Santy Claus and the Polar Express

Okay, so it wasn't the real Polar Express, but almost! Last week we went up to the Murphy's Ward Christmas party where Ryan's parents are the activities committee. (Yes, THE committee. No mistake there. Small ward:) Anyway, they planned an awesome Christmas party with a Polar Express theme. There were trains set up all over and the decorations were great. The women who were helping wore engineer outfits and Ryan's dad even dressed up as the conductor and punched holes in "believe" tickets. They even had a "Hot, hot, hot! Hot chocolate!" moment when train engineers came out with hot chocolate for everyone. It was fun. And I must add that, although the girls thought the costumes were great, Kyson did not! He would get this terrified look on his face and start to cry anytime Pa came around. Even if he was across the room. Yikes! Here's the girls with Pa. Not too scary, right?

The Primary program that our kids joined in although they obviously have no costumes...still fun for them.We also had a visit from good ol' St. Nick. Lexi had no problem telling them what she wanted.

Kyson hated the conductor costume, but wasn't afraid of Santa Claus. (Probably because he knows the conductor was fake but Santa is real. Of course. Doesn't everyone? ;)

And here's Kendri at our Ward Christmas party. Not nearly as exciting as the Polar Express unless you count the near "flasher" incident we had. Enough said. Okay, fine I'll say one more thing. The best judgement is not alway used for these ward skits. Especially if you live in the foothills. Which I do. And....I would vote for a tighter screening process for ward talent shows, but then there goes the element of surprise, doesn't it? And who isn't up for a little excitement?

Next on the holiday list is Lexi's class party. It's tomorrow and I've spent all morning assembling gingerbread houses for it. Stay tuned for the final product!

Snow Day!

We had our first snow of the year this week! (make that the first snow EVER. Well, since we've lived here anyway. Unless you count the fat slushy things that fell from the sky one year. We called it "snow" that year, too, but now since I know Valley Springs is capable of real snow I can't count it.)

And because it was "blizzard" conditions, they had to cancel school. That's right. It was the only safe thing to do. We used our snow day. I'm not going to judge. Because growing up in Colorado and then living in Utah for 7 years doesn't make it fair for me to judge the California perception of snow. (By the way, I hear it's the same way in Seattle when they get snow. The city shuts down. ) But what I will say is, I think I like it! We had a great snow day! And when we built a snowman, the snow was gone. Used it all up for one snowman. But the girls loved it. After all, I had just told them that they should "stop asking me when it is going to snow because how many times do I have to tell you that we don't live in a place where it snows. Because that will just never happen in Valley Springs. Ever." They like it when I'm wrong. So, here's our front yard.
We didn't really build this snowman. Our snowman was only a foot tall. Some of our neighbors built it and we took a picture by it. See what I mean about the snowman using up all the snow?:)Lexi playing in the snow. And yes, those are rainboots.
Kendri playing in the backyard.

Well, the snow lasted for a day and a half. But that's a day and a half more than we thought! And now we can say we had snow for Christmas (almost)!

Christmas Tree

Did I mention in my last post that I think Christmas and glitter go hand-in-hand? Well, I do. As you can see from my Christmas tree. I am fully aware that I'm a little nutty when it comes to my tree....no one is allowed to help unless they are over 18 and willing to take orders from a mad-woman. (Ryan? Ryan?? Are you reading this? See? You meet the qualifications!:) And so far I haven't had any takers. And I should add, I am NOT a mean mommy. The girls have their own little tree that they are completely in charge of and they love it! The picture doesn't really do it justice (imagine everything really sparkly) but you get the idea. My day was swallowed up with the tree. But it's done and now we're ready for the holidays! HO! HO! HO!

Black Friday

It has officially started. Carols, blinking lights, and my personal favorite.....GLITTER! That's right, the Christmas season is here. I kicked off the season by doing something that has been previously categorized as "unknown territory" for me. Black Friday. I've heard about. I've read about it. But I have never attempted to participate in it. And quite frankly, I've never even had the desire to do it. (I know, I know. What's wrong with me?) And I probably wouldn't have done it this year if I had not found out that you could do Black Friday online and Kohl's would kick it off at midnight CST which is 10:00 my time. Most definitely a perk seeing how I pass out around 9:30 every other night. I know my limits and staying up til midnight or waking up at 4:00 am breaks them.

So, I researched and previewed and sneak peaked all week. I even got a special 15 minute head start at Kohls. I was online 30 minutes early just in case I might miss something. Amber and I called each other back and forth with different game plans. We would be professional shoppers for one night and we would get deals that would blow our minds. Or so we thought. At exactly 11:45 CST I was allowed into "special" areas and given great deals. I zipped around Kohls website at breathtaking speed and rapidly filled my cart with things I needed and things I didn't. After all, these deals would never come around again. Right?

Anyhoo, I had a blissful 15 minutes and imagined Christmas being done at half the cost. And then midnight hit. (Remember, it was only 10:00 for me) The website suddenly got slow. Too slow. And then I started spending 15 minutes just trying to get from one page to the next. At 10:45 I couldn't take it anymore. I went to Amazon and found 3 GREAT deals on Christmas presents for the girls. We're talking 50% off. And free shipping. And the website was not overloaded in the least. I went to bed on some sort of "high". It must have been the frantic shopping and suspense of, "will I get it in time?" Whatever it was, it had me a little jittery while I was trying to sleep. So, that was my Black Friday experience. But not Ryan's.

He woke up at 3:00 am and made the trek to Kohls for me. It's about 45 minutes away. (I know. What a good husband I have! For the record, he likes to shop and it really was fun for him. Not torturous like it would be for other husbands:) He actually went to Kohls, Target, and Walmart. He got most of the things that we had tried to get online before the site crashed. So now the majority of Christmas shopping is done before December is even here. This is unknown to us. We're usually last minute shoppers. But not anymore. Black Friday is now welcome in our home.

Thirty and a Day

So, I have now officially been 30 for a day. (And so has my twin, Amber. Happy B-day to her). I must say, I don't feel any different but I do have to admit there is a small part of me that DOES NOT want to say I am in my thirties. But as I told my husband, even though his twenty-something wife is gone at least his new "hag" is still medium foxy. You know, for having 3 kids and never getting any sleep at night. (That can be wearing ;)

All right, let's talk about the big day....I woke up to two little cuties running into my room singing "Happy Birthday" to me. What good little girls to remember their mommies birthday! :) Then I worked in the kindergarten class all morning where Lexi told all of her friends it was my birthday. I got lots of big wishes from little ones. Ryan managed to take half the day off so he was home by noon. Lucky me! We went to Round Table for dinner where I got my own personal gourmet veggie pizza and the rest of the family got boring old pepperoni. Then off to home for presents and cake!

Lexi and Kendri got me "Bumpits". Anyone ever heard of them? (Well, if you ever watched info-mercials you wouldn't be in the dark). Lexi is totally into info-mercials. She sees them Saturday morning and thinks everything on them is FANTASTIC. (I think she's going to ask for a toothpaste dispenser for Christmas...it attaches to the bathroom mirror and dispenses the "perfect" amount of toothpaste. And no mess! She can't stop talking about it.) So, back to the "Bumpits". They go under your hair and poof it. Imagine ratting the back of your hair for height (something I've never done). Well, these bad boys make it easy for that same look. We've been wearing them nonstop since I opened the box. (When I say "we" I'm talking about Lexi. She has one in her hair right now;) I thought I might get away with taking them back. No such luck. (Here's the picture of the "Bumpits" present)

Ryan got me some really cute boots. The only problem is they were 4 1/2 inch stilettos. No joke. I wore them around for cake and ice cream and then took them off when my calves started going numb and my feet were crying for mercy. (But I did manage to get a photo so I had proof that I actually wore 4 1/2 inch stilettos for a night.) See the picture below? Boots, bumpits and all! Can you tell I'm wearing the "bumpit?" It's a little hard to see in the picture. The dress was wrapped but it really wasn't a birthday present. I ordered it 2 months ago and it just happened to arrive on my b-day so I was trying it on with the boots. I asked Ryan to go a little shorter next time (the boots, not the dress!). Too bad. Overall, it was a great entry into a new decade! Here's to the thirties.....

PS If any of you care to take a walk down memory lane with Amber and me, visit her blog at http://rockinrobbins09.blogspot.com Seriously in for a good time! And feel free to leave guesses about which twin is which!

Kendri's Box

So this is Kendri's "Holy Ghost box". You're probably wondering what that is. At church a few weeks ago, Kendri came running out of nursery to tell me she was holding the Holy Ghost. My first thought was the lesson in nursery must have gone south for the day, but then she showed me her box. I still wasn't sure what lesson had been taught but I was anxious to get home and have some lunch so instead of investigating I just listened to Kendri ramble on about how she now "could hold the Holy Ghost." I knew whatever she had learned had really, REALLY excited her.

When we got to Gammi's house (Ryan's parents) she ran in to tell Gammi all about it. I decided I had better explain a little bit more about the Holy Ghost seeing how my 3 year old was convinced it was now in her pocket. So I kept trying to get her to understand that the box she got in nursery was not actually the Holy Ghost but it was a way to help her understand what the Holy Ghost was. Inside the box was a little message, "Kendri, you can't see the love in this box but it is there and it is real. It is like the Holy Ghost, you can't see him but he's real." As Gammi and I tried different approaches to get her to understand a pretty difficult concept for a toddler, she kept saying "I know. You can't see him but you can FEEL him." To which I would say "That's right. You feel a warm tingly feeling when you feel the Spirit."

So Kendri carried this box around with her all the time for while. She would tell everyone about it. And I'll admit there was some questionable "doctrine" being taught by her, but I figured I'd give her a little more time and then we'd try explaining it again.

Okay, fast forward 2 weeks....

I heard one of my children stumbling around at 3 in the morning. So I layed in bed waiting to see which one would show up. I figured it would be Kendri since Lexi is usually quieter. Sure enough, Kendri came running in out of breath.

"Mom! I have the Holy Ghost with me! I REALLY, really do! I promise! It's in my hand! It really is!" (All of this is said in a whispered shout).

I said, "Okay, Kendri. Climb into bed with me." I was hoping she would calm down so we could all go back to sleep, but she wasn't finished. She kept talking in her breathless whisper-shout,

"My hand is all tingly and that means the Holy Ghost is in it! It really does! I really have it in my hand!" My first thought was she had found her box and was carrying it. But then she said, "My hand is all tingly and that means it has the Holy Ghost!"

I was confused at first but then it dawned on me. Her hand was asleep. So, being the good mother that I am, I told her that was awesome and to go back to sleep. I decided that it was a lesson best saved for the morning. I was way too tired to get into that conversation again.

Halloween

Okay, so here we are with our "newest addition". Unfortunately, it was 3 weeks premature. By that I mean we had some nosey neighbor messing with our pumpkin. I came outside one day and noticed the pumpkin looked weird. I went over to check it out and saw that someone had picked the pumpkin and turned it over. We were a little disappointed because the stem was still green and it could've gotten much bigger. When Ryan carved it, there were still green seeds inside. Obviously, it was not ready to pick. But even with our little "helper", Ryan's baby weighed in at 73 pounds! Not too shabby for a premie. For those of you wondering, it took about an hour and a half to two hours to gut and carve. The shell was very thick (1-2 inches) but because it wasn't completely ripe it cut through pretty easily. We had a great time showing it off and Ryan won a prize at the ward halloween party. Whooo hoooo!

Speaking of which, here we are with 2 cinderellas, one prince charming, a fairy godmother and a pumpkin. Bippity-boppity boo! (Okay, I know my costume really doesn't look like the fairy godmother but I just worked with what I had. I didn't even have wand. We used to have, like, 3 lying around the house. But the one night I needed one I couldn't find any. I ended up using a twirling baton. You can't see it in the picture, but I also wore a sign that said "bippity boppity boo". You know, to avoid any confusion. Since my wand is actually a baton. But at least it sparkled :)

And next we have Prince Charming with his two little Cinderellas. By the way, Ryan did NOT want to be Prince Charming. He had visions of 4 Ninja Turtles and a little baby Splinter. Too bad for him. It really got him mad when his friend got to be Luke Skywalker. Their baby is 3 month's older than Kyson and he was Yoda. Totally cute. I told Ryan we could change our theme at any time but he would have to explain to his little princesses why he didn't want to be their prince ;). Problem solved!

These are some pictures from the pumpkin patch that Lexi's kindergarten class went on. I tagged along and brought Kyson and Kendri. This is Kendri and Lexi riding on the tractor that took them to the pumpkin patch to find their pumpkins. And then we have a hay maze and a little scarecrow. We had a good time!

All grown up....

Today we were driving back from Angel's Camp when Lexi said,

"Mom, I can't wait to see Dad."

And that's it! Notice anything??? Well, for those of you who can't see what's wrong here I will point it out to you. My name is and has always been "Mommy." And then Lexi just throws "Mom" out there like it's no big deal. And "Dad". That was a new one too. So then Kendri notices this new name thing so she repeats it and has this smile on her face (you know, sort of like she's being naughty but she's not sure.)

So then I say, "Lexi why did you call me "mom" instead of "mommy"?

(By the way, I say this all nonchalant because I'm practicing for when I actually have teenagers instead of just toddlers who think they are teenagers.)

Her answer, "Oh, I just wanted to say it like that." But I could read between the lines. And what she really was saying was, "I'm totally big now that I'm in kindergarten and saying Mommy is kind of a baby thing to say." Sniff, sniff. Maybe she'll forget by tomorrow....

Welcome to the Reese House of Horror. Where little monsters sleep. Scary.

BOO!

(Sorry, Trav. This is the scariest picture of Kyson I could find. I guess you get to be a little monster too!)

Colorado Trip

We just got back from our trip to Colorado. Okay, it's almost been a week but I'm still recuperating. Daniel (my youngest brother) just got home from the Philippines. He was on a mission for 2 years for our church. We had a mini family reunion for a few days and we loved it! I just wish it could've been longer. Lexi and Kendri had a great time with all the aunts and uncles and cousins. And who could forget the grandparents! My dad made the girls (meaning Amber's kids and my kids) milkshakes just about every night. He would make them while they were busy playing and then line them up on the kitchen island. Kendri would always take a "break" from playing to go look up at the island for the row of 4 little cups. When she saw them all lined up she knew Pa had brought the ice cream out! Here's a picture of Abby, Kendri, Brooklyn, and Lexi eating their nightly snack....






Brooklyn absolutely loves babies. And since Kyson is bit more durable than her 2 month old brother, he fell (dare I say it) victim to her loves:) Actually she was very soft with him and liked to crawl around to keep him company. As you can see from the picture he looks about the same size as she is but that didn't stop her from holding him! Cousin love.....








And Amber decided that it would be a good weekend to learn how to make a "wedding cake". (No, there is no wedding coming up. But I did pull out my wedding dress while we were there. I did it for the little girls and told them I was a princess. And no, I couldn't zip it all the way up. I tried. Really hard. Let's all take a moment to remember this is 7 years and 3 children later. But my children didn't judge. They thought I was beautiful:). Okay, fine. I know you're dying to see the picture. Here it is, and please withhold the laughter. Notice the girls posing as princesses....





Anyway, back to the cake.....Our friend, Joan, knows how to do Everything - with a capital E. She was teaching us how to make the flowers and how to work with fondant. It took quite a long time but I thought it was delicious. We had a 3-tiered cake with buttercream and fondant on top. I would show you the final product but I think all would agree that it tasted better than it looked. One too many daisies. It was a learning experience. Here we are making the flowers. Breanna, Amber, me, and Joan hard at work. Lexi was also a big helper.



So, these are just a few of the things that we did while in Colorado. We went up to Denver a day early so that Ryan and I could go the temple while my mom watched the kids. (Thanks, mom!) It's been a while so it was so nice to be able to go again! We also got some shopping done while we were there and Ryan finally got a to see a little bit more of my hometown state. (I mean, seeing Lamar is generally enough but Ryan is a little more "high maintenance":) Overall, we had a great time and can't wait til the next trip!

Pumpkin Update

Well, here is the update for the "4th child" in the family. It has been 3 1/2 weeks since the last picture. Notice any difference?? Scroll down and compare the two pictures! I think he's grown quite a bit in the last month. There are still 5 weeks left until Halloween so we're hoping for great things. Maybe a mutant pumpkin or something. I think Ryan was hoping for bigger at this stage. (Not sure why. But I did catch him chanting the "peter peter pumpkin eater" nursery rhyme as he drenched his pumpkin in plant food. You know the "had a wife and couldn't keep her" part. I'm wondering if I should be worried about that...;) Actually I kinda think the growth is slowing down so I'm not sure if it will be much bigger than this or not for the carving party. Stay tuned unil next time.....

Who is that baby??

What? You don't recognize this baby? All I can say is Kyson got his first haircut. And as the scissors cut off his hair a little piece of his mommy was cut off too (sniff). I am still recuperating (and in mourning) from the experience.

I loved his long old-man-comb-over hair. And maybe it is just because I am his mother. But it had to be done. His hair on the back of his head and down the middle was probably 3 inches long. Which means it blew in the wind. Actually "flapped" would be a more accurate description. I still loved it. But I had put it off long enough.

And can I say that this is the shortest his hair has ever been. I mean, he was born with 3 times the amount of hair that he now has. His baby hair never fell out. It just started to grow in blonde so he had blonde roots and dark tips. I called him my punk rocker baby. But now it's gone. And yes, he still has hair people! But the fact is all of his dark hair is gone and in its place is white blonde. This gives him the appearance of being a baldy. Hence the reason that his mommy is still recuperating.

In fact, I specifically took these pictures outside so the camera could even see his hair. My male hairstylist promised me that Kyson's hair would grow back thicker and faster. We'll see. I'm just glad that I didn't let him buzz it with a 1. Yikes!

My little photographers

One of the favorite past times for Lexi and Kendri is taking pictures. Anytime they see the camera lying around they have this incessant need to pick it up and take pictures. Of anything. I have found the strangest things on my camera that I never even knew they had taken. Luckily our camera is old and Ryan and I are not too concerned about it so we don't necessarily worry when they are doing a "photo shoot". They also enjoy posing for the camera. Take a look at their latest work.
Here is Kendri posing for Lexi.
(Cute right? Keep going...)


A little serious, but not too bad.


And then we get to the real creativity.


What can I say? We have a serious model in our midst.

Siblings

Everyone keeps telling me that Kyson looks like Ryan but I am hear to disagree. I took this picture of Lexi and Kyson and I think they totally look alike. And Lexi is a my mini-me. Which means Kyson has to look like me, right? Let's take a poll.... And on a totally unrelated subject, here are the girls before church. Don't ask me how I had time to not only curl their hair but also to take a picture because I don't really know. Since Ryan has started his new calling as ward clerk, I am on my own on Sunday mornings. I guess maybe when you allow 3 hours to get ready you're bound to have a few minutes to take some snap shots. Sometimes. There may have been some mild traffic infractions involved. But we made it on time. Anyway, I had to document it since who knows when it will happen again?

Ryan's New Baby....ohhh, isn't it cute?

Does anyone want to know what this is a picture of? Come on.....you know what that looks like. I'll give you a hint.....think orange and spooky. Yep, a pumpkin.

Not just any pumpkin mind you. This "little" guy is a mere 3 weeks old. THREE WEEKS old. I don't know if you can really get a feel for the size....maybe you can see my hand at the edge of the picture. Not grotesquely huge by any means....yet. Now for those of you who aren't in the pumpkin raising field, let me tell you a little something. There are still, oh, 8 weeks left till Halloween. That means there are 8 weeks left to water and care for and GROW. We have a massive pumpkin. Our last "massive" pumpkin was this size at the end of October. Meaning it was full grown and orange and not going to get any bigger and it was still the biggest in the neighborhood.

But alas, this is no surprise to us. My husband is crazy. He planted this seed knowing full well that what he was planting was not your typical pumpkin. The seed came from some giant contest winning pumpkin. The average size for the pumpkins coming from these seeds is only 500 pounds. (Did I mention my husband is crazy?? Just making sure because I've also caught him feeding his "baby" plant food on a consistent basis just to make sure it grows enormous)

So, now we have a giant pumpkin growing. Where do you ask? Maybe in the back yard where we can care for it in the privacy of our own home. Oh, no. Smack dab in the front of my house. Because what would we do if our pumpkin really did grow to 500 pounds? How would we ever move a gigantic pumpkin to the front of the house for Halloween? Well, I can tell you I sure wasn't going to be picking up that sucker. So Ryan decided the only option was to disregard our Home Owner's Association and plant it in prime view (meaning right where the whole world can watch the freakish plant grow.) So far no complaints from the neighbors. I'm guessing maybe around the 200 pound mark we may start hearing from some. I can't very well hide it. I'm not really sure what it weighs right now but I do know that it isn't unusual for these things to grow 6 pounds a day. Yep, folks you read that right. 6 whoppin' pounds a day. And I thought puppies grew fast.

In my house....

1. I just got my baby to sleep after 40 minutes of pacing his bedroom floor. (My big toe has been numb ever since...maybe I was bouncing too much??? There's got to be an easier way)

2. I can hear the party going on at my neighbors' house. Which will mean that I will still hear them at 2:00 am.....again.

3. I'm wondering how long my bottom lip will be numb since I started talking before my liquid canker sore medicine fully dried. oops.(The canker sore is on my top lip:))

4. I'm making a mental note to call the juror's office on Monday to see if I can get out of jury duty. (Nursing totally has it's benefits!)

5. I really need to find some cute fabric to re-cover my couch pillows. The stuffing is hanging out and pulling on it has become a favorite past time of my 3 year old.

6. I could really use some ice cream right about now. Good thing I stocked up last week when it was on sale! "Very Cherry" has been my personal favorite for the last couple of years. YUM!

7. I'm hoping my new book is an "attention grabber"...it's been awhile since I've had one of those. Any recommendations?

8. I'm thinking Lexi looked really cute for soccer pictures today...but the team banner was a total BUST! (I can't really say too much about it because I did not volunteer any ideas or offer to help......hmmm.)

9. I can still smell the enchilada's we had for dinner tonight. Mmmmm. I really planned ahead and made enough to freeze for another night down the road. Whooohooo!

And last but not least...

10. I'm dreaming of bed!

Kyson loves to eat....NOT!

Kyson will hit his 6 month mark in two days....meaning it is time for the rice cereal. We gave him his first solid food yesterday and it didn't go over too well. So today I thought maybe he'd take after his mother and like something a little sweeter. Applesauce. I mixed it in with the rice cereal certain that I had a winner. Just take a look at the pictures. It went from...
"not sure about this"...to

"Do I really have to try this??" .....to

"Gag me....You can't make me swallow!!!"

This is him gagging. Seriously. Lexi was taking one picture after another. Documenting it all for posterity. He did not get one swallow down without going through at least 2 gags. Gagging on applesauce? I think I may be in trouble. Just wait til I get to the peas.

Family Week

We have been quite the little partyers these past two months....I feel like every time I update the blog I've been playing! This last week we went up to Angel's Camp and stayed at Gammie's house for the week. The whole Reese clan was there....well, minus a few males (meaning mainly husbands). Every year Greenhorn Creek puts on a Family week which is like a Camp. There is tennis, golf, swimming, arts & crafts during the day and then something at night like an ice cream social (my personal favorite). So we went up on Sunday night and kicked off our last hurrah for the summmer. We had a great time and Lexi even started to swim on her own! WHOOOHOOO! For those of you who have not been in on the "Lexi Will Never Know How To Swim" saga, it's been just that. A saga. A long, drawn out fight to get her to try to swim. We have been trying to get her past the extreme fear she has of getting into the pool without her floaties for the past two years. This past week she has really improved....I think the social pressure got to her. She was watching all of her cousins swimming and having a good time without her. She is still not ready to go off by herself but she has definitely made some progress. Here's a couple of pictures of the girls doing some crafts. They had a huge blow-up water slide outside which would explain the swimming suits. Kendri's favorite was the painting.

Anyhoo, we had a good time and Gammi always throws a good party! Kyson had such a good time during the day that he decided not to sleep at night....that got a little old after the first 3 days. Now he's in the habit of getting up a bazillion times even in his own bed. (I could possibly be the world's most sleep deprived mother. I'd be willing to run for the title because I do believe I'd come close to the gold.) And here we have all the girl cousins except for Kaitlyn....she may have been napping. Rachel, Lexi, Kendri, and Anna blowing bubbles.

This was the second day of golf lessons for Lexi. She got the hang of it pretty fast and seemed to really like it. Kendri wasn't old enough. She'll have to wait another year or two. Now on to other matters....Lexi had her first day of kindergarten today. Sniff, sniff. I couldn't believe I was sad and no, I did not cry. But her daddy did. Well, maybe not on the outside but certainly on the inside there were manly tears shed....He took her to school today and was a little miffed by how readily Lexi got rid of him. Here she is walking to her classroom.

Her teacher's name is Ms. England.

And here are some of Lexi's friends from the neighborhood, Evan and Jacob. She has 3 friends in her class! There are 3 different classes and Lexi managed to get all of her good friends with her in the same class. Watch out Ms. England!

So her first day of kindergarten was a success and she came home at 2:00 and crashed. Tired little thing. And Kendri certainly missed her big sister. She told me, "I sure do miss Lex" probably 7 times today. Maybe more. She was happy to have Lexi home from school. I think she may hate kindergarten by the end of the week. Oh well.

Oh, how we love the ocean.....

We are back from our vacation down at Newport Beach, and boy did we love it! We left early Saturday morning (last Saturday that is) and got there at about 4:30 in the afternoon. Mapquest told us that it should only take 6 1/2 hours from our house. It actually took us a little over 8 hours. I blame Kyson. He decided he was not excited about our little road trip. We had to stop a few times and let him play and look around before we buckled him back up in that awful carseat. (I really don't think carseats are awful but I think Kyson might...) Right when we got there we headed to Costco because Ryan and I were in charge of the meals for Sunday. (Did I mention it was a Reese Family Reunion? Well, it was and there were lots of people. Everyone was in charge of food for the whole group for a day.) Anyhoo, we made sandwiches and spaghetti. From scratch. Okay, I didn't really make the spaghetti sauce from scratch but I told everyone I did. (Prego, really pulled through for us :) Just kidding.

So, really all that was on the agenda was relaxing on the beach. I did manage to get together with two old roomates. We had a good time having a mini barbeque and swimming party. Thanks, Amber!

Lexi and Kendri loved the sand. They played in it most of the time. In fact, they played in it so much that Kendri blistered her feet. Yes, the sand was hot. She told us her toes were hurting one night as she gimped around on her heels. When I took a peek I saw that she had blistered every single one of her little toes. But she was a trooper and only mentioned it a couple of times that night and then she was back in the sand in the morning! What else did we do? We saw dolphins twice. Very cool no matter how many times you see them. We boogie boarded, played frisbee, made sand sculptures that were unidentifiable, and soaked up the rays! Oh, and Ryan and I took a cruise on the boardwalk on a bicycle built for two. See?

FYI, we did not ride on the sand even though this picture leads you to believe that we did. We did have a picture taken of us on the boardwalk. However, the man who took it turned it into a head shot. Totally defeated the point of having a picture taken on a tandem bike. I graciously let Ryan "drive" the bike even though I secretly questioned his qualifications for it. I mean, he did back into someone on our way down there not to mention that I have several years of experience behind me as a self-proclaimed "tandem bike chauffer". Amber and I used to have one. P.S. Can someone ask Uncle Brad where that is? And, here you have a couple of cute pictures of my little beach bums...

So, there you have it. We had a good 4th of July, but that will have to be for another day because this beach bum is pooped and in desperate need of some sleep!