The Weisse Guys

fun with little people

2012-02-09T21:47:00.000-08:00

We made a major Little People set-up recently. Then I had fun taking pictures of it all. It made me wish I had a good camera as I struggled to get mine ti focus properly, but I still love taking pictures of toys. I also love classic Little People and am excited about how our collection has grown recently. Ebay can be dangerous.

The Garage

The Fire Station

The Restaurant

The Barn

Sesame Street

dress up

2012-02-09T07:49:00.000-08:00

We recently inherited some fun toys and things from our friends the Balints. Jimmy got a box of Playmobiles, more Lincoln Logs, a dinosaur lamp, and a helicopter with two propellers. He was pretty thrilled. They also gave us a bunch of old costumes so we had fun taking pictures with them one day. Of course, Jimmy's favorite is this green dinosaur costume which he wore for a whole day. He wanted to pose just like the T-Rex on his lamp:

A Merry Man and Robin Hood, perhaps:

A Court Jester:

A (very tough) army guy:

A Ninja with some nice moves:

And a Knight ready for battle:

Thanks Balint's. I am glad your old things have found a happy home.

ghostbusters

2012-02-05T22:35:00.000-08:00

Back in December sometime I noticed this awesome car driving past us on the way to church:

I gasped with joy. At first I was tempted to be even later to church to see where it was going, but fortunately my husband was driving so we made it to church (on time-ish). But I was very excited when we saw it parked in front of a comic book store on the way home. It was right by my dad's house so we got Danny and Dad to come along, too.

It was actually a toy drive put on by a local Ghostbusters Chapter of some sort (not sure if they really think they bust ghosts or if they just think it is fun to pretend). They were very nice, but we didn't have any toys to donate so I let Jimmy buy something small in the store to donate.

And Slimer was there, too.

And we saw lots of interesting characters inside the store too, but these are the only ones that I let Jimmy get pictures with.

One of the girls in the store would not have been appropriate for my blog.

snow trip to flagstaff

2012-02-01T07:04:00.000-08:00

We made our second annual drive up to Flagstaff to find some snow on Martin Luther King Day weekend. My Uncle Dick and Aunt Sharon were ever so generous enough to lend us their cabin for the weekend. Unfortunately, it hadn't snowed up there in weeks and was not in the forecast. But we took our chances and it panned out nicely. As per usual, I took tons of pictures and had absolutely no qualms in limiting them down to a reasonable number here.

On Saturday we ate lunch at Charley's which is in the bottom of the historic Hotel Weatherford in downtown.

Then we headed over to the train tracks with high hopes of seeing some trains.

We found this old one.

And then this real one.

And another one going the other way.

So we were not let down.

Then we headed up to the cabin. There was one pile of snow still left out back and while it was hard and icy, the boys were still thrilled about it.

Jimmy had fun pulling Gus around.

On Sunday we headed up to Mormon Lake to find some more snow for sledding.

My dad and Danny came up to join us.

We found a good hill and spent a good hour going up and down.

We made some snow angels.

We headed back to the cabin for some cocoa and football and we saw some deer hanging out in the back.

That night we went into town and it snowed!

So we woke up to this:

Gus loved the snow and didn't want to come in even when he started crying from his hands freezing.

(and check out Baabee's Snow Penguin in the background)

We had an awesome snowball fight.

Jimmy got one down the back of Baabee's pants.

Then we built Jimmy's first official snowman.

We had so much fun and the boys were in heaven, but eventually it was time to go inside and get cozy... which in my opinion is half the fun.

Thanks to our wonderful hosts.

Yay, Snow Trip!!!

post christmas fun

2012-01-30T07:11:00.000-08:00

The weeks after Christmas are always so fun because you get to just hang out and play with your new stuff.

The biggest hit in our house was definitely the train from Baabee.

The train is actually called the Chatanooga Choo Choo which is awesome in itself, but Jimmy was thrilled that it had all the cars mentioned in one of his favorite books: The Little Red Caboose.

Ours cars aren't in quite the right order and we also need some flat cars to really make it authentic, but it is pretty darn close. Jimmy likes to recite it (slightly paraphrased):

"First came the Big Black Engine."

"Then the coal cars, then the box cars, then the oil cars..."

"But the Little Red Caboose always came last."

It is a really cute book and was an early one for Jimmy to memorize. Little boys do love their trains.

And I just love "Little Golden Books"

... especially classic ones like this with such fun illustrations.

My favorite thing is when I catch Jimmy reciting it quietly to himself while he lies on the ground watching it go around. However, he actually talks to himself all the time so this is not that unusual. I will be sitting right next to him and he thinks I can't hear him. It cracks me up.

Of course, post-Christmas is also prime lego building time.

I don't even attempt to open the boxes on Christmas for fear of the mess that would be made and the pieces that would be lost.

Getting to build Legos is in fact Zach's second favorite part of being a dad (snuggling apparently won out by a hair). I have said before I think it was the main reason he wanted to have kids. He still claims that his old Legos are still his and not Jimmy's.

This set makes one of three different things. We left the Light House up for awhile, but Jimmy and Zach just finished this Boat House:

Jimmy did so much of it himself and is ever so proud. He told me there are "two awesome things": a lever that makes the boat pop out and a button that turns on a light. Now to keep it away from Gus. Another thing that has been difficult to keep Gus from destroying:

Our Swiss Family Robinson Set-Up.

We borrowed the two Playmobil pirate ships and island from Baabee's house and turned the "spare room" into and ocean and gigantic tropical island. More detailed pictures later. For now it is just being appreciated and messed up quite frequently so I haven't really gotten good pictures of it.

boxing day 2011

2012-01-24T07:42:00.000-08:00

Once again, we celebrated the day after Christmas with a family gathering and a big feast.

Jimmy was very excited to help Nano with the Turkey.

Gus was the center of attention, but I think the game that everyone created which involved him standing on the middle of the coffee table and then jumping to someone might not have been a good idea. I can't keep him off of the coffee table now.

However, the snuggle game that Aunt Emmy invented is a keeper.

He also got to snag the turkey before everyone else.

We were joined by lots friends and family and all the food was great.

Zach joined the boys at the kids table.

Then we all popped our Crackers to get our to get our paper crowns, cheesy jokes, and awesome toys.

And while the traditional game of Feudal was post-poned, there was the traditional loud and crazy game of Farkle.

It was a very Happy Boxing Day indeed.

christmas 2012

2012-01-19T21:15:00.000-08:00

Santa must have been hard at work in his workshop this year because when the boys came out in the morning Santa had brought some awesome stuff:

Jimmy got the Playmobil "Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse with all the stuff in it" that he asked for.
It came complete with Mother, Father, Fritz, Ernst, Frances, Roberta, and a variety of animals.

I don't think it was exactly what he had pictured in his head (since he had never seen one before). I foresaw this as a problem so we had a few talks about it before the big day. Upon seeing it, he told me all about how it was different from what he thought it would be like, but then told me, "But this is good." I think he slowly discovered how cool it really was once he explored it a little more. He was very intrigued by all the fun tricks it had like the trap door, the tiger pit, and the organ that plays music. Thank goodness Santa didn't forget the buckets of water because Jimmy "really wanted it to have that." More detail is surely to come on this toy in a later post. Jimmy and I have big plans brewing already.

Gus loved his Little People Family Village.

I was surprised by how excited Gus was about his toys. He played with his presents more than the wrapping paper which was surprising. When he opened a little bumble bee pull toy from Mimi, he pointed and said, "Pease! Pease!" as in "Get that thing out of the box as fast as possible please!" That was his cutest moment of the day perhaps, but there are so many it is hard to choose.

My dad, Aunt Erin, and Uncle Danny all came over too and we made a delicious breakfast of strata, cinnamon rolls, bacon, and other happy things.

There was lots of sword fighting going on all day.

Then we went outside...

And found that Santa put a new swing on our swing set!

Perhaps, the most exciting present was the electric train from Baabee.

Jimmy gasped when he heard that we could set it up around the Christmas tree.

Both boys are obsessed.

This rudolph nose stocking stuffer gave us plenty of entertainment.

(Aunt Angie's was actually the best, but she made me promise not to put it on the blog.)

Then it was nap time for a few and time to watch a Muppet Christmas Carol and build Lincoln Logs for some others.

My boys made out like bandits this year. Sometimes I wonder if it is all too much, and they can't fully appreciate it all, but I think Jimmy is pretty good about playing with everything he gets and always saying thank you like a polite little boy. It is just one day a year they get really spoiled, so I suppose that is okay, right?

Gus' great grandparents got him the Little People Nativity which I love and was very excited to get.

The only problem was that it was missing Joseph and had a duplicate wiseman.

I found it set up like this:

To which I said, "Jimmy, why is there a Pterodactyl next to the manger?"

To which he then replied, laughing hysterically, from the other room, "Nano! She saw it!"

What a jokester. Nano thought it was all pretty funny, too, because I caught him singing "We are Siamese" with these two:

Well, it was a very Merry Christmas at the Weisse House indeed.

christmas eve 2011

2012-01-17T23:39:00.000-08:00

We went to the 4:00 children's mass at St. Thomas on Christmas Eve. Thankfully we could go in two groups so I could come later with the kids and they wouldn't have to sit patiently for 45 minutes before Mass even started. Gus usually only makes it until the first reading before Zach has to take him out anyway so waiting is not really in the cards for us. The boys did pretty good, but at least in Jimmy's case it was probably due to the added initiative of a certain someone coming to our house that night and also the fact that he got to open a present when he got home.

We attempted a family picture, but this was the best we got:

We had a little better luck with the whole group outside.

And I had to get one with my good friend Suzanne because we were so matchy.

The boys opened their Christmas Eve present, a playmobil nativity.

(Sadly, baby Jesus has already gone missing and I fear that some little kid took him to the back yard where he is hiding in our leaves surely to get picked up by the lawn mower. We'll just have to say a prayer to St. Anthony on that one. It is the baby Jesus after all.)

We put out milk and cookies for Santa and then promptly sent the kids to bed.

I snuck off to my cousins house for a little bit so, of course, Gus woke up.

But he managed to fall back asleep on Aunt Angie.

Then we all went to sleep so Santa could finally come.

great arizona puppet theatre

2012-01-17T07:23:00.000-08:00

I have been wanting to take Jimmy to the "Great Arizona Puppet Theatre" for a long time. I went as a child and remember liking it. Back then they were in an old firehouse, but I hadn't been to their new location which is an old LDS Church in Central Phoenix. It is a very cool historic building. I thought it would be fun to go with the Grandparents to see their Christmas show, The Elves and the Shoemaker. Honestly, I think we were all a little bit bored. I hate to say that because I don't want my humble opinion to effect their business, but it really could have been better. The puppets were great, but the show was too slow and the main character mumbled in such a weird voice that the adults couldn't make out what he was saying. There was no way Jimmy knew what was going on. He asked to leave, but I kept reminding him how fun it was. I pretty much had to whisper the story in his ear the whole time. Thank goodness Santa came at the end. I am not saying I won't go back and try it again, but I will probably wait for free tickets. Maybe it is difficult to get people who are both good at vocals and being puppeteers. I have actually always wanted to do puppetry, but I only ever got the chance to dabble in it. I even went to two schools that offered it as a class and didn't get to take it. That is a regret of mine. Maybe I could take a class here. Or even better they could just give me a job.

I think Jimmy's favorite part was the gift shop.

in the leaves

2012-01-13T07:47:00.000-08:00

Just a cute little photo shoot with Aunt Nat.

There were just too many cute ones.

We got a good one with Nano and Nana while they were here, too.

Yes, it looks like fall at our house right now.

christmas cookie making

2012-01-12T20:56:00.000-08:00

We made lots of cookies this Christmas.

We did my family's traditional shortbread that you get to kneed with your hands.

We also made sugar cookies for the kids (Angie and Natalie) to decorate.

We added food coloring to some of the dough just to mix things up.

Then we all went crazy!

And then I ate way too many of them.

train park christmas lights

2012-01-11T21:48:00.000-08:00

This was a crazy night. Besides the fact that the week before Christmas is insane at the McCormick Railroad Park, our oven got left on at home with bread inside. I had a vision of my house in flames. We were very far away so I called my dad. He didn't have his key so he broke in using the dogdoor. I guess it was a good way to find out that robbers could also get into our house that way. I was just glad he didn't have to break a window. Well, he saved the day and there was no fire, just very burnt bread. And despite the HUGE line to ride the train, we had a good time. We got to see the new model train room for the first time. Jimmy could have stayed in there for hours.

I love all the little tiny towns. They have one part that is supposed to be different towns in the Phoenix area from back in the day.

I liked the tiny McDonald's and Pizza Hut.

The line for the train ride was literally out to the parking lot and took about 2 hours to get through. Unfortunately, when you have brought a 4 year old you really do have to wait. It wasn't so bad because we had a big group so everyone could take turns waiting while we walked around with the kids. It was longer than any Disneyland line, but I guess you actually have to stay in line there. At the end when you have to stand behind the railings, Jimmy had pretty much lost his patience. "When do we get to go on!" At least we didn't have any last minute breakdowns. We entertained Gus by honking people's noses for at least 20 minutes.

The Kestings came, but they were able to just take Lucia on the Carousel and call it a night.

We did end up being the first people in line for our group so we got to be on the front car closest to the engine which Jimmy was very excited about.

The ride was fun. Jimmy, at very least, seemed to think it was worth the wait.

Here is a little secret we learned at the very end of the train ride. The small FREE train in the back was also open and had about 15 people in line when we went past it. WHAT?!!?!? I wish we had known about that and saved ourselves the 2 hours. It didn't pass as many of the lights or go through the light tunnel, but I think even Jimmy would have been okay with it. Note to self for next year.... or when we ever venture back

baabee's big tree hunt

2012-01-11T07:01:00.000-08:00

My dad usually goes to Whitfill's Nursery to get his tree. This is fun for us because it really offers more of the full tree buying experience than Home Depot. The trees cost more, but they sell the big ones that my dad really loves. Also, they have free hot cocoa, cookies, and popcorn.

They also have a fun fire pit to sit around while you wait for your tree to get cut.

Gus kept walking off by himself and sitting on the ground. He is a goofball.

We tried to get some nice pictures in the Poinsettias, but this was the closest we got.

(Sorry Dad, all the ones where you are smiling the boys are blurry)

So my dad bargained with the people and got a really good deal on a HUGE tree.

I guess it pays to buy it close to Christmas because they are more anxious to get rid of the trees.

The only problem was getting it in the door at my Dad's house.

... and then pushing it up without bending the stand.

It was a group effort.

Then everyone helped trim the tree with Baabee's special swirly colored paper.

our gingerbread house

2012-01-09T21:47:00.000-08:00

I got a gingerbread house kit at Ikea. I was going to buy candy to go on it, but when I realized how expensive it would be to buy numerous bags of candy, I decided to get a little more creative. We had plenty of old Halloween candy, sprinkles, cereal, and marshmallows at our house already that I was more than happy to get rid of, so all I bought was a bag of candy canes. We were lucky enough to have Aunts Angie, Nat, and Erin, Uncle Danny, and Lucy to help us make it even more fun.

There were a lot of stolen candies, a few creative differences, four fallen snowmen, and one crime scene in the back, but eventually we all really came together as a team to create the Best Gingerbread House in the World!

It remained on our dining table as a constant temptation to Gus.

Eventually, we just let him have it.

gingerbread houses at the biltmore

2012-01-07T23:03:00.000-08:00

After Church one cold wintery morning we went to brunch with Mimi and Johnny and then headed up to the Biltmore Resort to see some gingerbread houses that were on display. The Resort was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright so it is pretty cool to go see in itself.

Here was the Gingerbread village with a train around it.

It also brilliantly had free candy surrounding it to keep grubby little hands off the houses.

The rest of the houses/buildings were designed after real Frank Lloyd Wright Architecture.

Gammage Theatre at ASU:

Jimmy just loved this Santa:

Falling Waters:

The Guggenheim in NYC:

Thanks for going with us Mimi. We love you!

10 minutes of snow

2012-01-07T14:58:00.000-08:00

I am not going to elaborate much, but Angela and I took our kids to Glendale Glitters one night after the guys had a family Christmas dinner at school. There was supposed to be a "field of snow." Let's just say it was very tiny and the ten minutes they got to play in it was not worth the money. Apparently, this is what we get suckered into in Phoenix. Jimmy was like, "That is it?!" We'll go to Flagstaff soon I reassured him.

At least our kids are cute.

our advent

2012-01-06T07:18:00.000-08:00

I love the season of Advent, or as it is known to most of the world: Christmastime. I try to keep it holy and want my kids to know what the season is really all about, but we do more than our fair share of the "fun" stuff, too. Jimmy would much rather sing "Jingle Bells" than "Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel", but he is only four so I can't complain. At least we try. He does love lighting the candles on the Advent Wreath... well, actually, we light it, but he gets to blow them out.

Growing up we always had one of these paper advent calendars so despite the fact that this was way over-priced at out Church store, I bought it so that we would make sure to read a brief bit of the Bible every day. Jimmy asked why we didn't have the chocolate kind this year.

I copied my sister this year and did a simple paper chain. Jimmy could not have loved it more. It was the first thing he thought of every morning. To help me not have to stay on a schedule, each piece of the chain has a clue for a place in the house where there is another piece of paper telling Jimmy what "fun" thing we get to do that day. I say "fun" in quotations because some of them were a little bit of a stretch. Sometimes I at least managed to make them sound fun like:"You get to pick out presents for your cousins in Wisconsin on the computer!" (he bought that). Other times it was more like this: "We are going to go take a cousins picture as a present for Baabee and Mimi and Johnny!!!" To which we looked at me with a little furrowed brow and said, "That is not a fun thing." I tried. Once he knew playing with his cousins was also included, he was okay with it. Other things included: watching Christmas movies, making cookies, and going to see Christmas lights. You get the idea.

Here is another of our advent calendars that I would pretty much just call an Advent toy since it is more likely to get played with then patiently adding a character everyday. Jimmy played with it so much at first and did numerous different arrangements that when it came to the actual days to put people in place we usually just forgot. On Christmas Eve there were still at least 7 people waiting to go into the scene.

We had fun with it all this year, but honestly, I really want to make an Advent calender that is all inclusive. For me this means you get to open a little door or something and inside is a Bible verse, an activity for the day, and perhaps a treat or small toy/ornament. I would surely have to make it myself so maybe one day I will get around to that when I have grandkids. I still have stocking re-dos and this sad little guy on my current craft to-do list:

I am not sure why I continue to hang this guy up. Maybe it is out of nostalgia since we had it growing up or maybe it is to motivate me to fix him. He is supposed to have 25 pieces of yarn each with a jingle bell and then you tie a candy cane on each. I am not a fan of the idea of giving my kids a candy cane every day of Advent, but a friend suggested that they could put them on your Christmas tree which could work if we had it for all of December, but we don't. Maybe he will just continue to be a random decoration in my house that people look at and say, "What is that?"

...

On a better note, a friend made this manger for us where you are supposed to add pieces of hay when your kids do a good deed so they can make it more comfortable for the baby Jesus. This teaches them that it make Jesus happy when they are good. Jimmy loved this, but I think he could have made it a little cozier in my opinion.

Here is Jimmy doing one of his Chain activities that we both really enjoyed.

He picked out a toy at Target and we took it to the Children's Hospital.

I think the best part of this for him was that he truly loved this Toy Story Garbage Truck and I know he sort of wanted to keep it (he wouldn't stop playing with it inside its packaging), but he also seemed genuinely happy to give it to a "sick kid." Now he really wanted to hand it straight over to the "sick kid" but I explained that they couldn't get it until Christmas and we were going to be a little busy that day. He was okay with that. I also made him choose a few of his old toys to give away. This was WAY harder for him. Everything I suggested was, of course, a treasure that we must keep forever, but eventually we came to an agreement about a few things. The problem I have discovered is that I can't find any place that accepts used toys (in great condition, mind you) except for Goodwill and other thrift stores. I want my donations to go right into little orphan's hands, but maybe that is too much to ask for. Anyone know of any charities that take good used stuff?

...

And here are some of Jimmy's Christmas art projects that I take pictures of so that I don't have to feel guilty not saving them forever:

I may have helped with some of the above cutting like the stars and stuff, but this next one was all him.

I thought the tree was awesome with its pine needles.

Our favorite Advent pastime is reading our Christmas books by the fire and perhaps drinking some cocoa, too.

And having special people in town to do it with makes it all the more fun.

sculpey clay

2012-01-04T16:31:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine lent us a ton of Sculpey clay that she had gotten to make a Jesse Tree. I was not so ambitious, but Jimmy had been asking to make things out of clay for a long time, so he was super excited to make anything (This obsession came from "Murray Had A Little Lamb" on Sesame Street by the way). The clay was a little on the hard side for him, but he started to get the hang of it with my help. We made a few little Christmas things that he was very proud of.

Can you tell which are mine and which are his?

I may or may not have made the one that looks like a little poop... okay, Jimmy made it.

He said it was a present, but I will stand by the fact that it is a poop.

I for sure don't want to get a present that looks like that. His "tray of candy" is pretty tempting, however.

Here are some of our cuter creations:

This one was my attempt at recreating the ornament seen in the previous post. I have been saving walnut shells for awhile to recreate them for friends, but we will see when that ever happens. This one doesn't have the fabric, but the clay worked pretty well. We decided it would be a good present for our friends who lent us the clay.

And I DID NOT MAKE THIS:

Aunt Angie made it for us when Jimmy was born, but we did add the camel and a new sheep this year.

The Christmas Duck was all her.

santa visit

2011-12-30T18:43:00.000-08:00

We went to visit Santa at Fashion Square Mall. We met Mimi, Aunt Emmy and Finn, and Angela, Cia, and Kolbe.

Jimmy took a special picture that he drew for Santa.

We were suckers and even paid for the overpriced pictures.

...okay, it was mostly just me.

Jimmy asked for his "Toy of the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse" and Little People for Gus. Then he looked nervous when Santa asked if he had been a good boy. Finn asked for a Lego Fire Station. Lucia wasn't all that interested in Santa. At least she didn't scream, but she kept her distance.

Gus, on the other hand, was all about Santa.

tree trimming

2011-12-29T23:42:00.000-08:00

We spent a long time looking for the perfect tree at Home Depot and we finally settled because the kids were too restless with our perfectionism. There is not too much of a story to tell, but I am going to say that I highly dislike LED lights on Christmas trees. However, thanks to one strand of our old lights burning out we were forced by my eldest son's sadness to go buy whatever was left on the skattered and tattered shelves at LawnMort (that is our own little pet name for the awful place known as Walmart... long story). They may save on energy, but they just look too weird to me. But then again, I hate change.

These are the classic lights and as you can see half of them are burned out.

Don't get me wrong we all still have loved this tree and sitting by it at night with the lights out is just lovely, but it is different.

Gus really loved the tree...

Especially pulling things off of it.

Jimmy got to put on our new fancy $1 Ikea star!... someday I will find one I love but for now this will do.

The Blue LED lights also can't handle photography. I could not get a normal looking picture of our tree this year no matter how hard I tried. So if anyone wants a bunch of LEDs for their house next year, these ones should be up for grabs. At least we still have ornaments that make me very happy to unpack every year. Here is my Baby's First Christmas from 1982:

Anybody else out there have the same one? It is Hallmark so I am sure it was a big seller that year. I couldn't find one I like last year for Gus so I just never got one for him. I am still on the lookout for something that is missing the year so that he won't know I bought it a year or two late. Unfortunately, they just don't make them like they used to. Here are a couple other favorites from my childhood:

Here is a new one that Jimmy and I made as a little craft project one day:

O, Christmas Tree.

aps electric light parade

2011-12-23T21:33:00.000-08:00

It has become a tradition for us the past few years to start off the holiday season by going to the Electric Light Parade. Jimmy pretty much counts on it. It is close to my dad's house, so he always drives his truck to a prime parking space early in the day so we have good place to sit. We make hot cocoa and take a quick walk over right as it starts so the kids don't even have to sit around waiting or anything. Pretty idea... usually. The first half was great. And then it poured rain. We had an umbrella and managed to keep the boys dry. Jimmy really wanted to hold out to see Santa at the end of the parade on the firetruck and Gus was still happy so we were one of the few families that stayed till the end. Jimmy was happy and at very least it was a memorable adventure.

Gus loved the lights and sat contentedly the whole time.

(FYI, that is not his norm)

We are always happy when Uncle Danny comes along, too!

Finally, we saw the man of the hour (he is the red and white speck in the front):

And then we booked it home.

christmas light hanging

2011-12-22T08:18:00.000-08:00

mystery castle

2011-12-18T15:42:00.000-08:00

When Aunt Erin was here for Thanksgiving, she took us on a little adventure to the Mystery Castle. It is a funky old adobe house made out of a lot of rocks, pottery, and other junk including telephone poles for ceiling beams and metal tire rims for windows. The story behind it is actually very tragic. It was built from 1930 to 1945 by a man named Boyce Luther Gulley after he contracted tuberculosis in Seattle and left his wife and daughter. He was only given months to live so he didn't tell them about his disease or where he was going. He ended up living the next 15 years in Arizona building this "castle" for his daughter. She didn't even know about it until he died, but she ended up moving in. She lived in it and gave tours until her death just last year. My grandmother actually knew her and had taken us here when I was little, but I don't remember. I have thought about taking Jimmy for awhile, but as usual it took my sister to get me motivated.The inside decor is cheesy (lots of cats and dolls), but the building is pretty amazing.

From the foothills of the South Mountains, it has a great view of downtown Phoenix.

The wishing well that went down to the saloon below. You could use the dumbwaiter to order your drink.

The Spiral Staircase was immortalized on the cover of Life Magazine in 1948.

Thanks for a fun adventure Aunt Erin!

thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-16T07:16:00.000-08:00

Nana and Aunt Erin were in town for Thanksgiving so we celebrated at our house again this year.

We all went to see The Muppets which was AWESOME!

Here is Jimmy and Finn in pre-movie anticipation:

Our "hand"-made holiday decorations:

Our own little turkey:

Jimmy wrote name tags for everyone.

Zach insisted on a Bacon covered turkey. I guess we all have our traditions.

Baabee was very proud of his beautiful apple pie.

We ate a little late, but it was worth the wait.

Here is what I am most thankful for:

Then Gus helped clean off Jimmy's plate..

... and then he attacked a drumstick.

It was a happy turkey day!

nona's b-day at the sugar bowl

2011-12-15T07:42:00.000-08:00

For my mom's birthday we went to the Sugar Bowl because it was always a favorite in our family.

She would have loved to treat all her grandkids to ice cream, but we know she was looking down and smiling on all their cute little faces.

I hope it was a happy birthday in heaven Mom! We love you and miss you everyday!

thank you notes

2011-12-09T23:29:00.000-08:00

I am a terrible person, I should be writing them right now instead of doing this, but I have gotten so backlogged that it completely overwhelms me and I never start them. Also, the thought of it bores me to tears. Sure I have a lot of things that become real priorities such my job and my kids and laundry, but for as much time as I spend on Facebook and Pinterest, I have no real good excuse. My mother would be very disappointed in me. I know she would be understanding of being very busy, but she wouldn't let me off the hook. She taught me better than this and the guilt will linger until I do something. Post Christmas maybe? Then I can write multiple thanks into one card. Such as, "Thank you for the adorable baby present for Gus and his first Christmas present and the one you sent this year and also his birthday present and all the gifts for Jimmy, too." That should also save me on postage, which will thrill the cheapskate in me. Maybe I secretly planned it this way. However, I can't remember a lot of the things I need to say thank you for anymore because I never wrote them down when Gus was born. That was my first big mistake. To the few of you that read this that made me meals and brought him gifts, I say thanks and I am sorry. I don't really remember what came from who anymore. At one point I even had this cute idea of posting pictures of Gus wearing outfits that people had sent him and then emailing the post out instead of a real card. Even that idea proved too much for me. I think I am writing this so late at night to just get it off my chest. And also perhaps to make myself feel a little less guilty for doing lots of other things tonight that were not writing thank you notes. Let's hope it will give me the motivation to start trying to tackle this project. But like I said, after Christmas.

color game

2011-12-09T07:19:00.000-08:00

I have been a slacker on home school preschool, but Jimmy is already has most of the skills he should for age 4 so I don't feel so bad. We do little art projects and he writes in his workbooks, but it is never very organized. He has known is colors for ages, but we had a color day just for fun. Here is the activity I came up with:

Red:

Blue:

Brown:

Green:

Yellow:

Orange:

Pink and Purple:

Grey:

It was fun to do, but not so fun to clean up.

jimmy turns 4!!!

2011-12-05T07:55:00.000-08:00

Having your birthday the day after Halloween is interesting. On the one hand you have lots of candy to eat on a day you can pretty much ask for anything, but on the other hand everyone is usually tired and partied out. After all the previous celebrations, I know we were tired by the time Jimmy's real birthday came around. One bonus of it being All Saints Day was that his cousins had the day off of school. I think the best present of all for Jimmy was just having them over to play. They brought him donuts which was also pretty exciting.

Jimmy told Mom and Dad that he just wanted a surprise for his present (How great right?).

He got this playmobil pterodactyl that he had never even seen before, but was thoroughly thrilled to discover.

I think his favorite gift might have been the recycling truck from Aunt Michelle, Uncle Ben, and Penelope.

He immediately thought of how we could use it to play the ending of Toy Story 3.

Mimi and Johnny came over that night and brought him lots of Cars stuff....

We can never have enough.

As per usual, Dad had to get Jimmy a Lego set.

Jimmy wanted frosted brownies and he helped me decorate them with pirate stuff.

The Kerstings and Baabee came over to celebrate that evening as well.

Jimmy pretty much had visitors all day because Uncle Danny came over during the middle of the day to play. It was a non-stop celebration and by the end, I was for sure ready to stop. Jimmy couldn't have been happier. I can't believe he is so big!

bibbidi bobbidi BOO!

2011-12-01T20:35:00.000-08:00

Now that it is December I figured I would follow my annual tradition of posting about Halloween. At least last year I had the excuse of a new baby, but this year no such luck. However, I think with two little boys' birthdays, Halloween, and Thanksgiving I have a pretty good excuse. I do my best. Oh well, at least I am months ahead of my sister (seriously Em, just post something already!).

So this year, there was a big debate amongst the Burch Jerks and Speier Kids and Weisse Guys about what we could possibly do to compete with previous year's costumes. Lots of ideas were thrown around. We were trying to stick with doing something all together, but nobody could seem to agree on anything. Once I suggested to Jimmy that he and Gus be Jaq and Gus Gus from Cinderella, he was stuck on it. The other guys decided to be "How to Train Your Dragon" characters, which honestly Jimmy would have loved if it had been the first thing I suggested. He would have made a great Toothless, but I might have needed a few months advance notice to make a dragon costume. Just to make sure he wouldn't be disappointed, I double checked that he didn't want to do something with his cousins, but he said he wanted to be the mice with Gus. We were sad to break our tradition, but it ended up being fun for Zach and I because we go to dress up too. We even made a Cinderella's Carriage Pumpkin:

Our costumes weren't too complicated, but somehow they still seemed to take me forever. I mostly just had to collect lots of odds and ends from our personal wardrobes, Goodwill, and the fabric store. I decided to be Cinderella in the rag costume because it seemed easy and I never was the fancy princess type . Jimmy wanted me to be the one in the blue dress, but I told him that was too expensive and/or hard to make. So when we told people what we were going to be, he would like to say, "Mom doesn't want to be the one in blue because it is too expensive." (He actually often talks about how things are too expensive so maybe I am rubbing off on him too much) At first, I wanted Zach to be Prince Charming, but he opted for the Duke because he wanted to shave his beard into an awesome mustache. And it certainly did turn out awesome. Here is what we were going for:

And here is how we turned out:

My brother Danny went as Marty McFly which I thought was awesome so I had to share even though the only picture I got was a little blurry.

Here are the folks from "How To Train Your Dragon":

Luke Speier's brother Justin really got in the spirit and rented his own Viking costume (I think it was meant for a female). He had lots of fun leading his fearless group of Vikings trick or treating and threatening to pilage the houses if they didn't give them candy. See more pictures on Allie's blog.

The Burch Jerks are pretty tough stuff.

My sister and her kids actually got dressed back in costume to come over to our house the next morning for Jimmy's birthday. So my boys and I gladly got back in our costumes to have a little photo shoot. Emily and I both agreed that our actual Halloween picture session was very rushed as the sun was slowly going down. I actually never managed to get Gus in his full costume once we got out of the car at Emily's house. I never got his whiskers painted on and since he really wouldn't keep the hat on, he didn't have much other than a yellow belly shirt and brown socks over his shoes. I was so happy to get a chance to get some cute shots. Zach thinks the pictures shouldn't really matter and you should just enjoy the moment, but he wasn't the one spending all that time making the costumes. These are memories that must be captured for posterity!!! He just doesn't get it.

Cinderella and her mice.

Jimmy as Jaq:

Gus as Gus Gus

(Not gonna lie, this is the cleaned up photoshop version. See further below for the real deal)

We found that giving Gus a Twix made him happy for picture taking. Messy yes, but so worth it.

Me and my cute boys.

These two boys are such little goofballs for the camera:

Hiding in the Bushes:

A sneaky little mouse:

I had to get a shot that featured the tail:

Our "Max Boat" became a Viking ship and Jimmy got a chance to be the dragon after all:

Then we took our traditional glowing pumpkin picture later that night and Gus got to be in it this year.

(See previous years here and here)

They rotted within a few days of these pictures and Jimmy was almost in tears over it.

I explained that we took pictures of them so we can always remember them, but they don't last forever. He was mostly okay with that since like me he loves looking at photo albums. So the point is: Take pictures of everything even if your husband complains!

Happy Very Late Halloween.

a wild things birthday

2011-11-25T16:05:00.000-08:00

So we had a "Where the Wild Things Are" Party this year for the boys' birthdays. I bamboozled my friend Jessica into helping me plan it since her little boy Jonah's birthday is the day after Gus'. We figured it would be an appropriate theme for a party for our three wild little boys. There were lots of examples to follow on the internet, but we wanted to come up with a few ideas by ourselves to be original. I made a Pinterest board to keep it all organized. We couldn't possibly do it all, but we were pretty happy with how it all turned out. Honestly, I couldn't have done so much with out Jess. Seeing as I tend to overextend myself on these things, it was really nice to have the help. Of course, since the boys' birthdays are right on both sides of Halloween, costumes seemed necessary (and, of course, I made different ones for Halloween, but that is another story about how I am crazy). Jimmy was so excited for this day to come that he literally woke up at 2 am and refused to go back to sleep for two hours because he wanted to wake up for the party. Gus stayed awake for the whole party and was surprisingly cheerful the whole time, despite his horrible night of sleep as well. I was exhausted, but had a great time. This time my insanity was worth it.

"Let the Wild Rumpus Start"

"That night in Max's room a forest grew..."

Our Party Favors
(Including "Where the Wild Things Are" pencils from the Target Dollar bin! Score.)

Some of our wild creations we found online.:

Our "Terrible Teeth"

The big cardboard box from Uncle Pete became a wild things cave.

This last minute decision on my part was probably the hit of the party for the kids.

We had a story time and I read the book to the kids. All the kids helped act like wild things and were really good at making a Rumpus.

Oh, and Zach sort of likes scaring children by being a wild thing, too.

My friend Nicole also dressed up her little girls as wild things.

Jimmy and Bradonna are pretty good at "Roaring their terrible roars, gnashing their terrible teeth, showing their terrible claws, and rolling their terrible eyes."

Gus was busy giving bike rides.

"And an ocean tumbled by with a private boat for Max."

...and apparently a bunch of other people too.

My dad always comes through with something awesome and this time it was a giant Pin-the Tail on Max.

The best part was that the face popped out to make it into a photo booth:

My boys are cute and all, but this one was secretly my favorite:

For the cupcakes we just printed little cake toppers of Wild Things:

Our Three Birthday Boys:

Jimmy turned 4, Jonah turned 2, and Gus turned 1.

Jessica and Jonah:

Gus ate his cake up, he loved it so.

I will eat them up, I love them so!!!

The green frosting was quite lovely on everyone.

Gus made it back into the costume to go out partying later that night, but he passed out on the way home so we took some funny pictures of him sleeping:

And because we just couldn't get enough Wild Things, Aunt Angie and Jimmy made this Wild Things Pumpkin the next day.

Now on to Halloween...

gus' first birthday

2011-11-18T23:36:00.000-08:00

I can't believe Gus is ONE!!! Wow, this past year flew by and he has gotten so big. He is walking, climbing, waving, blowing kisses, and getting into absolutely everything. He is the light of our lives, but he has still earned the inevitable nicknames of Fussy Gussy and Guster McFuster (to name a few of many). He is saying Mama, Dada, Hi (usually on the phone), Bye (usually with a wave), Here (usually when he hands you something or wants to be held), There (or Der or something like that, when he wants you to take him somewhere), and Uh-oh (when he drops something or knocks something over). He thinks his brother is so cool and tries to copy everything he does, but he also has stood up for himself a few times by hitting, hair pulling, and even biting. We aren't encouraging this behavior, but Jimmy is sort of asking for it a lot of the time. On the other hand, Jimmy adores Gus and tells me all the time, "Mom, I am so glad we got the cutest baby." Jimmy was very excited for Gus' big day. I think he secretly knew it meant there would be more toys around our house for him as well, but he also just loves birthdays and is happy for any reason to celebrate.... and get cake. Gus is used to having "Happy Birthday" sung to him on a regular basis because Jimmy likes to pretend every day is Gus' birthday, but Gus was excited none the less when we sang it to him that morning.

Jimmy picked out bowling pins as his present for Gus so it was the first thing he opened in the morning.

That evening we had a family gathering with Baabee, Danny, Mimi and Johnny, and the Burches.

The other kids all helped open the presents, but Gus did his part, too.

Then Uncle Pete, brought over his present for Gus:

A huge cardboard box.

Needless to say it was enjoyed.

It was like a giant game of peek-a-boo for Gus.

He also opened this large box from us.

And Lucy enjoyed hiding in it.

Gus really like the Little People Garage that was inside of it.

And Jack really liked the paper that was inside of it.

Finn and Jimmy just loved telling stories with Mimi.

I suppose Gus will be really sick of Halloween things on his birthday someday, but while he is too young to know any better, I will take advantage of it. These were pumpkin flavored cupcakes that also look like pumpkins and were wrapped in pumpkin cupcake holders designed by Baabee. What can I say, I love pumpkin.

Our big one year old boy.

He demolished the cupcake.

And then he went for the candle.

And this was only the first party of the season.

soccer time

2011-11-08T19:37:00.000-08:00

Jimmy started playing in his first soccer league. It is just a free league at a local park that is run by a group of dads that we know. It was the perfect way to get Jimmy started because it was very low pressure and done in a pick-up game sort of fashion. Jimmy was very excited about buying cleats and having a good reason to wear his soccer shirt from Aunt Nat and Aunt Angie. He also thinks Aunt Nat will be very excited for him since, "She loves soccer." We practiced some in our yard ahead of time, but before the first game, Jimmy and Dad watched the real thing on the computer to get pumped up:

Doing stretches with Dad to get warmed up:

Jimmy decided he wanted to be in the 4-5 year old group so he could be with his cousin Finn. Of course, this meant he was probably the littlest one in the group... But he tried hard! They would divide the kids into two teams and let them pick names. One time Jimmy got to pick so, of course, they were the Pterodactyls. He loved getting to do the kick-off.

Usually the games looked like a big group of kids running in a mob around the ball:

Probably even more than kicking the ball, Jimmy loved being the one to retrieve the ball from the net after someone else scored.

Jimmy never actually scored, but he was very proud of his one assist. He still likes to say, "Remember when I kicked the ball to my teammate and he kicked it in?" We are proud of whatever we can get around here. Let's just hope Jimmy takes after the Weisse side when it comes to soccer. If he is anything like his mom and aunts then he would probably rather stay at home to watch cartoons on a Saturday morning. Fortunately, he does not know that is an option at this point in his life.

Finn was a scoring Rockstar so he must be taking after his dad.

And I just had to include this picture because Jimmy cracks me up in it.

He is pretty funny when he runs in general.

These two boys are such good buddies.

I am sure they have lots more sporting events together in their future

Thanks to all the dads that run this league.

We had a great time.

zoo set-up

2011-11-05T23:45:00.000-07:00

Here is a zoo set-up that Jimmy made and wanted me to "show Nana and Nano" (and other loved ones, of course).

I guess that is the main function of this blog after all.

(Note: the Globe at the entrance just like the Phoenix Zoo.)

I love doing this kind of stuff with Jimmy. I have taught him well.

getting dirty in the garden

2011-11-04T23:54:00.000-07:00

Not much is actually growing at our house these days. It all seemed to die over the summer. We have attempted a few new things, but I probably already killed them too with lack of daily watering. We really need Nana to come visit and make everything better.

Oh, and Gus loves dirt more than food.

Gosh, we love them!

costco

2011-11-03T23:57:00.000-07:00

I have had this post sitting in my drafts box for a quite a while. Originally, I just intended on posting it with out much text because I thought the pictures were cute. But then my friend Kathleen posted this. I found it funny as I was just about to post these pictures so I thought I would expand a bit on my feeling on Costco. Then I actually started typing it out and I realized how long it would actually take me to explain all the reasons I both love and hate Costco. I also realized that most people probably don't care that much about my opinions anyway so I deleted whatever rantings I had started. All I will say is that my husband isn't allowed to go there by himself anymore. Since I really should post Halloween pictures before December this year, I am just going to leave you with these:

Climbing Up

2011-10-17T08:36:00.000-07:00

Gus can climb up on everything these days... including the kitchen stool that was a little too close to the stove for my comfort one day.

He loves getting up on Jimmy' trike and just pulling on the handle to pretend he is actually riding it.

He is getting so fast and is into everything. Not to mention he is learning to throw tantrums when I don't let him be into everything.

What a little mischief maker.

Bess and Jacob Visit

2011-10-13T20:31:00.000-07:00

About a month ago, my best friend from college and her husband came to visit for one night on their way back from a trip to the Grand Canyon. Bess is Jimmy's Godmother so he was so excited to see her. I was excited to see how long Jacob's hair has gotten.

We grilled and our gracious guests made a lot of delicious appetizers.

It also happened to be the night before Bess' birthday so Jimmy and I made this awesome brownie cake.

Jimmy thinks every cake should have dinosaurs.

The Kerstings came over, too, and all these kids ended up in the crib.

We attempted to get a nice picture of Bess, Angela, and I.

(aka: one where we are not all sticking out green tongues... I love that picture, but I wouldn't call it good)

We had a little breakfast on the porch before our friends had to get back on the road.

We loved having them at our house for the first time even if it was a short trip.

Hopefully, they will come back again soon!!

phoenix children's museum free day

2011-10-11T23:43:00.000-07:00

My Mom's Group decided to meet at the Phoenix Children's Museum because one of my friends got free passes for us all. Really that is the only way to do it because in my opinion it is way too expensive. I have actually never paid to get in. Of course, going on a day when a lot of people have free admission usually makes it a little crazier, but you really can't complain when you didn't pay and all in all the crowds weren't a problem. I have posted pics of the museum before, but since it was Gus' first trip I thought I would share again.

The notorious "Climber"

... and its winged bathtub.

I couldn't go in the climber with Jimmy since Gus wasn't allowed in so I had to watch him slowly disappear into the heights and grit my teeth. Finally I had to have a friend watch Gus so I could go make sure Jimmy was going to come back. He was on his way down like a good little boy and I was just being paranoid, but honestly, sometimes other kids can be mean in there. Once at a Chik-fil-A play-place a little hoodlum jumped Jimmy and started punching him for no reason. His mother was nowhere in sight so I had to pull the kid off before he ran away (Note: This incident was unrelated to the business practices of my favorite fast food restaurant). I am usually pretty easy going, but then I worry that if I am too easy going it might come back to haunt me.

Then there is the "Noodle Forest" which is also slightly frightening to watch your kids go into without you.

The fact that there is fun stuff on the other side to distract them from coming back doesn't help ease my anxiety.

Jimmy loves the car section

My cute boys riding the pencil car.

We took our lunch break with friends in the "secret" less crowded multi-purpose room.

Gus got to know Abby a little better.

Then we had to stop by Jimmy's all-time favorite: The Car Wash.

Last stop was the 3 and under room (we only have a short time before I can't take Jimmy in it).

Gus was thoroughly entertained by everything in there.

I couldn't keep him away from this yellow ball:

He was not walking by himself when we went (he is now!) so he spent most of the time pushing this carriage around since is served as a walker for him. Jimmy insisted it was a lawn mower, but it did have a baby in it most of the time so I beg to differ. Then Gus just jumped in:

On our way out we stopped to take a picture with the red dragon because it reminded Jimmy of one of his most valued possessions.... more on that later.

cassie's newport wedding

2011-10-04T08:23:00.000-07:00

Cassie Davis has been a dear friend of mine since High School. We both were the only girls from our grade school to not go off to the all girls Catholic School and we found each other in the theatre. We did lots of musicals together and have always shared a love of singing and acting (although she actually rocks at both). She does, however, claim that I am the only person to ever make her laugh and break character onstage so I take great pride in that. I really didn't want to miss this important day in her life. So off to Newport I went with my little baby. We got to hang out in the Bridesmaids VIP room (aka: our room) before the ceremony:

Gus was a favorite with all the ladies.

Here the groom is waiting for the ceremony to start while the birds swooped down to try eating the flower petals that they apparently thought were food.

The bride looked lovely and so very happy when she came in with her dad.

(This picture is very grainy, but I think it captures them both well. Her dad cracked us all up when he gave a speech at the reception, but I won't elaborate.)

Cassie and Sean exchange vows.

Mr. and Mrs. Sean and Cassie Taylor:

These were the Seating Assignments.

(Note: Apparently, James Taylor was invited to the wedding. I was so psyched to see him and then he never showed. Rude.)

Cassie and Sean decided that since they both don't really like cake that they would serve Cold Stone at their wedding.
I got Coffee with Reeses Peanut Butter Cups and it was awesome!

The little kids couldn't wait:

It was a good wedding for dancing and the music was all great.

Everybody wanted Gus as a partner.

These friends of Cassie's parents loved Gus so much that they decided to be his surrogate Grandparents for the weekend.

They wanted to hold him for me all the time... and dance with him, too.

The Saint Mary's Girls kept the dance floor busy.

We rocked out to Fernando as usual.

This is perhaps my favorite picture of Cassie and I ever:

...It pretty much sums up our relationship for me.

And this one pretty much sums up Cassie and Sean's relationship:

They actually met doing musical theatre together which absolutely figures.
How could Cassie not marry a man who doesn't sing to her all the time?... It just wouldn't happen.

And meanwhile, Gus found a place to nap on the floor:

... This is what happens when you are too nervous that the airline will break your nice stroller again and all you bring is a cheapo umbrella stroller. I put him in it at the end of the night. Of course, I didn't get a chance to take a picture of him with the bride until he was asleep.

Great Wedding! Thanks for having us Cassie and Sean. We wish you many blessings.

a walking tour of newport, rhode island

2011-09-21T21:21:00.000-07:00

I recently took a little adventure to Newport, RI for a friend's wedding. I decided to only take Gus. He ended up sleeping 3 of the 5 hours on the plane so I really couldn't complain. The people around me were also the nicest they have ever been. I was sad to leave Jimmy and Zach at home, but excited to see a bunch of friends that I hadn't seen in awhile. My friend Kristin lives in Turkey so she doesn't make it home much. She was a darling and decided to pick me up at the Providence Airport so I wouldn't have to take a taxi. Many thanks to her and Christian for driving us. So after getting in late on Friday, Kristin and I set out to explore Newport on foot and with stroller. It is obviously gorgeous and we had a great time despite getting lost while trying to find a very well hidden lighthouse that we never did find. Here are more than enough pictures of our day:

Yellow with a front porch makes me happy.

I had to take a picture of this bar for obvious reasons.

We stopped by the church where the JFK and Jackie were married.

(I just watched the mini-series so I am on a Kennedy's kick right now)

It was lovely.

We found cars that we wished we could have been driving around town.

This is Kristin's:

This is mine:

(Seriously, could some car company make a modern version of this for me that doesn't look stupid?)

We got to view plenty of boats and I desperately wished we could go sailing.

So I turned Gus stroller into a make-shift sailboat with my nursing cover.

.... okay, the umbrella part actually broke and this was the best shade I could come up with.

We learned a little history.

I we saw more mansions than you can shake a fist at.... I don't actually know what that means, but there were a lot.

I decided that when I move here I am going to go for the little bit more modest abode and have my bedroom in this tower:

Kristin couldn't quite decide, but she like this one:

We both decided that we really need an awesome entryway so that people will think that they are going to get murdered when they come for a dinner party.

A cool secret side entrance would be nice, too.

Gus found a cool tree to hide in.

I opted out of any mansion tours seeing as I had been on one a long time ago when I visited Newport with my best friend and her family. I would have loved to go see more because I dig that kind of thing, but I didn't think Gus would tolerate it so well and I guessed most people wouldn't want a screaming baby on their tour. We got to see the outsides of a lot of them though. There were so many mansions that I felt like I didn't even get very many pictures of them. But in retrospect this probably seems like plenty....

Do you play croquet?

These old men do and I desperately wanted to go join them.

Gus had scored a Tennis Ball on our long walk so we thought we should drop in the Tennis Hall of Fame so he could practice on the grass courts.

... and by practice I mean eat the ball.

There is a Cliff Walk that gives you a view of all the mansions on the waterfront. Kristin and I did the beginning of it at the start of our trip, but thought it would be a little too long. If we had known how long our trip would actually be then we probably would have just done it. She barely made it back for the rehearsal dinner in time. Here is the view of the Cliff Walk from the beach across from our hotel:

On Sunday morning when everyone else was getting ready for the wedding, Gus and I went and hung out on the beach for awhile.

I took a picture of this crab for Jimmy.

(Don't tell him it is dead)

Since we were by ourselves I had to attempt pictures of both of us by myself.

I got at least one really cute one that I was happy about.

I guess I have trained him well because he does turn on the smiles for the camera

And then there are some that are just of our feet.

That's artistic right?

And, of course, I took plenty of just Gus since it was his first trip to the Atlantic.

He has now had his feet in both the Pacific and the Atlantic, but since he was two weeks old last time he went to the ocean, the sand was a new discovery. First he just touched it:

And then, of course, he ate it:

He didn't seem to mind it because he kept going back for more despite my best efforts to wash his mouth out with water.

He mostly thought it was hilarious when I tried to stop him.

We didn't last too long on the beach after that.

Before we left to go home we made one last visit down to the beach with some friends.

...including the Bride.

... but more on that whole getting married thing later.

For now I leave you with these crab legs shaking "hands."

golfing at palo verde

2011-09-18T14:33:00.000-07:00

We have been on a golf kick lately. I guess we have to get it in now before all the courses jack up their prices for the winter. We live a close walk away from a city golf course called Palo Verde. Zach has taken advantage of this a few times, but recently we all went for a little Saturday walk so that Jimmy could practice his swing, as well.

He also loved having someplace to ride his trike to.

Of course, he only has plastic clubs for now, but he loved it.

He would try to cheat sometimes though, so Dad had to try to teach him how to swing and not just scoot the ball right into the whole.

Sometimes the look like clones

(Jimmy just needed to wear his monkey shirt too).

Gus, practiced from inside the stoller. I think he was just trying to get his head in the game before he exerted any energy.

It was super hot so we only played for about 20 minutes, but that was the perfect time to allow before Jimmy probably would have lost interest anyway. However, I do see more trips here in the future.

mimi's birthday

2011-09-15T08:46:00.000-07:00

Our very dear Mimi had a big birthday this year. Of course, she didn't want a big party or anything, but Johnny wanted to do something for her. He knew the only thing she would really want for her birthday is some special time with all her favorite kids. We all surprised her one night at the Adobe at the Biltmore.

Johnny had present for each of the kids to give Mimi, but of course, they were actually presents for the kids.

Lucy was ecstatic to have her very own pink golf club and balls.

(Good work Johnny)

After dinner we all spent some time playing out on the putting green and the kids had tons of fun.

Even Gus was all about it.

Of course, he needed a little help.

And mostly he just did this:

Of course, we do have an expert teacher in Johnny.

Then at the end of the evening the sprinklers came on, but that didn't stop any of the kids (including Mimi) from playing. They all got soaked.

Thank you Johnny for a wonderful evening and Happy Birthday to Mimi!

sum up the summer

2011-09-07T07:50:00.000-07:00

Well, if you step outside you wouldn't think summer is coming to a close anytime soon, but Zach has been back to work since the first week of August (ridiculous right?) and two weeks ago I started teaching my Stage Properties class at Phoenix College. So we are starting to get back in the swing of things. I thought I would share a bunch of pictures from this summer that didn't make it into earlier posts.

Let's start with some from Jimmy's favorite Splash Pad:

Yay for naked babies! I don't even know why we bother to put clothes on them in the summer.

Of course, there was tons of swimming at various swimming pools.

Here is our Mom's Group at Jenny's house.

We don't have a real swimming pool, but my boys loved the blow-up ones plenty.

And we took plenty of runs in the sprinklers.

And this guy is just cute dry or wet:

The only way to actually hang out at the park for a picnic is post-swim lessons when you are still in your swimsuit

(or maybe you could go at 6 am, but we have never ventured that).

Mostly, we hung out indoors a lot with the AC cranked up (or is it down?).

Here is Jimmy in a "Chef Outfit" of his and Dad's creation.

We got a new piano that is fun to bang on.

We watched lots of movies including my favorite summertime Disney classic Summer Magic.

Of course, "Ugly Bug Ball" was the biggest hit.

We got to make a huge train set-up with Babbee's trains.

And we got to share it with our cousin Sybil who came to visit.

(and also her little sister Arianna who was usually moving too fast to get any pictures of).

We made lots of easy no-oven meals like pasta salad.

We built lots of forts.

Gus enjoyed this one from Aunt Emmy's:

We had fun with the Burch's at The Arizona Science Center.

The kids and Zach spent lots of time building this house:

But I think they had more fun knocking it over.

Zach and Jimmy tried out the bed of nails.

(Jimmy's face looked appropriately worried the whole time)

And Jimmy loved this pulley system.

He wanted to do it himself, but he was glad Dad was there to help.

It was a happy summer of many adventures, but now it just drags on.

Good thing I have such cute boys to keep me happy.

Dear God, please just let the temperature drop 10 degrees and then we will all be happy!

sink bath

2011-08-25T00:29:00.000-07:00

As long as it isn't too full of dirty dishes, we pretty much throw Gus in here after dinner these days.

I thought I should feature my baby today because he is 10 months old today!

PS- He also took his first official steps yesterday to his cousin Lucy.

quick nano visit

2011-08-23T22:56:00.000-07:00

We always love when Nano comes to visit.... even if it is only on a one day layover on his way back to Hawaii.

We will take whatever we can get. These boys sure love him!

Of course, as soon as he did leave, Jimmy wanted to the exact plan and date for when he was coming back. So get on that Nano.

cardboard city

2011-08-19T09:23:00.000-07:00

Well, it all started with one big flat piece of cardboard and a few food boxes. That was or "town."

Then I went crazy and built a whole city.

Then we started doing a building everyday (usually during Gus' morning nap). Jimmy loves watching me cut and then he helps tape everything and then color or paint. I am not exactly a tutorial person, but if you are interested in trying something like this yourself, this is what you will need: cardboard boxes (all shapes and sizes), matte knife, packaging tape, glue, markers and crayons, and a lack of perfectionism (that last part is hard for me). Most of the buildings are just the boxes turned inside out... hence all the different sizes and lack of consistant scale. I love that a Corona box became a church.

This was our first attempt. The long roads were helped by the fact that we recently made some large purchases at Ikea. My nephew Jack was quite helpful and had a lot of fun helping me set this up. His sweet innocence and ambition about all the things we could make in a few hours made me smile ("Let's make two cities! One could be Phoenix and one could be New York and they could each have an airport so you could fly back and forth!"). He still wants to come back so we can set it up again and do more work. (Sorry we didn't take any pictures while you were over Jack! You were such a fun helper) While it may look like a lovely day in these pictures I think we started this project a little late in the summer. We could really only do it early in the morning and eventually we had to take it down so it wouldn't get ruined by irrigation and sprinklers.

Here is a little tour.
Let's start with the airport since I already have given a full tour of that.

Our Restaurant:
(Jimmy wanted it to be like Postino, aka: Daddy's old restaurant)

Our Hotel
(Complete with revolving door. Thanks Nano for you help on this one):

Our Firehouse

(designed specifcally for Red and Rescue Squad Mater):

Our Gas Station
(built by Baabee, decorated by Jimmy and me):

Our Houses
(both designed by Aunt Erin with help from Jimmy):

Our Cork People
(Thanks Pinterest for letting me find these)

Our Church.
(It opens too! Jack helped build it. Jimmy helped paint it. Gus helps knock it over).

Our School:

My cute boys enjoying their city:

For now most of the smaller buildings are being played with inside. The rest are on my porch along with all the roads and all sorts of extra boxes and scraps. Maybe when the weather cools down (in December?) we can bring it all back out and do "Phase Three."

southern az road trip: bisbee

2011-08-14T23:08:00.000-07:00

The final destination of our little trip was Bisbee, AZ.

We stayed at the Gym Club Suites:

The weather was great while we were there, but I imagine that the claim below is really a matter of opinion. People in Hawaii may beg to differ.

It is such a cute town with lots of old historic buildings. Naturally, I took lots of pictures.

Bisbee is an old mining town, but we didn't take the mining tour.

Jimmy loved this old mining train though.

It has turned into an artists community these days so there is a lot of funky art to see.

There were a lot of funky cars around as well.

Bisbee is a town of a thousand stairs (it is wedged in a little valley after all) and they have a "1000 Stair Climb" every year.

We climbed a bunch of steps just for fun to see where they would lead.

We ended up turning back eventually, and being the weakling that I am, my legs felt all shaky.

Here was the view from as high as we got.

Then we went to a Vegan Mexican Restaurant for dinner. I will be honest I am surprised my husband agreed to it. Mostly, I was just freaked out that they had "Chorizo" and "Cheese" on the menu (I guess they are made of soy and cashew butter). Mine was a little spicy, but Jimmy's nachos were really good. Our non-vegan bellies did have some after effects from the meal, however, but I won't go into that.

Jimmy got to buy this G.I. Joe at an antique store for being a good boy.

I am pretty sure my brother used to have the same one in his abundant collection. This is Jimmy's first.

This soda was delicious, but Jimmy didn't really share much with me.

We had a great time just walking around and exploring.

The next morning, Aunt Erin was kind enough to hang out with Jimmy for awhile on the porch while the rest of us slept in a little. They had lots of fun taking pictures together. There were a ton of blurry ones that were just Jimmy running. These are actually Jimmy's current favorite pictures and he asks to look at them a lot (He had a lot of fun with you Aunt Erin). These are just a few of their photo shoot.

Jimmy loved the big B on the mountain.

They ate lots of cherries.

And took lots of pictures of toys.

And Erin even let Jimmy take some goofy ones of her.

They even "caught" a hummingbird, as Jimmy likes to tell me. Because "they don't like to hold still for pictures."

We had a nice breakfast before we went our seperate ways.

(The place in the background is apparently a great pizza place, but we will have to check it out next time.)

On our last walk through town we stopped in a gallery/store where we found this cool hiking stick that we thought Baabee would love. We just had to get it as a birthday present for him. Gus was happy to keep it safe.

We had a great time going on another little family adventure. Thanks for getting us to go Erin!

We drove through Tombstone on the way back, but we will have to make that a family adventure for another day when the boys are older. The boys did well on the drive home (all things considered), but by the time we got home we were all happy to be there.

southern az road trip: sonoita

2011-08-10T08:06:00.000-07:00

The next stop on our road trip was Sonoita which is in the wine country of southern Arizona. The drive from Phoenix to Tucson is pretty ugly, but from Tucson to Sonoita was lovely with lots of grassy hills and beautiful mountains. The temperature is also a lot cooler, which was, of course, an added bonus.

We stopped at Sonoita Vineyards for a wine tasting which was really fun... for the grown-ups.

(picture above via Sonoita Vineyards website)

We all enjoyed the wine and bought some bottles to bring home.

These were hibiscus flowers that you put in your wine and they taste like fruit.

Erin and I loved them, but they were too sweet for Zach... more for me that way.

All in all, Jimmy was very patient and sat and had a snack and played while we tasted wine. He was very curious about the room where they make the wine and wanted me to ask the lady who worked there exactly how all the machines work. He loves to know how things work.

Gus was a trooper through it all. He had his fussy times, but when we got to the vineyard he had fallen asleep like this:

Forget everything I packed for him including snacks... his favorite thing was Jimmy's markers.

(He has since figured out how to open them so he no longer is allowed to hold them).

Then back on the road.

southern az road trip: san xavier mission

2011-08-09T16:42:00.000-07:00

When my sister Erin headed back on the long drive back to Texas, we decided to take a little overnight trip with her for the first leg of her trip. We drove down to Tucson for breakfast and then stopped to see the beautiful San Xavier Misson.

Wouldn't it be lovely to attend Mass here sometime? Maybe another time.

After our brief tour, it was back in the car and onto our next destination....

1st camping adventure

2011-08-04T08:37:00.000-07:00

We finally took our first family camping trip. Jimmy had been begging to go camping with Baabee for about the last year and a half. We didn't know how well the kids would actually fare so we decided to start with just one night. We were originally going to test the tent in the backyard, but once the summer hit, that no longer seemed prudent. We headed up to the Mogollon Rim to a spot my dad found called the Blue Ridge Reservoir in the Coconino National Forest. It is just about 45 minutes to an hour North of Payson. The only part of the trip Jimmy wasn't a huge fan of was the car trip. He asked, "When are we going to be there?" about 10 minutes into the drive when we weren't even to Scottsdale yet. I felt like such a cliche parent being annoyed by it, but after the 25th time it really does get old. We played car games that he really liked, but he refused to take a nap so it seemed a little long. He was very happy to get out of the car, when we stopped in Payson for breakfast at the Knotty Pine Cafe.

I had never been, but it is a spot my dad likes. It is very much your classic hole in the wall country diner. We were too full for pie after our big meal, so we made a point to stop by again on our way home just to get some. We tried all four kinds that they had that day and all were delicious.

Next we drove to the camp ground which was about a 10 minute drive from the water.

Since we went in the middle of the week we had no trouble getting a camp site, but apparently on the Thursday night they usually all get snatched up (they don't take reservations). Jimmy was so excited about the tent and wanted to help with everything.

Even with no sleeping bags set up yet, my boys had fun playing inside the tent.

Don't some snacks just seem more fun when you are camping?

We did go to the water for awhile after we set up our camp, but I forgot my camera in the car so I took it as an opportunity to relax sans camera. After the sun started going down, we went back to camp to start getting a fire ready for dinner. Jimmy was slightly disappointed that they had metal fire pits and not the classic stone circles that he had seen in books, but I explained that this is safer even if it is not quite as cool.

We tried making this play spot for Gus, but he wasn't interested in anything but the rocks and dirt.

For dinner we made hot dogs and beans (... and then we all had to sleep in the same tent). We didn't do smores because no one was that interested, but Jimmy insisted on roasting marshmallows.

The next morning Baabee woke up with the sun. Then when Jimmy woke up he and Baabee had some fun time together making a set-up for his cars.

Eventually, Mom and Dad and Gus all woke up, too.

We made this bucket into Gus' playpen.

Jimmy just loved being surrounded by nature and was entertained by gathering sticks and rocks and other treasures. He was on the look out for small critters and we happened upon these two favorites:

Then we headed back to the water. It used to be a river, but it has been dammed up, so now it is just a really long, narrow lake (as seen on the sign below)

It was quite beautiful.

We drove to the end of the lake to see the dam.

Then Gus took this picture of us:

(... okay, fine, it was really a park ranger.)

It is sort of a steep hike down to the water, but we managed and Jimmy was so proud of how much exercise he was getting, and didn't want to hold anyone's hand which made his mom nervous. Then he was brave enough to jump into the water to Baabee, but he didn't want to go under (I don't blame him).

Then Zach jumped in, too.

But he didn't stay in long either.

Even Gus actually liked the water for awhile, but eventually we had to bundle up in our towels since the sun kept hidding behind the clouds.

Zach tried fishing for while, but all he caught was a crawdad.

We had a great time and then Gus drove us home.

Jimmy is all set for our next trip, but he wants to stay longer and he wants his cousins to come, too.

So start getting ready Burches. Jimmy has plans.

swim lessons

2011-08-03T08:08:00.000-07:00

Once again we did swim lessons through Phoenix Parks and Rec at Roadrunner Pool. This time we did it with our friends the Kerstings. Having teachers for husbands has some benefits because we were able to have all our kids in lessons together since we had a parent for each kid. I didn't know if Jimmy was quite ready to be in the level 1 class without parents since he had regressed a lot since last summer and I think I made the right choice keeping him with us. He made great progress through the two weeks and I was all ready to get him signed up for the next level class when I realized we were going to miss half the lessons in the next session which was also the last seession. Hopefully, next summer I can just start him where we left off.

And, of course, popsicles on the last day make it even more fun.

Then the parents decided we wanted a last day of class treat too, so we went to In'N'Out Burger. Yum.

blueberry pancakes

2011-08-01T21:49:00.000-07:00

These were some of the first practice pictures I took on my phone so they must be from January or something. Oh well, better late than never. Jimmy wanted to make blueberry pancakes just like Curious George does in "Curious George Makes Pancakes." George makes them with a smiley face just like this, but I don't think Jimmy was a fan of the blueberries actually being cooked. He ate them, but when we recently made them again with Aunt Angie, he just asked for plain ones. I guess the novelty wore off.

swimming with smecks

2011-08-01T08:12:00.000-07:00

Back in June, we had a nice little backyard BBQ with our good friends the Smecks.

We love them so and don't see them nearly enough so we were so happy we could do it.

Jimmy was in heaven because they had a trampoline and a basketball hoop in the pool.

It may be hot where we live, but all in all, I still love summer.

rio salado audubon society

2011-07-31T17:22:00.000-07:00

**Note: I finally went to the trouble to get all the pictures off of my phone! The next few posts are back tracking a bit to catch up on all the events where I forgot to bring my camera.

My sister Erin is always finding cool things to do that I never would have known about. She recently discovered the Rio Salado Audubon Center. Just about 20 minutes south of our house there is a beautiful little green sanctuary hidden under the freeway. The Audubon Society has built a facility there because it is a great place to spot cool birds. They have a a really nice center where they give you binoculars and show you what birds to look out for. They are slowly trying to restore the Rio Salado River and there is a little creek that was surprisingly lovely and lush. It started to get a little too hot while we were there, but I am sure an earlier summer morning would be just fine. Jimmy had fun and was all about looking for the birds. It helped that Elmo and Abbey were recently doing some bird watching on Sesame Street.

We didn't get that close, but if you look hard enough, you can see a little waterfall on the other side of the creek.

Jimmy also liked that we could find airplanes as well as birds.

The white spot in the middle is some type of crane (.... I obviously learned a lot.)

They were really big and beautiful when they flew and Jimmy loved it.

Again, if I had a better camera with me, I could have zoomed in a little more.

We are planning on venturing back again when the weather is better if anyone else is interested in tagging along.

cardboard airport

2011-07-21T20:46:00.000-07:00

So remember how I made this? Well, it really got the ball rolling on my cardboard town making. I told Jimmy we could start working on a bunch of different buildings and eventually it would all make a town. He asked for an airport, and I said, "How about a house?" Sigh. He got an airport. But ultimately, I ended up having a lot of fun with it and was pretty proud of how it turned out. After looking up a few pictures of airports online, I was pretty much flying by the seat of my pants . I just starting cutting and folding without any real plans or any real regard for proper scale (about right for Playmobil was my goal). The scenic designer in me shudders at the thought, but the mom part of me knows that is the only way to get things done. And, of course, I had a great helper who drew all my windows and colored it wherever he saw fit. He loves it, so mission accomplished. Not gonna lie -- I love it, too.

Jimmy even helped me set it up to take pictures "so Nano and Nana can see it."

Our airport has a check-in counter with a conveyor belt behind it for the bags, and while it does not have the best security in the world (it lacks walls and the baggage x-ray machine that Jimmy wanted), at least they give you the pat down:

Jimmy's favorite part is the control tower.

It may be mine, too. I even love its many imperfections

Jimmy loves sending the bags down out the "wipers" and down this conveyor belt.

He didn't understand why I couldn't make the wheels spin.

It is sweet that he thinks I am capable of anything.

Jimmy insisted that the airport have a tunnel that you walk down to get on the plane "just like when we went to Dallas."

It may not have lined up with the plane perfectly, but I was excited about the corrugated look around the edges.

And finally, the drop-off and pick-up ramps.

Cardboard is a pretty fun building material, but unfortunately it won't last forever; this is something I have been trying to explain to my son. He told me I could just build him a new one if this one breaks. I told him, "Probably not so take care of it and please don't cry when we have to get rid of it."

He said, "Okay, but we can just build a new one right?" He has trouble listening.

... But just wait, friends. It isn't over yet. This was just the first building in our city. More to come on that soon.

brothers

2011-07-17T12:49:00.000-07:00

This is a little collection of pictures of my favorite brothers.

As much as Jimmy gets in trouble for the things he does to Gus, he sure does love him. And Gus is all smiles whenever he sees Jimmy. Unfortunately he is also too tough for his own good. Jimmy thinks he can push the limits of roughhousing since Gus rarely cries when he gets hit. (I will not be including the picture that I accidentally captured of Jimmy running at Gus with a croquet mallet... don't worry I did in fact stop this incident before anyone was hurt, but the picture is pretty frightening. Jimmy looks possessed.) Though my life sometimes seems like a never-ending series of time-outs, I am pretty sure it just feels that way. All in all, they really do love each other.

Okay, well he looks bored in this one, but I think the rest should be proof of their brotherly love.

Blurry, I know, but I just can't resist those smiles.

And who could resist those chubby cheeks?

(At least Jimmy has found some cheeks to rub that aren't mine.)

Gus gets a lot of kisses when pictures are being taken.

They have even started taking baths together, which makes it more fun for both of them.

And this is what they look like most of the time lately: in swimsuits and in the sunshine.

Life could be worse.

Gotta love em.

crane

2011-07-14T14:26:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the ice manna from heaven (aka: the hail storm of last year), we got a free new air conditioner!!! I love free things so I was pretty excited, but Jimmy was far more excited by the crane that came to take the old one away and deliver the new one.

Best thing since a garbage truck.