Spring (Break) Has Sprung

Here are the shoes...but where are the children? This phrase (or its reverse-form, "...where are the shoes?") seems to typify my whole spring! Spring is a great season in AZ; it's warm but not too warm, all the plants are blooming, and everyone loves to be outside...in my family's case, mostly shoeless.

Here are just a few of the things we've been up to this lovely spring (most of these pictures are from March, but I didn't have much time to write in March! Then came General Conference, then I had a cold earlier this week, yada yada yada...excuses, excuses). Lorelai's Spring Break actually lasts two weeks...which gave us plenty of time for fun. A lot of our activities included my parents, who came for a visit. Here, I'll talk about what we did the "rest" of the time ("rest" meaning, "before and after my parents' visit").

We played at the playground a few times...

...and also attended a spontaneous "Pie Day" celebration (one of our brainier ward members wanted to have a pie party on Pi Day (3/14--get it?), and everyone jumped eagerly on board).

Mmmmmm...pie. This picture only shows the tip of the iceberg, snack-wise; there were at least twice or three times as many pies as this. My contributions are near the lower right (by Lorelai); a ginger-flavored pear/apple pie, and a pumpkin pie (I had to raid the pantry for both, but they turned out great). It was one of the more fun, spontaneous parties I've attended recently, and the kids all enjoyed themselves too (even though two kids from the same family had to go to urgent care that night from injuries obtained near the skate park!).

We also had a few friends over to play, did some housecleaning, and went swimming at the clubhouse for the first time this season. Spring Break is becoming our traditional "first trip to the pool" time each year we live in Sahuarita! Speaking of family traditions...

...I also took the kids to Madera Canyon for a little lunch and hiking. As always, it was beautiful, relaxing and fun. It's always nice to see actual running surface water in Arizona, so I love to let the kids play in the creek.

The weekend before Spring Break's end was pretty busy all by itself. For one thing, we had to celebrate the end of Lorelai's second season of soccer!

We had our end-of-season party at the nearest Peter Piper Pizza's--the same restaurant where I had all my soccer parties as a child. "TRADITIOOOOOONNNN!"

Sadly, Lorelai's team only won a single game this season. It was tough on her (Lorelai is very competitive sometimes). Nate had to take over as coach partway through the season, and kids kept vanishing from the team. There was never a sense of cohesion. But by the end of the season, it was obvious that all the kids had improved, and they were really hustling out there! Lorelai in particular became a really good goalie...

Just look at that beast!! I was very proud of her improvement. Lorelai will be playing again this spring, and Nathan might be coaching as well (and although I love and support her in her activities, I hope this is the last soccer season for a while--it can be time-consuming and energy-draining for all involved!).

We also took a quick trip to the Reid Park Zoo just before school started again; it's just opened a large new elephant exhibit, complete with a whole mini-herd of elephants just transported to our zoo! We've loved visiting the zoo over the years, and we were pretty impressed, both with the elephants, and with their large new habitat:

Yay for cute baby elephants!

Hmmm, let's see...is there anything else I'm missing from Spring Break?

Oh, yeah, Celeste made an adorable Dr. Seuss hat at preschool (sorry, too cute not to share)...

...and we got our first family pet!! Yes, after more than a year of the kids bugging me for a pet dog, guinea pig, whatever...we finally settled on a hamster. A friend in the ward was actually trying to get rid of hers, since her pet cats were getting a little...threatening...toward the poor little guy. So, we agreed to take him on (along with his cage, bedding, food, etc., all of which was included in the deal. Nice!).

The girls decided to name him "Tuck," after a character in "Wonder Pets," a favorite show of theirs. He is very cute, but a little shy (he bit both Nathan & I, but has since consented to being gently petted). Hopefully he'll be a good introduction to the girls in the care & feeding of pets. Plus, I've always liked hamsters; I love watching them zoom around in their exercise balls or in their wheels! We'll see how long this lasts.

See you all at the pool later this summer!!

That's about it for Spring Break. Hopefully next time I can catch up on some field trips of Celeste's, as well as our Easter weekend. Stay tuned!

A Week With "Colorado Grandma & Grandpa"

Just like last year, March has proven to be a spotty month for blogging. We've been busy playing and working...here's hoping I can get caught up by the end of the month!

The highlight of our Spring Break was a visit from "Colorado Grandma and Grandpa"--aka My Parents, or Ray & Lori Nash. They make it to Arizona once or twice a year, so it was a special event. My parents arrived on March 16th--just in time for a bizarro cold spell (very unusual for Tucson in mid-March). We first shared an uneventful St. Patrick's Day (we had a soccer game in the morning, went shopping for painting supplies in the afternoon, and topped it all off with corned beef, cabbage, and potato cakes for dinner). So far, so good--80 degrees, sunny. Then, the very next day, came rain and chills. We had to turn on the fireplace...crazy!

On Monday, we ventured out with the whole family (minus Nate, who we'd be meeting for lunch at his work). We spent our morning at Pump It Up, a jumping-castle indoor play place we've visited before. It was crowded but fun (Grandma & Grandpa mostly sat & watched, but they took it all in good humor). Then we headed out to meet up with Nate and got caught in a heavy hailstorm...

So weird for southern AZ in March!! It was certainly strange to drive through it when I have, shall we say, fallen out of the habit of driving in inclement weather. Oh well, we made it to our lunch date with Nathan at El Guero Canelo, and then made it home safely afterwards. I did have to dash through the hail at one point (through a grocery store parking lot), but it worked out in the end...I was able to make delicious zuppa toscana for dinner that night (the Olive Garden recipe, according to the friend who sent me the recipe). It was the perfect end for a surprisingly chilly day:

Some other fun outings with Grandma & Grandpa included a trip to the International Wildlife Museum, which we'd also visited last November. Here are a few pictures from this museum (which is a great place to go if you like taxidermied animal dioramas):

Aurora's mesmerized by the animals...and Grandma's mesmerized by Aurora!

This wall made my dad think fondly of his big game-hunting older brother, my uncle Lee. He actually went on an African safari and shot animals not unlike these!

Celeste made herself at home on this crocodile

Lorelai surrounded by stuffed cats

Grandma & Aurora on the walkway into the museum

The girls loved this cute "courtyard" outside the museum

 

They also loved this lion statue!

Grandpa & Aurora goofing off

We also took Grandma & Grandpa Nash to the Green Valley Farmer's Market on the 21st:

By then, the weather had improved, and it was a lovely warm sunny day--perfect for strolling around outside, looking at local wares, and even buying a few things (the girls got some vintage jewelry--you can see their necklaces around their necks)! Mom and Dad also got a few things from their friends, and even a little yard decoration for me:

Cute! I love these little "rock bugs"; maybe someday I'll buy some friends for this guy (look: he's playing the piano! Awww, how adorable).

But it wasn't just fun and games last week...we got some work done too! Since we moved into the new house last year, my mom & dad have been invaluable in helping with our home improvement projects when they visit. Last year, for example, Grandpa pruned old trees, planted new trees, installed a bathroom sink, and painted a living room--among other things. Grandma was our "behind the scenes" help, as she kept the kids occupied, playing games with them and keeping them well away from the work sites. (She also slipped me a little money to get toys, food, and clothes--shhh! Don't tell Grandpa--all of which were much appreciated).

This year, I resolved to not overtax my parents as I'd done the year before...they needed some R&R, darn it! But they were eager & enthusiastic to get to work. My dad (much like myself) sees home improvement as a form of relaxation and recreation. Go figure. So here's what we did:

First, we painted the middle bedroom a pale yellow color; now all three of our hall bedrooms are painted!

Then, since we were on a "yellow" kick, we painted our downstairs half bathroom as well. I really like the way this turned out. The paint is a much brighter shade of yellow, and it's set off very nicely by the red towels inside the room. There's no window inside this bathroom, but the color makes it look so bright and sunny!

And I guess it wouldn't be a visit from my dad unless we pruned the heck out of one of our trees:

Before...

This is the tree in our backyard. Last year, during the deep freeze, most of the taller branches died off, and since then the tree has looked very skeletal & depressing. So, we finally decided to cut the sucker down to size, and chopped off all the tall branches!

...and after!

Yes, it probably looks a little stumpy and forlorn now; however, I think this will actually be to the tree's benefit in the long run. Hopefully it will grow a little quicker and healthier now that it's shed all that dead weight up top. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

After all that, my parents packed up the car and headed for Colorado (but not before leaving behind a little spending cash, some toys for the girls, and LOTS of hugs and kisses). As always, I'm in awe of what good workers my parents are, and of how loving and helpful they are. I'm so blessed and grateful to have them...and so is the rest of my family.

It's Easy Bein' Green

Unfortunately, this isn't referring to a financial windfall...it would be nice to have a little more "green"! Nor am I referring to a suddenly more upbeat Kermit the Frog...

No, I'm referring to the bedroom we just painted! Right now, all three of our girls are still sleeping in one bedroom (the largest of the three hall bedrooms, which we painted pink right before moving into the house). We figured that there would never be a better time to paint the rest of the bedrooms, since we don't have to displace anybody to do so.

However, my parents are coming at the end of this week (yay!), and we wanted to have the "guest bedroom" finished before they arrived. So, it was time to get painting! We were a little nervous; although we both like painting, we hadn't yet attempted to paint a room with just the two of us before. We'd always had parents or in-laws along to help. Oh well...time to be the grownups and do the job ourselves!

We mostly worked when the kids were asleep or otherwise occupied (school, in front of the TV, etc.). This meant that we took about a week to get the room to our satisfaction! I felt like I was constantly doing touch-ups when everyone's back was turned! I was also a little afraid of the green, once we started painting. I worried at first it might be too overwhelming (I've never had a "green room" before in any of my various dwellings over the years).

When it was all done, though, I was pretty pleased with the results!

Granted, the furniture will someday coordinate a little better with the color, but overall we're excited. There was much proud patting-ourselves-on-the-back between Nathan & I, as well! We love having our parents help out, but it felt great to do it all by ourselves too. I can't wait to paint the final hall bedroom with my mom and dad this week!

Busy Busy Busy--Some Miscellany from the First Quarter of 2012

Sorry...not too many pictures in this entry. This is mostly discussing family "stuff," much of which we never got around to photographing.

Today is the beginning of Spring Break for Lorelai. She gets two weeks off--yay!! I honestly don't know what we'll do the whole time--and that's kind of a nice feeling. We've been pretty darn busy lately (February in particular was nuts), and it's a relief to have a few more hours in the day to exhale and not do anything I don't want to do. All I want to do today is mess around on the computer and make some homemade pretzels (my friend gave me a delicious recipe and I'm dying to try it; plus I think the kids will have fun shaping their own pretzels!).

Of course, there are diminishing returns on sloth; after a while, the kids get pretty restless and so it's off to the races again. Maybe today, at least, lounging around the house and doing very little will appeal to everyone. Sloth (once in a while!) is a virtue, not a vice!

Here's a quick rundown on this year so far:

-My Primary President calling in church has kept me, how do you say, swamped. So far, we've done a baptism preview fireside (for those kids that will be turning 8 this calendar year); helped out with the ward service auction/camp fundraiser, which I've mentioned previously; and organized a Primary activity (mostly a pizza party and a lot of fun games), to congratulate the kids for their reverence during Sharing Time. Next month, we're holding a training night for Primary teachers, that will include a panel discussion. We also hold presidency meetings twice a month (we had additional mini-meetings over the last month, to finish coordinating everything). I also attend ward council twice a month. I've also attended a baptism, and been to a new member fireside our ward put together, in which we invited all the new move-ins and new converts. I've also attended a church Worldwide Training Meeting for leaders--at 6 am on a Saturday. Oh, the madness of it all!

Here's what else I've been up to so far in 2012; taken dinners to two different families with new babies; attended several birthday parties and baby showers; hosted a book club that doubled as a spa night (we all got facials!); led the discussion of Room by Emma Donoghue at another book club; had the missionaries over to dinner (on Valentine's Day! Hah); taught preschool twice for Celeste's cooperative preschool (more on that in a minute); hosted a Super Bowl party at our house in February; and hosted several game nights with several different sets of friends. I also still teach seven kids piano lessons every week, and have all the other "usual" activities (feeding/dressing kids; housework; etc.). Whew!

Nate's had much of the same going on. He's still learning the ropes of the Pima Association of Governments, but lately he has felt much more confident with his coworkers and his responsibilities alike. His job requires him to visit a lot of different places; he's been up to meetings in Phoenix at least twice this year so far. He's also been to Nogales twice, as well as all over town. He has meetings both night and day, so his schedule can be a little crazy sometimes. He also took an overnight trip to Rocky Point, Mexico, on a business trip. Poor baby! He's been busy outside work as well. He teaches the Gospel Doctrine class at church; he has a monthly game night with friends; he still attends the Sahuarita Planning Commission monthly meetings (he's on the town's planning committee); and he unexpectedly became Lorelai's soccer coach last month, too! He initially agreed to be an assistant coach (since he attended her practices anyway), and then the head coach had to withdraw for personal reasons. Nate knows next to nothing about soccer, but he's trying his hardest and the kids love him!

Lorelai is busy with school, of course--her math skills have really been improving, which is great news! She has finally figured out how to say her "R's," but she still has to think about it pretty hard and contort her mouth in unfamiliar ways. The results can be somewhat comical, but also encouraging...it has taken her a while to get to this point! She is also, as I mentioned above, playing soccer again this winter (and possibly in spring as well; a good friend of hers is on the team and wants her to keep playing!). She loves having Daddy as her coach; however, she is quite the competitive child. Her team has only won a single game so far this season, a fact which leaves her in tears after each game! So sad. However, she is a great goalie, and we are still proud of her efforts.

Celeste has also been a busy bee so far this year. She is still doing her dance class, and she really enjoys her preschool. She is very bubbly and outgoing, and luckily for her there are several cute little girls her age in Primary right now, so she has no shortage of playdates! She has also developed a rebellious streak a mile wide, and it's pretty exasperating. Every sentence she says to me begins with, "But I DON'T WANT..." or "No I WON'T..." Grrr. Other than that, she's quite charming.

The girls have also discovered the joy of riding their bikes outside with the neighbor kids. We are finally starting to get to know some of them pretty well, and it's fun for the girls to have playmates close by! Most of them are boys seven to ten years old, but that has never bothered my tomboy Lorelai before!! Also, Lorelai and Celeste have "moved up" their bikes; we finally put new training wheels on the pink Barbie bike, and Celeste looks quite grown-up riding it!

Most of our kids' afternoons are spent just like this...riding bikes up and down the street with each other, and with their friends! Good times.

Aurora has no trouble keeping up with the rest of us; in fact, I think she has more energy and determination than Lorelai and Celeste combined. She only takes naps every other day or so (sigh), but she seems to get enough rest and function at full speed without them (double sigh). She is starting to talk quite a bit, too--there's still a lot of confusing babble, but every day more and more words emerge fully formed. She is quite adventurous and always wants to do what the bigger kids are doing--up to and including riding bikes and using monkey bars at the playground (with some help from Mama, of course).

And, because I need another photo or two, here's what I cooked up for preschool a couple of weeks ago:

Baklava! I'd never made it before, but it wasn't as hard to assemble as I'd thought. And it was darn tasty, too! It got yummier and yummier the longer it sat around, since the honey and butter had time to fully seep into the nutty filling...let's just say I will be making this again...soon, I hope!

Plus, we were talking about "diamonds" in preschool, and look what shape I cut them in??

I also made some diamond-shaped sandwiches, with a cream-cheese veggie spread. Too bad the kids didn't like them...too bad for them. I ate most of the leftovers...burp.

Well, here's hoping the next few months of 2012 won't be quite so jam-packed; but I'm not holding my breath either. My parents are coming this weekend for their annual visit (yay!), so we'll have some new home remodeling projects to post to the blog soon.

Happy Leap Day 2012!!

I wasn't going to blog for the rest of February, but I would be remiss if I forgot to mention that today is a truly special, magical time. Today--Wednesday, February 29, 2012, is Leap Day...a holiday that finally has the attention it deserves, thanks to 30 Rock.

Thanks, NBC.com

Yes, 30 Rock--the sitcom on NBC. The one starring Tina Fey & Alec Baldwin, about a group of eccentric weirdos that put together a weekly sketch comedy show. I'll freely admit that 30 Rock isn't my favorite show--I'll also admit its best days are beginning to fall behind it. However, last Thursday night, they aired the episode "Leap Day," which was so gloriously strange and innovative that it's changed forever the way I feel about a once-every-four-years extra day to keep our inaccurate calendar on track.

See, in 30 Rock's world, Leap Day is a magical time where anything can happen! It's a day when people take a break from their usual routine to try something they've never done before...like wearing a shark-tooth necklace, listening to rap music, going cliff-diving, or treating a group of homeless people to a $50,000 spending spree at the nearest Benihana's restaurant (long story, watch the episode).

Leap Day is also the time when magical do-gooder Leap Day William appears from the depths of the Mariana Trench to deliver candy to all crying children! He's the spirit of adventure, excitement and joy that prevails just once every four years...a symbol representing the endless possibilities of Leap Day! And because of his dapper yellow & blue suit, everyone wears yellow and blue on Leap Day (or else people are allowed to tweak your nose & smack your cheek--watch out!)

Sounds pretty exciting right? So...time's a-wasting! Remember, anything is possible on Leap Day...and "reality is for March!" So go a little wild; sign up for that community college pottery class; try out a different hairstyle; go for a run in an unusual place; eat at a restaurant you've never been to before. Anything to celebrate wild & crazy Leap Day!

As for me? Well...I'll definitely wear blue and/or yellow. Hmmm...maybe I can wear my hair in a bunch of crazy ponytails? Make some green eggs and ham? When I'm at home taking care of two little kids, life doesn't seem so wild. But I'll still have fun!

Speaking of "green eggs and ham"...this week, Lorelai's school is celebrating "Dr. Seuss Week," in honor of the famous children's author, whose birthday is on March 2nd. Every day, they're doing something different to celebrate the impact of Seuss' books on popular culture. Yesterday, they ate "green eggs & ham." Today, Lorelai's assignment was to wear a "Seuss-a-riffic" outfit, to celebrate the good doctor's wild visual style! Here's what she ended up wearing...

This hairstyle was a lot of fun to put together!

Cindy Lou Who's got nothing on my kid! It also feels appropriate that the day to dress "Seuss-a-riffically" falls on Leap Day. What better time to go a little wild? Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to seize the day...