Let it Snow!

We were visiting a McDonald's in Mesa on Dec 30th and it started snowing. We all had to run outside to experience the real magic!

The Eclipse

These are taken with my phone so they are not that great but I had to record that we were crazy enough to stay up until 2:30 to watch. We did fire up the jacuzzi and watch while floating in warm bubbles, that made it a little more bearable. It did look really neat but no different, in my naive opinion, than the other eclipses that I've seen....

Little Handprints

What would I do without little hand prints? This little girl is smart, she figured out how to climb onto my bathroom counter and unscrew the lotion bottle and paint the mirror. The next question I asked myself was "where was I during all of this?"...

Pearls Quite Book

This was the present that Lilly and Abigail made for Pearl this Christmas. We ended up making it two days before Christmas and could only use what we had in the house. It turned out pretty cute considering...

On the Mountain

The week before Christmas we were able to visit my grandparents who live out in the middle of no wear (about an hour drive on a dirt road outside of Marana). We helped them get ready for Christmas company. We also took a "real Indian Jones" ride and explored.

Christmas Ligths at the Temple

It's not the best picture but at least it documents that we do get out of the house occasionally.

Now that I look at it again we all look like zombies!

A Clean Garage!

This might be silly to everyone but me. It was the best Christmas present that I got this year. Ryan had the week before Christmas off and used his time to make me deliriously happy. I had to take a picture to prove that at one time we could park the car in the garage.

LIlly's Birthday Cake

Around December is birthday month and we get sick of cake. This year Lilly asked for ice cream cake. It turned out really yummy and was huge. Here is the last slice after eating if for a couple of weeks. Mint chocolate chip/Oreo/cookies and cream!

Turkey Trot 2010

Before

So every year I am able we try to do a Turkey Trot. This year it was in Mesa. I decided that I needed a little bit bigger challenge so we signed up for the 10k. I survived just barley and Ryan was my motivator although after mile 4 nothing much was said. (I got a little crabby) but there's always next year!

After

Where's Pearl

That's a good question to ask myself every now and then. Today I realized that it had been a little too long and I nervously went down stairs calling her name.


Luckily this is what I found. She had pulled up the stool to the counter and found Abigail's Halloween candy. She couldn't answer me because her mouth was full of lollipops.

Ready for Grandmas

Foster has been caring around his backpack and suitcase for two days now saying he is ready for Grandmas house. He packed is pink suitcase full of underwear (good boy) and his backpack has his Buzz and a shirt. What else could he need? Now I just need to explain that he still has a week to go.

Desert Grande Triathlon

Well I did it! Sometimes I ask


myself why but afterwards I'm glad I did it and it was lots of fun to do with friends!





One of the girls in our group made these cute shirts.


Can't wait to do it again in another six months!


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When in doubt turn the TV

We have had a stomach bug going around today. With multiple little people throwing up at the same time, it was quite comical and I would have laughed if I was not gagging myself! Anyways I digress. Because of these recent developments I want people to stay stationary and watch TV. I let Foster watch TV in his room on our little TV and found him laying on his side with the TV turned to the side also. When I asked him what he was doing he gave me one of those "duh mom" looks and said his neck his neck hurt. Smart boy!


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Bangs

I cut her hair yesterday! She is the only girl in our family that can do bangs because her hair grows forward with no cowlick in the middle of her forehead. She looks so cute and grown up all of the sudden, it makes me a little sad, but that's life.....enjoy it while you can.


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Squinty Eyes

Pearl, since she was tiny, would squint up her eyes when she was really happy. Last week the she figured out how to do it on command and luckily I had my phone nearby!

Halloween Eve

We had such a wonderful Halloween Eve and Mom makes it the best with her homemade doughnuts. Thanks MOM!

More Fun at the Science Center

We have a membership so whenever we visit Grandma and Grandpa Nelson we like to check out the Science Museum in Phoenix and see what 's new. Here are pictures of Lilly and Abigail being email all over the world.


Pearl really liked the table of floating balls...

She couldn't quite understand how they stayed in the air.

Pirates of Pinzance

With school we were able to go to a dress rehearsal last month of Gilburt and Sullivan's "Pirates of Pinzance".
We all had a good time even though it was late but the best part happened a few days later. The kids made their own stage and put on their own production, complete with songs for FHE. I was so wonderful but to long to post so I had to just add a still to preserve the memory!

Home Schooling

Home schooling has been a blessing and a challenge. I don't think that you can have one without the other. Everyday there is something new and always a million things to do. Sometimes I mourn my old life and schedule, with all the freedom that I had to do what "I" wanted. But that is focusing on the negative and not what things I do have now. I love our leisurely mornings and snuggling for scripture reading when the sun is just coming up and then making a big breakfast if we want to or not. I love teaching Foster to read and experience so much joy when he finally "gets it". I love having Abigail sit on my lap when we do history together and come up with sentences about Julius Cesar. I love reading every episode of Lilly's Stick Comic. I love suffering with Andrew through one of his Intermediate Language Skills test and then getting 100%. Life has defiantly been a challenge of balance, where is my place, and what can I realistically do. I hope that we have gotten into a new grove with our schedule but as soon as I say that something changes. Oh well I guess that's life. I am enjoying learning with the kids and not enjoying learning things about myself that I need to work on. In the long run I know that it will be worth it. I am just practicing living in the "now", which sounds easy but is turning out to be very difficult for me.

The kids and I made a compromise. If I took pictures of their art projects and put them on the blog so they got in the book then we didn't have to keep all of them.

Abigail's Abstract Dog

Lilly's Rock Star

Abigail's Dinosaur

Andrew's Indian Mud Hut

Some of my favorites...

Foster practicing to be Mario

Pearl in her Poodle dress

A windy day

Enjoying dinner