Preschool

So we just submitted our application for our 2 year old to attend preschool in the fall. Am I the only one that realizes that they're toddlers...not college kids?!! And now we get to wait in anticipation to see if he gets accepted into this prestigious higher academic world. I'm sure the coloring and painting supplies must be far superior to what lowly products we have at home. Maybe their toys are laced with brain growing stimulants?? I highly doubt that my parents had to fill out pages and pages of information in order to enroll me into preschool. Heck, did I even go to preschool?! I probably learned how to count from hearing my Mom frantically numbering off the kids to see how many were undoubtedly lost in the aisles of the grocery stores.

Since Anden can in no shape or form stay within the coloring confines, we'll let you know if his good looks pull him through. Yes, we had to include headshots with his application.

Nash Bear

Continuing with the frugal weekend theme, Anden was invited to a Birthday Party at Build-a-Bear. We had never been there before. Something about paying $50 for a stuffed animal that would certainly be used as a death defying stunt man had deterred me from entering this cult. But upon realizing it was on another parent's dime, we quickly RSVP'd! We were one of the first to arrive so we mistakenly let Anden wander around the store on his own to search for the perfect bear. I stood there in awe of the plethora of outfit choices! My inner child wanted to run and grab every pair of leggings, shoes, dresses, hats and begin fashion consultations with each bear. My daydreams were abruptly interrupted when Anden returned beaming with excitement and holding two big stuffed overpriced motorcycles; one under each arm. "Mommy I found it! I want a motorcycle!" The birthday girl and her mom were standing next to me. So I smiled at him through gritted teeth and kindly told him "No honey, we're making a bear!". He wailed, "I don't want a bear!! I want a motorcycle!!" I knew this was a battle I was going to lose. Jeremy quickly drug him away as to not crush the birthday girl's bubble. After somehow managing to get the motorcycles out of Anden's grip, the party began! I have to admit, this really is a cute concept. Why didn't I think of this business idea? Guaranteed guilt for every parent to spend ridiculous amounts of money on their child all while quickly being inducted into the repeat offenders club by returning often.

First he selected his shell of a bear. Pretty creepy I thought. Looked like a dead animal that would soon be a nice throw rug. Then he had to get the heart working. Luckily our child knew placing the heart on your nose would in fact not kick start a heart beat.



Then he got to "stuff" the bear. He liked this part the best. Probably because it involved power tools.

Apparently our son is fond of obese animals because he was not about to release that foot pump. The patience dwindling lady kept saying "That's enough Anden, Ok stop Anden, Ok please pull away your foot!!" We quickly manhandled his foot away from the pedal while he pleaded "I want more snow in my bear!" However after she handed him the overweight finished product, he immediately forgot about the foot pedal and joyously embraced his new friend.

After that, he managed to scrub portions of the fur off of his bear. Great, now it's fat and bald.

Once the bear was properly scrubbed clean. The ominous task of selecting the perfect outfit began. Again we sent Anden out to wander. But this time Jeremy strategically placed himself blocking the motorcycles. I held my breath to see what attire he would select for his bear; considering 95% of the store is geared for girls. Luckily he proved his masculinity and came back with this outfit! We haven't brainwashed him at all!

Before we were done, we had to name the bear for his birth certificate. I asked Anden what he wanted. I started suggesting Shaqtus (one of his favorite names to say) and then he interrupted me and said "Steve Nash Bear". So I proudly smiled and typed Nash as his first name. My girlfriend leaned over laughing (knowing my love for Steve Nash) and said "Did your Mommy pick that or you?!"

The party crew with their finished products! It was definitely a good time! The kids loved it! Thank you Bailey for inviting Anden!

And not to forget our little girl...Taylee was bouncing with joy (literally) at the prospect of getting her own bear too. We told her she could inherit Anden's tomorrow when he had already forgotten about it. Luckily she doesn't understand the concept of "hand me downs" and was thrilled nonetheless.

Unpaid Vacation

Lately all the buzz is about the recession and the economy. We have felt extremely grateful that we really hadn't been affected by it. Well our happy little bubble burst a couple weeks ago when our place of employment announced that certain upper levels of employees would be lucky enough to receive a 10% pay cut. How exciting that both Jeremy and I were part of the affected bunch. Maybe this is when the saying "don't put all of your eggs in the same basket" comes into effect! So we get a 20% pay cut for our household! However, we are allowed to take that 1 day off of work every 2 weeks (unpaid of course). So I immediately started dreaming and planning all of the fun 3 day weekend vacations we could take...until I remembered the minor detail called pay cut. I guess on to Plan B. I figured I could stick Anden out on the pristine streets of Anthem with a large donation mug or we break out the coupons/gift cards I collect but never manage to use. Considering the impeccable scenery of our neighborhood, a homeless little boy on the corner begging for money probably wouldn't be tolerated. So instead the frugal 3 day weekends begin. This past weekend was the beginning of our many to come unpaid vacations (as I lovingly refer to it). After unsuccessfully managing to score a free pass to the Zoo (story for another time), we opted for a matinee on Friday. We took the kids to Monsters vs. Aliens 3D!

We figured Anden's still free until he's 3 and ours will be matinee prices. So when I asked for 2 tickets and the teenage cashier said "That will be $18 (with a grin)". I about dropped my wallet. "Excuse me sir, shouldn't it be matinee prices?". He abruptly informed me "That is matinee prices. This is a 3D movie!!" (as if I had just insulted the 3D gods or something!) Geez, I hope the glasses he shoved through the window are made of gold!

No, the kids aren't picking they're noses. They're trying to keep those expensive glasses on their heads (or trying to eat them in Taylee's case). Clearly one size doesn't fit all!

Anden eventually mastered balancing his glasses on his little nose while still shoving fistfuls of healthy popcorn in his mouth.

Taylee, on the other hand, got the short stick. Not only did she have to be staring at the ceiling for her glasses to stay on, but she also wasn't allowed any popcorn. I know she was seething inside. About 5 minutes into the movie, neither child wanted anything to do with their glasses. I felt guilty that they might get a headache from the blurry image. So we spent the next hour taking turns shoving their glasses back on. Eventually we gave up and allowed their vision to deteriorate.

Anden loved the movie so much...he fell asleep.

Taylee managed to lose one of her favorite shoes (it's last picture alive is above). Her vision was so blurred she didn't know if she was eating one shoe or two. Little did we know it was the seat that ate the the second shoe.

Overall, we give the movie 3 stars! Or 3 and a 1/2 blurry stars for those that aren't wearing their glasses.


After the movie, we had a buy one get one free lunch at Sauce (compliments of me actually reading the junk mail and cutting a coupon) and then a free frozen yogurt at BerryGood (again, coupon!) I figured the food cost offset the movie cost! I've never understood the coupon craze until now. They really do save you money if you simply remember to use them! So if you see me in your garbage can with a pair of scissors, I'm salvaging your junk mail coupons for our unpaid vacations!

Mystery

We don't know what happened. But he emerged laughing...and she came out crying.

Hard Work

Sometimes we just make things harder than they should be!

Luckily she quickly realized the error of her ways and was able to kick back and enjoy the fruits of her labors!

Pool Party

Anden's big kick right now is "Mommy, I want to go to the beach". I have no idea where this request came from. He hasn't been to the beach since last year in Maui and I doubt he really remembers that trip. Well unfortunately our new house doesn't have a pool. So we've had to improvise in order to keep Anden's beach needs fulfilled. Thus enters the inflatable 2nd class pool.

To really make the event memorable, I even broke out the faded, torn, mildew infested floaties that Jeremy said he properly stored but yet I somehow found shoved in a heap on the side of the house! After Anden got over his intense envy that Taylee now inherited his blue one, he jumped right in and slammed to the bottom of the 1 foot deep pool. "Mommy mine's broken!" Katie: "No it's not, it works perfect, see you're floating!" Anden: "No Mommy my bummy's on the ground". Katie: "Yep honey and that means it's working!" I didn't feel the need to tell him that his butt shouldn't be slammed on the ground but rather gracefully floating!

Apparently my explanation was enough for him. He went on his merrily butt scraping way and had a great time.

Taylee, however, had the advantage in this situation. Her butt was only barely touching; and she doesn't know what a butt is anyway. So I was in the clear from providing her with an intelligent explanation as well.

They both had so much fun in that measly 1 foot of dirty hose water. "Mommy lets swim again tomorrow!" I didn't have the heart to tell him it would be infested with dead flys, bees, grass, animal excretions and mud by then. He'll soon learn our new special pool doesn't come with an automatic cleaning system but rather a plug in the bottom to release the filthy contents. Definitely high tech!

The New Sofa

I was upstairs putting Taylee down for a nap. Anden was being abnormally quiet. So I hurried downstairs to see why. I found this. Apparentally sitting on your bicycle on top of the ottoman without clothes (but with your binky) is the new cutting edge way to watch TV.

Luckily he was so sucked into Mickey Mouse, that he didn't hear me laughing and scrambling for my camera. I guess sofas are overrated.

R.I.P. Phoenix Suns

The Sun has set in Phoenix. We sadly mourn that our basketball season is officially over. Thank you Mr. Steve Kerr for bringing your brilliance to our organization; resulting in missing the playoffs for the first time in 4 years. We applaud your efforts & are bursting with enthusiasm to see what tricks you have up your sleeve for next year. At least you left the Kids Gym intact. Anden would have been devastated if you "revamped" that area of the organization as well!

To honor our dying Suns, we drug ourselves, children, backpacks, baby bjorns and hidden snacks to the final game of the season. We were already eliminated from the playoffs but it was Fan Appreciation night and who can resist a free tshirt?! The night started off with the treasure hunt to find the perfect parking. Upon finding the golden spot, we began the scramble to get the kids out of the car with clean diapers, clothes and faces and 4 people's worth of junk shoved into 1 backpack. I also emptied my wallet of cash, visa, suns gift card and shoved it all into my back pocket. Then I began the struggle of putting the baby bjorn contraption with it's 500 uncooperative straps on while trying to force my unwilling child into it. (really, who would want to dangle in that thing?! It does come in handy though. However I can never get the vision of Mini Me out of my head) During the chaos, I managed to unknowingly release the contents of my back pocket onto the street. After we finally coaxed Anden off the pole that he had climbed while we were putting Taylee in the papoose, Jeremy leans over holding my Visa and asks "Hey do you need this? It was on the street by the car." No honey, I meant to leave it there. I was hoping somebody would rob our bank accounts. "YES of course I need that!" I shoved the card back into my pocket, grabbed Anden with Taylee swinging from my chest and we started the trek to the Arena. With the distraction of trying to save Anden from the oncoming traffic, pedestrians and homeless beggars, I forgot to check what other contents fell out of my pocket. Long story short, if you wonder why some vagrants downtown are sporting brand new spiffy Suns attire...well I made a charitable donation to their unfortunate plight in life. Perfect! Just what I needed; another last minute tax write off! What category does losing my mind and belongings get filed under?

With it being the last game, we finally splurged and allowed Anden the pleasure of getting his face painted. We definitely got our $1 worth when we regretfully forgot to wash his face before bed and therefore he got to wear the remnants of it the next day too!

This time Taylee decided she was big enough to participate in the activities! Move out of her way, she's shooting 3's already! Ok so little did we realize the poor kid didn't see most of the night's events. Luckily a nice judgemental stranger alerted me to the fact that my daughter's hat was covering her eyes (and even her nose!) most of the night. Oops! Ok I admit, I knew it was too big for her but it matched her pants perfectly and she needed to learn that you just have to make sacrifices in the name of fashion! :-)

We had a great time as usual. Anden entertained the crowds, Taylee wiggled so much my back is still recuperating and we didn't even manage to drop any binkys or toys in the beer cups in front of us (yes, story for another time). Good luck in the off season Phoenix Suns! May your faith be stronger than ours that you'll still be intact next year.

The Streaker

Yesterday afternoon Anden really wanted to go outside and torment the trees, rocks and bugs with his new water blaster (the one that the Easter Bunny made a HUGE mistake getting him). So off he went. After awhile I figured I better check on him to make sure he hadn't scaled the wall and was shooting the neighbors. Panic sank in when I stepped outside the door and saw this...

My eyes darted around the backyard. A coyote must have stripped him of his clothing and carried him off. My son would never have voluntarily parted with his prized diaper. But to my dismay, I found my innocent little boy sitting there butt naked on top of the water table while singing/shouting Twinkle Twinkle Little Star into his "microphone".

I busted up laughing and he just looked at me with those bright blue eyes and said "What Mommy?! You wanna come sing with me?"

*disclaimer* in order to avoid child pornography charges, I willingly added "pasteys" over his privates as to maintain a PG rating! I'm sure he'll thank me for that when he's older!

Easter

We had an action packed Easter! We started the day at the crack of dawn. The kids were more than pleased to see that the Easter Bunny had found them after all (regardless of my threats that if Anden knocked over Taylee one more time than Easter was cancelled!) Luckily the Easter Bunny has baby endangerment memory loss and still brought the kids baskets full of treats, toys, new chairs and new Easter outfits! Taylee thought Anden looked hilarious in his bunny ears and kept laughing at him. Little did she realize that she was graced with an even worse head piece! I've decided it's one of our parental privileges to sacrifice our children's pride for our own amusement.

The Easter Bunny was clearly a bit naive to believe that Anden could be trusted with his new Waster Blaster. We all were quickly punished for this misconception. Luckily Anden's new Easter chair was easily converted to the new Time Out chair. What a fun multipurpose present!

After a lengthy list of rules, Anden was released to the wild to torture anything in his path.

After he successfully broke every rule on his list, we moved on to dying Easter eggs. This was our first experience with real dye and real eggs. I was a bit apprehensive and rightfully so. Luckily I thought ahead to place SEVERAL layers of newspaper over the counter. Crisis adverted!

When we finished scrubbing our skin raw to remove the egg dye, we moved on to the next event. Naptime! Sadly that only included Taylee and not myself. While Taylee was napping, we started the Easter Egg Hunt with Anden. He loved having absolutely no competition! Just him and a whole yard full of teeth rotting treats hidden in plastic eggs. (the freshly dyed real eggs didn't make the cut!) Anden found the eggs so quickly that we had to keep stealing them out of his basket from behind him and throwing them in bushes, trees, rocks for him to re-find! Then for every one we stole, another one fell out. Maybe next year he'll graduate to a bigger basket.

After our Easter Egg Hunt, Grandma and Papa Hospodka came up to see us! Of course as Grandparents, they fulfilled their duty to give better and bigger candy than the parents did. Anden was thrilled to say the least. Luckily Anden was bouncing off the walls. That enabled Taylee to get all the face time with Grandma.

So you ask, "How the heck did you fit in all of this before church??" Well when your kids wake up at 6am and you're one of the lucky fools that don't have church until 2pm, you have a lot of time on your hands! Finally 2pm rolled around and off we went to church. The kids really did look adorable in their new outfits! Anden told anyone that made eye contact with him, "Look at my new orange shirt!" Taylee was just all grins and giggles like usual.

After church and a disastrous photo shoot, we made a scrumptious Easter dinner full of non-ham related items or any other traditional Easter fare. Then we walked to the park to run off some energy (by some) and calories (by others). You can guess which group I was in. However, I did manage to break out some hidden soccer skills.

The sporting events were immediately ended upon Anden realizing that you really can catch grasshoppers. He apparently didn't figure out that they're jumping away from you for a reason. We deeply express our condolences and apologize to the friends and families of those poor bugs that he managed to catch.

We had a great Easter! Thank you Jesus for sacrificing for our sins and for the resurrection!

I'm sure that's what Anden was pondering when he sacrificed the grasshoppers.

Easter Portraits

After church, we decided to take a few pictures. It was such a beautiful sunny day and the kids looked adorable. We got a bunch of great shots! Here are some of the highlights...

The poor little thing never had a chance against the tsunami behind her

Someone couldn't resist that he wasn't part of the mother/daughter portrait

Both kids hiding their retinas from the burning sun while their parents grow veins out of their foreheads from the burning sun.

Deprived children pleading with God for the misery to end

All of the pictures were just as beautiful as these! I'm still torn as to which one will be blown up to 10x13 size and framed on our wall.

Maybe next time we'll try a studio instead??

Mud Anyone?

On Saturday we had planned to go to the lake. Apparently we hadn't checked the weather report. We woke up to a flooded back yard (by Arizona standards) and freezing temperatures (again by Arizona standards). By the time I arose from the dead, Anden was already in full force enjoying the abnormal weather.

We quickly scratched the lake idea and decided we would go out riding instead; once the rain ceased. Jeremy was too excited and apparently couldn't wait until the rain finished to teach Anden how to drive the big quad...in our backyard. Obviously his exhilaration overtook the battle with common sense. Arizona has 2 inches of sparse grass desperately holding on to the 2 inches of zero nutrient dirt/clay beneath it. So driving a large machine back and forth repeatedly on 20 feet of wet surface is probably not the best method to spruce up your landscaping for the summer.

After a quick reality check by the Buzz Killer (me), the vegetation destroying activities moved out to the street. The wide open space was a better environment for mastering driving skills. Although the back yard experience did make Anden a pro at putting the quad into reverse. I'm sure that is a talent that will haunt us later.

(Notice the grassy tires. I still mourn every blade we lost in the battle.)

Taylee wanted more than anything to join the boys in their rainy and brilliant escapades. We assured her that with a Dad like hers; her time would inevitably come soon!

Since we were already out, the boys decided to go ahead and load up the trailer...in the rain. Then we would be ready to head out when it stopped. The boys worked while the smart girls sat comfortably in their chairs within the safe confines of the garage and watched.

The boys were struggling to get everything they wanted onto the trailer. This was taking quite some time. The rest of us lost interest and went back inside. They finally came in to report we were loaded, rain had stopped & we were ready to go. The timing was impeccable. It was now nap time instead. So the kids went off to wonderland. We would head out when they awoke. The boys immediately said "great, that gives us more time to keep loading the trailer!" Katie: "Huh, I thought you said you were done??" Jeremy: "Oh there's always more we can do". When we finally walked outside to load up, this is the nightmare I saw parked in front of my house.

I'm sure our neighbors are still wondering what hick town these rednecks moved from! Apparently Jeremy really took to heart "No man (or toy) left behind!". I would have rather forgotten the white trash moment but Lyndsay took a picture to immortalize for our posterity.

Humbly, we climbed in and off we went to the nearby desert. The sun was shining and it was going to be a beautiful day after all! After an eternity of unloading everything (yes, the vertical quad as well), gearing up and strapping everyone in, we were FINALLY ready to ride! The adrenaline was kicking in. We revved up the engines and then I abruptly noticed my windshield was suddenly wet. "WHAT?!" I exclaimed! "It's been sunny and dry for 3 hours but NOW it starts to rain!!!" Well there was no way we were turning around now. I told Jer to grab the rain jackets and we would be off. Minor detail, he forgot the rain jackets back at home. Too bad for them, at least the women & children were well protected in the rhino! So off we ventured in the pouring rain. I suddenly had a great appreciation for the invention of windshield wipers...seeing as we didn't have any!! So forget the protection of the windshield, I still had to lean my head out the side into the harsh pelting rain! Let's just say it wasn't only rain hitting me in the face. We happen to have large tires on the rhino that forcefully throw up mud while you're driving. Good times.

Well the idiotic adventure continued. We were at the back of the pack and had no choice but to follow along. Unfortunately we were sliding like we were on skis rather than on tires. I looked down and immediately figured out why. Slick mud on slick mud isn't the most effective method.

After we stopped, we weren't able to get enough traction to move the beast forward. Anden was begging to get out and play. How could I deny him such a thrilling experience? So we dumped him in the mud alone while we sat in the rhino waiting for the boys to realize we weren't behind them! Anden was ecstatic that after 2 seconds walking around, there was as much mud on the bottom of his feet as there was on the tires! He had suddenly hit puberty and was growing taller right before our eyes!

Needless to say, we were immediately nominated for Parents of the Year. My 2 year old was swimming in mud and my 6 month baby was wrapped in a soaking wet blanket splattered with mud spots while sitting on my sister's lap, not in a car seat and in the front seat.

We eventually decided we better end the misery (absolute joy for others) and head back to the truck. Jeremy continued to lead the way on his dirt bike. He must have gotten amnesia because he was picking winding paths in between trees, catci, other poky objects that were clearly not wide enough for the rhino. I did my best to squeeze through. It obviously wasn't a success. I glanced over and noticed Lyndsay quietly sitting there without any knowledge she had been violated.

We finally made it back and began loading up. Suddenly, and conveniently, Jeremy realized he "forgot" to close the gate. So he just had to be a responsible citizen and go back. As if a cactus was going to escape? So the girls stayed behind while the boys fulfilled their civic duties.

I had a brilliant idea and told them just to drive the rhino back all the way home while we drove the truck/trailer. My selfish motives were ultimately so that the trailer wouldn't have to become a duct tape contraption again. We all agreed and off we went. Anden really wanted to go with the boys. I gave him a tight muddy hug and prayed I would see him again in this life.

Luckily my prayers were answered! They made it back to the house safely. The only strange thing was that his shoes/pants were soaking wet. Jeremy proudly beamed that he had already washed the mud off Anden's shoes ...by having him jump in big rain/mud puddles. Stellar idea! I'll make note of it next time I need to wash your laundry!

Overall it was one dirty wet infested adventure. Upon realizing it would be 115 degrees soon enough, we immediately enjoyed the beginning to harden mounds of mud solidifying to our belongings!