Week 8 - Instatrip (Phoenix in a nutshell)

 This past week Brandon and I spent several days in Phoenix so he could attend a Podiatry conference. He was driving and had to rent a hotel, so it cost no more for me to go along too, and I jumped at the chance to do so! We flew my mom out here to watch the kids, and I was grateful she could do so!

The catch? I am still nursing Josie--so she came with. Now, if you're like every other person we talked to, you are thinking, "oh, only 1 kid--that must be SO nice!" or "oh, that sounds like such a relaxing vacation!" Or perhaps you are thinking I had "so much time to sit around and swim and relax".

Newsflash.

It is not...I repeat...NOT relaxing to take a baby on a trip. The funny thing about having lots of kids is that by the time the youngest comes around, they are USED to each other. The older kids all love to take Josie to play or snuggle her, etc. And I dare say she has become really accustomed to it. So taking 4 little helpers out of the picture makes me the one and only. She definitely missed the kids! So while it was nice to not galavant around Phoenix with 5 littles in tow, it wasn't exactly what I would call low key to haul a baby, blanket, stroller, snacks, diapers, etc. :) And when it comes to pool time and fun in the sun, Josie would rather sit on the side and eat rocks...and flowers...and bugs. So the lap swimming and sun bathing I envisioned never did come to fruition. :)

Don't take this in a whiny tone--it isn't that at all! Just saying, I am looking forward to a VACATION at some point...that doesn't involve a baby who doesn't sleep through the night.

Because we had our little passenger on board and we realized late Tuesday evening that she wasn't going to sleep, we loaded the car and pulled out of the driveway around 11 p.m. We both were so tired. It probably wasn't our smartest idea ever, but it worked in the sense that Josie slept through the drive overnight. Morning found us in the beautiful mountains and forrest area. It was amazing!





We arrived at the hotel and got an early check in. After getting settled, we crashed! Man were we tired!


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 We woke up and grabbed lunch at a place called Matt's Big Breakfast. I am still thinking about the food we ate and it's been over a week now. That waffle was seriously unlike any other I have ever had. And the bacon... It was THAT good.

 



That evening we met up with some friends from Brandon's residency program and had dinner. We grabbed some ice cream to go back to the hotel with, and went home to put Josie to bed.







Thursday, Brandon's conference started. First thing's first for me--a trip to Ikea and the chance to meet up with my sweet friend Amy. We perused the wonderland of furniture and cool decor with a crying baby and all. I snagged a few goodies to take home, we snagged lunch from a shady bagel place, ate in the car, and visited while Josie slept.



 That night we met up with our friends Jen and Ryan (from residency) and grabbed a bite at the Hard Rock Cafe.








Friday Josie slept all morning--literally. So I camped out in the hotel and read the newspaper and watched TV. Both are things I don't have access to at home, so it was kind of nice. When she woke up, I met my friend Megan and her 2 little cuties at Panera {the angels were singing...yum!}. It is so fun to see how her family has grown since we met and where they are at now!

 

We headed back to the hotel and Josie snoozed for a few minutes, and then we were off again--this time with a friend I met during breakfast the first day there. We both were there with babies, so we decided to go see the Children's Museum of Phoenix. They had a cute baby area and Josie LOVED seeing herself and playing with baby dolls. I kept thinking how much my other kids would have enjoyed it!

 











Friday evening Travis (Brandon's brother--also a Podiatrist and attending the same conference) met up with us and we went to a Mexican place that was the pure definition of hole in the wall. It had insanely spicy food and amazing tortillas. Due to the fires in our mouths, we had no choice but to stop for frozen yogurt on the way to take Travis back to his hotel. :) Josie enjoyed it immensely.







Saturday morning was spent packing, sitting by the pool for a few minutes, and walking around with my friend Jen. I loved being in such close proximity to walk so many places. It was WONDERFUL!

 

 We loaded the car and met our sweet friends, the Straders, for a late lunch and to celebrate his matching at a program. Time seriously flew by and we had so much fun laughing and visiting (I think anyone who knows the Straders would totally agree!)--next thing we knew it was almost 5 and we had to part ways.





I somehow convinced Brandon to pull over to try to take cactus pictures--but we had a lame spot for the attempt, so most of my Arizona scenery pics were taken by cell phone going 70 miles an hour. Classy.

We drove all through the night and arrived home at 6:30 a.m.WE WERE BEAT!

Brandon gets serious props for being the energizer bunny who managed to be able to attend a conference, stay awake all day, and then drive all night. I did my part to try to stay awake, but he was the champion night driver!

Between Josie's night waking and driving through the night, and hauling a baby everywhere it was hard to feel like we had too much R & R. But it was nice to get away from the norm and I was grateful my kids had some time to spend with grandma.:)




The ironic thing is that I took 2 cameras--multiple lenses--a big ol' camera bag full of photography goodies with me. And yet at least 99% of the pictures I took were on my phone...I forgot how hard it is to lug a camera when you're hauling a little person too. ;) So there you have it--Phoenix in a nutshell, brought to you by Android and Instagram. :)

 

Week 7 - Dia de amor

Just a few quick pre-blog post shots of our little big helper--she loves doing everything the kids do! She is getting around so fast these days, and often crawls right out of her pants. :)


She especially LOVES the dishwasher...





I probably should do a more in depth recap later on, but tonight I want to recap our Valentine's day. I'll be honest in saying V-day is definitely not a big deal around here in the way it is for so many others. No roses and chocolate and diamonds...nope! There are a few things I love about Valentine's Day though...

 1--I love making Valentine boxes with the kids.

 2-I LOVE doing something fun for the kids. It's not ever much. But it's really fun to think of a little Valentine idea for them...

On Thursday night, Brandon and Jenna had a date night to the daddy-daughter night at Chick-fil-a. It's such a cute set up! They had "limo" rides, and let the couples have a reservation for a table, where they were able to order from, like a fancy restaurant. They got all sorts of fun swag--a gift card to come back for breakfast, a mug, a flower, etc. Jenna had such a fun time with her daddy! :)

 

And then it was time for one of my favorite things...the Valentine boxes! I love, love, love when the teachers as the kids to bring boxes. I love to brainstorm with the kids and let creativity go to work.

This year we had Kaden choose to do a vending machine...






The picture of the candy was a real picture, so they really did look pretty darn true to life...except on a smaller scale. And we even put in a credit card slot. He was so excited!

Spencer selected a laptop, so I went to work carving the box to fit just right. We screen shot a google search for the phrase "will you be my valentine?"so it had all my desktop layout as though it were an actual laptop.




Of course, the Cupid2015 model comes with the card drive in the side, perfect for inserting Valentine's of all shapes and sizes.


...and it operates with Windows 7...





I had SO much fun coming up with these and piecing them together. I think I've found I really thrive having a creative outlet--at least once in a while. If you saw my house at the end of this day, you would have disagreed completely. It. was. disastrous. Big time.

Valentine's day came, and I was really excited to give the kids a few small things I have had set aside. Granted, everything I gave was purchased ahead of time on a crazy good deal and I have just kept aside for the right time. :) I made the corniest Valentine lines I could think of to go with each person's gift.

Carter got some new Angry Bird undies, which he was thrilled about. And the boys both really needed new shoes. Jenna got some Jamberry nail wraps I got free from hosting a party. And Brandon got a bottle of his favorite cologne...or is it my favorite? ;)




This year I went in to Valentine's day with no expectations for myself. The only thing I wanted was to give. The day was perfect--in that sense. I would have it no other way! My mom flew in that day, which was FABULOUS, and Brandon and I were able to sneak away for dinner at a hibachi restaurant that was SO delicious! We normally are not Valentine's date people--and avoid eating out on the big V-DAY all together, but since my mom was in town and it was our 2nd date ever without Josie, we decided to sieze the day and go to dinner at 4:30 p.m. :)




After dinner, we ran home and got all the littles and finished our day of love at Bahama Bucks--a place we truly do LOVE! :)


I know we can love all year round, and we don't need a special day to show it--but I really do love some of the special experiences and opportunities this holiday presents. :) It was fun to really have fun again and be reminded of how much I love the people who I get to be with for eternity.

Happy Sunday.

Week 6 - I've got sunshine...

Sunday again. Wonderful Sunday. I have really come to love this day--love the messages from church, the chance to lay low in the afternoon, dinner as a family...I smell the steak soup simmering and hear the kids chit-chatting while writing their Valentine cards upstairs. And life feels good. Calm. For now.

I am really trying to get my real camera out more. I actually have 2 cameras...nice cameras...aside from my cell phone. So there is no excuse to be the slacker I have become, except that I feel out of practice and it's a reminder of where I am lacking...and by lacking, I mean failing. But I love photography. I miss it. I long to feel creative again. So I better start somewhere...


That being said, I did a challenge this week  focusing on low light. So it's darker than I tend to lean to, but it was fun to experiment and try. I really would love to do better at black and whites...that right there is a REAL talent that I don't possess. Perhaps someday...

Not even 2 posts ago I had pictures of ice and snow and chilled noses and toeses. Yes. Toeses.

So it's quite ironic that here I am posting of sunshine and grilling and sprinklers under the trampoline.
We had SUCH a gorgeous weekend! Oh my goodness. I spent Friday stalking the technician who was supposed to have fixed our fax line at work 15 days prior. Literally, he pulled up and I was there waiting. I got out of my car and gave him the ultimatum. I was not leaving until I had a working fax line...and HE was not leaving till I had a working fax line. And I stayed true to my word. :) I fear if I had not been there, pressuring him to finally get with it and DO something that would fix it, it would still not be repaired. Either way, it's fixed. :) FINALLY.

Saturday was busy--like, my days morphed together this week. Not even kidding. We ran errands and had meetings and such. And before bed we did a speed clean deep clean--so I feel a tad bit better about where I live. :) I convinced the kids to do a pick up in their rooms by telling them I was the housekeeper and would be coming through with the vacuum. As they were getting close, I knocked on their door and called out, "HOUSEKEEPING". They answered, giggled, and let me in to vacuum.

I can genuinely say I love those silly parts of parenting.

On to the sun...Josie loves to be on the trampoline with everyone. Her hair was CRAAAAZY.  Even though she looks less than thrilled, I promise there was happiness oozing from her cute self. Her hair just looked the coolest in this picture. :)



And she was SO intrigued with the camera...


The kids pulled out the sprinkler and swimsuits, and every other piece of swim gear we own and jumped on the trampoline.



Does anyone understand the life vest? No? Ya...me either. ;)




The adirondak chairs were pulled out, the beach towels in place--some soaking up of sun took place.



Meanwhile, Josie had a snack--so she wouldn't get soaked. Heaven knows that had she been let loose in the backyard, she would have gotten into everything and ended up a total mess. :) She is crawling faster and faster and standing quickly--she is fearless!


Kaden asked to cook an outside meal, so he could cross of a requirement in Scouts. I am not sure if they say hotdogs would count or not, but they do in my book. :) He was pretty proud.

And don't they look perfect? Seriously, slightly charred hot dogs are SO delicious!




Oh, how I long for the summer sun, setting on perfectly formed beads of water, spraying through the air, or kissing the skin of wet water babies. I don't know if this wonder-weather will stay, but I am grateful it showed it's face and gave us a breath of fresh air!


Happy Sunday.