Double Parties!

It's been a few weekends but we had Dylan and Cadence's birthday parties. Two different parties going on at the same time (won't be doing that again :)). It was a lot of work but it was worth it for all the fun the kids had. Dylan had a Ninjago party...I'm going to do a separate blog post with all the birthday themed stuff I did. And Cadence had a princess tea party.

 We rented a huge slide this year and the kids had a great time on it. I have to admit it was a bit stressful at times for me with all the boys jumping huge and then sliding down...thankfully no one got hurt!

 (even Mark enjoyed going down :))

 

 Inside Cadence had her lunch with all her friends on glass plates with tea cups filled with sprite & flavored ice cubes.

 Outside the boys enjoyed their lunch on the picnic table and were able to make as big of mess as they wanted!

The girls had some pampering time.

Painting of nails, braiding hair and adding a Tangled hair clip. :)

I made cookie bowls with ice cream for Cadence's birthday treat.

Then outside to the boys where I had set up a "Ninja Training Course" (complete with Ninja headbands with their names on them) where they were timed as they had to do different obstacles. Dylan's friend Ian was the winner with the low time of 17 seconds!

They also had a balance beam sword "water noodle" fight. The one to stay on the board while fighting was the winner. :)

Our yard was full of kids and friends!

Dylan's birthday treat was rice crispy "sushi" rolls. They were filled with fruit by the foot and Swedish fish. :)

The last of the goodies with fresh snow cones. It was a great party. The kids had a wonderful time and I'm thankful for such wonderful and generous family and friends.

Tempe Bike Ride

We went for another bike ride at Tempe Town Lake last week. It was so great to be outside.

We were able to get a bunch of fun pictures. :)

Love this one!

Viva Las Vegas

Mark and I were able to take a little get away this weekend thanks to the Grandparents watching the kids. We headed to Vegas, on the way I wanted to stop at a random "hole in the wall" type restaurant to experience something fun along the way...we ended up at this log cabin in Wickenburg...and it was so delicious! It was a great stop :).

Huge portions and we ordered the half size...Mark is holding his belly not because it hurts but because it is so full :)

We stayed at the MGM and this was our view of the strip from our room.

Spent most of the days by the pool reading and relaxing. The weather was great, not too hot or cold.

We did a lot of walking.

Watched the water show at the Bellagio (multiple times).

And the best part for me was seeing Mystere by Cirque Du Soleil. It was amazing!! My mouth was hanging open the whole time at awe of the performance. Really incredible, hope to see another show someday.

Thankful to have the time with Mark!

Random Pictures from the week

 Mark took Dylan and Cadence hiking at Camelback Mountain over the weekend. They rode bikes there (Cadence has a tandem bike that is attached to Mark's) and then hiked. Cadence in the past hasn't had the strength to go very far...but now that she is older she did amazing! Mark said she just went right along, no complaining and they almost made it up to the top! That is incredible, it is such a hard mountain.

 (love her belly peeking out in the below picture)

 Isabelle took the above picture of her feet. I found it when I downloaded my pictures and it made me smile. :)

Mark's aunt Kim sent some coins home with Mark's mom (they were with each other for the last month on a trip to Korea!). She had saved from all the countries she went to. So Dylan had more to add to his collection that Kim had already given him. He had the idea of putting them in the shape of the USA. Still has a bit more of area to fill in. Thought it was a cute idea. :)

Isabelle and swim suits

 Isabelle wears a swim suit every day...all day. I finally snapped a picture of her.

She puts it on after her bath to go to bed or puts one on as soon as she wakes up. I have to tell her all the time to put clothes on because we will be going to the store (or whatever)...she always responds the same "can I wear it under?" Most of the time I don't argue with her...why not let her wear it? There are more important things. :)

I took this picture right after dropping Dylan off at school in the morning...it's 7:20. :)

Cadence 1st Writings

This is the first writing that Cadence has done. Her teacher said she did it all on her own during her center time. Thought it was super cute and I was impressed with her sounding the words out.

Mom picked me up.

I want to be teacher.

 

She is starting to sound out words when we read. It is very natural for her and she loves it. :)

Dirt

Today I got my hands dirty in my compost dirt...and had a smile on my face the whole time! It is so dark and rich...full of great stuff for my garden. I couldn't help but think back when I first got my ugly trash can composter and how I am constantly reminded of the transforming power always at work on the inside. Here is a link to my original post about the composter

http://jilleroberts.blogspot.com/2011/11/life-lessons-through-trash-can.html

 

 My sweet potato vines are doing amazing. I tried to grow shoots this last spring but never got any and was so bummed that I wouldn't have any sweet potatoes in the fall...but one day I went out and saw a shoot growing on the side of the garden bed, it looked pretty so I didn't pull it out. I am so glad I didn't, I soon realized it was a sweet potato vine. I pulled up the potato from the outside dirt and transplanted into the bed. The vines are great and healthy...can't wait til I can pull them up! :)

 Look how pretty it is. I was a little worried when I started composting that I wasn't doing it right. Well, because I would just throw stuff in there and add some water but never really turned or anything. There were many times that I looked in there and thought "this is not doing anything". But no, it was at work making beautiful dirt!