October 27, 2009
Happy Birthday, my sweet & beautiful 2 year-old girl!
Elise claps after everyone sings for her.
Out to lunch and shopping with Grammar!
October 26, 2009
Ahhhhhh! I have been training the children for 8 months, “If you see a scorpion, run to me as fast as you can and tell me. If your sister is by it, drag her away.”
No problem. The kids were playing outside this morning while I was watering the plants. Aidan had unbeknownst to me gone into the garage to get his bike. He came rushing outside and with a very scared cry said, “There’s a scorpion!” I was on the phone with Tom so I hung up quickly and asked Aidan to show me where it was. He was not budging. I asked him how big it was, and held out my fingers to show it was probably 2 inches long. He said, “No, Mom, its a MONSTER scorpion!” I then insisted he show me where it was so that I could kill it. I got him into the house but he was not going into the garage. He said, “Open the door, Mom – you’ll see it!” I thought, oh brother, it’s going to take me forever to find.
Uh, wrong. I opened the door, and I saw it. I had no idea scorpions came this big. I wanted to take a photo of it but was too scared that it would get away or get a kid while I was gone. It was freaky. It was about the size of a large grapefruit. It was up high on its legs scurrying around. Fortunately I had grabbed a big stick and I smashed it as fast as I could. I turned around to find the kids. Elise had gone outside. The boys had locked themselves upstairs in my room. Thomas had taken one look at the thing and wasn’t taken any chances.
I then praised Aidan for following our house scorpion rules. He knew exactly what it was when he saw it. He does have a pretend scorpion, after all. And it was so creepy looking his instinct made him run anyway. It turns out there are many varieties and sizes of scorpions. I think the biggest kind was in our garage.
This isn't even as creepy as the one in our garage. It was standing up on its legs and was huge.
I’m now wearing shoes which is rare in our home. Every time something touches me I check to see what it is. Please, come visit! I’ll try to have them all out of the house for your stay. 
October 7, 2009
It’s been a while since I posted anything. I haven’t made it a priority, partly due to our trip to Seattle this summer and preparing to homeschool, and wondering if anybody really wants to read this anyway. However, I love reading others’ blogs and would love to have a better record of our goings on, so here I go!
Aunt Barbie from the Canary Islands of Spain is currently visiting us. I am enjoying a continual feast for new ideas with our preschoolers. Barbie ran a Montessori preschool for 30 plus years. She is a loving and delightful person and as my husband told her when he picked her up from the airport (while I was at home mopping the floors!), “Barbie, we couldn’t pay you for what you are about to do (for us)!” I hope to share more of her ideas and some photos later.
Today, when I opened up my Bible, these words jumped out at me and my thoughts could not be quieted, no matter how out of context they are:
“…and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry…” (No problem, got that covered, that’s most of what I do all day long.)
“…and satisfy the needs of the oppressed…” (Got that covered too, I spend most of the rest of my time rescuing one child from another and teaching them how to be kind.)
“…then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.” Isaiah 58:10-11
Wow, I get all that just from feeding and refereeing my children?! I know, I know, it isn’t exactly what the passage is speaking of, but on a day when the work and squabbles seem endless, this gave me a good laugh at myself and encouragement from God that my children are worth every bit of effort.
June 22, 2009
We went to the Phoenix Zoo today to celebrate the Daddy in our family. It was 104 degrees – definitely the hottest Father’s Day we’ve ever experienced, although we were told by someone at the zoo today that it has been unseasonably cool this month. The heat pretty much exhausted us for the rest of the day (and the day after actually!) so we’re not thinking too much about how cool it was! I’m thankful for the awesome father Tom is to our children, and we are both thankful for our own fathers who have invested so much into our lives. At least we got to make phone calls to our Dads since we couldn’t see them in person!
Thomas took this one! It hit me today that we have a child old enough to take pictures.
Half the fun of the zoo is all the places to climb and run.
Elise likes to do everything like her brothers!
This was our first trip to the zoo where Elise spent most of the time out of the stroller running to each exhibit. When I set her free she had such an excitement about her to be a big kid like her brothers! It was delightful to watch. I think we just entered a "little-easier" phase, as Tom and I found that we didn't have to worry as much about losing any of the kids.
Daddy put the boys on the camel for a ride.
The splash pad and cave with water slides was another highlight.
June 20, 2009
We found a dentist the kids love! Great care, balloons, and a rainforest lobby with a big screen TV. It was actually fun to go.
Walking home from the pool.
In the backyard. Do you get the feeling it is hot & sunny here a lot? Tom and I laugh that when it gets down to 90 we think its cool. Clearly, this is not Seattle!!
May 16, 2009
I have been reading “Just Heard Thursday” on the Strovas’ blog for months now. Chris, you finally inspired me to do one of our own, and yes, I even used your logo. (Although it doesn’t exactly match with today, I still like it!)
So here are some cute and fun quotes from our kids we’ve been collecting for several days now:
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Aidan: “I’m sucking on your hand because I’m a mosquito.” (While sucking on Mommy’s hand.)
Aidan: “I can eat hands!” He looks up at Mommy and smiles.
Aidan: “I can eat fingers!” More smiling.
Aidan: Looking up, “How many fingers do you got?” Back to sucking my hand again.
Mommy: “5.”
Aidan: Looking up again briefly in-between sucks, “How many left?”
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Aidan: Proudly sporting his Seahawks jersey recent hand-me-down from his brother. “I’m going to wear my football shirt to the (t-ball) game today.”
Mommy: “You need to wear your Raptors shirt like the rest of the team.”
Aidan: “If I wear this one, will I need to get out of the team?”
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Thomas: (Loudly) “May I have your extension everybody?”
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Mommy: “Say bye-bye to Daddy.”
Elise: “Bye-bye!”
Mommy: “Say I love you.”
Elise: “Lub you!”
Daddy: Big grin as this is the first time he’s heard his daughter say that.
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Aidan: He can go fly away now. (As I slide a ladybug off his hand at swim practice.)
Mommy: Why are you letting him go?
Aidan: So he can go eat some other bugs.
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Aidan: Mommy, you’re cute! (He says this several times a day while he looks at me adoringly. It melts my heart.)
Aidan: God’s cute too!
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Thomas: ”Mom, do you know what my favorite thing in the whole world is? Everything in the whole world. And this oatmeal you made me for breakfast.”
Thomas: “Mom, do you know what my favorite color is? Orange, black, red, green, yellow, white and silver.”
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May 11, 2009
I try not to have to big of a picture of what Mothers’ Day should be like. Today, I just wanted to have a day where I didn’t have to cook and I had 3-4 hours away to scrapbook (pretty much a bi-annual event!). So I’ve been relishing this day for those 2 reasons.
Tom fed the kids quick peanut butter & honey open-faced sandwiches. He gave me a beautiful card that made me emotional. Everyone looked cute, Tom watched the kids while I did my hair, AND we were on time to church at 9am. It was a lovely service and afterwards Elise destroyed my pretty pink carnation but what did I expect?
I decided in the church courtyard that I should have a photo with my 3 kids. It didn’t turn out very well and I was a little cranky with my husband, having hoped he would take 4 or 5 shots rather than 1 quick one with the kids looking antsy. Even though I snapped at him, he graciously came up with a very fun idea to fulfill my desire.
He took us to a very cool spot in our community. It is the name of our community with a big waterfall and an odd looking structure. It turned out there were paths and (man-made) waterfalls and we had a delightful time walking around finding the best photo spot. The kids went in the water and threw rocks. Tom found the perfect set of rocks for us all to sit on — the only problem was that our camera only has a timer with 10 seconds to climb over the rocks, and there was a pond between the camera and the rocks. So it took 4 tries, but we finally got a great shot, and had a splendid time to boot!
Can you even tell I climbed over the rocks that fast?! Tom did the scrambling for the first 2 shots, but I had given him the wrong instructions for the camera timer so this time it was my turn.
Given that it was almost 100 degrees already we decided to go home where Tom made me my requested waffles made with freshly ground whole wheat pastry flour and bacon. Yummmm! While he cooked the kids and I opened a mothers’ day package from my parents which included some fun items for the kids so we all played until brunch was ready.
Then, I got to go to our community’s residence club which has a library that I sat in for THREE hours and scrapbooked alone. I was quite beside myself with joy. I came home to a delicious dinner and happy kids. We ate fast and then went to the pool for an hour before it closed at 7pm. The kids giggled and laughed and splashed and it was the perfect ending to our day. Oh, wait! Tom had us all ready to have ice cream cones in the back yard when we came home.
Having a nice chat with my Mom on the phone completed my day. It couldn’t have been more perfect. Thank you, Tom! Thank you especially for having a good attitude even when I didn’t. My husband is wonderful at handing out grace even when I don’t deserve it and I’m so very thankful. (I’d say thank you to the kids but they didn’t really seem to get the whole Mothers’ Day thing. They made cards for me in their Sunday School class, but then told me they’d made them for themselves and they weren’t for me afterall! ) And thank you to God who gave us a much appreciated day full of joy, beauty, grace and love. We needed to laugh together for (almost) a whole day, and w e d i d ! ! !
May 9, 2009
It is quite interesting living in the land of the sun. When we originally visited Phoenix to see if we wanted to move here, it was in October. It was over 90 degrees every day and I thought it unpleasantly hot. We moved here in February and as it has gradually heated up, I think our bodies have adjusted to the heat. Until this week, the kids have played outside every day and have never complained about the heat. Today it was 105 and when the kids went outside to play as usual, Thomas came right back inside saying, “It’s too hot out there!”.
A friend of mine told me she doesn’t use the air conditioning downstairs in her house all day. I thought, wow, how does she do it? Well, today I thought I’d try it out to save a few pennies. The morning went well, and then I confess we did turn on the AC upstairs for naptime. But by about 3pm I was considering giving in and turning it back on. However I persevered.
My coping skills were drinking lots of water, and forcing the kids too as well. That was pretty much it. (Oh, and a promise of ice cream cones on the lawn after dinner!)
By about 6pm I was used to it! I thought, what a victory, it doesn’t really seem that hot anymore! And before you say, yeah, but by 6pm it is cooling down, you must check out our weather forecast one day. Lately 5pm has been the peak of heat in our day, and at 6pm it is only 1 degree cooler.
After dinner we went outside since it was shady. It was still quite hot (well over 90) but it felt gloriously cool and refreshing. When I said that out loud, Tom looked at me like I was a bit crazy! You see, he had been door-knocking in and out of the heat all afternoon, in a suit no less. So when he came home he turned on the air conditioning, and no, outside was not refreshing to him. When I went back into the house (the AC was set at 80 by the way) I was FREEZING! Side note: lest you think Tom can’t handle the heat, he is normally better at it than I am. He is the best person in our household to drink enough water and is always handing me glasses of water – I think that is the only way he can keep up his stamina working outside so much.
Dad, you were right! If you keep the AC set not too much lower than outside, it doesn’t seem as hot outside. We’ll see if I can keep this up day after day… Much of the world must live in heat like this and hotter without access to air conditioning. I can’t imagine what that must be like, as we pretty much live in the lap of luxury. It makes me realize that I take for granted most of the comforts I have access to on a regular basis. Well, I’m going to go have a scoop of ice cream and go to sleep in my air conditioned room, because really, I’m starting to feel a bit warm…
May 5, 2009
Here are a few things we’ve been up to lately:
Our MOPS group had a clothing swap, and the kids were so excited they wore their new duds around the house (and outside in 85 degree weather) all day.
April 13, 2009
Easter was a special celebration for us this year. Tom’s Mom, Jo Ann, spent the weekend with us. Her friend Elaine also joined us for Easter dinner. The day before Easter it rained the FIRST time since we’ve lived here (2 months!). Easter day was gorgeous and sunny so we played outside most of the day.
Aidan started this trend, and the other 2 kids followed suit.
The kids in our backyard looking for eggs!
Thomas could hit the ball all the way across the yard - after he joins his t-ball team tomorrow he may start hitting them over the fence!
Daddy reading about Jesus' death & resurrection. The kids are fascinated with this story and ask to have it read over and over.
Grammer & the boys
On Saturday we went to our community egg hunt (with 300 other kids!). The kids had a wonderful time.
One of my favorite moments from the day - right before bed the kids were playing with play-doh. Aidan blurted out, look, Mommy, I made the cross Jesus died on! This year was really fun to explain Easter because the kids seemed to understand it. Thomas especially seemed to grasp the resurrection. Aidan was fascinated with Jesus getting nailed to the cross. He turned to the pictures in his kids' bible showing this probably 20 times in the last few days.
