Summer's Here!

Our typical July weather came in with a bang this last week, a few weeks early. 110 degrees+! We have season passes to the water parks and even with applying the sunscreen to the kids every two hours, they all came home with red cheeks and sunburned eyes this week. The sun is SO hot. The pool water already feels like bath water when you get in ( which is more typical to find towards the middle of July). It is supposed to be 105 by 10am this morning. We are just grateful our A/C works!

I think Andrew realizes it is better to be IN the water than OUT now. The past month when we have been at the pool he prefers to stand on the stairs filling and emptying buckets of water. The last two days he has glued himself to a little ring and has been jumping off the sides, kicking out in the deep end with the rest of us, and really enjoying swimming.

Happy Fathers Day

We woke up to ants in the kitchen and ended the day with a clogged kitchen sink- Happy Father's Day Brian! (He was a good sport throughout the day, and even grilled the flank steak)

Colorado Trip

We spent a long weekend in Denver with our friends the MacDougalls. Saturday we drove down to Garden of the Gods, in Colorado Springs. Garden of the Gods is an area in the foothills of Pikes Peak with towering red sandstone rock formations. We found a short hike to take the kids on and enjoyed lunch on the rocks. The views of Pikes Peak and the surrounding foothills were magnificent. We soaked up the cooler weather and enjoyed being outdoors for longer than the quick run from the car to our various errand stops.

The kids enjoyed playing with Isabelle and Grady- they kept themselves happily occupied for four days. Tom's tubs of Legos made the boys eyes widden like saucers. Isabelle coundn't understand how and why the boys could wake up and start playing with Lego's first thing in the morning.

We spent one day at the Denver Children's Museum- much to our suprise we spent most of the day there. Brandon's favorite area was the "Home Depot"/Inventor area. Tubs with peices of wood, various sized lids, plastic bottles, pipe cleaners and other building materials were available to the kids to build with. Each work area came equipped with a saw, screwdriver, pliers, etc... and the kids could use their imagination to build. Matthew and Andrew really enjoyed the grocery store/restaurant. Miniature shopping carts, rows of canned goods and plastic produce complete with a check out register kept them happily occupied.

The rain was drizzling when we got in the car, by the time we were home it was coming down strong. They wanted to go play in the rain- so we said sure- it's not often my kids get to enjoy playing in the rain. Andrew loved standing in the gutter and having the water hit up to his knees. They were happily soaked and wanted hot chocolate to warm up when they came inside. I loved seeing their excited faces as they played. It was one of those priceless childhood moments- there were no cares in the world and they were truely having fun.

Camping Trip

We headed to the mountains the afternoon of Brandon's last day of school. It is so nice to breathe fresh cool air. Our friends went up the weekend before and staked a tent out in a wonderful open area surrounded by hundreds of tall pines, so we had a great place to spend a few days. The boys were a great help loading and unloading the car and helping to set up camp. They are really learning to pick the slack when asked, knowing I can't help with much now. Brandon has been especially sensitive to help when asked.

The kids enjoyed running, running, running, finding huge sticks, pine cones etc... They were so content to be outside without dripping from sweat, or feeling like they had heat exhaustion! Roasting marshmallows has become a huge hit of Andrew's- he gets them nice and warm and then eats them right off the stick. I don't even want to know how many he had in his stomach when he went to bed, but they were all over his clothes, face, hands etc... but he was in a state of pure bliss. And Matthew loved to get his on fire!

We upgraded the boys sleeping bags- so when we woke up to temps in the 30's- everyone was toasty warm. Especially me in my mummy bag- me, belly and Andrew. Andrew couldn't stay warm, so around 5am needed to snuggle. I kept telling myself at least it wasn't midnight when it happened! The kids had fun shooting BB guns and arrows in the morning. I love watching Andrew put his face down to line up his shots- he basically lays his head down on the barrel of the gun. We got home Saturday evening to a handful of calls on the answering machine from various Primary Teachers saying they wouldn't be there on Sunday and they didn't have a sub.... we should have stayed camping!

Preschool Program

Matthew's preschool class gave the parents a fun program on the last day of school. His teacher, Miss Angie, got the class 2/3 of the way through the year after his first teacher got a full time teaching position. She has done wonders with the kids in three months. The kids gave us a run down of their typical day- all in rhyming prose, sang a few songs and then were delighted when it was time to have refreshments! Apparently the children were supposed to wear their nicest outfit ( I didn't realize this) and was wondering why Matthew was dressed from head to toe in camo, including the flip flops! I really don't care what they wear, except it needs to be clean and I don't have to dress them. I asked him about his clothing later- and he replied that he thought that by matching his shirt and shorts exactly- that would be his best outfit. Matthew is excited and ready for kindergarten- the summer can not go by fast enough for him. The rest of us are fine to let it go by leisurely.

Testosterone Levels Raised Again

It should come as no suprise to anyone that the gender of the little one is....a boy! Brian was finally able to verbalize what we were both thinking," we aren't disappointed by any means that we are going to have another boy. It is was the anticipation of experiencing something new, that isn't going to happen." The boys were delighted- I mean who wouldn't be- another brother to play with. Our hope is for four wonderful daughter-in-laws- it is the only way girls are coming to our family!


Here's to more fun boy time, more legos, bottomless stomach's, more rough-and-tumble, endless saturday's spent at the baseball and soccer fields, filthy pants and shorts filled with rocks, grass and dirt.......

Happy Mothers Day

I found this as I was searching for somthing to add to the church newsletter this month....

You're Really A Mom When...
You count the number of sprinkles on each kid's cupcake to make sure they are equal.
You want to take out a contract on the kid who broke your child's favorite toy and made him/her cry.
You have time to shave only one leg at a time.
You hide in the bathroom to be alone.
Your child throws up and you catch it.
Someone else's kid throws up at a party and you keep eating.
You consider finger paint to be a controlled substance.
You mastered the art of placing food on a plate without anything touching.
Your child insists that you read "Once upon a Potty" out loud in the lobby of the doctor's office and you do it.
You hire a baby sitter because you haven't been out with your husband in ages, then you spend half the night talking about and checking on the kids.
You hope ketchup is a vegetable because it's the only one your child eats.
You find yourself cutting your husband's sandwiches into unusual shapes.
You fast-forward through the scene when the hunter shoots Bambi's mother.
You obsess when your child clings to you upon parting during his first month at school, then you obsess when he skips in without looking back.
You can't bear to give away baby clothes--it's so final.
You hear your mother's voice coming out of your mouth when you say, "Not in your good clothes."
You stop criticizing the way your mother raised you.
You read that the average-five-year old asks 437 questions a day and feel proud that your kid is "above average."

A Three Trip Project

We rate our DIY projects on the number of times we have to run to Home Depot during the project. Our latest endevour, building a pergola on the patio, only resulted in three trips. A number we consider to be a highly successful project. Sandpaper to fit the neighbors electic sander was the first, renting a more powerful drill the second. Our drill just was not going to make it through the six inch posts. And the third, I thought was going to result in," What on earth did you come home with a two foot metal pipe for??" Brian sends me to find an extention piece for the drill to be able to use a socket, and I come home with the metal pipe. I thought the guy at Home Depot was just not understanding what I needed, but in the end, he is the Home Depot guy, and they are generally right. Home Depot guy: 1, Teuschers: 0. The metal pipe was fitted on the end of the socket wrench to give more leverage on screwing the lag screws in. The drill, when fitted with a socket wouldn't have been able to get the screws into the think wood.

I'm sure everyone is thrilled to know they won't stub their toes on the metal post holders, which have been sunk in the patio for the last year in anticipation of this project. The kids toys had been strategically placed to minimize the stubbing. We just have to nail the rafters on top this weekend. Just.. is the operative word. We may have a six trip project by the time we are finished!

Spring Sing

Brandon's school had their spring concert this last week.( He's on the top row w/red shirt) It was a family picnic followed by the concert/variety show. We enjoyed a wonderful evening with unique and fun musical numbers. All the music was patriotic in nature whether towards the United States or the state of AZ. By the time the 1st graders sang, Andrew had fallen asleep on Brian (abt. 6:45p.m.). We neglected to think of the temperature drop after the sun set and sitting on the grass. Of course, we were all in shorts, t-shirts and flipflops. By the end of the concert we were all hudled under the picnic blanket and trying to keep Andrew covered who was laying on the ground. We'll just remember to be smarter next year. Unfortunately we weren't able to see Brandon as clearly as we would have liked. The girl in front of him had these huge bows on the top of her head! Girls!

A Three Year Old

Andrew turned "free" March 23rd. Apparently being three makes you a big boy, according to Andrew. (But according to Matthew it is when you get to sleep in a twin sized bed!! )



Andrew got to pick out his ice cream. He picked Birthday Cake flavor complete with ribbons of blue frosting and confetti sprinkled throughout. I tried to reason with him that another container might be a little more appealing to the taste buds. But he would have nothing to do with it. Deciding a royal tantrum wasn't worth it ( and I know many of you have direct experience with this, especially in grocery stores) we got birthday ice cream.


His favorite color is yellow so he asked for yellow cupcakes, with yellow frosting and yellow sprinkles. The easiest birthday cake I have ever made. He was delighted, and so was I!

Excuse the pictures I can't seem to rotate them and I got a duplicate... and can't delete them out of the post either. You can definitly call me the novice blogger!