Now Appearing in their "Natural" Habitat. . .

WalkerThe Entire Zoo - Mikensee, Jessica, Walker on the Left, Wyatt on the Right
My little Monkeys - Walker on the Left, Wyatt on the right

Jessica (still showing her stipes!)

The Lioness - Mikensee

I guess my kids didn't think my Mother's Day Joke was too funny, 

so I'm trying to make it up to them.  I guess posting the pictures with 

their eyes crossed wouldn't help, so I chose these. 

I'm very lucky to be the mom to such a wild bunch!

The 4 Reasons I Get To Celebrate Mother's Day

Walker - a bit shy, very creative, awfully moody and yet so adorable!

Jessia, a real one-of-a-kind. . . She is not afraid to show her stripes!

Mikensee, The Lioness of our Jungle, Proud, Fiercely Loyal, Beautiful inside and out!

Wyatt - My real joy boy, unique, playful and proud to be him

(These are actually photos I took of the "kids" at a recent trip to the zoo.  

Shhhhh. . . don't tell them I showed you their "real" faces!!!)

Trick or Treat??!??!

If the video above does not play and you would like to see it, you may click here:

Wyatt's Halloween Video

Garden Birthday Party

Jessica turns 7 August 8, Wyatt and Walker turn 5 August 11th. Every year this poses a general problem in my house. . . how to have 3 birthday celebrations in only 4 days! (Our anniversary is also the 7th and my birthday is in late July! Oh my!) I always feel guilty having a party for Jessica, but not W&W or having one for W&W, but not Jessica. . . I feel equally guilty about having them all share one party. Last year we went to the Grand Canyon and took a railway trip. That got me out of the dilemma last year (even though we still had cake and ice-cream along with presents on each of their respective birthdays.) So here it is, time a ticking and I had not a clue what to do! Then, a miracle happened! I saw a cute flower cake idea and thought "I should make that for Jessica's birthday." Then, I saw a caterpillar cake idea and thought "that would be the perfect cake for W&W!" My mind started working and by noon today, I had a party planned. Tonight I made the invitations. Here is how they turned out. I made 24 (customized for Jessica and her friends, W&W and their friends and of course family who will be celebrating for all of them!) in about 2 hours with some help from the divine M. The party should be fun. We're going to do some buggy (boy) and gardeny (girl) activities and all should be well! I'm really excited now and the guilt (for now) is at bay. I did tell Mikensee though, that I think from now on I'm going to rotate birthday years making sure I hit the biggies for each child in their year.

My Nose is Melting

And other "W" isms keep me laughing every day.

"My Nose is Melting" is the answer Mikensee received to her inquiry as to why Walker was snorting through the dinner prayer.

"No, No, NO! I don't want to get married!" is what he was shouting as I asked him why he was dressed like pink cotton candy! This face says it all:


But what do these faces mean?





Wyatt is famous for asking "Do you want to help me eat?" This he asks when he's hungry and wants someone to make him something.

"We just kissed ourselves." Made famous by Wyatt and Walker after giving each other a love.

"Mom, come see! We found a machine!" They both exclaimed in complete amazement when our carpet cleaner was found mysteriously located in the living room.

We frequently have these comments when one or the other has exclaimed anger or displeasure with my rules: "Mom, you are my best friend." "Mom, I love you, but Wyatt don't." or "Mom, I love you, but Walker didn't." "Mom, I just love your cheeks and elbows. Don't you want some tasty neck?"

"I slept 3 times!" This they say when they come to get in bed with us and it's still dark outside. . . this because I tell them they have to sleep in their own bed for 30 minutes before they can get up - Yes, I'll use this as long as possible! It still works on Jessica!

Like Fish To Water

Friday Night Funk Family Fun. . . the first time that Wyatt, Walker and Jessica have ever ice-skated and they looked like pros. I tried really hard to capture the joy they all felt stepping out onto the ice, but it is really hard to skate, take pictures and see in the dark! I had no idea that our skate would be in almost pitch black, but it was. Didn't matter to the boys or Jessica though. They stepped onto the ice and skated as if they were born to do it. It was so much fun to watch Wyatt as he built up confidence speed and just grinned from ear to ear. Our little joy boy just couldn't contain himself and he never quit grinning. He discovered the cones and had a blast going through and over them. Jessica made herself a big girl friend and they were both quite enamored with each other. Jessica liked Bailey because she was a real skater (wore a skate skirt) and Bailey Jessica because she can be just so stinking sweet!!! They kids skated for 2 solid hours with one small Zamboni break and the boys were mad, mad, mad when it was time to go. At one point after the boys had been separated for a while they met back up, hugged each other and never separated again for the entire night. We shared the rink with a high school group and it was so much fun to hear them ooh and aah over how cute they were and also talk about how great they skated. Mikensee has ice-skated once before, but she didn't remember at all and wasn't fond of the high school "group" or the dark, but she is ready to go again. Several of the "pros" told us we ought to sign the boys up for hockey. . . so much talent, so little time, (so little money. . . sigh).

You Are My SuNsHINnE

I have no idea why anyone would make a headband that looks like a sunshine or a flower (especially when it's the size of a basketball), but apparently someone, somewhere, thought there might be a market for these lovely items of apparel. . . I'd just like to say "THANK YOU" to whomever, wherever it was because they really brightened my shopping trip today!










Did you catch the price tag? $6.99 Yeah, Right!

A Pirate's Life For Me!

Saturday the kids asked to watch Peter Pan, I said sure. The next thing I know they had pulled out an old VHS of Hook. Not that this was Robin William's shining career moment, but it was the first movie that Mike and I ever saw as a "couple" so it has sentimental value. He fell asleep 10 minutes into the movie and proceeded to snore. . . so it's also a great story teller! I digress. . .

So, in the movie, Captain Hook and his crew really play up the pirate life. So today, this is what I get:

 

 

 

Jessica has panty hose on her head, Walker is giving his best "ARRRR" while sporting a pink leotard and ballet slippers, and Mikensee is holding up Jessica's treasure map in the back. They hauled our cooler out to the sandbox and filled it with treasure (oh joy!)until somehow Jessica remembered that she had this toy trunk and traded the cooler in for it. I watch them for a while as they take steps around the back yard as if they are those cartoons you see with the trail of feet prints trailing behind. You just have to love when reality checks out and imagination checks in. Jessica really wants to know if she looks like a girl pirate. I say, "yes." She wants to know if I want to know where the treasure is. I say "I already found it. . ."

White Tanks Waterfall Hike

 

One of the best things about living in AZ, is that even on a cold day, you can still go outside. Cold is relative, I know, but in AZ, a cold day is low 60's. We do have colder days, but few. This hike was something I had planned for when BJ came to town, but as you know, the superbowl nixed her plans. My kids LOVE this hike and so we went anyway. The waterfall, although not heavily flowing was fun for the kids to play in and not so cold that they were miserable after we took off their wet clothes. This particular hike is a family friendly hike at the White Tank Mountains. We live in the Estrella Mountains, but have a beautiful view of these mountains from our back yard. The hike itself is about 2 miles round trip, but only the hearty actually ever see the fall. Most people get to the little river and think they've reached the top. There are actually 2 falls and the first wasn't even flowing today. The pool from this fall was about 4 feet dep. I've given you a mosaic of our day and one single shot of the fall with my kids at the top. You can't even see the original "pool" or "white tank" from my view point, but it was about 6' deep today. The entire hike offers birdseye views of ancient petroglyphs. They are fun to spot and fun to speculate on their meanings. Some are almost gone, so it's like a treasure hunt of sorts. Today we also found a geocache. We're not "big" into geocaching, but it was fun to find! Maybe when the kids are a bit older and can do the research, we'll do more of it. The desert is going to be really beautiful this spring. We FINALLY have had some rain this winter! The river we cross each day has been running for a couple of months now! Perhaps our drought is finally over.

How Twin Are They?

So today was another sad day for me. My babies are really growing up! Today, not one, but both of my twins lost a tooth. Here is a little collage I made of the event:

(to see the collage larger, just click on the photo)


Wyatt didn't like this event much at all. At first he was brave and you can see he's smiling in the picture with his brother showing off their lost teeth. . . but then, reality set in and for the next 4 hours Wyatt cried. He begged me to put it back. He asked me why I took his tooth. He told me I am the bad mommy and I need a big spanking. He told me that he wanted a new mommy. He told me that he needs his tooth and that it didn't have chicken in it. He cried. He finally fell asleep in my arms. He woke up and still complained and cried and wanted me to put it back. I tried to explain that it will grow back. His brother showed him that his other lost tooth was growing back in. It didn't matter. I finally distracted him with Sponge Bob Collapse. He still got up first thing this morning and asked me when I was going to give him his tooth back and that I didn't have to pull it out just because it had chicken in it. This just proves my point that they are growing up way too fast and they just aren't ready for this!!!

On a side note, my boys are fastidious about their teeth. They floss after every meal and can't stand having "chicken" in their teeth. Chicken (or any meat we call chicken) is the only meat they eat. I discovered the loose, almost to be swallowed baby tooth while cleaning chicken out of his teeth. After extracting with a small grab of a paper towel I checked Walker's tooth only to discover that he too was about to swallow his tooth. . . So how twin are they? Look at this collage and you decide!

A Kick In The Pants

Me and my kids exercise several days a week. The girls need PE time and lets face it, I'm not getting any younger or thinner for that matter! Our family favorite is called Walk At Home. Walker love it because the instructor frequently tells Walker to Jog and he believes Leslie is talking to him! (Walk or Jog is what she is really saying.) I just can't say enough about this program! Seriously, it's fun, it works and even my kids like it. I tell everyone about it; I bought it for my mom for her birthday last year and I finally have my friend Julie doing it instead of wasting her money at the gym! Anyway. . . here is a fun picture of my walk at home gang.



Here they are telling you they just walked 3 miles (in less than 45 minutes!)


I've wanted to post a picture of our Walk at Home for months, but when I got this email from the Walk at Home Gang, I had to pass it along! Seriously, I wouldn't tell you how much I love it if it weren't true and you can see that my kids like it too! If you want a fitness program you can do at home that doesn't cost a fortune, one that is doable and fun, this is it!



Just thought I'd share!

Valentine's Day

So who else but me would sign up to make sugar cookies and frosting for 60 kids in our homeschool group to decorate at our annual Valentine's Party? You guessed it! I also couldn't find the time to make them until midnight on Valentine's Day! We did get the kids' Valentine's mailboxes and valentines to give done on Sunday, but last minute me was up most of the night making the cookies. It was sure a lot of fun and definitely worth it.

I'm Drowning In Pink!

What does it look like when you are prepping for 50 primary children to make Valentines? It looks like my studio looked all week:


I cut 150 base cards, hundreds of hearts in many shapes and sizes, pages of clever valentine comments and many cute "stamped" images for the children to cut and color.



Hours of work and how long did 50 children take to make these sweet cards? Take a guess in the comment section of this post and if you are closest I will send you one of my exclusive Valentine's previously posted on this blog!

XL What?

So it all started with my friend BJ's planned trip to Phoenix from NY with her daughter this month. . . Airfare? $2000+ per ticket. She could fly to Vegas for less than $300. . . then I'm on the freeway going to a listing appointment and I drive by. . . oh, yeah, its a little thing called the SUPER BOWL!!! Well that explains the air fare. . . I don't care much, other than that. THEN, dear hubby brings home VIP tickets for our family to attend the NFL Experience. Okay, 2 days until the big event and off we go. Sadly when we arrive I discover that my camera battery is dead and we have my cell phone to capture this momentous once in a life-time -- errr-- (I guess twice as this is the 2nd time the SB has been in Phoenix in recent years) event.

Here are the highlights (or the low lights if you prefer!)

Parking $10. . . Walk to event, 1/2 Mile
Wait in Line. . . for us minutes. We had VIP Tickets. For the masses waiting in line for tickets when we arrived 1.5+ hours. PLUS 30 minutes to get through the ticket gates. (Hawkers wanting to buy tickets? Many until the cops arrived and they all ran). I really wanted DH to see what they were offering, but he wouldn't! They were asking $25.

Wait in line for wristbands to participate (you have to sign a liability waiver), 30 Minutes.
Wait in line for super huge ferris wheel . . .30 minutes

Wait in line for bathroom . . . 15 minutes
Wait in line for NERF event . . . 1 hour plus the time we waited while the Patriot coaches' son cut in line for his turn. (I will say that W&W Rocked at this event! Wyatt go every football in the target without missing in less than 30 seconds - they had 45! Walker missed 2, but got them all in under 30 seconds as well. Their age group was under 8, but the "Nerf" people told us that if there was a 5 and under catergory they most likely would have won. The Nerf people had to take their picture before we left.)



Wait in line for other miscellaneous children's NFL Experience events. . . hours plus time while some other famous player's children had to pretend to have a good time participating in these events on camera.




Time spent while children had temper tantrums over wanting to eat . . . at least an hour.
Price for the 4 poofs of cotton candy conveniently packages with 2 blue and 2 pink poofs, $6. Time bought without whining? 30 minutes.
Price for a hot dog, $9 (it would have cost our family of 6 $100 for 6 hot dogs and 6 drinks.)
Times we were on the NFL Channel while in line for the super huge ferris wheel for the 2nd time? 9

Length of line for tickets when we left the NFL Experience 5 hours later? 1/4 Mile. . . Approximately 3 hour wait just for the privilege to get IN to the over-priced, under delivering affair!

What I wish? That I could figure out a less useless way for people to line up for hours and willingly hand me money hand over fist!

Overall thought? We enjoyed dinner at our favorite Mexican Food Restaurant, left stuffed for less than $60! Wish BJ was coming instead of the Super Bowl!

The Cat's Meow

Pajama Party was a huge success! Here is how our cat chow turned out:




And of course our cat themed party cake:

K is for Kids Keeping me Krazy!

I remember what life was like without kids. . . pedicures, ladies luncheons, charity auctions, leisurely dinners out most days of the week, sleeping in on Saturday, Weekend Get-A-Ways. . . SCREECH . . . (that's the sound of all of it coming to a halt and the noise level in my house most days!!!) LOL!!! So I've been meaning to post several things for several days now, but something keeps eating all of my time! I think its called Mommy Duties. Sometimes I find myself feeling a bit dismayed by all the effort I put into my kids (and the house we built for our kids -- with all of the stuff we buy for the kids) but then I remember that without them, life wouldn't hold very much purpose for me. So here's a picture of our family on our sealing day last Wednesday just to remind you that I do really love my family and life wouldn't be in focus without them!

And here are some of the things that have been keeping me hopping:

A Leaf Bug that my kids chased around our yard for several hours.


An entire day when the twins refused to do anything but take a bath in Mommy's BIGGER bathtub. (Note the sign in the background that says "Happiness is not what happens on the outside of you, but what's inside of you." Most days I truly buy into this theory, but other days I'm not so sure!!! It took 5 towels to dry up the mess!


And yes, I was brave (and stupid) enough to take all four kids to Lowe's to pick up plants to replace the multitudes that didn't survive our dry heat. At one point I had all 4 kids pushing 4 different carts following close behind. This was in an effort to minimize the bickering over who got to push the cart. Then, all of the sudden, with no warning, I was missing 1. We all headed off, (even though I asked the other 3 to stay put) in hunt of the missing Wyatt. Lowe's is a HUGE store! (I have a similar Home Depot story!) Soon I hear squealing laughs. Walker found Wyatt and they had taken up cart races through the isles. . . I just had to snap a few pics. . . I also had to hide my laughter as I scolded Wyatt for taking off in the first place and Walker taking off to find him! I must say, though, it took a like minded twin to know just where to look!!!