Chalkboard

Sophie and Lydia love to draw with chalk. They can cover our little patio pretty quickly with their art. My parents offered us their big chalkboard from their backyard since it doesn't get used much. The girls were so excited when Daddy hung it up!!

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Miller!! They love it and are out there everyday coloring!

Pigtails and Elephants!

Lydia's hair is finally getting thicker and a little bit longer. She refuses to wear any headbands for more than two seconds. So the other day I attempted pigtails...

Its not much but she kept them in for half of the day! It is progress...

Chad had the day off so we headed to the zoo to see the new elephants.

I know Sophie's socks are wild and they don't match but right now it is her favorite accessory. Sophie was so excited because one is her age and the baby is Lydia's age....

The exhibit was awesome and the Elephants got really close. The "kid elephant" (what Sophie calls it) came up and gave dad a kiss...

It was a lot of fun. They had several activities there to learn about elephants and some fun musical instruments to play...

Playing at the Gym

My girls love playing at the gym. And I love them running around and getting all their energy out...well some of it. Sophie has gotten brave lately with the foam pit. She used to carefully crawl into it. But now every time I see her she is flinging her self into it jumping from everything possible. And this last Friday she did this all on her own...

I was so excited for her because I used to have to hold her hand and help her fall she was so scared. But now she does it over and over!

Lydia loves the foam pit too. She tries to be big like Sophie and jump but then she turns around and slides in and immediately says "stuck!"

Shopping and Grandpa

On Saturday my Grandpa Buchanan came to Tucson to see the family. I was so excited to see him and have all of the family together! First we had to make a stop at Ace for some items for the station wagon. They have two little carts there that the girls love to push around, plus free popcorn, and a train that goes around. They pretty much think it is the best place ever. Apparently we came in the right day because they gave us a free quart of paint! Aw the little things in life...

Then we headed to my parents house and visited family the rest of the day. It was nice to see my Grandpa. And we visited and ate lots of yummy food. Thanks mom!

Sadly this is the only random picture I got that day and now I am kicking myself for not getting a picture of him with the girls. But it was fun and Sophie says she really like Papa B's truck. Haha she is her Fathers daughter. After we took him over to see the progress on the station wagon. He was excited to see it and I think Chad was excited to show it off a little :)

Princess Letters

A couple weeks ago I had the girls color pictures and write letters to their favorite Princesses. I heard that if you did they would send you a autographed picture of that princess. Sophie chose Cinderella and she then chose Sleeping Beauty for Lydia.

It took some convincing to get Sophie to put in in the mailbox. She was insistent she deliver it personally. But after explaining to her how long it might be before we make it to Cinderellas castle she put it in. We went out to get the mail and found these!

Although not what everyone advertised they where still cool and the girls were beyond happy. I had read that it would be a picture of the princess you wrote to that was signed to your kid. But in the end I think this is better because it has all of the Princesses autographs on it!

So fun! I just printed out a coloring page of the princess and had the girls color them. Then I wrote on the back some things the girls liked about that princess. and sent it to:

Walt Disney Company
Attn: Fan Mail Department
500 South Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521

A Birthday Gift and Chuckie Cheese

The girls were invited to Rowley and Conrad's birthday party at Chuckie Cheese. Sophie was beyond excited and kept asking me if it was time to go yest when it was a week away. I decided to make the boys a Fort Kit for their present. With the help from my awesome Mother in Law I made a bag for everything to go in...

They were pretty excited to open it once Nate told them what it was haha.
The girls had a blast at Chuckie Cheese.

I realized Lydia is not quite the dare devil I thought she was. She was pretty nervous on the little rides. And really really did not like sitting next to the mouse...

But she sure loved the games. Especially getting tickets...

And of course the pizza. After all it is Lydia and she does enjoy her food...

What We've Been Doing

The girls and I have been finding ways to entertain ourselves while we have been home since we have been a one car family. We play a lot of hide and seek...

We have played Mouse Trap at least a hundred times, we take walks around the neighborhood, and they have played in the backyard a lot. But we had to stop that since Sophie has broken out into an allergic rash all over her face from the lovely weeds that have taken over. In my attempt to get rid of them I received a giant blister that has taken over my finger so I surrender...

So needless to say we were pretty excited to get out of the house Saturday and head to the temple! Sophie was so excited to go and see the temple again. Grandma and Grandpa Clayton were there babysitting for their ward and they were nice enough to watch our girls too. Then we got to go to my cousins wedding and see a lot of my family which was really nice.

The girls were very excited about the reception location...outside! They had a blast. We didn't see much of Sophie the whole time she was having too much fun making new friends and playing with her cousins on the old fashion playground. The reception was in the yard of a home built in 1910. It was very pretty and had lots of green grass which Lydia was pretty stoked about. Sadly I didn't take any pictures. Except that the girls got to wear special flowers that were a gift from the bride! I was amazed that Lydia kept it on for more than 2 minutes. (although not much longer.)