Spring Flowers

 2/13: Dawn went up to photograph the snow on Mount Lemmon

2/16: Dawn went to Catalina State Park.

2/17: We celebrated our 21st anniversary.  

2/20: Dawn went to Tucson Botanical Gardens.

3/1: Dawn went to Picacho Peak.  She hiked the Sunset Trail.  There was not a super bloom like last year, but there were wildflowers here and there and there was one area that had quite a bit of flowers.  

3/4: Dawn went to Tucson Botanical Gardens and Green Things Nursery.  

3/4 and 3/5:  Nathan had tryouts for the school soccer team.  We found out later in the week that once again he didn't make the team.  He made the intramural team, but he decided he did not want to participate on that team.  We don't understand why he didn't make the boys volleyball team or the coed soccer teams this year when he was on both teams last year at his previous school.  God must have a reason, though.

3/6: Nathan ended Q3 with all As and 1 B.  The B was in English was an 89, very close to an A.  In fact, he had an A in the class up until the last few days when the teacher put in a grade from earlier in the quarter that brought his quarter grade down to a B.  Last quarter he got straight As and he was so close to getting straight As again for Q3.  He got As in Science, Coding, Literature, Social Studies and Geometry.

Spring Break  started 3/8.  Nathan had a half day of school.  We didn't plan a trip this year because Paul had to work most of the week.  However, we left the night of 3/8 to go to Anza Borrego Desert State Park the next day.  We stayed in El Centro the night of 3/8.  3/9 we went to see the wildflowers of Anza Borrego Desert State Park.  There was one area of the park that was full of  flowers.  The rest of the park seemed to have scattered flowers.  On the way home we drove through El Centro again.  We were fortunate to catch the end of the Blue Angels performing so we pulled over at a rest stop to take some pictures.  Unfortunately, the next day Dawn woke up at 5:30 with severe vertigo.  She had never had vertigo before.  However, it was so bad that we called an ambulance and she spent the day at the hospital.  They ran some tests, mostly focusing on some abdominal/female issues she was experiencing, but all tests came back normal.  She was released in the late afternoon even though she still had the dizziness and nausea.  So most of the Spring Break she rested and tried to recover from the vertigo.  By the end of the week she was feeling a lot better.  Paul decided to take that Thursday off, 3/14.  We took a drive to see the poppies and wildflowers at Peridot Mesa.  They weren't as plentiful as last year, but they were still beautiful.  It was a nice, cool day with beautiful clouds mixed with the blue sky.  We mostly had the place to ourselves.  Then we went to Odysea.  We saw DK and Kim there from church.  They were celebrating Kim's birthday.  Unfortunately, we found out that Jalapeno the pufferfish passed away two weeks prior to our visit.  There was another pufferfish there named Potato/Lemon Pepper.  We ate at Grimaldi's before returning home.  

3/19: Dawn went to Tucson Botanical Gardens.

3/20: Dawn went to Catalina State Park.  She hiked the Canyon Loop Trail and just off that trail there was a field of poppies and other wildflowers.  She also hiked the Nature Trail.

3/26: Dawn and Nathan went to church for the Lord's Supper.  

3/29: Nathan had no school on Good Friday so we went to Bartlett Lake to see the wildflowers.  The flowers were plentiful and it's always cool to see the white and pink poppies there.  We also ate a new to us Grimaldi's in Scottsdale.  

3/31:  We went to church for Easter service and then ate lunch at Cheesecake Factory.  Dawn also bought a pack of Honey Baked Ham slices for herself since she is the only one who eats it.  She made deviled eggs the next day.  

4/1:  It was another rainy day, but Dawn went to see the claret cups on Lambert Lane, some more claret cups and a couple of Argentine Giant Big Berta's over by Oro Valley Hospital.  Then she went to Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens.  She was going to make another stop or two, but it started raining again.        

Another Year

12/17 We had to take Nathan to urgent care because he hurt his arm playing laser tag at Funtasticks the day before.

12/19 Dawn went to Winterhaven by herself because her family didn't want to go.  

12/21 Dawn and Nathan went to the Desert Museum.

12/24 We attended the candlelight service at New Testament for Christmas Eve.   

Christmas was low key.  No ornaments on the tree.  Going to Chicago for a funeral during the holidays put added stress and less time to get things done for Christmas.  Nathan got nerf guns and a few other things for Christmas.  Paul decided to purchase a camera for Dawn for Christmas/Birthday.  At first he said it was too expensive.  Then he changed his mind.  Her parents put in half, $1500.  She got the Nikon D850.  Paul made breakfast, but Starbucks was closed.  Dawn did some cleaning and went for a walk only to find out she left her Fitbit charging.  Dawn bought some Honey Baked Ham for herself.  We watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas.    

The next day Dawn convinced Nathan to go to the Reid Park Zoo Lights.  

12/27 Dawn and Nathan went up to Scottsdale to go to OdySea and to eat at Grimaldi's.  Nathan always like visiting Jalapeno, the pufferfish.  

12/28 Nathan had his annual pediatrician check up.  

He is 5'6 and in the 70th percentile for height. We actually thought he was even taller than that because he doesn't seem that much shorter than dad who is 5'11. However, he is taller than most kids his age. Of course he told me that there is an 8th grader at his school who is 6'9 and another one who is 7' tall! That is just crazy! He passed me up shortly after he turned 12!

He weighs 133 lbs and is in the 79% percentile for weight. She said that is just about right considering his height. His BMI is 21.3 and in the 76th percentile. She said height and weight look good. He really had a growth spurt in the last couple of years. He grew 4 inches between 12 and 13 and another 3 inches this past year. He just turned 14 on 12/15. We just keep warning him that if he continues to eat the way he does he is going to have problems later when he is no longer growing taller. He eats like he is a bottomless pit! Sometimes I think he doesn't know how to control his eating, especially when it comes to candy! His favorite food these days, though, is steak!

He has mild scoliosis which they discovered at last year's visit. She still doesn't seem concerned about it at this point.

Last year they also heard some wheezing and asked if he had asthma. We said not that we knew of. This past year he says he notices he gets winded running long distance or with extreme physical exercise. She said she didn't hear any wheezing this time around. However, she sent over a prescription to our pharmacy for an inhaler. She said to give it a try the next time he feels out of breath and see if it helps. If it doesn't help, then he doesn't have asthma. He says he is a fast sprinter, but has trouble with long distance running.

She asked about his vision. I told her he gets an eye exam every year with an optometrist and that every year he has close to perfect vision with no need for corrective lenses.

She asked how he is doing in school. We told her that he doesn't like school, but that he is smart and gets good grades. We mentioned that he has switched schools a couple of times trying to find one that he likes. I think because he is so smart he gets bored sometimes at school because he already knows a lot of what they are teaching. He also gets frustrated with other peers who don't care about school and their grades, especially when he has to work on group projects with them. He also just doesn't like some of the teachers.

Not much else to report. All in all, he is doing well. Today's visit was actually a lot better than previous visits. There was hardly anyone there today being the holiday break. This is the first year that they didn't have me fill out lengthy paperwork regarding how many servings of vegetables and fruits he eats, how much screen time he gets, how much physical exercise he gets, etc... Last year they even had us answer questions about mental health, sexual preference/identity, etc... I was in shock last year about everything they wanted to know. I was relieved that they didn't ask us any of that this year.

12/30 we went to the Phoenix Zoo as an early celebration for Dawn's birthday.  We ate at Rainforest Cafe. 

New Years Eve was boring as usual.  

Dawn's New Year's Resolutions:

1) 10k steps/day. I want to lose another 20 pounds before I turn 50 on 1/2/25. My Fitbit reminds me each hour (between 9 and 6) to get at least 250 steps so I want to be more mindful of that. I want to drink more water and less coffee (but I’m not giving coffee up!).

2) Read my Bible more and just work on being a better Christian.

3) Declutter, Declutter, Declutter!

4) Work on pictures and “scrapbooks “. I have tons of picture projects I need to work on, including scanning many (like the ones from my grandma that family members want me to share once scanned).

5) Start using my new camera and keep improving my photography skills     

1/2 was Dawn's 49th birthday.  She spent the day by herself in Sabino Canyon.  

Nathan got all As the 2nd quarter and got the Principal's Pride certificate.  Dad promised him that he would take him to the Brazilian Steakhouse if he got all As so that motivated him.  

Dawn went to the zoo 1/16.  Tried out her new camera.  Tried to take pictures of the baby zebra that was born on Christmas Day, but she was laying down the entire time.

1/16 We had to take Nathan to urgent care.  This time he had a headache and his eyes were sensitive to light.  They thought it could be the start of a sinus infection.  We are hoping it is not the start of migraines.  

1/24 Dawn went to Catalina State Park.  

1/25 Dawn went to the Desert Museum to take pictures of the raptor show with her new camera. She also stopped at Sweetwater Wetlands, but didn't see much there other than a bobcat.  

2/3 Dawn went back to Catalina State Park.  She ended up buying an annual pass.  Paul and Nathan went to the Kino Gem & Mineral Show.    

2/5 Dawn went to Reid Park Zoo to photograph the baby zebra and and the baby giraffe who was born on Martin Luther King Day.  She also went to the Tucson Botanical Gardens.  She found out that the baby zebra died the following day after running into a fence.    

2/9 Nathan went to a nerf activity at Sun & Shield Baptist Church.

2/10 Paul and Nathan went to the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show at the Tucson Convention Center.

Dawn managed to maintain her weight during the holidays . As of today, she is about 143 pounds.  Hoping to lose another 20 pounds before she turns 50 next year, but that is unlikely to happen.  Perimenopause is working against her.  Going on a decade now.