Front Yard Makeover, Rainbows, and Tres Captain Underpants

So back in May we had jumped on an impulse idea and ripped up our front yard.  Curtis dug out some really unattractive yellow bushes along the front of the house (yellow houses don't need yellow bushes), he moved out the rock and we prepped it for more artificial turf.  We love the stuff.  

We worked hard every weekend in May to have it mostly done before we left for Legoland and then spent a good part of June finishing it up.

Now we have a new and improved front yard with beautiful rose bushes and flowers instead of nasty bushes and a little patch of green heaven to play on.

This particular evening Curtis was outside watering some plants when he noticed the rainbow.  I was inside trying to get the boys ready for bed and around here the boys sleep in their undies during the summer.  So when Papi hollered to come see the arco iris they all sprinted for the front yard without a second thought about being in their underwear!

It was a spontaneous and beautiful evening!

All Creatures of Our God and King

It has been a really long time since I have truly learned a solo piano piece and my first ever piano solo for a Sacrament Meeting musical number.  I might have played one in sacrament meeting when I was 13 or 14 because I have memories of practicing a nice arrangement of I Am a Child of God but I have no memory of performing it.  In any case it's been a really long time.  I play the piano frequently for church in some way or another, but it's always as the accompanist for other performances.  I love to accompany because it allows me to play some really beautiful and sometimes challenging music with practically zero pressure.  

It felt good to really play again.  The song wasn't too challenging so I could learn it well in a few weeks with semi-regular practicing, but challenging enough that I enjoyed applying myself and it made for a nice performance song.

I tried to get a good recording of me playing but it proved to be a bigger challenge than I expected.  Between camera issues, children interference and good old fashion flubs this turned out to be the best take.  It's not perfect, there are several glaring mistakes that make me cringe, but oh well.  The actual performance went really well, almost flawless, so that's what matters I guess.

FHE at Fain Park

June 30, 2014

For Family Home Evening we decided to shake things up and enjoy a picnic dinner and some exploring at Fain Park.  Our boys are always up for FHE activities, in fact they would much rather have an activity every week and bypass the lessons altogether.  With these three hooligans Family Home Evening at our home is filled with plenty of rambunctious behavior so we keep the lessons short and sweet.  

We had an ambitious summer.  Curtis worked more than ever, we had a few trips and reunions planned, and major home improvement projects so a break from the usual FHE struggle was extremely refreshing.  And I loved that I had very few dinner dishes waiting for me when we got home!

Brothers

Sunday afternoons can really be magical sometimes!

Swimming Lessons

June 2014

This summer we enjoyed two sessions of swimming lessons back to back in June.  Nathan worked on his endurance and technique in level 4, Bracken started in level 2 but graduated to level 3 for the second session, and Marco and Mommy played in the parent tot class.  

Marco and I had a love hate relationship with our little class.  We both love to swim and sitting on the sidelines watching Nate and Brack have all the fun would have been torture for us.  But our darn Prescott Valley wind made our experience quite chilly most days.  I kept chanting "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming!" to remind Marco that if he moved he would be warmer than if he didn't move.  When the end of our 30 minute lesson finally arrived each day, Marco required not one but two towels to snuggle in.  And he preferred to be completely covered, even his face.

Bracken is our little fishy.  He LOVES to swim.  Diving, gliding, bobbing, floating, jumping he does it all.  The only thing he's not super confident with is treading water.  In level 3 they introduce the concept of treading water, and they only require the kids to tread for 30 seconds. One day after arriving home from swimming lessons Papi asked Bracken how his swimming lesson had gone to which Bracken replied "I drowned-ed."  He was referring to his lack of success at treading water for a full 30 seconds.  But despite drowning, he kept trying! 

Nathan really progressed with his skill this year.  He's got a handle on all the basic strokes, now we just need to work on his endurance.  He can't quite last all the way across the pool yet.  He loved being able to play the big kid games this year, like sharks and minnows.  And he was way impressed with his coach because he had a shark tooth necklace.

For the last day of each session, they allow the kids to just play and enjoy the pool.  They even open up the big slide!  We were all huge fans of the big slide.  Even Marco was able to go down it with Mommy or Papi and he had a blast.  We went down as many times as we could. 

Bracken's Level 3 Coaches and Classmates

Nathan's Level 4 Coaches and Classmates

Epic Tenth Anniversary

June 11, 2014

Curtis and I have now been married for TEN years!  A tenth anniversary is a significant milestone, one that is celebrated with something a little extra special.  We tossed around the idea of going on a trip just the two of us, but in the end we couldn't justify the expense with very important home improvement projects just around the corner.  Our actual anniversary fell on a Wednesday which happened to be one of Curtis's busiest teaching days with his summer schedule.  We really try to celebrate on the actual day as much as possible but this year just had too many obstacles.  Or so I thought.

I woke up Wednesday morning to find a package labeled "Search for Lost Treasure - Participant Instruction Packet: First Mate Courtney" waiting for me (everything was pirate themed).  Inside I found a letter, Search For Lost Treasure Scavenger Hunt Agenda, a page with QR codes all over it labeled "Detailed Instructions", and a secret code word recorder page to keep track of my clues for the secret code word. Needless to say I was impressed.

At this point in the morning Curtis was still home and totally taking over the kid's needs.  He got them ready and fed them breakfast and even braved taking them to swimming lessons so I could relax, get myself ready and begin my scavenger hunt. 

As I was doing my hair I scanned the first QR code at the bottom of my letter and it directed me to a video of Curtis.  The video began with some theme music (Pirates of the Caribbean score) and then he gave me my first set of instructions: head to Einstein Bros. Bagels for breakfast.  Ay, ay Captain!  And so began my day. 

At each stop I had to keep my receipt to find my next clue on the QR page which always opened up a new video of Curtis and the Pirate's music giving me my next set of instructions.  It was like having Curtis with me all day, I loved it!  The receipts also held the key for unlocking the clues for the secret code word.  And in each video he told me where little envelopes of "pirate booty", aka cash, were stored in random places throughout our mini van.  My man went all out with this scavenger hunt, it was AWESOME!

Stop #1

I enjoyed a delicious breakfast bagel sandwich with mushrooms, asparagus and egg with a smoothie at Einstein Bros. Bagels.  It was heavenly.

 Stop #2

Shopping spree at Target!!!  I had 2 hours to kill with no kids, I was in window shopping heaven.  

 Stop #3

Lunch at Panda Express

 Stop #4

Free time complete with a mandatory cold treat.

And what did I do with my free time?  I washed my car!  It's what I wanted to do so I did it.  Later Curtis told me he envisioned me lounging at the library reading a book.  That would have been great too, but it never crossed my mind!

 Stop #5

I was instructed to pick out 2 movies at Redbox, one to watch while I waited for Curtis to teach his online evening class and then one to watch with him.

And the last stop of the day was dinner with my sweet husband at Red Robin.  We had a narrow window of time to catch dinner between his afternoon classes and evening classes but we made it work.  And the food was delicious as always.

Secret Code Word:  Amor Eterno

All in all it was an amazing day for me, not so much for Curtis.  He played mister mom in the morning before Grandma came to relieve him of his duties.  Then he went to work, all after staying up late into the night putting the finishing touches on my scavenger hunt activity.  I guess he loves me!

Movies Under The Stars

June 2014

Every Thursday through the month of June our town sponsored a family movie night out in a grassy amphitheater next to our Civic Center.

Our boys looked forward to the movie under the stars every week.  We would pack up snacks, munchies, sometimes even dinner if Mom wasn't on her "A" game, camping chairs and blankets for snuggling.  Papi would usually show up halfway through the movie when his church meetings were finished.  It was always exciting to have him show up suddenly out of the darkness!