We had more Midwest visitors seeking refuge from the winter.  Sadly the temps cooled while they were here making it a bit warmer in KS!! 

Marcia & her 2 kids arrived Friday the 18th and stayed until the next Wednesday.  We had a fun time shopping, painting, playing & eating!

Aidan introduced Dallen to the world of Transformers & Super Heroes.  In fact they played with their transformers in the doll house!! :)

 

Saturday we took the boys shopping while the girls stayed home to “help” Matt start the bunk bed building. Here they are “saying good-bye” as we pulled away. :) They kept busy all weekend with crafts, playing school & bossin’ the boys!!

Sunday was a lot of fun! We attended church & enjoyed lunch at Peter Piper Pizza or Peeper Piper Pizza according to Aidan. (imagine Chucky Cheese). 

Following lunch we took advantage of the nice weather at Westport in Glendale. It’s a small shopping center next to the Cardinals Stadium with fountains set to music, restaurants, movie theater & a splash pad for kids to play in.  Oh…and MARBLE SLAB!!! ;)

Chillin’ outside Margarita Ville.             A shot of all 4…well 3 & Dallen’s best side!!

Marble Slab!! YUM! They all got various kinds of ice cream with gummy bears.

Dallen with his rrrred tongue.  And the free entertainment they begged for…

You can see their hesitation in getting wet…..at first. :)

Before long the boys were all in…SOAKING wet!!

Marcia & I chillin’ as the kids had the onset of hypothermia.  Emma, whom has NEVER enjoyed being wet, sat out & watched the crazies!!

Monday we started work on the boys’ room.  We are graduating them out of crib & toddler bed soon so we put a fresh coat of Khaki & then started to plan the stripes.  Their bedding has 2 shades of blue, apple green, orange & brown.  (from Target) The stripes are now done…pics to follow soon.

Then there’s little Isaac.  Poor lil guy struggled with a fever prior to their arrival and then started coughing & snotting on Saturday.  Matt woke up sick to his stomach on Monday too.  I took Isaac to the Dr. Monday & got some cough meds.  He’s still snotting today but hopefully he’ll get better soon.

  

Always great of have company!!!  To bad the weather was cooler and over cast :(  Very seldom is it overcast here and it was 3 of the days they were here.  Marcia & I questioned how families with more than 5 kids do it.  It was constant motion & constant mess. :) The kids had a ball playing & were fighting like siblings by the time they left!! :)  Hard to believe it will be June before we see them again.  But it’s almost April already!! WOW!!

Welcome back to you my 2 readers & welcome back to myself from an unintentional blogging break.  This break was brought to you by “funk”. A funk I was in. Privately.  It’s not THAT kinda blog.  I was feeling recluse & not interested in even sharing ho-hum boring daily stuff on here.

A funk where bloggin, scrapping, snappin pictures & many other things I love simply didn’t bring me joy.  There was no joy so there was no desire.  Honestly my desire to do many things were nill. My house showed it, my laundry heap resembled it & my children would speak to my lack of patience.

A valuable lesson was learned b/c of this funk. A lesson this song Day After Day by Kristian Stanfill speaks of. I’ve listened to this often in the past weeks.  Here’s a snippet:

“Men will try to rule the world You made
But we know power is Yours alone to give and take
A day will come when every knee will bow
And every tongue confess that You are Lord
Both now and forever

Day after day our God is reigning
He's never shaken, my hope is in the Lord
Time after time our God is faithful
Trustworthy Savior, my hope is in the Lord

The fear of man and what they plan will fade
But we know You alone are God of every day
Like the flowers, man will rise and fall
But You are everlasting, never ending God eternal”

Your joy can not be found behind a camera lens, in front of a computer screen or with paper, scissors & pictures. You can not place your happiness, joy or allow your overall attitude to be determined by the actions of others.  Not a friend. Not a spouse. Not a single human. When there are struggles in your life there is only ONE that you should place your hope in. And He will fill you with peace.  He will provide hope when there’s none to be found. He is the answer to all things.

So, GOOD NEWS I’m on my outta the funk.  (or trying…depends on the day….rrrrr….hour) I found my happy place. Adjusted my attitude. And re-oriented my focus where it should have been all along. Upward.

I started my bloggie catch-up with a post below that is soooo “last year”. :) And more to come….

Waay past due is this post.  Like so “last year”.

This was the week after Christmas.  The week.O.Emma. Papa & Gma came from KS to help her celebrate turning 7.

Luckily Phoenix hosted a parade for her bday.  The Fiesta Bowl parade. :)

Meet Sheriff Joe & his entourage.

SomeONE plllllease drag me out of AZ if we remain here long enough for me to participate in an old lady pom-pom squad!!  Jealous, you might ask. YES.  Some of these ole gals were in better shape than I am!!!

My BIG {coooold} 7 year old.

Kids LOVE the balloons.

A tractor to remind of us “home”.

OU drum line.  Neat pic…but their band paled in comparison to the East coast band of the other team…whom I can’t remember their name :)

Oh…and the boys were there too…

Parade was followed by lunch at her most favoritest place!!

Followed by Papa & Daddy going to the Fiesta Bowl game. {no photo as grown men don’t seem to appreciate being subjects of photos}

Sadly Papa had to cut his visit short & daddy went back with Gma b/c Great Gma Zona passed away.  She’s at peace now. Reunited w/ Gpa George Aden after so, so many years. 

How can it be that she is already seven? My baby girl.  I can still remember the day this family photo seemed “complete”. 

With the request of a zebra and hot pink cake & a little girl that likes to watch Cake Boss the pressure was on to make a classy cake!!  I tried my hand at making marshmallow fondant…which was SUPER easy!!  There were several disasters at making the actual cake (which is the part I had done before with ease!!) and the fondant was a lot like playing with play dough.  Zebra stripes were a super easy task!! The bday girl was pleased and I quote “Wow mom.  You’re as good as Karra!!”  My life’s mission complete!!

 

We broke our bday rule and had the party at a “kid” location in AZ called Peter Piper Pizza. (picture Chucky Cheese).  I think having it outside the house distracted Emma from the fact that very few people where there!!  Gma & Papa flew in that day, our new neighbors came with their son & daughter that are “A” & “I” age, and one of Emma’s classmates families (minus the actual classmate) came.  They have a daughter “A” age and a son "I” age.

She was a very happy birthday girl!!

Gma, Mommy, Daddy & birthday girl.

 

Isaac wasn’t sure about his passenger.

To bad we weren’t in Vegas…she hit the 1000 ticket jackpot on the ticket machine!! Yay more tickets for trinkety toys!!

She got to make her own pizza. She loved that!

     

Here’s where I crush the hopes & dreams of the Ebay Barbie collector I bought this 1980 something NIB Barbie Fashion design toy.  But look at the excitement on her face!! Totally.worth.it!

 

My reader reading her cards!!  New HAND made barbie clothes Gma bought her.  The detail on them is C.r.A.zY!

Puppy potty training Barbie.  THAT is an interesting toy! Complete with newspaper that turns yellow or brown for the “mess”.

 

Then comes the agonizing torture fun of spending your tickets at the massive.amounts.of.crapolla.toys.counter.

 

Here’s a shot of Emma the next day (as we prepared to go to the Fiesta Bowl parade!!) at the exact moment she turned SEVEN!! 9:25 a.m.

She is a very sweet girl.  Excited to shop & loves any thing fun, colorful, animal print & related to fashion.  She loves to eat meat, hates veggies, can down a salad like no child I’ve ever seen and enjoys chinese food as well.  She has a bit of spunk & sass, yet the tantrums & fits have lessened the older she gets. She adores her baby brother, yet mostly annoyed with they older-little brother. She LOVES her daddy, yet butts heads with him constantly!!  She loves school, “writing” music, making up her own dances and all things crafty.