{Artist}

My little Alexa is quite the creative one lately. She has a thing for tape and paper and will draw on any surface allowed. She'll then create puppets, telescopes, purses, whatever she can come up with.

Today while digging holes for shrubs she and Gav were drawing on the sidewalk. I ventured over to check their creations and Alexa had drawn herself a hop scotch game. I have never mentioned hopscotch to her, I have no idea where she learned it but I was surprised that she was able to draw one and do it so intricately.

{SuMmEr FuN!}

This summer is going by TOO fast but we are having so much fun. Utah summers are so much different/better than the blazing hot Arizona summers.

We have 4 houses right in a row with kids all about the same age. The two houses to our west have kids (Alexa, Avery & Cade) whose birthdays are all with in a month of each other and those same three houses have younger siblings all w/in 3 months of each other (Gavin, Liam & Luke). It is so much fun to hang outdoors while the kids all entertain each other and play. My fabulous next door neighbor Jennie feeds Alexa lunch nearly every day because she and Avery are connected at the hip. We both use "you can't play with Avery today" as a threat when the girls aren't behaving. It works better than anything I have ever tried.

Gav loves the little boys and the new outdoor toys that the other houses have to offer. He also loves to feel big and chase the older kids around. He wakes up each morning asking to go outside. We eat breakfast almost every day on the back porch.

We really are having so much fun!

{Seriously... the most beautiful boy around}

{Alexa's - "Don't take a picture of me, but I really want you to" look}

{This face is SO Gav. Always excited and happy.}

{What do you do on the hottest day of summer?}

What do you do on the hottest day of summer?

Make soup of course!! Why in the world would I do that? My house was a sauna all day long. But it sure tasted great!

{House Cleaner}

My sweet x-sister in law has started a new residential and office cleaning company.
Her prices are fantastic and she is such a "clean freak" that I am positive she will do an amazing job. She cleaned Judy's house (my mom) today and I was told that it looks fantastic!

Jennifer is newly single and struggling to make ends meet for herself and her 3 kiddo's.

If you have ever thought about having someone come clean your home, take advantage of Jennifer's services, you won't be sorry!!

{Photo Shoot}

We headed to Gardner Village Friday evening for a photo shoot with my sister-in-law and her family.

Of course I took some of my monsters before meeting up with the Chamberlains to take theirs.

Check out their cute family photos HERE on my Photo Blog.

(Alexa with her newly SELF cut bangs... she is grounded from scissors for a while!!)

{STARS - Year End Show - Videos}

"Single Ladies" - Obviously her fav!


"Princess & The Frog"

{STARS - Year End Show}

On Friday Alexa had her year end recital for dance.
She did two dances. "Princess & the Frog" and "SINGLE LADIES" (Chippettes Version)

The "Princess and the Frog" dance we had never really seen. I knew that she was doing it but because I don't wait around while she is in class I didn't know much about it. She didn't really seem to like the dance much because she would never show me. Greg didn't know about it at all! :)

She did okay with this dance but not as good as she did "Single Ladies"

("Put a ring on it")

She has been excited about "Single Ladies" since day one and would show me her favorite parts often. She still didn't really love to "practice" the whole thing through though. We were a little worried that she wouldn't remember it but she did great!

After it was over she was SO excited and proud of herself! Her favorite part is getting hugs and flowers from her fans afterward. The whole Chazen & Jepson clans come out to see her. (Thank you Michael for taking all of the pictures of Alexa)

Below is a picture I took of my niece Sierra at the same show. At a regional competition (teams from Idaho & Utah) Sierra was one of 2 dancers chosen to receive a scholarship for a workshop in the "OC". This workshop is put on and taught by famous dancers & choreographers. Some are on the hit show "So You Think You Can Dance".

Sierra is incredible. My mom said to me not so long ago, "you were a great dancer when you were in high school but Sierra is SO much better!!" haha! She knew I wouldn't and I didn't at all take offense because she is really insanely amazing.

I'll post videos as soon as my bro Chris comes back in town with them. I REALLY need my own video camera.

{Big Week}

On Wednesday Miss Alexa went to her first birthday party... ALONE. This is a big deal for her. She can play at relatives homes alone and plays at her BFF Macey's house alone but I was really worried about her going to this party for some reason. There were about 30 kids there (it was crazy), a water/bounce house and slip-n-slide. It was also 3 hours long. She was also the youngest kid by 2 years. Luckily it was next door! :) So while Gavin napped, I spied from the back porch. I was so impressed with her. She had such a great time.

(Very Excited)

(So Cool)

Miss A was SUPER sick on Thursday throwing up at least once an hour. It was so sad and she didn't move off of the couch all day.

I just thought this picture was cute.

Friday was her year end recital for dance. I'll post more from that later! Luckily her sickness was only 24 hours!!

{Thanksgiving Point}

My sis-in-law Shannon and I decided to get annual passes for Thanksgiving Point to help keep us busy this summer.

Here are some pix from the fun week so far!

(Playing at the Gardens - Gav kept loosing his pants!)

(Posing for me)

(Beautiful Bentley)

(Horsing Around)

(In Time Out)

{Bday Banners}

(In our hotel in Cali)

(At Alexa's Party)

Greg's sister Shannon is so crafty and thoughtful. I asked her to do these giant banners for the kids bdays.
They turned out so cute and I'm sure they were a major undertaking. I keep telling her that she needs to go into business making things like this. She is so creative and everything she does is perfect. Thanks Shan!
(Unfortunately my pictures were all terrible... sorry)

{Disneyland '10}

Last week we headed to Sunny CA to go to Disneyland.

The Holtby and Our Chazen clan flew on Buddy Pass on Sunday morning. It was a FABULOUS first ever flight for Bentley and the rest of us. The plane was empty so we had 4 rows between the 7 of us. Greg sat in the row in front of me and Alexa and Gav went back and forth (several times) between the two rows. Benny got to sit in her car seat for the flight.

We took a shuttle to the PARADISE PIER HOTEL which was Disney-afied. We took a swim in the FREEZING pool which lasted about 15 min and then headed back to the room to rest and get ready for dinner. Dinner at El Torito's (the "older" one) was SO yummy, thank you Dave!

Monday was day 1 at the parks. We headed right for Nemo and took off from there. Kellie & Brad are season pass holders and know how to get around and on every right fast. Alexa was brave and went on Pirates even though she says she will NEVER go on it again. Gav was even scared on it but was tough. Pretty much all of the rides are dark at some point but Alexa, although scared of the dark went on them all.

DUMBO - was the big hit with both kids and Alexa even got PURPLE two times! SCORE!  They also really liked toon town. They met Minnie there and both really liked her. I thought Gav would be nervous with the characters but he was great. Alexa wanted to take her home.

That night we had Ihop next to Kellie's hotel and we celebrated Gav's bday with eggs, his favorite!

Tuesday was a little more Disney but mostly Cali adventure. We spent a long time in "Bug's" land and both kids really liked that.

Greg, generally nicknamed "grumpy" when it comes to all things Disney, even went on "SMALL WORLD". He swore he never would but I think he really liked it. As you can tell from the boys shirts, he was really in the Disney Spirit! He and Michael planned this BIG shirt and Mickey ear unveiling on day 1 to prove how excited they were. They are dorks.

The highlight was just spending 2 good days with the family. The kids really love their cousins and have so much fun being smothered by their grandparents, aunts and uncles. It was really such a great trip.

{More Birthday Madness}

Besides Alexa's Rockstar party and Gav's Disneyland Day they also had two more fun parties.
One with the Jepson clan at Chuck-E-Cheese and another with Greg's family on Memorial Day.

Chuck-E-Cheese was perfect a nice quiet week day. There weren't many other people there and the kids loved the rides and games. The pizza was yuck but that is to be expected. Alexa got a new big girl bike from the Grandparents a helmet and bike bell from her uncle Jim & Molly and a great game from Corey & Stacey. Gavin got a new drive-in car for outside from the G-parents, games from Corey & Stacey and a T-Ball set from Jim and Molly. They were very spoiled. I'll post pix of the car and bike soon and Elefun has been a HUGE hit. They play it all of the time. It is cute to see them play it together. (No pictures.. sorry)

 

(Minnie & Mickey - Celebrating our Disneyland Trip)

The Chazen Party was So much fun! The kids played in the bounce house FOREVER outside and dinner was DELISH, as always! I ordered some fun cakes from Greg's mom's neighbor Theresa and the "happy birthday" song was actually sung better than most! :) Granny and Kellie took Alexa on a special shopping trip at Disneyland. She got a gorgeous Princess Tiana dress and a few other fun character toys. The dress really is so pretty, I'm afraid to let her go crazy in it. Shan & M also spoiled her as always and she got some adorable swimming gear from the aunts and a Leapfrog Tag Reading system from Grandma B. Granny, Shan and Kel also took Gav shopping at Disneyland. He got LOTS of "Cars" (the movie) Cars and a stuffed "BOLT" dog. He also got some Nemo characters a dump truck, little trucks, swimming gear from the aunts and a Tag Jr Reading System from Grandma B. Alexa's special friend (cousin) Ali gave her an ADORABLE pettit skirt. I'm sure we'll see lots of photos in that soon!

These kids have so many people who love him. I can't say enough how much fun it is to be living here in Utah and getting smothered with love from them all. They are lucky kids!

{Gavin is 2}

Gavin, Gavin, Gavin!

G-man turned 2 on May 24th. This kid surely keeps me on my toes. At his 2 year old doctors visit even the doctor said, "man, you really have to keep your eyes on this kid, don't you?". He is seriously into EVERYTHING. Pots, pans, toys, dirt, FLOUR (see below), rocks... you name it, he will make a mess of it. WOW! My house is clean one minute and trashed the next all because of him. He empties laundry baskets about 2 seconds after the clothes are folded! And then he laughs. He knows it is naughty and LOVES it!

He is also VERY tender. If I raise my voice at him he gets very sad and says, "ma'ma" in the sweetest, saddest voice and just wants to cuddle to make sure I still love him. He is SO sweet and LOVES his mommy so much. I can count on him any time to hug and kiss me. Although with that comes a lot of clingy-ness. He ALWAYS wants his ma'ma and has a hard time letting me out of his site.

He is still TINY (13% for weight). We worried because he is very random when it comes to eating. We asked the doctor and she assured us that only eating one good meal a day is very normal for a 2 year old boy. He isn't a fan of food.... still!

(After dinner at Greg's parents house one night Gav came out of the laundry room like this. He had taken the lid off of a HUGE bucket of flour and tossed it ALL over the room. The room looked like a beach and he looked like a ghost!)

Gavin is FULL of personality.  He likes to dance, jump and somersault and he still loves cars, balls and rocks. He is sneaky and funny and is getting smarter each day. He sings his ABC's and counts to 10. He says a lot of words and is very polite, saying please and thank you on his own. He really loves to swim and isn't a fan of strollers or shopping carts. He would rather walk and destroy!

Although he didn't understand, he had the BEST birthday party ever! We were at Disneyland! It was SO much fun to celebrate with him there!

Post Edit... About a week after the flour incident, I was off photographing and I left the kids with Lynn. They were outside playing and Gavin did a repeat of the flour but this time with a flower pot full of dirt. Lynn said he looked exactly the same as the with the flour but luckily this one happened outside. I was finding dirt in his crevices for days! :)

{Alexa is 4}

Miss A turned 4 on May 18th. It was a HUGE day for her. They celebrated at school which she was looking forward to for weeks. Greg picked her up and took her on a date for lunch. Then she had a big party with some friends at our house in the afternoon.

PARTY

For weeks she talked about having a ROCKSTAR party. Rockstar is SO fitting for her but really, where does she come up with these things?
They decorated "echo" microphones and STAR shaped sunglasses. My awesome niece Sierra gave them Rockstar hair and make-up and then they all "rocked" out to 'Hanna Montana/High school Musical' music.
They were so funny to watch and were all really into it.
They then had cake, ice cream and Alexa opened her ROCKSTAR gifts.
She really had SO much fun. In fact, she fell asleep in the middle of the floor about 10 min after all of her buddies went home. She was exhausted!

FOUR YEARS OLD

What can I say about this big 4 year old. She is still very funny, very smart and very lovable. She has also become quite sassy. It is crazy to see how much she has changed in the past year. Until I look back at photos from a year ago, it is hard to see it but when I do, it makes me sad that she is growing up so fast. She talks like a teenager and has become quite creative. She is still boy crazy like a teenager too.
Her preschool teacher has too many great things to say about Alexa's great personality and how smart she is. It has been fun to see her form new friendships, mature and become more independent.
We recently started going to the gym and she doesn't even blink an eye when I drop her off at the kid area. She loves to run, play, flip, jump and dance, dance, dance.
I love Alexa more than I can say. She is seriously so much fun and is pure entertainment every day!
Happy Birthday Little Miss!!
xoxo

{Last Day of Pre-School 2010}

Alexa's last day of Pre-School was on the 20th of May!

Mrs Wright had been prepping them for weeks about only having 5,4,3 etc. "more days until you get a new teacher". Alexa kept asking why she needed a new teacher but she totally understood and as much as she loves Mrs Wright, it wasn't hard for her. (I'm not going to lie though, I got a little teary picking her up and hugging Mrs Write that last day).

They had a fun "carnival" day and the teachers all dressed like clowns. It was so cute and they had a lot of fun going from "booth to booth" (room to room) enjoying different games, balloon artists, magicians etc.

She is extra excited for next year because she knows that she'll have her buddies Jeffrey and Ryan in her class. We'll have to wait and see who her new teacher is though!

{GLEE ~ Live in Concert}

A few weekends ago I went with the girls in Greg's family to Phoenix for a 24 hour visit.
Shannon and I flew in early and spent the day with Britany in Scottsdale. It was so fun to see her, eat great food and shop around. I miss her! :(
After the rest of the crew flew in we checked into our hotel, ate dinner and headed over to the theater for GLEE IN CONCERT!

WOW!! It was FABULOUS! I can not even tell you how much fun it was.

(cell phone photo)

Kellie, Kathy & Ali, aka "the cool kids" got front row Joe tickets, early shopping and they met FINN! I'm not going to lie, I was a little jealous but they got to hug him for me.

The rest of us had nose bleed seats but it was still amazing. They are all SO talented, it is crazy. We headed home Sunday afternoon. It was such a fun weekend.