School Projects

Isn't this a face you would love to have in charge of your money? Then vote Sammy for Treasurer! That's right, we have a contender in the family for School Treasurer. She's very excited. We spent the weekend making posters and coming up with slogans...thanks for your suggestion Jeff. (Vote for Sammy or I'll cut you up in a million pieces)

$ammy Woodard 4 Treasurer...it just makes cents!

$ammy Woodard 4 Treasurer...you can count on me!

Cheesy, right? But very fun. I love a good poster making session and this one involved the whole family.

Green posters=money of course!

And the spray paint master readies the stencil. Did you know Sammy Woodard has 3 double letters in it? Because we only bought on set of stencils and that made for a lot of extra work.

And Megan was there for moral support. Actually, she had her own project going on...

The finished result! So cute. I've been accused in the past of being the poster Nazi, so I've learned to step back and let the kids do their posters. And they did great! Luckily she can only display 4 posters and they didn't let us know until Friday afternoon. Which is good, it keeps it from getting out of control. And on Friday morning announcements she has to make a speech to the school! At this age I would have rather cut my own arm off. I love that my kids are so involved.

So Megan has been working on a Rain Forest diorama. (Well, she told me she had to make a diagramarama. Giggle) She has done a great job making all the animals out of clay. I know I could never make a sloth on my own, but she did it! In the process of hot gluing it all together she suffered a major burn on her pinky. It wraps all around the nail. Poor baby. Of course, the worst part for her is trying not to pop it. And it is almost finished! Her friend is sick, so Megan finished her part and then her friend's mom picked it up. We don't want Megan to get sick because she is leaving for Science Camp on Wednesday!

Can I just say how much I love my girls? They are growing up so fast and have been faced with growing experiences lately and I'm really proud of the young women they are becoming.
And they are cute to boot!

Spring

Today is....GORGEOUS!!! No other words can describe it! The weather here has been rainy and cloudy of 90 degrees. Today is a perfect medium. It's a great day for a picnic! Thanks Megan!

And for climbing all the funky looking trees...

And we even let Sadie come...

She is NOT going to let that ham sandwich out of her sight. And then some friend came by on their bikes and invited the girls to Sonic, so they threw everything in the cooler and that was the end of our picnic :) But at least they are still eating outside, right?

NEVER underestimate this girl!

At work today I got the "dreaded phone call" from the school nurse. However, I noticed it came right at 3:40, right when the girls get out of school. I take the phone call and the nurse informs me that Megan just took a hard hit to the head with a basketball, and she isn't comfortable putting her on the bus, seeing how Megan is "dizzy". Well, I quickly talk to my office manager and make arrangements and take off. I get in my car and call the nurse to see if Sammy is with Megan in the nurses office. Nope, she is on the bus. Oh crap! Now my mind is spinning, I know that Megan has the house key. A few minutes later the nurse calls me back to let me know that they were able to get Sam off of the bus, so I breathe a little easier and continue on my way. I get to the school to collect the girls and there I get the real story.

Sammy was on the bus and Megan never showed up. The bus doors close and it starts to go. She hurries up to the driver and tells him that her sister isn't here and they need to wait. And if her sister had gone home sick she knows that her mom would have let her know. And tells him that her sister has the house key and she would have to go home alone and she lives by a busy street. (I can just hear her in my head, being all bossy and talking fast) And don't you know? That bus driver turned that bus around and took my daughter back to school so she could make sure her sister was okay. And she was, a bad headache, and she told me she wanted to take the bus but the nurse wouldn't let her.

What am I going to do next year when Megan goes to Jr. High and they aren't together anymore?

Easter. And Earthquakes.

Soooo, this may go down as the worst Easters ever. According to the children. And I'm sorry! But I did NOT choose to move this weekend. It just happened. And I have no pictures. But I did give them baskets. And Cara took them on a fun egg hunt. It was an exhausting weekend with the moving, but we couldn't have asked for better weather. Every time we have moved while living in AZ it has been 112 degrees or raining cats and dogs. We were due for good weather.

We had a lot of help from church members. And I'm going to say this, but please don't think that I don't appreciate the help, because we really did. But after everyone left I wandered into our bedroom and Nate was standing there...and he told me to look at our bed. So I did, and some very kind men had set the frame all up for us. And the headboard was facing the wall and it was set up for a full size bed. I about died on the floor laughing. How they didn't notice the backwards headboard I'll never know...

So for Easter dinner we had a conundrum. Too exhausted to cook a big dinner, no dishes to cook said dinner so we decided to head out for an authentic Easter-type restaurant. Olive Garden. And we are sitting there enjoying each others company and all of a sudden I felt SICK. I grabbed the table and said, "whoa!" and turned to Nate and was about to tell him I thought I needed to go to the hospital. I thought for sure I was majorly dehydrated from moving and not drinking enough. And then Nate got a weird look on his face and exclaimed, "We're having an earthquake!" And sure enough, we were! All the lights were swinging back and forth and it kind of rippled through the restaurant because you could hear people exclaim as it reached them.

I have to admit, I thought for sure it was the Second Coming! I mean, and earthquake on Easter? I always thought that earthquakes would be all shaky and rattly, but this felt more like being on a boat. Very cool. Happy to report we all survived and the house is still standing. Here's to next years Easter! (Hopefully in San Diego!)

Nuevo Casa

I'm now bilingual. Impressed? Loving the new house, especially because it is the same floor plan as our last one, but has an added third car garage. The same floor plan makes for quick un-packing because we know where everything goes, and the third car garage is fantastic because we can store all of our crap. Man I miss basements! (However, this house is a mirror image of our last one. We're having a hard time adjusting to that. Everything on the other side of where it should be.)

The house worked out really well for us, the girls can go to the same school and they are even on the same bus route. The less I disrupt them the better!

This is the best part! The scene from my front door. We are right next a green belt. Endless expanses of trees, grass and hills and we don't have to maintain it! I barely see the girls anymore, they are always out exploring.

And we have frequent visitors. Who obviously don't know that three duck hunters live here. Someone should tell him.

We want to get a chiminea for this corner in the backyard.
No palm trees :( but plenty of shade.
The last people left the UGLIEST hanging flower pot on the back porch. But for good reason!

And thanks to the new park next door, the girls have discovered ice blocking! What a great way to keep cool! Thanks again to everyone that helped us through this transition period. We truly appreciate it!

Spring Training

One of the many perks of living in Phoenix is Spring Training. After a stressful week, Nate had the fabulous idea to take in a game. And you can't beat a baseball game in March in Phoenix. It was about 78 degrees and you could smell the freshly mown (mowed?) grass and all the treats at the concession stand. Mmmmm! We had great tickets, front row right at third base.

Kind of funny, the Oakland A's were playing the Cincinnati Reds. Halfway through the game Sammy asked what the red team was called. Hahahaha.

We sat right where they practiced pitching.

My three favorite people in the WHOLE world!



Gelato in a baseball helmet. Yummo!

I had me some Cracker Jacks. Of course!

I was there :)

Hoping, wishing, and praying a ball would come their way. It didn't.

So the next best thing to a ball is getting your picture with a real baseball player! Whoever he is.

Sammy turns 10!

(Megan made this cute banner)
My baby girls turned 10 on February 28. Now that I finally unpacked my camera cord, I can re-live all the fun!

Sammy really wanted to go roller skating for her birthday party, so roller skating we went. She is a whiz on the skates and had a great time! A few special friends made it complete.

This was a Fancy Nancy kind of year. She got a new book and her favorite chocolates, Ferrero Rocher

And her favorite Disney movie, Hunchback of Notre Dame.

And her very own Fancy Nancy!

Now, we don't take making wishes lightly around here....thinking....thinking...
(I would love to know what Megan is thinking right now)

Happy Birthday Sweetie! I hope all your wishes come true!

Hot Water

We made it into the new house. We had a lot of help and were done in just over two hours! Not done I guess, but everything was here. And we are loving it! Only three streets away, but so different. New friends to make, neighbors to meet, new trees to climb! The girls are in hog heaven and never stop playing. (We moved in across from the Bell's, for those of you who know where that is.)

So funny(?) story...we got all of our utilities switched over and then this weekend as we're moving in we get an email from the gas company that they need us to COME IN TO THEIR office to prove we are who we are. Excuse me? Ummmmm, I'm living here NOW and don't have hot water. And Nate and I can't figure out when we'll be able to go. And we still don't have hot water. NO HOT WATER!!!! Nate and I worked all day Monday so while on my lunch break I give them a call, spend 20 minutes on hold and they told me the only exception they make for people to not have to come in to their office is if they live in Canada. So I hopped in my car and drove like a mad woman to downtown Phoenix. You just can not appreciate how big Phoenix is until you have to drive downtown during your lunch break on the Diamondbacks opening day. ARGH! Luckily I didn't get a ticket. I got there and Southwest Gas is in the same building as emigration and I am the only really tall, really pale person there. And I had three men behind me speaking in Spanish loudly and I always assume that if people are talking in a different language right by me the surely must be talking about me. (Kind of like getting a pedicure, right?) Anywho, it is finally my turn and the lady goes, why wouldn't they just transfer service? Ummmm! ARGH! I know! So I got it taken care of and will have hot water Thursday. That's right. Almost a whole week without hot water. I would rather go without food. So every morning I drive to the Dana's and skulk through their house like a burglar and get my shower in. Thanks some more Dana's! (And I suppose it's an issue for laundry and dishes, but I just use skads of soap!)

Good Friday

Happy Good Friday...I admit, I know nothing about this day. However, I do know that Nate and I and Megan and Sam were all off today. Which is Good. Good because we started moving into our new house today. So we could all help! (Except at the last minute I was called in to work, and then I had a girls night out with all the ladies from work at PF Changs.) Anyway...at the beginning of the week, as we were preparing to move and discussing who could help, Megan announced that it would be Good Friday. And she was pretty sure that meant that we weren't supposed to perform hard labor. Nice try sweetie. First of all, we aren't Catholic. Second of all, this isn't a day we have EVER celebrated. Third of all....you are helping us to move. And since I skipped out for the most part, help she did. Tonight she is all grubby and stiff, but she was a good daddy's helper all day. So excited to be moving in! And to both of our families...I really do wish we could be there this weekend. I always get really homesick on Easter because of all the fun festivities that I know my kids are missing out on. But I am really ready to take this step and get settled in. And eventually make my way to San Diego.