We're off

We are heading out this morning to Denver, and then flying to Indiana to see family on Monday.
I plan on taking lots of pictures, and will post everything here when I get back.

A swim video

From yesterday, Ruth going down the slide and then swimming.

Awwwww

Came home from an hour alone (ah, that was nice but too short) to find this.
Talk about making your heart melt.

Washing the car

Farmers Market Week Two

Pays to have cute and respectful kids. These two girls get ALL the good deals.

I'm here

Just really tired and still not feeling well.
Hoping to post more next week before we leave for Denver and Indiana.

What I've been up to

What a day.
I came down with a killer migraine this morning, the neighbor had to watch the girls and Matt had to come home early.
Then Mary had a bike riding accident and is scraped up from nearly head to toe.
Then I got my hand stuck in the garage door, so my fingers are killing me, and it is taking forever to type this post.
I'm telling you.
I'm really having a day.

My theory about summers

Here is what I am thinking.
Summer time is when you meet all the neighbors on your street.

Case in point.
The kids are up the road helping to wash the car of a neighbor I have never met or seen before today.
A very nice gentleman, he is paying the kids each $1 to help, and they are all having the best time.

Wood bunnies

These were a super cute find. A gentlemen carves them, and they look so real. The kids totally fell in love with them.

In the dog house

Farmers Market Find(s)

"What is that Mary?"

Yummy homemade dog treat we found at the farmers market. Will Dash like it?
Going in for a taste test.
Loving it!!


We found the most perfect Farmers Market this morning.
It was huge, it was great, it had so much great stuff, tons of vendors, good food, produce, art and crafts. It was amazing.
I'll post everything we got eventually, for now, here is a dog lollipop we got for Dash.
It was peanut butter with carob chips to form a paw on top, and a rawhide "stick".
Super cute, and Dash loved it!

Ruth's crazy hair

Good morning!!
Look what we have here.

My To Do list

1. Clean the house, dust, mop floors
2. Laundry
3. Brush and wash dog
4. Finish sewing projects for trip to Indiana
5. Get Mary a new bathing suit (a one piece this time)
6. Plan school for next week
7. Go through Ruth's room, clean up girls room
8. Go to the bank

Doesn't look like much when written down, but I don't think I'll get it all done today.

Oh my

The kids had fun this week. It started with running through the sprinkler and moved on to this. I spent quite a lot of time cleaning the house, but they had fun.

Hmmm, what's in here

Mary was "cooking" for me.
Here is what she made.
It smelled fairly good, but would not taste good at all.

Happy Birthday to... me

Next year is the big 3-0 (shh, don't tell), but we are going to celebrate this year anyway!
The girls and I are heading to the pool tomorrow, and then Matt's making a nice dinner to serve after I sign up my first (paying) property management client.
Should be a fun day.

A new picture of Mary

Bread

I have been craving French bread for days, and finally made the time today to make it.
It took all the flour I had, so it is a good thing we are heading to the store tomorrow.

Monday morning

Here is Ruth coming downstairs, first thing in the morning.

Apology

I have been so busy lately, I have not been good about posting photos and updates.
So, I resolve to do better.
Tomorrow is a new day, the first time in a long time I have been ready for the weekend to be over.
Tomorrow is a day for many new things. I hope everyone and everything cooperates!

What to make with quilt scraps

A sleeping bag, pillow, and blanket (not pictured). Perfectly sized for small Beanie Baby or Webkin's animals.

Having to say you are sorry

We had an incident today. Our first for the summer, our first for quite some time.
So Mary went over to the neighbors house with cookies and an apology.
There truly are days where punishing your child hurts you more than them.

Mary's quilt

This was was made with strips instead of squares, but just as cute.

Ruth making pizza

What Ruth is doing at the pool

Ruth can now swim. She learned how to hold her breath at the bottom of the slide, and can now swim to the other end of the pool no help.
We are so proud of her!

What Mary can do at the pool

We took Seth to the Rio Rancho outdoor pool (best one here) on Thursday, and we had such fun.
Mary is now (on her own) holding her breath, and going completely under the water! She also went off the slide and held her breath under the water, but it freaked her out too much to do it more than one time. This is a really big thing for her, and she is now asking to swim too, so the next order of business is to find swim lessons in the fall.

What Ruth made

This is either a pot or a birds nest made from left over eyelash yarn and fabric remnants from Ruth's quilt.

What is not old is new again

Here are the new curtains installed this evening. Hard to tell, but the fabric is a heavier sweater type material with a multi colored zig zag pattern. Much more "me", and it is a wider fabric so the same 1.5 yards covered the windows completely.

The before new curtains. I liked the idea of them, but was not in love with the fabric. It was cheap discount fabric which made it affordable, and this was the best they had at the time.

Ruth's quilt

Weeks ago Ruth and I bought fabric so she could make a quilt. Last week we drew out the squares, I cut them out, and today we put it together.
When I thought up this project, I did not realize how to make a quilt, you need to be able to sew a straight line.
So Ruth helped, and I made the quilt. I think we are going to make a purse or backpack next time, if she does not make a straight seam, it will still be okay.

Webkins

These little guys are great. You can get the small one's (2for $12.99) or large one's ($13.99), bring them home, and hop online. From there you name your animal and have access to the really great webkins.com website. You can play games, earn points, and go "shopping" for all kinds of things for your animal.
It is a really great program, and fun learning for the kids.

1/2 birthday

We celebrated on the 4th with a half birthday for Mary, Ruth and Seth. We had our BBQ dinner, and then cupcakes with 6.5 candles for Mary and Seth, 7.5 candles for Ruth. It was a lot of fun.

Mary the bike riding Queen

Mary rides so fast down the street, it takes my breath away.

A perfect rainbow

We almost got rained on, but thankfully the storm passed us before we set off the first set of fireworks. The rainbow we could see was perfect, and farther down the street you could see the second one.

Our 4th of July

Seth and his Dad came over with more fireworks. We ate watermelon and lit fireworks for an hour.

Happy 4th of July

Making a Russian dinner

Ruth getting the filled pilmini ready for the freezer.
Mary cutting the dough into circles.

We made Russian dumplings for dinner. A lot of work, but a really great dinner.

Ruth the dancing machine

Ruth is dancing to Lady Gaga's "Poker Face".

Final Results

Ta da!
I did it. It feels so much better to know that these great toys are going to a new home, and that home is not mine.

Part Two

Ask your helpful child to help clean out the house.