4th of July

We had a great Independence Day and need to share some pictures...
Ajo has a parade, if you can call it that (about 6 blocks, 10 entries and 20 minutes), but we did go see it since we could walk about 30 feet from our house and have first row seats. Here are the kids with our neighbor Larry.

First up, the flag and honor guard...I thought it was awesome because it consisted of National Park Service, Border Patrol, Pima County Sheriff, and BLM. The one holding the American flag is the Chief Ranger at the monument where Cody works.

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument fire engine...woohoo, go Park Service!!! (side note: my awesome park ranger husband would have been in the fire truck, but he had to work, darn it)

And another fire engine, this one from Ajo Fire Dept.

And, wait, ANOTHER one from Ajo Fire Dept.

And that pretty much did it for the parade, not kidding...
Annalyn looked at me and said, "What? Thats it?!?! Where's the rest of it?" I gave her fair warning this parade was NOT like the one in Spanish Fork on Pioneer Day, but disappointment still happened.
After the parade we headed down the main part of town where they had booths and games for the kids. My favorite was this one...
Toilet Paper Toss!!! (sigh, only in Ajo)


Then we stopped by the face painting booth, and Jake's only lasted until we got home, by then he had unknowingly rubbed it off.

So by this time its about 10 am, 100 degrees and 65% humidity because of all the wonderful rain we had the night before, so we head home and did a little patriotic painting...

Then after lunch, we're bored waiting for dad to get home so we make cupcakes, can't go wrong with that! Thank you Martha Stewart for the decorating idea.

It was all I could do to keep Jake from eating all the raspberries before they were used on the cupcakes.

And of course, it was all I could do to keep Anna from eating all of the marshmellows before they were used on the cupcakes.

Finished product, not too bad with two kids who couldn't keep their fingers in control.

Love these kiddos, they made it fun today even though we couldn't spend it with our families in Utah, but it was fun to be somewhere new.

Happy 4th everyone! Hope it was great for you!

Her Latest Obsession

Lizzie is more interested her big brother's and sister's room than her own. I am constantly finding her in one or the other dumping out baskets of toys, ripping books of the shelves, and turning puzzles upside down. Her favorite time of day is when Anna goes to school - she immediately goes into her room and steals all of the babies.

Lately her favorite thing to steal is Jacob's pajamas...the ones he wears during the winter so they are soft fleece material, which is like her favorite blanket. She is smart about it too; she only goes in his room when I'm busy with something and not paying attention. Then when she knows I'm watching she'll just drop the pj's and take off running, so in the period of about an hour there are pjs all over the house.

Well, I caught the little thief in action one day...

I'll just act casual, pajamas? what pajamas?


La da da da, I'm just walking in here for no reason at all...

Oh what's this? A dresser? Mmm... I wonder what could be inside this exact drawer?


There are pajamas in here? I had no idea!

But this is what gets to me...


It's so sweet I can't get after her.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

The kids are playing t-ball this summer, Jacob's first time and Annalyn's second time. Its actually pretty entertaining watching all those little kids running in wrong directions, or not running, just standing on the base, or catching the ball when they are supposed to be running to a base, or just running back to the dugout after they hit the ball. This beats Major League games in my opinion any day.

Here's Jacob on shortstop ready to go; he looks pretty determined, except he's facing the wrong direction.

Here's Annalyn on third, also determined, and also facing the right way.

Jacob up to bat, I think he has yet to hit THE BALL, but he always manages to hit the tee which sends the ball to the field, whatever works right?

And since this is his first time playing, the directions of the bases are still being learned.
Do I go this way?

I don't know what I'm doing! Am I still going the right way?

The helmet is a little big, so holding it with both hands while running makes for giggles.

Oh, here's mom with the camera, I better give my biggest smile!

I made it!

Great game!

Fun in the Sun

We got the kids a pool for summer and Saturday we tried it out. The older kids loved it...

but Lizzie did not like it so much...

Better now...

Here she is, unsuspecting anything and then here comes Dad with the squirt-gun...

Didn't like that either...

Once she got a hold of the squirt-gun then she was happy...

Miss Anna, always ready to pose for the camera...

It's so fun to spray your kids with water!

Mothers

In honor of Mother's Day coming up...

I'm not sure if it's because the holiday is this Sunday, if its because my kids have been sick this week or if its because I've really missed our families lately but I've been thinking about how mothers are self-sacrificing, unconditionally loving and never failing. When you think about it, mothers are amazing. They work all day and some of the time all night, they have everyone else's interests at hand before their own, and they will sometimes go without showers or food if they have too.

Mothers are who we think of when we have a problem, they are our comfort, our strength and our examples. They work jobs in the home and out of the home and will do whatever they have to for their children. What they want usually comes last, if at all. Mothers have so many qualities and some of them you didn't even know you had until you become a mother. I'm not sure if screaming into a pillow counts as a quality but I wouldn't doubt it.

Losing sleep, being puked on, cleaning up spilled milk 5 times in the same sitting, getting headaches, trying to raise kids righteously and all the stress and worries that comes with motherhood are so hard, but it's worth it because of the blessings we have in the form of our children. I think about all the mothers I know. I admire each of you. You are all examples to me and I consider myself blessed to know you. I hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day, whether you are a mother now or a future mother. To my husband's mother and my own...we love you and miss you; we appreciate you more than you'll ever know and thank you so much for everything you have done for us, from the time we were born until now. We are blessed to have you as our mothers.