Water Wars

Our family has discovered a new favorite summer time activity:  Squirt Gun Fights in the backyard.  It all started when Pinks 1 & 2 received a super soaker as a party favor from a birthday bash they attended.  First, they tried shooting at each other.  Then they started shooting water at their Daddy.  In response, he bought three additional pump action water guns.  That's when things really started to escalate and Mommy had to get involved--after she'd purchased her own set of mini water hand guns that she could keep hidden in her pockets, of course :).

Summer, Summer, Summer

The kids are out of school, the heat has returned (blarg!) and it's time to do anything and everything to stay cool and avoid the "b" word (bored).

Before it got too hot, the Pinks and their Mommy went on an outing to the

Phoenix Zoo

Petting the goats on the Zoo's farm was a highlight

 Can't leave the Zoo without getting a pic on the komodo dragon statue

Then we tried out

Roller Skating

We stayed very busy with daily

Swimming Lessons

And then we'd return to the pool in the evening for

Family Swim



When we couldn't make it to the pool, we would hit a local

Splash Park

Don't forget weekly

Gymnastics Lessons

Or the trip to the

Arizona Museum of Natural History

We managed to squeeze in two trips to the

Movies

We saw The Lorax and The Pirates:  Band of Misfits

And of course we hosted lots and lots and lots of

Playdates



Whoever said summer was supposed to be relaxing?!?

Last Day of School

The school year has flown by and both my little Pinks grew up so much.  Way to go, girls!

P. at her pre-school promotion program.  She did an excellent job reciting "Humpty Dumpty" all by herself.

A. with her Kindergarten teacher at the end-of-year assembly.

We're Painting the Bathroom Blue--Home Improvement Projects Part II

Do you remember that part from Alice In Wonderland where the Queen's gardners are singing while painting all of her white roses red?  That's the song that was going through my head as I began painting our downstairs bathroom (with the lyricals slightly modified, obviously).  Although we're the third set of owners for this home, this particular bathroom has never been painted.  Having gotten used to the all-over white plaster, putting up some color was a bit of a shock at first but we're all very happy now with the results.

(The visual effect would be more thrilling if I had actually remembered to take the "before" pictures before I had started the project.  Sadly, I didn't think about it till after I already had the tape up and had lugged that huge ladder into the space.  Sorry--you'll just have to imagine the over-powering whiteness.)

And now for the "after" shots.  Yay!

Slowly But Surely....Home Improvement Projects Part I

Honestly, how many of us actually notice baseboards?  Nobody--except for when they're damaged or are two different sizes or not put in at all.  That was the condition of our baseboards when we moved in.  So the first "home improvement" project on our list was to replace, repair, and in some places, install baseboards.  It's taken nearly 10 months to complete the job but we finally finished it and now our uniform baseboards can go back to being routinely overloooked. 

P.S.  Many thanks to J. for doing the lion's share of the work.

Case of the Missing Piano Room Baseboards--Summer 2011

Piano Room Re-Boarded--Spring 2012

New 6" Clashes with Old 2.5"--Summer 2011

Uniformity at Last--Spring 2012

Daddy's Little Home Improvement Helpers

HAPPY EASTER

We've had a fun filled week gearing up for the big day.  The festivities commenced with our annual tradition of egg decorating.

Apparently, eggs weren't the only things that got dyed.

After the eggs were colored (and the dye had faded from our hands) we commenced with decorating Easter cookies.

A few days later, Mommy got to help out at P.'s preschool Easter party.

What a cute little bunny!

We're hoping all the eggs, cookies and other decor will entice a certain bunny to come round our house before church on Sunday and leave some treats for the pinks! 

Baby-on-the-Go

This is why my house is never clean.