AZ Centennial Celebration Begins with Way Out West & Wacky!

January 13, 2012

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I do believe that you all know just how much I love the desert, right?

Until I find somewhere that has nicer weather, I’m not leaving.

And I haven’t heard of anywhere with nicer weather yet.

Our local FOX news station has been counting down the days until the Arizona centennial since 2009. I kid you not. They started when there was 1,000 days until the centennial.

Don’t ask me why, because I’m not sure of the answer. Maybe they are excited?

There are 31 days left until Feburary 14th, the date Arizona became a state. (There are also 31 days until Kelly’s birthday – I wonder if she knows that Fox News has been counting down to her birthday for the past 3 years…)

The state is planning several events in many cities to celebrate, but we will be staying home celebrating in our own way.

Which, actually, we have been doing for several weeks.

We received a copy of Arizona Way Out West & Wacky recently have have been having a blast reading through it and doing some of the activities.

We have learned interesting things like…

*The deepest point of the Grand Canyon is 6,000 feet. That’s as tall as 1,125 average (5ft 4in) female teachers standing on each other’s shoulders!

*Arizona is part of the Four Corners – a place where New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona all meet. You can stand with a hand and a foot in 4 different states at one time! I knew this already because in elementary school, I made a game about the four corners with my fancy schmancy wood carving tool.

*Arizona is home to 13 different types of rattlesnakes. Thankfully, we have only found a few of them in our backyard.

*That thing that we affectionately call a centipede/millipede is actually a Giant Desert Centipede. It can grow up to a foot long, and can have up to 346 legs. The first pair of legs is like fangs, which we have seen when Steve tried to pull one out of Jack’s pocket (his shorts were on the floor and one crawled in) with pliers. It latched on HARD. *gag*

*Arizona has 21 federally recognized Native American tribes. One of the most famous Native American, Geronimo, was from Arizona.

Arizona Way Out West & Wacky has some great recipes (enchiladas, anyone?), crafts (cornhusk dolls!), critter facts, and lots of crossword puzzles and word search games. My boys LOVED learning about all of our critters that we have nicknamed. The book is geared towards elementary school-aged kids, but kids (and adults) of all ages will love it as well!

Arizona Way Out West & Wacky can be purchased online through Amazon.com!

I received a copy of Arizona Way Out West & Wacky to review, and LOVED it! I would never recommend something to you that I didn’t love myself :) Also, there are affiliate links in this post.

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Just Another Day at the ER

January 7, 2012

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Michael woke up this morning with a swollen eye. Not black and blue. Not goopy. Just a little red and swollen.

With wrestling starting last week and his tendency to get ringworm, I honestly thought it was ringworm. Or the beginning of pink eye. It was swollen enough to take him in.

Since our doctor’s office is closed on the weekends, we went to the local CVS MinuteClinic. We have been there more often than we would like in the past six months or so, and the nurse practitioner who is usually there is wonderful.

We signed in and waited a few minutes. The woman who brought us in was a new nurse. She was young, but seemed nice enough.

She took vital signs, looked at Michael’s eye for a bit and said, “I think you have periorbital cellulitis (a staph infection around your eyeball). I am going to send you to the ER.”

So, I grab my purse and am ready to go… to the ER… like she said…

But she isn’t finished talking.

“My nephew had that last year. He woke up with it and his parents didn’t bring him in. By the time midnight came, he was being rushed into emergency surgery.”

WHAT? DID SHE JUST SAY WHAT I THINK SHE SAID?!?!

Did she just tell me to go to the ER (an emergency, in my book), and then continue to tell us a story about her nephew? Who needed surgery? On his eye? IN FRONT OF MY KID???

Oh yes. She did.

By this time, I look at Michael and his head is down. He’s crying. And scared.

She filled out some paperwork while I tried to assure Michael that he’s ok, and the ER is just like a big Urgent Care.

There are so many Urgent Care centers around us, the kids get nervous when we mention taking them to the ER. 

Probably has something to do with them watching “Untold Stories of the ER.”

As we are walking out, and I am still digesting:

1. What she just said – the possible diagnosis and the personal story

and

2. The fact she just said it in front of Michael

she stops us and says, “Michael, look at me.”

It seemed like she maybe realized what had happened and she was going to apologize?

But no.

“Michael, it’s just another doctor that can tell what’s going on better than we can here. I’m concerned since the infection is so close to your brain…”

and we were gone.

I was stewing, but didn’t have enough digested to say anything to her. I couldn’t believe what she said to him. TWICE.

Michael cried the entire 20 minute drive to the ER.

I felt about as awful and scared as a Mom can feel.

He sat there crying, blowing his nose, and crying some more. Can you imagine what both of his eyes looked like after that?

We went to the closest pediatric ER and at the front desk, they just looked at him in awe. I explained why we were there and why his eyes looked like they did, and they put us in a room immediately.

We waited about 5 minutes for the nurse to come in. I explained the situation to her and she talked to Michael and calmed him down. I almost hugged her.

For the next few hours, we waited on the doctor, got a CT scan to see about the structures around his eye, and played around with all of the fun stuff a hospital has.

Powerade – usually a big no in our house:

The remote control that controls the tv, lights, AND has a nurse call button:

And the fancy fun bed:

The entire experience ended on a positive note, thankfully.

We were sent home with a “viral infection of the eye” diagnosis.

No surgery.

No brain infection.

He should be better in a few days, and back to wrestling by Tuesday.

Here’s to hoping the rest of the team doesn’t have it…

 

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Wildcat Basketball – My New Favorite!

January 5, 2012

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I went to the University of Arizona for six years and never went to one basketball game. They’re kind of famous for their stadium, and their team is pretty good, from what I hear.

As I’m not a sports fan, it took me a bit to realize that we have something here that not every town has. With the university right in the middle of Tucson, there are 1,000,000 fans running around. About 2/3 of the locals wear red and blue on game days, and every cashier is asking for game updates when you leave Target and Home Depot.

Since I had never been to a game as a student, I didn’t realize that the UA pride exploded inside the stadium. Michael and I went to a game just before Christmas and we had a blast. I did notice, however, that the fans in the stadium were… um… not very nice to the opposing team. There was no courtesy cheer when they scored, and no clapping for a great play. As a mom of young ones (and someone who had never been to a college game before) I was a little bummed about their lack of sportsmanship.

I had no idea…

As a Christmas gift for the family, we bought four tickets to the University of Arizona (UA) vs. Arizona State University (ASU) game on New Year’s Eve.

The rivalry between the two teams is crazy.

Crazy.

And the rivalry? It starts right in our house.

I went to UA. Michael roots for UA.

Steve? He’s getting his master’s degree from ASU right now.

Poor Jack is stuck in the middle and switches his team loyalty every 5 minutes.

We should own this flag.

 Michael is the best trash-talking fan the UA has. Especially to his Dad.

So… if I thought the UA game I took Michael to was bad, the UA/ASU game was awful.

In a good way.

As we walked into the game, the nice man who took our tickets made a comment about Steve being allowed in even though he is “uneducated.” He said it with a smile.

Michael has told Steve before that he’s going to UA because he already knows how to read and that’s what ASU teaches you. 

We asked a nice couple to take our photo and after the gentleman said “sure!” his wife said “Wait… do you see his shirt? Oh. Wait. You’re all in blue and red. It’s just him in maroon. Ok, hon. You can take it.”

Then they ooohed and aaahed over Jack’s cute House Divided shirt. He was happy to have both logos on him.

We found our seats and ignored the looks Steve was getting. I posted this photo on facebook and a friend was nice enough to point out that Steve was covering the UA side of Jack’s shirt with his hand.

And his hand? Can you see it?

It’s in the shape of a pitchfork, matching the devil’s pitchfork on Jack’s shirt.

Ha. Ha. Ha.

It’s almost as funny as Michael’s shirt was.

When the game started, UA fans didn’t sit down until ASU scored their first point.

When ASU got the ball on their side of the court, UA fans waved their arms in the air and made loud annoying noises that I can’t describe. Just to distract the opposing team.

During the game, the UA fans booed (loudly) when ASU scored.

Nice? No.

But to be honest, it was kind of funny. I guess this Phoenix vs. Tucson rivalry has been going on for quite some time.

Michael kept his trash talking to a minimum throughout the game.

Steve cheered confidently for his team among the sea of Wildcat fans. He didn’t even get yelled at.

We won, of course. By a lot.

And it turns out that basketball is the one sport that I like to watch. I understand what’s going on and they don’t move too slow.

Season tickets may be on my (and Michael’s) Christmas list this year.

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Baked Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal – Yum!

January 2, 2012

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I have recently been battling some food allergy/intolerance issues. Actually, it’s an intolerance, but people tend to think if it’s not an allergy, it’s not serious.

It’s serious enough to send me to a few different doctors, and it’s serious enough to cause me lots of pain and discomfort, so it’s serious to me.

When I eat gluten (a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye), I get sick. I was tested for Celiac disease (a severe gluten allergy) a couple months ago and my results were negative, but my body isn’t tolerating it. This is common with a lot of food allergies, so my allergist told me to just cut it out completely. I wish it were that easy, but it seems that not eating gluten is doing some crazy things to my body. Also, gluten is hidden everywhere. I have resorted to packing a cooler full of foods that I know are gluten free to take with me everywhere I go.

One thing I have been able to eat that doesn’t make me sick is this oatmeal. I first had it about a month ago when Dayna made it for me (she’s pretty amazing, and her daughters? OMG CUTE!!). I came home from Dayna’s determined to re-create it.

Baked Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

4-5 cups oats (or gluten free oats)

1 cup brown sugar

2 apples, diced with the skins on

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

I stick all of these ingredients into Suzie, my Kitchenaid mixer, and then pour them into a pie plate. The mixture looks pretty wet, but it’ll be perfect when it’s done baking.

Cover the oatmeal and cook for 25ish minutes at 350 degrees, then uncover for 10ish minutes. After it sits on the counter for a few minutes, the oatmeal shouldn’t be too wet inside. If it still looks wet, stick it in the oven for another 5 minutes or so. One batch will last me several days. If your oatmeal seems a little dry, add some milk to moisten it back up.

I have been enjoying my oatmeal with a cup of coffee, but I’m sure it’s good with milk or OJ :)

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From Our Family To Yours….

December 24, 2011

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Happy Holidays to each and every one of you!

 

 

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