Bunco

Bunco's Back!!!After a few months off for the summer, my Bunco group is finally back into full swing. Last night, we had a great time at Lisa's house. As usual, I didn't win anything, but the take-home prize. That's OK, it was some yummy lotion and it was fun to be back with the girls. Lisa's new house is beautiful! We thought her awesome staircase was a perfect spot for a group shot.

We had to be a little dorky and have goofy shot!
Jen, Nicole and Crystal!
Vonda, me and Liz.

Our host, Lisa, with Vonda. Terri and I.

Tammy, Crystal and Trish.
Angie and Terri.
The whole gang on the staircase. We originally were going from oldest to youngest, but for some reason, Trish wanted to be a little older and skipped ahead of a few people. With 5 kids, it's so nice to have at least one night a month that you know you can get away and hang out with the girls. Next month, Halloween at Jen's. I'm so glad Bunco's back!

Tanner's Goggles

My kids all love to swim, but Tanner and Riley have really gotten into it this summer. They took swimming lessons and they're actually swimming pretty well. We have tons of goggles laying around our pool, but for some reason, Tanner has taken to the blue ones. These are HIS goggles and no one else is allowed to use them.
He is consantly having me adjust his goggles to get them to the perfect fit!
A rare moment where Tanner is not wearing his goggles. Does he look like Chase or what?

Running

Running with the Baby Jogger Today was a great day. It was finally cool enough to run outside and push the Baby Jogger. With Arizona being so hot, my summer running consists of going at 5:30 or 6:00 in the morning or hitting the treadmill. So, my running stroller has been collecting dust all summer. Finally, this morning after all the kids went to school it felt like fall was in the air. It was probably 80 degrees at that time, but it sure beats 100! I think the high today was about 95, but it's nice to be in the double digits again. After about an 1 hour, I was still dripping in sweat and a little sunburned , but we had a great run.
The twins love the running stroller. I just throw them in (they don't even need shoes), bring some snacks and juice boxes and they have a great time. I've had my double jogger for almost 9 years. I've run hundreds of miles with it, and it's not as nice as the newer models, but it's still holding up.

The Twins Go to Preschool!

After 11 years of always having at least one kid with me, Tanner and Riley have started preschool at Shining Stars with Miss Nicole and Miss Melissa. They love it! It's only 2 mornings a week for 2 1/2 hours, but those 5 hours are precious! It's amazing how much you can get done in 5 hours each week when you're not hauling twins with you.Yes, Tanner and Riley really are twins even with the 6 inch height difference!


On the first day of school, they went with their friend, Lilee. The twins love going to preschool with her. They love it when they see her black car pull up to preschool.
Riley with her pink princess backpack!
Tanner used his Thomas the Train backpack for a couple days until he realized it wasn't big enough to put his papers in without bending them, so now he uses his new Lightening McQueen backpack.

They act and behave like a married couple. I just wish Tanner could grow a few inches!
Riley walked right into preschool and said, "Bye Mom" and didn't even care that I was leaving.

Tanner was a little more cautious, but had a fun first day. I'm not ready for the twins to go to school all day. I think I'll have a hard time when they actually go to Kindergarten, but having a little break for preschool is good. They have been with me nonstop for 3 years

First day of School

Brayden, Chase and Mia started school on July 28. Brayden is a 6th grader, Chase is a 3rd grader and Mia finally started Kindergarten!!!! It's about time. She missed the cutoff for kindergarten last year by a month, so she was pretty bored last year. Fortunately, it is all day Kindergarten here just like Kentucky. Since 6th grade is still in elementary school, I get to have one year with my kids all in the same school.Since they go to a traditional school, they have to wear red, white or blue collared shirts to school. The night before school started, the kids were all very excited to pick out which shirt to wear. For some reason they aren't that excited anymore as they've been in school over a month!! As it turned out, they each chose different colors.

Mia insisted on wearing this brand new headband that we found at the Children's Place. She would wear this headband everyday if I let her!

Chase had to switch schools this year so I could have all my kids in the same school. He was nervous, but came home having made a bunch of new friends.

Brayden, being a 6th grader, pretty much went to school feeling pretty cool.

Mia, Chase and Brayden-I have no idea why there is some weird reflection on Brayden's shirt and if I knew anything about photoshop, I would have fixed it!

The Twins are 3!!!

Tanner and Riley turned 3 on August 3o! 3 years ago (and a few days) I looked like this. I was ready to pop, but I had a really good tan from spending the entire summer at the pool. Just when I was ready to give up and think that I would never go into labor, I did. At 37 weeks, and the day that Hurricane Katrina was blowing in, I finally started going into labor. Tanner was born at 3:06 pm, without any problems, weighing 6 lbs. 3 oz. Riley was born 14 minutes later at 3:20pm, weighing 5 lbs 12 oz. She was born by a C-section. Yep, I gave birth both ways ( I don't recommend this). It was a little scary, but here we are with two healthy 3 years olds today.

This was one of my favorite pictures of them not long after they were born.

This picture really was right after they were born. Riley was rushed off the NICU right after this picture. They thought she might have been deprived of oxygen from her placenta detaching too soon...hence, the emercency c-section for Riley. I look completely dead on the table behind.
Big brothers, Brayden and Chase, holding the twins. I'm not sure where Mia was.

Build-a-Bear

We took the twins to Build-a-Bear on their actual birthday. Tanner picked a dog that he dressed in pirate clothes with sunglasses and Riley chose a bear that she dressed as a princess. I think that their older brothers and sisters got into it even more than the twins. Mia insisted that she would help Riley and Brayden and Chase fought over who would help Tanner.

Chase is helping Tanner give his new puppy a bath.


Riley kept changing her mind which princess outfit she wanted to dress her bear in. Even after she ripped the tags off and dressed her bear, she was looking for an even better princess dress. These were the final choices for their animals. They would not look at the camera!

Party!

We had a couple families, the Harris' and the Christenson's, over for cake and ice cream. Presley Harris and Damon Christenson are two of Riley and Tanner's best friends.

Riley and Tanner wanted a Dora and Diego birthday cake. Mia and Jillian were ready to blow out the candles if Riley and Taner weren't able to.

How do 3 families make up 14 kids?


Tanner and Riley - 3 years old. I've survived 3 years with twins!