Michael acting 'buddy, buddy'. They get along with each other pretty well. All three of them do. It's so funny to hear them playing together and the crazy things they come up with.

Splashin'

A few weeks ago we went to the "Splash Park" for a BBQ. Here are some fun pics from the day. Sorry they are so small.

The Daily Prophet

We're in The Daily Prophet! Check it out!

This is one of me that I didn't download when I made, so you'll have to click on the link to see it:
http://dailyprophet.harrypotter.com/us/thedailyprophet.php?paper=NDc3NnxKaWxsaWFu

Yes, I'm getting excited for Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince to come out! If you live in Phoenix and wanna go Tuesday night, call me post haste!

Broken Things

So, lately we haven't been having the best of luck. Things keep breaking on us. In the last month or so we've had:

* the water pump go out on Scott's car.
* our AC in the house go on the fritz.
* my new camera refuse to turn on. (ok, that's actually been longer than a month, but I added it to the list anyways)
* the AC on the Taurus go kaput.
* the washer and dryer require a service call.
* our microwave bite the dust.

Yikes, huh?! BUT, the good news is:

* Scott's car is fixed, although now the serpentine belt is broken...
* the AC in the house was repaired
* my camera is back in the game--Hooray!
* the W/D seem to be fine now
* we got a new microwave that mounts above the stove, freeing up some much needed counter space.

SO...

When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed

When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost

Count your many blessings; name them one by one

And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

Recipezaar

I just found out that my Fruit & Veggie Salsa recipe is being featured today as the 'Recipe of the Day' on Recipezaar!!! I use Recipezaar all the time, so I'm pretty excited about being chosen as the 'Recipe of the Day' and 'Photo of the Day'. It's right there on the home page of the website on the right hand side!

Sorry, I'm just really excited! This is awesome!

And, I would be remiss if I didn't do a shout-out to my friend Janelle, 'cause she is the one who has been doing this cooking blog with me, and who sent me some links with food photography tips. Thanks, Janelle! You rock my socks off!

I wonder...

Do you think this may be part of my problem?

The book about organizing might do me more good if it isn't
SHOVED UNDER A PILE OF CRAP!!!

I discovered this while we we moving, and I just had to laugh and take a picture of it. This is SO me. I should probably find that book and start putting it to good use, don't you think?!