The Chaos That Surrounds Us

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think of, say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company...a church.... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude...I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you…we are in charge of our Attitudes."

-Charles Swindoll

With all that is currently going on in the state of Arizona, the United States, the world in general...the only thing I truly have control of is my attitude. For someone who is a bit of a control freak.... I love this reminder of what I can control. It helps me want to do better, be more positive, and have faith that the outcome will be just as it should be.

Guate Pics

Meet the woman who put a curse on Alan and Seth as they traveled through the hills of Guatemala.....we can thank her for many things, including: our flights out being canceled (she must have conjured up hurricane Ike), Alan being pick pocketed on a chicken bus out in the middle of nowhere, dollars taken out of our bank account when the thief purchased a serious amount of rims and McD's for all of his friends, and more than half of Alan's pictures being deleted from his memory card (actually, we have Will to thank for that one.)







Everyone always asks me what I do when we go to Guatemala... this is what we do, many times a day. An old-school teeter-totter and seriously scary slide. The boys were in heaven. Will wants to know when we are going back.

Saturday Jobs

Cleaning out the garage... my least favorite chore. Alan took over and sent me inside for a nap. Lucky me. The garage holds such treasures for the boys... they always find toys they've long since forgotten about. Saturday it was this hose contraption that shoots water everywhere. They were out there in the street playing for what seemed like hours. Tragic that it was in the street instead of some soft green grass... they didn't care though, they had a blast.

ps- Pay no attention to the speedo shorts that Alex insisted on wearing (hand-me-down from older cousin Sam.) Apparently it made him feel stronger than ever- there was a great deal of flexing going on.

Camping '09

Camping Schedule:
Leave house Friday night at 7:10pm. Sun is setting.
Arrive campsite about 8pm.
Start fire, eat smores, set up tent, go to bed by 10pm.
Wake up, pack up, stop at DD's on the way home. Home by 9am.
Boys were thrilled- camping to them is smores and sleeping in a tent. Mission accomplished.

Why, why do I bother?

It's 6pm at the Curtis home. There is no sign of the Doctor. Cell phone is off.
Dinner is done. Boys are starving. Because of significant whining and some tears, we go ahead and sit.

Menu:
tilapia with tomatoes, basil and garlic
tossed salad
watermelon
roasted potatoes
fresh-out-of-the-oven-oatmeal bread

Boy #1 eats: bread and red peppers and cries about the fish.
"Why are you always begging me to eat the food you make?" he asks. Then some tears are shed.
Boy #2 eats: watermelon and tilapia. This child only eats bread if it is a homemade dinner roll.
I have a friend whose child says to her mother, "Whatever you make, is what I'll eat." Where have I gone wrong? I think I've created a couple of picky-eater monsters.

Guate!

We've set up shop in Guatemala City once again. Boys and I are staying in our pj's all morning, swimming, napping, and eating Haagen Dazs Dulce de Leche to our hearts content. There has been a trip or two to Will's favorite place on earth, Pollo Campero. Meanwhile....I just got a call from Alan who is off doing his boy thing...hitchhiking his way to the city of Antiqua, "laying with the lava" (at an active volcano), riding chicken buses all about, and generally having the time of his life with his new favorite traveling companion and old friend, Seth. They made it to Lake Atitlan today and are getting soaked through and through, this being the rainy season and all. He told me that he wished I was there... but really, we both know I'm much better off where I am. I mean chicken buses? Really? Seth is the right partner for him on this one, of that I am sure.

Sick Day

This morning at 6:23am Alex announced he was sick. A dose of motrin and an hour later we were out in the 95 degree heat painting up a storm. The boys wanted to make a paper cut-out of Will, so we taped together pages of 8 1/2 X 11 and traced his little body, which they then painted. Many masterpieces were created for the Art Gallery in our garage.

And oh yes, the hair is BACK.