the rock ranch!

tom took off work last friday so we could go to the rock ranch...we had the best time! i made the traditional "Lopez" picnic, salami and swiss subs, bbq chips, and rice crispy treats, yummmm...we had so much fun!

lovin the camera

Halle's Pajama Party

halle has seen sleep over or PJ parties on TV shows and has been asking me for awhile when she could have one....so, last week we had are first, and defenitly not our last, PJ party....we had it from 6-8pm...i told moms they could drop off or stay....i figured a couple would stay, which two did and were a huge help....next time i probably won't have 7 girls (not including mine) come over, but for the first PJ party...bigger was better and it was total chaos and tons of fun!! here they are eating their cupcakes, which halle decorated and pretzels dipped in frosting and sprinkles...ummmmm

halle, of course wanted chocolate cupcakes and chocolate frosting....the other day in the car she said, totally randomly...."mom, i have something really important to tell you....i love chocolate and purple!"......you only have to know halle for about 5 min. to know that about her....kiera had an ok time....she doesn't really like chaos...next time i'll invite less...but, as a brag moment...kiera is really good with names, she knows tons of kids names and their moms...i showed her this picture and she even recognized the backs of heads to tell me everyone in the pictures name...kiki's way: foo-fee (ruthie)....eh-ti-tee (felicity)....tay-ah (shreya)

the girls loved dancing!! i told the girls to all come in their PJs, which they did....all except my girls...halle said, "mom, i want to wear a dress to the party"..i shoulda known

crazy girls!!

one of the girls mom brought glow stick bracelets...here they are in the dark bathroom seeing them glow!!

it was such a fun night, i can't wait to do it again....of course, kiera's birthday is next month, so another party is already set! luckily i kept the girls upstairs most of the night and so i didn't mind that the entire upstairs was totally destroyed....at one point in the night me and the other mom had to start cleaning because there were so many toys covering the floor, you couldn't even walk...it took me about 4 hours to clean the rest of it the next morning!!

Lake house!

tom out on the wave runner!

whats up with ruthie's face?!?

Halle loves to make little beds for herself, she loved this little spot on the boat. she makes these little beds around the house too....so does kiera

kiera hates wearing life jackets....maybe i should brake down and get her a princess one and she'd be happier

loving the sun!

this is what the wave runner pulls with the kids inside, its really fun!!

...kiki likes to relax in it

i love kiki's face in this pic....she's such a doll....but those k9 teeth, man, they're sharp....we totally think she could be a vampire baby in a movie....the permanent ones might need filed

riding the waves!!

sliding off the dock into the water...good times!

halle loved playing on the wave runner even when it wasn't moving....in her imagination she was talking about going all kinds of places

I hope i got sunblock on that white cheek!!!

Pretty girls!!!! don't you love how halle matched the pearls to her suit?

hands on the hip and a snarl....what did i do?!?!

Moon Sand....grrrrrrr

DSC07966, originally uploaded by Our Little One.

i saw this moon sand at a yardsale, for 50 cents, i've seen it sold at stores and its expensive...what a deal, i thought and the colors weren't even mixed up yet, i could tell it hadn't been used more then one or two times....it never occured to me that maybe theres a reason someone was so eager to get rid of this stuff.....it is such a MESS!!!
here kiki is getting it off the floor, more actually ends up on the floor then on the table, i sweep it up and put it back in the bag...each time i lose a few tablespoons, we'll see how long it lasts and how long i can put up with the mess!

Sisters!

DSC07952, originally uploaded by Our Little One.

It's moments like these that i'm so happy when i capture because i hope i never forget them! nothing makes me happier then seeing halle and kiera really act like sisters. this is one of their daily activities: sitting at the vanity, accessorizing and doing each other's hair. halle is such a good big sister, she adores kiki, i've often overheard her saying things to her friends like, "isn't kiki so cute?!" or "if you are mean to my sister, you'll have to go home" or "kiki is not a baby, she's a toddler" (which means , give the kid some respect, she gets to play too!)

this picture is a perfect snapshot of a typical moment...we weren't going swimming, but the girls just got their matching swimsuits and had to wear them....kiki is the "victim" of a painful hair brush, but its a mermaid brush, so its worth it.....and kiki wore those goggles most of the day...a typical kiki fashion statement...

Peggy and Ruthie

CIMG4524, originally uploaded by Our Little One.

peggy and ruthie are our bestest friends that we've made here...i don't know what we would do without them, we met when the girls were only 10 month old from a moms meet up web site, where i noticed we both had listed a daughter that was born in oct. ...ruthie and halle absolutely LOVE each other...peggy is one of my tmobile fav. 5 , i dont' know what i would do without unlimited calling to her, so far she has answered about a million of my dumbest questions ranging from what kind of paint to buy, where to get hay, whats a buggy, she's like the idiots guide to being a grown up and the idiot's guide to living in the south all in one

Driving the boat

CIMG4517, originally uploaded by Our Little One.

peggy let each of the kids take a turn driving the boat...they thought it was really cool!!

The Lake House!

CIMG4543, originally uploaded by Our Little One.

a few weeks ago Peggy had us and some other friends to over to her lake house....we had the best time!! in this picture halle is in the back....she loved riding on this....another thing that was really fun, was we loaded a few of the kids in a tube (with a bottom) and peggy pulled them with this...me and kiki rode on the back to make sure none of the kids fell out...they bounced around and loved hitting the waves....we rode in the boat, swam at the shore, had lunch...ended up staying from 10am to 5pm...i can't wait to have a few more lake days this summer!!

nice tan lines!

DSC07898, originally uploaded by Our Little One.

we've gotten a lot of sun so far this summer!

i feel like i'm a kid on summer vacation so far this summer, we've been having so much fun....its been along time since i've been this carefree....
i worked summers in high school, went to school summers at BYU, and since then i've had babies which was been a lot of work....this summer is just fun, my girls are old enough to have fun and mind me and be sweet, which makes being around them fun...kiera finally sleeps though the night and they both sleep in (alittle bit, 7:30!) since they get so worn out from the swimming!

i actually feel sorry for tom that he has to go to work everyday and our life is just about having good times........but luckily his work scheduale lets him still spend a lot of time with us...

what a fun summer we are having...me and my 2 little girlfreinds...this was last week:

Monday: swimming at peggy's house in the morning (our pool is closed on mondays)...tom off at 2...we all went to monkey joes bounce house place, out to eat, home for bed....

Tue: lounge around in our pjs...read books, played polly pockets, watched halle play starfall, tried to use our new detangler on ponies (didnt' work, still a mess), went swimming at 3 till 6pm (invited friends, lots of fun), dinner, bed

wed: tom off in the morning, he took the girls to the free summer movies, i ran errands, tom work, kiera nap, 3pm had peggy and ruthie and a couple of halle's other friends to swim at pool, 3-4 slide, 4-5 practice swimming, 5-7 slide (total of 3 hours of the slide!!), dinner, bed (halle's legs actually collapsed on the way to bed and she told me she couldn't even walk, totally exhausted!)

Thurs: tom off in morning, hit walmart, alone, yea!, played with moon sand (big mess!), painted pictures (another mess!), emptied the "gutts" out of an old pillow (really big mess!) and pretended it was everything from snow to ice cream, lots of fun...friend's bday party 6-8...bed

friday: peggy's pool from 10-2...kiera naped, halle and me cooked dinner....missionaries for dinner, ice cream , bed

sat: yard sale shopping, had freinds over to swim 10-1....lunch, kiera napped, me and halle relaxed....left for the rock ranch, home at 9, bed

I LOVE summertime!!! i love the ages of my girls and they are so silly and easy going...i wouldn't want to spend my days with anyone else!

Little rednecks!

DSC07889, originally uploaded by Our Little One.

Rock Ranch

DSC07883, originally uploaded by Our Little One.

Today we went to the rock ranch...we had a blast!! they have a independence day celebration the sat. before the 4th every year, we went last year and had a great time, so i didn't want to miss out this year...its 20 bucks a car and every thing is free after that....we got there about 5pm and it was still REALLY hot, so after a couple pony rides, i thought the girls were going to pass out, we were all dripping in sweat....so we watched a puppet show in the shade and ate snacks and drank and drank and drank tons of water....then the sun started to set and went behind the clouds so we got to enjoy the bounce houses, corn pit, tracter rides, ect....they have fireworks after dark, but we left at 8 since it was an hour drive and the girls were exhausted....what a fun day!!
this morning we swam from 10-1, kiera naped and then we left for the rock ranch....we had a great day, we'll all sleep tonight!!

kiera looking mischievous

DSC07838, originally uploaded by Our Little One.

kiera played on this boat forever at the museum....she is such a fun kid, me, tom and halle just get a kick out of the things she comes up with...she loves to walk around pushing her belly out, she has a great giggle, she puts pretzels between her toes and laughs her head off while she eats them out of feet, if you ask for a dog kiss, she licks you all over your face (i'm the only one who thinks its cute, everyone else is grossed out), she loves to dance, she steals your gum, has to eat off our plates, repeats everything halle says and does, likes to crawl around the house meowing, loves to use the potty, if she doesn't see you for a few minutes she'll run into your arms and say, "i missed you, i missed you", tonight i said , "kiera , no hitting" and she ran and sat down by the door, (time out spot) all by herself, she'll almost immediatly say, "i'm sorry" when she hits halle and will listen to halle if halle says, "no hitting, kiki, go sit in time out", she asked me to go down the water slide by herself, which has a few twists ('i do it, self, by, by mommie")...unfortuantely it flipped her so she went head first and she asked to sit on my lap the next time...but she is really brave, so i'm sure she'll get the courage up again

tonight she grabbed her arm while eating and said to me, "halle hit me" , me, "no, she didn't kiera" (halle would never hit kiera), "halle hit me, wuk, boo-boo" and she points to bbq sauce on her arm....i wiped it off and said, "nice try, kiki"

favorite phrases:
i don't like it
i like it
i love you
i missed you
i want it
wuk, wuk (look, look, she is constantly wanting us to look at her or what she is doing)
first thing in the morning , and every time she is hungry,
"I want lunch, LUNCH!!"
"I Want meh-ma-mine (medicine), candy meh-ma-mine" (she thinks medicine and candy are the same thing)
i want go swimming, where baby suit?
i want chips, purple chips...(which means the chips from the purple bag, the chili flavored doritos, which are so spicy her face turns red while she eats them and her eyes water, but she loves them)

kiera loves to watch halle play starfall.com....now when kiera sees letters anywhere she assumes she knows what they are ...so if we see letters somewhere, like in a book or on the side of a box, kiera points to the different letters and says the names of random letters...the most popular letter, is of course H, because halle points out H's everywhere, one time, she acually found an H and said H...i knew it was a coincidence, but a mom at a playgroup over heard and said, wow, she knows her letters already...yup, she's a smart one, haha...
we love our little kiki bear!

chef halle

DSC07840, originally uploaded by Our Little One.

we went to the children's museum in hilton head, SC....they had a little kitchen/cook area...the girls had a great time at the museum...we stayed all morning....i wish we had a decent children's museum where we lived....the girls had a great time!

if you look close you can see halle's silver cap....it was one of my saddest days as a mom to take halle in to get a cap...i felt like the worst mother ever (although she did inherit a garrett gene where some of her teeth grow in without enamel, but still....). we call it her pirate tooth, told her its lucky and the same color as her silver jewelry...halle, being totally in love with everything about herself, was easy to convince that this was cool bling bling for her mouth...she showed all her freinds, got ruthie asking her mom for a princess tooth, and decided its okay to go back and get her other "tooth boo-boo" fixed because i promised her that i would throw her a "sleep-over" (actually just a late night) party that same day (halle has been dying to have a sleep over party for months) and i promised her some new earrings...she was happy about that and that relieved some of my mom guilt.

silly kiera

DSC07847, originally uploaded by Our Little One.

mermaidia!

DSC07853, originally uploaded by Our Little One.

halle asked me to take a lot of pictures of her as this mermaid...shes such a cutie pie and she totally knows it!

Hilton Head, SC

DSC07862, originally uploaded by Our Little One.

I didn't do a great job at taking pictures on the beach, i didn't want to ruin the camera...still brings back all the good memories for me!

Beach Baby!

DSC07861, originally uploaded by Our Little One.

Catch up

toms mom came for a visit last week...the girls had a great time playing with her, i enjoyed watching someone else take their orders...halle and kiera are spoiled by me and tom and demand to be played with non-stop....karen and them played games, did puzzles, barbies, swimming, shopping, hide and seek and more!!

last week tom had a work conference in Hilton Head, SC...we tagged along and had a great time....but felt guilty the whole time for having so much fun while tom sat in conferences all day....our hotel was right on the coast...it was a sooo relaxing and fun, we would swim, then play on the beach, then swim in the pool, then the girls would beg for a nap...and then we'd play some more after naps...the girls loved the beach, we brought home a bucket full of sanddollars to bleach and a starfish...and 3 crabs in shells, but they died... it was fun to have a pet in the hotel room and the girls loved "feeding" the crabs all sorts of snacks...kiera was fearless of the waves, after getting knocked over a few times, she realized that when you see them coming you have to get in a football stance, steady yourself and let it hit you, she got good at keeping her balance....there were little waves so with wings on the girls, I could go out into the ocean and swim with them...tom wasn't with us a lot and i was paranoid about staying together so i didn't get any pictures of us in the water....oh well, we'll be back to the coast soon enough! we spent a ton of time in the pool...halle taught herself how to swim and is really good at it! I asked her a few weeks ago when we started going swimming if i could teach her how to swim...she would have had to swallow her pride to ask me for help, so she just swore that she already knew how to swim...after watching the other kids at the pool, she has gotten really good and after just a few weeks can swim about 6 ft to the edge and then back to me...if she swims underwater she goes fast, but she loves to dog paddle , too...i'm impressed and i know she loves to figure things out without my help, so she's pretty happy with herself...she loves to practices over and over again and we have been swimming for 2/3 hours a day, almost everyday...its a lot of fun....kiera wears wings and can swim all over the pool by herself...she loves the kid area to run around and loves to float on her back or belly...
the girls favorite part of swimming is jumping in together, halle does really good at popping up and swimming to me, kiera jumps in with wings and goes completly under and pops up with a big smile on her face....it surprised people to see her be so fearless, and people kept asking me how old she was...
we got home last night, it was a really fun trip...

~halle, "mama, that outfit on kiera is the cutest thing i've ever seen on her!" (referring to one of kiera's really cute outfits)
~kiera in the elevator at the hotel, when it was full, a few times, shouted "hi, people"
~when the waiter came to our table, what can i get you to drink? kiera, "i want water, please"
~tom asked halle if he could have a princess lamp like hers. halle, 'daddy, i'll get you a star wars lamp for your birthday"

Fun with daddy!

DSC07656, originally uploaded by Our Little One.

halle noticed tom's adam's apple...she calls it an elbow, it sorta looks like that, and there's no way she wants to believe it is called an adam's apple, that just sounds rediculous to her, she pointed to her neck tonight and told tom, i have an elbow here too.

not as fun with mom!

DSC07652, originally uploaded by Our Little One.

we took halle on the alpine slide....when we got to the bottom, i had gone so slow that the cart stoped before it hit the tire, which was at the very end, when halle realized this , she realized daddy had gone a lot faster and made this face, i'm so happy the picture caught it, haha, we really had a fun time, when i showed halle the picture later, she couldn't remember why she had been upset and said, "i think the sun was in my eyes"

bear and cubs

DSC07696, originally uploaded by Our Little One.

this was a fun drive through the park, we saw tons of deer and this bear with her cubs, it was a one way road, so we let the girls take turns riding on toms lap and "driving"....fun trip!

picnic in the mountains!

DSC07699, originally uploaded by Our Little One.

we miss UT!! we miss the mountains being close!! this is the big smoky mountains in TN, sooo beautiful, can't wait till next year when kiera is old enough to take camping in a tent!!

kiki driving!!

DSC07718, originally uploaded by Our Little One.

kiera's favorite ride, she loves sitting on our lap to drive in parking lots, this was a dream come true!

dollywood

DSC07755, originally uploaded by Our Little One.

mermaids!!

DSC07770, originally uploaded by Our Little One.

B.O.!

DSC07762, originally uploaded by Our Little One.

when you push the button, a mist of stinky B.O. smell came out of the can....you know the distinct oniony nasty smell i'm talking about....dollywood is like a redneck version of disney world....still just as fun, but a little on the trashy side!

kiera and the potty

DSC07788, originally uploaded by Our Little One.

kiera loves to use the potty, especially if halle goes, she has to go, she loves thinking she is in charge...today i asked her how old she was, she held up her whole hand and said, "four"....anyways, i always think its cute to see her little body on the pot, but with the boots...it was rediculous!

copy cat!

DSC07802, originally uploaded by Our Little One.

saw these on jens craft blog site and made them for the girls...it was fun and easy to do. thanks for the idea jen!