Merry Christmas Eve...

Wow! It's been a crazy couple of weeks, as I'm sure it has for many of you.
Jim's birthday has come and gone. We celebrated by going out, which we NEVER do! We went to a brewery type restaurant for dinner and then went to Jillian's for video games and fun. Jim and Riley had a great time and I just enjoy watching them, and of course playing skee-ball.
My mom has been with us for the last week. We've been doing her shopping, planning our Christmas dinner activities and just enjoying the family time.
She stayed at my brother's yesterday so I sat and wrapped all my gifts which took about 3 hours...ugh, I'm not sure why I always wait until the last minute to start wrapping. But, I did get it all done and I'm ready to go...
We are having Christmas Eve dinner at Gabe's tonight. He and mom are making some soups, which will be wonderful!
I can't wait to hear all about your Christmas festivities and we'll share some pictures tomorrow.

T-shirt of the day.....

"I'M HOME TAKE ME DRUNK"
Yep, all bold and in caps. I think it must be a spin off of the classic "I'M NOT AS THINK AS YOU DRUNK I AM" shirts of the late 80's. Timeless indeed.

Christmas is in the air...

It's been two weeks since our last post and I apologize for that. I just love this time of year, Riley's Birthday, Thanksgiving, Gabe's Birthday, Jim's Birthday, Mom's here and, of course, Christmas, New Year's... it is the craziest two months of the year, every year, but I love it!
We are fully decorated... lights surround the house each night, the Christmas tree is beautiful thanks to Riley's help (after all, he does insist that a beautiful tree for Santa means he will leave more presents!).
I've done a little baking, the easy things... fudge, chex mix, seasoned oyster crackers... I plan to do more...Last year my grandma taught me how to make her "Magic Carpet Cookies" and I just can't wait to try them again this year. I won't get her help as she can't make it down this year, but I will be thinking of her the whole time. I'll also make the usual candy coated pretzels, just love them!
I've got the Christmas cards out...one more thing off the list!
My shopping is about 1/2 done. I like to focus first on all the items that need to be shipped, then move onto the people that will be here with us for Christmas. I just have two more boxes to ship and I'm good there.
Tonight I just finished the annual calendars I make for Jim and the Grandmas. I NEVER finish them this early, in fact, last year Jim didn't get his until about January 15th! I'm pretty proud that I have finished them on time this year. Just another thing to check off the list!
Tomorrow night we celebrate Gabe's birthday. My wonderful "little" brother is turning a BIG THREE - OHHH.... My goodness, how time flies... I remember when he was the little 6 year old pain in my 10 year old behind. Every year I make him whatever he wants for dinner and this year, it's taco pizza. A favorite for all of us here in AZ that can't get a glorious Happy Joe's Taco Pizza! I'm also going to make him a carrot cake, his favorite. I'm even going to attempt to make it without a box mix... that's a first for me... wish me luck, I hope it turns out good, I'de hate to turn him against his favorite :)
I got to talk with my wonderful sister-in-law, Theresa, for about 2 hours tonight. It's so rare anymore for us to be able to do that, afterall, she does have 5 kids to attend to! It's great when we can just talk and talk about anything and everything. I miss her terribly and can't wait to see them when they come to visit at the end of the month.
Love to all...

Turkey, Family and Beckham

Another four day T-giving weekend ended in the blink of an eye. Wright family including Deborah, Terry, Kennedy and Staci were kind enough to visit us for a variety of activities. We ate, drank, wiffle-balled, lacrossed, biked, boarded, golfed, facial-ed, cross worded, star wars-ed, shuffled/dealt, laughed and intermittently slept. The boys also took turns with the pellet gun. Poor David Beckham didn't have a chance with Ken at the trigger. Nothing personal, mate, just the perfect milk ad at the perfect time. Sunday we put up the Christmas lights around the house. For Riley, it's a legitimate excuse to be on the roof. For me, it's a chance to marvel at the number of light strings that somehow quit working while in storage(about 40%). I guess it's a good thing the Chinese make holiday lights instead of cars and televisions.

My Big SEVEN Year Old!

I can't believe how fast November has gone. Thanksgiving is in two days!
We just returned from a wonderful vacation in the Texas Hill Country where my grandparents rented a beautiful cottage for our family to come together for an early Thanksgiving celebration. My Aunt, Mom, Cousin, Brother, Grandparents and Jim, Riley and I all met up in Hunt, TX.
The "cottage" (sounds so small, but it slept 14!) was wonderful. Riley walked in the door and just beamed, "mom, did you see how beautiful the kitchen is!". What a thing for a 7 year old to notice, but he knows me well... the kitchen is my passion.
We enjoyed a fire each night, as it dipped down to the 30's, but warmed up nicely to the 60/70's during the day. The guys did lots of fishing, but no bites, probably because of the chilly nights. We canoed, Riley's first time and he loved it! He even got out in a two man paddle boat all by himself and cruised around in a big circle.
We visited a working ranch that now houses exotic animals. 40,000 acres of every species of deer imaginable that can be hunted for a mere $5,000. Completely amazing what people spend their money on. One particular animal (can't remember the name) can be hunted for $40,000! All for trophy. They also had Giraffe, which were loads of fun to feed. They stuck their head right in the bus looking for carrots and apples. After the tour we were treated to wonderful home cooked "cowboy" lunch of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, beans, cherry cobbler. The cook even put a candle in the cobbler for Riley's birthday!
We also went horseback riding. It was the first time for Riley, Gabe and myself. Riley's horse was huge, he looked so tiny on it. It was interesting, but I'm not sure I need to do it again. It was a 30 minute trail ride up and down rocky hills, Mom's horse was in front of me and I could see it's feet slipping which just terrified me, and her! But I guess it knew what it was doing, it's done that trail a thousand times. I think if I did it again, I would like to run the horse. The wrangler that gave us the ride, said when they run they are smooth like riding in a car, not so bouncy and bumpy.
We also celebrated Riley's 7th birthday! After the trip to the working ranch (and getting lost in the hill country...I drove us a 100 miles out of the way (one wrong turn)!) we setup decorations and had cake, ice cream and punch. And, of course, the opening of the presents. He had such a wonderful Birthday, he was just beaming all day. I can't believe it has been 7 years, time just goes too fast.
I am now preparing for our Thanksgiving visitors. Jim's sister, Deborah and family, are coming for the long weekend.
I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving!

It Went Too Fast

It was an action packed weekend (at least for the males) in the house. Thursday, I stumbled across a pair of 'complimentary' Coyote tickets. The catch being a requirement that Riley and I tour the high-dollar corporate boxes, clubs and even the Coyotes bench, prior to the game. Does anyone really need prime rib and champagne at a hockey game? As it turned out, we still don't own a luxury suite and we ate pizza and nachos. The seats were decent, lower level, to the right of the goalie. The yotes looked especially anemic, obviously missing Doan and Comrie. The Stars were superior in every aspect. It was the worst I have ever seen a team get spanked to only lose 1-0. 'Cujo' stood on his head in goal, it should've been 6-0. It was Riley's first hockey game and I believe his highlights would include the pee-wee game and the remote control taco-shaped blimp both taking place between periods.
Saturday included Riley's last soccer game for the season and then the Busch Series race at PIR.
Sunday it was back to PIR for tailgating, the Nextel Cup race and then more tailgating. Riley did the grilling and the brats were perfect, he may be the next Brian Hilbrant in this respect. I wonder if Brian wasn't usually grilling would he be endlessly repeating the phrase "dad I'm bored"? The race was awesome and the fanatics in NASCAR are unparalleled (in a number of ways). As is a requirement in major races be they dog, horse or human, we each picked our winners and threw in our $5. Gabe won, having picked Kevin Harvick with his first selection. Riley didn't want to pay up though as his picks came in 2nd, 3rd and 4th - (and all 5 in the top 15) -ouch!- He thought the guy who's driver came in 2nd should get something too. Alas, if we only had ten participants instead of four, he may have been rewarded. So, Riley walked away from the race with a new appreciation of charcoal grilling and wagering. And he still managed to score a #24 real-tree hat sweet enough to make even his uncle Steve cammo-green with envy. He also found out pretty quickly- during driver introductions- that Jeff Gordon has a huge following of both supporters and detractors. Why? I told him "he's a really good driver, if he wasn't people wouldn't care enough to make any noise". Soon, all cheers and boos were replaced with roaring engines and universal sign language. A pumped fist, a dejected head shake, smiles and silent high fives. Before the string of late cautions and even a red flag, it was starting to look like Johnson's car was closing down the distinct advantage Harvick had held all day. Maybe in the April race Riley. Or possibly at the dog track. - Jim

Just another lovely weekend...

We enjoyed more beautiful Phoenix weather this weekend.
Riley had a soccer game Saturday morning. Jim and I enjoy watching him so much more this year now that he is really getting in there and going after the ball. It really is exciting. For the first time this year, we are hearing cheers and chants for "Riley", which is a whole new experience for all of us. He is really becoming a great soccer player and I am looking forward to watching him grow and improve season after season. Next year he will move up a group, which will be nice as maybe they will start learning more concepts and keys to the game, instead of playing in the 4 to 6 year olds, who are "playing for fun".
We shopped a little after the soccer game. Jim actually went into the scrapbook store with me! I couldn't believe it, I don't think he could believe it either! I kept it real short and sweet, didn't want to ruin his experience! We then wandered around Target and started buying a few Christmas presents. I want to get a start before Thanksgiving when the stores get real crazy.
The rest of the day was spent cleaning house and Riley played with his friends into the night.
Sunday was similar... doing things around the house getting ready for all the Thanksgiving and Christmas visitors we are so excited are coming!
It took a few days to run the gas, install the electric, patch and paint the wall, but as of tonight, my stove is in place and cooking great! Oh, and we had a slight delay... On Wednesday night we went to hook it up, but when we opened the box all the way, the side was smashed, obviously by a forklift. So, I had to call the store and have a new one delivered on Friday.
I hope you all enjoyed your weekend.
Love to all...

Spooky...

Zombie Riley invaded the neighborhood on Halloween night. He was able to get away with lots of treats and few tricks.
Love to all...

More pics to come soon....

The Pumpkins

We had a lovely Sunday, or at least I did. I spent the day running errands and on a mission for a new oven. I have a old ELECTRIC oven that actually caught on fire Saturday night. No damage was done, except, to maybe my cooking self esteem. After searching multiple stores, I finally found a lovely (if they can be called that, they are all so similar) GAS range. So Jim will be spending the week converting our connections from electric to gas. It will be a difficult job, but I know he can do it (I hope he is reading this and gaining confidence!). I did get a couple of hours of shopping with a friend, just two girls wondering the mall, I haven't done that in years! It was great.
Jim and Riley spent the day playing, usual stuff.
The weather is absolutely beautiful. This time of the year is exactly why we endure the hot hot summers.
We carved pumpkins, finally, last night. When you live in the desert you can't carve to early or they'll be mush by trick or treat.
We had fun making up faces and Riley even created and cut his own... the little one with the two squares. He'll have to keep working on his creativity.
Enjoy...and Happy Halloween!

It Makes a Parent Proud...

This morning I was sitting here ready to start my work day, but, like I do every morning, I had to listen to Riley's school announcements first. Being it's in my background, it's very easy to hear what's going on over there. So I'm listening, as usual, and towards the end, like the principle does every morning, he starts to announce "the following students should come see me immediately following announcements for demonstrating good citizenship on campus .. mikey...joey...yada yada... RILEY from Mrs. Dean's class, RILEY, again, from Mrs. Dean's class ..."
He is such a good kid, we see it every day and it just thrills me to no end that he carries it outside with him.
He was awarded with a little pin shaped like a shield that says "Citizenship" and a pencil. He was wearing the pin proudly on his t-shirt when he came home.

Trip to Young's Farm

We made the drive yesterday to Dewey, AZ to the Young's Farm Pumpkin Feastival. We had lots of fun in the corn maze, the haunted house and playing games and enjoying the rides. They say this is the last year, which is probably why there were soooo many people.

Riley enters the scoring column; Pele look out!

Riley scored his first goal ever in an official game today. It was a pretty little breakaway followed by a juke around the last defender capped off with a blast into the left corner of the net. The goalie had no chance. Riley seemed a little embarrassed by the whole thing. He's not real showy. Imagine Barry Sanders but with less celebration. I said "you just scored your first goal, isn't that awesome?". His response "it's okay". Being his father, in my opinion, it was more than "okay". The game ended in a 3-3 tie, no shootout for 5-7 year olds.

From One Jedi to the Next...

Today marks the "end" of fall break. He's a little sad, at first, until he realizes he has the whole weekend to continue playing. It really is all about the playing for him.
I won't miss the screaming neighbor kids all day while I am trying to work, but I will miss having him near all day. He makes me laugh all day with his funny little quips and ways about him.

Removing the training wheels from the word 'blog'

I figured out something last night while hiking. Phoenix is too hot for exactly same time period as the MLB regular season. It was sad to see Gonzo go but we really needed a break in the weather. I'm sure the '06 Desert Farmer's Almanac eluded to both.
What is a blog? An opportunity to share my oh-so important observations with the world? yes. Documentation of major happenings in the lives of desert Sohns? pretty much. A place to publish beauty secrets, pie recipies and extreme right-wing political views? less so. A chance to rock-out grammatically? oh yes!
Until I think of something to say that is really off the proverbial chain, peace, word, xoxo, Jim has left the blogging.
-Jim

p.s. I hope to rock-out grammatically, I don't have to be a great mathlete.

Riley is home this week for fall break. They've been in school for 2 months and they get a week off... I don't remember having that luxury when I was in school.
I took the afternoon off work and we met Jim for lunch, shopped for some birthday party decorations to take to Texas and went to see "Open Season", which I do not recommend. It wasn't so good, in fact I accidentally fell asleep for a couple of minutes. You would like to think that the animated movies can all be as good as "Shrek" or even "Cars", but it really isn't so... I have to remember that next time.
Riley and I went to the doctor's yesterday for his first x-ray. He's okay and nothing is broken, but he had some terrible leg pain this past weekend. It turns out it was probably just a strained muscle in his thigh, but the doctor had x-rays done to make sure there wasn't any bone problems because with little people you never can tell. Riley was pretty in awe of the whole process and thought it was pretty cool he could see his bones right away on the computer screen.
Time to figure out what is for dinner tonight.
Love to all...

Soccer Season is here again. This season, however, he is much more into kicking the ball rather than running to catch up. It makes it much more exciting to watch!

Do we really want to do this?

We've debated for weeks... do we want to start a blog... do we have interesting enough ideas and goings on to share with others... well, as funny as my husband can be, he says he can help manage it. So, we'll give it a try. Hope you enjoy checking it out occassionally, I'm sure a lot will focus around Riley, since he is the focus of our life.
Love to all,
The Sohn Family!