Six and Three

It's been six years since I became a mom and three years since we became a family of four. The boys celebrated their birthdays this weekend with a Lego party complete with Lego building table, a bounce-house and dozens of toddlers and kindergartners running around having fun and eating sugar.

At age six, Big Bro stands nearly four feet tall. He is smart, kind, adventurous and a great big brother. He loves running, playing on the playground, playing with his friends, going to school, reading, all things Lego and Ninjago, and so much more. He dislikes bedtime and homework.

At age three and 38 inches tall, Baby Bro isn't much of a baby anymore. He is sweet, clever, funny and a snugglebug. He likes running around, playing with his brother, painting, playing with trains, listening to stories, and telling jokes. He dislikes bedtime, brushing his teeth, and sharing his toys.

It's been such a joy watching these two grow bigger and closer. I'd say these are the best ages, but I say that at every age. If you'd like to continue watching them grow on our blog, please visit www.ourlifeinaz.com and subscribe. We've switched blog hosting platforms to better customize and optimize our stories for your enjoyment!

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Arizona Snow Day

There’s no question about the beauty of Arizona, with its purple mountains, spectacular sunsets, towering cacti, red rock formations and more. But perhaps the most overlooked Arizona beauty is the winter wonderland that is the northern part of the state- mountainous and pine-topped, snowy and frigid, and just a three-hour drive from our home.

We rented a cabin with family the weekend after Christmas and drove up with impeccable timing to spend three days in nearly two feet of snow. It was a fun-filled weekend of hot cocoa, board games, snowball fights, igloos and sledding hills. The big kids (Big Bro and his older cousins) could spend hours in the snow, and for me it all came back in a flash from my northern Virginia roots and a childhood of snow days.

For Baby Bro, the snow held its novelty for one day and quickly wore off. The next day, he was content to remain inside the cabin eating snacks and hanging with his grandparents after he refused to put on not one, not two, but all three pairs of shoes we brought for him on the trip. I’m all for natural consequences and I’m a tough mama, but I fall short of letting my two-year-old desert baby explore the snow in bare feet. I can handle the cold but frostbite is way beyond my wheelhouse. He was happy to kick back with candy canes while we played outside, so it was all good once I gave up on selling “winter” to my toddler. He just wasn’t buying it.

In the meantime, big bro was sold. By the third day, I practically had to drag him off a sledding hill as he asked if we could come back next year. I have to admit I was happy to hear those words.

One of the things I used to love about my hometown was that we got all four seasons. I enjoyed snow in the winter, flowers in the spring, hot, sticky summers and crunchy colorful autumn leaves. I’ve been away for more than a decade now, but that’s still the thing I miss most. Being able to experience four seasons gives the year so much more flavor.

Northern Arizona’s winter wonderland looks like a storybook, but the real beauty is in the magic of that forth day at the cabin. After breakfast we packed our things, dug out the car, and drove three hours back to a sixty-degree sunny day. I love to experience the seasons, but I love our sun even more. We don’t have to spend months shoveling or scraping ice or stepping in slush. We can just enjoy an Arizona snow day.