Blakers "Trick"

A while ago Tony and Blake perfected their 'trick'. Tony has done this with each of our kiddos and has yet to drop one! He loves doing it. It is funny to see peoples reaction. Older people usually get really nervous. The girls clap and jump up and down and cheer. Usually Blake gets a big smile because he knows he's doing something fun. What a fun Daddy!

Our Ducks

We've made a tradition of going to feed the ducks each Sunday after church. There is a fun little lake about 1/2 mile away that is filled with HUGE koi fish and home to lots of ducks, geese and birds. Its been great to take a family walk and the girls really enjoy feeding the animals. This Sunday we got to take Uncle Jeff with us. He took some really fun pictures of the kids. I love their expressions and uniqueness. I was excited to get a family picture as well. It is our first in a couple months.

Splash Park

The one thing Uncle Jeff wanted to do with the girls is take them swimming. Since it is still too cold none of the public pools are opened yet (today was 99 degrees). We found a fun splash park nearby. The girls didn't really play in the water as much as run around it. Kind of disappointing but luckily Jeff is easy going.

I was excited to find this splash park because it is something I can actually do with all three kids this summer. Tony's been saying I should take them swimming but how do you take a baby, a 3 year old non-swimmer and a 5 year old who does okay swimming? This way we can all get cooled off but I don't have to worry about someone drowning!

Nuncle Jeff

Tony's brother Jeff came into town on Friday afternoon and the girls have loved having him. We went to Chuck E Cheese and the girls were in heaven. As you can tell from the pictures Jeff is a really good sport. He and Tony had almost as much fun playing the games as the girls. Even Blake got to ride a ride or two. We are so excited to have Jeff here and cant wait to have more fun.

For those of you who know Jeff, notice how I never referred to him as Uncle Jiffy (like we usually do)? We are making an effort to treat him as the adult that he is, not little Jiffy! We realized we needed to stop when Aliya started to call him Uncle Deffy (she still cant pronounce her J's). Isn't it crazy how you can be an adult but once you get around family you are immediately returned to your birth order? When do we officially grow up? I am still waiting to feel like an adult and I am the mother of three and drive a freakin' minivan!

Ballerina Girl

Aliya just started Ballet and it is so stinkin cute. She has wanted to go to dance class for so long and she loves it. She was so excited to get to wear her "ballerinatard" to class (this white one she basically wore almost every day for 4 months -- she now just wears it every couple days!). I was worried that she wouldn't listen and would just twirl the whole time. I ended up being pleasantly surprised that she actually does what she is told (now why she wont do that for me is another story). After her last class I had another Mom come up and tell me that she loves to watch Aliya because she is so animated. Where she gets that from I'll never know : )! They are going to do a little recital at the end of there 8 week session. I am so excited to see how she does on stage. She will either ham it up or play shy. We shall see!

If you give a mouse a cookie . . .

Last night for Nation Turn Off your TV week, the Kindergarten teachers had a special storytime session at the library.  All of the stories were about mice then the last story they read was "If you give a mouse a cookie".  The storytime lady would make the BEST nursery leader. She was so animated and fun. The kids loved her and she kept me quite entertained.

Tae has a fun group of kids in her class. The group picture is of Taeya and some of her fellow classmates with their teacher, Mrs. Brown. The last one is of Taeya and her friend Kiley. I was really impressed with all the activities this library has available. 

Taeya lost her first tooth last night and I am kind of sad. Having her go to all day Kindergarten was a piece of cake but this first lost tooth has hit me. She is getting too big! It has been loose for a week or two and Tony has been threatening to pull it out for a couple days. I kept saying it wasn't ready (I think it was me who wasn't ready). Last night she really wanted to get it out so I said fine, lets do it!

Tony originally tied a piece of floss around her tooth. Aliya, being her usual mischievous self, somehow got a hold of the string and gave it a nice little tug. After that Tony was smart enough to tie it to the door (I had to keep her away from the door because she kept trying to shut it). Then he told Tae she could shut the door when she was ready. Little tyke kept walking forward as she'd shut the door. Poor Tony kept telling her it was going to hurt and that she didn't need to do it if she wasn't ready (can you tell he had some major issues with his teeth as a kid?). All of a sudden she shut the door and out it popped. We were all shocked, including Taeya. The little sucker was just dangling from the floss! Aliya's face was one of pure disgust when she saw the gaping hole in Taeya's mouth.

Taeya was so thrilled!  In fact, she didn't want the Tooth Fairy to come last night because she wanted to look at it more today. Thanks to her Grandpa Bruce, she 'somehow' got the idea that a good Tooth Fairy would bring her $10 for her first tooth. I think the Grandpa Tooth Fairy might have to cough up the $10 cuz this Tooth Fairy is way too cheap!

Go-Carts n More

 On Saturday we went to Cracker-Jax for a little healthy competition. Tony loves talking smack and what better way to have a little competition then on a minuscule boat! Aliya rode with Tony and had a blast crashing into everybody. Tae and Debbie got into the bumpin' boat action too. Poor Matt was all alone but seemed to have fun. 

The adults also got to race go-carts (which Tony wants me to add he won). Tae wanted to try driving her own car. She was excited to get the purple car. After a lap or two she started to get cocky and drive like her Dad swerving back and forth. Guess they do pay attention to the way we drive (I kept expecting to see her flip the kid off behind her! Not that she'd pick that up from me or anything!). 

We loved having them here for the short time. The kids love getting books read to them by Grandma, getting their nails done and building a fort with 'nuncle Matt. I've got a couple days to get them back on a schedule before Uncle Jeff comes to play on Friday. Who knows what fun adventures we can have with him!

Grandma and 'nuncle Matt

Tony's Mom and brother Matt came into town on Thursday so we decided to take a trip to the Wildlife World Zoo on Friday. The girls loved it of course!  Blake was pretty chill except at the petting zoo. He wasn't a big fan of the little goats. 

Aliya was in her glory with all the little animals in the petting area! She loved getting to feed them out of her hand. She enjoyed getting to hold them until we got yelled at to not pick up the animals.   

Tae got to feed a Giraffe which made her happy (see the video)! She wasn't too sure about it when she saw this monstrous tongue heading towards her. Of course we got yelled at again because we had our poor kid danglin' from a log trying to feed it. We were told the barriers are there for a reason (obviously they haven't been anywhere with a Dickamore boy - um, I mean man).

Uncle Matt tried to get a little smootch from an Ostrich. Guess it has been a while Matt!

Its only just begun . . .

We are lucky Blake is such a laid back baby. He is going to have to be to survive his sisters. They absolutely adore him and are constantly in his face and touching him. The other day Aliya thought it would be fun to dress him up. Luckily she could understand that all her dresses would be too big but the smart little tyke found something else that would work! We figure this will be a good blackmail picture for when he grows up. I am constantly telling Aliya that no, Blake cannot wear any of your lipstick or make-up. I figure its only a matter of time before I am posting a picture of my son in full drag!

Preschool

On Sunday we went to an open house at Aliya's preschool and I am so excited. A woman, Miss Neva, runs it out of her guest house. She's got a couple acres and all sorts of animals. While we were there the girls got to feed their goats, pigs, horses etc. They've also got a bunch of baby chicks, a couple big ole roosters, a bunny and who knows what else. 

There is a big garden area that the kids are in charge of planting, watering, weeding and harvesting.  Also outside is a HUGE play area that Aliya just loved. When it came time to go she did not want to leave. Taeya claimed that its not fair that Aliya gets to go to such a cool preschool.

I am excited that for 3 days a week from 9-1 she'll be interacting with other kiddos. She is such a fun and active kid. I think it'll work wonders in helping with her speech. I don't know what Blakers and I will do with our free time but heaven knows I am looking forward to it! 

Party Time

Last night we got together with two families from our old Ward in Boise. One family, the Hawkes, have been in Tucson since October doing some training with the Air Force and the other family, the Barlows, moved to Queen Creek last summer. It was so much fun to get together and get caught up. It makes me want to maintain all the good friendships we've developed over the years.

Taeya absolutely loves playing with Tisha Barlow. She is almost 8 so Tae thinks she is the coolest thing ever. Tish was so good to let the girls destroy her room and play with all her toys.

Aliya has developed her first crush on Weston Barlow (11). She followed him around and chased after him all night. Luckily he's a great kid and seemed to have fun playing with her too!

The last picture is of Aliya and Elizabeth Hawkes. They were born 10 weeks apart and are so stinkin' similiar. I thought forsure there would be some major battles between the two but they played great. It was fun to hear them talk. There were some things I couldnt understand but they seemed to catch what was being said!

Total randomness

After a few comments left about my taste of music, I thought I'd explain myself! I love music and obviously from my playlist, I love a variety of music.  Berlin and Oingo-Boingo remind me of my brother Mike!  I think I got my love of 80's music from him -- The Cure, Adam Ant, Thompson Twins etc!

Then there were the 90's - my High School days. Sir-Mix-a-lot has got to be a classic. I remember my dear sis telling me they wrote 'I like big butts' just for me. Ah, the joys of sisterhood! My favorites of that era have got to be Indigo Girls, Beastie Boys, Salt-n-Pepa, Aerosmith, Biggie Smalls, etc. Those were my clubbin' days! Viva the Vortex!

Finally now - I love a good dance beat (Omarion, Justin Timberlake, Nelly, Lucy Pearl, Chris Brown,  etc). I guess I am still a 16 year old girl in my music taste. I have matured a bit and love Norah Jones, Michael Buble etc.  There you have it!

Taeya's Shiner

Before you assume I did that to her, let me explain! The other day the two girls were jumping on the guest bed. I had come in and told them not to jump on the bed because I didn't want them to get hurt.  I leave the room only to  hear a fairly loud thump into the wall then Taeya start to cry (more of her faking it cry, not even a real cry). I kept walking away and let Daddy take care of it. She comes in a bit later to show me her new battle wound.  Ouch!  

Crazy kids

As I previously posted, Blake is adored by his sisters. Wherever he is, there is bound to be one of his sisters huggin' or kissin' the poor kid.  I have to keep reminding myself it is good they want to be with him rather than not liking him.  Now if only they were as nice to each other as they are to Blake!

Too much love?

Aliya absolutely adores Blake but I am wondering when this will end? I am thankful that she loves him and wants to be around him but I am getting a little overwhelmed with her constantly wanting to hold, kiss, maul and hug him (I know he is too).  Am I a bad Mom for wanting her to get bored with him? 

I thought this was a good picture to show the differences in their eyes. I only wish Tae was in it too so you could see the differences in all their eyes.  As a few of you have pointed out, Blake has lost almost all his gorgeous dark hair (with some help from Moms cutting shears) and is coming in blonde. He may be our lightest! I just hope he gets his Daddy's hair rather than Grandpa Thompsons!

Old Blue Eyes

I love Blakers eyes. His eyes are such an bright dark blue. It is funny how different all my kids eyes are. Taeya's are a beautiful light blue, Aliya's are a gorgeous green (where they came from, no one knows!) and Blakes are a pretty dark blue.

We took him in for his 4 month check up and we've decided we brought the wrong kid home from the hospital. His weight is only 50% which means he's not a Thompson, his head is only 50% which means he is definitely not a Dickamore and his height is 75% so we can claim him on that. If we didn't love the little squirt so much, we might be searching for our a fat, huge headed baby that we left at the hospital. 

He is such a happy-go-lucky kid. We are so lucky to have him. He has decided he wants to be a finger sucker. We are doing all that we possibly can to prevent it but he is quick at getting his fingers in his mouth. He's not a thumb sucker, more of a pointer and bird finger sucker. Orthodontist here we come! 

Girly Girlz

Taeya had a birthday party for one of her school friends today and they held it at a darling shop called 'Girly Girlz'. They did their hair in a DARLING up-do, painted their nails, put make-up on the girls, fed them lunch and then had a runway show. It was so fun to see all the girls struttin' their stuff! Their cute teacher came to watch their runway show too.  

They are at the crazy age where some of the girls think they are too 'big' (so they say) for Littlest Pet Shop, Polly Pocket etc but others are not quite to the Hannah Montana/High School Musical phase yet.  Taeya thinks she's at the Hannah Montana/HSM phase but she has yet to even watch either of the shows. Why does she have to grow up?

Feelin' the burn!

Tony's been encouraging me to join a gym since we've moved to Glendale (I think he's done listening to my crabbiness) and  I've kept  saying "Blakes too little to leave in daycare" etc.  He finally convinced to just go look at one of the gyms near us and I was sold as soon as I opened their door and was hit with that gym smell. Ah how I've missed that smell (you gym rats know what I am talking about -- everyone else feel free to think I am crazy). 

Today I met with a personal trainer (for their one free workout). Oh boy, did I get my butt kicked. Going into the session I was well aware of the fact that I was horribly out of shape but after almost passing out after 20 minutes, I think the whole gym is aware of it too!

Almost even more humiliating is tonight when I sat to pee, I could already feel the sore muscles setting in. I know I wont be able to get out of bed in the morning.  I am doing this to myself why?

EASTER DRESSES

This year Tony decided he wanted to start a new tradition and take the girls shopping for their Easter dresses.  He told them they could each pick their own dress. Aliya found hers almost immediately and knew which one she wanted. He said he tried to sway her to a different dress but she wouldn't budge. Typical Aliya! 

 I guess Taeya tried on a bunch of different dresses but none were 'just right' so he told her she and I could go shopping later. Once I was ready to go, I told Tae to get her shoes on so we could go get her dress. She then said she wanted me to pick it out.  I asked her what color/type etc to which she replied "whatever you like". Typical Taeya!

 I am amazed that my two girls are so completely different. They each have strengths and characteristics that will be so beneficial to them throughout their lives but these are completely different traits. Hopefully they can learn from each other and develop the others postitive attributes. 

Poor Blakers got the typical boy outfit -- a tie. Tony told him to get used to it, that's all he's been getting for holidays since we've been married. Sad to admit but its true! 

DISNEYLAND

(I'm still trying to figure out this BLOG stuff so please forgive me. If anyone can tell me how in the heck I can move my pictures to where I want them to be I'd greatly appreciate it!)

We surprised the kids and took them to Disneyland. They had no clue we were going. We told them we were going back to Sierra Vista to check on our house. Once we got into the hotel room, they got their first surprise in finding Papa Bruce & Grandma Nette and Uncle Ben and Aunt Kristi. I don't know who was more excited, my girls or them.

Once we finally told the kiddos we were going to Disneyland, they were ecstatic! One of the highlights was eating lunch with the Princesses. Aliya was awestruck! She kept showing the Princesses her new Princess purse Grandma Nette got her. Poor Taeya got soaked on Splash Mountain. Tony literally had to wring out her shirt. We ended up buying her an overpriced pair of sweats that she wore commando style to eat lunch in.

One ride we all enjoyed was "Its tough to be Bug". It was an awesome 3D film (hence the lovely glasses on Papa Bruce and Aliya) with fun special effects. 

After an exhausting first day, the girls slept great. I got up to feed Blake early the next morning and found them spooning. It was too cute not to take a picture. I guess our little Aliya is a cuddle bug!

Before we left for Disneyland I bought Blake his first ball hat. Of course I forgot to bring it so after digging through various Mickey Mouse hats we found this cute one that has the little turtle "Squirt" on it from Nemo. Kid looks mighty cute if you ask me. He adores his Aunt Kristi and would smile anytime she'd look at him. 

After two busy days at Disneyland, we were ready to avoid the crowds and rides so we headed to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. The kids loved it, even Blake. Taeya was petrified of Stingrays (I think our two trips to Stingray city in Grand Cayman had scarred her for life) but she over came her fear and petted both Stingrays and Sharks. 

We had a fun and fabulous trip. The girls keep asking when we get to go back. I am all for heading out tomorrow (and for those of you who know me well, you know that I HATE Disneyland). Seeing how exciting and magical it is to them makes me enjoy it too. I guess thats what being a parent is all about eh?

Blakes Blessing

Blake was blessed on March 2nd and what a blessing it is to have him in our family! He is such a fun loving little guy. Although he is only 4 months, you can already tell he's got a very laid back attitude. Tony and I both think he's got a little of his Uncle Steve and Uncle Ben in him. In order to survive his sisters, we think he needs to be a pretty chill kid!

We had a fabulous household of visitors for Blakes blessing.  Grandma and Grandpa Thompson came early to help us get unpacked and settled from our big move to Glendale.  A couple days later Great-Grandma Close and Grandma Nette came down for Grandma Nette to race in the Scottsdale Rodeo. Then the next night Papa Bruce and Uncle Ben and Aunt Kristi flew in for a weekend of fun. Who knew our house could fit so many people! I don't know what old Blakers thought about having so many extra people loving on him but he was an angel all weekend!  

Its too bad we can't have that many visitors each month!