the letter P

Painting a Purple stem on a Pumpkin

 Painting a Princess on a Pumpkin.

Painted Pumpkins, homemade Pumpking cookies, customizable iron-on Princess monsters.

Picture Perfect.

The Black Swan

Zoe had her very frist ballet recital this past Tuesday. It wasn't the full blown recital, but more like this is what we do when we come to class type of a recital.

Each Tuesday for the past 6 weeks she has looked forward to ballet class. I'm glad we signed up for the next 6-week session.

Dave and Shana came to watch Miss Z. Dave noticed she was the only girl wearing black... The Black Swan... That's our ZoBug!

first days of ballet

Th girls started ballet this week. Different days at different locations. At least the time is the same ;o)

 Zoe was especially excited as it was her first time to experience ballet for herself.



Fun little Zoe story... She was playing with the water table at school and apparently didn't think it through before soaking herself with water. Good thing she had a change of clothes as her dress and leggings were as wet as if she had went swimming. Her change of clothes consisted of shorts and a t-shirt. Poor thing itched herself until she bled. Her teachers were so worried about her skin. I hope she grows out of this skin thing soon!

an update

Whoa! It's been a while. Sorry, sister!

Let's see... September has been crazy. On the 2nd, we found out that Dave's younger cousins were in a car accident. They had been drinking and a brother killed a brother. Completely sad. My heart goes out to Dave's Aunt and Uncle and the 2 surviving brothers.

With that being said, please don't ever forget how fortunate you are every day and hug your loved ones extra tight!

We celebrated Dave's birthday with Dinner (to his favorite spot, Kona Grill) and a homemade lemon cheesecake. (I keep trying to get him to take it to work so it's not in the house. ugh!)

Zoe ordered Sushi (!) and Kayleigh a hamburger. They ended up splitting the fries and K eating the sushi and Z eating the burger. HAHA! And Zoe finally got to go to preschool! She was so excited. We ended up switching preschools a week before it started. I think we made the right choice. So far so good!

Zoe was really really excited. We talked about what we would pack in her lunch for about 2 days prior. She told me that she would suprise me by eating all her lunch and cleaning up her toys. She was happy to report that she did in fact to both. You can see that she was a little nervous at first... Today when I dropped her off a nice mom said that Zoe and her daughter made quick friends. And guess what? Her name is Kate! :)

Kayleigh has been doing awesome at school. She was having a bit of trouble with math at first, but she works at it everyday and actually wants to do math now! I'm very proud of her for working hard at it. She also started Chorus one day a week before school.

As for me, all my free time has been spent on "stumbleupon," (OMG addicting!) homework, and working out. I saved up my $$ to work with a trainer and it was the best money I've spent on myself. It was strength training... I would feel so strong and awesome after I was done, but would be so sore the next day I couldn't imagine doing cardio so I have to figure out how to balance it all.

Classes are awesome! Way better than Chemistry. Every time I open a textbook I get excited. I know with all my heart I am on the right path. I live and breathe for this stuff! In one class I am learning HTL to make a website. Here is the link http://www.public.asu.edu/~eacorn/ it's just in the beginning stages so check back later for more updates.

things kids say

Grandpa, can I tell you a secret? You're so handsome.

She didn't say it too secretly, so the rest of us heard what she had said. Zoe and Grandpa were sure best buds over the 4th of July.

Some other funny things Zoe says:
Shamish for sandwich
Retangled for Tangled

Some funny conversations:
Zoe, why don't you eat your pizza?
Because it tastes like cup.
Like what?
(as mean as possible) It tastes like crap!

Dave: There is no need to be scared of monsters. They aren't real.
Kayleigh: Yeah, they are all in your head.
Zoe: No! My brain is in my head!

Zoe talking to anybody that will listen: Vitamin C is good for you. If you drink too much soda you will die.

Still talking: I went to a tea party. And I had two desserts. (with a click of the tounge and a tip of the head) And you (meaning me) didn't see me!

summer update

These silly girls play the cutest things. Here is Kayleigh in the "birthday chair."

They loooove going out for frozen yogurt. I love they buy one get one free coupon that comes in the mail once a month!
ZoBug's (or ZoBuggie as she likes to be called) hair is getting so long. She looks as sweet as pie here. But man can she be a little stinker!

In other news....Kayleigh starts first grade in two weeks!! My fall classes start in 3 weeks. Zoe starts preschool in about 6 weeks.

As I was finishing Intro to Chemistry (worst class ever) I was also starting Nutrition 101 (best class ever). I am so happy to have finally figured out what I want to do when I grow-up.

This summer has been a whirl-wind of activity. I wish I would have more time/energy to blog about it!

The Many Looks of Zoe

This one is called "Sweet Zoe Jane" Our cousins came to visit. Both girls were so happy about having a baby in the house. Er, all three of us girls were happy about having a baby in the house!

Hurry up and get it over with, Mom!

I snapped this one while K and Z were playing. Zoe's play name is Marina. So when she plays anything with her sister she is Marina. I just love those big brown eyes!

Zoe's turn for a post

Sigh. A post on Zoe... We went through the terrible two's and now it seems we are going through the trying three's. Her and I just aren't on the same wave length most of the time. It takes us a while to figure each other out. She loves repetition and knowing excatly how the next thing is going to go. She has a really hard time adapting to changes. She freaks out and throws a fit if the things aren't the same. It's really hard for us to do anything extra during the day... We haven't been able to find other SAHM's with kids her age. It seems that most moms work... I was hoping to meet other SAHMs by enrolling Zoe in classes. We are on our 3rd class. Miss Zoe is the annoying kid in class. I hate to say it, but it's true. She whines, cries, throws fits, pouts.... But we keep going... I really wanted to enroll her in gymnastics or ballet like K was in, but the going rate for 4 classes a month is $75!!! That is so much money! Is it worth it? Hmmm. It's the great debate. And daycare?! YIKES. I would have to work full time to pay for part time daycare.

I'm going to buck up and check out a MOPS group. It's not really, how do I say it... my scene, but we will try it.

Sorry if I made Zoe sound horrible. She isn't! She's just Zoe... Loves sugary and salty foods. Doesn't eat dinner (even if she has little to eat during the day and I'm serving pizza for dinner), Loves to help in the kitchen and set the table. Says "oopsie" when something spills or gets dirty (its really cute). She has the best little giggle and gives the best hugs in the whole wide world. Looks up to her big sister. Enjoys coloring (in the lines), drawing stick people, spiders, the sun, her name, and letters H and I.

Sorry Zobug for not writing a glowing blog about ya, I've been trying... and so have you! ha!

Making cookies with Zoe

This is the way we make a cookie, make a cookie, make a cookie.
This is the way we make a cookie with princess dreams and magic.

Wow! You can tell so much by a person by the songs that get stuck in their head.

Zoe and I had fun making cookies today.

And eating them for lunch!

my colorful kids

I know, I know. Pictures of the kids are a lot more fun, but I'm proud of their creativity so I want to document it. Kayleigh and Zoe have a "Go Club" and they asked us all if we would join. Of course we couldn't say no! "There are no meetings and it doesn't cost a thing."

"Zoe was the first to join. Now we have hundreds of people in our club." I asked Kayleigh what they did in her club and from what I gather it's pretty much everything from helping families in need to coloring pictures of My Little Pony.

We had a bit of the stomach flu going around our house for about a week so we were comming up with lots of things to do. These signs seemed to be a hit.

Kayleigh does have a love of animlas and Zoe loves her sweets. I wonder what they will really be when they grow-up?

Zoe does love to eat, but at all the wrong times. I guess she likes to graze... Anyways... Tonight, when I went to do my last check on the girls before I go to bed, I kind of woke Zoe. In her sleep she put out her hand and said, "I won't eat it!" Geesh! I thought I was eating dinner with her all over again.

I just love those little girls so much!!!

Zoe's day

Happy Birthday to Zoe! On the 11th she turned 3 years old. We celebrated from sunrise to sunset. We started with presents, breakfast banana splits (Zoe's choice), a movie, lunch, playing, breakfast for dinner, and more playing.

Over the past few weeks I can tell Zoe truly turned 3. She has been playing more on her own- playing with the kitchen and her babies. She's a funny one too. She's more aggressive than the rest of us which makes us all laugh because it's so unexpected. And the coolest thing is that she is so good at recognizing letters and numbers. I guess it helps that she has an older sister :) I love you, Sweet Zoe Jane!

Zoe's Kite

The ladies at the gym make cute little crafts every morning. Lately they have been doing kites. Zoe asks for one every day. Both K and Z are crazy about them.

I'm in love with our grass. Miss Umi made a pretty good likeness of Z.
And this is just plain funny! Zoe-in-a-basket. Doesn't she look cozy?

Zoe

You can't see it in these pictures, but Z's shirt says big sisiters are the coolest. As the big sister in my family I knew Zoe really wanted that shirt!

My doll Zoe

This week is fall break. Kayleigh is spending a few days in Tucson so Zoe and I are keeping busy without her. Yesterday we painted and colored, ate outside, and I watched her do ballet on her scooter.

Today we ran errands and played dress-up. I wish it wan't in the high 90's so we could spend the majority of the day outside. Next week?!

me and my babes

Miss Z was super stoked to have her hair in two(!) french braids. She kept saying, "I look like Kayleigh!"

Sometimes we go to the gym after school so Kayleigh can play with her cousins at the daycare. We have time to kill in the mean time so once in a while I take the girls to McDonalds where they enjoy ice cream. We get homework out of the way too! Here we are one Saturday morning. We were having such a nice morning family and weather wise I opted to stay home instead of my usual gym time. :)

I've been keeping up with my workouts and suprise myself at all I can do. It's only been a few months! I'm happy to say that my longest time jogging/walking on the treadmill is 32 minutes. One day I'm going to run a 5K!!!

Dentist

I don't remember when we went without looking at the calendar, but the girls went to the dentist. And had a blast! It was a really fun pediatric dentist. The kids were happy that they got toys and a new toothbrush and I was happy they didn't have any cavities! I had to get them to tare their eyes away from the movie that was playing for this shot.This was Zoe's first visit. She was a good little patient!

For Zoe

Today was Zoe's first day of her Park and Rec class: 2-3 yr old story and craft time. The books were about cats and so the craft was to make a cat. As you can see she is pretty proud of it.

She only interrupted the teacher once, sat still until a kid threw a shoe at her. What did she do next? She threw it right back at her and gave her a mean look of course :/ And the best part, she didn't whine or ask for food for 45 mintues! I wish we could go everyday :)

Seriously though, Zoe is so strong willed and relentless. She doesn't let things go and there is no talking her down, even if you say yes she'll then say no. Crazy kid. She'll be 3 in 3 months. Hopefully she'll move from terrible two's to terrific three's?!?!