A Happy Houseful!

It is a party at our house! Literally.  Let me tell you why.  T-man and Shar arrived in town a few weeks ago and because their home was not ready to move into, we begged them to stay with us until their home was ready, after some arm twisting and eye poking, they agreed to put up with us for a few weeks and it has been a party since!  The girls have had so much fun with cousins around and Shar and I think that sharing cooking and cleaning is a great arrangement.  If 6 people didn't have to share one small bathroom, they just might agree to stay forever.   T-man and Shar sleep in our curtained off "guest" living room.  Curly, Lou, Lettie, and Grace sleep in one bedroom and Berry and Lissie sleep in the other.  We still have a couch and an air mattress, so if anyone else wants to come join the party... the more, the merrier!

Curly and Lettie Reunited after more than a year!

Gracie and Lou

  Our very nice neighbors let us come over and swim (quite the circus act).  Thanks Sos!

Spud's first time swimming.

Bedtime

Reading break

Two little imps - Berry and Lissie

Yesterday, we met up with our good friends, the Rollins for an outing to North Western AZ.  We visited Tonto Natural Bridge near Payson, AZ.  The weather was great, the scenery lovely, and we enjoyed an adventuresome hike.  

Spotted a tarantula - he curled up in fright

Natural bridge with waterfall coming off

  

Under the bridge - there was water misting everywhere

Exciting hike on slick rock

Curly caught a frog

  

Busy bodies

I suppose you could say we are back in "the swing of things."  We've got a carpool schedule working, homework being done, meals being planned (sometimes), meetings and activities, etc.  The biggest excitement around here is preparing for the arrival of my brother and his family.  We are so, so thrilled that they have decided to leave the cloudy cocoon of England to brave the eternal sunshine of Arizona.  Even more wonderful, they have found a house just one mile from ours.  Just imagine the fun!!!  They will arrive in approximately 123 hours, but who is counting?

I have recently received a request to post more pictures of baby boy.  We have decided to call him Spud on the blog.  These pictures are a couple weeks old now, but he is still just as cute, if not cuter.  At his two month check up he weighed in at 12 lbs 12 oz which put him in the 60th percentile, his height was in the 90th, tall like daddy.  He has recently discovered that he has hands and it is so cute to watch him clasp them together.

The big sisters wanted a picture too

Lou loves bedtime, that is when her creativity really comes alive.  We are never sure what we will find when we go in to check on her later, but this week she left a shrine of stuffed animals and toys outside her door.

She also made herself a "curtained" bed.

While Lou may wish she was at school all day, we love to have her home in the afternoon - especially Spud.  Dress-ups and princess stories, what more could a little boy ask for?

Having the two older girls in school takes me back to the days when I had a toddler and baby at home.  Berry has discovered a whole new world of exploration with free reign of the house (and her sisters' bedroom).  She is in that adorable stage when she wants to do just what I do.  I clean up, she cleans up, I do crunches, she does crunches, I take a shower, she thinks that it is the more, the merrier!

Found Curly's panties - yippee!

In forbidden territory - Curly's top bunk bed

And in case you were wondering if she still loves to wear her swim suits every day...

Bathing Suit Beauty

This is a typical scene at our house these days - Berry in a bathing suit.  We are not sure why, but Berry has decided that she has nothing to wear and insists on putting a swimsuit on each morning. 

She wakes up, opens her drawer, and selects her suit of choice, then brings it to Fisher or I asking for help to put it on.  After breakfast, she will go in her room, remove said suit and come back with a different swimsuit (she owns three). 

She loves wearing her swimsuit so much, that removing it to put on real clothes elicits kicking and screaming - so much so that we just let her wear her suit unless we are going to church.  If we are going out in public, I try to put a coverup on her, but sometimes even that doesn't work. 

At church today, she pulled her skirt off - secretly hoping that we had packed one of her suits.  She was sad to discover that we had not.  As soon as we walked in the door from church today, her skirt and shirt were off and she returned from her room with her suit. 

We think her obsession with swimsuits might have to do with her love for swimming.  Maybe she thinks that if she wears a suit, eventually she will end up in a pool. 

I guess she got tired of her suits.  Today she stole one of Lou's suits and wore it backwards most of the day - it was scandalous.

School Days

School days are here again!  The girls were excited (Lou) and nervous (Curly) to go to a new school this year, but after the first day, all the jitters  turned into adoration for their great teachers.  We are all excited about school!  Lou loves it so much, she wishes she were in all day Kindergarten with her friends, but I am glad she can be home with me.  It seems like Curly just started Kindergarten and now Lou is there - time goes by much too quickly.



So cute in their uniforms



 

Home Sweat-y Home

After three weeks of fun with family, we returned home.  I was a bit nervous to actually be going it on my own with three children and a newborn, but we have survived!  I even ventured to the library and to the store with all four kids!   Back in AZ, we only had three weeks until school began again.  We swam as much as possible, played with friends, tumbled, and went on a few outings.  The girls had a summer "Challenge Chart" of goals to complete in categories like reading, memorization, and cooking.  They worked hard to finish before school began.

Curly last swim meet

We gave the girls a tumbling mat for their bday s- hours of fun!

Every night we take Lou to the bathroom before we go to bed.  It is almost impossible to wake her up and hilarious to watch her stagger or sometimes just stand in one spot and sway as she tried to navigate herself to the bathroom.  She usually can't make it back into bed on her own and when she does she flops over as soon as she reaches the top of the ladder.

Lou's legs

 The weeks before school began we took a day trip to the Sedona area to go hiking and enjoy the scenery.  Why hadn't we gone there before?!?  It was very beautiful AND 20 degrees cooler.   We hike about 2 miles to a creek and enjoyed a picnic lunch in the shade.  Even with the change in temperature, it was still in the low 90s and we were very hot by the time we finished - especially the backpack toting adults.

Ready to go

Time for lunch

  

Fisher rigged up a cradle for baby boy

Wading in the creek

 

Cool Ocotilla and the view isn't bad either

Too much hiking for Berry

Cathedral rock

Cooling off with a slushee

Finally, a few shots from around the house - 

Sweet smiles

Father and Son snooze

A rare scene for Lou

Berry's first pigtails

Ice cream cone leftovers