sweetest-daughter-ever!

Addi is such a sweet child!  This was on conversation on the way home from school on Wednesday:

Addi - Mom, can we make some special treats for my teachers? 
Me - Yeah!  Is it for something specific? 
Addi - No, just because I want them to know how much I love them.
Me - Yeah, I have an idea I saw on Pintrest!  We'll do them when we get home.
Logan - Addi, you don't always have to do things for others, like every day.
Addi - But I like to do things for others, it makes me feel good about myself.

This is what we came up with:  smores with green frosting and faces.  She also wrote each teacher a sweet note and thanking them for being her teacher.  She did one to her 1st Grade teacher, 2nd Grade teacher and her teacher this year.

These were her teacher's responses (I had emailed them to let them know that these treats ARE edible!).  I am such a lucky mom!

Mrs. F - Hello, Please thank Addi for me. They were so yummy! I ate them already!  How is she doing? I sure do miss her.

Mrs. G - Please thank her so much. They look wonderful. I will have to look up Pintrest!!!! Thank you so much again!!!

Ms. L - Got them and yes the monsters were tastyJ So love chocolate-thanks!



mim - scottsdale

It's amazing what makes you gitty when you're a mom! I was sooo excited when I got the email from Addison's teacher letting me know that my name was drawn as a chaperon for Addi's first field trip of her 3rd grade year!

This was the perfect field trip for me to go on with her because it was the MIM in Scottsdale! It was super interesting and a cool bonding thing for me and Addi since we're both into music.  It was neat; the tour guide would take us to different countries and would teach us about the instruments that came from that country and most of them had videos so the kids could see how they were used and the different cultures of the world.

The kids' favorite section of the museum was the "EG" {Experience Gallery} where they could PLAY a lot of different instruments they had learned about.

Here are a few pictures ...

Mrs. MacDonald [Addi's music teacher] with some students

probably Addi's fave instrument because it is just like a piano!

the kids rockin' out to the self playing piano

my crew

my group was THE best!

Addi being called on to answer a question at the first stop! lol .. that's my kiddo!

how Ms. Kay would turn the videos on! 

this was MY fave! 

the kids dancing the Flamango!

funeral {dps pilot m. uhl}

On Tuesday, Sept. 27, Officer Uhl was laid to rest.  It was an interesting funeral; definitely different than the typical Fallen Officer's funeral.  Back in August, Matt and his wife were at Officer Child's funeral, in Tucson and when they left he told her that he didn't want his funeral anything like Officer Child's.  The "typical" Fallen Officer's funeral is just amazing!  It's a real tribute to the Officer and their contributions to the community.  To each, their own.

Matt was assigned to Kingman Air Rescue and had done some pretty amazing rescues.  His casket was really neat; all of his closest friends and family members took markers and wrote notes to him, on the casket!  Very cool!  At the Vigil, the night before the funeral, his family gathered to celebrate his life.  They drank beer and wrote notes to him and placed them in the empty beer bottles, then put the bottles in his casket!  Heath said the casket was insanely heavy!

At the grave site, they had his helicopter and a helicopter fly-by; it was very beautiful and spiritual to watch.

AZCentral did an article on Officer Uhl here.

thirty day photo challenge: day two [what you wore today]

Ahhh!!  I am a day behind ... kinda!  This is what I wore yesterday {day two}, but I'm not posting until tonight {day three}.  Today's challenge was taking an image of the clouds.  It was mostly overcast today and I was in my office all day, so I wasn't able to be outside as it went from sunny - cloudy.  Hopefully tomorrow, I can have more cooperation from Mother Nature.

I wore my skinny jeans from Down East Basics (that Logan picked out for me) and my new ballet slippers from Report Shoes.

thirty day photo challenge: day one [self portrait]

I love challenges and I'm so excited to really commit to a 30 day photo challenge.  I found this challenge on White Peach Photography's site.  I found White Peach on Pintrest {my new addiction}.

This task is a lot harder than holding your camera out in front of you and attempting to make sure you didn't cut off any of your face, until you get it right.  I found good, natural light, then set up my tri pod and after adjusting the settings for about an hour, I finally snapped a photograph I was happy to edit and use as my official picture.   Phew.  Day one ... done!

...now onto my Sunday home duties... 

12 miles and a fresh start

This morning I ran 12 miles wtih my friend, Krista! It was actually really fun! I loved getting to know her better and she's an awesome cheerleader. I'm guessing it is the personal trainer in her. :)


This week, I was also blessed with a "fresh start", in a way, to my new "after court" life!  Kelsea {married to Heath's cousin} put extensions in my hair (bangs and sides).  My goal is Victoria Beckham.  I looove them!  I'm still getting used to them and learning how to work 'em, style 'em ... but I think I can get there and have them look like Kelsea did when I walked out of the salon, on Thursday.

at the salon - couldn't stop smiling!