Another Scouting Adventure Begins

Let it be known. I love a man in a uniform! I do! And that’s good news since Nathan and Jon now fit that category. Both are Scouts in Den 524 amongst many boys and families we adore. Despite Jon’s horrific work schedule, he’s showing Nathan just how important he is  by taking one of his three nights off a week to be Nathan’s Den leader. So our adventure of Scouting continues with me as Baylee’s Girl Scout Brownie leader (for the third year) and now a new chapter as Nathan is officially a Cub Scout in den 13 with his daddy (and Mr. Glazier) as his leader(s). We are ready for Nathan’s world to explode as he learns so many wonderful things, explores new horizons, and challenges himself with personal goals and service to his community. With promises to memorize, belt loops to earn, Derby’s to play in, field trips to take, parades to be in, and camping to conquer, Boy Scouts will be totally 110% fantastic, I just know it!

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To keep up with the “latest” in the den, visit their personal blog at: http://awesomeden13.blogspot.com/

Green Trails...

Friendship is such a gift! Today Owen’s buddy Colton invited Owen and I on a double date after he earned a very special reward. Colton worked hard and Owen received the blessing too! Isn’t that special?! What boy wouldn’t want to ride in a green taxi around town? We sure know two boys that would! Our one way ride, 4.5 miles, may have cost $13 but it was unbelievably precious. Their smiles never left as Colton and Owen were able to reach their own window controllers. Pushing them up and down, waving at the people and cars they passed tickled me down to my funny bone! When we arrived at our planned destination, McDonalds, our driver was a good sport and posed for a few photos before the boys high tailed it inside to order Happy Meals and play in the Kid Zone. Riding in green style was an adventure of a lifetime! (Thank you Colton and April for including us!)

Happy Meal...Happy Boys!

Family Fun with Ice!

It may be sizzling outside

with temperatures still way over 100

but our Party of Five

found a way to keep cool.

Out of our Family Fun Box we pulled, “Ice Blocking” tonight and I was the only one who had ever done it. So as the Veteran, I showed them the ropes which didn’t take much time at all for them to catch on.
Slipping,

 sliding,

and zooming down the grass hills

 provided us with much heart-pounding laughter

and for spectators, a hunger for the same adventure.

I think this activity will definitely reappear!

Owen, the School Boy!

Attention, attention…let it be known that all 3 of my totally adorable, incredibly smart, highly precious and loved children are now in school! Today our Owen started preschool at Ladybug Learning Club and walked in with such confidence. Daddy met us so he too could witness this life changing day. Although I will miss Owen incredibly, God answered my prayers by giving us everything I had asked for:

-a preschool that met in the afternoons so all three kids could still be together in the mornings until 11.


- a school on the same modified year round program as Baylee and Nathan’s schedules are!


-a Christian based program that prayed with the kids multiple times a day and memorized scripture together.


- a teacher that’s highly educated in early childhood learning and boy howdy is she ever! Not only is Mrs. Merriam Owen’s teacher, she’s the director and founder of the school as well (and working on her Masters degree)! She just oozes love for young children!


-a school that is more concerned with healthy snacks for the kids instead of filling them up with a bunch of fishy crackers and such.


-a place where each kid works one on one with their teacher daily and rotate in centers to foster the whole child.


-a preschool that uses literature, literature, and more literature then asks the kids to respond to that literature in journals and other mediums!


-a preschool with fun themes to make learning exciting and their world open up!


- a place where the projects are child centered and look that way verses a finished product that looks like an adult put it together. Owen (and all kids) need free exploration with their crafty, creative minds!


-a school that will turn a child away if they are sick for the day. I love how they check them each day!


-and finally…a place where Owen’s buddies will join him. How totally cool that Colton and Ross are in his same class! (We wish Ethan could be too!) The three boys are going to totally charm their teacher Mrs. Merriam!

So, from 11:45 until 2:45, three days a week, my little big boy will be in class, learning, sharing, singing, reading, and having fun! I wonder when I get to start volunteering in there. Oh I can’t wait!

A Sweet Date with Owen

Today is “closing” ceremonies of summer; I guess you can say because Owen officially begins preschool tomorrow. {sigh} So to savor every minute left with my “baby” at home full time, we headed into Scottsdale to play at our favorite park, Mc Cormick-Stillman Railroad, then off to a place my Grandma and Grandpa used to take me as a kid for special confectioner's treats, the famous Sugar Bowl. My four year old ‘Monkey’ and I enjoyed his first banana split, thinking it was funny to combine ice cream with his all time favorite snack, bananas. Both of us could have generated a bunch of electricity with the wattage of our smiles today. From start to finish it was a blast! The day passed as quickly as a rocket ship. If only I could have pushed the pause button!

Mommy and Me Tea

Hats, gloves, party dresses, silver and fine china were all part of our troop 228’s Girl Scout kickoff for the 2009-2010 school year in a Mommy and Me elegant high tea. It was so fun being so “girly” and proper with our sister Girl Scouts, eating scones with Devonshire cream, tiny sandwiches, a plethora of desserts and great hot teas. Our “little girls” didn’t seem so little today as we watched them play the part of a fitting, prim young lady, holding rich conversations and using their best manners. I adore time alone with all of my kids and today, it was Baylee’s turn.I will cherish this day forever in my heart.

Taking a Chance to Breathe...

I experienced heaven on earth this weekend with one of my dearest friends, Lisa! We were treated like royalty by our families with a spa getaway certificate for Mother’s Day and redeemed it these last two days, with an overnight at one of America’s best spas’, Revive (in Phoenix). It’s amazing how refreshed we felt after being together; while being pampered with facials, a Turquoise Massage, and all the other spa amenities. I could get used to this lifestyle! Many times there was the gift of silence (a rare find in my life) and then there was the gift of total belly laughter and heart to heart connection. Lisa and I are so spa compatible. We’re already dreaming BIG for our next one (hint hint Kempiak/Keller husbands and kids), feeling like it would be a marvelous thing to do by exploring our horizons at all the other “hot spot” spas around Arizona the United States!

Seeing Through a New Set of Eyes

I didn’t recognize our Brinkster (Brinkley) when the groomer brought him out to us. WOW! Fortunately for us, his entire body language said it all, “I’m yours!” so I felt confident in bringing him home. I love the fact I can see into their dark eyes. Aren’t they so cute?!

(PHOTO TO COME)

Christmas in July...I Mean, August

What is it about time and how quickly it fleets from us? Our traditional “Christmas in July” was postponed one month later, to August. It’s a “good thing” that we set the “rules” and calendar for this mock holiday and don’t have pressure from stores, church, gift exchanges, holiday parties, and other outside commitments!

Today, the kids woke to Christmas music filling the air, our small tree up, and the smell of peppermint cocoa. You should have seen their mile-wide smiles. Merry Christmas! We began our day with a small devotional over breakfast of Christmas tree Belgium waffles then pulled names for our gift exchange.
After praising Him at church, with a name in one hand and $1.08 clung in the other, we each walked the isles of the local dollar store in search for the “perfect” gift for our loved one. It’s quite comical the things we can come find at that store. Upon arriving home, we had individual wrapping parties then proudly placed the gifts under the tree for the evening’s gift exchange.
(This silly eye glass/straw gift was to Jon from Baylee) (Baylee loves Root beer so I found Root beer Popsicle treats for her gift.) (Jon actually found a "keeper" for my gift. He gave me a poem on prayer!) (Nathan and Owen picked each others names! Nathan gave Owen a pirate set which he was ecstatic about and Owen gave Nathan a foam hammer.)
We took advantage of the hot outdoor temperatures and decided that it would be a great family fun adventure if we headed to Mesquite Groves pool in Chandler where high dives, twisty slides, a lazy river, water vortex, competitive lanes, an in-water play yard, and much more awaited us. I had looked forward to finding an excuse to explore this new pool.

Later, we had a traditional Christmas dinner, baked sugar cookies and decorated them, dipped strawberries, sang Christmas carols, watched Elf, and exchanged our gifts.

Fun times were throughout the day and night. We look forward to four months passing from now when we’ll be bundled up in much cooler temperatures, celebrating our Savior’s birth, once again.

Shaggy Dogs

So what do you think? My suspicions tell me that it’s about time for Zoe and Brinkley to get their hair cuts. I bet they will love being able to see the world without a hairy veil across their eyes. I can’t wait to see what they look like!