We Made it Through Summer!!

...well almost. And I am so grateful for those who made this possible. A

special thanks to:

The Swimming Pool

The Apache Junction Library

and....

PlayDoh

I don't think we could have made it without you!

Happy 4th of July!

Ryan was still at girls camp that morning, but I trekked down to the park at 7:30am with my 4 kids for a patriotic picnic breakfast and parade. We had decorated a bike, a scooter, and a stroller for the parade. The kids loved it! But on the way home, they decided they had had enough... The boys went on ahead so I couldn't see them - scary... Billie was crying uncontrollably in my arms and Maren decided she couldn't walk anymore because she was too hot. (I realized that if we were pioneers, she would have been left behind for the wolves) I seriously felt desperate & SWORE that Ryan would never leave me for girls camp or any other encampment EVER AGAIN!! I found myself saying, "HAPPY FREAKIN' FOURTH OF JULY!!!" Finally I got home, fed the baby, comforted the 2-yr old, and got everyone a drink and a potty break!!! Next we had a dip in the pool to cool off. Later that night, Ryan finally came home!! The Dodges, Canovas, and Fullers came over and we had a BBQ, water fun for kids, and a little guitar hero for the adults. My kids were not the least bit impressed with the fireworks that night. (Come on! They're FIREWORKS for crying out loud! BIG COLORFUL EXPLOSIONS in the SKY!) Do my kids have thrill issues or what??

Here are some cute pics of the kids that day, courtesy of Nicole Dodge (her camera is awesome!)

A Monster-ific Day at the Museum

Grandma and Grandpa Allred treated me and my kids to a day at the Arizona Museum for Youth. They had a special Monster Exhibit!!! Hello! Boys.... Monsters..... they Looooved it!! Kade and Mack wore these scary monster hands & scared Maren. But Maren liked wearing the gross costumes while putting on their own Monster Movie! Billie looked cool in the black light room... we were all glowing. We drew pictures of monsters, played with monster puppets and monster costumes, read monster books and enjoyed the several displays of monster art throughout the exhibit. It was pretty cool. (One of the funniest things that happened was when we were walking through the art room & Kade picked up a marker and drew on a white board a monster with one eye and six arms and crazy hair.... then without a word wrote M-O-M on the bottom!) What a little turkey! That's Kade's quiet sense of humor! In the Kid Room (I don't remember the cool name that had for it, but it's a play room for kids age 0-4) is where Maren had the most fun. She is a little mom and felt right at "home" in the just-her-size kitchen/home area. She put on her little apron and started collecting and preparing food for many friends. She could have stayed there for hours! I wish I had more pictures. She's so cute! Thanks Mom and Dad for the good time and the memories!!!

Tan Kids & First Baths

At 11 weeks old, Billie is too big for a baby bath. I found it much easier to stick her in with the big kids... and they all thought it was much more fun! I have ALWAYS loved the way babies look wrapped up in a towel right after a bath. I tried to capture that in these pics. :)

My kids are little Mexicans! Thanks to all the swimming they've been doing.

I was bathing Mack tonight and was shocked at his tan line! I had to take a picture to show him how different the color of his back was to the color of his bum! (This is the edited version) He thought that was funny.

Billie's Blessing Day

Sunday June 7, 2009

Billie was beautiful! The blessing was beautiful! She was surrounded by a dozen worthy priesthood-holding men who love her.... and more loved ones who could not be seen. There was a lot of love in that room.

*pinch me! I have the most wonderful life!!*

*My 2 beautiful daughters*

*Billie giving a high five to everyone :) with my brother Sam*

*My mom, Billie, and my brother Zack*

*I love this picture because it shows generations of strong, wonderful women in my life: Ryan's grandma, Phillis Peterson, my grandma Billie Allred (shown in picture frame), my mother, and my baby... the newest addition to a strong chain of women in my family.*

Rock Stars in the Making

Sorry.... you have to tilt your head to watch this...

Last week Kristen, Nate, Todd & Lara came over to BBQ... and to JAM on GUITAR HERO WORLD TOUR!!!!

WE SOOOOO TOTALLY ROCK!!!

(Yeah right)

I love how the kids got into it too : ) Go Maren!

Graduation Day!

Here's my 2 handsome little graduates on their special day!!!

Kade graduated from Kindergarten at Benjamin Franklin Charter School and Mack graduated Pre-School from Mrs. Castro's Preschool class down the street...

They both worked hard this year and have improved tremendously! I'm so proud of them both.

...... You know I love you Mrs. Castro, but I couldn't help but notice the differences in their graduation ceremonies.

Which is why I present to you...

What KADE learned in KINDERGARTEN

& what MACK learned in PRESCHOOL ...

Too Cute!! : ) It's funny, but don't get the wrong idea... Mack did learn alot more than that, of course. His teacher is so talented and creative. Anyone who can handle 8 preschoolers under one roof already has my respect, but she is so great with the kids and teaches them very important basics in a fun way!

Congratulations Graduates!!!!

Billie Grace Olsen

Welcome to the world Billie Grace!

April 17, 2009

9:50pm

9 lbs 5 oz

One trip to Florence was all it took to get our 4th child on the way...

No, we don't normally drive to Florence on a Friday afternoon, but this was a special occasion. Mack needed to register for Kindergarten and we did not have an original birth certificate for the poor boy! We decided to drive to the Florence recording office instead of the one in Phoenix to get that taken care of. The GPS said we would arrive there exactly 9 minutes before they closed, so it seemed it would work out perfectly. It was the day after my due date, and I was sure this baby would NEVER come, so we made it a family fun trip. About half way there I felt something like a kick but not in the place where the baby's feet had been... where her head was. I just thought that was strange and didn't think anything else about it. While Ryan got the birth certificate the rest of us waited in the suburban. I started to text some friends and family, joking about being in Florence (so random!). I even teased my doula, Tracie, about finding a birthing center out here and wanting to check them out. (She didn't think that was very funny). Then we drove to BJ's to try these famous green chili cheese crisps - very good btw. And finally we stopped at the dollar store on the way home(Kade's only reason for coming with us) :) This is when I finally get out of the suburban and realize that the "kick" I felt was my water breaking. I immediately started having strong contractions. My kids are in dollar-store heaven, but I had to get out of there! Ryan quickly buys them each something while I walk through the parking lot to Burger King to use the restroom, contracting all the way. I smelt amniotic fluid & knew it was for real! Now I had to call my dear friend/doula, Tracie and apologize for the joking and beg her to believe me that I was actually in labor! : ) J/K she knew I was serious. She told me to count my contractions in the next 20 minutes and she would call me back then. As we sped home, we counted 7 strong contractions in the next 20 minutes. They were short and close together. Tracie went to our house, gathered our suitcases that were mostly all packed and hopped in the suburban as soon as we got there! (Bless her heart) Because as soon as we arrived at Banner Gateway, my contractions became much harder and longer. Grandpa and Grandma Olsen met us in the parking lot and took over watching Kade, Mack and Maren. (What a relief) Less that 2 hours later, our beautiful baby girl was placed in my arms! She was absolutely perfect! It was my first birth without an epidural or being induced. And that made the reward so much greater! I swore I'd never do it again, but I've already changed my mind. : )

That's the beauty of child-birth!

We named her after my Grandma Allred... Billie. The older kids absolutely adore her and I think Billie is glad to be here. We are enjoying her so much!