Happy New Year

Happy New Year! This is just a small taste of the New Year's celebration (and maybe some foreshadowing for Little Ax, he couldn't put down the cup of apple cider for anything....) Stay tuned our friend will post more soon.....The first family event for the New Year was the Fiesta Bowl Parade, along with thousands of other families! We decided to head over the parade early to truly enjoy all its festivities.. like the potato shooters that are now sold on the same cart as cotton candy... I may be out of the parade loop because I really thought the guy was kidding until he showed me the actual potatoes (look close and you will too)!!! Needless to say we did not purchase one, but maybe next time...

Little Man had to fill up on juice getting ready for the big parade...

Ax did what he does best... SNACK.. SNACK.... SNACK .. SNACK (at least I brought noodles this time, yes actual noodles)

Game faces... These days this is the one of the only ways Little Man will look at the camera....

While I was watching the parade, I thought what could I do in a parade... play the tuba, no that instrument is bigger than me, and then I saw these women and thought my friends and I will definatley be doing this in about 20 years!!!! Look at those legs!

One of my favorite things was a costume club that is in the Valley for Star Wars fans. Made me think I was in Hollywood for a brief second...

And after the various balloons (because floats aren't the cool thing anymore) hundreds of horses and various marching bands, Little Man was ready to head home....

Batman Birthday Bash

Little Man requested a Batman theme for his birthday party this year, which I was surprised because he still plays A LOT of cars and racing games. But this could be a year to break the mold... Pa, NaNa, and TaTa were gracious enough to let us have the party at their house and there were lots of activities for everyone! We started early with some horse rides....

TaTa was excited that Hannah was able to hang out for a little while.

We thought a group picture was a good idea before the treasure hunt and the special guest appearance!

Ax looks cute in this one and Little Man must be teething and checking his molars!And off to the treasure hunt....After a few clues we found the Treasure... .Nananananananan.... BATMAN!Little Man was a bit nervous about Batman, but I thought a family picture was a must (and Jen just for you I rolled my Buckle jeans, so they wouldn't get dirty!)

Happy 4th Birthday

Another year has past and Little Man is now 4! I cannot believe I have a child who is 4, where has the time gone?

One thing I have learned, among the many daily lessons, is that at the age of 4, a child knows exactly what they want to eat when you say, "you can have anything to eat for your Birthday"... So of course, Little Man requested french toast with whipped cream and sprinkles for breakfast, chocolate muffin for snack and pigs in a blanket for lunch with cake for dessert (I did strongly recommend that he eat three bites of eggs for breakfast, I had to control some part of the day!)

My mom, Marty, and TaTa were here to celebrate Little Man's birthday and he was really excited.... Ax was really excited to see the camera.

One of his favorte presents was a GIGIO.. Thanks Friends :)

As you can imagine he was a bit hyped up on sugar so we took him to ZooLights to burn off some of the sugar or at least crystalize it for later! And apparently they hand out 3D glasses to look at ZooLights in a whole new way. It made me a little dizzy and I felt like I was at a Grateful Dead concert, but these two seemed to like it.

It didn't take long to open the hot chocolate and enjoy the yummy snacks Grammie brought...

Happy Birthday Little Man. You are a tenderhearted boy who brings a lot of joy to our family! Thanks for your craziness and smiles that always brighten our day! We Love You Bubba!

Happy Halloween

In effort to get in the Halloween spirit, we started with some scary faces....Watch out these are pretty scary....

After a bit of the scariness wore off, we started making some desserts for the Annual Halloween Party. Ax was much more interested in eating the "nails" than helping make them.
Next on the agenda was pumpkin carving! The kids were not excited about touching the pumpkin mess, but with the help of spoons it sounded like a great idea!
And the finished product... Little Man is so excited TaTa is in town.
Then off to the best Halloween Party... TaTa was Alice and Ax was.......

This year Little Man could choose his own costume and from the beginning he said "I want to be a Ghost". For some reason, I wasn't satisfied with this and tried REALLY hard to change his mind... took him to the Disney Store, looked at any and all superhero costumes online, promised lots of candy, and his response was... "Seriously, I want to be a Ghost".... So alas here's the Ghost of Halloween (he's a scary ghost too), Ax the Dino, and Big Man!

And in order to get the true representation of Ax's costume, you have to see it from behind.

And what happens when you combine lots of sugar with a tired dino.... a completely zoned out toddler :)

Always an Adventure at the Zoo

Well, for those zoo lovers there is a new exhibit at the zoo that we discovered this week. Feeding the giraffes! Little Man was so excited and he kept telling us how his friend fed a giraffe from a car and he wanted to do it too. We waited in line and received the specific directions, not to step past the line and do not pet the giraffe. Little Man had fun and would not pose for any pictures, so I managed to snap some from afar.

And of course Little Ax wanted to feed the giraffe too. I thought he would be nervous, but he pushed past me and took the biscuit and walked right up to the feeding line....

Next my desire was to have a picture with me and the boys, but the preschooler would not coooperate; so Little Ax and I posed for the camera while the giraffe sniffed our snack pack... that 18 inch long tongue made me a little nervous.

Another sight was the random peacock that was strolling around the zoo. Little Man was excited to see the peacock from a distance, but would not get too close. Although some of those feathers would look great on a headband! Maybe next time.

And the last adventure that I wasn't able to catch on film (thank me later) was the frisky baboons and their game of tag. I'm not ready to explain that lesson, so we quickly walked past that exhibit.

First Day of Preschool

It's school time again for Little Man this year and he was more excited than I was. He is attending Risen Savior again this year and keeps reminding me that he is too big for Miss Debbie's class, so he will be in Miss Nancy's class this year. On the way to school this morning he told me how excited he was to be going to school and right before my very eyes I felt him growing up. Where did my Little Boy go? I was a bit misty eyed to drop him off and lingered around for awhile peeking in the window to make sure he was okay, then pulled myself away.

He was eager to take pictures before school for about 1 or 2 nanoseconds, so here is proof of him doing something ONLY because Mom told him to.....

Notice his cool hairdo, he did it all by himself, blow dryer and all :) Sniff Sniff.....

Here's my Little Pumpkinhead......

And as we were walking into the room he began to get nervous and ask, "So Mom we don't come here tomorrow, right, just right now." I assured him only on Tuesdays and Thursdays and he sat down at the table and drew this pretty picture. After I left the teacher said he asked for me a lot and a girl in his class sang him a song to comfort him. This definitely made me a bit more misty eyed :)

Montana Mountain Adventures

Surprise Surprise... we have ventured on vacation again. The heat in Arizona is a bit much this time of year, so we decided to take the family to NaNa's and Pa's for two weeks. We arrived on Friday night and have been having tons of fun playing outside (novel concept for us). The first item on the agenda was sweeping the barn... Little Man's request, I promise. He even convinced his brother to join in on the fun. I may have to start paying an allowance??

Up next on the agenda of fun and festivities was a mule ride. Adam and Dexter had some bonding time before the ride up to the round pen.Little Man was not shy about riding the mules, he loved Dexter, but asked "Why isn't Dexter a horse?" I said "Because God wanted him to be a mule. Why do you think he's not a horse" Little Man thought for a second and then said "Because he has small legs."Alex wanted to ride Dexter too after his brother, but wasn't totally sure he made the right choice...


The ATV has also been a big hit and an eye opening experience why Adam will not be allowed to buy a motorcycle anytime in the next 50 years!

And since it cools down here in the evenings, we decided to have a cook-out. Mostly because Adam wanted to roast marshmallows for his newest innovative dessert!
Alex really liked the pine trees and I couldn't resist taking several shots to capture how cute he is :)And Nana with her two favorite grandsons...
Jen's flowers have been such a hit that Alex even wanted to wear one... until Adam intervened!

And a vacation would not be complete without a little excitement and adrenaline rush. It started when Big Man, Little Man, TaTa, Alex, and I were heading down a little path behind the house and Little Man picked up this log for the next cookout. As soon as he lifted the log a swarm of bees were around his legs. Adam leaped over a mound of rocks and grabbed Little Man and ran up the hill screaming... Little Man was stung six times and alas is not allergic to bees. I resisted the urge to take pictures of the baking soda covered legs, but you can visualize it. Little Man was a trooper and now we can mark bees and scorpions off the allergy list!

Here's a picture of the hive inside the log.....

Everyone has recovered and we are heading to an indoor water park / resort for the weekend. Stay tuned for more pictures because I have started a new trend of only posting when I am on vacation!