June

This was meant to be posted before I left for Girl's Camp, but I didn't get the pictures uploaded, so it's a little late.

Levi is still going strong with the costumes and multiple clothes changes a day. We don't have that many costumes, so the poor guy has to use his imagination most of the time, which he's okay with. He actually has a great eye for seeing the potential costumes in his regular clothes! He's going to be a great asset for future Halloween costume ideas around here!

One of his more creative ensembles, in my opinion, was his Joker costume one day. He wore a white shirt under an open green and purple plaid shirt of Jonah's and wanted me to tie a bow tie for him out of a sash he found somewhere. I did buy him this Iron Man mask at Walmart one day since it was on clearance for under $5. He was thrilled.Jonah is always writing stories on the Magnadoodle, but I found out one day that he has also written a screenplay. The other two kids knew about it. I guess Jonah is constantly performing scenes from his movie for them. I have heard him talk about it for months, but I didn't know what he was referring to. Well, it's his MOVIE, called "The Spider Movie", also known as "Bob and Babe," the names of his two main characters. Basically, the movie is about two spiders, Bob and Babe, who are always getting into trouble. Jonah says it's kind of like The Three Stooges. Anyway, look for it on the big screen in a few years.

We have been keeping busy with swim lessons, which are now over. I'm glad, because it was getting hot sitting out watching the kids. The kids liked it though, and were doing pretty well, especially Levi. The other two are more apprehensive, so I had lower expectations for them, but they did fine and I was just happy to get them in the water every day.

We've been going to the library quite a bit, sometimes twice a week. It's free, it's air conditioned, there are shows, books, and movies. The kids love the library. We went to a Japanese Drum show there last week. It was pretty cool seeing all the different instruments. Eden even got a turn to play at the end of the show.We visited the Sea Life Aquarium in Tempe. It was a lot of fun. The kids were a little scared, but they had fun. I sometimes get annoyed at how wimpy my kids are, but I can't blame anyone but myself, because I was and still am in some ways, a huge wimp.Eden didn't want her picture taken.

Jellyfish!

For the last two weeks, I have been getting interested in couponing. There is so much money to be saved! I found, printed, and clipped coupons last week for my weekly shopping trip, and I can't believe how much money I saved. I got multiple items for free or pennies! We now have a huge stash of surplus fruit snacks, cereal, goldfish, crackers, cookies, and granola bars. I spent less than I usually do, and got more food for it. I'm so happy!

I even got a dress for Eden last week, completely free. Even if you can get free stuff online, you usually have to pay shipping, but they were running a free shipping promotion on all orders, so I paid $0.00 for this!Check out my receipt:On 4th of July, we went swimming with some friends. We had so much fun, I barely took any pictures. The kids had a blast swimming. Levi spent most of the time jumping off that little table into the water.I just got back from Girls Camp, which was fabulous. We have great Young Women! I love them all so much. They all love each other and got along great. We had no drama! I am so lucky to be working with them.This last weekend we got to see some of our cousins from California, as well as Great-Grandma and Great-Aunt Kathy. The kids had a blast at their grandparents' house. It was a really loud, wild party. Then after the kids calmed down, Grandpa gave them all a few cookies. I can't believe school starts in just about 2 weeks for Levi! We went out to Staples today and loaded up on super-cheap school supplies. FYI, you can get eraser caps, pens, and white glue for a penny. Your total transaction has to be over $5 to get the sale price. Anyway, is summer going by really fast for anyone else?

The Circle of Life

Eden's 5th Birthday!

Eden wanted a PINK birthday party, so we had pink cake, pink ice cream, pink decorations, and wore pink clothes. The only problem with all the pink, was that over half of Eden's guests were boys.

(Levi as Woody. Seconds before the party, he changed into his Buzz Lightyear pajamas. ??? There's no arguing with that kid about his clothes choices! Haha)

We started off with a few quick games, and some group pictures.

Silly face!

Opening presents was insane as usual. Eden got some great gifts this year.

This shows you how much she loved them.

Next we had cake and ice cream. The cake looked thrown together, and trust me, it kind of was :)

Eden had a great time with her friends and cousins and loved all the attention.

Eden's birthday wasn't actually until Tuesday. I told her she could pick what was for dinner, and she picked to go out to our favorite pizza place. No arguments there! The waiter was very sweet and gave her a free order of zeppolis with a candle on it. She was thrilled.
As you can see, my kids have been living in their swim attire every day this summer!

Happy Birthday, Eden! You are the sweetest and spunkiest little girl a mom could ask for!

Amar'e's Blessing

Yes, I apparently spelled it right. It pains me to see this baby's name in the possessive form! Haha

Well, we had a wild week leading up to Amar'e's baby blessing. Eden started throwing up on Wednesday. Then the poor girl got the runs, and Jonah started throwing up. Of course, this was the weekend that we were having Eden's birthday party and my parents and siblings were coming down for Amar'e's blessing. I was hoping it was a 24-hour thing, but no such luck. We almost called all of Eden's guests to cancel the party, but Eden was feeling better on Friday morning and we went through with it. I spent most of the morning Cloroxing the house and finishing everything up for the party.

My parents got in late on Friday, so we just decided to see them on Saturday, when we'd go swimming. But by then my kids were feeling sick again, so we scrapped that, and everyone just came over to our place to BBQ and hang out.

The next day, we attended our Sacrament Meeting, then headed straight over to Lexie's ward. Right before we turned onto the freeway, I looked back at Eden, who was holding her stomach, and asked her if she was feeling okay. She answered by barfing twice all over her dress and the floor of the car. Change of plans. Drop Tibi off at Lexie's church, and head home with the kids. Peter had come in his own car, so he still got to be there for the blessing, but I took Jonah and Eden home and got Eden all cleaned up. Then I had to clean out the car. It was disgusting, but I made it through alive.

We hung out at home until Lexie and the family made it back home. Eden was feeling better then, but I still didn't know if I should go over to Lexie's. She told me just to come over anyway since the kids had already all been exposed to it. So the kids and I went over for lunch and to say goodbye to Grandma, Grandpa, Tibi and Landon before they went home.
It was a horrible weekend to get sick, and we still were dealing with this days later. Levi started throwing up on Monday, but he got over it pretty quick. And just today, (more than a week later!) Eden threw up again. We skipped out on swimming lessons today because of it, but I am praying it's over now.

Last Day of School and Onto Summer!

Summer has been pretty good so far, minus a little bug we caught. But before I forget, I need to go back to May. Here are the kids on their last day of school. Eden and Jonah will both be attending the same school next year, and Levi will continue in the speech program at his school. Jonah loved his Kindergarten teacher. Eden is excited to go to Kindergarten next year! She will have the same teacher Jonah did. Hope Mrs. B can keep up with Eden's personality!

Green Lantern (Levi), Jonah, Mrs. B, and Eden

We jumped into summer right away, with movies, trips to the library, and swimming lessons.

The kids loved Kung Fu Panda 2.

We've bummed around the mall a bit...

and have been going to swimming lessons 4 days a week.

I love that little smirk.

We are loving the lazy days of summer!

Summertime!

Sorry we haven't updated for a while, we are just having too much fun!

Happy Summer, Everyone!