Life Size Science Project

The Professor had a great time on his most recent field trip!

Biosphere 2

(click here to see their website)

It was an incredibly windy day on the outside...

but on the inside balmy and tropical!

I don't know the name, but apparently this flower is rarely in bloom... pretty lucky to see something that's so hard to find.

Junior and The Professor in the tropical rain forest biome.

The ocean - doesn't look so big in the picture, but it was very impressive!

All of us in the underground ocean viewing room.

The Professor had a great time! Even though the initial science experiment (living inside without help from the outside) failed - the ongoing science projects are amazing. So amazing in fact, The Professor is actually thinking he'd rather attend the University of Arizona - just for the chance to participate in some ongoing research at the Biosphere.

If you get the chance ask him what it's like inside "the lung" he'd love to tell you about it!

Junior's 2 - it's a little Deja Vu

A few pictures from the big day!

Loved his egg free cake!

and now for the

Deja vu!

Here's Bubba when he turned 2!

Boys and Valentines

So, yesterday I worked all afternoon making these cookies for my boys!

(Mostly for the daddy boy

- he LOVES them and he doesn't get them very often -

my mom can tell you why)

So after hours of tedious work I presented my Valentine offering... and now I'm thinking I'll be changing the way I decorate these cookies... what was I thinking... white... pink.... purple?

Instead of discussing love, or sweetness, or Valentine's Day - the topic of choice?

Dinosaurs!

"Wouldn't it be great if dinosaurs were still alive? Then they might attack us on the playground. We'd have to take guns to school! Yeah really big guns to shoot the dinosaurs!"

What?

Well they are boys!

Next year I'll have to remember to use greens, browns and black.

Maybe I can make camouflage Valentine Cookies...

we'll see :)

To see my inspiration for these cookies go HERE.

Pioneer Village

We recently went on our first, "official," school field trip of the year.

(The Professor by the well at the Miner's Shack)

It took us about an hour to get to the Pioneer Living History Museum just north of Phoenix.

(The Professor & Junior in front of the school house.)

The Professor loves learning at home - however, I think all of us had a good time getting out for the morning. We learned about the early settlers of Arizona and Junior liked seeing the chickens in the chicken coop.

Right around lunch time the volunteers at the museum put on a good old fashioned gun fight on Main Street. I wasn't sure The Professor would like it, but he said he wanted to go... and I'm glad we did. Before the "show" the Sheriff and a few town people had a gun safety presentation - it was very informative and has convinced me I need to take a gun safety class - which wasn't something I'd ever thought about doing. When the gunfight started The Professor covered his ears... took a few deep breaths... but did a great job of handling the chaos. I'm so proud of him for wanting to do something that wasn't easy for him to do - he's made a lot of progress in the last couple of years!

What Mom's Don't Want to Know

About two weeks ago OTG Boy went on his first Scout Campout as a Deacon.

I was good with 11 Year Old Scouts - Dad's tag along.

Now the dad is optional and for this campout Handsome Hubby had to opt-out (had to work most of the day Saturday starting at 3am).

So, after school OTG Boy grabbed his pack and headed out the door.

Did I mention it's January and this was the "wilderness survival" campout?

So, off I send my son... no dad... no tent... nervous mom!

Let me just add... I've been attending the scout planning meetings and roundtable for the last year and a half as part of my calling (very different from cub planning & roundtables) - when the brethren start sharing their stories of all the "fun," the "games", the injuries and they're laughing and talking about how awesome it all is... all I can do is sit there thinking, "I'm the mother of four boys... four boys! Do I really need to be hearing all this!" I think I was better off in my ignorance :)

So, when OTG Boy came home the next day (Handsome Hubby still at work), I smile, trying to remain calm - but inside super excited to have him home alive! The first thing my son says is, "Well, I stepped on a nail last night. Don't worry, it's not hurting today." Second thing out of his mouth, "I cut myself twice - don't worry, it wasn't with my knife - it was the can opener." Nice!

So, as he unpacks and shares his stories... I feel proud. He's a good kid and I'm glad he had a good time.

And then he says, "let me tell you about the scorpion."

Four boys!!!

I hope we all survive!

Mac is Back!

Finding myself in the world of allergies and dietary restrictions I thought my days of quick, "easy" meals were over. We've been eating a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables and cooking most meals from scratch. One thing I've really missed is pasta. Spaghetti and mac & cheese were my go-to meals on those days I just didn't feel like cooking and didn't have a lot of time. Don't get me wrong - we've loved eating spaghetti squash - it just takes a little bit longer to prepare than throwing noodles into the boiling water. Well, try finding pasta that has not been made with eggs, and if you do... try finding it manufactured on equipment that does not also process egg products - pretty much impossible. So, since I'd been missing pasta I decided to get online and figure out how to make pasta without eggs - I found that there is actually a town in Italy famous for their "eggless" pasta - it's made from durum wheat. So I've found a local store down the road in Gilbert where I can purchase my durum wheat... but I haven't made it there yet.

Just the other day my busy little boy found this box of mac & cheese stuffed way in the back of the cupboard.

I'd never even thought twice about eating mac & cheese, our allergist right off the bat said it was on the "no-no" list.

Well, I started reading the label and guess what? Fry's brand Macaroni & Cheese is made with durum wheat and no eggs. And there were no warnings on the label that it had been processed on the same equipment as eggs. So, I thought we'd try it out...

not a reaction in sight :)

I'll be putting mac back on my shelves - it's nice to have a least one thing I can fix in a pinch!

(Of course, I'll have to check out the white mac & cheese first... turns out the regular stuff contains yellow 6 & yellow 5... please let the white cheese have no egg products... please, please, please, please... please!)

Unforgettable

14 Years ago I went on a date I just can't seem to forget.

My date had flown in to visit his family for Christmas and had arranged for us to meet that night at Temple Square (his sister was singing in a choir concert).

Not wanting to make a bad impression I left two hours early, from Provo, to make it in to downtown Salt Lake. I ended up being stuck in traffic at the Point of the Mountain for an hour... as soon as I made it to an exit I started driving up surface streets. Well, I was 45 minutes late - and hey, this happened pre-cell phones - and I had no way to contact this guy who was sitting in the North Temple Visitors Center thinking he'd been stood up. Finally, I found a spot to park my car and ran - felt like I was in "Sleepless in Seattle" trying to get to the top of the Empire State Building. As I was running in, he was getting ready to walk out... wow... he'd been waiting!

So, we made it to the last part of the concert... met Mom, Grandma and sisters and we were off... the Christmas lights were beautiful!

Next dinner. We went to a restaurant where we were seated at a cozy little table for two overlooking all of Temple Square... so amazing! We were talking, enjoying the view and the food... when suddenly I hear a loud crack and a crash - half of my glass is standing upright on the table, the other half is shattered on the floor. The table, my plate, and myself are covered in pink lemonade and everyone in the very crowded restaurant is staring at our table. Not a very fun situation for a girl who does not like to find herself the center of attention :)

Finally, my date walked me to my car so I could drop him off at the parking garage to meet up with his family. You may remember I had been in a hurry, so I'd taken the first spot I could find - well it was on a hill and when I started my car it would not shift out of park... great... I asked my date if he could get out and push the car so I could get it to shift. He actually did and it actually worked. He got in the car and the short drive to the parking garage turned into several city blocks as, every time I wanted to turn, the roads were closed for construction. Finally, I dropped him off... drove home sticky and embarrassed... thinking I would never hear from this guy again.

He called me the next day...

Happy First Date Anniversary Handsome Hubby! Can I get you a glass of pink lemonade? ;)