Happy 4th of July 2015

We had an amazing, action packed weekend. I had to get a picture of Pheeny looking so girly! She wore a dress or skirt every day for almost a week.

She absolutely loves the swing that we installed last Sunday. The Reddy's gave it to us before they moved and I finally installed it on the 28th of June.

We still play every night in the park. We ride bikes, run, play baseball, play in the sand, or whatever the kids want. A few nights ago we decided to run up and down the hill. I love this picture of Axel and I below. You can see him really trying to run as fast as he can. I love to see the determination in his face.

I also love this picture of Pheeny checking to see if daddy and Axel are close behind her.

On Friday we had our annual BBQ for Keith's and my birthday. Since Keith turns 40 on the 8th of July, he thought it would be cute for the kids to put up how old they are. You can see Phoenix saying 2, although she doesn't quite have 2 fingers up. The twins turn 4 in a couple of weeks, and Alex turns 5 next month.

After dinner the kids played baseball and then they just played silly. I am not sure whose idea it was, but Pheeny and Dellinger put the balls to make big butts and boobies.

You can see how much fun they were having!

After dessert, we headed to the park. Here is a super cute picture of Phoenix, Axel and Alex.

Axel got to show off his riding skills. Here is a great picture of him focused on making it up the dirt hill on his bike. He still hasn't made it all the way up, but he gets an A for effort. 

The gathering ended a little later than expected. I quickly bathed the kids and was trying to get them to bed. Axel came into Pheeny's room to say goodnight and I thought he went off to his room. As I was saying good night to Pheeny, she asked for a second blanket. I went into her closet to get another blanket. My little funny man was in her closet in the dark, giggling away as I screamed out of fright. Axel was so proud of scaring me!

On Saturday we went to Aunties house for another BBQ. Here are Phoenix and Braylin wearing the 4th dresses that Grandma Susan made them.

We all had a really good time. The kids played well together, the adults enjoyed some yummy food, and the day came to and end all too quickly. We sung Daddy Happy Birthday which was nice and embarrassing for him as well.

The kids had their usual cousin bath together before we headed home for bed.

On Sunday, the kids and I met up with the McFarrens. We enjoyed catching up and the kids had fun running around together.

It was so nice that they made time to visit with us. We always enjoy their company.

Daddy unfortunately re injured his hamstring kicking around the soccer ball on Friday night. As a result we are not longer spending the day together for his birthday on Wednesday. He will go to work like every other day and hopes to be recovered and back to his usual, happy, riding self by this coming weekend. Until next time......we will be enjoying the long summer days!

Videos of Jump Street visit and Axel swimming

During our stay in Arizona this past weekend we went to Jake's jump street gym to watch him do some very entertaining acrobatics. Jake, Keith's only cousin, taught himself by watching others and you tube videos. I was very impressed and wanted to share what Phoenix and Axel were exposed to.

Axel was so excited watching Jake jump that he got brave and tried some tricks of his own :)

Here is a short video of Axel learning free style during one of his swim lessons last week.

Arizona Fun

We have been very busy since I last wrote. I meant to do a post last week, but couldn't manage to find the time. Two weekends ago we had two parties we attended. Axel went to a fun Lego party for his classmate James and then we went to Annika's graduation party. Here Axel is playing one of the games. 

 Axel, James, Claire and Jamison were a team for all three Lego games. I got a group picture of their team as they won "who could build the tallest tower" game. As you can see from this photo Axel grew so well this year he caught up to both Claire and James, who were about an inch or so taller than Axel at the beginning of the year. That is exciting because he is no longer the smallest child in his grade. He is still one of the 5 smallest, but we are no longer keeping track as Axel has learned size doesn't matter. He can do anything he sets his heart on.

 I thought it was funny that James also built the number 6 out of his Legos. James and Axel had a lot more in common than I knew before the party.

 Luckily, James had a play structure in his backyard so Phoenix was well entertained the entire party.

 Here is the birthday group. I like this photo because you can see the wide range of heights in the 6 year old bunch. The three children on the right who are taller are all 8 years old, but the rest are Axel's age except the boy in the glasses who is James' brother who is 7 and the tall cousin in the back.

 It has been two weeks since Phoenix's cast was removed. The morning of her cast removal she decided she was ready to be potty trained. She was extremely motivated because she wanted to go swimming. She is mostly potty trained now and consistently goes number one and two. She struggles with relaxing on the toilet so her bowl movements are lucky to be once a day. She likes to be in control so it has been a challenge to potty train her. She spent a lot of time crying in her crib the first week. The second week has been easier but there are times when she still refuses to go. Luckily, she has Axel's and Daddy's camel bladder and can go hours without going. She is still wearing a diaper during naps and bedtime. She is a very sound sleeper. I am curious as to when we will be able to transition her out of diapers all together. Our first agenda is mastering the day time use of the potty and buying her a big girl bed. Hopefully by the time the big girl bed arrives she will be ready to start holding it at minimum through her nap times.

I love this picture below. Phoenix adores Axel and Axel adores Phoenix. Phoenix has to do everything Axel does, even pretend to sleep like him.

 Axel started swim lessons last week. Here Phoenix is entertaining herself during Axel's lesson.

 Axel is now in youth level 2 class where he is starting to learn free style. He gets the concept of the arms very well. What he really needs to work on is his kick. Once he has his legs to help propel him he will be quite the little swimmer.

 Last Friday morning we headed to Arizona. We had the smoothest trip there. Everything was extremely quick. We arrived at Kendra's more than an hour earlier than we expected. Easton and Axel got along very well. They essentially played Legos the entire time.

 Phoenix was mesmerized by Layla's toys. Here Layla is showing her how Elsa sings.

 Keith and I thoroughly enjoyed spending the day with Kendra, Bronson, Aunt Ginny and Uncle Steve. Kendra is exactly how she has always been. She is the most confident, beautiful disciple of the Lord that I have ever had the privilege of knowing. Her joy of life and the Holy Spirit flow out of her so much you can't help but love life in her presence. Keith and I can't wait to visit again.

 Phoenix and Axel had to much fun they both were fast asleep when we left at 4pm. Phoenix was asleep within the first minute and slept over an hour and a half.

 Axel took about 10 minutes to fall asleep and woke up 10 minutes later when we arrived at our hotel.

 On Friday evening we enjoyed a nice meal with Keith's Aunt June and cousin Jake. On Saturday morning Aunt June, Jake and his girlfriend Sarah joined us at Butterfly wonderland.

 It was an awesome experience to be in an atrium filled with thousands of butterflies. My favorite butterfly is this blue one that Pheeny is looking at.

 Aunt June made a special friend.

 After 10 minutes, or so it seemed, the butterfly that was so intrigued with Aunt June decided to give Daddy's hand a try. Daddy said it felt odd having the butterfly crawl on him, but it was definitely a cool experience.

 I love this picture of the Szolushas!

 On Sunday we went out to breakfast for Father's day. Daddy is getting a kick out of the tie that Axel made for him. On it he said that Daddy was 21 years old and that he had golden hair. Boy, did daddy like to read that!

 How I love my handsome husband. I have been impressed with his growth through the years and how much he loves being a father. He really is an amazing father to our children!

 After breakfast we tried to go for one last swim before checking out of the hotel. Unfortunately, the pool was infested with bees. Because I got stung the day before we decided not to take anymore chances since Keith is allergic to bee stings and we are unsure if Phoenix and Axel are. Instead, we decided to find a park to play at. We lucked out at this small little park. We managed to last nearly 40 minutes before the 100+ degree temperature got to us (this was at 11 am).

 We spent the afternoon at Aunt June's house enjoying more quality time before we headed to the airport. We were super bummed to discover that our flight had been delayed over two hours. To fill the time we strolled through our terminal looking for a yummy treat. Well, the only place that had a yummy treat was McDonald's. Axel and Phoenix had their first McDonald's experience with huge ice cream cones. They both devoured the ice cream cone. We eventually got home just after 11pm. The kids were exhausted as they both stayed awake the entire day (except for Pheeny's 20 minute cat nap in the car on the way to the airport). They were so tired that they slept in until 9 and 10 am. Phoenix then went down for a 3 hour nap just 2 and a half hours after waking! They are finally caught up on sleep 4 days later.

 The big news today is that we are saying goodbye to Rishaan and his family later this evening. I have so many emotions built up I know I am going to need to let it out. I find it funny that I feel so much pain and sadness in my heart for the loss of Axel's best friend for the past 4 years. I can't remember grieving or sadness with the many moves and changes in school that I had through the years, so why I am so worried and said for Axel? I guess I don't want him to feel the sadness so I am projecting the sadness onto myself. Well, with goodbyes always come growth. Only the Lord knows what is to come so I will delight in today!

God Bless!

Axel's last day of school

Last weekend Axel wanted to ride, ride, ride. He rode for over 30 minutes straight without stopping. His skills have improved tremendously. He no longer needs help with starting or stopping even if he is on a slight incline. He can go up and down hills. He can ride in grass and through obstacles that daddy makes up. 

 It is amazing to see how much his confidence has improved and how much fun he is having.

 Phoenix acclimated to her short cast quite quickly. She mastered running, walking, climbing and jumping. Here she is being silly in the swing.

 The past couple of weeks Phoenix has become obsessed with stickers. She sticks hundreds of stickers on paper and when I let her all over herself.

 Axel's last day of kindergarten was this Wednesday, June 10th. It is hard to believe that school year is already over. Axel has matured by leaps and bounds emotionally compared to the beginning of the year. His math and reading have improved as well, but nothing compared to his attitude and perspective on life. He is happy, content and loves to build, play and create.

Phoenix got jealous of me taking pictures of Axel so she joined in to capture a great sibling photo.

 I was able to take a long lunch on Wednesday to attend the end of year "party" where the kids sang to us and received their memory books and summer survival packet.

 It was a tear wrenching song that they sang twice with lots of snacks and treats before and after each performance. Here is Axel being Axel during one of the snack breaks.

 There was also some free time for us parents to take pictures of our kiddos. I absolutely love this picture of Axel and his friends (Liam B. Logan and Liam F.). This captures how comfortable he is with himself. It took him nearly 3/4's of the school year to realize that size doesn't matter and that he can do everything his friends can do and everyone likes him despite his size. I am so very proud of Axel. I want to cry just thinking about it!

 And what a wonderful experience Axel had this year under Mrs. Tolbert's guidance. We were blessed to have a wonderful teacher who was not only a good teacher, but a caring, loving Christian!

I pray and hope we will be as lucky in the future.

Phoenix got her cast off yesterday morning, but I was unable to get any pictures as I was holding and carrying her around most of the day. We managed to go swimming in the afternoon, after her 3 hour marathon nap, which helped her get confidence in moving her left leg. She finally managed to walk around dinner time. Yesterday we also started potty training again. This time she is finally ready. She had one accident while taking her nap, but otherwise was successful. She even held her bladder all night last night! We have been busy running errands and going to the doctor so I have been thoroughly impressed and excited at how easy it is going. She might be as easy as Axel was.......time will tell.

Phoenix walks, climbs and rides! and Axel r ides without training wheel!

On Thursday morning Phoenix and I headed to Jack Fischer Park after dropping Axel off at school. I wanted her to be able to play as much as possible before heading to the doctors. It was perfect timing to get the cast removed because on Memorial Day she started walking and standing on it.

 Here she is smiling away.

 Look at this little climber!

 What a trooper!

Here she is cool and collected on the drive to the doctor. She wasn't so happy at the doctor. I wasn't able to get any photos because I took her alone, but the event was pretty traumatizing. They had to put sound blocking ear muffs on her to keep the sound of the saw from being "too loud and scary". Luckily, all went well and she has a new short cast for the next two weeks. She has 50% healing right now and the cast comes off on June 11th when she has 75% healing. The doctor says she will be at risk for re injury for 2 weeks after the cast comes off and that we have to be super diligent about not letting her jump or twist. We will see how that goes. By the grace of God nothing bad will happen!

 On Friday night we had my best bud from high school over for dinner. Tiffany and family were in town for a wedding. They just bought a house in Seattle where they relocated a few months ago. Axel and Avery had a blast playing together. We hope to visit them some time this year and check out there new amazing 6 bedroom home!

 Here is our little one walking now.

And here she is riding her bike....

And kicking the ball....

 And being silly with daddy.

 The big news of the weekend is that Axel can ride his bike without training wheels. We took him to Marshall Lane and within 2 pedal strokes I let go and he was riding. It was as easy as potty training for him. The great thing with Axel is when he is ready and decides to do something he does it very quickly. Keith and I are so proud of him. He even tried to ride home without the training wheels on. He is still figuring out how to start on his own and brake without dragging his feet. We hope within a week or so he is proficient at all components of riding his bike so that we can start doing family bike rides!

After bike riding we headed over to the Zimmermans pool. Since they are out of town Axel and Rishaan had a blast swimming. Axel has improved since last summer without any lessons so we are really excited to see how much he improves when swim lessons start in a couple of weeks after school ends. Axel has mentioned wanting to join the swim team. We told him if he can learn free style that he is more than welcome to try swim team next year. We are excited to see what the next year unfolds. It is hard to believe summer is almost here!