Bichos

Quick dad post before balloon fiesta. It is fall which is bicho (bug) season in our home. I don't know if they are cold or what but they sure like to come inside our home. The kids like to catch them (with a little of dad's help) and look at them. Joy's brother Vic, his wife Molly and baby Peter arrived early this morning for balloon fiesta. Tomorrow morning we'll make our annual 5AM pilgrimage.

We saved this guy for a few days until Vic and Molly could take a look. This is about as big as they get in our home. He was difficult to get into a wide mouth jar. (This is a Vinegaroon by the way).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelyphonida
A more agreeable afternoon snack:

Letting go:

State Fair

Jason here. Last year I missed out on the State Fair when Joy and the kids went with some school group. This year, I really wanted to go- I missed taking my kids to see the animals and always like to see the photography exhibits as well as all the other trinkets people enter into competition. We had a great time as a family- here are some snapshots from the evening.

I would have to say that McDonald's had one of the nicest exhibits. Yeah, yeah, I know what you are thinking- disgusting corporate titans- I am willingly allowing my kids to be pre-programmed by the McBeast! Well, I can't stand their food either - and contrary to popular opinion, there are people who voluntarily eat the "food." Anyhow, their exhibit was about agriculture and was by far the cleanest area at the fair- it didn't have the dirty grime that makes the fair so- you know, the fair. Although it makes sense, I didn't realize the #1 US export are our agricultural products. My father, father in law, and two brothers are in that business so it was fun to think about them. The best part of the McDonald's exhibit for me was entering to win a freezer full of frozen Bueno green chile. We keep telling ourselves that they'll call tomorrow. Bueno also gave out fresh tortillas which successfully kept the five of us away from the turkey leg stand.

The kids ran around picking up eggs and vegetables that they delivered to market.

Luke and Wesley playing on a tractor:

More Luke's size:
Notice how manly he looks on the tractor after being hoodwinked by that pesky girl in the blog post below. I taught him how to pee standing and we both felt like we could put that photo behind us.

Our one expenditure went to Allie who saw this super cool trampoline thing. We had to agree and gave her a go. Of course this involves giving money to safety technicians you are just thrilled to trust your children to:
Anticipation:
She almost pulled off a flip; she sure did try- maybe next year:
Skipping the mechanical milk cow and turkey legs, we survived off of four tortillas and went strait to the heart of Albuquerque for dinner: The Frontier. One sleeping boy, a chile smothered breakfast burrito, carne adovada and a cinnamon roll later we were done. If you have never been to the Frontier, you have never been to Albuquerque. Come visit us and we'll take you, our treat! Here is a photo of the Frontier:

Two communal steaming plastic cauldrons of smotherable chile goodness are shown in the upper left of the picture below and on my burrito in the foreground.
Until next year...

Welcome Fall!

A cold front moved in last night so we woke up to a nice cool crisp morning! What a perfect way to begin fall. Is there anyone who does not absolutely love this time of year?! So with that, we say good bye to the golden days of summer, the monsoon rains and playing all day with friends.
This photo says so much! Oh the innocence of youth. Luke and his friend Katelyn wanted to play in the rain. It was summer so they wanted to get swimming suits on to play in the rain. But Luke didn't have his. That's ok, Katelyn had an extra one he could borrow. So she helped him put on a swimming suit. That is what he a wearing, a swimming suit (never mind there are certain suit for boys and certain suits for girls). Now they were ready.

Gutter Babies: The New Generation

Gutter Babies? Well, my oldest sisters Erin and Maria earned that name by playing in the gutter in Blythe, CA after it rained as little kids. I can't say that I blame them; Blythe is a hot place and rain must have been novel. The name has stuck around our family for decades now.

Fast forward to the new generation of gutter babies- Erin and Maria, I hope they make you proud:
Three little gutter babies playing with Dad's gift. I try and bring the kids a "surprise" whenever I return home from business travel. Five or six bucks can net a handful of super cool balsa gliders- Wesley got the deluxe biplane so Luke and Allie wouldn't fight and Wesley is plenty capable of defending his property if challenged.

You can see my attempt at a haircut for Luke. Wow, an aborted exorcism to put it mildly. It has grown out now and we went yesterday to see Flo who cut his hair- you'll need to wait for the next post to see the results. Here he is yelling for the fun of it:
I tried to sit the boys on a bucket for a photo, but Wesley was not too interested.

There, that's better, wait... Wesley get your hand out of your diaper!
For the record, we all got dressed and walked over to the park and flew the airplanes until it got dark. Until next time...

School is great- still!

School is going very well! Allie absolutely loves kindergarten. The second day of school Allie said she wanted to ride the bus. We have a stop right near our house and I thought that would be a great option later on when it got cold. I was not prepared for her to ride the bus the SECOND day of school. But she was ready. So we got her safely on the bus and then like the neurotic mom that I am, the boys and I jumped in the car and drove to the school so we could be there when she got off the bus. She was fine of course and she totally loves riding the bus. It is such a strange feeling to watch your 5 year old get on this huge vehicle and drive away with strangers while she is waving at you through the window (and yes, she always sits in that first seat by the bus driver). She is only FIVE! I know, I know... time to cut the apron strings.

I have started helping out in the classroom once a week. A friend and I swap babysitting so we can go into the classrooms. That has been great. It is so fun to see them in their environment. They are practicing their letters and numbers and Allie can now write her full name- Alexandra Payne. That is what is on all of her papers but they still call her Allie.

The boys are doing well and play together all the time. They were before too but you can see a different bond forming without big sister around. Wesley still doesn't have a lot of words but he seems to understand when you talk to him because he will respond with a "ya" when it is appropriate. He doesn't take his diaper off like before but he does stick his hand into his dirty diaper and then come and show you so you know it is time for a change. Totally disgusting I know- I hope you are not eating something while reading this.

On the home front- we finished repainting the hallways with nonflat paint so we can actually clean it, the corbels under the counter are now stained and secured in place, we finished the floor into the dinning room as well. We have the base boards now that need to be stained and and and... Things are slowly coming together. S-l-o-w-l-y. Very very s--l--o--w--l--y. My joke was Thanksgiving and now, do I dare say it, I really hope by October and Balloon Fiesta we will be done. And I am not joking this time.

First day of Kindergarten

It was rainy and overcast today- perfect for my mood. I may have shed a few tears possibly as I dropped off my oldest child at school but I did not sob. I may have shed even more tears when I picked her up all smiley and happy but I did not sob. So I would call it a success.

Allie has been so excited for this day. She was so ready. I tossed and turned and slept terribly last night. Our wonderful neighbors who are so good to us watched Wesley and Luke while I took Allie to school. We arrived on campus just a few minutes before the final bell as the kids were heading to their class. Allie was saying hello and waving to every kid she saw. After all they all go to her school. We arrived at her class, hung up her backpack and immediately she found a new friend named Haley. The PTO puts on a Boohoo Breakfast for the kindergartners and their parents on the first day so we headed to the cafeteria for juice and muffins. After that we hugged and waved goodbye and she was gone.

The boys and I missed her. Luke asked several times where Allie was. It is going to be interesting to watch the dynamics change at home. We were all excited to pick her up after school. Allie said it was great! I asked her about lunch since we sent her with a packed lunch and she said they have the coolest tables- they even fold up. That is pretty cool (now if I could just get one that clears itself off). And of course one of her favorite parts of the day was recess.

And just to drive home what a great day it was.... the symbol of good luck came crawling down our hall after baths tonight- a vinegaroon.

P.S. Happy Birthday Wendy! Happy Anniversary James and Lindsay. And we hope you had a good first day of kindergarten too Tía Mo Mo.

Reason #17 to not remove your diaper

We told several of you our trip would be on the blog Monday. Well it didn't work out that way. Monday morning we were unloading the last few things from Jason's truck before he went to work. Wesley was out there with us. He was right next to Jason when I heard Jason tell him "Wesley- don't take your diaper off!" Within seconds Wesley began to scream. Jason picked him up and ran for the house. Wesley had taken off his diaper and been stung by a bee- in the absolute worst place any male could imagine. It swelled up really really bad. REALLY bad! We called the doctor. A bee sting is one thing but because of where he was stung that can complicate things. They said to watch and make sure he could urinate. If not, off to emergency room. So we waited and watched. After about an hour we knew he was going to be ok when he peed on my lap. So Jason went to work and I held Wesley most of the morning. The swelling lasted all day and into the next. I took him to our neighbor's pool in the afternoon and the cold water helped a lot (he would not sit in the bathtub earlier). He is now much better but has NOT forgotten what a bad day that was. He hasn't tried to take off his diaper yet.