Messes, Messes, and More Messes!

Oh, the messes my girls make! Brian asked me the other day "is this all you do all day, clean up messes?" my response "pretty much." Sometimes I think I have the messiest kids in the world, but then again I'm a tidy-kind-of-gal, so maybe that's the problem ;-)

Above, is the door frame of our slider, that Kaitlyn painted a beautiful color of blue, while I was trying to rock Alison to sleep. I knew something was up, when she didn't come in 20 times wondering where I was.
Here's Alison cleaning up the entire box of Kix's that were spilt all over the table and floor while I took a very rare shower alone. I cleaned most of it up, but then she wanted to help, so I let her clean her own mess...never too early to teach them some responsibility!

Ali chose to pick up each piece and put it inside the vacuum, it was a long process!

Homemade Tortillas!

Making homemade tortillas was something I enjoyed to do with my cousins and Nanny when I was Kaitlyn's age. When my Auntie Donna and cousins Melissa & Roman were here, they taught Kaitlyn how to make homemade tortillas...she got really into it, and they tasted wonderful!

Auntie Donna, and cousin Melissa showing

Kaitlyn how to roll the dough out

Look at the concentration and effort!

Bishop Pumpkin Patch 2008

Earlier this month, Kaitlyn and I went to Bishop Pumpkin Patch, with her Preschool class. I felt so bad that Alison didn't get to join in on the fun, and Brian didn't really like the pumpkins Kaitlyn & I picked out (not big enough) so we made a family trip to the pumpkin patch. Alison loved the animals, and train ride. We managed to pick some pretty good sized pumpkins as well.

Alison trying to feed the already over fed goats!
Me & my girls

Alison...oh so cute.

Back to School

Okay, well actually back to school was September 3rd for Kaitlyn, but I'm turning out to be a not-so-good blogger. Kaitlyn's new teachers name is Mrs. Oversen, and Kaitlyn really enjoys the new challenges and new friends the Pre-K 5's class has to offer. We are looking forward to the pumpkin patch field trip coming up in October, it's something I do with just Kaitlyn, as Alison will also attend FPCP and will get to enjoy these fun times as well.

On another note, I too have gone back to school, for those of you who didn't know, I've been thinking about finishing my bachelors degree for years, but didn't know how I would do that with 2 kids. Well, thankfully I did a ton of research and found National University, which has online classes. This is my first week of Bio science, so I will update you in a another week or so to let you know how it's going for me. My final goal is to get my teaching credential and teach elementary school...some of my fondest memories of my childhood are when Ryan and I would play "school" and I'd be the teacher telling him what to do. Those were the days.

From Alligators to Otters

Kaitlyn has made leaps and bounds with her swimming this summer. Kaitlyn started out in Alligator class, and by the end of this last session - she can swim 100 yards on her own in the Olympic pool (with a break at 50 yards). She's now graduated into Otter pre-competitive preschool class where she will learn front crawl, butterfly, breaststroke and diving! She is so excited and proud of herself for the progress she's made, as are we!

Kaitlyn jumping of the diving board and swimming back to the side...Kaitlyn doing kickers & scoopers!
Big jumping by Kaitlyn!

All Summer Long...Part II

The boating season started a little on the difficult side with Alison. The first couple of day trips we took, she whined and fussed about having the life jacket on. Even though she's been boating since she was 5 months old, she was less than thrilled to have a life jacket on all day long. As you can see she's a pro now - she loves the "boata" as she calls it.

June 2008 - Alison on the Jones' houseboat (yes, we are blessed enough to have friends with a houseboat)
July 2008 - Kaitlyn on the swim deck of the houseboat
July 2008 - My tired girls, after a weekend of house boating,

I feel this way too.

All Summer Long...

First of all, I must apologize for the blogging hiatus. This summer has been busy, as you will see. We've been enjoying the fun things summer has to offer, from boating, camping, swim lessons, and fun times had by all.

May 2008 - Daddy, Alison & Kaitlyn on the floating campsite (yes, the campsite is really floating in the middle of the lake)
June 2008 - It's just not Summer time without a slip-n-slide
June 2008 - Summer isn't complete without

Brian showing off his improved riding skills!