Update

Marshall and I were supposed to go to Lake Havasu with my cousin, Corinne and her husband, Dave but Dave's dad was ill so his parents couldn't babysit Mason.  We had a free weekend to Tubac and my mom and Marie were headed over to babysit the kids so Marshall and I took advantage and headed out of town.  It was wonderful to get away together and just have some time to ourselves.  It was beautiful there and we just had a fabulous time.  Marshall was able to play some golf and I got a massage and LOTS of pool time.  

Here is the "necklace" that mom crocheted for Emma.  I can't even tell you how girly Miss Emma is.  Anything that sparkles or shines she is all over it!  Marshall got me a beautiful diamond and aquamarine necklace for my birthday and she cried because we wouldn't let her have it!=)

Mom and Marie took the kids to Chuck E Cheese for dinner.  Here is Tyler finishing his pizza as fast as he can so he can go play games.  Marie would like to offer this advice "going to Chuck E Cheese on a weekend evening is not for the faint of heart...go for lunch through the week...it is a much happier experience!"

My kids LOVE music.  Marie has lots of oldies on her ipod so she and the kids spent a lot of time "sweating to the oldies".  Notice Tyler rocking out with his guitar.

They also took the kids to the zoo!

I am not so sure Tyler's mom would have let him get quite so close!=)

Thank you Marie and mom for watching the kids for us!  We really enjoyed our mini vacation.

Playing

There are days when I wonder if I am raising children or puppies!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRtLsgzJkrw

Our Weekend

Tyler's strept throat ended up causing him to have scarlet fever.  He got a rash all over his body which at first I thought was an allergic reaction to his medicine but after another visit to the Dr. we were told that it wasn't a reaction but in fact scarlet fever.  Two things of note here....1.  I had NO idea people still got scarlet fever (two of my friends said this too so I am not the only clueless one) and 2.  My sister Marie was able to diagnose this over the phone (way to go Dr. Strohl!)  For those of you with little ones this is what the rash looked like.  It was strange, it 

would get redder at times and then kind of disappear then it would be really red again.

Emma also broke out in a rash all over her body so we trekked back to the Dr. on Friday but the doctor seemed to think it was just a virus so she did not get a round of antibiotics.  I have done a really good job of not letting them share drinks and such this week so I am really hoping and praying that Tyler keeps his bug to himself!:)

We didn't really go anywhere this week because the kids both looked pretty rough.  The weather wasn't too awfully hot so we were able to get outside and play in kid's pool---oh how I miss having a real pool!

Here is Tyler convincing Emma how much fun the slide is.

I think she agreed!

Face first is even better!

Wednesday

Now that Tyler is in school I have two days a week where Emma and I get some one on one time.  It is really nice being able to just focus on her.  I signed us up for two classes at Gymboree this month.  We are doing an art on Tuesdays and a music class on Thursdays.  So far she is loving it.  Here she is experiencing finger painting for the first time!  

Yes, she did try to eat it!:)

Tyler loved his first week at school but he is missing his second week.  They called me from school yesterday and said that he was running a fever.  When I picked him up he was just pitiful and kept complaining that his head hurt.  Long story short I took him in to the doctor and he has strept throat.  He didn't get it from there though because he hasn't been there since last Thursday.  He was very sad not to go to school today but at least the antibiotics had kicked in and he was a much happier boy.  

We had a fun afternoon here at the house playing "tea party" with he and Emma.

Emma is really just growing so darn fast.  She seems so much more mature than what Tyler was at this age.  Here is a quick video I took of her today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch/v=ktkrNNvJ7KE

Sunday

We decided to take the kids out of heat and drive up to Mt. Lemmon today.  It is so pretty there and we figured we could have a picnic and MAYBE ride the ski lift.  Unfortunately things didn't work out so well.  There was a bad accident early this morning and the road was shut down. We got about a third of the way up before it was closed.  We were at first told it was going to be closed for about another hour so we joined the numerous other people wandering around the woods and let the kids stretch their legs.  We came across this creek and Tyler and Emma had a blast getting their toes wet.  

They sheriff drove by and said it was looking more like another two hours so we decided it would be best to go ahead and head home and try this again on another weekend.  Tyler had managed to fall in the creek by this time so he got to ride home in just his underwear--which would probably be his outfit of choice on most days!

The scenery on the drive is just spectacular.  I have a pretty major fear of heights so I am a bit of a spastic passenger but we still got a few good pictures.  My family will appreciate these scenery shots from the car window!:)

EMMA

It seems as though Tyler has been the topic of quite a few blog entries lately.  I didn't want anyone to forget about cute Little Miss Emma.....check her out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v+ljJKc4ynpll

First day of school

Can you believe that I sent my baby off to preschool today?  I even did it without any tears--from him or me!  He was so excited and actually I was a little hurt at how ready he was to leave me and get going:)  I am just shocked at how fast these three years have flown by.  As much as I am going to miss having him here with me I am thrilled that I am going to have two days a week to give Emma some one on one time.

Emma helping him get ready for his big day!

"Let's go Mom and Dad, I am ready!"

Putting my stuff in my cubby.

My teacher, Miss Sherry.

He had a great first day of school.  When I picked him up two different teachers commented on his good manners---this made me so proud!:)  The most shocking thing said was that he was very patient, a trait rarely seen at home.  He is so excited to go back on Thursday so I guess it was a HUGE success!

What?

I thought that I was one of the biggest talkers out there until little Brown came around. I find that I miss the moments of silence that used to be scattered throughout my day. From the minute Tyler wakes up in the morning until he goes to sleep he is asking questions or making comments about EVERYTHING. He wants to know what everything is and what it does.
He is a bit hard to understand sometimes. Thankfully he does not get frustrated at me if I can't figure out what it is he is saying---it is the opposite---he just repeats it over and over until I finally get it. I find this pretty amusing at times so I thought that it would be fun to include you all in a small part of our daily life. When Tyler says something that is REALLY hard to understand and it takes me numerous tries to figure it out I find myself feeling like I just solved the biggest puzzle. I figured why not see if others can have this sense of accomplishment too! Here are our first two installments of....."What on Earth is that boy saying!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPmVavQ9dTw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rIDBhmzErk

Play ball

Tyler LOVES baseball. When it is too hot to play outside he will play inside with a soft ball and bat. He even likes watching games on TV. He has graduated from using his T and really prefers having the ball pitched to him. Here is a quick video of he and Uncle Matt playing in CA.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbNaefvprIc