A Visit to the Natural History Museum

A visit to the Natural History Museum was in order for the Lucero family on this hot, hot day.

 

We were greeted by a huge Megaladon shark jaw, one of Christian's all-time favorite sharks!

 

Touching an actual Megaladon tooth!

 

Happy Independence Day!

Today was our community's annual Independence Day Bike Parade.  It was a hot, humid day ... but thankfully it was a bit overcast, too. 

 

Christian had a blast riding his bike in the parade and Miss Scarlett fell asleep.

 

 

 

Here's the two of them from last year:

 

 

Back to this year ...

 

 

After the parade, we came home and decompressed and cooled off a bit.  We then headed to a friend's house for a pool party.  Christian just loves to swim!

 

We returned home to find our niece, Brianna, had given birth to a baby boy, Montese Aamir Powell.  He's a lil' guy at just 5 lbs.  What more wonderful a day to be born than on Independence Day!!

 

Welcome to the world, Montese!

 

 

 

 



A Visit to the Fire Station



Today we had a pre-arranged tour of our local fire station.  Given our local tragedy of 19 Hot Shot Firefighters dying in the line of duty last night, I wasn't too sure our own firefighters would be up for a large group of moms and kiddos.  But they were all awesome!

 

 

Despite the many visits they've paid to Christian's school and the numerous times Christian has sat in a fire truck, he was still very anxious when the fire fighter donned his full gear.  He kept insisting he wanted to go home.  I walked him over to another firefighter a few feet away, who wasn't in full gear, and explained that firefighters are nice people and if ever he sees a firefighter in our home, he needs to go with that firefighter.   This firefighter, who has kiddos close to Christian and Scarlett's age, was really great with Christian.

 

We were eventually able to get Christian to smile and got a couple of pics.

 

 

 

 

With all the media coverage, our visit to the fire station and the haze throughout the Valley that is a result of this fire, I have been thinking about those 19 firefighters all day.   Those firefighters - and all firefighters - are such heroes.  They choose their profession because they want to help people.  They accept the risks and so bravely do their job.  I wanted to give a hug to each firefighter I saw today. 

 

Please say a prayer for the firefighters' families, the community of Prescott, for the State of Arizona.  It is so very hot and dry here.  Fire season has only just begun. :(

 

 

 

We're Melting!

Christian (Naturally) Loses His First Tooth

Christian came to me today and said, "Mommy, look at my tooth!"

 

I looked and his loose tooth was gone. I was so excited, and somehow he was rather indifferent. He casually told me he wiggled it out with his tongue ... and that was it. I... asked where the tooth was, because I wanted to see it ... and he said he didn't know (and he didn't seem to care, either). 

 

I eventually found the tooth and rather than getting excited about the thought of getting money from the tooth fairy, he was excited that she'd be giving him a hand-written letter, as she did when the dentist extracted his two extra teeth. 

 

I love that a letter is more valuable to him than money!!

Hot is Hot

As people like to say here, "But, it's a dry heat."

 

At some point, however, hot is hot.  And 120 degrees is just tooooo hot.

 

Loose Teeth!

 

This cute little boy has a few loose teeth!!  Yes, a few!

 

 

Today he told Jonathan one of his teeth hurt.  So I took a peek, wondering if the time had come.  I tested his two top front teeth and they were slightly loose.  But only slightly.

 

I then started to wiggle his four center bottom teeth and all four of them wiggled a little - one more so than the others.

 

I let Christian know that his "shark teeth" were loose and that soon they'd fall out and he'd get MORE teeth.  He was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited!!!   And so are we! :)

 



 

 

The Newest Backyard Phase

Last month, we extended our paved backyard patio by three feet, and had three more trees planted.  This extension closed off our square in-ground planters, so we're ready to pick plants now.  And since I have a hard time making decisions when given many choices, I think these planters will remain empty for the long, hot summer.   We're not in the backyard too much these days anyway, preferring the cool comfort of indoors.

 

We still have A LOT of backyard left.  Planning future projects is rather overwhelming.   More pavers?  Grass?  Layout/design?  More plants?  What to do ... what to do?

 

We've been toying with the idea of artificial turf.  Looks great year round, virtually no maintenance.  But we LOVE grass.  And grass does tend to cool the surrounding air by a few degrees.   But it is a lot of work, and takes a lot of water.  

 

Tonight we went to a party at Jonathan's boss' house.  And the backyard blew us away - see pics and video below! 

 

Artificial turf gets really hot in the sun, but it was fine to walk on when we got there at about 6:00pm and the sun was still on it.  And it doesn't retain the heat, so once the son is down - or shade is across the grass, it is perfectly fine to walk on. 

 

Their turf is 5 years old and is one solid color.  But these days, turf comes in a huge variety - some have color variations in the strands just like real grass and looks awesome!

 

So we're seriously considering artificial turf four our next backyard landscaping phase.

 

 

 Okay ... a pool would be fun, too, for our backyard.   But it will never happen.

 

My First Summer of Freedom in Forever

For our readers who my not know, back in February, I lost my job of 16 years.  But it is okay ... really!  I absolutely love being home with my kiddos, and do not miss Corporate America one bit!   And this summer is the first time since 1989 that I haven't had a job during the summer to get in the way of fun. 

I love that we can get out and about and do whatever we want, whenever we want!  Well, kind of.  It's incredibly hot, so we're mostly limited to indoor activities - many of which are quite a drive from our home.  But we still find things to do.

We've gone to Chuck E. Cheese's for some fun!

 

Scarlett had her first merry-go-round ride and loved it!  She eventually reached out for me, and fell in the process and I had one heck of a time getting her as it kept going around.  But, I got her and she was fine.

 

 

And Scarlett had an ice cream cone for the first time!

 

 

 

We've been going over to Christian's friend's house for some swimming.  And I must say, it is a bit stressful, as I'm trying to watch both Christian and Scarlett.  But his friend's mom is there with us and is an excellent pair of second eyes and she's able to stay in the pool with the boys when I have to get out with Scarlett because she's had enough pool time.

 

 

 

 

 

We've gone to the mall and surprised Christian with pizza for lunch.

*Ahem* ... Christian will be getting a haircut very soon. :)

 

 

 

 

I'd like to thank Jonathan (and have done so personally numerous times) for giving me the gift of staying home with our kiddos.  Being a mom is my ultimate priority and I am blessed to have this amazing life!

 

Super Mommy

Shhhh ... don't tell my kiddos.  Beneath this mild-mannered exterior, I'm Super Mommy! :)