ARIZONA

One night in January, just as I was dozing off to sleep, I remembered that we had five free airline tickets that were expiring in February! AAAGH! Not ones to let a cheap vacation pass us by, we got those babies booked for the first week of February and managed to keep the "get-a-way" a surprise for the kids until we arrived at the airport. It was snowing and blizzarding in Rapid City but off we flew to spend a week soaking up the Arizona sun.
(Thanks again to my parents, who let us stay at their place while they were out of town!)








The kids were perfect on the plane-who knew flying with three littles could be so easy?! The Arizona weather was gorgeous, the mexican food to die-for, and it was so nice just to relax and play together as a family for a few days. We went on walks, shopped at the outlets, and had movie nights in Grandpa's theatre room.
The kids swam in the pools for hours every day and we met up with our old playgroup at the park one afternoon.









On Friday night, we had dinner with our "Iowa friends", The Stephens, at Peter Piper Pizza. Our back doors were only 20 feet apart in good old Des Moines, and we have lots of good memories with this fabulous family. We shared sick kids, mint oreos, a turtle sandbox and more laughs than most would believe is even possible in a year's time. Sarah taught me everything crafty and introduced to me the necessity of always having a laminator in the home. Aaron and Chris talked hunting and guns and were known to play alot of basketball with a little tykes hoop while they were supposidly babysitting... thankfully their on-going "Tournament of Champions" found its way to the foose ball table during part of the together! Livi and Logan were best of friends in their toddler years and can pick up right where they left off and have a great time together. Both are still darling and blonde with big blue eyes; I remember when they used to be mistaken for twins! A few more kids have graced both families since Iowa and now the troop is a six-pack. It was so fun to catch up with them and see how well they are doing!I wish we lived closer!!!

Aside from the great company, we were quite impressed with Peter Piper Pizza. The food was yummy and the kids were able to run wild in what is a cleaner version of Chunky Cheese. Nick was the business man of the night, figuring out early on that he could win the greatest amount of tickets playing "Wack-A-Mole."He gladly took tokens that Aaron had bought for his kids and played until he was sweating and exhausted. Sadly enough,he still didn't have enough tickets for the ipod! I think he settled for some sweet tarts and a rubber spider. Way to go, buddy, you made momma proud!

Chris' brother, Joseph, flew down with his fiance, Lisa, for a few days and we had fun hanging out with them and getting to know her, too! She is darling and perfect for him...a total keeper in our book! Welcome to the family, Lisa!

I should have known that, with the flight down being so easy, that the flight home would be a nightmare. A nightmare it was. Our plane left Phoenix an hour late so that, upon arriving in Denver, we were sprinting to make our connection. Maybe sprinting isn't the right word...dragging probably describes best what we were doing with three kids, 15 pieces of carry-on luggage, a car seat and a stroller. Nick was moaning and Olivia said she "couldn't feel her legs" by the time we made it to our gate. Thankfully the plane has just closed and there was no way to get us on so we had nearly killed off the family for no reason! We ended up staying the night in Denver, where I complicated things by loosing our boarding passes, hotel voucher, and debit card. Way to go, Jenn. After getting settled, we ate beef jerky in the hotel room and then crashed...we were all so tired!We were able to make it home the next morning so everything turned out just fine. The kids were troopers and I could not have been prouder of them. It sure felt good to come home, even if it was to the cold and wind!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BEN!

The baby of the family turned TWO today! How is it possible that my little,tiny 10 pound baby boy is already running around the house, getting into things and giggling all the while? We were excited to celebrate his special day with him. We started partying a day early with Grandma and Grandpa's presents and then a trip to Baskin Robbins while we were still in Phoenix.He had a little clown ice cream cone, the same thing I had for one of my birthdays when I was young! Usually we decorate the birthday kids bedroom after they fall asleep so when they wake up, their room is full balloons and streamers, but this year we were delayed overnight in Denver. We were all still awake when midnight rolled around so we started wishing him Happy Birthday right away!
We arrived home before lunch so we ate at Pizza Hut, one of Ben's favorite places. I made him a white cake with white frosting and puppy paw prints all over it.Nick and I hung streamers and set out puppy plates and napkins. We sang Happy Birthday and I was surprised that he knew just what to do after the song...blow out the candles and then lick the frosting off the bottoms of them! Chris had picked out a new basketball hoop and two new balls for him and he was THRILLED!

Ben is a busy little boy, but he couldn't be any sweeter or more entertaining. The whole family adores every little thing he does. He is such a ball boy. And a dog boy. And a climber. There isn't a ball he doesn't want, a dog he won't approach, or a bar stool he won't scale. He is into everything-cupboards, toilets, purses, you name it. Nick calls him "curious" and I think that's a good word for the little guy.

Chris is proud to call him a rocker. He has crazy curly hair that hangs in his eyes and down his back. He loves Ozzy Osbourne and plays his air guitar to any song with an electric guitar. His favorite song is "Iron Man," and often I hear him walking around the house singing, "Du Du DuDuDu Du-Du Du-Du Du-Du Du DuDuDu." Chris is currently shopping for an AC/DC t-shirt for him...

Ben picked up sign language at about 15 months but, just recently, started to really talk. I am sure that he would have started talking on his own soon enough, but his pediatrician wanted him evaluted by a speech therapist. We had him evaluated and now there is a therapist that comes to the house each week. They play speech-related games with together,which he loves, and it gives me new ideas of things to do with him so it's been a good thing. Here are the words he says at two: momma, dadda, hi, "ta-da!", uh-oh, bye-bye, dog, "Arlie", be-boll (basketball), come, "it" (sit), "cuck" (truck), "be-beep" (bird/tweet tweet), "boop" (boot), "shoo" (shoe).

Ben, I feel so blessed to be your mommy! You make me smile every day with the cute things you do and say. I love it when you take my hand and lead me to where you want me. I love how you always need a good-bye kiss and then blow kisses and wave until I am out of your sight. I love when you wrap your arms around my neck and rub your nose on me. I love your little teeth and your beautiful smile and that mischievous giggle I hear so often. Thank you for being so perfect and wonderful and for picking me to be your mommy. I love you birthday boy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GRANDMA JOAN!

It was fun being able to celebrate my mom's birthday with her this year! She and my dad flew back from Arizona for a few days just as we were moving into their house. I think she loved having the kids around to party with her, too.  Her cake was from our favorite little bakery in town and so, so yummy!

My mom is great. She is such a good friend and means well in everything she does. And she is a crack-up. My siblings and I love the "phrases" she comes up with during conversation.  We have had an ongoing list of these phrases for a couple of years because we never want to forget them! Thankfully, we have all caught ourselves using these "mom phrases" from time to time so they aren't going to be forgotten anytime soon!  Here is the most current list:

"Geez-Louisa"
"Not a pot to pee in"
"...and call it lunch"
"Fuddy-duddy"
"Rouped"
"Eeh, gads"
"Not in a month of Sundays"
"Get your goat"
"Worthless as tits on a boar"
"Old as Methusela"
"Tough titty said the kitty"
"Yuckin' it up"
"Almost strained my milk"
 And her latest one, which she adopted from Dad but now uses more frequently than he, "Holy Macral!"

Love you, Mom! Happy Happy Birthday!! XO

HELLO

So here it is- our new, unemployed pad:

Let me just say that being unemployed does have its perks. Think seven bathrooms, theatre room, sport court and a hot tub surrounded by beautiful pine trees. My parents have agreed to let us live in their summer home for the next few months and for that, we could not be anymore thankful!! But what they don't know is that Chris may never get a job, and they may never get rid of us.... But in all seriousness, I could not be more grateful for their generosity. They didn't hesitate, even for a second, before they offered their home to us and the muddy boots, dog prints, and carpet spills that accompany us where ever we go. They have always been loving and supportive parents, but the last few months they have really outdone themselves. Someday, I hope we will to be able to do the same for our children. Maybe not in terms of the house pictured above, but with the same love and devotion and encouragement that they have shown Chris and I. I love you, Mom and Dad.