Guess who started Preschool?

Today was Kenley's first day of preschool. She's going two afternoons a week to this home-based preschool and three of her little buddies are in her class. She was soooo excited all day today, but when we got there she got very solemn and nervous. The first three pics are before school started, and the last one with her buddy Evan is after school, where you can see she is in much better spirits. Her teachers said she did great and was a big helper, and she said she did not want to go home at the end, so I think it was a success!

As a former preschool teacher, I'm so excited for her I can barely stand it. The fact that she's supposed to wear red on Thursday for Red Day makes me just get this big old grin on my face. I'm such a big nerd. It was so exciting to fill out the little forms she needed, and get her all set to go. I love big milestones like this!

Oh, they eat lunch at school and yesterday I was telling her, "You'll get sandwiches..."
"Yay!"
"And crackers...."
"Yay!"
"And milk and even juice..."
"Yay! And maybe even WATER?!?!?" she asks me.
"Yes, maybe even water."
"YAY!" Just about falls off her chair with excitement. Silly girl.

Parker wrote a poem!

Here's Parker's free verse poem he dictated to me. I think it's really good. What do you think?

Shoes
so many ways to amuse myself
all day
but nothing better than shoes
especially my mommy's running shoes
blue and white, old and loved
i love them too
my lack of fine motor skills
to put on said shoes
can be distressing
to everyone.
because i will never stop trying
to put on shoes.
all day long.
i awaken with the dawn
pointing at my shoe bucket
crying for them,
desperate for
the feel of canvas and velcro
the smell of my too-small sandals
the taste of the soles.
i spend roughly a third of my day
attempting to put on everyone's shoes
frantically signing "help me help me"
strewing them all throughout the house
clomp clomp clomping on the wood floors
laughing at my sister's distress
when i steal her crocs and flip flops.
i have many jobs in this family
but none more important
than shedding crocodile tears
over the cruel dichotomy of
my inability
but constant desire
to put on shoes.

Aren't these girls cuties?

Erin and I really really really want our girls to grow up being friends. Wouldn't that be so cute? Miniature little incarnations of ourselves, sharing secrets and laughing till they can't even breathe. I feel so lucky to have a friend who I've been so close to since elementary school, and we so want that to continue for our girls, even though we live in different parts of the state. But so far, so good. Kaitlyn and Kenley love to play together when the Strongs are in town! They don't tell secrets or laugh together yet, but I'm sure it's just around the corner...

My life is a circus....

So I thought it would be fun to go see the circus while it was in town. My mom and Kirk were nice enough to take us. It was awesome! I recommend it to anyone - there was lots of stuff for both kids and adults! We saw so many amazing things and both kids were captivated for what was almost a three hour show!

However, Kenley's favorite part? "Doggies doing tricks!" Are you thinking to yourself that maybe we should have just gone to the dang PARK to watch dogs catch frisbees? Riiiiight. That's life with a three year old. What's a little elephant trick when you can see a DOG?




These were the cheapest seats at the Sports Arena, and we still had a great view of the action!


Parker almost succumbed to the Cartwright legacy of falling asleep at the circus. Both Scott and Andrea have done that (except they were adults).



Exhausted after finally getting to the car at almost 11:00pm.

Camping at the Club!

Some of you may remember our Poway Lake Campout last year. Well, this year we decided to try faux-camping again with an overnight at the Club near my mom's house! You could come and set up your tent on the soccer field, and then play at the Club all night. They provided dinner, a movie, and ice cream sundaes, along with breakfast. We swam, played at the playground, and even got in a little bit of tennis! Both kids had a GREAT time and even fell asleep in the tent, allowing the grown-ups to play some card games late into the night! I took Parker home to my mom's to sleep after that because I didn't want to risk a late-night screaming fit - it was so nice of me to sacrifice sleeping in the tent.

We were supposed to get some portraits done Saturday morning, but if you enlarge this picture (click on it), you will notice the two gashes Parker managed to get on his face in the HOUR between when I made the appointment and when he went to bed. Lovely.


Both kids LOVED the tents and ran around like crazy people inside them.


Misc. family cuteness...




This was a whole family campout! My little family, plus my mom and Kirk, and Scott even managed to clear out some time. PLUS, the added bonus of getting a picture on my phone that night of my little sis from my friend Jeff, who was in Nauvoo and tracked her down at Pageant! I was so happy to "see" her!


Parker is so lucky to have a big sis who cares about him so much and will clean his face off with wipes.

Check out the new blog

Okay, I got my home organization/cleaning blog up and running. The link is in my sidebar, but the address is www.simplycleanliving.blogspot.com. Please come over and check it out! I'm lonely over there so far! Each week we'll have a cleaning zone, and I'll also have cleaning/organizing challenges, and a weekly "What's For Dinner" post so we can get some new menu ideas! The more the merrier! Come on over and leave a comment!

Miracles Do Happen

My entire family got to take a nap today. Kenley doesn't even nap anymore but we convinced her she had to today. So Parker's been in his crib for like three hours now, James and Kenley are out on the couch, and I slept alone on our bed. I slept for about an hour and a half, woke up on my own feeling well-rested, and then quietly played online for another hour so everyone else could continue their naps. Ahhhh... that is a heavenly Sunday, seriously. Too bad now I have to leave for a meeting, cutting into my internet time and which I'm sure I will wake everyone up when I leave. Bummer. But James should probably get dinner started anyway. :)

Oh, and coming soon... our adventures camping and at the circus (not at the same time). I feel like I'm losing my readers, so I promise to step it up and make the blog more interesting. Is anyone still out there?

Yum....

PHOTOS NOT MINE - COURTESY OF OURBESTBITES.COM

So pretty much anyone who's talked to me in the last few weeks knows about my new favorite food, Spicy Honey Chicken. The recipe is from ourbestbites.com, and it is soooo good. Check it out here: Spicy Honey Chicken

These girls have a ton of great-looking recipes on their blog, and I don't think I even cook often enough to try as many as I'm wanting to try. So check them out and leave me a comment to let me know what you think!

Little bit of this, little bit of that

So, I've been on an updating rampage lately, so if you just saw the shopping post, you've missed another five or so.

Funny Kenley story: Sunday night we had my family up for dinner and we asked Kenley how she liked her chicken and she goes, "Um, it's not terribly good." Where does she get that stuff?

Does anyone want to do a home organizing/decorating blog with me? I don't even have to know you, if you're one of my blogstalkers. I just want some company. I was thinking of doing one Zone each week (based off Flylady, like a kids room or Master Bedroom, etc.) and we could post how we cleaned, organized, or decorated. We could also post pics of areas that we need organizing/decorating ides, and we could help each other. Anyone interested?

Finally, I need to get out for a run and it's getting hotter and hotter and none of us are ready. I hate exercising.:(

ETA: We just had a little earthquake down here! A 5.8 in Chino Hills, about 50 miles away. It shook us for quite a while and was one of the most intense I can remember. Parker loved it and laughed, and Kenley was scared. She just told me it, "grumbled and grumbled in my room." It cut off our cell service for about 10 minutes and our landline is still down. Of course flashing through my head was our total lack of emergency preparedness. Hmmmm... I think this may be the little nudge I needed!

Seriously, ya'll - I ROCK at shopping

So in case you didn't know, this is the absolute BEST time to buy kids clothes, because all the stores are clearing out for Back to School. I always think I buy too much, but then I sure am glad when my kids hit their bigger sizes that I'm all stocked up. So here's my loot from the past two weeks, hitting the Target shoe sale and the Old Navy and Children's Place Clearance sales. I got 13 shirts, 10 pairs of shoes, 2 pairs of shorts, 3 pairs of jeans, 1 pair of capris, 1 skirt, 1 pair of jammies, and 1 dress. I spent an average of $3.29 per item. I'm not sure Brooke believed me when I said I rarely spent over $5 for any item of my kids' clothing, so here's my proof. 32 items of clothing for just around $100. And by the way, it's all so cute, huh?

The whole stash:


The shoes:


Kenley's stuff:


Parker's stuff:

I've Finally Got It Figured Out

I kick my feet up, read magazines, and eat ice cream and let the KIDS keep the house clean. James always tells me this is why we had them. Finally they're old enough to earn their keep!

A few recent funny stories...
*Some of you may remember Kenley's insistence long ago that her friend Ellis eats "boy cheese sandwiches" and she eats "girl cheese sandwiches" (that's what she thought grilled cheese sandwiches were called). Well, now she has apparently graduated to "big girl cheese sandwiches."
*We were all in the car and James turned a corner and Kenley yells out, "Daddy! Don't pour me out!"
*James and Kenley were sitting face-to-face and she patted his whiskers and asked what they were, and he told her they were his whiskers. Then she points at some of his chest hair and goes, "These fall-down whiskers?"

Whew! We are home!

Well, we just spent most of the last three weeks in San Diego while my assorted parents were off on vacations. Thanks everyone for letting us "house-sit" for you! I can't believe we didn't stain or break anything. Amazing. I'm going to try to remember all that we did...
*The zoo
*The Del Mar Fair
*The beach (x2)
*Tide pools
*Visited San Diego friends (x5)
*Ran/played at Mission Bay (x2)
*Trip to IKEA, including unplanned side trip to Target after Kenley threw up in the car
*Ran down at the beach
*Went to the club (x3)
*Movie at the park
*Met friends at the mall in Irvine
*Went to the park
*Drove back home to Murrieta (x7)

Crazy busy couple of weeks.

A night at the park

So Sunday was the last day of our "staycation" in San Diego. We'd cleaned my mom's house and needed to keep it clean, so after dinner we took our rugrats to a new park near my mom's house. It was so fun to be there in the evening when it was nice and cool, and to all hang out together as a family. By the way, isn't this the most awesome park ever? There's a free splash park there too, but it's closed right now.

Movies in the Park!

Last Saturday night we went and watched Horton Hears a Who at the 4S Ranch Sports Park. Tara, Spencer, and Sydney came over and we made pizzas. The girls played so sweetly together and just kept consuming red peppers like they were candy. Goofy girls. Then we all went down to the park and met Milnes and watched the movie. There were so many snacks between all three families. I was a happy camper. Kenley fell asleep near the end, but Parker never does, and he just got so silly. I think they get the phrase "slap-happy" from kids like him. He was sitting in my lap just slapping his own face and poking out his eyeballs. Then on the way to the car he was insistent on doling out kisses to everyone, again and again and again. He was being so funny.

4th of July

4th of July was a super busy day. In the morning we went to Old Poway Park, then we went to the RB Parade. Okay, it's a totally lame parade, but so fun to sit in the same spot with the same families year after year. The first few pictures are at the parade, of Kenley with Katie Jensen's little girl Renae. Aren't they so cute? I love how seriously they're comparing their bead necklaces. Then after the parade it was back to my mom's for their block party, and then over to the Stake Center to watch fireworks. I love the Fourth of July. Everyone is so festive and happy. I'm just a holiday girl. I love them all.

Visiting friends

A few weeks ago I got to spend the morning with my good friend Erin Strong and her three kids (you will not see brand new baby Isaac in these pics). We've been friends with Erin's family since we moved to California in 1986, and now she lives up in the Bay Area. It seems like whenever I get to see her it's rushed and crazy, so it was so nice to be able to spend a leisurely morning just chatting and letting our kids get to know each other at the park. Thanks for the visit Erin! We had so much fun!

We love the beach!

We've been spending a lot of time down in San Diego lately, staying at my dad and Joanie's house while they're in Alaska (thanks, guys!). So of course being only a few miles from the beach, we have to make the most of it! I've gone out a few times for a run at the beach, and we've gone over there a couple nights after James gets off work. You may notice that these pictures are from two different beach trips, and Parker has drastically different hairstyles. Check out his new big-boy haircut! It makes him look so old, but we like it!









During this second trip to the beach, I kept trying to get Kenley to look at my and smile but she'd just tell me, "Nope! Too busy!"