Proud American

Regardless of which candidate wins the election I am thankful for the opportunity to vote! A special thanks today to our Founding Fathers for the courage and dedication! Thank you to our Veterans who fought and continue to fight to keep our freedoms. Thank you to all those early suffragettes who paved the way so that today I, as a woman, can vote along side the men.

Thank you!!!!

Look on the sunny side

Zoey stayed home from school today, sick. And I was feeling stressed about all the things I had wanted to get done that now I wasn't. So I was trying really hard to find the positive side of this situation. And we found it....a sore throat means frozen yogurt for lunch!

Naps are highly underrated

Nothing beats a Sunday Afternoon nap! Last Sunday there were framers working on the house next door all day, pounding, pounding pounding! Thwarting all plans for a nap. So today I was so thrilled to sneak in a lovely afternoon snooze.

Reading Rocks!

Today I am full of gratitude for my wonderful cousin Andria for introducing me to this magical book.

I love that bitter-sweet feeling of finishing a great book!!! So happy that this story is now a part of me yet so sad it's over!

Fall Flavors

Today I am grateful for fall flavors. I LOVE pumpkin ANYTHING! So I couldn't resist a pumpkin smash smoothie at Jamba Juice. Yum!!!

Capturing Gratitude

I've been a little silent here lately. After a whole year I needed a brief break from pressure of a picture everyday. But I stumbled across a photo challenge that spoke to my heart and was too perfect for this blog to pass up!

So, here and now I announce my participation in the Capturing Gratitude 2012 experiment!

With the crazy ups and downs of life as of late I've been trying to remind myself to count more of my blessings and to try harder to feel and express gratitude. This was a perfect way really spend this month focussing and all the things I am so very grateful for.

Today I am grateful it is finally fall planting season. It's been SO HOT this summer. Like record breaking hot, even for Arizona. As a result many of my pretty flowers died.

But last week I headed to the nursery and loaded up my car with lots of new pretties!



And today I finally finished getting them all planted in their new colorful homes.






I love that when I meet new people in the neighborhood and I'm describing where I live they say "Oh, the house with all the colorful pots out front!" I hope the beautiful blooms bring as much joy to passers-by as they do to me.

Now What?

Well. There it is. One year. A picture a day. Can't believe we have been here a year already! In some ways the time has flown by so quickly and yet in other ways it feels like we've always been here.

I'm not sure what the future of this blog is now. I need to take a break from a picture a day for now, but I haven't decided yet if I will continue to post slice of life pictures periodically or if this blog is to stand alone as a record of our first year and I should post fun things somewhere else.

The kids all started school recently and I am taking these first few weeks to try and get organized and make a plan for going forward so I will decide soon.

I hope in the meantime you'll drop by once in a while and read some of the archives-because it was a heck of a year!

The End?

Eat, Eat, Eat
Monday, May 28, 2012
Day 365

When we have guests we like to take them to all our favorite places to eat, so I think our guests think that the ONLY thing we ever do is eat! And swim.

Today we dined at the Apple Dumpling Cafe.



They have a yummy chicken avocado crescent with baked apples and cinnamon and raspberry chipotle that is SO GOOD!

Party Time
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Day 366

Adam's class had an ice cream party today to celebrate the upcoming last day of school. As part of their celebration they each got to pick one piece of writing they did during the year to share with the class.



Adam has become quite the little writer this year. Before long maybe he'll be blogging right along side me.

Then, of course, since Grandma and Grandpa are still here we had to take them out for dinner. We haven't run out of favorite places to eat yet! Tonight it was Chino Bandido.



Last Day of School!
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Day 367

Lots of things are coming to an end nearly simultaneously here. We are at the end of our first year in Arizona. We are nearly at the end of Grandma and Grandpa's visit. And today we are at the end of a fantastic school year.

Here are my good looking kids headed out the door for the last day.





They have grown so much since the first day of school!

Hugging teachers goodbye.





Thank you so much to our WONDERFUL teachers this year!!!!!!

Olive You Glad I Haven't Run Out of Puns Yet?
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Day 368

When Ryan was in town we visited the Queen Creek Olive Mill and learned all about growing Olives and make Olive Oil. So of course I had to take my parents back for a visit as well.

When Ryan was here the tress were full of blooms. Now they are full of fruit.



My mom bought a couple of bottles of oil and then in a display of momentary forgetfulness tried to take them in her carry-on. Of course they wouldn't let her. Over 1 oz of liquid. I was nearly home from dropping them off at the airport when I got the call from my dad, Southwest was holding the oil for them and could I please return the airport and pick it up.



Operation get mom's oil from the airport was a success.

Just Add Water

Just Add Water!
Monday, May 21, 2012
Day 358

Found snorkels at the store today and kids were TOO excited to wait until we went swimming to use them. So there was a lot of out of water snorkeling at our house today.




Because Apples are Overrated
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Day 359

I would like to know who first decided that we should all gives apples to the teacher. As the end of the school year approaches our kindergarten class decided we wanted to something more then a mere apple to show our teacher how much we appreciate all her hard work. So we pooled some money and I ordered a bright, colorful rug to use in her classroom.

It arrived today!!!!! I cannot wait to give it to her!



A Change Will Do You Good
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Day 360

Today I decided to roll up black rug that was by my front door and bring in the red rug that has been sitting in the garage. I thought it might bring a little more color to my entry way.





I think I like it.

Arizona History Tour
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Day 361

Did I mention that Grandma and Grandpa arrived in town this week? The kids are ECSTATIC!

So we played hooky from school today and took Grandma and Grandpa to the Arizona Capitol Museum.





Target
Friday, May 25, 2012
Day 362

We spent our Friday evening at Target. Because we are exciting like that.



It's a Match
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Day 363


Headed out the the McCormick-Stillman Train Park with Grandma and Grandpa today, because it is my kids' all time favorite place to go.

Zoey and I, were near twinners in our grey and yellow dresses from Target.




And just because I love them so much I also need to show you my matching yellow shoes.




AND I adore this picture from Downtown Scottsdale.




Oh my, those are good looking kids!!!

Florence is.....well Florence 
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Day 364

Florence is a kooky little town that is kind of fun to take visitors to. They have an interesting historic district with, according to their website, 140 buildings listed on the National Historic Registry.

Florence is also home of the Arizona State Prison. Like I said, kooky little town.

Before Arizona was a state Florence was also the location of the territorial prison, so the prison has been there for a LONG time. And part of what makes the town so kooky is that they have completely embraced and are proud of their prison history. So you can imagine what a trip to the Historical Museum must be like.



Here is a blurb from the museum website:

"The museum also houses the archives for the Arizona State Prison in Florence. Of particular interest are the 28 actual nooses used for hangings at the prison. The double execution chair, used for the first gas chamber execution in Arizona, is also on display."

Not everything in the town is that morbid though. And being a small town they have to make good use of small spaces. Hence this little shop downtown.

Sprinting Towards The Finish Line

For The Kids
Monday, May 14, 2012
Day 351

Out running a few errands today and Harrison saw these little benches outside one of the stores and begged me to take a picture of them "for the kids." He is always so worried about what his older siblings are missing out on while they are at school.



Of course he insisted I take a picture of his sitting on each bench.



Crazy, sweet, amazing, funny kid!

If it Waddles Like a Penguin
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Day 352


Adam made this is school I think before Christmas time! And it keeps kicking around the house. It will disappear to his closet for awhile then reappear, getting in the way. So I told him the next time it was in my way it was going in the recycling can.



Today it got in my way. And now it's gone.


Short Lived
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Day 353

This is the plant I got from Zoey for Mother's Day.




Yup, it's dead already. Someday plants will love me as much as I love them. Someday....

Who Needs Sleep?
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Day 354


They are building a home on the lot next door and I can't wait until they are done!!! They arrive to work so early and they are loud!

This morning this pump truck showed up at 4:45 am!!!






Of course the trucks with the cement didn't show up until around 8:00. And the pump truck just sat their idling THE ENTIRE TIME! Do you know how very loud and obnoxious that is at 5:00 in the morning?

Box Tops Drop Out
Friday, May 18, 2012
Day 355


I hate Box Tops. I hate the hassle of cutting them out. I hate trying to find a place to keep them once I cut them out. But I keep collecting them because I feel so guilty when I don't.

So I have been dutifully (and grudgingly) cutting them out all year. And guess how much money I made for the school.



$2.50. Yup. That's it. 25 stinking box tops. Next year I'm going to just write the school a check and call it good!

Yummy!
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Day 356


One of our new favorite things at Costco.



Mix it with some cream cheese and a little onion and garlic powder and it's so very very good!

Green
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Day 357

Noticed today that my new dress is a perfect match to my phone case.



Guess I must like that color!

Almost at an end....

This week marks days 344-350. Can you believe it's almost been a year since this little project began???


Ticklin' the Ivories
Monday, May 7, 2012
Day 344

Tonight was Adam's first piano recital.



Adam did a great job!!!!

The recital was held at a church and this was painted on one of the parking spots close to the door. I LOVED it!!!




Desert Blossom
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Day 345


I know, I know, more nature pictures. But I had to because I honestly didn't even know that the saguaro cactus got a bloom! So when I started seeing them all I got all excited.



Stormy
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Day 346


I predict rain.....



Yup, it rained!



Guess that's what I get for washing the car yesterday.

Boys and Their Toys
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Day 347


You'd think that living in a construction zone that the kids would start to get bored or apathetic with the construction vehicles. But they still get excited and will watch for the longest time.



Donuts for Divas
Friday, May 11, 2012
Day 348


Mother's day in the kindergarten class.



Crowns, songs, flowers, and yes, there were donuts!

Dioder 
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Day 349

Does everybody else make fun of Ikea product names as much as we do at our house? Because we do. A lot. Like it's one of those things that never gets old.

Anyway, we bought Dioder several months back to put on the back of our tv but had still never put it on. So when Ryan was visiting me he was giving me a hard time about it. So I finally go some command adhesive velcro strips today and installed Dioder! So I snapped this pic to show Ryan my handy work.



Turns out it's the only picture I took today-hence it's showing up on my blog.

I'm looking at this picture and I can't even figure out what we were watching. Like at all!!!! Oh well.

Here Comes the Sun
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Day 350

Forget what the calender says, summer is here now!



And this is only the beginning......

Week of Pink

Lil' Taste of Texas
Monday, April 30, 2012
Day 337

While Ryan was here we made a quick grocery run and he got VERY excited when we passed this in the freezer section.



Apparently this ice cream is from Texas, where my older brother, Richard, served his mission, and it's SUPER GOOD and you can't get it in Utah. And apparently Richard still pines for this stuff all these years later.

I don't know how Ryan knew this and yet I'd never even heard of the stuff.....but he did.

So, I was told I HAD to buy some and that Richard would come visit me JUST for this ice cream. So today, I bought my first ever half gallon of Blue Bell Ice Cream.

Pink
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Day 338


Walking home from taking the kids to school this morning and I noticed my tree was in bloom! Didn't even know I had a tree that would bloom, but there it was! Pink flowers, out of nowhere.




Domesticated
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Day 339


I broke down today and bought a sewing machine. I'm not really a seamstress. Like at all. But every once in awhile I need to sew something. I've had a hand-me-down sewing machine that I've used over the years and it's gotten me by. But today that old machine completely seized up on me, in the middle of a project. And I guess I could've found a repair shop and tried to get is fixed but it ticked me off that it quit mid-project with a looming deadline and I was too impatient to wait for it to get fixed.




So now I have my very own sewing machine. AND I finished my project.

Celebration of Learning
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Day 340


Tonight was the Art Fair/Celebration of Learning at the school.

Here Zoey shows off one of her Art Masterpiece projects.




And Here Adam stands next to his blue whale project.



In order to demonstrate just how BIG a blue whale is he found the weight of a bunch of different things in comparison to a blue whale and then we did some math to scale those weights all down. We did a 1/6400 scale to be exact. (I helped with the math part, but the rest of the project he really did on his own!)

His blue whale is represented by the 50 lb bag of wheat. (I knew my food storage would come in handy some day!) And a human is a mere .05 oz in comparison. Even a T-Rex only weighs 2.5 lbs on our scale. Which really starts to give you an idea of JUST HOW HUGE the blue whale is!!!!

Mike made the comment that all those years of reading about Jonah being swallowed by a whale he wasn't really sure how that was even possible. But seeing just how big they are he now understands how one could easily swallow a man.

Pinkalicious
Friday, May 4, 2012
Day 341


Today was Zoey's field trip-dinner theater! Well, in this case lunch theater.

I had 5 little girls in my group and it was about as fun as it sounds to try and help all 5 of them through a buffet line. Luckily most of them just wanted pizza.

Then we were treated to the musical production of Pinkalicious.




Boys and girls alike were tickled pink.

Just Because
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Day 342


Mike brought me breakfast in bed this morning. Just because.




When did I become a nature photographer?
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Day 343


I feel like I've taken probably too many pictures of flowers and landscapes and such. But it's kind of an exciting time of year because the cacti are all starting to bloom, and they only bloom once a year. So it's like Christmas, you have to celebrate it when it comes because it won't be back again for a long time!

So today I saw this giant cluster of prickly pear and I had to snap a few pictures.