Lexi's Dance Recital

Tonight was Lexi's dance recital... her class did a fun "ribbon dance" in ballet shoes. For their costume they wore white t-shirts with black stretch pants that had the silver shiney stuff (like the pants Abba wore). Too cute! This was her second year in the show and she did very well! Her whole class knew their routine and performed wonderfully! Benj got it all on video and is going to work on uploading it to the computer. ;) Good job Lex, you are a star!

Happy Birthday Benj!!

Well yesterday was Benj's 32nd birthday. And to celebrate we went out to dinner, his choice, at Outback Steakhouse. It was delicious as always and there went my whole calorie allotment for the day! And when we got home we did presents, cake, and ice cream. The girls had painted some butcher paper to use as wrapping paper... they did a great job! And of course they helped daddy blow out the candles on his German chocolate cake!! YUM!

Runnin' for the House 5k

This weekend my best friend Shannon from high school came to Vegas (although her plane was delayed a day... grrrr!) and we ran a 5k together this morning. It was the Run for the House, Ronald McDonald House Charity. The weather was perfect for running, not too hot. Compared to my last 5k race, this one was HARD... it was just full of long stretches of road that seemed endless. But it was still a rush, especially at the end when I sprinted (or tried to) to the finish and I ended up beating my last time by about 2 mintues. So my time was 27 min. and 36 seconds. And it turns out that I placed 3rd in our age group and Shannon got 4th!! It feels great to accomplish something I have been working toward and know I've done my best. Thanks Shan for "making" me run this race with ya and for the support! We rock!

Last Day of Preschool

Today was Lexi's last day of preschool. She has really enjoyed going to school twice a week (me too!). She brought home her binder, with all of the homework she's had to do (writing-letters & numbers, math, etc.), a preschool memory book, a CD of photos, and her teacher even gave the kids new books about going to Kindergarten. It has been so fun to see Lexi learn and progress! Especially with reading... I have to say my baby can read very well (but I am a little biased). Great job Lex! On to Kindergarten in the fall!

Cousin Pics

When my parents were down here last month they wanted to take their 3 grandaughters to get a group picture. Yes, it was quite the ordeal. Ava HATES getting her picture taken and instantly started crying when I set her down to pose. Lexi smiled too much, making her smile seem unnatural. And little Abigail did great and smiled when her mom made silly faces. After bribes and promises of picking out treats when they were done, these were the best shots we got!

Red Rock Hike

On Sat. after spending the majority of the day inside setting up our new computer/printer we decided to go up to Red Rock and do our favorite, kid friendly hike. It was a beautiful day and the hike was mainly in the shade. The girls love this little hike, they've done it several times. Ava even chants the whole way, "I do it." She only wants to be carried over the hard parts. :)

Happy Mother's Day!!

Well today is the day of the year where we honor our moms. And I'd like to wish all of you wonderful mothers out there a Happy Mother's Day! Even though this is the toughest, most challenging job I have ever had, I still feel it is so worth all the stress, worry, and dirty work we endure. This morning my kids bombarded me with loves and kisses which is the BEST feeling in the world! Lexi made me a present at preschool, a framed picture of herself and one of those lists of questions that asks how old your mom is, etc. Yeah, Lex said I was 17! Love it. And Rooney also made a card with a picture of herself in nursery today. Benj was great getting the girls fed and dressed for church this morning. He even offered to do their hair, but I passed on that one. ;) And tonight they made my favorite meal for dinner, tacos. And I get to go shopping this week for some new clothes that actually fit me (smaller size!!).
And the day was even more special when I got to talk to my own mom. Although it was just a phone conversation, it was a blast just chatting with her. We are 14 hours apart, but she is the closest friend I have ever had. Thanks mom for the great example that you are to me and my girls! I love you and Happy Mother's Day!!

San Gennaro Feast

Every spring and fall the San Gennaro Feast comes to Vegas. It's a big Italian food festival and they have every kind of Italian food, different booths, and carnival rides. It was in town this weekend and we went last night. Usually I would be looking forward to going and stuffing myself with yummy Italian food, but this time we didn't eat there. We picked up Arby's and ate it on the way instead- lol! Our visit to the festival last night was mainly for the kids. Lexi calls it the fair and she had seen the big ferris wheel earlier in the week as we drove by. So... we went to the "fair" and the girls had a blast on the rides. The hit ride of the night? Jalopy Junction, the cars on a track fierce enough to give ya whiplash. We kept sticking the girls in the last car just because it had a Montana license plate. :)

Mom? Can this grasshopper be our pet?

We were playing outside yesterday afternoon and the girls discovered a grasshopper. Lexi is kind of afraid of bugs, but after I told her grasshoppers don't bite she had made a new friend. Ava on the other hand... she tried to smash it. So after many questions like what do they eat? Do they fly? Where are it's ears? they were content with just talking to the bug. Lexi even went inside to get a book and was "reading" to it. Then she called Benj at work just to tell him all about it. When it was time to go in she put rocks around it and said she would be back.
After dinner we went back outside to clean up and of course say goodnight to the grasshopper. Well, I made the mistake of touching it and it flew into the neighbors yard. Fearing that Lex would totally freak out, she suprised me and said, "I think it's going to go home to it's family." PHEW!

Finally Blogging!

Well I do myspace and facebook and so I thought why not start blogging too? Hopefully I can keep in better touch with more people who don't do the whole myspace thing. :)

So I will start with this weekend. I ran my first competitive 5k on Saturday with a time of 29 min. and 38 sec. It was such a blast!! It was the Race for the Cure that Vegas does every May and I started training for it in March. It was a lot of fun and the time actually passed quickly. I don't know if I was just trying to keep up with everyone or what, but it was a lot of fun. I am actually doing another 5k on Memorial Day, so my goal is to try to beat my time!

I have really learned to like working out and running (thanks to Sparkpeople.com and a few friends... you know who you are). I started working out and eating better the 1st of January and so far have lost 26 pounds!! It feels GREAT to get back into shape again and have more energy. I freak out if I don't get my workout in every day, but I do take some down time as well. ;)

Okay... back to this weekend. After the race we drove up to Utah to Benj's sister's house. They had a baby last Nov., so we met our new nephew who is way super cute. We also got to see friends of ours that live there too and we were up visiting till 12:30 am! We came back last night and the kids were... antsy. But that's to be expected with 2 little kiddos! We made it home and it's great to be back!