3 States: 1 Day

Eric had a quick job to do in Needles, CA on Saturday, so the kids and I hitched a ride with him.

First stop: California

Have I ever mentioned that Sadie can be quite a pain in the BEHIND to travel with?

You may ask what there is do in Needles, CA, and the long and short answer would be nothing! Luckily there was a park nearby, so the kids and I hung out there while we waited for him.

Fortunately Eric's job didn't take too long, so soon we were off to Oatman, AZ.

By the way we are doing crazy hand signals in some of the pictures, to pay homage to a T.V. show we watched this summer. On the show they had visited Oatman, and one of the families always made the I Love You sign whenever their picture was taken.

Oatman is a little Old West town situated on Route 66. It is named after Olive Oatman, who was traveling West with her family in the 1850's when she was captured by Indians. She was later freed close to present day Oatman, so they named the town after her. Here is her picture:

While she lived with the Indians, her face was tattooed. She is believed to be the first ever tattooed white woman. I wonder what number I am?

Some of the old gold miners brought burrows with them, but ended up abandoning them in town when they left. The descendants of those burrows still live there, and wander the streets of the town all day long, waiting for tourists to feed them. It was crazy cool!


Sadie was fascinated with the burrows, and loved feeding them. Quite unlike Megan and Jackson who seemed terrified. But...I can't blame Megan and Jackson too much. The burrows did not like waiting their turn to be fed, and did get a big aggressive. Just picture the crazy geese from the park, but on giant burrow scale.

Tractor posing!

Oatman also has a restaurant with walls covered in dollar bills. Patrons can write a message on a dollar, and tack it right on the wall. All of the walls are completely covered. Sadly, we were without a dollar, so could not leave a legacy.


The whole downtown is about a block long, and is lined with gift shops. Check out Miss Sade's hands on her hips. It is my new favorite picture of her.

Finally it was time time to head back to Nevada.

On our way home we made a quick stop in Laughlin to enjoy the river.

Oatman is only about 2 hours away from Las Vegas, and ended up being a great day trip. And isn't it seriously fabulous that we can travel to places like this in the middle of winter, and only need a long sleeved shirt? Another benefit of desert living.

A Curling Update

Ask me how happy I am that I never cut her hair.

A Sour Cream Obsession

Apparently I am obsessed with buying sour cream. At the grocery store I always think to myself, "I'm sure were almost out of sour cream." But guess what? Were not. No, we have four unused containers in our fridge. One of which is already expired. It would probably be a good thing if I was obsessively buying canned vegetables or flour. But sour cream? Really, how long could we last on that?

A few months ago I went through this same strange obsessive phenomenon with salsa. I finally put the kibosh on it, when we reached 6 bottles.

A Down Month Re-Cap

I have been out of the blogging mode. I think January is just a down month for me. I started blogging two years ago this January, and have noticed that each year including this one, I have nothing to say. But since, I attempt to keep a record of our life, here is some randomness.

As I was sitting here typing, Jackson yelled something from the other room, and Sadie yelled back, "JACKSON PLAY NICE!" You can tell she is the boss around here.

Speaking of Sadie, we have had quite a cute butterfly hanging around our house lately.

We also have quite a cute cheerleader hanging around.

For Christmas we received Wii Cheer. I am sure this will embarrass Jackson in 5 years, but he is the best cheerleader in the family so far. By the way, the skirt Megan is wearing was a skirt I wore to dance in when I was little. I also have all of my old children's books, that my kiddies love. Oh and Sadie is currently obsessed with 2 Cabbage Patch dolls that were mine. They are named Fannie Madeline and Doris Claudia! See hoarding tendencies sometimes pay off!!

Eric was gone all last week! I have decided that day 3 is the worst. I do just fine day one and two, but day three I start to lose my patience. But I rebound by day 4 and end up doing just fine. Anywho, this is what is looks like when Eric gets home from a long trip. Megan was lightning fast, so I couldn't get a picture of her racing to the door, but I snagged this one of Jackson and Sadie.

I planned to take more pictures, but the rush to the door ended up in a fight. There was some pushing and yelling, regarding who would be the first to jump on Eric. Can't we all just get along?

The Rain! I like rain. I enjoy every aspect of it, except in regards to school pick-up. There is no drainage around my kids school, so it is pretty much a river down every street. I expected to have to be rescued by helicopter at any minute. I had to step out of my car to wave to Megan, and stepped into 9 (yes nine) inches of water. This is what nine inches of water looks like on Megan.

"Who thinks they are the boss in your family?
Any Cabbage Patch kids names that you remember (I also had one named Ruben Dunstan)?
How do you feel about the rain?"

12 X 12 - January 2010

A typical Tuesday.

While Megan and Jackson were getting ready. Sadie pushed around her two favorite Elmo dolls in her stroller. We then headed off to school. Megan has Student Council on Tuesday mornings, so we have to leave earlier than usual. We drop her off, and then Jackson, Sadie and I wait in the car until it is time for Jackson to go in. Sadie and I came back home, and then headed out to do some grocery shopping.

Check out Sadie's new cute and adorable cowboy boots I picked up at the D.I. for $3!!

I don't have cart seated children. Meaning, not one of my children has ever enjoyed sitting in a grocery cart. Miss Sade is no exception. She enjoys wandering the aisles, picking up various "treasures" (like garbage, used candy, etc.)

We picked Jackson up from Kindergarten, and the kids emptied out the grocery sacks.

During Sadie's nap Jackson worked on his homework. I also have children, who do not like sitting in chairs. They would rather stand on them, or sit on the table, as you can see from Jackson.

His homework required me to sit next to him to explain it.

We managed to have some fun.

After we picked Megan up from school, they turned on the Wii.

Per usual, Sadie helped make dinner. We had salmon pasta. I have been wanting to try it for months, but Eric is allergic to salmon, so it had been placed on the backburner. But since he is out of town, we delved in, and we all quite enjoyed it. That's right, we ALL quite enjoyed it. Now I have quite possibly two of the pickiest eaters on the planet (Megan and Jackson). Yet, they both enjoy salmon, which is highly ironic, since it is the one thing that Eric can't eat. Oy Vey!

After dinner, Megan did some MORE homework.

And then we played Rummikub.

Megan and Jackson headed off to bed, and Sadie and I cuddled on the couch and read some books.

Sadie's 2nd Birthday

2 year old birthday's are nice. They basically have no idea what it means to have a birthday, so there is no pressure to entertain them all day long, or plan some elaborate party. Not that we ever have elaborate parties, but you catch my drift.

Since Christmas, we have been discussing Sadie's birthday, and trying to get her to switch from saying she is uno to dos. She hasn't quite mastered it. When we ask her if she is two, she just says "On my birthday." Not realizing her birthday has already happened. She also has been saying, "My birthday's comin'", at least 5 times a day. I just love this girl.

First up: Opening Presents

She would open each present (very slowly), but once it was open she would drop it almost instantly to move onto another gift.

Megan made Sadie this little book based on her favorite song of the moment, "The Foolish Man, And The Wise Man."

Jackson decided to give her his fire hat, because she loves to wear it. I thought both gifts were so thoughtful. I love this picture or her opening the fire hat gift. I have no recollection of what Megan and Jackson are laughing at, but it must have been hilarious.

Then we headed out to dinner. Since Sadie would not decide, I decided we would go to Macayo's.

She seemed happy with my choice.

Time for cake!

She needed extra help blowing out her candles.

But no help eating it all up. I had taken her to the grocery store to choose what type of cake she wanted. Despite Megan desperately trying to get her to pick chocolate, she chose vanilla cake with vanilla icing.

Before bed, the kids tried out one of Sadie's new toys.

I think my little Sade had a very happy 2nd birthday!

At 2

My little baby Sade is 2 today. Sigh.....

At 2

She calls church Hola (as in the Spanish word for hello).

When she sees something she likes she will say, "Ohhhh. Nice mom."

She copies nearly everything Megan and Jackson say. It is like having a constant echo.

She eats everything!

She still fits in the sink.

She loves to give Eskimo and butterfly kisses.

She insists on trying to climb into her crib herself every single day, even though she can't do it without help.

She only counts in Spanish.

She is already computer literate.

She likes to have her back rubbed before bed.

She says "Holy Cow", in the correct context.

She is very good about saying please, thank you, excuse me and bless you.

Her middle name should be fearless (except of course when it comes to bugs).

She loves, and I mean loves, to talk on the phone.

She likes to have her clothes off. As soon as we get home she is pulling off her shoes, socks, pants and shirt.

She enjoys having her hair done.

She is always helping in the kitchen. As soon as I start cooking she pulls a chair over and "helps."

She now loves Dora The Explorer, and Ernie from Sesame Street.

She sleeps with a tiny duck that she calls "Ducky, Ducky."

She is wonderful, beautiful, funny, strong-willed, sweet, and all around perfect.

Gound Covering

As you can see, he has a fully functioning bed.

But yet chooses to sleep on the floor. I thought it was a phase, and he would soon tire of it, but it has been a month.