In the ghetto

Well- I have to say that I am proud of us for making it in the Phoenix ghetto for over a year without being the victim of any major theft or life-threatening situation. That ended today.

Before you panic...we are all still alive.

Nathan went to get in his car today and drive to work....only to find an empty parking spot. There is no worse feeling. We, of course, filed a police report immediately, but I have very little hope. I'm pretty sure our sweet little Honda Civic is gone forever.

Of course, Nathan has been talking about getting a new car for a while, so he is trying to see it as fate (which adds slightly to my building anger). To make matters worse, his grandfather's WWII 22 rifle was in the trunk. Don't ask me why....although I also enjoy carrying family heirlooms around in my trunk. After all, doesn't that seem like the most reasonable place for them?

Movie Buff

Hazel has never been much of a t.v watcher (which sucks for me), but lately she has really started to love a select few movies. Her favorite is Lion King. She watches it at least once a day and has apparently started quoting lines from it. I found this out yesterday when she turned to me and passionately yelled, "You said you'd always be there for me!"
Needless to say, I was more than a little confused until I remembered the scene where Simba is talking to his dead father up in the sky.

So, I breathe a huge sigh of relief that I apparently have a few more years until I have to deal with her abandonment issues.

A Pictureless Christmas

I can't believe I am admitting this, but I took ZERO pictures on Christmas morning. I don't really know what happened. One minute I was waking up at the buttcrack of dawn, and the next thing I knew, Christmas was over. I did have the video camera rolling for the opening of presents, but I just never even thought to go get my camera. In my defense, the whole day was a whirlwind...plus our Christmas day pictures never turn out that great anyway. They are always dark and everyone has red eyes and bedhead....can you tell I am trying to make myself feel better about it? Here are a couple of shots that I got a few days before Christmas.

The day started with Owen sneaking out of his room around 5:45, taking everything out of his stocking and playing with his Santa presents before even waking us up. So of course I did what any loving, laid-back, patient mother would do and said "You better put everything back in that stocking, wait for me to wake up Hazel and turn on the video camera, then act surprised all over again!" So- he tried his best, but couldn't help saying a couple of times "I already knew that was in there" when looking through his stocking.

For me, the sweetest part of the day was opening the gifts that Owen picked out for each of us from his school's gift shop. Luckily I saw Nathan's presents ahead of time, so I told him to act thrilled when opening his new "Basketball Ln." street sign, his DAD flashlight, and his toy spinning top. No! I didn't give away the surprise! I just gave him fair warning. :) Owen gave me a very charming picture frame that says "My mom is the prettiest" a big, plush turtle key chain, and a beautiful bookmark that I started using immediately. He gave his sister a little mesh purse with a big flower on it (that she loves). It was just so precious to see his face as we opened the presents that he picked all by himself. So cute.

Hazel added her own cuteness to the day with her breathy exclamation of "Oh my!" each time she opened a present.

The excitement still has not faded, so they haven't really had time to settle down and pick their favorite toys. They are still trying to play with every new toy every day. It's very tiring for them. :)