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.