Not Just Another Pair of Hands

Murder on Mead Pl at the Deadwood Saloon

2010-01-15T09:53:00.000-08:00

We have the best neighbors ever!! To celebrate Corey's birthday Stephanie and Corey planned this awesome murder mystery dinner party. We were all given characters and a general description of our character and how to dress. Can I just say WOW!! Everyone did such a wonderful job of dressing up and acting the part. It was soooo much fun!

Twas the night before Christmas...and the next day.

2010-01-15T09:30:00.000-08:00

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hope that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

We broke down and let the kids open a gift on Christmas Eve Night....Wow, PJ's, perfect!

This year on the menu for Santa was Spritz cookies, Heath Bit cookies, an Oreo Ball and Coke. The reindeer got carrots.

Wow Santa, you out did yourself this year.

Bike

Laptop

Where did you find the Zhu Zhu's??

It was time to take a break and have breakfast. (My blog would not be complete without some sort of food) Quiche, cinnamon rolls and baked bacon.

A big box to share.

Cami finally got her long desired sleeping mask.

A Vizsla calendar.

Bakugon

We stayed in our jammies all day and hung out together, playing with our stuff and watching movies. It was nice to just chill. But then our tummies started grumbling and it was time to start dinner. Popovers are one of my favorites.

Brian's specialty: Brown sugar, ginger crusted ham.

Gingerbread

2010-01-15T09:24:00.000-08:00

The kids had so much fun decorating our gingerbread house. We cheated and got the pre baked gingerbread this year but it still tuned out pretty cute.

Making Memories

2010-01-15T08:33:00.000-08:00

This year I wanted to plan something special for the family that we would remember for a long time. I interpreted in a class at MCC for a teacher that is an actor at the Hale Theater in Gilbert. I had never been to that theater before but had heard wonderful things about it. I got tickets for our family and crossed my fingers that the show would be good and my children would be better.

We got there for the matinee show and was pleasantly surprised at how the theater was decorated for Christmas. The theater really is a beautiful little gem in downtown Gilbert.

Aren't my girls beautiful? Calvin was having a moment and wouldn't pose for a pic by the tree with the girls.

An old fashioned sled full of gifts.

Inside the theater looking up at Scrooge's bed chamber.

Hale theater is a theater in the round. Even though the stage is literally in the center of the room, the actors enter and exit seamlessly. They even come up into the audience for some scenes. It was very fun to be so close up and personally involved with the show.

The actors were singing carols for us when we came out of the theater. Their costumes were amazing.

The Gilbert water tower is now the center piece of a little historic park. Gilbert was planning to tear it down until the residents let them know that this is an important piece of Gilbert history. I'm glad they kept it.

After dinner, we walked across the street to Joe's Real BBQ. Yum

After dinner and the show we drove to the Mesa Temple to look at their Christmas lights. We also made a quick stop at the neighborhood "train yard" to see the model trains that are set up in an entire back yard.

The show was so much better than I ever expected. My kids were wonderfully behaved. Thanks for the memories.

Christmas Project

2010-01-15T08:29:00.000-08:00

I don't do a project every year but I couldn't resist after seeing these on Etsy. I ordered the boxes and used scrapbook paper and embellishments to make this countdown to Christmas calendar. Each box is a little drawer that can be filled with little candies, ornaments or slips of paper with stories, memories, things to be thankful for, jokes... They took a lot longer to make than I thought, but turned out sooo cute.

Thanskgiving '09

2010-01-15T08:16:00.000-08:00

I like having people over to my house. I like to cook and entertain. I also like to use a theme when entertaining. The theme for this Thanksgiving was 'cornucopia'. The flower arrangement used one.

I made individual ones for each place setting. It's not hard to bend a sugar cone, you just need a little magic.

I opted out of the formal china for the cleaner look of our every day white.

The kids table was pretty cute with their turkey place settings.

My home made braided Challah. mmmmm Unfortunately I got too busy and stopped taking pictures so I don't have any pictures of the rest of the food or our guests. Sorry

U2

2010-01-15T08:13:00.000-08:00

I love U2. I have seen them in concert many times. Their shows are always good. Unfortunately we missed The Black Eyed Peas due to a horrendous amount of traffic but we did hear them from the parking lot. Pretty good pics for my phone!

Bountiful Baskets

2010-01-15T08:09:00.000-08:00

In an attempt to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables, we started using Bountiful Baskets Food Co-op. You place your order on Tuesday or Wednesday and pick it up on Saturday morning. It costs $15 for a conventional basket and the basket is full of different fruits and veggies each week. There is so much food in a basket that we only order every other week. The kids love waking up on Saturday morning and coming out to a counter FULL of food. Pretty cool.

Cami Turns 7. What?!

2010-01-15T07:49:00.000-08:00

For Cami's 7th birthday party we decided on a pinwheel theme. We made the invitations ourselves and she hand delivered them to her friends.

One of Cami's birthday wishes was to have breakfast in bed.

Another wish was for a shiny new bike.

We reserved a ramada at Tumbleweed park and started setting up for the party. We had food from Jersey Mikes, a popcorn machine and pinwheels hanging from the ceiling.

Cami picked out her pinata from the pinata store in down town Chandler.

The pinwheel cake (made by mom).

And matching cupcakes.

As if the park wasn't enough entertainment, we got a bounce/slide combo.

There were lots of friends.

She had fun!

Tooth Fairy Patrol

2010-01-15T07:48:00.001-08:00

Halloween 2009

2010-01-15T07:36:00.000-08:00

We host a halloween party every year. This year we had a lot of fun.

Beware all who enter here...

We have eyeball cupcakes...

and pumpkin bread bowls to put your chili in.

We have spooky decorations (pumpkin brain eating rats)

and characters of all sorts to come knocking on your doors.

Eeeeekk!! Cruella.

Halloween Props

2009-10-22T17:25:00.000-07:00

For those of you who didn't know...I LOVE Halloween!! I add a little "this and that" every year.

This year I expanded on the idea of candy buffet. We have rubber snakes, eyeballs in for form of balls, suckers and gum, mints, smarties, candy corn, pixie stix, and skulls. We will make goodie bags for all the kids that come to our Halloween party (if I can keep my family away from the goodies)

I also saw some cute pumpkins on the cover of a magazine and thought "I can do that!" At first it seemed my project was a failure, then I added some bows and got these neat candle sticks at a garage sale and wha la, success. They turned out pretty damn cute if I do say so myself. :)

We've been Boo'd

2009-10-22T17:19:00.000-07:00

It is a tradition in our neighborhood to "Boo" each other. When you get boo'd then you pass it on to other neighbors, it's fun. We made cute little Hershey chocolate vampires to go in with the bag of eyeballs. Once you have been Boo'd then you put the little ghost on your door so that you won't get boo'd again. I love our neighborhood!

Gregory Monster Mash!

2009-10-18T14:33:00.001-07:00

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The Wedding

2009-10-11T21:49:00.001-07:00

Angie and Nico got married on October 10, 2009 at the Jacob Smith House in Lacey, WA. It was so much fun to help her get some last minute things ready for the big day. Angie and Nico did an amazing job of putting the wedding together. I know it was a lot of work but well worth the effort. The ceremony was wonderful and we wish them a long and happy life together.

Angie's bouquet. I love the curly fern things. (I have no idea what they are called)

Here comes the bride. All ready to go down the isle. Places everyone, places!!

Bryan, Nico and James

Some serious (and not so serious) words on zombies.

Exchanging the rings.

Nancy & Erika

It is truly fall here in the Pacific Northwest. We decorated the house with pumpkins and fall leaves.

The dessert table. Beautiful if I do say so myself.

A Day of the Dead bride and groom adorned the top of the cheesecake.

The red velvet and pumpkin spice cupcakes looked beautiful. But not too beautiful to eat.

The apple cider donuts were wonderful too.

Bev and Rosie did a fantastic job with the flowers and cream cheese mints. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the tables when they were dressed or of those little darn mints. We only had one useable mint mold. Rosie scooped and Bev molded. It took a long time and I think there were even a few swear words. he But they got the job done.

I thought of the idea to use pumpkins with flowers as the centerpieces. They turned out better than I imaged.

One of the beautiful corsages.

Their unity candle. The white stay lit to symbolize their individuality. The center is lit to represent their marriage.

As party favors, the bride and groom brewed and bottled their own pumpkin ale. Erika made the label for them. What a fantastic idea! Very delish too.

Instead of a guest book they had us sign the mat in this picture frame. Matted is their marriage logo. I love the black bird coming out of the jack-o-lantern. Why didn't I get a picture of the black bird guarding the card basket?

Missy(in her cool new houndstooth jacket), Angie and Beth

The kids having great fun!

Pre-Wedding Festivities

2009-10-09T23:32:00.000-07:00

Beth and I wanted to host the rehearsal picnic for Angie and Nico's wedding. It was a beautiful day again here in Olympia. The food was great and the company was even better. It was really nice to get together with friends and family and just celebrate Angie and Nico.

Love to see the leaves changing. It's fall in Olympia.

Getting the details ironed out for the wedding.

Wedding Cupcakes

2009-10-09T23:21:00.000-07:00

Preparing for the big day!

Angie's making pumpkin spice cupcakes.

Beth is taking a break from the hard work.

The red velvet cakes are looking good.

The finished products. Pumpkin Spice with Cream Cheese Frosting & Red Velvet with Butter Cream Frosting. Mmmmm...Hands off !! (Until the wedding)

Great Wolf

2009-10-09T23:15:00.000-07:00

We really had a fun time at the Great Wolf Lodge. It is an indoor water park with a wave pool, play area and water slides. There is also an arcade and they have this magic wizard program. The kids loved playing with their cousins, Ailie & Ian. It is so much fun to watch them interact. Unfortunately, Calvin started feeling bad at the Space Needle and didn't feel much better at the water park, so he slept most of the time. :(

Seattle's Space Needle

2009-10-09T23:08:00.000-07:00

I have to admit that I was not looking forward to going up in the Space Needle. I hadn't heard very good things about it and it seemed like an expensive elevator ride to me. I was very wrong. We happen to be up in Washington on a beautiful week. Very sunny and clear all week long makes for an amazing view from the Space Needle. Add to that, we went near the end of the day and were able to watch the sun start to set. It was very fun and I would highly recommend it if you can make it on a clear, sunny day.

October 1st, We Walked to School

2009-10-01T08:15:00.000-07:00

My husband always tells me that it cools off here in the Sonoran Desert on October 1st... Well, it has been cooling off a little more at night and last night was no exception. We woke up this morning and were able to have our doors open. The house "cooled down" to 74 degrees. It was nice out but I am still sticking to my philosophy that it doesn't really cool off in AZ until Halloween.

I had planned to walk the kids to school today since it is now pleasant to be outside in the mornings. They were soooo excited. We left with plenty of time not knowing how long it would actually take. As we got closer to the school we ran into other kids walking to school that the kids knew. They ran up ahead to chitty chat with their friends and left me in the dust. I felt a little sad that my babies are growing up, but I also felt proud of them for moving forward and not looking back. Our goal after all is to make our kids independent and self sufficient, right?

Walking my kids to school brought back memories of myself and my sister Beth walking to school as a child in MN. We really did actually walk in the rain and snow. I have great memories of walking to school and I hope that my kids will have fun memories of walking to school too.

Cuteness

2009-09-29T14:42:00.001-07:00

I love getting great service. Who doesn't? I also love shopping on-line which is why Etsy is so great! I usually try to shop from local people and then arrange for a "pick up". This allows me relative instant gratification and saves on shipping. My sister Angie is getting married soon and I wanted the girls to have a little cuteness for their hair. I looked around on Etsy and found these cute hair bands with attached flowers. The flowers are on clips so you can wear the flowers without the band. yay I found them yesterday and met Mia today, hence the instant gratification. You should check out what she has to offer. She has some CUTE stuff. Look at: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7112428 or go into etsy.com and look up Dolce Vita Mia.

My stuff arrived in a cute bag too.

I will post pics of the girls after the wedding to show you how they look.

2009-09-07T18:30:00.000-07:00

The weather finally allowed us to go horse back riding. It was a beautiful morning. Perfect for a ride.

Cassi had Star. The beautiful mommy of the colt below.

Cami and Calvin rode Odie.

The Great Mountain Lobster Boil

2009-09-06T16:46:00.000-07:00

Some friends of ours were having a Lobster Bake party, but we already had plans to go up to Show Low for the long weekend. So, we decided to try one on our own. I researched on line and couldn't decide between steaming or boiling. We ordered all the seafood from the seafood restaurant on Baseline in Gilbert. The owner convinced me that boiling was tasty and easy, so a "Lobster Boil" it was.

Sara had everything ready for our picnic.

Sara the scallop chef

Brian and Brad in charge of the boiling pot. Here they are adding the potatoes.

Missy and one of the live lobsters. It needs a quick shower before it's final baptism.

The little 1 lb lobsters are called "chickens"

Going in the pot.

Coming out of the pot. mmmm

Muscles

Wow!! Doesn't that look great? Our boiled lobsters, corn on the cob, red potatoes and shrimp.

I have to say it was pretty easy, delicious, and soooo much FUN!

What Happends in Vegas...

2009-09-06T16:14:00.001-07:00

We were invited to go on a couples weekend to Las Vegas. There were about 14 couples that went. It was a really fun weekend.

Chris, Deb & Missy on the way to LV

The limo we didn't take. ha

The aquarium behind the check in desk.

Our Room

Beer, Deb, Missy and the Miami Vice (best drink ever!)

Tom, Lorenzo & Deb chill in the pool.

Karen and Lissette

Mike & Dani

Grrrrrrr

Dinner at the Mesa Grill

and a show.

Camping on the Rim

2009-09-06T15:55:00.001-07:00

We went camping with a huge group of people up at Canyon Point campground. It was so fun and the weather was great. We had first time campers as well as seasoned campers. I think everyone had fun. I know all the kids had a blast!!

Our Camper

Calvin watches the camp fire.

The McCord group cooks breakfast.

The happy Nipar's.

Lorenzo oversees their cooking session.

Marshmallows for breakfast.

Logan and Mocha.

The Kerney boys.

RID Philladelphia

2009-09-06T15:20:00.000-07:00

This year the RID National Conference was held in Philly. I had never been there before. It was a pretty cool place. All the workshops were great too. It was fun to go and hang out with friends. To me going to National means going and seeing a new place and hanging with AZ friends that I never get to see.

Cassi & Missy on the double decker bus tour.

Naked Chocolate speaks for itself. Decadent. That is a chocolate covered chocolate cupcake and a cold hot chocolate. mmmmm

I fell in love with the Reading Railroad Terminal Market. In general I love all farmer's markets. I wish we had a decent one in AZ.

My daughter Cassi would have loved this selection of pickles.

Amish donuts. I brought some of these donuts and some Amish made butter home to Az.

Duck

Cassi, Michelle and I went to the Phillies game.

Elfreth's Alley. The longest continuously inhabited neighborhood in the US. Very European.

The gate to China Town.

The Liberty Bell

Betsy Ross's House.

Betsy Ross working on a flag. Mary told her she needed more practice. ha!

First Day of School '09

2009-09-06T15:10:00.000-07:00

Cassi, Calvin & Cami

Erica & Cassi

Summer Vacation in Southern California

2009-09-06T10:03:00.000-07:00

This year for our summer vacation we decided to spend some time in California. We went to SanDiego first to stay with our good friends, George, Julann, Skylar and Aidan. We went to the beach, Scripps Aquarium and basically hung out and relaxed. The weather was beautiful and it was a fun time.

Julann and I with our giant Margaritas

Fun in the sun at the beach.

Scripps

The line at Hodad's. If you haven't been there, you gotta go! They have the BEST hamburgers in town. Totally worth the wait. Ocean Beach.

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After saying good bye to San Diego we drove up to LA and Knott's Berry Farm. Who knew that there was so much history there and that it actually started out as a little berry farm? Not me.... So, we went into Knott's Berry Farm amusement park to ride the rides. It was pretty fun, especially when all the school kids left for the day. Knott's Berry farm is also known for it's Fried Chicken Restaurant. It was really good.

Snoopy at Camp Snoopy, Knott's Berry Farm.

Daddy and Cassi on the Pony Express. What a fun ride. We even got Calvin to try it. You sit on an actual horse and go really fast!

Horse

Rooster

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Then we went to Soak City at Knott's Berry Farm for the day. It was really nice to hang out together as a family at the water park. I had gotten really really sun burned down in San Diego so we rented a cabana for the day. It was money well spent. We had a place to keep all our stuff, our own table and chairs and lounge chairs under the shade of the tent. Our cabana boy was really nice too bringing us yummy food and drinks.

Cami just loved this tree and wanted me to take a picture of it.

Waiting for the waves to come.

Where's Calvin?

Cassi was brave and went down this slide a couple times.

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On Friday we took the day off to rest and relax. We hit Down Town Disney and then went over to Santa Monica to meet with Jill, Paul, Brooke and Audrey at Paul's parents house.

We went down to the Santa Monica Pier with the LaRosk family.

The LaRosk's we so nice to get a birthday cake for Brian.

They hosted us for a delicious BBQ dinner.

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The next day we were off to Disneyland for the day. This year you get in free on your birthday, so we went on Brian's birthday. We were thinking that it would be packed on a summer weekend day and we warned the kids that we may not be able to ride many rides. Boy were we wrong. We went on 32 rides that day. We were first in line when the park opened at 8am and stayed 'til 1pm. Then we went back to the hotel to swim and rest. About 6pm we went back to the hotel so we could watch the parade and fireworks. We closed the park down at midnight and then got ice cream on Main Street since they are open for another hour. Very fun!

Aren't these caramel apples too cute?

On the Teacups

Toone Town

It's a Small World

Flowers, flowers everywhere.

One of my favorites, The Haunted Mansion.

Tinkerbell

We had a great time.

Quick Summer Review

2009-09-06T07:26:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that I didn't blog at all this summer. The summer flew by!! I better put up a few pics of what happened. So Here we go. Our summer at a glance.

Swim team was fun because we love getting ribbons.

Cami got first place.

The newest members of our family. Jack and Annie are red eared water turtles. They are about the size of a quarter. They are very cute and easy to care for.

Angie came to visit for a week.

Cassi went to Girl Scout camp up near Prescott.

Beth, Ailie and Ian came for a visit.

Cami and Ian having fun at Macutu's Island.

Cassi, Cami, Calvin and Brady.

Ailie and Cassi at McDonald's (why is this pic so blurry?)

Beth relaxing by our pool.

Logan had his 7th birthday at Build a Bear. So I made this cute bear cake for him.

Happy birthday Logan!

Calvin had a pool/water slide party.

Happy birthday Calvin!

On a very sad note, we had to say goodbye to our dog Penny after discovering she had lymphoma. We kept her as comfortable as we could and decided to put her down before she experienced too much pain. She was 14. We miss you Penny.

Happy 4th of July.

Red Velvet Cupcakes. mmmm

Pool party at the Bonfigt's.

They had carnival games and prizes for all the kids.

Fireworks at the Nipars.

Swim Team

2009-06-15T08:29:00.000-07:00

Swim team has started for the summer. We are at the pool most every day practicing and learning new strokes. Our first swim meet was a lot of fun and everyone liked getting ribbons.

Build a Bear

2009-06-15T08:11:00.000-07:00

Cami's Daisy troop decided to go to Build a Bear for their end of the year party. They really did a good job keeping the kids entertained and the all got to pick their own color bear and make them with love.

Cassi Donates Her Hair.

2009-06-15T08:02:00.000-07:00

Before

Getting ready to cut.

The deed is done!

All styled up. How beautiful!

At first she wasn't sure what to think of short hair, now she loves it.

Bridging Up

2009-06-15T07:52:00.000-07:00

Cassi and her troop are now officially Junior Girl Scouts. They had their bridging ceremony at the beautiful Ocotillo Golf Course where they were able to walk over an actual bridge to bridge from Brownies to Juniors. The girls had a great time.

Eddie Izzard - Cake or Death?

2009-06-14T18:35:00.000-07:00

Things I love...Cake or Death. I love Eddie Izzard. Hilarity at it's best.

The Bangs are Back!! (praise the lord)

2009-05-26T08:17:00.000-07:00

As you may or may not be aware, much to my chagrin, Cami was trying to grow out her bangs. She came to me this morning and said she couldn't stand it anymore and didn't like the hair in her eyes. (angels sing 'hallelujah'!) So I ran, yes RAN to get my scissors. Now we can see that cute little face again.

Question for the Tooth Fairy

2009-05-26T08:07:00.000-07:00

"Dear Tooth Fairy,

I lost my tooth and think it is in my stomach. Will you still give me a dollar for my tooth?

Love, Calvin"

"Dear Calvin,

My tooth alarm went off in the middle of the night last night to let me know that you lost a tooth. I do believe that you swallowed it. Thank you for the note explaining what happened. I ham happy to pay you a dollar for your tooth. Don't feel bad. A lot of kids swallow their teeth.

Keep brushing your beautiful teeth.

Love, The Tooth Fairy"

That's what happens when you don't take up your mom's offer to remove (not pull) the very loose tooth from your mouth.

Keurig Coffee Heaven

2009-05-23T09:17:00.000-07:00

A couple people I know have these awesome little coffee machines. We are pretty much weekend coffee warriors. We don't have the time to make the coffee during the week and when we do make coffee on the weekend, we don't even go through a whole pot. So I decided to get one of these single cup brewers which I think will be perfect for us.

The machine came with lots of different coffees, tea and hot chocolate to sample. It can also just brew hot water for soup or noodles. Yum

"Meat Pie"

2009-05-23T09:09:00.000-07:00

No words needed. A picture is worth it all.

Meaty, cheesy, goodness.

Queen for a day

2009-05-12T10:50:00.000-07:00

The kids had a Mother's Day tea at school for all the Moms. It was fun. They made us crowns. Calvin said we could "command" them when we are wearing our crowns. Hmmm...I may not take mine off.

OUCH!!!

2009-05-12T10:43:00.000-07:00

As all kids will do, Cami hurt her finger. This isn't a very good picture but her little ring finger was smashed while playing with pool table balls. At first it was flat as a pancake, then it swelled up like a grape. It sure did hurt.

What would we do without Teachers?

2009-05-12T10:39:00.000-07:00

Teacher appreciation. The kids are sooo happy and proud to bring gifts to their teachers for teacher appreciation week. Thanks to Deb for the inspiration.

Camping and more Camping!

2009-05-12T10:11:00.000-07:00

For our first camping trip this year we went to Canyon Lake with the Nipar's. It was our first time there and the weather was great if you don't count the wind. We borrowed the Debruin's kayak and took turns giving the kids a ride in it. The kids had a great time hunting for "fire wood" aka sticks. They also enjoyed throwing rocks in the water for hours on end.

Logan enjoys his hotdog right off the stick.

Smile for the hotdog...I mean camera.

Beach combers and a dead body washed up on shore. Nope, it's Erica sunbathing. ha

The girls swim in from taking a ride with Deb.

Chris trying out the kayak.

Just a couple weekends later we were invited to join three other families to go camping in Oak Creek Canyon just north of Sedona. This was a beautiful spot to go camping. The kids loved the creek even if it was freezing. They also really enjoyed digging in the dirt. Can you imagine the dirtiness?

Here's Lyle, the mighty camping planner.

It was great to cook over the fire.

Penny LOVES to camp.

Checking out the creek.

Overlooking the canyon.

The beautiful view from our camper.

Brian chillin'

Our cute little camper.

Easter Fun

2009-05-12T09:49:00.000-07:00

The Nipar's came over for our annual easter egg coloring. We made tons of eggs for them to color. It was a lot of fun.

The kids showing off their favorite eggs.

Bekki gave me the idea to make nests but I only had white bark to use. It worked out and actually it looks like they are sitting in their shells. I used peeps here but also used those cute little Bakerella cake chicks too but think I accidentally deleted the pics. (Note to anyone trying to make these at home...put parchment down under the balloons for the nests/eggs to harden on. They WILL NOT come off of a plate or baking sheet.)

The Easter Bunny came!

Getting ready to munch on the chocolate duck and chocolate cow.

Painted Ladies

2009-05-12T09:29:00.000-07:00

This spring we bought a butterfly habitat. We ordered our larvae and waited. We were pleasantly surprised when we checked the mail and there were 5 caterpillars waiting for us.

They were so tiny and cute. The brown stuff in the bottom of the jar is all the food they will need until they are fully developed butterflies.

Our caterpillars ate and ate and grew and grew. It took about a week and a half for them to get this big. One cool thing that we learned is that caterpillars can make webs similar to spiders.

Just before they turn into chrysalises they attach themselves upsidedown and hang in a "j" shape.

Within 24 hours they shed their skin and underneath is the beautiful, shiny, chrysalis.

Then you take the paper that they are hanging on an put it into their habitat so that when they hatch they are already in their home. If you move them at all they shake around. They do this to protect themselves from prey.

After waiting another 4 to 5 days, the butterflies emerge. Their wings are crumpled at first but spread out within minutes. The butterfly comes out of its chrysalis in under one minute. They need sugar to survive and love oranges.

We decided that our butterflies should be free. So the kids got to hold them for a second before they flew away. This was an amazing thing to watch and we will definitely order more painted lady caterpillars next year!

In Bloom

2009-05-12T09:25:00.000-07:00

After several years of thinking I was going to loose my hibiscus we are having a great year. The plant is so full of blooms and is just beautiful.

Spring Break in AZ

2009-03-18T18:36:00.000-07:00

Spring break goes by so quickly. We have been keeping busy with a trip to the park, swimming in the heated water of the public pool, swimming in the freezing water of our back yard pool, going to the Children's Museum and the week's not over yet.

Brian didn't have to be in to work until afternoon today so we decided to take the kids hiking. We went over to South Mountain. What a beautiful day!

There were lots of little wild flowers and many of the cacti were flowering too.

Crystal clear blue sky.

Then Brian took us to Jason's Deli for lunch. If you haven't tried this place, you really should. The food is amazing and you get free ice cream!!

On Sunday we took the kids to the Ostrich Festival. This was the first time in 20 years that I partook in the horrendous event to "honor" this large two legged bird. Where else can you get your picture taken as an ostrich, watch jockeys ride ostriches in races and get an ostrich burger in the same place?? The kids did have fun. I got my fill of white trash carnival events for the year.

Who Hair Day

2009-03-04T20:23:00.000-08:00

All the Who's down at Santan were to dress in their best and put their hair to the test. In celebration of Dr. Seuss' birthday the kids were supposed to wear their hair in a "Who" style.

Cami Who

Cassi Who

Another Year Older

2009-03-01T22:45:00.001-08:00

For Cassi's 9th birthday she wanted to have her party at a rock wall gym. She is so strong and a super natural climber. It was a lot of fun to see all the girls climb up those walls like spiderman. It was even better to see the expression on their mom's faces when they came to pick up their kids and they were 40 feet up on a rock wall!

Cassi had many things on her wish list for her birthday. The most amazing and heart touching was that she wanted all her friends and family together. So we invited all our friends and family to come to our house for a BBQ. The party had to be postponed for a day due to her little brother getting strep throat, but everyone was here today to help her celebrate. For her birthday this year, mom made a 9 layer cake...yum!

The Cake

That's one big cake with sparkler candles.

9 layers of bliss.

Star Student

2009-02-18T15:46:00.000-08:00

Calvin was star student this week in his classroom. This means that he gets to do lots of fun activities and bring some of his toys to share. He got to bring home the class pet, "Trumpet". He loves this little elephant. We get to write in the class journal to say what we did with Trumpet all week long. Trumpet enjoyed going out to breakfast, watching Calvin play his DS and going to IKEA. Fun.

GO CARDINALS!!

2009-02-01T09:44:00.001-08:00

She just "did it"

2009-01-28T15:28:00.000-08:00

I don't know how. She's talented that way. She just got on the bike with no training wheels and off she went. She didn't fall down, she didn't falter, she just flew! Way to go Cami!

Orange

2009-01-28T15:22:00.000-08:00

I LOVE orange season. I love that we have an orange tree in our very own back yard that we can go and pick and eat whenever we feel like it. I love fresh squeezed orange juice on the weekend.

Let the squeezing begin.

Fresh squeezed "Pom-Orange Juice" Yum.

Back to Normal

2009-01-28T14:58:00.000-08:00

Hi there. It's good to be back to normal. By that I mean back to school and back to work. It is taking me longer and longer to adjust into my semester the older I get. I did have enough energy to make this delicious home made mac n cheese the other night.

We did have a wonderful break. We went and saw the Garcia's in San Diego, then up to Disneyland for a Magical Christmas, then home for Christmas, then up to Showlow to play in the snow. It was a fun time. Below are the pics to prove it. :)

Cassi and Starfish @ Seaworld

Up close and personal with a dolphin

Disneyland

The Castle

Tink

My standing crown rib roast for christmas dinner.

Missy & Cameo's Certification Party

2008-12-07T13:40:00.001-08:00

Certified or Certifiable?

My good friend Cameo and I wanted to celebrate with all our friends. What were we celebrating? That we finally passed our RID NIC test of course. Yippee. We invited all our friends to Majerle's Sports Bar & Grill in Chandler. We had about 25 peeps show and it was a lot of fun. Our friend Mary made these awesome RID NIC crowns for us. Thanks Mary!

Let Us Give Thanks!

2008-11-28T06:35:00.000-08:00

This year for Thanksgiving, we were invited over to Brent and Cheryl's. Kendra and Kara and Cheryl's brother Duane were there too. We had a wonderful time and it was really so nice to just get up and hang out until it was time to goto their house.

Even though we were going somewhere else for Thanksgiving, we couldn't resist making a deep fried turkey.

You must be very careful when lowering the turkey into the hot oil. It is a slow process to get it in there. It is also very important that the turkey is completely thawed and that there is no water going into the oil.

About 40 minutes later you get a golden brown, delicious, beautiful turkey. We did two turkeys. One for us and one for our neighbors. It helps to split the cost of the oil too.

Cassi and I made this chocolate chip pecan tart. It was a big hit and there wasn't any left over.

Calvin and I made the cherry pie. He was a really good helper and liked rolling and cutting the crust.

We also had a pumpkin roll which is pumpkin cake and cream cheese frosting. Brian thought that this was the best.

It worked out great! Everyone got something that they liked and it gave me a chance to cook at a leisurely pace and involve the kids.

Cheryl tried a lot of new recipes this year. These cranberry fruit cups were great! We also had southwest corn, peas with bacon and almonds, mashed potatoes with gravy and of course Kendra's green bean casserole.

After we got home a storm rolled in. We got pea sized hail that all washed out the drain pipe and collected on the grass.

Thanksgiving was really fun this year and we are very grateful for our family and friends.

Sisters in Seattle

2008-11-26T21:21:00.000-08:00

Seattle, Here we come!

Angie, Missy & Beth at Chateau Ste Michelle

Beth, Angie and I decided to meet up in Seattle for a girls weekend. We had a wonderful time exploring Seattle. We stayed at the very trendy W Hotel and had a beautiful view from the 21st floor. Shopping was just a few minutes by foot away.

Of course my favorite part of the trip was Pikes Market.

Colorful, Fresh Fruits and Veggis

Beautiful pepper garlands.

What are these???

The colors of all the fruits and vegetables were amazing. I could have stood there for hours just looking at everything. There were things that I had never seen before and even rainbow carrots. They were even throwing fish just like you see on TV. Imagine living near a place where you can get fresh cheese, bread, fish, fruit and vegetables. That would be awesome.

We paid homage to the very first Starbucks.

We ate terrific food like this clam chowder...

And this potato and rosemary pizza...

And this wonderful breakfast at Elli's.

We watched cheese being made at Beecher's. I love the big cheese shovels.

We also were lucky enough to be able to go with Angie to try on wedding dresses. Sorry no pictures of the bride to be in her dress here. You will have to wait for the big day to see her in it, but I must say she was stunning.

After dress shopping we went out to the Chateau Ste Michelle vineyard. It was really neat to see how the wine is aged and bottled and even better to have a free wine tasting. I even managed to bring home three bottles in my suit case. ha

Of course the weekend went by too fast. We had a lot of fun connecting with each other and connecting with the city. I guess its a good thing that we left wanting more.

RID - NIC

2008-11-18T19:17:00.000-08:00

Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf - National Interpreter Certification.

I PASSED!! Yay.

Cami's Birthday Weekend

2008-11-16T08:13:00.001-08:00

To celebrate Cami's birthday, we decided to have a birthday extravaganza weekend! On Saturday we invited friends and family over for a BBQ. It was a little tense for a while as we couldn't get the smoker much over 200 degrees and optimal smoking is more like 240. We made a beef brisquet and two pork shoulders along with cheezy potatoes, my famous baked beans, a yummy asian slaw (yes, I said yummy) and the best rolls ever from Von Hansens. (I know, I know, too much food. . . What's new?) Everyone came over at around 4:30 and played outside until dinner was ready.

Unfortunately we were a little behind schedule and had to finish the meat off in our gas grill, but I think it was definitely worth the wait.

When I asked Cami what kind of cake she wanted, I thought she would have wanted a popcorn cake or a star wars cake. Cami surprised me with her vision. She simply wanted "a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting with strawberries on sticks." Ok. . . Really?? So here is how it turned out. I got everything right except the strawberries were up side down. hmmm. Better luck next time.

The expression on Cami's face was priceless as we sang happy birthday to her.

On Sunday we are taking Cami and her friends to see Madagascar 2.

Thank you everyone that came and made Cami's birthday special and thank you for all the gifts. We have great family and friends!

2008-11-10T07:30:00.000-08:00

The kids are taking ice skating lessons and can go to open skating for free. So we decided to take them and let them practice what they learned on their first lesson. They had a lot of fun. Calvin met a little girl named Emma, that was making goo goo eyes at him and they held hands going around the ice for a while. WHAT!!!??? Yeah. He's a cutie. She was pretty cute too. They were excited that they were both 5. He was holding my hand before he met this girl, we took a little break and when we went back on the ice he didn't "need" to hold my hand any more. I think he was showing off for his little friend. Brian said I better get used to it. He went all over the rink and didn't fall down too much. Unfortunately those hard plastic rental skates suck! They hurt so bad that I am going to look on craigs to see if I can find a pair for myself.

Garage Sales Rock

2008-11-09T08:25:00.000-08:00

My neighbor, Dani, is a queen garage saler. I went out with her yesterday morning and can completely understand why people fall in love with this hobby. (or is it more of a sport?) There was a neighborhood nearby having a sale and there was TONS of participation. Which means that there was TONS of stuff for us to look at and buy. I got a cute smallish carved wood bear that will be perfect up at Brad & Sara's in Showlow for $10 bucks. I know that they sell for around $60 normally. I got two brand new kids sized camping chairs for $5 for two! I got some guess jeans for Calvin for a dollar. I got a big Williams Sonoma decorating kit for $5. I also got two brand new very darling purses for $5 a piece. It was a lot of fun. Next time I will try to bargain a little more. It is interesting the psychology behind a garage sale. Some people price their stuff as if we were shopping at Nordstrom and some people were literally giving their stuff away. Dani got a silk plant for .25 cents. I can't wait to shop again.

Mmmmmmmmmm. . . mmmm. . . Fleischkeuchle

2008-11-03T07:46:00.001-08:00

I know that I have talked about these before and no one really knows what I am talking about. I thought I would post a picture. The actual fleischkeuchle are on the bottom and the thin strips of dough called the shoe strings are on the top. Perfectly golden fried pockets of love. That's how I describe them. Easy to make? No, not really. Especially without the help of my sister who normally rolls out the dough. The dough was a little wet last night, but that didn't stop us. This is my favorite food in the whole world. Probably also the most fattening food in the whole world too. But a couple times a year. . . very worth it. My husband does a wonderful job with the frying even though he does sneak a little taste of the shoe strings. I have it down to a science now and can whip them out pretty easily. It wasn't always that way. Mostly because my Grandma doesn't really measure anything or use a recipe. I had to do a lot of trial and error. But I have it down very close to hers now. hehe Making these brings back memories of being in my Grandma's kitchen and watching/helping her make them and my Grandpa fry them. If there was a big group of people they would even use two fryers. They would always make some with cheese (velveeta) and some without. We only make them "with". So yummy.

Halloween Cake Pops

2008-11-01T09:38:00.000-07:00

Frank & Mummy

Happy Halloween! We had our annual Halloween party last night. It was really fun. We had a pasta bar with red meat sauce and white alfredo sauce. We also had chicken and meatballs from Von Hansens. After dinner, the kids got ready to go out trick-or-treating. Uncle Brent was brave and took the older girls all over the place. They had to come home to drop off all their candy and were ready to go back out again but Brent was worn out. Daddy took them around to a few more houses. The kids came back and we watched a movie projected on a white sheet that we hung on the garage. We watched Halloween Town and The Haunted Mansion. The popcorn was also very popular. We went through 4 bags of microwave popcorn and and entire batch of carmel corn. none left:( But a lot of happy customers. yay

Each year I make a different halloween cake. This year I have been itching to try the technique of making cake pops that I found on Bakerella. I started with the mummys. They gave me a real hard time. I learned not to make them too big or they will fall off the stick. I also learned that it works better if you freeze them prior to dipping them. Needless to say, it was much easier to make Frank. I also learned that even though the long sticks look cool, the short sticks really work better and are easier to get in the fridge. I opted not to even put a mouth on Frankenstein because he was so cute just as he is. Here are a few of my new friends to wish you "Happy Halloween".

This is Halloween, this is halloween, halloween halloween

2008-10-26T00:32:00.000-07:00

Me as "The Bride of Frankenstein"

This weekend has been busy with Halloween activities. Friday night our neighbors had a family pumpkin carving party. The kids had fun although I was left to finish the pumpkin myself. Good thing I only brought one instead of three like I originally planned. They always have their house decorated to the max!! Lots of candles and everything Halloween you can imagine. They also had their dining room table set up with all kinds of scary treats for the kids to put in their goodie bags. Cami didn't want any eyeballs or skulls. darn

Saturday my friend Deb and I went to an adult costume party. I dressed as The Bride of Frankenstein. This picture doesn't do justice to my amazing makeup. I am going to do a repeat next week on Halloween and will try to get a better picture.

Scary treats to tempt the children.

2008-10-19T09:04:00.000-07:00

Here I am with my reunion committee. Now that I am one week post reunion I am ready to comment on it. Right after the reunion I was exhausted and feeling defeated. Now that a week has passed and I am "recovered" I am feeling much better about the whole thing. It was a lot of work. A LOT of work. But. . .It really was worth it. So many people had fun. They have been posting messages and have been very appreciative. Many of them even want to meet on a regular basis. I need to remember that it is not all about me; it is their reunion too. They don't know what I had envisioned as the "perfect" event, and if the reunion was flawed or not. I am the only one that know what went as planned and what didn't. Friday night's happy hour at Depot Cantina was perfect! The atmosphere was happy and upbeat. Our fellow alumni, Mike Rasmussen played for us and he was GREAT! It really couldn't have gone any better. They had to kick us out!! Saturday, we were really hindered by the gale force winds that forced us from our beautiful outdoor venue to the indoor one that was nice, but not the same. I know that no one would have wanted to be outside eating in the dust and cold, but my visions of mingling during a beautiful sunset were dashed as Deb and I drove out into a wall of swirling dust. We didn't get the band that we were promised. We were promised a band that would play a variety of music. We got a band that played a variety of country music and one Billy Idol song. (It was scarry) Don't get me wrong, the were good, just not what we had expected. The food was great and watching my fellow Buffaloes on the mechanical bull was even better. Sunday couldn't have been more perfect. The weather, being there at the school, the caterer and bounce companies showed up on time, Wallace was there as our surprise guest, touring the school, the kids playing and the adults catching up. I don't have one complaint. So overall, the weekend was a success.

Deb "on" the mechanical bull. :)

Flower Time

2008-10-05T13:16:00.001-07:00

It's finally cool enough to plant some flowers. So we went to Home Depot today and picked some out. Unfortunately they didn't have a lot to choose from. They look pretty good now that they are home and in the pots. I planted Garden Mums, Petunias and Alyssums. They are cute.

Rocky Point

2008-10-05T12:58:00.000-07:00

Our family loves to go down to Mexico. We go down at least once a year but this year I have been lucky enough to make three trips. Our neighbor owns a condo down there so we decided that we should go down and check out his place at the Sonoran Sea. It was BEAUTIFUL!! They have a pool, which is actually three pools, with a swim up bar. Just steps away is the beach. We went with our awesome friends, the Nipar's. The kids had a blast going on the banana boat and on the jet skis. Debbie and I enjoyed snorkeling and looking for fish. It was a little nerve racking to see all the rays but they were just as afraid of us as we were of them. This was one of the most relaxing vacations I have been on in a while.

View of pool from our balcony.

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Getting ready for the banana boat.

Salsa

2008-09-24T15:29:00.000-07:00

Since we picked all those vegetables at the farm this weekend I need to do something with them so that they won't spoil. With mostly tomatoes and peppers, I thought salsa would be the perfect thing to make. The problem is I have never made salsa before. I contacted my pepper expert sister, Angie, and she gave me a basic run down on what to do. After a long three hour day at work I came home all set to make the salsa. Who knew it could be so simple? I'm not sure if I got the taste down exactly the way I want it yet, but it smells pretty good. I will know more once everything has a chance to mingle and cool. This batch made an entire blender full. I will freeze two of these containers and we can scarf one down tonight. Thanks Ang.

Frogs

2008-09-24T15:03:00.000-07:00

Amazing things happen every day if you can just find them. Last night my husband found one. A tiny little frog or toad, no bigger than a quarter, was directly in his path on the way up to our front door. So I went out and caught it. We brought it in the house and the kids got to look at it and beg to keep it. So we learned that wild animals like to be wild and it would be much happier outside than in a cage in our house. Our little friend stayed inside for about 30 minutes before I decided it was time to say goodbye.

Going to the Orchard (but the farm was better)

2008-09-24T14:38:00.000-07:00

Arizona is a very diverse state. We are best known for our saguaros and deserts, but we also have mountains and forests and grasslands and even wetlands. We decided to take the family out to commune with nature. It is almost "Fall" after all. It is also apple picking season (if there were any apples to be picked). Our original plan was to head up to Date Creek Ranch North West of the Valley. Luckily my husband decided to check things out on their web page before we left. Seems that Arizona suffered some pretty bad freezes back in April that devastated this year's apple crop. So we decided to head south past Tucson to Apple Annie's Orchard and Farm in Wilcox, AZ. Their apples were also hit by the freeze, but there were still apples to pick. We came home with 15 lbs of various apples. What does one do with 15 pounds of apples? Make apple sauce. It was my first try and I would have to say it was very easy.

But even better than the apples was the farm!! They had rows upon rows of vegetables (which I pretend to like for my children's sake) for the picking. So we all tromped out into the fields and picked yummy veggies. We came home with eggplant, various peppers, squash, zucchini, tomatoes and a cucumber for Cas. We even got enough for the neighbors. :)

A fun day was had by all.