The Hand Crafted Family

We are done

2011-12-25T12:34:00.001-08:00

Time for a nap! Ruth and Mary are crocheting, we are planning a sewing project and there are many new books lying about waiting to be read. What a great day. Thank you to all of our family for another beautiful and blessed Christmas.

Programming Pause

2011-12-25T10:17:00.000-08:00

Ruth loves her dinosaur.
Our wonderful neighbors got the girls a gift. Very unexpected and sweet.
I had been praying about a school project the girls could do. This totally fits the bill.
Beautiful vest! We love new clothes.

We are about half way through gifts. Once again our family has been blessed beyond measure. We are taking a break to watch some movies and then will finish opening the remaining gifts. Here we are opening the first round.

Goofy pictures

2011-12-25T08:46:00.000-08:00

We are having a joy filled morning. Here are silly pictures of the kids to prove it.

The stockings are opened, on to the gifts

2011-12-25T08:37:00.000-08:00

Stockings

2011-12-25T06:12:00.000-08:00

The stockings are ready, let the fun begin.

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T19:34:00.001-08:00

Ruth received a vest and tee shirt, Mary opening her Raggedy Anne doll.
Matt opening his first gift. (It was a game)

Mary's first gift was a Raggedy Anne doll and beautiful stocking.
Merry Christmas! Thank you to everyone who shopped, sent, and made our Christmas bright. We love and appreciate all our family and friends.

Finished Gingerbread house

2011-12-24T11:10:00.000-08:00

Now onto the gingerbread men and tree.

Merry Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T10:45:00.001-08:00

Here is our gingerbread house in progress.

Snow Day (again)

2011-12-19T09:25:00.000-08:00

It is snowing here again today. Our neighbors son is here for the week so all three kids are outside playing in the snow. I am grateful for the peace and quiet while it lasts.

Mary's birthday

2011-12-17T17:25:00.000-08:00

Gifts, an evening spent on inflatable jumpers, Chinese food for dinner and her first manicure/pedicure. It's good to be (almost) 9.

Getting ready for Mary's (early) birthday

2011-12-15T20:33:00.000-08:00

Since we will be traveling over Mary's birthday we decided to celebrate her special day a few weeks early. Ruth picked out balloons, we hung some streamers and are ready to party!

Yes, I am crazy

2011-12-12T19:30:00.000-08:00

Look what we are up to. The toy closet was no longer working for us and with birthday and Christmas gifts coming something had to be done. We pulled everything out, took the shelves out of the closet and are buying tubs for all the toys to go in so we will be organized. Wish me luck!

The cake

2011-12-11T19:15:00.001-08:00

Here is the last of Ruth's birthday celebration pictures. Matt made a "scratch" chocolate cake with mint chocolate chip ice cream. Mary did the candles and we were set to finish her perfect birthday day.

Don't bother me Mom, I'm reading

2011-12-11T17:37:00.000-08:00

This has been the best day ever!
Ruth is enjoying the rest of her special day reading her new book and eating a can of cranberry sauce her Dad got her as a gift. I have been instructed not to bother her! Guess it's a good book.

More zoo pictures

2011-12-11T17:28:00.001-08:00

Zoo pictures

2011-12-11T17:23:00.000-08:00

I did not bring extra batteries with me, therefore there are only a few pictures of us at the Zoo. There was no fighting at all today, I told Matt every day should be Ruth's birthday and we should live at the zoo.

Quote of the day

2011-12-11T17:22:00.000-08:00

From Ruth: "I am 10 now, that's old, and when you are old you are wise. So now I am old and wise."

And so it begins

2011-12-11T07:36:00.000-08:00

Off to the Zoo, a movie and Spinn's for dinner.

Decorations

2011-12-11T05:49:00.000-08:00

Let the party begin!
Ruth turns 10 today and with Mary's help I think we are ready.

2011-12-06T08:58:00.001-08:00

We had snow yesterday and it was FUN!
The girls took the guinea pig sledding with them and then we got hot chocolate to warm up.
A very fun cold weather day.

Cinnamon Rolls

2011-12-04T19:44:00.001-08:00

Matt and the girls made cinnamon rolls today, they were SO good!

Choir

2011-12-03T19:05:00.001-08:00

The girls performed in their Christmas recital tonight.
It was so cute and great fun!

Snow and our Christmas tree

2011-12-03T15:38:00.001-08:00

We got some snow last night, not much but the ground was white!
The tree is now up and decorated. No lights on the tree this year, we put up 10 strands on the house and bushes before realizing the indoor tree lights were not all working. Ah well, it is still a pretty tree.

Ruth's new haircut

2011-11-23T10:25:00.001-08:00

Tom the Turkey by Mary re written

2011-11-17T16:43:00.001-08:00

The farmer bought a live turkey.

So he could eat iton Thanksgiving.

He bought it at a turkey farm and brought it home.

He put the turkey in the back yard.

He thought the turkey couldn’t run away.

The turkey ran away, he was afraid to be eaten.

He hid in the farmer’s farm.

The next morning the farmer said “I am going to cook theturkey”.

He looked in the back yard, the turkey was gone.

He got dressed and went in his corn field to look for theturkey.

He looked all day, and didn’t find the turkey.

He went back to the turkey farm and bought anotherturkey.

He kept it inside so it wouldn’t run away.

The next morning it was Thanksgiving.

He got the turkey and he cooked it for his dinner.

The next day he looked in his corn field, and found thefirst lost turkey.

He ate it too.

The End

Tom the Turkey by Ruth

2011-11-17T10:45:00.001-08:00

Tom is a turkey who lives on a farm. On the day of Thanksgiving Tom was on the farm. Tom hid in fear of being eaten. Tom hid in the corn field. Tom came out of the corn field two days later, and the farmer thought “where was the turkey on Thanksgiving?”

Tom the Turkey by Mary

2011-11-17T10:43:00.001-08:00

Tom hid because he did not want to be eaten. He hid in a corn field. He came out the day before Thanksgiving. The farmer ate Tom when he found him.

Ice skating

2011-11-11T16:43:00.001-08:00

The girls went ice skating today for the first time ever.
They both did really well and Mary wants to go back soon.

Pretty girls

2011-11-05T13:57:00.000-07:00

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T20:01:00.000-07:00

Ruth the ninja.
Mary as Clawdeen Wolf.
Some of the haul.

Mary carving her pumpkin

2011-10-31T15:46:00.001-07:00

Pumpkin Carving with Ruth

2011-10-31T14:59:00.000-07:00

Ruth carved her pumpkin

2011-10-31T14:22:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-20T19:06:00.000-07:00

Hanging out on the spiders web.
The bunny farm.
Panning for rocks.
Ruth in jail.
Mary heading up the general store.
Goats.

Picked our pumpkin.
In the field.

Hay ride.

We had a great day at the pumpkin patch today.

Mary's Baptism

2011-10-16T19:57:00.000-07:00

Ruth's baptism

2011-10-16T19:12:00.000-07:00

Mary Cheering at her first game

2011-10-16T18:45:00.000-07:00

Cheer leading

2011-10-16T18:42:00.000-07:00

Mary cheered for a soccer game yesterday. She has only been in cheer leading three weeks and did great.

Piggyback Ride

2011-08-29T10:03:00.000-07:00

Ruth Reading

2011-08-26T05:36:00.000-07:00

We got new to us Living Room furniture this week and we are all loving it,

Foot Bath

2011-08-22T19:15:00.000-07:00

Ruth and Mary surprised me with a "home spa day" before dinner. (These were Ruth's exact words, she said them over 10 times.) Then after dinner and showers they took there turn. It was a very relaxing way to spend a late afternoon.

Mummified Hot Dog Completed

2011-08-22T19:13:00.000-07:00

Our hot dog lost 1.5 inches over two weeks and we have moved on from Ancient Egypt.

Chinese Checkers

2011-08-20T19:27:00.000-07:00

Matt taught the girls how to play Chinese Checkers tonight.
He won, no surprise there, but the girls are learning and we will be playing again soon.

Pyramid

2011-08-16T10:14:00.001-07:00

We finished Ancient Egypt today. Mary's project was to make a pyramid out of sand and white glue; we made the bricks last night and assembled the pyramid today. Ruth is working on mummifying a hot dog, I will post her results in a few weeks when it is done.

Early Morning Walk

2011-08-15T08:20:00.001-07:00

We are finally getting into the swing of things school wise.
We started our morning with a walk, and then the girls surprised me by doing their Bible Study on there own while I was upstairs getting my Bible.

Airport Entertainment

2011-08-01T16:11:00.001-07:00

This amazing kiddo can keep herself busy anywhere.

At Great Grandpa's house

2011-08-01T16:09:00.000-07:00

Ruth loves Grandpa Reinking's house.
I am sure the wild animals have something to do with it.

Museum Part 2

2011-08-01T16:07:00.000-07:00

Highlights from Ruth's trip to Indiana

2011-08-01T16:04:00.000-07:00

Indianapolis Children's Museum was very good to Ruth.

and she didn't even scream

2011-07-17T15:53:00.000-07:00

Mary can back float, who knew?
Crossing a log bridge, she did not scream!!
Our mysterious bear, more about him later.

As I await more information regarding this bear, here are some highlights of Mary's week.

The Eagle has landed

2011-07-17T15:46:00.000-07:00

Ruth has made it to Grandpa's house safely.
She will be in Ft Wayne, IN for the next two weeks, and it sound like she is going to have a great time.

What Mary is up to

2011-07-17T06:59:00.000-07:00

This has been a summer of firsts and travel.
Mary is in Colorado with my folks for a few weeks and while there went on her first couple mile hike. She did great and I am so proud of her.

Away she goes

2011-07-17T06:54:00.001-07:00

In the shuttle on the way to the airport.
Mad at Daddy for checking in her suitcase.

Ruth is in the air on her way to Indianapolis.
She has 15 pounds of books, her tiger and food.
This was a bittersweet morning.

Date with Ruth

2011-07-14T16:02:00.000-07:00

I had the immense pleasure to take Ruth on a date today.
We went out for lunch, a movie, the book store, and her favorite, the Natural History Museum.

These little girls

2011-07-12T06:38:00.000-07:00

Mary is in Colorado for two weeks, and Ruth is leaving Sunday for Ft Wayne Indiana.
Ruth and I went with friends to the zoo yesterday and are enjoying our week together.
It is a very different experience having only one girl at a time, different parts of their personality come out when they are an only child.
The girls are both growing up so fast, and I am so proud of them. This has been a fun summer of travel, thank you to all of our family for taking Ruth and Mary and giving them an experience they will never forget.

New Best Friend

2011-07-05T07:04:00.001-07:00

Mary saved up for half this doll and finally got her on her half birthday.

archaeology dig

2011-07-04T09:52:00.000-07:00

Mary's half birthday

2011-07-02T16:28:00.000-07:00

We took Mary here http://www.monkeymaniaadv.com/ to Monkey Mania and it was really fun.
It is a super cute business with a Hollywood room Ruth loved and a jumper and indoor play yard Mary and I had tons of fun in.

Karate

2011-07-01T17:48:00.000-07:00

Here is Ruth getting ready to go to her lessons this afternoon.

A day in the life of Ruth

2011-07-01T17:47:00.000-07:00

Ah to be a kid.

Ice cream

2011-06-26T20:59:00.000-07:00

We had a long day frying an egg on the street (or trying to), cleaning out the garage and washing Matt's car. When we were done we cleaned up and headed out for an ice cream treat.

Was it hot enough to fry an egg?

2011-06-26T20:57:00.000-07:00

It was a hot 100 degree day today, but not hot enough to fry an egg. This is Ruth's science project so we'll try again next week and in a month or so graph our results. Stay tuned.

Happy 9 1/2 Birthday Ruth

2011-06-26T20:55:00.000-07:00

We had a nice family day yesterday celebrating Ruth's half birthday.
Books and an animal, what a great day!

Making lunch

2011-06-25T10:04:00.000-07:00

Ruth wanted chicken drumsticks for lunch this week so we are making them now.

Fathers Day and our (new) Saturday mornings

2011-06-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Fathers Day on Wednesday this week. Here are the girls helping get all the food ready for the grill.
Our neighbors have left for TX so the girls playmates are gone. This will be an on going adjustment, for now there is more playing with each other and more fighting!

Mary pictures

2011-06-22T05:33:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of Mary I took a few days ago.

The pig

2011-06-18T20:07:00.000-07:00

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Mary took these a few weeks ago.
At the time Piggy was recovering from a tumor and her prognosis was not good.
We got home last week and it seems she has made a full recovery.
Welcome back Piggy, we love you!

The circus

2011-06-18T20:05:00.001-07:00

While in Colorado a few weeks ago my Mom took the girls and I to the circus.
I cannot remember a time when I have had so much fun.

Mary wrote this book

2011-05-29T18:39:00.000-07:00

Chapter One:

I like my guinea pig because she is cute.

And I love her.

And I put her in my stroller.

Chapter Two:
I went to a ladies house.

And we saw her guinea pigs.

And they weren’t very nice.

And they bit me.

So we went to the pet store and looked.

Chapter Three:

We found a guinea pig.

She was grey and her other ear was pink and she is white.

And we had to put her in a box and we got to hold her when we got in our car.

And when we got home we put her in her cage.

Chapter Four:

And the next day we played with her, and it was very fun.

And we love playing with her.

Wolf Sanctuary

2011-05-29T10:28:00.000-07:00

We went here http://wildspiritwolfsanctuary.org/ yesterday, and it was so much fun!

End of School Play

2011-05-29T10:27:00.001-07:00

Ruth was a bat!

Corn husk doll and four gnomes in my pocket

2011-05-25T15:24:00.000-07:00

Two more days of school and Ruth came home with these treasures today.

Lemonade Stand

2011-05-24T17:07:00.001-07:00

Mary had the great idea to make a lemonade stand. There first day out they made over $5.00!
Next up is a lesson on profit and loss.

Easter Bags

2011-05-12T08:01:00.000-07:00

Thanks Mom for the pictures.
More to come as Ruth is sick, Mary needs a project, and I am without a camera (still).

Progress

2011-04-26T16:21:00.001-07:00

At Mary's insistence we read 7 chapters from this book today. We would have finished it, but I started loosing my voice. This is a big change from months past when she did not want to read herself or take the time out of her schedule to be read too. For this I am truly grateful.

Easter 2011

2011-04-24T18:48:00.000-07:00

This is the only photo we have.
Mary hunted for eggs inside and Ruth shot the Bebe gun with Dad.

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T07:54:00.000-07:00

Wishing everyone a Happy Easter!
I'll start posting again tomorrow and get everyone caught up on our happenings.

Silly Little girls

2011-04-11T06:32:00.000-07:00

Bumps on the couch.
This morning.

Spring has sprung

2011-03-31T16:14:00.000-07:00

and I am so glad.

Saturday

2011-03-19T08:48:00.001-07:00

When you have kids your weekend is no longer yours.
Case in point.
Since 8am I have done the following...
1. Made a double batch of waffles
2. Made breakfast for Ruth and Mary
3. Set up Ruth and Mary to do their chores (Ruth is cleaning the house, Mary is washing Dad's car inside and out)
4. Work with Matt
5. Clean the kitchen
6. Glue eyelashes back on Mary's doll
7. Started my first load of laundry

We are heading to the pool after lunch for a few hours and I am already tired!!

Day at home

2011-03-18T10:44:00.000-07:00

I am without a car and camera today.
We just turned over 60k on my car and my camera is with my new manager finishing a make ready.
Ruth has been at camp Tue-today, here is the info link http://www.cabq.gov/biopark/common/marchevents.html#SB.
Mary and I are here at the house, she is asking for extra work to earn an American Girl doll so I gave her a doozy of a job, sweeping and organizing the garage.
Then this weekend she will be washing the cars.
Friday home day fun!

Candy Lady

2011-03-13T15:21:00.000-07:00

Our first stop when we go downtown is always the Candy Lady.

Hats off to Ruth

2011-03-13T15:19:00.000-07:00

We went to Old Town on Friday and Ruth found some awesome head wear.

Presentation

2011-03-07T18:42:00.000-08:00

Ruth presented her tepee and report to her class last week.
Mary and I got to sit in the audience and watch.

Walking the pig video

2011-02-28T11:50:00.000-08:00

Walking the pig

2011-02-28T11:42:00.000-08:00

Nibbles styling her new leash and harness.
Attempting to walk her on the driveway.
Once last try on the rocks.
No luck yet but we are not giving up.

Sentences

2011-02-28T09:01:00.001-08:00

This week Mary has to write (and edit) three sentences.
Here is what she wrote for day one.

"I went with my Mom and sister to pick out a guinea pig. My guinea pig has a pink ear. She has a gray spot."

Terrifical

2011-02-27T15:01:00.000-08:00

We went to the pool as a family yesterday.
While there Ruth figured out how to do a backwards roll, and Mary can now SWIM!!
It was a great day!

Cape

2011-02-25T18:15:00.000-08:00

Using this fabric...
I made Mary a twirly cape.
With the hood.

More trip photos

2011-02-18T17:01:00.000-08:00

We got to see snow again, and play in it.
Mary walked the whole way in heels and carried her doll Reagan.
Lava formations.
Ruth complained the first 10 minutes of our hike. It brought back memories of me when I was her age and hated doing any outdoor activities. She got over it pretty fast and it made me laugh to think about how similar we are. Since we were all out there together there is hope for her yet.
From inside the car.

Ice cave adventure

2011-02-18T16:14:00.000-08:00

We went here today!
The volcano.

Scenic trip.
Mary
Ruth at the ice cave.

http://icecaves.com/

A perfect day

2011-02-18T16:03:00.000-08:00

Mary and I visited an Antique store in Los Ranchos that sells the Middleton dolls Mary loves.
This neat package arrived for Ruth. *
We put the puzzle together and read the clues.

We did the first couple of pages of her mystery.
*This is a program from Highlights called Top Secret Adventure. You get to travel the world solving mysteries with these monthly kits they send you in the mail. It's really neat and Ruth and I are starting with Greece.

Finished project

2011-02-14T19:29:00.001-08:00

The tepee is done!!

V-Day

2011-02-14T05:50:00.001-08:00

We love you all!

Winter festival

2011-02-12T12:22:00.001-08:00

Last night was the third grade winter festival at the school.
It was a lot of fun and a lot of work.
We were at the school from 2pm to after 7pm setting up and having fun.
Ruth sang a song with her class and a solo.
I was helping so I missed both performances.
Mary sang a song with her friend Jada, I missed that one to.
Never the less we had fun!

Adding the elements

2011-02-10T17:03:00.001-08:00

Here we are adding the pots, buffalo and bow with arrow.

Tepee

2011-02-10T17:00:00.000-08:00

Here is the foundation painted the correct colors of brown and gold per Ruth's instruction.

Buffalo

2011-02-08T17:31:00.000-08:00

Ruth has been sculpting all afternoon and is almost done.
We have three buffalo making a family (Dad, Mom and baby) a few pots and Matt is helping her make a bow and arrow.
This project was a lot more fun than I thought it would be!

What $17.98 will get you

2011-02-08T17:22:00.000-08:00

Meet Dawn of the Dance Clawdeen Wolf.
Ruth got her today (the last one in ABQ) with her allowance.

Green board

2011-02-08T15:15:00.000-08:00

What are we doing?
Ruth gets to build a tee pee for school and we are getting started on it today.
The next step is to sculpt a pot and buffalo and paint the board in another layer of brown and then gold for the plains.