Arizona Mama

Parks and pools are great but if you’re like me then Phoenix’s triple digits have you running inside for the air-conditioning. For those days when slides are like branding irons and pools are like bathwater, beat the heat with these 15 fun indoor activities for kids. An idioglossia is a language created and spoken by [...]

I must admit, I am competitive. Don’t challenge me to a game of Scrabble and think I won’t pull out the word “xenial” to garner a triple word score and then gloat. Although I am not wholly athletic, that doesn’t mean I am not going to pull out all the stops just to beat my [...]

We recently had a girl’s night out at a Mesa institution – Organ Stop Pizza. Before you start thinking Chuck E. Cheese, think again. This is the home of the mighty Wurlitzer that rises out of floor at show time. The outer walls and ceiling accommodate the various pipes, drums and even puppets that add [...]

I started thinking about my son’s first birthday party months ago and was able to get my husband to agree to The Very Hungry Caterpillar as a theme. (To get my husband to love used to the idea I started off with getting my baby the book at Valentine’s Day.) This idea isn’t terribly original, [...]

It’s the little moments that count with our kids and I am trying to be very intentional with our time together.  I make sure that I am playful with him even when I am trying to work or clean house.  He can help me in his own way and he feels valued. Our family is [...]

Shopping for a bikini is not easy, because one piece of the bikini is $14 on sale! I hate to break it to you people, but $14 for two tiny triangles and string is not worth it. Not to mention you still have to buy bottoms. At a fabric store when it’s not on sale [...]

The cost of raising a child from birth to age 18, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is upwards of $225,000. The spending starts right away with the need for diapers, wipes, bottles, formula, blankets, and clothing, just to name a few of the essentials. Fortunately, there are simple things you can do to [...]

With as much as my kids and I enjoy reading, it was only a matter of time before someone chose to have a book theme birthday party. Since it was a teenager party, the structured activities were pretty low key, unless hanging out is a structured activity. But a theme is a theme and I [...]

If you’ve not met Dr. Sheldon Cooper and his friends yet, you have missed out on the television show “The Big Bang Theory”. It’s a hysterical comedy that centers on a group of friends, each with their own neurosis. One of the main characters, Dr. Sheldon Cooper, shares some characteristics with my 9 year-old son, [...]

We’re continuing to get out and about quite a bit this spring. April at the Desert Botanical Garden is a time for blooming flowers and a wide variety of butterflies in the Butterfly Pavilion. It is a beautiful place to enjoy a picnic lunch and spend some family time. I almost forgot we live in [...]