Santa's Ride

I learned recently that the Deer Valley Airport Restaurant is kind of a big deal.  Who would have thought??  People kept telling me that we should check it out.  Not for the amazing entrees- although for the price (which is cheap) the food is pretty good- but for the kid-friendly atmosphere and for Asher to be able to see lots of planes take off and land.  (He's in to airplanes lately.)
So, Brandon and I took him last Saturday morning.  It was PACKED!!  I had also heard that Santa may make an appearance, hence the crowd.
In true Santa form, he made a big entrance.  In a helicopter!!  A crowd gathered right where he was set to land and he did not disappoint.  It also helped that it was like 70 degrees and beautiful outside- in December.  Asher loved it.  Only in AZ!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

There is so much to be thankful for in life!  I never want to forget how much I have been blessed.  I also don't want to forget making the first little hand turkey with Asher.  It is not easy to keep a 1 year old still long enough to trace his hand.  Let's just say I may have filled in some details after he walked away from the table, and art is not my thing.  LOL!

Fall Festival

Our neighborhood put on a little Fall Festival a couple of weeks ago.  It was so cute with bounce houses for the kids and free food- I know, right?!

It's so great to have friends in the neighborhood.  We've become close with Daniel and Christina and their kids.  We meet up at the park often and hung out at the Fall Festival as well.  We go to church together, but living close is such an added bonus.  Other friends of ours (Ryan and Kadie) recently moved down the street, too.  I am all about having friends with young kids close by.  It's such a neat dynamic and I love when Asher is so comfortable with the other family because we spend so much time together.  It makes me wonder if that's what it would have been like in a time and place when people lived in smaller towns and really did life together.  Anyway, I digress...
The kids had a ton of fun and Asher seemed to enjoy the big bounce house!

(I clearly wore the wrong thing to get into a bounce house.  Note to self for next year.  Christina to the rescue!!)
My sis and family were able to join in the fun as well.  Here are Asher and Lexi on the slide.  (Kaylee pretty much stayed the bounce houses the whole time.  She loved them!)

Here's a little bonus video.  Asher has really liked having pumpkins around.  He also likes carrying them.

My aunt and cousin made us the cutest little gift this year- a Boo Sock!  They turned a sock into a little ghost.  So cute!  Asher carried it around for days.

So much fall fun!

Love our Friends

We were so lucky to have 3 sets of friends come visit us over the last few months.
Each year my friend Tracee and her kids come out to AZ.  She and I were best buds in high school and have been close ever since.  It stinks that she lives out of state, but great when we can all get together.  The kids (along with Jen's kids) all adore each other.

 Enjoying ice cream.  Love this shot!

Next, my friend Heidi came over the beginning of October.  She and I have also known each other for years.  We were connected at the hip for a long time.  She's married to a military guy, so they have lived all over- including overseas.  Sad to say, we hadn't met each other's kids before this trip.

Distance can do things like that.  No matter though, it was so good to catch up and the kids got along great.  It felt just like old times. :-)

Lindsay and family came back to AZ the middle of October.  She and I are very close and it's been tough having her gone.  Her husband got a great opportunity to work from Scotland for a while, so they are living the European life, and enjoying every minute.  We miss her and her family so much and it was so good to have a few days together.  The kids just love each other, which warms my heart.

It is hard to get so many little ones smiling and looking the same direction!!

The boys were all happy- I swear!!

Part 1- Asher, give Ava a hug.

Part 2- Asher, give Ava a hug.

Halloween

Over time, I'm learning that things rarely go as planned.  Especially holidays.  Yet, I'm also learning that no matter the expectations (mine or those of others) if I let myself be in the moment and take things as they come- they are better!!
This was Asher's second Halloween.  It was going to be great.  I had borrowed a cute shark costume from my sister for him and we were going to spend time with my sister's family and then go to an event with my small group.  So fun.
In typical AZ weather, it was still super hot and this shark costume (while cute) was thick material and covered the entire body.  (I kept thinking positively that it would be cool enough and he would be fine.)  Yet, in order for Asher not to overheat, we made a last minute decision that this was not going to work.  Plan B- jammies with a little skeleton body. He was still soooo cute!

Next on the agenda was Trick-Or-Treating.  Candy bucket- check.  Friends to go with- check.  A wagon or stroller to sit in if he got tired- check.  We were off- to about 4 houses.  Then Asher grabbed on to Brandon super tight and let us know he had had enough.  No more.  We tried to encourage him that it was fun and to try one more.  Nope.  Not having it.  He's only a little guy- sometimes that's easy to forget.

                                            We hung out with our friends the Slager family.

It was 7pm.  We ventured home.  Then we discovered that Asher did like Halloween and was having fun.  He just liked the other side- being at home and handing out candy.  The kid came to life!  He had a blast.

He just squealed with excitement each time the doorbell rang.  He ran to the door and helped hand out the candy.  I think he felt he had a little job.  See for yourself.

Bonus feature:  still sporting the Halloween jams and dancing away to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. 

Happy Halloween!  Love, Asher

Let's go to the Library!

Asher loves books!!  He looks at them all the time at home and asks us to read to him constantly. Funny enough though, his attention span is still super short, so he rarely makes it through a whole book before moving on to something else. Regardless, we want to encourage and instill a love of reading in him and have regular library visits.
We took some time last week while Brandon was on fall break (perk of working for a school system) and explored the library!! He loved it!!  (And as you can see from the videos, he doesn't stop long to pay attention to the books- LOL!)

A funny side note is that we decided to leave after not too long as Asher was super noisy! We are working on what an "inside voice" is, but let's be honest, he's 1. He was just having so much fun and his way of expressing that is verbal. Great at times, but not in a fairly quiet library. Haha!! Love our noisy little boy!!

So much fun!  Until the next library day!!

Fall Decor

I have so much fun decorating for holidays!  Here are just a few ideas for fall decor that I'm using this year.
I try to use something natural from each season in my decorating.  For fall, that means pumpkins and gourds!  (Does anyone else think gourd is a strange word??)

I used a shallow wood basket, put raffia in the bottom and filled the rest with pumpkins and gourds.  I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't have to look farther than my local Fry's grocery store to find unique ones.  Also, I have re-discovered raffia!!  This stuff is awesome!  It looks like straw, which is great for fall, and it's super cheap!  I got mine years ago at Michael's.  It can be re-used each year, so it can last forever!!

This next idea is all about repurposing items I had.  I used a planter and what I believe are called "finger" towels.

I think we all have certain things in our home that we don't want to get rid of, but we aren't always sure what to do with them.  It's more of a girl thing I think.  I drive my hubby crazy.  :-)
I know what to do with a planter, but I didn't need to have a live plant in the bathroom (where I needed a decoration.)  I also have been given a TON of finger towels for every holiday that exists.  I'm not sure what the deal is with these towels.  I guess it's that they are only large enough to dry my fingers before the whole thing is wet- ha!!  Anyway, I just rolled up 3 of them and filled the bottom of the planter with, you guessed it, raffia.  I placed the towels on top and I've created a decoration from things I already owned.  Now that's good stewardship!!

This last little project was super easy.  I got the idea from my friend Christina.  We went to JoAnn's and she showed me the starter piece, which was just a natural wood pumpkin with chicken wire filling the middle.  I chose to paint it black for a specific Halloween decoration.  I then wove Halloween fabric through the chicken wire and fabric glued it on the back.  JoAnn and Hobby Lobby both sell these great fabric packs based on a theme or color scheme.  With a coupon, they are way cheaper than buying sections off of a bolt of fabric.  Christina and I then had a craft Saturday together.  So much fun!!

Happy Fall and Happy Halloween!!

Splash Pad Fun!

Here in AZ the splash pad is a normal part of summertime fun.  (Remember that "summer" for us is 8+ months of the year.)  I've learned that they can help to keep moms sane and keep us all cool.
Within the last month Asher has gotten mobile enough and really started to love playing at a splash pad.
Last month we went to one at Altadena Park in Phoenix.  It was great as it wasn't crowded at all and even had park play equipment for ages 2-5.  Still a little big for Ash but he'll get there.  He had so much fun!!

What a face!!

I really enjoy the splash pad at Scottsdale Quarter as well and we were able to go last week.  The way it's set up it rarely feels crowded and it's also really shaded.  

Where are you Brock??

He loved just being able to walk around and check everything out.

So fun spending time with my friends and their kiddos!!

Apple Picking

I know I've mentioned, but I love fall!  And to me, apple picking is just one of those quintessential fall activities.  "Can you pick apples in Arizona?" you ask.  Why yes, you can.
We chose Date Creek Ranch which is just past Wickenburg. I appreciate their opposition to skepticism that many may not believe that you can pick your own apples in AZ, so as you drive in their signs read, "Yes, there is an orchard in the middle of the desert."
I felt a little like we were getting away; yet it was still hot so I knew I wasn't far from home.  But the atmosphere is super cute and the prices for organic apples are great!  (You pay by the pound- no entrance fees or anything like that.)  You actually go out into the orchard with wheelbarrow and apple picker and pick until your heart's content.  And the best part, as the apples are organic (and they gave us permission), we could eat as many as we wanted while we worked.  The kids especially loved this.

Such a fun experience!

 We chose to put the little ones in the wagon- which I would highly recommend.  

I would also say cool, comfy clothing and closed-toed shoes are good.

They also raise pigs and cows on the ranch, and you can get some good meat prices- if you are in to that sort of thing.  We chose to go on the Apple Festival weekend.  This meant they had a BBQ going on as well.  This year they made Brats- can I say super yummy!!

After the big adventure comes the fun part- making apple treats!!  So far I've made apple bread, 2 apple cobblers (they are more like a cake and so good- check out The Pioneer Woman and her blackberry cobbler #1 recipe and substitute apples) and applesauce.  We have loved them all and I think our waist size can prove it. LOL!!

Overall it was great and we plan to go back next year. :-)