Thursday, February 19, 2009

Aunt Betsy




We really enjoyed our visit with Aunt Betsy.
We were able to get together for a couple of nice dinners, and best of all we got to celebrate her birthday with her!
Aunt Betsy was lots of fun to talk with and the kids just love her!
Congratulations to Betsy for receiving tenure!

Friday, February 13, 2009

More pictures from our session

Some pictures from our recent 4 year/7 year photo session.




Scottsdale Art Festival



Nana, Kayla and I had a girls' day in Scottsdale on Tuesday.
There was quite a large art festival in three huge tents.
So much art that you couldn't' possibly take it all in on one visit.
So we hope to go back in the next few weeks.
It was such a treat for all of us. My Mom works with glass and got lots of glass work ideas. I learned more about what types of art I am really drawn to and would actually like to display in our house one day.
Kayla got to talk with several artists and she learned quite a bit.
One artist even promised her a sketch of an elephant that he will mail to her after taking our address. This will be Kayla's second piece of art that she has picked herself which I think is such a great experience.
She picked a print from an artist who she had a lengthy conversation with at a Santa Fe art festival that we visited a year and a half ago.
Then Kayla got to spend almost two days at Nana's house learning about art and actually designing her own glass piece. She sketched the design with Nana first.
She cut and laid out the glass herself. Nana gave Kayla her own sketchbook in which she can sketch designs before making them come to life in Nana's art casita.
What a fabulous week of art and culture we have enjoyed!
We are so fortunate to have the family that we do, who further enrich our kids beyond anything I could wish for.
With Papa Tom's wonderful singing and musical history knowledge and Grandma Elephant's knitting and crafts... Nana's art and Papa's writing and knowledge of history and archaeology. Uncle Chris and Kelsey's music and cooking top it all off.
Even our siblings afar, Jim and Susan have such amazing talents that we get to hear about and experience. I am especially thankful for our family these past few months!
Our kids feel very loved... and so do we.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Chinese Cultural Center

Sunday was such a fun day.
My friend Bev told us about a festival at the Chinese Cultural Center we might like to check out this past weekend.
We sampled some great food and watched some really neat performances, including martial arts with swords and fire. Collin loved it!
Both kids had their faces painted, sampled milk straight from cocunuts and browsed through a Chinese market. What a great experience!




Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Breakfast with Lucy

It is a morning tradition.
Kayla and Collin take their seats at the table for breakfast in the morning.
Lucy immediately hops up in to her chair and sits with them.
She has been doing it for so long now, I don't think she even thinks about it.
She just thinks we all gather around the table in the morning so she does it too. :)


Friday, February 6, 2009

Sweet Abby


This dog is a Golden Retriever through and through. She is sweet, friendly, calm and loving. She is rarely hyper and wouldn't hurt a fly to save her own life.
So how does this dog cause a fractured bone, ruptured tendon and scalding burns?
Well it happened over Christmas break. Every now and again I get Abby riled up, getting her to play and fake growl and the kids think it is hysterical.
While wrestling with her, I felt her tooth connect with the bone in my middle finger.
The side of her tooth is what smacked my finger... really my own fault. There was a sharp pain and my finger popped to the side and back. I had a feeling it was fractured... thought about it a lot over these last few weeks.
I finally got sick of the shooting pains every time I picked something up in that hand or when my finger got bumped.
So today I finally went to the doc and had x-rays. We found out that not only is my finger fractured but there is a ruptured tendon as well. I am supposed to see a hand surgeon next week. Seriously??!
OK, my hand is splinted. I might just see how that plays out and skip the whole surgeon thing for now!
I can live with a splint on my hand for a while, right?
So I made dinner tonight and while straining noodles, the pot slipped out of my splinted grip and poured boiling water down my OTHER non-injured hand and down my waist and hip and bare foot. There I was jumping around the kitchen shouting expletives while Collin is running around trying to find Kayla. "Kayla, Kayla!! Mommy boiled herself just like she always warns us about!!"
Sweet Abby... who would have guessed??

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Catching up

We haven't had a whole lot going on over the past week or so.
Here is some catch up info...
Kayla and I saw "Marley and Me". Major MAJOR tearjerker. Wonderful movie.
The kids had their 4 and 7 year well checks, respectively.
Collin went from toothpick boy to BIG boy... tall and solid.
Kayla is still my petite lil' bell.
We went to story hour as we do every Monday. I caught this picture of the kids.
Collin had his arm around Kayla's back. I find them like that often.


We met our friends Bev, Chole and Noelle at our favorite park and fed the ducks (cracked corn from PetSmart per Susan M's information- thanks Susan!)
Kayla and Chloe are still two peas in a pod.



We've kept busy looking at homes, planning Kayla's birthday and homeschooling.
Collin absolutely loves preschool these days so that has been awesome.
Homeschooling is going really well and this time with Kayla is nothing short of a gift. Both kids are doing great!