When I grow up . . .

Blake is definitely his Daddy's shadow. Anything Tony does, he's right there helping out. He thought he was so 'cool' getting to mow the grass like Dad. Too bad by the time he's old enough to really mow the grass he wont want to!

February in Phoenix

Yep, I love it here! On one of our hot afternoons (it was almost 90 degrees) I let the girls play with the hose. They loved it and I got some fun pictures as a result! Ah, its heaven here!

Hair today, gone tomorrow!

As most of you know, I am an anal hair-doing Mom. Taeya is always saying 'but so n so's Mom doesn't do her hair'. In my mind I'm think 'well, so n so's Mom doesn't love her as much as I love you' and also 'yea, well she looks scraggly most days'. I openly admit that I figure as long as my girls hair looks cute, it doesn't matter how dirty or messy they get -- they still look loved. I've enjoyed getting to do all sorts of fun stuff with their hair and somewhat consider it my creative outlet (I have few of these -- arts n crafts just ain't my thing). 

Well, the day Tony's been dreading has finally come. Tae has been pushing to get her hair cut. I had told them once their hair was long enough to donate, they could get it cut. Well, her hair was long enough so she wanted it done. Tony kept saying "no, talk her out of it" but she still wanted to. So after begging and pleading her Dad, he relented and told her if she REALLY wanted to do it, it was okay.  Aliya was another story: hers was long enough to donate, she wanted to donate but Daddy wasn't ready to lose two long hair girls. So Tony told her she can't get her hair cut short until she is 6 like her sissy. Aliya was fine getting a trim, she just wanted to get her hair cut too!

Here is Tae pre-hair cut!

While getting it cut. 

And after getting it cut! Can you tell she's a little bit excited to have it short? She did tell me later that her friends who have short hair, they don't do it everyday either. I told her she can wear it down for a day or two but after that, Mommy still gets to do it everyday

Oh how I love this little boy! He is a stinky, dirty little boy and I love him even more because of it! He kid is a nut! He is constantly doing silly things that make me laugh and forget that just seconds before I was ready to sell him to the nearest gypsi! He LOVES the outdoors and is constantly fighting to get outside. One afternoon while I was taking pics of the girls, I guess he'd had enough of their madness and decided to create his own. These are a few of the fun shots I got of him!

Those baby blues are lady killers. Once we can get them both pointing straight, we're in trouble! I wish I had gotten a wider view of my door. There is about an 8 inch area of FILTH from where he holds onto the door frame while stepping inside. His hands are constantly grimmy. I swear he'll be outside no more than 5 minutes and will be so dirty he'll need a bath!

LOVE IT! At first I was mortified to post this because of how  dirty my windows are but then I realized they are really just dirty in his area. Guess I should clean them again but why, he'll just do this again and again!

Its too quiet ...

The other night I was making dinner and I could hear the girls playing together upstairs but I couldn't hear Blake. Now that is unusual because the boy has a set of lungs on him that can travel far distances. I tried to ignore the quiet for a bit but then I started to worry. As I rounded the corner to head up the stairs, I found this:

LOVELY eh? That kid has an obsession with anything that produces product: lotion, hair gel,

K-Y, hairspray, chapstick etc. How he knows what inside is amazing to me! I swear he can smell it and will find anyway to get it. I have NO IDEA where he founds this lotion but he hauled it luckily to the tile where he was able break it open and enjoy his feast! Yuck!

I've joked before in a blog post that if ever something happened to me and my kids were stranded in our house alone, he wouldn't starve. Between catching him sucking water from our outdoor drip lines, to opening little containers of applesauce with his teeth and now to eating lotion, I think he'd be fine until help arrives. They might need to call poison control afterwards but he'd survive.

It actually looks a lot less messy that it really was. The girls had fun 'ice skating' on the slick floor for a while.

Its true

Yep, you guess it: Tami got knocked up yet again! Dickamore #4 (aka: Shocker, Aye carumba, Navy Seal swimmers, etc) will be joining our chaotic family the middle of September. Taeya thinks is a boy, Aliya thinks its a girl and Blake doesn't care (yet)! This kid beat some crazy odds to get here and we are excited to see how it fits in with our family.

New feature

So last fall I was ranting and raving about this new camera Tony got me for my birthday. The thing is awesome. It can do so many things - most things I have no idea how to do. Anyways, I've been playing around with it and found that it has this super cool feature that ages your subjects. I've had fun taking pictures of the kids now and then seeing how they'll look in a year. Here is a couple of the cute 'age-progression' pictures that we've taken:

I love the action shots too!

Pretty cool, eh?

Happy Birthday Aliya!

I cant believe it ... my Aliya turned 4 last week! She is such a fun kid to have around. She's got enough personality to charm anyone and enough stubbornness to get it done. When Aliya is happy, everyone around her is happy. When Aliya is upset, WATCH out! She lights up a room with her smile and when she focuses her green eyes on you, you'll give her whatever she asks for!

We always give our kids the option of picking where we go out to eat on their birthday. I expected her to say "McDonalds" but she immediately replied "Olive Gardens". That kid loves their Alfredo (almost as much as Tony)! Great Grandma Close and Grandma Nette Nette were in town to help us celebrate (which she loved)!

Spoiled thing got TWO cakes! We also celebrated her birthday when the Uncles were in town. After we had cake she came up to me and said "Mom, birthday girls get presents too". She didn't quite understand why she had to wait a couple weeks!

This cake was HEAVEN! My girlfriend Amy has a blog dedicated to desserts and has some killer ideas. Her site stressed spelled backwards is filled with fun, easy recipes and cute giveaways too!

For her birthday she got a princess hair set. Poor Blake has been her favorite doll to try out all the toys! I don't think he needs his hair straightened but she's doing a great job!

Just a quick blow dry! 

Two of her Great Grandma's and one Grandma sent her money. She loved getting to go to the store and pick out whatever she wanted. I think the favorite so far has to be her "Hula loop". She loves it! Bless her heart she tries and actually gets it around a couple times! Check out her determination!

I love the face! Way to go sissy! We love you so much Aliya and are so thankful you've been a part of our family for four years. We love watching you learn and grow. Keep being such a terrific kid!

Great Grandma Close!!!

We had Tony's Grandma in town for a while and it was AWESOME! She is 82 and I have no idea where she gets her energy from. One afternoon I caught her rolling down the hill with Aliya. The kids absolutely adore her and Blake rapidly became her little shadow. I loved having her all to myself everyday. We had so much fun and cant wait until she comes back. The morning after she left, Blake walked into her room a couple times and you could tell he missed his buddy. Thanks so much for your visit Grandma, we cant wait to see you again!

This picture was taken the night she left. The kids had just got out of their baths and were ready for bed. I don't know why I am so forgetful to take pictures. There are so many fun memories I wish we'd captured!

In her suitcase, Grandma brought a whole bunch of toys. Each day the kids would get to pick a surprise. One of Blake's presents was this little puzzle. I figured he was way too young but Grandma got him putting in most of the pieces by the end of her time here. Each time after he'd put the correct shape in the hole, she'd clap or give him a high 5. He loved it!

Grandma taught my girls how to play Bunco. Tae was so excited. She's heard me talk about it and has asked me to teach her but I never find the time. Grandma was so patient and the girls loved it. Aliya has some great rolling skills! That girl was constantly getting baby Buncos! I just might take her with me to my next Bunco night!

Here is Grandma enjoying a nice cold one at the park! Busted!

We had to take her to feed the ducks. Aliya helped herself to Grandma's piece. She had Grandma wrapped around her finger!

Blake loved getting to sit and play with Grandma. She'd patiently turn the Jack-n-the Box thing over and over (I don't do that. Kid gets it once from me then has to just look at the thing). I love how patient Grandma's are. Thanks Grandma for being so patient, kind and loving to me and my family!