sofia is 9!

Sofia turned 9 this week. She had a great day. Can't believe how fast time seems to fly...but she sure is a sweet, happy, helpful girl who cares for others and is always eager to help! LOVE her!

take a hike...

This last weekend we went to Hole in the Rock with Suzie, a fellow teacher at Burke. Haven't been before. The kids had fun climbing all over the big rock. We are going to start hiking once it cools down. It was a little hot the afternoon we went, but we are survivors!

Suzie with my kids.

hiking up to the rock.

my little people and i.

our 3-day in pictures...

I gave the kids the camera this weekend and told them to take pictures of the 'fun' they had on this wonderful 3 day weekend. It sure keeps them busy. We should have gone up to p-town for a visit, but by the time friday rolled around I was soooo tired and couldn't think about packing us all up and making the 3 hr drive. So we hung around home and found stuff to do to have 'fun'.

1. first things first...make sure all barbies have a front seat for all the action...

2. build a fort out of the rocking chair, all the couch cushions and blankets.

3. have walkie-talkie communication with the person hiding out in the fort.

4. watch Up.

5. have McDonald's

6. get some chores done...it has to be done people. i had some good helpers this time.

7. get the 6 yr old to push around a vacuum that weighs more than she does...

8. enjoy cookies from our most excellent neighbors.

9. (no picture for #9 because i was slightly upset) kids ripped front door off hinges when they got in a fight and slammed it open. ahhhh! not a stress i needed on a friday evening. it's 105 degrees out, mosquitoes are entering the house, the a/c is exiting the house and i can't shut the door. THANK goodness for excellent neighbors who came over and put my door back on the hinges. same neighbors who shared the delicious cookies. love good people!! Thanks neighbors!!!!

10. go to church (and fight over who gets to sit by mom...i only have 2 sides, what to do!)

11. go on a hike with Miss Suzie Cronk of BBS fame.

12. be good citizens and help a man jump start his car.

13. have a 'sleep-over' at dad's house

14. this one had been waiting, not very patiently, for this 'sleepover' for the whole week.

15. grade the ever growing stack of papers....ugh...

16. and finally model and show off the beautiful necklace made for me by sofia, my little crafter.

Probably not the most exciting weekend, but worked for us.

rain!

This is how we do rain in mesa, az...put on the swim suits and frolick! A great rain storm arrived one afternoon. It was about 110 degrees when it hit at about 4:30 in the afternoon. Stayed pretty sunny throughout the downpour and had some of the biggest raindrops I've seen in a while. The kids had a blast and got soaked. This is what happens when you live in the desert and see rain very rarely. We just go crazy!