For Posterity...

Just had to get a few things written down that Zoe has said lately that I don't want to forget!

-Darren and me were sitting at the kitchen table with Zoe and she mentioned she could name quite a few presidents. Well, she starts with "George Washington, Abe Lincoln, "Arock" Obama, George Bush, and last but certainly not least...George Clooney. Too much of the E channel? Well, guilty as charged!


-This may only make sense to locals...I will preface this by saying that there is a Ford dealership here called Sanderson Ford and their commercials are catchy. Anywho, Zoe was singing the Taylor Swift song called "Our Song?" I think it's called and she starts in with, "Our song is a Sanderson Ford, sneaking out late looking in your window..."

She is precious to us!!!!!

Oct. is flying by and you bet your lifesavers I am starting to think about that Christmas list! With our prolonged warm weather here in Phx, I start to forget that we are in fall and the holidays are fast approaching. Tomorrow the high is 63 and that makes me nervy and anxious to get some Christmas shopping done! But that's going to have to wait as I have not gotten everything for the kid's costumes yet. Is that really happening this weekend? Guess so.
We have enjoyed October and all that it brings except the virus' it brought. I'm over that stuff and I have not even gotten it. We have enjoyed that soccer started back up..well, at least Rachel has :) Zoe? Well, she is counting down until the season that just started ends. Oh well. She wants to start tennis and that will be fun for her AFTER soccer ends. Rachel has found herself on a winning team and despite not knowing anyone, she is really enjoying it.
Darren and me got last minute tickets to the U2 concert and we LOVED it. Darren has seen them numerous times, but that was my first. I sooo hope it's not my last! Staying out that late is not like it used to be :) I felt like I had been run over the day after, but it was worth it!
The girls also got to see "Where the Wild Things are" last weekend and it was such an amazing movie. I realize this movie will not be for everyone, but we really liked it and liked it even more in retrospect. What else? Well, Zoe's Halloween party is coming up and I can't take pictures inside the school. Safety reasons...new this year. Sad. Anyway, I hope to get some cute pictures this weekend at a pumpkin patch or at least somewhere in their costumes. We get to see our buddy Caitlin this weekend and her boyfriend Brandon. We love seeing them and look forward to fun times with them this weekend. So, Halloween pix coming!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Darren and me celebrated our 13 year last week! He is my best friend and we find each year brings us more and more blessings in our relationship. Love him. Amazing father, husband, friend, counselor, son, artist, brother, and so on and so on. We started our weekend with the movie "5oo days of summer" and we LOVED it. Right up our alley. Then, we checked into the Westin Kierland. Awesome place. We enjoyed a great dinner at Brio and were stuffed to the gills. Loved the lemon martini and great food. Then we enjoyed our time at the resort. Sat. morning my parents and the girls met us at the hotel for an awesome brunch. Then, we played ALL day long at the resort pool. So fun and a great way to celebrate our day. Thanks for an amazing weekend, D!

Copper Basin Family Camp

We had so much fun at Copper Basin family camp a few weeks ago. It's hard to believe that only an hour and a half drive yields MUCH cooler temps :) We had fun doing outdoor activities and enjoying friends. It rained a little and that is always a treat to Phoenicians. We also enjoyed a little stand-up comedy compliments of both Rachel Zoe on Sat. night...wish I had that on video. Rachel and Zoe both rode the zip-line and Dad caught them on the other side. Times like these really seal the deal that I am so blessed by my family!

Rewind!!

This post should have a July date, but it has an October and that's me...day late, dollar short. Zoe turned 8! We had so much fun celebrating as a FAMILY because you get the SHAFT when you have a summer bday in Phoenix :( Last year we had a party for school friends, etc. before school was out. We did not get that together this year. Anywho, we did also celebrate with our dear friends the Gradkes where Jakers presented Z with a fish. I marvel at the fact that that fish is still living...and the container is clean too. Zoe decided to get her ears pierced since Rachel did at 8 years. Rachel had since let them close, so we got hers re-pierced. We took a trip to Sweet and Sassy and then headed to Zoe's choice dinner (or maybe Rachel's?) at The Cheesecake Factory. So yummy and such good times with the family. Where has the time gone with this little squirt? She's so fun. I'm going to do a little 8 year interview:

favorite color: blue
favorite show: Full House
favorite sport: soccer
favorite food: ribs
favorite restaurant: Chili's
favorite store: Target
favorite friend: Zoe loves ALL her friends
favorite book: Flat Stanley
favorite animal: dog

I'm Coming Back...

....When I get my blog all purdy. In the meantime, the girls have started school and I am one of those moms that has the very best intentions of being intentional with all the historian-type things moms need to do for the little people. I figure it just can't be the worst thing if there are a few blanks and I focus on the high-points and live in the moment with them always. Life is moving fast and I am so proud of my children and their fantastic father. Right now they are cleaning up the house while I lay in bed with Dateline and the Mac. Looks like the future of this weekend is bright! Here are a few pix from the first big day of 2nd and 7th grades. My next entry will detail the happenings of the 2nd and 7th grades.

Paint Color suggestions?

Rachel's room has this Pottery Barn bedding. I am looking for a good green color for the walls. Her bed is black and her furniture is an antiqued turqouise sp? color that was my Granny's. The major party foul in her room is the plantation shutters..they are brown. We obviously did not choose them for the kid's rooms. We have worked around them and softened them with panels. Help me if you have ideas! Thanks!

Mestan Visit

We had so much fun having our friends the Mestans here in Phx with us for a week! We have traveled together as families lots of times. We had so many fun-filled days playing together. All four girls had a great time together. My kiddos were depressed when they left! Constant entertainment is fun fun! The eight of us traveled to Flagstaff, The Grand Canyon, and spent the night in gorgeous Sedona. We all had a great time escaping the heat and loved it all. The girls even made up an interesting song about The Grand Canyon and we all were intrigued by the ever popular Vortex attractions in Sedona...;) While in Sedona we traveled to the Slide Rock park and a few were brave enough to take the plunge in the freezing cold river and slide down the rocks. (Zoe and Morgan!) We also got to spend the 4th of July together and had a fun time watching fireworks at Anthem's big park. The weather was certainly hot, but the nights were not bad as we sat on the back porch while the kiddos played. Come back soon Mestans!!

Catching up once again..

I'm so sad...the blog did not update itself again!! Summer and its carefree days have been enjoyable. (for the most part!) The girls have certainly enjoyed being on more of a schedule-free routine, but have also found themselves experiencing boredom :) Funny! Only three more weeks and then back in full-force. Zoe is ready now! Rachel, as of the last few days, is getting there. Just today she did a little back-to-school shopping with her awesome dad. If that doesn't make a 7th grader-to-be excited, than I don't know what will. :) Since I have not updated since May there has been alot that has taken place in between. We started off our summer going to Abilene where Rachel attended camp at ACU for the second summer. Rachel took her friend Madison with her and they LOVED it! Madison is an Az girl born and raised, so the humidity was a beast for her! We are so blessed that she made the long trek with us and that she experienced camp. Rachel had an up-lifting week and we are grateful to Acu for making these great camps. I still want to find her a great "outdoor" Christian camp to attend in the coming years as she continues her spiritual walk as a junior-higher. The ones I know of are all far away.....
The rest of us enjoyed our time in Abilene visiting with Darren's family and taking a quick trip to Ft. Worth. We enjoyed a big birthday party for Darren's grandmother June attended by lots and lots of relatives. The kids had lots of fun running around the farm playing with water balloons, riding the zip line, and just hanging out. I wish the girls could spend lots more time with their cousins :(
Darren, Zoe and myself headed over to Ft. Worth for a little reunion of some of my college girls...super fun! We really did pick right back up from where we left off! So super fun. Darren took Miss Zoe to six flags in the meantime and they had a blast! Zoe rode HUGE rides. Little daredevil! She even rode the "Titan." That does not mean that much to me, but apparently; I would rather not know how crazy it is. She came back to the hotel cold and wet! We got up the next morning and headed to the American Girl store in Dallas so Zoe could pick out a friend while Rach was at camp! She and her doll were attached the rest of the trip! We headed right back to Abilene and spent the rest of the week waiting for the girls to get out of camp. We made the long trek home and have really enjoyed our lazy, but busy summer. I will pick back up tomorrow and completely catch up! Disclaimer: I lost my camera. Hate. I have no proof that Rach went to camp except on my phone...no clue how those move from small cellular device to computer image, so just imagine a precious little girl going to camp staying in a dorm :)

We have had lots of fun and action since Easter, but I guess my blog forgot to update itself. The girls are now out of school as of yesterday! They have been very excited to get out of school, but they are sad about missing their friends. We will have to make plans with kiddos alot this summer. The girls both had great school years. Zoe is a proficient reader now and it is something she LOVES. Rachel was not like this. Rachel is still not like this! She is a great reader, but does not enjoy it yet...I know she will someday. Zoe made some great friends this year and she will miss them dearly this summer. Z got to move from the nut-free lunch table since she is no longer so allergic!! Yes! I would have fallen apart if she had to spend another day at the all boy nut-free table...right, Nat?? She is such a fun kid to have around here...we all laugh alot at her antics. Rachel had a terrific year academically and socially. We are so proud of her transition into a new school. Her teachers love her so much. She won character awards and academic awards. She is such a well-rounded child that we are so proud of. She has made some close friends that she can be all silly with. Three of them slept over to celebrate Rachel's birthday. Very fun times. Even more fun for Rachel was a school trip to San Diego's Imperial Beach. She attended "Camp Surf" and learned about marine life and had a blast!! I know she got even closer to several of her friends and made some new ones, too. I also got to know alot of sixth graders by teaching Junior Achievement to them this year. (ja.org) Whoa...started off very smooth, but got a little hectic! Teaching something like this towards the end of the year is a recipe for disaster! Their were alot of kids that were genuinely interested, but most of them had lost interest in learning anything! I would certainly consider teaching this program again, but probably not at the end of the year and maybe to younger kiddos! I know Rach kind of enjoyed me teaching it even if she was not in any of my classes. it was certainly fun to get to know lots of her peers. Who am I kidding? I would teach it again to older kids if Rachel wanted me too!

Let's see what I have neglected to write about...hmmm, I guess Mother's Day would be the next big event after Easter. My Mom, Granny and me had a great Mother's day brought to us by our husbands/son's. The guys cooked out steaks and sausage after church and made an awesome salad, etc...it was so yummy and I think the fact that me, my Mom and my Granny sat around and talked and read the paper while lunch was getting prepared made it that much better!! It is such a blessing to live near my family and enjoy these times together. I know Darren and me both feel very blessed by our loving Mothers and Grandmothers. Darren gave me some really cute plates that I wanted to hang on my dining room wall. We are in the process of lots of decorating in this house of ours. It is such a slow process getting everything done, but it is very rewarding seeing the finished product. I am excited that Darren is bringing home a recovered chair that was my Granny's. She thinks she maybe got it when my dad was 5. I love heirlooms! I am also looking for a plate stand for a platter she brought back from Italy years and years ago. Speaking of Italy, she better bring me back something cool when she goes on a European cruise with my parents and brother this Fall :0) I'm not bitter, no, I'm not bitter at all...:) Really, I am so excited for them all! (Quick side not: Zoe is reading over my shoulder everything I write! I better not write anything bad about her ;) Just kidding)

Today is so fun and we are hanging in our P.J's. The girls have built a fort, played play doh, made lunch, cleaned out bedrooms and re-organized stuff, argued, made up, painted, dressed up as rock stars and made pictures, wrote stories, and the day is not even over! I hope all of days this summer at home are this productive and fun!

We will leave for Lake Tahoe next week and that should be fun. We will miss our little dog. I am so in love with this dog. I have got to stop :) Then we are on to Abilene for round 2 of Acu camp for Miss Rachel. Rachel's best friend since Kindergarten is going with us to Abilene for camp and we are so excited! She is such a neat kiddo and we can't wait to share Acu with her. I will try to be a better summer poster...we'll see. Happy Summer!