Celebrate!!!

It is summertime, and we are celebrating in the Fairhurst household! Ariana finished her first year of pre-school. She did great, had a fun time with her friends, and always enjoyed telling us about what she learned. She was very aware of the rules and made sure I knew that she was obeying her teacher. Pre-school was also an accomplishment for Kindra as she took turns with the other mothers to teach the kids. They did a great job, and the kids loved it!
Kierra finished kindergarten. She did great! At an awards ceremony at the end of the year she was given an award for citizenship, musin and p.e. I was especially proud of the p.e. award. Kierra did not love p.e., specifically she disliked running laps outside in the Arizona heat. However, she stuck with it and kept a good attitude. Apparently she gave a good enough effort for her teacher to notice. I am glad she didn't give up.

I also completed my second year of the doctoral program. The culmination of the first two years was a qualifying exam. I found out on Friday that I passed. What is my reward, you ask...three more years of school! I am happy to have the exam behind me and to be on to my next steps in the program. This, again, is something that Kindra deserves to celebrate. She has been the foundation during this hectic time. We celebrated with a night out to a seafood restaurant. Great food, great company, and no homework hanging over my head! The perfect way to celebrate!

We have been having a lot of family fun to celebrate. Bowling, trips to the pool, reading together, and, mostly, relaxing. We also have a baby girl that thinks she wants to crawl. She is constantly getting on all fours and falling forward. Enough face plants and she will eventually begin to shuffle.



KID QUOTES

Kierra: Ariana, you be the mom and you can be married to dad!
Ariana: [Gets an excited/nervous/blushing look on her face]
Kierra: Ariana, are you daydreaming...because I am definitely daydreaming!

A Thorn in My (back)Side

We are gearing up for summer. Kierra's last day of school is Thursday and I have a qualifying exam on Thursday and Friday. Saturday will be a good day! Towards the end of the year, Kierra's school held a field day. They had many games and capped it off with an inflatable water slide. Kierra had a blast!


The girls have been playing pretty well together. They do all sorts of things. One thing they like is dress-up. We have several Disney princess dresses, tutus, leotards, etc. Of course, those aren't what they use for dress-up. This last week, they dressed up as mom and dad in our clothes. I have to say, Ariana looks ready to be a mom!


Arizona, not surprisingly, is full of gnarly looking cacti. What we didn't expect was all of the thorns on plants other than cacti. Kierra has had a particular knack for finding plants with pokies. I have lost track, but several times she has come home with dozens of tiny thorns that had to be picked out of her hand one by one. The latest occurance was this past week as Kindra and the girls visited the local Botanical Gardens. However, Kierra's experiences pale in comparison to Teya's. One night this week, Kindra was changing Teya's diaper. She yelled that something was wrong...Teya had been stung by a bee. I came in and felt the bump on her bottom, and, sure enough, it felt like a stinger was in there. Kindra grabbed the tweezers and started the extraction. The 'stinger' kept coming and coming. Kindra pulled out what was either the stinger from a bee the size of a small bird or a large thorn.

This thorn was sticking directly into her bottom (thank goodness for padding). We have no idea how long it was in there. All I know is I couldn't find a hole in her diaper or clothes and the thorn had been in there long enough to get soggy! Poor Teya!

KID QUOTES

Mom and Dad: What did you learn about in church today Ariana?
Ariana: I don't know...my teacher didn't tell me!

Dad: Are you excited or sad that kindergarten is almost over?
Kierra: Both...I am excited because I need a break. I am sad because it means I am that much closer to 1st grade!

Easter Surprise and Kid Quotes

On Saturday of Easter weekend, Kindra had a four hour meeting. A friend of mine was alone with his kids as well. So, we decided to take the kids to the park, let them play, and have a little Easter egg hunt. I went out to hide the eggs while the kids were playing. I scattered them all over a sandy area away from the playground equipment. With only a few eggs left, I noticed a dirt mound that I might be able to set an egg on. However, as I got close I realized the dirt mound was already occupied...by a sonoran sidewinder (rattlesnake). Fortunately, it was asleep. We kept our distance and finished the egg hunt. Since then I have been having nightmares of sending four you children egg hunting with rattlesnakes. Luckily, the hunt turned out well!

KID QUOTES
Ariana: Dad, did you know that when I get big I am going to get married and have kids and move to a different house than you? Don't worry though, I can visit you whenever I want to!

Kierra: Knock knock.
DJ and Kindra: Who's there?
Kierra: You guys watch too much t.v.
DJ and Kindra (thinking we were funny): You guy watch too much t.v., who?
Kierra: You guys watch too much t.v. of Chuck.

Ariana: At church, my friend and I went to the bathroom together. We heard really loud shaking. We thought that a giant was going to step on us in the bathroom. Then we realized we were under stairs.
Kierra: When you were scared, you should have yelled 9-1-1!

Kierra: Ariana, you don't have to eat your candy so fast. You can save some of it.
Ariana: Oh yeah, I forgot that candy doesn't go bad!
Kierra: Uh oh!!! We forgot about dad!
Ariana: You're right...I better hide my leftover candy!

Here are a few more pics:

The girls playing in the mud/sludge.

I'm so glad when daddy comes home! I usually get mauled when I get home. It makes everyone happy (especially mom!).

A family campout in the living room. It wasn't too hot and we didn't have to worry about snakes and scorpions.

The girls got their face painted at a community easter egg hunt.

Mom and Teya on Easter Sunday.

Peas in a pod!

Kierra Lillian

Kierra is surviving a long year of all-day kindergarten. She had Spring break this past week and she had so much energy. I think she is all but ready for summer vacation. She loves stories. She constantly wants stories from Kindra and I and when she can't get it from us she turns to the cell phone to call her grandmas and grandpas and aunts and uncles. She is well-liked by her classmates and her teacher tells us that she is always encouraging others when they get discouraged. She loves plants and animals. Every time I ask her to pray, she includes a new animal that she is grateful for.[Translation: I accidentally was playing with the cupcake wrappers. Sorry. Kierra]

Ariana Susa

Ariana is our Miss Independent. She loves to play ponies or fairies. She also loves mischief, such as hiding, running away, and, of course, pretending that she is not bothered by any consequences she might get. She is also very sweet. She loves to play with her sisters and her parents. She is learning to love stories just as much as her big sister. Ari started primary at church this year. She is very sociable. Kids of all ages at church know her and say hi to her. She still loves her thumb and her blankie.

Teya Bailey

Teya is generally a happy baby. She is starting roll a lot and giggle occasionally. She loves to be around her family. Her sisters each have their own way of playing with her, but she just loves them all. Like Kierra was, she is a binky baby. She sleeps through the night most nights. She is starting to work baby food into the mix. She is bald and chubby just like our other girls...the perfect kind of babies if you ask me.

New (sort of) Addition!

Six months since I wrote! Obviously a lot has happened and I will not even attempt to capture everything. I will begin with the most important, then throw in a few kid quotes, and finish with a few pics of our last six months.

October 15th we welcomed a new daughter into the world. The delivery went very smooth, and we are so happy she is here. Her name is Teya Bailey Fairhurst. At birth she was 7 lbs 15 oz. and 19 inches long. Now she is driving and about to go off to college...okay, it hasn't been that long, but it feels like it! She is a very content baby, only crying when she is hungry. She sleeps most of the night, which is the good news. The bad news is she is a grunter. She constantly makes different grunting noises with her mouth. The first few days I was always worried she was choking. Now, I try my best to drown out the noise. Between Teya's grunting and my snoring, I doubt Kindra is getting much rest! Here are some pics of our cute little girl(s).




KID QUOTES

In church -
Dad: Ariana, can you put your dress down?
Ariana: NO DAD! I AM TRYING TO GET MY PANTIES OUT OF MY BUM!
[and yes...her quote is in all caps for a reason]

Kierra: Thank you Ariana...Ariana, I said thank you...Ari, what are you supposed to say when I say thank you.
Ariana: You're welcome.
Kierra: I forgive you.

Dad: What is going on in there?
Kierra: I just couldn't understand what Ariana was trying to tell me. She was talking really fast. I told her to use one word at a time. Then she told me, 'Here is one word: GET OFF MY BED!'

OUR SUMMER (in reverse order):

We are starting to teach Kierra to ride a bike with no training wheels!


Kierra's first day of kindergarten. She loves school and is a good student.


Ariana's third birthday. She got a My Little Ponies carnival. She loves it!


We had a nice visit to Montana. We had a reunion and the girls saw most (unfortunately not all) of their Fairhurst cousins. We stayed at a lodge in Lincoln, MT. The girls were able to ride horses while we were there. Of course, our reunion involved the traditional potato car race. Kierra was this year's champion!





We also got in a visit to Utah to see Kindra's side of the family. We packed in a lot of fun including a picnic up the canyon, canoeing, fireworks, etc.



We had Kierra's 5th birthday at our neighborhood pool. It made cleanup easy and the kids had a lot of fun!

The Good Life

Finals ended near the beginning of May. We made it one year! These last few weeks have been great. I have been fairly busy trying to come up with a research topic for the summer, but it is definitely a different kind of busy...meaning no late nights, no Saturdays, and more time with Kindra and the girls! Speaking of girls, we recently found out that we will be joined by another little girl in October. We are very excited! We took the entire family to the ultra-sound. Ariana said she wanted to be a baby again once she realized how much attention the ultra-sound monitor was getting. Kierra was trying to hold back the tears when she found out we were having another girl. Come to find out that she was only sad because she was worried about her dad feeling lonely as the only boy in the family. Once I convinced her that I am excited about another girl, she has been so excited. Here is a little recap of some of the things we have been able to do since the end of the semester:

We finished reading Charlotte's Web near the end of semester, so for my first free weekend we had a Charlotte's Web Party complete with a visit to the carnival, watching the movie, and Charlotte's Web treats.
We also took the girls to a Chinese Festival. We tried Oriental food and saw traditional Oriental dancers. What was the girls' favorite, you ask. Of course, it was the bounce house. I am not sure how Oriental a bounce house is, but the girls had fun.
On Memorial Day, we took the girls to 'free day' at the local childrens museum. It is a nice museum, and the girls had a blast. Luckily, we got there early enough to beat the hoards that came for free day.One staple of our summer has been, and will likely continue to be, going to our neighborhood pool. With hot days (the lowest high temperature this week is forecasted to be 103) it is so nice to go cool off at the end of the day. We have already been to the pool around 10 times. The girls are getting so much better in the water. Kierra would panic when any water got near her face. Now she is constantly going under water. Ariana would just jump in if we would let her. And I couldn't resist putting in this picture:
KID QUOTES

Kierra [in a prayer]: Please bless that dad will get a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot....done in one minute so he can come home sooner.

Ariana [in a prayer]: Please bless that mom will get better, but she is better. Please bless that dad will get better, but he is better too. Please bless that we can eat dinner, but we are eating dinner. (she is really good at getting her prayers answered)

Ariana: I wish Kierra was a boy so that we could kiss on the lips and get married.

All the Single Ladies

To start out this month we had a nice treat. Kindra's mom and dad and her three youngest siblings, Adam, Shanae, and Mariah, came to Tucson for their Spring break. It was great to have visitors. The timing of their visit could not have been better in respect to my school work. I had a mid-term the day before they got here and had two weeks until the next one, so I was able to see them more then I normally would have been able to. Kindra, of course, loved spending time with them and having help with the girls. And the girls...they were in heaven. Of course there were tears when they left, but it was worth it. Their visit was filled with trips to the Desert Museum, Tombstone, and Catalina State Park; visiting; conference; Easter; and, as always, lots of eating! We also found out that we can, with reasonable comfort and sanity, fit 5 extra people in our house for a week or so (if you have 6 or 7 in your family, don't let this detract you from coming...we're willing to test the boundaries if you are willing to be a guinea pig). Now we just can't wait until they come back again.

This past week was a pretty heavy week for me with a lot of late nights and early mornings. I told myself if I made it through the week (trust me, at times this wasn't certain) that I would celebrate by spending an evening with Kindra and the girls. So, tonight we had a pizza and movie party. The pizza was okay and the movie (Chipmunks, the Squeakuel) was mediocre at best. However, the company was great! It was nice just to relax and be a family. The girls had fun watching the movie. Kierra's eyes would light up with any hint of chipmunk love. Ariana just wanted to be one of the Chipettes. See below (this might help you understand how I came up with the potentially creepy title to this post, you might want to start the video at 30 seconds):

Eat your heart out Beyonce! Of course, I had to be Theodore the entire night. It's okay though, Ariana reassured me that I was Theodore because he is the fat squirrel. I'll take being a fat squirrel at home with my girls (all 3) over late nights at the university any day of the week!

Spring Break 2010

Last week was spring break for my school. I still had a reasonable amount of work to do, but I was able to strike a nice balance of spending time with Kindra and the girls as well. We tried some Mexican food, got doctor's visits in, and tried to relax. Kindra took me on a fun date. We went to Catalina State Park. It is very pretty, and only 10 minutes from our house. It is set in the mountains, but, of course, covered with cactuses. Suprisingly, there are pools formed by mountain runoff (I know, snow in Arizona?). So we hiked to some of the pools and cooled off by wading around in them. Quickly, the state park is one of the favorite places that I have been in Tucson. We will definitely go back (especially when we have visitors to show the sites!).I also took the time to do a little wood work. Just before Christmas, we had a mishap with our kitchen table. The leg broke off in a way that was beyond reasonable repair. Considering we bought the table 6 years ago for $12 at a yard sale, it was difficult to justify spending much to fix it anyway. However, it has been our family table forever. Luckily, we found a way to keep it part of the family. I used the table top to make a smaller table top and two benches, then built a base for a kid-sized picnic table. It is a bit wierd to see a picnic table made out of finished oak, but the girls love it! I still need to finish the edges, but that might have to wait until summer now that school is back in. Either way, it was a relaxing project over the break.
Here's a pic of the girls getting ready for the ward Easter egg hunt. Look out boys...in 20 years!

KID QUOTES:

Kierra: This game took forever!
DJ: Yeah, this is a long game, huh?
Kierra: Yeah...and also a boring one.

Ariana [while lifting up her shirt and poking out her tummy]: Look mom, I'm pregnant...pregnant and immodest!

Kierra [to Ariana after Ari got yelled at by a little boy]: Ariana, I love rainbows 100, but I love you 50 more!