Return to Tucson

For Spring Break our family headed down to Tucson to visit our good friends the Ross' and see some favorite sights including the Desert Sonoran Museum and The Tucson Botanical Gardens.  Here, our two budding entomologists search for pretty little winged things at the Butterfly Exhibit.

Au. is transfixed by some beautiful black and red butterflies that were flying just outside the angle of my lense.  Sorry.

A., P. & C. pose in front of two specimen of the mighty Saguaro cactus.

It is a little known fact that our friends have the single best DVD collection in the southwest.  Here, Jay and his pinks snuggle up while taking in one of the Ross' many movies.

Thanks so much J. & C.!  We had a fabulous time!

Somebody Just Turned 1

On March 8th we celebrated Au.'s first birthday with a homemade cake, presents, and a skype call with Grandma and Grandpa

Happy First Birthday, Au.!  We love you!

Pink and Greens

A few months ago our family decided it was time to try our hand at vegetable gardening.  First we built two planter boxes on the west side of our house.

Then we filled them with 50% dirt from our yard, 50% mulch from the store, planted a tomato plant, basil plant, two pepper plants, and sowed seeds for green onions, carrots and lettuce.

Then we waited.

And watered.

And waited.

And fertilized.

And waited.

And then.....there was an early frost and we lost the peppers, the basil, and nearly all the tomatos.  Sad.  We planted broccoli and cauliflower in place of the peppers.

And we kept on watering.

And waiting.

And then.....

Our garden actually grew!  We've harvested the broccoli, green onions, lots of carrots, and we've been eating salads twice a week since the beginning of January with all the lettuce we grew.

And we've got a whole new crop of flowers on the tomato plant so we have high hopes that they'll ripen before the weather gets too hot.  It's been a great family project and we're proud of the Pinks for helping every step of the way.

Hey Mom, I Want A Party, Too!

As February drew closer, P. grew ever more excited for her very own party to celebrate her fourth birthday.  She decided early on that she wanted a "Hello Kitty" themed event.  Once again, I drew inspiration from my friend M.M.'s blog.  Here's what I came up with:

FOOD 

I decided on a 'pink & white' theme for the meal.  We served strawberries, cheese sticks, pink fruit roll-ups, pink lemonade, and peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwiches on pink (yes, I made it myself and dyed it pink) bread.

DECOR

A neighbor of ours has a plotter at work and was kind enough to print off four poster-sized images of Hello Kitty for us.  (Thanks so much Mulfords!!)  We used them both as decor and for the games.  The girls colored their own pictures of Hello Kitty which were taped to the walls.  Then we added a banner, a dozen balloons, and stuffed a few Hello Kitty bags I happened to have on hand with tissue paper to put in the corners of the room because you can never have enough pink.

GAMES

"Pin the bow on the Kitty"

"Ring Around the Kitty"--P. held this Hello Kitty mask in front of her eyes while her party guests sang a familiar tune (Hello Kitty style) and turned in a circle around her:

"Ring around the Kitty,

Oh she looks so pretty,

Pink bows, pink bows,

We all fall down."

When the singing stopped, P. removed the mask and whoever had fallen down right in front of her got to be the new "Kitty" in the middle.

THE CAKE

Once again, I received a fantastic coupon in the mail for 50% off a cake from a local grocery store bakery.

THE GUESTS, THE GIFTS, AND THE BIRTHDAY GIRL

Thanks so much to all our family and friends who made this day a special one for our little girl.  Happy Birthday, P.!  We love you!

Head Colds, Go Away!

A plague of nasty head colds has recently descended upon our family.  Three out of three Pinks developed ear infections and two out of three Pinks ended up developing bronchiolitis.  Pictured below is a view of the mini apothecary that formed on our kitchen counter on account of all the medications and other devices that were necessary to rid our family of the microscopic invaders.

Although we had to add an additional two rounds of antibiotics beyond what is pictured here, I'm happy to report that all three Pinks are finally on the mend.  Hooray for Amoxicillin, Augmentin & Albuterol!! 

The Toothless Wonder

Right before Christmas, three teeth in A.'s little mouth started to wiggle.  Then on December 29th, the first one came out.

It's hard to see, but there is a tiny little tooth in her hand.  After it fell out she made the observation that if the other two were to fall out shortly thereafter then the toothfairy would owe her "major bucks!" 

Wouldn't you know it, the second tooth popped out three days later on New Year's Day.

Then the third tooth fell out about a week after that.  Yep folks, that toothfairy ended up paying her some "major bucks!"

My Apologies to the Readers

I don't know what happened.  I swear I took more pictures.  I mean, it was Christmas for crying out loud and we were in Utah spending the holidays with family.  So I should have been snapping photos left and right, documenting every second of this special and momentous intersection of the lives of so many of our loved ones.  But alas, when I came home and took an inventory of my photos, I was dismayed to discover that all I really have on my camera's memory card are shots of my kids wildly opening up their gifts.  It makes us appear so materialistic.  And maybe we are.  So my apologies to the readers that the following entry is basically a documentation of our children's Christmas gift-opening frenzy.  I swear, we did a lot more than just open up presents.

Here's a shot of the Christmas tree that A. and P. decorated all by themselves on Christmas Eve at Gma M.'s house.  (I guess I did get at least one photo that doesn't have a present in it.)

Au. examines her sisters' workmanship.

And the present-fest begins!  First we see what Santa brought us.  (Thanks Santa!)

Then we open what Grandma gave us.  (Thanks Grandma!!)

Then we drive to our other Grandma's house and open up even more presents there with our cousins.  (Thanks again Grandma and Grandpa!)

And when we're all done opening up our presents, we help Grandpa open up his.

Au.'s just glad she didn't get lost in all that ripped up wrapping paper!

Gearing Up for Christmas

Santa's little helpers spread holiday cheer in the season's latest fashions.  Didn't you know?  Pink is the new red.

P. perfects the art of playing the role of a reindeer in her pre-school holiday recital.

A. gives Santa some helpful gift suggestions in a letter than she wrote and addressed all by herself.  She even drew a stamp--it's a self portrait.

And the Taylor family continues in their new favorite tradition of a special Christmas campfire.  The hot dogs were plentiful, the s'mores were divine and Dad helped us all remember the reason for the season as we listened to him read the story of Jesus' birth while gazing at the starry Arizona sky.

A Splash-tastic Birthday!!!

A. Turns Six 

I have an extraordinarily talented friend who, from the genius of her very own head, comes up with cute and creative ways to throw amazing birthday parties on very tiny budgets and then blogs about it.  So when it came time to throw a birthday party for A., I tried to take a page out of my friend's book (er, blog) and see what I could come up with. 

M.M.--this blog entry is dedicated to you. 

 

A. decided to commemorate turning 6 by having an "Under the Sea" themed birthday party.  Here she is all decked out in her Ariel costume standing next to the "pin the tiara on Ariel's head" game.  No, I didn't make it--I bought it at Party City so no points scored for being creative here, but I thought the food ideas I came up with were somewhat original.

 

 Starfish Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches--Go star shaped cookie cutters!

 Seaweed Salad made from fruit roll-ups.  It looked totally cute in the serving bowl but then the fruit strips starting sticking to each other making it hard to dish out.

Apple slice sailboats floating on a pool of blue colored water sealed inside ziploc baggies.

And here's everybody enjoying the food.  We also served goldfish crackers to round out the "fish" food theme. 

 We hung streamers in front to the kitchen in hopes of making it look like a waterfall but we ran out of streamers before we were able to create the effect. Who knew that I would need more than 200 feet of streamers?!?

 After lunch the girls went outside to paint an underwater mural.

Once the mural had been painted, the games had been played, and the presents had been opened, it was time for cake.  No, I didn't make this cake either, the grocery store did, but it was free (I got a coupon in the mail).  So no points scored for creativity but I feel that I should definitely get some extra credit for being economical.

Here's the birthday girl making her wish.

And one final shot of the hostess who actually had quite a bit of fun putting this all together for her little girl.  Happy Birthday, A.!  I love you!!