Weekend Getaway

In August, the boys and I escaped the Phoenix heat and went "glamping" in Flagstaff.

I booked the cutest little cabin, that didn't have a bathroom, but we had beds, electricity, and even a mini fridge and a microwave. 

This was the view behind our cabin, and after a long Phoenix summer, I was so happy to be outside. We even had a thunderstorm while we were there!

While I love camping, I have no idea how to cook on any kind of camping equipment (not that I own any), so I was super happy that they had a food truck in the mornings where we could order some breakfast, and the boys were happy as well!

After breakfast, we explored the campground for a bit.

Fox must have taken 7 rides in this train, while Finn was too scared to try.

The night we arrived, my friend Marcela texted me and asked if we wanted to join their family in Flagstaff the next day to go mushroom hunting. I replied that we were already there and would love to meet up with them. Such a great coincidence. 

I had never been mushroom picking, but her family does it every year, so on this day we learned a lot about lobster mushrooms, how to pick the good ones, and how to process them afterwards.

Fox is my inside kid, he would much rather be at home (or in the cabin) and read a book versus spending time in the forest.

Finn on the other hand was living his best life.

He found this rock at the campground and wanted to take a picture with it.

We spent a few hours with Marcela and her family, and then went back to the cabin for a while.

After their family finished picking mushrooms, they came to join us for a couple of hours and the kids had a blast playing together.

We stayed for two nights, and after checking out, we made a quick pit stop at our favorite ropes course in Flagstaff.

I can't wait until he is old enough to do the big course with me, but he had so much fun exploring the kids course again.

It was a short trip, but it felt like exactly what we needed, after a few busy first weeks of school for all of us.

First day of school 2022

It had been a long summer, and this Mama was ready for school to be back in session!

Fox started third grade this year...that is just wild to me!

And then there's this little guy. For the last four years I was able to live my dream as a stay at home mom and spend almost every day with him. Neither of us was ready for this big transition, but I prayed he would love school and make friends!

This was during his orientation.

It turned out my prayers were answered, because he LOVES school. He can't wait to go every morning and his teacher told me that he has really come out of his shell since he started in August.

And for memories sake, here's a look back at Fox's first day of school pictures, from 2016 to now. 

Fox had a great start as well, and he has been enjoying third grade so much better than second (he talks about second grade often and how awful it was). 

I hope they will both have a great school year...well, all three of us!

August iPhone dump

Life has been so busy, so I'm still trying to catch up!

In August, I spent some time with my mother in law at her home gym, after dropping off the boys at school TOGETHER for the first time ever. It felt so weird to have my mornings free all of the sudden. Spoiler alert: this didn't last long, even though I wish it did...haha.

I saw this picture (in the pool) at my mother in law's house and had to take a second look to realize that this was Katie, not Finn. I have joked for years that Finn looks so different from the other half siblings, as well as Fox, and that the lab must've switched the embryos by accident. But there's no denying it now, he's definitely Katie's twin!

This night went down as the most fun ADULT birthday party in history. My friend Tilly planned her birthday at a bowling alley. We bowled, played laser tag, played games, ate, and had a few too many drinks. 

So much laughter and love that night.

And check this out, she gave all of us goodie bags to take home!

He's been loving all of the "Diary of a Wimpy kid" books and has been reading non-stop. This was in the school parking lot, which is why he is not buckled.

For his birthday this year, Finn chose to go to the Great Wolf Lodge with just one friend, versus having a big birthday party. We started the celebrations with some very overpriced candy.

He gave it a thumbs up though!

Big brother didn't love that it was "Finn's day" but came along anyway.

We met up with Finn's friend, plus Katie and Christina, and took all of the kids to the water park and dinner. Finn's friend was picked up, and the boys and I stayed overnight. The next morning, Finn and I played hooky, dropped off Fox at school, and went back to the hotel for more fun.

Since we already had enough wrist bands, we invited Katie's sister Ashlie and her kids to come join us for the day. Finn loves this lazy river because he can stand without floaties, and we spent hours circling around in it.

Double thumbs up this time!

I think he had a great birthday.

This was Fox's reaction when I told him my school mascot is an Artichoke. I know, who came up with that nonsense?

When all of the kids went back to school, I started a new tradition with my friends: Wednesdays Breakfast Club! It's November, and we have been meeting up almost every Wednesday to catch up, and it has quickly become my favorite time of the week.

I made some shirts for Finn and I.

I posted this to facebook in August:

I wanted to become a nurse ever since I was little. In 9th grade, I did an internship at a hospital in Germany, and long story short, one nurse bullied me to the point that I changed career goals, because I didn’t want to encounter her ever again. So here I am, after two years of pre-requisites, and two years on the waiting list, I’m starting nursing school and teaching my boys that it’s never to late to chase your dreams and to start over. I asked them what their advice for my first day back at school was, Fox suggested I shouldn’t embarrass myself, and Finn advised me that there are no naps at school.

I’m equally excited and terrified to embark on this new adventure, but I’m ready, and I believe I can achieve whatever I set my mind to.

Fast forward three months, and I'm now almost at the end of my first semester and I've been loving every minute of it. I heard from a lot of people how hard nursing school is, and it's definitely A LOT of work, but I've been enjoying everything I've been learning, and all the amazing people I have met along the way so far. I was so worried about being the oldest in my class, and out of 57 students in my cohort, I'm far from being the oldest, and have made some friends. My instructors are great, I love being in the classroom after all this time, and I love the experiences we are getting in the lab. I still have a bunch of exams ahead of me, but so far I've been keeping at a steady 93% and I'm beyond proud of myself for keeping up with the material. But I would be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to Christmas break, because like I said, it's a lot of work, and I haven't had much time to do anything else lately. 

Sweet boy never wants me to take his picture, but he asked to take a picture of him and his magnet creation.

Finn always needs to touch someone when sleeping, and I'm glad when some nights he chooses Fox over me, although those moments are rare. 

One morning after I dropped off the kids at school, I decided to treat myself with a little Target outing. It's not even about buying anything, I just love to walk around Target! So on this morning, as I was strolling the aisles, I get a call from my friend Marcela, stating that she just saw my car at Target when she left, and that I should look for our friend Becky, who she also saw inside Target. What are the odds that all three of us were there at the same time?

My first elf kit went out in August, and I'm super sad to say, that I only sold four this year (last year I sold 330). What is even sadder, is that I have 596 more kits sitting in my garage, because I worked really hard all year to get them ready, so I wouldn't be stressed over packing them while in nursing school. 

If Finn was a girl! Fox loved wearing headbands when he was Finn's age, so he wanted to see what Finn looked like with one. 

I had to purchase a bag for all of my lab supplies for school (think stethoscope, needles, meds, catheter, blood pressure cuff, etc.), and I loved this one from amazon. It was really fun buying all of my school supplies, but also very expensive...ha!

This big kid only sleeps in his own bed every once in a while, but when he does, he makes sure to sleep with ALL the lights on. 

Since school started for him and myself as well, I haven’t been able to spend a lot of time with my feisty little sidekick, and I’ve been missing him (and Fox). On top of school, Katie has really stepped it up to help me out and has been taking the boys most nights, so I wouldn't have to do homework, dinner, or bedtime with them, in order for me to be able to study and concentrate on my school. I'm super grateful for her and Christina working with me while I'm in school, but I also miss the boys, because it's the first time since becoming a mom that I'm away from them so much.

Another Wednesday Breakfast Club!

We like to start preparing for the holidays early, so painting pumpkins in August made us happy!

Until next month!