Soakin Up the January Sun

Now that it's late January, we're entering what most of us locals would say is the best time of year here. While we still get a downpour of rain now and then and the clouds play an occasional game of peek-a-boo, temps in the 70s have dominated.

While I predict my relationship with my new home city will once again turn tempestuous come June, for now we're all enjoying the honeymoon time of year outdoors as we dig out our shorts (packed away only two months ago), jog and bike through the neighborhoods, and get the grills fired up.

I know relatives in frigid parts of the country -- Minnesota, Iowa -- are freezing their tails off right now. Some have accused me of rubbing it in -- our glorious weather, that is. But I like to think of our six months of perfection as our reward for enduring months of torturous 110+-degree days. It really is a trade-off when we live in a climate with such Jekyll and Hyde weather. Miserable for five months; divine the rest of the year.

So, with the sun smiling upon us, we embraced this past weekend outdoors. Blake had two soccer games (both losses, unfortunately), we played at the park, I went for a run, Blake and Nick went paint-balling with a few friends (and Brett) to celebrate Blake's upcoming birthday, and we fired up the grill.

It was a great weekend, as most are this time of year. Visitors are always welcome; we have a guestroom :)

I always love watching Blake's soccer games. Here he is in action:

I love this next one. Zach and Allie poking their cute little heads out the caboose. This is a little train at our community park.

The beautiful Arizona clouds. This is the view toward the east from the big community park.

Nicky and his friend Rickson have their ups and downs.


"The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance; the wise grows it under his feet."
~James Openheim

10 Signs I'm Living With a Tween

It's hard to believe, but Blake's less than two weeks away from his 12th birthday.

Brett and I have survived the sleepless nights, the potty training, the homework, the learning to read, the first sleep-over, the swimming lessons, the Chuck E Cheese's birthday parties, the learning to ride a bike, the trips to the emergency room -- all that kind of stuff.

But there's a huge aura of mystery that looms as we ponder the next six years and the warped obstacle course we'll be forced to fumble through as we take on the new role of being parents of a teen.

We have one more year of our oldest being a tween. One more year until that "w" is plucked from his title and we officially have a teen. Insert scream here.

We're frequently reminded that a tween is in the house -- more and more so each day. The first 10 things that come to mind:

1. Just last week I was asked to buy Clearasil for a tiny little bump that can barely be seen with the naked eye.
2. His friends get more face time with him than we do.
3. He doesn't get in the car without his Ipod.
   
4. He asks if he can get unlimited text messaging because 200 messages a month is just not possible. And he basically texts just his best friend.
   
5. Paintballing is the thing to do. Every time I see him surfing the net he's checking out paintball guns. What happened to squirt guns? Or even Nerf?
   
6. Coming home from school and eating two bowls of cereal is normal. I stock up when our favorites are on sale -- it's not unusual to see a dozen "extra" boxes in the pantry at any given time.
   
7. Brett and I are requested not to chaperone field trips. At this point we can still attend soccer games, but perhaps there will come a day when we'll have to don masks and wigs and hide behind trees.
   
8. The top requests for birthday gifts are gift cards and cash. But Blake, don't you remember how much you loved that magic set when you were 5? Doing those magic tricks with that cute top hat. Sigh ...
   
9. If something is wrong in his world, it is, of course, all Mom's fault.
10. Getting him to take a shower is no longer an issue. :)
    

London Bridge is Falling Down

First things first ...

Our excitement over the weekend was -- grandparents, don't panic, everyone is fine -- Allie's trip to the Emergency Room.

We had a restaurant gift card stuck to the refrigerator, teasing and taunting us, so Saturday night we packed up the kids and headed to Scottsdale for dinner at Maggiano's. We had a great evening, which for us means the kids were well-behaved. No slinging meatballs or forks at each other. No simmering pre-pubescent attitude. No pre-school outbursts. No wine spills. And all four kids LOVED their dinner -- a rare feat.

So driving home Zach and Allie, still on their pizza bread and pasta high, start belting out "London Bridge is Falling Down."

Part way through the song they decide to hold hands as they sat side-by-side in their vehicle booster seats.

"London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down."

Hands latched, the arms start swinging.

"London Bridge is falling down, my fair lady."

Squeals and giggles burst forth as the arm-swinging develops a little more motion.

"Take a key and lock her up," Zach is really getting into it now as his voice overpowers Allie's and he starts to add a bit of pull to his arm swing, which I notice as I turn back to steal a glance of this sweet moment.

"Lock her up, lock her up."

And then this is about where the singing stops and the blood-curdling screaming starts.

"My arm HURRRRTS," Allie bellows.

She is crying and screaming and has that puckered-up wounded face, which I seldom see on her. Like most moms, I've learned to distinguish cries. This wasn't a trying-to-get-attention cry, or a I'm-mad-at-my-brother cry, or this-hurts-a-little-bit cry. This was one of those rare I'm-in-major-pain cries.

We ask Allie to lift her hand.

"I can't move, move, move my arm." Allie stutters and sobs.

"OK, sweetie, try to squeeze my finger," I try.

Next comes a blood-curdling cry.

"It HURTS."

Brett and I look at each other. The last time we had to send a child to the emergency room was when Nick was a year old and broke his leg (another story for another time). I was there with him on a Friday night, just a few days before Christmas, for 8 hours.

Meanwhile, when we got home it didn't get any better. We gave her some Tylenol and an ice pack. Nope. More screams and cries.

Then Brett and Allie headed to the emergency room. As the boys and I sat and watched the Arizona Cardinals demolish the Panthers, I asked a forlorn Zach (he hates to see Allie in any discomfort; he really just got carried away) to show me how he grabbed Allie's hand. Demonstrating with my hand, he said that he grabbed her wrist with both of his hands and PULLED. Hmmm.

Miraculously, or maybe that's just how it is here, who knows, they got in within an hour.

We called and Allie seemed to be in much better spirits. She wanted to talk to me and Zach on the phone.

They talked and laughed. Zach was really busting a gut, it was just too cute. They were chit-chatting away then Brett gets on the phone, laughs, and tells me Allie was holding the phone with her "injured" hand.

And sure enough, the x-ray confirmed that all was well.

50 Holiday Highlights

As they always do, the holidays sprinted by, leaving a blur of rushed yet wonderful memories. We headed home to Sacramento for nine days, spending time with two sets of parents and getting a chance to see quite a few friends. The highlights of the season included:

1. Spending a whopping 10 minutes picking out our Christmas tree at Home Depot.
2. Zach and Allie secretly dressing Zach up in Allie's Santa dress and furry white boots. Me doing a double-take when Zach came prancing into the kitchen in his sister's get-up.
3. Getting an early start with Brett's mom visiting the first week of December.
4. Taking Zach and Allie to see a really creepy Santa Claus whom I never heard speak. Trying to get an apprehensive Zach and Allie to smile for a picture with said Santa Claus.
5. Brett and I getting a date night -- even if it was the office holiday party. But it was at Cardinals stadium with a private tour. Kinda cool.
   
6. Driving up to a snowy Williams with cousins Cory, Amy, Hanna and Hailey for a ride on the Polar Express.
7. Wondering if Brett really needed to pack a shovel.
   
8. Watching Cory speed up on the highway so he could win the "when will we see snow first" contest.
9. Me and Amy commiserating about that male Dawson competitiveness.
   
10. Photographing snowball fights and hats and gloves and so many things we're not used to in Phoenix.
11. Freezing, I mean really freezing, in the cold and wind waiting for the late train.
12. Watching Allie and Hailey hand-in-hand everywhere they went.
13. Waking up to a thick blanket of snow.
14. Thinking Brett was smart for packing that shovel.
15. Deciding I never want to live in a snowy climate.
16. Shopping, wrapping, shipping, carding, baking at what felt like the last minute.
17. Taking Allie to see her first Nutcracker performance after almost taking her last year but deciding she needed one more year of maturity.
18. Actually having one of those Mom fantasies play out exactly as I had envisioned with Allie LOVING it -- sitting contently on my lap, watching the dancers, waving her arms in the air and then asking when she gets to learn to dance like a ballerina.
19. Opening OUR gifts to one another three days before Christmas.
20. Getting a new bike from Brett -- yay!
21. Wondering if I really would prefer more of a street bike. Not being able to decide whether to keep the bike or exchange it for a different type.
22. Blake grinning from ear to ear at the sight of his new Ipod.
23. Nick gleeful about his electric scooter.
24. Zach spending hours with his Crash 'em Up race track.
25. Allie in heaven with her princess vanity.
26. Brett excited about his Lakers vs. Suns tickets.
27. Santa paying a surprise early evening visit while Brett took the kids to look at Christmas lights ;)
28. Heading to the airport to fly to Sacramento on the morning of Dec. 24.
29. Me forgetting to pack my hair dryer, jewelry and contact lens solution. Ugh!
30. Getting to the airport and seeing that our plane is delayed by 3 hrs. Southwest Phoenix to Sacramento. Really?? Flying in from Cleveland in a snowstorm. Really.
31. Keeping the kids occupied at the airport by taking walks, getting snacks, letting them play my Iphone, buying them stuffed animals, coloring, eating lunch. Now that I think about it, I think they did better than I did.
    
32. Landing in Sacramento and waiting FOREVER for our baggage. I think it must have been about 45 minutes.
33. Finally getting on the road and moving like snails in the evening traffic. Arriving, finally, to Brett's parent's house for Christmas Eve.
34. Going out to my parent's house for Christmas Day.
35. Driving by our old house and visiting our friends the Opfers in Elk Grove. Watching Brett score an amazing 247 on Wii bowling -- a score we're all dutifully trying to beat at every chance possible.
36. Seeing a bunch of friends at a get-together generously hosted by my in-laws.
    
37. Deciding not to argue with Allie about what she's to wear at said party. Tinkerbell costume it is. Choose your battles, I keep telling myself.
    
38. Watching Tinkerbell and Ella, my friend Sandy's daughter, become fast friends.
39. Staying up late, drinking wine and playing LOTS of cards throughout the week.
40. Being reminded of how darn competitive my husband gets ... even at card games.
41. Meeting our friends the Sotos for pizza. Learning from 15-year-old Celena that even if you get an awesome pair of Ugg boots for Christmas -- like she did -- you can't wear them the first day back to school. You have to wait until the second day. Not like the 80s when we all wore our new Jordache jeans the first day back.
42. Seeing Juliet for lunch at a great place in Curtis Park called Crepeville. Juliet's always the go-to for great eateries.
43. Going with Brett to see the movie Slumdog Millionaire at Tower Theater, a Sacramento relic. The theater opened in the 30s and still has its original charm.
44. Going with the whole family to see Marley and Me. Trying to keep an antsy Zach satisfied with first popcorn, then candy, then a drink in the crowded theater where we sat in the 5th row back.
45. Enjoying the movie much more than I thought I would and being reminded that writing about your everyday life is a great gift to your children.
46. Watching The Dark Knight on New Year's Eve and letting Blake and Nick stay up until midnight.
    
47. Wearing New Year's party hats -- the boys looked so cute -- and blowing noise makers at the stroke of midnight.
48. Going to bed at 12:05.
49. Waking up to kids blowing noisemakers. Hiding then destroying all noisemakers.
50. Coming safely home and spending two days taking down Christmas, getting the house in order and savoring the last few hours of a lazy weekend.