Terrible 2's??? No way, terrible 3's!!!!!

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!!!!!!

Pumpkin Patch #1

We headed out to Schepf's Farm this weekend in celebration of Kelly's 31st b-day! The kids had fun in the dusty, busy farm but most of all, are obsessed with their pumpkins! They each got to choose a mini pumpkin and have taken it with them lately!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Today was Mark's 31st birthday! We started the day off with Green Eggs and Ham for him along with breakfast in bed. Then he was generous enough to get the kids their first big kid bikes...they were so ready!!! They had a lot of fun riding around the neighborhood. I can't believe they are old enough to get their first bikes...time flies!!!

Go Devils

The kids have now officially become ASU fans! You know when they start asking, "Mommy, are we going tailgating?".

DisneyWorld...last minute trip...

The kids and I made it out to Orlando for a last minute trip to DisneyWorld last weekend!!! Unfortunately, mark had to fly but mom and Dave were out there for a convention all week and while we had originally planned NOT to go, we managed to figure out a day that would work. I had a MOPS training in the morning on Saturday and the kids and I left during lunch to make the last flight out for the day. The kids didn't even know where we were going until I knew we were for-sure on the flight...we got the last 3 seats! We made it in and got to the house around 11:00pm, went to the Magic Kingdom on Sunday and left on an 8:30 am flight on Monday.......free airfare IS the only reason I married Mark, you know ***wink***.

Here are some pics! The kids are VERY into Peter Pan (thanks Leslie) and are going to be Peter Pan and Tinkerbell for Halloween...actually, we had to talk Andon out of being Wendy....his future wife would never let that down!!! When we walked off Pirate's of the Carribean, there they both were, Peter Pan and Wendy.....talk about the right place at the right time! That was a special moment. Plus, Avery is in awe of Princess Belle so she was simply speechless when we met Cinderella, Prince Charming and Belle! In fact, Belle asked Avery if Andon was Avery's Beast...good thing she didn't ask me because sometimes, YES, he is!

All in all, it was a good, quick trip...all except for the fact that Daddy wasn't there. He is definitely Avery's prince lately though!

1st Day of "Preschool"

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!

No more monkeys...

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!