Hisssssss....

We officially had our first run in with the Arizona wildlife last week. To make a long story short, we came home and I sent Landon into the garage to go inside. As I started towards the door, I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye, so I stopped to take a look. This snake was stretched out in the crack where the bottom of the garage door used to be - then I realized that Landon had just stepped over him to go inside!! In sock feet!! Anyway, I ran the kids inside (since I didn't know if it was poisonous or not) and ran back to the window just in time to see him slither into the garage and hide behind some wood. I had no idea what to do! Luckily Whitney had some sense - she called the fire department and they came and removed the snake. He wasn't poisonous (thank goodness) but he definitely could have given any one of us a painful bite! Anyway, here are a few pictures:

Sunny Weather

Stacey and I took the boys to the zoo last week and had so much fun!

This zoo is a LOT bigger than the one in Albuquerque, but we still got to see a lot. Right at the entrance there were these turtles sunning on a log:

Then on the inside they have this Monkey House where you can walk through the monkey habitat. It was so cool!


This little guy was right by the path. Landon and Parker were both very tempted to jump into the bushes and cuddle him.


Landon was begging to go on the carousel so I let him take one ride. The whole time he was just grinning (but trying not to grin). He thought it was pretty awesome.


This is the little kids lagoon they had - it was great for the boys to be able to cool off. They both got pretty soaked!

Last week it was also warm enough for us to go to our local park and play in the fountain! We remembered our swimming suits, but Parker was too fast. He just got his clothes soaked. Oh well!

Family Fun

At night the boys really love to read books or watch a show with Mama Kit and Papa Len. They are both quickly figuring out that Papa and Mama Kit are the ones to find if you want to avoid bedtime :).

I had to post these pictures of our time with Whitney and the cousins a week or two ago. We are having so much fun with them! Here's a rare picture of us Mom's and Matthew:

The kids all decided that it was warm enough to take a dip in the pool! Katie was nice enough to lend Landon a swimsuit (haha) and here's Rebecca helping him put on his goggles:

Success!

After jumping in the pool, Andrew did some sunbathing to warm up!

Here's cute little Katie:

This picture was just too funny:

We can't wait 'till it gets really warm and we can all get in the pool!

Spiderman and Cap'n Crunch

Parker recently grew into a pair of awesome runners (that used to be Landon's) and Landon realized that he didn't have any runners! We also thought it would be a good idea to have some closed toe shoes since all the snakes and scorpions are coming out (our snake story soon to follow...). Anyway, he got to go to Target and pick out a pair and this is what he came up with:

I think his response was "AAAAHHHH! MOMMY! I LOVE THESE!". I think he's pretty sure he turns into Spiderman when he puts them on.

Then, this is what I walked in on the other day after going into my room for a few minutes to make a Dr's appointment:

Parker had gone into the pantry, found the Cap'n Crunch, dumped it out and was eating it as fast as he could! I called Landon in to show him and he was totally horrified. "Mommy look! Parker, NO that is NOT ok!". That perfectly shows the difference between my two kids. Love it!

Old Friends

During the week we got to meet up with some of our old friends from University - Allison, Tyler and Addy. It was so fun catching up and seeing how much our little families have grown over the past five years. Landon and Parker really loved playing with Addi. She's such a cute little girl!

Allison was getting some good smiles and laughs from Parker in the swings. I think Parker was just happy to be by Addi - as soon as she got out, he wanted out too :).

We even spotted Landon's favorite bird on our walk. It's not often you see these little guys holding still!

Here's to another get together soon!

Lazy Sunday

Last Sunday we went to a lake nearby to check out the wild flowers and throw rocks in the water. The boys really are loving the fact that they get to spend so much time with Len and Kit!

Landon was showing me how good he is at "pitching".


Parker was super excited to throw something without me yelling "no!" immediately afterwards!
There were quite a few little flies buzzing around...of course, this is Landon's first reaction :)

The people sitting next to us on the beach caught a fish! They brought it over to show the boys - Landon thought they were really cool!

And this is Parker's reaction to the flies. Do you see the jam and peanut butter all over his face? Every time a fly would come close he'd smash his sandwich into his forehead. It was pretty funny!

Thanks for taking us to the lake Mama Kit and Papa Len!

Don't You Fret, Monsieur Marius...

Rain will make the flowers grow!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

It's St. Patty's Eve, so what did we do? Build a leprechaun trap of course!! Most of the born and bred Americans I've talked to have never heard of this tradition (what!?!?) so here's what it is:

On the night before St. Patrick's Day, little leprechauns (very mischevious) sneak into your house to try and find pretty, sparkly things to add to their pot 'o gold. So, it's tradition to build a trap with lots of sparkly things to attract their attention and also hold them tight once you lure them in. If you catch a leprechaun, they are bound by leprechaun law to give you some of their gold (well, gold and chocolate in our house). If you're my sister Stacey you believe that once the sun rises, any caught leprechaun immediately turns into a bunny. Believe it or not, we found a bunny in her trap one year! That bunny happened to be the spawn of the devil, however, so we let him run free at a rabbit farm or something. Anyway, here's the trap that Landon, Parker and I conjured up. Pretty hard core if you ask me. No leprechaun is getting out of that thing by morning!

Landon decided that the best place for the trap would be directly outside of Len and Kit's bedroom door in the middle of the hallway. Hopefully we don't find a smooshed trap in the morning - good luck Kit and Len!

Since we're going to be at a friends house for dinner tomorrow, I thought we'd have an early St. Patty's celebration with leprechaun ice-cream (a.k.a. mint chocolate chip). Done in pure Parker style:

This picture shows the cute little freckles that are popping up on Landon's nose!
And this is what the kids will find in the morning:

Isn't it amazing that leprechaun footprints actually change size with every step? They truly are magical creatures. It's also amazing how tempting it is to make the leprechaun note sound like it was written by a pirate. "Here be a few treats mateys". I'll have to study up on my Irish speak. Happy St. Patty's Day everyone!!

Dress up is fun...even for boys

Landon's new favorite thing: dress up and THEN play with toys. Thanks Aunt Whitney for the cool dress up gear!

Whenever I start taking pictures, Landon starts showing me his toys (since that's obviously what I'm taking pictures of).

This is Parker's "cute" face. I say "Parker, can you be so cute?" and he does this:
Always watching big brother for pointers...

I Feel Bad for Celebrities

Ok, this is a weird post, but I promise there's a point! I happened upon an interview with Robert Pattinson in GQ magazine a few days ago and couldn't help but feel like this guy is pretty lonely. I know, I know. I used to think "Hey, I know it would be horrible to be followed around all day by crazed fans, but really, go cry in your bags of money!". But this time around I felt like those bags of money wouldn't really be much of a consolation for me if I couldn't do all the "normal" things I like to do everyday. How sad would it be if I couldn't trust that my friends liked me simply because of who I am? Or if I couldn't make a relationship last for more than a few months or years? Or if I couldn't make a fool out of myself at IHOP at 3 in the morning with Scott and my Mom without being worried that it would be splashed all over the front page the next morning? (That one's purely theoretical...definitely not something I would do...'specially not across the street from Disneyland). Sad! It really makes me grateful that we're just plain normal. So, to all you Robert Pattinson's of the world - I feel for you! Again, not much of a consolation, I'm sure, but if you ever feel the need to dance to the music from Enchanted or run around after a two year old in his underpants with a Batman mask on, the action's over at my place. Well, at my in-laws for now...remember, we don't have those bags of money.

Cousins

We really love spending time with family! Two days a week we get to go hang out with "Aunt Whitney" and her kids. Parker and Landon really love their cousins!

In the morning we get to go with Katie and Matthew to the park. On this particular day, Whitney and I were talking and then turned around to see Landon standing in the sand with his pants down. I ran over as fast as I could and barely saved the other children from eventually running through his pee in the sand. We found a tree instead :).

Parker's pretty convinced he's just as big as Landon and Katie. He wants to do everything by himself, so he basiclly just finds us when he gets hungry! It's pretty nice to be able to sit and chat/rest at the park now - my baby is growing up!

Katie is so sweet - she really looks out for Landon. Today she came to his rescue when a few older boys took his hat and threw it up in a tree. She's quickly becoming Landon and Parker's favorite friend! When Parker loses sight of her he calls out "Tatie!!". So cute.

They decided to serve sand for lunch...

...and Parker thought it was a great idea. He used it as dip for his apples and sandwich. It only makes 'em stronger right?


Rebecca and Andrew are the older heroes of course! Landon, especially, really looks up to those two.

When they get home from school they get super excited. Landon kept running up to Rebecca saying "Hey Becca! Will you come play with the Batman cars with me?". She is always so sweet to play with him for awhile. Landon has decided that he loves anything that Andrew likes - mostly because it means Andrew is right there with him.

I am really loving my time spent with all these kids and with Whitney. I'm so grateful to have such wonderful examples for my boys and a fantastic sister in-law who lets invade her house during the week and provides wonderful company for me :). We can't wait to enjoy the next 8 weeks with you guys!