Adventures with Daddy

Busy season for accountants is now over. At least, that's what Eric keeps telling me... over the next few months he'll still be working pretty long hours and traveling for training and inventory counts to El Paso, Tulsa, and Houston. Still, we love having him around to go adventuring with us.

A week ago we headed to the zoo with free WILD passes--wristbands for unlimited trains rides, carousel rides, camel rides, and entrance into the stingray bay.
Scotty loved riding the camel and I loved not having to take him on the carousel--I can barely stand to even watch that thing go round right now!
Eric taught him to kick the tiger with his legs and yell "mush, mush!" if he wanted to go faster...

Stringray bay is one of our favorite places--hands down better than the exhibit at sea world. These rays get close enough that even Scotty can touch a third of the ones as they go by. They often change direction mid pass as well, which means you get a big splash of water to the face!
We were also delighted to discover this:

a baby zebra, only five days old! Already roaming all over the place and flicking the flies away.

And of course, because Eric was there, we got cool tiger antics. They have two tigers at the Phoenix zoo who they haven't introduced yet. In about a year or two they plan to start trying to breed them, so maybe we will see baby tigers one of these years!

Last week Eric got to use the firm's tickets for a Diamondbacks game and we had a great time. This was the view from out seats, no zoom needed.

Scotty was especially interested after seeing a foul ball hit just a few feet away from us. He kept putting his hands out and saying "I'm ready! Come on ball!"

He also really liked the ice cream we bought; as you can see he's channeling his inner Pedro.

And last but not least, our pretty sad attempt at a family self-portrait to prove that we do all get to see each other occasionally.

Apparently Eric needs to count to 3 before snapping the picture to remind himself to smile...

Goodwill

I feel like it's time to pay tribute. In Provo, I loved sneaking trips to the DI to buy shoes for Scotty and was rarely disappointed. I've known my entire life that the Ross closest to my parents' house is a new level of shopping mecca. I can almost always find a good deal on a kid or maternity essential at Kid to Kid. Since moving back down to AZ, I've found a new shopping haunt: Goodwill. Let it be stated that not all Goodwills are equal, but the one by my parents house (and conveniently close to where I pick up Eric from the bus) is well-organized, generally clean, and full of surprisingly nice treasures.

(front room rug in near perfect condition - $14)

(nicely framed print of Ponte Vecchio in Florence, Italy, where I spent my 16th birthday)

(shower curtain for the hall bathroom)

I also love the color tag system they use. All donations are labeled when they arrive with the week of the year they arrive and tagged with the color for that week. After a few weeks, things of that color that are still out on the floor are half price. The best finds usually don't last long enough to go on sale, but there are always things in each section that are 50% off. If they make it to Thursday of their 50% off week, they get sold for $1. It's brilliant, I tell you! Also, every time you donate something you receive a coupon for 20% off a purchase of $10 or more (sale stuff not included) so any of my "big buys" cost me even less...

(Scotty's bookshelf, which only needed to be cleaned and not repainted)

(colorful drawers for more storage - $4)

I know some of you are weirded out by second hand clothes, and I can respect that. I find that the clothes here are in great condition and I always wash them before putting them on anyone. I haven't been brave enough to check out my own section, but so far I've had great luck with kids clothes and even found a great maternity skirt.

(I got two shirts, red Crocs, and this adorable dress for $8)


(Love that color tag--this dress was new with the tag and only cost me $1)

(this was a total impulse buy--normally I'm a girl on a mission to avoid coming home with bags of stuff, but I had just been thinking how nice it would be to have something that tied the sage green bedding we already had to the purple walls we just painted...and then I found this. Much cheaper than making a quilt myself!)

And yes, that's a hint of purple wall behind the changing table...pictures to come soon, I promise.

(I posted the same pic yesterday but it's all I've got--this skirt is actually Motherhood Maternity brand and should last me all summer. Glad I only had to pay $6 though...)

Anyone else have a favorite place to shop for great deals? Anyone local want to join me on my Goodwill adventures? I'm always up for bargain shopping...

How brave are you?

I was shopping at goodwill the other day (I love that place!) and as I was checking out, the girl behind the counter asked me how far along I was. I had to think for a minute because I'm still in weeks but unpregnant people tend to time a pregnancy in months (and not realize that it's closer to 10 instead of 9...) When I responded that I was 5 months along she has surprised that I was so far along and now showing much yet. Which got me to thinking....

how was she brave enough to ask me if I was even pregnant? I'm not one of those girls who feels fat when I'm pregnant or minds being asked about the baby or my belly. But if you didn't know me, would you be brave enough to ask this girl:

when the baby was due? This is as big as it gets right now. I am 22 weeks and Eric took this picture at the end of the day after eating a full meal at Chili's (thanks for the date, my love!) with full maternity gear on and nothing to hold anything in....I think I finally look "pregnant" but I don't look like I'm about to explode or anything!

You go, goodwill girl. Way to be brave and give me an opportunity to talk to someone new about this little one.

Scottland

He cracks me up. Sometimes, he drives me nuts (this month he's being melodramatic and collapsing in hysterical tears), but mostly, he cracks me up.

Like clicking. He has always loved buttons and the accompanying click but he has yet to figure out that it's not the noise that makes something happen. For instance, he'll turn on my camera, point it at something, and then click his tongue. And click. And click.

Last week, he handed me the camera and told me to "click it" so I asked him to pose.


Nice work, little GQ man. Now if only I could get you to look at me at the same time...

A few days ago, Eric got home from work just in time to help Scotty out in the bathroom. We're on the slow track to potty training and he had decided he wanted to try it standing up. When we walked into the bathroom he was standing on his tiptoes, barely tall enough to reach the toilet, and making clicking noises, waiting for something to happen. I just got to laugh and tell Eric that I had no pointers to offer on that particular predicament!

Making a Home

I've always been opposed to the term "homemaker" because it felt so old fashioned, simplistic, and not feminist... Eric always refers to me as a domestic engineer because I have a special knack for rigging working things out of random bits and pieces and less talent for traditional skills like sewing and cooking. In our family I am definitely the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) while Eric is the CFO (Chief Financial Officer) and Scotty is the CEE (Chief of Everything Else).

While I still despise the term "housewife" as I am in no way legally or emotionally sealed to my house, I am gaining a certain satisfaction from turning our house into our home. My mom never dreamed that I would be the one coming over to clean her house! Somewhere in the maze of BYU I stopped being the teenager who dwelt amongst piles of everything to the girl who sweeps her floors at least every other day so she can enjoy going barefoot.


In honor of our new home I thought I should post a few pictures. I'm not a decorator by any means but I have no fears about picking up a gallon of paint and getting my hands dirty :o)


(Scotty's "big boy" bed, complete with batman sheets. He now has a bright yellow comforter that I got free and patched up)

I decided about a month ago that he needed "something" on his wall to last until my mom and I had time to get creative with paint, so I made this with ribbon and paperclips. He loves to point out all of his favorite people! If you want to be part of Scotty's vocabulary, send me a picture and I'll add it :o)More storage for toys. Even with a closet they seem to take over everything. We spend a lot of time at Home Depot so I was excited to be there for a workshop (we made a rain catcher) and he earned his own little orange apron.

This was my best find (thanks, Goodwill!) and it set me back a whole $10. It also gives me a place to stash some of the 50 stuffed animals he tries to crowd into his bed every night.

And now a few random pictures of walls that finally have pictures on them. Of all the talents I possess, hanging pictures is just not one of them, so I spent many days waiting for Eric to be home when Scotty wasn't asleep so I could finally hang them. And by hang them I mean stand back and micromanage Eric while he hung them :o)

Front room:

(my BYU graduation present from my parents--love this painting!)

(Painting I bought in Paris in 2005...and yes, that's a bagged diaper on the floor (HA!) ignore that...)


My graduation present for finishing my master's! Thanks mom and dad, I love having a place to put all of my books :o)



(Hallway)


(Living room)


(Eric had our new family photo professionally framed for Christmas--doesn't he have fabulous taste?)

Since I took these pictures, I have painted a wall in the master bedroom, bought a gorgeous print of my favorite place in Italy to hang above our bed (thanks again, Goodwill!), framed a new adorable picture of Scotty for the front room, and painted both coats of purple in the baby's room (you'll love it!). More pictures to come I suppose....