Cross Dressers?

This is what happens when you let Nate and Audrey babysit:
Can you tell who is who?
And of course Ella's jammies are tight on Kash and Kash's are loose on Ella!

My BRAVE girl!

Ella's surgery went great! She was really brave, she didn't even cry when they took her away. The worst part was that she couldn't eat or drink. It broke my heart when she was begging for a drink of water....it was the saddest thing ever. It didn't help with Kash running around, grabbing sippy cups and snacks out of the diaper bag right in front of her! The promise of an ice cream cone afterwards really helped I think! She really must be my daughter if the thought of a treat makes everything worth it. When we were able to see her she was totally fine. She was eating a cookie as happy as could be. One of the first things she said to me was, "my ears feel better!" The doctor said it was probably the first time she felt some relief, like her ears popped for the first time in her life. I feel so bad that she has been in pain for so long. I think she really got used to the pain, it was just a part of life. The rest of the day she was 100% her old self. Hopefully this will be the end of her ear problems. I am excited to see her hearing and speech improve because she has heard everything as if she was under water. I am so glad this day is over!

Big Day

Tomorrow Ella is having surgery. It is very minor, she is getting tubes in both ears. She will have to be put under though. We are arriving at the hospital at 11:30 and the surgery should be around 12 or 12:30. Your thoughts and prayers would be greatly appreciated.

Bee Sting!

While we were in California my little Kash Man got stung by a bee! We thought he just stepped on a rock but I ended up pulling out a stinger from his big toe. He was SO sad and I felt so bad for him. We put on some cartoons and cuddled with him on the bed and after awhile he was just fine.

He is such a little trooper because he even attempted to smile at the camera!

Kisses from the girls is always comforting...

Ella knew her brother was hurt so she stayed by his side!

The swollen toe! Needless to say now both of my kids are scared of bees.

FIRST day of PRESCHOOL!

Today was Ella's very first day of preschool. I cannot believe that I have a preschooler. This means that I am officially old! She is going to be 3 on Monday and I think it is crazy! She is definitely the youngest in her class but I figure 2 full years of preschool can't hurt, right? Her teacher said she did really well and is very BRIGHT. Just what every mom wants to hear right? Maybe thats why she says it? haha Well she loved it and I think it will be so good for her. And I thought it was great to have some one on one time with Kash, which NEVER happens.

Of course we were running late on her first day so here she is with a pop tart for breakfast!

She HAD to wear her Dora backpack that is as big as she is.

Showing off her artwork. These are bees in case you didn't know ( I didn't!).

California Sun

We can't resist playing outside when we are in California, the weather is always PERFECT! We decided to play in the front yard sprinklers instead of the backyard pool because the water was a bit too cold for us. We had our cousins Paris and Ty come over to play too.

Ella and Paris

Paris and Ty Ty.

Stealing Papa's popsicles!

These two fought like crazy when they were together but whenever it was time to say goodbye they both cried and cried!

Whit and I trying to get that golden california tan! It really is a different color than what you get in Utah.

I'm pretty sure Ella had an ICEE everyday we were there. We were on vacation so its okay, right?

Kash just took a big bite out of his popsicle and he has the most sensitive teeth!

and I still have more pictures to come of our little trip....

The Arboretum

While we were in California we visited the arboretum in Santa Anita. There were peacocks roaming around everywhere so the kids could walk right up to them. I never knew they made such loud noises, Ella and Kash were imitating them for days!

If you look close you can see the turtles. As soon as we got to the bank they came to the shore. There were TONS. We would try to feed them but there were these catfish that would jump out of the water and get the food before the turtles or ducks could get to it.

These birds were pretty smart because as we would feed the animals they would perch there until one of the baby fish would come to the surface for a snack and would sweep down and grab it! They just held them in their beaks until they died and swallowed them whole!

It was really pretty there, Whitney might even take her bridal pictures here! More pics to come of our fun week.

We are leaving for California tonight! Yay! Matt is going to be out of town all week for work so I am taking the kids to spend the week with my fam. Should be lots of fun....not so much the 5 1/2 hour drive with the kids.....But it will be worth it once we are there!

A little outing

Matt has been wanting to take the kids to feed the ducks for a while now, so we finally did it. Honestly, it wasn't as great as I thought it was going to be. For one thing it was so dang HOT! For another, Kash kept wanting to jump into the pond. And lastly, these ducks could have cared less that we had brought them food. The pond had rotted food everywhere and when they saw we only had bread they were not very interested. But the kids liked being able to get outside and see the ducks...maybe next time we will try out another pond!

Too bad my shadow is ruining the picture...I'm not the best photographer.

Ella ran right at this one...

I'm pretty sure Kash ate more bread than the ducks did.

I'm so glad they have a fun dad that wants to do things like this with them!

Ella and her cheesy little grin.

As you can see Matt had to literally hold Kash back. I kept warning Matt to stay close to him because there was no way I was jumping in that murky water to save him! I am such an awesome mom I know.

What better way to cool off than with an icecream cone?

The whole top of Kash's cone fell off. They were both fascinated watching it slide down the hot driveway!

SpLaSh PaD

So we pretty much go to the splash pad everyday. I have taken the kids to the pool a couple of times but it is just so stressful with 2 kids that I can't control! This year is definitely going to be hard....especially with Kash who is CRAZY in the pool. He really thinks he can swim. And when he goes under and swallows water he could care less. Almost drowning would scare most kids but he just jumps in over and over again coughing and laughing hysterically. His belly is big but I think it gets double in size with all the pool water he drinks! So I have found the best alternative is the splash pad! I can actually sit and relax a little bit and not constantly be worried about one of my kids drowning. So here are way too many pictures of our everyday activity, I think these are pics from a couple different days:

I have discovered that one pieces are better for Ella...

We love the downtown splash pad with the waterfall and river.

Kash loves walking in this "maze" of flowers.

I think Ella is going to make her papa proud because apparently she is a natural cowgirl. I found her sitting on this, one hand in the air, saying "giddy up!"

I told you he had a belly!

We didn't have a bucket for Adam to play with so he improvised and found this construction cone....hey it worked.

The best is when Matt brings us Judd's breadsticks on his lunch break.

Taking a break for a wet hug.

Kash spends most of his time playing at this part where the water shoots up.

Ella and Aubree doing a little sunbathing.

Hair DISASTER

I decided to have a few friends over (Corinne, Becky, Leah) and have a little hair-dying party. Becky wanted to dye her hair and my roots were growing out. The last time I high lighted my hair I had my mom and Whitney do it and I loved it! It turned out really good and I saved some money so I thought I'd try it again. Bad idea. Horrible idea. Horrific idea. Take a look for yourself:

Here is my first glimpse of myself once the foils were out...

Here is my ORANGE hair!

The entire top of my head was completely bleached. I've had hair drama before but NOTHING like this!

The next morning I decided to be smart and go to a professional. She weaved in some brown but now I feel like I have black and white stripes. I guess it is better than orange? Here is the after picture:

So much for trying to save some money! Now I want to go again and get some more blonde in it but I am afraid my hair will fall out!! I think I should probably give it a break for a while. My hair has been in a bun ever since and will most likely stay that way for a few weeks.....I don't have anyone that does my hair right now so if any of you know of a good hair stylist let me know, I need all the help I can get!

It's CLEAN!

My poor car NEVER gets washed. I keep telling myself one day when I have a nice car, I will wash it ALL the time. Hmmm I wonder if that will be the case. Anyways Matt came home from work and told the kids we were washing Mom's car. They thought it was great! Playing outside with the hose, what could be better? Ella was such a good little helper, it was pretty funny because she was so into it. I loved it because I had time to make dinner in peace and clean up the house a bit. Sometimes its good that my husband is so anal because that car sparkled from the inside out! Thanks Matty!

Oh the Ponitac, shes a beauty I know.

Hard at work.

Kash was much more interested in the airplanes than helping Dad.