halloween, in stealth mode

'Nuff said.

park pics

Who doesn't love family time at the park.....

seven

Spencer is 7!

He has grown by leaps and bounds this past year - in so many ways. I didn't realize how much older he would look over the span of one year. His little face looks like a 'big boy' now, his mannerisms and sayings seem so 'old.' It's such an amazing experience to watch him grow. Over this past year he  lost his first teeth, finished Kindergarten, and learned how to read. He can create anything with some plain white paper and tape (literally, anything).

Some of his favorite things:
- swimming
- t.y. - his souvenir penguin from San Diego
- 'real true' books
- playing with his buddies
- board games
and
- his little brother

The lucky little guy was able to have two birthday parties. One on his actual birthday while his grandma was visiting and the second with his friends at Peter Piper Pizza. Can't wait to see what 7 brings!

 Last day of 6

 

Super cool hat from grandma 

 

 

                                                         Love this little guy :)

 

                                                           So many fun gifts!

 

                                                        Angry Birds everywhere

 

                                                      Let's get this party started!

 

                                            Friends crowding to check out the gifts

 

                                            

my birthday

I have some amazing boys in my life. I had a beach themed birthday party and we spent the day together in Sedona. What more could a girl ask for?

another milestone

Both boys are in elementary school now. Spencer started the 1st grade, Mason started kindergarten. It's a happy/sad feeling...happy both boys are starting new adventures, sad they are growing so fast. Excited to see what the year will bring!

not for the faint of heart

Earlier this week Micah took the boys on a play date with some friends to an indoor trampoline-ish/ bouncy type place. While there, Mason hit his head. Not sure how, not sure where on his head because he was in all of the action when it happened. Once I got home I learned he had started complaining of a headache and was super tired. As I started to talk to him I realized he was having little guy amnesia. That's right, memory loss. I. Got. Freaked. I remained calm on the outside, but inside I was freaking out - as you can imagine. So after a quick call to the pediatrician we were headed to the Children's Hospital/ER. Mason had to have a CT scan and we had to sit. And wait. And sit. And wait. Thankfully it came back normal, but the final diagnosis was a concussion. My poor little guy :(

Short of waking him up every 2 hours, everything else went smoothly. That is, until 2 days later when he was at the splash pad and slipped and hit his head AGAIN! He also had some mysterious big fat swollen finger that we didn't know about for 2 days. You would think the bandaid he was wearing would've clued us in, but if you didn't know, Mase loves bandaids. More about that later. So after our final check up with the doc, I think we are finally (fingers crossed) on the mend again :)

Counting my blessings knowing it could've been worse....I tell ya, this parenting thing is not for the faint of heart!

brotherly love

The other day I was looking through some recent(ish) photos and noticed how many cute ones we have of our wonderful little boys together. Take a look! (It's funny how they almost always stand on the same side of each photo!).

 shopping at the children's museum 'grocery store'

 

Hiking

 

Sea World

 

starfish!

 San Diego  

                                 Twins x 2!                            

 

 loungin'

 

D'Backs game

 best of bros

we love monsoon season!

 

 mmmm....lemonade :)

 

dinsosaurs!

July 4th

The fourth of July in Arizona just isn't the same as it was in South Dakota. It is just WAY TOO HOT. Watching fireworks at 9pm when it's still 100+ degrees out...ugh. Don't get me wrong, it's still fun, but it's just not the same.

patriotic pair

half a decade

HaPpY 5th Birthday Mason!

For his birthday, Mason had decided he wanted to celebrate turning 5 at Amazing Jake's (a huge indoor fun factory with games, rides, go-carts, food, etc). He also decided it was time for another Spiderman theme - not only for decorations but also for the majority of his gift requests. Ask and you shall receive! He got Spiderman (and friends) action figures, sunglasses, a hat, sticker book, coloring pages, etc. Spence made sure to throw in some Ninja Turtle gear and he did get a pretty awesome race track too.

At the end of the day as we were preparing to get ready for 'school' the next day Mason asked if he would be going to his 'regular school'. I said yes and he said with a sad tone, 'I didn't know I was going to regular school tomorrow, I thought because I was 5 I was going to start kindergarten tomorrow'. I guess I still do have some of my 'little' boy afterall :)

let's party!

the 'cheetah' ride

games, games, games

 

five!

ahhh, presents!

last day of four

It's amazing to think how fast 5 years can go by. Tomorrow we are going to hit yet another milestone as Mason turns 5. Tonight he said to me "Mommy, I'm so happy I could cry." When I asked him why he said "because I am so excited about turning 5 tomorrow." I am excited too, with a little tinge of sadness that he won't be my 'little' boy anymore. Four has been a great year Mase - looking forward to kicking off year 5 with a fun celebration!

san diego

Over Memorial Day our little family of four went on a family vacation to fabulous San Diego. We decided to make the drive since it's not too far from Phoenix. 20 minutes into the trip, as he is watching a movie on the dvd player, Mason asks if it's going to be much longer. Seriously! Too funny. Actually, the boys were great little road trippers and sat tight for the 6 hr drive.

While we were there, we went to Sea World, took the boys on their first visit to the ocean and had more family fun than we thought we could pack into a quick get away. Sea World had many amazing shows and interactive exhibits. We loved watching the dolphin and killer whale shows and eating all kinds of park food - waffle cones, cotton candy, you name it.

Spence was super thrilled to see the penguin exhibits and Mase was eager to see the Beluga whales. Who knew they also had awesome rides?! They had a special kids area that had mini-thriller rides, tea cups and the like. We also opted to go on some wet rides - and when I say wet, we were drenched! One ride was us in a big tube riding down the rapids. We were soaked after this, head to toe and decided we should head to the Journey to Atlantis roller coaster (pic below - in which you also get SUPER wet). Soooo fun!

The weather was a little on the cool side the day we spent at the ocean, but we were so happy to be there it didn't matter. As we were walking to the ocean Spencer had said 'Mom, I think the ocean is going to be beautiful.' Man was he right.  We spent time in the water, made sandcastles and searched for sea shells. We had so much fun I can't wait to plan our next getaway!

  Mase was a little freaked out by Shamu at the start of our adventure

 This 'Skytower' ride gave us an awesome view

Spence

Before the dolphin show

Journey to Atlantis - our brave little boys rode this!

Shipwreck Rapids (not a photo of us of course, because neither

our camera or phones would not have survived this trip)

Brothers 

 Amazing photo: courtesy of Micah

My 3 guys at the ocean 

 Me and my boys 

 Spence getting ready to 'ride the wave'

                                 Making sandcastles      .....       with brother's help

                             

 Baywatch! 

 Souvenir's: 'Pizza' the killer whale and 'T-Y' the penguin

good times

                        ready to head home