Pima Air and Space Museum

Kaden has been home from school this week for fall break and we decided to take advantage of that and took a little trip to the pima air and space museum. We had a good time - despite our kids. Bailey was a nightmare - many meltdowns, fit, screaming, etc. In her defense, she didn't feel all that great - but she was really on one. We had a pretty good time anyway. I don't know much about planes - whereas Matt could tell me the name of most of the planes there. I actually enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Here are some of the highlights:

My favorite thing there was a whole hangar dedicated to the 390th which was a huge group of flight teams and bombers based in England during WWII. I am not a history buff and usually don't remember as much as I should, but this was so interesting. They had excerpts from some of the men's journals that were captured and held in POW camps. It made all of it so real and brought tears to my eyes. Here are pictures of of the B-17 bombers that were flown - this also was meaningful to us because Matt's grandpa flew a B-17 in the South Pacific during WWII.

The first flag flown on Utah beach on D-Day

Another highlight of the museum was walking through Air Force One that was the presidential airplane for Johnson and JFK.

Here is a picture of a HUEY which was cool to see and Matt told us stories of his dad flying in one of these during Vietnam. Once again - just makes you appreciate all the military and all that they do for us, especially during times of war.

Here are more pics from the museum - most are self explanatory.

Kaden and Bailey "on Mars"

Random updates

I feel like I haven't updated my blog in awhile - so get comfortable, this may take awhile.....

Kaden is in love with taking pictures. Half the time, I don't even know that he has gotten ahold of my camera - I just find random pictures like these:

I guess we'll have to work on his photography skills a little.

I have started watching a little girl from Kaden's class. She is only here for a few hours after school - and we just love having her. She is such a sweet girl and my kids play so well when she is here.

Anyone that knows Bailey, knows that she is girl through and through. Now, apparently, she feels the need to help her mom with her style. She is obsessed with some new shoes I got and brings them to me all the time. She wants me to wear them all day long, and when I won't she puts them on and dances around in them. Here she is in Kaden's t-shirt and my shoes, what a dork!

My youngest brother, Nick, went through the temple a few weeks ago. It was great to be able to be there with most of my family. Nick is going to Edmonton, Canada on his mission. I am proud of him for making good choices. Here's a picture of 3 of my four brothers:

Here's my grandpa Mullenaux, my parents, and Nick. (I was taking pictures of everyone and forgot to get one of me and Nick)

Lexie is 7 months old! Time is flyin. Here are some updates on her:

She loves to eat - big surprise I know. You can't tell at all from all her rolls :) ! She loves to sit in the highchair and eat graham crackers. She doesn't really eat them so much as suck on them til their mushy.

Here she is at 7 months!

She also got her first tooth! I tried to get a picture - but trying to take the picture and open her mouth at the same time didn't work out so swell. Oh well, I get a picture of it someday.

I also have been working on some crafts/sewing projects to sell at an upcoming boutique. I will post pics as soon as I take some and I wanted to get some opinions from everyone on what prices to use.

I also went over to my friend Kim's house this week and spent all day there. She cut a bunch of vinyl for me and helped my make my christmas cards - well not helped so much as did it for me! I will post pics of my vinyl when I get it all up. Thanks kim - it was such a fun day!

Playroom Redo

We have been working on slowing painting our house and here is our latest project - the loft upstairs, aka the playroom. Here is the before picture:

And here are the after pictures:

I can't really take credit - Matt did about 95% of the painting (even though he hates painting), he put up the TV, put together the furniture and attached it to the wall, etc. We are going to do a fun kids mural on the wall, but we'll save that for another day. I think it turned out great!

10-Year Reunion

This past weekend we went to Thatcher for my 10-year high school reunion. (Am I seriously that old?) It was a lot of fun. The kids always love going to Nana's house. Here are highlights of our busy weekend:

Our class road on a firetruck for the homecoming parade. Kaden rode with me, but Bailey got scared and stayed with Dad and Lexie. (We're on the other side, so you can't see us)

Later that night was the big football game (which we lost big time 32-0!). My family usually sets up camp at the end of the field on the grass - so we joined them. It was great to let the kids run and play. And our good friend Timilie brought popcorn, candy, etc.

Here are the kids dressed in their various shades of green. Lex is such a chunk that her belly is hangin out.

Here's proof that Matt was wearing a Thatcher Eagles shirt (much to his dismay!)

The next day we met at the park with our kids. It was fun to let the kids play and visit with old friends. My cousin Tommy brought this cool train that he made and pulls behind a quad. The kids had a blast.

Tommy and his wife Rachel
Some of the adults had a blast riding it too!

Later that night we had an adults only dinner and watched a video. It turned out so good - the food was great, the video was hilarious, and it was so good to visit with everyone. We had, I think, 52 or 53 classmates show up. Not bad out of 105 or so!

Me and some of my best friends from high school (some had already left).
It was a fun and busy weekend!

What's your accent?

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The West   Your accent is the lowest common denominator of American speech. Unless you're a SoCal surfer, no one thinks you have an accent. And really, you may not even be from the West at all, you could easily be from Florida or one of those big Southern cities like Dallas or Atlanta.
The Midland
Boston
North Central
The South
The Inland North
Philadelphia
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

I saw this on another blog and theirs was interesting, so I took the quiz. Mine turned out to be the West - big surprise, since I've lived in AZ my whole life.

It's Christmas Time!

OK, so maybe not quite Christmas time but it's coming quickly! This is by far my favorite time of the year - I love fall and all the holidays. Well, Halloween I can take or leave. But I love Thanksgiving and love, love, love Christmas! I have already started listening to Christmas music (Matt thinks I'm nuts). I just love Christmas music and it helps me get in the mood to work on some of the gifts I want to make this year. The only downside is that Bailey hears the Christmas music and yells, "Santa is coming!" and then proceeds to recite her Christmas wish list. She doesn't quite grasp that it's still awhile. Anyway - I'm already enjoying getting in the Christmas mood and hopefully getting a jump start on decorations, gifts, cards, etc. Only 92 days left! I can't wait! :)

6 Months Old!

I can't believe my little Lexie Lyn is already 6 months old! Where does the time go? She is such a great addition to our family - we can't imagine life without her. She is a very good baby - content, patient, and happy. She really does brighten my day - every single day. No matter how naughty my other kids are being and no matter how grouchy I am - it's impossible to stay mad with Lex grinning and laughing all the time. She is such a sweet little babe - we just love her.

A little blurry, but I was trying to capture her funny little smile. She scrunches up her nose (sometimes so much her eyes close) and sticks out her chin. It is so dang cute - I love it!

She is so happy to sit and play with toys for hours - no really, hours! I love this stage before they are mobile.

Her first taste of baby food - squash, yum!

Some of the things she is doing at six months (for journaling purposes) - drooling a lot, giggling, rolling all over, still loves the johnny jumper, saying "da, da, da", had lots of copper colored hair (so fun to do bows and flowers!), is already scared of strangers and lunges for mom. Lex is such a happy and sweet baby - I can't believe she is 6 months already. I wish I could slow time a little.

Women At The Well

Tonight our ward had a presentation of women at the well - what can I say? It was AMAZING! I haven't ever seen it before and didn't completely know what to expect. Four women here in Maricopa put it all together - they all have great voices and obviously put hours and hours into preparing. They were all dressed like the women in the picture, they had all the songs memorized, they had a beautiful slide show that went along with the songs, all the lights were dimmed with a spotlight on the pulpit, etc etc. And the pianist did such a good job too! Everyone in the audience was in tears - they should have passed out tissues. The spirit was so strong and the message was so uplifting and motivating. I loved it. They are doing it again for another ward in our stake - and I seriously want to go again. It was just amazing!

Goodbyes

It seems like we have been saying a lot of goodbyes lately - and they are no fun! Our really good friends, the Gees, just moved to Texas this past weekend and we miss them already. Jennie has been such a good friend to me. We always have a great time together and could talk forever, I swear. We started doing joyschool together over two years ago and have been great friends ever since. I don't know what I am going to do without her.

This is a very unattractive picture of me (about 1 week before I had Lexie), but it was the only picture of us together - at the baby shower Jennie threw for me.

Kaden is also missing his best friend Landen. Especially after losing his other best friend, Mason - who was practically a brother. Another preschool friend, Bridger (far left in pic below) just moved to Texas also. Kaden informed me he hates Texas and Utah cause everyone moves there. He has been having a tough time with his two best friends moving away - he even told me he doesn't have anyone left to invite to his birthday. (Which isn't true, but breaks my heart nonetheless).

Kaden and Landen have been good buds for a long time and have done lots together. Here are a few of them:

Preschool fieldtrip to the firestation - October 2007

They both love Buzz - Halloween 2007

Easter 2008

Soccer practice - they loved being on the same soccer team - March 2008

Joyschool kids - December 2006

Field trip to the zoo - Spring 2007

Graduation from Miss Stephanie's preschool - May 2008

A trip to the train park - March 2008

Christmas party 2007

Swimming lessons - summer 2008

Saying goodbye :(

Best Buds!

We are going to miss our best friends - but hopefully we are good about staying in touch. We love you guys!

Kaden's First Day of School

Well, Kaden just finished his second week of school and seems to be doing well. I am finally getting around to posting pictures of his first day. I had been dreading and looking forward to that day for awhile. Although Kaden is only in Pre-K, it feels very much like his first day of kindergarten. It is exactly what kindergarten was when we were kids - at the elementary school with the big kids but only half day. He was very ready for school and I was excited for him to get out, make new friends, learn new things, and be in a real classroom setting. I was also dreading it because it means the start of having kids in school and being on that schedule. I also felt, all the sudden, that I hadn't taught him enough or prepared him to be out in the real world.

The Sunday before school started, we got everything ready - got his supplies in his backpack, set out his uniform, got his show-and-tell stuff together (they got to take a "Me Bag" to tell about themselves). It definitely hit me that my little boy was going to school and I was kinda emotional that afternoon. But I think I got it all out of my system because the first day went great - no tears from either of us! We got up early, made Kaden's favorite breakfast (breakfast burros), took our time getting ready and we were off to school! It was pretty chaotic with all the kids and parents and I could tell Kaden was nervous because he wouldn't play on the playground and just sat by me (very unlike him). When they blew the whistle he was stressed until we got him in the right line with his class. He then instructed me to go to the side so he could be in line - it was pretty funny. I leaned down and said "Good luck, bubba. Give me a kiss." He looked appalled and said "No-oo!" Seriously, he is way too young to start that. So we stayed during the flag ceremony and then they called his class in. He marched right in without a look back. I was so proud of him. I probably would have cried, but I was too busy fighting with Bailey - who had plopped herself on the ground and refused to put her shoes back on or walk to the car.

The second day of school was similar, and went well. The third day they asked the parents to just walk their kids to the gate and let them go in. Kaden wouldn't go in alone and was still nervous (I don't blame him - there are a million kids on that playground) so we walked around to the office, signed in, and got there just in time to line up. Thursday and Friday he was still slightly resistant - but there was a teacher who took his hand and walked him in.

He seems to be doing really well and is loving school. Every day I pick him up he says it's super, super good! We are all still adjusting to getting up so early in the morning - which means the kids go to bed really early! But overall, it has been great to be on a schedule. I feel alot more productive and it has been nice to have some alone time with Bailey. Kaden seems to have made the adjustment well - we are proud of him.

The night before

Ready for school!

I couldn't hardly get a real picture because Kaden kept doing this pose -whatever it is.

Leaving for school

In line, ready to go in to the classroom!