Day 2 - Nerf wars and animals

The boys were busy for the past 2 days making weapons and barriers for the homeschool nerf battle.

About 10 more showed up after this photo - probably about 30 kids in all.  Great turnout!  Lots of fun!

Notice the feet - crazy kids!

Girls were a little out of sorts this a.m.  E- because her Dad didn't leave her any coffee and Lizard because we've been waking up 4 hours earlier than she likes:)  They begged for Starbucks, I gave in.

We headed to Hobby Lobby for t-shirts and more duct tape.  Girls decided they 'needed' stuffed animals and have been carrying them around all day - even pushed them in the grocery cart!  You're never too old for a stuffed friend!

Lizard has been trying since yesterday afternoon to catch a fish - 

She got one!

They caught Plato too! 

Let the adventures begin!

This is the week the kids have been waiting for all year - the arrival of their best friends from Oregon.  We hit the airport a little early to greet with a sign and our 'staches' (yep, I wore one too).  I must say, it was pretty fun to provide the travelers with some laughs and smiles as they arrived in ABQ.   For blog purposes we'll call E-'s friend Lizard and M's friend Techy.

I decided they needed to start their day the New Mexican way and made breakfast burritos with green chiles of course!  Off we headed toward Sandia Park to hit the quirky Tinkertown (much more fun with friends).

Hard to describe this place - basically some guy spent years carving and collecting and now has it all in this museum in the Sandia foothills.  Admittedly, it is a little creepy.  The girls' imaginations were running wild with story ideas.

There were clowns!  Scary!

Dolls - more scary!  Check out the Chucky looking one in the back.  Even a sign warning that at night they tell stories - 

Lots of old fashioned quarter machines to tell your fortunes, careers, personality etc...  Techy is "Patriotic" per Uncle Sam here.

M- and Lizard had their fortunes read by "Grandma Esmerelda".  If you didn't like them you could pin them on the ceiling.

It was a fun couple hours.  And, since we were so close to the top of Sandia Mountain I figured we should drive up to check out the view...

Once at the top, I thought a little hike to see the tram would be fun.  I mean, if you've never been to ABQ, you'd want to say you hiked on the Sandias right?  We embarked on our 'little' hike.  Kids loved it on the way there, but they were pretty much hating me on the way back.  The little hike - it was about 4 miles!  

Here's the tram - we didn't ride it.  It is North America's longest aerial tram.

Kids with energy on the way to the tram.

All done - this is the last picture they let me take and I don't think they were too happy with me at this point.  But we made it back, I fed them snacks and Mexicokes and they're all happy again!

Stay tuned for more adventures tomorrow:)

Disappointment and complaints

I've been in quite the funk this week after learning that my friends can't come next week.  I don't even know if I can express how much I have been looking forward to catching up, laughing, eating, drinking, hanging out, and taking them around NM.  Disappointment almost doesn't even describe my feelings.  It's out of my control and it'll still be fun for the kids to enjoy their friends, but really... I wanted/needed some girl time!  My sweet husband took me out last night to try to cheer me up.  It was fun.  And I love him, and I love spending time with him - but it is just not the same as hangin' with the girls.

We've had a ton of rain here lately - 4th wettest July in the history of ABQ per the news.  Loving the cool evenings, but the humidity is high during the day and with a broken swamp cooler it hasn't been fun.

I am stressing about the start of another school year around the corner.  Trying to get kids schedules organized and cover all the bases for subjects, activities etc...  I am still driving all over the place to get them where they need to be, but hopefully will give myself a 2 day reprieve if I plan it right:)  And with any luck E- will get her license by December and maybe she'll be able to take over some of the driving (if I can manage that!).

I'll leave you with a funny pic.  My friend posted a recipe for this drink on her blog - the Pom Selleck (I think originally from Rachael Ray).  Anyway... it was yummy and somewhat helped me thru my funk.  Still would've been better to share with my girls!  Cheers!

Did ya know?

I honestly did not believe the desert could be so green!  I mean I have lived in a variety of desert environments and I love the dry, barren, landscape.  The red colors contrast against the big blue sky.  The cacti and wildflowers pop with color when they bloom.  But, I did not think anything would grow so prolifically in this climate.  Our yard is out of control with trees, flowers, grapes, and weeds!  We chopped a bunch of things back about a month ago and with the monsoon season, they have gone crazy!  Don't believe me - here's a photo.

Anyway - the maintenance takes up our weekends.  After we called it quits, I captured an awesome photo of some dragonflies - they are enjoying our pond.

Clara decided a little sun-bathing was in order after running around the yard for the morning.

Gifford just wanted to play.

And I was ready (after church) to enjoy a mint mojito on my porch:)  

Happy Weekend!  

Ah - summer!

It is already nearly the end of July, which means nearly the end of summer, which means the end of break. Sadly, I do not feel that I have even had a break yet.  Admittedly this stresses me out and makes me a little crabby at times.  I am trying to grab little times here and there for myself, with my husband, and some fun times with the kids.  They will just have to suffice as a beach vacation is not in my cards for a while.  In a few weeks, my good friends will arrive in ABQ and I am so looking forward to the laughter, conversation,and fun times that we have together.  Friends make me smile:)

I am happy to back in my kitchen after my whirlwind trip earlier this month.  Made some yummy popsicles when I returned.  Easy and refreshing for a summer treat!

Here's the recipe -  (from the Pioneer Woman - of course!)

1/2 cup sugar

1 bag frozen mangos

juice of 1/2 lime

1 bag of frozen strawberries

juice of 1/2 lemon

Combine 1 cup of water with the sugar in a saucepan.  Heat until sugar dissolves.  

Pour half of the sugar syrup into a blender with the frozen mangos and the lime juice.  Puree until smooth.  Pour mango mix into the bottom quarter of some ice pop molds and freeze for 20 minutes.

Add other half of syrup to the blender with the frozen strawberries and lemon juice.  Puree until smooth and pour into the molds to the halfway mark.  Freeze another 20 minutes.

Repeat with another layer mango and then strawberry.  Freeze until solid (be patient - if you aren't the popsicles won't come out!)

Clara the pup, has enjoyed bringing us a variety of wildlife while we are working outside.  She has found a baby bird, baby mouse, cicadas, and a few baby toads!  She also loves to take running leaps into the pond when she gets too hot.  She couldn't catch the big bullfrog, but guess who did?  This may be the World's Largest Bullfrog in the Southwest!

Home Again!

We are finally home after 24 days away!  Oh, it is always so good to get back to your own stuff, sleep in your own bed, eat your own food, hug your spouse, etc...  Husband did a pretty good job holding down the fort - hard to do while holding down his crazy job in addition!  He did build a cool bar for his 'man room' which doubles as the garage, storage, and workout room.  Here's the photo:

He used pieces from a cedar door that the previous owners left in our garage and an old teak table they left outside.  Pretty good - I think he deserves to sit and enjoy a beer there soon!

He did not do a great job with Clara... he has her sleeping in our bed at night, jumping in the pond, digging holes, and jumping on the furniture!  You can see why - she is just too cute.  But look out Clara, Mommy is home!

Here's what I did for most of my 24 days - drove, packed boxes, drove some more, packed more boxes, cleaned, and drove again!

Here I am amidst one room of boxes!

We did have some fun while away.  M- joined mom and I in Kansas while E- finished her writing camp.  We had burnt ends at a BBQ place.

Here are E- and M- at the summer workshop.  The first thing M- wanted to do after getting off the plane was to see his sister.  We hoped to surprise her at the conference - and succeeded.  I got a little teary at how sweet they were running and hugging eachother:)  Lucky boy, it was Doctor Who day (hence the pic with the Tardis) and Open Mic Night.  

We spent a lot of time with my niece, D-, who also celebrated her 2nd birthday.  She's super cute, but you can't see her face as my brother doesn't want it blogged!  But, she is a fun one - loves to pretend and talk with her animals and babies and repeats every word you say.

Mom and M- getting in the Birthday spirit!

Kids had many walks around the lake finding at least 10 baby turtles, avoiding a few snakes, catching lightening bugs in the evening, and kayaking on the last day.  Hard for them to leave my parents TN home for the last time, but they held it together.

Next up, my husband will be packing up the house and driving a truck back with some of their stuff.  Mom and Dad will be in their new home - 5 minutes from us - by the end of August.  Definitely hard to leave 30 years of memories behind, but we look forward to making more with them in New Mexico:)

One Week, 30 hours, and 9 states!

Our summer adventures have begun!  The boys set off for summer camp at Emerald Bay via an 18 hour train ride, bus thru L.A. and ferry over to Catalina.  After a week of lots of fun, pink sunglasses, bad food, merit badge earning, and very little sleep, they returned home with the Nora Virus from contaminated water at camp.  As of last count over half of their troop was sick. Thankfully it seems to run through quickly and E- and I were not home to get it too:)

M- and friend at In 'n Out Burger with their pink sunglasses - on the way home from camp

In one week, E- and I drove at least 30 hours hitting New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, and finally Kansas!  I even managed to let my 15 year old drive for part of the trip - on the highway- with many semi trucks - going 75 miles/hour!  Breathe...she did great, but honestly this driving bit is one of the hardest parenting things I've done.  

In TN, we picked up Mom and headed for the OYAN summer workshop (Ellie's writing program).  She was so excited, we were happy to drop her off with friends to get some peace and quiet:)  Just kidding... She is staying in the dorm for the week, meeting with critique groups for her 2nd novel, listening to authors/agents/writers, and soaking up all things writing along with her forum friends from all over the country.  The OYAN program is one of our favorite homeschool curriculum purchases!

E- on day 1 of her summer workshop!

Happy OYANer friends!

Mom and I are relaxing in the hotel and checking out Kansas City this week.  Already finished Book 1 - Shanghai Girls... good read if you need a summer book.  Will return to Tennessee at the end of the week to finish packing up my parents home as they'll head to their new home in ABQ in about a month!