The bad haircut...

Every once in a while we all get a bad cut. Right?? Well our tree happened to be on the wrong end of the clippers this weekend. We lost some large branches with the heavy winds this week, so Saturday Dawn and I, (Brian was obviously sitting on the sidelines) tried to trim up the tree in hopes we wouldn't lose anymore of it. It took us an hour and a half to get half of it done. I think we were getting pretty proficient in using the telescoping lopers, but our necks were sore from looking straight up and our backs were getting a bit stiff and we must have looked quite the sight. Two guys pulled up in an old truck and told me they would finish cutting my tree for $100. After a quick internal debate, it really wasn't that quick, more like a split second flash I told them I had $40 in cash ( since that was the only currency they really wanted to deal in) and they could trim whatever they could for $40... here's the result:
It is a tree with a very seriuos pruning. On the brightside I am not going to need to trim the tree any time soon!

This is a before picture, taken during the downpour earlier in the week

When it rains.....it pours...

There is no such thing as sprinkling in Arizona. It either rains or it doesn't. And when it does rain....it rains. We have had the fourth wettest monsoon season on record this year. The streets flood... the backyard floods... the parks are built primarily as retention basins and they can get a few feet deep. We have had some pretty good soakings this last week. I do have to say it is nice for a little change in the weather.

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Variations on a Theme

Here is a little trivia for you. In the morning which boy prefers which beverage?

A. Milk with Ice
B. Milk
C. Water
D. Ice Water

The Answers:
A. Andrew ( he really does have different tastes!)
B. Brandon
C. Zachary
D. Matthew

Down and Out

Brian had surgery on Thursday to repair a SLAP tear in his right shoulder. For all you closet ER/ medical fans:

A specific type of labral tear is called a SLAP tear; this stands for Superior Labrum from Anterior to Posterior. The SLAP tear occurs at the point where the tendon of the biceps muscle inserts on the labrum.

He'll be keeping the couches warm through next week and then hopefully back to work. The black sling will be the newest fashion accessory to his wardrobe for six weeks, and the PT office his next favorite place to be, besides home, for six months.

The doctor had delivered here to the house a cold compression unit- which is great. Under the large white foam wrap over his shoulder are two balloon type bags. One is filled with air and compresses and decompresses every minute or so and the other has circulating cold water, keeping the shoulder area nice and cooled down. We just hook him up to the tubes, and along with those great pain meds, he's as comfortable as can be.

Back to School??

The boys headed back to school August 6th- we got back into the swing of things- we were all feeling great, .... and then Andrew got the flu Saturday night. By Tuesday Brandon was home fom school with it, Wednesday afternoon Matthew succombed and spent the rest of the week home, and fianlly Brian, Dawn and I were grateful there were so many hours of Olymipics shown during the day as Thursday passed in blur on the couch. Andrew got the brunt of it- we wouldn't let him go to any friends houses to play in fear that he might pass it on- so he spent the whole weak home with a bunch of sickies. Though on Thursday he thought he was top dog since he got to play gopher for all of us who didn't want to move. Today life is almost back to normal, Brandon wanted to make homemade salsa for dinner...maybe tomorrow. And thankfully on Monday, hopfeully ... the boys will ALL be back to school.

vacation pt. 2

Andrew was helping me pick out pictures to post and begged to do the writing... so the following is our vacation according to Andrew.....



That is at the Yankee game, we were watching the Yankee game. We got hotdogs and ice creams in little Yankee hats. It was loud. It was quiet- no! We went in the night and we went cause they are going to tear it down.


Zachary fell asleep.




I don't want to say anything about this picture.




We were mining for crystal rocks and then throwing them into the water. We hit little rocks with big rocks and cracked them. We got bikes and rode them down the beach road to the end fast.





This is moms' birthday. She got to wear the Jedi birthday button.



We made lots of water balloons. I got to stand close and then Matthew had a line and then Brandon and Mom and Dad and Grandma and Grandpa. The kids won the race- we erased our number 33 first.


The huge beach. The waves were humongous. They sprayed up to my head. We dug and dug and dug we saved the castle. We got to eat Wendy's at the beach and even guess what, we got to have frosties in the car at night when we were going home.

Zachary...zachary... he didn't go near the water.



This is Balto. It is in Central Park. We went there and climbed up.


Matthew and I climbed to the top of the castle. It was really hot. We saw mom and dad down at the bottom.


I don't remember this. I guess it is a bridge. ( Steph's note: This is Bow Bridge, most romantic movies shot in New York will have the characters walk across this bridge at some point!)


I rode in a stroller and Matthew and Brandon rode the scooters. I got to ride it once. But I just wanted Grandma to push me.

We got ice cream at the carousel. I got a snow cone. It was really frozen.

Vacation pt. 1

Andrew wasn't so fond of boogy boarding after he got roughed up by a pretty good wave. He finally let Dawn and I get him on a board with 2 inches of water underneath! At least we ended on positive note and in the water.



Matthew and Brandon had a great time( and so did Brian and I) Brian and Jamie ( his brother) ventured out a lot further than I did, the zoom lens wouldn't have captured much more that two dark haired specs. The boys thought it quite funny that I got pounded a few times, and liked to remind me of the fact.


Andrew lets me take the funnest pictures. He is a child who really just gets into things. I love that he spent time just laying on the sand getting it everywhere- just facinated by making roads and tracks in it. Ok so I didn't love trying to get all the sand out of him later on that afternoon.


The 1st Teuscher 5K
We held the 1st Teuscher 5K on the 4th of July along Highway 101- down by Swamies. The adults ran-walked-jogged-talked their way through the scenic 3.1 miles. We then set up a 1/4 mile fun run for the kids at a park. The boys wanted to get medals since they have seen Brian and I get something for running races- so we even provided lovely-high quality- party city medal to all participants. I think we all had a great time- grandma and grandpa even came down to watch us and watch the kids while the adults ran. Jamie, Heather, Laurel and Dawn were all down in San Diego for the 4th as well. To all family members- get your running shoes ready the 2nd Teuscher 5K will be coming up next July!



Andrw and Matthew had no problem in aiding Aunt Heathers sweet tooth with some cookies.

OUR FAVORITE PANCAKE BOY

Matthew loves pancakes. Matthew can eat a lot of pancakes. But we finally stumped him. One of the favorite places for breakfast is "Potato Shack" in Encinitas. They serve a great diced red potato plate for breakfast- but they also serve Man Hole Sized Pancakes. Matthew made a valiant 6 year old effort ( I applaude him because I could never eat an entire one, Uncle Jamie can)



Hopefully I'll get to the rest tonight or tomorrow.