ambition (the pill form)

This morning I got ready to go to the gym.  

Mia and I had a little conversation.

Me:  Ok, let's go before I lose my ambition.

Mimi:  You can just take another.

Mimi:  What are you laughing at?

If only it were that easy.

evening constitutional

 Robert and I have always liked to go for walks in the evening.  Last night was our first walk this summer.  (I know it is already halfway though July.  It's just been one of those summers!)  So, after we got Addi-Q down for the evening, we headed out.  Since Robert likes canaling as much as the kids, our walk by the canal was a bit slow at times while he was trying to find fish.  I don't think he ever spotted any fish, but he did find one of these.  

Exhibit (a) the frog.  I really wish I had brought my camera with me, but this is exactly the expression the frog had when we walked by.  He gave a simple nod as we carried on, as if to say, "I won't bother you, if you won't bother me."

 We saw a few of these.  Y-U-C-K!!  Roaches gross me out more than any other bug around.  They run fast.  They fly.  They can live forever on glue.  It's true.  I learned that on the playground in grade school.  They are just nasty little things.

 We saw something that looked like this black beetle.  This picture really looks too small.  The beetle was about four inches long - no kidding!  I literally jumped a little, and I am not a jumper-at-bugs kind of person.  It was big and it had wings.  It looked like something out of a science fiction movie.

I was looking down, as to avoid anymore unwanted beetles joining my walk, and was attacked by what I think was our state tree, the Palo Verde.  I will forgive it, though.  It was dark.  Really, we just bumped into each other.

The night was topped off with a black widow.  Since it had spun its web of destruction at our gate, Robert decided it had to be euthanized.  It can't just be hanging around where our kids are, right?  So, he squashed it with his shoe.

where's my groove?

I feel like I have lost my groove a little.  When I saw Addi's cup hanging from the kitchen drawer, I thought that's exactly how I feel.  I'm just not exactly where I belong.  I have made more than a few wrong turns while driving lately - ugh.  I am sure I will eventually find the cupboard I belong in.   I miss my old cupboard with my old dishes.

independence day

I saw Mimi on the porch riding Q's little plasma car.  

I thought, hmm, I wonder if that car has a size or weight limit.  

Mimi loves it.  She rides it a lot!!  

I decided to take her picture.  When she saw me, she switched her mode of transportation.  

Then she started to get goofy.

 Here's Haley showing her U.S. pride.  

We all flashed our red, white, and blue yesterday.

it's no cement pond

A few years back, a friend of ours asked if we had a pool.  The answer was no.  In Arizona, if you have a pool, it is a POOL, the real in-ground kind.  He thought we were snobs because we didn't consider any other type of pool a real pool.  Since then, my definition of pool has broadened a bit.  We currently have a pool in our backyard.  My niece, Ashley, was very kind and brought over her blow-up pool the other day to help us cool off and have some fun.  I challenge my kids to have more fun in a different kind of pool!

My friend, Alison, came over with her two children, Ellie and Dallin.  They spent the morning with us splashing, giggling, talking, exploring (Dallin), eating, and having a great time!

 Here's Ellie rowing with the bat.  I loved that Ellie wore her water wings the entire time she was in the pool.  She was very prepared for anything!!  I am convinced she cannot take a bad picture.  She is a beautiful girl.

 Cute buns, girls!

Mia was having great fun spraying everyone.

 Ellie getting sprayed.

 I think Dallin might be the cutest little boy I have ever met!  He explored the entire inside and outside of the house.  

watch out dizzy there's a new cat in town

Mimi borrowed this trumpet from Uncle Paul via Grandma Thomas.

She is only allowed to play it in one room.

She only gets it for one week.  (Okay, I may change my mind.  Her playing doesn't bother me at all.)

She loves it.

So does Quinny.

It makes me laugh.

And for your entertainment, check this out - Dizzy on The Muppet Show = sweet!

don't let the heat stop you

I was a little worried when we moved that our kids would complain about the heat.  I mean really complain - to the tune of whining, 

"Mom, it's hot out here.  Why did we move to the heat?  The seats are burning me.  It's hot.  I'm sweaty.  It's hot.  It feels like a dryer.  I'm melting.  It's hot."  - and so on.

So far, however, I haven't heard too much.  Actually, I can only think of one, "The seatbelt is too hot to use," and one, "Mom, I'm sweating."  Quinny told me she was sweating once when were walking out of the store.  She said it with such surprise that it made me laugh a little.

Last night we were taking Haley to the park for a little church activity.  I thought my Ohio friends would love this.  They planned to play volleyball.  The picture above was the temperature at the time of the activity - yes, it had cooled off to 108 degrees!  In Ohio they would have cancelled EVERYTHING because of a heat wave if that had been the temp.  That is not the case in AZ.  While at the park I noticed there was a soccer team having practice.

 I loved that Q didn't complain at all about the heat.  She just took off her shoes and started playing like she was born here in good ol' AZ.  Way to go Q.  Soon she will be running from patch of grass to patch of grass and drinking water from the hose like the best of us!

I have to admit that the heat is draining me a little.  I am missing the cooler temps of the midwest.  I just have to remember that these are the hard months.  Just like I had to endure the harsh winter months, I now have to make it through the summers to get to the nice mild winters.

colorful AZ

The colors don't like to smack you in the face like they do in Ohio, but they are there, and they are beautiful in their subtle way.  You just have to look around a little.  I found all of these flowers by our home.  I have no idea what this first crazy flower is.  It was hiding around the corner from our house.  It kind of said, "Hey, look at me.  I'm weird and fantastic."

Here's the best flower of them all!

canal(ing)

canal  (kəˈnæl)
— n
1.	an artificial waterway constructed for navigation, irrigation,water power, etc

The other day Mimi was in the car and said to Robert, "Dad, are we going to go canaling?"  After looking up the word, I found out that there is indeed a word canaling, but that is not what she meant.  I do not believe Mia was going:

— vb  , -nals , -nalling , -nalled , -nals , -naling , -naled
5.	to dig a canal through -or-
6.	to provide with a canal or canals

What she intended to do was to walk by the canal and skip stones.  Actually, what she thought she was going to do was get in an inner tube and take a ride down the canal, but we set her straight and now her definition of canaling is walking along the canal and throwing rocks, etc.  I like her new word, and I now use it.

Here she is walking in a true sassy-pants style.  She told me this morning that her new way of walking is with her arms up halfway swaying from side to side.