July 10, 2014. Collin's Eighth Birthday!

Collin had birthday! 

He chose to have a backyard campout with a few of his friends. It was so fun and right up his alley. The kids ate hot dogs, painted birdhouses, had a marsh-mellow fight, played horseshoes, and roasted s'mores. We sang happy birthday to the birthday boy and ate some yummy s'more cupcakes. It was a great night full of lots of laughs!

Happy Birthday, buddy!

It's a...

We had our big ultra sound. It was so fun to see baby and watch his little personality inside the womb. Here is how we announced the gender to the kids. They thought it was so fun! I'm so grateful things look good so far!


Boy or Girl? from Jennifer Phipps on Vimeo.

May 30, 2014. Last Day of School.

The kiddos had their last day of school. Such a bittersweet day! Neither of them wanted school to end, although I don't think they have been too disappointed with Summer yet either. Sophie in particular was so sad. She cried and cried that night because she didn't want to leave her teacher. I am so grateful for her teacher this year. Both kids had wonderful teachers. I'm so proud of these guys for the great year  of school they had and I'm so excited I get to have them home this Summer!

May 22, 2014. Last day of Pre-K.

Ruby had her last day of preschool today! She has had a great year and learned so much.  It's hard to believe that she will be going into Kindergarten next year. I always get a little emotional when my kids move onto a new chapter in their lives. But I know she is ready and will love it!

As always, I like to do a comparison shot of the 1st day and the last day of each year. I can't believe how much she has grown. Such a cute girl!

Little Shadow.

Lyla is my little shadow. She follows me everywhere and wants to participate in what I am doing whether it is cleaning the bathroom or sewing. Sometimes it drives me crazy, but most of the time I love it and wouldn't have it any other way. 

February 22-23, 2014. Moab.

Logan came home from work at 4:00 one day and announced we were heading to Moab and that we I had 1 hour to pack. We had talked about it a couple of days earlier but ultimately had decided not to go.  He knew that he was going to be getting super busy with work and that we needed this little vacation together, so I got busy packing. It's no easy task packing for myself and 4 kids in an hour but I got it done (although I did forget a few things!) and we left on time!

We got in late so we went right to bed in order to get rested for a fun day of hiking a head of us. We had a great time visiting Arches National Park. The kids are troopers and went on a couple small hikes with us. Our kids really do not like hiking, especially Ruby. Not even kidding she sat down about 2 minutes into our hike claiming her legs were exhausted and that she was not going to go any further! Somehow we convinced her and we made it to Landscape Arch. Later when we hiked to the viewing point of Delicate Arch she talked Logan into carrying her. 

The kids participated in the Junior Ranger Program, a favorite of theirs. Although Collin was the only one to complete it and earn his badge. They each got $10 to spend on a souvenir and were in love with what they bought.

One our way home, we stopped at Canyon lands and hiked around before the big drive. I really enjoyed Canyon lands and wished we could have spent more time there. It was beautiful and the kids were able to climb around more than they could in Arches.

Such a fun last minute vacation!

January 22, 2014. Potty Training!

Lyla has been showing signs that she is ready to be potty trained (mostly taking off her diaper every time she goes) so one day I decided to run with it. I put together a fun little morning for her and Elmo. At the beginning of the day Elmo wore diapers just like Lyla but soon they were both in their big girl underwear! Yeah! And both Lyla and Elmo got to have a potty treat when Lyla used the potty. What could be better!!! She thought it was so fun to go potty with Elmo!

Lyla did really well and still does when I stay on top of it. But she still needs to go so frequently that I tend to just put her in diapers most of the time. Lets face it, diapers are so much easier. Looking at these pictures though is reminding me that I need to get back at it again! Hopefully soon I can post a picture of her fully potty trained! Then we might need to have a party. It would be the first time in 9+ years that we haven't had a kid in diapers. That's a lot of diaper changes!