My desk, finally

(it matches my bookshelves beautifully)

We finally got my desk finished. Ah, well, it's only a month and a half late-it was my birthday present. Eric and I spent most of last week doing the finish on the desk, we have the blackened fingernails to prove it. But it's now done, and is beautiful! I think Eric took as many pics of the desk, as he did of all the rest of my birthday. But he has reason to be proud, he did a great job, I love it.

I put my new desk to work right away. Why no flash? Ask Eric.

Up goes the Tree

I know that I like to start listening to Chritmas music on Thanksgiving because that's when my mom would start playing it. I get out the Christmas decorations then too: to take stock, see what needs to be updated, what I need/want for this year, and to get out the advent wreath and candles (it started on Sunday this year). I need to know what I want/need from JoAnn's big Black Friday sales (and Michael's and Hobby Lobby on Saturday).

And I'm reasonably sure that I like to put up our tree and decorate it the Saturday after Thanksgiving because that's the earliest I can do it. Growing up, we never got our tree (we had real ones) until after my dad's birthday, so we wouldn't forget him. So we always waited until after December 15th for our tree, but it did always stay up until after New Years.

I love having the tree up early. I love how it fills up the room. I love reliving the memories as we pull out our old ornaments. I love choosing the kids' ornaments for the new year. And I love how much fun the kids have in "helping" to assemble the tree, and then place their ornaments.

We put the kids tree up and decorated it on Saturday night. My tree went up on Sunday night, and I decorated it Monday, after the kids went to bed as all of my ornaments are glass.

(sigh) One day, we'll be able to decorate all of the tree, not just the top half. Only two more years...

5, 4, 3, 2, 1, LAUNCH!

After my 6 am trip to JoAnn's, and after breakfast, we headed to the park near our home at 9 am to launch our rockets. The kids were bouncing off of the walls in anticipation. I don't think I've ever seen everyone get dressed so quickly before.

Eric fitting the engines with the starters.

After finding a suitable launch site (mid park w/a batting guard to keep the kids at bay), we read over the rocketeers' code of conduct (there really is one), and got ready for some fun.

Each rocket was launched twice, going really high on the first launch, and really, really high on the second launch.

We had lots of fun, and are looking forward to doing it again soon. Although, we'll make sure that we have the proper permits for our next launch-we didn't know that we needed one until we got to the park, so we launched with crossed fingers. It all went well, but we'll be in compliance for next time.

Is that a ROCKET you're building?

Why, yes, yes it is.

Eric thought that it would make for a great family tradition to shoot rockets off after Thanksgiving (apparently, my annual pilgrimage to JoAnn's at 6 am isn't a good enough tradition). Which ment that we got to build 3 sets of rockets on Thanksgiving morning. I'm pretty sure Eric forgot how long it took to build a rocket, and the kids we're not prepared for waiting for glue to dry before moving on to the fun part: painting and then launching.

The boys got to pick out their own rockets, and they each designed their paint colors too. They loved it. Eme even got to have a rocket (it was more like the "family" rocket), we had to get one that had a launch pad so we could safely launch them all.

It was a fun way to spend Thanksgiving morning. I had already done my dinner contributions the day before, so I didn't mind the extra company in the kitchen.

Random verbage

Last week (after a long week prior with very sick kids), the kids were unusually rowdy (isn't that always the way?) I had gone upstairs to make beds, leaving Eric downstairs. I heard a rather loud "QUIET", followed by a lot of laughing. Apparently, Eric had put his head in his hands and told the kids his head hurt. To which Eme replied: "Mommy's head is going to explode. Let's watch." The funny part was that Eme said this to ERIC not me.
(BTW, I often tell the kids that my head is going to explode when they are particularly boisterous)

Yesterday the kids' school was hosting a flu clinic for H1N1, we had signed the kids up (even though we are 95% sure they both had it two weeks ago). Both the mist and shot were available, and for some reason, they let the kids decide if their parents hadn't specified. Not thinking that either of my boys would pick a shot over the mist, I hadn't specified, perhaps I should have. Aidan picked the mist. Davin picked a shot. Why? Because at their doctor's office, when they get a shot they can pick a prize from the bucket. Davin was sorely (literally) dissapointed when there was no prize to be had other than a sticker.

Land of the Dragons, or our adventure at the zoo

We thought it would be so much fun to surprise the kids with a trip to the zoo Saturday morning to get a "members-only" sneak preview of their newest exhibit: 2 komodo dragons! We were going to load everyone up in the car to run an "errand," like what we did on our way to LA for Shelby's blessing, only to tell them what we were doing later. Davin changed our plans when he asked so nicely during breakfast if we could please go to the zoo today. We didn't have the heart to say no, and then go as a surprise, so we just went.

Maddie trying to see the iguanas

Unfortunately for us, there was some sort of cancer walk that shut down the entire cross-street before the zoo. It took us an additional 15-20 minutes to figure out how far across we had to go to be able to get in front of/behind this walk to be able to take the back road into the zoo. Eric may know his way around Phoenix, but I know my way around this part of town-we're at the zoo twice a month, and I've taken both ways in and out of the zoo before. (Eric promising NEVER to support any group we saw, including the ARRL who was doing communications support for the walk, it was rather frustrating)

something stinky

We are in LOVE with the two komodo dragons! So great, and boy are they HUGE! And the drool, just teaming with bacteria and venom, yuck! The zoo's also gotten in some new gibbons, and they are so active, it's great. Aidan had asked last week why some monkeys have tails, and some don't. That lead us to a discussion of "old world" vs "new world" monkeys. I had him tell me, without looking at the signs, which monkeys were which.

looing into the komodo dragon enclosure

And just for you Dan, remember that weird "ostrich" toe knife that you brought back from your mission? Well, it turns out, it's not from an ostich, but a Rhea. It looks more like an Emu in size and coloring, but those toes are the same. So, just for you, here are some pictures of the Rheas at our zoo.

Maddie's first hair cut

If you think that it's hard to get a picture of Maddie's haircut, just think of how hard it was to give her a haircut!

And although I only cut her bangs, I love the curls so I had to share.