Playing Dress-up

Gavin has chosen to join in the fun that the girls always have by getting all dressed up in his monkey costume. It's been a common occurance for him to wake up and immediately want to dress up. I thought that fun might end after Halloween but it is still going strong. It's so funny how he loves to have the little mittens on too. Usually having something like that on would drive him crazy but he just loves his costume! Shayla has been dressing up daily for the past couple of years. She usually changes into different princess outfits with shoes and always has to have lots of jewelry and her purse. When she's not a princess, she puts on an apron or just switches her clothes 3 or 4 times throughout the day. Eris is very creative with her dressing up. She's getting out of the princess phase a bit and most of the dresses don't fit anymore anyway so she chooses to be the wicked step-mother or a witch, an indian or the queen of hearts... She uses colors to adorn herself such as wearing all black, including a black shirt on her head to play the part of a witch or all brown for an indian. She makes things out of paper to tape onto herself and loves to use hats or props to play it up.

Practically Perfect Park Weather!

We have all been enjoying the nice high 70s low 80s weather the past couple of weeks. I don't know if I will ever get used to the fact that it is almost mid-November and we are still experiencing what I call "perfect weather." Some of our favorite activities lately have included; walks, bike rides and lots of trips to the park. Sometimes we'll find ourselves visiting 2 or 3 different ones throughout the day. The kids love it and its a nice change from the super hot 120s and the not so hot 50-60s that are coming. We'll live it up while it lasts!

Celebrating Veterans Day!

We had a busy morning yesterday full of a yard sale, picking up our bountiful basket, going to the parade and taking the kids to the Super Saturday at the church. In order to better navigate through traffic, we chose to ride the bikes everywhere. It was a perfect day weatherwise and dad was even able to spend some time with us in the evening so life was good!
It was the first yard sale that I had ever done and didn't expect much since I had already donated almost everything of worth to DI but I tried with helpers Gavin and Shayla for about 45 mins and called it quits after $9.00 was earned. It may sound small but I was pretty excited to get that since my normal routine would have consisted of Spencer driving the load to St. George to donate and in the process having to pay more than that in gas. We left the rest on the driveway with a big FREE sign and called it our good deed for the day! It was gone by noon so someone must have needed it to which I am very happy about.

Then to pick up our bountiful basket! I love them! It is amazing how much fresh fruit and produce you get for only $15. You pay for it online and go pick it up at a designated time at one of the many locations available. Check it out at http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/.

The parade was lots of fun for the kids. They got lots of candy and loved watching the mini cars being driven around, the different dressed up mascots, the clowns, the man playing the bagpipes, the firetrucks, and all of the huge flags being carried by current and veteran military members.

At Super Saturday, I wasn't prepared with all of my needed materials and knew that having the kids there with me may be difficult to complete them anyway, so we had a nice snack, picked up our stuff and rode our bikes home.

We spent the rest of the day cleaning the house, going to the store, attempting a trip to the party 4 life to find it over, attempting a trip to the splash park to find it shut down for the long drive tournament, attempting a trip to visit the 1000 flags near the rec center to find them taken down and finally a successful breakfast for dinner and movie night with daddy!

Drama Queens

Shayla loves to play mom! When she plays pretend, she is usually the mom and gives the rest of us a part to play. In this picture Eris was the baby and mama Shayla was taking care of her. It's so fun to see their little imaginations come to life as they immerse themselves in different roles. Both of the girls are quite the little drama queens. Afterwards, Eris played dance teacher to Shayla. Shayla has recently postponed dance lessons to focus on gymnastics but she still loves to learn new moves and especially loves to rock out and make up her own.

Taking a ride on the dog...

Gavin loves his little dog Kudos and enjoys sitting on top of his back wanting to ride him like a horse. Of course Kudos proceeds by just sitting down until Gavin gets off, but it's quite funny to watch the situation take place. Good thing Kudos has such good temperament. After that fun, I made lunch for the kids and less than a minute later see Gavin on top of the table playing in the mayo. I guess it must be fun to squish your fingers in the white, gooey slime. As you can see, he is already in his 2nd outfit. Two more to go and at least 1 bath is usually in Gavin's routine for the day.

The Dirt Hut

The girls spent the afternoon in a pile of dirt. They were transforming it into their own hut and spent most of the time digging a hole through the center. Several neighbor kids came to join in on the fun and 4 1/2 hours later they still weren't finished. They plan to work on it again tomorrow after school. It's amazing how one heap of dirt can bring hours of creativity and enjoyment. Anytime that I would go to check on them, Gavin made sure that he got his fair share of running up and down the pile and trying to get inside the hole.

Our Furry Family

The other day we went on a walk up in the hills and let the dogs run free. We enjoy taking them hiking or down to the river by our home. They are so full of energy and the kids love playing with them. Kudos is our minpin/chihuahua. He is 2 1/2 years old and is our perfect indoor dog. He is very calm with the kids and lets them mess with him without batting an eye. He is so good natured and I love having him around as my little guard dog and sleeping companion when Spencer is gone. He is quite small but he has been known to jump over very tall obstacles including our fence several times. Spencer has put a lot of hard labor in by inserting boards under the perimeter of our fence and moving items so he can't jump over the fence anymore. During one of Kudo's daring adventures as a puppy, he broke his leg and had to wear a cast for weeks. Kapri is our border collie/healer mix. She is also 2 1/2 years old and she is the most energetic one by far. She can always find a stick or a ball and will play fetch for hours if you'll let her. She loves to chase birds and squirrels and never seems to slow down. Gracie is our newest addition to our pet family. She is a boxer and is close to 8 years old now. She doesn't have quite as much energy but finds it funny to steal the ball from Kapri once in awhile just because she can. Gracie Lew also loves to run in the river and then lay down in the middle for a rest. Even in the backyard when the sprinklers are on, she just loves to relax in the water. Siayti (C-A-T) is our cat and she loves to spend her days lounging around the house, usually on top of the ledge above the fridge. She is definitely a daddy's girl and enjoys laying on daddy's chest or on his blankets, clothes or anything that smells like him. She also loves drinking water from the tap and playing in boxes. Fishie is a beta fish and although not furry, he is part of our pet family like the rest of them. Eris got him for her birthday 2 years ago and Auntie Whitney had him for a year before that. He still seems healthy and going strong! Eris must be taking good care of him!