Lessons learned... straight from the desert

Aug 092010

I’ve lived in Arizona for ten years now.

Ten hundred-degree summers,

ten air conditioned Thanksgivings,

ten snowless Christmases,

and ten nohidingchocolatebunniesoutside Easters.

In these ten years, I’ve learned a thing or two about the desert and just recently realized (through blog and facebook comments) that you may not be aware of these amazing facts.

Doesn’t that make you sad?

Since I’m all about sharing my worldly knowledge, I’m turning What I Learned This Week into:

What I Learned This Decade

(because I can). (because it’s my blog).

1. If it crawls, slithers, or scrambles, don’t touch it (well, unless Daddy is around).

2. Drink water. Then when you’re done, drink more.

3. If a lizard gets scared, he will detach his tail and drop it in order to trick whatever is chasing him. The tail will continue to wiggle and move for up to 2 minutes afterwards. Ewwwww.

4. Let’s talk about cacti for a minute. Did you know that the plural of cactus is cacti? And that they can have flowers? And fruit?

This looks like an ordinary flower:

…but it’s a cactus.

It’s a type of night blooming cactus, which means that it blooms once a year at night. This one was in my neighbor’s front yard. He has had the cactus for 7 years, and this is the first time it has bloomed.

Can we think about that for a minute? It blooms once a year (at most) for 24 hours. A-mazing, if you ask me.

5. It is possible for your leather seats to burn your legs.

6. Windchimes will (hopefully) deter rattlesnakes from visiting you.

7. Tin foil will (hopefully) deter woodpeckers from pecking at your house.

8. Quail cross the road as a family. Often, you will see Mama Quail, followed by 10 or more tiny baby quail, followed by Daddy Quail. Always followed by Daddy Quail. It melts my heart.

9. We have a monsoon season. Normally (this year is not normal), for about 45 days during the beginning of July and lasting through the middle of August, there are thunderstorms every evening at about 4 pm. Heat lightening, thunder, and torrential rain flood the desert for about one hour, then it clears up and the sun comes back out. Oh, and it cools off a bit.

10. Colorado river toads (also called Sonoran desert toads) come out in droves during monsoon season. They sound like bleating goats (or screaming children, depending on the level of sleep they wake you from). The toads have a poison/venom in their body and on their skin that can cause hallucinogenic effects in humans. Yes, I have heard of dogs getting sick from picking the toads up in their mouths. Yes, children (not mine) have licked them and tried to get high. And yes, I have heard of adults licking them and trying to get high.

Can we think about that for a moment, as well?

Ok. Let’s not.

*gag*

Tell me something about where you live that non-locals wouldn’t know…

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Lesson Learned.

Aug 022010

This is going to be a short and sweet lesson.

Because my fingers hurt.

Lesson:

When attempting to be all fancy and make homemade green chili enchilada sauce,

do take lots of pictures to show off your chili and tomatillo roasting skillzzz:

but don’t attempt to de-seed the chilies without wearing gloves. Because even if you don’t think they’re hot, you might be unpleasantly surprised:

You will soon have to put your camera down and grab a bowl full of milk to soak your poor little fingers in:

And your 10 year old might laugh at you while taking your picture.

And p.s. The milk? Doesn’t help.

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What I Learned This Week: Summer Break edition

Jun 212010

Now that we’re kind of settled in, I thought I would share some pictures from our trip.

And share everything that I have learned thus far about summer break.

1. Boys like to pick on each other.

Older boys like to make their younger brothers yell at them.

They think it’s funny.

2. Everything is better when Daddy is not out of town on business.

Daddy dragging Michael into the pool (Michael is laughing)

Daddy demonstrating his throwing skills

Daddy rolling the hula hoop so the boys could jump through it

And jumping through it himself :)

3. I learned that Jack has eagle eyes. He found Aunt Jen’s earring at the bottom of the pool.

4. I learned that rabbit mating season in Arizona is in June. They. are. everywhere.

5. You can’t hold a 5 year old tight enough at the Grand Canyon.

6. I learned that there is such a thing as too much Looney Tunes.

“Be vewy qwiet. I’m hunting wabbits.”

7. It’s not easy to explain to kids what Route 66 is and why it’s so cool. Maybe they’ll get it in a few years.

8. Ice cream for breakfast dessert makes a boy happy.

9. Freezing cold natural rock slides? I learned they’re fun :)

10. Grandpa Ralph is a sharp shooter with the rubber band gun.

11.I learned how to take pictures at night with my camera!

12. I learned that one can never get enough of seeing the family “look what I caught in the trap” trick. (Can you see the “animal” flying through the air?)

13. I learned that I’ll never get tired of seeing belly laughs shared between these two.

14. I learned that this sleeping arrangement works best when we stay in a hotel room. I tried to give each of the boys a bed and sleep with them, but that didn’t work for anyone involved. So, they got one, and Mom got the other.

15. And just because this is linked to Julie’s blog, I am stopping at a nice round number :)

I learned that eventually, even little guys get sick of having their picture taken.


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Crazy Boys Blogging 101

May 172010

This week, I thought I would wrap up a few blogging tips I have learned… from tutorials, from helping friends, from playing with my own blog, and a few from bloggy boot camp, as well!

Hopefully there is something here for everyone:

Blog fun fact #1:

Typing <center> before and after the code in a widget will center it in your sidebar.

Blog fun fact #2:

You can make blog buttons (and Twitter backgrounds, and headers…) with Picnik! I learned how to by following this tutorial from Linda Sellers. Also, you can use Photobucket (for free) to link your pictures or buttons and get html codes.

Blog fun fact #3:

Use Google Analytics to track how many people visit your site and learn how they get there.

Blog fun fact #4:

Do you see that box under by button (over there on the right)?

You use it to make your button easily “grabbable.” Yes, that’s a word that I made up. But it fits in well, don’t you think?

Do you want a grab box of your own? Shabby Blogs has a great tutorial to help you make one. It’s actually pretty easy!

Blog fun fact #5:

I find a lot of helpful tips from these blogs:

Bloggusion

Blogging Basics 101

Desperately Seeking WordPress

Go ahead… add them to your reader… I’ll wait…

Oh, you don’t know what a reader is? Sorry…

Blog fun fact #6:

Using a blog reader (such as Google Reader or Bloglines) helps to get all of  your blogs organized in one place, and makes it easier to read them. A must for anyone reading more than 5 blogs.

Blog fun fact #7:

Get a gravatar. They make it easier to recognize you when you leave a comment, and look pretty in your address bar :)

Blog fun fact #8:

If you have WordPress, you should check out these plugins:

SexyBookmarks (allows users to share your posts via email, Twitter, Facebook, etc…)

Askimet (finds spam!)

WordPress back up (enough said. Ahem.)

Broken Link Checker (uhh… checks. broken. links.)

If you have Blogger, um… sorry.

Blog fun fact #9:

Rename your photos. Google likes “Jacks_firsttooth” better than DSC00056

Blog fun fact #10:

Make your buttons and pictures link to email you!

Here’s an example:

<center><a href=”mailto:youremailaddresshere” target=”_blank”><img src=”http://yourphotobucketpicturehere” border=”0″ alt=”Photobucket”></a><center> Text that you want under your picture<center>

Let me know if any of this doesn’t make sense… I’d be glad to answer any questions that I can!

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What I Learned This Week: Appliance Edition

Apr 122010

I learned that little boys will do anything to put off doing chores.

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What I learned this week...

Mar 292010

Is that not the most adorable pink button up there?

It’s up there because my friend Julie now hosts this carnival over at her place… you should click on it and go visit her!

This week, I have been up to my ears in new knowledge:

-I learned that if your son’s preschool teacher teaches him how to make a paper airplane, he will spend hours making thousands of them before the excitement has worn off.

It hasn’t yet.

We have a complete Air Force in our house, in my car, and in his backpack.

The coolest? By far, the one that he made out of a price tag.

-I learned that when your older son goes to his first wrestling practice, it might stress a Mama out to see him pinned like this:

But when he looks up from the mat with a huge smile on his face, she’ll feel a little better.

-I learned that when you send a 5 year-old into the bathroom to do his hair, he might possibly come out like this:

And want to stay that way all. day. long.

-I learned that reading the book that comes with a new camera pays off:

because Arizona sunsets are amazing.

-I learned that  when Kindergarten round-up is around the corner, you might be a little bit sentimental about these guys:

who just yesterday looked like this:

How does that even happen?

How do they go from babies to 5th grader and Kindergartner?

Overnight?!

Just yesterday they were eating animal crackers and wearing diapers.

Today, they’re going to wrestling practice and walking around with faux-hawks!

Ugh… I need a break from learning.

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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.

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Yo-Yo 101

Feb 092010

Apparently, yo-yoing (is that even a real word?) is the newest trend.

All the cool kids do it.

If you’re in 4th grade.

Or have an older brother in 4th grade.

And you live in Tucson.

Michael bought a yo-yo 2 weeks ago during a school assembly about character development.

Character development = yo-yoing?

Ok then.

Anyway, the lead character in the assembly is a yo-yo master.

Enter Michael and Jack. The newest yo-yo masters.

(Yes, you can be jealous that my kids are in bare feet and t-shirts. But you can’t yell at me about it.)

Michael’s yo-yo broke last weekend. We heard that a game store in the mall had some yo-yo supplies, so we made a trip out there.

At the mall, we met Fred. Fred is another yo-yo master.

Fred showed the boys tricks that made my jaw drop.

Fred obviously has way too much free time on his hands.

But Fred was kind, and very patient with the non yo-yoing Mom that was asking him a lot of yo-yoing questions.

This is where the post gets informative. Are you interested in yo-yos? Because I honestly feel that if I spent 40 minutes talking to a yo-yo master in the game store (where they sold “energy bites for gamers.” Seriously.), I should share the knowledge. If for no other reason than maybe it’ll save you a trip to the yo-yo store.

You see, this is a butterfly shaped yo-yo:

And this is an imperial shaped yo-yo:

There’s no big difference between the two – Fred says it’s all based on preference.

You can yo-yo with cotton string or polyester string. Polyester string is better because it doesn’t shred, and it’s thinner.

Yo-yos need friction in order to spin correctly. If your yo-yo is out of control and not yo-yoing correctly, you should buy some of these:

They’ll help your yo-yo yo-yo better :)

So, that’s my 40 minutes worth of knowledge from Fred, the yo-yo guy.

Please comment and let me know that in some area of your life, this was helpful.

Anyone?

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Big Lesson Learned

Jan 262010

What-I-Learned-This-Week

What I learned this week…

Hmmm…. let me see…

Oh, I know!

I learned that when buying a fancy schmancy new MacBook Pro for yourself, do not – I repeat – DO NOT put off backing it up.

Because if you were to put that off, you might possibly have lost (approximately) 976 pictures, 146 blog posts, progress notes/IEPs/lesson plans for 26 students, and one almost ready to publish blog giveaway.

We’ll find out tomorrow if they can be retrieved.

By the way… Do you know what the computer was doing while it crashed?

IMG00116-20100126-0938

Yup.

Backing up for the first time.

I was so proud of myself for finally doing it that I took a picture.

Damn. Damn. Damn.

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What I Learned This Week...

Jan 202010

What-I-Learned-This-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:

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?

IMG00090-20100115-1250

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!

CIMG3802

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.

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