A point proven

I once joked that our house could literally be burning down and Collin would still find a way to ask, "Mom can I play a video game?"
Well our house was literally on fire and as we stood in the driveway watching the firefighters stream in and out of our house, Collin asked, "Mom, can I play a game on your phone?"
I had to laugh. The entire morning was nothing short of ridiculous. It was the infamous day of April 2nd, 2014. The day of the "Laundry Room Fire".
The day began as many do, with the kids and I sitting around the kitchen table eating breakfast. Sandra, our nanny was here helping out.
Collin and Kayla kept mentioning that they smelled smoke and we thought someone was smoking outside.
But Collin thought the smell was stronger in the living room and so he followed it. I followed him. Hmmm... definitely stronger.
So we walked towards the front door, thinking something was going on out front.
That's when we saw the smoke billowing out of the vent above our dry sink in the front entry way.

At first I thought there must be a fire in our ventilation system and ran upstairs to check Pax's room as he was sound asleep in his crib.
It was all clear upstairs. Then I realized that the vent was connected to the laundry room so I headed that way, thinking surely it was a small spark, a wire that was smoking. I began to turn the door handle and then thought better of it.
It was all very surreal. Sandra, having her wits about her ran up to grab Pax and get him out of the house while I shooed the kids out the front door.
By this time the house was filling with smoke and my eyes were watering.
We all ran out to the driveway and I called 911, which I really couldn't believe I was actually doing.
It was while I was on the phone that I looked up and saw poor Abby and Lucy, standing in the front doorway, looking out at us with the smoke seeping out around them.
Of course we called them right out and took them to the park next door to await the firefighters.
Much to my embarrassment (but not to my surprise because this is Gilbert after all) several police cars and fire trucks showed up.

The firefighters got right to work and after quite a bit of time, the fire investigator on board came out to explain to me that the dryer had caught fire and subsequently- so did the clothes and a wall in the laundry room.
I knew we had a project ahead of us but I honestly thought we'd go back in to the house that day and carry on.
I had no idea that we would spend the next two weeks in a hotel room and a rental house, followed by another THREE weeks of being at home with the entire hallway and laundry room plastic sheeted and taped off.

During these weeks, our house had to be professionally cleaned top to bottom (and by that I mean a $20,000 cleaning!!) and all of our clothes, linens and soft items were removed from the house to be cleaned as well. We had to throw away almost all of our food.
I had no idea how terrible smoke damage could be. It was an excruciatingly stressful time but I am so pleased to be on the other end of it, sitting on my family room floor with my kiddos, Pax back in his crib and a brand new laundry room which is my new pride and joy. Who woulda thunk it. Me- excited about a laundry room?

A Mommy-Daughter day

Yesterday Kayla wanted to have a girls' day, but with our limited time (it was already afternoon) we had to quickly ready ourselves.
We grabbed our shoes and purses and jumped in the car.... and sat there.
We had no idea where to go or what to do.
We tossed around ideas, like doing some clothing returns, shopping, walking, having lunch in Cave Creek etc...
None of it sounded very exciting. When all of a sudden- I remembered our long-forgotten metal detector! This is #2 in the 3 nerdy things I enjoy in life.
We grabbed the necessities for an afternoon of metal-detecting: the detector of course, a hoe, gloves and some bags!
We were off- but to where we did not know. We drove east on 60 and thought about hitting Florence but ended up going to the Goldfield Ghost Town and Lost Dutchman area instead.

On the drive we talked about the Lost Dutchman's treasure and where it might be buried. Kayla thought we ought to hike to the top of the mountains to look for it but I was ill prepared, wearing flip flops and not having an ounce of water in the car. I thought we best try that feat next time.
Instead we found some stretch of desert in the area and found many exciting things (well- exciting only to nerdy metal detectors. You see, old tin cans, 100 year old pennies and lost jewelry are very very exciting finds to us, whether they are worth anything or not!)

Kayla found old broken crates and very old tin cans. We got lots of hits on our metal detector but couldn't find anything in particular due to the large amount of metal (cans, nails etc) in the area.
In digging for one of our hits (estimated to be four inches deep) Kayla thought she saw some rope and tugged it out of the ground.
It turns out that the rope is either a piece of a 1000 year old Indian moccasin or a bit of old carpet!

Hopefully we'll learn more soon.

What a great day!

A Perfect Day

Today is the type of day that makes me feel that my life is charmed. Of course their are the "What- am I cursed or something!?" types of days that balance out this gorgeous spring day but I'll take it! It's all worth it.
I am that Mommy who is secretly happy when one of my kiddos stays home sick from school. Those days are always so sweet, with lots of cuddling, book reading and usually some type of baking.
Today Collin woke up with a fever and so he stayed home with Pax and me. Since Tim works out of the house and isn't traveling, he was also home.
The kids woke, had a leisurely breakfast and worked on homework while Pax napped and Tim and I enjoyed a new Jillian Michaels Shred workout. Then I showered, dressed and donned my new blue flower earrings for lunch with the girls. Our sitter came over and walked Pax through the neighborhood in this lovely weather while Collin played on the computer.

These earrings make me happy :)

I arrived back home to a very delightful baby who was happy to give me those sweet baby hugs and was ready for another nap.
Now I'm stretched out on the family room floor blogging.
It's 1:45 and I've already had a full yet peaceful day. When Pax wakes, the boys and I are going to go purchase more "perler beads", Collin's new obsession.

Pax's new tricks include:

Learning to wave bye-bye
Crawling
Occasionally saying "Hi"
Beginning to cruise along the couch
Eating anything and everything.

This is Pax at Sal's Pizza in Gilbert. He was pretty happy with his first pizza sampling.

Grandma and Papa joined us for the fun spaghetti dinner

Last night Pax enjoyed spaghetti with lentils and sauce. He DUG it! Literally. He is also in to pizza and anything involving cheese since he's never really experienced it, even through me, considering I gave it up months ago during my ever-so-lovely elimination diet.

Speaking of diet, the kids and I are now vegetarians which is a relief to me. We rarely ate red meat or pork but gave it up entirely (Kayla years ago, me- a year ago and Collin- a few months ago)
But they have now decided that turkey and chicken are off-limits as well, and I'm so happy to never have to handle meat again!
Tim always laughed at me after I'd cook a chicken dinner. I'd zip around the kitchen with cleaning products, horrified at the thought of "chicken juice" in our sink or on our counters.
As a kid, I never loved meat or the idea of eating it so I feel now, at 39 years old, I'm truly returning to the way I always wanted to eat anyway.
I don't see us giving up eggs and yogurt but I'm happy to note that the kiddos have now switched to almond milk as well! Yay!
Tim is on board as well, but not quite as determined as the kids and that's OK. The changes he's made are already outstanding.
Our family has always been very encouraging of one another in holding our own opinions and beliefs and as long as we're respectful of others, that's perfectly OK- and healthy!

Life is good today and I will try to remember this in the middle of the night tonight when Collin's fever inevitably spikes and Pax comes down with it too!!!

The cost of adventure

Pax has taught many lessons to me: some hard learned.
While I've never believed in perfection, I certainly had ideals and I've had let go of some and lessen others.
For example, our house has never been perfectly clean or organized but it was always presentable and there was always a path to walk through. lol
For the past several months, even those two things are in question. I've had many suggestions on how to do better, how we can all do better or how to hire people to help me do better.
But in the end, I choose to revert back to the philosophy I've had since Kayla was born:

"At the worst, a house unkept cannot be so distressing as a life unlived." ~Rose Macaulay

Sure, you can certainly have a tidy home and a full life, but with the amount of travel and fun our family likes to partake in, it's often a choice.
"What adventure will we have today?" This is what I would ask Kayla each morning, and then that question was asked to both Kayla and Collin and now to Pax.
Some days, like today, we're forced to stay home because someone is working on the house (today the ceiling is being repaired and painted).
But one of the reasons Tim and I chose one another is spontaneity. We don't know what Saturday morning will bring. We might take a trip to a town we've never visited, have lunch in Cave Creek, watch the parade in Strawberry or spend a night in Prescott. Pax and I might go hiking, visit the zoo or learn about musical instruments at a library event.

SO, this means coming home to dirty dishes and laundry. This means that my friends might stop by to find my counters cluttered or toys strewn about.
I used to feel a little embarrassed. But now I think, "Hey, I worked out, recorded a voice audition and went to the zoo all before 11:00 today. So my Dawn detergent was lonely. Who cares?" :)

Phoenix Zoo

Phoenix, Arizona: Not the city I would have anticipated living in for so many years now. It's not my favorite of the many cities I've lived in. BUT, it is quickly becoming my second favorite place and although I never thought I'd say it- it's a great place to raise a family.
When Tim and I decided to make this city our permanent (as permanent as a Wharton makes a place) home, we promised that we would take advantage of all the wonderful things this area does have to offer instead of worrying about what it lacked.
-Weather: DONE. I can't help but enjoy this Spring weather every time I walk out the door. This takes no effort.
-Swimming: We have a pool- hallelujah!
-Awesome Gilbert Rec center: You want basket weaving for toddlers? The Gilbert Rec Center offers just about anything you can imagine for kids during school breaks and the summer.
-Fantastic science and art centers
-Restaurants and shopping. I've always called Phoenix "Little LA" because we get pretty much anything LA gets!!
-Resorts
-Proximity to LA and Mexico
-And last, but not least (and I'm forgetting 10 other things I'm sure)

THE PHOENIX ZOO!!
We have one of the nation's top 10 zoos and with this beautiful weather, the kids and I can't get enough of it these days! They've added a cute new bear and ziplines! Woohoo!!! Yay for the Phoenix Zoo.

"The Phoenix Zoo covers over 120 acres and is considered the largest not-for-profit zoo in America. The zoo prides itself on being one of top family friendly facilities in the nation. The Phoenix Zoo has four "trails" - one of which features wildlife native to Africa." ~Wikimedia
Phoenix- we love you these days... I will choose not to think about your education system and air quality right now.

Collin my funny man

Collin, you are a true gift!
You are my strong-willed, athletic and wildly witty boy and I love the adventure you continue to take us on!
Here are some of my favorite Collinisms as of late:

We were in the car with Papa on the way to get some frozen custard. You were bouncing off the walls and had literally been hanging from trees just moments before. I kept telling you to calm down, calm down Collin!
Finally after about my fifth, "You need to calm down before we get custard, Collin.", you replied, "Ok, Ok, I'm calm. I'm Nelson Mandela."

The other day you had a script to read for a Catholic movie. You said, "No, I'm sorry- can't do it. It's Catholic and I'm a Mormon Iraqi."

You have always had a fascination with other cultures and you love to pretend you are from all sorts of places, especially the Middle East for whatever reason.
When people asked you where the name "Pax" came from, you told them, "It's from Pakistan."

All religions, races and ages are fair game for your comedic wit and though I have to remind you to be PC and not to make those jokes outside the home, I can't help but laugh. You are a true comedian in that way.

You and I always notice the same moments, the same people, the same happenings that crack us up. Daddy and sweet Kayla often look at us blankly, not understanding what we found so funny.
We had a Mommy/son soccer match today at the park and we could barely get through it because we were laughing so hard... at what I don't know. We are just dang funny!

Love you my funny man!

Kayla

Kayla, my sweet, wise, brave and beautiful daughter- I am SO proud of you!
You made it to your regional spelling bee on Friday. You were out in the first round and you were so upset. :(
It was so disappointing for you because it was a word you knew but had always mispronounced in your own mind. You spent a couple of hours lamenting but then you pulled it together and bravely began preparing for your purple belt test. You passed that test with flying colors and your sensei commented on your kick (which you landed nicely on your opponent), "You ended his world for a minute!"

From there we had to go straight in to science fair preparation and girl scout cookie selling. Not to mention you were working hard on your school play. It was an incredibly stressful week for our whole family but you handled it in Kayla style... reading, reading and reading some more, making time for practice and work when necessary. :)
You are my amazing child and I love watching you grow!
You are you and Daddy and I can't take all the credit for that, but it delights me to see you benefit from and exude the gifts I feel we've given you.

Lesson #3 in child-rearing: Books books books and establishing a love of reading! When you were born I vowed to stop whatever I was doing whenever you crawled or toddled up to me with a book and read to you. I kept that promise to myself and to you and we would read several books a day! This hasn't changed for you and I'm so glad.
Love you and don't change!

A return to eBay and to FAT

This beautiful month of February has been a return to many parts of my life that I've missed.
Now that I have the consistent help of a nanny, I'm able to work out, have coffee with friends, volunteer in the kids' classrooms and EBAY!

When I was a young mommy of one baby I spent most of her naptimes on eBay buying her clothes. Kayla spent the first three years of her life in lots (literally) of eBay items. From casual to designer, this is how we rolled.

After I had Collin I had a lot less time, yet still managed a bit of eBay and garage sale shopping.
After Pax- well, let's just say that Amazon.com became my most trusted and closest friend.
But no more- I am BACK eBay- we are BACK together again! From lots of used books to clothes and event tickets, there is no better place to purchase.
Although I do like Craigslist, you aren't guaranteed to find the items you're looking for, while eBay has just about everything.

On top of eBay and getting back to a tighter budget, February is brimming with goal-setting.
This includes:
-Eating FAT. I took to a lot of munching and sweet-eating since Pax has started taking longer naps. I've found that by adding butter, avocado, nut butters and eggs to my meals it almost completely inhibits my desire to snack... especially on sweets.
Also, being the Mommy of two previously fat breastfed babies- my goal this month and next is to fatten Pax up. He is in the 10th % for weight and while this still falls within the spectrum of normal- I'd like to see him a bit chubbier. I think his tininess has more to do with all of his digestive issues and now that we've got that under control- it's time to eat. Poor guy is hungry ALL the time!

Tim and I have had interest in buying another house for about a year now. We are moving towards putting that plan in to action now... the hold up having been that we didn't know if it made more sense to buy in LA or Prescott. Now we're thinking of renting our current house out and buying here in Gilbert again. I like the idea of buying houses and turning them in to rentals after a few years.
So far, we've been successful with our CO rental house and we'd like to do it again!

Also, no more excuses- it's time for me to finish and submit my children's books. I have three unfinished books and one that's completed. They have sat in digital slumber for years, but all it takes is a query letter and some motivation to get started with publishing again.
I suppose if I don't have any luck I can use this local publishing company that I hear is really good. Ha ha.

My little girl is 12 as of yesterday! More to come on the tween adventure and how I feel really comfortable with this time in her life and the balance we have in parenting a tween.
I believe that there are a few keys to raising great kids and I hope to blog about my take on those soon.

In fact, another goal: blogging. I was once a faithful blogger and I'm enjoying returning to this calming pastime. I hope to begin another blog soon about surviving colic, written from a straightforward, no bs point of view!
All in good time, but just around the corner.

What's new this month?

February is off to a marvelous start!
Pax is waking only once a night to eat but is otherwise in his crib from 6-6ish. Mom loves this!
He is the happiest baby I could ever hope for and has given me many new laugh lines which surprise me every time I look in the mirror- lol, yet I wouldn't trade in a million years.
Pax is adored by his brother and sister and kicks his little legs, squealing and laughing every time they arrive home from school. He adores them right back.
The first few months were SO VERY hard with this little guy but he is pure joy now (well- most of the time!) and the best decision we've ever made.
Tim and I have discovered that not only do we get to experience babyhood again (in all it's joys and hardships) but we get to revisit Kayla and Collin's infancies.
As we pull out books and recall songs we used to sing, the kids are often heard exclaiming, "I remember that! I know the words to that!"
Moments come flooding back to them that perhaps might have been lost had we not had this chance to revisit them.
One of my favorite moments was hearing Kayla read "Mooo Baa, La La La" to Pax and singing the "La la la" part just the way I did to her when she was a baby.
When I commented on that, she said, "It just came to me that way. I must have remembered it somewhere in my brain!"

This month Collin records his last Tome episode and Kayla records Peter Rabbit. Other than that, we will be home most of the time and that is going to be so nice.
Kayla is preparing for the regional spelling bee and will be testing for her purple belt in karate this month as well.

Some candids:

I love this picture, in all my disheveled glory. Our housekeeper took this candid and I love it because Pax and I are just hanging in his room having a picnic while I get some things done on the laptop. (Yes there are blankets over his window. We be vampires in this house)

This was taken today at the doc as Pax awaited his 6 month check-up... and shots :(

While we don't have the TV on for Pax yet in his young months, Peter Rabbit came on because our DVR was taping it and he tuned RIGHT in so I had to take a picture. He really focused on Lily... wonder why?

After practicing crawling and holding books and all the other important baby skills, Pax and I usually end up rolling around on the floor together. :)

I could take this picture every day, as Collin is kissing that baby about as often as I do!

How cold I not grab this shot!? Pax loves Grandmas face... and nose!

Spelling bee and more

I am so very proud of Kayla! This girl goes after it and gets it, whatever the subject or arena of life.
While keeping up on scripts for two shows, excelling in school and working towards a new belt in karate, this girl studied hard and WON her entire school spelling bee!
She is such an avid reader and wonderful speller that we knew she could do it but we certainly did not expect it!
I have such wonderful friends who came, stayed and cried for her at the end! What an amazing evening and I'm so glad that Chasing Papa was there to share in the moment.

The final two!

We went to Postinos for a nice celebration!

In other news, our little Pack-attack (nickname for Pax. Much preferred by Tim who doesn't approve of "Paxy-bear") is sitting up and getting ready to crawl!
He also has two teeth. Wow and this guy is just about to turn 6 months old!

PR for Over the Garden Wall

Collin's show is wrapping up. He has two recordings left. I'm so glad that I got to see his last session with Elijah.
Watching those two talented guys is always such an amazing treat.
Unfortunately I missed the big PR day, however, when Cartoon Network provided hair and makeup and interviewed the boys for a PR package that will be showing in theaters before kids' movies this summer.
The crew filmed some behind the scenes, catching a song that Coll and Elijah sang together and then took several still shots as well. Tim was there and kept me posted with pictures and updates.
While Collin was pretty nervous, I think it all went pretty well. They have some fabulous actors playing parts on this show and I can't wait to share who when we're allowed to.

The producers of the show were so nice to bring in cupcakes for Collin's 9th birthday!

We are so proud of Collin and happy for him to work on such a creative fun show!

Happy New Years

Our New Year's Eve started off with a bang, errr... a bump actually.
While playing a game in the park next door, Kayla, her friend and Collin decided that throwing leaves at a person would put that person out of the game. It would effectively "kill" that person.
In grabbing a handful of leaves, Collin did not realize that he had a rock in his hand as well and chucked it at Kayla.
Kayla came in with a temple wound that bled- a LOT.
I would have my doubts about the whole situation, but Kayla and her sweet friend vouched for Collin 100%. That aside, we focused on getting Kayla's head cleaned up.
She and I kept our long awaited shopping date and headed out. We had a fantastic time but since her cut kept oozing blood we decided to cut our evening short and head home.
Once home, Tim thought it best to clean her wound with iodine.... which he then proceeded to pour in to her right eye (by total accident of course and to his horror)
He flushed the eye immediately and we threw her in to the shower and called poison control after reading online how serious the situation was.
Poison control told us to keep her eye under the shower water for TWENTY minutes and then to hold a wet towel on it for an hour. If after that hour her eye felt gritty or painful she would need to go to the hospital for a treatment.
Poor Tim felt horrible and Kayla was terrified, but in good old Dean-Wharton fashion the whole event quickly became amusing as we joked about Kayla laying in bed,, blind calling out to Tim, "Fatha... fatha..." and feeling his face with her hands.
Sick... but funny.
Kayla ended up being just fine and I gained a whole new respect for our usually irritating dog, Lucy. She cannot stand to see any of the kids hurt and always cuddles them with her poor ears down when they are crying. She would NOT leave Kayla's side.

Then we watched "Rockin New Year's Eve" on TV and our program cut out right as the ball was to drop in NYC. So we missed that celebration and called it a freakin' night.
Our evening turned in to a WONDERFUL New Year's Day, however.
Pax slept 8 hours, ate then back to sleep til 7:00. He took a nap, pooped (which is a rarity for him) and ate his first food (oatmeal cereal) and loved it. He then laid on the floor taking in book after book, especially loving "Rainbow Fish".
We made dozens of cookies, worked out and we're headed out for an afternoon hike.
Happy New Year!!!