Sunny with a Chance of Rain

Those of you who have experienced a rough winter in other parts of the country will get a kick out of this:

The weather forecast for this weekend calls for an 80% chance of rain in the Phoenix metro area. That area is so large, that different sides of our large metro area get different weather. For example: It might be raining cats and dogs in the East Valley, but here in the far West Valley where we live, it is blue skies and not a single drop of rain.

It hasn't rained... here in the Phoenix area for months. Can't remember the last time it rained, in fact. And while 80% chance this weekends makes for great odds, in my experience it might mean absolutely no rain for my own community.

Nonetheless, our son's school has canceled it's golf tournament scheduled for this weekend. Not postponed to see if we REALLY get rain. Canceled.

Nonetheless, the U Pick Citrus Farm has already announced it will likely close, and to check their updates before heading out to get some fruit.

That is how things roll here in Phoenix, I suppose! Now, back to your regularly scheduled winter storm in other parts of the country ...

Can You Share?

As often happens, my children are having sharing problems. There is lots of competition for treasured toys, books, objects d'art, etc. Lots of screaming from Scarlett when she doesn't get what she wants, etc. 

Each day, my kiddos have to take something to the car with them. Christian has always been this way, and Scarlett has picked up on it. Today, she grabbed a tiara and held onto it for dear life. Christian had a Mickey Mouse hat which his is always very reluctant to surrender.

A few moments into our drive, I hear Scarlett sweetly say to Christian, "Can you share?" as she handed him her coveted tiara. He hadn't asked for it, and I didn't prompt her to share. She simply decided, on her own, to share her tiara.

For his part, Christian decided he could then share his Mickey Mouse hat with her. And that was the dialog for the drive: two siblings happily sharing over and over again.

And ... my work here is done (No, not really ... but I AM very pleased with my children's behavior this morning!). 

A Trip to the Phoenix Zoo

Christian's Impromptu Haircut

It all started when I found some hair strangely detached from Scarlett's new Rapunzel doll.

And then in a hairbrush, I noticed some curls the exact color of Scarlett's hair.

Oooh, Mommy was not happy.  I immediately knew what happened:  Christian had taken his new scissors from Christmas and cut Scarlett's hair.  Rather than getting mad at my young lad who surely meant no harm, I turned to Jonathan and said, "You need to be the one to handle this."

We had visitors that day, and so Jonathan quietly took Christian to our bedroom and had a chat.  Christian emerged a few minutes later with an apology for me and Scarlett.

But, then Carrie noticed another piece of hair on the floor and showed me.   It was Christian's hair!  A closer look at his head revealed he'd taken the scissors to his own head, too.

Now I must confess ... for that discovery, I walked around the corner and laughed because I found THAT haircut humorous because I knew the remedy was simple:  Shave Christian's head.

It was bound to happen ... I think most kiddos get a hold of a pair of scissors and experiment on their hair ... or a sibling's hair ... or a friend's hair.

Luckily, Scarlett has so much crazy hair that her little haircut isn't obvious.  I have found a couple of places where it seems the hair might have been cut, but I can't tell for sure.   So that's a good thing!  There will be no cutting of my baby girl's precious curls.

Merry Christmas!

Our Official Christmas Pictures