July 2010

Summer has officially (and finally) arrived. The kids and I have been having so much fun relaxing and hanging out in the sun! My three Babies are now TAN!!! Ellie and Jaxons hair have bleached out almost completely blond. They are all even more Gorgeous than normal....

Chase and Jessica: We went on vacation! A real, away from our kids, get on a plane, no responsibilities vacation. We spent four days in Vegas which meant 4 days away from the kids, yes, we missed them like crazy BUT It was Awesome!:)

The first day was spent traveling, checking in, Gambling and meeting up with Chase's parents and Aunts for dinner at the Excalibur's Dinner Show. It is quite an experience. You eat with your hands and cheer on your knight as a whole Scenario of Good/Evil plays out. Very exciting. That night We got the official tour of the strip from our Aunt Bonnie's Brother who happens to work at the Rio. That was one late night.
The next day we Spent some time at the pool, Spent some time relaxing, shopping, and more gambling. That night we had some tickets for a John Lennon Tribute show called "Just Imagine". It was like John Lennon came back from the dead, told the story of his life and rocked out. I only knew a few songs, but it was still really cool! (or was it Groovy???).

The pool at our Hotel

The next Day was probably my favorite. Chase and I spent the entire day walking down the strip. It was about 112 degrees but most of the way you can walk through the casinos. We gambled along the way as we explored the city. Its funny because things look really close, but because everything is SO BIG it is actually far away. Along the way we stopped at a half price ticket booth to pick up tickets for Blue Man Group. That performance is in "The Venetian" which was quite a ways down the strip from our hotel, "The Excalibur." We got there in plenty of time for the 9 o'clock show though and that was an unforgettable experience. The Blue Man group is a musical, comedy act. I can't even really describe it but I laughed till I cried and the music was super cool. I am really glad we had that opportunity.After the show we took a cab back to our hotel.
This is us at Blue Man group rocking our protectve ponchos

The last day we got up, spent some time at the pool and then packed up our room. This time we headed the other direction from our hotel and ended up at Mandalay Bay. They have a "Shark Reef" aquarium that was really neat. We spent some more time gambling, and the rest of that day was spent traveling back home. We were definitely ready by that point to go home. Vacation wears me out:).
When we got home we woke the kids up and gave them loves. I will never forget Jaxon's face when Chase brought him downstairs to see me. He had the most euphoric, angelic smile across his face. He just couldn't believe we were home. He just kept staring and smiling. It still makes me tear up thinking about it. Thanks so much to My mom, Dad, Tiff, Jim and Erica for taking good care of my babies while we were gone.

Austin: Austin is enjoying his summer in every possible way. He is swimming, riding his bike, playing with friends, playing video games and staying up late.He did say the other day that he "kinda" missed school though. I was watching Austin yesterday in the lake and I was really impressed with his swimming. He has made it to Level two in swimming lessons, but I think he has progressed from that on his own with all the swimming we have done this summer.
Our neighbor loaned Austin some chapter books to read, and one of them was called "The Drinking Gourd." It was a story about the underground railroad.He read the entire book in one day.Then he was thinking alot about it and had a lot of questions. I answered as many as I could, and we talked about everything from the Civil War, to Martin Luther King. That night he asked me to show him the video of Martin Luther Kings "I have a Dream Speech."I found it on You Tube and we watched most of it together and I was in tears over it. I don't think I have actually have ever watched it. I told Austin that it made me cry because I want him to grow up to be that kind of man. Above all else I want him to stand up for what he believes and stand behind people who are being mistreated. If he can stand up for what is right than I feel like I have done my job as a Mother. He still wants to read more about the subject so we are working on getting him some more books about it.
Austin had the opportunity to attend a week of Day Camp for Scouts. They played games, shot bow and arrows, BB guns, went hiking and did an egg drop. He had a blast!!! It really made me think about Austin and how far he has come in the last 2 years. There was a time when that would have been completely out of his comfort zone, To be dropped off with people he knew only from scouts, and other people he did not know at all. But he took it all in, had a great time and I don't think it caused any anxiety in him at all.He really is growing up. It is almost his 7th Birthday. Wow. Time really does fly when you are having fun:)!



Ellie: Ellie is back in a "I am going to be a pain in the butt" mode. She has been sassy and defiant. (I still like her anyways) One slightly obnoxious thing she has been doing is baby talk. It starts out "pretending to be a baby" which I am fine with. But then it spills into everyday life and conversation and I can't handle that. Immaturity is my pet peeve, and I want her to behave and speak like the almost 4 year old that she is.
Ellie has been having a blast in the pool in the backyard and she also has been loving spending days at the lake with her friends. She likes to wear her life jacket so she can swim around independently.

Ellie's mood has been stuck on silly lately. She makes random noises that crack herself up. Then her laugh is contagious and pretty soon we are all laughing but really don't know why. The other day at the park she really made me laugh. She was pushing Jax in the swing real high. Then she very excitedly said.... "MOMMA! Jax is holding on to the swing like a real live person!!!!" She was not quiet sure why that made me laugh!Currently, Ellie's favorite Movie is "The Little Rascals" and she requests it almost daily. Ellie is super excited to start back at preschool. Mostly because she knows she is going to get a new backpack soon. Ahhh, the simple things in life!


Jaxon: Jaxon is now walking very well. He can even take uneven terrain with no problem. On Tuesdays My neighborhood does park days. Lately Jax has been following right along with he big kids.It is adorable. He can now safely use the stairs without a problem which is one less thing for me to worry about. Jax is a tornado. He spends his time moving quickly around the house making messes. His favorites are the computer desk drawer, emptying things out of the recycle (please step over the empty milk jugs if you come over) and my tampons. He loves to empty the box and spread them all over the house. Jax's vocabulary is growing and he is begining to parrot words we say. It isnt always clear, but the syllables are there. He can say Thank you, outside, eat,no,nigh night,yes,Dad, Austin, Stacy... and a few other. Jax has been using the potty a bit and has gone Poo about 5 times. TMI I know. It is starting to sink in for him becasue when I catch him pooing, and I say "Lets go poo on your potty" he will run for his potty.Hurrah for a diaper free future!!!
Jax loves motorcycles. The other day we were at Chase's parent's and he sat on the 50for a good 20 minutes. If I took him off the bike, He had a major meltdown. If Ellie got an as well, behind him, he had a major meltdown. If I tried to hang onto him so he didn't fall off thus cracking open his skull on the concrete, He had a major Meltdown. I think you get the idea.He got a little quad for his birthday and he is so stinkin cute riding that thing up and down our street. He also loves to tinker in the garage like Daddy. If the door gets left open, I always find him in the garage where he will get a wrench and bang it on Chase's Bike. It is just about the cutest thing ever.


A lot of "cutest thing ever" moments happen around here, but everyday the kids still do something new to surprise me and make me smile.The best things in life really are free! (but I have to say Vacations that cost a lot are pretty stinkin great too!)