Our new Kitten: Jax

We are the proud owners of a 5 month old, once feral and once-returned-to-the-shelter-kitten. We saw him a week a go, but didn't know if he would be a good fit at our house since his name was Denis the Menis. I went back this weekend and I held him and he was so sweet. A few hours later he was ours!

We went through all the names and Kayleigh even went to CatNames.com (!) all by herself to help name the little guy. We finally decided on Jax. Jax has been wonderful. Just the right amount of playful and a whole lot of good with the girls.

The girls love him so much. Jax must love them too because he sure is good with them.

Family Vaction to Greer, AZ

 Last weekend we made good on a groupon that we were supposed to use this summer, but couldn't due to wildfires in the area. Greer, AZ is really on the road to no where. The population is only 177! But I'm sure the population can more than double in the summer and during ski season.

 We stayed at the Greer Lodge Resort in the Log motel rooms. Their amenities were included in the price and included: kayaking, fly fishing, mountain bikes, telescopes, games, DVD's, and a nightly camp fire.  

 We really enjoyed the two hikes we went on (except Zoe got tired at the end of the first). The first one was by a creek where we met a few people with lots of fish!

 The girls loved the dandelions and the wildflowers. They spent lots of time picking, collecting, and blowing. It was getting to be a bit overwhelming when they wanted to pick every flower they saw so we had to explain to them that we should leave some in the ground because they are living things and other people may want to look at them... Anyways... it was really cute and I was happy to see them running freely and enjoying nature.

 We brought the rain boots just in case, but we didn't find any puddles.

 This was my first time in a kayak. I prefer a canoe.

 The second hike was a bit more challenging. It was lovely to smell the pine and listen to the wind blow through the aspen (reminded me of cottonwood trees at clear lake), and hear the creek in the background.

 Yes, we were so happy to see ponds that we took our picture by every one we saw!

 And what they don't tell you in the brochure is that it's so nice to sit out on the porch drinking beer and wine while the kids can move freely from the room to the outside. Also there is a bar on the property right next door to the hotel rooms with cheap drinks and a patio where you can look at the ponds, mountains, and your kids playing.

Gosh, I, we had such a nice time. I want to go back with my Dad and Katie sometime because they would love it as much as we did. I loved it as much as I love going to back to SD/ND/MN. It made my soul happy.

an update

Whoa! It's been a while. Sorry, sister!

Let's see... September has been crazy. On the 2nd, we found out that Dave's younger cousins were in a car accident. They had been drinking and a brother killed a brother. Completely sad. My heart goes out to Dave's Aunt and Uncle and the 2 surviving brothers.

With that being said, please don't ever forget how fortunate you are every day and hug your loved ones extra tight!

We celebrated Dave's birthday with Dinner (to his favorite spot, Kona Grill) and a homemade lemon cheesecake. (I keep trying to get him to take it to work so it's not in the house. ugh!)

Zoe ordered Sushi (!) and Kayleigh a hamburger. They ended up splitting the fries and K eating the sushi and Z eating the burger. HAHA! And Zoe finally got to go to preschool! She was so excited. We ended up switching preschools a week before it started. I think we made the right choice. So far so good!

Zoe was really really excited. We talked about what we would pack in her lunch for about 2 days prior. She told me that she would suprise me by eating all her lunch and cleaning up her toys. She was happy to report that she did in fact to both. You can see that she was a little nervous at first... Today when I dropped her off a nice mom said that Zoe and her daughter made quick friends. And guess what? Her name is Kate! :)

Kayleigh has been doing awesome at school. She was having a bit of trouble with math at first, but she works at it everyday and actually wants to do math now! I'm very proud of her for working hard at it. She also started Chorus one day a week before school.

As for me, all my free time has been spent on "stumbleupon," (OMG addicting!) homework, and working out. I saved up my $$ to work with a trainer and it was the best money I've spent on myself. It was strength training... I would feel so strong and awesome after I was done, but would be so sore the next day I couldn't imagine doing cardio so I have to figure out how to balance it all.

Classes are awesome! Way better than Chemistry. Every time I open a textbook I get excited. I know with all my heart I am on the right path. I live and breathe for this stuff! In one class I am learning HTL to make a website. Here is the link http://www.public.asu.edu/~eacorn/ it's just in the beginning stages so check back later for more updates.

2 weeks post kindergarten

School ended for Kayleigh just 2 weeks ago (it seems like a month has past since). In two weeks our days have been filled with numerous playdates, swimming lessons for both girls at different locations and different times, K has Spanish summer camp from 8-12 M-TH, I started a hectic CHM 101 online class, a few dates with my man, a weekend trip to Tucson, I turned 31, two 6 year old birthday parties, sickness, and lots of workout and yoga time-- for balance. haha!

First Day of School

Last Day of School

Miss K really enjoyed Kindergarten. She loves to learn (as long as it's not math- unfortunately she gets that from me). She excelled at reading early on and now reads chapter books daily and in one sitting! Reading has also reinforced her love for nature and animals. I am always amazed by how much she knows and how much more she wants to know about the world around her.

Today we enjoyed being just the three of us- no playdates, no commitments. The kids played daycare, I did a 80 min. yoga class, we ate lunch at a cafe, hit up the library for an hour, and ate an ice cream cone (I enjoy hearing I'm the best Mom ever from time to time). Now the kids are playing cheerleader/princess/ballet girls while I chill. How do they have so much energy? I need a nap! (Oh, must be that I couldn't go back to sleep after I had to clean up a potty accident at 2:30 in the morning!)


Please dear audio book keep them occupied when the frolicking gets old :)

Oh and I'm happy to say we haven't had nitrate filled hotdogs or frozen pizza once! haha

walking

The more time we spend in our neighborhood, the more enjoyable I find it. Or maybe it's just the magic of Spring?



We've been lucky this year with an actual Spring. It's so nice to take walks near the canal, grassy lawns, and under the big trees. (Yes, Tucson we are taking your water, but I'm South Dakota girl and need the greenery!)

I found this in my drafts... I hope to get to another posting soon (Katie).

2011 Warrior Dash in Florence, Arizona

Woohoo! I'm a 2011 Warrior Dash Survivor! The whole experience of the race day was energetic. There were hundreds of people there. And some really awesome costumes. Our matching outfits were pretty lame in comparison, but we looked cute and stuck together the entire 3.4 miles and all 12 obstacles.

Dave sported a mohawk for the race. He pulled away from Shana and I early on.
He finished about 10 minutes before we did. And apparently he dove right into the mud pit!

We crawled under barbed wire, over steep mounds of dirt, ran over cars and through tires, scaled and repelled walls, ran though mud, climbed cargo netting and hay bales, walked planks, and ran over fire, jumped in a mud pit and crawled under barbed wire to get out.

I felt like a rockstar. HAHA!

Dave was so sweet to wait for Shana and I with my camera. Here we are with our medals and bananas before we were sprayed with fire hoses to clean off all the mud.

Our next step was to cash in on our free beer we earned. I gave mine to Dave...

My cousins ran an hour after us. So, this is our "team" photo.

At the event there is live music, turkey legs and stuff like that, beer, and lots of people just hanging out. If you are even thinking about participating in a Warrior Dash, do it! And dress as crazy as possible. And the more you have in your group the merrier. We all agreed that next year we will have to put much more thought into our costumes.

We HEART Spring

Spring in Arizona is amazing! Everyone seems to be outside or opening doors and windows to let the outside in and we are no exception. This weekend consisted of playing and a picnic in the park, cleaning the garage, swimming, and a family walk/ride around the neighborhood. On Friday, I was able to go with Kayleigh and her classmates to the Phoenix Zoo.

Zoe just may turn out to be the Sporty Spice of our family. She has been scooting, biking, swimming, and recently asked for a soccer ball. Of course I bought it for her along with a softball glove, ball, and a t-ball set. The glove seems to be the winner :)

We've also taken some time to explore our South Scottsdale/Old Town neighborhood. We found a quaint sandwich shop where you can make your own soda with a great little patio. Actually, the last three times we have eaten out have been on the patio!

just to pass some time...

This week has been totally upside down. Thank goodness it's almost over. This morning Kayleigh suprised us with a sick day. Acutally, I thought this day would have came sooner; she's had breakdown after breakdown, she slept in yesterday, and had a crying fit with a few of her friends at recess.

Zoe and I had a nice day out and about yesterday. The electricity was cut off in the neighborhood for a good part of the day so we had to keep busy somehow. (Our condo can be a bit cave-ish with out lights.) After a quick trip to the dentist we ate brunch then headed to Imagination Aveune. I was suprised how well she did the entire day. She even made it through 2 trips to the grocery store and 2 trips to pick up Kayleigh from school (I had a brain fart and forgot she had jump rope after school).

Last Sunday we set out to go on a hike in search of petroglyphs. We took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up hiking Cloudview instead. It wasn't as kid friendly as we had wanted, but the kids were great troops. What are the chances they will always want to go hiking with us?

Happy Valentine's Day!

I know what it looks like. That I bought special dishes for Valentines day. They are actually Christmas plates that I picked up for 25 cents each and the ramikens were around the same price.

I love Valentine's day! It's a great excuse to shower the people you love with extra love and eat decadent foods!

It's also a day that my husband really out does himself with gifts. He's a great gift giver. This year my gift was a bright red (my favorite color) dutch oven! I'm over the moon about it! I've wanted one for years.

Our little darlings were tickled pink when I told them we would be dressing up for dinner- even daddy.

Look! Zoe made it through dinner and got dessert. I guess we have to have rib-eye and asparagus every night so she will eat. That kid loves herself some asparagus.

Cheers to Kayleigh! She is so sweet. At dinner she said, "Next year, I don't want to celebrate Valentine's Day with everyone that I know. Just you guys that I know." Meaning her family. After, she quickly added, "I wish Grandma was here celebrating her birthday with us." Little did she know that Gma and Pa were comming after dinner :)

Boyce Thompson Arboretum

I've been slacking on my blog... We've been doing lots of fun things and the kids amaze me everyday. It just seems so hard to put everything in to a few words. Especially since I don't write about things as they happen. Anyways... I will try and do better next time.

On Saturday morning the girls and I went to the library and hit up family story time while Dave was at the Barrett Jackson Auction. Kayleigh has been really interested in non-fiction lately and had to have a book on Australia. She looked through it 3 times when we got home. As luck would have it a nearby Arboretum had "Australia Days" on Saturday and Sunday. So we loaded up Sunday morning and headed up to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum near Superior, AZ in the Tonto National Forest.

This place was awesome! We learned about didgeridoos, eucalyptus trees, succulents, and cacti from all over the world. We saw a dam, sculptures, and amazing views. There were also plenty of things to keep the kids interested year-round; a maze, a cool rain stick, other intruments, and a human sundial.
The special thing we got in on (we could have made our own didge, but it was $50!) was a reading of "Wombat Stew." The kids loved it! After the story all the kids were given worms, flies, or dirt to add to a real stew that they were able to eat. The smiles on girls' faces filled me with joy.

I'm so happy that my kids enjoyed hiking, learning, and exploring. And I must say that I'm pretty darn proud of Kayleigh, but I'll save that for another post!

back to life, back to reality

Yesterday was back to life and back to reality. I'm happy to say our Monday went rather well.
Dave and I commented on how much we enjoyed this past week. A week of playing, watching movies, working out, eating out, and naps.


It was a cold and rainy week, but it didn't matter because we had so many toys and games to play with!

I don't know what the kids are doing in the video, but it sure was funny!



Our Tuesday is turning out rather nicely too. Ahhh

Our December: It's a wrap!

I’ve actually started multiple posts, but have never had the time or motivation to complete more than one thought at a time. We have been extremely busy this month. It’s been a rollercoaster with lots of ups and downs, but mostly ups! In total the girls opened presents 12 times. They are so fortunate to have so many people who love them so much. I just wish it was as much fun to give the girls money for college or classes than it is to give gifts ;o)

My big news is that I can now say I officially weigh 7 pounds less than I did when we moved here. I have been working out at least 5 days a week for an hour. I started taking a Power Cardio class and a Core Conditioning class that have been paying off, so I will keep up with them.

And look at this lovely (too early to be taking pictures mom!) picture of me making a main-dish salad during Christmas. We couldn't have asked for better weather!

Dave has been on vacation since the 23rd which has been really nice. He even got a call on one of his off days to find out he received a nice raise!

And While most are looking forward to 2011, I am just looking forward to Monday. It’s time to get off the rollercoaster that is December and back to routines and complete thoughts.

Happy New Year!