Friday Feast One Hundred and Ninety Five

Appetizer

What is the weather like today where you live?

H-O-T. Like a hair dryer blowing hot air on your skin. Like a dragon breathing fire deep into your brain. It has been hovering around 110-115 degrees over the last several days, with the monsoons about to swoop in.

Soup

On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how career-minded are you?

I would say a 5-6. Career isn't my priority, but I am working little by little to gain experience in new areas that I am interested in. My family is and will be my priority for years to come.

Salad

What type of window coverings do you have in your home? Blinds, curtains, shutters, etc.?

We have white faux wooden blinds. We added new ones in several rooms, but still have bedrooms to change over. No shutters, drapes or curtains. We aren't what you would call interior decorating savvy.

Main Course

Name something that instantly cheers you up.

When my son says, "Mommy, I just love you."

Dessert

How many times do you hit the snooze button on a typical morning?

My alarm clock is named Connor. He sounds around 5:45am (yes, did you hear that, Murphy clan? And you thought you would sleep in on vacation....consider this your warning) and he shouts "EAT!" or "CEREAL?" or "WAFFLE?" while moving chairs to forage for something up on the counter. I believe my snooze button is gathering dust. My husband's snooze button, however, works perfectly well several times in the morning. He does trade off Connor duty, so I am not saying that begrudgingly, but he does have a snooze fest going some mornings.

TV Theme Week....

Visit my friend Michael's blog to reminisce about those classic tv shows and their theme songs. He has two entries and I am personally getting a huge kick out of visiting and getting theme songs firmly entrenched in my head for the day.

He has a lot of other terrific entries on movies, stars and always gives a great detailed history.

My favorite part is that he has a few young children who are some fun-loving kids who are suffering so much more than any child should. They put my life in perspective without question. Be sure to visit and meet them too.

Michael-thank you for such an entertaining and informative read and always providing a kind word for me when you can.

Creative Photography # 2: Looking Forward

In the second week of Creative Photography, I decided to post one of my personal favorite photos of my husband and younger son. It was taken just over a year ago, around my son's first birthday. I ended up close to the ground, looking up at them and that they have the same intent gaze and looking forward in the same direction....well, I just think when I see this, even though life didn't hand us our lemons quite yet, we were learning to look forward and not worrying about what is already behind us.

And I would love to congratulate last week's winner with a terrific photo....by Star. Definitely stop by and see it- one of my favorites on a graceful subject.

If you have a creative photo, definitely try Creative Photography-or visit some of the participants who have some great entries.

Happiness is a Warm Puppy (or two)

The Murphy household was abuzz with two dogs and four children (two ours and two best friends who came to visit us and gave their parents a well-deserved reprieve) keeping each other company. Julie's pups brought liveliness and companionship, especially for Annika, who was outnumbered by young boys.

Connor was excited about the dogs, except when they got too close to his dinner ("No, Puppy!")
Ian told me, "It's pretty much fun to have a dog in the house." He also told me about having a dog in the house is really cool all the time.

Connor hid behind the cushion while Lyra sat patiently, getting jostled about and "surprised" several times. (which was addressed with sloppy kisses on Connor's face)

The house seems much calmer and quieter now that it is back to the four of us, but we love having our favorite visitors anytime they wish. All four of them!

Keeping Afloat

This time, a great entry on Connor's very buoyant spirit-thanks, Julie!

Visit my friend Julie's blog and look for a familiar face.....

Friday Feast One Hundred and Ninety Four

Appetizer

If you could live on another continent for 1 year, which one would you choose?

I would live in South America. I would love the opportunity to live closer to my extended family, work on my Spanish and travel around this beautiful place and visit other countries beside Ecuador.

Soup

Which browser do you use to surf the Internet?

I use Mozilla Firefox.

Salad

On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being highest), how much do you know about the history of your country?

I am not sure if my father-in-law will want to read this, but maybe a 5? My timeline for events is really not great, but once my memory is jogged, I have good recall!

Main Course

Finish this sentence: Love is…

Love is accepting another person completely-the beautiful, the ugly and all the in-between.

Dessert

Have you ever been in or near a tornado?

No, but I have been in a wind storm back in NY where the trees in our apartment complex fell and crushed my neighbor's car, Tom's car and missed mine because I had to park in a different spot that evening. It was the eeriest storm I've been in and only created damage in a particular area.

This is my little Prizm alongside a fallen tree. My car was completely missed.

Our upstairs neighbor's car, which was flattened. This guy calmly walked back to his apartment, grabbed a beer, came back down with all of us, drank his beer and left the bottle on his car that evening. He was pretty funny.
This tree also fell on my husband's car. In fact, his car was so covered by the leaves and branches that the workers didn't originally believe there was a car under it. We had to crawl in to show them where to find it.

Of course, this compares NOTHING to what damage and heartache actual tornadoes do to families and communities. I guess on some small scale, we learned a bit more compassion for them.

Creative Photography

In visiting my adopted friend, Dianne's blog-she has joined Creative Photography, a new blog contest calling all photo enthusiasts to post a creative photo with the carrot of an award. I bounced around the blog participants and there are some very fine photos to see and learn from- so I decided to give it a whirl.

I enjoy pictures of people much more than anything else, but I decided to honor my first entry with a photo that my sister-in-law actually matted and framed for me-so it must be pretty okay! On an evening visit to the pumpkin patch with my boys, I had a very tricky time getting decent photos in low light and trying not to use flash and blind the crap out of everyone. I found these backlit pumpkin and hay stalks and had some fun.



Be gentle in comment and I will be around to visit the participants with comments. Thanks to Roger for this excellent and fun idea. The link to Creative Photography if you would like to join is: Creative Photography.

Even if you don't participate, go and see the amazing photos people are posting. I was very inspired!

Little Fish

Phoenix is scorching, topping at 112 degrees today and over the last few days. As luck would have it, we are pool-sitters this week and part of next week too. My pal Julie and I took the boys over to the pool this afternoon for a dip. She was able to finally take some photos of Connor in the pool swimming around for me.

Connor is a little fish. He isn't afraid to get into the water (working on obeying and waiting until Mommy is actually with him in the pool-scary!) and he will jump in and actually go under and come up very happy. He swims about and has started trying to push my hands away from holding him. Apparently safety is a low priority for him. I do allow him to swim untethered but close to me and he treads water very well and keeps himself afloat with the floaty suit.

He must hold a boat or a car in one or both hands, so using arm power has been a bit of a question mark. Since he is wearing a flotation suit, I think the next step (and I have conferred with my swimming consultant, Aunt Terri) is without the floaty suit tomorrow. We'll see how confident he is without that. Honestly, I don't think the child is afraid of anything except maybe missing a snack or meal.

A final note-always watch kids around water. This particular pool is not fenced and Connor, one evening, made a beeline for the edge of the pool. He also doesn't care if you are not in the pool when he wants to go in. Kids have minds of their own and safety isn't high on their consideration list. As much as I let the boys have a bit of independence on the steps and close by, Tom and I are always there. Always. Ian is more afraid of the water as we finally discovered he worries that he will go under and no one will catch him and he'll go to the bottom. It took awhile to figure out why he was so afraid, but honestly, as a parent, I am afraid that he might go under too. I actually worry about him more than I do Connor because Ian panics where Connor finds a sense of adventure and rises to the challenge.

My thanks to Julie for the photos and for taking Connor for a few laps about the pool so I could swim with Ian too. You are a great friend.

Wish Me Luck....

I have an interview tomorrow evening for executive director position in a non-profit arts organization. I am going to be optimistic, but realistic too. As my brother-in-law says, I can always chalk it up to interview experience. Of course, I submitted my resume awhile back, so I had almost forgotten and figured I wasn't quite there yet, but I was pleasantly surprised.

The arts commission welcomed me to observe today and I got to sit in the staff meeting which was enlightening. My project is to help fine tune some of the grant guides and questions, which I spent the afternoon making notes and reading through several arts grants. It was a quiet environment and I could focus for several hours at a time! Imagine that! Of course, the rest of my work will be from home, so I enjoyed that time while it lasted.

I also formulated an idea in my head about a non-profit arts organization serving children with autism-working with artists and musicians, not necessarily music therapists and allowing them to experience the arts in different ways. It's rattling around in my head, but it's not coherent. From what I can tell, there isn't a particular arts organization serving this population here in Phoenix. I am not even certain what the main idea would be-something to flesh out.

I am off to watch some Arrested Development and maybe go to sleep before 12am. Maybe. That alarm clock named Connor sounds very early in the morning!

Like Father, Like Son

Connor is a musical child-he figures out song melodies quickly and "sings" lots of songs. He can also match pitch really well-which I know is high on everyone's list-but in music circles, that's pretty up there.

After we shifted rooms about (see previous post)-Tom set up the drum set and put out some bundle sticks for the boys to noodle around on the kit. Connor climbed up on the stool the next day and made quite a bit of music. One has to wonder if musical genes run in families. I'm not convinced but maybe.

On a special note, Connor, who is in a toddler bed and has free reign of the house when he wakes between 5:00-6:00am (not kidding and good grief) serenaded us with morning drum set playing. Delightful.

Tom has been closing the door to the music room at night from that point on.

But after all of that brain power spent on improvising, our young prodigy takes an afternoon siesta.

Time To Face the Strange...Changes

Well, I put these photos out of order, but I am not in the mood to change it around. Our garage-a black hole of stuff is a better term. Much of Tom's percussion equipment resides in the garage because we don't have enough space for it in the house. As a result, many of his instruments go unpracticed.
Things that we are going to sell or donate, plus tons of general music things from school that need a spot.
Where my car usually goes, but in interest of sorting the crap, my car is out roasting in the heat for a few days. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law love checking the status of our garage and our clutter. The garage is a work in progress.
(always?)
This is the old music room which is a small bedroom in the house. It formerly housed Tom and his instruments, but he could really only fit the marimba and his desk. Tom is cute, but not the neatest guy on the block, so we tried to come up with a better way to organize his stuff and get more instruments out for him to practice.

The solution was to make this small bedroom our master bedroom instead. We moved our bed and most of my stuff in here. We set up a small tv (courtesy of Julie-thanks!) and a portable DVD hooked into the tv (thanks, Grandma Sheila!) and set up camp. So far, it is working, but I have to add the closet doors back (once painted, of course) and sort through my stuff and get all in the closet. It should work okay for me. Tom is displaced a bit, but he'll figure it out.

The main goal was moving Tom's space into the master bedroom, which is larger and easier to put out more music stuff. We took all of my stuff out of the walk-in and moved his clothes on one side and the other side will be his cases and percussion items. We brought the bookshelf in for his music too. It is not sorted but that is one of his projects. See Connor playing with the talking drum block (courtesy of my dad years ago!)

The computer is on the side and then he arranged his marimba facing toward the middle of the room, with the drumset, congas and bongos in a close knit circle.


And the steel pan too. He has already been practicing a bunch and it is slowly freeing up some space in the garage now that his equipment is in this room. He still has to sort boxes of misc. crap and redo his file cabinet, but this is a good start.

Until we can sell our house and get one with more rooms, this will do just fine. Tom worries that he is taking a lot of space, but in the end, it really serves to make him happier and I am totally happy in a small spot (I really am!!!). We'll see when we return from CA if we'll keep it-that was the plan to re-evaluate, but I am really happy with it. Plus, when we have guests, they can be in our room easily and we can set up camp in the music room with some simple moves. It's great.

And the happiest part is all of the great music that fills our house throughout the day. That is the best part for all of us.

Friday Feast One Hundred and Ninety Three

Appetizer

Do you consider yourself to be an optimist or a pessimist?

I think I am a mix of both. I can be very pessimist about things that there is a track record on, but I am learning to be more optimistic and I think that is helping me move forward instead of staying stagnant in my life.

Soup

What is your favorite color of ink to write with?

Oooh, I used to love writing with all of the different color Flair pens and I still do. But I would say that my favorite is black, which should not surprise anyone in the least.

Salad

How often do you get a manicure or pedicure? Do you do them yourself or go to a salon and pay for them?

I used to go about twice a year for pedicures. Manicures are only for special events (weddings and such) and I grow my own nails out for that. They grow very strong and long, but...I play guitar so often at school, that I have to keep the fingernails really short and unpolished.

As for pedicures, for the last few months, I was treating myself on paydays to a pedicure-and I was trying out all kinds of wacky colors too. (favorite so far-dark blue) But, I don't really have the $$ to spend right now on it, but perhaps as a once a month deal instead.

Note to the sister-in-laws: We WILL be going for pedicures together, right?? That is tradition, I am hoping!

Main Course

Have you ever won anything online? If so, what was it?

I did win a prize or two from Scrapbook Addict and the Twelve Days of Christmas they have where I won some scrapbook prizes. It was fun. Other than that, nothing!

Dessert

In which room in your house do you keep your home computer?

Funny you should ask.....we spent today doing a complete redo of two of our rooms. While my laptop is in the back main room on my desk, my husband's is in the music room. However, today we decided to convert our master bedroom into the music room-getting all of Tom's instruments out of the garage and into a playable area, safe from children. Then we moved our sleeping quarters to the smaller bedroom (with a tv now!) and most of my stuff. It appears like it will work much, much better and we hope that will free up some space in the garage too.

Long story short, the other computer is now in the music room, which used to be the master bedroom. :)

Getting a Foot in the Door

I just had to share that I will start some observation and project work for Arizona Commission on the Arts beginning on Tuesday. Since I don't have a lot of hands on time this summer, I will be working on a project involving reviewing the guide to grants and making suggestions on ways to make the grant application process more accessible, pertinent and to encompass the needs of the various applicants.

In addition, I will get to sit down with several of the directors to ask questions and learn how their department works and their responsibilities, plus observe staff meetings.

They will also help me determine a path to follow into arts non-profit management, whether it is coursework suggestions or possible employment opportunities that come up.

One of the best things is that I spend the day on Tuesdays in Phoenix-the rest of the time, I can save gas money and work from home. I love it!

If nature has made you a giver, your hands are born open, and so is your heart. And though there may be times when your hands are empty, your heart is always full, and you can give things out of that.
Frances Hodgson Burnett

I observed my two sons today in a moment that was simple. As we got ready to leave for swim class, Connor was seated on the couch quietly and not really focused on listening. I asked Connor to find his shoes and he remained still on the couch-sometimes he will follow, sometimes not.

A few moments later, Ian walks out of the bedroom with Connor's sandals. He stands in front of Connor, opens up the velcro and proceeds to get Connor's shoes on his feet for him. He then handed Connor his drink and pronounced us ready to leave.

I never asked Ian to help Connor. It was just a loving gesture that he chose on his own.

And yesterday, Ian had a bag of Skittles. Connor woke from nap and came up to Ian, eyeballing the Skittles. Ian offered Connor a Skittle with a "What do you say, Connor?" Connor says "Please?" and Ian hands off the Skittle. This continues and we try to add some words for Connor, like "More, please, Ian?" and "Thank you, Ian" and it was garbled but Connor repeated Ian as best he could. Ian was so happy too...."Mommy, he LOVES Skittles!" "Mommy, he loves the yellow ones!"

Life has been tough for Ian over the last several months. He really had to figure out where he fit in the mix and he was certainly feeling resentful of Connor's attention. Now that we have had some time off to work with Connor together-Ian included- and also to give Ian some time-the results are all thumbs up. He is going to bed easily at night by 8:00 or so. He isn't taking naps and he isn't eating a lot of junk (there is some junk-ex: Skittles, but not a lot).

He is willing to help with Connor and take on the role of big brother much more often. Connor has been walking circles a lot lately and every so often, Ian will join in. There is hand-holding in parking lots and more hugs when Connor is frustrated or hurt. That isn't to say there aren't moments-like Ian stepping on top of his brother to reach the carseat first or taking a toy from Connor without asking. There are always moments.

Connor follows what Ian does more than anyone else. They sing at the table, they play Knex and Legos together, they jump off the couch onto the beanbag (tonight's game) and climb on their parents at the same time whenever the opportunity comes along.

It feels like the connection is becoming stronger and that the simple gesture of helping a brother with his shoes is a step closer to just being a really generous and kind person.

And I know that good brothers run in the family.

My Very Own RIF Program!

me in 1997! WOW!

My summer reading will include a few books that I have wanted to reread and a few new ones that I have on my ever-growing list.

This morning, I finished my third reread of To Kill a Mockingbird , which is probably at the top of my all time favorite books. I don't usually reread books and I very rarely buy books to keep, but this is one that I hope to reread each year.

Next on my list is Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude and I have had a few friends tell me to make sure to read it.

I am also hoping to read The Great Gatsby and The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. I don't know that this is light summer fare, but summer is the only time that I can actually take some time to read during the day.

If anyone is interested in sending along some other top reads...especially books that you reread or your top favorite book of all time, I would love to continue creating my list.

Thomas and I also made a deal to choose one book to read together and to choose one book for each other to read from genres we enjoy. We haven't actually picked yet, but I hope we will soon. I think I am going to have to gear up for The Hobbit!

Plus, I think we want Ian and Connor to see that reading can be a quiet activity that you can enjoy with others or by yourself. Ian already loves reading books and Connor is slowly becoming more intrigued. Reading was always a big part of our lives growing up, so let the habit continue.

Yogalates, Biking and Me (really!)

I have made a concerted effort to be active this summer. A bike has been purchased and I have been riding it each morning for a half hour after dropping Ian at preschool camp. In addition, I also took part in a yogalates class at Mesa Arts Center tonight, which was enjoyable, especially the meditation at the end. Love that.

My husband will probably be a lot happier to bike with me once we get the second part for the kids bike trailer so it will actually attach to my bike. He gets to haul the boys around since the trailer is on his bike for now. We did go for about a 4 mile bike ride on Sunday morning, but the boys are about 60 extra pounds on the bike. Whew!

Soon it will be deathly hot, so I am hoping we keep our spirits up and continue to be healthy this summer.

Goodbye Infancy, Hello Toddlerdom!

This is the last official step into toddlerhood from infancy. The changing of the crib. After watching Connor swing his leg on top of the crib rails, wrap his arms around the sides of the crib and almost grasping freedom made us think that we might want to convert the crib before his hard-earned freedom also earns him medical attention.

Yesterday afternoon, we worked on the crib while Connor started to peter out in the living room, falling asleep on the floor. He was gently escorted to his new digs and we all took some time to commemorate the occasion, as you will see.

Of course, you expect me to take photos, but Ian grabbed his camera and also captured his brother's graduation.

Connor woke later and didn't seem to acknowledge the new status, but in the middle of the night, I discovered him on the floor at one point. In the morning, he didn't get out of bed, but he cried a good deal until I came and got him.

Tonight's bedtime events were more dramatic. First, Ian crying because Tom went out to the bookstore. Then, Connor sat half on and half off his bed, looking at me to leave so he could get on with his mischievous ways. Ian then tried to show him how to settle down and go to sleep, so Connor got back in his bed and pretended to sleep. I finally left and for awhile I heard a lot of banter, jumping and cacophony going on.

Then, this:

"Mommy?" (from the bedroom door)

"Yes, Ian?" (in the kitchen doing dishes)

"Connor's out of his bed and he's making a lot of noise."

"Tell him to get in bed and go night-night."

"I did, but he just keeps getting up and bothering me." (interesting since Connor doesn't seem to be the only culprit here)

"Maybe show him what it looks like to go to sleep in your bed and he'll copy you."

"Okay."

"Connor, go to bed. Night-night."

Connor speak-not exactly intelligible yet

"Connnnnnor, get in bed!"

Crying commences.

"CONNNNNOR!"

Crying continues.

"Mommy?"


Tom is back by now, because he got to the bookstore at 8:53pm and they close at 9:00pm (he didn't catch a break today) and we check on Connor, who is in his bed, crying, but probably about to fall asleep. Ian, ever dutiful and righteous is also in his bed, trying to be a good example. So far, it's better than I expected.

And the added bonus of Ian actually trying to be mindful and suddenly abandoning the procrastination techniques (I am sure they will be back) was quite a nice change of pace.
Thinking about all of the excitement a few short years (moments?) ago when we set up the crib before any boys were echoing our halls, it seems like a chapter is closing in my life. After Connor, I decided that I would not have any more children and I feel secure and peaceful in that decision. As I sat in a baby shower today, the proud grandmother told me about her three granddaughters-one toddler and two making their arrival very soon. I said, "Three girls, huh?" and she beamed. Then she told me that she also had a grandson who was ten and lived out of state. We chuckled about him for a second and I wondered aloud how it must be to compete with three new babies as a seasoned grandson. She said being out of state, he didn't seem to be too troubled. And then I thought to myself, someday my children will be ten. And they will not be as cute and disarming as they are now. (admit it, they won't!) Why that thought popped in, I don't know. Awhile later, I saw the mountains of new diapers, the beautiful girl clothes and breathed a sigh of relief.

I am done.

Now, I get to look forward to camping with the boys. I look forward to doing homework with them and I love taking Ian to school this summer. I look forward to painting their room in boy colors and putting up planets and stars and spaceships. And I will be looking forward to age ten too with all of its new charm. Life has a lot of tremendous offerings in store.

And when boys become men, I wonder if I will ever truly recall Saturday, June 7, 2008 as our graduation from babyhood. I suspect that my written words may be immortalized in some way, but the imprint on my heart will be etched deeply, wistfully, happily.

Wordzzle 16

I've been MIA from the Wordzzle for a bit, (it shows a bit here-yikes!) but enjoy Raven's puzzler this week and definitely stop by her website for the link to more Wordzzlers.

The words for this week's ten word challenge were: spaghetti, larkspur, Prilosec, roaring lion, adamant, green green grass of home, paradox, filibuster, face cream, trout fishing And for the Mini Challenge: jury of ones peers, barking dog, a wing and a prayer, liver, sprained ankle

Chasing my spaghetti dinner with Prilosec, I longed for the green, green grass of home, not to mention my pricey 4 oz Larkspur face cream. Trout fishing with a sprained ankle and my adamant barking dog, Paradox, I felt like a roaring lion in this liver spot of a campground. Listening the radio, I heard the news of the filibuster announced just before NPR’s story on the Sixth Amendment and the jury of one’s peers. Our country coasting on a wing and a prayer.

UnCORK the Fun

We had dinner with the Corks last night and the boys got to explore the backyard a bit while waiting for dinner.
We discovered the bird nest, which Julie's blog does much more justice. Don't forget to check her entry on our visit too.

After a good dinner, cookies and ice cream, the boys and girls settled down to watch some Backyardigans while adults were able to discuss comics, art and all.

Thanks Julie and Sean, Zoe and Lyra! (I really hope the guacamole and ice cream stick came off the table and chair!)

Murphy Desert Botanical Backyard

One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it provides.
~W.E. Johns, The Passing Show

Far from a garden, but those who have visited our backyard abode know that while spacious and child-friendly, it was also very weedy and barren. Neither Tom nor I have a green thumb and it does take us a lot of effort to figure out gardening and landscaping since it doesn't come easily to us AND living in the desert, it is harder to grow plants and keep the grass lively and green.

After some back-breaking weeding, we fertilized and seeding (not too successfully, but it is a bit better!) and made a huge decision to spend some of our tax return on beginning some landscaping. By someone other than us.

At 5:45am on Friday, the doorbell rang and our green thumbs arrived, bringing two trees, several bushes and plants for our back border. While they look small now, I have been assured they will grow quickly over the next few seasons.

We chose a Chinese Elm and a sissoo tree, dwarf oleander, green cloud sage, purple lantana and red bird of paradise.
And my personal favorite, the octopus agave. I did pick it for its cute name, but also because it doesn't have spikes and the points are soft. It's just so cute!

They also dug up the bushes in the front of the house for us, so I am going research how to raise the bed and maybe put in some rose bushes and/or some flowers. Something that I have to work on so I can perhaps paint my thumb a pale shade of green.

Feast One Hundred Ninety Two

Appetizer

When you drink soda/pop/coke, do you prefer to drink it from the bottle, a can, or after pouring it into a cup?

I usually enjoy soda from a can or a twist-top bottle. I do not like drinking from a cup unless it has a straw. However, I don't like the fizzy pop up of a straw from a cup or can either.

Soup

What television show are you willing to stay up late to watch?

Definitely Colbert and Daily Show, in that order. I also enjoy Craig Ferguson! (Dianne will appreciate that!)

Salad

Name one person, place, or thing you think of as brilliant.

Person that is brilliant: My former college professor, Dr. John McArthur. He was my theory and piano teacher, also a US ambassador and now a classical recording artist. He was the most eloquent and thought-provoking person I know. My theory book was filled with vocabulary words that he would use in lectures. I had to go home and look them up-and I did. He tried to make you follow your convictions, even when he knew you were wrong and make you back up your arguments. I hope I get the chance to talk with him again someday.

Place that is brilliant: Visiting and ascending the volcano Cotopaxi in Ecuador. We didn't go to the top, but it was one of the most beautiful places and I hope to return someday.

Here are a few photos of my visit in 2002, with my cousins Suco, Pedro and Glenda. We ventured up to the camp. Climbers stay over and ascend to the summit before the sun rises. We didn't climb, but we watched the tour guides practice. I was so happy that we reached the snow on the volcano! WOW! I definitely want to bring my boys here when they are much older.

Thing that is brilliant: Internet. I am so happy to keep in touch with people around the world in my pajamas and so easily. That's brilliant.

Main Course

Would you be willing to work 4 10-hour days instead of 5 8-hour days in order to save gas?

I'd work 4-10 hours day to a three-day weekend AND save gas!

Dessert

If you were a superhero, what would you call yourself?

Ian says that I would be "Weather Woman" and my superpower would be to use the "forest" (force) to make people wobble. Like a wobbling power. There you have it. I will try to use my Weather power for good here in AZ and keep the delightful weather going!

Who's the Boss?

Ian began swim lessons last night with the City of Mesa program at the local junior high pool. His class is in the toddler pool and there are only a handful of kids in the class. It is run by what look like three high school students. Tom took him last night and he seemed to have a lot of fun.

I took Ian this evening while Tom took Connor for his swim lesson (I'll have to get pictures of that later this week). Turns out Ian is quite bossy when it comes to swim class. Which is interesting since he came straight from karate, where there is no room for him to be bossy at all. So, he was trying to tell the instructors which games to play and at one point, said "I just don't want to play this game anymore." The high school boys didn't really know how to deal with him, so they either catered to him or ignored him. I ended up going over three times to talk to him about who was in charge of the activities.
Ian loved the treasure hunt game and the talking underwater game. He led the discussion on what should be said under way, barely giving the other quieter boys a turn. Ian is normally pretty shy, so it was interesting to see him be as bold as he was, bordering on impolite. He insisted that all of the animal games be alligator games. The instructors allowed him to choose alligator a few times and then gave up and allowed them all to just pick what they wanted to be.

Instructor: "Let's be snakes!"

Ian: "No, no. Let's be alligators!"

Instructor: "We were just alligators twice. How about a new animal?"

Ian: "How about alligators?"

Instructor: "Let's be snakes. What do snakes say?"

Ian: "I'm an alligator. What do alligators say?" You see?

Needless to say, being the neurotic parents that we are, we discussed who's in charge several times and role-played a few alternative things to say when we want a turn or want to try a game. We'll see what happens tomorrow night and Thursday.

Anyway, not to be completely negative....Ian did put his face in the water and was very content until the water splashed in his eyes. Then he would scream and cry, but he does that in the shower too. Other than that, he seemed to be ease in the water, even floated with the instructor on his back. Aunt Terri....I think you need to be ready for swim lessons when we visit! We have already talked up the swimming lessons with Aunt Terri!

In other news, for my new purchase, I got a new bicycle the other day. We have two mountain bikes that I didn't really enjoy riding because they were not comfortable. I chose a Ridgeback comfort bike WITH GEARS. Apparently, Tom has been spreading lies that I chose an extra girly pink bike with no gears and a pink basket. I'd like to dispel the gears and basket rumors, but it probably is girly in some ways, starting with the bell.

We have been riding around the school yard each evening and also riding Ian to preschool each morning. I rode a few miles on my own yesterday morning and this morning, Tom, Connor and I biked down to the nursery, which is about two miles away. While there, we chose some lovely landscaping trees and plants for our backyard and biked back home.

Here is a cute little picture of Connor. He held up well on the 102 temp bike ride this morning and no sunburn as we applied an entire bottle of sunscreen to his delicate Irish skin. I think the protective layer of crust on his upper lip also helped.


Back to the landscaping....I will take a photo of our backyard before and after shots on Friday. We have a really good-sized backyard for Arizona and over the last few weeks, have weeded by hand the entire yard, reseeded and fertilized, edged and hopefully in the next day or so, weed-wack. We decided to have a drip system installed in the desert rock and they will also install two trees, 4 plants and 3 shrubs for us as a start. We will see how that goes and maybe add more in the fall when we have money and the weather is cooler. Those who have seen our backyard know that it could really use some dressing up. So, Friday is the big day and I'll be sure to document our new look.