I'm Done!

Yay, I had my last class last night!!! It feels really good to be done with this semester. I will have a few weeks off now before I start my summer class, and then the second half of my anatomy and physiology class starts in August. I was going to take microbiology over the summer, but it just doesn't fit into our plans very well, so I will be taking it in the spring. After that, I get to apply to nursing school!
I have to admit, I woke up this morning not knowing what to do! LOL For the last 6 months, every morning I wake up, drink a cup of coffee and study. I'm sure that feeling won't last long... my house is has become a disaster zone, so I am looking forward to giving it a good scrubbing!
I have a few entries to update on my blog, but it will have to wait since I need to go get the kid ready for school. Be back soon! :)

So cute!

The kids are being little hams in a posed picture at the park. You can see that Ava is not really feeling the love from her sister!! :)
Ava falls asleep in some of the strangest spots. At nap the other day I found her sleeping in this chair, then the next morning I found her sleeping under her bed. Today I found her sleeping a tiny doll crib! LOL I don't even know how she fit into it, but she must have been comfy!

We got the old slip and slide out the other day when it was like 90 some odd degrees. Maddie and Lucy LOVE it, Ava, not so much. But that's okay... she still loves to be outside. :)

Beautiful Bailey!

At only 4 1/2 months old, Bailey is nearing 40 pounds! Wow!! I am officially a Doberman fan after getting to know the breed. Bailey's loyalty, affection, and sense of being a protector are incredible! She is so smart too. She can sit, stay, drop, shake (not always), watch, and she knows the word kennel.

Really?

I know I have said this before, but raising kids has got to be the most challenging thing I have ever done. The day to day challenges they put before me is just exhausting! I took the girls, and the three dogs, on a walk to the river today. Lucy and Ava did fine, Daisy and Bailey did fine, Piper was a pain and I have decided that from now on she will stay at home. (I had to pull her along almost the whole time). Then in the background is Madeline... whining almost every step of the way. She complains that she doesn't get to do anything "fun" with us, then we go do something that she was really excited to do and she complains!?!? I don't get it? We walked sloooowwww the whole time, yet she just wasn't happy.
Ughhh... then I made lunch for the girls. Maddie used to be a GREAT eater. Now she is one of the pickiest eaters ever! She is always complaining that she doesn't like something in her meal for one reason or another. And just today, I found out the she throws her sandwich away at school nearly every day! Why do I even go through the trouble of making her a healthy lunch? I am perplexed as to what I should do now... Do I give in and not make her a sandwich? If I gave her her choice she would have chips, chocolate, fruit snacks and nasty cafeteria school pizza. Well, I can tell you that that is not happening. I do balance her lunch out. A sandwich, fruit, chips, and a treat of some sort. I have enough on my plate every morning getting the kids out the door to worry about her throwing her lunch away! No wonder she is so hungry when she comes home from school every day. Oh the joys of figuring out what to do......

Fun at the park?

I haven't figured out why I keep coming back to these Easter egg hunts in the park every year! They are so chaotic and I am not even sure the kids have fun with all the people all around. I did get some cute pictures, so I suppose that counts for something. Later this afternoon we will be dying Easter eggs. I wish Chris could be home for all the fun activities, but unfortunately he has to work.... we miss you sweetie!!!

What a great big sister!

A few days away... with no kids!

It was great to have 2 whole days away with just Chris.... The first day we went to Bodega Bay and just lazed around. The next day we went to San Fransisco and saw the submarine near pier 39, the Japanese Tea Garden, Coit tower, and we ate delicious clam chowder. It was nice to have some time to reconnect and remember why we got married almost 8 years ago.

Maddie's art work from open house!

Open House!

It was Maddie's open house tonight at her first grade classroom. She was super excited to for us to see all her art work and projects that she has been working on all semester. She was also excited to see her teacher that went out on maternity leave. We had a great time, until the end.

I felt kind of bad for Madeline, because this night was supposed to be all about her. Chris was home today, so we made it a family evening. The girls had fun too, until Ava wanted to go outside while Chris was talking to the teacher. He held her hand and Ava pulled so hard that she ended up falling to the floor. I still don't know what she did, but she cried (well screamed actually) for like 5 minutes when we decided that we should leave. While Chris took Ava outside, I tried to stay in the classroom with Maddie. At this point I see Chris and he says, "we have to go". So I gather up Maddie, say our goodbyes and head out the door. Ava is still screaming and Lucy had a pee accident. She proceeds to take off her wet pants and underwear showing her bottom to many people...... So here we are, all 5 us, walking down the crowded hallways with 2 screaming toddlers in tow. Oh.my.gosh.... Ava continued to scream for a few hours and we were just getting ready to take her to urgent care we the more calm side of me thought to just try and giver her a bath and get her to bed. Well, it might have worked, but I don't know. She is still crying off and on guarding her wrist.

In fact, I hear her crying now...... BBL

Spring is here, and my garden is started!

I was going to take advantage of this huge dirt area by our pool (the one the kids are playing in in my previous post) and build a giant garden; my dream! But, with everything being as busy as it is, and so many projects already waiting for us, I decided to just keep my old garden and plant only tomatoes (6 of them!) and chives. I also have a pot in my front yard with other fresh herbs like parsley, mint, basil, and more chives. These ingredients are one of my favorite combos for a sandwich in the summer! They are also great for almost any kind of cooking. I also hope that all our fruit trees give us lots us fruit too. I can't wait! Yummm!

Chris is working on putting in a sprinkler system by the pool so we can finally get some landscape put in. I love spring and I love to garden! Plus it is extra nice to start crossing some things off the long project list!

Good times in the dirt

I don't know what it is about this dirt pile in our backyard (ok, ok... It's going to be my garden ONE day!) but the kids play here every day! Even the pups like to get in on the action. LOL

Puppy Love

St. Patricks Day celebration

We went to a friends house this year to celebrate St. Patrick's Day for the kids. Lisa was the best hostess ever. The kids had a blast with all the green food and trying to find Leprechauns. The sweetest part of the whole night when the kids were "dancing" to some Irish music! (Thanks for the pictures Karla!) I have a video that I took on my cell phone of all the kids dancing. As soon as I figure out how to upload it, I will!

Potty Training

I never knew I could be so happy to have my child use the bathroom! LOL With Maddie I just expected her to do it. I didn't expect her to have any issues or accidents, and well, she did it at the young age of two! In fact, she was about 2 years and 2 weeks old when she was 100% potty trained. I assumed that the twins would be the same..... Well, as usual, they proved me wrong! At the age of two, they were NO where near ready to be potty trained. They could hardly talk! Fast forward to now and Ava still wants NOTHING to do with the potty except sit on it for two seconds and then go on to pee in her underwear. (but that's okay!) Lucy on the other hand has really taken to potty training! She loves to watch the potty training movies, she lets her baby go pee pee on the potty, and she herself goes potty on the potty! YAY! We have officially given up the diapers (except at naptime and bedtime) and she uses the potty, just like a big girl! YAY! Chris and I were running some errands the other day and Lucy had to go pee pee. I wasn't sure how this was going to work b/c she had only been going at home up until that point. Well, I took her to a public restroom and she did it! We did the happy pee pee dance right there in the bathroom of Sam's club! LOL I am so proud of Lucy!! Let's just hope that Ava is not to far behind her. :)

What did we get ourselves into now!?!?!?

Oh Gosh.... meet..... BAILEY!!! (at least that's her name for now!!)