Sneak Peek...

...of Dax's 4th birthday circus party complete with a photo booth, concession stand, circus games, and bounce house.

So much for my "simple" party planning.

More to come...I'm exhausted!

P.S Don't you love that you can't even see the boys' eyes. Yup, circus!

New York, New York

It’s official. I heart New York.

It's been over a month since I was there with my mom and sisters. (I had a little fiasco with the hundreds of pictures we took and loading them onto my computer, but finally, finally I can post about the wonderful trip. )

Over the summer my mom turned the big 6-0. For a good couple of years she had been saying for her birthday she wanted to go to NY with her girls. So the second she said it I started saving. I’m talking every birthday check, every Christmas card, two major garage sales…you get the idea. It seemed like years away, literally. And in October the magic date arrived. I had saved the money to do everything and more. We left our husbands. We left our kids. I took time off work. We planned our days strategically. We spent two days total flying across the country. And we spent 4 glorious day in the amazing city of New York.

Yes, I heart New York! It lived up to everything I had heard, seen, dreamed it to be, and more. I can not wait to go back one day. I loved being in a new place, loved being with my hilarious sisters, loved being with my amazing mother who I love more and more each day and happen to think she looks pretty darn good for just turning 60! There is not one thing I would change about that trip. I think back now on it and feel so blessed to have 4 amazing sisters and a mom who are so truly amazing and who I love with all my heart. How did I get so lucky? Thank you mama for wishing this for your birthday. Maybe I’ll be making a similar wish for my 30th next year. Everyone start saving those pennies!

Here are the highlights courtesy of my sister Jamie's blog who is a much better, concise writer than myself:

We Ate: New York cheesecake. New York Pizza. New York pastrami sandwiches the size of our faces. New York macaroni and cheese, muffins and cupcakes from the cutest bakeries ever. A very delicious, authentic Italian dinner. We didn't, however, eat at Dim Sum A Go Go in Chinatown. Apparently, some sisters didn't think it looked safe to eat there. Ha! (Insert Bryn-Duh, of course a hot dog from a cart like a true New Yorker!)

We Watched:
In the Heights on Broadway. Wicked on Broadway. A taping of the Regis and Kelly Show with Hilary Swank. The Today Show with Matt Lauer and special guest Maria Shriver. A TLC show recording a wedding in the middle of Times Square. The filming of Gossip Girl at one of the hotels across the street from the New York City temple. Donald Trump recording The Celebrity Apprentice in Grand Central station with celebrities Sharon Osbourne, Darryl Strawberry, Brett Micheals, Jesse Ventura, that one Australian cook, etc. Air Force One and many more helicopters land with the President who was giving a speech one street away. We also watched as Bryn spotted and chatted with a team from this seasons Amazing Race...Zev and Justin (who by the way, were totally flirting with her). Those were nice guys, who were so flattered that they were recognized on the corner of a busy New York street. So funny. (insert Bryn- so NOT flirting!)

We Rode:
The subway (so dirty). Taxis (so grateful to be alive). Double Decker sight seeing bus (so cold). Ferry to Statue of Liberty (so beautiful to see the New York skyline from the Hudson). But mostly we didn't ride at all, just walked our fannies off.

We Sight saw (Yes, I looked it up. That is correct.)
Central Park. The Palace. Statue of Liberty. Top of Rockefeller. The Empire State Building. Times Square. Grand Central Station. Battery Park. Ground Zero. Chinatown. Canal Street (is that really sight seeing?)

One super, busy, incredible, memorable, wonderful trip I will never ever in my entire life forget!

Arizona Winters

I am a funny boy.

A. Very. Funny. Boy.

I like my yellow boots--Scratch that--I LOVE my yellow boots.

Some might say I am obsessed.

My dad is a little embarrassed for me when I insist to wear them around town.

My mom thinks it's cute until I fight her tooth and nail to wear them to bed. She always wins.

I tend to wake up at the crack of dawn.

I'm not able to go outside until the sun comes up though. Sometimes that is hours. And that makes my mom sad that she has to listen to me cry at the sliding door. It's only a matter of time before I figure out that silly lock.

When I get outside I like to sit. Like a bird in a tree. Just sit and listen.

My dad grew some green winter grass this year. I helped spread the seed and it's beautiful. But I don't run on it first thing in the morning. Nope, I sit and look at it.

You may not think it gets cold in Arizona in the winter, but it does. It was a cool 50 degrees this morning.

But lucky for me the high is 73.

I get to strip off the boots, take off my hat, run around in my t-shirt and play outside all day long.

I love AZ winters.

Even if it doesn't ever rain and these crazy yellow boots I love never get put to any real use.

Thankful wishes

Update

Really? How does a little boy dressed as a pilgrim singing about being thankful for his health, home, family, and you and me not make you smile from ear to ear and truly think about all we have to be grateful for this Thanksgiving?

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Thanksgiving was wonderful this year! My mom sets the tone with the house immaculate, dinner table set to perfection (how cute are the place cards?), and lots of little surprises that makes the day so special (see Dax's chocolate covered turkey rice krispie treat-YUM!). The food was great, the company was perfect (except for missing the Chiara's) and the kids had their own table! It couldn't be any better! I am so thankful for my wonderful family!

a green apple story

Yesterday I found Dax like this.

Laying on his back. On the kitchen table. Eating an apple.

“Precious”, I thought. He looked so cute and comfortable and completely at ease. What a joy it must be to lounge across the top of a table, eat an apple, daydream about life, and having no worries in the world. Life is pretty simple for a little boy. Not too much to worry about….

Well, except for maybe the biter of a little brother you are constantly running and hiding from and crying to mom when he does happen to get you and yelling through your tears that, “Wyatt ‘broke’ my arm!”

Yes, other than those little fiascoes, life is pretty simple.

I couldn’t help capture the moment and take these pictures as he sat munching on his apple rattling off funny little things about school, how eating healthy is important and all that he was going to tell his daddy when he got home.

He kinda surprised me when he matter of factly said, “apple started with an 'a'" and then drew one in the air with his index finger. "He’s growing up so fast" I thought.

And then he said, “An apple a day, keeps the doctor away.” Don’t ask me where he heard that one, but that surprised me too.

But who I ask you, does biting into 4 different apples and putting them back in the fruit bowl keep away?

Hmmm, maybe no one. Just a loud neon warning to mom for being so silly as to actually leave unattended food at the table as a festive center piece rather than tightly concealed.

Good thing I swapped out that Halloween bowl. We might have been to the doctor after all.

Halloween

The typical bad boy does what he wants when he wants to do it, regardless of what anyone else thinks. He's a little cocky, a little arrogant and has a major swagger. He's independent and confident and not very nice.

My bad boys may possess a few of those qualities (mainly the part where they do what they want), but on the other hand, they are adorable and sweet and love their mama.

Thank goodness! I don't want to raise real bad boys, I just think they are cute.

Dax wouldn't tell you he was a bad boy for Halloween. I made the mistake of saying it once and he said, "No, I'm a goooood boy". And he's right; he is a good boy. Apparently the official name of their costumes were "biker dudes" who acted very "cool". At least that's the story he gave his pre-school teacher who then passed that along to me. She may or may not have also said that he played the part very well too until she asked him if he was "too cool" to play with blocks and he dropped the act in a flash.

What a fun Halloween! The boys had so much fun trick or treating around the neighborhood.

I think I'll do this coordinating costume thing as long as they let me!

2nd Annual

Last night we had our 2nd Annual MacGillivray Night of Frights and Spooky Delights. It's quickly becoming one of my most favorite traditions for our little family. I channeled my inner Lucille Ball/June Clever (also in preparation for the Halloween party we attended later that night) and got to work in the kitchen. I turned on the Halloween music, the boys filed outside to carve their pumpkins and play, I drew the curtains to keep everything a surprise and a short while later we had our spooky dinner. See below to see what was on this year's menu. The night was a total success. I love how this tradition is already evolving only after a year. I love what traditions mean. Being with your family, the ones you love most, having fun and making your time together count and last a lifetime. And that's exactly what we did.

witchy fingers- cut string cheese in half and use a pearing knife to cut out a spot for a green pepper finger nail held in place with cream cheese and make grooves for the witches knuckles.mashed boo-tatoes- pile up mashed potatoes and make eyes with anything you'd like. the boys were excited because I used Skittles.

werewolf pot pie- this was nothing more than a chicken pot pie with a spooky name.spooky brew- earlier in the day I took a latex glove, filled it with water and laid it in the freezer. a few hours later I cut the glove off and had a frozen hand. i made a pitcher of fruit punch, poured it in a bowl and used the frozen hand as the ice. kinda morbid, I know, but very cool at the same time. banana ghosts- this was perfect for dessert because Dax helped me with these earlier in the day too. we cut bananas in thirds, put them on Popsicle sticks, and froze them. once they were frozen we dipped them in melted white chocolate, put the eyes on and froze them again. scrumptious!pumpkin carving- while I cooked and set the table, the boys carved their pumpkins and that was the finishing touch on the table.pumpkin bowling- last weekend I made these 2-litre bottles for our Ward Fall Festival for a "Pumpkin Bowling" booth and the boys have had a blast playing with them. every time I made a mummy Dax would ask what it was and I would tell him a "mummy" and then when I would make the next one he would ask if it was the daddy, and I would say no, it's a "mummy" not a "mommy". then I would make the next one and he would ask if it was "Wyatt". i think he kept thinking I was making our family because the first one was a "mummy". these little puppies will stick around for a long as they last in my Halloween stash...they were so fun! i filled them with a small amount of beans and used a small round pumpkin to bowl them over.

Oh! And what about the little dudes Halloween costumes? I'll give you a hint.....

Speechless

This week hasn’t been good. Not good at all.

I’m not at all over what the last few days have brought. In fact, tears stream down my face each time I think about it. When you are a mother, you are supposed to protect your children and your job is to let nothing happen to them. You would do anything so that they wouldn’t experience hurt or pain. You hold them beneath your wing and shield them from danger. At least that is what you think you should be able to do. But, as I learned this week, the reality is, you can’t be there for everything that happens. Bad things happen. Disasters happen. Accidents happen. And sometimes, as a mother, there is nothing you can do.

If anything, this week has slowed me down. Something I have been feeling I needed to do for a little while. However, this week, amidst the worst one ever, I realized all that I am grateful for. I am blessed in so many ways. Ways that don’t even cross my mind on a daily basis. Blessings that I don’t think twice about, or don’t recognize, but they are there. And even when the bad things happen, there are still blessings to be found. These past few days especially I have been full of gratitude….and sorry for the gory details.

I am grateful my husband works so close that he was able to come home and treat Wyatt’s hand after he burned it on the stove Monday afternoon.

I am grateful for in-laws who came over out of concern to check on the poor guy.

I am grateful for a brother in law who is my person on-call doctor and gave me the best medical remedies over the phone to help ease Wyatt’s pain.

I am grateful for a tough boy who became even tougher the next day.

I am grateful when Wyatt hit above his eye rather than his actual eye when he tripped and fell while racing down the hallway Tuesday night and hit the metal bed frame.

I am grateful I have such wonderful friends who are also my neighbors and who both were home so that my friend could come to the ER with me and her husband could watch her kids and Dax.

I am grateful for Dax for being so brave and such a good listener at the most urgent and scary of moments. It was scary and he was so tough.

I am grateful for a wonderful hospital less than 5 miles down the road.

I am grateful that Wyatt had stopped bleeding and crying by the time we got the hospital and wasn’t knocked out when he fell.

I am grateful the nurses acted fast when they saw a baby with a bloody face and a composed, but hysterical, mother walk through the doors.

I am grateful for an ER doctor who accessed Wyatt and decided that paging a pediatric plastic surgeon would be the best decision.

I am grateful for parents who live close by and my dad who was able to go pick up Dax and bring him home and put him to bed and clean up the blood on the floor throughout the house so we didn’t have to see it when we got home.

I am grateful that Austin had his cell phone with him at his soccer game and hadn’t left it at home.

I am grateful that my friend stayed with me until Austin arrived.

I am grateful that Austin kept his composer when he saw our baby even though I knew he was holding back sobs.

I am grateful my children love their daddy so much.

I am grateful for the quick time it took for the surgeon to answer his page and come to the hospital.

I am grateful there was no flesh missing, all the muscles in his eyebrow were okay and there was no damage to his nose.

I am grateful that the nurses didn’t have to put Wyatt out, but just in a comatose state to do the stitching so that he wouldn’t feel anything and have no memory of it.

I am grateful Wyatt ended up with two layers of stitches equalling close to 20 rather than a hundred and twenty stitches or even surgery.

I am grateful that the room was full of concerned doctor’s and nurses who took such great care of Wyatt.

I am grateful Austin is worthy to hold the priesthood and bless Wyatt.

I am grateful for a 24 hour pharmacy that we were able to fill Wyatt’s prescription and help him sleep more comfortably that night.

I am grateful for Austin for waking up each hour to check on Wyatt and then wake up the next morning and work a 12 hour day.

I am grateful for my mom’s visit and for bringing us the yummiest monster mix (a Halloween trail mix) the next morning that the boys snacked on all day.

I am grateful for a sister who brought the boys lunch and a great friend who brought us dinner.

I am grateful for the many many phone calls and concern from family and friends.

I am grateful for two healthy boys and an eternal family.

This is one of those weeks that I want to forget but most likely never will. I think of all the worst things that could have happened and I am so blessed.

My sweet Wyatt, he's going to be just fine.

Baseball

I love October. The summer is over, the leaves are changing, there is a crisp in the air…..oh wait, I live in Arizona. None of those things are true. We have to no leaves, it’s still in the low 90’s and no matter what time of year, there is never a “crisp” in the air.

But, no matter where you live, there is one thing that is universal about October….

….the World Series.

Austin lives for the World Series. He loves baseball. Even though I grew up a big time Angels fan, Austin has always worn Dodger blue. So it would stand to reason that our boys heart the Dodgers.

This World Series Dax is very much into cheering for his team. The boys (and by boys I mean Dax, Wyatt and Austin) get decked out in their Dodger hats and watch each game. It means late nights for Dax, Wyatt yelling, “Go Manny” and Austin in pure heaven watching the games with his sons. It’s kinda adorable to watch.

Even last night when Dax was saying his prayers he prayed for Manny and the Dodgers. And today, when he was playing with an empty 2-liter bottle and a tennis ball, he ran and got his Dodger hat, asked me to pretend his name was Manny, put the tennis ball on the mouth of the 2-liter bottle like a tee, and although he kicked the bottle and the ball went flying, he still ran around the house yelling, “He hits another homer run!” Not home run. A homer run.

Wyatt in the meantime is chasing him around the 'bases' yelling "Go Manny" as if right on cue which made Dax even more thrilled.

There's definitely a love of the game in this house.

And I absolutely love it.

Triathlon

We did it! My sister Nicole and I ran in our first triathlon this past weekend. Okay, so maybe it was a mini triathlon. Oh, who am I kidding, it was a mini sprint triathlon. But either way, we did it. And I am proud of us.

We swam. We biked. We ran.

We’d been training for 7 weeks basically so we wouldn’t drowned in the pool or tip over on our bikes or pass out on the run before the finish line. And we didn’t do any of those things!! We did it!

I may have been the one wearing my Shade swimsuit, the dork with the earplugs in her ear so the water wouldn't get in, the one riding her mountain bike rather than a street bike, practically the only one without the "tri" apparel of biker shorts, not to mention how much of an idiot I felt like with that ridiculous helmet, but I finished. My goal was to do it under and hour and five minutes, and I did it under an hour! Yipee! I finished about the middle of the pack and guess what, that was good enough to earn me a medal becasue I placed in my division!

So, the funny friend we made before the race who I thought was on crack when he told us after we finished we would be addicted to these tri's may not have been totally off after all. It was pretty amazing to finish after working so hard and to have your family and friends there cheering you on. Thanks Nicole for this awesome memory!! I love you!

laughing

I love my kids. I love playing with my kids and I love laughing with my kids. We laugh a lot. Both boys are so crazy and spunky and have the wildest personalities. When Dax is crazy, Wyatt is crazy. When Dax is being silly, Wyatt is being silly. It’s kinda like getting two for the price of one. They are a package deal. Wyatt wants to do everything his brother is doing. They make me laugh every day.

Lately it seems that Dax will do anything and everything to make us laugh. Which doesn’t take much actually. He doesn’t have to try very hard to get me laughing, he’s really actually pretty funny. I’ve already had visions of him in school being the kid who falls off his chair to get a laugh or the one making silly faces at the other kids across the room. I thought I was ready for those school years, but some days I know we are no where close. He hasn’t really grasped the concept that there is a time and a place for everything and while falling off a chair might be funny, it’s also a distraction. He’s learning these little lessons, so I think we’ll get there.

But, in the meantime, he cracks me up and I let him be who he is because it makes us all laugh. And laughing is just fun.

Yesterday Wyatt was napping and Dax was playing. I remember when I was younger my mom would sometimes come lay down where my sisters and I were playing and close her eyes and we would think to leave quietly, but she would stop us and say she loved to listen to us play and so we would stay. Yesterday, I did the same exact thing. Dax was playing; his imagination was running wild, so I closed my eyes and listened. It was soothing and heart-warming and comforting and peaceful. I never really understand what my mom was “listening” to when she would do this, but I totally get it know. You just listen to your little boy (or girl) be a little boy, and it’s touching. I can’t really think of another word to describe it. It kinda tugs at your heart, at least it did mine. Maybe because I finally slowed down long enough to enjoy him and soak up every bit of the great little boy that he is.

Well, it’s also very relaxing and I think I must have dozed off. Next thing I know Dax was inches from my face resting his head on my pillow. He’d cuddled underneath the blanket next to me and continued to play quietly talking about a spaceship and hero and rescuing Hercules. I didn’t really follow his train of thought and all his mind was going through at a mile a minute, but I kept my eyes closed and kept listening. Finally I couldn’t take it anymore. He was being so sweet and cute and my heart was so happy. I decided to open my eyes and tell him I loved him. His huge green-blue eyes were starring right at me. He looked right back at me and beat me to the punch. He says in the most sincere, heartfelt way I have ever heard this boy speak, “Mama, I love you.”

I melted. We say I love you a million times a day, but this was different. I was sure that I would remember this moment for a long, long time. It was just simple and sweet.

Then it abruptly stopped. Not a millisecond after Dax says he loves me, he takes his little skinny fingers, says something along the lines of “Dongggggggggggssssshhkkk” (with a little spit I might add) and flicked my nose.

And then I knew for certain I would remember that moment for a long, long time because we laughed our heads off. The most laugher I have done in a long time and Dax’s eyes just sparkled as he laughed his little face off because he was so proud of himself that he had me laughing.

For some reason the rest of the day was a breeze. I guess the little flick of the nose knocked some sense into me. It made me realize how much good a little laughing can do. How much silliness and ridiculousness is good for the soul. I’m happy, because right now I have two little boys who remind me of this every chance they get. Yup, lucky for me, I have two personal clowns that are all mine. And that’s pretty awesome.