SPRING has SPRUNG!

Look what has bloomed right in my front yard! Two beautiful buds!

Mackenzi and her friend Brooklynn (or Brookie, as she calls her). They haven't seen each other in two weeks, they were thrilled to visit this morning!!

Fun in the Sunshine!

We had an awesome time at Lake Havasu. It was sunny and warm, however winds kept us inside a lot. We made it out on the boat 3 times out of the 7 days...not a ratio I like, but we made the best of it. The desert is BEAUTIFUL at this time of the year. The wildflowers are blooming and smiling at you from the side of the road! Matty had to come home for a few days mid week (someone's gotta work) but made it back by Thursday afternoon. There were LOTS of people there, luckily we were able to stay in Matt's uncles house (which is next door to his parent's house) so there was plenty of room for our family, dog, toys, snacks, playpens, and other essentials. Mackenzi had a wonderful time, she LOVED the boat, the sand, the FRIGID water, and riding the buggy through the sand hills. She slept great and did NOT want to leave. The boys had a good time as well. They were very mischievous. Jace threw Uncle Jay's remote into the bath tub one night. Luckily it worked once it dried out. Quinn threw Uncle Jeff's phone into the toilet while Mackenzi was on it. Luckily, it was a waterproof phone AND Kenzi hadn't done her "business" yet. There were lots of no-no's at the river for the boys. They loved the boat...it put them right to sleep. Jace took some time to get used to the life jacket, but once he did...there was no beef! On Monday, we went to Oatman. A small mining town outside of Topock. There was lots to do there: western pics, feeding donkeys, eating donkey ears (seasoned, homemade potato chips) and Buffalo Burgers (real. I didn't eat that.). We can't wait to go back and enjoy ourselves with NO WIND and a bit warmer water.

Lake Havasu

We are still at the river.  We are having a blast and enjoying ourselves so much that we decided to stay for the week!  I'll update with super cute pictures when I get home!  Have a wonderful week!

Flashback Friday and Happy Spring!

This picture was taken in SPRING two ago, when Kenzi was 10 months old. It was her first visit to LAKE HAVASU. The weather was warm, the water was frigid! She didn't care. She crawled her seriously chunky body right into the water and enjoyed every minute of it. She played until her little body was blue from being so cold. Then mommy and daddy wrapped her in a warm towel and dried her off. We will be wrapping more chunky bodies (mine included) in warm towels this week because as soon as Matt gets home from work (hopefully around 2) we will be off to LAKE HAVASU to enjoy SPRING BREAK! Okay, so I have no ties to spring break, but his brothers do. So, we're celebrating Spring break with them. We'll be back Tuesday night...hopefully with adorable pictures of my babies swimming in the frigid waters of Havasu! HAPPY SPRING EVERYONE...Let's hope for warm sunny weather!! See you Tuesday!

A Special Day!

Happy Birthday to YOU! Happy birthday to YOU! Happy Birthday to Matty! Happy Birthday to YOU!!!We love you very, VERY much and we wish you a wonderful birthday!

Keepin' a smile on my face!

Mackenzi says the cutest things that keep me smiling all day, everyday! Yesterday was no exception. I was folding clothes in my room with the music on. She came in and started dancing. After a few spins, she said, "I need some ballet shoes. I'm a ballet girl". She ran to the toy room and found a BEAUTIFUL gown and ballet slippers. I helped her put them on and she did a few more twirls. Then she stopped dead in her tracks. She looked down at her slippers and said, "Mommy. I think these are silly, silly ballet shoes. I need glass slippers instead. I'll be right back". And off she ran again. She asked me to put on her new glass slippers, so of course I did. She looked down at her new "glass slippers" and said, "There, now that is PERFECT!" And with that, she did the best twirls and spins a little dancer can do!

Showering Kara

On Sunday, Wendy and I threw Kara (my soon to be sister in law) a bridal shower! Kara and Jeff (Matt's brother) are getting married in two months. We had to change the plans and have in indoors because the weather wasn't cooperating this weekend, but it still turned out great! The food was delicious (except for the hard bread...thanks a lot Corner Bakery Cafe!), the drinks were yummy (thanks Rick) and the company was great!! She got lots of wonderful presents. She mostly got things for the kitchen, but she also got a few things for the bedroom! We had a great time. We have a few more fun things planned before the wedding on May 15th!

The whole group

Kara and Me

Wendy, Kara, and Me

Dress up, Smiles, Sweet Dreams and Flashback for Friday

I figured why not knock it all out in one shot?!? I had some cute pics that I took yesterday and it's flashback Friday...so why not? Yesterday, Mackenzi's friend Brooklynn came over to play (just like she does every Tuesday and Thursday). They were playing their usual activities...dress up and girly girl.

I walked in her room to find them sitting on Mackenzi's bed painting their nails, putting on make-up, and putting on lotion (none of it real, of course).
Jace wanted in on some action in Mackenzi's room...so he played on the floor...smiling, like always.

All the while, Quinn was having some sweet dreams in his crib. I really love that the boys suck their thumbs...I think it's so precious!
Speaking of precious. Here are my boys at 6 weeks old. Soft baby skin, cuddly, fine baby hair (over their whole precious bodies), seriously...it doesn't get any better than this. I'd like to have them like this for just ONE day (not one night) to cuddle them and smell their new baby skin! So stinkin' cute! How's that for a flashback Friday?

Good News vs. Bad News

The good news is that we had a GREAT WEEKEND!

The bad news is that I have no pictures to share!!

Friday night, Dana and Kevin watched the kids (OVERNIGHT!) so that we could enjoy some time to ourselves. We dropped them up and high-tailed it out of there. We went to Victoria Gardens and had dinner at King's Fish House. Afterwards, we went to a movie. As we stood there trying to decide what to see, we felt so out of the loop. We didn't even know what half the movies that were playing were. We decided to see (much to Matt's dismay) He's Just Not that Into You! I liked it a lot. I thought it was very good. A few parts had Matt cracking up ( not sure if it was because it was really that funny or if it was because of the beers he drank at dinner).
Saturday morning, we finally had a yard sale to sell the junk that has been collecting in our garage. We did pretty well...making just over $300. Later that day we kicked it at Matt's parents for awhile.
On Sunday, we were lazy for the morning. We did a little shopping and then headed over to Kevin and Dana's house for dinner. She made yummy tacos and brownies for dessert. Mackenzi got to swim in the spa with Braeden and Kelsea. Everyone had a great time...thanks for dinner guys!

So that's the recap from our busy weekend! I just love the weekends!!! We have another busy one scheduled for next week. Hope you all had a great weekend too!!

Flashback Friday

I couldn't decide which picture to use today, so you get a double dose. Lucky you! This first pic is from June 2007. Her hair was just long enough to get into piggy tails. She was (and still is) adorable. We had just gotten back from the beach for a week, so she was very tan. Lucky girl got great skin. Don't worry, we kept sunscreen on her. This next pic is from when Matt and I first started dating. It was December of 2002. We were at the Covina Christmas Parade. It's one of my favorite pictures!

We're gonna....

Push, push, push the pee pee out. Push, Push, push the pee-pee out! Pee-pee in the toi-let.

I know you have all been dying to find out how our potty training is going! She has been doing great. Yesterday, she was DRY all day long! She had two accidents in her diaper (#2) but no pee-pee accidents. Uncle Kevie gave her a dollar since he saw her go on the potty at Nana's house. We went straight to our favorite store, Target. She picked out an Ariel book from the dollar section (our favorite section of Target). I also bought some more goodies that Kenzi picked out for the Potty Surprise Basket. Every time she goes potty on the toilet, she gets a prize. She's getting better! I'm so excited. I was scared that she would graduate to Depends (you know, the ones for old people) since she's at the biggest size of diapers. Luckily, she's doing great...and I don't feel like a terrible mother when it comes to that area! Hopefully it's all down hill from here (with occasional speed bumps, I'm sure).

Dr. Payne...here we come!

The boys had their first trip to the dentist today. Who else would we go to? But, of course Dr. Payne! Don't let that name fool you. Dr. Payne is the most GENTLE dentist around. My mom started going to Dr. Payne when she moved to Covina around 7th grade. Dana and I went to Dr. Payne, so it's only right that our kids go there too. (Side note: Dana and I were SO SAD when we turned 19 and couldn't go there anymore...he's a pediatric dentist). Dr. Payne thought it was so neat that it's 3 generations that have been his patients. Quinn had some questionable spots on his 2 bottom teeth, so wanted to get them checked out early. Dr. Payne thinks all kids should go for their first visit at 1 year old. So even though they only have 2 teeth each...off we went. They did pretty good. Quinn got checked first. Even though I brush their teeth and have since they popped through, he actually had tartar on his teeth. He scraped them clean and said that he was the youngest patient he's seen with tartar on his teeth. He thinks it may be a sign that he will have bad teeth (like his mama). Poor guy. Just to be clear, he said it wasn't because of my brushing habits. Jace's teeth were great!! We're doing a great job brushing. They got their own little bags with toothbrushes in them and got to pick a toy out of the treasure box. Mackenzi got to pick a toy too, just because Dr. Payne thinks she's cute!! The twins will be back in 6 months for another check up (although we'll be back sooner for Kenzi's next check up). If you need a good children's dentist...Dr. Payne is the way to go!!!