3 Little Hapas

I haven't updated our site in a while because for a few weeks we've been passing around this horrible GI virus. It made its rounds through the neighborhood for sure. We're finally all healthy again (knock on wood) and looking forward to sprinting to the finish line (end of the end of the school year) in just a few short weeks. Pretty soon it will be non-stop swim lessons. We toured the fire station with the Girl Scouts last week and have just 3 meetings left. They had such a blast and the guys were so great to them. We're looking forward to seeing the family in Calif. soon and taking a little side vacation, hopefully to San Diego in June. Shamu and Mickey here we come! Maybe even doing some camping near the beach? We'll see...

It's been almost 1.5 years since our last family photo session and they came out fantastic. Thank you so much Kim! I am in constant awe at how talented Kim is. Not only does she juggle 4 kids and a custom sewing/embroidery biz on the side, she still manages to find time to take beautiful photos. See her link at www.kimfosterphotography.com for more of her work. She captured the kids personalities perfectly. See my slide show on the right for all of the beautiful photos.

All I have to say to the kids is, "Train Park?" and they are filled with excitement. If you have never visited Phoenix, the one park that is a must-see is McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park. I've been going there since I was a little girl. We celebrated many many birthdays here and even sat in the very same caboose that my kids now love to ride in. We love coming in the winter to see Christmas lights but it is also especially fun now with the weather so beautiful. We rode the train and the carousel and played in the park after having lunch in the "caboose snackstop", waving at the passing train. What a fun way to spend the day while Caesar preps for his oral boards next week in Chicago. Yes, more testing!! Hopefully after all of his final exams are complete, our lives can get back to normal again (2 years in the making). But for now, I stay busy with the kids enjoying them day by day without losing my mind.


Melena on the carousel.

Waving to the train.

Melena wasn't even scared in the caboose.


Waiting anxiously for their turn.

Getting down and dirty.

All smiles on the carousel.

For some reason Camden clung to me with a death grip. He normally loves the carousel but today it was a little faster than he's used to.


Kaitlyn in the (jail) caboose.

It seems like every weekend is non-stop soccer, whether it's practice or a game. I'm was so impressed at just how much Kaitlyn has improved this year. At our last game she really went after the ball. She didn't let anyone score when she was goalie and she was having a great time playing. The best I could ever hope for. One of the little girls got kicked in the face playing goalie, I almost got it on video. That would've been a great shot for America's funniest videos, even though it was a little sad watching her get slammed with the ball.

She just loves being goalie.

Way to stop that ball with your butt!
Running through the tunnel at the end of the game.

Camden keeping busy kicking the ball on the sidelines. Future David Beckem?

Kaitlyn received her student of the month award for putting forth her best effort and for exhibiting good behavior in class. 2 students from each class get this award each month. We are so proud of her. Grandma and Grandpa came to see her get her award as well as a ticket to the Diamond Backs game. As the principle said, you should talk to your dad about that!


Principle Steve Gillette with all the little Kindergarten students of the month. Notice how the boys are outnumbered 2:1?

Kaitlyn showing off her certificate. She looks a little nervous in front of the crowd.

Here is our little girl in the "lineup". She is next to her best friend Sarah (what a happy day for them) and another little boy from down the street (not the one with the mohawk).

We are very proud of Kaitlyn for earning the Student of the Month award for April. She will be presented a certificate in a few weeks in front of the school. I'm not sure what the criteria is for student of the month but it shows she is doing well in class and for that, we are really proud of her. Lately she has been giving us a lot of sass about certain things, especially doing "homework" to the point where I was getting very discouraged. I observed her one time in class and she did her work so well, moving from center to center independently completing assignments I said to myself, "Wow, I need to learn the teacher's tricks because she definitely isn't like this at home." We are so proud she is such a sweet, smart and loving child and enjoys school. These photos were taken the first day of Kindergarten. My how the year has flown by.

Camden and his cousin Colin go to a planned play called "Busy Bodies" every week and have tons of fun. They have circle time where they shake eggs and sing, free time, parachute time and at the end they get to play with puppets and blow bubbles. It's so much fun. We're about to move up to "Gummy Bear" status because Camden is able to follow all instructions and do the songs by himself.









Getting stamps on hands, feet and tummy at the end.














Free time.















He really gets into puppet time. His favorite puppet is the Dinosaur. He likes to growl and me and say, "I'm going to eat you!"







The "treadmill" is his favorite.

Shootin' hoops.
Arrrgh, Matey!

Cousin Colin playing with the ducks.

It's egg time.

Well, our much anticipated trip to Hawaii is no more. Unfortunately for us, our travel agency had our flights booked through ATA and as you know, they just went bankrupt. We have no idea what is going to happen. I'm not too optimistic since ATA just up and left everyone hanging with no warning. Cross your fingers for us but it doesn't look good. We were really looking forward to going back and had waited over a year to book this trip just to get the deal we got. Such a bummer. Well, at least I'm starting hula classes tomorrow so maybe that will lift my spirits, or just make me more sad :(

Here we are enjoying the beautiful weather on a lazy Saturday afternoon just goofing off taking pictures. You would never know from the smiles that the day started off really, really bad. We could not get Kaitlyn to get up for her soccer game at 8am. What a nightmare! Over 45 minutes later of screaming tantrums we finally made her get in the car by threatening to leave her in the house and turn the alarm on so it would go off if she opened the door (how bad are we?). So she bolted to the car in her underwear. We were a little late but after throwing on her clothes at the field, she made it through the game. Later we went through more crying fits at McD's. So she sat in the parking lot with Caesar for 20 minutes while Camden and I ate some yummy breakfast. Ah, the joys of a drama queen. Do I dare try to imagine what she will be like as a teen?

Blowing bubbles and having lots of fun!

This is my favorite candid shot of Kaitlyn.

He says, "I'm a girl". He likes to have his toes painted pink :) I'm not worried.

What a loving pair. By dinner time they are usually hitting each other and all kinds of fun stuff so don't let this photo fool you.

Camden getting into the Dr.'s role one morning before Caesar went to work.

Giving Mama and Baby Elmo a check-up.

Oooh, gross Camden! Sasha does that, not you! Why do I get the idea I will have some nasty diapers to change pretty soon if he doesn't get sick from this?

Going down the curly slide at the park where I do Stroller Strides. He must have went down this slide for about 30 minutes non-stop.

I got a good smile coming down!

All smiles at the bottom.

Here we are at the mall play area. Killing time while Kaitlyn is in school.

One of our hibiscus is blooming, didn't think it would come back but look how beautiful it is.

One of our ice plants just bloomed out of nowhere, I can't believe how vibrant pink the color is!

Blowing bubbles from our German bear we got at Busy Bodies. I love this thing. No messes!

Kaitlyn getting her turn.
So proud of himself that he can stand on this rock and pose for a picture.