"Front Yard" Photo Shoot

It rained part of the day today. YAY! We needed that.

And the rest of the day was cool and overcast.

Perfect for taking pictures.

We headed out to the canal right in front of our apartment.

And took some pictures of Lexi, in honor of her turning four tomorrow.

I was pretty happy with how they turned out.

Interviewing Lexi

My brother-in-law Brandon interviewed Lexi via Skype on Sunday for one of his classes.

Here's a copy of their questions and answers.

1)      Describe a Typical Day:

I brush my teeth, get dressed, get hair done, swim, play with my sister, play with kitchen toys, play with blocks, eat three balanced meals. (I don't remember her saying "balanced meals")

2)      What activities do you enjoy most?

Swim, playing on the playground, sleep, “my favorite thing most of all is playing.”

3)      What activities do you enjoy least?

I don’t like going to time out, not sleeping at all, not watching movies.

4)      Describe your best friend.  What qualities does he/she have?

Daddy, Parker my cousin. I love playing with them. (her answer to this question changes, depending on who she's played with recently)

5)      What is your greatest achievement thus far in life?

Coloring in the lines.

6)      What is your greatest regret thus far in life?

Kicking people like my sister Avery.

7)      What are you looking forward to in the near future (within the next year)?

My birthday, my baby brother being born

8)      What are you looking forward to in the far future (5, 10, or 20 years down the road)?

Get married, have babies, I want 8 babies (She did say 8)

Four Years of Lexi

Tomorrow Lexi turns four!

It's been the most amazing four years of my life.

Lexi is such a sweet little girl with so much personality.

Sean and I love being her parents!

Let's take a trip down memory lane...

 

 

  

  

 

 

Now it's time to go put up the streamers and blow up the balloons!

An In-Law Filled Fourth

 Yesterday for the 4th of July we got together with my sister-in-laws' in-laws' and their in-laws. 

Basically the Searle family and their in-laws on all sides.

We had a great time! The girls were so happy to just be free to roam around the backyard.

But before I would let my kids have any fun, I made sure we took a few family pictures.

As you can tell, my girls were less than thrilled...

 

Once that was out of the way, we let our kids play on the slip-n-slide.

This was a new thing for them.

They weren't quit sure what to do at first but just loved playing with the water anyway.

Michelle is trying to teach Lexi how to use the slip-n-slide by pulling her along with a croquet mallet!

I just love this little cutie!

 

Check out these flowers.

Sean was actually the one to noticed that they were painted.

 

Avery was just in heaven going around and doing whatever she wanted!

 

They boys played lots of sports.

Of course, there was lots of yummy, yummy food!

And the Searles are kinda crazy about their homemade ice cream. So there was lots of that there!

Michelle felt like she was being chased by the Paparazzi because I always had my camera with me.

 

Bocce ball.

 

Volley ball.

 

 

And we ended the party with water balloons.

It was a great party! We can't wait to next year already.

(Yes we are totally inviting ourselves again.)

Older and Wiser Too!

 My birthday started off early, with me waking up at five not being able to sleep.

So I decided to make myself (and family) homemade pancakes.

I was able to eat breakfast with Sean before work. Which was nice.

Then when Avery woke up she let me hold her and cuddle her. Which I loved!

Then I just rested while Avery watched a movie until Lexi woke up at 9.

Then we got ready and headed off to swim lessons.

It was Lexi and Parker's first day of their new session of swim lessons.

This time we are outside. This was my view from my chair...

 I love that Lexi and Parker are always sitting together.

Lexi loves having Parker in her class.

I think it makes my shy little Lexi feel a little more brave when she has Parker with her.

While Avery napped, I napped and Lexi colored in my room.

She is becoming such a little artist.

Here's the picture she drew of us in the card she gave me...

 

And here's a picture of Lexi's lion...

 And then Lexi told me that this was a picture of an old man. 

Then she told me that that old man was her dad!

That night we dropped off our girls at Michelle and Justin's and then went out to eat.

We went to Cafe Rio and it was delicious!

We picked up an ice cream cake and went back to Michelle and Justin's and ate it there.

As you can tell, Lexi was not in the mood for pictures.

She just wanted to eat cake!

As soon as we started singing, Happy Birthday, Avery blew out half the candles, 

right there in the middle of the song!

She was just so excited and it was so funny. I couldn't stop laughing.

Michelle got me these little towel wrap thingies. I'm not sure what they are called but I LOVE them!

Thank you Michelle!

 And I had to share this picture because I love Lexi's smile.

She at the fun age were she has the cheesy, awful, forced smile.

After dinner we just hang out while the kids played.

Then we headed outside to watch their neighbors light fireworks.

When we were in Albuquerque we would just sit on a hill and watch fireworks.
We have never been close to the show or the noise before.

It turns out that Avery is terrified of fireworks.

We ended up sitting on the porch for a while...

But that didn't last long. Soon we were inside watching the show.

Once we we're inside, Avery was loving the fireworks. She kept asking for more.

Halle eventually joined us inside too.

It was a great birthday and a good way to start off, what I'm sure will be, another great year!