I need to ride in the car more often with Maura...she always has such great things to say and it always happens when we are in the car.   Maybe it's because she's strapped down and can't run off and I am not distracted by other things (you know, except driving) and it's just time alone together.  Hmmm, maybe I should have more of that time with her.  But I digress...

Anyway, we were in the car and this is how the conversation went:

Maura:  Mom, I need to get stung by a bee.
Me: What?!?
Maura:  Yeah, I need to have a bee sting me.  I've never been stung and you tell me that I need to do things that I've never done before, so I think we need to find a bee to sting me.

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!

The amazing part about all this is she is TERRIFIED of bees.  For an entire week she wouldn't go outside because she said she saw a bee outside and didn't want it to get her!  I guess now she's decided that the unknown is scarier than just going ahead and getting it over with!

That's a pretty good philosophy if you ask me.

Me:  What did you do at school today?
Maura: We did our work and went outside and ate lunch and did our work and blah blah blah.
Me: What does "blah blah blah" mean?
Maura:  You know that we did stuff.
Me: But you said, "blah blah blah".  Why did you say that?
Maura:  Oh, you say it when the story gets too long and you don't want to say anything else.  You use it instead of other words.

Seriously?!?

Yep, she's a Montessori girl...

Me:  Maura, how was school today?
Maura:  GREAT!  But (with a frowny face) they didn't teach me how to read!

Darn that school...

Maura missed the 2nd day of school!

She was so sad!  She had a bit of a fever the night before and a really bad cough, so we decided she had better stay home.  "But I want to paint my cup!".  That was what she really wanted to do; paint her cup at school.  So, we got out the paints and did it at home.

We didn't have a cup, so we painted a sand bucket! You can see the tired, sick eyes.

 Painting and coughing at the same time...not much fun.

She did get to go back to school today!  She's hoping to paint her cup...fingers crossed!

Through Maura's eyes

I finally downloaded (uploaded? whatever..) all the pictures from my phone.

It seems Maura has had a lot of camera phone time...I got a pretty good laugh trying to figure out what some of these are. 

Roller skates

 

 Crazy Aunt Jen

 T. V. Time

 Nasty finger

 Nice....

 Sunday dinner...

 Making dinner

 again, nice...

 very important

 Rhino wishing he could skate?

 Boy Scouts

 Swim team

 Random strangers at swim team

 Riding in the car

 Grandpa Jonesy!

 Mom's friend Kristen

 Kristen's cute kid!

 Dallin watching ants on the sidewalk

Huh.  Very educational.

The Mom Campout

I'm finally sorting through my pictures and getting some time to sit down and write about our really fun trip!  A bunch of mothers and children in my neighborhood get together every year and go camping at Chavez Crossing in Sedona.  It's the perfect kid-friendly campground and we love it!

We all bring our own food and share meals together.  Shade/rain tents are a must.

 We all cluster together under the trees for shade and the nearby creek makes a delightful noise for sleeping!  I have always slept really well when we camp here!  This year I was a little later than everyone else and Trenton (my brother) and Dallin set up the tent.

 My brother, Trenton.  Yes, I know he is not a mommy, but he had a couple days off and likes to camp so we invited him. "I sleep in a pink bedroom and Bekki makes me watch chick-flicks! I think that qualifies me for the campout." he said. 

He was so helpful setting up the camp and cleaning up.

The campground is in a little canyon with a creek running down the middle.  The walls of the canyon are a great place to explore! 

Speaking of exploring...the boys went down the creek and came back with a dead rattlesnake!  It was a fight to see who could keep the rattle.

 We love having good friends come along!

We set a menu, then everyone shares their food and eats together.  Maura found a dragonfly trying to share our lunch on this day.

ACK! Use a cup!

 Jill brought some crepe paper streamers and they were very creative with it!  There was a jumping contest that almost everyone participated in.

 

 

 

 The best part of the campout is the creek.  It is just the right size for splashing and cooling off.  We spend most of our time sitting in/around it and enjoying it.

 We brought floaties and other stuff this year and they were a hit.  Note to self: bring more tubes next year!

One constant with the campout is the rain.  We always seem to get rained on.  It's a nice Arizona rain, so it's not too cold and usually doesn't last very long.

 It's a great excuse to make hot chocolate and sit around under the umbrellas and tell stories or sing songs.

Another great trip!  Can't wait until next year!!

I have failed in the picture taking department yet again!  I went to a really great wedding in Safford a couple of weeks ago and did not get a picture of:

1. The bride and groom

2.  The Gila Valley Temple

3. My kids at The Gila Valley Temple

4. All the fun cousins at The Gila Valley Temple!

5. My aunt and uncle and all the kids at their house

6. My kids playing with all their extended cousins

7. My awesome cousin Jonathan that rode with us and kept me awake the whole time....

Shame on me!!

I did, however, get a few pictures at the reception.  Mostly of the setting up and hanging around....

My cousin Melanie (the mother of the bride) did a fabulous job of making her back yard look enchanting!  They had some super fun ideas for food (cotton candy, caramel apples, different flavors of popcorn and a donut cake) and the decorations were just amazing.  It was so fun to be there and to help!

Her other daughters were also so good at decorating and helping with ideas and they really did a lot of work!  What amazing girls Melanie has!  No surprise there...she's pretty amazing herself!

Cute little table for signing in:

 The back yard...getting things ready.  You can't really see all the beautiful lights hanging on the trees and house and fences, but once it got dark, it was beautiful!

 Shawn, the father of the bride, made some cute signs that were so fun!

 Everyone pitched in making sure everything was just right and also adding some plastic coverings in case of rain!

 Dallin helped a lot! He set up tables and chairs and hauled things back and forth! He had a great time and really enjoyed being with his cousins (actually his first cousins once removed).

 Another helper.

 The very best part of it all was the cousin time!

Melanie and Diana (sisters) are both my first cousins.  These are Jonathan's sisters.

Diana and her niece Sarah (Melanie's oldest)

 Maura and her very best cousin Rulon (one of Melanie's boys).  He was so nice to her.  He played with her and hauled her around and she though he was the best thing ever!

That's it! Lame, I know! I didn't take nearly enough pictures! Shame on me!

We really had a great time.  I loved hanging out with all the family and extended family.  I'm so glad I have such great people I can call family!