seek, sail, Soar.

Hello November!!!

Wow! This year is almost over! Sadly so are my 20’s! Just a few short weeks and I’ll official be 30! It’s a weird feeling but not a bad one. This life is going by really fast! We are living life as normally as one family can.        We are back in Phoenix! The weather has gotten AWESOME! Gas prices aren’t too bad either!        Life is back to normal. Evenings are mostly quiet (except for the outbursts of our very independent toddler).              Did I mention that on the 27th she turned 20 months!!!! So in less than 4 months I will have a 2 year old!!!    We’ve been trying all kinds of be wines to try and find some that we really enjoy (so far I’m not a huge fan so I’m open to input).     We took Arabella to the state fair! She LOVED it!             [wpvideo KNGrDvb0]  The next day was Halloween!         We took her Trick Or Treating at a couple churches.   
playing ring toss
  
walking the plank
Her favorite thing she got was a green balloon.    When we were done we went and had some sushi. Arabella was so tuckered out that she slept on daddy the entire time.     After dinner we headed back home to watch Hocus Pocus and veg out.    Arabella carved a pumpkin (her first… It was grampy’s first too).   
Arabella helping carve her pumpkin
      The next day the little Jack was boiled down and made into pumpkin chocolate chip cookies!  
the 4 adults enjoyed some bubbly while watching Scandal
   Then the next day happened…  
arabella “helping” mommy cook
Yes while we were making cookies she got into some stuff :/ it’s amazing how quick she is! Two seconds and she has made a huge mess.  
playing in rocks
  
putting Dumbo to bed
  
driving of course
        Life is busy but good.    

The Future And Pumpkins

 

Halloween 2014
 
Another year… Another patch! I can’t believe my little tiger cub is so big now! She’s talking up a storm and dancing to anything with a beat.

   
    
 
She had fun playing in the pumpkins and saying hello to every single scarecrow. She loved that it was raining! She LOVES the rain!!!

   
 

 
 

trick or treat!

 
This week we also headed to Burbank for Back to the Future day. We have been preparing for this day for quite a while. We visited a few of the sites where the movie was filmed!

  
She had a lot fun getting attention. 

 

Doc Browns Van at Twin Pines Mall
  
    
    
our car next to Doc Browns
 
The first day I was pretty sick and just felt out of it. I kind of felt like a zombie. 

 

Our matching Mr. Fusion shirts
 
   
 
My sweet girl wasn’t feeling well either. 🙁 she fell asleep on me during dinner. 

 The next day my back hurt pretty bad but I didn’t feel my best. We were excited to head to universal anyway for the big day! It was finally “the future” or as most people know it “October 21, 2015“. 

 

where it all began 🙂
 
We were excited to celebrate with other nerds and gather with like minded people. Arabella adoredthe attention.

 

On the red carpet!

She was even patient enough to let us snap a few photos on the red carpet. 

  
   
 
There were many other McFly’s there but she was by far the most adorable. Multiple people wanted to take her photo. We loved our cheery little “Martina McFly“. 

  
The day went by extremely fast. We didn’t really take many photos. 

 

Trying a glass of something new
 

The four adults relaxed by playing a board game and having a glass of wine. We are trying to find more red wines to enjoy every now and again. Arabella relaxed by coloring a master piece… I wish I would have taken a photo. She’s getting so big!

 

19 months old!
  
 
She loves fish right now (but I digress).

 

At the railroad tracks where the Delorean was smashed
 

We collected some pine cones at the crash site and took them home and decorated them! We will use them around Christmas 🙂

  
Today we head back to Phoenix. We had a fun week exploring the Future and playing with pumpkins!

Life… The boring but important kind.

Warning: photo overload! 

The last couple of weeks have felt like they were speeding by. I feel like I blinked and they were gone… Which is odd because we weren’t doing anything too exiting. We stayed home most of the time and just kind of hung out. No big trips. No big plans. Just life. The most important kind. The boring, plain, normal kind of life. 

 

sensory palette
 

The boring times… Are when the crazy, silly, normal bits of life happen. Like when your kid covers herself in yogurt or draws all over the kitchen floor with scented markers (thank heavens they are washable). The normal times are when time really speeds up because everything is average in your mind. Time goes unnoticed, unappreciated, and taken for granted. Normal is taken for granted.

  Realistically normal should be held close to the heart, savored like a rare wine, and treated like it might be one of our last. Normal, boring life is when almost everything important happens. It’s when we grow. It’s when we learn who we are. It’s when time passes the quickest. I know I’ve said that already. Brace yourself I am going to say it again and again. Time doesn’t slow down for normal.

 
Normal moments fly by. Once they are spent you can’t get them back. There are no returns on time. So I’m learning to enjoy them. Less electronic time… And more play time.

  
  
   
   
More time to spend on the normal aspects of life… Like coloring, reading, playing in rocks, and trying to be the best wife and mom that I can be. I know I’m lucky. I have a beautiful little family that I wouldn’t trade for the world.

  
  
Sweet moments slip away if you let them. They will even pass by unnoticed.

   
 
And then one day you will have woken up and a year will have gone by. That’s kinda what happened to me. I tried to savor every moment but there were days that I just tried to get through. Days where I just counted down the hours and hoped they would be over because I had cleaned up one too many puddles of pee or dealt with one too many temper tantrums. Or washes macaroni and cheese off the wall one too many times. But those moments could have been different. Those days could have been different. 

  
Crazy days will happen. Messes and tantrums and power struggles will happen. That’s life. There will always be days we take for granted. Consistency seems to do that to a person. We forget how beautiful the simple things are. It’s human.

  
  
I’m doing my best to enjoy the tiniest moments. I’m trying not to freak out when I find my ribbon box unraveled and spread across the dining room. I’m trying to remain calm when my jewelry has somehow made it into the hands of my toddler… Because I forgot how excellent of a climber she is. I’m trying to not take these normal days for granted. I love my husband and my daughter so much! They really challenge me to be better. 

  
And I don’t want to take them for granted. I want them to know that they are important and loved. I want them to know they are my treasures.

  
So as my hardworking husband is off at work and my not-so-tiny little baby is asleep on my lap I’m going to be grateful for these simple moments. I’m grateful that I married a hardworking and loving man. I’m grateful that we have an independent-boundary testing- stubborn little girl. I’m even grateful for our shy little cat that hides under our bed because she is scared of said little girl.

  
  
  
After 3 days I am close to finishing this post. I’ll finally have updated photos posted. (Insert laugh). Life is about to pick up its pace again! The holidays are drawing near!

  
I am determined to have all of our Christmas shopping done by mid November. I finally finished Arabella’s Amazon wishlist. We are narrowing down what to get her. She seems to really love Minnie Mouse and baby dolls and books… So that helps. 

   
 
  Speaking of holidays… I will need updated addresses sent to me if you’d like a Christmas card!!!

  

Life isn’t perfect but it is beautiful!
 

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