Movie Night Madness

Today was a pretty busy day.

We started this morning with Niko's annual IEP meeting for his speech development with the school. All went well. We set new goals for him to work towards over the next year and that sort of thing.

Then I went downtown to pick up my last paycheck from the county. It was nice to see everyone again and see how some things just never change...From there I went out for a late lunch with my old carpool buddies...

At 6:00 Niko's guests began to arrive. In all there were 7 boys and one girl. We all had a great time in amongst the mayhem and chaos. They watched Underdog, had pizza and got their wiggles out.

Humpity, Hump Day

Somehow I missed posting a blurp about our day yesterday. Trust me, it wasn't that exciting. I think the highlight was the water fight Mike and Matthew had...or maybe it was the double header Frisbee game that Mike played last night with his league...hmm...but nevertheless, today is a new day...

The kids had a half-day today at school, as they do every last Wednesday of the month. We didn't do anything exciting, except enjoy the 82 degree day playing outside. Mike's working his weekly shift at the YMCA tonight. and the rest of our day will consist of eating dinner, cleaning up, taking baths, reading, and going to bed...Fun times over here in our household.

Monday Madness

Today was a very busy day.

Mike was off-site today at a development meeting with work. They were meeting at Cabelas and were able to get a lot accomplished.

Meanwhile, Matthew and I went in and got new tires on the Durango today and walked the mall while that was being done. Boy has it been a while since I've "walked the mall"...Matthew got treated to a Hot Dog on a Stick for lunch-the highlight of his day. When that was accomplished, we ran the remainder of our errands and headed home just in time to pick up the kiddos from school.

While they worked on their homework, I finished sewing up the valances for the dining area.

That's pretty much our Monday...

Weekend Wrap-up

Today was a beautiful, cool, cloudy day.

Bethany went to a fairy birthday party for a friend of hers. Everyone dressed up in their fairy best and they had a great time. They were all so cute.

Later in the evening, Mike and I got to go out on a much needed date. We went to a Mongolian BBQ that just opened nearby and had a fantastic dinner. Then we went over and saw the movie Cloverfield. I left feeling sick to my stomach because of the filming technique they used. It was an interesting and intense movie.

Awesomely Hilarious Link

I had to post this link here that I found on one of my all-time favorite mom-blogs, Dooce...

The link is a Spanish website from the looks of it, but the pictures are self explanatory. As you scroll down it gets better...

Today we were supposed to have had a garage sale but got too late of a start. So maybe next week.

We did, however, end up getting an early start on a hike we've been wanting to do for a while. We went down south to Picacho Peak. It proved to be a great, exhilarating hike and one that Mike and I will return to without the kids to complete. We made it to the point where the trail heads up the rock mound on top and has cable assistance, similar to Half Dome in Yosemite. It looked like it would've been a blast, but not so much with little kiddos. Getting down what we came up was challenging enough for their little legs. But they did awesome and were rewarded with a round of Dilly Bars from Dairy Queen afterwards.

Again, the colors of spring were all around us; lots of orange Poppies and purple lupins blanketing the ground...

There are a lot of "view from the top" photos in the slide show to the right. We were so high and the views were incredible.

End of the Week

Friday! We love Fridays around here. It is so nice to come home after the day and not have anything pressing to do before bedtime. It's such an open and free night.

Tonight we ran some errands. Niko went to the dollar store to get his prizes with the money the tooth fairy left last night. And then we came home and watch Night at the Museum. It was an awesome movie and a great family night.

Niko FINALLY lost his "first" tooth!!!

We all probably know that Niko really lost his first tooth when he was three and knocked out his front tooth. And also, that his lower teeth, the first ones to naturally fall out at about 5 or so, haven't budged or wiggled or showed any signs of falling out anytime soon. Well, about the time of his 7th birthday-two months ago-they started wiggling around a bit- Woo-hoo. So while we have been waiting for these teeth to fall out over the past two months, he has been growing his adult teeth in. Yep, he has had two rows of bottom two teeth-i know, weird, but true. So when we say "FINALLY" we mean every bit of that word. He finally lost one of his two lower teeth. So this is quite a big thing to a little boy who has been waiting 2 years for these suckers to fall out.

He ate his usual after-school apple when he got home from school and it got it good and loose, but still not falling out. We had Breakout at church tonight and his prayer tonight was that, of coarse, his tooth would fall out. So, he was getting ready for bed and begged me to pull it. I gave it a twist and a tug and it was out. Now we've got to work on this second one.

So that's the excitement that ended our day. But we also had a lot of other stuff going on today also.

Mike had a written test for El Mirage Fire Department this morning.

I went on Niko's field trip with him to see the Mesa Symphony Orchestra perform Peter and The Wolf. It was a treat to spend that time with him and his class.

While I was there and Mike was taking his test, Matthew got to visit his daycare that he asks about almost everyday. So that was a treat for him. And it just so happened that the dentist was visiting them today and so he came home and for the rest of the day told me that he had to brush his teeth, and that I shouldn't be drinking diet coke because it's bad for my teeth...and he shouldn't eat candy because it's bad for his teeth...and that if one of his teeth fall out, the doctor can put it back in?...anyways, it was pretty funny to hear about it all day. Must've made a big impression on him.

Bethany had a great day and told me all about the anti-drug movie they saw about Mister Roach and what a bad guy he was. It was pretty interesting from what she was saying...

So that was our busy Thursday

Suction

Did you all know that if you push a plunger down onto a hard surface...say, maybe the middle of the aisle in Target...that it won't come up very easy? Oh, and how do I know that? I was mop-shopping with my three lovely children tonight and had the pleasure of wrestling with not one Target-red plunger stuck to the floor in the middle of the aisle, but three! Oh what a joy...

As I had been studying the different microfiber mops in Target, I became one of those oblivious mothers who are so concentrated in their own world that she does not notice what her three kids are doing 18 inches behind her back...I was brought back to what was going on by the the two older ones laughing hysterically and saying, "Don't, don't..." and Matthew trying with all his might to pull one of the three plungers off the floor. "Ugh!...What the heck are you guys doing?" I responded as I confidently attempted to pull the darn thing off the floor myself and put it away. But it was STUCK. I pulled with all MY might. It wouldn't budge! All I could do after pulling and tugging on them with all my might was to laugh. When I originally noticed what they had done, they started pointing the finger, with the Oh-shoot-We're-caught act. When I broke the smile, they were laughing too.Finally Bethany was able to get it to come up and did the other ones as well.

Yep, so note to the wise, don't push plungers down onto a hard surface floor. They will stick...

Oh, and we did get our mop finally after all that...

Other than all that excitement, we had a pretty great day. Mike worked at home today, Matthew went to school, I got to the YMCA and did a great work out and the older two had an uneventful day at school.

Sproutling

Matthew's little seeds that he planted a few weeks ago finally showed signs of spouting today. One teeny-tiny sprout popped through the soil this afternoon. He was so proud!! If you look really hard in his pot, you'll be able to see the tiny green dot right in the center.

Mike went into work today and had a great day. It's open enrollment for his benefits this week, so we got all the info on that and will be filling that out tonight. Amazing how that all worked out. We hadn't really even planned that part of it out. My benefits with the county will run out at the end of this month and the changes from adding the family to Mike's benefits during this annual open enrolment period will begin March 1st. So there will not be a lapse in our coverage.

Niko did an awesome job reading to us tonight. It has been a chore to get him to pick up a book. The love of reading and writing does not come naturally to him as it does to Bethany. He just started reading a Magic Treehouse book-Sunset of the Sabertooth...

Other than that, just a typical Tuesday. Mike's playing Frisbee tonight with the Ultimate Frisbee League he's on.

Spring has Sprung

President's Day--
After a morning of writing a schedule, clearing our bathtub drain, Mike taking the older two to the gym with him, and watching Cheaper By The Dozen, we went on a beautiful hike up on the Superstition Mountains today.

Spring has sprung here in the Sonoran Dessert!! Everything was so very green and there were all sorts of flowers everywhere. It was so very gorgeous. Click on the slide show link on the side to see more photos from our hike.

We BBQ'd when we got home and made our soup of the week. Then baths, read, and bed for the kids. Oh, and I gave Mike his much needed hair cut...Now Mike and I are checking out the new Knight Rider show-hmmm...There's something magical in the original, I guess.

Mike had a Phoenix CR shift at the fire station last night. It was from 5 pm to 1:00 am (although he got off just after 2:30 am due to a late call) It was out of a station in a bad part of town, so he was excited to get several calls and not a lot of down time.

Before he left yesterday, we were able to get to the gym and get a good workout in. It was fun to be back working out together again. Can't wait to set some goals and work towards them together. It's amazing what a difference a few several weeks can make in not consistently working out and being active. At work, we walked everywhere downtown, making runs to the various courts and offices and all over up and down and through the buildings, lifting boxes, moving things and doing all sorts of manual labor, but it doesn't substitute for intentional training. So...we're excited to be back in the swing of things as a team

Today we went to church this morning and Bethany and I did our first rotation of ushering. It went well. The we pretty much hung out, cleaned the house...

Rain, Hair, and Underdog

Today it rained, rained, and rained some more...Then it got cold...

Mike went into work. He had quite a day with meetings and whatnot...The kids had a good day at school. And while Matthew was at Pre-School this morning I went and got my hair chopped off. Did my every other year donation to Locks Of Love.

Mike and the kids watched Underdog tonight. It was a cute movie. Makes you want to go get a beagle.

Valentine's Day

Today was the first day home with mommy and it also happened to be Valentine's Day. It was odd not only for me to be home, but more so that Mike was home. The past few years he has worked his ambulance shifts on Valentine's day. And although we had been very flexible in working around his whacky schedule, it was nice to have him home and be festive on THE day.

Niko was right on it as soon as he hopped out of bed this morning, wishing everybody a happy valentines and giving hugs.

We got the older two off to school and then made pancakes and the spread for breakfast. Mike was sweet enough to say to Matthew, "See, this is what it's like now that mommy is here..."Yeah, right-hehe...After making a huge fancy dinner tonight, he said the same thing. Now they're going to expect all this everyday-lol...

But early in the afternoon Bethany had a poetry reading in her class that she read a great poem that she had written. That was fun to be able to see and hear. She did a fantastic job.

When we all got home, like I mentioned, we got started making our special dinner- setting the table, preparing the food, signing cards, wrapping gifts...Fun times.

It has been a great day!

Valentine Photos

The three love bugs on Valentine's morning

Niko proudly showing off the box we made for all the notes he got.

Bethany at her desk after her poetry reading and during her party

Last Day

What a crazy day today was. It was agonizing, but made it through.

My co-workers threw me a surprise pizza luncheon. I was truly shocked. They are all so sweet.

One of the Sudanese refugees that I have been working with and is such a nice guy, had been asking me-with his broken English- where I was going, if I was going out of state or what...I tried to explain that I was just staying home and I thought he understood, but as he was leaving at the end of the day, he told me to have a nice vacation. I felt bad that he didn't quite understand what was going on.

Anyhow, I made it through the last day and now it's on with our life and looking forward to being with the kiddos...

Catch Up

Well, we're 0 minus 3 days and counting...Wednesday is the last day of work outside of the home for me. It will take a bit to get refocused and adjusted to be back at home. I think i was away just long enough to get used to it...But anyhow...

I missed posting about the snow flurries we had in downtown Phoenix last week. They lasted jsut long enough for everyone to run over to the 5th story windows of our building and see the flurries blowing around...The same storm dusted the Superstition mountains, leaving them a beautiful sight to look at momentarily...

Alas, the weather has turned and we had a beautiful weekend with temps in the upper 70's.

The kids have been rotating a bug around them though. Niko had a fever and was feeling blah on Friday and stayed home from school and took it easy on Saturday. And Bethany's fever got going yesterday and she stayed home from school today to take it easy and get over this thing. We'll see what Matthew decides to do...

We still were able to rotate playing out in the park and doing some work around the house this weekend though. It was very relaxing and enjoyable...

Gearing up for a week full of more adjustments (can you sense the excitement bleeding through those words?)

Tomorrow is Picture Day at school.

Wednesday is not only my last day, but also Mike's first day of working at the YMCA. He is going to be working there one night a week in the fitness room and a fitness counselor/trainer. We are very excited about this opportunity for him. It really fits in with his goals, both professional and physical and family goals as well, being that it will only be one night a week...

That is one thing our family is looking forward to getting back involved with is using our Y membership again and getting more active as a family again

And of coarse, we're gearing up for Valentine's day on Thursday.

Quote Of The Day

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Also, our header has been updated as well...