I am high as a kite from this thing. So good.

espen's new bed

Recently Espen has been in to falling asleep on the couch at bed time. I remember falling asleep in the living room when I was little, it was the strangest feeling. I felt special because it was as if I was staying up 'past my bedtime' and there's nothing like being little and sleepy and having your parents pick you up and tuck you into bed.

This night in particular he desperately wanted to make his bed on the living room floor on my yoga mat. He brought out a blanket, pillow and what bed wouldn't be complete without his favorite buddies, black bear & white bear. He was so excited and proud of his little bed and I felt awful because he did this on a night when Jeremy and I decided to watch Black Hawk Down, um, not kid friendly by any means.
I told him he could sleep on the yoga bed tomorrow night while we watch one of his movies, picked him up and tucked him into bed.

Lego's - my new hobby

We bought Espen a Star Wars Lego set for Christmas this year. I am in love. The pieces were out of the box for less than 2 minutes before I had moved Espen aside and began to dive into the task at hand, building the Echo Base. Over the past few weeks, everytime we pack up the pieces or bring them out again Legos are missing. I am not sure if this is good or bad. It bums me out a bit because we can never fully create the entire Battle of Hoth but at the same time, we can use our imagination and create what ever we want. I am notorious for making a mean spaceship with our dwindling Lego set.

parent & child yoga

Once a month at Desert Song Yoga they have a Child/Parent Yoga class for children 18 months through 3 years old. This was our second time going and we will be making it a monthly outing till August. The class is hilarious. There were 5 other boys in this last class, Espen was the oldest. The topic was 'Baby Bears'. We did a funny exercise with little Rubber Duckies, which Espen thought was hilarious and then moved on to a brief discussion on hibernating. Espen impressed the class with his knowledge of subject. I chalked it up to Sid the Science Kid, Sesame Street or maybe that Espen is a child genius until I told Jeremy, who apparently had just discussed in depth with Espen what bears do during the winter. What were the chances of that?

The last half of the class is when we set up an obstacle course for the kiddos. This week we set up folding chairs, bolsters and blankets to make a cave where the little ones could 'hibernate' in between balancing across blocks, tumbling over bolster mountains and rolling over an exercise ball.

Class ended with a healthy snack of apples and water and of course big hugs and thanks to Mary from the kids. We ended the the morning by a not so healthy trip to McDonald's so that Espen could complete his Alvin and the Chipmunk talking (annoying screeching)toy collection.

This is definitely a fun way to spend a Saturday morning.

it's an apple pancake kind of morning.

Before we head out for Child/Parent yoga I thought I would make an old favorite of mine, Apple Pancakes. The pancake mix we got is the 'Just add water' kind, but I like to doctor them up like Bisquick's Melt in your Mouth Pancakes. Add some baking powder, sugar & lemon juice to the mix and voila, THE best pancakes EVER.

monday funday

I decided to take a few days off of work to give my Mom a break from watching the kiddos and to spend some time with Espen. We had such a good day!

Kate had told me about a place in North Scottsdale called MacDonalds Ranch, an actual working ranch that offers horseback riding, cook outs, birthday parties and all things country western. One thing they do offer that got me interested is free pony rides for kids, all you have to do is tip your guide.

So, on Monday morning before Jeremy had to go to the work at the Boys and Girls Club, we headed out to the ranch. When we got there there were two workers walking around, although they didn't really greet us or make eye contact with us. Not sure what to do or how to get a pony ride, we took Espen over to the coral to see the horses. I was shocked by how cool he was around these huge animals. He would put his palm out, let them smell him and when they seemed okay with him he would go in for the pet, first on their noses, then on their cheeks. Jeremy took Espen around the ranch for some hilarious photo ops. I wrangled (pun intended) a cowgirl and inquired about the pony rides. She helped me fill out some paperwork, found Espen a little helmet and off she went to get Sheik, come to think of it, maybe his name was Chic, either way, she got the horse saddled up and ready for Espen.

Although he didn't move a muscle during the entire 10 minute ride, he didn't seem scared at all. He got up, held on tight and did really well. When we were all done with the pony ride we tossed some horse shoes and said goodbye to Jeremy. Off we went for our second adventure of the day.

We headed to McCormick-Stillman Rail Road Park. Once there we ended up riding the train, then the carousel, then the train again, we ate some hot dogs, went to the train museum and finished it off with sharing an Ice Cream cone. The next thing you know it was 4pm. What a day.

this birthday present socks.

When my dear friend Sarah asked me what my favorite color and shoe size was I kind of had a feeling I would be getting some sort of knitted footwear. What I did not realize is that for my birthday I would receive one of, if not the most amazing handmade gift ever. These are not just socks, these are deliciously soft, perfectly fitting and intricately knitted cashmere/wooly foot candy. I do not own a pair of socks. If I need socks I stretch out a pair of Espen's. So, these socks, if you can even call them socks, are very dear to me now and thanks to the talented LimeJuicy my tootsies will forever be cozy.

Sarah these are amazing. Thank you so much! xo

On a side note, is it summer yet, my legs are whiter than they have been in ages.