April's Top Ten....

10. Shiners and Cameras. One of the chief components in our little Toronto life involves Maddie and Robby always getting "owies." Our kids are quite the bruisers and always seem to be diving, jumping, or falling off every sort of ledge. Some of the newest additions include Maddie's beat up face from a few weeks ago. First she slipped off a swing at her playgroup and face planted in some sand, giving her a bloody nose and some road rash on her chin. Then the very next day we were playing with bubbles in the front yard and she ran right into the house with her face, giving her a lovely black eye. Already those have healed and we are on the lookout for the next accident.
On another note, Maddie has taken a fascination with cameras as of late. When we had joyschool at our house a few weeks back, she found this pink camera in the toy bucket. She spent that entire week walking around making Robby and I say cheese over and over. After each and every pretend picture she would comment on how we looked; such as "that was a really cute picture" or "good smile mommy" etc. Perhaps one day we will buy her a camera that she can have all to herself?!

9. Going to TWO suns game with my friend Carla and then my sister Lori. Eli, of course, came along both times, but it was so much fun to go and spend some quality time with two of my favorite people to be with!

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8. When Jesse and I were first married we lived in the funnest newlywed/young married apartment ward ever. We met so many good friends that we still keep in contact with and sometimes even get together with. One family, the Robinson's, moved to Utah a few years ago. A little over a year ago, we even stayed with them for a few nights when we went to Utah for a family wedding. Just recently they came back down to Arizona to visit. They invited several of the families from El Dorado ward for a fun day at the park. It was a lot of fun to get together and play catch up. It was also neat to see how grown up all of our kids are getting. Maddie ran off and played and played with the girls, while Robby kept taking off for the street. Thanks for inviting us for a fun day at the park Robinson's (even if you can never seem to get our name right~ j/k!)

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7. One of Robby's favorite "games" to play right now is tackle your sister to the floor and lay on her. It always starts out looking nice....he walks over to Maddie with a big smile on his face, arms stretched out ready to give a great big hug. He then wraps his arms around her and laughs as she hugs him back. Then without warning he tips her over, knocking her flat on her back as a shriek of delight escapes his lips. Then he laughs and laughs as she struggles to break free of him, but is unable to do so. After the struggle she then starts yelling for me to rescue her. I can't help but laugh as I watch this daily routine. It is such payback for the number of times she would lay on him as a baby laughing in delight as he started to cry. I eventually walk over and lift him off of her and then the game begins again..... *

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6. SHOPPING trips with my Mom! For those of you that don't know already...my mom is the best! My birthday present each year is almost always shopping for new clothes. This is always such fun because I can get a few new pieces of clothes guilt free. Another bonus is I get to spend some fun time with my mom without all the kids in tow. I cannot wait for my next birthday so that I can do this again.

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5. The Arizona Science Center had free admission last weekend for their special friends and family day. Lori (my sis) invited us all to come and see what it's all about that day with their little family. The first thing I did was hit up my mom to see if she wanted to come as well (an absolute necessity in order for me to brave a place like that with three kids). That morning I tried SO HARD to get ready quickly and make it out of the house early and prepared for the long day ahead of us. We stopped and picked up my mom and then trekked out to Phoenix. We thought we were making pretty good time until we got there and saw the line! The five of us (Maddie, Robby, Eli, Grandma S and me~Tiffany) waited in that stinkin' line for over an HOUR. Fortunately all the kids were such troupers and did pretty well. Once we made it in, we got some free food samples and were able to look at some fun exhibits. I learned several things that day: 1. it really would work better to have another adult there to make the adult/kid ratio 1:1 so that each may be watched individually 2. not to go back to the science center until one of my kids is at least 7rs old and can properly appreciate the exhibits 3. I really don't do as well as I thought in long lines and big crowds 4. even when days are hectic and crazy, it is fun to look back on them with fond memories :).

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4. A few weeks ago we (as in me and the kids) were sitting at the table eating our breakfast. Maddie turns to me and says, "Mom, I like Robby. He's my best friend." It warmed my heart to hear her say such a sweet thing. Even with all the fighting, teasing, and tears that goes on at our house, I am glad to see her recognize the strong bond between the two of them. I sincerely pray that she never forgets who her true best friends are in this life~her family.

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3. A bunch of ladies from my neighborhood got together a little over a week ago for a "girls night out" to dinner. It was to say goodbye to Ashleigh before she moved back to Utah. Even though the evening didn't really go as originally intended and we ended up split up at two different restaurants, it was still fun to get together with some girls and eat good old fashioned "Joe's Real Barbeque". left to right: Jen, Hillary, Wendy, Tiffany, Ruth, Kelly, Beth, Karmann, Ashleigh, Nikki, and Melanie

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2. Several months ago, I set a small goal for myself...to run Pat's Run in under 45 minutes. I know most of you could probably do that with your eyes closed :), but for me it was a small and simple way to motivate myself to continue going to the gym regularly and work on getting my three time prego bod back in shape. I spent the last few months running 4-5 times a week and things were going along quite smoothly (which means something bad MUST happen right?) until all of sudden my left knee started KILLING every time I ran. I kept pushing and pushing until one night I could barely walk after running. That was when I decided to rest the knee the entire week leading up to the run. With the rest, it started feeling better and I was excited as the day rapidly approached.

That Friday was an eventful day where Jesse ended up working late so I put the kids to bed and began setting things out for the next morning. I decided I would try to get to bed early because I needed to wake up around 4:30am to get ready. You know how with kids you sometimes have "one of those nights"? Well unfortunately that was "one of those nights" for me.

I went to bed around 10pm and had a hard time falling asleep due to being keyed up for the morning.

As soon as I was finally sleeping, I was woken up to Robby's screams. He had lost the beloved pacifier in his crib and needed a new one.

"Oh well" I thought; now I can officially 'hit the hay' and get some sleep.

An hour later Jesse comes walking in after a FULL day of work. He was exhausted and quickly got ready for bed and joined me.

We were both in dreamland when our home phone starts ringing....who could it be? Why my younger brother of course. One time was totally understandable on accident right? Unfortunately it happened over and over again for the next hour. He was at a party and we could hear him talking in the background but were not able to get him to answer us. We would hang up and then a few minutes later it would call us AGAIN. Finally Jesse sent him a text message to quit calling us. By now it was 2am.

3am finds Maddie running in our room crying. She was upset because her "special" white blankie was nowhere to be found. In reality it was stuffed down under her sheets where she was unable to locate it. But by this time she was WIDE AWAKE and had a difficult time falling back asleep, which means three more trips into our room for hugs, potty time, and finally a drink of water. Grrrhhh....it is now 4am and I had to wake up in 30 minutes, unless I play hookie and ditch out on my carpool.

4:30am- Eli starts crying in his room, which means it is feeding time. I somehow manage to drag my half-dead body into his room to feed him. At that point I was so tired I woke up Jesse to let him know that I might die from exhaustion. He encouraged me to forget about the race and go back to sleep after feeding the babe. He had totally convinced me to return back to bed, but by the end of the feeding I decided to go ahead and get ready to go. I hurried and got ready and then took off to meet up with Carla and Abby.

It was jam packed at the race this year (it gets worse every year) and we had a hard time finding a parking spot and then figuring out where we all needed to be.

The good news is we all made it through the race, even if I got totally smoked by the two of them. I guess there's next year for the payback right?! We all had a good time and I ended up running the 4.2 miles in a little under 41 minutes. I could barely walk afterwards but I am proud to say I accomplished my goal!

On a not so fun side note: my knee STILL hurts and I am slightly worried that it might need to be seen by a doctor.
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1. Family Night at Grandma & Grandpa's house! We love our Sunday dinners at my parents house (and also my in-laws), which always include lots of playtime afterwards. It is especially fun for us to be able to play with Kaylin--their one and only cousin.

(it's pretty sad that I somehow CANNOT get the courage or energy to wean my two-year old off the pacifier)

Happy Easter!

This is as good as it gets with three kids three and under!

Easter Egg Hunt

We were lucky enough to be invited by "Nona" and "Papa" (my in-laws) to a fun Easter egg hunt and pancake breakfast this past Saturday. It was held at a park close to their house and is annual tradition in their ward (maybe someday our area's growth will slow down enough for some of these fun traditions to develop).

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We had a random rainy day in Arizona that morning and bundled the kids up before we left. It was so much fun to eat yummy pancakes, eggs, and sausage huddled together to stay warm. Then it was off to the field for the egg hunt. Maddie told me she was "freezing" but that didn't stop her from running around collecting as many eggs as her basket could hold. Robby, on the other hand, didn't quite get what was going on. When they yelled GO, he just stood there looking around. It took some encouragement before he was off finding eggs as well. We came away with a lot of loot at the end and the kids happily ate candy the entire way home :) They also had an Easter bunny there to take pictures with.....Maddie didn't want anything to do with that. She hid in my shoulder during the attempt at a photo-op. Eli gladly entertained my mother-in-law and several of her friends during the outing with big toothless smiles (my fave)!

Robby a little confused about what he's supposed to be doing :)

Maddie freezing cold, but quite pleased at her treasures!

Just like Daddy

March's Top Ten....

10. Going to my cutest ever niece, Kaylin's, 2nd birthday party. We had so much fun hanging out at their house eating yummy food and cake. Maddie even colored some pictures and wrapped them as a birthday present for Kaylin (we also brought a present as well :)

9. I have been going to the gym on a regular basis since mid-February and can proudly say that I am able to run 3-3.5miles straight without feeling like I might die.

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8. Robby has just learned how to say prayers before we eat and at bedtime. It is so cute to listen to him jabber in his own language. Normally I will sort of prompt him along and recognize several of the words that he repeats after me, with a lot of extra gibberish thrown in as well. I have noticed that whenever I say "Eli" he always repeats back "baby I-E"

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7. Maddie has LOVED how she has so many friends with birthdays in March. She went to three different princess parties and was in heaven when she got to dress up for them. She went as Cinderella, Snow White (Kailey's) and dressed up "fancy" for Makenna's. She tells me every day how she is going to have a "Belle birthday party" for her own birthday and get "Belle dress up." Too bad she only has 6 more months to go. I cannot wait to see her change her mind a dozen more times before the big day comes!!

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6. Playing in the yard is all fun and dandy....until you catch your 2 and 3 year old up straddling the fence between our yard and the neighbor's with big smiles on their faces. The fence is at least six feet tall and was scaled by climbing the pavers stacked next to it. Thank heavens no one fell/ was hurt. Note to self: watch kids much more carefully when they go out back to "play" and bug the husband about moving the pavers to a safer location.

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5. I am pretty much still head over heels in love with my littlest man Eli. His bright smile and big eyes can make even the worst day wonderful. He has the cutest giggles in the world and I love his babbling. He loves to have stare down contests while he babbles away. Just this month he has also developed quite the little ticklish bone. He laughs like CRAZY when I tickle his belly and feet! Ohhhh, I just want to squeeze him and love him all day long. Isn't there some way to freeze time to stop him from growing up?!

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4. I just turned 25 AGAIN (oh wait, I guess I am now 27). I was overwhelmed by the phone calls, chocolate strawberries, cards, flowers, and cake that I received by friends and family. It truly was a special day topped off with my special sister-in-law bringing out a fun birthday card, krispy kremes (super yummy) and a beautiful vase of flowers. THANKS TO ALL!

3. Earlier in March, we hosted something called a "Friendship Dinner" in our home. We had 3 other couples and their kids come over and eat dinner with us and play games. It is used as a way to get to know people in our neighborhood a little better. Ours was slightly chaotic with all the kids at the house, but so much fun! We had good food and good company; what more can you ask for?

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2. There are several phrases that have become a staple part of Maddie's day. Some of these include: "Why should I?" (to EVERY request), "I'm sorry" (immediately after a naughty act), "I am too busy" (when asked to help with something), "maybe later" (when asked to come for dinner) and "I just want to be sad and mad; I am not going to be happy" (as she is put in time out). But there is one phrase in particular which makes me smile when I hear her say it: "You/He never minds". She tells me this when she wants something that isn't hers. Robby will be screaming at the top of his lungs because she just stole his coveted green train, and she will still inform me that "he never minds" her taking the train. She also tells this to me when I specifically tell her to put a toy away. She will look right at me and tell me that I "never mind" her leaving the toy out. Gotta love it, or at least love the thought that she will soon come up with a new catch phrase : )

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1. With the downturn in the economy and a super strict budget now in place, I find myself with zero money to spend on my hair and nails these days (sad, I know). In exchange I am learning to do without, how to give oneself a pedicure at home and also the beauty of packaged hair products, aka hair dye. My mom and I collaborated and dyed my hair light blond this month. It turned out slightly yellow, but other than that turned out pretty darn good. I was so proud of us for saving some money this month on hair care.. YEAH!

9 hours

not to bore anyone else out, but it thrills me to say that eli slept 9 hours straight last night. hurray for more sleep for me!

Dirt Yard

So...how does one entertain themselves when their entire backyard is basically dirt and weeds?

Well lots of things:
1. pretend those ugly weeds are flowers and pick bouquets of them for mom
2. play hide and seek by hiding behind those same ugly weeds with your little brother
3. jump in and out of the partially dug trenches, courtesy of daddy
4. watch for lizards climbing the block fence
5. color with chalk on the small slab of concrete next to the sliding door
6. climb the stack of pavers on the side of the house and chat with the neighbor boy who encourages scaling the fence to join him in his yard
7. pick up dead birds off the ground and proudly bring them to mommy, who in turn screams like crazy and makes you wash your hands half a dozen times (100% true story)
8. eat 10 otter pops in one afternoon, which in turn results in a full belly before dinnertime
9. come in and out of the house so many times that the evening is spent pointing out the flies so mommy can kill them with the newspaper
10. and best of all, giving each other rides across the yard on our metal cart!

hurray for the beautiful SPRING weather!