Park of the Canals

Have you been to the Park of the Canals? We enjoyed early release on Wednesday by visiting the Park of the Canals in Mesa.  The weather was perfect for our adventure.  This park is not the typical green belt.  It’s all desert. 

It has a great desert botanical garden and the kids liked looking at the cactus up close.  They carefully touched the spines and steered clear of any jumping cactus.  They have several varieties of cactus and even a couple of cactus skeletons that we thought were pretty cool.

There’s a nice play area with benches and picnic tables.

We followed a fun trail through the old dried out pioneer canals and the kids each brought home a few rocks to add to their collections!

The park also offers a compass navigation course we thought looked pretty fun.  Next time we will bring our compass.

Life Lessons and a talent

Both kids tried out for the school talent show.

They both played the piano. However, this was not Little Misses intent. She and her friend were going to do a talent together (sing, dance), but at the last minute the friends mom would not let her daughter tryout. Little Miss was heartbroken. About five minutes before tryouts, with much coaxing, Little Miss decided she’d just tryout with her piano solo. This was very brave as she had not really been practicing.

One week later.

Little Mister made it in the top ten of the 3rd – 5th Grade. He was in the talent show. He was so excited and his classmates all gave him kuddos!

Little Miss was not in the top ten. She would not be part of the talent show. Heartbroken again :(

She said she was not going to the talent show. But, she did and she loved it and was very supportive of her brother.

There’s always next year and more talent to share.

And here is our talented Little Mister. Big Mister likes how he comes out with his hand in his pocket!

Desk anyone?

Does anyone want a large roll top oak desk?

The desk is in good condition and you can have it.

It's about 4 or 5 ft long. It has a bunch of tiny drawers and slots underneath the roll top. It also has three drawers on each side of the base and the bottom of the three is for files.

Mountain High

We enjoyed the beautiful Arizona weather on Monday and had a picnic and went hiking in the Usary Mountains. 

The scenery looking over at the Superstitions was beautiful. 

Little Mister was helpful. 

Little Miss was dramatic.  Big Mister warned everyone of the jumping Cholla Cactus so she was super scared of that and the snake holes that Little Mister was certain he found.  He just had to point every one of them out to Little Miss.   

At the end of our hike there was even time for Big Mister to play with the kids!

 

As we left the mountain we stopped by the visitor’s center.  We got to see a few snakes including a king snake and rattle snake, a huge scorpion under a black light (way cool) and a centipede.  Their blond tarantula was hibernating…comes out when it’s warmer.

The host told us that the centipede had just passed away last Saturday :(.   They told us that one of the park rangers was in his truck and this centipede came crawling out of the air conditioning vent.  Of course, he caught it and they had it on display in the visitors center for quite awhile.  It was interesting to hear them tell of the vet that came and took the centipedes vitals and confirmed it was dead. 

After our fun day on the mountain we visited Big Misters parents and some of the kids cousins came to play, too. 

We got home just in time to bathe, eat dinner, and we let the kids stay up and watch a movie.  Yeah for them!

Sisters

Me with my sisters and mom. 

We celebrated my sister Chrissy’s birthday last Saturday with lunch at Brio.  (She’s in the middle).

One of my sisters who lives in Tucson was not able to attend this time.  We have so much fun getting together for each of our birthdays.  We’ve been doing this for as long as I can remember.   That makes for six fun birthday lunches every year.  We love it.

A mess worth making

How do those creative juices begin inside our brains??

I'd like to tap into more creativity. I need it. I want it.

Maybe I need to become a child again?

Little Miss likes to walk around the kitchen and look in the drawers, cupboards, pantry and refrigerator for something, anything she can make. She calls everything she makes "a creation". We call the things she creates, "concoctions" which warns the intended taster that you'd better watch out because all kinds of ingredients go into her concoctions! You never know what it's going to taste like.

I try not to stomp on that creativity! But it's really hard sometimes.

I've witnessed my share of concoction messes. That's for certain.

As much as I hate the mess, especially sticky messes, I let her make her creations most of the time. She's learning that mom will say yes a lot more often if she cleans most of the mess herself.

This particular day her creation was a simpler concoction and actually edible! A fruit kabob including, apples, bananas, pineapple and oranges. It was yummy. Normally her creations have a flour base with all kinds of spices (namely lots of cinnamon), grains, sweetener, food coloring and maybe even a few sprinkles. A surprise for sure.

She like to bake everything she makes in a mini muffin tin.

As much as little Miss likes cinnamon, I was surprised that she didn't roll her kabobs in cinnamon!

On a side note, my kids love cinnamon so much, they each received a container of cinnamon/sugar in their Christmas Stocking. (purchased at the Dollar Store)

Little Mister even ate a fruit kabob and he NEVER eats any of Little Misses concoctions. He runs as far away from them as possible.

Little Misses favorite thing to do is save her concoction for daddy to taste test when he gets home from work. He always says it's the best thing he's ever tasted!

What a good daddy.

Little Miss never complains when her concoctions disappear overnight.

Hmmm. I wonder what happens to them?

Her joy is in the creating. My joy is watching.

Once there was a Christmas Tree

TALL, TALL, TALL!

Right when school got out on the last day before holiday break, we picked up the kids and headed to the Anthem Outlet Malls in North Phoenix to see the tallest Christmas Tree in the Nation. Of course, we just had to do some shopping, too!

The tree is pretty impressive at 110 ft. tall. They say it is taller than the wing span of a Boeing 727 jet.

It was worth the drive. The Christmas Tree, activities and shopping are so fun.

The kids took a little break and had fun playing around in between shopping. There are lots of great stores at Anthem and they had some really great Christmas promotions. Our favorite stores at Anthem: Bath and Body Works, Gap, The Children's Place, Book Warehouse, Harry and David, Guess, Polo Ralph Lauren, Bose Factory and more. We didn't get to all of them but we will go back next Christmas for sure. And for the the main reason we went, besides the tallest Christmas Tree in the Nation, was the Le Creuset Outlet store. Their cookware is out-of-this-world-wonderful! I have to restrain myself in that store because I want everything!

We shopped, played and visited the cleanest and nicest bathrooms of any mall around. Really. They tout their really clean bathrooms, and they are nice. They even have great smelling lotion and sunscreen dispensers as you exit the bathroom. Wow!

We ended our stay at Anthem with a photo op on the sleigh.

After about 3 1/2 hours we were tired and hungry. We ended our evening with a salad bar dinner and headed for home.

Now we can't wait until our annual visit to Anthem returns in 2011.

**************

Ok. Ok. I must admit, I have already been back to the Le Creuset store in January! Actually, I "had" to go to exchange an item. I really do love that store and know that I cannot visit it very often because it's far away and because it has way too many things that I want!

A Christmas Story

The 3rd Grade classes have a "Milk and Cookies" party just before Christmas Break. The students get to read stories they have written as the students and parents listen. Little Mister read his story alone as his writing partner was absent.

It's interesting that last year Little Misses writing partner was also absent so she read her story alone as well.

The students and visitors enjoy milk and cookies while they listen. It's always fun to be in the classroom with the kids. They love it when mom and dad visit their class.

I need to remember how much they love having mom and/or dad in the classroom. About a week before the party the teacher sent home a note asking for donations of cookies and then we were to check the appropriate box telling the teacher if we would be coming to the party or not.

I checked "or not". I just didn't think I could fit it in my schedule.

I learned my lesson real fast.

Little Mister came home from school and was really sad that particular day. He told me how he got tears in his eyes when he turned in the paper and saw that I had checked the box "not attending". I felt awful. How could I not take the time to be in attendance for his special story reading? Actually, I hadn't remembered that the students read the stories they have written. I quickly changed my tune and Big Mister and I were both able to attend the class party and story reading. Little Mister was delighted when we walked in.

Priceless.

"The Dog Who Saved Christmas"

by Little Mister and his classmate.

Santa said, "who who who is that? The dog said, "it's me Ruff Ruff."

Santa said, "speak doggy". "Bark, Bark roll over". The dog just kept on barking. "Stop! Stop! IT'S ANNOYING. Stop!"

"Ruff Yes ruff!"

But the dog thought Santa said louder and the dog did and the dog barked louder. Santa got really mad and put a spell on the puppy.

Boosh! Boosh! went the magic. The dog thought that meant bark really loud! Then Santa put the wrong spell on the dog and he started barking nonstop that everybody heard it. The owners woke up and Santa poofed and went away. The owners said, 'what happened?" "Bark, Bark!" said Rudolph. The owners said, "bad dog" and put Rudolph in the back yard. Rudolph saw Santa leave.

Then the next year they saw Santa and he was silent. So silent not a mouse could hear. He crept down the chimney and stuck the presents under the tree. There was even a big bone under the tree for Rudolph the barking dog.

Something this foggy day

You can see a little fog in this picture!

You'd think the kids woke up to a pile of Arizona snow with the reaction to the fog early one school morning in December. The fog is rare here in Arizona so it is fun when it comes. The kids ran out to the back yard as fast as they could to see if they could feel or taste the fog. They tried to slice through the fog with sticks! Ok, it wasn't that foggy!!

I seem to remember more foggy days when I was growing up here then what we have currently. One school morning when I was younger I remember an incident on an especially foggy day. It was so foggy that we knew the school bus was approaching only when we saw the lights flashing because it has stopped in front of our house. On the way to school we were headed south on Cooper Road between Guadalupe and Elliott. Because it was so foggy, the school bus driver barely stopped in time for a herd of sheep that just happened to be crossing Cooper Road from one farm to another. This was not a rare thing. If we were late to school, the school secretary always accepted our tardiness when we stated that we were waiting for a herd of sheep or cows to cross the road! This wasn't that long ago in what Gilbert used to be.

It would be fun to have a few more foggy days. But not too foggy!

By the way, it's 1/11/11 today! Almost as fun as 1/1/11!

'Dwayne the sink...I'm frowning:(

A nice Sunday after dinner surprise!

A clogged sink and with the dishwasher running, water filled the sink up to overflowing.

"Gross", said Little Mister.

"Gross", said mom. And, "Honey, we need Drano". I can't clean the kitchen up very well with a clogged drain...and it was the side with the disposal.

After Drano sat in the drain for about an hour it was still clogged. I had to scoop all the water out and put some more Drano down the drain. After another 30 minutes I ran hot water, turned on the disposal and it finally unclogged.

Whew! Why does that happen?

This isn't worth bloggin' about. But, I did it anyway.

A BOBCAT!

Just before Christmas Little Mister received his Bobcat Cub Scout Award. He was very excited to earn this first award. He is loving scouts.

Big Mister is also loving scouts! He was probably more excited to "paint" Little Mister's face than Little Mister was to have his face "painted" with markers!

And the final result of the face painting...

Playing around with his fellow Bobcat Award recipients.

Each Bobcat Award recipient receives a bobcat tail they are supposed to wear until they perform a good deed.

Silly boy! Silly face! Silly tail!

Silly boy, you mean the world to me.

My life

I am sitting here in my comfy recliner on a Sunday afternoon not feeling so great Big Mister and the kids are at church. It's peaceful.

I'm enjoying my new laptop we purchased a couple months ago. I can't believe it took me so long to get one! Had I known the way it would change my life and how I work, I would have purchased a laptop a long time ago. I feel spoiled sitting here in my cushy chair with my feet up, blanket on, watching a good movie and still being able to get online. It's also been nice to be right where the kids are while working, rather than "locked" in my office:)

I've wanted to post more during this busy holiday season but it just did not happen this year. I'll have to do some catching up. I did want to write a bit so I would have some things documented that I don't want to forget. It'll be kind of random.

I took myself to urgent care a couple of days ago. The kids were with me. I'll always remember how they laughed seeing me as the patient! They especially liked it when I had to stick my tongue and say "ahhh" for the doctor. Too funny.

December went way too fast. It was a perfect month.

I planted a wonderful garden in October. It isn't so wonderful now. I just didn't have it in me to keep it up this season. I do have lots of broccoli and lettuce. Everything else is frozen or drowned out by weeds that I couldn't keep a handle on. Oh well, there's always next time.

November went way too fast. We had a fantastic Thanksgiving.

Big Mister and I went to see Michael McLean's "The Forgotten Carols" just before Christmas. We took my mom and also two of my sisters and their husbands. I love one of the songs where Joseph sings about Jesus, "I was not His father, He was mine". So true. Some of the lyrics to one of the other Forgotten Carols that I love are, "I cried the day that I took the tree down. I want the season to last all year round. And I'm dreaming of Christmases when we'll be together again".

Last Monday I couldn't wait to get Christmas down. I'm such a neat freak, I just wanted my house back, dusted, vacuumed, cleaned and organized again. Oh, I love the sparkle of the inside lights and seeing all the familiar Christmas decor consume each room. But I love it just as much when the familiar yearly decor goes back to the garage and my house seems to look empty again (even thought it's not!) Well, I did cry (a little) the day I took the tree down and I will try to keep the season with my all year round. And I'm already dreaming of next Christmas when we'll all be together again!

October went way too fast. Fall Break was laid-back and Halloween was a blast.

My family room has been filled with a Lego takeover since Christmas. Little Mister and his friends (and occasionally his sister) have had quite the fun building towers, houses and cities. Little Mister inherited two huge tubs full of lego pieces from his cousin, add that with the new ones he has received and there is a ton of Legos. I keep pushing them into the corner so it looks cleaner and so I can vacuum. That only lasts for so long. Tonight is the night, however. All Legos go back up to Little Mister's room as school is starting and there is no more all-day-lego-play! Too bad.

When I'm alone in the house on Monday I know I'll look in the family room and miss the legos! I know I will be teary-eyed when it's my turn to pass on the tubs full of legos to younger cousins. That day will come all too soon.

September went really fast. Little Miss turned nine, Little Mister was baptized and we had a wonderful family vacation.

Just before Christmas, the Dutton's who are in our ward during the Winter months, invited all ward members to come to a show free of charge. I took my mom and we really enjoyed their performance. The kids especially love it when the Little Dutton's come out on stage because they know them all from church and school. They think it's pretty cool!

August couldn't come fast enough! Ha! School began, Little Mister had surgery and also turned eight.

July was hot. The 4th of July was hot. In spite of the heat, the month flew by.

My mom is losing her memory. It frustrates her. She does really funny things. My sisters and I remind each other that we must keep our minds active because we have this dementia thing coming at us from both sides...our mom and our dad's mom! Yikes! She can't even remember what she ate for lunch on any particular day. Sometimes she goes in the bathroom and than can't get out because she turns the light out before opening the door and then can't find the door knob so she bangs on the walls for help. Poor mom.

June went by fast and was fun. A whole month of swimming practically every day. Pure heaven for the kids. Not so heavenly for a mom who hates being out in the sun, especially at a pool!

My aunt and uncle recently left on a mission to Guam. Hopefully they won't have to wear grass skirts and live in huts. I'm certain they will love it.

The month of May and the end of the school year raced in. We enjoyed our 14th Anniversary.

Big Mister's dad gave us a big scare in May. We thought we would lose him for certain. The doctors told mom that maybe all family members should come say their good-byes. His two brothers and their families drove in from Houston and his sister flew in from California. It was a nice few days of family completeness and togetherness. It was not dad's time to go, however. He made a miraculous recovery from his death bed. He remains on dialysis and his health is not good. But, he is here with us and enjoying his days.

April went way too fast.

I decided to begin using my china. Everyday. It has been shelved, neglected and unused for too many years. We now use it lovingly and I don't even care if anything gets broken. The china is getting used and that is a good thing! I now have a whole entire cupboard that I can use for storing other items.

March went way too fast.

The beginning of 2010 brought us many mechanical problems with our van. We contemplated buying a new car or repairing the van. We decided to proceed with the major repairs (along with the major $bills$) and are happy to report that the van is still running well. It even took us on our September vacation and ran great. We are praying for one more year (at least).

February went way too fast.

Big Mister and I started a smarter eating plan last Spring. Big Mister has lost 60 lbs. and I lost 20 lbs. It is definitely hard, but we are determined to proceed forth and try to do even better in 2011.

January went way too fast.

2010 was a great, fantastic year. A year of growth, change, freedom and joy. I am looking forward to 2011.

"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else, means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting."

Happy 2011.

I'm sure this year will go way too fast.

I will enjoy each day because Christmas is just around the corner. Again.