Thanksgiving in Arizona was a hoot! We were all getting pretty homesick so we were excited to leave the snowstorm here and enjoy the sunny winter weather in AZ. And some of our family members had not yet met June and Ruby so we were excited to make the introductions. Good times ahead.
The trip started out pretty good. No tears on the 11 hour drive to Gilbert. Happy, healthy children. We even managed a family picture with all my siblings and my parents at Grandma Setlow's club house. Then we had a lovely Thanksgiving day at Uncle Dennis and Aunt Michelle's. The kids were in heaven with the playground and beautiful weather. So was I. Lots of baby holders and happy kids makes for a relaxing afternoon for me. Good day. We spent a few days in Gilbert hanging with our Lamb family and Grandma Setlow (thanks to all for hosting us!). The kids loved seeing Nate and Liz's families and as always, had a great time at Grandma and Grandpa Lamb's. So far, so good. So then after Thanksgiving , Mitch flew home for work and that's when things got interesting. I drove the kids to Thatcher to spend some time with my family. The week started out with me dropping June on her head after a night of round-robin no sleeping. That same day, after I decided June did not suffer permanent brain damage, my two formerly well-behaved older children came downstairs to show me how productive their morning had been:
Can you hear the gasps over the internet? I still can. Two pigtails cut in layers by the one and only Susan Jane. I caught my breath quickly, then came the tears for the second time that day. If you ask Suzy she says, "I cut mine and Arden's hair, and mommy cried and yelled." True story. Thanks to my family for stepping in and being a parent while I was pretty much rendered useless due to shock and anger. Jenni took the girls for a fix-it job, Brad and Amy took the babies, and I took my anger out on the hair-laden bathroom. I must say, the kids are not all to blame. When I looked at the bathroom, it was obvious they had been at this for some time, beauty salon I mean. I had clearly not been watching them as closely as I should've been. Lesson learned, I thought. So by the end of the week, after two fix-it haircuts (thanks to friend Stacey and Aunt Lizzy) - the hair turned out fine. Thanks so much Liz, you saved the day! And short hair on my two hooligans - no big deal if I had time to blow dry and straighten their locks every day. Are you kidding me? BIG DEAL!
The rest of the week was not nearly as traumatic, but when I wasn't watching her close enough AGAIN . . . Suzy did manage to dismantle a chandelier and demolish some of Halle's glass china set. Oh and she also suffered numerous time-outs, several spankings, and got locked out on the back porch at 10 'o' clock at night for not going to bed. During the back porch incident, in my fit of rage, I asked her if she was done throwing a tantrum and ready to go back to bed; to which she responds: "no mom! get my coat, I'm going out to play!" It was pitch black and I had done my best to scare the bejeebies out of her about wild javelinas, but what can I say, she's is fearless and has her mother's strong will. Good thing I could see the humor in this immediately or it might have pushed me over the edge. The rest of the week was full of dress-ups, non-stop cousin play, Grandma and Grandpa quality time, Aubrey's baptism, eating at the building, visiting with extended and immediate family, and one last incident involving my luggage topper and my parents garage. Awesome. Thanks to the cool, calm, and relaxed hosts Jenni and Randy, all was restored, including most of my sanity. Remind me again why I thought I could take this show on the road when I can barely manage a trip to the grocery store? At any rate, fun trip, lots of memories. Someday we'll laugh about it all right? Well some of us are laughing already.
Happy Thanksgiving! Here's hoping for a less eventful Christmas! ahahahh!
The trip started out pretty good. No tears on the 11 hour drive to Gilbert. Happy, healthy children. We even managed a family picture with all my siblings and my parents at Grandma Setlow's club house. Then we had a lovely Thanksgiving day at Uncle Dennis and Aunt Michelle's. The kids were in heaven with the playground and beautiful weather. So was I. Lots of baby holders and happy kids makes for a relaxing afternoon for me. Good day. We spent a few days in Gilbert hanging with our Lamb family and Grandma Setlow (thanks to all for hosting us!). The kids loved seeing Nate and Liz's families and as always, had a great time at Grandma and Grandpa Lamb's. So far, so good. So then after Thanksgiving , Mitch flew home for work and that's when things got interesting. I drove the kids to Thatcher to spend some time with my family. The week started out with me dropping June on her head after a night of round-robin no sleeping. That same day, after I decided June did not suffer permanent brain damage, my two formerly well-behaved older children came downstairs to show me how productive their morning had been:
Can you hear the gasps over the internet? I still can. Two pigtails cut in layers by the one and only Susan Jane. I caught my breath quickly, then came the tears for the second time that day. If you ask Suzy she says, "I cut mine and Arden's hair, and mommy cried and yelled." True story. Thanks to my family for stepping in and being a parent while I was pretty much rendered useless due to shock and anger. Jenni took the girls for a fix-it job, Brad and Amy took the babies, and I took my anger out on the hair-laden bathroom. I must say, the kids are not all to blame. When I looked at the bathroom, it was obvious they had been at this for some time, beauty salon I mean. I had clearly not been watching them as closely as I should've been. Lesson learned, I thought. So by the end of the week, after two fix-it haircuts (thanks to friend Stacey and Aunt Lizzy) - the hair turned out fine. Thanks so much Liz, you saved the day! And short hair on my two hooligans - no big deal if I had time to blow dry and straighten their locks every day. Are you kidding me? BIG DEAL!
The rest of the week was not nearly as traumatic, but when I wasn't watching her close enough AGAIN . . . Suzy did manage to dismantle a chandelier and demolish some of Halle's glass china set. Oh and she also suffered numerous time-outs, several spankings, and got locked out on the back porch at 10 'o' clock at night for not going to bed. During the back porch incident, in my fit of rage, I asked her if she was done throwing a tantrum and ready to go back to bed; to which she responds: "no mom! get my coat, I'm going out to play!" It was pitch black and I had done my best to scare the bejeebies out of her about wild javelinas, but what can I say, she's is fearless and has her mother's strong will. Good thing I could see the humor in this immediately or it might have pushed me over the edge. The rest of the week was full of dress-ups, non-stop cousin play, Grandma and Grandpa quality time, Aubrey's baptism, eating at the building, visiting with extended and immediate family, and one last incident involving my luggage topper and my parents garage. Awesome. Thanks to the cool, calm, and relaxed hosts Jenni and Randy, all was restored, including most of my sanity. Remind me again why I thought I could take this show on the road when I can barely manage a trip to the grocery store? At any rate, fun trip, lots of memories. Someday we'll laugh about it all right? Well some of us are laughing already.
Happy Thanksgiving! Here's hoping for a less eventful Christmas! ahahahh!