December 11, 2013

Elf on the Shelf

Nicco's first grade teacher introduced him and his class to The Elf on the Shelf. (Thanks a lot, Mrs. G!) Nicco, who loves all elements of all holidays, loved the antics of Elfie Shelfie of Room 8. He said to me more than once, "Maybe a North Pole elf will come to our house next year, now that they know about me." I guessed one probably would.

December 1st 2013 rolled around and sure enough, there was a story and our own little elf sitting on the shelf. Nicco named him Jack.

Frankie did not approve.

Jack learned to stick to up-high hiding places. 

December 7, 2013

Twin Turtle Party

Nicco's girls had a birthday party at AZ Air Time. It's new. It's better than a bounce house. All kinds of trampolines and games to play on said trampolines.

First they ran and bounced and jumped and flipped into this massive foam pit. (I secretly wanted to join them. I probably could have, but, I also probably would have embarrassed myself.)

 Devin was rockin' out in line. Funny.

 A flip.

 Next they went to the American Ninja Warrior Warped Wall.

 And finally, a very intense game of dodge ball.

 The kids got all sweaty and tired, so we fed them cake and soda.

 It was a ninja turtle cake, the girls' recent obsession.

I think  it probably tasted as good as it looked.
We rushed to get there and stopped for a gift on our way. We were glad we made it. It's always a good time with the twins.

December 3, 2013

Quote of the Day

The Daddy just asked the Kid what he did today. Nicco started listing things and Patrice said, "That's no sentence." Nicco replied, "I'm putting in commas."

November 30, 2013

Game Night

We invited our friends over for post-Thanksgiving dinner, dessert, and family fun. Nicco wanted to play wii, of course, but the friends brought the girls' recent favorite family game. We opted for full on engagement and interaction. Yay us! It was fun. Nicco didn't like it at first, of course, because it was a new game and it was a word game and he, being the youngest, has the least experience and exposure to words and language.

As with all new things, it became fun and easy with practice.

There was a surprising amount of action for a word game, especially when the Buzzer Man tried muting the other players.

Good times. I'm a fan of game night.

November 29, 2013

Family Game Night

Looks like Frankie wants to be the fourth in our family game of Sorry.

November 28, 2013

Thanksgiving

It is important, I believe, to have traditions. On a large scale and within one's own family. Thanksgiving is a great National Tradition, and it is a great family tradition too. This was the first year since we moved to AZ that it would be just the three of us for the holiday. It's hard for my French husband to get motivated to cook a grand feast for just the three of us, especially when he usually has to prepare the big feast for his work family.

I was talking to a friend of mine about holiday plans and hers had changed. It would be just her small family in town too, so she invited us. Patrice was glad, I think, to be able to celebrate without having to prepare the dinner. We made our contribution, grabbed a bottle of wine, and went to the Ericksons'.

There was a lovely spread on the table, and Patrice asked for a tool with which to open his bottle of wine, but our Mormon friends did not have one. Plenty of bottle openers, but not a corkscrew in the house. Not even on their teenage boy's pocket knife. It was funny.

 

We chatted, the kids played games, we cleaned up and split the leftovers, then went home fat and happy and grateful for all our many blessings, not the least of which are good food, friends, and family.

November 27, 2013

Sunrise, Sunset

 Good morning!

And, good night!

November 26, 2013

The Day After the Day of the Doctor

After Geekfest 2013, Nicco went about using the wand from his magic set as a sonic screwdriver. The bad guys in the show were shape shifting villains, so you never knew if the Doctor was talking to a person, animal, or a Zygon.

With his "sonic screwdriver," Nicco approached his pet, who was sitting innocently on the couch and warned, "I am the coming storm, the bringer of darkness, and you...are basically just a cat, aren't you."

 

November 22-23, 2013

Mesa

My niece is super speedy and therefore runs in national competitions, one of which is held in Mesa every year so when that time rolls around, Nicco and I take a quick road trip for fun in Mesa and to watch Lucy run. Mostly just to watch Lucy run. Which is fun. For me.

This year I decided to make it a little more fun for Nicco too so I took him to the Organ Stop pizza joint. Organ Stop Pizza is "home of the Mighty Wurlitzer" pipe organ. The organ was originally built for the Denver theater in 1927, but then "talkies" were invented and the Great Depression came along and made it too expensive a luxury to go to the theater. Then there was a fire causing major damage to the organ. The organ was rebuilt and installed in Mesa.

Nicco was in heaven. A pepperoni pizza of his own, live music, flashing lights and bubbles, and Dancing Cats!

After dinner, we met Aunt Di and Lucy and her friends for dessert before turning in for the night to get good sleep before the race in the morning.

 Lucy is such a nice big cousin to Nicco, even when she's around all her friends. She took him by the hand (figuratively...Nicco doesn't hold hands anymore...) and helped him load up a bowl of ice cream and toppings. She indulged him by being "interested" in his bow and arrow. She makes me proud and pleased.

 It was a cold day at the races. 50s, cloudy, and rainy. At least it wasn't raining. That would have been bad. But still, we Arizonans suffered in the lack of sun.

 We watched Lucy warm up. She's like a gazelle.

 And we hoped for a top three finish. Really we hoped for a top two, but at this level of competition it's really hard to predict. Plus the cold... We were excited to see Lucy up there right where she belonged mid-race.

 Nike does a horrible tease at this meet. They give live updates for the first two miles but the course is a blind finish and they stop updating in order to build the excitement and anticipation. When the winner came around the corner we had to wait a few seconds to see who would be in second place. The suspense was brutal, especially on the Mama of Lucy. So the squeals of relief, delight, pride and pure excitement were pretty loud when our girl made the turn.

 The little Mama, trying to keep Lucy warm while she waited for awards.

 On the stand with all the top national qualifiers. Good girls!

 A cousin picture.

 A proud coach. Well done, coach!

 Lucy and the famous Cerake Geberkidane from Denver. Or Kenya. There is some subtle whispered speculation that this phenom from Africa where no reliable records are kept is not really 16, that he is probably much older. Who knows. He's famous. In his mind, at least, he will "Cerake Your World." So says the shirt he wore.

After the race and another race to catch up with our people on the highway to meet for lunch, we picked up some supplies in Phoenix and finally made the long drive home. It wasn't long before Nicco tucked himself into bed. I checked on him before I tucked myself into bed.

 

He's in there somewhere. 

November 21, 2013

Since Nicco turned 8, he's been attending scouts on Wednesday evenings. I have my own issues with scouts, so I wasn't planning to push it at all, but because the Kid loves it so very much, we continue. For now. But that's a rant for the future.

 

On one meeting, the kids learned about archery and made bows and arrows out of pvc pipe and plastic clothes hangers. Nicco feels like his Daddy, a big strong man capable of protecting and defending his home and family now that he has a weapon of his own. 

He's a very enthusiastic archer and I need to remind him from time to time to set up targets, rather than using his cat or his mom's bum for target practice.

November 19, 2013

On the way home from swim, my small boy said from the back seat, "Turn it up, Mom!" and he proceeded to belt out "...and I am a CHAMPION and you're gonna hear me ROAR-OH-OH-OH-OH-OHR!"
It was kind of awesome.

November 16, 2013

We were watching Doctor Who.


"There's a plan?" asked River Song.
"I don't know..." said the Doctor, "I haven't stopped talking."

I  heart The Doctor.

November 15, 2013

Crochet
I picked up an old hobby earlier this year, crocheting. It has been fun. I've made hats, scarves, and blankets. Even a little sweater. I have lots of friends having babies, so I get to continue practicing my dormant skills in making things for the newcomers.

I chose these colors to make a hat and  blanket based on the choice of a mother to be friend back home in CO.

I've made the same kind of blanket for many babies, but the puppy hat for this animal lover friend was an experiment. And it needed eyes. I have a whole pile of buttons, but no matching dark ones. None.

Nicco sorted through them and found a pair he liked. I decided that if one kid likes them, another one might too. So I went with Nicco's recommendation and sent the gift off.

I was right. Another kid did like our choice! I bet the baby will approve too. ;)

November 11, 2013

Janelle's Baby Shower

Janelle is my cute young friend. Her baby shower was hosted by a former party planner who, I think, likes opportunities to plan parties for fun one in a while. Fancy.

 Janelle and her sister look kind of like twins.

Nicco's piano teacher thinks we look like sisters. But she's cuter than me, and her hair isn't sticking out.

I'm glad I have cute friends with talents like planning parties. it was a fun get together, and Janelle will be a cute mommy!