Happy 7th Birthday Phoenix

Our little Phoenix turned 7 today. I can't believe he's this big already. His current likes are of course Meat. Also on the list is any sport which involves a ball, puck, stick, sword, gun, 4-wheeler, bike, skateboard...you get the idea. Phoenix is also getting really good at playing the piano, and is turning into an amazing reader, his favorite series is "Stink Moody." We're still working on losing some more teeth. But all in all, he's our boys boy and we love him.

The day before his birthday I woke him up and informed him that he got to pick the meals for the day on his birthday, so I wanted to know what I'd need to buy at the store. When he came upstairs to tell me he asked for some clarification. "Did you say I got to pick the RULES on my birthday? Because if that's true me and London get to play Wii all day and the girls get to do the chores." Little stinker. When we understood meals instead of rules he picked all meat. I swear this kid invented the Atkins diet.

Breakfast consisted of scrambled eggs with cheese, sausage, bacon and some biscuits on the side.

Lunch was normal but Sicily and I spent an hour making his class cupcakes which were gone in 5 mins.

Dinner was again all about the meat. Hamburgers with bacon, pulled pork, BBQ sauce and a bit of cheese.

Can you see that "this is Heaven" look in his eyes?

He also wanted mashed potatoes and corn on the cob on the side. But he only made it this far into the meal and he was stuffed. I can't imagine why. :)

We waited an hour or 2 before desert. Fruit Pizza was the choice this year. YUM!!!

We sure do love you Phoenix! Not sure how our family would get on with out you.

The official Birthday Party is on Friday after school. So keep reading to see how it goes.

Happy St. Patty's

The day finally came. The kids have been looking forward to pinching each other for weeks. But sadly enough they were all wearing green, so nobody got pinched. They even made sure to wear green in their pajamas the night before so they wouldn't get pinched in the morning.

Our good friends, the McKinnons, held a St Patrick"s Day Party. The kids had already worn their green to school on Friday so they weren't sure what to wear the day of. Looking in my own closet with that question in mind I spotted my Blue Bell Fun Run T-Shirt. So we all matched with our green.

We had so much fun at the party. Green, green everywhere. Plenty of balloons,

tattoos, and dress ups. This is their youngest, Laurelyn. I love the glasses girly.
And lots of green food. There was even green bread for the chicken sandwiches. One boy asked if it was moldy, while he was eating it. :)
One family came a little later and brought these awesome wigs for the kids. Nice do London! Green is definitely your color.
We played a couple of games. This was musical shamrocks. Just like musical chairs. The boys had played earlier and got their fill of dancing, but Aspen and Sicily are always up for a bit of music.

I was kind enough to dress up their Newfoundland, Daisy. She held still long enough for us to take a few pictures. Then she bowed her head to get the wig off and ran away.
Hope everyone else had as good of a St. Patty's as we did. Come round next year, I'm told there will be another GREEN party.

Mom I need Help!

"I can't zip up my jammas."

"What? Just zip them up, you're fine"

"I can't"

"Aspen, go help your sister."

Apparently she did need some help. I'm not too sure how they actually got these zipped up. No wonder she needed help. Took me 5 minutes to turn them the right way.

Fuzzy Wuzzy was a Bear

My girls hair may be bone straight, but if we braid it or put it in curlers, it rises to the occasion.

The Cone of Shame

Poor Beaux had to go to the vet. We thought he had fleas because he's been chewing on his backside, so I gave him a treatment but after 3 days he was still chewing. I decided to take him to the vet when he'd chewed himself a bald spot.

It ended up being a hot spot. More or less they get sweaty and hot and find a place to chew. He'd cut the skin and given himself and infection. So now some meds. every day and "The Cone of Shame."Poor pup, he hates it. He's scared to death of it and won't even walk around when he has it on. He tries to cut corners and ends up banging into the wall, then runs around like a mad man because he's all freaked out. 3 days though, that's all he has to wear it for. Or until he stops chewing.

Dragon Fruit

You ever had dragon fruit? Well, I have, but my kids have not. So when I saw them for sale at the store I picked one I thought was ripe and brought it home for breakfast. The kids thought it was great. Taste a bit like kiwi, but a lot more colorful. London ended up taking some to school with his lunch.

Just Enough Snow

I've never actually seen the snow pile up in the windows. I think it's the prettiest thing. Daddy was shoveling the walk while it was snowing, but it was a lot of snow.Sicily was such a good helper, as you can see. She was still in her PJ's, but that really doesn't count if you've got the snow pants on and everything.
After school it was time to play. It warmed up enough to make the snow nice and wet, perfect for Snow Caves. I helped London collect the snow from the street, sidewalk and yard to pile it up deep enough for our cool cave. Hence the shovels. "Mom it's so warm in here." "Just wait London, in a few years you'll get to camp in one of these for Scouts."

Zumba!

Some of you may know I have a bit of a fetish with Zumba as of late. I'm actually going home to Utah for Easter, not only to visit family but also to get certified to teach. I'm really excited and rather nervous, but mostly excited. My older sister just posted on her blog about Zumba and had this awesome picture that pretty much sums it all up.

I love Zumba!

New Back Posts

Nothing new right now, but I just put up a bunch of back posts. Read back and tell me what you think.

Trail Running

Again we are starting Marathon Training, and Beaux was up for the challenge. We ran 4 miles today, and since the snow is melting but not all gone the trails were not exactly dry. Which, in Beaux's opinion, makes it even better. As you can see he had the time of his life.
I, on the other hand, was so preoccupied by how filthy my dog was that I didn't notice how dirty I was. I had mud splattered up to my waist. Dang it! And I had just washed those pants.

All Sorts of Love

We've been craving something non-chocolate. So since Daddy was out of town we decided to make an Apple Sauce Spice Cake. Yummm! Add a bit of Cream Cheese Icing and you are all set. And since Family Home Evening was all about Love at Home the words were added for some fun.

Play Time

Every now and then these 2 actually get along and play together. This particular time was just after church, as you can tell from the clothes. They were supposed to be getting up to the table for lunch but decided on horsey rides instead.And just a bit of wrestling. What's the fun of horse rides if you can't wrestle too.
And Sicily did get a few rides too, but I think Phoenix got more than her.

So TIred

We've been having some pretty busy weekends, as of late. London finally pooped out one Saturday night. We kept calling and calling him up for dinner and finally went down to find him. I guess he was just too tired.

Beaux?

My dog frequently gets out of the backyard. The gate is really crappy and the kids can never shut it right. That being said I was still rather surprised when I saw him walking down the road a 1/2 mile from home at 11:00 at night. I slowed to a stop and was about to open my door to get the dumb dog in the car when I realized...that is not my dog.

Welcome to Canada Suzy. That's a Coyote!

Calgary Zoo

Wow! What a fun trip to the Zoo we had. We were smart enough to get a membership and I can guarantee we'll be going back.

The Calgary Zoo is the 2nd Largest in all of Canada. And they just opened a Penguin exhibit. The kids were so excited. They'd only let 60 people in at a time, give you a little schpeel then let you wander.

This little female King Penguin likes to splash, and Sicily was right in the right spot. Got her right on the head and down her body. Too funny.

They have 4 varieties, that I can't remember their names at the moment, but we loved them all.

Especially this little guy with the hairy head. So funny.

Aspen's class in Texas did a study about penguins and this was the breed she got to learn about and dress up as. She was super excited to have her picture taken with him.
So now we exit to the world of Canada. And since we already saw some of these in the wild, the kids thought it was great that we got to see one up closer.
Great Camouflage. He was hanging out right above the entrance. We almost missed him. This aviary had plates of food for the owls. Things like mice and dead baby chicks. The chicks were kind of sad to see. But hey, it's food I guess.
Hedwig! That's where you've been hiding.
We've only been closer to 1 buffalo than this one. It was in Yellowstone State Park where the thing almost licked our car window. I much prefer the fence.
Yak, Water buffalo...not really sure. But hey, he looks warm.
Inside we go to see the Porcupines. They had a cardboard box covered in peanut butter to play with. They were having a hay day.
The fattest animal in the world, I think, is the hippo. These things were huge. They had facts about them all over the walls. Phoenix's favorite was that the hippo can flip it's poo up to 17 ft to mark it's territory. Only a 6 year old boy would find this amazing and not disgusting.
And though they weren't flipping poop you can tell by Phoenix's reaction that it's pretty stinky in here anyway.
I some how always manage to get awesome shots of the Tigers. That or these animals are really good at posing.

He was licking and licking and licking that pole. I'd really like to know why.

"Please can I come out to play??? Please Mom, can I go outside? Please?"

These gorillas were awesome. Usually it's just a silver back that sits there and picks his nose. These females were running all over the place and even had a wrestling match for us. "Wow, look at their teeth!" The kids were entranced. We even saw a group outside in the snow, huddling under piles of hay and wrapping their arms around themselves to stay warm. It was kind of freaky how human they were. All I could think of was "Rise of the Planet of the Apes."

Break time. Time to play. Funnest little playground. And big enough for everybody.

I think she needed to use the bathroom. Not too sure why she's making that face.

So that's Aspen and London up there with that cute little snake hanging above them.

We so very much miss Australia. Everyone wanted to be the joey.

Phoenix taking a Joey nap.

Aspen tried to and got stuck. Seriously, we had to wedge her out. It was hilarious.

It was really cold outside so we went into the botanical gardens to warm up a bit.

These flowers are just cool, even Phoenix was interested. Spiky and all.

Sicily and I thought these looked like butterflies. We miss our Butterfly Garden at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

You almost could eat this it looks so pretty.
Some little violet to finish off the day.

So though the zoo was lots of fun, next time we will be coming when it's a bit warmer.