"Come on backpack, we can do this!"

School has officially started and I am back to teaching PE.  It was hard going back because I was being so productive and getting things done at home and I didn't want to be away from my sweet kids.  Such is life.  

But something excitingly new this school year...Memphis has started all day preschool.  A high school in my school district offers an all day preschool for mommy teachers and it's really cheap:)  But you have to be 3 and potty-trained so only Memphis could go this year.  Next year Kayzee will join him.  

I was worried about the potty-trained part because two weeks before it started Memphis started to regress and was having accidents again.  I guess preschool actually helped.  He has not had a single accident and his teacher says he does great at going all by himself.  They also feed him all his meals and he gets to play with new friends and get some preschool learning in with the high school girls.   He especially loves his new backpack!  It was only $5 (no way was I paying for an expensive backpack for preschool) and every school morning Memphis runs downstairs and gets his backpack ready.  On the first day of school Memphis walked into the high school with his backpack on and said, "Come on backpack, we can do this!"  I Love my Memphis:)

First day of preschool August 21, 2012

Last year was really hard for me dropping my kids off for day care each day I worked.  I really struggled with the girl I had watching them and my kids never wanted to go so it was a relief to find something different this year.

I LOVE that Memphis is getting preschool and playtime and I love my friend who is watching Kayzee this year.

My friend Michelle is a friend I grew up with through high school and seminary and she actually moved by my house last year.  It has been fun to catch up with her.  We work-out together and she also mentioned that she wanted to work from home so I asked if she wanted to watch Kayzee for the school year.  It has worked out perfectly.  She has two boys in school (one in 1st grade and one in 2nd grade so they are gone all day) and she just had another little baby boy.  Another friend who is also the music teacher at my school needed a babysitter for her little girl so I mentioned my friend that Kayzee goes to and now Kayzee has a friend to play with.  Kayzee actually likes going to "Shell's" house to play with her friend and I love that both my kids are actually happy going.

I Love my Kayzee:) 

We had a fun short visit from my dad this weekend.  He was passing through Utah on his way back from a cross-country motorcycle trip with his friend up to eastern Canada.  I definitely heard when my dad arrived:)  Memphis and Kayzee were really shy at first because they haven't seen their Grandpa Thorpe in so long but once my dad started playing with them and reading books with them they were happy to play with their grandpa.  Here they are playing on his motorcycle.  Memphis still talks about "Grandpa's LOUD motorcycle"!  We also enjoyed a yummy dinner at Porter's Place.  Sorry they were all out of Buffalo steaks Dad:( but yummy scones!!!!!  Thanks for visiting us Grandpa:)

No more ducks!

I got so sick of my guest/kid's bathroom being ducks that I redecorated and I love it!  I took a stab at trying a colored theme; how did I do?  I thought about painting it but after the painting experience I will tell you more about below...let's just say I will probably never paint our bathrooms.

Here is a picture of what it used to look like...

 And here it is now...

 Yes, my shower curtain is wrinkled.  I don't iron so don't judge;)

We have had a very busy couple of weeks with lots of driving.  One Saturday we drove up to Logan for my cousin's wedding in the afternoon.  Then we drove back down to Pleasant Grove (with my brother Chris who came to visit) for Danny's work party in the evening at a water park.  Memphis LOVED the water slides and he surprised me by swimming underwater.  

Then that night really late (more like 3:30am) I drove to Salt Lake City to pick up my sister from the train station.  Then that same day, Sunday, my sister and I drove back up to SLC to go see WICKED!  LOVED IT!!!!!!!  Want to go again just wish it wasn't so much money.  Luckily that was all the driving we were going to do till the next Saturday when we drove back up to Logan Canyon for a family reunion.  My mom and brother had driven from Washington but my mom stayed in Logan for a few days after the wedding so she joined us at my house on Monday.  My sister Alicia had ridden the train in from California.  They all came to visit and to help me paint some rooms in my house.

Here is my brother reading a book to my kids.  They loved Uncle Chrissy!    

When we moved in this house Kayzee's room was purple and I got sick of that too so I decided to paint her room white and paint a stripe design to match her color theme.  I thought with my sister, mom, and brother we could get tons of painting done.  HA!  Painting is a chore.  Especially when you are trying to cover a color.  I wanted to paint Kayzee's room, Memphis's room, the master bedroom, the guest/kid's bathroom, and a part of my kitchen that includes the pantry.  Ya, that didn't happen.  After a coat of primer and two coats of white, the purple room could still use another coat but I am just spot painting now since my family is gone.  We also got two coats of paint done in Memphis's room which a bright blue color was starting to show through the one coat of white paint that was there when we moved in.  Nothing else in my house got painted but that's ok.  There's always next summer right?

No more purple!  My sister Alicia...

 My brother Chris.  So lucky to have him since he is 6 ft 8 in tall we didn't need ladders!

 Me

Call me crazy but in all this mess I also decided to switch my kid's rooms.  Now that they were both white it didn't really matter except for my grandma's huge brown dresser that was in Kayzee's room.  I don't know how we got it up there but there was no way it was moving and Kayzee's room colors are going to be white, black, and pink so a brown dresser just bugged me and Memphis's room colors are white, brown, and blue so there you have it.  Danny just shook his head at me the entire process.  My mom was really nice and watched my kids and made all the meals so the rest of us could paint.  Oh, and I have to mention that the baseboards and the doors in their rooms were not as white as the paint we had bought so I ended up painting those too.  This turned out to be a bigger project then I wanted but oh well.  I will love it in the end.  Now I just have to paint the stripe design...

And this also turned out to be a perfect time to get rid of the crib and move Kayzee to a real bed since the crib didn't fit through the door.  Right now her crib mattress is on the floor until we get her twin bed (who knows when that will be) but she is doing great so far.  She falls asleep great but it's the staying asleep that has always been a problem since she was born that is still a problem.  

My sister was the one that took most of the pictures so I still need to get those from her so I have more pictures to show from our fun week.

BIG Thanks to my mom, brother Chris, and sister Sheesha! Thanks for all your help.

We also got to have Danny's sister Emily stay with us for a few days.  I had never really sat down and talked to her before so it was really nice to get to know her better.  She is an amazing girl and she was so nice and helpful while she was here.  THANKS Emily!

Now I am cleaning up from the painting adventure and getting ready to start school next Thursday....AHHHHHHH!!!!  Goodbye Summer Vacation:(

July 4th

Sorry this is late being posted.  We have been really busy.  We had a laid back 4th of July this year.  Every year we either drive down to Blanding to be with Danny's family or we fly up to Washington to be with my family.  Since the 4th of July fell on a Wednesday we couldn't travel because of Danny's work so we just had a fun couple days at home.  On Tuesday July 3rd I took my kids to the Highland splash pad with my friend/co-worker Allison and her 3 kids.  My kids loved it.  Well, Kayzee hated it at first and wouldn't let go of me but then once she figured out it wasn't so bad she did not want to go home!

 Kayzee is definitely not like her daredevil brother.  At first this was the only little trickle of water she would play in.  Then she finally got brave enough and played in the river and fountain.

Kayzee and Allison's little girl Kate.  They loved playing together.

On Wednesday July 4th Danny got up early and went golfing because he had the day off.  Then we relaxed at home and played wii games.  Then we went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner (right at four when they opened to avoid the crowds) and then we went fishing at a little pond behind Lone Peak high school in American Fork.  Once it got dark we drove around trying to find a good place to park and watch fireworks but couldn't find anywhere so we drove home and WOW!  Our neighbors on each end of our street were having a contest to see you could set off the biggest and most fireworks so we just sat on our lawn and watched.  Great way to end the night. 

The next week Danny's family came up to spend a few days with us.  Danny's youngest sister Mary was playing in a softball tournament in Payson.  It was fun to go watch all the games even though it was 100+ degrees outside.  They took 3rd place.  Mary played catcher in all the games and had some good hits.  Danny's dad was the assistant couch.  I hope my kids get all the good Royer sport genes!!!!  Way to go Mary!

I just have to share this.  Both Kayzee and Memphis have started coming up to me and saying, "Mommy I'm happy!"  Don't know where they got that from but I LOVE it.  They also love to shout that they love me.  I love being a mom and I love my kids!

I have also been really busy deep cleaning and decluttering my whole house.  Time for a garage sale and my family is coming to help me paint all the rooms in my house.  So excited to see my family and my sister and I are going to WICKED in SLC!!!!!! 

This week we are all really sick with nasty colds so hopefully we get over them quickly.   

And after a month and a half I think it is safe to say that Memphis is fully potty trained both day and night!  He has not had an accident in over a week. I am so proud of him and YAY I survived!!!!

Busy June

June went by way too fast.  Being busy probably didn't help but I can't believe it is already July.  Besides the potty training adventure and the trips at the beginning of the month, we had father's day, Danny's birthday, and our anniversary trip.  Lots of driving and heat but we had way too much fun and it was much needed.

I bought this castle for the kids to have something to play in this summer.

 Their auntie Nita made them crowns to wear.  Memphis was the king and Kayzee was the princess.

For father's day I bought Danny a new grill and cover.  Our old one was one we had gotten for free and it was dying so Danny has loved this brand new one I got him.  We had our friends  the Barnes over to try it out and the food was so good!  

I made Danny go on a scavenger hunt to find it and it sent him all over the house and backyard.  I actually got creative and it rhymed it was really awesome HA HA!  Danny also got the new Sherlock Holmes movie.  This weekend Kayzee and I got food poisoning.  I was only sick for an hour but Kayzee was throwing up for 3 days.  Now she won't drink milk just like Memphis.  

I also hurt my back really bad.   I have never hurt my back before but I couldn't do anything it hurt so bad.  I had tried lifting something way too heavy for me and there you have it.  Two nights of no sleep because of the pain landed me at the doctors and he put me on bed rest, pain killers, and steroids.  He told me the pain killers were so I could sleep but the steroids kept me up all night anyways.  So annoying.  I was so nervous about our anniversary trip because of Kayzee being sick and my back but we were better by Friday when we left. 

We met Danny's mom and two sisters in Moab and went bowling.  It was the first time for both my kids and they had so much fun!   My back started hurting really bad again so I sat out and watched.  

Memphis' little bowling shoes

 Auntie Nita

 Both Memphis and Kayzee got a strike!

After, we drove down to Blanding to Danny's parent's house, dropped off the kids to stay and play for 3 days (THANKS SO MUCH for watching them Peggy and Bruce and Nita and Mary!) and Danny and I  left for Monticello.  It was our anniversary and it was also the first time in 3 1/2 years that I had left my kids overnight since before Memphis was born.  Crazy but it has been a rough four years of marriage and this was very much needed.  We were going to camp for the night but because of my back we found a nice hotel with a swimming pool and hot tub so it was a very relaxing evening and I wasn't woken up in the middle of the night by Kayzee!!!!  Yes, she is almost two years old and still not sleeping through the night.  It has been an exhausting two years don't know what to do.  Maybe it's time to get help.

We got up early and went golfing at the Monticello golf course.  Before we had kids Danny and I use to go golfing a lot so it was fun to go do that with him again.  Then we drove to Moab.  We had eaten breakfast at the hotel at 6:30 before golfing at 7 so we were starving for lunch by 10am but we wanted pizza and the pizza place didn't open till 11 so we walked down Moab main street.  At 10am it was already 100 degrees so we went in every store to get out of the heat.  We bought some souvenirs, shirts for the kids and a keychain for me (I collect them from everywhere I go).  

We had lunch and then drove  up to Arches.  I have been to many national and state parks growing up (western United States) but my dad missed Arches so I was excited to go.  Especially since we drive past it 2-3 times a year driving down to Blanding.  We just chose the wrong time of year to go.  It was so HOT!!! It was 104 and for it being so hot it was crowded!   We only did the short hikes and plan on going again in cooler weather when our kids are older.  We drove the whole route and did some hikes and did it in about 2 hours.  Most of the pictures are from the inside of our air conditioned car. 

We drove back into Moab and we went and saw the new movie Brave.  SOOOOO GOOD!  Then we drove up to the Sunset Grill.  It's a  restaurant on top of a huge hill overlooking the city.  It was expensive but it was one of the best steaks I have ever had.  Yum!  Then Danny and I drove back to Blanding to buy a tarp for our new tent and drove to a  church owned camping site near Blanding and camped that night.  We were surprised that there was no one really there.  There were a lot of deer though.  Those are the eyes you can see in the picture below.  They came right up into our camp and didn't seem to care that we were there.  

The next day was Sunday and Danny's birthday so we drove back to Danny's parent's house to pick up the kids.  The kids had way too much fun they didn't even really care that we were back and they didn't want to leave.  We had lunch and cake and ice cream and Danny opened up his presents, a new game and basketball clothes.  Then we made the long drive home.  That night we all went to bed at  8:30 and we all slept  12 hours without waking up.  Much needed sleep!

  

And that was our fun busy June!