Phoenix Children's Museum

My friend called and invited us for a free day of fun at the Phoenix Children's Museum. Um, let me think....yes we will go! Unfortunately Jaeden had school, but Talan had a great time with his girl pal, Kaitlin. He loved giving her a ride through a make shift car wash, it was so cute!! We had a great time and hours of fun!! Each room had so much to offer and kept the kids attention. Talan's favorite was probably pretending to ride this motorcycle and checking out all of its' parts. When he saw it his eyes popped out and he couldn't get a smile off of his face.

More fun at the sand box!



This was my favorite room!! I wish I had a room in my house to just paint in and on. Hours of fun!
We are so grateful for good friends! Thanks, we had a great time and can't wait to go again!

Back at it!

Soccer is here again and we are back at it playin' soccer in the AZ heat! So far this season the kids have done really well and are so excited to go to practice every Monday and Wednesday. Jaeden picked up right where she left off and is surprisingly doing much better, scoring every game so far! I think she's getting some of her daddy's speed. Heaven knows it doesn't come from me!
Talan has completely surprised us and is actually PLAYING the whole time, as opposed to last season when he would just walk off the field when he felt like it. He is listening to his coaches, dribbling everywhere, and has even scored a couple of goals!! We think it's probably because he's older and wiser now, but in reality it's because his best buddy Logan is on his team! Hey, whatever it takes!! Good job guys we are so proud of you both.

Thin mints?!!

Jaeden is officially a daisy in Girl Scouts now. She had many friends from her kindergarten class last year in it and so this year she really wanted to join. We have a great group of girls and parents, which makes it fun for ALL of us. It looks like it will be a great year and many fun activities planned. The first being a diamondback game that the girls get to parade on the field in their stylish blue vests! I guess now we'll be stocked with thin mints, yum! Cookies come in January!

1st Grade jitters!

Sadly, our summer came and went too fast! Today,Jaeden started 1st grade!! I can't believe how the time has flown by. I remember blogging about her first day of kindergarten like it was yesterday.

Last night we put Jaeden to bed early and when I got up to shut the door, she started crying (which she never does). So I asked what was wrong and she just kept telling me that she wasn't tired...at that point I knew anxiety was setting in. Jaeden usually will not come right out and tell me what's wrong. So I proceeded to tell her how I used to get nervous before the first day of school, even in high school and college...didn't we all? I always hated feeling that way before school started, so I just laid with her until she fell asleep. My poor baby! Thankfully, these pictures don't show how nervous she really was!
Had to get the most important picture...The backpack, of course!!
After beggin Talan to take a picture with his sister, this is what we got. Jaeden had to sneak in and Talan HAD to have his sword!!
Today she woke up happy and still anxious, but at least she was willing to get ready. Luckily for me, her teacher already needed a volunteer the first day!! So we dropped off Talan at Logan's house (thanks Denise!) and headed to school. On the way to school Jaeden says, "mom, my belly really hurts". I reassured her that it was okay and after today she would feel much better. We arrived at school and found lots of her friends (even though she wouldn't leave my side) and my friends too :-) and we all melted in the heat as we waited for the bell to ring. Not sure why I even bothered with a shower! I'm glad I was able to stay in class with her today and I can't wait to pick her up and hear about the rest of her day!! PS...NO, I did not cry :-) Shocker!
Lining up with her new class!Some friends!!

Bows

Since Jaeden goes to a school where uniforms are required and everyone looks the same, I have to at least dress her hair up! Who am I kidding, everyone that knows me, knows I love to have Jaeden's hair all done up, bows and all!! I have been busy getting her bows made for first grade. I think this will probably be the last year that I can get away with having her all "dolled" up. So sad! My little girl is growing up. Hopefully I will be able to pass all of these on to my sister, I'm crossing my fingers for a little girl! :-)

Jumpin through hoops!

We did swim lessons this year and thankfully it paid off!! Talan did so well with this being his first year. We did private swim lessons for 8 days in a row for both kids, and ended up doing another round of 8 days. So all together just 16 days and they can swim!!
The first couple of days Talan cried, but after that he was begging to go first. At the end of each lesson they got to jump through a hula hoop, each lesson it kept getting higher and higher. Here's T:

In teaching Talan to learn to take a breath, his coach had him come up for air and say "hi". Talan was so funny doing this!

Jaeden picked up right where she left off left last year and did SO much better. She learned freestyle, the breast stroke (aka Frog kick), the back stroke and the last day she got introduced to the dolphin kick. Jaeden is so excited that she can swim and keeps asking when we are going to get a pool. It's funny, because up to this point she has had no interest in EVER getting a pool. We are so proud of both of them!!!! However...we will always be watching!


Thanks to Big John for teaching our kids to swim. We are so relieved and happy at the same time!
PS...Yes I finally learned how to put videos on my blog!! Not with the video camera though, only my blackberry seems to work.

Coupon Craze!

I'm exploring the world of coupons and loving it! I have always used them, but never consistently and usually without doing any research. I am SUPER excited for my first real good deal. I NEVER buy Eggo waffles, etc. but this was such a good deal that I couldn't pass it up. Target had Eggo Bakeshop waffles 2 for $3.00. I got four boxes, for each I had a $1.00 coupon off, so I ended up getting each box for .50 cents!!! SCORE! Now hopefully my kids will eat them.
Overall, I ended up going Fry's with some more coupons and spending $18 on milk, produce, and other randoms. After saving $13.00 in coupons at my target visit, I came out right about $50 for both stores and lots of grocerys!! I will keep posting my good deals and more secrets that I'm learning.