Is she smart or what?

Aileen says to me on our way home from parent/teacher conference:

"Mommy, you seem like the smartest person in the world......but you aren't."

Oh...how I love that little girl. :)

AMAZING!!!

Tiffany and I took the little ones to the zoo on Friday and we spent forever watching these orangutans. The mama hid under a box, the baby played with a blanket and played peek a boo with his daddy. It was amazing to watch the similarites between us and these incredible animals. I love this picture of the baby peering over the mamma. She carried him over to their "bed" and laid down. It was absolutely precious. I could have watched all day!!! Heavenly Father truly created some amazing things.

Here are some other pictures of our fun day at the zoo.

What is more cool than big pink birds?

"Rafikki (sp?) kept looking over his shoulder at the babies......this wasn't even the biggest one.....he was HUGE!!!!

We had to play at the splash pad. Parker fell in the sand and had to be stripped down......By the way...sand is almost impossible to get rid of!!!!!

Time to change diapers before we hit the road......Aren't they cute???? :)

I had such a great time hanging out with Tiffany.

A proud Mamma.....

I am so proud of you, Aileen! You did such a wonderful job today singing in the Primary Program. Your voice sounded like a little angel and brought such a sweet and special spirit. I know Heavenly Father was smiling when he heard you sing. I love you so much and am so proud you!!!

Aye, Matey's

Arrr!!! Who knew there be such a thing as talk like a pirate day, matey, but alas, there be one. (okay, so I stink at talking like a pirate, but I try.) Today, Parker and I went with the preschool group to a park at the Estrella Mountains It was cute. They had a little treasure hunt set up for the kids and then they could go play on the playground. It was fun visiting with the girls even though Parker isn't quite old enough to treasure hunt. We had a good time being outside and taking advantage of the wonderful resources we have here in the valley.

The "pre-preschoolers" Rissa, Sarah and Parker.

Our Damsels and Pirates , aren't they cute?? :)

(really needs no caption)

Not again!

Ugh!!! My kids have been sick more since Sam has been gone than their WHOLE LIVES!!!! I think Aileen has strep. Really sore throat, fever. AND they always get sick on the weekend!!!! Why is that? Anyways...just had to vent.

We remember......

Please remember the families of those who were lost on this terrible day and those who fight today to keep a tragedy like this from happening to us again.

Maybe we are watching too many princess movies.....

My conversation with Aileen:

Aileen: "Mommy, when you and Daddy were married did you get your first foot-poppin' kiss?"

Me: "What's a foot-poppin kiss?"

Aileen: "It's where a boy kisses you and you pop your foot up behind you"

Me: (laughing hysterically)

This is what happens when the Daddy is gone too long....

So, Parker likes to wear his sister's flip flops. Poor guy's been around girls too long. :) (I think he likes them so much because they make a noise on the tile floor when he walks.)

In love with Sushi

Is anyone else as in love with sushi as I am? I am a new member of the sushi club and I LOVE IT!!!!!!! Now, don't get too excited. I haven't ventured too far into realm of raw fish, but am trying to get a little more daring. Thank you, thank you, thank you to my dear friend Cassie who urged me to, "Just try it. Come on, Jeni" To her I owe my new found passion for sushi. Yummo!!! (as Rachel Ray would say).

Poor little girl

Aileen says, "I wish I was royalty so no one could tell me what to do!!"

Life is so hard for a little girl.

So dang cute

Parker is so cute. We were on our way to Walgreens and he was playing with a phone in his car seat. All the sudden he just started talking and talking. I turned around and he had the phone to his ear. I said, "Parker, who are you talking to?" He smiled and said, "Daddy". SO CUTE!!!!!!! So, we got to Walgreens. In smaller stores I let Parker walk rather than putting him in a buggy. This has never been a problem before. Today we walked by a tub of foam swords. Parker grabbed one and said, "Mine. MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE". I probably shouldn't have rewarded the "screaming in the store" behavior, but it was so dang cute. He carried the sword around the rest of the time, cried when he couldn't hold it in the car, and hasn't put it down since we've been home. I guess he really needed it. :)

Parker has what?????

So, apparently Parker has Hand Foot Mouth....and apparently it is a virus. This I did not know. He actually has a VERY mild case, only a few little blisters on his feet, legs and hands.....none in his mouth....THANK GOODNESS. He has run a little bit of a fever, but nothing too high. He's a little fussy, but that's about it. Poor guy.

Aileen watched the Sound of Music for the first time. I was surprised at her attention span with it. I DVR'd it and she fast forwarded through the commercials, but it is still super long...especially for a little kid. She loved it though. After we had to sing "Favorite things" over and over. She has a little music box that her Grammy gave her that plays that song, so she thought that was neat.

OOOOOOOOOOOOklahoma

Oh what fun we had this summer. As most of you know we went to Oklahoma. It was so nice to be able to stay so long. Since Sam is in Iraq we spent the whole summer in Oklahoma. As you can see from above, Aileen (7) had an absolute blast. I have a nephew (Jase) and niece (Alyssa) 3 and 5 months younger than Parker (19 months). Yes, 3 grandkids within 6 months of each other.....my parents were in grandparent heaven. It's great to be back home, however. Counting down to when Sam comes home. Under the 6 week mark. YAY!!!!! We can't wait...8 months is way too long.

And so it begins........

I have succomed to the pressure......I am starting a blog. Thanks Brea for the inspiration. :) I have no idea what I am doing...how to customize my blog, or add cute "buttons"...I am clueless. I'm sure the more I learn the prettier my blog will become. However, I did figure out a way to add the most important symbol......GO OU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!