Zoo Day with Dad :)

The kids had spring break last week and Jason decided ahead of time to take a few days off to spend some time with the monkeys. We decided to take them to the zoo on that Friday and it turned out to be a wonderful day. It was slightly overcast with a light breeze and around 80. Heavenly!! My perfect day.

Max LOVED these monkeys.
Max and his bud, Dad :)

We were walking along and Emily saw these guinea fowl in the bushes and asked if she could feed them some of the kettle corn we had bought earlier and were snacking on as we walked. These birds were brave, almost taking the popcorn right out of their hands!!

Max and Jase on the stairs up to the giraffe platform. It was his first time up there and he thought he was pretty cool.

As always the highlight of our trips to the zoo are the stingrays.

This time around Max got in on it and actually pet some of them. There were a bunch of baby stingrays in the pool who were very friendly and would come up and just hover in front of the kids, almost begging to be stroked. I still say they feel gross but oh well, the kids and Jason get a real kick out of it!!

The ride home!! Hudson let Max try his shades on and Max thought he was pretty cool :)

St Paddy's Day at the Zoo!!

I took the monkeys to the Phoenix Zoo for St. Patrick's Day. It was a gorgeous day, just under 90 degrees and a light breeze.

It was pretty busy since it was spring break but we went around lunch time and many people were already leaving for the day so it worked out well for parking :)

The kids wore their St. Patrick's Day shirts and as usual we filled our water bottles with soda when we got there and spent the afternoon walking through the zoo, looking at the animals and chatting up a storm.

Usually the caves and water slides have the water sprinklers going but today they didn't so they were able to wander inside and go on the slides without getting wet. Max had a total blast with this. He kept asking Mimi(Emily) to come with him on the slide.

The best entertainment of the day came when one of the sea otters caught a squirrel and then proceeded to drown it and then eat it. Hudson thought it was awesome, Emily wasn't too sure and Tori thought it was gross. At one point the otter ripped off one of the legs and Hudson said, "Look Mom, its like she is eating a chicken leg!" The zoo employee who was standing talking to me started laughing. I didn't know otters did this but the zoo lady assured me that otters will eat whatever they can get their hands on. Ewww.

Max liked the rattlesnakes, he kept saying, "Look Mommy, nake, nake.....ooh look, whoa, nake go fast, Mommy LOOK" He is at that fun age when he is realizing all the cool stuff around him. But he is also at that age that he expresses his opinions. To say he screamed when we left the 'nakes' would be an understatement. Urgh :(

Max had his first taste of cotton candy. He did not like it at all. Definately not my kid, haha. Jason doesn't like it either so guess that just makes more for the rest of us!!

Max still calls all animals (i guess with the exception of 'nakes' now) puppies. When we were in petting the goats he kept saying, "Aww, nice puppy" Maybe one day he will get it, haha.

All in all it was a great day and the kids can't wait until we go back on Friday with Jason so they can pet the sting rays and ride on the train. I told them that we had to wait for dad to do those things. I just hope that we have good weather!!!

Tori Gets Chopped :)

Just like her big sister Tori decided that she would donate her hair to Locks of Love.

http://www.locksoflove.org/

She understood that her pony tail would go to kids who had lost their hair for many different reasons and that her hair would help make wigs for them to feel special and like every other kid out there :)

She was excited since she had watched me do Emmy's hair and liked the end result. Even though her hair looks longer than Emm's we actually only took the required ten inches off of hers instead of the twelve inches that we took off of Emily's.

Before...

During...

After!!

Wow, all that gorgeous blonde hair gone :(

It is such a pretty color. I am just hoping that one of my kids will keep Jason's beautiful blonde hair into adulthood. Emm's hair has already changed to a darker color like mine. Hudson on the other hand is opposite. Each year his hair keeps getting lighter and lighter. Weird...

We will mail off their pony tails this week.

I am really proud of my girls and hope that this selfless act that they did will be one of the many that they do throughout their lives.

Emmy's Hair Donation!!

A friend of ours donated her hair to 'Locks of Love' just the other week and it got me to thinking. My girls needed a hair cut for summer and...

I asked Emily is she would be willing to donate her hair just like Mallory did and she wasn't sure at first so I showed her the website for Locks of Love and the kids who benefit from it and she instantly said, "Yes, I will do it."

I was so proud of her.

The only prerequisites were that the hair must be at least 10 inches long and also in a pony tail or braid. Emm was very brave and was actually happy with her end result.

It will definately be a lot cooler for summer and a lot easier to wash and brush. Her hair is SUPER thick. I figure her hair is so thick it might be enough for two or three wigs for people, haha.

Before we started.

Cutting through...man she has thick hair!!

Wow...

The after look. I actually like it a lot. She really likes it too.

The only problem will be with dance when she needs her hair in a bun for ballet...

Uncle Ty is engaged!!!

Jason's youngest brother Tyler and his girlfriend Katie got engaged this past weekend! The kids were so excited!! What I didn't realize was that I knew Katie and her family just over four years ago when we used to live in Chandler. I used to teach her younger sister in Achievement Days and I remember Emily constantly begging for Katie's sister Shelley to babysit her :) Her mom is one of the sweetest ladies you will ever meet. What a small world huh?!!

We haven't seen the ring in person yet but i 'borrowed' this photo off Katie's blog site :)

It is a gorgeous ring!! They are both so lucky to have found each other. They seemed like the perfect match when they are together.

I remember back when Jason and I got married and Wendy had told me that Tyler had made a comment to her about Jase and I. To date I have never forgotten it.

He said, "You know Mom, I like Jason better when he is with Deb" I'm sure it didn't mean that Jason was a turkey before but it just meant that together we are better and complement each other and bring out the best in each other.

I can already see that in Katie and Tyler and I only wish them as much happiness and love that Jason and I have had these past...omg almost 12 years!!!

Tori's Trip to the Rockin R Ranch

Tori's preschool went on a fieldtrip to the Rockin R Ranch!!

I ended up getting sick the morning we were scheduled to go so my friend Sarah took Tori and took some great pics for me. (Thank you Sarah!!)

Tori said she had a lot of fun and was excited that she got to pan for gold and to rope a cow!!

Tori and Trenton touching a rattlesnake skin!!

With the hot desert area here, rattlesnakes are seen around here quite a bit.

Tori sitting on the saddle stool. She said this was cool and that we needed to get our stools in the kitchen made into these!

I am guessing that Sarah asked Trenton and Tori to make goofy faces in this photo :)

Tori practicing how to rope her cow! She said she wasn't very good at it but her teachers Kathrine and Sarah were really good at it. Way to go Sarah!!!

Dress Up Fun....lol

Jason is definately going to kill me for this but it was freaking hilarious.

I was on the computer just a bit ago making up my grocery list for the next week and Tori comes running into my room giggling, "Mom, you have to see Max!!"

I turned around and there was Max looking so proud in one of Tori's old Halloween costumes.

I wish he hadn't had licorice on his face, didnt see it when i took the photos but oh well...its all in the memory of the time :)

The look on his face in this one was priceless...

Hmm, maybe he has been watching too much of his sisters dance classes.

A back view...Tori made sure he was wearing the complete emsemble. She was ticked that she couldnt find her Tinkerbell dress up shoes. I am glad that she couldn't find those as well as the crown and wand, haha. Hmm...wonder if his future wife would love to see these in twenty years or so!!!!!

Tori dressed in one of Emmy's old Halloween costumes from when Emm was in kindergarten. I can't believe how long her hair is getting and how grown up she is looking. She isn't my little baby girl anymore :(

Max, Cooper and the Rice Krispies...

The other night Jason was making dinner and he came upstairs to me and said, "You have to see this. Oh and bring your camera!!"

I came downstairs followed by the other three turkeys and we watched Max and Cooper. Even though I was kind of grossed out I was happy that the floor was recently washed, haha.

So much for my Rice Krispies!!

I initially just downloaded the second video but it wasn't as informative as the first...nothing like eating off the floor with your mouth...eww :(

Max and Cooper are partners in crime and its rather obvious in this post :)

Part One

Part Two (sorry i can't get this one centered...grrr)

Gram's Birthday!!

We had a birthday party for Gram and the first bbq of the summer at Jason's parents house on Sunday.

It was a great time and we had the chance to meet Tyler's new girlfriend Katie. We all really liked her :) The kids thought she was pretty cool. We gave Gram the season five dvd of her favorite tv series Reba. For Christmas all the kids got her the first four seasons so we decided to add to it and get her the last season!!

We forgot to bring candles along with the cake so Jase found this huge candle in a drawer and we used it instead :) I am hoping that one day i will get a nice photo of my husband where he isn't making a goofy face, urgh!

The two birthday girls blowing out the candle. Max wanted to help as well.

Max and Murphy.
Murphy was helping Max clean the chocolate from his fingers!!!

Emily, Uncle Ty and Katie and her presents.

Emily got this really cool jewelery kit from Gram and Grandpa and a paint by number kit from Katie and Tyler.

It was a fantastic day and a perfect day for a bbq. Before long we will be swimming in the pool.

Emmy's 9th Birthday!

This year for Emily's birthday she opted to have her best friend Sarah over for a sleep over! Worked for us, less hassle of a huge party. Jason and I took the girls and our other kiddos out for dinner to In N Out Burger and we ate outside in the fantastic weather.

Then we all came back to our house and had birthday cake and presents.

Emmy picked a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard Ice Cream cake...it was delicious!!

The girls and I then went out to see the 3D version of Coraline. It was cute and it had been ages since I had last seen a 3D movie, actually i think it was at Expo 86 in Vancouver a long long time ago....lol.

Emmy and her cake! Nine candles, wow! My baby is growing up :)

Emmy and her presents!
Sarah got her a really cool Barbie, Nana and Papa gaver her some ear rings, a Hannah Montana nightie and a money order to take shopping. From Jase and I and the kids she got a new cd player so she can listen to and practice her musical theater numbers. We thought of getting her an Ipod shuffle but seeing how small it was, it was guaranteed to get lost! So, we went with the cd player which is really girly with flowers and jewels, really cute! She also got new ear phones, purple of course and a new game for her DS.

The girlies in their 3D glasses when we got home from the movie!

Deb and the girls being goofy!!

Emmy said she had a great day. The girls watched movies and played Barbies and did each others nails when we got home. The girls had really missed each other since Sarah moved to a new school last summer. Hopefully they will move back into the area like her parents are talking about :)