Ruidoso Vacation

Oh, the week before school started we spend 6 days in Ruidoso, New Mexico.  We had a great time - very relaxing.  Maybe too relaxing!!  We actually came home a day early.  We rode horses, played in the creek and had a picnic.  We visited the grounds of the Inn of the Mountain Gods (in the rain).  We shopped in the charming downtown store.  We played LOTS of card games (Farkle, dominoes and 99) and we colored LOTS of pictures.  Let me correct that - Olivia and Papa colored LOTS of pictures.  Faith and Josh played lots of Nintendo DS.  We went fishing, enjoyed the deer and turkey who frequented our little cabin and got soaking wet at the amusement park.  Here are just a few pictures from our trip.

Words to Remember

I use this blog to remember things for my scrapbooking obsession.  Today I'll share some funny or clever things that Faith shared after the first day of school.

First, about what they did on the first day:  "We mostly just observed what 2nd graders do so we could get a fell for how things are going to work."  So serious!!

About Mrs. Nay - last year's teacher who was amazing and just under 5 feet tall:  "Hmmm.  Mom I think she grew over the summer."

About her new teacher Mrs. Williams who is a lovely woman, very petite and sophisticated looking, and also a grandmother when I asked her to describe her new teacher: "Well, she's really sweet and she probably about 35 years old."  She even stuck to her guns when Brad tried to offer some "perspective" and told her he's 44.  Didn't help.

Faith is officially a second grader. In Ms. Williams class. She is so excited and a little nervous (which always surprises me about Faith!!). The whole family arrived at school together to walk her inside. Her back back (see pictures below) was loaded so heavy with supplies, she could barely carry it all. But she looked darling and I already miss her - and our laid-back summer routine. Oh well, it is inevitable and actually it helps us all get back on a much better schedule. The box you see is my traditional 1st Day of School surprise for Faith's teacher.  It's an "Emergency Kit" with lots of snacks, and stickers, and supplies!!  Here are a few pics of the big day!!

Frozen Grapes

When is the last time you tried frozen grapes? Yum!! I had completely forgotten about these tasty treasures until a friend at work offered me some this week. The next time I went t the store I bought a big bundle and we've been snacking on them ever since. It's just the perfect summer snack - and both girls really like them. Best part - IT'S NOT CANDY!!!! Yeah!! will try to be better about updating this blog. Sorry for the delay!

Happy Valentine's Day

Hello!! We really have had a great day and I wanted to share some of the details. First, both girls had parties at school and church so we've been eating lots of candy (ugh!!). Brad hand-delivered 12 long-stem roses to me at work Friday and they are beautiful. Of course both girls made homemade Valentine's boxes and notes, and we got them a gift with a ceramic heart craft project and the new movie "Up." And we baked a Valentine's cake special just for dad - chocolate cake with white icing!! Yum.















Now for a sweet idea I found on my favorite blog (Becky Higgins). She created this "Love Notes" box for some special friend sand we did the same thing. It's a pretty simple idea...a plastic container filled with pens, post-it notes and candy. But most important a note explaining the process. Each family member should spend the week leaving little notes in unexpected places - sharing their thoughts with each other. Specifically what they appreciate or love about one another. We've had lots of fun with ours - it's always exciting to discover a love note around the house.




Finally, a look at Olivia's latest art project. They made these cute tool belts in her class and she thinks she's pretty cute wearing it!!

What do we like?

I plan to add to this post as I think of things!!

Food:
Whole chicken, apple slices, yogurt/go-gurt, cereal (Lucky Charms, Frosted Flakes, Cinamon Toast Crunch), cheese burgers, stir-fry, Toaster Strudle, homemade baked goods (mostly with banana right now) granola (homemade, broccoli (can you nelive the girls will even eat it raw!), pizza

TV Shows
GLEE!! Favorite show of the year!! Sponge Bob (Ugh...but it keeps them occupied when I'm desperate for some time), The Good Wife, FOX News, iCarly, The Big Break (Brad's favorite TV show), So You Think You Can Dance (we all love it even Brad), High School Musical (Olivia will watch this over and over again), Dora/Diego, Grey's Anatomy, Brad's favorite's Fringe, Hero's and we like Damages

Pastimes
Faith - her DS, playing on the computer, playing PS2, reading (although we often have to encourage her that way), saving money for an important cause (right now it's Haiti but she also colects money for sick kids and "poor people") She always wants to set up a lemonaid stand or have a garage sale, etc., cleaning - she loves chores

Olivia - art, coloring, cutting, gluing, TV, playing dress up (she calls them her High School Musicals)

Mom - scrapbooking, cooking, reading (Valerie Bertanelli and Twilight books right now), pedicures

Dad - reading, TV, golf

Our Schedule

I know we do to much and go too fast. But I want to remember what all we do on a wekly basis. So here's a sample schedule.

Monday
5 - 6:30 a.m. Olivia wakes up and comes into our bed
6:45 a.m. Mom wakes up
7:00 a.m. Wake up Faith
eat breakfast (Toaster Strudle, Cereal, bacon yogurt)
dress, fix hair, brish teeth, look over homework one more time, pack teh backpack for the rest of teh day
7:30 a.m. Brad takes faith to School and 2 days a week picks up Morgan and Meacham
7:55 a.m. School starts / Brad at work
mom dresses Olivia, cleans up the house and gets ready for the gym
8:30 a.m. Body Pump
10:00 a.m. go home to play, cook dinner or do chores or take Olivia to school
2:00 p.m. mom goes to work
3:15 p.m. Mom picks up Faith from school
3:30 p.m. go to CBS 7 to do homework
5:00 p.m. Brad picks up Olivia at school and then Faith at CBS 7
5:30 p.m. Brad takes faith to Gymnastics
6:30 p.m. Brad picks up Faith or Steve brings her home
6:45 p.m. Mom comes home for dinner
7:15 p.m. bathtime
7:45 p.m. read a book
8:00 p.m. Strict bedtime!!
10:45 p.m. Mom gets home
11:30 Parents go to bed

In short: Monday - Gymnastics; Tuesday - Tap and piano and soccer; Wednesday - Awanas; Thursday - Balet; Friday - soccer; Saturday - birthdays and family time; Sunday - church and fsmily time.

There - that's not so bad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What else can we do?