July 4th, 2012

What a great day! 

It rained all morning here in Arizona.  A nice change from the July heat!  And then it cleared up in plenty of time for the fireworks fun!

Our fourth of July this year included a morning fill with rest and relaaxation and crafts for the kids. Then dinner of hot dogs, homemade salsa and chips, watermelon, and cake with star sprinkles.  And finally, fireworks at night!

A good time was had by all.  And here's a picture to prove it!

And follow this link for a video that documents the fun!

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/42887041/2012-07-04%20After%20the%20Fireworks.AVI

I am so very thankful for the great country that we live in and for the freedoms that we enjoy!!

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY 2012!

 

Mother's Day 2012

Today is Mother's Day and my 42nd brithday.  It's bittersweet as it's the end of what is affectionately known as "Amy Jo Week".  Usually Amy Jo Week is the week between my birthday and Mother's Day.  But, since my birthday falls on Mother's Day this year, I declared Cinco de Mayo as the official beginning of Amy Jo Week... and my husband (who knows what's good for him!) dutifully played along.

Saturday, Cinco de Mayo, the beginning of Amy Jo Week, began with margarita's (my favorite!), fajitas, pico de gallo, a guacamole. A great homemade dinner!  One Tueday, my sweet husband brought me a bunch of flowers.  On Wednesday, during a power outage we celebrated with a birthday cake.  (We'd planned on being out of town this weekend, so he'd gotten the birthday cake early!) Thursday Jim had taken off work so we could go to breakfast together, but alas, motherhood interfered and we ended up with very little sleep and a very sick Carter to take care of. We rescheduled our weekend trip and spent Friday and Saturday resting and caring for sick/recovering kids and even Mom didn't feel so great.

And now we're at Sunday.  Mother's day.  My birthday.

I was offered breakfast in bed, but I decided to get up and enjoy the morning with my family.  Breakfast included copious amounts of bacon (a Maruschak family tradition for all celebrations!).  And for a follow up they showered me with gifts.

Thirty-three posts (so far) on Facebook wishing me a happy birthday...

I am feelin' the love.

What a nice day.

Card from Allison

Another card from Allison

 Cards from James

(with art by Allison, James, and Carter)

Cards by Carter

Pandora Bracelet from James & the Kids

Cookbook from Allison's Class

Picture made by Allison at School

 

DUST STORM!

Wednesday afternoon at Carter's soccer practice we noticed some dark clouds off to the south-east.  I was excited... maybe it would rain?! By the end of practice the dark blue and grey clouds had turned an orange-ish pink... DUST STORM!!  It was close so we loaded quickly into the car to get home before it was on top of us...  But we were TOO LATE!  We didn't make it even halfway home when it was on top of us and after near zero visibility as we were driving by a dirt field, I elected to pull over into a neighborhood and "hide" behind a wall. 

We watched the storm from the safety of our car and got a little nervous about the blowing trees near us...especially after we saw a limb break on a tree just a short block away from where we'd parked! 

And then the rain started... first one drop on the windshield, then another, then another, then... just like that the rain was over leaving nothing but dusty drops on our car!  After 15 or 20 minutes we decided it had calmed down enough to driving home... but it was still dusty and windy!

When we arrived home the garage door wouldn't open! YIKES! The power was out! It was still daylight, about 6 pm, but it was dark because of the storm. So we lit some candles and let the kids choose something from the pantry for their dinner. Allison had cereal while Carter chose poptarts. Then, my wonderful, sweet husband who had planned on celebrating my birthday early because we were going on a weekend trip and wouldn't be home on my actual birthday, declared that all the CANDLES had given him an idea! He brought a birthday cake out from its hiding spot and we had CAKE for desert be candle light!

The power came back on after an hour or so and the wind calmed down. Fortunately, none of our trees lost any limbs. One of our corn plants was blown down, but we propped it back up and I think it may be alright.

And here are the pictures from the storm...

The front edge of the dust storm about to roll across the road in front of me.

Blowing dust and whipping trees in front of us as we waited out the storm.

Blowing trees and dust to the west of us as we waited out the storm.

My awesome husband with my birthday cake...

A perfect desert during a power outage!!

Remnants of the "rain" we got during the dust storm.

(And a cute little boy inside the car.)

 

"Green Eggs and Ham" at the Phoenix Symphony

On St. Patrick's day we went to the Phoenix Symphony to hear a dramatic reading of Green Eggs and Ham.  This was part of the symphony's family series - and it was perfectly delightful for kids!  Amazing music, a very fun acting out of Dr. Seuss' Green Eggs and Ham, and best of all, the "Instrument Petting Zoo". 

Set up outside the theatre were musicians with several different instruments for the kids to try!  Wow!  What an amazing opportunity for kids to experience how each instrument works. 

Allison tried everything while Carter only wanted to try the things you can bang on... drums and the triangle.

Here are some great pictures from the "Instrument Petting Zoo"...

Allison playing a trombone.

Allison playing a french horn (her favorite!).

Carter playing the drums (his favorite!).

A proud Mom watching Allison squeek on a clarinet.

Carter playing the triangle.

 

Christmas 2011: XBOX with Kinect

Might might be psuing the limits of blogger with this post of videos...

We got an XBOX with Kinect for Christmas.  The kids are having SO much fun with it!! 

And this is how it's played...

Allison playing Kinectimals.

Allison playing with her African Leopard on Kinectimals.

Allison playing Rallyball on Kinect Adventures.

Carter recording a dance for a prize "statue" they "won" on Kinect Adventures.

Thanks, Nana, Pop, and Uncle Brian!!!!

We love this gift!

Sonoran Desert Museum, Tucson, AZ

Below is a video of the Raptor Free Flight demonstration at the Desert Museum in Tucson.  There was a "family" of 5 Harris' Hawks that were released to fly over our heads.  Unbelieveably beautiful.  An amazing demonstration with outstanding trainers and narrator.  The birds fly so close that I was brushed on the head by their feathers twice! 

Decorating Pumpkins

AZ Science Center

Fun Day at the Arizona Science Center

Friday

July 22, 2011

Giant telescope.

Allison's eye looking into the giant telescope.

Crossing paths in the rope maze.

My three trying to figure out a floor maze.

The house that kids built!

Carter smiling through a "window."

Allison waving through a "window."

Allison seeing how many pennies her paper bridge can hold. 

It held more than 50!

Carter adding pennies to his foil "boat".

His held 193!  Beating the previous record of 80-some.

Then, with a little design help from Mom, Allison made a boat that held 238 pennies!

And a good time was had by all...

(...even me!)

 

   

January 25, 2011

This is what happens when a sick Mommy
and a sick kid go to the urgent care at the supermarket
and have to wait for prescriptions to be filled...

4 packets of Uncle Ben's Ready Rice

1 Angel Food Cake

2 Animal Crackers

1 Tub of frosting

3 packages of turkey pop-up temperature sensors

2 packages of string and metal spears for closing up the turkey

1 Clearance Christmas craft

And there were a couple more items not pictured!

I intended to post this earlier...but all blogging was temporarily delayed due to a plague of viruses that descended on the Maruschak household.
 

Thankfully, we are all healthy
and happy at the time of this posting.

        

Groceries?

What happens when a very sick Mommy and a little guy go to the urgent care clinic at the local grocery store?

This:

2 clearance turkey sewing kits

3 clearance turkey pop-up timers

4 Uncle Ben's Ready Rice

2 bags Animal Crackers

1 clearance Christmas craft kit

1 Angel Food cake

1 tub frosting

1 rotisserie chicken (not pictured)

Not pictured because they were eaten before we got home...

1 loaf of french bread,

1 lollipop,

and 2 donuts

We waited for the urgent care to open. 
    Then we waited for the pharmacy to open.
         Then we waited for the prescriptions to be filled...
              Then we waited for a Rotisserie chicken...
         And finally, we left. 
             ...with prescriptions for Mommy, 
                 a chicken for dinner,
and a whole lot of other things we didn't technically "need".

   

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!

All the Advent calendars are out and ready to coutdown the days until Christmas!

Our Nativity countdown calendar.

Our Hallmark Christmas Tree countdown calendar.

A new addition this year...  A felt Advent banner with Advent candles to "light".

Our Advent candles.  This is our third year having Advent Candles. I buy simple white candles and tie purple and pink robbons around them.  So much easier than trying to find purple and pink candles!

The Jesse Tree.  Our second year doing this.  It's a small tree that we will hang handmade ornaments on.  The ornaments are based on stories from scripture of the lineage and life of Jesus.  The first ornament is about how God made the world... then, Adam and Eve, Noah's Ark, Abraham... etc.  The kids love it!

A bed for baby Jesus...  For each "sacrifice" or "good deed" that the kids do, they get to put a piece of wool yarn in Baby Jesus' basket.  The goal is to fill it with lots of strings to make a soft bed for Him to lay on on Christmas Eve.

Angels and a paper chain.

Paper chain decorations on the stairs!

I have worked really hard this year to get a lot of the christma prep done BEFORE Thanksgiving...so we can really enjoy Christmas as a family this year.  I surprised myself when I remembered to get our Christmas CDs in the car the day after Thanksgiving...  And the Advent calendars were all out the day before Advent started.  (Well, all except one...  But we'll just have to play "catch-up" with that one!)  I am looking forward to making chex mix and decorating cookies...  And also putting up our Christmas tree!  (We never put it up early... I can't imagine having it up the day after Thanksgiving.  I like to wait a little longer.  This year we are going to put it up the weekend of the 18th.)

I hope everyone has time this year to enjoy some Christmas traditions with their families!!