Animal LOVE

Among other things, last week me and the girls went shopping at old Navy. they were having a sale on dresses and skirts so I wanted to stop by and see if I could find anything. The first thing Madison sees is the Manequins standing at the front of the store. They are the ones in the commercial with the moms and dads and kids and a DOG!!! Madison was hooked. We spent at least fifteen minutes while Madison hugged the "kids" and pet the "dog". I had to drag her away so I could, heaven forbid, shop for clothes. Makenzie was waiting to see the doggie on the bench so we eventually made our way to the kids section, but there was no dog. Makenzie was so bummed. I got them bouncie balls to keep them occupied (big mistake bc every 2 seconds I was chasing after someone's ball) while I finished shopping. As we made our way to the dressing room Makenzie screamed, "there he is!!!!!!" The dog was in the dressing room. the girls ran over and spent the next ten minutes sitting with the dog. Makenzie asked if I could take their picture so here it is.

Following the animal theme, Madison has been working on her animal sounds. I thought it would be cute to take a video of her practicing. (Please excuse the laundry in the background...it was laundry day!)

Okay so NO video... i started posting this at 3:00 and it is now 7:30 and is still not uploaded. I will edit this later

A tutto c'è rimedio, fuorchè alla morte

The last month has been especially rough. I received a phone call letting me know that my friend's two year old daughter had passed away. It was a shock to everyone. She wasn't sick or anything, but was invloved in a horrible freak accident. The emotions spilled over. Being a mother, I cannot imagine what the loss of a child is like. Makenzie and Madison both slept with me that night and I could do nothing, but cry and hold my girls. It is in times like these that my faith is tested. How could something like this happen??? Why?? What is the purpose of taking a little girl from her family when she had so much more to do and see ? I just don't know. I was able to attend the memorial service which was agonizing. What words are there to console a family who has experienced such a loss? I even found myself sitting on the floor at Walmart crying because there are no sympathy cards that can express how sympathetic I am, how much I want to do to help, and how nothing anyone can do will help ease the pain. Death has always had a profound impact on me. It makes me realize that life is too short to waste. I find myself evaluating my time with my girls and wondering if I am making the most of it. Today, I found out that an old friend lost his mother to cancer. She was an amazing woman. One of the kindest women that you could ever meet. So, today I am asking myself again, Why? Why was this mother taken when her kids still needed her so much? Although I know that i will never know the answers to these questions, this has served as a reminder that each moment is special and you never know where life will lead so it is important to make the most of it. I want to cherish my girls, my marriage, my family and friends.

Funny Faces

The girls have been so funny trying to make different faces. Especially Madison... She will drop everything to do her funny faces on command. The top image is her mad face. She growls while making that face. It is hilarious. The second image is the silly face. The girls were than happy to take a picture making their silly face.

Finally an update!!!

Okay, okay I know it has been forever since I updated my blog. So many things have happened since I last updated. Probably too much to mention. We made a trip to CA at the beginning of May. Although it wasn't very eventful we did get to spend a relaxing day at the lake. The girls built castles and collected shells. It was a beautiful day and we were pretty much the only ones there. The next day we went to Uncle Boo's volleyball game and then headed to Pizza Hut with everyone. The girls always enjoy spending time with their grandparents and uncles.

Fast forward to Memorial Day. My dad came over and we had a BBQ of ribs and chicken. My dad and I took the girls swimming while Brian cooked and then we all ate and watched a movie together. it was nice to get some quality family time. The next day my mom came out from CA so she could watch the girls while i got my wisdom teeth removed. I had all four removed on Thur. I have on and off again discomfort, but the pain is pretty much gone. The girls have been doing a lot of swimming with G.G. and art projects. They have been making me "feel better" lady bugs, flowers, pictures. It is so cute!!!

Friday we spent some time in Scottsdale at my uncle's house. My two aunts, two uncles, cousin, her boyfriend, my dad, his girlfriend, my mom, and my family all got together for another BBQ. We had fun catching up and spending some time together. It has been over a year since we all got together. The girls loved playing hide-and-seek with their two great aunts and G.G.

Last night Brian and I went out to celebrate my friend Sue's birthday. We had a lot of fun and a much needed break from the every day. It is so rare that both of us can go out together. However, I forgot that I was not supposed to drink through a straw for a week and I did so my mouth hurt so much last night.

Date Night

Last night was so great. Me and Brian had our first date night in over 2 years. Moving to Arizona was hard for both of us because we were leaving our families behind. We quickly found out that our occasional nights out and little breaks from parenthood were gone. We didn't know anyone well enough to have them baby sit so one of us always stays home to watch the girls, but last night my mom watched the girls and Brian and I headed out to dinner with some friends. I haven't seen my friend belinda in months and it was wonderful catching up with her and meeting her new boyfriend. We actually were able to engage in adult conversation and talk about something other than kids. After our dinner we headed to the movies. This was HUGE for us. We have not been to a movie together in over 3 years. We watched The Haunting in Connecticut which was okay, but it felt amazing to be out. Brian and I were actually able to hold hands act like a couple again. Usually, because we have 2, we are running after one kid or the other and holding their hands, pushing strollers, etc. It was definitely a nice change! I wish we had taken some pictures, but I forgot! Anyways, we had a great time

Our Museum Adventure

We decided to take advantage of the 3 for Free on sundays at the museums in downtown Mesa. We just visited Artville in march so I was eager to visit the AZ Museum of Natural History. I had heard wondeful things about this museum. When we got to the museum we realized that a lot of people take advantage of the free sundays so it was packed!!!! Growing up in Southern California where there is a lot of big museums, zoos, theme parks, etc. I am continuously being disappointed by the attractions in AZ, and this museum was just okay. I felt that a lot of the exhibits were plastic and fake, but for the girls they had some cool stuff that kept them entertained.


Here we are standing outside of the museum. The girls were more interested in their snacks than the dinosaur behind us!


This dinosaur was the coolest one in the museum. Brian pretended to feed Madison to the dinosaur and she thought that was hilarious. I was afraid they were going to knock down the exhibit because every time he lifted her up there, I saw the dino shake a little.



I don't think Brian was having much fun! (Might have been because we had just lost makenzie. she wandered out of our sight and we were freaking out trying to find her. She learned her lesson because she stayed attached to us the rest of the trip. )




The girls were watching the big dinosaur exhibit. The noise of the water and the t-rex that kept moving was exciting for them.





Makenzie taking a picture with the meteorite.

Men...

Last night was the night of my cheer banquet and it was amazing!!! Everything went to so smoothly and it was a fun and emotional night. A few of my girls brought me flowers and then the varsity coach gave me a bouquet of flowers as well. I was ecstatic because I love receiving flowers and I rarely get them. I brought them home to Brian so he could put them in water because I was headed over to a friend's house. When i got home Brian was already in bed so i checked to make sure that he put my flowers in water. Well, he sure did. rather than look for a vase to put them in, he filled up the sink and stuck them in there. It was pretty funny and I just had to take a picture.