Our winter Visitor

This winter Grandma came out for the winter for her second year. She got here the day after thanksgiving and left on March 5th. She was lucky enough to escape the terrible winter snow storm that hit this year a dropped 20 something inches of snow in IL. The kids really loved having Gram here because every chance she had she was sneaking them cream drops or some sort of candy or gum. Maddi even got to hang out with just Gram a few days so that I could go in and volunteer at the kids' school. Gram took us out to breakfast and we did a lot of running around and going on walks. It is much different without Gram now and we miss her.

Reid Park Zoo

This year I had the pleasure of being able to chaperon Kenni's field trip to the zoo. We went to the Reid Park zoo in Tucson. It is a small zoo but the animals are very up close and close together so that we were able to make it through the entire zoo while we were there. I had a great bunch of kids and we only had two minor mishaps. One was a little boy dropped his pencil into the Cayman pond (oops!) and the other was a little girl bumped her head on the railing when getting up from looking closely at the otter. It was a beautiful day to go to the zoo and we all had a great time!

Kenni's whole class with his teacher Miss Fix.

Our little group in a giant eggshell.

Our group in front of the peacock.

Our group in front of the elephants.

Our group in front of the tiger.

Kenni's 7th Birthday

Kenni turned 7 on February 23rd! 7 years old! Wow! He was very excited because this year he had school on his birthday. The school doesn't allow us to bring is cupcakes or have parties but he did wear a "Birthday Boy" pin on his shirt so everyone knew. The school also did give him a little gift bag full of goodies. The night before I made his lunch for him and I even got him a special lunch. A lunchable. I know it doesn't sound that exciting but I don't let my kids ever get those because it's cheaper to make a sandwich and you get much food for what you have to pay for a lunchable. The other 2 kids weren't too happy about it but they aren't in school on their birthdays. Also the night before he helped me bake his cake so that it could cool and I could decorate it while he was at school. For his birthday dinner he wanted nothing else but....SHRIMP! Expensive taste my kids have but luckily for us it was on sale that week! So we had boiled and also fried shrimp and frozen pizza for his birthday dinner. We opened presents and had cake afterward. Kenni had been saving up for a LEGO fire station so he got enough and then some to do that!

Eating the batter

Sitting in front of his presents.

Him and his ORANGE cake!

Laura's Science Project

Well one of the reasons my posts have been so far a few between is school. Not for me though, the kids. 4th grade is kicking my butt this year. Along with everything else they do for home work on a daily basis, the kids have a book report due and a poem to memorize and recite in front of the class every grading period. And unlike most schools our grading period is every 6 weeks. So every 3 weeks our house has 3 book reports due and then 3 weeks later 3 poems to memorize. This year since Laura is in 4th grade it is required that on top of all that, they have a science project to do. This was the first one we have ever done so it was very intimidating. We decided on doing a project that was more simple instead of cool to make it easier on me. She tested how long it would take chocolate to melt at different temperatures. I know it was pretty lame and it didn't end up working as well as I had planned but in the end we got it done, and on time, and also got an A. Maybe next year since we know what to expect we will be a little more creative.

She really didn't want to take a picture with her project so this is what I got! Oh the pleasures of having a 9 year old!

Only in Arizona

Only in Arizona do you find kids outside ice skating in flip flops......

Then a couple of weeks later be outside without a jacket in January sweating your butt off....

And while they were splitting wood they found a new pet that I object to.

Now if that isn't bad enough, Little Man brought the dumb thing in the house and DROPPED the cup it was in! Thankfully the scorpion stayed in the cup and then we put it in a jar, TIGHTLY SEALED! He is also in the tool room and no longer in the house! He just might have an accidental death soon while everyone is at school!

Christmas 2010

Christmas this year couldn't have came and went soon enough. For some reason I just wasn't in a christmas mood this year. The kids were absolutely horrible on their break so that didn't make it any better. We finally set up our tree the weekend before christmas and I didn't even decorate anything else like I usually do. Once christmas was over the kids finally settled down and started behaving better. I guess it was just all they hype from the holiday season that made them crazy. That and all the sugar they consumed!
Christmas eve we went over to Greg and Laurel's as we have since we've lived here. We had a super delicious dinner and had a great time hanging out with the family.
Christmas day the kids were up at 4:30 am! I think James and I finally got up around 6 and the kids were ready to rip in the presents. After all that was said and done we had breakfast and got ready and went up to Aunt Lisha's. Jake and Kelsy and baby Max came in for christmas and Nate also came in for christmas too. Unfortunately, I didn't get one single picture while we were there. The kids had a great time with baby Max and again enjoyed lots of great food!

I am still here......

I know many have been wondering what in the world I have been doing and why haven't I been updating the blog. Well....We've been busy but not really doing anything fun though. We had thanksgiving day over at our cousin's Greg and Laurel's. It was a bit chilly but we were still able to sit and eat out on the back patio. The kids of course just enjoyed getting dirty, climbing trees and playing with all the animals. The next morning Laura, Laurel and I got up and went to Laurel's friend's house to make tamales. This was Laura's first year making them and she had a great time. After that we headed up to the airport to pick up Grandma. She flew in for her winter visit and since tickets were a steal Grandad came out with her. The kids knew Grandma was coming but they didn't know about Grandad. Grandad had a plan to surprise the kids. Next time you see him ask him about his wig ;) While Grandad was here he wanted to celebrate christmas early so he could see the kids face when they got their presents. We also had a campfire over at Greg and Laurel's. Other than that Grandad's trip was pretty uneventful. He caught a cold while he was here and the kids had school. We still had a nice visit and as always the kids were excited to see their Grandad.