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A Busy (and fun) Easter Sunday

Apr 042010

We have had a busy Sunday.

We Jack woke up at 6:40.

We tried to convince him that Easter was tomorrow, but he already saw the eggs… so we got up.

He tried to find all of the eggs before he found his basket.

That didn’t work so well because he kept dropping them:

I just learned last night that not everyone’s Easter Bunny hides baskets and eggs.

Ours does.

Except this year, the boy Easter Bunny hid one basket in the oven.

And turned the light on.

Do you know what happens when you leave the oven light on all night long?

The oven gets very warm.

And chocolate melts.

I guess this was the boy Easter Bunny’s first and last year hiding baskets.

The boys found lots of eggs:

This was the last one standing… can you see it?

These eggs are obviously made for us desert dwellers:

They are grass, dirt, and concrete colored!

They are the best. eggs. ever.

We officially “opened” the pool – which I should mention has a different meaning than it did when I was growing up in New York. Here in Arizona, we don’t really “close” our pool. We just decided that today was the day we would start swimming in it.

Still a little chilly, though… I think the water temperature was 68 or so.

Jack took a quick dip and decided to eat some fruit and watch Michael:

The best part of the day (by far) was after dinner.

We went outside and played with the boy’s new toys.

(I saw these and fell in love with the box):

I love the stick figures!

Michael tried it first:

It was a little hard, though.

His legs aren’t quite long enough.

Dad had to try it out next:

Then we had an idea…

and that worked well, but we thought maybe we could get them to go further.

and over the house.

Then we made a contest party out of it:

and all the neighbor’s kids came out to try:

This one obviously went pretty far… look at their faces!

The catapult?

It’s definitely coming out at the next party.

*There are affiliate links in this post*

Ramblings... and a Surprise.

Apr 032010

Jack’s still going strong with the mohawk…

He’s sick… can you tell? He looks pale, and is coughing a lot. The first three times I took him to the doctor (in the past 3 months) they have said it’s allergies. I am going to take him again next week and if they still say allergies, I’m going to get something for them. Because Zyrtec just isn’t cutting it.

Movingalong…

We colored eggs tonight. This was my favorite, because it’s brown… my favorite color :)

The dye was purple, but after the boys started dipping and layering their colors, the dye turned brown.

I felt the need to tell you that so you don’t think that I made brown dye for my kids’ eggs.

Jack: Michael, when you crack the egg, there’s a boiled egg inside!

Michael: Uh… yeah… remember when we boiled them a little while ago?

Michael took his egg coloring very seriously.

After we put Jack to bed, Steve came in and called Michael and I out to the garage.

He found something.

Due to prior finds, I was a little nervous.

“Come look in the trash,” he said.

I shouldn’t have gone out.

DO YOU SEE THAT?

*shudders*

It’s huge!

I may have screamed and said a bad word when I saw it.

Because I tend to be a little dramatic like that.

Look at that. I deliver just what I say I will. Ramblings… and a surprise.

Because I couldn’t exactly title a blog post “We Found A Rat.”

Happy Easter, everyone.

Let’s hope Jack has a better morning than last year.

What I Learned This Week - Hawaii Edition

Mar 162010

This is the post where I shamelessly share a whole bunch of Hawaii pictures… :)

This week, I learned that springing for the helicopter tour around Kauai and surprising the kids with it might be the best part of the vacation:

The kids finding out that we’re going up in the helicopter

Because the views. were. amazing.

I learned that when sightseeing with your family, you might want to remind them to put their vehicle in park before getting out and taking pictures. Otherwise, they might find themselves chasing their rental car down a mountain (and being laughed at all week):

*Update: this is Steve’s Uncle… not Steve!*

I learned that there are such beautiful places in Hawaii that they don’t even need to be photoshopped to look like this:

And that Hawaii is a beautiful backdrop for family pictures:

I learned that hula girls are everywhere in Hawaii… kind of like their mascot. And that’s cool. But the PG-13 lamp in the condo that we rented? In the boy’s room? SO not cool:

(and yes, for good measure, Jack lifted up her skirt. Striped underwear)

I learned that if you find a crab on the beach and take it home, he needs fresh ocean water every day so he won’t die. Oops.

Rest in Peace, Jackson Harper, jr.

I learned that the “lava flow” is a yummy, yummy drink. Better than a mai tai, I believe. And so pretty… yes?

I learned that sea turtles and monk seals often swim up on the beach to rest. They’re not dead, just resting. So I missed an opportunity to take a picture of a huge seal because we thought he was dead (and I couldn’t believe how sad it was that all of the people around him were taking pictures! Oops.).

I learned that weddings on tropical islands are awesome and not to be missed…

because moments spent with family and friends are priceless.

Loving Kauai

Mar 092010

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!

Notsomuch a Fashion Diva

Feb 282010

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.

Where's Mom? (20 of 52)

Jan 202010

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

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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:

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a pinata:

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three-legged races:

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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.

CIMG3805 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!

What I Learned This Week...

Jan 202010

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:

cactus

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:

sponge

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?

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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!

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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.

A love letter

Jan 162010

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. *

What I Learned This Week - Pre-birthday edition

Nov 292009

-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.

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

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

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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.

Jack_snow

-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:

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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…*

We found a new friend!

Nov 272009

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.

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Yes, that is my living room.

And yes, the rattlesnake is still in the bucket.

I obviously haven’t processed this whole situation yet.

Older Entries Newer Entries

A Busy (and fun) Easter Sunday

Ramblings... and a Surprise.

What I Learned This Week - Hawaii Edition

Loving Kauai

Notsomuch a Fashion Diva

Where's Mom? (20 of 52)

What I Learned This Week...

A love letter

What I Learned This Week - Pre-birthday edition

We found a new friend!

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