Our Backyard

Our backyard is almost finished! We just need to order and install the swing set. It will go where this patch of wood chips is.



This is the center of our yard.



Off to the left is the new fire pit. Dan and the girls cooked hot dogs there Saturday night.

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In the last picture you can see the rose tint to the concrete. We put it in the path for the girls to ride scooters and skate on. I got the idea from another blog!

We have been using the yard a lot. But tomorrow it is supposed to snow...again...

Almost There...

This has been a hard hard two weeks, following a hard hard 6 months of various moves and adjustments. Our home does still not feel stable, clean or finished, but we are getting there. We have made the best of it!

A scaffold can be a jungle gym.



Or a great place to play chutes and ladders!

When it's snowing outside (6 times in April!) it's great to have plywood all over your floors so you can skate!



And when your friend gives you finger paints for your birthday it's wonderful to have lots of paper and plywood to get messy on!







So thankful we are able to do everything at once and feeling really stupid that we actually did everything at once!

Everyday Life

Our little Anna is, sadly, no longer an angel. She is starting to show her voice, her very very loud voice. If you were with us in China you know what I am talking about! She screamed and screamed at Chipotle yesterday when I didn't put lemonade in her cup. Sorry kiddo, your two front teeth are rotting due to so little enamel. So lemonade is out for now. (She will probably have surgery on them in July when she has larger tubes put in her ears.)

Today I tried to put her shirt on. She said, "No!"

"Let's do it together."

"No."

"Everyone has to wear a shirt."

"No."

"You need to go sit in the chair since you aren't obeying."

"Okay."

???????

I guess she'll eventually figure out she can say no to that too!

She is expressing an interest in every thing Mia does. So now Anna goes to mom & me gymnastics and swimming lessons. At gymnastics her favorite activity is pointing to the letters on the mats and asking me what they are. Seriously. I'm guessing homeschooling her will be pretty easy. Maybe not P.E. :)

We have suspended potty training until the masses of people are gone from the house. It's getting close!


When Mia gets in trouble she can get really mad at me. Sometimes she tells me things she is going to do to me. Yesterday she said, "I'm going to put you outside and not give you any healthy food!" Ha ha. I'm so glad she considers not eating healthy food a punishment!

I must say, we are never bored!

Another Year Older!

Last Wednesday Mia turned four years old! On Friday night we met a few friends for pizza to celebrate.


Her best buddies were all there, along with Sheri and Bib and Bill and Dawn.









Mia still insists she is three since she isn't tall enough on the growth chart to reach the "4" feet number. Too funny. I asked her where the 50 something numbers were for me!



Happy Birthday Sweet Pea!!!

Vacation Days 8 & 9

We woke up on Day 8 of our vacation to more sunshine! The girls played in the backyard again all morning. After lunch we took baths and got ready for Denise's wedding! We let Mia watch cartoons until 3:30 so she stayed clean! Anna just toddled around the house finding things to do. At 3:30 we left for the wedding which was a long drive across the desert.

My now brother-in-law forgot the marriage license at home so the wedding was delayed by thirty minutes. Denise looked beautiful.



Her three girls looked amazing as well.



The room Denise was hiding out in before the wedding was also a play room so the girls had plenty to do other than sit in the pews waiting an extra 30 minutes for the wedding to begin.



After dinner Mia was a dancing maniac, as usual. But every pic I took is so blurry due to her dance "moves". Anna didn't last the whole night even though she napped all the way to the wedding. All these new face and things really wore her out.



The wedding was a lot of fun, but the long drive back to Dar's house was not! We all woke up late (that would be 7:30 for Mia) the next morning and just relaxed until it was time to leave for the airport to go home. We had a great trip!

Space Symposium

Dan usually goes to the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs in April. I usually pick up a few of the freebies for kids. I used to get them for my students and last year I got some things for Mia. But this year we were on vacation. But not to worry. Two of Dan's employees went freebie shopping for the girls!



These bags were filled up! It was like Christmas.



There were ULA rocket dolls.



A bling bling key necklace which got used all day.



Here is a water bottle that floats.




A little bit of reminiscing here for me. We played with our Viewmasters a lot as children. I wonder if they even still sell these? Mia loved it. Maybe a Christmas idea?




There are always sweet people doing things for the girls. Both Greg's mom, Roberta, and his secretary, Mary, hand sewed aprons for the girls. Can I find the pictures I took? NO! So I will post pics of those later.

Vacation Days 6 & 7

I have not had time to blog. We have been having to spend a lot of time away from the house. The weather has been terrible and has delayed all the contractors. Our yard is 3/4 done and our deck is about 7/8 done with a big hole in it where the fireplace was so we can't let the kiddos on it. Our fence is half done. The shutters are about 7/8 done because I decided to add three more windows. The great room renovation is about 3/4 done, but contractor put in the wrong windows so we have to wait a bit longer to finish. The backsplash is going to be redone starting tomorrow. Sometimes I wonder if we're crazy to move a fireplace and redo a backsplash in a brand new home! But we spend a lot of time at home and especially in the kitchen.

On with the vacation. Day 6 we drove to a hotel near Brittany and Joey's condo.
We played in the hotel pool for a bit. All in all it was a lazy rest day. The next morning we went over to Joey and Brittany's condo. We had fun babysitting little Avery. She was not herself though, with a stuffy nose.

The girls loved playing with all of Avery's toys.



We spent some time at the playground.



Love those Buddha bellies.






We did six days worth of washing at the condo and by the time Joey got home around 12:00 we were ready to drive to Dar's house before the traffic settled in. Everything you do in L.A. has to be planned around the traffic! By the way, I'm not complaining. It got down to 5 degrees at our house while we were gone!

Dar just moved and hasn't landscaped her yard yet, so it was a free for all for the girls. With bathing suits on and a hose of their own, the girls played for hours.



We had tacos for dinner and celebrated Mia's birthday again! Mia was starting to get homesick but that perked her right up!

Vacation Day 5

On Wednesday morning we went to Disneyland! The girls loved it! We stayed for 10 hours. Anna took about an hour nap but Mia was awake for the whole day.

Becky's sitter wasn't able to watch Max in the morning when Becky had to work so he joined us for the first few hours.

Max and Anna's first time at Disneyland!



We went on kiddie rides and Mia even went on a few rides where she had to meet a height requirement. They both love rides and see them going on everything in a few years!





A little after noon, Joey, Brittany, Avery and Becky joined us. It was Avery's first time at Disneyland too!



We didn't eat lunch so we could enjoy an early dinner without the crowds. Popcicles are great on a hot day!



This is the only "character" Anna would let get near her. She looked something like a human being!





Fun with cousins!



Our last ride was their favorite. And Dan and I got whiplash!



Someone insisted on putting on their own jacket to go home.



You may have anything in the store as part of your birthday present. Anything. Look at these beautiful princess dresses! Look at the cute little Minnie Mouse! Okay, if that's what you want...that's what you'll get!



What a great day!