Summertime.

Sprinkler Love (because we can't afford a pool).

Lots of yard work.

Mom gets suckered into taking them on expensive field trips.

Sleeping in.

Eating out. Lots.

My "Apache Junction" nail polish.

We've been partaking of lots of these.

About the no pool thing - we've been to too many of these to get out of the heat. "Free popcorn Mondays" are just a bonus.

Our scorpion friends like to show up for the occasional visit. It's a good thing we have machetes on hand to do them in, "Lord of the Flies" style.

Swim Lessons.

Lake Powell trips.

Day excursions to Vegas.

Have I mentioned how much I {heart} Instagram?

I'm Not Laughing...

I'm a born and bred California girl. I married an Arizona boy. Arizonans don't leave Arizona (at least that's what Tommy's dad says. He calls Arizona "Zion").

The temps hit 113 today. I've been told many a time that it is a "dry heat." Dry heat, my arse. Hot is hot. My makeup is already starting to melt, and that is a bad, bad thing.

So why the lovely saguaro cactus picture above? Well... every time I drive past one, it seems to look as though it's flipping me off, rubbing it in my {melted foundation} face that I have to deal with this dreaded heat for the next 4 months.

I vow to grudgingly embrace this "Dry Heat" bologna.

Happy Belated...

To the best Father a girl could ask for.

Happy Daddy's Day.

Always The Funny Guy...

At my expense (as usual)...

Tommy and I had to make a late-night Wal-Mart run. We're checking out and the above picture is what the guy standing behind us is buying. I lean over to Tommy and tell him, "I bet that's for his wife. He's a nice husband!"

Remember THIS post from a while back?

Well, sure enough, the guy says, "My wife wanted this stuff. The Monster is for me."

So, leave it to Tommy to announce to the entire check-out line,

"Looks like you're gonna have a good night tonight. I'm buying tampons for my wife. Sucks to be me."

The Birthday Goose.

She's spunky. She's smart (did I mention she got straight A's all 4 quarters this year)? She's happy and content. She has the most contagious laugh. She looks just like her daddy, that his friends tell him 'she looks so much like Tommy, Tommy doesn't even look like Tommy. She has millions of little freckles we like to refer to as "Angel Kisses." She's a tad bossy at times, but hey - the girl knows what she wants. And she turned 9.

Her Birthday Breakfast of Choice? The ever-fabulous, ghetto Waffle House, of course!

She's my little gem.

We Call It Missionary Work...

So, my neighbor on the left of us says to our neighbor on the right of us, "So... why do all you Mormons have pictures of Joseph Smith plastered all over your walls?" Neighbor on the right says, "Dude that's not Joseph Smith - that's Jesus."

I'm still laughing.

1 Year.

"What would you think of me now,

so lucky, so strong, so proud?

I never said thank you for that,

now I'll never have a chance.

May angels lead you in...

... And if you were with me tonight,

I'd sing to you just one more time,

A song for a heart so big,

God wouldn't let it live

May angels lead you in..."

Thanks Jimmy.

Miss you terribly, Dad.

When "Happy Hour" Isn't Quite As "Happy" Anymore...

I know I'm a bit like "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" with the back and forth of the on-and-off the Diet Coke biz. But I've been having migraines and my doc put me on an funky antibiotic that makes it so I can't taste any carbonation. Zip. Pretty much takes all the fun of my daily fix. So, with that said, my love affair is on the fritz for a while. Now it's just water with lime for the time being...

Starting Them Young...

Yes, I was quite concerned at her 5 year check-up that she was in the 30th percentile. We're hoping to trim her down on these bad boys. You should see her BEFORE picture! Kidding. (not about the 30th percentile part.) Swiggles is by far my teensiest child. Anyhoo, she walked in the house the other day from the neighbor's downing a weight loss shake. I would kill for her little triceps.

Pizzeria Stapley

The backyard pizza oven is finished and we invited several neighbors over to be our guinea pigs to test it out. We had 25 happy cutomers!