and summer begins.

Bentley "graduated" from his first preschool class on May 10th. The kids made alphabet crowns to wear and Lauren made them their own little diplomas which she presented to them.

We have had such a great time with preschool this year. I didn't think I would love hanging out with other people's kids that much, but I did. I loved planning the lessons, teaching, and seeing the kids learn and grow. Bentley has learned so much from all of his teachers and loves going to school. Now that it is over he tells me almost everyday that he wants to go to school. While he was in school the first thing he would tell everybody he talked to was that he went to school. The other day he told me that he wanted to be a daddy so I asked him if he wanted to go to school ALL day EVERY day like his daddy. He got really excited and shouted "YES!" And he is very excited to have Gaige go to school with him next year.

So now that preschool is over I get to hang out with my kids all day everyday! Not only did Bentley graduate from preschool, he has also graduated from naps. One day last week he decided to be very very naughty so I didn't give him his binky for his nap. The next day I decided that we were done with binkies. I told Bentley that I mailed all of his binkies to Spiderman because Spiderman needed them for his new baby. I am pretty sure that Bentley now resents Spiderman for taking his binkies...Sorry, Spidey! Now that there are no more binkies there is no more nap. So all of this extra quality time with Bentley is driving me a little bit crazy. Thankfully he is sleeping in a little bit later in the morning so our days don't start at 6:15 am anymore. We get to at least sleep in till 7:20 am.

Marvin took our pictures a few weeks ago when he, Janni, Luke and Shane came to visit. My boys are so difficult to take pictures of. The won't look at the camera at the same time, make silly faces, and look down. At least Matt and I look good! www.kimble-photography.com

bangs.

These are my new bangs. Somedays I like them, some days I don't and other days I love them. They are like an instant glamorous accessorie which is a total benefit for a girl with a not so glamorous life! My dad sure does like them. When we went home last weekend to see Janni and Marvin he asked Matt who his new wife was. It's just because I look more like my beautiful mom with bangs.

We went to Disneyland - known as "Dineyeyland" at our house - last Thursday for Shea's birthday and then again on Monday with Mom, Dad, Janni, Marvin, Luke and Shane. And guess what...the boys still ask to go to Dineyeyland every day. In fact, they like to randomly shout "Dineyeyland" back and forth, and it is the subject Gaige talks about the most.

When we went with my family the boys took their first trip on the Matterhorn. They are both tall enough, but Bentley was the one that had to be checked by the worker. Gaige is now only half an inch shorter than his older brother. Bentley rode the roller coaster with Grandad and Gaige rode with me. They both held on tight the entire time, but said they wanted to go again when it was over.

We went to the Fire Station for Shea's birthday party and the boys loved the fire truck and fire hose. The firemen gave them a tour of the fire station, educated them about what to do in a fire, let them squirt the hose and play in the fire truck. Needless to say, they LOVED all of it. One of the firemen asked me if Bentley keeps me busy, as he was laying on the ground scooting around on his back and running around like a crazy person. The fireman didn't even realize I had two of them.

The other morning we had some time to kill so we decided to do a science experiment called "Dancing Raisins." I got the idea from my friend's blog. Here is what you do:

What you will need.
Water, Baking Soda, White Vinegar (we used apple vinegar), a few raisins or craisins, Measuring spoons, Measuring cup, tall clear glass or jar.

How to do it.
1. Pour 2 cups of water into a tall clear glass.
2. Add 2 tablespoons of baking soda.
3. Mix the baking soda until it dissolves in the water.
4. Drop in your raisins and watch them sink to the bottom (we rinsed our craisins first)
5. Slowly pour in the magic....1 tablespoon of white vinegar.
6. Voila a raisin dance party!
*If the raisins don't start dancing add a little more vinegar.

Why does this happen?
Vinegar is acetic acid and baking soda is sodium bicarbonate. By mixing them together, you are creating a chemical reaction---making a carbonic acid, which breaks down into carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O). The CO2 gas is what you can see foaming and bubbling. It is the gas making the craisins rise to the surface. The gas clings onto the raisins and causes them to rise to the top of the jar, as they reach the surface the CO2 gas evaporates, making the raisins fall.

And the boys enjoyed stuffing themselves silly with raisins too!


A few weeks ago my friend Lauren got tickets to go to an American Idol rehearsal. We had lots of fun and even got to stand the entire time in the pit where they stick all of the teenagers. At first I thought they put us there because they thought we were chaperoning the 17 year olds we were sitting next to. But now that I see this picture we looked HOT! No wonder they put us in the front row!

Bentley and Gaige went to the doctor today. The highlight of our day, seriously. The boys were so great there, and we were there less than an hour which is a complete miracle! Here are their stats.

Bentley - 3 years old - 36 inches tall - 28 lbs

Gaige - 2 years old - 35 1/2 inches tall - 30 lbs

P.S. Next time you lose your key (our apartment keys are cards like hotel keycards) look in the cuff of your jeans. That is where I found mine the other night after losing it!

are you ready?

Are you ready for the biggest update ever? We have been non-stop around here for the past month and things are finally slowing down for the time being. We'll see how long that lasts! So here we go.......

Bentley's new cutest thing is to say,"Hey Gaige, come sit on my lap and I will read you a story." This is probably my most favorite thing to wake up to.

We also enjoy building forts in the living room.

Jenna through a St. Patrick's Day party. We ate all green foods - jello, pickles, and pb&J sandwiches cut into four leaf clovers with green sprinkles (Gaige just licked off the sprinkles) - and she gave each of the kids necklaces, hats, and little pots of gold. Way to be Irish Jenna! These boys looked like the most adorable leprechauns I have ever seen with their red hair and freckles!

Spring break was back at the end of March. We went to Disneyland and spent a few days at my parents' house. And of course we spent some quality time at the beach.

On May 16th my friend Jenny and I threw a baby shower for our friend Jen. We had each of the guests iron on a pre-cut out shape onto a square of fabric. Then I sewed it into a baby blanket. It turned out super cute.

We had an Easter egg hunt at Preschool. Lauren made these cute easter bunny masks for the kids, we decorated rice krispy eggs, and had a little brunch with all of the moms.

The boys are still enjoying naps together like two little loving sardines in a can!

Bentley turned 3 on April 2nd! We went to see How to Train your Dragon with Shea, Clare, and Nicholas. We had so much fun and the movie was awesome. I made a pirate cake for Bentley and he and Gaige opened their big birthday present from Mommy and Daddy - a baseball tee that also shoots out wiffle balls. Needless to say they are thoroughly entertained with their present. Bentley never ceases to amaze us and he is getting to be such a big boy. We love him!

The next day we headed down to Orange County to spend time with family. Our first stop was Aunt Carrie and Uncle Rob's house. Grandma was there and we had lots of fun with cousins too. The boys were spoiled rotten with birthday presents and had a ball coloring eggs. Gaige is the fastest egg dyer ever. Within 5 minutes he had colored 12 eggs and his belly green!

We spent Easter day with my parents and Shannon and Adam came over too. The boys ate lots of candy for breakfast and Easter dinner was awesome as always. Thanks Mom and Dad.

The boys got so many presents for their birthdays. Bentley keeps telling me that he wants it to be his birthday again, like he hadn't had enough parties already! One of their favorite things were their Buzz Lightyear and Spiderman kites. So we went to the beach on a very cold and windy Saturday with Grace, Lance and Sloane to fly them. Lance dug a huge tunnel for the kids to crawl through and we built sand castles too. Then we had lunch at The Counter - some super great hamburgers and sweet potato fries.

Since Easter fell on General Conference Sunday and we didn't get to take pictures of the boys all dressed up with their new ties, we took pictures the next Sunday. Look at these handsome boys!

We went to the LA Zoo with Lauren, Alex and Austin. Here is a picture of the monkeys!

We had a birthday party for the boys and their friends at the pool. When I asked Bentley last month what kind of party he wanted he told me a "Peter Pan, Captain Hook, pirate party." So we had a Peter Pan, Captain Hook, pirate party complete with inflatable pirate swords, pirate hats, tinkerbell headbands and bubble wands, pirate beach balls, a crocodile cake, and Peter Pan hats for Bentley and Gaige. We had lots of fun with friends!






Happy Birthday Gaige! Gaige turned 2 on April 18th. If you ask him how old he is he will tell you "Thwee." Of course he thinks that he is the same age as his brother. He celebrated with his friends at church in nursery with brownies. And we had icecream that night which is Gaige's favorite treat. Even if it is freezing and he is shivering he still manages to scarf it down. He had to wait till the evening to open his presents because we had church so early, then I had meetings, and they had a nap. Matt said he tried to sneak off with one of his presents to unwrap it in his room before nap time. We love this silly kid!

On Monday we had a preschool field trip and went to the Natural History Museum. The boys loved the dinosaurs and all of the other not so living animals there. They loved asking me what everything was and then repeating my answer. We had lots of fun but I think this is the unfortunate location of where I was bit by a spider which caused my ankle and foot to swell to the size of a 500 lb woman's. It's called cellulitus - the infection of the fatty cells in your skin. Not so fun. It was painful to walk for a couple of days but I'm on the mend.

Oh! And remember that time I got my hair cut and decided to get bangs? You know, the blunt kind that go straight across. You'll just have to wait to see them. They are very successful at covering the wrinkles on my forehead and less expensive than botox! Thanks Kelli, you always do a great job styling my hair!

epicurean style apron give away.

I just added a link picture to my sidebar for Epicurean Style. Michelle always has great give aways on her blog, whether for her chic aprons, or for some other cool doodads. So check out this give away... A Mother Daughter Set of Aprons (just in time for Mother's Day) of my style choice (you'll like them, I promise) or Two Adult Size Epicurean Style Aprons. Check it out here or click the link here on my sidebar.