Our Trip to Missouri

Well, I did it--I flew by myself with two kids!:) To be honest the trip there went VERY well. We left Phoenix around 1pm so I thought that both the kids would nap on the plane, but of course they had other ideas. We had the row to ourselves so each of us had our own seat. Tyler just kept saying, "I am so excited!" and Emma was happy as a clam to be looking at her books. She did fall asleep the last ten minutes so getting off the plane she was a little crabby. Tyler had a little trouble with his ears popping but he handled it well. We got to the airport at 6pm and then had to drive to Neosho. Aunt Katie and Nana got lots of hugs from Tyler---he was thrilled to see them. We ate at Katie's house so the kids were beyond tired by the time we headed off to mom's house. They both fell asleep so hard that we were able to unpack the car and set up the pack and play without them even stirring in their car seats!

Thursday we went and had lunch with Katie and Matt. We stopped in at the Alternative School where Katie teaches so that everyone could see in person the cute kids she is always bragging about!:) Tyler was VERY shy there. He told us that those big kids made him nervous. I got to see one of the kids that I had taught in third grade there. Not only was that kid a junior but my first group of third graders was graduating this week. So now not only do I feel old but I think it is official that I am old!

Friday we went down to Granny's house. Tyler LOVED it there. Great Uncle John was a real tropper and let Tyler play with his train table. This table is not a toy so Tyler was thrilled by the whole thing. We walked over to a park and Tyler got to enjoy a ride on Granny's walker and actually made her walk without it awhile as he pushed it and she followed. We all got together that evening to celebrate my mom's brother John's 50th b-day! Dinner was very late for the kids and I but they hung pretty well.

Saturday was a down day---the kids REALLY needed a break and needed to catch up on their sleep. Mom and I took them to a park in Carthage where of course they had a blast. Emma took two long naps and Tyler took a great afternoon one plus they were in bed by 7:30pm-which was hard to do there since it was still light out.
Sunday we headed back down to Neosho. We took the kids to Big Spring Park where they finally got to meet Matt's dog, Dawk. Emma, who is afraid of nothing, put her hand right in his mouth for a kiss. Tyler liked him but he was way more intrested in feeding the ducks that were there. We did discover that Emma has some dog allergies. Her poor little eyes were all swollen and watery after she pet the dog. She also got a nice bruise on her cheek when she fell going out to Katie's deck. After we were done at the park we took the kids back to Katie's to nap. She has a loft apartment so there really are only three rooms--the bathroom, bedroom, and living area. We did what we had to do and put Emma in her pack and play in the bathroom and Tyler slept in Katie's bed. They were REALLY tired because they both slept like rocks. After naps Katie and Matt took Tyler to play minature golf. I was a bit worried because Tyler likes to swing HARD with the golf club and his greatest joy is achieved when he hits a ball either into our pool or over the wall into the neighbor's yard. They said that he did pretty well though.

Neosho has a steady stream of trains going through all day so here they are taking a break from golf to watch the train pass.

Monday we went to DisneyLand--how you might ask? Well, it wasn't REALLY Disney Land, just the closest thing to it---Gabe Thomas's house! Gabe has the best toy room ever and Tyler sure had a great time there. Gabe is two years older than Tyler but he was such a great playmate. It breaks my heart that we don't live closer so that they could play together more often. I was so impressed with how well Gabe shared his toys and let Tyler touch EVERYTHING that he owned!:) He is a picture from our first visit to meet Gabe and then the next is the boys now.

I had a wonderful visit with Jana and Emma just enjoyed being able to strut her stuff around a new place.

Tuesday we got up and around early and went over to visit Brian and Dana Moritz. The kids did pretty well over there. I am sure poor Dana had to spend awhile after we left cleaning up after my two little hurricanes!:) That afternoon Katie came up and she and I got to spend some time alone and do some shopping---not so good on my ego to dress next to her since she is in the best shape of her life and her body is incredible!:) We did have a nice time though. Tyler had a miny meltdown when he woke up at Nana's house and I was gone so she sent me a text and told us to bring him a surprise to help make him feel better. Katie got a few water water guns so he was thrilled to spend time with her while I went to Neosho to pick Matt up for dinner. We had a wonderful dinner and the kids had lots of fun playing with Uncle Matt and Aunt Katie.

Wednesday we got up and around and we packed to head home. We went to Tulsa a little early so that we could see my friend, Anna and her cute boy Brice. We had a quick visit which went well but ended with a meltdown because Tyler wanted to stay there and play with all of Brice's cool toys. He pulled it together by the time we got to the airport and we had another VERY peaceful flight home. I had many compliments about the kid's behavior--nothing could make a mom on a plane feel better!:)

When we landed Marshall probably received one of the best greetings that he has ever had. Tyler ran in to his arms and Emma just put her arms up and babbled away at him. He had to carry both of the kids through the airport because neither wanted out of his arms.

It was a wonderful trip and it just went perfectly!

Happy Mother's Day

We had a very nice day today. Marshall tried to let me sleep in but Tyler woke me up by saying, "Mom, get up it is 9 o'clock." It was actually 6:15 a.m. but that is 15 more minutes than I usually get!:) Marshall got me two of the cutest cards this year. The one from the kids was one that they could record a message---how sweet it was to hear Tyler's little voice saying, "Happy Mother's Day Mommy." Emma made some noise on it too---that is one that I will have to put safely away to save for years to come. The other card was from Marshall and it showed three pair of feet in a bed on the front--it said, "Lately, I feel something's come between us. I'm cool with that. Happy Mother's Day from the other side of the bed." This is perfect since Tyler has developed a habit of waking up at 5:30 in the morning the coming in to our room and crawling into our bed for thirty extra minutes of sleep.

We went to breakfast at 7:00 so it was nice to beat the brunch rush. The kids were actually both great. Tyler was thrilled by his Mickey Mouse shaped pancakes and Emma loved that they brought her cheerios and bananas. We spent the remainder of the day packing up most of the kitchen.

In case you didn't know we did find a house in Tucson to rent and we found someone to rent our house out here in Chandler. We figure we will try again to sell it next year and hopefully the market will be in better shape. I can't tell you how happy I am to be moving back to Tucson. I have such a strong support system of friends there and I have greatly missed being so involved with everything these last few years. My first group of fifth graders are going to be juniors so I even have a few girls I am going to look up to see if they are interested in babysitting!

The kids are both doing great. Emma is just growing up so fast! You should see her strut her stuff around the house. She waves her arms back and forth when she walks and sticks her belly out--she is just too funny. She has a few words. She shakes both of her hands and says, "done" when she is finished eating, she says ma ma, and da da, hi, dog, and duck. I think she has a few others but they aren't as clear. Marshall is growing quite concerned about her love (actually obsession) with the telephone. She loves to carry it around and she babbles like she is talking to someone on it. She throws quite a fit when you take it away--hopefully this isn't a foreshadow of her teenage years!:) She has totally discovered her voice and likes to yell just to yell---Tyler is no help because he yells back and then they compete to see who can yell louder!

Tyler has had a few funny comments over the past week or so. I know that kids learn to "read" environmental print as a precursor to actually reading and Tyler is starting to do that. The other day when we were driving we had this conversation..

Tyler: "Mom, that says Home Depot and that says Target."

Me: "Wow Tyler, you are a great reader!"

The next day we were driving and this happened...

Tyler: "Mom, that says Home Depot and that says Target."

Me: "Yes it does."

Tyler: "You know Mom, I sure am a good reader!:)"

The other afternoon we were sitting there and I said, "Oh Emma, you are such a cute kid." Tyler corrected me and said, "No Mom, she is a pretty girl."

He is also very aware of what people are doing and if they are doing something that we have corrected him for he is quite quick to point it out. For instance....the other day he saw two boys crossing the road and he told me that they were bad because they were crossing the street without holding hands. He also saw someone on a motorcycle not wearing their helmet and he said, "That man is not wearing a helmet he isn't very smart." He just cracks me up, but he can also be quite loud and embarrassing! We had our first instance where he saw an overweight person and he said quite loudly, "Mom that lady has a baby in her belly." I just quickly walked away and prayed she didn't hear him! I am sure that with Tyler there will be many more moments like this in our future.

Here are a few pics from this week.

See Keli......she LOVES wearing this!

Waiting for me to get ready to go out to the pool--Look how cute Emma's suit is--thanks to Debbie for that one!:)

Playing with the duck game Jana sent Tyler for his birthday.

Sesame Street Live

I am the person in my family who remembers EVERYTHING! I have more useless information in my mind than the average person. You can ask me questions from years ago like what a neighbor's dog's name was and I can rattle off the information without skipping a beat. With that being said, I pray to God that my mind still has lots of room left to remember the vivid details of my children's lives! Today was a day that contained moments that I hope will always be fresh in my mind's eye. Today I took Tyler to see Sesame Street Live.

We have been talking about it for months! Every time the commercial came on TV Tyler would say, "Mommy, do you want to go there?" and I would say, "Oh Yes! I do! Do you want to go there?" He would say, "I really want to go there!" It has been our behavior bribe for quite awhile.

We decided since the show was at 10:30am that Emma probably wouldn't do very well so Tyler and I planned the day for just the two of us. We left here a little early, which was a good thing, because between road construction and the Cinco de Mayo celebration it took forever to get there. Tyler never stopped talking the entire ride. He asked about a hundred times where Elmo was and what was he doing.

I think he was pretty much in shock during the first act because his eyes were about as large as dinner plates! He kept looking at me and saying, "Mommy, that's Elmo!" The show was great--lots of singing and dancing and they involved the kids throughout the whole thing. During intermission they sold big Elmo balloons. I wasn't going to get him one but since EVERY kid around us had one I figured I would be the pushover mommy too! The balloon better last a long time--it cost $8!:)

The second half started out with an Elmo's World skit---Tyler yelled "Hi, Dorothy!" louder than anyone there! (You will only understand that if you are an Elmo's World watcher.) He sang along and danced in front of his seat quite a bit. A taller child was standing in front of us so he sat on my lap for the last 20 minutes or so. I wish I could explain the way he beamed! He was just in awe of what was going on on stage. I just sat there and enjoyed watching him be so thoroughly entertained and filled with so much joy.

I pray that I will always remember today with clarity. I have to tell you that seeing the world through three year old eyes is one of the greatest gifts I have ever been given!