Makutu's Island

There's nothing I like more than finding places to take the boys that burn off all their endless energy. So when we drove downtown to pick Mickey up from the airport we thought it was the perfect opportunity to take the kiddos to Makutu's.

Makutu's is like a playground on crack. It looks like a rainforest and has these giant trees and tunnels that you can climb in and slide down.

At first James was not the least bit interested in the trees. He saw lights and heard noises coming from the arcade and he needed to be in there. So for the first half hour we hung out in the arcade as he walked around tokenless but enjoying pressing every button none the less.

The older boys had fun playing hide and seek in the trees. That made it a little difficult to take their pictures. I managed to get a few as I seen them pop in and out of the holes.

Mickey and I decided to take each other's pictures as we were emerging from the spiral slides. One of the slides was fast! We actually still have the elbow burns to prove it!

I didn't seem to have trouble getting her picture. Her on the other hand.

Attempt #1
As soon as I arrived at the end of the slide, a rabid girl jumped in front of the camera.

Attempt #2
Another clueless person walks within inches of Mickey's camera moment. I'm right there behind the tie dye smiling with a giggling James on my lap.

Attempt #3
No obstructions this time, I think I can make out two smiles. Yep, this will have to do because our legs are getting tired and my elbows are on fire.

We all had a fun time. One of the highlights of the outing for Marcus was when he saw the giant puffer fish in the aquarium go number 2. He said in his most excited voice, "I've never seen a fish poop before!!!"

See Makutu's is heart healthy and educational! Just watch out for the rabid picture lurkers.

Right now

Grandma is back in town. She is actually playing Monopoly with the boys while I am hiding in the office blogging, and thanking my lucky stars that I don't have to play that torturous game. Has Monopoly ever ended with an actual winner? Every time I have played it, the game ends when we all give up, usually about two hours in. I guess that means I have some time to kill.

Nathan's 11!

Happy Birthday to this child.

He is the son that can make me laugh just by his contagious laugh.

The one who is so different from anyone else I have ever met.

He's the one who in kindergarten used to sign his name Nathaniel Nathan Richard **** (First name, nickname, middle name, last name) on every single paper.

The boy who has a more adult sense of humor than I do.

The child who makes me feel like I need to learn how to parent all over again.

He is smart, sneaky, picky, snarky, aware, quiet, and goofy.

He likes me to perform a special bedtime ritual every night when I tuck him in.

He is one that has such a gentle soul but hides it behind a tough wall. Mama sees it.

The one who I am sure this one could live off of pure sugar. And he would still be a bean pole if he did.


Nathan is me when I was his age. He gives me gray hairs already, but he always makes me proud to be his mama.

Nathan makes life fun.

Happy birthday Nathan, mommy loves you!

Not much to share

We've just been enjoying our summer around here. I thought I would share some random pictures I had on the camera to show you what we have been up to lately.

Exploring.

Building.
Mike made solar shades for all the windows. It's supposed to do wonders for the electric bill. I don't even want to remember the fun we had putting on the second story screens. Just think, extension ladder, windy day, gravel, wife with shaky hands. It was an experience I would be fine not reliving.

Reading.
Jason reads bed time stories to James like he used to read to Marcus. Whenever I walk in and see a moment like this my heart just flutters. What a great big brother.

Helping.

Recycling.
The other day when I came out of the office after work I was greeted by cardboard homie robots. The boys had dug through all the recycle trash and built themselves outfits. So creative.

Playing.
I am the gadget freak in the house. My weaknesses are computers and cell phones. I finally got to upgrade my phone earlier this month and got the HTC Evo. I spend way too much time playing with it. This phone is amazing.

Running.
Okay that is a fib. Mostly walking. We bought a cheap treadmill of craigslist last weekend. This was a very necessary purchase. I am seeing more and more elastic in my wardrobe and I need to start resisting it! For some reason I prefer to walk in a stuffy bedroom on a human hamster wheel as opposed to sunshine and fresh air.

First.
Two days ago James had his first bowl of sugar cereal with milk. He's in love.

Creating.
One of the boys' favorite things to do lately is to use the couch cushions to make forts. They use every blanket, cushion, and pillow in the house to make tunnels, bridges, and rooms. I don't mind, I love when they get creative.

So there you have it. There's some of the stuff that has been going on at our house. There's also been lots and lots of swimming going on too but I already posted about all that.

Hope your having a fabulous week!

Marcus n Me

For a long time now I have been wanting to spend some one on one time with each of the boys. Just a special day for each of them to share with me where I could devote all my attention to just them. A few weeks ago I decided it was finally time to do just that so I let the kids pick an activity they would want to do on their day.


Today was Marcus' special day. He decided he wanted his activity to be the Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium so that is what we did!


Marcus LOVES fish. He loves to see fish, catch fish, and eat fish so this was the perfect place for him.


It was so nice being with just him. I had endless patience. I could listen to everything he wanted to say and watch everything he wanted me to see. I never got frustrated and just had fun.

It's important for them to have all my attention sometimes and I feel bad I can't do this with them more because they sure do need and deserve more special time with just me. They need time to shine.


The aquarium was way cool. We loved seeing all the unique fish, the penguins, sharks, and of course the manta rays.


We were both too chicken to feed the manta rays although Marcus would never admit it. He said he couldn't reach the rays to feed them and got all dramatic and showed me how he couldn't reach them (not really trying too hard), but he didn't have a problem when it came to petting them hehe.

You are supposed to hold the shrimp in between your fingers and put your hand in the water so the manta ray can swim over your hand and suck the shrimp out. Yeah no thank you. We both enjoyed petting and watching them swim though.


After the aquarium we walked around the zoo. It was perfect zoo weather! It's a rare time in Arizona when you can go to the zoo in June and it be in the 80's. I was thankful for that.


Off to the petting zoo we went. Marcus pet all the small non threatening looking goats and deer. We steered clear of the llama and turkey. Seriously, since when do they put turkeys in the petting zoo?? That thing was mean!


The animals thought Marcus' shirt was lunch.


This is my little sweetie I tell ya. He still gives me random hugs and kisses throughout the day. He always has to be sitting right by me at the dinner table or on the couch. He still wants goodnight hugs and kisses. Jason and Nathan allow me to give them a hug and a kiss on the cheek on the forehead but are, in their opinion, too old for it. Sad.


My favorite animal was the giraffes. You can get up close and feed them at this zoo. They come on over to you and stick out their ridiculously long black tongue to you in hopes that you will sprinkle some pellets out for them.


Marcus happily obliged.


About halfway through we to a quick break to share an Icee and cool off. Don't you love all of our self portraits? I need longer arms.


I love this cutie.


He kept getting so excited about what was coming up that he kept leaving me in the dust. He would holler back to me what animal was next.


Rhino.


Marcus and I decided that the rhino looked like a dinosaur.


I was amazed that the jaguar was within inches of our hand reach!

I think Marcus' favorite part of the day was when he got to feed the fish and ducks. I think we spent a half hour in this very spot watching the hoards of big ugly goldfish looking things and pushy ducks fight over Marcus' handful of pellets.


It was nuts I tell ya.


They had a nursery that you could go into and see all the baby animals. Aren't these the cutest little things? They make me want another baby. Almost. Well nevermind they don't but they were darn cute.


We capped off our day at the zoo with a mighty kids meal from McDonald's. I've never seen someone get so excited for a toy Shrek watch before. We set the time immediately and it hasn't left his wrist since then.

Today wasn't just special for Marcus, it was just as special for me. I love times like this when I can just get to know my kids better and share some quality time with them.

The REAL life of a soccer mom

I read a post from one of my favorite bloggers yesterday that has sort of stuck with me. She was talking about how bloggers tend to make their lives seem more perfect than reality. I agree with her thoughts. I probably do tend to post about the more happy, nice moments of my life but not to make my life look better, I do it because that is the stuff I want to focus on.

In reality my life is far from perfect and I am not ashamed to admit that. No one's life is. Here is my reality.

1. My house is dirty 75% of the day. I don't mean like heaps of stuff everywhere but there is always toys and shoes on the floor, always some dishes by the sink and my counter is never all the way cleaned off. If I were to try to keep my house perfectly clean all day I think I would lose my mind. I do clean it everyday, usually about 30 minutes before Mike gets home so he can relax in a nice clean house.

2. I am lonely. I'll be honest I don't really have friends. I've always had trouble making them and working from home doesn't help. My best friends are my mom and mother in law and I am so glad I am close to them but it would be so nice to have a good friend to share time with.

3. Everyone knows I love my boys. Love them to pieces. But sometimes I feel like I don't do enough with them. Like I don't know WHAT to do with them. Don't spend enough one on one time with them. Not sure I know how to be a good mother to them.

4. I worry that when my boys are older and have families of their own they won't be close to me anymore. That their wives won't like me, and their children won't be close to me.

5. I HATE playing board games. Always have always will.

6. I would be perfectly happy wearing pajamas all day every day. I work from home and don't go anywhere after that so what is the point of getting dressed? I do get dressed most days, but my hair is usually in a ponytail and I only wear my contacts on special occasions. Like days when I actually go somewhere HEE!

7. I don't know what I want to be. I will be 30 this year and I keep thinking I want to find a career doing something I love when James starts school, but for the life of me I can not figure out what I would like to do. I keep leaning towards something in the healthcare field but I'm intimidated by all the schooling I would need.

8. I hate making dinner. I never know what to make and I am terrible at following recipes. I love baking and would love to make a new dessert every single night. Baking makes me happy.

9. I am on my computer too much. I think I use it as an escape into my own little world.

10. I am self conscious about my teeth. They are crooked and they aren't white and they are ugly. I did the whole braces thing but after they were taken off my teeth went right back to their crooked ways. I can't justify spending money to do it again and I hate the dentist so I suppose they were just destined to be this way.

So there you have it. That is the truth and I ain't ashamed to say it. In fact I am proud of my insecurities and faults. It is part of me and I bet most of you can identify with me in some way.

If you have a blog I challenge you to do a post like this. It's really is liberating and fun!

Have a great weekend!

Atta Boy Blue

On Memorial Day weekend I caught the painting bug again. I was so tired of seeing James' depressing white walls and I decided to do something about it. Off to Home Depot I went to pick out a paint color. James came too which is never a good idea when you will be standing in one spot for a prolonged period of time in a store (i.e. the paint swatch section). I didn't have any idea of what color I wanted. Yellow? Green? Blue? So there I stood for twenty minutes while James entertained himself by digging through my purse, applying chapstick on his lips and cheeks about 30 times, and trying to pull out any of the little paint swatch papers that he could reach. I think the lady that worked there felt bad for him so she decided to give him some random Home Depot stickers she had laying around. Thanks Home Depot lady! He had fun playing with those until they lost their stickiness. He stuck them on his face, the cart and my shirt. I found one stuck on my shoulder 4 hours later when I was at Walmart.

So anyway, I finally decided on a Disney color called Atta Boy Blue. I was nervous because it looked really bright on the swatch and you never can tell what it will look like with just a little one inch by one inch square.


So bye bye ugly, white, plain, boring, no fun walls.


And hello electric blue! As soon as I started rolling it on I loved it. Very energetic and boyish. Perfect for James.


Really brought his depressing little room to life and was long overdue.


James was sad he didn't get to help paint but he likes the color too. Now I just need to work on a theme to tie it all together. Maybe beach? Or old cars?

Hot, Hot, Hot!

This weekend we definitely said hello to Arizona summer. Thankfully Big Blue made her grand entrance just in time to keep us cool. It took a whole day of straight hose running to fill it all the way up and by the time it was full the kids could hardly wait to jump in.


It is always an honor to be the first one in the pool for the summer. I remember my sister and I always fighting about who would be able to get in first. Seems like such a little thing now but then it was the most important thing in our lives.


Oz didn't know what to think of the pool. He kept running around the pool and jumping up like he had springs on his back feet to see what was going on.


Two dollar tubes, diving sticks, and some random large bucket make swimming such a blast.


James' new favorite word is skwimming. It's all he wants to do now.


We wanted to see if Ozzie knows how to dog paddle. He does. He dog paddles right to the edge of the pool and seeks dry land.


I swam too but sadly I am the only shutterbug in the family so my swim went undocumented.


After James and I got out the macho games began. No activity would be complete without a dose of good old fashioned wrestling. Seriously, do all boys do this??


It is going to be a fun summer!