We’ve climbed volcanoes,

seen natural wonders,

experienced scary wild rides,

and spent lots of time with family.

And it’s only our first day here!

In this house, Sunday is laundry day.

Well, Sunday is the day I wash and dry the laundry.

It usually takes me another day or two to fold it and put it away.

But today, my one and only helped me out.

So right now, the laundry is washed, dried, folded, and put away.

Yippee!!

Except for one thing.

I just looked in my closet.

Take a look:

Do you see what I see?

I see 12 pairs of black yoga pants (in various lengths, of course).

Oops.

Obviously, this post isn’t about my fashion sense.

I wear what’s comfortable.

And yoga pants are comfortable.

Last fall, I gave Steve a hard time after I counted his shorts.

He has 28 pair.

Me: ”You could wear a different pair of shorts every day for almost a month and never double up!”

Steve: “No, I couldn’t. Some are dressy, some are for yard work, some are for golfing…”

I bet if I tried hard I could come up with a reason to keep all 12 of my black yoga pants.

Me: “Some are older and faded, some are nice, some are strictly for running or going to the gym.”

And I can hear it now…

Steve: “But still, you have 12 pair of black yoga pants!”

Oh.

I just noticed something.

Crap.

13.

This week, Mom was celebrating with some of her favorite people!

My friend best friend sister (in the “we have different Moms, but are totally sisters” way) Kristin recently turned 40 (yes, you read that right. It’s not fair. She doesn’t look 40) and in true Kristin fashion, she decided to have a party in the park, complete with egg races:

a pinata:

three-legged races:

and almost 100 hot dogs! See my boy there? He grilled all. day. long. He loved it. Oh, and that guy next to him? Kristin’s husband. The same guy that redesigned my beautiful blog button and made me my very own twitter button! Go ahead… look on my sidebar… I’ll wait a second.

Isn’t it be-U-tiful?!

So, everyone had a great time, and when we got home we all passed out from exhaustion.

Hope you’re all having a wonderful week!

I realized this week that it’s been a while since I told you about all the stuff I’ve learned…

It has always been a fun post, I don’t know why I stopped writing one… but I’m back now!

-This week, I learned that you can buy these cactus leaves:

in the grocery store. You know, just in case you can’t find enough of them in your back yard. I have yet to make something with them.  Maybe someday soon I’ll surprise you with a recipe.

-I learned that you can microwave your kitchen sponge to remove germs. You can wash it in the dishwasher, too. But microwaving it is much more fun. Look what happens:

Ok, that doesn’t always happen. But if you microwave it for 3 minutes instead of 2, that’s what happens. The kids thought it was pretty funny that Mom started a fire in the kitchen.

-I learned that when you husband decides to make cornhole boards, you should think twice about agreeing to paint them. Because it might take up all of your blogging time, leaving your 7 readers to wonder if you dropped off the planet.

They do look pretty, though, don’t they?

We were able to take them to the park for a picnic with a few friends this weekend. Even though Steve didn’t get to show off the fancy lights that he installed in them, everyone had fun!

That’s about it for this week. I’ll be back next week if I don’t burn my house down with that sponge trick.

Dear Marilyn,

I think that I should begin this letter by being honest.

I haven’t always liked you. But you knew that, right?

You have taken my husband away from his home for days at a time.

There have been times when you have had him for 10 nights a month.

Way too much.

And between you and your friend Phoenix?

At times you two have had him for weeks at a time, only giving him back for a night or two on the weekend.

You have to admit, you guys kind of sucked.

Until recently.

You know what I’m talking about.

See, when my sister-in-law told us that she was going to get married in Hawaii, my last thought was you.

Why would I think about you?

I was thinking about beautiful beaches, calming waves, and sand in between my toes.

Oh, and the wedding. Ahem. Of course, the wedding.

And then we thought about how in the world we would pay for it. Getting four people to Hawaii wouldn’t be cheap.

And that’s where you came in.

See, when this affair began, I didn’t realize that there would be benefits.

I’m sorry. I probably would have been a little nicer to you if I had realized that.

You outdid yourself, girl.

Because the way you did that? The frequent flyer mile thing?

That was amazing.

Three. free. tickets. to. Hawaii.

I love you, Marilyn.

And I promise to share a little nicer from now on.

XOXO

With much love,

Becca

*If you still have no idea who Marilyn is, click here. *

-When your middle is getting a little thick from the lack of exercising you’ve been doing (because of your stupid feet), Thanksgiving isn’t necessarily a welcome holiday. But that won’t stop you from eating WAY too much.

-While waiting in a dark deserted parking lot for your Black Friday date to show up, you might be scared to death by a strange car pulling up next to you. But it’ll just be your date’s Grandma picking you up because said date decided to forego sleep and shop all night instead of getting up at o-dark-30 like the rest of us crazy people. That’s just a whole ‘nother level of crazy, if you ask me.

-And Grandma might decide to wake you up by driving in the bike lane and trying to run red lights while on the way to meet that crazy shopping friend. Then laugh about how it might possibly end up on your blog.

-But you’ll fall in love with Grandma despite the crazy driving. Because in the end, we all arrived safe. And because she’s adorable. Because she called our breakfast waitress a dimwit.

-I learned that if you wake up 3 hours early on Black Friday to go shopping, you’ll be really tired by 4 p.m.

-But those amazing pajamas that you splurged on during the sales will make you want to stay up later just because they’re so. unbelievably. comfortable. (And they’re on sale! Click on over!)

-I learned that taking your boys out to a fancy restaurant (fancy because they have cloth napkins) to celebrate your birthday (a few days early) may not seem like the best idea you’ve had all year.

-Because a certain boy might lay down at the table. And kick his brother.

-And then play hide-and-seek with his sweatshirt. (Note the change of seat)

-And then while Mom is in the bathroom, Daddy and the boys might play with the camera.

I can’t take them anywhere.

-I learned that in Arizona, when you see an advertisement for snow at a shopping mall, it’s really “snow.” That means that it’s foamy bubbles that look like snow. But this little guy couldn’t tell the difference, obviously. And it was a blast.

If money grew on trees and I bought myself a fancy SLR camera for my big day, you probably would have been able to see the “snow” in this picture. But it doesn’t. And I didn’t. And you can’t.

-Most importantly, I learned that dinner in a fancy restaurant with amazing friends + silly pictures + snow falling from the sky + hot chocolate + walking up the down escalator + sliding down banisters + doing some hands-on Christmas list research = an awesome, awesome pre-birthday celebration.

See for yourself:

So, what did YOU learn this week?

*I think I should mention that I didn’t get any free pajamas for posting a link to Dillard’s. But if any of you are looking to give away a pair or two, I would write amazing reviews on them…*

Steve has been getting lots of practice with his snake stick…

Our neighbor called tonight to tell us about a rattlesnake he found in his driveway.

By the time I got outside with the camera, the snake was in the fancy orange snake bucket.

I’m so proud of him.

In that weird Tucson-wife sort of way.

Yes, that is my living room.

And yes, the rattlesnake is still in the bucket.

I obviously haven’t processed this whole situation yet.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I thought it was appropriate to post a picture this week with the top three things that I am thankful for…

Thing 1, Thing 2, and Thing 3.

There are so many more things that I am thankful for!!!

If you’re reading this post, you can be sure that you’re one of them.

Sometimes, I may seem “stressed” or “frustrated” to many people who know me. I don’t mean to. I come from a high-stress family (thanks, Mom and Dad) and believe me when I say that I have come a lonnngg way.

What can I possibly have to be stressed about? I have a happy, healthy family, a wonderful part-time job, and more amazing friends than anyone deserves. I don’t know, either.

I’m doing a really good job of laughing instead of stressing.

And there tends to be a lot of laughing going on around this house lately.

The other night, the boys and I were eating dinner and Michael was complaining whining telling me about how unfair it was that Jack never gets in trouble.

*I should mention that we were having this discussion because the boys were screaming (not yelling, and not raising their voices. They. were. screaming.) at each other and I made them sit in their room as punishment. Then they started screaming at each other in there. And I about lost my temper.

About.

I didn’t.

I did what any sane mother would do.

I kicked them out of the house for 5 minutes. I had never done that before and they were shocked.

I needed quiet.

They stood on the patio staring at each other the whole time, and when I let them in, all was well again. *

So anyway, Michael was talking, Jack was eating quietly (why? I don’t know. He’s never quiet), and I was listening. I was having one of those “I’m a good Mom” moments.

Michael had some valid points. We go a bit crazy when they tattle, because it happens every minute or two. Not kidding here. And we are trying to get the boys to work through their problems without tattling.

Michael: When I clean the playroom and Jack comes up behind me and messes it up, I get mad. I can’t come tell you, so what do I do so I don’t yell at him?

Mom: Go to your bedroom and close the door.

Michael: But he’ll follow me in there.

Jack: No, Michael. I won’t. (Yeah, right kid. I have seen you do it.)

Mom: Wait Jack – Michael’s talking.

Jack: Sorry, Michael. I’ll wait. (Who IS this kid? Did he just say sorry?)

Michael: So, I can’t go to my room because hell follow me in there.

Mom: Lock the door.

Michael: I’m not allowed to lock the door. (Oh yeah, crap.)

Mom: No, that’s right. You’re not allowed to lock doors.

Meanwhile, Dad walks in, fixes a plate, sits down, and starts to listen. Michael has tears in his eyes, and Jack is… listening. Eyes wide open. Watching whoever is talking. Hmm.

Dad: So, Michael, what do you think we should do?

Jack: I know, Dad…

Dad: Jack, I asked Michael a question.

Jack: Ok. Sorry. (WHAT?)

Michael: I think that when Jack bugs me, I should be able to go somewhere and get away from him. I always get in trouble. He doesn’t.

Jack: Michael, I am going to draw you a picture.

Dad: Jack, not now. Michael is talking.

Jack: Ok.

At this time, Mom is trying to not laugh out loud.

Dad: How about if you go into your room and close the door. If Jack comes in, come and tell us and we’ll keep him out.

Jack: Michael, do you know what I am going to draw for you when you’re done talking? A picture that says “I’m. Sorry. Michael.”

Dad: Jack, we’re still talking.

Mom: I guess we do tell you to not tattle, but sometimes you have to. I think that there’s a difference between tattling and telling us, though.

Jack: Are we done having this talk?

Mom: No Jack.

Jack: Because when we’re done…

Mom: If you come to me and your first word is “Jack” and you’re whining, then I’ll probably think you’re tattling. If you come to me and say “I’m…” or “I need…” then I bet I’ll listen a bit more. You guys tattle all the time. Remember the boy who cried wolf? That story applies here.

At this point, Dad said something really well thought out to Michael, but I was too busy not laughing at Jack, who was watching Michael and Dad like he was at a tennis match… eyebrows raised, waiting for the perfect time to interrupt again…

Michael: Ok. I just think I get in trouble a lot more than Jack.

Mom: Well, you’re not home with us all day long. You would be surprised at all the trouble he gets in all by himself.

Jack: Are we done with this talk yet? Because if we are…

*I need to mention that when I was talking with Steve about this post and making sure that I remembered small parts of the conversation correctly, he said “Just wait to post until tomorrow. Something else WILL happen.”*

For those of you who are counting (all 1 of you), I am aware that I missed last week.

I had a good reason.

I was tired.

The kind of tired that happens when you play single Mom for 5 straight weeks in a row.

I have a new respect for single Moms.

So, this week. This week Mom was at Grandma and Grandpa’s new house in California. It’s pretty amazing.

Beautiful house, amazing views, and lots of land for hiking.

They have extra bedrooms in case you’re ever in the area.

Seriously. Just say you know me and I’m sure they’ll let you in.

Grandma makes a mean martini.

For more Where’s Mom posts, go visit Carin!