Giant Post

Well, it has officially been over a month since my last post. Life has been CRAZY to say the least. I finally feel like we are all adjusted to school, pre-school, and extra activities. Here is a quick overview on what's happening here in Henderson.

Abbie is doing well in fourth grade. Her teacher warned us that this year would be very different, and it is. A lot more is expected of her, and she is learning to step up to the plate of responsibility. We were really proud of her this year for trying lots of new things. She decided to run for class representative in her class which was a fun experience. We made the posters (which I'm now thinking I should have taken a picture of) and she wrote a adorable speech ending with "You won't be crabby if you vote for Abbie". It was kind of discouraging when we found out that practically the whole class was running, but she did it anyway. She originally didn't win, but then the winner from her class had to move classes and she was the next runner up. So, she now is officially her class representative. She attended her first meeting last week, and is excited to help out. She also was courageous and tried out for her school choir which she is really enjoying.

This is Avery's picture pose lately. She finally got her wish of starting ballet the past few weeks which she has enjoyed. She has also been busy taking a fun class at the library called "I can read to animals." Every week they have been learning about different animals and then they actually bring the animals into the library for the kids to read to. She read to chickens, cats, dogs, and turtles. The last week of the program they sent her home with a giant stuffed animal dog which she is responsible to take care of. Now Buster the dog is part of our family which is perfect because he is the perfect pet. :)

Our little Lizzie started pre-school and ballet which has been so fun. There just happen to be six little girls her same age in the ward, so we decided to do a little pre-school co-op. Each of the moms take turns teaching on Tuesday mornings for a few hours. I had my turn last week and they were just soooo cute. She is also really enjoying her ballet class too. She also has a little class at the library that she looks forward to every week.

I had to stick Micah in here because he celebrated his 33rd Birthday on September 30th. We had a fun dinner together as a family with lemon bars for dessert rather than cake (he doesn't like cake.) With us only being five months apart in age he teases me relentlessly those five months that I am older than him. We are now officially the same age!

We went on a fun hike up Red Rock canyon yesterday. The girls had school off so a friend and I took our kids for a fun day out. We have done this hike a few times now, and love it more every time. It's the perfect hike for all ages. There are lots of fun rocks to climb on, and it's not too long. Even Aliza can do the whole thing herself.

I really did not expect Vegas to be so beautiful. The temperatures have finally cooled off, and it is really gorgeous. Last week Abbie took a few pictures on a walk of all the beautiful flowers in bloom this time of year. It really is amazingly beautiful to see all the desert plants.

Like this one.....

and this one.....

and this one!

Although I think I will never get used to seeing scorpions, I don't freak out as much as I used to. I really do enjoy the occasional visit of these little lizards in our back yard. They are so cute!

First Day of School

The typical first day of school post. Although I wasn't ready to send them back, they seemed ready to go. Both Abbie and Avery had a great first day of school yesterday. They were so excited to see friends and get to know their new teachers.

Abbie has her first experience with a male teacher this year. Mr. Giacomino seems like a good fit for Abbie. From what we have heard he has a great mix of fun and learning (what she needs). I still can't believe that she is in 4th grade. When I dropped her off her little group of friends were so excited to see each other. So cute!

Avery has a great teacher this year named Mrs. Jones. We kind of already knew her because Abbie is friends with her daughter. We were able to meet her even before school got out last year, which I think has helped with Avery's anxiety. She even mentioned to me yesterday that she just felt comfortable in her class. I can't believe that she is in second grade already.

Aliza had to get in on the picture taking too. She will start a one day a week preschool next week with six of her friends from church. Although it is only one day a week for only a few hours I won't know what to do with myself with everyone in school. Crazy! So cute that she even did the same pose.

Did I ever mention how great school uniforms are. They are FANTASTIC!!!

The Volcano

Abbie loves science. At the library a few weeks back she checked out a bunch of science books and even started taking notes in a new "science journal."

I figured that before school starts back into full swing next week we should do an official science project. She wanted to make an erupting volcano.

Voila!!! I love the surprised look on her face. I'm just glad it really worked.

Phillips Family Cookoff

My kids love looking through kids cookbooks. We rarely really make anything out of the kid cookbooks so I thought it would be fun to let them each pick one item to cook before school starts next week. It was interesting to see what they each picked. Originally I thought that maybe one of them would pick a main course or silly snack so we could do all of them in one day, but not my kids. They all picked dessert. Either we have a real sweet tooth at our house or there mom doesn't make actual dessert often enough. We gave each of them a night to make a dessert all by themselves.

Aliza went first with these cookie pizza's. She had a great time squishing the dough onto the pan into a pizza shape, then topping it with melted chocolate chips, marshmallow, nuts and m&m's.

Voila! The marshmallows were toasted on the cookies which made them extra yummy.

Avery went second and originally picked pumpkin pie which is one of her favorites. When we were at the store buying all the ingredients she spotted an oreo cookie pie mix that she just couldn't pass up. So we made that instead. Look at that cute toothless grin.

It wouldn't be baking without licking a few beaters with batter on them.

The finished product was really yummy!

Abbie graciously went last and picked a cherry turnover recipe which was really fun and easy to make. I never thought to actually make them before. She had a great time squishing the edges together.

Very gooey and messy, but a fun treat!

Cute Lizzie

Three is such a fun age. It makes me sad to even think that my youngest is growing up so fast. A few days ago Aliza was painting and I had to take a picture of her creativity. If you look closely you can see a rainbow, spider, and snakes. Too cute!

While the girls were practicing their jump roping she decided to join in and give it a try. We were all shocked when she could really do it. We couldn't stop laughing because it caught us all so off guard. I thought maybe it was a fluke and she wouldn't be able to do it again, but I grabbed my camera and she could keep doing it.

Check it out:

Swimming Lessons

We finished swimming lessons today. It was so fun to watch each of them progress over the past few weeks. All three of them passed off their level and can't wait to work on the next level.

At home I have Aliza in a life jacket in the pool so that I don't have to worry about her. She loved the freedom of no jacket at lessons. She has turned into a little fish.

I did learn that taking lessons in the middle of the Summer here in Vegas is not fun for the mom waiting outside of the water. It had to have been at least 120 degrees some days with the humidity of the indoor pool. Next time will either be at an outside pool or during the Fall through Spring sessions. It was too hot for my liking.

Cousins

The same day that Avery had her dental surgery we were lucky enough to have my nieces Taylor and Tessa stay with us for a whole week. We had so much fun playing with them and spending quality time together. I didn't take a lot of pictures because we spent a lot of the week just hanging out at our pool. We did take a trip to the strip to see the lights, we played at the Rec Center, made it to the M&M and Coke store, Hoover Dam, and Lake Las Vegas. I hope they had as much fun as we did.

At the Coke store we tried a sample tray of Coke products sold all over the world. We had a great time discovering new tastes (16 to be exact). Some were really good and some were REALLY nasty.

It was fun to taste them and try to guess what country they were from. Very interesting!

While Taylor and Tessa were here we also had a visit from Micah's brother Daniel, his wife Mikaela and son Shad. Of course I didn't get any great pictures of them either, but we had a great time. It was fun to watch little Shad play in the pool. Hopefully we can have them stay with us again. We love having house guests!!!