Bountiful Harvest

Happy Thanksgiving to all our family and friends! We were lucky enough this year to be able to celebrate Thanksgiving with John's family up in Phoenix. John had to work Thanksgiving Day so they were generous enough to move their celebration up a day so we could all be there.


John's mom had just gotten the results from her most recent pet scan. It was looking to see if any cancer had returned and we are happy to say that it came back negative just the day before. It made it an extra special day of thanks for all of us.


We went up to the Martin Great-Grandparents house in Phoenix about a 2 hour drive away. John's mom and dad were staying there and his aunt Marilyn also showed up in time for dinner. We spent the afternoon playing in the Martin's recently re-done backyard. It was gorgeous weather, probably mid-70s. We ended up having our Thanksgiving dinner under the gazebo in the backyard.


They have a beautiful backyard with a bunch of fruit trees. Peter was fascinated! Trees that grew balls!!!!! He quickly got a half dozen of them on the ground and spent several hours throwing and rolling them around the backyard.


Grandma Deanna helped teach him how to pick the fruit off the trees. Peter was in heaven with the endless supply of balls.

Snow: Round Two

After Santa we went back outside to the snow. The crowd had died down a bit so we decided to try it one more time. I mean, how often do we get to see snow in Tucson?!? Peter found a little hole someone dug in the snow and went to join another little boy.


He eventually claimed it as his own hole and sat right now in the snow in his little cave of ice. He was super happy in his cave.


Grandma Deanna and I played some defense from the bigger kids that were running around throwing snow. We each got on one side of Peter and tried to give him a little bubble of safety to play a little bit.


Peter loved sitting in the snow but it did result in a very wet bottom! His jeans were soaked from the snow. I ended up taking them off before we headed back to the car to drive home. I'll have to find some snow pants when we go to Iowa! I'm glad he got some practice with the snow though, it will be fun to show him more!

Visiting Santa

Earlier this week I posted pictures of Peter in the snow for Santa's arrival. After playing in the snow for a while we went inside to visit SANTA! Peter can recognize Santa and has learned to point and jump up and down now when he sees him. I think its because we have been reading some Xmas books every night at bedtime.


It was a long wait for a little boy. He swung around on the barrier ropes but it was just taking too long. Grandma Deanna offered to stand in line so Peter could run around the mall for a little bit.


He climbed on one of the mall benches and told everybody to "SHHH!"


But his favorite part was to run down the mall corridor away from mom. He thinks this is a fun new game. "Bye mom!"


We finally got to the front of the line and got Peter's picture with Santa and Mrs. Claus. He just kinda stared at the lady making silly noises and shaking jingle bells in his face. He thought she was strange. But atleast he was a good boy for Santa. I'm sure he is on the NICE list!

Holiday Shopping

It's late Thanksgiving night and I'm debating whether to head out to the stores early on Black Friday. I don't have much $, but there is an excitement in the air that I kinda want to feel a part of this season. The stores open in a matter of hours but I have a feeling that sleep will win out tonight.

In the meantime, I did update the WISH LIST feature at the side of the blog. Ideas for Peter came pretty easily. Of course I just browsed through the aisles at Walmart earlier today! He is currently a sucker for anything Elmo. He also loves toy animals that make sounds. Trucks are always a safe bet too. It is so much fun to shop for him right now. I have a bunch of smaller presents for him already, but I'm still deciding on what the big "Santa present" will be this year.

As always I never really know what John or I would like.

John has been on a matcha tea kick lately so either tea or the mortar/pestal and whisk to mix it would be good. He's been dying for a GPS system since last Xmas so I am watching the sales for that. Probably a good idea since he sometimes gets lost driving to and from work if he has to go off his normal route for some reason. He also loves to BBQ quite a bit and I know he would like some fun BBQ accessories.

As for me, I have no clue. I could use a shopping spree for some new clothes. Post-baby body doesn't fit in my pre-baby clothes. :-( But I HATE other people buying me clothes so that's something I'll have to do for myself. I've been doing really good at couponing & saving $ lately. I need a coupon organizer thing so I can control them a little better. I also take a lot of photos and would love a flash drive to move them around easier.

Anyways, I updated the list tonight. If I think of anything else I will update it later. Good luck on your Black Friday shopping, if you are going. If not, enjoy your holiday weekend at home. Our Xmas lights will be up before the weekend is up!

Xmas here we come!

Tucson Snow: Round One

Saturday morning we went to the Foothills Mall to welcome Santa and play with the snow he brought in. I wasn't sure if Peter would be up for the craziness that comes when you dump a bunch of snow in Tucson, but Great-Grandpa Martin stepped in and helped Peter learn how to play in the snow.


He taught Peter how to make a snowball and tried over and over again to get him to throw the snowball at...HIS MOM!!! WHAT?!?! Crazy great-grandpa!


They kept their eyes out for mom to walk past...then Peter threw a snowball at my shoe!


Grandma Palmer took some snow and rubbed it on Peter's face. Brrr! I think he liked it.


Then she helped him build another snowball.


Peter even braved the crowd a little to go touch some more snow. He was funny. He touched it really gently with one finger like he was petting it.


It was such a beautiful day playing with the snow! Peter got some practice for when we go to Iowa for Xmas. Great-Grandpa was a bad influence by teaching him to throw snow at mommy, but I am grateful he was there to help Peter see the fun side of snow. Next it was time to go inside and see SANTA!!!

Balloons & Bands

Friday night we all headed down to the U of A area. On the drive down Peter decided to steal Grandma D's glasses. He looked so studious in them. Do you think he'll blend in with all the other students there?


There was a big pep rally going on for the University of Arizona game the next day. Lots of excitement! One of the events going on was a hot air balloon glow. I thought that sounded pretty interesting and that Peter might enjoy it so we all went down to check it out.


There were only two balloons lit up when we got there. But one of them was the ReMax balloon. John's mom was excited because she is a ReMax agent and had never seen the balloon in person.


Peter just sat on dad's shoulders. He didn't quite know what to make of these crazy balloon and all the fire coming from them. They seemed massive!


What we really loved though was the Tucson High marching band that was playing nearby. We went over to listen to them for probably 30 minutes. They had a lot of energy and were dancing and grooving. We were right up close. Great-Grandpa enjoyed trying to identify all the xylophones, marimbas, and glockenspiels. Grandma had fun remembering her twirling days as a majorette in high school.


Peter liked the music too! He clapped along with the drums and cymbals.


After, we grabbed a quick bite to eat at a restaurant on campus. It was a late night for Peter, but I think he had fun. It was fun for all of us!

Gymboree With Nana D.

It has been an exciting crazy weekend in our home. Grandma Palmer and Great-Grandpa Martin came down to visit Friday afternoon and stayed to play with Peter until Saturday night. We did so many things with them while they were here. Peter still had lots of play things going on so we just invited them to join us. The moment they arrived we whisked Grandma D out the door and off to Gymboree class.


It was definitely neat to have Grandma D be the one taking pictures at Gymboree. I just sat back and played with Peter. She even got some pictures of me for once!!! I'm so grateful for that! I don't get in too many pictures.


Peter just went off and did his own thing, causing trouble by emptying boxes and climbing all over everything. Good thing that's what you are supposed to do there!


They had the boat put away but I asked them to bring it out. Peter loves to ride in the boat. He cycled through about 5 different kids riding with him before he tired of it.


The big news of the day is that Peter said "Shhhh!" for the first time. During The Freeze song the kids are supposed to shake maracas until the song stops and says "FREEZE!" Then all the parents say "SHHH!" and the kids are supposed to stop and be quiet for maybe 5 seconds until the music starts again.


Peter did a really good "SHHH!" at the freeze part. Once he even put his finger up to his lips! So CUTE!!! I'm glad grandma got to see that first.


Peter never stays in lap time. (Can you tell its the end? I'm exhausted and don't want to try to keep him in my lap.)


Hey look! Another picture of my son glued to me. He sure loves his momma!


Peter wore a shirt that said "Grandma Says I'm priceless"


Umbrella time is always a favorite. He loves getting to jump and touch the umbrella.


After Gymboree Peter was tired, but he wanted to give Grandma some hugs for coming with us!

Riding My Bicycle (video)

Peter has been liking his big wheel type bike a lot lately. I bought it a few months ago at a yard sale thinking that one day it would be lots of fun for him. His feet have just started to touch the ground so he can scoot around on it.


He is just starting to reach the pedals but can't give a good push on them yet. It doesn't matter though. He has fun just scooting around and feeling like a big boy.


Mommy got Peter to lay down on the ground and look up at the sky to the trees and the clouds. He was excited because there were also some planes going by while we were outside playing. Anytime he hears a plane he looks up at the sky pointing and searching for the plane. He gets so sad when we can't find it!


One of the biggest selling points on the bike was that it has a trunk. One of Peter's favorite games is to hide balls, trucks and rocks in the trunk. Here's a cute video of him playing hide-and-seek.

Sunset at the Park

John leaves for work around 3pm and Peter starts bouncing off the walls sometimes in the evenings. I took him to the park for sundown this week to just let him go and run off some energy. He seems to have so much lately! We go to the closest park, which is still a good 10 minute drive for us. It is pretty and has a great view of the mountains.


There is a bunch of sand. This kid loves to just dig into the sand with his fingers. Once or twice we have run into the problem of him throwing sand at other kids. I think he means it in fun, but we are trying to teach him that its not nice to the other kid.


And as always lately he LOVES the slides. That is the main attraction at this playground, there are about 10 slides on the 2 play areas. Peter was in heaven going up and down. He is also a super social kid. We played a while on our own but he really lit up when a few other families joined us to play. He loves having older kids to watch and play with.


My smiley kid. He's learning to smile for the camera.


Showing off his rocks. He also loves rocks. I think we will have to teach some control over the rocks. Shortly after this picture he decided that the rocks wanted to go down the slide and he began throwing rocks down. He likes to see what happens when different things go down the slide.

Going to the Car

This morning we left the house early for a playdate. It has been dropping into the 30's at night here and mornings are pretty cold so we get bundled up in sweatshirts and hats to stay warm. I also have started getting into a habit of packing a lunchbox of food for Peter when we leave the house. Just in case we are gone longer than expected or he gets hungry I always have some Peter approved food with us. It is so much easier than worrying about finding allergy-friendly food somewhere.


Walking to the car always takes a few extra minutes because we have to walk past the tennis court. We let Peter play in there often so he loves to go inside and just run around. Lately he loves to open and close the door. He is trying to say "close" now, it comes out more like "clow".


Just outside the tennis court there is a bunch of rocks. If the courts don't stop him the rocks will. He likes to stomp through the rocks instead of walking on the sidewalk.


Today he decided to sit next to a bush and play with the rocks.


Did you know that rocks are a lot like balls? They cause more damage though. I need to teach him not to throw rocks.


Finally! Peter and his lunch box made it out the apartment gate! Whew!


It may take a long time to get to the car, but look at that face! He has so much fun on his leisurely walks to the car. I fall in love with him all over again every time I see this big grin come across his face. He is such a great kid and I love getting to share my days with him. We are so blessed to have him in our lives!