Fountain Hills Splash Park

For our playgroup we went to the Fountain Hills Splash Park. Arizona for sure works hard at maintaining their parks. I LOVE it! It was a fun little splash park, not busy at all, and meant for smaller kids. There was tons of ducks, a huge fountain, and a playground. We spent a very easy and quick two hours there! Levi is a waterbug and enjoyed every second of it. We will for sure go back to that one again!
"cheeeeeese"



Zack unsure if he wants to be there or not...
wait for it...wait for it...
there it is! Thanks Anjane' for taking the hit for Levi:)

Levi feeding the ducks most of his lunch.

This Week In Summary

Haircut
So, Levi has never been a fantastic sleeper. We have battled and battled with him since a few months before Zack was born. I have read so many books and we have tried so many things to get him to sleep enough. We have now been without naps for the last 3 weeks and it has changed everything for the better. He has always woke up around 6:30 no matter what time you put him to bed (7 0r 11!). It also was taking me 1 1/2-2 hours to put him to bed and naps. Got to the point where it took up a lot of the day! So, now without naps he goes to bed in 5 minutes and sleeps 7:30-6:30 even till 7:30 occasionally. Tonight however, he was SO wasted he fell asleep on our Sunday walk at 6. I am hoping I don't regret this come 4 am:) My great sleepers! Zack has been a little better, but not by much. I think my kids just do not require as much as the neighbors or doctors say "normal kids sleep." But, I get a few hours to myself at night to get things done and I can live with that! I also have the sweetest little boys and I can for sure live with that as well. Every time I give Levi a sad face after he won't let me play with him or something, he comes up and grabs my face and gives me a big kiss and a hug. I have to say I don't think many kids do that because they feel guilty:)
Dan got his long awaited golf clubs this weekend. So, since this little thing was on sale for cheap we got it for him and Levi to play with. They have had tons of fun with it already!
These have been seen a few times this week due to all the rain!
This little guy has learned to make his way to just about anywhere in a 5 foot radius. He particularly enjoys underneath our couch. I was reading Hunger Games the other night right before I put him down for bed, and I set him on the floor in the middle of our carpet. The next thing I know I hear this thud...thud...thud. I look down and find Zack stuck under our couch and trying to get out. His head was too big to come out the way he was trying to squeeze it out so I kept hearing him smack his head on the couch. When I get down to look at him he has the hugest smile on his face. I think I have a curious kid on my hands.
Trying to get outside as much as possible to get the wiggles out of this never ending energy two year old!
He as of lately, insists on pushing Zack everywhere. Whenever I put Zack in the stroller at stores, for walks, the mall...behind it is Levi barely being able to see over the top. It makes a lot of people laugh that's for sure:)

Well besides the rain, these pictures summarize our weekend up nicely.

My favorite one liners of the weekend:
I almost dated a guy that could grow a beard!
and
as our friend Rayli is eating a treat I made her mom asks what she is eating. She replies, "It is not poop mom!" I am glad that was her first reaction to that question!

Rain Rain DON'T Go Away

Yes, two posts in one day. I am not too bored I promise! I just have down time since my boys go to bed at 7:30 these days, and Dan is playing basketball.

So it rained cats and dogs on our way home from Costco tonight, and I mean cats and dogs! As you can tell by the pictures when we got home, I could not help but get Levi out of the car and start running through the rain. He loved it as you can see. When we ran past Camryn's house we had to stop and pick her up to join the fun!

FHE

For family home evening this week we decided to go to a driving range out here. Levi loves to swing at just about everything in the house with his golf clubs, including me occasionally. So, as this was his first time to the driving range, he LOVED it. He brought his golf clubs too. He got so frustrated that he was not hitting the ball so he would pick it up and throw it. Zack also got a kick out of the trip. I thought I recorded it on the camera but, since I am blonde I occasionally forget to hit the record button. Every time Dan would swing and hit the ball, Zack would just laugh and laugh and laugh. It was quite funny! I told Dan he must be getting rusty, or at least Zack found his swing funny:) It was a lot of fun, except Levi always trying to go by Dan when he would be getting ready to swing. I had horror thoughts of him getting clocked in the face... But, it was overall a great outing and we will for sure do it again!

Levi's face when I made him sit down for getting too close to Dan.
One of Zacks many laughing fits when Dan would swing the ball!



Yes, my son is now officially left handed. I blame it on Dan's sister Grace, because she is the only left handed immediate family member of Dan and I who is left handed.




I came home and did these after the boys went to bed. For my lack of craftiness, not too bad eh?

My Purpose

Warning you don't have to read, I was just thinking and writing and kept rambling on.
I was thinking about my purpose in life for awhile now, as we had a relief society lesson soon after moving into this ward concerning just this. Some days I feel like I don't get a lot done besides change diapers, feed kids, play cars, and clean (not complaining, I really do love it!). I have been feeling a little pressure to get a job, not for financial reasons, but because I need to work to keep my RN license and now seems like a good time. I have talked to some people who drop comments like: "Aren't you excited to get out of the house and get a break?" and "I would go insane if I didn't work!" "
After talking with Dan and reading a talk I ran across from last conference I have regained that perspective of what really matters. The talk was by Elder L. Tom Perry in last April's conference session entitled, "Mother Teaching Children in the Home." I knew that teaching my children was my most important purpose at this time and still know this, however, I was starting to notice the pull from the world. This by no means is aimed at those who have to work or even want to. This is just a personal battle.
I don't want to work and never have since I had kids. I would be so sad every time I left Levi to go to work or clinicals. But, I knew that I was supposed to go to school and that I was doing the right thing. I am extremely grateful that we have that backup. I have never been able to leave my kids with just anyone and only for certain reasons. Dan and I are getting very good at juggling our schedules! This may be because we have no family around. Maybe I am overprotective but, that is just me. So, for now I am just going to LOVE where I am and ENJOY every second with my two cute little boys. If the right job comes along that does not stress my family life than we will work it out. I do want to keep my license, that is very important to me as well. But, my boys are my primary responsibility at the moment:) Okay off my soapbox and check out my cuties:

Jeepers!

For playgroup this week, we headed to Jeepers indoor amusement park. The great thing was it only cost $1 each. Can't get much better than that:) It is a great place to get out of the house and burn some of that never ending energy. Levi is the kind of kid that waits until he sees the other kids doing something and then jumps in. So, that is how I got him to go on the rides. Mostly, he would go with his little bestest friend you have seen many times, Camryn. We played some arcade games and got him a balloon with our winning tickets. It was a fun two hours and well worth the dollar each we spent. We will for sure look for that steal of a deal again!
While I waited for Levi on a ride I caught a shot of Zacky's first tooth. Check it out!
He loved the arcade game where you slap the alligator heads when they pop out. We played that over and over again.
Levi would not get near the gorilla, so I tried to bribe him by saying I was going to take one of just Zack. He usually jumps in and says "Take picture too," or whatever you are doing "too." However, he read right through me this time.
Scary rickety and fast carousel. I almost fell off of it when it started. I know I have stability issues sometimes but, this was seriously a bumpy carousel. I have been on my fair share of them so I WOULD KNOW:)
Levi braved this one alone, well with Camryn of course!
Thanks Amber for taking Levi through those tiny tunnels! He loved it and wanted to, "Do it again!"
This one took a lot of pretending like 'this is so fun' so Levi would not get too scared. It was a pretty fast little roller coaster!
Notice all the girls with their hands up. Levi would barely let go of the thing!
Levi was scared of the animals they had around there. So, I sort of had to bribe him to get on it. But, my bribing worked!
This is his face before the ride started:
This is his face during the ride:) I am not a mean mother I promise!

The 5th Member Of Our Family...

Today while we were at the store doing some grocery shopping, I took Levi over to look at the fish they sold there. I was only planning on looking, but caved in once again! Levi loved it and I just thought to myself that it was better than a dog or a cat right now:) So, against Dan's better judgement we bought the little guy. Levi was so excited as we took him home and put him in his new home, or tank. When I asked him what we should name him he replied excitedly, "FISH!" I kept telling him it was a fish, but what should his name be? He insisted on naming him Fish. I then realized that a movie he watches has a fish also named Fish in it.

Here is Levi fascinated by his new fish friend.
So, here is Fish...very original I know!

I thought his squished face against the tank was too funny.

This is what we really went to get. Zack is ready to go go go, so we got him this walker so soon he will be following me around in it! He spends a lot of time in his swing, bouncer, and on the floor since little Levi can take up a good chunk of my time. Now that he is trying to escape from his other toys we decided to get him something a little more entertaining for him. He loves it already!

6 Months ALREADY!

Zackary weighed in at 18 lb 10.5 oz (75%), was 28 1/4 (97%) in height, and his head was 50%.

He is such a good baby. So happy all the time I swear! He cut his first tooth a little over a week ago so he is drooling like crazy. He rolls all over. I will leave the room and find him in a completely different place from where I left him. The last few nights when he has woken up I find him in the corner of his bed on his stomach... he is getting mobile! I bet he will figure out the scooting around thing/ crawling shortly. He has the BLUEST eyes ever and such a sweet little smile. He is in love with Levi and they are so cute together. He just lights up every time Levi talks to him. It is very sweet. He laughs like crazy when you tickle him and he is talking up a storm these days.

I was practicing some tutorials I had read so he was my perfect subject. I ran out and bought some black felt and had some fun snapping some shots of my cutie. Oh I just love him!

This would be my favorite picture of the photo shoot... Given I am still an amateur in training!









I had some super cute ones, but I think Zack will appreciate me not showing everyone the side of his bum! These will be the ones that mom will keep:)