PpPpPpPp

 It's "P" week in kindergarten this week so I guess I'll participate. Here's a few pics of my peeps puncturing pumpkins for our potato head princess and pirate pumpkins.

 We procured PINK pumpkins - perfect!

 Roxy was preoccupied gardening so Daddy performed her pumpkin duties as proxy.

Roxy's Hair

Roxy's hair is finally long enough for some little pony tails and I'm having fun doing it every day.

 Cute Girl!!

Brooklyn

9/4/12 - First Day of Preschool  - Teacher Mrs. Joy

Brooklyn gets to have 3 friends from her sunbeam class in preschool with her: Clara, Joelle, and Madelyn. Fun!

 Since Roxy needs a nap while Lukas is at school, I've designated Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 12-2 "Girl Time" for me and Brookie. This is one where we went swimming - but it's gotten too cold now.

 When Grandma came to spoil Lukas, she had to spoil Brooklyn, too. Here she is getting a Mani Pedi.

Big Changes for Lukas

8.27.12 - First Day of Kindergarten - Gibson Elementary School - Teacher Ms. Cannon

Grandma Pew never misses a chance to come and spoil the kids for their birthday so Lukas got to celebrate his 6th birthday with Grandma the Saturday before - which meant Brian got to come too. We started the day with a treasure hunt for his presents, then he wanted to go to a "Circus" which we figured out really meant a
"place with rides" so we went down to AdventureDome and invited the Lazenby family to come along.

 His Actual Birthday!

 It's not his year for a party so he had his friends Grayson, Dutch, and Jacob over to play LEGOs and have cake and ice cream - root beer cake and vanilla ice cream with root beer syrup. 

 His first lost tooth!

Admiring the gap

As usual, the jealous sister wanted in on the fun. Silly girl!

Baby Boy Crockett

Brian's sister, Jill, delivered her second baby boy yesterday at 24 weeks. He is 1 pound, 10 ounces, 11 3/4 inches long. We just feel helpless not to be there with all the family to support them in any way we can. Whenever I think of that tiny little baby struggling for every moment, my throat tightens and my eyes fill with tears. For Brian and I, the last two nights have been restless sleep filled with dreams of that tiny little baby and tonight's report came that he's not doing well. Since there might not be much sleeping here at our house tonight, I'll fill the time updating you on our little family.

Quality Time

We finally broke down and hit a fancy show on the Strip. Mystere with my parents was really fun even though the boys kept joking about how bizarre it was. 

 Brian took his Step 2 board exam on Monday and we flew out on the red eye flight Tuesday night to Miami, FL. I got a great deal on this condo right on South Beach and we saved money by renting bikes and using public transportation. The beach itself was crowded but the water was fabulous and there were some great restaurants to try. We went down to introduce Brian to a residency program in South Miami and we think he got a foot in the door there. Big thanks to Grammy for watching our kids back home!!

Brooklyn's Hello Kitty Birthday

It's Brooklyn's year for the big birthday party so here's some photos and videos of her 4th birthday. She chose Hello Kitty for her theme and it was fun to get a chance to spoil her. Grandma and Grandpa Pew came to help spoil because they love it, too. And they surprised her by bringing her cousin Harlee Mae along. Brooklyn is super smart, intuitive, compassionate, helpful, and friendly. Some days I worry that she is 4 going on 14 because she is growing up so fast but I know we'll always be best friends.

Roxy's Birthday

So we squeezed Roxy's birthday into the last day of our trip to AZ/CA/OK so she got leftover cake, a few small gifts and 8 hours in the car. Way less than she deserves and here's why: She is funny and loves to get a laugh out of anyone she can - mastered the fake laugh early on. She is feisty and has strong opinions - gotta love that! (But some days not so much.) She started walking about 3 weeks shy of her birthday and she can say, "Dog Dog, Mom, Dada, More, Baby, and Bubble." Whenever we ask her if she pooped or if she's all done in the swing she shakes her head back and forth with a vigorous "No". The very best thing about her is that she gives the BEST hugs and kisses of any baby ever. Love it and love her!!!

Arizona/California/Oklahoma

So July was a bit crazy for us but we enjoyed some changes from the same old same old. Here's the general run-down: First, we all drove to AZ together and went to Kevin and Jessii's wedding/reception. Then, Brian and his mom drove to Tulsa, Oklahoma for his month-long radiology rotation there. Me and the kids stayed in Arizona and enjoyed family and friends. Half-way through the month, we drove to California for Jason and Stacey's sealing and got the BEST surprise we could have wanted: Daddy! (Brian's parents secretly flew him over from OK for the weekend.) Then we spent two more weeks in Arizona with more fun and I flew to Tulsa to help Brian drive the car back. We stopped through Snowflake on the way through to celebrate Grandpa DeWitt's 90th birthday and Roxy's 1st (separate post), then on through to see Grandma Timon in Parks for her birthday on the drive back home to Nevada. 

 Dress-up, riding, swimming and more fun at the Sparks Family Farm!!

Some spoilage of Celynda: getting her hair done, Sonoran hot dogs, Texas Roadhouse and Cheesecake factory with the DeWitt's, thrift store/school clothes shopping, eyelash extensions, fun, fun, fun.

 

 The LEGO store at Chandler Mall=heaven for Lukas. Here's the mini-figurine we made of Brian.

This is the only shot I got of our trip down to Sierra Vista with the Sparks Family for the 4th of July.  Rained all day right up til the fireworks. But of course it was still worth it.

 Beach time in California.

 I love how they're trying to look so "cool" in this picture. Phoenix Zoo, punk.

 Griffin's birthday party at Makutu's Island.

 This is me at the base of a huge statue at the college in Tulsa.