Swim Team and Piano Lessons - Whew!

Sometimes you have to rush! Today after swim team practice we had to shower and change to be on time to piano lessons! We also had to be home for Mom's much over-due hair appointment by 4. Needless to say we didn't get to all of our errands but we did rush around all day!

Cleaning Up

What a nasty chore. . . cleaning up the bunny cage. It's especially difficult when trying to juggle the babies. Here is the bed Jessica made for them. She couldn't have found more amiable subjects!

 

 

Forest, Sage, Thumper and Poppy

School's OUT!

Officially, yesterday was the last day of school. Fortunately for me, the girls were actually already done and both earned Honor Roll status. Way to go girls! It started yesterday, but we had a freak storm come through in the driest month in AZ. The kids had a ball wearing swim suits and playing in the rain. (It's 70' today, but was only 58' when I snapped these pictures.)


I also thought an update on the bunnies was in order. We are down to only 4, but we've named them now and hopefully these will all live. This is Forest. He is our "PorkChop" this batch around:

This is Sage:

This is Poppy (Petunia's Look alike and again a runt):

This is Thumper. He literally kicks and jumps like crazy when you pick him up!
And our little tailless, earless Petunia. She is so sweet!

Attracted to Hats

Today is Piano Lesson day so we went to the bank, the post office, the gas station and shopping for a new dress for mom. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a tasteful, stylish, modest dress? Ask the kids. . . they endured hours of shopping. Fortunately they found these hats that were entertaining for a while. Mom thought they were going to call security. The price tag for these babies? $79 - $169 WHAT??!!? People actually pay to wear these?

You Know You Want Some

Mom bought these on Saturday but we've been flying and today was the first opportunity to make these:

Prince Caspian

Today was Mikensee's Book Club and we went to see Prince Caspian, the book they just finished reading. Wyatt said at least 15 times during the movie that he wants to watch it again and again, so I guess that means he liked it! The book club decided it is very little like the book and as for me; I liked The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe better.

Unleash the Inner Want Deamon

All day long Mom heard Walker whine that he wanted to buy something. Then dad brought home not 1, but 2 Oriental Trader Magazines and the inner want demon was unleashed with a vengeance. Walker wants this and Walker wants that. . .he has great reasons for wanting the stuff, but no logical reasoning as why he can't have. Fortunately with a lot of distraction Mom was able to dispose of the magazines in the Monday evening trash removal. Nothing to look at, nothing to buy!

Baby Shower!

Meet Bennett Louis Levine:

Mom has waited for a long time for her dear friend Dawn to have a baby. . . Over a decade to be precise! She's been planning the shower along with making the invites, party favors and games (with lots of help with Mikensee) for a couple of months. The party was fantastic and we really had a great afternoon!

Saturday Is a Special Day

it's the day we get ready for Sunday! But not today! Today we ran around like mad people! Mikensee had a sleep over so she went shopping with her friend. Me and the kids went to choir practice for Stake Conference and then made a mad dash to the store. Once we made it home we frantically unloaded and put away the melting food. I helped a friend make a gift for another friend and then changed clothes and ran to the adult session of Stake Conference. Mike and I enjoyed the evening and finished it with some yummy BBQ at a newish place in downtown Buckeye. Of course once home I had to get ready for Sunday as the rest of the day left no time!

I just love this photo I snapped today! Pose Pretty Penny:

And a litter makes???

We have no idea! Don't look if you are at all squeamish. . .



We think we now have 13 or 14, but there are sooooooo many! We thought we only had 1 mama, but now we know we have 2. . . but which 2? Bunnies are funny critters. . . they don't visibly nurse or show teats or any physical features that would tell you. . . As a matter of fact both Wilbur and Hannah look skinny today. . . we already figured out that Honey is the mother of the 1st and 2nd litters, but it's anyones guess right now if Wilbur is a she or Hannah is a he. We're hoping to figure it out soon so we can move the "he" and end the madness, but for now, we have a bunch of bunnies!

We knew on Tuesday night that someone was about to have babies because the nest was full of fur. Rabbits pull out their fur and make a nest before they have their babies. Sure enough Wednesday morning we had 7 babies. Mom went out to check on the new youngsters this morning and they were all doing fine. She treated the adults (and Petunia) to some fresh greens and went out to check on them again about 1, but the first thing she saw was a lot of blood. . . she thought for sure they were eating the babies and she was very mad! But on closer inspection there was a ton more hair and many more baby bunnies. . . Only one problem. . .which babies are which? They are all about the same size and appear to have similar coloring. . . Oh my! Hopefully both mothers will tend to them as 13 (14) is enough to drive any mother mad!

Bah, Bah, Bah, Bah, I'm Lovin' It

Yep, McDonald's! Thursdays are Piano lesson days and as a result the kids get fast food once a week. Why they always pick McDonald's is beyond me, but they do. Today was free Chicken Sandwich Day. It cost me $15 for those free sandwiches, but I guess it's better than the usual $21 we spend. (You had to buy medium or large drinks for every "free" sandwich and we can't go without fry's!) I love that in these pictures it looks like we live somewhere exotic. I guess to some Arizona is exotic. Mom got to go with Grandma for their Mother's Day Massage and oh what a treat that was! We had another litter of bunnies today. . . 7 to be exact! Sadly we lost Pork Chop to an over-night escape. Somehow he ended up in the swimming pool. It was tragic to find him that way. Amazingly, 1 was lost, 7 were gained. . . It made the pain a little easier to take.




We also ran a quick trip to Old Navy where Wyatt found this really cool jacket that he really wanted to go home in:



And Walker found the .25 cent Bouncy Ball Machine. Here he is trying to convince me to give him a quarter. What would you have done? Yes, I caved. It also got the jacket off Wyatt and he was very proud of the bouncy ball trade-off.

Still Swimming

Not much exiting going on around here today. Just trying to finish with school for the year. Tonight was swim team practice again, but after 2 days of unseasonably cold weather, the kids didn't enjoy it too much today. Too COLD they complained! The boys entertained themselves on the bleachers while Mikensee finished her yards and Jessica visited with the resident bird which the boys have also enjoyed these past 3 days.

Pancakes, Cactus and Rain

We started our day today at the end of the year Pancake Breakfast. On the way home the weather was so nice we stopped and took the little hike at the Estrella Mountain Entrance near our house. It sprinkled on us this morning on our way to breakfast and once we came home it poured! The kids made a rain tent and played for a while. Now they are all anxiously awaiting swim team practice. Julie is also on her way in from Laguna Beach and we are excited about that!

For the Pancake Breakfast the girls were to write an Acrostic Poem using the word Pancakes:

Jessica's

Pumpkin
Apple
Nice
Cake
Always for Breakfast
Kid
Eats
Silly Pancakes

Mikensee's

Possibly
Awesome
Nothing else is as wonderful.
Cook them in a pan
And eat them hot.
Kids
Enjoy
Something special.

Great job girls!

Swim Season Is Here

The kids have been counting the days (no, make that minutes) until they were all in swim team. We took a break while the younger kids weren't old enough and they were all just dying for this summer to roll around. You can imagine that all mom heard all day was if it's time to go to swim team yet. There are sure to be many more swim team photos featured on our Moments in Time and Funk Family Blog!

Mother's Day

What a wonderful day!




Truly, I was spoiled by my family. My husband said it wasn't enough, but I felt like it was my birthday and not just Mother's Day. Mikensee spoiled me with several homemade cards as well as a tin covered and stuffed with candy and this adorable flower-pot pen holder. I just love them! My mom bought me a massage (ironically the same gift at the same place I got her -- great minds think alike!) My dear husband also gave me a new bottle of perfume. Tommy Bahama for Women. . .

Once every seven years Mother's Day is also Krista's birthday so today we also celebrated her day with the big BBQ at my house. Lyndsee turns Sweet 16 on Saturday so we also partied a little bit for her as she's too big for a family party on her real birthday. Our family likes to pack the celebrations in. We did it right today!

Not as Expected (Well Sort Of). . .

Look what the dad drug in bright and early this AM (like 12:02!):




So much for Mom's Saturday off! Had she have known that she wasn't going to get it she would have planned her Friday a lot differently and instead of doing 5 history lessons with Jessica, she would have worked on her never ending list of projects! Sadly she knew that her boys probably wouldn't make it, but she did have high hopes. Dad was certain she was wrong, but apparently Dad started listening to the boys ask for her THURSDAY night and it never stopped. He finally gave up, packed up and came home. Of course when he called Mom he told her that he just knew the boys were sick, but the only sick they were was HOMESICK! Happy Mother's Day to Mom! It's okay though because she knows that the day will come, probably sooner than she wants, when they won't want to be around her anymore. Do you see how tired they were?

Addicted to Shoes

The boys in the house are gone, so what are the girls to do? Organize shoes of course! Mom never would have thought she had a shoe fetish, but this photo proves it. We didn't count how many pairs, we just cleaned the shelves, organized and put them back. Actually she threw out 10 pairs. Why would mom have this many shoes? Perhaps it goes back to her childhood when she had to wear her UNCLE Jeff's hand-me-down tennis shoes (she still hates tennis shoes) or the fact that her size 11-12 sled shoes cost so much that one pair per season was all her parents could afford and so they were worn to a pulp and despised by the time a new pair came around. Either way, she doesn't spend a lot on shoes, but she doesn't out grow them anymore either! How is it that everytime she gets dressed she can't find a pair to match?

Me and The Girls

I had intended to take a photo of the boys leaving for the camping/fishing trip today, but forgot. Then I was going to take a picture of me and the girls being bad, but I forgot! So, essentially, no photo today!

So how bad were we?

We went shopping for Mikensee's Fancy Pancy Pets. We hit Joanne's, Hobby Lobby and Wal-Mart (Twice!). We did our Costco run in preparation for me to cook myself Mother's Day dinner, and we ate at Carraba's! We had Calamari and Mikensee and I shared a yummy chicken dinner with an extra side of garlic mashed potatoes! Jessica had Cheese Ravioli and she devoured them! We ate until stuffed and then made our 2nd run on Wal-Mart where we each bought the ice-cream we wanted. Jessica got Bubble Yum (oh joy), Mikensee got Cookies and Cream and I bought Strawberry Cheesecake. . . We were still too full to have any tonight, but maybe for breakfast??!!?? Now I'm going to be ULTRA BAD and watch 27 Dresses that I picked up at Blockbuster on our last stop before coming home!

Are We There Yet?

It's very hard to explain to 4 year olds with no concept of time that the fishing trip they are waiting for is really tomorrow! Today they got their hair cuts in preparation for their trip and we continued to gather supplies. Wyatt and Walker were really not going to budge from this pile of sleeping bags and pillows, but when the fishing poles came out they were off. Mom is apprehensive, but looking forward to a lighter load for a couple of days. Mikensee would probably be really excited too, if Jessica were also going because then it would truly be a vacation! Mom thinks Jessica will be good, but we'll just have to wait and see.

 

My Bug Friend

Today Mikensee took her semester History test. She was fairly disappointed that it took her a long time and she still had to retake the exam needing at least 2 more points than she received. Basically less than 80% didn't quite cut it. Mucy to mom's dismay she is doing the very minimum number of lessons each day so that she will have school work each day until the last day of school on May 22nd. She could chunk some lessons and be done much sooner (like this week), but she won't.

 

Wyatt spent some time today playing with miscellaneous game pieces. This is his bug friend. He's quite cute when he tells you about it. Mom personally thinks that it's quite ingenious. He does exhibit quite a few artsy tendencies and has loads of patience for fine motor skill activities.

 

 

Jessica took her final math exam today and also finished her phonics work for the year. She only has to concquer 6 science and 7 history lessons and she's done with first grade! (Mom can hardly wait!!!)

 

We did Pilates today. Pilates are Mikensee's favorites. Walker complains because it makes his legs hurt and Wyatt says his arms just can't do it. Mom just loves that she can bribe them with a popsicle and they do it anyway.

Mike and the boys are busily preparing for their Father/Son campout this week. Mom is very nervous as it is only the second time she will have been away from the boys all night. Last time Mom told dad if anything happened to her boys he better not come home. She still feels the exact same way.

Today we gave our bunnies lots of love! It's Monday, so mom taught piano lessons and Jessica went to play group. Of course we also exercised . . . 4 miles . . . and did school. Mikensee is still actively working on her Fancy Pancy Pets products and started making some pet pads (fleece dog and cat blankets). We're having taco salad for dinner and having FHE on Mothers.

Walker holding Petunia

Wyatt holding Pork Chop

Walker singing Petunia a lullaby

Wyatt loving on Petunia