Sarcasm

Today Ethan lost the privilege of using Mike's iPad.  He wrote Mike a note saying, "Thanks a lot for making a choice that you knew would make me sad.  From, Ethan"  (He purposely chose "from" because it is "not as good as love.")

I love the sarcasm in the note, even though he doesn't fully understand that he is being sarcastic.  Obviously he is being raised by sarcastic parents.

Here he is trying to get out the windows/trying to show Mike how sad he is.

White Tank Mountains

I am helping to plan our ward girls camp this year. We were wanting to check out a campsite that is only about 45 minutes away, so we did a group/family hike yesterday.  I loved the area.  We did an easy short hike, but it ended at a "waterfall".  It was really cool to see such a different landscape in the midst of the desert.  Most of the hike was the brush and saguaro you'd expect.  But then, we entered a shady, wet, white granite area.

 This is what we call a waterfall in Phoenix.  It is trickling at the top.  I imagine when there is enough rain for it to be really flowing that you would have to wade through water to get over and see it, because it damp even with this trickle.  The mountains get their name because the rain accumulates in these white granite "tanks" when it rains.

 Ethan being daring.

 The whole group!  I didn't hesitate to accept the request for me to help with camp when I heard I be working with these awesome ladies!

Hit the Ground Running

Life never slows down around here, so Christmas break ended and we kept on running.

Ethan's first morning back, I actually did go running, then went hiking with the little guys.

 We put our old house on the market!  It seems like it has been a lot more than a week and a half since it went on the market.  I'm nervous and not very patient...

 For preschool one day we went to the Children's Museum.

 Love these cuties.  I couldn't ask for an easier group of little ones to take out and about.

 Asher's first time painting the castle!  I missed getting a picture, but later I looked over and saw Asher sitting on an art table right on top of a 5 inch circle ink pad.  He got a nice dark blue circle on his bottom.

 I started bringing Asher's tricycle to Walking School Bus instead of his stroller and he has really liked it.  So have a handful of the kids who want to push him.

 Asher went through a grumpy period.  He is not a big eater (obviously by his lack of chub), so we decided to start putting a lot more effort into getting him to eat.  It meas that I am putting way too much time into each of his bites for how old he is, but he has been happier.

 Mike has been working on hard on the 2106 National College Football Championship, so we did a date night to check it out.  We actually started in the afternoon, then I went to lunch by myself and read (yay!) before meeting back up with Mike to go to the evening concerts.

 Pretty cool backdrop for the concert.  We say David Nail and The Band Perry.

 We apparently hit the jackpot with these bracelets.  We got to the concert not to long after it was supposed to start and it was just a DJ.  An event staff member came over and gave us these flashing bracelets.  We decided to leave for awhile instead of waiting for the bands.  When we left, they stopped working and we were disappointed because we had been excited to give them to the boys.  As we got back to the concert they started flashing again.  Turns out, they respond to the music!  All night people were asking us where they got them and someone even offered to buy them from us.  Which reminds me, we've only had one dance party with the boys with these, time for another.

 Asher will now spend a lot of time playing independently in the basement.  It is awesome.  He is also loving cars right now.

 Asher LOVES this singing dog from Grandma!

 For some reason he thought laying on the floor and putting his feet in the air was hilarious.

 Asher, apparently, loves judgmental looks and comments from the Grandma types, because he will not keep his socks on!

 Ethan had to choose a planet to do a report on.  There is a written and creative component.  This is Neptune (it has helium in its atmosphere) with its 14 moons.  There is a Lego guy falling of because it is really windy...The whole reason Ethan wanted to do Neptune is because he was envisioning a Lego man being blown off.

Benton is doing really well with his reading!  The video I had wouldn't post, but he is comfortably reading level 1 books.

Ethan was the 1st grade Scholar of the Month for January!  I wasn't notified ahead of time, so I missed the assembly again, but my friend (whose daughter is in this picture) was there and snapped a picture.

His certificate says, "...for his outstanding effor to display School Character virtues daily.  Also, for his never ending drive to use his creative talents to strive for excellence in academics.  Ethan takes pride in being an Eagle Scholar, proudly standing in the doorway yelling out the Eagle Pledge so all can hear and watch him soar to excellence!  Ethan Abegg has truly found the passion and love for learning with Eagle Pride!"

At Ethan's parent teacher conference, his teacher said that behavior like his (his enthusiasm for learning), is what made her want to become a teacher.  I'm not proud or anything...

Christmas Break

We took the opportunity to go hiking while Ethan was home.  I found a trail we hadn't been on before.  The boys wanted to go further, but I don't trust their ability to remember the return trip they'll have to hike too.  I look forward to exploring more with Mike.

 Really pretty views.

 I braved a trip to Fat Cats one day (after having friends over to play).  Overall, it was fun, but the lines will keep me from going again.  With how far away it is, Asher was getting really worn out and all the wait time was making it worse.

The bowling alley was cool with big TVs and comfy couches.

 I bowled, but Asher didn't want me to.  I felt very conspicuous since I was sharing an area with a family on the lane over.  They were nice though and tried to help me a few times.

 We went glow golfing the same day.  We must have hit it at just the wrong time because we had to wait for multiple families to golf at each hole before we could.  Asher was getting even fussier, so there was no real rule following or score keeping.  It was a "how fast can we be done with this" activity, but the boys still had fun.

 I have a few Usborne picture books with CD that we keep in the car.  The boys love them and listen to them pretty much any time we are driving.  I think Benton's reading has improved quite a bit since we started doing this.

 There were a few moments of quiet over the break, like when the boys woke up to muffins one morning.

 On New Years day we started hanging pictures that have been stored since we moved in almost 3 years ago (one of my Christmas Break goals).  I came across a memory box that made me all weepy.  There were really special notes written from my best friends over the years: Lisa, Celine, Steffani, Leslie...There were also awards and the signs announcing when I won top chairs in All-District band in high school.  I still have these that Celine made me.

 And me 14 years ago!

 Me and baby James!

 We have travel pictures in our room.  This is most of them (from New Zealand, Mexico, New York, and Sedona).

 Leslie's younger brother Marc does amazing astrophotography.  I love all the desert landscapes, so I finally got one for our room.  I like this one because it reminds me of the sunset desert runs I love.