We have been doing great here! In fact tonight, we actually had a fantastic time out to dinner at our favorite pizza place, Nello's. We have not been having the best experiences going to eat...usually a tantrum or a fight over where we are going to all sit (yep, Mark and I are constantly fighting over where to sit...hehehe).
These pics are a little of what's been happening around here...
The kids had their first hot chocolate moustaches...as you can see they had a blast!
Last week we were so excited to deliver 97 shoeboxes filled with gifts and necessities for kids around the world through Operation Christmas Child. My MOPS group got it all together and the kids had so much fun putting them together!
Mark and the kids decorated our train table cover last week as well. Now both Mark and Andon's trains are set up around the Christmas tree. We are gradually getting ready for Christmas...our tree is up but we are going to be working on outdoor lights this week.
Avery is our little ballerina! She had her first "recital" today and I think she was a little shy because Andon and I were there. She'll be continuing lessons in January :-)
More updates to come...
Tonight a dinner Mark, the kids and I were talking about what things the kids wanted to gift other kids with for Christmas from our Angel Tree at church. They are really understanding this year! Anyways, we were talking about what kind of bikes they wanted to get for them and as we are eating our last Halloween caramel apple from the Chicago Bibbey's and here's the conversation:
Mark: "Hey guys, if you could choose any toy in the world to give to another kiddo doesn't have any toys, what would it be?"
Avery: "Baby dolls and a Dora bike."
Andon: "Um Daddy, I would like to give caramel apples to all the kids who don't have any caramel apples. "
Yes, these apples are yummy..but maye not a necessity...especially for my waist!!!
For those of you who don't see us on a regular basis, you are unaware of the grey hairs that Mark and I have earned with these sweet, adorable twins...AKA Avery and Andon! Oh yes, they look sweet alright, but when there is no one else around but Mark or I, they turn into Mr. Hyde's!!! We are working very hard with Andon's temper tantrums and have been at our witts end!!! We are getting the, "No, I want MOMMY!!!" thing under control, for the most part but he is definitely getting his own opinion! Avery has been showing her little teenager attitude....ugh!!! That pout....I thought that was supposed to be cute...ya, not so much!!! Sure we definitely have our fabulous moments (like tonight..they were pretty great, for the most part) but there are other times where I seriously, want to give them to the mailman...just because he's the first person to come to the house!!!
That's what's going on at our home...terrible 3's!!!!!!
Avery and Andon started preschool! Ok, so it's not preschool but on Monday's they go to an ABC & 123 class for 1 1/2 hrs for 12 weeks and on Wednesdays they go to a Math Mania class for 1 hr for 6 weeks. We call it preschool because it's time away from mommy and daddy....and time away from Avery and Andon! They are having fun so far :-) Here are some pictures from their first day, which was last week (but I just couldn't get the pictures off the camera until now)!
We are doing well here. Mark is based out of Phoenix now so he does not have to commute....woo hoo!!! He is on reserve (on call) all weekends but this month he was on 3, off 4! Next month that switches up to on 4 off 3 but at least he has the chance to be home if they don't need him!
I started up my MOPS group this month and we have a record 70 moms registered so far!!! It's truly a blessing to lead that many women...yet I still am a mom myself!!! We have had a few bumps in the road, but what ministry doesn't?!?!
Arbonne is also thriving...a huge prayer come true! It is so wonderful to share a passion of mine that will allow me to stay home with Avery and Andon just while teaching people about healthy products, how to save $$$ on them and teaching them how to teach others to do the same. Ok, so I know that sounds like a sales pitch...but seriously, it's that simple! I love, love, love the products so if you are reading this and haven't tried them...I have failed! Just kidding, I'm getting some products in your hands!
Ok, so Andon and I have had a nice conversation that he is only allowed to be dangerous and have head injuries when daddy is home from now on!!!
Tonight I was supposed to go to a Pirate Party for a friend of our's b-day, but before that I had to run down to church and help with MOPS registration for a quick 20 minutes. While I am changing into my MOPS shirt, I hear the cry that every mom dreads! I ran back to Avery's room and Andon is laying on the floor and I can't see what in the world is wrong....because he's face down! Once I roll him over I see the obvious!!! Immediately Avery, the little reporter, says, "Andon was jumping on the bed." Of course Avery was too but that was not important at that point. We have also had some experience with them both jumping from Avery's dresser onto the bed...which they both denied doing tonight. He ended up hitting his head on Avery's book basket by her bed...that is now in the garbage can and we replaced it with a soft one!
I was really not sure if we needed to head to Urgent Care or not because there wasn't a laceration requiring stitches, however, the swelling and discoloration was really impressive...and not in a good way!!! We were ready to head down there but since he passed all the tests that I was trained to do on head injuries when I was lifeguarding, and was acting just like Andon, we ended up not going after much deliberation!
So literally, we experienced the song, "No More Monkeys Jumpin on the Bed". What a great night to read that book and teach a lesson....now there is no question why we say that!!! The pictures show the downsized version after about an hour of ice!
2 Weeks ago we went to Chicago to visit Mark's brother and their family for a week. We had a great visit!!! We went swimming in the backyard, to the park, to the zoo and were able to celebrate Aunt Michelle's birthday! We managed to survive the 200% humidity...much different than we are used to!
Here are some pictures from the trip.
Last week, Mark's parents came for a visit and endured the 115 degree heat! We had lots of fun playing inside, in the pool and spent a day at Amazing Jake's, an indoor mini-Disneyland. The kids had their first bowling experience and LOVED it!!!! My favorite part....the cute little bowling shoes...I really wanted to take them home with me!
We are hoping to get to Chicago in early August for at least a few days and are SO excited since we have not seen the Chicago Bibbey's in over a year!
Mark and I have been busy getting back into a cycling routine to train for the Tour de Tucson on the tandem. We are loving it! We can't wait for the weather to cool down so we don't have to get up at 4:30am! Thanks MOM for keeping the kids overnight once a week so we can get up early :-)
No Jenni, this is not another trick PG announcement. The other day the kids and I were in the grocery store and Andon says, nice and loud of course, "Mommy, her tummy's big". He was referring to the checker and no, she wasn't pregnant! I was absolutely MORTIFIED and I felt like I was going to vomit right there and then! As her head was down and she was ringing up groceries, I shook my head and changed the subject very quickly and we focused on his water bottle that he was drinking. Then, as we were just about to leave he said it again!!! This time, the bagger looked at me to see how I would respond and again, I changed the subject. The checker already doesn't like me because I get so much for cheap through my Coupon $ense stuff so it made it even worse! I would have probably tipped her a $20 if she was our waitress or something because I felt so bad!
When we got back out to the car, we talked about how God makes us all different and loves us all the same. How do you explain to a 3 year old what you can and can't comment on and what does and doesn't hurt people's feelings!?!? I told him to whisper it in my ear next time just in case it will hurt someone's feelings! We'll see if that works!
Here are Avery and Andon's color 3 year pictures :-) They actually had fun at this photo shoot!
