Arriving: ARIZONA!

 Finally!! After all this time, the kids and I made it out to see the Hansfords in Arizona ( Mike had initially wanted to go but decided to pick up some shifts on the ambulance, instead. He did have a few days of  a quiet house to enjoy before he picked up the hours, which was well deserved and appreciated!) . We rode 13 hours with my mom, Brooklyn and Kaleb in the middle of the night to make it in time for breakfast!  In no particular order , here are the pictures from our trip!

Peas in a pod- They both love bugs, learning about science and trying to catch
creepy crawly things.

Grams and Brooklyn swinging their cares away

Taylor loves cars, even cleaning them. So once
we got there and got unloaded, she and Brooklyn cleaned the inside
and everyone cleaned the outside.

Poor Nikki, never hears the end of the short jokes.

We visited a park that had a pond FULL of tiny minnows.
The kids made it their goal to catch one. Despite all their
plotting and planning, this goal went unmet.

Can you believe that Taylor found this guy under her bed?!
What else is under there, Tay?

Nikki and mom took Mason with them on an errand so he could
zonk out in the car. Three minutes after they left, I got a picture of him snoozing away
in his car seat. So the kids and I staged this photo in retaliation.

Mack really loved seeing all the different plants , especially
cactus and palm trees. See her shirt-full of seed pods and flowers?

Snoozing in Coley's bed.

Taylor and Brooklyn were playing dress up and corned Mason for some
lipstick kisses.

Snuggling up with Grams

A Saguaro Cactus that was probably 15 feet tall.

I miss my sister and cherish the time we get together!

I love them!

Look at this beautiful girl! How did she grow up so quickly?

The ride home was nearly silent. All the kids slept
the entire way.

Poor Mason was ready to be home.

The kids all checking out the duck pond

Mackenzie was so worn out that she feel asleep in the middle of the floor
in the middle of the afternoon. That never happens!

Best buds

My girls

Mason never wanted for attention

I snapped a few family pictures just before we left. Those
Hansfords look like a magazine cover!

Six little monkeys swinging in a tree....

Taylor added that little heart with no prompting.
They are a photographers dream.

Brooklyn and me

Mack loved that rock in Nikki's driveway. She scoped out lots of
neat things there.

One of my beautiful sisters

Who leads this pack?

One last picture before we go. There were lots of tears ready to flow.
Sweet Kaleb would be the first to cry.

Wheee!!!!!

Moments with Mason

A new favorite thing to do- play in the bubbles at the kitchen sink

Sandbox silliness

You can never go wrong with bubbles

Just ask Ellie!

Have a seat!

This boy loves, loves, loves to be outside.

Lovin' his big trucks!

Signs of Life

Since Mason became mobile, I find that old saying that " cleaning up while the kids are awake is like raking during a windstorm " to be very true. Mackenzie was a very easy toddler who was cleaning up after herself by 18 months. Mason has much better things to do and I know that Mackenzie's kind of toddler was the exception. Mason is more like the rule. None the less, it's hard for a personality like mine to get accustomed to not having a perfectly picked up house all of the time. I seemed to fight it and would become really frustrated when I ' Just cleaned up this mess!" . Finally, I decided to stop fighting against nature and am learning to enjoy life as it is right now. One day, I will have my clean house back. And I will probably miss stepping on toy dinosaurs or tubes of lip gloss on my way across the floor. For now, I will try to consider the things I previously thought of  as " messes" as signs of life....And our house is FULL of life! Just as it should be.

Mackenzie is saving these bubble gum wrappers
so she can use them to wrap presents at Christmas.

Sickness arrives

I thought we'd paid our dues last year when we seemed to be kicking around viruses all winter long. Apparently, Kindergarten has it's own types of viruses and they have already begun to take over our house! This latest virus even includes laryngitis....A 5 year old and 18 month old with no voice....sad, sad times.

She fell asleep before her bedtime story was over

Mason's turn with the virus brought about the same symptoms as Mackenzie but when his fever came on, it caused a febrile seizure. Though my time in pediatrics made me very familiar with this type of seizure, nothing can ever really prepare you to be the parent in this situation. The seizure came and went and with in an hour, Mike had come home from work to be with us and Mason was asking for cookies. Interesting to note- Mike and his dad, Ralph, both had a febrile seizure around this age.

As I type this, my own nose is running but Mason is almost back to himself and Mackenzie is at school. Hopefully we will have some healthy days before the next thing hits!

A little of this and that....

Look who's looking so big!

My March Mama friend, Sarah, is moving to Colorado because her
husband got a job transfer here! We set the girls up on
a FaceTime chat so that Grace and Charlie has a friend in Colorado
before they even move. The conversations revolved around bugs and lizards- Mackenzie's kind of girls!

Hockey season gear! Not Avs or Red Wings, we are
are staying middle of the road with this outfit.

She's got her eyes on you.....

Gunner is a strange sleeper..... This was just before he fell asleep.

We had our fist snow flakes of the winter here!
The kids dug out their winter gear and wore
it around the house.

Halloween toes!

If you're happy and you know it.....