Truth Hurts

So.....THIS happened.

Sitting on my bed, holding Maggie.  She is asking for something to eat.  Now, keep in mind she is NOT a big eater.  Much of the time she's irritated that I'm even suggesting or offering breakfast or lunch options.  But yesterday she was especially ravenous for some reason.

So, to make this conversation better understood, I shall create a little "key", if you will.  You can thank me later.

A = Me
M = Maggie
I know, my cleverness knows no bounds.

A= You're just really hungry today aren't you?
M= Yeah.  I like to eat a lot because it helps me grow healthy and strong.
A = Well, eating does help you grow healthy and strong, but not if you eat ALL the time.
M= No, that helps you grow fat, like you are.
A = (ouch)  Well, yes.
M = But you're working on it.  You're trying to get skinny like me and Daddy and Max.
A = You don't think Daddy is fat?
M = NO!
And because I'm so totally mature, I said...
A = Well.....he is.
M = NO HE'S NOT!

Awesome.  So clearly I'm the only fat, fat fatty residing in this house.  Better keep working harder.  SHEESH!

Did I tell you about the time last month that we had a similar conversation, except in that one I said, "But Maggie, I weigh LESS than Daddy."  She looked me right in the face and very seriously said..."Ummm, NO YOU DON'T!"
My life RULES!

And just for the record little miss double standard....THAT is not skinny. Totally hot, don't get me wrong, but not skinny.

Yeah, that's totes her skinny Dad third in from the left

 

And she says these things when I'm at the lowest weight I've been since before I had her.  Which is the lowest weight I'd been in......EVER it seems.

Yep, truth hurts.

Guess the workout is never done.

I do think I'll pull out my pre-gastric picture and really rock her world.

Pretty sure life would be sooooo much easier if she'd just spend alot more time like this!  Sweet as pie that girl.

Mmmmmm pie.

Fat moms skinny dads,

Allyson

Birds of a Feather....

Maggie walked up to me with a look of complete concern and honest questioning.

"Mommy....when will I grow a feather in my hair?"
"Whaaaat?"
"When will I grow a FEATHER in MY hair?"

WHAT in the world is she talking about?  Why does she think she should be growing feathers in her hair?

After some thought and confusion, I realized that she had recently spent time with our friend Sabrea who is a feather wearin hair dresser.  Maggie LURVES Sabrea (or as my kids call her, Starla) and sorta idolizes all she does.

"Oh, do you mean, a feather like Starla has in HER hair?"

Exhibit A

Starla and her feathers

"Yessssss!  When will I get one?"

"Well honey, those don't just GROW in your hair.  They have to be PUT in your hair."

"What do you mean, put in my hair?  Why?"

"I don't know, it's just something that Sabrea does.  She can put feathers in peoples hair."

"WHY?"

"I don't know.  Because she's a hairdresser, and she's cool like that.  MAYBE someday she can put one in your hair."

A look of utter and sheer delight spread across her face. 

"Can she put one in NOW?"

"No, but maybe sometime."

That seemed to appease her enough and away she skipped to do something else.

So, I called Sabe to share the story of her power over my daughter, she got a good laugh, and then totally volunteered to come on over and put a feather in Maggies hair.

When I told Maggie that Starla was coming over to featherize her she nearly peed her pants with anticipation.

In she walked last night at 8:00 with her packet of feathers in tow.  She sat down on the chair and offered Maggie a peek, and allowed her to choose which feathers she wanted.

As Sabrea pulled out the rainbow colored feather Maggie let out a gasp of delight and as she exhailed let the word "coooooooool" float on her breath.  It was clearly the most AWESOME thing she'd EVER seen.
P.S. judge not on the long sleeved Christmas Pj's being sported here. Max insisted on wearing his, so Maggie wanted to match.  Nevermind that they're too small and, well, weather inappropriate.  Note how she's holding them, that's because a moment before I laughed as I was taking a pic and said, "love the belly." (as it was hanging out all over the place). This embarrassed her and she held her shirt down the rest of the time.  (I felt bad)

Watch as Starlas works her magic.......

Yep....TOTALLY rainbow feather in my 4 year olds hair. hahaha

She was seriously SO pleased with herself and this amazing feather she could barely keep her smile to herself.

Not wanting to be left out Max yelled "Mommy, don't forget to take a picture of me playing my game." I dutifully raised the camera and THIS is what he gave me.  SO typical of Max.

Ladies and Gentleman.....I present you with Maggie and her magical feather growing hair.

What can I say?

Birds of a feather flock together.

I do just have to giggle a little bit, because honestly....how many 4 year olds are sporting the latest hair trend such as this.  Something I would NEVER do.  But, we are blessed with awesome friends who work in every field and who so willingly share of their talents.

Thanks Sabe for making this little girls feather dreams come true.

And now, Maggie is off to her very FIRST dance class ever.  She's pretty excited, minus the totally ANNOYING need to wear tights.

"Tights are DUMB you know, right Mom?  I HATE them."

Pretty sure I don't have a ballet star in my future.

Naked birds and feather heads,

Allyson

Trash to Treasure Tuesday

The text said something like...."My mom wanted me to check with you and see if you wanted us to save these chairs for you."  It was attached to a picture of some chairs literally amongst trash, yard clippings, discarded palm fronds, etc.  My sisters neighbor and good friend (and also dedicated stalker of my blog, HI DIANE) just likes to literally throw out to the curb perfectly good furniture.  It's fascinating.  Had I known just how nice and sturdy these chairs were I woulda taken them all.  But, as it was, my pea brain could only see that I had room for TWO.  I told Breckyn to save the best two and call it a day.  She dutifully retrieved the chairs from the trash and stowed them on the side of their house.  Then, it rained, and by the time I picked them up they were COVERED in nasty dirt, mud and grime.  So, when I say TRASH to treasure, I reallllly mean it this time.

So, recap.

Chair.....on the curb - totally FREE!
2 Cans spray paint - $6.00
1 hour of my time with enough sweat to fill a pool - PRICELESS.

Disclaimer......I'm only slightly bitter that my camera is the el suck at capturing the way these things truly look.  You can't see the distressing very well.  But, just trust me, they look better than you think.

Did I mention these chairs weigh at LEAST a ton?  Yeah, they do.

BEFORE:

Look close, I'm trying to show the gross dirty grime on it.

DIRRRRTY!

AFTER:

love the cute curve of the leg

Oh, and i also LOVE me some Ralph Lauren glaze, it's my fave.

Thanks Diane for the excellent new seating at my too small kitchen table.  Maybe we'll have to invite you to dinner. hee hee

Greer 2011 - Part 2....Sunrise

For the past 3 years we have gone to Greer from Saturday to Saturday, which is all well and good, it just makes it impossible for us to enjoy a fun and beautiful little thing known as Sunrise ski resort (they foolishly are ONLY open on Sat. and Sun. afternoons).  We love to ride the lift to the top and take in the ridiculous beauty of the landscape.  Plus, the ride up and back is just so beautiful, and peaceful and serene and fun.  And.....we always get rained on.  Oh wait, that is NOT my favorite part of it.

Anywho, this year we got to go up on Friday, therefore making a trip to Sunrise possible.  It did NOT disappoint.  Max and Maggie loved "the swing ride" and we enjoyed it too.

Max LOVED the "ride".  Can't you just tell by that little face?

Heading up the slope.  It takes about 15 to 20 minutes to get up.

From the top.

It was about 50 degrees up there.

In ARIZONA, in AUGUST!

Le Sigh!

Heading down.

She was enjoying it, I promise.  Though in this pic she may look a little like a rabid animal...I'm not sure. hahaha

Dana, Hayden and Adam decided to hike down.

Silly mistake, as the heavens opened and poured forth upon them.  Dana may have looked like she stepped out of the shower when all was said and done.  However, Adam was able to take some REALLY cool shots of us in the lift, from down below.

Shane and Owen

Harrison and Bryson

Oh hey, there we are.  Look at Maggies face, it cracks me up.  Acting like she was scared or something.

I end with this cute pic of my parents, cause it cracks me up.  My Moms comment on this one was..."there is me and Brooklyn and some random Frenchman I picked up." hehehehe  Oh Mom, you slay me.  But really, my Dad is a hoot with his beret and his ginormous blu blocker sunglasses!  LOVE him!

All in all it was a fabulous afternoon, so worth the rain.  It makes me so happy to see the beauty that Arizona has to offer.  Oh, and plus, my family is fun too!

Swing rides and rain drops,

Allyson

Maggies 1st Day...

We interrupt this regularly scheduled Greer blogpost to give you Maggies first day of school.  No worries, it'll be brief.

We "qualified" for a state funded preschool this year.  While I will GREATLY miss Miss Ranelle (because let's face it, there is NO better preschool EVER), she decided to teach 1st grade full time, and we couldn't afford to send Maggie this year anyway.  So, thankfully, there is a wonderful preschool program here in AZ, and many of my friends/neighbors got their kids in too.  Carpools, and good kids sharing her class. YAY!

The class Maggie got into is at 8 A.M.  Seriously?  8 in the morning?  That is a stretch for this Mom.  I could barely get her to 9 a.m. preschool last year.  BUT, we can't be late this year, they're a bit stricter, so we'll ahve to make it work.

Of course, it was her first day of school and she slept until 7:35.  HELLO.  This girl is ALWAYS awake by 7 at the VERY latest.  I had to wake her up and rush her into her clothes.  BUT, she was so excited for school that she happily put her clothes on, AND let me do her hair.  I repeat, she LET ME DO HER HAIR with nary a fight at all.  It was so delightful I coulda cried.

We got into the car and awayyyyyy we went.  We made it with just a few minutes to spare.

Lookin goood!

Never mind that the "rules" stated no open toed shoes.  Maggie was having none of THAT.

The teacher requires hand washing for everyone as soon as they walk in the door.

The 2nd day she realized that was gonna be a nightmare, so she switched it up to just some good ol' hand sanitizer.

Max however is none to sure about this whole Sissy going to school thing. He cries all the way home saying "I don'tWaaaaaaant sissy to go to school."  It's kinda sad.  Hopefully this won't last too long.

This picture?

Well, he and I were perusing the merchandise at our local Wal-mart when this shirt caught his eye.  He said, "Can you buy me that GUY shirt?"  I told him he had to choose between the guy shirt and the silly putty in his hand.  He looked at them both, pondered a moment and then handed me the silly putty to put away.  He reallllllly wanted the "guy shirt."  He figured that since Maggie got some new clothes, he should too.

He was just beside himself to wear it the next day and sooooo proud of it.  When I told him that we were going to Gramma and Grandpas he said.

"I will show them my guy shirt?  Will they say Oh My Gosh when they see it?"

It was so cute.  And he did proudly show it to WHOEVER he came in contact with that day.

Maggies first day also scored me some KILLER deals at the thrift store, so it was just winners all the way around.

Maggie came home happy as a clam, pleased with her teacher and her class.

Here's hoping for a GREAT year!

School daze and guy shirts,

Allyson

Greer 2011 Post 1

Well folks, it was yet another fabulous year in Greer.  One we were especially grateful to have, as in June we weren't sure Greer would even exist anymore.  There was a brief moment in time where we falsely believed it had burned down.  There were massive wild fires this summer and much of the area up and around Greer burned.  And frankly, the fire came RIGHT down to the edge of town and nearly did it in.  In all 22 structures were lost, one of them literally IN town. So, it was scarey.  BUT, Greer survived, and it's still beautiful, in spite of the burn lines running all around it.

We are sooooooo grateful for this week long respite each year in our lives.  It really is the most beautiful spot in all of AZ, and it does much to fill our "wells" and get us through another year.

So, first I offer some pictures of "the burn".

Wish I'd gotten a better picture of areas with burned trees, and this neon/electric green grass growing all around it.  When we were there it had  been raining for weeks, and the combo of rain and all the ash on the ground made for the most stunning green grasses.  The juxtoposition of burn and green was fascinating, and beautiful.

It literally burned down the mountain to the edge of "town".

This is sooo sad.  A gorgeous house, just gone.

More insulting....the houses on either side of it, not touched.  You could see where the fire burned UP to the house next door, and yet it's still standing.  My heart breaks for the family that lost that home (well all the families really).  This development is as "in town" as you can get.  And right next door is a big resort.  The fire burned right to the edge of the resort.  Sooo many blessings that more wasn't burned.

Anywho...you know I'm long winded, and there are like 4 million things I want to show you and talk about.  But, for THIS post, I'm just gonna show you family pic day.  It was without a doubt our quickest and smoothest to date.  Hooray!

I look at all these pics and they make me happy.  I really do love this big crazy family of mine!  They're the BEST!

As usual, click on pics to see them larger, if you so desire.

The entire Shumway clan in all our glory.  This is first time in at least 3 years that literally ALL of us were there for the pictures.  Hooray!

Danas family

Erics family

Me family

Jere insisted on ASU pride.

I told you, he's crazy about his school pride.

Max asks to wear that shirt every.single.day!

Jennys family

Porters family

Dixies family

The couples

we took individual shots as well.  Some inappropriate and some "straight."

The Siblings

The "outlaws"

It's so sad that they never have any fun.

The "men" of Greer

I'm not kidding when I say this may be my all time favorite picture EVER!

They were making fun of us women.

The ladies of Greer

My Mom is so cute

These are all the grandaughters.

Poor Breckyn, she was born only 15 years too early for the rest of them.

Well...this was ON picture day.  I just happen to think it's a particularly good picture of Miss Sass and I.

Alright....that's done.  Tomorrow I shall bring you Sunrise ski lift.  Holy Beautifulness!

Smiles and squints,

Allyson