Week 24

I had to add these on at the end because I forgot them, but of course they get tagged onto the beginning of the post. We went fruit picking in Brentwood this past week. The girls really have a fun time. We picked peaches and plums. Carmen couldn't stop picking them and we came home with $24 worth of peaches!!!! AHHH!! I went to save money on fruit not spend a fortune.

This was indeed a slow week. But, Charlotte turned 3 months old! I just can't believe they grow so fast. She is starting to teeth and is chewing on everything. She has started to hold onto little toys and play with them a little bit. She can also almost roll over. And the best part is that she moved into her room and out of ours! Here are a few pictures of her on her 3 month mark.

This was an idea I got from my cousin as a sort of incentive chart. Carmen and I came up with some goals of things she needs to work on and some rewards that she would get. And each day if she reaches those goals she gets to move a space on the game board. There are a few little prizes along the way, but the ultimate prize is to go to Six Flags again. Which we already planned on doing since we bought season passes. I just hope she reaches the finish before the passes expire!!! She has had to move back a space a few times. But this week she reached the first prize, which was a trip to the craft store to pick whatever she wanted.
And what did she pick....the $.89 car to paint. She also picked a magic wonder Tinker Bell coloring book which she adored so much all the pages are already colored. I know...not to crafty, but she loved it just the same.
Here is an after shot of my dad's painting work. He painted inside our house and it seriously felt like a new house after he was done. So, my kitchen is the asparagus green, which I really do love. It looks kind of dark in the picture. And everywhere else is teepee brown, which I also love. Thanks again Dad!!
The most exciting news of the week is DAVID IS DONE WITH SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After 5 years of being married, working and traveling so much for work, having very demanding callings at church, and 3 little girls later he has finished school. I am so proud of him and this accomplishment. I know it was never easy for him to do and I wasn't always the most supportive nor gave him enough credit, but he really deserves a big pat on the back. I love him so much for taking on this challenge. Last night we had a graduation party with many of our wonderful friends and family. It really was a lot of fun. (the party was fun...not the school part!) I will post more pictures of the actual grad himself after the graduation ceremony which is in two weeks.
Today Carmen gave her first talk in primary. She spoke on how family prayer can strengthen our family. She did a really good job. I wanted to get a picture of her to document the day she gave her first talk and she just had to have Charlotte in the picture. And she had just eaten a piece of chocolate cake left over from the party last night, so her mouth is kind of messy.
I am just remembering that we also went fruit picking this week. I will have to get the pictures off my other camera and post them, but I'm too tired to do it right now.

Week 23

Up to date, finally! Last night was Carmen's Joy School year one graduation. Basically just an excuse to have a party with friends. It was very cute though. They marched in as we all hummed Pomp and Circumstance (is that the name of the song?) and had little caps on. They received diplomas and report cards, and had little gifts for all their teachers and sang "Oh Boy, I've Got Joy!". We are so proud of Carmen and the things she learned this year. She now thinks that she is going to kindergarden in the fall, but I keep telling her she has one more year of Joy School. 

Throughout the year they made little things that all got put into a book to keep. Doesn't she look so "joyful"!
Carmen and Aliza discovered they both had enough money to buy something at the store. Aliza had $1 and Carmen had $3 that they had been saving up. Carmen bought lip gloss. I was so surprised (sense the sarcasm). And Aliza bought Ariel tattoos. She decided to give one to Charlotte!
I HATE LAUNDRY!!!! This was the pile I tackled on Monday. It was so gigantic that I had to take a picture. And there was still another load in the dryer, which is still there and will remain there until I do laundry again. The picture really gives you no idea how big the pile really was. It covered our CA KING sized bed. 
Charlotte took a little snooze on our front lawn. She loves to suck her thumb. We better start saving for braces now!
We went to the San Jose Discovery Museum on Thursday and there was a Curious George exhibit. My kids love this place and could have spent a lot longer there. We with some of our friends and had a picnic afterwards. 
The girls love the art center here. They painted and also made some coffee filter paper thingy....
This is Aliza's best friend, Liam. They are really so cute together. Aliza was hitching a ride with him this day. This is their new favorite thing to do together. 

Weeks 20-22 of Project 365

Ok, here I go, finally updating the blog. Thanks Mom for being so patient with me. The month of May was busy and it's only going to get busier now that it's summer. 

This is the girls ready to go to Six Flags. They were outside eating some peanuts we had gotten the night before at Texas Roadhouse. Aren't they so cute?!

I did a family photo shoot for some friends and had to bring Aliza along. I got some cute pictures of her before the family got there. She really doesn't care for the camera at all! Most of the pictures before this one she was crying. But then I distracted her with a little game looking for birds.  
My dad came to visit and we made him work the entire time! We had him paint our entire inside and he did such a great job!!! We love our newly painted house. It was quite the undertaking because of our high ceilings. We had to rent scaffolding in order to reach the high spots. My dad worked from the time he woke up until dinner time everyday for 5 days to get it all done. We did take him to Six Flags, so he got to have a little fun while he was here. This is him just beginning - the very first strokes. I post after pictures on my next post. 
This is what he looked like after all that painting. It wore him out and he had to take a nap on the couch. Carmen had a fun time with Poppy here. 
THE SLIDE!!!! Carmen wanted to go down this slide so badly but was very scared of it! I went down myself, and admit that it is a bit scary. But finally after we were out of the pool and all dried off and about to leave, she decided she had to do it before she left. So...I let her try and she really did it!!! I was proud of her for overcoming her fear. This is a friends house who has the most amazing pool! It's got a zero entry shallow end and this cool rock waterfall slide. It was a really fun day at the pool. 
Charlotte's first time in the pool, she didn't care for it at all!
Carmen with her sidekick Sariah on top of the waterfall. Carmen must be practicing her model pose here. 
At Six Flags we went to the butterfly house. Carmen hates it in there and is terrified of the butterflies all around her. But Aliza loved it! She even held one of them. She really wanted this one to sit in her hands. She finally grabbed it's wings and held onto it. 
The girls on the jeep safari at Six Flags. We bought season passes, so we'll be going back some more this summer. 
Carmen got ahold of the camera in the car and took over 100 pictures...the backseat of the car, up her nose, the diaper bag, out the window...you name it and she got a picture of it. This was the most decent one she took! David and I love Kinders ball tip sandwiches, so we took my dad there. We ate there twice while my dad was here, he liked it too!
Our new front yard!!! Finally we don't look like we live in the dessert with our dirt yard and ugly plants. I forgot to take a before picture, but for those of you who saw it before, this looks 100 times better!  The boys from church did the yard as a fundraiser for scout camp. 
The girls playing the neighbors flower beds. Hopefully they didn't mind too much. 
This one is just a few picture. This fire hydrant is across the street from out house and kids love to climb on it. It was also a very windy day. That would by why Aliza's hair look especially messier than normal. 
The girls in a rare moment of playing nicely together. They were playing "carousel" around this tree. Carmen was the horse.
But they kept falling down and laughing so hysterically. They played this little came for a long time. The best is when Aliza tried being the horse and Carmen was on top!
While David was gone on his last business trip I decided to surprise him and give him an office makeover. I painted the entire thing and got him some things to hang on the walls. And some little organizers. He was very surprised when he saw it!