More December Highlights

1: Bree got hit square in the face during her soccer game on the 6th, but kept right on playing. When I complimented her on it, she said, "A few tears were shed, but eh, I'm fine."
2: Candy making day! Caramel nut clusters, toffee, brittle, truffles, oh my.
3: The first casualty of the season. I was feeling so proud of myself for getting some early wrapping done. The next morning, Chad's gifts were open and strewn across the floor. Lincoln!
4: I started a Mary Kay page on Facebook. I've been trying to widen my client base, and it's been fun to post about makeup and skin care tips! This post was about applying sparkle eye shadow.
5: The latest version of the kids' chore list is up on the chalkboard. Because they can't seem to remember the basics, and I'm tired of sounding like a broken record. Their allowance depends on how many check marks they have, so hopefully they'll stay motivated.
6: Phineas and Ferb Christmas episode. Dark house and twinkle lights. Love it.
7: Pinterest success! Buckeye Brownie Cookies. Uh-MAZING.
8: At the ward Christmas party with my friend Reyna. I made her put on some of my red lipstick, cuz that's the kind of friend I am.
9 and 10: Chad and I celebrated our 13-year anniversary with a night at a resort. We ate out, saw a movie, and generally enjoyed quiet one-on-one time. I finally got to experience the magic that is a movie theater recliner seat. Yes, it is as awesome as I imagined it would be. We watched Interstellar...movie was weird, but I had a great time anyway.
11: How does she do it all? The baking, Christmas wrapping, running kids around, all the while looking fabulous? This is how. Plenty of crap gets left undone. Thank goodness for Chad, otherwise we'd have no clean laundry either.
12: We went to walk around the Loop of Lights this year. A nearby neighborhood goes all out with Christmas lights. This was the Cinderella house. One insane house has millions of lights, all programmed with music. It was awesome.

1: I helped out in Bree's classroom for their Christmas party! I taught the kids how to make 3D snowflakes. She loves having me there.
2 and 3: Bree and Mason both played their final games of soccer, and received their medals! They stuck it out, played hard and with good attitudes, and we're so proud of them.
4: My mom took Bree and I for some much-needed pre-Christmas pedicures. Toes need to be ready for Christmas too.
5: As Emmit from the Lego Movie would say, "Follow the instructions." So we are sorting all of Mason's legos. Building anything is impossible unless we do.
6: Bree loves helping out in the kitchen. Grandma let her pierce the apple-blueberry pie before it went in the oven.
7: I THINK Santa brought us enough DVDs...maybe...
8: Mason and Bree went shopping with their Christmas money from Grandma and Grandpa Wallace. Bree chose a CD and Ever After High dolls, and Mason chose Legos, of course.
9: Lincoln saw Grandma wearing her glasses to work a puzzle, so he went over to the end table where extra glasses are kept, and put these on. I am dying from the cuteness.
10: Copycat Famous Dave's Bread Pudding. Enough said.
11: We got a record-breaking number of Christmas cards this year. Seeing them fill up the chalkboard made me happy. Does this mean we're getting more popular?
12: This might have been Bree's last visit to Smaland at IKEA. Sad.

Bass Pro Christmas...Again

I swore we'd never come back. Bass Pro Shops are getting too busy now that everyone has caught on to the beauty of free Santa photos inside a winter wonderland of free fun. But, here we are again. Call us cheap. Call it a tradition. Whatever. At any rate, I stood in an atrocious line while the kids roamed the store with Chad. Bree took the time to write a letter to Santa, while Mason reminded me that he had already mailed four letters, so he was good. Lincoln rode the carousel for the first time. I think he had fun, though it was difficult to tell by his expression. And the atmosphere is pretty cool. And if I'm completely honest, we'll probably be back next year.

4th Time Already?!

This year we participated in the Annual Walk for Down Syndrome for the FOURTH time. Somehow time has flown, and we are pretty well-versed in the special needs arena.

We've gone from dazed first-timers:

To old pros:

And we've had a bit of fun along the way.

 

And Lincoln's Heroes is still going strong:

Rock on Lincoln.

Saturday, September 20th

Fathers and Sons, & Girls' Night

Chad's new schedule (day shift with Thursday-Saturday off) brings with it so many blessings. We love having him home in the evenings. And we are much more able to have a social life when he has Friday's and Saturdays off!

This was the first time he has been able to go to a ward Fathers and Sons campout. Mason was pretty excited to have one-on-one time with his dad. The campground was pretty full, so Chad and Mason weren't even near the rest of the men from the ward, but that didn't bother them any. The weather was great, and Mason was more than happy to eat mini donuts for breakfast.

Bree and I had a girls' night while the boys were away. We did our nails, watched "Enchanted," and made some necklaces with the bead kit Bree bought with her birthday money.

Lincoln felt a little left out, but we took him along with us to breakfast at Starbucks (we had a gift card left over from Christmas). Again, we were unimpressed with their hot chocolate and smoothies. But the lemon pound cake and chocolate-filled croissants were pretty good.

Bree is already asking when our next "Girl Time" will be.

Neighborhood Carnival: Take Two

This time around we were seasoned carnivalers (that's a word, right?). We got there at the beginning to beat the heat and the crowds. There were new things to do this time, like a little "train" ride, and the bungee tramp (Bree is so brave!).

The kids weren't shy about competing in the races. And Bree spent most of her time running around with her friends.

Fun. Free. Awesome.

March Happenings

1: I swore off desserts for a while, trying to drop a few extra pounds. I usually get overwhelming snacking cravings in the evenings, so I try to replace that habit with painting my nails instead. And this green is totally me, no?
2: We have not had the best of luck with finding a family dentist we love. Choosing new doctors since the move has been stressful. Sometime hours of researching reviews pays off, and sometimes not so much. Lincoln had the first appointment with the dentist I'd finally decided on. He's never been to the dentist before. I was blown away from the first moment. I was checking in when I turned around and a man in scrubs was holding Lincoln. Once I realized it was the dentist, I relaxed a little, and just watched Lincoln do his melt-hug as the dentist walked around the office with him for 5 minutes as he waited for his patients to get settled. He was so kind and gentle with Lincoln. And then he made him a balloon animal when he was all done. Score!
3 - 7: Chad has been an assistant advisor at DPS's Advanced Academy for the past few months. We all joined him for Family Day before the graduation. The kids got to play in their respective age groups (free childcare!) while the adults sat in on a few presentations. (Chad and I were seriously wishing he'd had the same thing when he graduated 8 years ago.) It was awesome. All the different DPS units were represented and we got to get up close and personal with the helicopter and other police equipment. And we got a delicious free BBQ lunch at the end. Such a neat experience.
8: I had been promising the kids that we'd go to the new splash pad in Mesa ever since last time we were there. Spring break seemed like the perfect time. Of course it started getting overcast and chilly as we were driving there. Bree and Mason insisted they still wanted to go. They lasted about 10 minutes before they were freezing. Lincoln didn't brave the spray at all. Maybe next time.
9: This trip to Lowe's was free thanks to our Discover Card rewards. Chad finally built a work bench in the garage. He likes having a designated space to work--a place that's all his. And I smile every time I pull into the garage and see him working in there. So manly.
10: I don't remember the occasion for making this Strawberry Satin Pie...maybe we had guests over. Anyway, it is definitely my favorite pie in the world. I could literally finish off a whole pie myself.
11 and 12: Chad and I opened up an old bin full of toys from our childhoods. We gave some to the kids to play with, put some in the Treasure Box for them to earn, and put a few of them away for when they're a little older. My Polly Pockets will have to wait until Bree learns to respect tiny pieces a little better. And the X-Files action figures? I'm not sure if I'll ever be ready to give those up. Scully and Mulder are too important to me.
13: I went through the Gilbert Temple for the first time on March 28th (working on goal #11). So beautiful. And the seats are totally wider than the Mesa Temple! Super comfortable. Just sayin'.
14 and 15: Goal #4 (Go on a date with Chad to somewhere new) is complete. My parents babysat so Chad could take me to the Olive Mill for wood-fired pizza. I've only been asking to go since we moved here a year ago. There was live music on the patio, twinkly lights on the olive trees, and a beautiful sunset and cool breeze. The pizza was delicious and unique--house-made olive oil (obviously), and fresh meat from the Pork Shop down the road. I have never had pistachios on my pizza, but I'm sure they were locally grown, and it was surprisingly tasty.

What's up, February?

A glimpse at what went down in our town in February:

1: Um...I get bored waiting in line to pick up the kids from school. I amuse myself by taking super-cool selfies and posting them on Instagram and Facebook. Chad has taken to calling me a hipster.
2 and 3: We attended a student-led conference, where the kids got to show us their portfolio, latest projects, and the latest standardized test grades. Bree showed improvement in her scores, and is very enthusiastic about Science and History. Mason, while less enthusiastic, scored off the charts for his age group.
4: Adam had a really bad intestinal infection that landed him in the hospital for a couple days, so I watched Corbin while Heather was at work one day. These two are going to be great friends.
5, 6, 7, 8, and 9: Because Mason had done so well in school, academically and behaviorally, he earned special one-on-one time with a parent. I needed an outing as much as he did, so our fun day kept going and going! We started at his favorite restaurant, Panda Express, then saw The Lego Movie, which we both loved. We stopped at a store so he could spend his birthday money on a new Lego Set, which we built at Baskin Robbins before enjoying an ice cream cone. We had so much fun. I would totally do this day over again.
10 and 11: I love making holiday-themed food. This Valentine's Day I made conversation heart sugar cookies. Daddy made heart-shaped pancakes, which I decorated with homemade strawberry freezer jam and whipped cream. Holidays are delicious.
12: I have been wanting to get LASIK surgery ever since Chad got his eyes fixed 8 years ago. But it's expensive, and pretty scary, so I kept putting it off. Finally Chad brought up the Schwartz Eye Institute's web page for me ("Look Meg, all you have to do is enter your email address. Just do it already."). Before I knew it I was scheduling an appointment to determine if I was a candidate. I couldn't wear my contacts for at least a week before the initial exam. Then I had to continue wearing my glasses until my surgery date. I hate glasses. I mean, I hate contacts, which is why I wanted the surgery, but I hate glasses more.

13, 14, 15, and 16: We attended the Gilbert Temple Open House with Adam and Heather one hot Saturday. After waiting in line forever, the interior was a literal haven. So beautiful. The kids loved it. And I couldn't wait to go back after the dedication. We are so lucky to have a new temple only 20 minutes away! After the tour we headed to Freddy's, because Frozen Custard is awesome. And if we want to eat burgers at 3:00 in the afternoon, we will, by golly.
17: We scored a cheap fire pit at Walmart's Black Friday sale. We were finally all healthy enough to actually use it! Hot dogs and s'mores, relaxing around the fire, even after the kids go to bed. The best parts of camping without the worst parts.
18: Lincoln can be a picky eater. On this particular night, for instance, he refused to eat the creamy alfredo pasta I had made. But he wolfed down an entire head of steamed broccoli single-handedly. Literally.
19: My parents and we had joined up with and Adam and Heather one Saturday for their birthday (Adam and Heather have the same exact birthday). After our traditional All-American Feast at Famous Dave's, us ladies took the kids over to the brand-new Riverview Park. The Cubs just built a new spring training stadium, and along with it a new park, complete with lake, big toys, a huge climbing structure, and splash pad. I wish we had something like it closer to us.
20: Can you see it? The tiny "shrub"? It used to be huge--blocking the front window entirely. I guess you could say Chad pruned it a little. There was no green left at all. I was sure he had killed it. I worried we'd get a letter from the HOA reprimanding us for the eye-sore in our front yard. But no worries. It didn't die. Chad knows what he's doing.
21: The big day! The day I willingly and voluntarily placed my eye balls in the path of a laser. I knew I was in good hands. But that did not make it any easier. Nor did the Valium. I might as well have swallowed a button for all the good it did me. It was ridiculously scary. I was talking to myself the whole time, trying to convince myself to stay calm. Thank goodness the entire process was done in less than 3 minutes. And then, on the drive home, the numbing drops wore off... then came the burning. Oh, the burning! But when the doctor told me at my check up the next day that my vision was already 20/20...yeah. So worth it.

January according to my phone

So when I recently transferred all my photos from my camera, I realized I had only taken 11 photos in January. Eleven! And they were terrible! But I made up for it with my phone camera, which is always on hand, even if it's just for ridiculous selfies. So here's what January looked like.

1 and 2: Bree and Mason broke in their new Christmas bikes. It was Bree's first time without training wheels (way overdue, I know), and she caught on immediately. She was giddy with the feel of freedom.
3: I took this selfie to send to Chad. I had to prove I was wearing the jewelry he bought me for Christmas (which I love, by the way).
4: Bree loves to read. Lincoln loves to read too, and also loves to be like his big sister.
5: Lincoln has a serious love affair with crackers.
6: I don't shop at the "regular" grocery store very often (I mostly price-match at Walmart), so when I stopped by Safeway with Lincoln one day, I introduced him to the car cart. He loved it. If I stopped, he'd turn around to look at me to see what the hold-up was. Then when I'd start walking again, he'd start furiously turning the steering wheel.
7: This is what a long day of driving to doctor appointments looks like. We like to switch it up between pretzels and Wheat Thins.
8: This picture was taken to prove that I do actually wear my adorable cupcake apron from Jaime when I make cupcakes.
9: Any time Lincoln finds our bedroom door open he goes for one of two things: Chad's basketball or the boxing gloves.
10: Miss Erin, Lincoln's speech therapist, comes to visit once a week. We love her. Lincoln is verbalizing so much more, and because they "play" so much, his fine motor skills are awesome too.
11: Occasionally Mason wants his hair spiked...I'm pretty sure I took this photo at his request...
12: Remember when I used to do Cookie Days back in Globe? When Amy texted me to see if I was free so she and the kids could visit, she suggested we have one more Cookie Day. The kids played for hours, we had a picnic at the park, and we made chocolate crepes. So fun. And delicious.

13, 14, and 15: My parents came to visit one weekend, and after the whole family went out for lunch, us girls decided to have a special outing. We headed to Tempe Marketplace to shop the BOGO sale at Charming Charlie. Bree could not believe the vast array of jewelry they had. We all came away with treasures at bargain prices. Then we treated ourselves to frozen yogurt. I was sure Bree wouldn't be able to finish the huge mound of caramel yogurt and candy...but I always underestimate her abilities to pack away sweets.
16: We had a Family Home Evening lesson on how to deal with strangers, and we filled out info cards for each kid, along with their fingerprints. Hopefully we'll never have to use them.
17: This is not a picture of my mileage per hour. It's a picture proving that it was 81 degrees in January.
18: Couponing is insane. And awesome. Though, to be perfectly honest, if I didn't have to do it, I totally wouldn't. It takes so much time.
19: The kids earn 2 cents for every weed they pull. Bree is pretty self-motivated, but Mason needs someone out there with him, encouraging him to keep working hard. Lincoln did not want to be left out of the action. Chad would pull a weed, hand it to him, and Lincoln would walk over to put it in the wheelbarrow.
20: At any given time at least one bag of crackers, chips, or cereal in our pantry has been previously spilled all over the floor and put back in the bag. Because, you know, we don't like to waste food.
21: Occupational therapy includes fun stuff like playing dress-up.
22: We all had strep and sinus infections like nobody's business.
23: Bree's class at school was celebrating Chinese New year. And because I'm so awesome, I made this costume because Bree just HAD to dress up for the party the next day. She was so excited. I even put the top half of her hair in two little buns, since I thought it looked very Chinesey. So when I picked her up after school, and asked her how the party was, I found out that there was no party. Wrong day. Story of my life.
25: (Yes, I realize that there is no 24...it's past my bedtime) I volunteered in Mason's class the Friday before his birthday. He is a very good student. Wait...let me rephrase that: his test scores are very good. The best in his class. But he hates school. He's the kid who needs a desk apart from the rest of the group. If this is what he looked like when I was there watching him...I can only imagine what he does the rest of the time. His teacher is a saint. Sigh.

Fall Carnival

Yes, we have to pay an HOA fee. But we enjoy a clean neighborhood, nicely kept parks, and every once in a while, a free carnival pops up around the corner.

With rides,

Friends,

Dancing with the DJ,

And...this,

Cool firemen who let you play with their stuff,

Not bad for free entertainment on a Saturday afternoon.

Walk the Walk

The kids look forward to "The Walk" every year. It's not only a lot of fun for our family, but it's a great opportunity for us to raise money for Sharing Down Syndrome (an organization that has made such a difference to our family and the community). We had a great group of people who donated this year, and were so grateful.

Saturday morning dawn hot (of course), and sunny (no surprise there). We got to the stadium at 8:00 am. The event goes until noon, but we've realized over the years that everyone's happier if we can finish up by 10:30, before we become red-faced, sweaty, and a tad cranky.

The pictures speak for themselves:

The beach umbrella was Chad's idea. Genius.

Corban's first time.

Lincoln was obsessed with this therapy dog. He kept hugging her. It. Was. Adorable.

We were joined by Adam's family and my cousin Jennifer's family.

It was a great day, and a great reason to walk.

Eight-Hour Date

Chad and I don't go on dates enough. Money is tight, and we're pretty lazy. We usually just watch a DVD from the library and call it a date. But it's not the same as getting out of the house on our own.

Since my mom was coming to visit, and volunteered to babysit, I decided we should go on an actual date. I didn't want to spend much money... in fact, I thought it sounded like a much better idea if we could actually earn money while on our date.

Hello, ride-along.

It was my second time going to work with Chad, but my first time since we moved. I wanted to see his new area, and spend some quality time with my favorite person.

We had a surprising amount of fun. It was clear that we had desperately needed some one-on-one time. I watched him hand out warnings and a few tickets. He's a very kind officer; he definitely does not pull the "bad cop" act unless someone is being a complete idiot.

I learned the ins and outs of the computer system, and tore off the citations as they printed out below my seat. I handed him the scanner when he came back with the subjects' signatures. And I was ready to push the special button to release the huge rifle between our seats, in case things got crazy.

Things didn't get crazy. But we did get to run code, and we ran through some traffic lights and stuff. It was cool. He handled a collision at the freeway exit where rear-ending is an almost daily occurrence during afternoon rush-hour. Chad was kind enough to put the front end of the woman's car in her back seat for her. What a gentleman.

Perhaps not the most romantic date, but I had a great time nonetheless.

The Greatest Show on Earth!

"We're going to the circus? Can I ride the ferris wheel?"
You're thinking of a fair.
"Well, can I play those games to win prizes?"
No, that's a carnival.

Clearly my kids have never been to a circus before.

You know, on the movie Toby Tyler, with Mr. Stubbs the chimp, and the kids who ride on horses? (old, old movie reference, starring Curt Russel as a kid)
"Oh yeah! Will there be tigers?"
Yes! There will definitely be tigers.

And elephants.

And a cool pre-show where we can see the acrobats and jugglers up close.

And though I talk of candied apples, there will be none of those. They must be a thing of circuses past. But you will be good sports.

The elephants will do amazing tricks, the poodles will make you laugh, and the acrobats will cause me to gasp like an idiot when one of them trips over his jump-rope, and I'm convinced he is about to fall off that spinning-wheel-thing and meet an early death. But he won't. And even if he did, the circus has safety nets and big pads on the floor.

It will amaze. It will be a first for all of you, including Chad. And we will be very glad we went.

Couples Staycation

Chad has a lot of vacation time saved up, not because he's been trying to rack up hours, but because he doesn't usually take time off unless we have money to go somewhere cool. So, he decided to use a few of those vacation days last week. My mom watched the kids, and Chad and I had the house all to ourselves for a staycation.

Day 1: After dropping off the kids, we exercised (P90X) and ate lunch (it's amazing how even the smallest things are easier without kids). Then we went to the theater to see the new Superman movie, "Man of Steel," which we both really enjoyed. I definitely appreciated the gorgeous scenery in that film, if you know what I mean. Then we ate dinner at Olive Garden, courtesy of a gift card from Chad's parents (four words: Black Tie Mousse Cake). We dropped by a Redbox on the way home and picked up "Jack Reacher" (yes, Chad and I are obsessed with movie-watching). It was extremely good.

Day 2: We exercised again. Yes, we are awesome. Then we hit the library and checked out a new pile of movies (again, obsessed). We indulged in a delicious chocolate fondue, enjoying having the entire pot to ourselves. Then Chad set up our inflatable pool in the backyard.

No, this is obviously not us. And that is definitely not our lawn. I just had to show how sweet our $20 pool is.

We were probably out there a good two hours, relaxing with the book Legend, reviving our early-marriage tradition of reading aloud to each other. Then Chad grilled up some chicken for salads for dinner, after which we (what else?) watched a movie. "The Last Stand" is a slightly cheesy Arnold Schwarzenegger film, which took itself too seriously, and for which it was very necessary to use our ClearPlay filters. But we still enjoyed it.

Day 3: We slept in until 10am. Heaven. After getting ready for the day, we headed to Scottsdale for lunch at Fogo de Chao, a Brazilian steakhouse. After we sampled the salad bar, they brought around 16 different cuts of meat to our table, along with sides like fried bananas and crispy polenta. It's a pretty fun experience. And the bacon-wrapped filet mignon was ridiculously amazing. I also loved the lamb t-bone, which was a first for me. Then we waddled out to our vehicle, and did a little shopping at the Scottsdale Fashion Square, where I felt very, very poor. So we went over to a Phoenix Walmart to pick up a few necessities and kill time; I felt like a rich snob in that place. Then it was time to head to Chase Field to catch the game.

Go Diamondbacks! I have not had this much fun at a game since...the last time Chad and I went just the two of us. Which was...10 years ago? I can't remember. Anyway, it reminded me how much I enjoy baseball; I've just been to busy with kids to make time for it.

This was a do-over pic, but Chad and I couldn't stop laughing at the guy next to him. Not sure what's going through his mind. He literally slept through the third inning.

We had pretty nice seats, thanks to Stub Hub's discounted prices.

Fireworks after the game, which ended in a finale accompanied by video on the Jumbo-Tron of the Death Star being destroyed. Baseball fans are such nerds. I love it.

The next day we picked up the kids, and we reluctantly re-entered reality. I'm so glad that my mom is pretty close, and always willing to watch our children, and that my kids are always more than excited to stay at "grandma and papa's."

It had been a much-needed vacation for the both of us. A low-stress, low-cost way to reconnect and just enjoy being together. It didn't involve an exotic location, or anything incredibly exciting by the world's standards, but it will definitely be one of 2013's biggest highlights for me.