zoo with the pauls

We recently had a zoo date with my friend Suzanne and her two girls.  

We came across a white stead which was appropriate for the two princesses we were with.

Somehow this was the first time we came across the bald eagles.  

I guess we have never ventured very far into the children's zoo because we also found lots of fun animal statues to play on.  

Good thing the kids like posing for us.

The girls were excited to find Aslan since they have been reading Narnia with their dad.  We really need to read those with the boys now, too. 

I just wish Gus would have been in this picture too because then they would look just like Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy. 

Thanks for a fun outing Pauls!

snow in phoenix

That is right.  I couldn't believe it either.  I can vaguely remember seeing snow in Phoenix twice when I was growing up.  You could see it floating in the air, but it disappeared the second it hit the ground.  Back in February, I don't even think I quite believed it was happening.  It was too weird.  It started as what seemed like a hail storm (not common, but not unheard of either).   I took the boys out to see it and they weren't really hard little balls of ice like I am used to.  

The more we looked at it, the more I realized that this seemed more like snow.  We could pick it up and put it into a snowball, which I am pretty sure you can't do with hail.   Sure it was wet and melted within an hour, but it was snow and I will take it.

The boys were both sick with fevers that day so I didn't let them go play, but they didn't mind too much.  They got to throw some snowballs.  

I couldn't believe how much it built up. Most of my neighbor's yards looked more impressive that ours since we have such lush (aka: overgrown) winter grass and most of them let their grass die in the winter. Our backyard looksed pretty decent though.

I had to go across the street to take a picture of our house since I figured I would probably never see it look that way again
(FYI, our roof is actually very dark grey).

Cars driving down the street were looking at me and saying, "What happened?!"  One lady told me that she just drove about 10 blocks away and they had nothing on the ground there.  My sister didn't get any at her house either. We were in a weird little pocket that got this weather along with a few places in Scottsdale and Paradise Valley.  It may be silly to those who live where this happens for months at a time, but one of the novelties of living in Phoenix, is that you actually appreciate weather that isn't just sunshine.  Don't get me wrong, I love our sunny skies, but a change is always fun.

valentine's 2013

Valentine's always ends up being a last minute holiday for us.  Most years we end up making our cards on Valentine's Day and nobody gets them on time if at all.  I was a little bit better this year since Jimmy was in school and I had to be prepared for that.  He was very excited to pick out Star Wars Lego Valentines and write the names of all his classmates on them.  

I haven't really made any cute decorations that I dream about and pin pictures of onto my Valentine Board, but thankfully Jimmy brought home lots of cute stuff from school this year.  Good thing I never took down the clothespins I put up for Christmas cards.   They gave us a good spot to hang all our cards and creations in cattywampus chaos.

Jimmy was particularly proud of his hanging bird made out of two hearts with a message inside.  He could never decide who he wanted to give it to so I told him we can just keep it for our family.  He also made a cute wind sock that liked to sprinkle glitter everywhere.... I hate glitter... but I still loved it.

Then I got to have a special date with not just one guy, but the three cutest boys on Earth!

Who could ask for anything more?

dress-up fun

groundhog 50th anniversary party

This year marked the 50th Anniversary of a University of Dallas tradition known as Groundhog.  It began as students finding a good excuse to go drinking in the woods.  It used to be an "underground" thing planned by students, but around the time I started at UD the school took it over.  This year the school planned a huge event and had record breaking crowds of around 1,800.  For our small little school that is pretty huge.  A lot of friends traveled from out of town to be there for the big event and I have to say I was super jealous that they were all their together.  Still we have our own Groundhog party to help make up for it.   We have hosted the official Phoenix Alumni Groundhog Party for the last three years.  This year we had one of our best turnouts despite the fact that many of our usual attendees went off to Dallas.  

We encouraged everyone to bring their kids this year so no one would have to stay home for lack of a babysitter.  Don't worry, we made sure the kids were all well versed in the classics before they were allowed to become unofficial alumni.

Then we taught them how to pump the keg.

Of course, we had our own Groundhog in attendance.

He anxiously awaited Groundhog Without Borders.

This is where we talk to our friend Adam in China via Skype.

He celebrates over there with a bunch of friends from around the world.  

They think Groundhog is a big deal in America and not just at UD.

Zach and the boys played a litte game of War with Adam and his Groundhog.

By the end of the night, the Groundhog had lost his shirt.  It happens.

Last, Gus just wants to show off his artwork in the new University of Dallas coloring book.

(Okay, I did help, but he is getting pretty good at attempting to stay in the lines)

Happy Groundhog!