Why go shopping when you can go to Tucson?

Shopping sounded like fun and a little nuts! Instead of trying to brave the crowds and the crazy people we decided to keep it mellow and head to Tucson to brave the "Mountain" or otherwise known as the "old people house" to my children :-) We got up bright and early and headed down... had lunch with Nana and she seemed to enjoy seeing all of us. It was such an easier visit for me because Mike was there... when the kids got antsy in the dining room they could all go for a walk and I could chat with Nana... Our last few visits have been when Mike has been out of town and it is tough to keep the 93 year old and 3 kids under the age of 7 content and patient. We had a great visit and Aunt Joyce stopped in as well. Everyone got to see the kiddos and meet Boomer who went on his first road trip and was such a good puppy. As I say this he is sound asleep at the end of our bed... being a puppy is a tough life!

After the "old people house" we went to see U of Arizona. Mike and I graduated almost 13 years ago! Hard to believe... The last time we were there Miss A was 6 months old... So, it was time for a visit... the campus is like a 5 star resort now! It is unreal! They even have an Ed Hardy shop on University Drive! I could not believe it! We had fun walking around the campus... We even took Boomer and he was so excited to be on his first real walk. It was great to see everything and re-live some memories! So fun!

In front of Old Main

In front of the new Student Union

On the Old Main Steps being silly!

The poor dog... I swear he thinks he is getting a hug! :-)

Daddy and his girls!

NOTE: There are always more pictures on Facenook if you are interested.

Giving thanks

We had many things to be thankful for this year.... The one bummer was that Mom and Dad were unable to attend Thanksgiving with us this year. Dad woke up with a very painful back that has been a problem now for a while and will hopefully be taken care of with a February surgery. But, we were able to celebrate with the Tilghman family and the Hardy family joined us for desert... we had a blast.

The kiddos did great playing together all day. Mike and I made Mom's famous stuffing and it actually turned out ok. Kyle learned how to get zest from an orange for the carrots. The turkey was only 45 minutes late coming out of the oven. Beth did an AWESOME job on the green bean casserole (my kids wanted only that for leftover dinner tonight) and the sweet potato casserole. And desert was to die for! So, all in all great eats! The football games were a bit boring I guess (according to the guys) but the kids and I loved watching the parade first thing Thanksgiving morning.

We hope that you all had a nice Thanksgiving and enjoy the rest of the holiday season.

Our Thanksgiving morning tradition... lots of blankets, pillows and the Macys Parade!

All dressed and ready to start our day!

Kyle learning how to get orange zest from yes you guessed it... an orange! You learn a new thing everyday!

Kyle's orange zest!

The kiddos ready to eat... seems that the favorites were green bean casserole, mashed potatos, corn and rolls... mostly carbs... go figure! :-)

Our after dinner walk took us on a tour of the Power Ranch greenbelts and the kids found leaves... they made a leaf pile with all 25 leaves they could find! :-)

Ewing Family

Tilghman Family

Growing up so fast...

My kids continue to amaze me at how quickly they are growing...

Picked up Miss M from her first sleepover this morning... I figured she would be lucky to make it to 11pm. She never stays up that late. I arrive this morning to find out that all the girls stayed up until 1am and Miss M and 2 of her friends were up to 2:00am!!! Are you kidding me? Needless to say Miss M made it through the day today, but was in her bed at 6:00pm tonight.

After I got Miss M home I ran out to Costco to finish up Thanksgiving shopping... I came home to find this...

Mike decided to take Miss A's training wheels off to "try it" and within 10 minutes she was riding all over the place. We have not been able to get her off her bike all afternoon.

Our "twins" as we like to call them because they seem to be constantly getting into things are continuing to become best friends and keeping us on our toes... They are both growing so quickly.

Is this the beginning?

Tonight Miss M had her first slumber party with friends. She and 5 other Brownies are at one of the girl's house to celebrate her birthday with pizza, scavenger hunt, movies, crafts etc... I can hardly believe she is old enough to be at a slumber party. The first of many I am sure. Last night she was at another friends house until 830pm! And tomorrow she has yet another birthday party in the afternoon for a friend from school. Seriously... she has a better social life than I have had in a while... hard to believe she is almost 8! I am sure that this is just the beginning. I have missed her this weekend but I am so happy that she has made so many friends here in Arizona and is having so much fun being a kid. That is the way it should be.

I'm back....

Ok guys... So, some of you joined Facebook! Good for you! And many of you told me you just like coming to the blog for the updates... so, here I am getting back to the world of blogging.

Life has been keeping us busy. We are so excited it is actually "cool" out and we can be outside more. The kids are super busy with all their school stuff and of course the holidays are just around the corner. As my friend pointed out yesterday we have under 6 weeks until Christmas! Are you kidding me? Better get myself to Target and Toys R US pronto!

The last month or so has been a whirwind... seems like we are dealing with constant issues here, but things are looking brighter and we are completely focused on the positive which is this great little family we have here. Miss M is loving school and has graduated to "long chapter books". She just loves to read and is having a great time with Brownies this year. She is so active and busy... I walked outside the other day and saw her on her bike seat... yes, you read that right. Riding her bike down the street standing on her bike seat. She has become quite the daredevil.

Miss A is doing really well with piano and seems to like it still. She is doing well in school and despite the occasional yellow card (meaning she needed some warnings that day) she seems to be thriving. She is still active in her Daisy troop and as always our little sassy lady!

Little One is constantly changing... She is talking so much now and eating with a spoon and fork without a problem... just wished she was not so picky about her food. The dog officially weighs more than she does now and he is only 13 weeks old! She is constantly on the go and has a love for playgrounds and slides... even going down the very tall, twisty slides by herself.

Will attach some pictures from Halloween. Kids had a great time as did the adults at our 2nd annual Halloween Block Party. It was a blast! Looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas here. This is our favorite time of year and it is so fun to experience it through our kids eyes and experiences! Hope you are all having a happy fall and I am back to posting regularly (or as regularly as I can) on the blog!

Side note... added the playlist feature. I have to say music is amazing. I am not musically inclined at all, but songs just speak to me... it is amazing how you can relate to different songs at different times in your life. I believe music and specific songs can actually help you cope and deal with all that life throws us. The playlist is just a little sampling of what I could relate to these days... Hope you enjoy!

Little One as the Lion from Wizard of Oz... the hat part lasted for this one photo... Oh well!

Some of the neighborhood gang... we had a blast!

My witch and my Dorothy... they were so adorable!