Summertime Blues

Well here we are less than 2 entire weeks since I promised to post more consistently and I'm already back again! Not great, but a definite improvement over a 3 month lapse. This really cool photo was taken (by Scott) last Thursday evening, around 7:00pm. We had a wild fire, set off by lightening earlier in the week, burning for several days in the west valley. The sun, about an hour before setting, was covered by black smoke and appeared to be a red ball in the sky. It was an incredible sight and in reality looked quite different than the photo actually turned out. If you live here, you know how coverage of summer wild fires dominates the evening news. This is the closest I can remember hearing of one to Phoenix and being able to see the smoke so clearly the entire time it was burning. In the end, only a few residents voluntarily evacuated and all are now back in their homes safely.

Since it is already July, I thought I would update you for the month of June and let you know how we have been spending our hot Arizona summer. Now that I have only my 2 children to care for on a daily basis, we have really been enjoying getting out and about and taking advantage of activities that our city offers for kids during the summer. We are taking swim lessons every morning for a 30 minute session. Both the kids are gaining confidence in the water and having lots of fun! (Sorry no photos to post right now of swimming.)

We have also been going to the library every week, which I am a little ashamed to say was a place that I had NEVER taken Sadie to, and Dylan hadn't been there since before she was born! There is a great kids' play area and many different story and music times that we have been enjoying. And of course they love picking out new books and videos each visit. Dylan knows right were to look on the shelf for his new obsession, any video having to do with any kind of vehicle, especially fire and construction trucks. Here are a few photos of him dressing up like the guys driving the trucks in the DVDs. He loves to ride his "fire truck" (tricycle) in circles through the house (since it is WAY TOO HOT outside) and make a siren sound, while wearing a helmet and his "big heavy boots." Here he stopped for a little break after a daring rescue of Sadie from some "emergency!" He also likes to put on his construction gear (goggles and gloves and whatever else he can find) and build while he watches the videos of construction crews and their machinery.

Sadie is a little less structured in her imaginative play. Here she had happened to climb into a box and was having the time of her life. If she had more words, she would be able to tell us what she was pretending. But since all she did was climb in and out and laugh for nearly half an hour, I will let the "ha ha!" smile speak for itself!



We will leave you with some yummy summer sweetness because our popsicles are melting faster than we can lick them! We hope your June was this delicious!

Have you missed us?

We're still here! No excuses, I just haven't posted for a while. Now that I have only 2 children in my household on a daily basis instead of 6, maybe I will have more time on my hands to keep my blog current. (I am officially retired from providing childcare for other than my own 2 kids!) Here are a couple of photos to remind you what we look like in case you forgot over the last few months. Sadie is enjoying breakfast (notice the longer hair and pigtails!) and Dylan is in his backyard "treehouse" with his friend James. (Dylan's hair, though not in pigtails, is quite long in this photo. He has since gotten a very short summer cut.) I promise I will be back soon with regular updates and photos.

Three Rocks!

As per my apparent blogging tradition, it is now significantly past Dylan's birthday and I am just getting around to posting some pictures and letting you know how we celebrated being 3 years old! Here he is trying to make his hand say "three." Dylan's birthday was on a Saturday this year, so the day before, he had cupcakes to celebrate with his day care friends. He had told me months in advance that they had to be firefighter related so this is what I came up with: orangy firey frosting with flames cut out of fruit roll up and each cupcake had a helmet, hydrant, or engine on it.


Here he is enjoying his cupcake after blowing out the candles. All of the kids wore red fire helmet party hats.







Sadie liked the cupcakes too!

On Saturday, Dylan opened his presents. Here is what ROCKS about his third birthday: I was over the moon about Dylan turning 2. He could talk about it being his birthday, he knew how to blow out the candles, he was excited about opening presents, basically he knew that the day was all about him. AND he was very into the Wiggles at the time and they just happened to be in town for a concert on the day of his birthday. So of course we went, and at the time I remember thinking that it would be hard to come by another event that could top how I felt at witnessing the pure joy he expressed in the moment that they took the stage in that big red car. It was pretty incredible.

Anyway, fast forward to opening presents on the morning of his third birthday. He kept reaching for a particular package (a rescue vehicle that he had seen while shopping with me a few weeks before). I wanted him to wait and open it last because I was pretty sure that when he saw it he would lose interest in any other gifts still waiting to be opened. So he finally gets to open it and I am pretty sure that the gratification I felt at his reaction was pretty close to when the Wiggles took the stage last year. He exclaimed with pure joy, "I ASKED FOR THIS!!! I WANTED IT AND YOU GOT IT FOR ME MOM!!!" If it is possible, I think I was happier than he was. Here he is below, enjoying his new favorite toy, and also a really cool retro tricycle that his Grandma and Poppa got for him.











P.S. I can't say I got in trouble, though I wouldn't say Scott was happy about Sadie's first haircut. Her hair is now long enough to put in little pigtails, which you can kind of see in this not great photo. But you get the idea. He can't stop staring at Sadie in pigtails which are only enhanced by her bangs. So I have redeemed myself, for now!

Before and After

I couldn't take it anymore. I had to do something about it today. Sadie is going through her little life developing a distorted sense of sight because of the hair constantly in front of her eyes. She used to let me clip it back with little barrettes (as you can see in many photos in previous posts) but she recently discovered that those little barrettes are always there and if she is persistent enough they will come out and make nice little tidbits for her to chew on. So no more barrettes. (Beauty and, more importantly, normal visual development are NOT worth a call to 911.) This before picture is not an exaggeration. That is really how her hair just is all the time and I have been unable to do anything to get it out of her face now that she has decided to make snacks of her clips. So Sadie needed bangs which made today first haircut day.









It also had to be today because Scott is out of town until tomorrow, and he has voiced objections to the idea of cutting her hair. I knew he would talk me out of it if I waited until he was back, and I would still be going crazy over that hair in that cute face. I may have jeopardized my marriage, but what's done is done and I don't regret it. This after photo was the only one I was able to get today. I know you don't get the whole effect because of the dark background so you can't see all of her hair. I REALLY only let them cut her bangs! She can see me, I can see her, no harm done, right? We'll see what dad says when he gets home tomorrow! How could he not love that bang-framed face?!!

(Belated) Birthday Girl

Exactly one month ago today, our little Sadie bug turned a year old. Realizing today that she is thirteen months old, I decided it was time to post some photos to share how we celebrated.

First, Sadie blew out a candle on her own ladybug cupcake with her day care friends on her actual birthday.















Later when Dad got home from work, she got a couple of gifts (a baby doll and stroller that she LOVES pushing around).



Then we all went to dinner where Sadie enjoyed her first banana split (which was bigger than her).





The weekend after Sadie's birthday, we had a celebration with all of our Arizona family. Here are some photos of her checking out a few of the gifts that she received.











This last picture is after she devoured a ladybug cupcake, before getting cleaned up. She even had red frosting on the bottom of her feet and there was a trail of red footprints leading from the kitchen to the bathtub! I think the look on her face says it all: I'm one! Ha-ha! Just try and catch me now! (Needless to say we haven't yet!)

These boots...

...are made for walkin'!

Walking is now officially Sadie's primary mode of transport. She suddenly left crawling behind last Thursday, exactly a week before her birthday. More to come on the birthday soon, just wanted to get this walking video posted before she decides to train for a marathon!

Almost!

Sadie was 11 months old on Christmas Eve. I can't believe she is almost a year... just a few short weeks away! We have recently been going through photos and printing all of our favorites to fill a collage frame. It has been fun to look back and compare Dylan at the same age. Here he is (with Mom) just a month away from his first birthday. Dylan didn't take steps on his own until several weeks after his birthday. Sadie has been "walking" since New Year's Eve. The quotation marks are because she won't do it without much coaxing and it definately isn't her primary mode of transport yet, but she's ALMOST there. Maybe by her birthday! (She has a few weeks to practice in the secrecy of her dark room and crib!) I promise to post video very soon of her "walking."