In the book basket

This is the basket that sits by the bed at night, follows us into the living room and changes with the seasons. These are just a few of the books in there right now.

Fall in Phoenix

It is one of those strange non-seasons here. The temperatures have dropped, most days are now in the 80's (yes it is Nov.) but we are still getting the occasional day in the 90's. It has been warmer here in the fall then most all summer back in Maine. But still, there is something about this time of year... maybe it is the stores declaring it is now fall, or the fact that the calendar says it is so, or maybe it is the fact that we have a graveyard on the side of the house and zombies roaming about. No matter, we had a lovely Samhain/Halloween/Day of the Dead. Mike's brother and his two youngest came to go trick or treating, we had a friend of Audrey's come for a visit and dinner on Halloween and Mike's mom also came over to eat and hang out on the 31st. The boys made Day of the Dead skull decorations for today and we invited our family members who have passed on to come to dinner today. It was nice to have their pictures on the table.

The garden is growing like gang-busters and most days the AC doesn't even need to come on and I can open up the windows and let the breeze blow in. And of course there is alot of baking going on. As soon as the calendar says it is October I pull out all the stops and bake bread, muffins, cupcakes, stew, soup, cookies, etc.

I hope fall is filling you up too.

A weekend trip to Tucson

It had been awhile since the kids and I had been to Tucson, and daddy hadn't been there since December of last year, so it was time to take a weekend trip. Sister stayed with a girlfriend, Logan stayed at a friends house and Sagan spent Saturday with his friend. So on Saturday Mike, the little boys and I went to the Tucson zoo (http://www.tucsonzoo.org/). Rowan hasn't been there since he was about 17 months old so seeing the animals again for real was such a neat thing for him. He looked totally stunned at seeing an elephant for real. They are sooo big!

We also ate at Rosa's (the best darn Mexican food in Tucson... IMHO) and paid a visit to our favorite Bookman's (on Grant). Then off to the hotel for the night. For some reason I think this was the best part of the trip for Caelan. I picked Sagan up that night from his friend's house and he joined us at the hotel for the night.

After our free breakfast we set off for Sunday Farmer's market (http://farmersmarkettucson.com/the-markets/sunday-st-philips) so I could pick up a few bags of "Jack and the Bean Soup" because it is just too yummy, and since the weather is finally cooling down to the 80's we have to have crockpottable soup available! After the Farmer's Market we set off to one of my favorite spots in all the world "DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun" not only is it free to the public (which is totally amazing) but it is just amazingly lovely, and so peaceful and soul filling. I swear the best chapel in all the world is right there on his property. That is the way church should be, if you have to do it in any building at all. (http://degrazia.org/Splash.aspx) Then we gathered up the big kids from their various locations and headed home, we made a quick pit stop at Mike's brother's house and then off to Tempe we went. All in all it was a lovely weekend.

After the rain

It rained so much in Maine that honestly there wasn't much celebrating it. But back in Arizona, every single rainy day we have had, has been celebrated with abandon. Not only do we play out in the rain as it is falling, but then you play out in the HUGE puddles and rivers afterwards.

What have we been up to?

It has been a real adjustment, this move back to Arizona. Yes, it is great to be back in the land of the sun and heat, and to be with our friends and family... but still there are those things that drew us to Maine in the first place that we are missing a bit. While we are FINALLY cooling down in to the 90's here in Arizona, they are already in the 50's and 60's. No fall colors here, but there I am sure it is amazing.

Still, I am very glad we came back. Glad to be back in a place that is full of people who truly love us and missed us. People who do not find silly little things to judge us on and write us off as potential friends.

We made a few trips to Tucson to hook up with our buddies, and a couple weeks ago hit our old homeschool park group. Yes, those are kids actually PLAYING in 105 degrees!

And there is Rowan, the master builder, playing with his blocks.

I will post more pictures as soon as we figure out how to get the new camera to up load pictures on to this computer!

Sweet 16

Audrey, my baby girl, turned 16 this month. On the 7th. We went out to dinner with the family on the actual day and then about a week later I took Audrey to Tucson where we met up with her girlfriends and we stayed in a hotel for the night. There is nothing like 8 teenage girls in a hotel suite! They jumped on the beds, scared the old folks from the pool, stayed up until 3 am watching scary movies, ate all night long and had a freaking awesome time. I am so glad I was there to witness the party.

Happy Birthday sweet heart. I am so proud of you, I love you, you are turning into a strong, beautiful and smart woman. I feel so blessed to be your mama.

Back in Arizona

Back to the heat, swimming pools, family and dear friends. As much as I did love so much about Maine, I am glad to be back here in the southwest. There is something to be said about being really warm. And nothing beats the heat (and I do mean heat 110-115) like a nice cool pool!

Our last trip to the beach

As some of you may know, we have moved back to Arizona. It has been a while since I have posted on here giving updates on our life. It was a whirlwind of activity. Now that we are mostly settled in here in Tempe Arizona, I thought I might post a few pictures again. This is our last trip to the beach in Maine. We went to Crescent Beach. It was nice, not as lovely as my favorite beach (Kettle Cove), but nice warm and sunny. The kids had a great time of course. I mean what isn't to love at the beach... sand, sun, cold ocean waters, a few friends and loads of crab shells! I sure will miss how easy and quick it was to get to see the ocean. I do love the beach.