Two Things

I am so excited to get this!! (I just bought it on ebay) It's a combination bike trailer/double stroller and I have been itching to get one and get out riding/running with the kids. We do so much "running" around right here in our neighborhood and it will be nice to get a little more exercise by using this instead of driving. So now maybe when I say I'm going to run to the grocery store a few blocks away I will actually run there! Next thing I need is a bike. I can hardly wait!!


This is a map of the Dirty 6, which is the next event I'm training for. Again, I am SO excited!! It's a 6 mile, 9 obstacle run including a mud pit at the finish. I think it sounds like so much fun and since I have been feeling pretty fat and lazy this will give me something to work towards. I basically haven't been running at all since the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving. No wonder I'm feeling out of shape, right? Anyone want to do it with me?

How many...

sheets of stickers do you think Ian put on this one side of his shirt one morning? If you said 9, you would be right. Most of the time, Madeleine and Ian get along really well, have a great time playing together and are basically best buds. But Madeleine was very upset by Ian's wasteful use of these stickers. She had wanted to take them to school to give to her friends, but since there weren't enough sheets for each kid to get their own I had told her no. After all the drama I thought, "Poor Maddie. She's really disappointed. But seeing all those stickers on Ian was pretty funny. And now they're all gone so I don't have to worry about them anymore."

The Little Mermaid...

is Maddie's new favorite thing to draw. She's pretty good, don't you think? We are all very proud that she picked out all the right colors and she is perfecting her tail-drawing skills. If you look close you can see that she colored Ariel's painted fingernails. Three pink on one hand and three purple on the other. Oh yeah, don't miss the heart bubbles.

Sedona

Spencer had spring break a couple weeks ago and unfortunately for him it wasn't much of a break. He had just started a new trimester in school and he had a huge project in one of his new classes. Such a big project in fact that he basically spent his entire break working on it. So, as a reward for finishing and an attempt at actually doing something other than homework on his break, we took the kids to Sedona.
Do you like how Maddie and I are wearing matching outfits? She totally copied me. She doesn't really like wearing pants except for these ones she calls her mom pants. We had a fun time seeing the sights and checking out some of the shops. Sedona is beautiful! It was a really nice little getaway.

On our way home, we drove through Oak Creek Canyon and found a little bit of snow. Maddie and Ian loved it! Sure it was the snow plowed in a little parking lot, but it was a nice mound that they could slide down. It was pretty much heaven as far as they were concerned.

In case you don't already know, we are headed to Houston in May for Spencer's internship with Exxon Mobil. We are really excited for the chance to see a new place and we are doubly excited that Spencer will be working hard but won't have homework all the time. Yippee!! I am hoping for lots of family time this summer.

Conversation with Ian

In the car on the way to taking Spencer to school this morning.

Ian: "My finger is like a lollipop."

me: "Oh, really? What flavor is it?"

Ian: "Mystery."

A Week of Fun

Spencer had this past week off between the second and third trimesters of school so we had a little fun. Actually, truth be told, he ended up still being pretty busy with school stuff with grading papers/conducting a study session/proctoring an exam for the class he's a TA for, but we managed to slip in a little fun too. Wednesday was the opening of baseball Spring training games so we headed over to see the Cubs play the Dodgers. We got tickets out on the lawn so the kids couldn't be convinced to try to watch at all. They were much more interested in running and rolling down the hill. And since they were doing that I got to watch them while Spencer watched the game. I honestly couldn't say if it was a good game or not. The only thing I can report for sure is that one of the Cubs hit a grand slam. If I had really been watching I bet I would have thought that was pretty cool! The bullpen was right down in front of the lawn so we did go down by the fence and watch the pitchers practice for a bit. The kids liked that. The highlight for them was probably the Italian ice.
The rest of these pictures are from Madeleine's most recent field trip. (Have I mentioned how much I LOVE her school and teacher?) This time it was to the Children's Museum of Phoenix and it was amazing!! We loved everything about it and we didn't even get to see the whole thing!
This is a house in the art studio room. It had buckets of paint all around it and the kids could get an apron and paint away. They also had a few tables with different projects they could do. That day there were supplies for building robots or making masks. And there was a puppet theater and bean bags for lounging.
This was the play car wash the kids could drive their tricycles and such through. I love this picture with Ian driving and Maddie in the passenger cart. Ian couldn't reach the pedals to ride properly but when I suggested that she drive and let Ian ride you can imagine the reaction I might get from a princess like her. How could she, royalty, be the one to cart her brother around?? It's just wrong. Luckily Ian didn't mind driving around with his feet on the floor instead of the pedals.
I don't know what you would call these little vehicles, but they were super fun. Ian's on there with our good friend Jack. Our kids can't get enough of Jack and his brother Max! And Maddie might not know this, but Jack has a little crush on her. Even though he recently told her he likes her but he doesn't like her. He's such a sweet boy. Thankfully Madeleine doesn't seem to be thinking about boys like that yet. I won't mind if she waits 15 years to start thinking like that.

I'm pretty sure this museum might be my new favorite place. We'll be heading back there soon and when we are back here for school in the fall I think I'll get us an annual pass. To any locals who haven't been there, you have got to check it out!!