Fond of Flag

All summer we've been talking about taking a trip to Flagstaff, and we finally made it this weekend. Who wouldn't want to drive 2 hours north for 30 degree cooler weather? When we arrived late Saturday morning, the temp was 75 and dipped into the 50's at night. What a treat! Lilly was very excited at the thought of staying the night in a hotel, eating at restaurants and swimming, of course. We had stayed at The Little America Hotel in March, and it was amazing to us how much Lilly remembered about the hotel- location of the gift shop, the missing baby swing on the swing set, the fact that we ate breakfast at the hotel restaurant, etc. The photos that follow are from a few highlights of the trip.

What's a trip to a hotel without a dip in the pool; in this case, the hot tub? Both girls loved the swimming time-just as we got in the water, it started to rain. Pretty neat!

We visited the Riordan Mansion to take part in the Christmas ornament festivities. Since the White House Christmas tree is coming from Arizona this year (as in Washington DC), several federal buildings and some White House trees will be decorated with ornaments made by Arizona children. This photo shows Lilly creating her ornament.

Lilly's ornament: a skiing pine cone penguin with a necklace.
This lovely creation would make any tree beautiful!

Claire our "short cake" loved the mountain air and
explored everything she could.

Before bed, Lilly decided to make her own bed on the floor, complete with its own "door" (note pillow at the bottom of the photo.) She was quite pleased with her creation though we made her sleep in a real bed for sleepy time.

Oh the memories... What's a night in a hotel without wrestling your sibling?
We were lucky no one bonked their head on the nightstand. Needless to say, the girls were VERY excited to spend time together and stay in a hotel.

Bedtime was quite interesting in the hotel, as many of you parents can relate. Claire stayed the night in her pack-n-play but was a wee bit hesitant to fall asleep. Though the lights were dimmed and room was quiet, Claire kept peeking over her crib to see what she was missing. All of us thought this was pretty funny especially since she didn't make a peep.

On the drive back, we stopped at the Out of Africa Wildlife Park- lots of tigers and other huge cats. This park is on I-17 on the way back to Phoenix, and we'd never stopped before. We rode a safari train, saw some pretty cool animals, but we didn't get to stay long- two tired girls were ready for air conditioning and a nap. Better luck next time! Oh what fun!

Dissertation procrastination projects #2 and #3

So it has been decided at my house that all of the "projects" I've been working on are really just procrastination from working on my beloved dissertation. Rob kindly pointed this out the other evening when I decided to paint yet another wall in our dining room. His comment went something like this "So do you want me to work on your dissertation while you paint?" And my response was "Sure." ha ha
My earlier post entitled "Dining room beautification project phase 1" was also a disguise for dissertation procrastination. I guess I am subconsciously avoiding it... I was neck deep in the thing for a good 5 months, so I guess I deserve a break of sorts. With my graduation date looming in December and LOTS of work still left to do, I'd better get a move-on. But before I do, let me show you some of what I've been up to. From now on I promise to buckle down and write! If you're lucky I'll post a pdf file of my dissertation on the blog- that would put all of you to sleep, for sure!

Project #2: Make something I've wanted for awhile-
a large memo board for one of my hallways.
Everyone needs one of these to hold those stray photos!
Project #3: Paint another wall in my dining room.
This was an immediate necessity, of course!
The wall before...

And after... much better in nutmeg!

Shhh... don't tell but I have a few more projects up my sleeve that need finished before December; namely, Lilly's stocking. Argh! It's a doozie!
Two more require the use of my sewing machine. Stay tuned.

Show and Tell

This morning in Lilly's preschool class, she had "Show and Tell." We were instructed to tuck the item inside Lilly's backpack and NOT let her play with it before class began. Lilly chose her 101 Dalmations book as her item of the day. When I asked her how it went she said, "good." I asked her what the other kids brought and she said "toys in their backpacks." I then asked her what she wanted to take for show and tell next week and she quickly said "all my kitchen stuff." That will be a BIG backpack- I'd better start working on that. :) I took these pictures once we got home because she was still so proud of what had taken place. Mrs Johnston, her teacher, said show and tell is a great way for the children to become comfortable speaking in front of others. I think Lilly just likes scouting out all the other kids' toys. :) Enjoy.

Families Together Annual WALK

As some of you know, Rob's sister Julie was born with multiple mental and physical handicaps. Families Together was a great resource for their entire family while she was growing up. Please help us support their annual fundraiser WALK by clicking on the donation button below.

First day of Preschool- oh my!

Lilly awoke a little earlier than normal, pounced into our bedroom and was all smiles for her first day of preschool. We enrolled Lilly in a Tuesday/Thursday morning preschool program at our church, which happens to be close to our home. Yesterday was "meet the teacher" day, and today was the official first day. Lilly chose a purple dress all by herself and was super excited to wear her backpack. She still hasn't fully differentiated preschool from Sunday school since they are in the same location, but she had a good time nonetheless. Mrs. Johnston said Lilly did a great job today- no tears, followed directions and was a good girl. When I dropped her off this morning, she ran straight into the classroom, gave Mrs. Johnston a huge hug and sat on the rug ready to take directions from her teacher. When I picked her up, she was all smiles and proud of her big adventure. Let's hope it stays a wonderfully positive experience for her. And, you may also be interested in knowing that I am now the room-mom(actually sharing with my friend Michelle whose daughter Grace is in the same class). Big surprise! Enjoy the photos.

Getting ready to enter her classroom for her first day of preschool!

Getting ready to begin. Lilly was one of the first to arrive.

Lilly and her teacher Mrs. Johnston

The cute photo tags of her classmates. Too cute!

Dining room beautification project: part one

Those of you who have been to my house know that I'm always planning my next move: meaning my next paint job, next item to sew, next item to make or next piece of home decor to buy. So, it's not surprising that I've never been fully satisfied with my dining/ living room... it has needed work for many years now. It's the first room people see when they walk in the front door, so I think it needs to have some sort of pizazz to it... in my mind these things include beautiful hard wood floors and my mothers grand piano, but I will just have to dream about those. For now, I have a plan... a several step plan that will give my dining room the "lift" it needs. And by the way, some people complain that their husbands give them grief about new projects and even home decor... not mine. Rob just asks what he can do to help. In this case: buy paint, move furniture and hang new mirrors. Thanks for your help, Rob! Phase one of the plan was completed this past weekend: paint an existing wall and hang new mirrors. And by the way, these new mirrors were my surprise bargain purchase from a local model home furniture sale and happen to also be the same mirrors I have been "eying" in the Ballard Designs catalog for several years. So... here's the finished result:

This photo was taken just before the painting began...

2 hours of hard work= a freshly painted wall.

So what do you think? Better? Yes, indeed.
Stay tuned for part 2.

Happy birthday to me!

I just love birthdays- especially my own birthday! This year, the celebration spanned several days- lucky me. Friends surprised me with cupcakes and a lunch date on the 5th. I spent my actual birthday with the girls- lunch with Rob and Shawn, homemade dinner by Rob (fillets from AJ's, veggies and coconut cream pie). On Friday we left the girls with Ashleigh our babysitter and headed to Lon's at the Hermosa Inn in Paradise Valley for dinner. We enjoyed fresh green salads, salmon (me), pork tenderloin (Rob), corn pancakes (very tasty), blueberry cheesecake and a nice Pinot Grigio. YUM!

Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes. Texts, e-mails, cards in the mail, gifts, phone calls- everything. My birthday made me feel so special this year! Lilly is extra excited because the next big birthday on the horizon belongs to Baby Jesus--- Christmas is coming, and she can't wait!

Lilly opened all of my gifts for me this year.

Blueberry cheesecake in mango sauce= YUM

Song of the week.

Lilly is quite impressed with the computer, especially if it sings to her or plays trailers of her favorite shows. Rob found this little doozy on You Tube this past weekend, and now it's a favorite.
Lilly and Claire love to watch and even sing along. You will like it too... Enjoy!

Claire's new face

Claire's new look- well not really. Claire is fond of imitating people, so Rob decided to see just how far she'd go. Tonight at dinner Claire responded to Rob's antics. The result: a mirror image of Rob. It's too bad I don't have a picture to post of Rob's silly look. Little Claire is doing well. She had her 15 month well-check at the pediatrician a few weeks back. We're happy to report she is healthy, happy and 90th percentile in height and weight. This is great news for us but bad news for sister Lilly. It won't be long before Claire is able to hold her own against her big sister. Lilly has always been 90th percentile in height, but her weight has always been much less. Needless to say, Lilly's been pounding the calories in fear her sister will surpass her soon. Next time Lilly pushes her sister I will gently remind her "what goes around comes around", right? After all, there's only 6 pounds between them!

Surprise encounter

On her way to New Mexico to see Great Aunt Mary, Grammy stopped in Phoenix for a convenient layover. Rob and the girls were able to make it to the airport for a few hours to eat dinner, nibble on cookies, and spend time with Grammy. When Lilly found out Grammy was in town, she screamed with excitement. When she realized it was time to leave, she was sad she couldn't get on the plane with her. Ever since our trip to Kansas this summer, she talks incessently about her two favorite relatives: Grammy and Nana. If she had her choice, they would both move in tomorrow! Notice Claire's melted chocolate morsels all around her mouth.... Claire the carb killer never missed an opportunity to eat sweet treats.
We're glad you had a great trip to New Mexico, Grammy! Come back soon!!