AZ

The kids and I just got back from a long trip to Arizona.  February/March is the best time to go visit.  The weather was perfect.  We had a blast!  I can't think about it too much because it makes me a little teary to think we live far away but we'll be back in May!

 

This was day 1.  Covered in mud.

Wicked!  It was awesome. Thank you daddy!

We spent a good amount of time at Grandma B's.  Here we are throwing oranges to the cows.  My mom, grandma and I all threw one to see who's would go the farthest.  Grandma won.

Chuck-e-cheese.  I never want to return but my kids LOVE it so until next time.

Our cousin Kate takes gymnastics at a really cool gym.  Here is Emmie mid-air jumping into the foam pit.  The girl is fearless.

Pete is mooching ice cream off of Grandma.  She gladly spoons it into his mouth. 

Emmie's very first official haircut.  Yes, she is 3 1/2.  It really did take that long for it to grow past her ears!

Pete loving the tractor at Grandma B's.  One day we went out there and my grandma said, "we should go to the park" and then we said, "this is the park".

Emmie's favorite people in the whole world are her cousins.  We took them to see Beauty in the Beast in 3-D.  They even dressed up for the occasion. 

The Rensink grandparents even came down!  It was so fun being able to see them.  And yes Jenna, I included this picture on purpose.

Emmie got to go to preschool as her cousin's show and tell.  It was pretty cute.  Here she is showing everyone her new shoes... and her underpants. Luckily Lorinda had a pair of leggings which quickly got put on.

Emmie and I took Jenna lunch at school.  Isn't she just the cutest 2nd grader?  We had so much fun.

The Phoenix zoo. Why do kids love the petting zoo so much?  At least they give you these neat little mits to comb their hide. I don't know about you but goat's eyes freak me out.

We had a cowboy-themed baby shower/party for my sister-in-law Lorinda.

Here we played "There's a snake in my boots". I now have 20 little plastic snakes around my house since my mom make me pack them up and take them with me.

The end.

We had so much fun.  It was nice getting to spend time with aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and friends.  We are so lucky to have such a terrific family.  We can't wait until next time!

We have been in AZ for the last 2 weeks.  It has been a blast.  While we have been away I have noticed that my kids truly are disgusting.  They are constantly dirty.  It must be the dry Arizona soil because they look like pigpen every day.  To give you an idea of how gross they are, I'm going to give you a list. I'll let you guess what thing goes with who.  

1. Found a used band aid in their mouth.

2.  Tooted and then asked their cousin to smell it. 

3.  Played in the toilet so often I ran out of shirts... and once while their sister was going #2. 

4.  Had the dirtiest feet I have ever seen and then decided to bite their toe nail.  

5.   Likes to suck on rocks and leaves and dog food.

6.  Finger pained with ice cream all over the booth at Jason's Deli.

7.  Licked the entire chair seat at Jason's Deli.

 8. Goes through the trash regularly. 

9.  Was given a piece of granola bar which was squished, dropped, stuck on the bottom side of a sock, then picked up and eaten. 

10. Was sent to the bathroom before bed and after about 15 minutes came out with wet arms past their elbows.

 

I know there are more.  I promise that Brenden and I are good, clean people.  We have taught our kids none of these habits.  Where do they get this?  And I want you to know you'd be surprised which were Pete are which were Emmie. 

Dress up

We had a dessert auction fundraiser tonight for the girls at church to raise money for camp.  It was advertised as "dress up like your favorite decade".  I took this to heart and pulled out my 25 year old crimper as well as my teeny tiny barreled curling iron.  I have saved them both for such an occasion.  I love dressing up. 

I talked my good friend into dressing up with me.  We showed up and were the only two dressed up.  Come on people!  I thought my hair looked amazing.

I was going for this...

I think I might just leave it for tomorrow.  Pete really loved my bangs.  He kept trying to push them down. 

Spot the Baby

10:24 PM.  Checking on kids before bed.

100 points if you can find Peter.

Snow Day, Pt. 3

If you missed it, parts 1 and 2 were us looking at the dump from last night and me slaving away and putting my back our shoveling.  Literally the moment I walked in from shoveling, the kids were geared up in snow pants and ready to play outside.  I requested a 30 minute break, which Julianne kindly granted.  After some food, Pete, Emmie, Kate, Julianne and Kate's Dad Chris headed out.

Pete struggled a bit because the snow was so deep and heavy.  He tumbled around, took an actual spill face-first onto the pavement, and was still having so much fun that he put up quite a fight when Julianne took him in.

 Emmie and Kate did some "sledding," mucked around and threw chunks of snow at me.

 Last, I filled my annual fatherly duty of making a snowman.  Although Julianne insists it is a great traditional looking snowman, I always dream of Calvin and Hobbes-esque snowman masterpieces.  He made it look so easy, but rolling up huge balls of heavy wet snow, lifting them onto one another, making them rough, etc....it is isn't that easy.  Maybe next year...

 I must say, however, that is a darn good snowman.  Emmie approved.

Today's Shoveling, Tomorrow's Back Pain

I took a few preemptive ibuprofens and headed outside to shovel.  It look about 1 1/2 hours to do enough of the driveway to get a single car through. 

The snow plows got stuck for about 25 minutes,

The entire driveway was a 30-36 snow drift of HEAVY wet snow.

Almost done...oh wait - I  have to shovel the huge mound of snow the city snow plows created.  Another 30 minutes...

So tired.

Winter is Back!

We had a couple good snow storms in early December, but for the last 6-7 weeks it has been unseasonably warm.  I averaged it out, and our average high has been over 47 or so.  4-5 days in the 60s, about 15 days in the 50s.  Unreal.  

When we went to be last night it had just started snowing.  This morning we have a good 8-10 inches with some 2-3 ft. snow drifts on the driveway. 

Opening the Garage Door.  The snow is heavy and wet - sticking to the door.

 

 We can't see out of a number of our windows.

 And to think - I grilled Teriyaki Chicken on that grill about 14 hours ago.

Brrr.

  My driveway is under the drift somewhere.  That will be fun to shovel.

Denver

My friend Leah and I tried to take a trip to Denver before Christmas but we were snowed in!  We were so sad.  I left my suitcase packed for a week after that.  Well, our husbands let us try it again and we made it a couple weekends ago (she had a free night in a Marriott)! I had never left my family like that before.  I have to admit, it was so nice shopping without anyone hanging on my leg (Brenden) or having to accommodate hungry children and naps.

We met up with my oldest friend Carla who lives there and Leah's friend Sarah.  It was awesome. We started out on the 16th street mall and the new H&M.  From there we ate and walked leisurely through another shopping mall and the next day spent 4 hours in Ikea.  Did you know you can spend 4 hours in Ikea?  Well, you can without children.  

This is the carpet in the hotel.  I want it in my house. 

Downtown Denver.  I love it.  It was so fun walking around at 11:00PM with thousands of other people.  It was much different coming from Kearney where everyone is in bed by 9:00PM. 

We ate to our hearts content. 

The damage.  Its a good thing only there were only 2 of us in the car.  No one else would have fit.  I'd like you to know this is not all my stuff.  It's Leah's... haha!  Just kidding Leah.

Brenden- you are awesome!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Home Sweet Home

Quick disclaimer: We are incredibly fortunate to have found a place to rent in Kearney that has enough space for our family.  It is in a great neighborhood, has a backyard, swingset, double car garage, etc....

However, this house has some issues. 

We suspect it was designed by Mike Brady in the 70's with no concern for child safety. 

Problem1: Banister railings too far apart.

We finally put up some twine so Pete would stop squeezing his body through to jump to the lower level.  It was either the twine or feed him more so he wouldn't fit through.

Problem 2:  Kid sized oven.  

Does this really seem safe?  My 3 year old and 1 year old can open the oven.  Not to mention turning the oven on and setting the timer.  There have been many days where I thought the fire alarm was going off but really it was the oven timer.  Thanks to the kids we have also come home to the oven being on... but for how long is the real question.

Problem 3: Stairs.

 I know this isn't a safety violation per se,  but it definitely violates my decor sensibilities.  I am talking about the carpeted walls.  Maybe this would be considered an improvement in safety.

Problem 4:  Fire place.

Notice that you can't see the fireplace in this picture.  It is hidden well behind our card table.  Thanks to B for his quick thinking.  I was tired of cleaning up soot off of Pete's clothes, mouth and face. 

Problem 5: Pete

I just wanted to show everyone how good my son is at climbing the furniture.  Normally his is standing up trying to turn on the fan!

Travel / Photo blog

Did we mention that we started a 2nd blog.  Just for fun.  http://everywherewevebeen.blogspot.com/