SNOW, SNOW AND MORE SNOW!!!

Everyone says it doesn’t snow in Arizona or at least in southern Arizona but in the
7 1/2 years we’ve been here, it has snowed almost every year. Usually it’s only 1 time and not very much but this year we got A LOT for Tucson standards.
The first time it snowed was Feb. 9 and the boys were so sad they couldn’t play in it! They were all sick, actually we all were. You can see that in my previous post SICKOS!!
A few days later on the 12th it snowed again. It wasn’t quite as much snow as before but it was good enough for the boys! They LOVED it! Bacon not as much as the older two. He came in with wet, cold hands crying. Poor guy! We don’t really have much snow gear for the kids. We don’t need it!
Then on the evening of the 19th, I got a text message warning me of a blizzard coming to our region. We were on blizzard warning until 11 pm on Thursday, according to the message. I laughed so hard when it really was for here! I have a Washington number so I was sure the warning was for up there! Nope!!
Wednesday came and it was really nice outside for most of the morning. A little cloudy and cold but nothing like the blizzard conditions I was warned about. Around noon the weather changed. I looked outside and it was windy and cloudy. I turned around, did 2 things in the checkbook, turned back around and it was full on snowing. Not just flurries or a little falling, full on snowing. The backyard was almost covered in just a few minutes! Still not what I would call a blizzard but way more than anyone here is used too! So I loaded up the kids and friend, got bread from Walgreens and realized it was starting to stick to the road. It was slushy and limited vision of about 40 feet. So I headed to pick Pach up from school. Best decision ever!
We got home and the 3 boys and I played outside in the snow for over an hour. We made 3 baby snowmen. Bacon climbed up the slide and accidentally slid down. Looked freaked out for about 2 seconds, started smiling and laughing and next thing I knew all the boys were flying down the little slide giggling! We threw snowballs and ran around. Bacon’s favorite thing was to grab a bit of snow, eat it and move to a new spot, eat some snow and move on. Over and over. I did get a picture of all 3 boys with the snowmen and then said we’d go out front. I put something inside and heard screaming and crying. I turned around and Bacon was destroying the snowmen! Pounding on them, hitting them and the other boys were upset. They weren’t going to last too long anyway, right?
We walked around the front yard and the block. They LOVED making footprints in the snow and at one point, Bacon was drinking the water off the road! Crazy boy! It stopped snowing for a bit and then started up again. I decided to make a quick run to the grocery store before it got worse. It didn’t, it stopped snowing instead. That night when Tim and I went to bed, it was snowing again. The little car had 2 inches of snow on it. That may not really be that much but for here, it is. It was beautiful! Of course by the time we woke up Thursday morning, a lot of it was gone but it was fun while it lasted!
From the 9th:

Our little flower plants.

Backyard and all the toys.

From the 12th:

Pach's first snowball. He was so excited!

The boys ready to play. I couldn't get Pickle to smile for me.

Outside ready to go!

His hands got a little cold with no gloves.

Throwing a snowball or a handfull of snow anyway.

 

The follow through.

From the 20th:

Scraping the snow off the basketball hoop.

The basketball hoop was a popular place to gather snow.

Again with the basketball hoop. It just gathered
snow so well.

His glove got caught in the wheelbarrow's wheel.

Yes, those are grocery sacks on his hands. We don't have any waterproof
gloves his size, so he got gloves with plastic sacks over them.

The three baby snowmen we made. Right after this Bacon demolished them all.

Our neighbor's tree.

The backyard.

Our miniature orange tree. If that thing survives these cold winters
down here I'll be impressed.

SICKOS!!!

 No one likes being sick and we got hit hard!!! Feb.2 around 11:30 pm, Pach came into our room and said, “Mom, there’s bugs coming out my eyes!” Not quite awake but aware of that probably meant, I growled and took him to the bathroom. Sure enough, PINK EYE!!! He had a ton of gunk coming out his eyes! Luckily we still had drops from when he, myself and Bacon had pink eye in December, so he got drops right away.
Sunday morning I got up with all the boys. I plopped Bacon on the couch, got chocolate milk for everyone and when I handed it to Bacon noticed one of his eye’s was all crusty and gunky. Great! Another case of pink eye! I call it the gift that keeps on giving! It just won’t go away! Bacon also had a very runny nose.
On the night of the 4th Pach was having a hard time breathing due to croupe. I had him in a steamy bathroom and in the cold outdoors. He finally started getting better but I knew I had to do something so on the 5th, I took all 3 boys to the doctor’s.  Bacon wasn’t sleeping very well and his runny nose was almost constant and Pickle I just had checked to make sure he didn’t have anything other than a slight cough.
We left a very chaotic 30 minutes later with a prescription for steroids and amoxicillian. Since Pach had difficulty breathing, he was on steroids for a couple nights. Bacon, it turned out, had a double ear infection. In fact, when the doctor walked into the room and saw him, she said, “He looks like a good candidate for an ear infection.” The tip off was the runny nose. Wish I had known that sooner!
After a few days things seemed to get better. Bacon’s nose dried up and he slept all night again, Pickle never really got sick and Pach got a little better or so we thought. Thursday (after 2 nights of steroids), he started sounding congested. Well, by Friday night I was sleeping sitting up all night in bed with Pach and Pickle, helping them stay elevated so they would quit coughing. Didn’t quite work too well. Tim was in another room, sick, trying to get some sleep and not get me sick. I woke up on the 9th, after having not really slept at all, sick. It took a week but I finally was down.
Monday the 11th, I took Pach to the doctor pleading for something to make him stop coughing at night so we could all sleep! I was desperate and had tried everything! The boys room had a mister in it and a Vick’s Vapor Rub plug in it. I had given them 2 different kinds of cough medicine, put Vick’s Vapor Rub on them, on their feet with socks on and kept them elevated. Nothing worked! I told the doctor all that and she looked at me and said, ‘None of it worked did it? That’s why I never recommend any of that stuff. It doesn’t work.'” Then she prescribed some cough medicine with codine in it. That stuff worked! Finally after over a week of sickos, they were sleeping through the night!!
Tim started getting better, Bacon was fine and Pach and Pickle were finally cough free at night! But I got sick. I ended up going to the urgent care on the 14th and found out I had an ear infection! That explained why my ear and throat and everything on the right side of my head hurt! I am still taking my medicine and we are all actually better! We even made it to church finally!
Honestly, I am so tired of people being sick! In December we had a broken leg, 3 cases of pink eye, 2 bouts of the flu and my sister, my mom and my dad all got sick while they were visiting for Christmas! It’s just time for all this to be OVER!!!!

I’m Only Half Crazy: 13.1

The title to a friend’s birthday bash this last weekend. AK (the friend) decided she wanted to celebrate a milestone by running a half-marathon and invited some friends to help her celebrate and run with her. As her husband, BK, so sweetly put it, “You all helped a little girl’s dream come true.” It was a fun and fabulous celebration!

The run started at 8 am about 1 hour from where we live. A couple of my running friends, Charlotte and Allison, joined me on a caravan down the freeway and through town. We left one car and the finish and picked up some more amazing women and headed off to the start. IT WAS SO COLD!!! Weather.com said it was supposed to be in the mid-40’s but it was frigid! I decided I would start the race in my pants and long sleeved shirt, hoping it would warm up as I ran.

I ran the entire half with Allison and it was great fun. We did warm up and when we made it to check-point 1, we both shed our long sleeved top and I decided to run in just my skirt. The picture is from that check-point.

We continued on our run and had a great time. The nice thing about this run was it was simply for fun. It was to celebrate a friend and something to enjoy. We are both running the Phoenix Half Marathon in a month, so this was a nice way to see kind of what we can do.

As we passed check-point 2, which also doubled as the finish line, I realized how far it was. I so wanted to stop and be done but we still had 6 miles left! We continued on our way and hit check-point 3, which was also the turn around. On our way back to the finish line we passed the birthday girl, AK and Charlotte running together. It was great to see them and cheer with their names! We saw all the runners the last few miles going in opposite directions but I didn’t know most of the names.

Finally Allison and I finished! We were done! Our time (according to our watches) was 2:56:51. The official time was 3:04:something. We stopped our time for the bathroom breaks and photo-op. I was pooped! I stretched and walked around but was SO TIRED!!! Not far from the finish line is the only road we had to cross on our run. After a little while I wandered up there to see if I could see those runners, mainly Charlotte and AK coming. Charlotte and I run together a lot of races together and I always go back and run her in.

I was looking and thought I saw them and I did. I was a bit confused because there were quite a few people with them. AK’s husband and a couple of her kids and friends kids were running the last little bit with them. When they made it to where I was I turned around and thought maybe I could run the last .1 mile with them to the finish. I tried but was pooped! They did amazing!

Then it was awards and party time! Provided courtesy of AK’s family and friends was a BBQ and we all brought sides. Someone provided a great cake and we all got to sing Happy Birthday, even though she didn’t want us to.

There were awards: medals for the 1st and 2nd place finishers, 2 for the “Almost Dead Last and Proud of It” and 2 for the “Dead Last and Proud of It.”

I want to say thanks to AK and all who organized this run for her. It was wonderful! We all got a “goodie bag” with our bib numbers and a few other things. The course was well planned out with 3 check-points. At each check-point there was water, gatorade, fruit snacks and jelly beans for us. The person manning each check-point had a list of all the runners to make sure everyone made it. It was just a wonderful experience and I’m glad I got to be part of such a great way to celebrate someone’s life. AK: YOU ARE AWESOME!!!

And thanks to my wonderful husband and boys, who let me do this run and all my other running. Couldn’t do this without your love and support too!

Pickle is 4!!!

Pickle turned 4 a couple weeks ago and had a great little party. For over 6 months he kept telling Tim he wanted a "toilet cake with flowers and a baby coming out of it!" Then at the last minute he changed his mind and opted for a Transformers birthday. Tim, though sad over the toilet cake, made him a great looking Optimus Prime cake. He had a little party with a few friends over. They played pin the emblem on Bumble Bee, had chicken nuggets and chips, cake and opened presents. He LOVED it all.

Pickle opted for a photo with
Optimus Prime.

Pach did too.

Bacon couldn't quite figure out
what he was supposed to do....

Pickle taking his turn. This was he second turn. The first time
he got the emblem on the right spot perfectly. After a couple other
kids went he admitted he could see through the fabric. This time
I made sure he couldn't.

Bacon getting in on the action.

A Transformer coloring book.

He let Bacon help him unwrap.

A hex nano bug. He LOVES it!

Party table with Optimus and Bumble Bee plates and napkins.

Blowing out the candles on his cake.

Better shot of the face. Tim did a great job!

Christmas Festivities

Finally getting around to Christmas. As you will read, it was exciting in more ways than one!

My parents arrived on the afternoon of the 21st (Friday). My sister arrived late that night, around midnight. It had been a very long day for Tim and I, as we were awoken to one child vomiting in our bed. That one recovered quickly which was nice because as soon as he was better a different one decided to be sick. :( It was not a lot of fun. On and off through the week we had family we had someone sick except for Christmas Day.

Christmas Eve my mom made some sugar cookies for the boys to decorate. And they all had fun. Grandma and grandsons decorating cookies. The boys especially loved the frosting and sugary toppings. Go figure!!

Christmas arrived and we were blessed with everyone feeling fine. Everyone was well enough to enjoy the day. We had a great time watching everyone open their presents. Bacon was especially fun! It took him awhile to get into it but then he couldn't be stopped! He didn't care whose turn it was, he was going to either help or just open whatever present he could find! He did get a bit distracted after he opened his vacuum cleaner. He decided the stairs needed some cleaning!

It was great to spend time with family on Christmas. After we had opened all our gifts with my family we skyped with Tim's parents to open our gifts from them. It was a long Christmas morning! Usually it takes us an hour at the most to open all the presents. Add 4 extra people and another family later and it was much more than we were used too. I was a little worried about the boys. However, as long as there was wrapping paper to rip off and toys to play with there attention didn't wander! And their excitement never got old. It was great present after present watching their faces light up with joy! I'm so grateful we have such wonderful families who love us and our boys so much!

That night we had a great dinner, mostly anyway. We had ham, funeral potatoes, veggies but I forgot to make the rolls. It was still nice. And it was a nice way to finish a wonderful day!

I had made the boys matching BYU pajama pants this year for Christmas so Tim and the boys all wore those! It was so fun!! And they turned out this year too!!

 

Excited and ready to go!!!

This is how he unwrapped all his presents.
One little piece at a time, handing them to me.

A gift for all the boys to share. Helicopters
and airplanes. AKA heaven for boys!

Up close and personal with Grandpa.
They wanted to see him open their gift to him:
a clicker pen with 4 colors to choose from.

After helping Dad open his present (a BYU garbage can),
Pickle had to put his head in it.

Not one to be left out, Bacon also had
to put his head in the garbage can. He
was very happy after that.

Halloween 2012

I forgot to put Halloween up! Sorry about that. The boys had a blast! Pach was an EMT, Pickle a pirate and Bacon a parrot. It was so fun to see them all dressed up and having fun. They were all able to wear their costumes a few times.

First we went to Agua Linda Farms for some fun. The boys ran through the hay bale "maze". There was only one direction to go but they loved it. There was a petting farm, a jumping castle, pony rides, pumpkin patch, a movie, expensive food, hay bales to climb on, potato sack races, tricycles to ride on and a tractor ride through the pumpkin patch. We all had a lot of fun.

Second was something called Halloween Happenin' at Pach's school. They were able to go on a horse ride, pet some animals at a petting zoo, turn the sirens on in a police car, play a few carnival games and of course, trick or treat. It was a lot of fun and they were soooo good.

Third was the church trunk-or-treat. They also loved that! They went around with a friend or two and that made it all the better! The candy was a big plus too!

Fourth was a costume parade at school for Pach and at pre-school for Pickle. Bacon got dressed up for the pre-school parade as well. It was so fun watching them walk around in their costumes with all their friends. Pickle got to trick-or-treat as well.

Finally, there was Halloween Night and trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. The boys had a great time. Bacon stayed home and "helped" dad pass out candy. Though I am pretty sure he ate a lot more than  he passed out. The older boys and I headed out and they got A LOT of candy! We stopped off at home to empty and then went back out. We all got a good workout. I ended up carrying Pickle uphill back to the house at the end. They were really great about sharing their spoils with Bacon. It was a good night!

On top of the hay bale pyramid. They were supposed to be
making funny or scary faces. 

 

No, the camera lens wasn't dirty. Those spots are the pollen
and dust in the air. We smelled like hay when we were done.

Trunk-Or-Treating at the church.

Trick-Or-Treating in the neighborhood.

Gingerbread Houses 2012

Every year (or we try every year) to make Gingerbread houses. Tim and I started doing this our first Christmas here. This year we got a box of 4 small ones for myself and the boys. Tim made his from scratch. It was quite a bit of fun.

Bacon got into the spirit of things and added a few candies to his house. His was done in the minimalist style, the less is better mentality. After that he ate a bunch of candy. I think that’s all he really wanted anyway.

Pickle had a lot of fun too. He had a clear idea of what he wanted on his house. One side has goggle face and the other a snowman face. He also wanted to house with the mostly flat roof. He was hilarious to watch. I think he ate half his frosting right out of the bowl! And he was really interested in Tim’s creation. We had to keep reminding him to make his.
Pach had the most fun and he took the longest. His is the exact opposite of Bacon’s less is better. His idea: more is better and way too much is even better! He had sooooo much stuff on his little house I’m surprised it’s still standing. He saw things other people were doing and copied those. Then he just kept adding and adding. We finally had to tell him to stop after he’d used half a bottle of red sprinkles on his house!
My house was pretty fun. I enjoyed it a lot more once I started decorating the house. I didn’t have a clear idea of anything (except Jr. Mints for the roof) when we bought the candy, so I’m glad Walgreens had candy on sale! I like how mine turned out and it even inspired Tim to do a couple of things on his house!
Tim, once again, made a crazy awesome house! He actually puts the time into designing his unique house and then decorating it. He took the longest but his looks the best! He is definitely an engineer! He kept telling the boys his house was the biggest because he makes the most money and mine was small because I didn’t make any. The boys thought that was awesome!
We had a great time! Enjoy the pictures of this years Gingerbread Houses!

Our candy stash for the project. Yep, we still have some too.

Table cleared and ready to go. Everyone's pieces for their
houses ready to go.

Tim sorting his M&M's.

Tim's house. His was the only one not out of a box.
He designed it of course.

 

Pach wanted a picture with all the candy......  

So Pickle had to have one too. Only getting one of him smiling
is a bit more difficult......

Bacon did a great job putting his candies on. He didn't
even eat that many!

    

Pach with his candies for decorating. He ended up using
a lot more than that.

Pickle with his picks. He ended up using a lot more too.

The boys hard at work. They LOVED doing this.

Just a cute picture of Bacon I wanted to add.

Bacon's minimalist gingerbread house.

Pickle's house with a nose. 

Pach's house with red snow. We looked away for about 2 minutes
and he had emptied 3/4 of a bottle of sprinkles on the snow!

My humble home!

Tim's masterpiece, like always. He does a great job every year!

All the houses proudly on display.