websites I want to remember, after my painting, shutters, pool, flooring, built-ins, fixtures, and kitchen are all done, LOL
www.wainscotingamerica.com
www.azfauxbeams.com
10.23.2012
10.03.2012
Happy Birthday A
I have an ELEVEN YEAR OLD. In FIFTH GRADE. How crazy is that? It seems like a lifetime ago that I was in New Market, Maryland, pregnant with my little girl. I had gotten laid off from my job a few months earlier, so to kill time until the baby was born I was working at Joann's in their framing department. I remember I was very good with the customers, picking out just the right combinations of mats, frames, fillets, etc. but mostly I loved building frames. And my discount. What I didn't love was wearing stupid khakis (I am a jeans-only kind of person) or standing on that cement floor for hours at a time. I worked there as long as my back could stand it, and then I quit and stayed home waiting... and waiting some more... and waiting some more.
On the morning of September 11th I was at home watching the news (probably Katie Couric (sp?) ) when the attacks happened. I'm not sure if I had already quit Joann's by then or not. I do remember wondering how we could possibly bring a child into this awful, dangerous world.
I was due on September 22nd. My SIL Tracie flew out a couple of days after that, and we spent the weekend walking our feet off around New Market, in all the antique shops, the general store... I think we drove down to Virginia for something?? We were desperately trying to get my baby here!
Finally, after more than a week my doctor finally agreed to induce me (sheesh!) and the next day we waited, drugged, walked around the hospital, tried to read, ALL DAY until something finally started happening at 3pm. A was finally born at 8:43pm on the evening of October 2nd. 10 days late. I remember being grossed out when they held her up (SO not like it is on TV or in movies) because she was all bloody... I made them clean her up before they handed her to me (I'm a nice mom, eh?)
Trace extended her stay a couple of days so she could spend time with the 10-day-overdue baby and me, thank goodness. I believe I finally learned to cook that week she stayed with me. My mom ditched her mission in Independence for a few days to come to Maryland too, and then when she left my MIL Brooke came out and stayed a good 2-3 weeks. It was great, but I remember being totally inept and overwhelmed once everybody left because they'd done everything for me for a month!
A week after A was born we received a phone call from the state health department - in the initial tests they do on every infant they found that her thyroid levels were way off... turns out my perfect baby was born with "congenital hypothyroidism" - without a thyroid gland - and would need medicine for the rest of her life. We were so blessed to live in Maryland when A was a baby because we lived 45 minutes from Baltimore... and our specialist at Johns Hopkins was probably the premiere pediatric endocrinologist in the country. Every couple of months we had an appointment and our doctor very precisely measured our baby, checked and triple-checked her levels to make sure all was good. That was a hard couple of years to have blood drawn all the time, because A was an especially hard stick, and many times we had to have multiple needle sticks to try and get her blood draw. I remember going to the lab and waiting for a specific phlebotomist because she (?) was the only one who could get it right.
Time flies. We had another baby, moved to Show Low Arizona, moved again to Eagar, moved again to South Phoenix, had another baby, and moved again ... and now we find ourselves settled in Mesa with three kids.
• A is a tween for sure. She loves singing at the top of her lungs to her Ipod in her ears as she wanders around the house. (mostly in tune) I believe she knows every word to every Adele song. She loves to make up little dance-slash-gymnastics routines.
• Her favorite color is purple. She prefers to wear jeans and tennis shoes over shorts and flip flops, crazy girl, even when it's 100 plus crazy degrees outside. She is NOT a skirt wearer.
• She is a creator of all things colorful. She LOVES to sort things into rainbow colors. Right now in my front room is a setup of a "teacher's desk" and student desks with notebooks and pencils and colored pencils all lined up perfectly. Don't know if she will actually ever PLAY school, I think she likes the setup part the best. Both my girls love making little "clubs" but I think A is the instigator most of the time. Careful of any open space... my girls will take it over and make a club or store or something in it in no time.
• She is still as picky as ever with her eating. I stopped stressing out about it years ago. If she doesn't like what I cook then she makes herself something else. I don't care anymore. I do try to insist that she eat bananas every couple of days. Veggies I don't even bother with, except the occasional chicken divan casserole that includes broccoli - which she's loved since she was a baby. I do sneak healthy things into waffles or french toast or pancakes when I make them. We're doing good at not missing her synthroid pill daily. What she does have going for her and her teeth is that she doesn't drink soda... and hasn't... ever. Her favorite food is pizza. Favorite candy = Nerds. She loves to get the frozen drinks at QT. And go out for yogurt. She's addicted to chocolate, but rather it come out of a package (like one that says O-R-E-O) than something fancy that mommy bakes at home.
• A is doing very well at piano. She and M both struggle with timing, but A is progressing pretty well. We try our best to get 20 minutes of practice in every day. Last week one of her songs was "Once upon a snowman" from the Primary Songbook which she did great with, chords and accidentals and left hand and all. : )
• Chores are not A's favorite thing. She tends to make messes and have clothes strewn everywhere in her room. Many times when I ask her to do or clean something she wanders over to the piano and starts playing, because she knows I won't stop her. Sneaky girl.
• This is A's second year in orchestra, where she plays the violin. I wish we had the time/money to do private lessons as well, but for now I think she's doing well, and likes it a lot. She doesn't even mind having to be at school an hour early 2x a week.
• She is also in gymnastics, in level 3, which she loves, all except the last 10 minutes each week when they have to do crunches and planks and pushups - ha! She is a monkey on the big rope, I love to watch her shimmy all the way up to the roof on that thing.
• This girl is a READER. And she got just the right teacher this year to encourage and promote that. She flies through books and is testing at an 11.8 grade reading level - by far the highest in her class. She often reads books that are way below her level just because she likes to read FAST and wants to be able to finish a book in an afternoon. For her birthday yesterday I got her the new Rick Riordan book "Mark of Athena" and she's already knee-deep into that. She needs to hurry and finish it so I can read it...
• She is doing the "Battle of the Books" at school this year and I'm super excited. 3 or 4 times this year they have a contest and go head-to-head with other teams answering trivia questions on a set of books. They have to know them backward and forward, which will be great for A to prepare for, since usually she skims books so fast I question how much she actually absorbs.
• A has lots of friends, including some I wouldn't necessarily expect. I want her to be besties with the girl down the street who's just a month younger than her, and instead she hangs out with the brother who's 8. Go figure.
• She would love to do science projects and read and watch Disney shows on the Ipad all day long, but unfortunately there's places to be and a million chores to be done at home all the time. Bummer.
On the morning of September 11th I was at home watching the news (probably Katie Couric (sp?) ) when the attacks happened. I'm not sure if I had already quit Joann's by then or not. I do remember wondering how we could possibly bring a child into this awful, dangerous world.
I was due on September 22nd. My SIL Tracie flew out a couple of days after that, and we spent the weekend walking our feet off around New Market, in all the antique shops, the general store... I think we drove down to Virginia for something?? We were desperately trying to get my baby here!
Finally, after more than a week my doctor finally agreed to induce me (sheesh!) and the next day we waited, drugged, walked around the hospital, tried to read, ALL DAY until something finally started happening at 3pm. A was finally born at 8:43pm on the evening of October 2nd. 10 days late. I remember being grossed out when they held her up (SO not like it is on TV or in movies) because she was all bloody... I made them clean her up before they handed her to me (I'm a nice mom, eh?)
Trace extended her stay a couple of days so she could spend time with the 10-day-overdue baby and me, thank goodness. I believe I finally learned to cook that week she stayed with me. My mom ditched her mission in Independence for a few days to come to Maryland too, and then when she left my MIL Brooke came out and stayed a good 2-3 weeks. It was great, but I remember being totally inept and overwhelmed once everybody left because they'd done everything for me for a month!
A week after A was born we received a phone call from the state health department - in the initial tests they do on every infant they found that her thyroid levels were way off... turns out my perfect baby was born with "congenital hypothyroidism" - without a thyroid gland - and would need medicine for the rest of her life. We were so blessed to live in Maryland when A was a baby because we lived 45 minutes from Baltimore... and our specialist at Johns Hopkins was probably the premiere pediatric endocrinologist in the country. Every couple of months we had an appointment and our doctor very precisely measured our baby, checked and triple-checked her levels to make sure all was good. That was a hard couple of years to have blood drawn all the time, because A was an especially hard stick, and many times we had to have multiple needle sticks to try and get her blood draw. I remember going to the lab and waiting for a specific phlebotomist because she (?) was the only one who could get it right.
Time flies. We had another baby, moved to Show Low Arizona, moved again to Eagar, moved again to South Phoenix, had another baby, and moved again ... and now we find ourselves settled in Mesa with three kids.
• A is a tween for sure. She loves singing at the top of her lungs to her Ipod in her ears as she wanders around the house. (mostly in tune) I believe she knows every word to every Adele song. She loves to make up little dance-slash-gymnastics routines.
• Her favorite color is purple. She prefers to wear jeans and tennis shoes over shorts and flip flops, crazy girl, even when it's 100 plus crazy degrees outside. She is NOT a skirt wearer.
• She is a creator of all things colorful. She LOVES to sort things into rainbow colors. Right now in my front room is a setup of a "teacher's desk" and student desks with notebooks and pencils and colored pencils all lined up perfectly. Don't know if she will actually ever PLAY school, I think she likes the setup part the best. Both my girls love making little "clubs" but I think A is the instigator most of the time. Careful of any open space... my girls will take it over and make a club or store or something in it in no time.
• She is still as picky as ever with her eating. I stopped stressing out about it years ago. If she doesn't like what I cook then she makes herself something else. I don't care anymore. I do try to insist that she eat bananas every couple of days. Veggies I don't even bother with, except the occasional chicken divan casserole that includes broccoli - which she's loved since she was a baby. I do sneak healthy things into waffles or french toast or pancakes when I make them. We're doing good at not missing her synthroid pill daily. What she does have going for her and her teeth is that she doesn't drink soda... and hasn't... ever. Her favorite food is pizza. Favorite candy = Nerds. She loves to get the frozen drinks at QT. And go out for yogurt. She's addicted to chocolate, but rather it come out of a package (like one that says O-R-E-O) than something fancy that mommy bakes at home.
• A is doing very well at piano. She and M both struggle with timing, but A is progressing pretty well. We try our best to get 20 minutes of practice in every day. Last week one of her songs was "Once upon a snowman" from the Primary Songbook which she did great with, chords and accidentals and left hand and all. : )
• Chores are not A's favorite thing. She tends to make messes and have clothes strewn everywhere in her room. Many times when I ask her to do or clean something she wanders over to the piano and starts playing, because she knows I won't stop her. Sneaky girl.
• This is A's second year in orchestra, where she plays the violin. I wish we had the time/money to do private lessons as well, but for now I think she's doing well, and likes it a lot. She doesn't even mind having to be at school an hour early 2x a week.
• She is also in gymnastics, in level 3, which she loves, all except the last 10 minutes each week when they have to do crunches and planks and pushups - ha! She is a monkey on the big rope, I love to watch her shimmy all the way up to the roof on that thing.
• This girl is a READER. And she got just the right teacher this year to encourage and promote that. She flies through books and is testing at an 11.8 grade reading level - by far the highest in her class. She often reads books that are way below her level just because she likes to read FAST and wants to be able to finish a book in an afternoon. For her birthday yesterday I got her the new Rick Riordan book "Mark of Athena" and she's already knee-deep into that. She needs to hurry and finish it so I can read it...
• She is doing the "Battle of the Books" at school this year and I'm super excited. 3 or 4 times this year they have a contest and go head-to-head with other teams answering trivia questions on a set of books. They have to know them backward and forward, which will be great for A to prepare for, since usually she skims books so fast I question how much she actually absorbs.
• A has lots of friends, including some I wouldn't necessarily expect. I want her to be besties with the girl down the street who's just a month younger than her, and instead she hangs out with the brother who's 8. Go figure.
• She would love to do science projects and read and watch Disney shows on the Ipad all day long, but unfortunately there's places to be and a million chores to be done at home all the time. Bummer.
9.26.2012
Happy Birthday M
Nine years ago this morning I was in Maryland, in our little house in New Market. After getting to bed late at 11:45pm, my contractions started immediately so I never went to sleep... We paged our midwife and as we waited for her call, got packed for the hospital just in case. In the meantime we called and woke up a neighbor, Lynette Johnson. Got the call back from the midwife, dropped A off at the Johnson's at 2:20am, then headed to the hospital (which was a good 20-30 min away in Frederick). Got checked in by 3am. All my pain was in my back and I couldn't hardly sit down... so I refused to let them put me in a wheelchair to get me up to a delivery room. They had to get an entire bag of fluids in me before they'd give me the epidural, which painfully took forever. I was at 9.5cm before they'd give me the shot, but thankfully it still happened. My little girl came quickly after that - she was born at 4:57 am and has been a morning person ever since!
That seems like an entirely different life now - I'm old. I love my girl. She is helpful, pleasant, clever, a hard worker, goal-oriented and a great big sister.
• She is highly responsible, honest and for the most part is happy to do her chores every day. She gets up and makes her bed every. single.
morning. without ever being reminded.
• She loves lists, drawing, playing at the neighbor's house, swimming, cooking and organizing. She loves to clean and help decorate or do crafty projects with me and teach family home evening. She is always interested in my vinyl business and is concerned that I get my work done, too. She always wants to help me.
• I had parent teacher conferences yesterday and her teacher couldn't be happier with her. M is way ahead of the curve in the class and has straight A's. Mrs. Murphy was telling me how sometimes she tries to be funny and sarcastic with the class, and a lot of the kids just stare at her, confused. M however gets her jokes every time and throws the sarcasm right back at her. (Have I mentioned I love my kids' teachers this year? Because I do.) She has lots of friends right now, even though there's a bit of the "she doesn't want to be my friend" or "so and so was mean to me" etc. that happens in third grade. M was excited to go to school this morning in her new clothes and accessories (Thanks Grandma!) and even had me curl her hair.
• She is in LOVE with anything and everything zebra right now. Her birthday present was a big canvas print of a zebra for her room - she loves it. She is totally drawn toobsessed with? anything black and white and pink and loves bling on everything.
• She is in synchronized swimming 2x a week and tries to practice stretching (goal = splits) at home. She's been in piano for a little over a year now, and though she hasn't progressed as quickly as I would have hoped she really tries to get her 20 minutes of practice in daily. "MOM set the timer!" "How many minutes left?" She likes to play primary songs and do her favorites over and over. She's playing Teach Me to Walk in the Light right now.
• Every once in a while she comes up with some zingers that crack us up. The girls and Daddy were playing Monopoly the other night and A was winning - and gloating. M got mad at her and snarked something about rubbing their faces in it like a dog (what was it honey?) . A couple of weeks ago I had spent the day rearranging A's room, which M was totally jealous about when she got home. She yelled at me that it wasn't fair because her own room looked like "a hideous troll". Hilarious. 10 minutes later she had cleaned her room up and reorganized some things herself and was happy as can be about it.
• She is great with J, playing with him, making sure he's got breakfast, packs his lunch often, carries his backpack for him and is basically his second Mommy. She's the one who picks him up from his classroom every day and make sure he gets to the bus.
• M is a great eater and likes a great variety of foods. She is not a fan of mushrooms or sweet potatoes, and rarely chocolate, but she loves salad, carrots, grape tomatoes, spinach, chips and salsa, and all kinds of soups. She will get up and make herself an egg in the morning - which she would rather have than the pancakes and syrup that her siblings are addicted to. She chooses gatorade over soda when we go to QT. It frustrates me that she's the one who tries to eat so well and that she's going to be the one who will probably struggle with weight, versus her sister.
• This girl needs her SLEEP. She is a bear when she stays up too late, but is the most pleasant ever as long as she gets to bed on time. • She is very much a reward-oriented person and loves to earn behavior bucks at school. She totally understands the idea of earning her way and is quite vocal when she sees her siblings getting away with things . I guess you could say she's a natural conservative who doesn't tolerate entitlement...lol
That seems like an entirely different life now - I'm old. I love my girl. She is helpful, pleasant, clever, a hard worker, goal-oriented and a great big sister.
• She loves lists, drawing, playing at the neighbor's house, swimming, cooking and organizing. She loves to clean and help decorate or do crafty projects with me and teach family home evening. She is always interested in my vinyl business and is concerned that I get my work done, too. She always wants to help me.
• I had parent teacher conferences yesterday and her teacher couldn't be happier with her. M is way ahead of the curve in the class and has straight A's. Mrs. Murphy was telling me how sometimes she tries to be funny and sarcastic with the class, and a lot of the kids just stare at her, confused. M however gets her jokes every time and throws the sarcasm right back at her. (Have I mentioned I love my kids' teachers this year? Because I do.) She has lots of friends right now, even though there's a bit of the "she doesn't want to be my friend" or "so and so was mean to me" etc. that happens in third grade. M was excited to go to school this morning in her new clothes and accessories (Thanks Grandma!) and even had me curl her hair.
• She is in LOVE with anything and everything zebra right now. Her birthday present was a big canvas print of a zebra for her room - she loves it. She is totally drawn to
• She is in synchronized swimming 2x a week and tries to practice stretching (goal = splits) at home. She's been in piano for a little over a year now, and though she hasn't progressed as quickly as I would have hoped she really tries to get her 20 minutes of practice in daily. "MOM set the timer!" "How many minutes left?" She likes to play primary songs and do her favorites over and over. She's playing Teach Me to Walk in the Light right now.
• Every once in a while she comes up with some zingers that crack us up. The girls and Daddy were playing Monopoly the other night and A was winning - and gloating. M got mad at her and snarked something about rubbing their faces in it like a dog (what was it honey?) . A couple of weeks ago I had spent the day rearranging A's room, which M was totally jealous about when she got home. She yelled at me that it wasn't fair because her own room looked like "a hideous troll". Hilarious. 10 minutes later she had cleaned her room up and reorganized some things herself and was happy as can be about it.
• She is great with J, playing with him, making sure he's got breakfast, packs his lunch often, carries his backpack for him and is basically his second Mommy. She's the one who picks him up from his classroom every day and make sure he gets to the bus.
• M is a great eater and likes a great variety of foods. She is not a fan of mushrooms or sweet potatoes, and rarely chocolate, but she loves salad, carrots, grape tomatoes, spinach, chips and salsa, and all kinds of soups. She will get up and make herself an egg in the morning - which she would rather have than the pancakes and syrup that her siblings are addicted to. She chooses gatorade over soda when we go to QT. It frustrates me that she's the one who tries to eat so well and that she's going to be the one who will probably struggle with weight, versus her sister.
• This girl needs her SLEEP. She is a bear when she stays up too late, but is the most pleasant ever as long as she gets to bed on time. • She is very much a reward-oriented person and loves to earn behavior bucks at school. She totally understands the idea of earning her way and is quite vocal when she sees her siblings getting away with things . I guess you could say she's a natural conservative who doesn't tolerate entitlement...lol
9.15.2012
Dear Santa
I have a lot on my wish list lately. I figure Santa's got an unlimited budget, or at least my kids think he does, so why not shoot for it all?
1. Citrus trees planted along the side of my house - 1 blood orange, 1 lemon, 1 grapefruit, and 1 navel- and then taken care of by a landscaper from now on, along with the rest of our bushes and trees
2. Sonicare toothbrush - Healthy White, I think it's called?
3. My piano tuned
4. Sparky I-phone case - this one http://www.fanatics.com/catalog/product/Arizona_State_Sun_Devils_iPhone_4_Silicone_Case_-_Maroon
5. New white king-size Egyptian cotton sheets for my bed
5b. While we're at it, four sets of soft high-thread count white twin sheets for the rest of the beds in the house
6. Les Mis and/or Anything Goes tickets at Gammage
7. Gift cards for Tia Rosa's, Sassy's Cafe, Charming Charlie's, Home Depot
8. Table saw
9. Compound miter saw
10. Leaf blower - that backpack kind that you control with your arm like landscapers have
11. Kids' bathroom, and downstairs bathroom, painted
12. Lighting for Master Bathroom 13. A NEW CAR 14. Yellow placemats for my kitchen table
15. Coordinating seat cushions for my kitchen chairs
16. New light fixtures and faucets for my bathrooms
Five of these Giagni Pearl faucets would be fine, and even better if I didn't have to install them myself:
17. a new ironing board
18. a Dyson vacuum cleaner, or actually, just any vacuum cleaner.
19. Shutters in the loft
20. Countertops & new flooring for my office...tee hee hee
1. Citrus trees planted along the side of my house - 1 blood orange, 1 lemon, 1 grapefruit, and 1 navel- and then taken care of by a landscaper from now on, along with the rest of our bushes and trees
2. Sonicare toothbrush - Healthy White, I think it's called?
3. My piano tuned
4. Sparky I-phone case - this one http://www.fanatics.com/catalog/product/Arizona_State_Sun_Devils_iPhone_4_Silicone_Case_-_Maroon
5b. While we're at it, four sets of soft high-thread count white twin sheets for the rest of the beds in the house
6. Les Mis and/or Anything Goes tickets at Gammage
7. Gift cards for Tia Rosa's, Sassy's Cafe, Charming Charlie's, Home Depot
8. Table saw
9. Compound miter saw
10. Leaf blower - that backpack kind that you control with your arm like landscapers have
11. Kids' bathroom, and downstairs bathroom, painted
12. Lighting for Master Bathroom 13. A NEW CAR 14. Yellow placemats for my kitchen table
15. Coordinating seat cushions for my kitchen chairs
16. New light fixtures and faucets for my bathrooms
Five of these Giagni Pearl faucets would be fine, and even better if I didn't have to install them myself:
18. a Dyson vacuum cleaner, or actually, just any vacuum cleaner.
19. Shutters in the loft
20. Countertops & new flooring for my office...tee hee hee
9.10.2012
My goals.
okay, for the record, I am able to do many things. However, I am unable to do all of the following simultaneously.
1. Keep 4000 square feet cleaned, picked up, dusted, vacuumed, with bathrooms sanitized and laundry and dishes done all at the same time.
2. Work and make a significant contribution to our household income.
3. Make sure three kids accomplish their chores, practice music, do their homework, bathe, brush their teeth twice a day and not kill each other on a daily basis.
4. Do my calling, go visiting teaching, attend the temple and read my scriptures. Gardening? Indexing? Are you kidding me?
5. Work out daily and cook healthy meals, and keep my children from eating junk.
6. Prepare for, pay for and then taxi my children to their various activities... piano lessons, gymnastics, orchestra, Let's Play Music class, synchronized swimming, activity days, library, school events...
7. (Smart) shop for the things we need and take advantage of sales and coupons.
8. Spend quality time once in a while with my children, my husband, my library books, and ASU's football team.
9. Home improvement projects.
10. Keep in touch with old and new friends and offer service.
11. Journaling, Scrapbooking, etc.
Ummmm..... how about you?
1. Keep 4000 square feet cleaned, picked up, dusted, vacuumed, with bathrooms sanitized and laundry and dishes done all at the same time.
2. Work and make a significant contribution to our household income.
3. Make sure three kids accomplish their chores, practice music, do their homework, bathe, brush their teeth twice a day and not kill each other on a daily basis.
4. Do my calling, go visiting teaching, attend the temple and read my scriptures. Gardening? Indexing? Are you kidding me?
5. Work out daily and cook healthy meals, and keep my children from eating junk.
6. Prepare for, pay for and then taxi my children to their various activities... piano lessons, gymnastics, orchestra, Let's Play Music class, synchronized swimming, activity days, library, school events...
7. (Smart) shop for the things we need and take advantage of sales and coupons.
8. Spend quality time once in a while with my children, my husband, my library books, and ASU's football team.
9. Home improvement projects.
10. Keep in touch with old and new friends and offer service.
11. Journaling, Scrapbooking, etc.
Ummmm..... how about you?
8.23.2012
Update.
JULY:
We spent a low-key lovely & cool fourth of July at home painting our master bathroom (ran out of paint and it's STILL not done, sigh) and then going over to swim/bbq with family. We didn't even watch fireworks, lame.
I came down with yet another sore throat, and then had a bad reaction to a facial that week as well, so spent several days uncomfortably sick ON TOP of burns and fever blisters all over my chin too... it was not awesome.
We spent the rest of the month running around between piano lessons and swim lessons and swim meets and synchronized swimming practices and qualifying meets and and..... man, I'm going to start ranking the end of swimming events in July right up there with the end of school events in May in terms of keeping us busy! Here's A in her synchro outfits & makeup... we had to "Knox" her hair into a bun for the performances, which entailed mixing that unflavored gelatin stuff you use to make jam out of into a SUPER thick gel and then painting it on her hair... once it dries it's completely stiff and won't come out in cold water... Crazy. A HATED it. Middle photo is her with her Duo partner Rebecca.
M tried out a little synchro workshop one Saturday and now has the bug... she may be doing a year-round thing with the Arizona Aqua Stars. Stay tuned to see if she stays interested and I can get it all worked out...
N and I were able to go see Singin' in the Rain (my favorite movie ever ever) in a theater... so totally amazing awesome. I was in a good mood for days afterward. Thanks to Grandma and Poppy who melted out at a swim meet in our place so we could go.
SIDENOTE: We bought these super fun deals called "pogo passes" and have been able to do a ton of stuff so far... I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT - CHECK IT OUT AT POGOPASS.COM. We took the kids to Big Surf and to a Rattlers game.
The game was too loud and too late for them so they didn't want to go again, but I can say that N and I are officially HOOKED on arena football games! We used our pogo passes and went the next two weeks! For free! SO MUCH FUN. Total opposite of a baseball game, lol. High energy, fast paced, high scoring, lots of gimmicks, super exciting. No one EVER leaves a game early because the whole thing can change in a second! It's awesome. The Rattlers ended up as National Champions, by the way... we got to see all three of their playoff games here in Phoenix. Call it white trash football if you will... but don't knock it til you try it!!! Also was fun because I got to hang out with the lovely Janna at the games too! Don't mind my hair... I'm growing it out and it always looks like death.
A whirlwind trip to California brought us to the end of July. We alternated two days at Disney and two days at Newport beach, (necessary to recover from Disney days). So much fun. We had a 2-bedroom suite at our resort and were able to spread out and enjoy the space.
D-land: Both the girls got chosen (thank goodness) to be Jedis in the Jedi training show
. Next time I'm hoping J will want to do it! My favorite quote from one of the Jedi cast members to M, as she's standing in front of Darth Vader, was "Keep smiling. He HATES THAT!" Super funny. By the way they've redone Star Tours and it's great! We utilized our fast passes well and did everything and went ALL day long, even stuck it out for the Fantasmic light show too. J was a little concerned in some of the rides, don't want to say "scared" but he held on to me tight during Pirates, the Haunted Mansion, and Space Mountain. His quote of the day was "I want to grow up first before I go on that ride again". Cutie. Love him.
California Adventure was great, except for the whole losing-A-for-30-minutes-thing. California Screamin' and Tower of Terror were once again hits! Our favorite ride on the trip was Radiator Springs Racers... the big new ride in Cars Land. So much fun, and worth all the hype, surprisingly. All three of the kiddos were into their lanyards and getting PINS. Sheesh. I think M could look at pins in pin shops all day long. Oh wait, she did. We also got J his first set of ears. I love that he chose to go with the classic blue. :) The girls and I hit the "Mad T" concert (crazy Disney-esque costumed music group doing covers of a bunch of pop songs... they were actually really good and the girls LOVED it. Here is J in his 3-D glasses for Star Tours, and his newly acquired ears and lanyard!
Newport: Man, how I love this beach, We don't even try to go any other beach because I know it would just be disappointing. The weather was a little cold for me to get in the water, but I totally prefer to lounge on the sand and sleep/read anyway. Kids had fun boogie boarding and digging for sand crabs. Nick was in charge of getting dinner one evening on the beach...and he came back with pizza and salad.... ummm, can you say NOT beach friendly, especially with the wind blowing? Kids liked it anyway.
August:
Home again, home again... I threw myself into a huge vinyl order once we got back in town, and cranked out nearly 75 signs for a school in Texas in less than a week. Shipped them out and was kicking myself that I hadn't charged a little more... and then I got a dreaded email from the principal saying that most of the signs had arrived damaged... seems that even though I thought I had them wrapped up and cushioned REALLY well, the screws on the back of each one scratched the vinyl on the next one. UGH. I re-did almost 50 signs and sent the last of them replacements a few days ago. I'm trying to repeat the phrase "learning experience" over and over and over again so I don't get sick about it again.
We used our Pogo passes once again and all went to Jump Street for an FHE a couple of weeks ago... TOTALLY AWESOME. I swear I want a membership there instead of at my gym, my abs got a WORKOUT that night! N and Dave Meadows played dodgeball with the kids for a good 45 minutes. He was as sweaty and gross as he is when playing basketball... I think we all had a great time.
Also before school started we traded up to this beauty. I was kind of sad to see my old piano go, I've had it my whole life! Lighting is bad because it's in front of the window, but you'll just have to trust me that it's super pretty! Girls are getting better and better at the piano, and I love the richness of the sound of our new one.
SCHOOL STARTED! Yippee!!
This little guy has taken it all in stride, having to wear pants and real shoes everyday, sitting in a desk, taking his lunch... I love it. He hasn't complained once and seems to like it a lot. Even when the bus takes FOREVER to get home sometimes. No discipline issues I've heard of either... I'm not even sure if his teacher does the whole color-system thing anyway. She's just so "teachery" I can't stand it. It's awesome.
Speaking of music and new stuff, J started a "Let's Play Music" class a couple of weeks ago and is LOVING it. We have a super cute teacher in my ward. "Miss Jenni" is amazing.
I am quite enjoying having some peace and quiet to myself. Doing lots of projects... vinyl orders, hosting bridal showers, reading books, going to lunch... lol. I am doing things like cleaning and laundry too, I promise. Planning on going to a D-backs game tomorrow night (again, thanks pogo pass!) and looking forward to ASU FOOTBALL STARTING NEXT WEEK! YESSSSS!!!! GO DEVILS!
We spent a low-key lovely & cool fourth of July at home painting our master bathroom (ran out of paint and it's STILL not done, sigh) and then going over to swim/bbq with family. We didn't even watch fireworks, lame.
I came down with yet another sore throat, and then had a bad reaction to a facial that week as well, so spent several days uncomfortably sick ON TOP of burns and fever blisters all over my chin too... it was not awesome.
We spent the rest of the month running around between piano lessons and swim lessons and swim meets and synchronized swimming practices and qualifying meets and and..... man, I'm going to start ranking the end of swimming events in July right up there with the end of school events in May in terms of keeping us busy! Here's A in her synchro outfits & makeup... we had to "Knox" her hair into a bun for the performances, which entailed mixing that unflavored gelatin stuff you use to make jam out of into a SUPER thick gel and then painting it on her hair... once it dries it's completely stiff and won't come out in cold water... Crazy. A HATED it. Middle photo is her with her Duo partner Rebecca.
M tried out a little synchro workshop one Saturday and now has the bug... she may be doing a year-round thing with the Arizona Aqua Stars. Stay tuned to see if she stays interested and I can get it all worked out...
N and I were able to go see Singin' in the Rain (my favorite movie ever ever) in a theater... so totally amazing awesome. I was in a good mood for days afterward. Thanks to Grandma and Poppy who melted out at a swim meet in our place so we could go.
SIDENOTE: We bought these super fun deals called "pogo passes" and have been able to do a ton of stuff so far... I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT - CHECK IT OUT AT POGOPASS.COM. We took the kids to Big Surf and to a Rattlers game.
The game was too loud and too late for them so they didn't want to go again, but I can say that N and I are officially HOOKED on arena football games! We used our pogo passes and went the next two weeks! For free! SO MUCH FUN. Total opposite of a baseball game, lol. High energy, fast paced, high scoring, lots of gimmicks, super exciting. No one EVER leaves a game early because the whole thing can change in a second! It's awesome. The Rattlers ended up as National Champions, by the way... we got to see all three of their playoff games here in Phoenix. Call it white trash football if you will... but don't knock it til you try it!!! Also was fun because I got to hang out with the lovely Janna at the games too! Don't mind my hair... I'm growing it out and it always looks like death.
D-land: Both the girls got chosen (thank goodness) to be Jedis in the Jedi training show
. Next time I'm hoping J will want to do it! My favorite quote from one of the Jedi cast members to M, as she's standing in front of Darth Vader, was "Keep smiling. He HATES THAT!" Super funny. By the way they've redone Star Tours and it's great! We utilized our fast passes well and did everything and went ALL day long, even stuck it out for the Fantasmic light show too. J was a little concerned in some of the rides, don't want to say "scared" but he held on to me tight during Pirates, the Haunted Mansion, and Space Mountain. His quote of the day was "I want to grow up first before I go on that ride again". Cutie. Love him.
California Adventure was great, except for the whole losing-A-for-30-minutes-thing. California Screamin' and Tower of Terror were once again hits! Our favorite ride on the trip was Radiator Springs Racers... the big new ride in Cars Land. So much fun, and worth all the hype, surprisingly. All three of the kiddos were into their lanyards and getting PINS. Sheesh. I think M could look at pins in pin shops all day long. Oh wait, she did. We also got J his first set of ears. I love that he chose to go with the classic blue. :) The girls and I hit the "Mad T" concert (crazy Disney-esque costumed music group doing covers of a bunch of pop songs... they were actually really good and the girls LOVED it. Here is J in his 3-D glasses for Star Tours, and his newly acquired ears and lanyard!
Newport: Man, how I love this beach, We don't even try to go any other beach because I know it would just be disappointing. The weather was a little cold for me to get in the water, but I totally prefer to lounge on the sand and sleep/read anyway. Kids had fun boogie boarding and digging for sand crabs. Nick was in charge of getting dinner one evening on the beach...and he came back with pizza and salad.... ummm, can you say NOT beach friendly, especially with the wind blowing? Kids liked it anyway.
August:
Home again, home again... I threw myself into a huge vinyl order once we got back in town, and cranked out nearly 75 signs for a school in Texas in less than a week. Shipped them out and was kicking myself that I hadn't charged a little more... and then I got a dreaded email from the principal saying that most of the signs had arrived damaged... seems that even though I thought I had them wrapped up and cushioned REALLY well, the screws on the back of each one scratched the vinyl on the next one. UGH. I re-did almost 50 signs and sent the last of them replacements a few days ago. I'm trying to repeat the phrase "learning experience" over and over and over again so I don't get sick about it again.
We used our Pogo passes once again and all went to Jump Street for an FHE a couple of weeks ago... TOTALLY AWESOME. I swear I want a membership there instead of at my gym, my abs got a WORKOUT that night! N and Dave Meadows played dodgeball with the kids for a good 45 minutes. He was as sweaty and gross as he is when playing basketball... I think we all had a great time.
Also before school started we traded up to this beauty. I was kind of sad to see my old piano go, I've had it my whole life! Lighting is bad because it's in front of the window, but you'll just have to trust me that it's super pretty! Girls are getting better and better at the piano, and I love the richness of the sound of our new one.
Speaking of music and new stuff, J started a "Let's Play Music" class a couple of weeks ago and is LOVING it. We have a super cute teacher in my ward. "Miss Jenni" is amazing.
I am quite enjoying having some peace and quiet to myself. Doing lots of projects... vinyl orders, hosting bridal showers, reading books, going to lunch... lol. I am doing things like cleaning and laundry too, I promise. Planning on going to a D-backs game tomorrow night (again, thanks pogo pass!) and looking forward to ASU FOOTBALL STARTING NEXT WEEK! YESSSSS!!!! GO DEVILS!
7.27.2012
California.
Swimming. Jacuzzi. Disneyland. Pirates of the Caribbean. Indiana Jones. Astroblasters. Space Mountain. $40 pizza. Jedi training. Star tours. Carousel. Finding Nemo Submarine. Monorail. Leaving the park for a break and our timeshare owner update. (thanks for the Disney Dollars folks!) Ihop for dinner. Mickey's Soundsational Parade. Splash Mountain. Haunted Mansion. Fantasmic. Pirates of the Carribean. Bed. Sleeping In. Swimming. Reading. Newport Beach. Reading. Boogie boarding. Playing in the sand. Sleeping. Fish tacos. Shopping for new shoes for Mommy and a self-charging Iphone case for Daddy. Bed. California Adventure. Cars Land. Luigi's Flying Tires. Mater's Junkyard Jamboree. Toy Story Midway Mania. Carousel. Silly Symphony Swings. Goofy's Sky School. Jumping Jellyfish. $45 mexican food lunch. Soarin Over California. Shopping and pon trading. Play Parade. Monster's Inc ride. Bug's Land rides with Josh. Losing Allison for 30 minutes. Grizzly River Run. Radiator Springs Racers. California Screaming. Tower of Terror. Mickey-shaped pretzels. Mad T concert. House of Cards Dance Party. World of Color Show. Shopping. Back to Disneyland. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Bed. Newport Beach. Napping. Reading. Smash Ball. Pizza. Swimming. TV marathon of Property Wars. Reading. Bed. Done.
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