Movin' on up

Today Rachel moved up to a toddler bed. Her crib converts to one, but we had never got around to doing it. She never tried to climb out of her crib, but it was time for her to be able to get in and out of bed by herself. She was quite proud of the fact that Mommy didn't have to put her in bed tonight. She did it all by herself.

Clean out that crib!

One last jump and romp!

I'm such a big girl!

Grilling season is now open!

We kicked off the season with chicken on the grill with a Hawaiian marinade. YUM!! Wasn't sure we would have enough propane to cook the bird, but as you can see we made it. Heather and the boys came over to help us get the grilling season going.

Jacob was all about the jelly on the biscuits. Heather wanted to know what my recipe was. I proceeded to open the freezer and pull out the Wal-mart brand of frozen biscuits. That's right, I like easy!

This is Aaron & Bryson's choice form of entertainment. After quite a while they were forced to put down all electronics and come outside with everyone else. Oh The Horror! They actually had to play outside with something that doesn't require batteries.

All Hayden and Rachel wanted to do was play outside. They played in the sandbox, on the swings, ran laps around the dog. Good times! They were both filthy at the end of the evening.

Was Dusty about the hit the courts? No...the carpenter bees were buzzing around the deck and this is his choice weapon of mass destruction - my Prince tennis racquet. Worked though; he nailed one and it didn't come back around.

Now in honor of Paul, who couldn't join us this evening, I post a photo of my half eaten dessert. Chocolate Eclair dessert made by Heather. Mmmmmmmmmmm...I do believe that Heather took home a hefty portion of what was left. So there should be some waiting at home for you, Paul. If not - blame Heather!

Learn to use the force you have...

Hayden & Jacob spent the morning with us today. First up - Lightsaber duel to the death! Well not really to the death, but the lamp almost bit the dust a couple of times. :) I was holding my own with 2 lightsabers until they all ganged up on me and took me out with a move that is illegal in 6 galaxies!

After that we had to pose for our best Star Wars poster photo. I've discovered that the Painter boys must be used to having photos taken because Hayden let out a maniacal laugh everytime the timer light on the camera went off.

After saving the galaxy we went outside for some fun in the sandbox. Heather brought back Chicken Pad Thai from Thai One On and all was right in the world. :)

Sunny Days!

O Happy Day...we now have air conditioning in the car again. We're also a little lighter in the wallet for it, but you do what you've got to do. Rachel and I spent a couple hours out in the backyard enjoying the sun. We built some sandcastles and then had a picnic lunch up on the play fort. Then as a precautionary measure I scooped doggy poo out of the yard. Not the highlight of the day to be sure. But Hayden is coming over to play with Rachel tomorrow morning and I'd rather not be scraping off little shoes!

Not much to tell

Hmmm....not too much to report from here. I've been to Mom's group. The highlight of my day was the chocolate gravy. That's right...chocolate gravy. Mmmm. Went to Target, came home, had lunch, took Aaron to soccer practice, took the car to the shop. Riveting stuff! Tomorrow the car will be in the shop having the air conditioner repaired and I will have an exciting day of house work and the like. Don't you wish your life was this exciting!

So you don't feel like checking out the blog was a total bust, here's a cute photo for you. Don't you just want to pinch those cheeks. :)

Kid Pics

I had the photo equipment set up yesterday for a shoot that I was doing. So while the gear was set up, I ran Aaron and Rachel through for some spring photos. Sometimes when I'm doing other little kids, I have to work pretty hard to get them to smile or even be interested in taking a photo. My kid on the other hand says "Cheese" continuously until we're done. I guess that's what happens when you grow up with a camera-happy mom. :)

Soggy Soccer

This morning was Aaron's 1st soccer game of the season. Rain + no lightning = game on! Not only was it soggy, but chilly as well. Dusty had the good fortune of filling in for one coach that wasn't there. He was thrilled. :) Hopefully things will be looking up next week.