Blogapalooza

No, you’re not imagining it: three blog posts in one day! I’ve been hesitant to blog the last few days, so bear with me while I explain myself and make up for it.

The main reason I’ve put off blogging is because I feel somewhat guilty. A good friend of mine lost her very young son suddenly last week. She and her family have been on my mind constantly, and I guess I feel bad about posting about our everyday, silly goings-on when I know she is suffering through such a horrible time.

I’m not going to discuss her situation because I feel it’s inappropriate to write about someone else’s tragedy. However, the thoughts and feelings I’ve had lately are important to me and I feel I should get them out and share some of them. The things I’ve learned & reflected on in the wake of someone else’s misfortune.

I love my kids and I am very grateful for them. Period. There’s not a stronger way to say it! Today while Erin was at school and Robbie was napping, I had some quiet time while doing laundry and ironing. I folded Erin’s pants and was thankful that they will be filled with a wonderful little girl again. I ironed Robbie’s little dress shirts and was thankful that I was preparing them for church and not for a viewing.

I hope I don’t forget. Will I get mad at my kids again? Yes. Was I happy when Robbie let go of my hand and ran down the aisle in Target today? No. But I love them and I’m glad they’re mine.

Tomorrow I’m going to the funeral. I’ve been kind of trying to prepare myself emotionally, but you can’t. There are certain sizes caskets just shouldn’t come in. It makes my heart ache. I know my friend would be there for me if the situation were reversed. I pray that Heavenly Father will give her the strength and comfort to get through the service. And then to get home. And then to eat lunch. And to get up every day. And to enjoy her life, as different as it will be. I know He will. Maybe it will just be a little bit at a time, but I know that Heavenly Father blesses each of us more than we know.

Why on earth would I post about this on my blog? I guess I’m just thankful for a very important reminder of my priorities, and I want to remind everyone else. Now go hug your kids. Don’t take them for granted like we tend to do sometimes.

Now I’ve come to terms about posting about what we’ve been up to lately. I think that when bad things happen, we sometimes feel like moving on with our lives belittles the tragedy. I’m learning that is not the case. While we should reverence life, living it and enjoying it are part of reverencing it.

Here’s to living life…

Changes

Now that I'm not babysitting, I find myself a little more free to go out and do things during the day. I also find myself without cash.

I picked up a part-time shift at the new Kohl's they built a couple of miles away. I'll be working from 8pm-12:30am after it opens on April 1st. I have an Ad-Set position, which is more behind-the-scenes, so I won't be running a register or anything like that. In the meantime, I'm working other random evening shifts, training and merchandising. The pay is low, and the hours are low, but the shift is perfect so I won't miss anything with the kids. Hopefully the paycheck will help to fill the gaps!

Baseball, Billy Goats, and Meat

A couple of weeks ago, I learned that I wouldn't be babysitting during the day anymore. The kids I was watching are now going to daycare/preschool to get the four-year-old ready for kindergarten. So that was a little change for us! The gave us two weeks' notice, which we really appreciated, and the last day, they paid me and didn't bring the kids over (on purpose). I thought that was a nice gesture.

So I had a day with just me and Robbie last Friday. Erin's class was doing a reader's theater at school that day, so we got to go to that. After dropping her off at school, Robbie and I killed time before going back for the rousing rendition of "The Three Billy Goats Gruff".

We went to the Wal-Mart in Maryvale to buy Ziplocks and managed to spend plenty of time looking through the store. Good thing that one still has fish to look at.

After that, it was off to the library for the remainder of our time! But alas, the library's hours have been cut ala recession and they weren't open yet. I didn't want to go to the park because Robbie had flip-flops on (not too park-friendly). Then it occurred to me that we were right by the Marvale baseball park where the Brewers have spring training! Robbie? Baseball? Perfect! Off we went to watch batting practice. We walked along the outside fence, peeking in through the air holes in the batter's eye and through the gaps in the fence.

Robbie was pretty happy to see "baseball guys" in their uniforms and doing their thing! Finally a ball rolled over near us, and this guy picked it up and handed it to Robbie with the instructions to not break any windows. He was pretty happy! "Official Major Leage Baseball" it says beneath the grass stain.

After that, we went to sit in the grass behind the outfield and wait for something to come over the fence. It wasn't too long before one sailed out and Robbie got to run after it and field it. Two baseballs! He had a good day.

We picked up a Five-Dolla Footlong and went to Erin's school. The kids were cute, reading their parts from behind their goat and troll masks. Robbie liked seeing Erin in her classroom, and she was happy waving back to him. We ate lunch, and Erin's old kindergarten teacher came over and visited with Robbie for a little bit about his ASU shirt. He replied with "Go Devils" and produced the pitchfork for her. She's a cool teacher, and I hope she's still around when Robbie is in kindergarten!

Rob's step-dad sells meat, so we always buy in bulk from him. We used some of our tax return money to buy lots of meat from him, and he came over to deliver it to us later that afternoon. Robbie got to see his Papa Dan, and we had a nice little visit. And a fridge full of meat. (See why we needed the Ziplocks? To divide & freeze insane amounts of ground beef)

It was a good day. Baseball, billy goats, and meat. OH, and Rob shampooed our living room carpet that night. It was MUCH-needed!

The Carnival

Rob didn't have to umpire today, and we didn't have any plans! He knew there was a little carnival in the parking lot at Arizona Mills mall, so we decided to check it out. Plus, Erin hadn't been to a mall in a while and has been wanting to go.

Erin was big enough to ride just about everything! And she was brave enough to ride a few by herself. (We told her that Dad or I could ride with her, but if she went by herself, she could go twice or ride another ride... she liked that)

Robbie was pretty patient while we waited for Erin to ride things. He got to go on several things, though. There were a couple of rides that he could go on with Erin and didn't need a parent. It was cute to watch both of them! I rode a couple of rides with both kids, and I learned that rides that spin in tight little circles (ala Disneyland teacups) have much more effect on me than they used to! No, I didn't get sick, but wow.




After all the rides, we went inside the mall for lunch. Pizza for the kids, Steak Escape for us. Then we walked all around... Rob was a good sport because he HATES walking around malls, especially on Saturdays when they're busy! Erin brought some money from her piggy bank and shopped tirelessly at Claire's. Robbie brought some quarters from his piggy bank and shopped at the gumball machines.

Outside The Rainforest Cafe are some animal sculptures - giraffes, elephants, monkeys. And the creepy alligator that periodically growls and lunges forward with his mouth agape. We all waited paitently for this to happen, and when it did, Robbie screamed in sheer terror and held on to Rob's neck for dear life! Sobbing. We had no idea it would scare him that much! Poor little thing, he was really terrified. It took a while for him to recover from that one.

Later in our shopping - much later - we walked by it again (not so close) and Rob sort of talked him through it. Robbie got to see that it wasn't going to get anyone and it wasn't going anywhere. He was OK, but a little indignant, and as we left he proclaimed, "Naughty alligator!"

We were tired when we got home. But we still didn't want to sit around the house. The kids got their scooters, and we walked down by the new high school, hoping to check out the football field. It was all fenced off, but we had a nice walk around the park and back.

After that, we went to Cold Stone for some ice cream! I was happy that they added mini marshmallows to their collection of stuff they'll mash into your ice cream. Or maybe I never noticed them before.

We had a good day! It was nice for us to spend a whole Saturday together.

Lawn Mowing Shoes

...so during our hike, the kids and I developed an aroma. One that deems us unfit to go back out in public for the day. Sitting around indoors would leave me sound asleep within minutes, with my children left to their own devices. Not good! So I decided to do some other smell-appropriate activities.

I donned my lawn-mowing shoes. I think I got these shoes in 1999... great shoes, but they've since been replaced by younger, more attractive shoes, and they've assumed the (important, mind you) role of the shoes I don't mind messing up.

As I was tying my shoes, I remembered an exchange I had with Erin one day last summer when I was getting ready to mow the lawn. It went something like this:

Erin: "You used to wear those shoes all the time when you were skinny."

Me (keeping a straight face): "Huh. Yeah, I guess I did."

Erin (reflecting): "It's been a long time since you wore those shoes."

Awesome.

Thunderbird Conservation Park

Another good day for a hike! Rob is umpiring all day at Victory Lane again, so the kids and I went up there to see him for lunch. This place is WAY on the north edge of town - 43rd Avenue & Pinnacle Peak.

We drive right through the Thunderbird Conservation Park on our way to the softball park, so I thought it would be a good day to explore something new. There are several trails that wander all over the Hedgpeth Hills. There really aren't any trees, so definitely not someplace I'd go in the summer! But still interesting.

The only trail map I could find wasn't great, so I'm not sure how long our hike was. My best guess after piecing together our route is about a mile or mile and a half up to the top and then back. So maybe just under three miles total. It took us a little over an hour, going at a 2-year-old's pace. The trails were pretty easy.

We saw some quail, a chipmunk, and of course lizards along the way. The chipmunk was our favorite, and I was happy to get a picture of him stretching like a cat before we inconvenienced him enough for him to run off.

At the top, the view is pretty good! Camelback Mountain (at a weird angle) is to Erin's right, and you can barely see downtown (blending in to South Mountain) to her left. We meant to bring Rob's binoculars, but oh well. We saw everything from the freeway on our way up, right?

On the way home, we stopped at Baskin Robbins for some ice cream. The kids got to use the gift certificates Grandma & Grandpa gave them for Valentine's Day!

I hope this awesome weather lasts...

Mini Hikes

It was supposed to rain this afternoon, but I'm glad it didn't! We had stuff to do.

Rob was umpiring at Papago Park today. I haven't spent much time there at all, but it's a cool place; we'll be going back. The kids and I had a picnic by one of the ponds, and of course we fed the ducks.

Behind them in this picture, you can see "Hole in the Rock". Take a wild guess why they call it that. After lunch, we went to check out the hole. A very easy walk! The kids liked it. Oh, they're sitting in a cool chair carved into a palm tree stump, armrests included.

Here are a couple of pictures of them in the hole...

Once again, we ended up at ASU! Only today, it was to climb up Hayden Butte, aka "A" Mountain. It's paved most of the way up, so it's pretty easy. And Robbie liked looking at the light rail coming and going down below while we worked our way up. Here are the kids hanging out right on the A. Go Devils!

Then we followed the trail on up to the very top. This is a cool place to watch planes coming in to Sky Harbor; they go right over you and you can get a good look at their tummies. (We always ask Robbie what color the plane's tummy is - not sure why. We did it with Erin when she was little, and it kind of stuck.)

Here are the kids on the very top. The very highest rock we could find to sit on! Tempe Town Lake is to the left, and to the right you can see the seats in Sun Devil Stadium and the "bubble" football practice facility.

These are both pretty cool little in-town hikes! Perfect weather today, too. I suspect I'll have to clean the tub after their baths tonight... a clear sign of a good day!