A View of Mt. Baldy

http://www.mtbaldy.com/mtbaldy-story.htm

Mt. Baldy view from Lacy Park in San Marino, California

Rudolph

I do not have much holiday decor, so
one night I decided to make some.
The kids were thrilled.
It was fun to take out the brushes again.
Silly but enjoyable.

Little Ballerina

Our daughter in her first 'mini' dance recital.

On our way to California

Near Palm Springs, east of Los Angeles.

Shoes by Vincent

Have you heard of this shoe maker? I was pleasantly surprised when I came across this site. They appear to be good quality with great style.
http://www.vincentshoestore.us/shop/index.cfm?onsale=1

Cookie Decor

In November my mother and I baked sugar cookies with the children. She patiently assisted the children in cutting our turkey, pumpkin and leaf shapes. The following day we invited our neighbors over for a cookie decorating party. We served many appetizers and the children were able to decorate several cookies in their personal styles.

One year ago...already

I can't believe how quickly this year has gone by. It is already mid-November and I feel like summer just ended. The photo above is from the Phoenix Zoo, at the yearly event of Zoo Lights, which we will be attending again this year. Phoenix weather is perfect right now. This is the time of year when strangers say to each other, "This is why we live here." My parents are visiting for the month and my in-laws will be here for the weekend. As I was thinking of everyone today, it gave me such a good feeling knowing my children will be surrounded by so much love this weekend. Ozzie is doing well. He has grown a lot since we adopted him. He is still a kitten, so playful. Clawdia is dealing with it. She is not as friendly as she was pre-Ozzie. I think she still misses Brutus. My grandmother will be turning 90 this month. She lives far away so we will not be joining her for the celebration. She is the youngest of 16 children and is the only one living. She was given her name from her mother's Doctor. He named her after his wife. I guess after 15 children naming another could get difficult...

Halloween Costumes

She knew what she wanted to be--Abby Cadabby from Sesame Street. She loved playing the role! She said the best part of tonight was playing at the park with her friends.




He was looking forward to this evening. He had been dressing up in his police uniform all month. He said the best part of the night was trick or treating.

Halloween Pumpkins

Can you guess which pumpkin belongs to which child? I will give you one guess!

Highline Trail

We spent the weekend in Payson. We went on a nice hike on the Highline trail. There is so much beauty there!

Day trip to Oak Creek

It felt like a great day for apple cider. I loaded the kids in the car and away we went to Sedona. First we stopped at the usual cider stand. This year there was no cider produced from the Oak Creek/Sedona area, due to a late frost. They did carry cider from Wilcox which we did purchase. We picnicked on the creek and sipped cider. It was a beautiful day.

Happy 4th Birthdays!

Alyssa has turned 4! She requested an Abby Cadabby cake. She was alright with Abby cupcakes.

Tyler has turned 4! Tyler was happy to have a rocketship birthday cake!

Sun Spider--Solpugid--Wind scorpion

Another interesting insect has visited our home. When we began our treatments for scorpion control we were informed that there was a spider that consumed scorpions, the sun spider. Unfortunately the spray for the scorpions would also terminate the spiders as well. I have not read online that they consume scorpions. Ozzie discovered this spider last night near a paper sack. We quickly covered it with glass. Eager to identify it I went to the computer and sure enough it was the sun spider. "Not a true spider nor a scorpion, though it is also called a wind scorpion, but an arachnid (8 legs) called a solpugid."--http://azgronseth.blogspot.com/2008/09/sun-spider.html

First Arizona DiamondBacks Game

The children attended their first Arizona Diamondbacks game. They had a terrific time. T is pictured with the mascot, Baxter. A was a bit unsure about the costume.

Tailless whipscorpion

This is a great find, a tailless whipscorpion. I discovered this on the sidewalk in front of our house, at 10:30 last night. The long legs are used for touch and smell. This non-venomous critter is very delicate.

Passion Flower

This is a beautiful flower in my yard. I hope you enjoy it.

First visit to the CIRCUS

On Sunday we decided to take time away from our daily routine and surprise the children with a trip to the circus. All had a delightful time. The clown painted a spider on T's hand and A had a heart painted on her face. The clown wanted to paint a flower on her cast, so we let her. A's favorite act was the elephants, and T liked the acrobats.

Here we go again!

The children have started another year at the pre-school. On Monday I co-oped where I found it to be very different than last year. Almost all of the students are potty trained! Yippie! The children's interactions are much different than last year. A good time was had by all.

Oh Little One!

When all is quiet in the house it is either after

bedtime or when something is going on that should not be.

Her creative use of mascara.

Monsoon August 2008

"Come here! You have got to see this!" We stood in our garage listening and watching as the storm came closer. It sounded like a jet plane overhead, yet the rumble ceased to stop. The sheet lightning was relentless. For 10 minutes we watched the light show. Early this morning we awoke to rumbling and howling wind. We peered out of our front window to observe the wind and hail. The wind pushed the lid of our BBQ shut and pushed it along. This morning we were amazed to see the damage. Our mesquite tree blew down and was in our pool. A lot of our neighbors lost trees. One neighbor had two trees crash down her concrete block wall. Another had their solar panel destroyed. It is reported that we experienced 85 mph winds which is equal to a category 1 hurricane. The low reached 64 degrees and there were at least 5,000 strikes of lightning within 2 hours. Workers are all along the streets repairing wires and moving trees. Some streets are closed due to flooding. Today we have someone coming to remove our tree.

How exciting!

THE SWIM TEST.......

After Tyler pulled himself out he jumped in again!Tyler swimming with all of his clothes on!

Alyssa swimming to the wall.
Alyssa making it to the edge.

She pulled her self right out!

Alyssa and Tyler have been taking swim lessons for 3 summers. I think they are great little swimmers. Our family likes to spend time in the pool together on the weekends and I take them in during the week. Their teacher suggested that it was time for their "swim test" , since they have been doing so well. This consisted of one instructor launching the kids through the air in to the pool. The children were fully clothed, sneakers, sox, jeans, underwear and a long sleeve shirt. Even though I knew my children were safe, I was still completely nervous. They did great!! We are so proud of our little swimmers. Now we know, if they fall into the pool without supervision, they would be able to make it to the edge of the pool and pull themselves up and out.

Sequoia National Forest

Our family vacationed in the Sequoia National Forest in California. We traveled up endless switchbacks to reach our destination. The "chalet" which we stayed in was built in the 1930's by Swiss craftsman. The paintings and craftsmanship was amazing. T&A were the fourth generation of Hastings to stay here. It was settled on a cliff overlooking a refreshing river. We were able to enjoy the "great outdoors". Our days included hiking, fishing, going down the rock slide, napping on hammocks, good food & spirits, and good friends. We will be making the journey again.

Welcome to the Family

HELLO TO OZZIE

Today we adopted an all black kitten, Ozzie, from the HALO rescue shelter. We feel very lucky to have found this cuddly kitten. Initially, we went to the shelter to look at his brother. When they brought the kittens out Ozzie came right up to us, and his brother literally went in the opposite direction. Ozzie was purring and focused our attention upon him by climbing right into my hands. Ozzie and his litter mates seemed to have a rough beginning, they were on the County euthanasia list. The rescue shelter HALO rescued these kittens. Ozzie is now 13 weeks old and very affectionate. We are looking forward to your meeting him.

Trip to California

We traveled to California by airplane last weekend. It was a quick flight which was especially enjoyed by A & T. We stayed with "Baba and Grandma Julie" in their new home. We were able to see all of the Grandparents and Aunt Nana. During the day we meandered through Descanso Gardens. We are looking forward to our next visit.

Lost and Found

A Romanian friend told me that if I lose something to drink a full glass of water, turn the glass upside down on the counter, and within a day I will find what I had been looking for. It worked.

Kick up your heels

We have had a few cool days. The weather has been windy, and the clouds brought rain and some lightning. What a wonderful weekend. We actually had hot soup for dinner. So comforting. We hope it will hold out a few more days.

Viva Mexico 2008

Another great trip to Mexico.

Smooth sailing in and out at the border of Mexico. We arrived and our cook already had lunch waiting for us. It was delicious, tacos, salsa, guacamole. Everything she cooked for us for the weekend was scrumptious. The house was on the beach which makes it convenient for us. We played in the sand, flew kites, relaxed and had a relaxing time. Although, I think because Gpa was stung by a stingray last visit everyone was a bit apprehensive to go in the water as much as we have in the past. We still splashed, nothing too crazy. We brought the good old style canvas rafts with us. The older boys had a blast on those. We were having fun using the kayaks there. The kids first experience in the kayaks was a good one. We are looking foward to our next adventure to Mexico.

Blue hands

Arizona is starting to heat up. We are debating on replacing our canvas awning or investing in a permanent structure. Any shade would be a good thing. This morning I had some friends over. We tie dyed some clothing for the kids. There were not enough gloves so, my hands are now a dark shade of blue. I did not notice them getting so dark. No matter how much I have tried to wash them it is not coming off. Oh well, I will just have to be blue for a few days. LJH is back up on the roof. Today he should be done sealing it. I know he is eager to be finished with this home project. A&T have been wanting to be at home more. They enjoy the backyard. They have a sheet they drape over their slides and use it as a tent. They love watering the plants and each other. We planted a garden on the side of the house and it has been fun watching the plants come up. They planted, watermelon, artichoke, dill, mint, corn, peas, tarragon, sunflowers, and a few other things. The warmer temperature is already drying out the tarragon. We shall see if it can endure the heat. The kids last day of school is on the 20th of May. It was a good year. I can't believe how quickly the year went. I am looking forward to school next year, 3 days per week. That's it for now.

The Good Year Blimp

Hanging around on April 13th we spotted the Good Year Blimp over our house!

Swim Class April 2008

A & T have started their swim classes with Miss Lisa. Pictured is T swimming on his own,
with "big arms". A is still getting comfortable in the water and beginning to venture on her
own.