in my mary poppins suitcase.....

I would take these things back to Mesa with me:

braums

i'm obsessed. not the healthiest obsession. but the fact that they make everything is making me love it (hamburger buns, milk, cheese, you name it) & its that its cheap makes me love it more.they have a grocery store inside where they sell their milk & stuff! their ice cream is seriously the best. you can get a tiny kid cone too without feeling much damage. coconut chocolate cheesecake. all my favorite things combined into a tiny little cone of amazing. i'm sure i'll be over it by the end of the summer but i'm really wishing AZ would hop on the braum train.

moore public library

they have an awesome dvd collection. i dont think i need redbox or netflix anymore. today, bastien went to a water class where they learned about water & made a 'water' bracelet. its also really cool how you can take your kids there & just hang out. there is a train table & the workers dont seem to care if your 2 year olds are running around the place wreaking havoc.

not like a normal library.

free lunch program

a few times this week after we've gone to the park & library, we've headed over to kelley elementary where they have free lunch for the kids. its not a lame lunch either. there's like 3 kinds to choose from that are packed with different things. i remember doing this when i was a kid in the summer but i dont remember the lunches being this cool. and i dont have to worry about lunch when we get home,i can just relax.

steven's work incentives

if the guys in the office made 100 sales in a week we got to go to a nice steak restaraunt. & they did. we went went last saturday. we got a babysitter & everything. the next incentive they are working for is... well, they have a movie theater here that has balcony seating & they serve you dinner during the movie. cool huh? i really wanna do that..so sell that bug spray boys!

things that can just stay here when i go home are:

the babies naptime..or lack therof.

before coming to ok, the earliest i would put the babies down for a nap would be 1pm. most of the time it was 2pm. i always aimed for them to wake up between 3:30-4pm. and the best part is they would Still go to bed at 7:30pm at night. it sounds to good to be true now, but it was this way forever! so i was pretty stressed after i got here & first of all it took 1-2 hours just to get them to take a nap, then they wouldnt go to bed at night until 10pm . so this past week i have had to accept the hard truth that its either no nap & a peaceful early 7pm bedtime. or naps & i am going crazy until 10pm. (& that time is precious!) it was really hard to accept..esp cause bastien took naps & did an early bedtime until he was 4! telling a 2 year old that its "quiet time & that they are to stay in the living room while mommy takes a nap" is laughable. but i guess i'll trade it for a nice early bedtime.

the humidity:

i'm a dry hott girl. i do like the fact that its not in the 120's. & at least there is a breeze here now & then. (and we can put our turtle outside without knowing it will die) but i think i could do without that constant bead of sweat on my upper lip & my pants always feeling like they are sticky. (camille! -the term swamp ass was invented here!)

so dry heat, i choose you!