Gardner Village

One of my favorite things to do in the Fall is to go to Gardner Village. I love to walk around browsing the shops and I especially love taking pictures of the kids. They have so many unique backdrops and props to practice being a "professional" photographer - as long as the kids will sit still long enough to get a good shot. Here are some of my "masterpieces?"

The "Toof Fairy"

Well, it finally happened.... Abbi has now lost more teeth than Adam. She is up to 5 teeth lost with one more on its way out. She was so excited when Grandma McGee "helped" get it out. That night the "Toof Fairy" came for a visit and left her a dollar. She was so excited! That has to be one of the best surprises as a kid to look under your pillow and in place of your tooth is a dollar bill!

I asked Abbi if she felt the tooth fairy get under her pillow. This was her reply:

"No. I think the tooth fairy waves her wand and the tooth floats to her. Then she uses her wand to put the dollar back under the pillow."

to which I replied, "That would be awesome to see."

Adam, always thinking, then said, "Next time I am going to set up my spy gear to get it on camera."

Girls Night Out

Last night was spent with great friends up in the mountains at a cabin. Boy, did we have a blast. We sat up till 3:00 talking, laughing, making jokes, telling stories, and, of course, eating lots of yummy snacks - time to get back to Jazzercise. It was nice to get away from the zoo, if only for one night to recharge and let loose. When are we going again?

"Where were you when the world stopped turning?"

I can't believe it has been 7 years since 9/11. As we were driving in the car today I heard the song phrase "Where were you when the world stopped turning the September day?" and the original feelings of that day came instantly to my mind. I was at work at First Bank of Arizona when the first news reports started coming over the radio. "A plane just crashed into the World Trade Center." I heard someone say in the office. Then the second plane hit and I knew this was not just an accident. I called Aaron, who was at home with our 1 year old and screamed at him to turn on the tv - that people were flying planes into the buildings. I remember being scared, nervous, confused, and dazed all at once.

I recently watched a documentary on the Discovery Channel about September 11th with Adam. I watched with tears in my eyes as I saw the footage that had been played over and over on every news channel. I hope that I will never forget the sacrifices that so many people made that day to help strangers. As September 11, 2008 comes to a close, I am so thankful that my family is all safely asleep in their beds.

Jumpin' Jacks

Today, we spent the afternoon at Jumpin' Jacks. It is a fun place that just opened up that is full of the amusement park bounce houses. The kids had a blast jumping with their friends that joined us.

I figured it was worth it. We had just gone to the dentist and was told "no cavities" for both kids. Can you believe it? I almost didn't. What a relief.
Alex- you are such a ham! I kept trying to get him to stand up so I could actually see his head but he thought this was a much better shot! Oh well, it is cute either way!

Craft Day

So, yesterday, Melanie and I spent a good portion of the day crafting. We had a lot of fun painting, sanding, laughing, and getting stared at by the concrete workers putting in my RV pad. I finished one project, which was from my enrichment night last week, and am close to finishing the other two - just waiting on vinyl lettering, and trying to figure out how to adhere a metal saying to the front of the other one. Seeing as how I am not that crafty, I must say I am pretty proud of myself.

While we crafted the afternoon away, the boys had a great time playing, running, wrestling, sliding, and biking with each other. It is so fun to have cousins for my kids to play with - something that I never had. Where was Abbi? She was supposed to be cleaning her room. I finally put my foot down and told her she couldn't come out of her room until it was clean. So, she spent all day down in her room pouting, yelling, crying, and tantrum throwing until Daddy promised her ice cream if she would just do it. Amazing what a little bribery will do. Needless to say, she finally got it done. But, she missed out on a fun day with cousins. Hopefully, she learned her lesson.

My New Hobby

Alright.... I finally broke down and started my own blog. After months of prodding from my sister I decided I would try it. I love to read others but was "too busy" to start my own. My goal is to jot down the moments of the day that are lost. You know, those moments with your kids that you think "I should write that down" then never do.

Okay, so the first "I need to write that down" moment happened yesterday. I was taking the kids to soccer when Abbi, from the back seat, asks "What does ASU stand for?" Not knowing what she was talking about I let Adam answer. His reply was "It's not ASU, it is USA." As I look at Abbi in the rear view mirror, she looks down at her soccer shirt and says "Nu-Uh, my shirt says.... Oh never mind!" Had I not been looking at her, I never would have realized she was looking at her soccer shirt, which says USA, upside down. So from her point of view it did say "ASU". It caught me off guard and made me giggle.