Celebration!

Christmas. Was. Great.

This is the first time (ever) that we haven't had the opportunity to celebrate the holiday with extended family. We made the best of it and ended up having an excellent holiday! Christmas Eve we had a traditional dinner (well traditional in my family) and Mason said 'Mom, this is the best Christmas Ever!' Mind you, this was the night before we opened gifts.

Christmas morning was perfect. The boys woke us up ecstatic that Santa had been here. Lucky for them, they got everything on their Christmas lists and more. They were so happy with even the smallest of gifts. We had a very low key day and truly enjoyed the spirit of the holiday. Our boys are so awesome!


Let's open presents already!

 This is the one I wanted!



Mobigo aka Kid iPad - so excited!



Optimus Prime!



 

Jack & Annie books - thanks Grandma!

 

  

Some presents were for two  



Cutest brothers

  

Air hockey anyone?

 

A December to Remember

December was jam packed for us - as I'm sure it was for most of you.

At the beginning of the month we were busy decorating our house for the holidays - the first year at a new house is always a challenge to figure out where everything will go. The boys picked out our live Christmas tree (and chose a great one!) and the time spent decorating was fun! Did I mention we had Batman here to help? That always makes a difference :) 



We had to put the star on top a couple of times



                                            

  

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We also had our annual St. Nick's celebration. My mom and nephew Zach were here for the event. We had a great time celebrating and decorating our houses. Spence was pretty detailed in his and Mason was very focused on loading the candy up on any bare spot...he also wanted his picture taken 'eating' the candies (case in point below). Zach had a very unique house as it was falling apart before he even got started...we had to super 'glue' it together with lots of extra frosting. He made it work though.

   

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Micah and I attended our 2nd annual GoDaddy Holiday Party. It is an amazing event held at the Ballpark. With an all American theme they went all out - they had a Mt. Rushmore made of sand, a smaller scale version of the Statue of Liberty, a Hollywood red carpet complete with paparazzi and the Golden Gate Bridge (among other things). Not to mention some great food and entertainment! Some big name country music stars - Trace Adkins & Dirx Bentley - and Kid Rock were the main performers. The founder gave away a ton of money to the employees, but as we are not very lucky, we didn't win any. But all in all a very fun evening.

More to come about the end of the month in future posts :)

shut it

For the love. Our neighbor has the barkiest, barking, little barker dogs EVER. They bark all hours of the day and night. In the city of Phoenix you have to fill out all of this paperwork and possibly go to court to have it resolved. Really? They have a direct hotline for crowing roosters but the number for barking dogs is a recording directing you to the form to fill out. Seriously?

If I am this annoyed, those of you that know my hubby can imagine how happy he is with these pups. Hopefully we will be on our way to resolution soon.

batman, a pirate, a queen and a daddy

Halloween 2011 was a big success!

Mason was the cutest lil' batman to date.

Spence was a pirate - arrgh matey!

I was Queen Elizabeth.

And Micah. Well, Micah was home on Halloween, which was great!

SD

the big celebration

For Spencer's birthday bash we decided to go to a resort and have a swimming party - complete with a little guy pool, splashpad, wave pool and lazy river. It was a blast! I wasn't sure if it would be hot enough for us to be in the pool all day in mid October but lucky for us it was. Fun times!

what a difference a year makes

HaPpY 5th BiRtHdAy SpEnCeR!

We have a 5 year old in the house - can you believe it?! 5 seems like such a milestone number, doesn't it? Well, it does for us. Spence has grown so much over the last year, not to mention that last 5 years. He is an amazing artist (really, he draws way better than me and he's 5), he's a great dancer (insert all his years of Dance Party) and he is really smart, sweet and funny. In short, he's a superstar!

A quick video of the last year in review:

old lady perfume

Suddenly we can smell old lady perfume in part of the house. You know the smell. Super strong, super distinct. It has led me to a theory that maybe we have an old lady ghost in our house. I haven't put too much thought into whether I even believe in ghosts, but if I do, it's a distinct possibility. Did I mention Micah can smell it too? Well he can. He has now offered a new theory that maybe it has something to do with the weather cooling down and perhaps the scent is just ingrained in the walls or the carpet or something and the cooler weather brought it out. Whatever the reason, we have the scent of old lady perfume in our house and I don't like it. Ghost or not, it's gotta go.

homesick

Even though I am thankful for so many things that living in Arizona has given us, I still get homesick from time to time. I hate missing out on my oldest & dearest friends baby showers, engagements, weddings. I hate missing out on holidays with my family, stopping by my mom's house for a visit, hanging out with my bestie. I hate not being there when the leaves change colors, when the snow comes, when it smells like 'fresh air'. I hate not having the hills in our backyard and being able to go camping, take our boys fishing, or go exploring the wilderness with a 20 minute drive. Nothing a private jet won't fix.

Family Fun Day

As  most of you know, Micah and I work opposite schedules. Great for many reasons - except that it really limits the time we have for all 4 of us to spend together.

We try to make it a point to have a family fun day every so often. This week we packed a bunch of things in. First we went to the zoo - always fun and always something new to see. Then we went to the AZ Diamondbacks game (baseball for those of you who aren't familiar).

It was the first time the boys had been to a 'real' baseball game so it was really exciting. However, they weren't up for sitting at the game for 5 hours so we were only there for part of it. Then we ended our day with a visit with our dear friends Shannon & Lu (or ShanShan and LuLu as the boys affectionately refer to them). Shannon has been my friend since kindgergarten - and somehow our lives both brought us to AZ - crazy, right?

It was an awesome day! Sometimes it seems not having as much time to do something you love makes it more special when you do get the opportunity (i.e. having a family fun day).

the boys

The boys started another 'school year' last month. Mason moved up to a new preschool room and Spencer moved up to Pre-K. They both have great teachers and enjoy their 'school' time. They can't wait for the weather to cool down so they can get busy spending their days outside again. Hopefully soon.

Spencer is busy writing words constantly. Now that he is spelling his name, Mason, & Daddy on his own, he is moving on to words like 'kitchen' and 'counter'.

Last week Spencer had this conversation with Micah:
Spencer: Daddy, I heard something you and Mommy were talking about that I wasn't supposed to hear.
Micah: Uh, okay. What was that?
Spencer: When we were driving in the Jeep you were talking about that lady texting and driving.
Micah: Yeah.
Spencer: Yeah, and you shouldn't text while you are driving.
Micah: That's right.
Spencer: Yeah, because you want to make sure your text is really good.

That gave us a good laugh. He's good at doing that - he's an awesome little guy :)

Mason is just plain busy.

He is in the stage of wanting to do everything on his own, but only on his terms. If someone else asks him to do it, he has a million responses. "There's too much stuff, I'm too little, I'm tired." Case in point: today he had a bunch of toys out and I told him he better start picking everything up so he could get ready for lunch. About 2 minutes in he said 'maahhhmeeee, my hands hurt from picking up all of this stuff.'

He is very excited about being a 'big boy' and is Micah's shadow. He's another an awesome little guy :)

hello?

Oh hi, yes, we're still here.

Sorry for the hiatus - blogging somehow gets put on the back burner when moving.

We've been in the 'new house'  for about 2 weeks - and when I say new,  it's only new to us, not 'new'...it was built in 1977 and has some sweet 70s style. And when I say sweet, I mean sweet for the 70s - the gold and silver faux marble vanities will be meeting their demise sometime in our future.

Ahhh moving. Not quite my nemesis, but close. I hate having boxes everywhere. Those of you that have moved often can relate - boxes here, boxes there, boxes everywhere - but somehow the box you need is lost in the midst of all these other boxes. And then when I think I am making progress I go into another room and see more boxes! Bring on the frustration.

All this aside, we are super excited about being able to settle again. The boys are loving the new house and the fact we could finally paint their bedrooms. I am unpacking stuff that has been boxed up since our great adventure to South Dakota four years ago. It's nice to see it again, but then I think, "how bad do I need this if I didn't use it for four years?" and/or "if I have held on to it this long and dragged it all over the country maybe I should keep it." Yes, these are the conversations I have with myself (and sometimes Micah, when he feels like partaking).

So I would say pictures to come soon, but let's be honest, that's probably not right around the corner. So instead I'll say, pictures to come in the future.

Now back to making this house a home.
I'll check in soon. Really, I will.

Is this really happening?

We did it.

We found a house.

To buy.

4 years, 3 states and hundreds of houses later.

4th move in 4 years.

We are almost there.

More details to follow :)

freakin' dust

Apparently the dust storm of the century made international news. I am guessing you may have heard about it by now.

It. Was. Crazy.

I got the thrill of having to drive in it. Zero visibility. Wind like a hurricane (I'm guessing). "They" say you should pull over and turn your lights off if you are in the midst of it, but with zero visibility that's pretty hard to do. You can't see where you are, how do you know where to pull over?!

I love monsoon season, but I could really, really do without the dust. Please and Thank You.

The Fourth

I love the fourth of July.

Love it.

So do the boys.

"Firecracks" and all.

The fireworks go up in the sky (Spence) and then make this loud sound (Mase)

"I'm a little big"

Mason's birthday video! It isn't the smoothest viewing via Blogger, but at least you get the gist of it. 

And just like that, he's three

Mason is three - can you believe it?! He likes to remind us by saying "I'm a little big". He has grown so much over the last year it's unbelievable.

We had an awesome birthday celebration for him that lasted from sun up to sun down. To add to the excitement, Zach and Grandma were here visiting. As part of the birthday celebration we were able to go to a special VIP screening of CARS 2 (Mason's first movie at the theater). He was ecstatic :)

HaPpY BiRtHdAy MaSoN !



Web slinging



Presents!



Make a wish!



House Hunters

House hunting is...exhausting. It starts out super fun, but somewhere along the 500th house, it bites.

We started on a new house hunting search about 2 months ago. Still. Nothing.

I don't know what all this info on the news is about, saying the housing market is so terrible. Not in the area we are looking. Houses are selling like hotcakes.

Our Realtor asked us how long we'd been looking for a house. I think we scared him a bit when we said "4 years". Ooops. 4 years, in 3 different states and we still don't feel any closer.

The boys have seen our realtor so much they have come to really like him. Spence asked the other day while we were out hunting "What if we were Brian's kids?" (Brian is our realtor). I said, "well, then you wouldn't be our kids" and he said "Well what if I was his kid and Mase was still your kid?"

Uhhhh, perhaps a little too much time house hunting.

Hopefully we'll find something soon. We are sick of looking.

We'll keep you posted.

habits

Spencer is obsessed with bars of soap. I think it's the texture and when it's super wet it allows him to create...or something. Whatever the reason, he cannot leave it alone. He scratches it, claws it, breaks it in half, (or into little pieces) and recently put a perfect hole in the center of a new bar of soap - all the way through I might add. And for some reason, it irritates me to no end.

Mason on the other hand is obsessed with peeling paper off of crayons. When we are working on art projects, there is Mason, peeling paper. Funny thing is, he denies it. Yesterday Spencer and I were coloring (he recently had to get his own new crayons so we could always identify the color we needed). Anyhow, Mason was using his crayons and wanted some of the new ones. (Maybe he was drawn to the neatly wrapped paper). We told him no, because of his peeling problem. He was in the midst of peeling paper and said "I don't do that." Spencer called him out and said "We can see you doing it right now Mase"...and still denied it.

Some habits are just hard to break :)

busy doesn't even begin to describe it

2 year olds are busy. True statement.

Mason is extremely busy.

The other night, much after his bedtime, I go to check on him. I see his door is open and the closet light is on. I thought he may have fallen asleep with the light on and go into his room to turn it off. I round the corner and there he is, sitting on his bedroom floor with clothes that had been out of reach in his closet, spread all across the floor. He had his pajamas off and was putting on some super warm Lightening McQueen pants. I go into his closet and discover that he has pushed his Mr. Potato Head tote into his closet to give him a boost so he could reach the previously unreachable 'winter' clothes pile.

Two days ago he decided to roll one of Micah's insulin bottles on the counter - which inadvertently fell on the floor and broke. He then attempted to hide the evidence and cover his tracks. He woke me up reeking like insulin. Have you ever smelled insulin? It's the worst, most indescribable smell known to man. After 20 questions I pieced together the story and learned he had decided to pick up the little piece of broken glass - and throw it away himself. Really?! After a much deserved time out, lecture and 20 minute hand scrubbing (again, insulin stinks!) I thought we were out of the woods for a few days.

Yesterday I go into the bathroom to check on him and see the chapstick is all rolled out, smashed, with the lid half on. He denies touching it, but I find chunks of chapstick all over him.

Tonight I wander over to the computer - the first thing I notice: a nice little ink drawing from Mason. Left, you guessed it, on the computer monitor! Thanks to Google I was able to remove it, but still!

Never a dull moment :)

questions

Lately we have been fielding questions left and right. It's to be expected with 4 and 2 year olds...but there are just so many! Here is a sampling:

What does a cockroach drink?

How did God make concrete?
How does an eagle fly?
Why does that scary monkey (aka Big Foot) have hair on his face?
How do wings work?
Why are feathers those colors?
What does a cheetah drink?
How does the sun move?

Where do lizards sleep?
How is dirt made?
What does a fly drink?
How old is that shark?
....etc, etc, etc

best. thing. ever.

Being a mother is such an amazing experience - and I'm here to say that all of the cliches are true. I definitely didn't realize how much my children would teach me about myself, about love and about life. The greatest gifts I have ever received are my two little boys. To all of the other moms out there:

happy mother's day!

st. patrick's day

March 17th is a day of celebration at our house - we love St. Patrick's Day.  In line with our family tradition, we wore lots of green, ate green food, had green drinks, and danced to Irish music excessively. This year we also hung out with the Carlin clan (for those of you who don't know - one of my besties since kindergarten also lives here - how cool is that?!). Hope you all took time out to celebrate as well!

Fishing fun

As you may remember, Spencer is an experienced fisherman. This past Christmas, after much anticiptation, Mason got his first fishing pole. A few weeks ago Micah took the boys on a fishing trip. It ended up being a slow day for catching fish - but they sure had fun trying!

A December to Remember

In early December Grandma and Zach came to visit and we had our traditional St. Nick's celebration. As you can see we had some fabulous gingerbread houses this year.

Mason/Spencer/Zach

Let's make some cookies!

The boys wrote some pretty specific letters to Mr. Claus - complete with drawings - they wanted to be sure Santa knew exactly what they wanted.

Spencer's Letter



Mason's letter



Even though this was not our first December in Arizona, it was our first Christmas here - we had traveled every year prior. Needless to say, we did not have a white Christmas. But it was still great. Spence and Mase must have been very good boys last year because they got everything they asked for! The favorites were Spencer's first 'real' bike and Mason's Spiderman (which I don't seem to have a picture of). Even though we were away from our loved ones, we had a wonderful holiday.

Still into 'worker trucks'

Riding a bike outside on Christmas morning - crazy!

best buddies

Who doesn't love...

the zoo. Well, I'm sure there are some people who don't, but it has quickly become one of our favorite places. Our recent hot spot has become 'Stingray Bay' where the boys can have a close encounter with the rays. We also make sure to ride the carousel every time we go - which Mason refused to exit during our last visit. Good times.

Mase doesn't look happy, but he loved the giraffes!

Feeding the giraffes

Ahhh, the carousel

We're still here

Have I neglected you? Silly question. Yes, I have. I admit it. I've been absent.

I keep thinking I should update the blog more often...and that's where it stops...as a thought. It's ironic - now more than ever IS the time to blog (since we are totally separated from all of our family and many friends... and given that I do not put any photos on facebook - as my fb friends may have noticed).

Truth be told, I blog as much for me and my three boys as I do for anyone else. Now that I've committed to posting this update, I am hoping there are many more to follow. I realize I have missed many a holiday - so be prepared. There may be a slew of photos coming (although I think I've said this before).

Where was I? Oh yeah, I wanted to let you all know that we are still here. Still alive and well. Hi!