Field Trip, Spirit Day, and a New-Looking (But Still Messy on the Inside) House

As March flew by, and I had the nagging feeling that I wasn't posting on here very regularly, (er...at all), I assuaged my guilt by telling myself that not much was happening anyway. (And also, even if anything were happening, I was certainly not doing a very good job of taking very many pictures to document it.) But alas, a few things did actually occur, and it turns out that I even managed to take some pictures of said things.

Like...

Savanna's 4th grade field trip to the Arizona State Capitol. (Which was super interesting, and even a little fun, despite the educational nature of such an endeavor.) Savanna got to pick the students that would be in our group, and even though she had to pick two boys along with herself and another girl, she did a great job and picked some good ones. (Read: I wasn't completely stressed out chasing around another person's kid while navigating an unfamiliar location and being silently observed but not actually helped by other parents and/or teachers.)

Despite the impossible-to-finish scavenger hunt that we were assigned in order to kill some time before our Capitol Museum tour (which we, not surprisingly, did not finish), I would say the day was a roaring success.

I thought this would be cool pic, with the statue saluting in the background.

Then I cut the head off the statue while photographing it.

And also the kids were facing the sun and couldn't open their eyes.
So we'll call that one a fail, though the intentions were good.

Savanna is adorable.

We coincidentally ran into the state representative over our district, 

who gave us an impromptu tour of the Senate building, which was so super cool.

Because that is where our elected state representatives have 

cool things like Donald Trump bobble-heads on their desk 

All in all, a very tiring, but super awesome day.

Also in March...

Spirit day happened, which we are never very good about remembering, but managed to this time around.

These girls went all out, including using a wealth of face paint, which I am pretty sure was actually old Halloween make-up. (Alexa meticulously applied "GCU" across her own forehead while looking in the mirror...and ended up with a perfect mirror-image of the letters which, while they looked right in her own cute little reflection, were backwards to everyone else.)

And also...

House painting success!

(Well, success after the debacle of picking too light of a color which we had to change halfway through the painting process once we realized it wasn't primer, though it looked like it was, and paying for half a house worth of extra paint along with two extra days of labor.)

But look how pretty!

Remember how crusty it looked before?

We are so glad for the change, despite our expensive rookie mistake of not trying out actual paint samples on the actual house.

Somehow it's the same amount of messy on the inside, though. I still haven't been able to figure that one out.

And that's a wrap for March highlights, people. Stay tuned becasue I am determined to keep showing up on here, I promise.

In Which A Mom Turns 37

As a child, 30 years old old seemed quite...OLD. I mean, that's a full-blown grownup with kids and a house and everything. And 40?? Well, you might as well forget about 40. In my young mind, that was pretty much nearing end of life. But I have to say...the older I get, the younger those ages seem. Heck, even 60 and 70 don't seem very old to me anymore, seeing my parents pass and near those ages, very much still alive and intact.

So here I am, freshly past my 37th birthday (!), a full-blown grownup, with "a house and kids and everything," and I certainly don't feel very old. Heck, I don't even full like a bonafied grownup most of the time. And 30? Goodness, at this point I look back and think about what a baby I still was, rife with youth and inexperience.

Aging is weird. Here I am, one year away from a 20-year high school reunion, and I feel like I've only been out of high school for about 5 years. There is something oddly indescribable about how slowly time seems to crawl in childhood, and how quickly it passes as an adult; it is often hard to reconcile the passing of days and years with how young and naive I still often feel. It seems that, in the quickness of all of these "adult" years, 10 grownup years could fit easily into one or two of the childhood years, when the days were so tortuously long and youth itself seemed an unwieldy burden that I never carried very gracefully.

Is this getting a little heavy?

Okay, I'll skip to the good stuff. Like...

The A-MAZ-A-ZING birthday celebration I just had last week. (Or was is two weeks ago? See what I mean about how crazy-fast time goes these days?)

this particular birthday was probably one of the most perfectest (not a word, I know) I have ever had. It didn't even feel like a boring grownup birthday like they so often do. Let's investigate why.

Act 1: I sleep in.

Oh, baby, this was one of the best parts. And not only did I sleep in, I didn't have to do the usual frantic, getting-the-school-kids-out-the-door-for-school dance. (Not to be confused with the "I-just-washed-my-pants-dance." That is something else entirely.) Craig got up, took all the kids to school, and all I had to worry about was getting myself ready for once. It was bliss. And then I came downstairs to a beautifully decorated house just for me, and I felt so special and loved.

Act 2: Babysitter and Breakfast

I still got up early enough to go with Craig and take Spence to his swim lesson. (I mean, I didn't want to sleep away the WHOLE day. Just a good chunk of the morning.) Spence swam like a champ, we all went to the park for a few minutes, then Craig and I dropped Spencer off at home with Grandma Linda and went to Kneaders for breakfast. Have you ever had the French toast there? One of the best things I have ever tasted. For serious real.

(That was Craig's cinnamon roll. He wanted it to look like it was mine.
But there was no way that thing was fitting in my belly.)

We were so full from this delicious late breakfast that we literally did not eat again until dinner. Kneader's French toast: If you haven't had some, get some!.

Act 3: Shopping, Television, and Shopping Again

You aren't bored yet of my birthday play-by-play, right? Okay, good. After breakfast Craig and I went to Ross. For like an hour. I picked out some bonus birthday gifts. He picked out some birthday gifts. We spent way too much money and had too much fun. THEN we went to Grandma Linda's house and watched TV by OURSELVES until the kids got out of school. After that, Craig picked up the kids while I relieved Grandma. Then he took the kids to the dentist while I went out shopping again, this time for Easter baskets.

I already said it was the best day ever, right? It gets better. Because then it was time for...

Act 4: Dinner (that I did not make) and Presents (that I did not buy or wrap):

It was truly a wonderful end to a beautiful day. I felt loved, and special, and so humbled to be surrounded by all of these beautiful people who try so hard to make me happy.

And the next day was only sort of a letdown, since I was still on a high from the amazing day before. ;)

Welcome, welcome, year 38! I'm so excited to make it a good one.

Family Pictures and A Day Off

Not too long ago (a couple weeks, maybe) I felt like it was time for a day off. The girls and I had all been dealing with miserable allergies, and we were all exhausted. After my alarm wen off, I went downstairs where the girls were packing up and getting ready for school. I asked them if they wanted the day off. They replied in the affirmative, like the smart girls they are. i told them they should try to go back to sleep if they were tired (haha, yeah right) and I promptly took myself back to bed. It was the best morning ever.

Thus started an Olympic span of stuffed animal pretend play. They played...all day Friday. All day Saturday. All day Sunday. It was so awesome. Hours upon hours of no television, and just straight imaginative play between the three girls and sometimes Spencer when he was invited for a few moments into their meticulously organized and perfected lair. (They couldn't watch TV on Saturday or Sunday because Craig and I were watching General Conference. Take that, kiddos.) I tell ya...it makes my heart SO happy to see them playing together and using their imaginations. I am so glad they are still in this stage, though I know it is slipping away mush faster than I am prepared for.

They took advantage of the opportunity of time and Craig's and my distractedness to get some much needed family pictures done. I found these all on my camera a couple days later.

It feels so good to finally have some pictures of my sweet grandbearbies.

And did I mention how much I love my children? If they could just play like this forever, I'd be such a happy grandma.

February's Gone

It just occurred to me that I failed to post at all in February.

There are three possible reasons for this.

#1 I was overwhelmed because of how much there is to say and I found myself not knowing how to even begin to begin.

#2 I was underwhelmed by the normalcy of life and nothing seemed exciting enough to document.

#3 Or, I was in a general emotional fog for one reason or another that precluded creative thinking and doing of any kind.

Lest I give it all away, I shall refrain from identifying the cause and move on with my blog, and my life, whilst conveniently ignoring any reasons or excuses I happen to have up my sleeve.

So here's what you missed.

First, Princess Alexa turned 7 and had a fun heart-themed birthday party.

(Somehow she's not this tiny nugget anymore, and I am

still trying to reconcile myself to that fact.)

Also in February:

An impromptu trip to see the temple flowers and spy on the Arrowhead Lakes neighborhood.

Fake Lakes right here in a North Phoenix neighborhood.

So so cool, but we decided we'd rather have a pool in our backyard

than be surrounded by lakes that you can't actually swim in.

Still, though...that view!

And, last but not least...a trip to the Lego Discovery Center with Spencer and our best friends:

Now that we are all caught up...on to March!

January Mornings & Other News

The following photos pretty much sum up our January mornings: folding laundry in front of the fireplace. Messes. Everywhere.

It's been a gloomy and rainy month, wetter than any winter I remember ever having here in Arizona. It's been welcome, and makes for perfect reading and snuggling and hot chocolate conditions. But I wouldn't want it all the time. I love dreary days in spurts. Months of dreariness would be too much, I fear. Thankfully, that's not an option here.

In other news, a recent letter from the HOA has prodded us to finally look into getting our house painted. It's a beautiful home, but the paint has been chippy and crusty for years...something that we have been happy to ignore, though the HOA apparently has other ideas.

 It will be a good change. An outward representation of the positive changes we are committed to making this year as individuals and as a family.

New Year. Clean Slate. Internal and external improvements to our spirits, finances, bodies, and our home.

Let's get it done.