Father's Day

Happy Father's Day!

Brendon knows how to have spontaneous fun.... we love that as it keeps our home a REALLY fun place! He also knows how to perform the perfect bedtime routine... which involves cuddling a little (or two!) at night with a book, a silky and a sippy cup and the rest is "Daddy" magic!

The sounds of the garage door opening, his car pulling into the garage and the alarm announcing that the "Garage Door is Open" makes them GO CRAZY! It becomes a party at our house when Daddy walks through the door!

My husband had a really long card written from the kids and I but of course, how could I not mention what a hard worker he is to provide for our family and we are sooooooooo appreciative of it!

Then to my dad.... I am often reminded of the treasure you are. To be your daughter is to be lucky...so very lucky.

Here is an article that my dad posted on his Facebook and I thought it was very interesting!

http://michaelhyatt.com/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-fathers-day.html

Happy Father's Day Brendon and Dad.... by the way, the legacy goes back even farther because my grandfather who we are so blessed is still with us is another amazing man! I love seeing him and my Grandmother together... after 65 or 70 years of marriage, they act like newlyweds!

Today. We celebrate two GREAT men in our life!

With Steak wrapped in Bacon... it was delish! However, I didn't get my whole steak because my daughter chowed down!

Swimming and Dinner with my family = Perfect Sunday Afternoon!

My sweet boy.... you are so blessed to have a Father and a Grandfather who are completely obsessed with you and I couldn't have picked out two better role models for you if I tried!

We treated Daddy to a massage.... he deserved it!

Last week was Daniel's first week of VBS.... he also went this week. So it is everyday from 9 - 12 and honestly I have really missed him! As soon as he comes home, we have lunch then both kids go down for a nap and I wake them up at 4 so we can go to the gym then we come home and have dinner and then our kids are in bed by 6:30 or 7. I am really looking forward to having my son back next week! However, he LOVES it:)

Wednesday night, we planned a surprise party at Caketini http://www.caketini.net/index.php?option=com_contact&view=contact&id=1&Itemid=58 for Andrea....
Girls Night Out = Lots of laughs and the the help telling us we had to leave because they had closed already!

Then this past weekend, Brendon and I stayed at the Westin Kierland and it was such a nice time for the two of us to re-connect since he had been gone for so long to Alabama. At one point, I was sitting by the pool and I told Brendon that I really missed the kids and wished they were with us. He said, "I really miss them but I don't wish they were here." As he said that, I was watching this mom with 2 kids that looked about K and D's ages and she had been running after the kids then she had just sat down to relax and JUST as she sat down, her little boy said he had to go potty! So she had to grab the baby, get them dried off, etc.... I looked at Brendon and said, "Yeah, I guess you are right!" I actually got to read a whole book totally uninterrupted poolside.... except for the waiters asking me if I would like more french fries or iced water! LOL! We rode the lazy river a zillion times and have the best conversations.... so relaxing!

Friday... Day 6

Friday morning, I picked up Daniel super early from his slumber party then we went to the gym and I took a "Body Attack" class.... except that they need to re-name it "Women Attack!" I usually work out in the later afternoon and this morning only reminded me why I do... the 8:30AM class is attended by very competitive, suburbia, stay at home, vicious women... LOL! I think they fit double the amount of women that is legally supposed to be in that room which creates more tension than is necessary so that was my last morning class I have taken there:)

Then I took Daniel to the venue we are having his birthday party at to go over final details, etc.

Then my parents came and took both kids out to lunch and ran a few errands with them because I had a couple of meetings with some of our clients and a few errands that I needed to do quickly... and quick errands are not two words that will get used in the same sentence when you have two small children!

Then Saturday, we went to Lisa's house for Riley's 6th Birthday Party! Of course, Lisa pulled off the "Army" theme in the most creative way ever! Unfortunately, I didn't get too many pictures because I had both kids by myself and it was Day 7 alone....

Boys being Boys! Lisa's house has LOTS of toy guns so Daniel LOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVVVEEESSS going to the Glowacka's house!

This was the first party or play date with older kids when Katelyn totally wanted to be in the middle of the action.... It was so weird as she usually just hangs out in my arms! She is growing up sooo quickly and that only mean she is just getting more dang cute!

Did I mention that she is walking and she is VERY proud of herself!!???!!!

Sunday... we went to church and my parents came over in the evening with fresh STRAWBERRY PIE..... OH MY GOSH! It was so delicious!

However, Monday was VICTORY DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The day our Daddy and My Best Friend returned home!!!! He got home around dinner time so I picked us up dinner at NY54 http://www.ny54.com/pizza.html which I HIGHLY recommend... we are from Long Island and this is just about as close to the real thing I have ever tasted! We got garlic knots... I have not had those in almost 5 years since we left NY.... you can eat in the restaurant (which is really nice) or order out a nice meal and eat it poolside!

This is how we celebrated our hero coming home! We ended the night by putting Katelyn to bed then letting Daniel stay up a little later than usual so we could all cuddle on the bed and look at Brendon's amazing pictures and videos of his trip.

I realized we have some amazing kids because the 9 days as a "Single Mom" wasn't that bad.... it was just exhausting because it was ONLY ME from early morning until they went to sleep! However, my payment is that MY trip was booked today.... My bestie Sara Grace and I both turned 30 this year so we have booked our birthday trip to West Palm Beach, Florida! Holla!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday

Thursday morning, my mom picked up Daniel and took him to the movies for the Summer Program they are offering. Then we met my friend Michella and her two sweet girls at the Toddler McDonald's for lunch!

They have a baby brother on the way and they couldn't be happier! They are going to make very good Little Mommies!

Then that evening, Daniel got to have a slumber party at Aaron and Leigh Anne's house.

Splash Pad

We have two friends who live in Layton Lakes and invite us over to their community's private Splash Pad that is AMAZING! So, we went over on Wednesday afternoon and it was lots of fun and so refreshing!

Daniel told me on the way over to the splash pad that he was going to take care of Katelyn.... I thought he was just being cute but he was so serious! He really looked after her... made sure she had snacks, juice, toys, and held her hand so she could walk around to what she wanted to play with! He totally gets "Brother of the Year" award:)

That evening, my mom took the kids and I out for dinner! Not only did they help out with the kids but they even treated us to several meals out so i didn't have to cook too much! I am so thankful for my parents... this week was a lot of work but not at all as bad as what I thought it was going to be!

Single Mom!

Brendon really wanted to lead a team to Alabama to the area that was destroyed by the recent tornado.... I was a little nervous as I have never stayed 8 nights and 9 days alone with both kids! Fortunately, my parents really helped me out A LOT! One of them came over every day to assist in any way that they could!

Daniel has always loved my dad's motorcycle... from a distance! He has never wanted to sit on it or he wants to be far away when my dad starts it up because it is VERY LOUD! However, my two children couldn't be more opposite because Katelyn LOVES his motorcycle!

My parents watched them Monday morning while I worked then when I came home they treated us to lunch out!

Then that afternoon, we had Paris come over for the 1st time. She is our new in-home educator! She has her masters degree in Early Childhood Education and works for an organization called Parents as Teachers. She will come over weekly or bi-weekly and we will spend the 1st 45 min with Daniel and the 2nd 45 minutes with Katelyn and it is just time focused on them learning and developing. She brings the coolest and most creative toys, games, activities, etc for us to do together! WE LOVE HER and we LOVE when she comes over!

I will let the cat partially out of the bag but we are looking into sending Daniel to HOPE Christian Academy which is Home of Partnered Education, reflects a hybrid classroom/home school model which has children in school three days a week, and two days learning at home.

I have not completely convinced Brendon of this yet but in the mean time we are doing a lot of "home learning" and I love that Paris has come into our life and shows us how "at home" learning is so customized for each child.

Memorial Day

Memorial Day... we have a tradition of going to Aaron and Leigh Anne's for breakfast!

Then we went home and busted out the "To Do" list because Brendon was going to be leaving for 9 days and we had a super crazy week coming up and it wasn't even that hot (at least for our Arizona blood) to swim:)

That evening we went over to my parents house and had a yummy BBQ!!!

We had TONS and TONS of graduations parties this weekend (one on Friday night, one on Sunday night, then 2 on the following Friday night and 1 on Saturday!

I decided there was too much going on this week to bust out the camera... LOL!

We also went out to dinner for Leigh Anne's birthday at her favorite restaurant... Serrano's and I went to a Baby Shower on Saturday and it was my dad's birthday on Saturday!

Yes, all these events also required me to get my hair done so Lauren came over on Wednesday and did "her thing!"

I am exhausted just remembering what a crazy week that was!

Before and After

If you live in Arizona and have a lanai with a drywall ceiling then you probably know the maintenance that goes into it. It requires scraping and re-painting on a fairly regular basis.... or else it will start to look like this:

It drove my husband absolutely crazy... then one day our neighbors had us come over to show us what they just did to their lanai and we fell in love! So, we did the same thing.... ours was a little more involved as we decided to go from 2 lights to 8 high hats so the lighting is spectacular at night... also the lights are on a dimmer for mood lighting:) then we added two outdoor fans and 2 outdoor speakers (the speakers with streaming music creates mood setting as well.... especially when I have "The Wheels on the Bus" blasting in our pool area!!!!) It truly looks amazing!
We love and enjoy it so much!

(P.S. New flooring coming shortly too... stay tuned for more "after pics!")

We have decided that we do live at a resort....except the registered guests names' are Daniel and Katelyn Wilson and Brendon and Danielle are the resort "help!" We are their personal chefs, their concierge service, chauffeur, cleaners, laundry and dish help, stylists, their pool runners,etc.... you get the idea! LOL!

Q's Birthday Party

As you all know, Cake Pops are all the rage right now! They should be... they are sooooo delish! When I was at Q's Baptism Party a couple of weeks ago, Leah's mom bought her the Cake Pop Book http://www.amazon.com/Cake-Pops-Tricks-Recipes-Irresistible/dp/0811876373 and so we were looking through it and Leah said she was going to make these adorable lions for Q's Birthday! So, she invited me over to help her and learn together how to make cake pops! Well, they turned out AMAZING and so darn cute! However, they are very time consuming!

So, last Saturday was Mr. Handsome's 1st Birthday Party!

Katelyn and her buddy Aiden

There were only boys at the party except for little Addie and I promise you that Katelyn attached herself to her the entire party! It is amazing to me how much Katelyn LOOOOVVVVEEESSS older girls.... she is on the fast track to wanting to grow up ASAP!

Jillian is Addie's mom and besides the personal trainers at the gym, Jillian has the greatest body that I personally know! This girl is RIPPED! The pictures don't do her justice but her arms are perfectly shaped... let me not even start on her abs! She works out like a mad woman and she totally inspires me!

Happy Birthday, Quinten!

Pre-School Graduation

August 3, 2010 was Daniel's 1st day of pre-school... it also happened to be his 3rd birthday!

My BIG BOY just graduated from his 1st year of pre-school! I have been a little emotional lately because as we have been attending tons of graduation parties recently and there are pictures of other people's babies 1st day of Pre-School and Kindergarten then here they are... Class of 2011! I feel like it goes by so quick BUT I have to say that every mile stone Daniel takes into independence and maturity, it is a "feel good" kind of hurt because I am so proud of him! He is such a stellar kid... only 1 day in all of pre-school did a teacher give me one negative report and it wasn't event that bad... she said that he just had a hard time listening that day! He really makes me one proud mamma!

Only Quincy was graduating from pre-school... she tested to be able to enter Kindergarten early and she made it so we were all so proud of her!

The kids getting ready to sing their Pre-School "Rally" song!

Mrs. Jenn is amazing... she has ran Joy School for 6 years for all 4 of her kids... this was her last year of Joy School as her daughter Quincy will be entering Kindergarten this next School Year!

Daniel breaking out some of his dance moves for me!

Party Time!

Daniel, Daddy and I are so proud of you! You stand next to me EVERY single day and point out how tall you are getting and that you are almost as tall as me (most people are!!!) then you show me your muscles and ask me to feel how big they are... and I go on and on about strong you are! I love that you are enjoying every minute of growing up and you are so excited about turning 4 soon! God has some AMAZING plans for you!