Trunk or Treat

I LOOOOOVE Halloween for many reasons (the chocolate... helloooo) but my favorite part is dressing up. And while we still have children who are willing- or too young to say otherwise- I LOVE to do theme based costumes. This year we were the four seasons. I am going to let you guess who is what season and how it is that they "represent" that season.

I'm not pregnant... just holding a beach ball!

This is Boston and Brigham K. (our 2nd-cousins'-on-the-Hope-side children, or Allie's 3rd cousins). Poor Brigham... can you say " Invasion of Personal Space"?
Can you tell they are brothers?

Just for fun, this was last year- Halloween Party 2006! I looked around for Baby Bear's costume but decided I didn't want to spend $25 on something like that. So instead I bought a large teddy bear from a thrift store for $1.99 and cut off the face, slit open the back, and pulled out all of the stuffing. Oh and yes, that is REAL porridge (oatmeal) in my pot. Some thought it was too hot. I personally thought it was too cold.

Gran Quivira Ruins / Alamagordo

We went to Alamagordo for another century ride. It really was just a little family get away to visit our friends Kyle and Lisa because Jason did not train for this one. He ended up stopping at mile 55 of 110 (knees gave out- they are REALLY screaming at him today) but Kyle kept on going and Justin (Kyle's bro in-law pictured below) finished first out of 150 or so people with about 3 hours of sleep. He hit a little deer on his way down from Albuquerque between Socorro and Carizozo that took out his radiator. The tow truck finally hauled him into Alamagordo at about 2AM. He rode back into Albuquerque with us. Very nice weekend.

On our way to Alamogordo we stopped at the Salinas/Gran Quivira Ruins . Here's Allie taking a look around inside.

Allie wondering why the church made out of rocks is broken. It was like a maze inside. We ran around and played hide-and-go-seek for awhile.

Luke exploring the ruins.

Sanctions or Playgrounds?

This morning when we got up and were snuggling on the couch drinking our hot chocolate and Postum we turned on the TV to the morning "news." Ms. Rice was being interviewed by Matt Laurer (likes himself more than I like him) about sanctions levied against Iran. After a few minutes Allie turned to me and asked "Are they talking about playgrounds?" Maybe.

Jay R. Birthday Event

This is for the Payne family. Jay (not to be confused with Uncle Jay Jay- Allie kept wondering where he was) had a birthday so we went over to Marge's house on Sunday evening to eat cake and ice cream. It was a fun gathering and here are a few shots. It seems like these gatherings are a lot less frequent, and for various reasons I guess.

New Template

Ok, the last template had some copyright issues that the provider didn't realize she was breaking. So I am trying to find a new one. This will be it for the time being. I went to a website that has a bunch of free templates but whoa- some are "soft porn" so um, be careful. I just didn't think that would be the right look for our family blog.

F is for Full Plate

It seems when it rains it pours. I was in charge of our preschool/playgroup this week. We take turns each week with the theme being the next letter of the alphabet. I had the letter F. Which is for frog (we had frog races) and fruit, fish (gold), fig bars- for our snack, fabric (we decorated the letter F with different piece of fabric, each with a different FEEL. It is also for Fall- we made a fall tree by tracing our Feet and Fingers on fall colored paper. Those were just a few of the things we did.

I was also in charge of our Relief Society's Brunch (on the same day). We do it once a month were we get together and have lunch and just talk. It is really fun and very laid back. Woman of all ages (as well as a few people who aren't members) come and it is really fun to just chat. This year we are doing an international themed menu so I of course put together a Bolivian Menu. I was kind of nervous about it because many American missionaries that I knew did not like Bolivian food. So I choose something that I thought would be fairly safe and easy to make (not too many wierd ingredients). It turned out GREAT! Everyone really liked it. I am including the recipe below. It is REALLY spicy so careful on the red pepper. I maybe put a third of what the recipe called for and it was still really really SPICY. Allie and Jason loved it- too spicy for Luke.

I also had my spanish class this week as well as my glucose test for the pregnancy (both on the same day). And then it was way too cold for park day so we park day here at the house (yes, that is a HUGE mess to clean up but the kids have fun). I have been craving cinnamon rolls so we made Teri Cambells recipe. YUMMY!

Saisi (Spicy meat)
Ingredients:
1 pound cow meat (hip)
½ cup oil
1 cup green peas, peeled
2 cups white onion, finely chopped
1 cup tomato, peeled and finely chopped
½ cup ground spicy red pepper
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon oregano, crumbled
½ fresh parsley, finely chopped
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 spoonful salt
3 cups broth or cold water

To serve:
8 potatoes, peeled and cooked (boiled) separately
steamed rice
2 spoonfuls parsley, finely chopped

Preparation:
Cut the meat into very small pieces.
In a casserole combine the meat with all the other ingredients, including the broth or water.
Set to cook over high heat until it boils and later over low heat, for at least an hour or until everything is very well cooked. If the preparation dries a little, add broth or hot water. It must be very juicy.
Serve in a deep plate with one cooked potato, steamed rice, and the Saici on the side (not on top of the rice). Sprinkle with the chopped parsley on top.

The Aquarium and Botanical Garden

Sorry... this was supposed to be the end photo.

While our AZ friends were here we rode the train (which of course I have no photos of because the battery died). It was a blast! We rode through the Botanical Garden and part of the zoo where we got to see baby elefants playing around, pushing each other and playing "King of the Hill". It was so entertaining. We also went to the Aquarium. Luke was just crazy about all the fish! He was so mezmorized! It was so fun to watch him.
In the Botanical Garden, you enter a world where suddenly you are as small as an ant and everything else is giant! This Allie on a giant garden hose.

The kids... riding an ant... obviously.

Balloon Fiesta

Love, love, LOVE this time of year! We love the Balloon Fiesta! I don't care how many times you go, you just never get tired of it. The kids had a great time of course.























Flying HIGH! Does life get any better than this?!
This shot of Darth Vader is dedicated to my brothers! Señor Vader is new this year. We were really excited to see him!

We love having company come to show them the balloons and our lovely Albuquerque. This year my friend Jamie came from AZ with three of her 5 kids. She is an AMAZING person. They are foster adopting their children. Two are now officially theirs with 2 more in the works. We had sooo much fun hanging out and talking 'till ALL hours of the night. She is such a good mom and I learned so much from being around her and her little ones! They are REALLY GOOD kids, so sweet and so smart! We went out to lunch to the Frontier (a very Albuquerque, NM restaurant) and were having a great time. A older lady who had been sitting in a booth next to us with her friend stopped on her way out and said to us "You have such well behaved children! It was such a pleasure to watch them". I could not believe it (as I tried not to laugh)! I am certain she was talking about Jamie's kids although Allie and Luke were being pretty good that day. I really think that says a lot about the parenting skills of Jamie and her husband. With each child having their own story of what their life has been like, and for them as parents to not have raised them since infants- we are talking about a REALLY GREAT mom and dad!!! Thanks Jamie for coming out! We had SO MUCH fun! It was so quiet and boring after you left. Allie keeps talking about your kids. You'll have to come back and see us again soon!

My Famous Baby Sister

I know most of the Jacksons have seen this (thanks to Dad/Grandpa Jackson) but I thought it was just too great not to pass it along! My little sister, the youngest, made the funny papers (we always knew she would)! Take note on the pirate's peg-leg!

It's Halloween TIME!!!

Ok, maybe we still have a few more weeks but Grandpa and Grandma Payne's cards always get us excited for the season. Actually I have been thinking about pulling out our fall decorations since September 1st. We have had a warm fall so far so it hasn't felt right quite yet. Most of our decorations went up though the last week of September so we didn't completely wait until October. We haven't minded the warm fall because it took so long for the cool spring to end. We were trying to swim and still shivering in June. We have added a few things this year to our Halloween stuff. Ever since we first saw our house to buy it I thought our front porch would be soooo fun to decorate for Halloween. We are just getting started. Allie helped me make some ghosts to hang in the tree. We hung it once and the string broke so we have to re-hang them. I got the lighted pumpkins at Maria and my favorite place- SAVERS! I think I will spluge after Halloween is over and buy a brand new set since this one is missing a pumpkin and some have cracked. You can see a few of our other decorations. I still hang up the ghost I made when I was an 11 year old Merry Miss. Last year we made the exact same ghost with my Merry Miss group. They were excited that I still had mine after all these years (you know, 8-11 year old girls think a 30 year old is ANCIENT).

In other news, I am teaching Spanish again this fall. This is the fourth year now. I wasn't going to do it, with everything that has been going on- possible surgery etc. but since that is all past I am doing a "Spanish Workshop" which means instead of 3 months it is only 6 weeks. We are meeting at an old community center here in town. It is a really cool old adobe building - I really want to find out it's history. Doing the class for 6 weeks has really worked out for the best since we traveled a bit in September and we just found out we are going to AZ in November for Wendy's wedding. I was still waiting to hear that the guy had proposed with a ring etc. We are so happy for their happiness!!!

If anyone is in the area October 31st, come ring our doorbell!

Fall Cleaning

Carter said he has been in the fall clean-out mood for several months. I always feel it right around Conference time. We have really enjoyed General Conference (GREAT talks) and the decluttering that gets done while we listen. After the afternoon session, Jason went out and was cleaning the side of the house with the blower. It's electric but still very LOUD. The kids and I watched from the kitchen window. I liked Allie's solution for the noise.

Dr. Payne's Immediate Care Center

This is Jason; Joy talked me into writing a blah - I mean blog entry:

I had the fine privilege of playing EMT yet again. (After gluing Allie and Luke back together so often, we finally bought a bottle of super glue). At church Tuesday two 11 year old boys ran around a blind corner and through an open door smacking into each other at full speed. Crying definitely sounds weird at that age; at first I thought they were joking. They were not so I gave them some space to collect themselves until I saw blood gushing out of the eyebrow of one of them. The other had a nice deep gash in his chin that was bleeding as well. They laid there for a bit until the bleeding slowed and we took them to the kitchen to wash up. The mothers of the boys came and one was off to the ER for, you guessed it, super glue. What does fate have with cuts lately?
In other news:

Joy looks great; we are excited for Luke to have a brother. (Then again, the feeding, holding, changing, rocking is pretty straightforward now). People at work are really shocked about our pregnancy. Three kids three and under? No sweat. (See below).

For the Paynes that know Scott Griffin, he is our Scoutmaster and does an excellent job (yes, he knows all the tricks so nothing gets by him). I just completed teaching orienteering to our three boys and, based on my memories, I have tried hard to keep the classroom lecture down. One of the boys just returned from vacation in Sweden where the school children learn orienteering as a matter of course. I'll teach Wilderness Survival next. I asked Scott if he really wants to sleep in a trash bag with pine needles down his shirt in October -- I guess so.

Angel or Devil??? (note the eyes)

Erin feels like her blog is always about food. I feel like our blog is all about the harrowing experiences of parenting. Yesterday, after the exhausting chore of going through clothes to box up the small ones and pull out the new size (these kids have way too many clothes) Allie went into the pantry and starting smashing and throwing rice paper every where- a brand new package. We had these at a Payne gathering- the Vietnamese rolls (they are like tortillas but made out of rice in case you unsure what they are). I was irrate! I told her to stop immediately and pick up the pieces which were all over the floor in the pantry. She wanted help (which means she wants you to do it while she watches). I got her a bag and tried to help her get started but she just sat there in her mess, breaking the pieces up even smaller. I left to hang the laundry outside. When I came back she had taken the cap off a new container of cooking spray and was spraying everything down. She used atleast a third of the bottle. Remember, she is still in the pantry. I was livid! This job should have only taken 5 seconds and it would be so much easier to just do it myself but I was not going to let her win. I step out to grab some paper towels to clean the cooking spray off everything and when I came back she had opened a brand new container of shortening and stuck her hand in it. So now I realized she could not be left unsupervised and I just wanted to finish and get out of the laundry room/pantry. All the while Allie is fussing and crying and carrying on. Luke kept trying to comfort her and figure out why she won't leave with him. Jason came home finally and Allie was still there. It had been over an hour and a half by now. Poor guy- he came home to a very unhappy house! After almost 2 hours in the same 3x3 space she finally cleaned it up enough to leave. I was so glad to leave for my little sewing class. Sometime between that and going to bed, she managed to glue styrafoam peanuts to the computer desk and carpet. A final jab at us.

Now, not to impress you all with my superhuman ability, but for history's sake, I have to tell you I was so so so angry! I wanted to scream, pull my hair out, pull her hair out, beat the child, cry, etc. But I remained in control the whole time. My voice was stern and very serious and only at times slightly elevated. Most of the time it was low and very direct. I am so proud of myself! And I would not budge. Really, I think that was the worst part about it for her. Almost two hours and the same little spot and she could not make me loose control. But oh she knew VERY WELL that I was NOT happy! I can hardly believe it myself. It was a pretty miserable experience for both of us. And no, I could not take a picture because I had zero sense of humor about this. It felt like it lasted for HOURS. It has been Luke we have had to keep a close eye on lately, not Allie. This was so unlike her. Please tell me there are happier ways to get your parents attention.