Snowy Mountains

It never really dawned on me to truly appreciate the mountains that have always surrounded me. People think of Phoenix as a flat desert. It's really quite the opposite. You can't look in any direction without seeing a beautiful mountain. Yes, it may be covered by the brown cloud (pollution), but it's there. Prescott is the same way, minus the brown cloud. Mountains everywhere. Again, it never dawned on me to really appreciate them until my father in law was visiting. He made a comment about how beautiful Mingus Mountain is. They are right down our street and they are pretty spectacular.
I asked about mountains in Orlando. He told me there aren't any. What? How can that be? Places exist without mountain views? I've visited a lot of states (including Florida). Did I not notice this? I had to consult my mother in law just to make sure my father in law wasn't mistaken. He is right. There are no real mountains in all of Florida. How do you go snow skiing? Where do you hike? Apparently, you go somewhere else to do that stuff, like Arizona. I love the diverse topography of Arizona. You can go skiing in the winter at our two ski resorts and in the summer, you can rent a house boat and spend a week floating on some of the most beautiful lakes you've ever seen. You can go from saguaro cactus to pine trees in 2 hours. The only thing missing is a beach, but even that is just a tank of gas and 5 hour drive to San Diego. Even less if you want to venture into Mexico, and you can't beat $1 for a fish taco!

The snow is still hanging around in the shady spots of Prescott, like my front yard. The kids are still enjoying it.

That's it kids. Have a snowball fight.


Whoa little missy...not at me!


That's better Ben. Hide and wait.


Get her!!!!


The look on Emily's face here says it all. Pure and total happiness.


I'm glad we live in a state with so much diversity.

I think Forest Gump had it right when he said, "And then in the desert, when the sun comes up, I couldn't tell where heaven stopped and the earth began. It's so beautiful." Isn't that the truth...

And that's all I've got to say about that.

Sick Baby

Illnesses are going around this house faster than we can keep up with them. As soon as we all got one thing, another one starts. We've been to the Doctor and are usually told that it's a virus and it needs to run it's course, with the nagging cough lasting up to 3-4 weeks after other symptoms are gone.

Just as everyone was getting better 2 weeks ago, Emily got sick last week. Then, Ben. David and I have escaped this one. But, Noah also got it. He didn't get a fever like the other two, but he was really congested in his chest and he was pulling at his ears. He also stopped drinking about half of his bottle for the past two days. Emily and Ben are already better.

This morning his cough was horrible. I made an appointment at the Doctor. Luckily David left work and met me there. Yelling at Ben to not touch anything in the waiting room and then sitting in that little exam room forever is never fun. I took Ben shopping and David took Noah to the doctor. It's a good thing we did because David and Noah were there for 2 1/2 hours! He got a chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia, thank God. But it did show bronchitis and he also has a double ear infection.

He is on antibiotics and breathing treatments 4 times a day. We feel bad that our little man is having to deal with all this, but he has been such a trooper and is just a little fussy. We have to do the breathing treatments for the next 2 weeks until we go back to the doctor. I get to sit in the recliner for 2 hours a day and hold my baby! At least now I'll have a good excuse as to why I don't get chores done.

My Dream Came True

That's what Ben said when he woke up and saw the snow.

We moved up here (only 100 miles north of Phoenix) to have 4 seasons. They are all very mild and I think it's perfect. The summer feels like summer, but we aren't dying in 115 degree heat. Emily's first word was hot for pete's sake. The winters are cold and we get a few snowfalls. Enough snow to have fun for a day, but not enough to be a nuisance.

In anticipation of the storm, the school notified us that they would be on a 2 hour delay today. Meaning, buses and school would all start 2 hours later. They still get out at the same time. If the storm was worse than expected, it would be a snow day. David thought this was hysterical. Being from Montreal, the snow could be over your roof and there wasn't a snow day. We desert folks just aren't as prepared for snow. I think any occasion to cancel school and go sledding is a good thing.

We didn't get the snow day, but we did get a few inches of snow which made for an exciting morning for all of us. The 2 hour delay was perfect. Emily got to enjoy the snow for almost an hour before I had to get her ready for the day.

They had a blast.


Ben asked, "Hey, why am I stopping?" It may have to do with the 6 inches of snow you just plowed with your legs.




They loved the "glass" that built up on the water drainage on the side of the house.


This is an accident waiting to happen.


Snowman are harder to build than one might think. Maybe if we had 2 feet of snow it wouldn't be so bad. This is the best we could do. Our snowblob.


Snow angels.


Ben ran around the yard making foot prints.


An hour is good. They were plum tuckered out!


I was left with this to clean up and dry.


Noah woke up right as we were going outside. It was time for him to eat. I know you are never supposed to prop a bottle up for a kid. But Mama is only 1 person and I wanted to play with my kids in the snow and help them build a blob.


We all came in and Emily was getting dressed when she told me, "I love the cold. I wish I could go out there naked". She gets that from her Dad. Not that he goes out in the snow naked, but he likes the cold!

Emily was trying to calm a fussy Noah. I think he was mad that we went out and had fun without him. He decided to let Emily know that he meant business and would not be happy being left out again.


It was a wonderful morning, which would've only been better if David could've been here to enjoy it with us. The snow is already melting, but we may get more this weekend.

If our dreams come true.

Big (blurry) Smiles

Noah was giving me tons of smiles in his swing today. He was moving, so the first two photos came out blurry. Then I realized I need to stop the swing. I'm brilliant, right?





Then out of no where, I was no longer amusing.


Until next time...

Cute or Too Old?

It's probably a loaded question and one I don't really want the answer to, but I'll ask anyway. I reserve the right to get mad when you give your honest opinion if it really isn't what I want to hear. Note to all men (the two of you that read this blog), that's what women think all time. Always answer carefully.

I'm watching Glee last night. One of the best shows on TV right now. And there's Quinn Fabray with a braid in her hair. It looks cute.

This great high quality photo was taken by pausing my TV and taking a picture of it. See my Christmas tree lights in the bottom right corner?

I used to be in high school. I was a cheerleader too just like Quinn. Yes, it was almost 20 years ago (gasp in horror), but I could totally rock this look.

I've seen the same hair style on many celebrities when I browse people.com. They always look cute and they are always 22.

So, I decided to try it myself. As I was twisting my hair into a french braid, I got the strange feeling that I should be doing this on my 5 year olds hair and not mine. Is there some age that we outgrow braids? Like bows in our hair or pig tails. Am I just too old to go for cute when it comes to my hair?



As I was getting ready to head out to Costo, I turned on Regis and Kelly. And there Kelly Ripa is looking beautiful, too skinny and wait, what is that? She has a braid in her hair. Low and behold, she's coping Quinn Fabray too and she's 3 years older than I am. You can see her hair here.

Heck, if it's good enough for Kelly Ripa, it's good enough for me!

Every Other Virus

We don't normally get vaccinated for the flu and since we've been a family, none of us has ever gotten it. This year with a preemie in the house, I knew we needed to err on the side of caution. Emily seems to bring home every germ in her school. It wasn't that bad in preschool, but she only went 7 hours a week. Now she goes 7 hours a day. A lot more time to be exposed. And exposed we've been.

Everything starts with Emily. Then a few days later, Ben gets it. Then me. Then Noah. Then David will either not get it or get a very mild version of what we all had. We started the fall off with a banging cold. Followed by some virus that Emily brought home. She was swabbed for the flu's and it wasn't any of them. Then we all caught a cold again. Now, we seem to be passing around another virus. We might not get the seasonal flu or swine flu, but we are certainly getting every other virus out there.

Nights are particularly rough. I read somewhere that being cuddled by a parent is sometimes better than medicine in making a child feel better. Which is why Ben has asked me to lay down with him all morning and refuses to take Tylenol. We've been letting the kids sleep with us this week since they are sick. Emily always picks her Dad and Ben always picks me. I'm Emily's second (and last) choice once David goes to work. I got up to feed Noah at 6:45 and this is what I found in my bed when I got back.


There was hardly any room for me. Even the cat has a spot. We need a 20 foot bed. I squeezed in to get a little more shut eye after I put Noah back to sleep. That lasted 40 minutes and then I was greeted by this.


They look entirely too happy.


All I was thinking is that I hope David made me enough coffee to get me through the day.

I let Emily stay home again today because she is getting 1 fever a day and the rule is 24 hours with no fever. She came home from school on Monday with a 103 degree temperature. She said her head hurt all day. When I asked her why she didn't go to the nurse. She said she was too shy to ask her teacher. Great, infect your entire class because you are shy.

At first, I thought that everyone was better and we were going to head to Costco. Then, Ben quickly relapsed and he was doing this.


Poor little man. I think Emily is fine. Let's just hope she doesn't get the 2 P.M. daily fever again. I don't think I can take another day of this.

On a happier note, look who has my eyelashes.

He's Ready For Vegas

I don't know how quickly he would sell out a show in Vegas and I'm not ready to call Penn & Teller and advise them to quit their day (or night rather) jobs, but Ben is quite the magician.

Check out this awesome disappearing act. Now, I thought he was just going to cover his head with the bandanna and that would be it. Like when your cat has his head hidden behind the drapes and they think you can't see them even though 90% of their body is sticking out. I think this video will impress even the best magicians.


He disappeared right into the living room. He's good!

This next video is just to demonstrate why I get nothing done all day. This kid makes me laugh.