Weekend away. But I still had to cook. Sigh.

We went to the mountains for the weekend, because people who live in Arizona have to go away to find cold and snow.  The kids had a blast trying to find "Payson Diamonds" and smashing rocks with the rock hammer.  We tried to find fossils that were said to be in the area with no luck.  It was a fun and cold and very wet.  What more could you ask for from a weekend.



Daymon and Aliya thought they were water proof.  They learned quickly that they were in fact not.



This is what happnes when Phonecians forget that flip flops are not appropriate in every climate. 





This is a happy dog!!




Payson diamond.





Looks like a lightning strike.



It snowed!





Hubby




One more of hubby looking "thoughtful". 

 I know there aren't any pictures of me.  I'm behind the camera, not in front of it!  Oh and I had no makeup on.  No one wants to see that.

He's as old as Marty from Madagascar, only without the midlife crisis.

My second born, my dragon slayer, creator of his own inventions, lover of lizards, football extraordinaire is ten. 

How can he be this old?  Where did my baby go?  The one who never cried and didn't grow hair until he was two.  He had the most luxurious fat thighs and perfectly round baby belly.  Now he looks like I never feed him! 

He had a "Fear Factor" party and it was so much fun. 

Games:
Diaper diving.  They had to eat all the chocolate pudding from the diaper and find the gum balls, first to blow a bubble won. 
Ice challenge:  Contestants had to stand with their feet in ice water and the one who lasted the longest won.  We had four kids who all had the same time so we decided that whoever could keep their face in the ice water the longest would win.  I'm super into safe birthday parties. 
Gooey bug find:  They couldn't see what was in the bowl of gunk, they had to reach in and find as many bugs as they could in 15 seconds. 
Dog food challenge:  They had to see who could eat the "dog food" the fastest.  I cleaned out a dog food can and put the food in that. {smashed up Vienna sausages} 
And the best part?  The kitty litter cake!  I mean if you're going to go for gross, go all out.  He had so much fun and I tried to make sure the parents knew I didn't feed their kids real poop, bugs or dog food.  I'd like them to come back for his next party.

And he has been asking for a crested gecko for about an eternity, so combined with his birthday money and our gift to him, I introduce the newest member our family, Fuzz Lightyear.  He's very soft and velvety,  thus the name. 

I'd say it was successful, if you measure success by how many kids throw up.  Only one.  Man, I am on top of my game!

Better living through Orthodontia. And Ibuprofen.

I think she looks absolutely adorable.  Now if I can just convince her.

I'm stuck in my own ground hog's day with the dentist

I'm assuming you've seen that movie. 

I keep reliving the same day at the dentist with Aliya and I can't tell you how old it's getting! 

She has an irrational fear of needles, meaning if it were rational then we wouldn't be in this predicament. 

Appointment #1:  She asks multiple times if she has to get shots for her fillings.  I reconfirm that yes, she does but they're not really shots, it's just numbing.  But I am wrong.  There is a needle involved therefore it's shots.  She's lying on the chair with strawberry scented laughing gas that is doing everything but make her laugh and the tears are just streaming down her sweet face.  When it comes time to get numbed up her breathing becomes erratic, she starts crying harder and trying to bat his hands away.  We tried for an hour to calm her down and eventually was told that it's true anxiety and we need to come back next week with Valium in her system and the laughing gas. 

Appointment #2:  Loopy as a three legged dog and gas, her panic attack was even worse if you can believe it.  While holding her face in my hands trying to calm her down, her begging to be knocked out, I told her that our insurance would not cover the anesthesia to put her under.  Our awesome dentist told me that he would wave the fee and do it for free because there was simply no way she could do it otherwise.  I could have kissed him.  Well not really.  But he did save me $640 dollars.

Appointment #3:  We show up at 8:00 ready to rock and the receptionist starts asking me if I followed all the pre-anesthesia orders from the papers they gave me.  Ummmmm.  What papers?  I didn't get any papers.  "Then did she have anything to eat after midnight last night?"  she asked in her bubbly receptionist voice.  "You mean besides the two toaster strudels on the way here?"  Turns out they wouldn't do it with food in her stomach. 

At this point I was ready to scream.  And I about did when they said they had an opening April 23rd.  As calmly as I could muster, I told them that she's getting her braces on Friday and the fillings need to be done before then.  Not in two months.  Luckily they had an opening for Thursday.  Assuming a meteor doesn't land on the building.  It could happen.  I fully believe it could.  All this for three lousy, stinking fillings. 

She gets it from my mom though.  Her motto at the dentist is "If I know you're there it's not enough gas." 
So fourth time's a charm??  It better be or you might see me mumbling to myself in my bathrobe while shuffling down the sidewalk.  Just kidding.  I don't have a bathrobe. 

Aliya's one sentence review of the Valentine dance

"In Junior High they should just call it a stand."

And another reason it's tough being eleven

Aliya gets braces put on in two weeks and is lamenting the coming loss of one of her favorite foods.  Marshmallows.  Seriously guys.  Could things get worse?  Yes, yes they can.  She won't be allowed crunchy things either, which unfortunately, includes nachos.

Um.  There are about 9 things this girl will eat and now two of them are gone.  She is in fact an extremely picky eater.  She doesn't even like chocolate!  So as her bestie Hallie put it "what will she eat now?!"  Maybe this is the time to push such awesomeness as avocados or fruits that don't contain tiny seeds that get stuck in metal like strawberries.  OH NO!  I forgot about strawberries!  She lives on them. 

I see great sorrow and gnashing of teeth in our future.  No pun intended. 

Feel free to start praying for her now. 

On the up side, adorable pictures of her in her new braces to come!  She's already planned her outfits to match her rubber bands accordingly.  I mean, duh.