Happy 3rd Birthday

In commemoration of Owen's third birthday, we have decided our little boy is growing up much more quickly than originally anticipated. In light of this, we're writing down and sharing with the world what Owen is like today as well as our favorite "Owenisms" before he grows up any further. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do.



Favorite color: green
Favorite ice cream: mint chocolate chip
Favorite foods: iceberg lettuce, asparagus, popcorn, and cookies
Favorite drink: apple juice
Favorite toy: anything with wheels
Favorite activities: running, playing in mud, going to the park, building forts, hiding in forts, and, of course, fighting dragons

Owenisms - as spoken by a true 3 year old
- My butt hurt. I need to go to the dentist.
- I have chocolate, yes or no?
- I want to hold you. (Translation: Pick me up.)
- The moon is broken!
- I hear crickers.
- Mama, you a princess today? (Asked anytime Carrie wears a dress.)
- You naughty daddy. You need go to timeout.
- Daddy naughty, yes or no?
- Poo coming!
- That guy head big! (Of course stated directly in front of said big-headed guy.)

And finally, a short story.

Owen gets a package in the mail and proceeds to open it. First thing he opens is a toy. He gets excited and starts playing with it. Ed pulls out a second package, it's candy; very fun. Finally, Ed says, "there's more buddy." Owen excitedly opens it, discovers that it's clothes and exclaims, "Daddy, that not more!"

Happy Birthday Owen!

Clean Up

We have a busy week ahead of us. Georgia and Crystal get in tomorrow and my mom and dad get in on Saturday. We have Owen's 3rd birthday, Easter and our 6 year anniversary. Plus we just found out Robosaurous and Grave Digger are in town so we'll have to squeeze in a monster truck show. The weather is hot, the hammock is out and the pool is warming up. Let the good times roll!


The boys cleaning house in preparation for the weekend festivities.

Kiddie Drum Circle

An oldie but goodie that was never posted (date: August 2010). As the temperatures start to rise, I start thinking back to last summer. Swimming, sprinklers, naps under the fan, and night-time zoo trips. The night zoo trips are probably unique to Arizona. Too hot to go during the day so the zoo is open at night. This particular night that we went, there was a drum circle for the kids.


Owen got a kick out of it. He banged on that drum for awhile.


I loved this night. Running through the zoo at night, playing in the water, and hanging out at a drum circle. Something to look forward to this summer.

Barbecues And Birthdays

Yesterday Dawn had a barbecue for all of the daycare parents and because of the proximity to Owen's birthday, everyone brought presents for Owen and considered it a semi-birthday party too. Dawn made carne asada on the grill and it was awesome.

It was good to get together with the families of the kids who our kid knows like family. It makes us realize what a unique situation Owen is in and, to a certain extent, lament the fact he's going to be leaving it soon.

Dawn has been good with it. Owen's "crop" has been the second group of kids to have gone through the daycare and moved on to more grown-up endeavors. It has to be tough for Dawn and for the kids to have this connection severed. I suppose that's part of life.


It was really fun to have everyone together, relaxed and having a great time all because our children spend most of their waking hours together. It was a little serene to know that it's kind of the end of a life chapter.


Playing parachute with Tim and Niah.


Using Russel as a human trampoline.


Sitting at the kid's table is pretty okay at Dawn's house.


I like this shot because it has all of the kids having fun in some way or another. I think Owen's stuck.


Carie made dirt bowls for dessert and the kids enjoyed them. It's crushed up Oreo's, pudding, more Oreo's and gummy worms sticking out. Needless to say, the evening ended with a ton of fun energy and a huge crash. By the way, Dawn has been asked more than once if she runs some sort of an Arian daycare. All the kids are blond and oddly, not one parent is.


Keeping little hands out of the mother-load of sugary goodness was a little tricky, but we managed 'till the party.

Bicycle Built for Two

It really is the simple things in life that make it so pleasant.


Come home from work and hop on a bike. Just cruise around the neighborhood, say hi to the neighborhoods, maybe stop by the park.


Owen loves it. He points out cars, dogs, oranges on trees. So much to see that you miss riding in a car. Life slows down when you are on a bike. It's very nice. Try it sometime.

Sprouting Dreams

I have heard that if you have a garden and a library, then you have all you need. We have been working on our library for many years now and decided it was time to work on a garden.


When we bought the house, we thought the mildly frighting, weed infested, abandoned dirt lot that was our side yard would be a perfect spot. (We dream big.)


A few weeks ago, through the edible landscape project and with help from volunteers of the Desert Botanical Garden, we were able to get two truck loads of free dirt that took the side yard from scary to usable.


We're starting small with a couple of raised beds. We planted warm weather crops that like the Arizona sun - peppers, jalapeños, corn, pumpkins, and cucumbers along with herbs like basil, oregano and mint. I'm following the square foot garden method. It's easy for me to understand since I'm a beginner gardener.

I love the little garden. It is my therapy. I enjoy waking up a little extra early to go out and water the plants. The mornings are still cool, the birds are chirping, and I love the smell of the soil. I also love that it is a family thing. Ed is keeping an eye on the plants because he knows I do not have a green thumb and could use some extra help. Owen likes the dirt and checks to see if the vegetables have come yet. He had requested the pumpkins so he's excited for those.

My friend Scott has an incredible backyard garden and he is my inspiration. It's taken him ten years to get where he is and he just expanded a little bit more year after year. That is what I hope to do. Gotta keep dreaming big.

Cooling Down In The Pool

Well, it's April and you know what that means... winter is over and it's finally time get back in the pool. It was 93 degrees today so a refreshing dip sounded pretty good. Our outside is becoming the center of our home life yet again. With a nearly three year old, life with a pool is much different than it was last year. He jumped off the diving board for the first time today into my arms. We have a water lover on our hands.


Owen really enjoyed the first swim of the year.


Carrie contented herself by relaxing with a book. She's studying up on organic gardening now that we have our side yard in order. We have two raised planters, the best compost on Earth and a variety of vegetables just waiting to occupy the same place at the same time. It's getting there as I type this.

Wishing everyone warm thoughts from your Arizona getaway.

Happy April Fool's Day

May you not look foolish today - happy Friday!

Amigos and BBQ

Ed had to work yesterday and Dawn was watching Miles so we decided to do an impromptu daycare date. Wren (mom), Niah (4 yrs), Grae (3 months), Owen (3 yrs), me (mom), Dawn and Miles (3 yrs) piled into Dawn's van and headed downtown to the Arizona BBQ festival. It was gorgeous, with good food, music and games and utterly exhausting.


The three amigos. It's so fun watching these guys grow up together. They now have full on conversations with each other. It's kind of sad because all three will be leaving the daycare by summer and heading off to different preschools. We (the parents) were going to try and keep them together but we all live in different cities so it wasn't realistic.


Miles and Owen act like they are brothers. They like each other one minute and start beating up on each other the next. Right now, they love finding what irritates the other and exploiting that to its fullest. By the end of this trip, I was exhausted just trying to keep peace.


Niah is an incredible little girl. She is this curly haired wild child. She is such a handful but can get away with it because she looks like Shirley Temple. Owen is on a Niah kick right now and talks about her all the time. Niah is good for Owen because she is outgoing yet acts like a bigger sister to him. She was in the bounce house at the bbq festival and Owen was nervous about getting in. So she gets out and says, "What wrong Owen? You need help or something?" and proceeds to pretty much throw him in the bounce house. After which Miles tackled the crap out him. Gotta love friends.

Jen and the Boys

Jason and Jackson realize that being a snowbird could be nice.


Good food, good company, and a little nap


Playing with the hose in the Arizona sun.


Chheeessse!

Double Trouble

We haven't even finished posting our photos from our San Diego trip and we have another round of photos we need to throw up. Jason, Jen and Jackson are in town soaking up the sun and enjoying spring training in the desert. It's been wonderful for us having them around though Owen may disagree at times. He loves Jen and Jason but this baby.... well he's not sure about this baby.


Mom! Baby made mess. He in trouble.

Mom! Baby touched toys. He in trouble.

You get the picture. Fortunately Jackson is one cool cat and doesn't take it personally. In fact, he seems to be getting attached to this little man that he calls, "O."

Seeing Grandma & Grandpa At Seaworld: Owen's First Choco-Hooter

The reason we went to San Diego is because we got last minute word that my Dad and Carol were going to be in town. Carrie and I recognize a choco-hooter when we see one so we jumped in the car and headed west. It was very nice to see everyone we love and it was also great to be back in a city we love.


Owen's getting the run-down from Grandpa. Owen got a chance to spend quite a fair amount of time absorbing Grandpa's pearls of wisdom. I think they both enjoyed that.


The only sad part of this trip was that it had to be over so soon. Everyone was in great spirits and I know we had a wonderful time seeing everyone. A few hours with family is just enough time to remember how much you miss them.


Nick and Tanya made this trip an impromptu family reunion. The think I love about Nick is he lives in the moment. I don't think I've ever known someone who is as up for anything at any given moment. These are two very special people and I am so happy for them and to be a part of their life together.


Watching people in an inner tube get sprayed by people on the sidelines brings smiles to everyone's faces.

Somehow shoulder rides on Uncle Nick's shoulders are more fun. Tough to say why.

Quote of the trip:
Ed: There they are across the street in that playground. Nick, why didn't you see them?

Nick: I'm tall, I don't have X-ray vision.

Speaking of favorite quotes, if you're curious about the post title, it's an Al Bundy quote.

1st Family Road Trip

Owen's excited; he has no idea that a 6 hour road trip is in store for him. I think the excitement wore off at around hour 4 or so and he didn't care about the beach anymore. All was well when we actually got to the beach though (more on that later).


I'm also excited, despite my knowledge of the time commitment. I had a lot to look forward to: our first road trip as a family, going back to San Diego, my Dad & Carol and Nick & Tanya occupying the same space and time as us, Sea World with Owen & the fam, and lastly, giving our new car a chance to shine (Nice, comfortable road-tripper and 38 mpg round-trip to boot).


Pit stops take on a new dimension when traveling with potty training toddlers, though. To his credit, Owen was by and large a rock star the entire trip, even when he had reason not to be (again, more on that later).

Pit stop!

Street Fair Fun

We had a very nice weekend. Yep. Very nice indeed. The weather was gorgeous. We got two trucks loads of free dirt (more on that later). We finished our weeding. Finally, we went to the M7 Street Fair and Car Show and happened to run into our favorite Phoenix couple Staci and Brandon.

I absolutely love street fairs. Those and farmer's markets would have to be my happy places. This particular street fair made Owen happy too because it also included a car show.


Checking out the old cars. Owen was bummed he couldn't drive them.


First thing he does when he comes up to car is check out the tires.


Enjoying some food while listening to a band play. We took Owen to Coldstone for the first time last weekend and he is completely hooked on ice cream. He was supposed to share that bowl of ice cream with me but when I asked if I could have a bite he sweetly said, "No ice cream. But you can have daddy's popcorn!"

No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problem!

Nobody mentioned anything about no pants.