the sunshine stand

{via the sunshine stand}


I am a total freak when it comes to taking over what should be a kid friendly activity. Like when Sheamus was all into the movie Cars, and Adam would make fun of me and say that collecting the figurines was actually my hobby cause i got all excited about finding the "rare" ones at the store.  Or when the kids and i played this game. Or when i got busted selling my daughters girls scout cookies at our garage sale (that she was gone for) when one lady was like "um...where's the girl scout?" so i slapped her and told her to get the crap off my property.


So when i got an email from some fellow AZ mothers* who go all out with a tricked out lemonade stand to make their kids spring break memorable (before the summer heat melts our faces off) i've just got to support that jazz. I'm not kidding when i say this lemonade stand is legit (and definitely the cutest i've seen)...they sell lemonade with your choice of fruit syrup: mango, raspberry, or strawberry, assorted candy, they have a blog...and a facebook page! So....If you are in the AZ east valley go check it. So cute.


(*but don't tell my kids or else they will know how lame i am)


team Boo ♥'s you

Stop and smell the asphalt.

I "got ready" like 5 separate times this week and this is the only lame picture i have to show for it!?

My blog muscles are a bit flabby these days (come to think of it...most of my muscles are a bit flabby these days) Take a week off and all of the sudden its like i'm trying to translate my thoughts into spanish (My name is Carolyn. I am a mother that likes the jokes. Do you know where the library is?) We have had a lot of family around and it just didn't seem right to choose the cold embrace of my computer screen over those capable of two way conversation and...heartbeats. 

I have been up to my scrappy old self. Cutting down dead plants with inappropriate garage tools and getting in arguments with vietnamese men at the nail salon by day, then wearing red lipstick and watching 3D tweenie movies by night (this description explains a random weekend of mine...or that of an underage stripper, your choice.) 


Really though this weekend was a lot of fun. So even though i cooked for like 50+ mouths and I washed every dish in my house at least 5 times, it did rain. IT RAINED! And when you live in Arizona, you get to stop whatever you're used to doing and watch it, for as long as you want. It's like Disneyland when it rains here. Everyone is happy and nice, birds chirp and also Churros have no calories. It's magical.

team Boo ♥'s you

opposite day.

"Phoenix kind of felt like Seattle yesterday. Only less green...and more glittery pocketed Jeans" (my friend Jenna)


A few days ago we set up a trampoline in our basement (we shortened it of course).

You see yesterday was Sheamus's birthday party, which was to be outside "on the spiderweb playground" (as requested) BUT, it was forecasted to rain. Now, here in Arizona we LOVE rain. We pray for it. The whole neighborhood will stand on their porches in awe and watch it. We intentionally run through it. We spend good money on cute umbrellas and rain boots we know full well will only get used only once or twice. 

However...

...when it finally comes, we all become slightly mentally retarded.

Even though it will literally only rain for like ten minutes at a time...the stores are abandoned. the freeways are lined with accidents. we get confused and send our children to school improperly dressed. we are cold and afraid, and don't know how to be civilized. So when the weatherman threatens a few raindrops on a day when you've planned for a party outside, you might start to do weird things as a backup plan...like set up trampolines IN your house.

It never rained.

I'll keep you posted on the inevitable injuries.

team Boo ♥'s you

*why didn't we do this at the beginning of summer when we couldn't even go outside!?

ask boo: home sweet home?

{via veer}

Are you from AZ? Do you plan to live there forever?

Hells no! I am originally from the bay area in California. I moved (begrudgingly) to Prescott, AZ the year before high school and have lived there or in the Phoenix valley ever since. I have never been a big fan. A lot of our family is here which is why we've stayed so long, but i dream of relocating almost daily (hopefully sooner than later). In the mean time it's basically just Stockholm Syndrome that keeps me sane. I do my best to like it here (and there are a lot of people who LOVE it in AZ) but aside from the heat, the parks are lame and the culture lacks character...so sometimes my spirit tends to feel a bit stifled. 

I'd love to move to the northwest where the trees are a plenty and people are...weirder. I want more space around my home where my kids can run wild. Preferably with a hill, where i could run to the top while singing and spinning...with my hands outstretched. 

Have a question? ask me about it here.

team Boo ♥'s you

stuff that's jacked and some that's funny...

Call me resentful, but if i read one more blog post about the "new autumn feeling" or the "changing fall colors", or the "hot cider and cardigan-wearing-crisp-air" i am going to projectile vomit all over my laptop. The closest we have come to Autumn here in AZ is the Winnie the Pooh on (what feels like) terminal repeat and a leftover pumpkin spice candle from 2009. When we are feeling particularly desperate we hole up in the basement to watch Harry potter. It usually ends with me alone, wearing my winter cloak, curled up in a fetal position. Its a sad attempt, but we are just trying to keep up with the Jones's ;)

Something that has made me smile despite my $600 dollar air conditioning bill...
The 30 Rock premiere played the "would you rather" game. 

Have you found your "pube shirt"? (watch the last 4 minutes)

I know i have...

I've been getting a kick out of the content inspired ads that Google comes up with in my side bar:

baby face generators
funny dirty joke finder?? (what-ev)

reading babies!?

actually baby face generators are kinda hilare.

last week i mixed Fred Armisen with an otter for Robin,

what did i expect?? 
A cute little fuzzy nerd, that's what. 
It was a no go...way to freaky mutant to post.

team Boo ♥'s you

this is me NOT blowing myself to the moon...

Instead of explaining the blackening of my soul that has been my last few days, I am going to pretend like my kids aren't currently pounding on my bedroom door taunting "you wanna piece of me!?" for no good reason...and instead *inject some sunny memories into my ice heart.

(plus then if my kids are reading this somewhere down the line they can remember the times mommy wasn't scary or threatening to tape their faces shut)

...as luck would have it, a few days prior to the few days that have turned my heart to stone, the kids and i decided to "embrace" the sun rather than resent it.  At 113 degrees the embracing was short lived, but we had fun experimenting with its ridiculously unrelenting rays.

*insert happiness here...

FYI: they just picked the lock.
aaaand i'm back.

team boo ♥'s you

(and my kids...usually)

now all we need is a couch in our front yard...

Who doesn't like white trash creative summer fun??

here's one of our best so far...

some scrap wood + plastic lining + some stray pavers + a hose = water slide...

Adam also constructed a 30 foot slip n' slide down our driveway with cardboard, egg crate foam and the same plastic sheeting.

I slid down twice.
my abs were sore the next day.

today it is 116 degrees
we will not be playing outside ;)

team boo ♥'s you

heat wave.

It's frigging hot.

And like in the Cat in the Hat,

my kids long to be outside.

So sad.

rocky mountain high.

i love last minute weekend getaways.
this time we went to to the mountains and
{despite my high altitude headache}
had a blast.


also I love cut offs. 
i dont care who's wearing them!
 i'm wearing them RIGHT NOW!!
......
well actually now that i think of it
...pasty man thighs :/
(but other than that snip snip!)

*if you notice, E is not in any of these pictures. This is cause on trips she is in another world.  One in which her parents no longer exist and her bum never needs to be cleaned ;) do you ever miss your kids even though they've been with you the whole time??

sum sum summa summa....

So here we are...knock knock knocking on Satan's door {well what feels like Hell's door anyway} and i find myself for like the 10th year in a row, since i've lived in the Valley of the Sun, dreaming of busting a move out of this insufferable state. Its seasonal depression inducing, only instead of clouds, its blaring-oven-like sunshine. I have friends who LOOove it {and we all forget just how hot it gets} but basically, come June, you can't go outside without your face melting off, and sweating profusely out of every pore. Allow me to be frank when i say, its no fun when your crotch starts to publicly draw attention to itself.

I dream of Portland!...or the surrounding areas anyway. The trees, the hydrangeas, the farmer's markets. My Grandma lived in way Northern Cali....I remember being little and wondering why she'd apologize if the "weather was dreadful" when we came. I loved it! still do.  I hear it all the time "you think you like rain, but it is SO.  MUCH.  RAIN." Which leads me to wonder if i'm only hemorrhaging from the grass is {quite literally} greener syndrome.  But the way i see it, I have paid my AZ dues, if nothing else, i'm ready for a change...and a new thing to complain about ;)

Have you lived in the NorthWest? do you just like sharing your two cents? tell me what you think...

poll by twiigs.com

*my saving grace...

.

I am notorious for having this 52 oz. ice cold "baby" attached to my side (6 months of the year). It is quite honestly like a baby in that i even find myself inadvertently swaying side to side or gently bouncing my knees while i'm holding it.  Old habits :)

my lovehandles' nightmare...

I will be running the PF Chang's full marathon in January if anyone is interested in slowly killing themselves along with me.  I'm going to start training mid to late October.  Don't all jump at once, i know, but you will be soooo happy when it's over....and don't be scared, for what can be worse than "Laughing Sal?" (see above)

(I'm going to go ahead and directly correlate the number of takers on this one to how many people like my non-blogged-real-life company....don't let me down stalkers...i mean friends).