I think I am back! :-)

I have been bad about blogging.  Horrible.  Terrible.  Neglectful.  And for all of those reasons, I am sorry.  The move to Arizona was a big one, with lots of stress and some struggles, but is working out well and I am LOVING it here. 

Chris had some struggles with a neck issue and surgery followed, but after 3 months he is on the mend, doing well, and our lives are starting to get back to normal.

Lauren is loving school and doing so well!  She is growing up to be a wonderful (and slightly mouthy) young lady, turned 10 in December and I am sure will be taller than me any day now!  She loves crafts and writing, is in the choir and actually has a voice!  I was amazed when I heard that.  HAHAH. 

Joshua is also doing well in school.  I can't say he as much of a fan as the girls are, but he does his job and goes to school, gets good grades, and comes home to his love---xbox.  He (well actually all of them) very much enjoy playing video games, kindles, etc.  He is also into legos and loves to read!  The other day I took all of them to the library, and you would think we were in a candy store, we couldn't care the stuff out when we were done!

Julia.  What to say about Julia.  She just turned 5, is the pride of her preschool teachers eye, and is the most happy, joyful child ever.  She is always dancing, singing, prancing around the house.  I often say "Julia is in Julia's world".  She just lives in such a different world than us---a wonderful and happy world.  I love it!  (Right now she is actually mopping and scrubbing the floor.  There is a lot of water involved in this process, but I must say, she is a mopper in the making!)

And then there is me.  I am doing so well down here!  Arizona was a great move for me.  My depression is quite manageable here, the sun is always shining and I make a point to sit in it for at least an hour a day.  Actually Chris and I sit outside in the afternoons, chatting, and just relaxing.  It has centered me and in a lot of ways helped me heal.  I have worked since October, but decided to take the summer off to spend time with the kids.  They are at wonderful ages, I am in a great mental place, I am going to take advantage of it!  BTW--summers in Arizona start early, and mine actually started last week!  :-)  I have a few more patients I am seeing (I am working home health, which will take another blog post to explain) and I should be done really soon.  But right now I am only working saturdays for a few hours, so it is easy peasy!

Well, that is all for now!  I will try to make more posts so that I can share with you the last years goings on.  But, I tend to do better in the summers, so I am hoping to at the very least, keep up. 

Joshua is swimming without floaties

Guess who isn't wearing floaties anymore?  That would be my little Joshua-boy!!!!!  I am so proud of him, I took the floaties off the day before yesterday, and yesterday he spent the whole 2 hours at the pool without them.  Now, I must admit he is NOT a strong swimmer, and I think I had a billion mini-heart attacks, and 2 jumping up to jump in, however he pulled through.  It is really important to me that they can, at the very least, save themselves if they fall into a pool----considering we are looking for a house with a pool.

Joshua now jumps into the 5 feet section of the pool (of which he of course cannot touch) and then swims back proudly.

AND, Julia is jumping in the pool willingly and by herself!   When we first got here, she wouldn't even put her face in the water, but you should see her now!

Mother's Day Trip to Sedona

For this Mother's Day, out of all the things I could have chosen, I chose a trip to Sedona.  We packed everyone up, stopped and grabbed a picnic-ish lunch, and embarked on our way.   The 2 hours seemed to take a little longer than usual, however the sites at the destination were fabulous.  It also rocked that it went from 100 degrees to 79.  :-)

On the way we stopped at a park in Anthem, Az.  This is a unique community that I would actually love to live in, however it is a far commute for Chris, so off limits!  It had a wonderful park with play equipment, a train ride, pond for fishing, baseball fields and basketball courts.  So, we let the kids run around a little bit and burn off some energy (as well as a layer of skin) and then we headed on our journey.

Before we moved here, I had this picture of Arizona as a flat desert without color (other than brown and peach)..... But, there are actually colors here!  Flowers, bushes, colorful cacti, and we even found huge trees!

Thank you to my wonderful family for taking me on my Mother's Day Trek, and even more so for making me a Mommy!  Lauren, Joshua, and Julia, you are the best kids any Mom could ever ask for.  Even though you are sometimes loud and disobedient, you are also all kindhearted, sweet, smart, moral, and I am so proud to have you call me Mommy.  Also, thank you to Chris for making me a Mommy as well as putting in all the effort towards me having a great day.

Free at last

Today we ventured out of the hotel, to the grassy area across the parking lot (still a part of the hotel).  I was brave and let all the kids and dog run and play undisturbed (rather than hovering..... waiting for the bad bug, the burrs that are in the grass, bees, cars that may be coming etc. 

They had a good time, although I did hear complaints on how hot it was! LOL

Also, the dog got to run free (with a leash on so we could catch her easier) and she was just going mad nuts chasing Sonic frisbees from kids meals.

So cute!  Wonder what we are going to do tomorrow........

A new park

Yesterday was the first day I actually ventured out of the hotel to find some entertainment for the kids.  We found this really cool park in Chandler, AZ.  Yesterday was not super hot---maybe 84--- so it was nice to just hang out.

The park

Playing leap frog

Joshua's SUPER jump

Lauren is getting so big

Julia making sand angels

And there was a small water area, so yes, my kids were playing in the water at 10am.....  

And I learned 1 thing...... SONIC SHAKES ARE BAAAAAD.  I spent the whole afternoon curled up on the couch.  Why can't I just learn, I can't do fattening things like that.  But it was oreo cheesecake!

How can he even eat?

Joshua has been a tooth loosing machine this year.   He finally lost his 6th tooth..... Now that tooth was stubborn.  It was one of the top center ones, and as soon as its mate fell out (a few months ago), it dangled sideways and wiggled to and fro.

I called him snaggletooth!  Although I had to be careful, Joshua is a little sensitive when it comes to nicknames and such.  But that tooth was hilarious!  He would constantly wiggle and turn it side to side, totally grossing me out.  He knew I felt this way, which just made him do it more!  (Stinker)

Anyway, it is now out.  He yanked that thing out like a champ.  And there it was.  Snaggletooth in all its glory.

Then I wanted a picture.  Joshua isn't a big fan of pictures.  I had to succumb to bribery.  He said if I got him ice cream, I could have exactly 1 picture "So make it count".  So, I dutifully went and got him his favorite Chocolate Chip Mint ice cream and got my 1 picture.

Oh, and when I asked him how he could eat he said he is just going to have to "survive on pudding, ice cream, and applesauce."   Funny boy.

I am that kind of Mom

Things that I never thought I would do pre-kids.....

My kids are "those kids" at the pool that are doing cannonballs and getting all the adults wet.   Shoot, if you don't wanna get wet, don't come to the pool!

My kids on occasion have worn clothes two days in a row, and just to top it off, wore them to bed to.   I am neglectful, please arrest me :-)  Do I get my own cell?

They have had peanut and butter sandwiches 3 lunches in a row, but we are living in a hotel!

My 4 year old has nightmares and crawls into bed with us.  And to be honest, I would love for her to sleep with us every night.  

My son knows what going #1 and #2 means AND he has named 3,4,5,6. (5 being pregnancy....didn't know he even knew that word.) 

We don't usually have cable---we don't like the influential commercials (just to name 1 of the reasons) and 7 days of cable and my kids are singing the Swiffer commercial (who's that lady??? Sexy lady) and I don't know whether to laugh or punish. 

We accidentally swear in front of our kids..... and Joshua has figured out that "Shit is another name for poop" 

Julia announces that she toots whenever one pops out.   This is completely our fault, but her being 4 and still poops in a pull up (sore subject), we make her aware of all her functions and congratulates her when anything occurs in the toilet.

But after all that (and many more) I still get random compliments on my kids good, kind, respectful behavior from perfect strangers.  Lauren was told she was a sweet and kind girl with great manners from a lady at the continental breakfast today due to her thoughtful ways.  

Maybe I am not that bad.