Hiking

I have lived in Arizona for going on 40 years (yikes!!!!) and this weekend was the FIRST TIME that I have ever been to the Superstition Mountains.

Isn't that crazy?

Especially since we live 10 minutes away and we have driven by them hundreds of times going to the lake. Anyways....

It was a memorial hike for brothers that went to Emmy's school that were killed by a drunk driver recently. The family was coming home from the boys Little League game, two teenagers in another car were drunk and ran a stop sign. The whole situation is very sad.

Back to the hike -

I thought I was in pretty good shape...

Well, I would be WRONG.

It was about 5 miles, and it kicked my butt, or maybe it was the HORRIBLE allergies I had all weekend. But between the two, I was pretty much out of commission by Saturday night.

The hike was fun, and the view was pretty. We could see downtown Phoenix from the top, and it's at least 40 miles away. I thought that was cool.

Cross-Off

At dinner Thursday night, we had a Cross-Eyed Contest.

You know, 'cause were sophisticated like that.

Contestant #1

Contestant #2

Contestant #3


Ummm...okay, I know that Contestant #3 looks a little....how do I say this?

"Special"?

He's not.

He's just new at these "contests".

Wait. No he's not.

He was the creator of them.

I have no explanation.

Mama Mia!

Question.

1.  Who in the heck did the casting for this movie?  They need to be fired.

2.  Was there no one in Hollywood available that could sing?  If they would have told me, I could have gave them my ward list and they would have done a better job.

3.  If  Sophie (the daughter) is 20 and her mom got pregnant with her in late teens-21'ish, than WHY was the mother who played her at least 60?  As well as EVERY other lead in the movie? (not that there is anything thing wrong with 60 year olds, but they're supposed to be 40!!!!!)

I HATED it!  I was so disappointed.  With the amount of money spent on making it, why was it SO crappy?  I did kind of like Sophie, but that's it!

I'm so annoyed right now, can you tell?

If you saw the movie, tell me your thoughts.

Mother's Day

It's 2:30 in the morning and I can't sleep, so I thought I'd do the Mother's Day Post that I forgot to do yesterday.

While we were at dinner the night before, Holly & Emmy were at home making the most scrumptious treats for us. They made an Almond Joy cake, chocolate covered strawberries, Macadamia Nut & Almond Chocolate Cluster's, as well as some very cute cards. And then they package them like you would find in the finest little chocolate shops. Holly is a chocolatier. She comes up with the cutest ideas and the tastiest treats. The Holy Grail of it all was she had taken my Costco mango strips and hand dipped each one in dark chocolate. Oh. My. Gosh. The most AMAZING creation ever.

So while I was admiring all of the girls treats, Emmy went in and cooked me the BEST breakfast. Scrambled eggs with green chili's & cheese, and diced tomatoes on the side. So Yummy!

And since the day was not over yet, the spoilling continued with Austin cooking us dinner. He makes the best hamburgers, really he does, he is famous all over our neighborhood for them.

So thanks guys, for using your mad cooking skills to make my day! I LOVE YOU!


(This picture is old, but I like it alot. The older boys weren't here in person, just in spirit.)

And just to let you know that I don't have a TOTALLY perfect life, there was some "quiet time" spent in their rooms for a couple of them. But I won't mention any names.

And to all the mother's I know, I hope you had a wonderful day!

Bill likes to go to the lake on Monday evenings, but Emmy didn't want to go, so her and I went to San Tan Village and got a Tandori Chicken wrap & a Yogurberry, then we did some walking around and had some "girl time" which I think she's been needing.

Since we didn't go, Bill took his mom & Denny. His mom took these pictures and I just LOVE this one of Holly & Aus in the towels. I guess they were freezing-the lake is still a little cold.

My Saturday

Yesterday was was just kind of a "chill & do no chores day."

This is Holly & Emmy playing with a grasshopper. Right now Holly is OBSESSED with bugs. She wanted to go get some research books on them so we dropped the girls off at the library and Bill & I went to Domestic Bliss to do some browsing. I'm always VERY leary of taking him places like that. Then we walked down to Bella Finé. They used to be primarily flowers but now they have another space across the way that they are doing more furniture/home accents in, it's going to be a VERY NICE store. While we were there it was SO cute, they had a little display up with rug samples, and Bill said, "Hey Lana...Did you see they carry Company C. here?" He KNEW the name and RECOGNIZED the style of their rugs." He makes me SO PROUD. Sometimes I guess he really does pay attention to what I'm saying."

We then picked the girls up, ran another errand, then went to Garcia's for lunch since we were right by there. IT WAS SO GROSS!!!! Ugh, I'm getting sick again just thinking about it.

Came home, made a fruit salad for the Daddy Daughter Picnic.

We went to the picnic. This was so fun for me as I have never been to one with my girls(for obvious reasons.) It turned out really great and the girls & the dads had SO much fun, we ate then played Wheelbarrow Kickball. This was Bill's last one....*tear*


Holly came and helped when it was time to clean up (picnic was for girls 8-12). This is her favorite pose. She's saying "I'm a NERD. Say it LOUD...say it PROUD!"


And because all it ever seems like I talk about is the girls (they are the only ones who will hang out with us), I give you this.

Austin stayed home. SHOCKER!!! He will do what is required of him without complaint. But when he's done-HE'S DONE! No going out for him, EVER! It's like pullin' teeth.

Doug is working at Safeway and he seems to really like it. It's right by his mom's house so he walks to work (saves on having to use his check for gas). We hardly ever get to see him.

Dominc, same thing. He is working (at the gym, not Safeway.) It seems like forever since I've seen him. He's taking classes at GCC as well as school. Since the boys both started driving, they are so busy, and time just flies. I was talking to Dominic the other day, and said, "I feel like the next time I see you it'll be when your married with 10 kids." His response was "um yeah mom, I know I'm surrounded by mormons & catholics, so by association that's probable, But NOT HAPPENING!"

We went to the lake after school yesterday. First we stopped by KFC and grabbed dinner to eat on the boat, It was the first time I have been this season, Bill took the kids by himself last week. This time though, we took the dogs. All 3 little ones. It was a fun time!

I'm SO mad, I forgot my camera at home.

(After I posted this, I glanced up at my header and realized this new layout only gives me half a husband and no Freckles. Oh No! I need to fix this.)

Blokus

We are home, and when we pulled up we saw that someone had lovingly sprayed our garage and Bill's truck with paintballs.

Anyways...One night while we were in Flagstaff we went to Target and got a bunch of games to play in the room. One of the games was called Blokus. I have never heard of it before, but I am hooked! I made the kids play with me over and over, now they won't play anymore.

Someone come play Blokus with me!!!!



**when I went to look for a picture of it, I found out there is going to be a Blokus Palooza in Montreal during June. I just got all excited, maybe I will go.

Spring Break

Bill had told the kids that he would take them camping for Spring Break. Now I think it is pretty common knowledge that I DON"T camp. This is their thing, and that's the way everyone prefers it. Sunday I started getting a little "itchy" like I needed to get out and go somewhere, so I made the announcement that I would be joining them for their adventures. Lets just say that I was not well received. Holly sighed. Emmy told me "Great mom...your going to RUIN EVERYTHING." Bill went to his computer. My Austin was the only one who was pleased with this late breaking development. You could see his brain thinking, "Yea! Mom's coming, now they (Bill & the girls) will not be able to torture me."

We got all packed and loaded up, then Monday morning we headed out.

To Flagstaff.

To Little America.

And apparantly Flagstaff did not get the memo that it's Spring, because this is what we found when we got there.

Emmy was Happy because she got to make a mini snowman

And so much for Austin not being tortured. No, That is not "Where's Waldo" it's Holly.


So, we are having fun, and it all worked out.

Last night we packed a picnic and went to the park for FHE. It was so much fun! It's been a couple of years since we did that. As your kids get older you don't realize what you don't do, until your not doing it anymore. Okay that kind of didn't make since, but for example: reading stories to your kids, you do it everyday and then they are reading on their own so it slows down, and then it's just them reading. I'm getting sad. Moving along....

Now here is the part where you all get really jealous. Guess where I'm going today? The Renaissance Festival with 120 6th graders.