Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!

I know this is a day early, but we will be traveling for Thanksgiving and I wanted to make sure that all our friends and family know that we are thinking about them today. May you all have a blessed Thanksgiving and remember to give thanks to the One who blesses us all.


Caleb's class singing 'Give Thanks'

Pizza, Pigtails and Pilgrims

I am finally able to get some pigtails to stay in Myah's hair. She sits really well for me while I'm doing it, but she pulls them out if she gets bored in the car. I think I have ten, maybe fifteen strands of hair in each pigtail.


Myah had her first pizza the other night and she sure liked it. Come to think of it, she likes anything that has to do with bread. She's my little 'Carbo-holic' - kind of takes after her dad!



In other news, Caleb had a little Thanksgiving program at his school yesterday. He makes one cute pilgrim - too bad he acts like a little turkey!




Caleb and his class reciting Psalm 100.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

A Beautiful Fall Day in AZ


















We went for a hike the other day. Nothing strenuous, just a nice relaxing walk up a little mountain. When you live in Arizona, it's kind of like you're in a little bubble. It's hard to imagine other places getting snow while it's 85 and you're wearing shorts. My apologies if you're one of the people getting snow!


The really tall cactus with arms are Saguaros. The shorter ones that look fuzzy (it's really tons of prickles) are called Cholla (below on the left). These particular chollas are called Teddy Bear Chollas. Caleb once made the mistake of thinking they were fuzzy and grabbed one. He never did that again! The tall spindley looking plant that has lots of spikes sticking up (below on right) is called an Ocatillo. Our house is somewhere down in the valley in the bottom picture.













Wednesday, November 19, 2008

A Crafty Kid

Yesterday the local library had a craft workshop for kids. Caleb was busy making three different turkeys for Thanksgiving.



This poor guy only made it till dinnertime.

Getting a head start on Christmas crafts at home.

Good hair gone bad. This is what happens when you have pigtails in your hair and then take a nap.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Friday, November 14, 2008

A New Balloon

Myah got a new balloon from the grocery store yesterday.
You gotta love free balloons!



Loving the balloon.


Showing off her standing skills.


Check out the sneakers and headband!

The Trip That Just Keeps On Giving

As many of you may recall, we had a wonderful little camping trip last weekend. As a follow-up to that trip, I have been blessed with two trips to the doctor and three prescriptions. As many of you know, I don't go to the doctor or take medicine unless I have to.

You see, while I was sleeping, the only part of my body that wasn't covered up was the lower half of my face (freezing temps tend to make you bundle up as much as possible). It seems that while I was asleep, a little spider came along and bit me on my chin. Now, I must give congratulations where it's due, so kudos to you, little spider, for finding a time when I was actually sleeping. Anyway, long story short, I am now fighting a gross and annoying infection in my chin and feel like the love child of Popeye and Jay Leno (if that's even possible). My doctor is optimistic that the current round of antibiotics will wipe out whatever junk has taken up residence in my chin and hopefully, it won't be too embarrassing to go out in public soon.

Boy, I can't wait till it gets warmer and we can all go camping again!

Saturday, November 8, 2008

The Good, The Tolerant and The Stupid

Caleb had Thursday & Friday off of school so we thought it would be a great idea to sneak in one last weekend of camping (in a tent) before it gets too cold. We packed up all our gear, both kids and a bunch of warm clothes and headed off to the Santa Catalina Mountains to camp after Rob got off work on Thursday. Here is the play-by-play:

4:00pm - Leave Scottsdale
5:00pm - Kids are fussy - they proceed to eat a whole sleeve of Ritz crackers (food is the one thing that can keep Myah quiet in the car)
5:33pm - Sunset
6:15pm - Arrive at Catalina State Park - Set up tent in the dark
(thank goodness for headlights) - Myah is crying so Caleb pushes her around and around in the stroller
6:20pm - Car battery goes dead - windows are rolled down and keys are stuck in the ignition. Dig out propane lantern, pray lighter works, set up tent by lantern light
6:45pm - Tent is set up - Rob pumps up inflatable mattresses by hand - Melissa sets up propane stove to cook beef stew for dinner
7:15 pm - Food is ready, kids are fussing, Rob & Melissa are (almost) ready to go home
8:00pm - Kids put on two pairs of winter pajamas each, go to the bathroom and go to bed - one is a bit louder than the other (guess who?)
8:01pm -
Due to dry conditions, wood fires are banned - Rob & Melissa decide that looking at each other by the light of a hissing propane lantern is not as romantic as lounging by a crackling fire
9:00pm - Rob & Melissa decide to go to bed after checking on the kids and making sure they are bundled up - Melissa discovers that she pulled a muscle in her side while setting up the tent
11:00pm - Myah cries - Melissa gets up
12:00am - Myah cries - Melissa gets up
1:00am - Myah cries - Melissa gets up
4:00am - Myah cries - Melissa gets up
4:30am - Myah cries - Melissa cries - Rob gets up - The decision is reached that we will not be staying another night
5:30am - Myah is wide awake - Melissa is wide awake - Rob is wide awake - Myah joins us in bed
5:45am - Caleb climbs into bed with the rest of us
6:00am - Everyone gets up, gets dressed and bundled up to go outside. The kids eat breakfast at the picnic table (with a portable heater) - Rob and Melissa break down tent (in 40 degree weather - without gloves)
7:15am - A park ranger is radioed in to help jump start the car
7:45am - The car is packed, the kids are packed, the parents aren't sure if they should laugh or cry
9:15am - After three unsuccessful attempts, a shop is located to replace the car battery
10:00am - Get detoured all over Tucson because highway is under construction and all ramps are closed
10:30am - Pancakes at IHOP - Melissa can finally feel her toes again
7:30 pm - Return home

The rest of the day is spent driving around Tucson, hiking, visiting different parks and seeing old Indian ruins. All in all, it was a good trip - we learned that Myah can pack away a lot of crackers, Caleb enjoys listening to Vivaldi CDs and is good at keeping track of time (are we there yet?) and that you should never, ever go camping in a tent with a baby who is a lite sleeper or when it is going to get into the high 30's/low 40's at night. Now that you've read my novel, I'll let you decide who best fits which description in the title. lol

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Halloween Pictures Coming Soon

As you may have noticed, I am the only person who has yet to update their blog with adorable pictures of small children dressing up for Halloween. For this, I apologize.

We went to a birthday party on Halloween for one of Caleb's little friends and while we were there, my camera was dropped and broken. The person who did this shall remain nameless, but they were heard crying and saying, "I don't deserve Halloween this year."


Needless to say, I don't have pictures of the kids first Halloween together. I do have several pictures coming from some friends who took pity on us and snapped a few shots for me. Once I have these pictures I will gladly post them. For now, this is all I have - it was the last (and only) one taken before the camera broke.