The Posse Proliferates

Steve's core group of friends are guys from the 'neighborhood'. These guys have known each other since they were the age that our children are now. And over the years the group has grown with friends from college, friends from work, etc. One of the original friends happens to live just down the street from where they all grew up. That same friend is moving his family to the other side of the country next month and that definitely called for a gathering of grand proportion. So we were back in NoCal this Memorial Day weekend for a BBQ in the 'old neighborhood'.



It was a great time. Old friends reconnected and the most magical part of all...new friends were made. Just about all of these guys now have families of their own and these kids played non-stop...literally. From about 1 in the afternoon until bedtime these kids only stopped for the bathroom and food. (Note to parents...a bouncy house/slide makes for fast friends and is a worthwhile investment for your next backyard party.)







Pete, we hope you enjoyed the send off. We all certainly did. Thanks to both you and Steph for opening up your home to the menagerie that is the Posse and their mini-Posses. We wish you and your family a safe and uneventful move and we'll look forward to visiting once you're all settled.

Surviving Extremes

Just a couple days ago I wrote about the unseasonably high 109 degree temperatures. Thanks to a low pressure system from the Pacific Northwest we have gone to the extreme opposite of unseasonable weather. Today brought temperatures in the 60s (highs), thunderstorms and even some hail. This fluctuation in weather may be the norm for some parts of the country (a shout out to my Rocky Mountain friends), but here in Phoenix this weather creates havoc. Our television programming will be interrupted to show meteorologists standing outside like CNN correspondents in a Florida hurricane, commuters will ride their brakes the whole way home, everywhere you go strangers will be overheard talking to each other about the crazy weather and the Greater Phoenix Convention & Visitors Bureau will be drowning their sorrows in a pint of beer.

More desert prose...

Uncle Mike wrote a follow up to Emily's desert poem and it was too good to leave embedded away in the comments. Enjoy.

The Desert II by Uncle Mike

Safe in her house Emily sleeps,
While out in the Desert a scorpion creeps.
The land is dark but the moon is bright,
And Scorpion wants a place to sleep for the night.

Now Daddy forgot to close the door,
So Scorpion came in and walked on the floor.
He looked to the right, and looked to the left,
Then climbed up the couch and sat in a cleft.

As Scorpion was about to settle down,
He heard from nearby a menacing sound.
A hiss and a growl and some gnashing of teeth,
Came from a furry feline beast!

Cheeto reached out to give Scorpion a smack,
She figured on having a Scorpion snack!
So out of the door lil Scorpion ran,
"I'll never go back to that house again!"

"That one guitar, felt good in his hands..."

For Steve's birthday I gave him an amplifier. That was my message to him that he should go and by himself an electric guitar. He's been learning on the acoustic guitar for the last couple years and it was time to take the next pivotal step. And so here is my incredibly handsome husband and his new PRS SE Singlecut .


I'll keep you posted on the developments of the band.

Spring is unofficially over.

The desert doers will be doing it in the a/c, shade or pool for the next few days. We officially hit our first 100+ degree day yesterday and it is expected to peak at 109 tomorrow. The good news...we are expected to drop back down into the 80s by Thursday. The bad news...that was the part I just mentioned about 109 in May.

A Celebration of Learning Indeed

The Desert by Emily

In the desert it is hot.
There are a lot of animals.
Snakes, eagles, ringtails and owls.
Coyotes come out and howl.
Some plants are green and can be rough.
The pointy plants can be tough.
Cactuses are green, they look like a cross.
The water is at a loss.
Bring your water bottle.
There's lots of sand.
And it's a big land.

Poems about the desert, like Emily's above, were only one of the many things on display at last night's Celebration of Learning. All of the classes displayed class projects and art work that had been completed during the year. In addition to poems about the desert, Emily's class also displayed art work and written stories. Through an art appreciation program, the kids did their own versions of a number of classics, including Monet's Water Lilies and Picasso's Hand with Bouquet (Emily's are shown here).

We enjoyed our walk through the hallways to see all the work proudly displayed. These elementary school teachers are amazing with their creative and fun ways to teach the kids and get them engaged.

From Copies to Cacti

I volunteer at Emily's first grade classroom once a month. Emily and I both look forward to this monthly visit and I've enjoyed the opportunity to interact with Emily's classmates. While there I've been given an assortment of tasks to do depending on Miss H's needs at the time. Some of the things I've done this year have included making copies, tracing and cutting out clouds, helping the children plant flower seeds and conducting make up spelling tests.

Today was my last day to volunteer for the school year (our Arizona school year runs from early-August to late-May) and with tonight being the school's open house, or Celebration of Learning (expect to see more on that later), I anticipated that I would be given some chores to help prepare. Clearly Miss H's faith in my creative aptitude has really come to fruition after the past nine months. When I walked into the classroom today she handed me a roll of green paper, scissors, masking tape and a stapler and said, "I'm hoping you can use your creative skills to make me a couple 3-D cactus for our desert display." And I said, "Are you serious!?". Well...I didn't actually say that out loud since I didn't want to disappoint Miss H and it wouldn't have been very polite. So instead I say, "Alright then, let me see what I can do." And for the next 45 minutes I wrinkled and wrapped, taped and tacked two saguaro (pronounced suh-wahr-o) cacti complete with blooming flowers. And well-a... here one is. I figured a Desert Doings blog page is as good a place as any to display my humble contribution to tonight's celebration.