Taco Day Quatro

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Originally uploaded by znewsome

Me and P at Taco Day

Taco Day Quatro

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Originally uploaded by znewsome

PSM and I had lots of fun at Taco Day Quatro this year. The kids stayed home, we brought the unicycle, but did not break a taco-eating record. I had 1. P had 3.

I need your stuff!

Hello, friends. I am collecting new or gently used items for the 2009 Junior League Rummage Sale on February 20, 2009. The money made from this sale goes to support the Junior League community programs. The 2008-2009 Community Programs of The Junior League of Phoenix, Incorporated (JLP), provide funds, volunteers and facilitation assistance through JLP programs at various nonprofit agencies throughout the Metro Phoenix community. The focus area of the JLP Community Programs is on programs and projects that improve early childhood education.

Children's Museum of Phoenix As the first major supporter, JLP has provided volunteers and funding since 2001 and focuses on providing early childhood education programming in The Junior League of Classroom
Girl Scouts First Saturdays JLP volunteers serve as troop leaders for a group of economically challenged and ethnically diverse girls aged 5-12.
Journey of Me - Life Books Partnering with Arizonans for Children, JLP volunteers research and create unique life story scrapbooks and narratives for children in foster care.
Phoenix Day Nutrition Nights To promote healthy eating habits and address the issue of childhood obesity, JLP plans and implements quarterly Nutrition Nights for the families of Phoenix Day, an early childhood education center that primarily serves low-income area residents.
Ryan House JLP is a founding community partner of Southwest's first freestanding children's palliative care facility in a home-like setting. JLP is sponsoring a family bedroom where families will be encouraged to stay during their visit.
St. Vincent de Paul Hearts and Hands Day To promote voluntarism, JLP takes a leading role in presenting events where families can volunteer together to help homeless and disadvantaged families and individuals who are provided assistance by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.
The Wellness Community Teen Program Social and informational events developed and staffed by JLP volunteers help build bridges and understanding between teens with cancer and those without the disease that are impacted directly by cancer.

You can help contribute to these programs by donating any of the following items for a tax deduction. I will even arrange to pick them up from you.

Furniture
Books
Electronics
Housewares
Jewelry
Lawn & garden equipment
Linens
Sporting goods
Toys
Baby items
Children’s clothing
Collectibles
Holiday items
Lamps and lighting

Please let me know how you would like to help.

Thanks in advance,
Marni

Thanksgiving Feast

I will be cooking my first full Thanksgiving feast this year. We're having the usual: green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, etc. We're also having a turducken (turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken). LRM requested pumpkin bread. Who knows where she learned of pumpkin bread, but pumpkin bread she shall have.

A Day at the Beach

080714 Beaufort 046
Originally uploaded by MarniRae

We have just returned from two weeks in South Carolina visiting my sister. We had a great time and the girls really enjoyed spending time with their cousins. PSM and I got away for a weekend in Atlanta without the girls. Thanks to Mom, Lori, and all the boys for keeping them happy while we kept ourselves sane. See more pics at my flickr site (click on the picture or the link below).

http://flickr.com/photos/mmoney/

LRM Recites Frog and Toad

LRM's Third Birthday

And other pictures here:

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Originally uploaded by MarniRae

GGM is FINALLY walking!

I forgot to mention last week that GGM finally took her "official" first steps.  I say these are now official because it was more than one accidental step while falling toward Mommy or Daddy.  She's taking about 4 stesps now - not every day, but when she feels like it.  It only took her 15 1/2 months to decide to walk.

Jackson Hole

PSM and I left the girls with his parents for a much-needed vacation with his Stone Mountain friends. There were 12 adults in a two-bedroom condo. Thanks to Trent and Kristen for hosting! The weather was perfect - sunny and warm every day. We even made the trip over to Grand Targhee one day. The weather was so clear that we could actually see the mountains, which is rare from what I understand. Seeing all of the kids on the mountain made us excited to get our girls on skis as soon as possible.

Autumn in January

In Phoenix, autumn doesn't come until the weather cools off, which apparently is in January. The leaves on our two trees finally changed and dropped last weekend, so I got some cute pics of the girls. Click on the picture to see more.

The Cow and The Monkey

Lola and Ginger

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All Done!

We're in Ada visiting my mom. We're waiting for GGM to start crawling any minute. She's really been rolling all over the place this week. Another big milestone today has been her first baby sign. She's already been signing dog for a while, but it's a pretty easy one because all she does is pant like a dog when she sees a dog. Well today she let me know that she didn't want any more of her breakfast - she was ALL DONE!

All Done!

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Little Fishies

Well the girls are becoming quite the swimmers. LRM LOVES to dive for rings. She would much rather be under water than above the surface breathing. We are trying to convince her that breathing is an important part of swimming. I'm sure she'll get it. GGM enjoys floating on her back and the occasional dunk under water. Really she just likes kicking back and watching LRM do all the work. We're so glad we have a pool because it's getting HOT here and it's a nice relief to get in and cool down!

Swimming Lola

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Cool Ginger

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4th of July

Happy Independence Day, everyone. We had a nice and relaxing day. LRM and Mommy did some painting during GGM's morning nap. LRM then cleaned off in the water hose - her first time and she really enjoyed it. We had our dear friends over for lunch and swimming. It was the hottest day of the year, up to 116 at our house. After the afternoon naps we went to the neighbors' houses for more swimming and more eating. Then P took the girls home and went to bed. I rode my bike up the street with the neighbors to watch the fireworks show. I got some pretty good shots of the action. Check them out at my Flickr.com account.

10 Adults, 7 kids under 4 years old, 3 dogs, and 3 nights in the woods

the play room
Originally uploaded by MarniRae

We took the kids and all of our friends camping this weekend to the Mogollon Rim. LRM and her friends played in the dirt, played in the water, played with the rocks, played in their tents, played with bugs, played with horny toads, and played with each other. The grown ups drank wine, drank beer, drank Jim Beam, and played Cribbage. The men did some fishing and the women did what they usually do, only they did it outside. All around it was a lot of fun and we are looking forward to our next trip. See more pictures at my Flickr.com site.

Here is a pic of the first tooth taken with the new camera

the first tooth
Originally uploaded by MarniRae

Soon, she'll have as many teeth as her sister and will show them off as loudly as LRM does.

Mommy's New Toy

For Father's Day I bought myself a new camera - the Nikon D80. I'm very excited about it but I've spent the last 4 days trying to figure out how to turn the thing on. Ha. Seriously, I'm having lots of fun with it and I hope to post some good pictures soon. My friend Kelli and I are going to take a short photography class together in July. Oh, and PSM got a new driver and a jump out of an airplane. He hasn't jumped yet, but I'll be sure to post a really good picture of it as soon as he does. :)

GGM's First Tooth

Yesterday as I was letting GGM chew on my popcicle (a reward for LRM pooping in the potty), I heard a scraping sound. I felt in her mouth and there was GGM's first tooth!!! There's nothing to really see in a picture but I'll post one as soon as you can actually see the thing. I cried when I felt it. I don't want my baby to grow up. :(

Today's challenge: Be A Better Blogger

I know, I haven't done this in 6 months. I suck. I have been getting lots of pressure from you to get busy, so here I go. My girls are growing. LRM just turned 2.

GGM just turned 7 months. She's sitting up but not crawling. LRM is very small, fell off the growth charts. Her head, on the other hand is larger than 75% of her peers. She is a bobble head. GGM never stops smiling. I have lost all my baby weight. PSM's dad was here for a week for LRM's birthday. We went to Ada for a week and PSM went camping with my cousins and uncles on my dad's side of the family. Actually, those are the only cousins that I have. PSM and I are going to do the Muddy Buddy in Los Angeles in November. It's hot here. I just got back from NYC for the wedding of my friend Jennifer.

It was too much fun! Ok, so that about sums up the last six months. :) Seriously, I'll try to do better.

The Grand Canyon

The day after Christmas, we packed up the family and headed north, out of the valley into the high desert where eventually we came upon a giant hole in the ground. Some folks call it a canyon, others call it the Grand Canyon. (BTW, this is PSM talking) It was truly a spectacular sight and a wonderful family experience. We stayed in an historic cabin on the South Rim just off the rim trail. We didn't want to leave, and Mother Nature answered our call by snowing us in. We were then rewarded with the same picturesque canyon, except covered in snow. It was nice to see the canyon with and without snow on the ground. LRM enjoyed building a snowman and meeting many others along the way. Everyone had a great time. We're looking forward to returning to the canyon, next time to the North Rim for some primitive camping and easy hiking.