Am I There Yet???

It's funny ... You grow up, hit a milestone and think you're "grown" ... dating, college, dating, marriage, dating, children, less dating ... more hi-5's in the hall ... all along the way, something big happens in your life and you say to yourself, "This is it, I've arrived!! I'm officially a grown up now". Well, last week, I think I finally 'arrived'. Yes, I've hit all those "big girl" milestones, but last Saturday, as I drug myself to the car at 6:15am, I had to laugh as I thought to myself, yep, I'm officially getting older. So, which milestone was it? ... ha..ha..

Man, it's early ... and Jon's car radio only gets 2 stations... and 1 is in spanish. grrr...

But ... Jon's home with boys and although they're still snuggled warm in their beds, I'm actually enjoying a little "quiet time" as I venture out this quiet morning to Casa Grande on my own.

Then again ... I've yet to hear anyone actually celebrate the occasion. Yikes!

"Put this on ... open in the front"

"Meet Joi ... and her friend, the digital Mammogram machine"

Yes ... see that tray where her hand is resting? Yea, that's where yer boob goes. And that clear/white portion above... that slowly gets lowered onto your breast, smashing it flat to take the picture. It's a little awkward and the cause for a great deal of laughter during the experience. LOL

And finally, Me, no longer a Mammo-Virgin. ha..ha... Seriously, it was really no big deal. They had the new digital machines, which Joi insisted was soooo much better than the old version. Although, it still "smashes" so I'm not sure how it differs. Maybe it's the duration of the shmoosh. In the end, it took less than 15 minutes and truly, it's not painful!

Most women begin getting mammograms at 40, but because of my family history, it was recommended that I get one now.

And now, for the "public service portion" of the entry. Remind the women in your life to get their annual mammogram. If you have a family history of breast cancer - talk to your doctor about when you should start. Even if you're not worried about breast cancer now, it's good to get a base-line mammogram so your doctor can detect changes from year to year.

Last week we met up with Grandpa and Grandma A & Aunt Mer to see the Temple lights at the Mesa Temple. It was beautiful ... the grounds are amazing every year. We also enjoyed the Nativity exhibit and music. The weather was fab and we had a great time.

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Fun Stuff

Don't you agree that arts & crafts are one of the best parts of the holidays? Ian and I had fun the day before Thanksgiving painting pictures and place cards for the family...

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk, Nov. 2008

November 9th marked a great day for us ... our walking team, Mimi's Pink Ribbon Warriors joined the American Cancer Societ's annual walk to raise money for breast cancer research. As my luck goes, I'd been knocked out with pneumonia earlier that week and was unable to join the team, but Jon and boys were able to participate.

I want to thank everyone who helped support the team either by donation, or joining us for the walk ... It was a great day and out team raised $1500. We'll look forward to next year and hope you'll join us if you're able!

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Southern California, October 2008

In this insanely long post, we'll uncover may mysteries, including:

What's up with this bench?

Why are the boys at the San Diego Zoo in their PJ's?

Who is this strange woman in our doorway?

The last week of October, Jonathan attended a CME Family Practice Conference in San Diego. Not ones to miss a good time, we gathered ourselves, along with Aunt Meredith and headed for SoCal on a Tuesday after work.

We headed west on I-8 towards California. Aunt Mer brought some new movies and all was well in the back o' the van. We arrived in Yuma for dinner and a stretch around 7p. Ian woke up just as we were pulling into the BK (who boasts a 3 story play ground... although as a Mom, I wonder if 3 stories is really that great of a thing.) Anyway, As we headed in, Ian, who was still waking up, missed the sidewalk step, tumbled and cut his upper lip. Awesome! Poor guy finally settled down, his lip swelled up and we made it through dinner. (I guess a paper crown really can make the difference. LOL) Before we got back on the road, we changed diapers and put the boys in their pajamas so we could just put them right to bed when we got to SD. A perfect plan, indeed. We pulled in to the hotel around 10:00pm a great place in Mission Beach that Meredith found called The Bahia. We unloaded the van got settled and called it a night.

The next morning, I got Jon off to his conference, about 8 miles away on the way back I stopped and picked up some groceries at Ralph's. A Fry's/Kroger affiliate. I mention this stop only so I can say this. This was the WORST grocery store I've ever been to. Not because of cleanliness, selection or price, but because the employees from top to bottom were rude, crass and completely inept. Staff was rude to each other, a elderly woman asked an emp for help finding something and he said, "I'm really busy right now". (WHAT???) You couldn't get anyone to make eye contact or say excuse me when they barrelled by you through small isle and at checkout, there were serious pricing discrepancies. (my 2.5lb of apples @ 10lb doe $10 somehow rang up for nearly $7. Even after they sorted out the pricing, the girl could figure out how to fix the register and said it still rang up right. (WHAT??) It was almost surreal. LOL but I digress.

Got back to the room, the boys were up and we all had some breakfast before getting ready for the zoo. Which is when we discovered the boys duffel bag was missing ... Yes, to make this very long story short (code for longer and less interesting...) It was gone - we'd unloaded it and knew it was in the lobby one the bench (pictured above) while we were unloading everything from the van. So, with the exception of the PJ's they were wearing, the boys had absolutely no clothes. Arg! We made phone calls to lost and found, scoured the hotel property for clothes strewn to 'n fro but turned up nothing. Wouldn't the folks who walked off with it be surprised when they found it stuffed full of toddler clothes. So, with nothing left to do, we packed up and headed to the zoo. We bought the boys zoo shirts, but the rotten Mom that I am, I figured they could stick it out in their thermals (Picture #2) until we could get to target. Yep, we got lots of interesting looks that day. LOL... that afternoon, we hit the Old Navy and Target and found some things to carry them through the week. To wrap up this long story, (assuming you're still with me) The next morning, while I was taking Jon to his meetings, the hotel called and they had found the bag near the front lobby of the hotel (A different bldg on the other side of the property.) I got back to the room and we all celebrated with the news. A short time later, the ever so popular "Strange Woman in the Doorway" knocked on the door with the red duffel back in tow. And boy, were we blessed. It appeared that everything was still in the bag. Whew! So, off to return the new treasure. ha!

The rest of the week was full of fun with visits to Sea World, la Jolla, the San Diego Temple, Carlsbad to visit Aunt Ashley, Uncle Dan & Cousin Cal and a trip to see Great Grandma Joyce before returning to Phoenix. If you've made it this far into the story, you're reward is the following collection of photos organized by event.

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Wedding Party

A couple of weeks ago we had the great pleasure of celebrating Jon and Angela's wedding. Unfortunately the night before we were heading to Las Vegas for the wedding, we faced an ear infection with Campbell and had to cancel our plans at the last minute. Fortunately, we were able to celebrate at their open house here in AZ.

It was a lovely evening and we all had a great time ... especially the kids who couldn't get enough time on the dance floor ... or candy! ha..ha We missed Jonathan who was on assignment at the HS Football Game. Gotta have a guy on hand when one of those kids gets hurt. (And it seems someone almost always gets hurt. LOL)

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It's long over due, considering we actually moved in at the end of September. Here are some pictures of the process. It was easy to keep tabs on the details, considering this was just down the street and around the corner from where we were living. There were after dinner walks nearly every day to check out the progress. I'm convinced the Superintendant on the job was as happy to see it end as we were with weekly follow up emails/phone calls with little "Can you fix, can you change, what about this..." messages ha..ha...

In the end, we are so happy to be here and look forward to the next big project - landscaping the backyard. Eventually, we'll post the interior, but I've yet to get any shots of the inside. One thing at a time, I guess.

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HEY!! COME BACK!!!

"Come Back, Come Back, COME BAAAAAAAACCCKKKKKKKKK!!!!"

This is what I heard Ian yelling out the window this morning when the garbage truck came to take away the trash. The windows were open, and he was watching the truck come down the street. Then I heard the truck stop at our house and Ian started hollering "STOP, STOP (pause) "Hey! ComebackcomebackcomeBAAAKKKK" (Yes, all one word) at the top of his lungs when he saw them empty the trash into the truck. I had to laugh and then explain that we really DID want them to take our stinky garbage away! LOL

Birthday Boy

So ... I am SERIOUSLY late in posting details about Ian's Birthday. Gimme a Break, it's been two months. Although I'm cutting myself some slack considering the recent move. Long story short ... Our 3 yr old enjoyed quite the week of Celebrations.

First, was an early party with Papa & Grandma A The Sunday before his birthday. Ian helped decorate his little cake with a "fruit-loop-number-3". He got a new Geo Trax
train set which he and Campbell both have tons of fun with.

On his birthday (Tuesday), we had a little family party along with his friend Gabby's family. Instead of Cake, we did a strawberry ice-cream pie (I just could do another cake, knowing there would be cupcakes and cakes to come later in the week. ha..ha.)

Wednesday at Play Group, we had fun little monkey cupcakes... unfortunately, no pictures.

And finally, Saturday was a family party with family and friends ... Ian's cousin Marc celebrated his 9th birthday that week so we had lots of fun celebrating with him along with his folks, and brother Stuart from Tucson, Mimi & Honk, Aunt Mer, our friend Kit along with Gabby, Joy & Ty. We had two cakes, and Aunt Meredith made some amazing cupcakes -- chocolate/chocolate and peanut butter/chocolate. There were fab! She always makes the funnest cupcakes. We love them!! (her latest were choc. with peppermint... bliss. LOL)

It's hard to believe he's 3. time flies and it seams impossible that this little guy has traveled with us coast to coast, living in Philly, Phoenix, Roseburg and Florence. Seriously. More towns than years ... ( A record, for sure! LOL he's such a fun, yet mischievous little boy... greeting you with a "What are YOU doing here" when you surprise him ... and singing "I Wonder When He Comes Again" at a volume 10. when we rock at night. (of course, it's a vol 2 when he sings for anyone else... but always a "10" when we rock in the dark and Campbell's sleeping a foot away from us. But I don't mind because I think it's sweet that this is his favorite song). Someday when there's more time, I need to sit and detail the funny things these boys do... They are so much fun!

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Birthday Bike

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WHAT??? Or maybe the better question is WHY???

Campbell doing a little "4-wheelin'" ...

Ian's all smiles. He give his approval of the laundry room...

An after-dinner walk around the neighborhood ...

Rock Star

Ian got a new Guitar for his birthday ... (yes, I'm a bit behind on the birthday updates) he's quite a rocker and will stop everything to play -- with or without an actual guitar (we've enjoyed more than a few air guitar performances in random public places. ha..ha...)

The doctor is in ...

Can you say... "Bend Over"?? ha ... ha ... Last week Papa Honk had knee surgery ... we paid him a visit and of course, the rubber gloves were a hit. Yes ... he's Jon's boy. LOL

Naps

OK... not often, but occassionally Ian will go take a nap, get up, and put himself back to bed somewhere else... yesterday was one of those days. I put both boys to bed. They spent a lot of time talking and eventually I heard Ian out of the room and playing with the trains. I told him to go back to bed, he shouted back an insincere "OK". After about 10 minutes, it was quiet. I went upstairs, expecting to find him asleep in the middle of the train tracks. No, the room was empty. I went down the hall to their room and found this ...

Poor guy - Pretty sweaty under there. LOL Actually, it was a little scarry to tell the truth, (no, this is not a PSA) and it reminded me that you really do have to check on them often ... I realize that he was probably safe and nothing tragic would have happened, but it was a bit creepy to see him kind of roll out while still asleep as I moved the bin. In the end all was well and this is just another "where is ian going to nap today" kind of post. ha..ha.. Which reminds, me ... it's kind of quiet, I should see what they're up to now. LOL

Shmoooosh

Yeah, that's me...clean face, bright smile... lovin' the camera

pretty swift ... good with a spoon ...

Unless it's pudding - then I will resort to other methods as necessary ...

OK, MOM, we get it... you think it's cute... me, chocolate all over the place ... blah, blah... let me eat, will ya? Sheesh!

Seriously, woman... back off. I think we're done here.