Mesa Hiking

We've revived the family hike, which has been wonderful. We got out of the habit once we decided to put the house on the market, but as of yesterday afternoon, I think we've decided we'd rather go for family hikes, save some money, and add on to our house next year. Here we are hiking on a local mesa.

I'm sooooo Tired...

Our Alanna Belle has decided napping during the day is no longer what a big girl like her needs to do (unless, of course, she's strapped into a car seat and it's the middle of the afternoon). So, she has been falling asleep during bedtime stories once or twice a week. This evening, she snuggled up with Daddy's arm and fell deep asleep before the end of stories. At first I was jealous that Daddy was getting all that little-girl love, but then I got to be the one who carried a sleeping two-and-a-half year-old to bed and tucked her in. I felt better after that.

Baby, It's COLD Outside!

It's 7:17 am and the thermometer reads -5.1 (F).

Wow. Record breaking cold snap. Indeed.

First Signs of Christmas

One evening last week we were out after dark (which doesn't happen very often...) so we were driving through Santa Fe after all the streetlights and such were on. Alanna was very excited and remarked, "I see Christmas everywhere!!" We all laughed and noted the similarities between our modern-day well-lit evenings in an urban area and Christmas lights (could I sound any more dorky in my description?). And then she saw an actual tree lit up with Christmas lights and shouted, "That tree is wearing Christmas!"

'Tis (almost) the season...

3 Little Pumpkins...

So these:

Became this:

We have enough pumpkin puree to last the winter, I think. And it makes good bread and pie (we've already tested it!). The little jars are for pumpkin pancakes, which are delicious on snowy Saturday mornings.

Wednesday Afternoon

"I can't do it Mommy!"

"Alanna, don't put your foot in the pillow."

"Why did you say that, Mommy?"

"Because I don't want you to put your foot inside the pillow cover."

"Why? Why, why, why, Mommy? Why don't you want my foot in the pillow?"

"Uh, because I don't want the pillow cover to break."

"Why, Mommy? Why won't my foot go in the pillow?"

Superhero BFFs

We have a great event on the Friday before Halloween called Trick-or-Treat on Main Street in which the local businesses hand out candy and there are costume contests and a jack-o-lantern viewing all together in the same place on the same evening. It's a place and time when superheros of all kinds can come together in friendship and camaraderie, and in a show of unity,... they can hold hands:

Rhys was Iron Man, Matthew was Captain America, and Logan was Spiderman. In the background was Alanna as an adorable little ladybug.

Farewell, Rock Mountain

We finally have no more piles of rocks sitting around our yards, taking up physical space, causing serious mental anguish, or entertaining kids (but causing muddy-laundry issues). We are free! All that remains in the back is a ghost-like dusting on the walls, that is actually quite beautiful, I think.

Rhys is the only one who is missing the piles. As we pulled into the driveway the afternoon after Aaron had spread the last of the piles around the front/side yard, he sadly asked where the rocks had gone. When I asked him why, he replied, "I like to climb on them!"

The Twleve Days After the Frost...

Here's a sample of the many variations of The Twelve Days After the Frost that Aaron's been singing for the last several days (to the tune, pretty obviously, of The Twelve Days of Christmas):

On the fifth day after frost, my dear wife brought for me
F-i-v-e green tomatoes!
A green tomato pie,
Fried green tomatoes,
Green tomato casserole,
And some green tomato enchilada sauce!

We're, um, inundated with green tomatoes. We pulled them the morning we left for our trip to Idaho because a frost was forecast, and while it did indeed frost, the couple of tomato plants left in the garden weathered it just fine. I estimate we picked around 30 pounds or so of green ones, and when we returned from the trip there were about 4 or 5 pounds that had ripened sufficiently, so we added those to the 5 pounds in the freezer. We also picked another 3 pounds of ripe red tomatoes tonight, another 3 pounds of yellowish tomatoes, and there are at least 3 more pound of green tomatoes on the vine. The green tomato enchilada sauce line in the song above comes from the 12 cups of sauce I made and froze this afternoon. I managed to give away at least 10 pounds of green tomatoes earlier today, and we're hoping to unload the 15 pounds in the next couple of days.

Any ideas for green tomatoes? I still have 6 or so pounds of the best of them...

Alannaisms

Alanna has been experimenting with language, and the results are sometimes hilarious:

• As Daddy was reading stories and spending time with Alanna before bed, she announced, "Daddy, you're my Great One."

• As I was doing the same as Daddy a few nights later, she stated, "You're my favorite daughter, Mommy."

• Alanna has been trying out the prefix "un-" and here are a couple of results:
• "Un-hold me, Mommy!" as we were waiting in line at the store (she kept running away!).
• "Un-scoot me, please," after she had finished her snack while sitting at the table.

There have been some others recently, but I'm going to have to remember them first.

Joke

I'm on the patio typing, and watching Alanna splash in the pool, fully clothed. Rhys insisted on one last play day with the pool, and Alanna hopped in with all her clothes on after she got up from her nap. The thing is, a second ago, Rhys asked me, "Why is Alanna's shirt wet?" Ummm. What?!?!

Why is Alanna's shirt wet? (This sounds like a joke. Here's the punchline:)
Because she got into the pool with her clothes on...

I wonder if Rhys was trying to ask a different question? But what would he be asking?

Daddies

Just overheard:

"No, my Daddy is Big Daddy and you are Old Daddy!"

We're at my parents' house in Boulder, and Rhys was telling this to my Dad, otherwise known as Grampy.

We're having a good time!

Evil Asteroids

It's amazing how differently brains work. (As an aside, Rhys informed us a few days ago, "Everybody's brains are different. They're all different colors.") My experience today highlights the difference between a 34 year-old Mommy brain and a 5 year-old Boy brain.


This is our new seat cover for the desk/extra table chair:

I had a simple idea in mind, one that I didn't think would pose any problems. I asked Rhys to draw a family portrait on the white cover (in fabric markers), with the intention that this chair would then be a cute, story-worthy piece of furniture that would be unique and loveable. Well, it's unique. Here's the narrative (paraphrased): The big blue guy is Daddy. His mouth is going, "Aaahhh." Here's the asteroids coming to Earth, 1, 2, 3 [the pink, purple, and black scribbles with red fire lines showing they're falling from the sky]. Here's Mommy standing on top of the Evil sign. E is for Evil. Mommy and Alanna are red. They don't have faces. Alanna has short legs. The two robots are evil guys holding Daddy's arms and they live back behind the Evil sign. This is me [in yellow]. I'm wearing green armor all over my body and my head.

So. A family portrait. Illustrated by a Boy brain.

I wonder what color Rhys's brain is? And mine? I don't know if I want to ask him to elaborate on his theory...

I guess the chair is story-worthy, too.

Our Future Together

The following are the actual conversations Rhys initiated with me yesterday.

Scene One: Around 9 am, in the kitchen.

Rhys: I will fight Daddy. Then I will marry you, Mommy.

Me: Um, okay...

(This was prompted by Rhys's recent fascination with growing up, and well, I guess his plans include keeping me around. This isn't his first proposal. However, the details were sparked by a previous declaration of his intention to marry me and Aaron's retort: "Well, you'll have to fight me for her.")

Scene Two: Around 7:30 pm, Rhys and I were laying in his bed after reading stories for bedtime.

Rhys: When I grow up I'm going to ride Daddy's bike and you can ride your bike. When we're married.

Me: Okay...

Rhys: And we can have a baby. She'll be a girl. I'll call her Rhys.

Me: Uh-huh.

Rhys: And you can make a girl baby to me. I'll make a boy baby to you.

Me: What will be the boy baby's name?

Rhys: Uuhhhh.... Rhy...Ala... uuhhhhh.... Jade! (A friend from school. But then I think he realized we're naming a boy baby, not a girl baby). Logan! (Another friend from school).

We were both silent for a bit, ruminating, I suppose upon this future.

Rhys: His name will be Tree-Man!

Me: Tree-Man?

Rhys: Mountain Climber Tree-Man.

So there you have it. He later informed me that he'll be grown up when he's sixty-hundred years old, so most of you will be dead when this happens. I, however, will be married to my son, riding my bike, and we'll be doting on our darling Mountain Climber Tree-Man.

(I hope other people find this as funny as I do. I'm laughing to myself so hard that my eyes are watering.

Or maybe those are tears of dismay...)

It's a Bird, It's A Plane...

Rhys is busy being Bat Man, wearing his Halloween costume from last year. He even wore the cape over his clothes up to the farmer's market this morning. Alanna briefly wore Rhys's extra jammy Bat Man cape, but decided she'd rather wear her purple sweatshirt to the farmer's market (it's almost chilly today!).

Just now Alanna stood in the middle of the living room and announced, "I'm Superman!"

She paused, looked at me, and changed personas, much like a superhero:

"Mommy, I'm Nice Man!"

And off she went to save the world (sniff)...

...Or Maybe I DO Need a Camera

I can't say how many times I've wanted a camera in the last couple of days. Rhys has his first biking war wound (a HUGE bruised scrape on his forehead) and I so want to document it. He was such a trooper and finished the bike ride after his fall, and even got back on this morning. We took a long ride/walk as a family, and boy, I wish I had photos to share. And, not that anyone else is really fascinated by my garden photos, but I have a large bowl of eggplant and zucchini I'm about to marinate and bake into bread, and I like documenting the before and after pics.

We're having a lovely, un-photo-documented Sunday.

And we're going camping next weekend, so we'll have to figure something out.

Maybe a Camera was Limiting?

Now that we're without a camera, I'm feeling a bit liberated: I guess I don't have to have a photograph to go with a post. I can just blah, blah, blaaaahg about it in words...

Oh, The Things I've Said

(and sometimes regretted saying)


So far today, each of my children has said back to me a commonly repeated household phrase, which I've then inwardly groaned about. "Household phrase" of course refers exclusively to our own household.

Scene One. Location: Outside on the back patio, sitting at the table. Characters: Alanna and myself. (Alanna has been great about offering to share recently, although whether or not she follows through with her offers has been a little unpredictable.)

Alanna: Mommy, do you want some raisins?
Me: No thank you, Alanna.
Alanna: Do you want some raisins?
Me: No, I don't want any right now, thank you.
Alanna: (After pausing to eat one raisin) But do you want a raisin, Mommy?
Me: No. Thank. You.
Alanna: Yes or no, Mommy.

Explanation:"You need to tell me yes or no" is the oft repeated phrase when small persons have not answered my question in a timely manner and I need to know... well, I need to know "yes" or "no".

Scene Two. Location: Sitting in the comfy chair with the laptop. Characters: Rhys and myself. (We were choosing a movie for Rhys to watch on the computer via Netflix while I worked in the kitchen.)

Me: Maybe you could watch this movie over by the kitchen so I could watch it too while I make strawberry jam?
Rhys: That's not gonna happen.
Me: What?!

Explanation: I get all sorts of crazy proposals and propositions throughout a typical day from small persons, especially Rhys. "That's not gonna happen" is my way to say, "Yeah, keep dreamin' buddy" because he doesn't quite understand sarcasm yet. But he will someday... and then think of the possibilities for phrases I'll regret later!

Note: It's only 1 pm. With bated breath I await the next household phrase to be repeated back to me.

A Lizard's Tale

I'm sitting on the back patio putting new music on my iPod for my gym workouts, grooving to a random selection of songs. The sun is shining, it's 10 am but it's not quite 80 degrees, so it's wonderfully pleasant. Alanna is playing with a friend in the sandbox. I am watching a lizard eat red ants, and thinking, "How awesome! Go lizard, go! Eat those nasty things! You have a place in my heart and are welcome in the backyard." I think he lives under the water barrels because we've noticed him on the turf and in the rocks quite a bit recently. And, truly, he's welcome to share our space (because ultimately, we encroached on his homeland first).

And then there's a ferocious rush and a quick growl as Rusty notices the lizard and charges toward him. The silence and serenity of the morning is shattered. Rusty smashes the lizard against the shed and attempts to eat him. I start screaming, "No! NO! Leave the lizard alone! He's harmless!" and scamper to the site of the massacre, hoping to rescue the reptile. When I reach the place of carnage, the first thing I notice is the squirming tail of the lizard. I think, "Oh, phew, just his tail came off. Good defense strategy!" but then I notice the poor thing on his back, squirming just like his tail, but without one of his back legs. Oh. I don't think that's part of his defense strategy.

Rusty, because he's a well trained dog, has backed off and left the lizard alone. So, it's up to me to scoop up the broken animal, along with his tail, and do something with him. Because I can't kill things with my bare hands, I roll him under the shed to die a slow, painful 3-legged death on his own. I hope he goes into shock quickly and has some sort of happy lizard dream on his way to the reptile home in the sky. And that he has family members who will take over eating the red ants where he left off.

Interesting scientific observation: A lizard's tail, when recently detached from the body, wiggles quite vigorously for a good minute by itself. Fascinating.

So Long, Old Friend

Well, the camera finally kicked the bucket. It's been on its way out for a while, acting wonky, taking terrible, washed out photos, not acting properly. Now when you turn it on, it makes a grinding sound and flashes "E18" on the screen before shutting off. I guess that's the sign that it's finally gone. It is 7 years old- practically obsolete- and it's lived a good life. The 3,000+ photos we have attest to its usefulness and activity level, and it's on its way to a happy place.... well, it's going to the household appliance disposal section at the eco station. Close enough.

Anyway, it's challenging to write posts in my usual way without photos to explain my thinking.

(And to the someone who remarked I needed to update my blog: this is why!)

Upcoming will be a post about a certain someone's 5th birthday party this last weekend (we borrowed a camera).

And by the way- OH MY GOODNESS! HE'S 5 YEARS OLD!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

What's for Dinner?

Direct from the garden: Stir Fry.

We were meeting friends at the pool late this afternoon, and I was fretting a little about dinner earlier in the day. I wanted to have it ready when we got home because the kids are usually fried after swimming and I didn't want to cook in the evening anyway. Our CSA box hadn't arrived yet, either, which was where I was planning to get the veggies for dinner. It finally occurred to me that we have a rather large garden right out the back door! I'm also pleased to say it's starting to produce nicely. Above is what I harvested in about 4 minutes in the garden: Japanese eggplant, some carrots, an onion, peas, and a pattypan squash. I could have also picked a zucchini, dug some potatoes, picked kale or Swiss chard, and even picked the very first string beans. And had I needed herbs, I could have gotten flat leaf parsley, curly leaf parsley, one of four kinds of basil, rosemary, chives, thyme, oregano or mint. And in a couple of weeks we'll have tomatoes, too.

Maybe I should start thinking about canceling our CSA box. We love getting the fruit, though!

This is what the above harvest turned into:

My dad introduced us to Tofu Pockets. He keeps us in good supply, which is handy because Rhys loooves them. I make rice and a vegetable stir fry (sometimes with fried tofu), and we fill our pockets at the table. It's one of the meals at which I can pretty much guarantee Rhys will eat vegetables. Yay for the garden and tofu pockets!

Garden Goodies

 

A few of the garden goodies from last week: 

Peas and Kale

I picked the last of the spring beets, but they were bitter. I must have planted them too late. 

The garden is really starting to seem productive: the tomato plants are robust and full of green tomatoes, and the zucchini and pattypan squash plants are large, leafy and full of baby squashes. Even the peas are still producing. And we've had such a nice carrot crop this year!

Las Conchas Fire

We decided to voluntarily evacuate to our friends' house in Cedar Crest, near Albuquerque, late Sunday evening. The smoke was bad, and the fire was growing. We're planning to go home for a while tomorrow (Friday), but the smoke may make us leave again. We also had a crazy thing happen before the fire even started: My parents were visiting last week, and on Friday afternoon the drain to our washer/kitchen sink/dishwasher. This happens about once a year and we call Roto Rooter or the local plumber to come snake the drain. However, since it was a Friday evening, we decided to suffer through the weekend and get it taken care of on Monday in order to avoid a weekend charge. Then the fire started on Sunday, and we have spent the week in the East Mountains. With the evacuations and such, I'm not sure the plumbers are working. I called the one in White Rock this morning and left a message, but I wouldn't be surprised if I don't hear back from them. So, even though we're going home tomorrow, we might not be able to stay long. If it's smoky and we can't do laundry or run the dishwasher, then we'll probably go up to Colorado to spend some time with Grammy and Grampy.

Some interesting facts:
* The Las Conchas fire grew from nothing to about 45,000 acres in less 24 hours.
* The Cerro Grande fire of 2000 burned about 45,000 acres total, over about 2 weeks.
* The Los Alamos fire chief (and everyone else involved) has continued to express amazement at how fast the fire is spreading because of the drought conditions.
* As of sometime today, the Las Conchas fire will exceed the current New Mexico record-holding fire (in the Gila National Forest in 2003) as the largest fire in the state. The Gila Forest fire burned about 94,000 acres. Today, in day 4 of the Las Conchas fire, at least 94,000 acres have been burned.
* The officials are reporting 3% containment.
* We're lucky to live close to the Los Alamos National Laboratory: a LOT of money and personnel are putting out the fire in order to keep the lab safe (the news items are the nuclear waste storage points).
* In the four days we've been watching the news, I think 20 fires have been reported in New Mexico. Six are still burning and are causing evacuations and havoc.
* All of the forests have been closed in anticipation of the July 4th weekend. We're staying with friends who live off the Sandia Crest Highway and have to show our IDs and explain we're staying with friends up the road before they'll let us go by. The governor doesn't have the power to ban the sale of fireworks, but she's doing everything else in her power to try to keep everyone safe and to prevent more fires from starting.
* I personally think anyone who uses fireworks this season deserves to burn up in the fire of their own making.

Yumminade

Alanna currently calls "lemonade" by its much tastier and sillier alias "yumminade", which adds to its overall appeal, in my opinion.


We are also watching very closely the Las Conchas wildfire, which began this afternoon while Rhys, Daddy and I were at the movie theater watching 3D Cars 2 (we all enjoyed it). When we went into the theater, there was nothing to be concerned about; when we came out, there was a HUGE column of smoke to the southwest in the Jemez mountains. Five hours later, the fire is approximately 12 miles from Los Alamos, and over 1,000 acres are burning. We've packed up some emergency evacuation supplies in case we need to leave sometime in the next day or two, and we're crossing our fingers. We'll see what happens.

Fun with Grandma and Grandpa

 While we were on vacation, Grandma and Grandpa (Aaron's parents) came to spend time with Rhys and Alanna. Everyone allegedly had a really great time! The kids were glad to see us when we got home, but I think they'd be willing to have us go on vacation again so they could have more uninterrupted grandparent time!

 Rhys dancing for the camera.

 Rhys shows his car housing complex.

 Grandma dubbed this face Alanna's "Oscarina" face. If you ask her to show you her Oscarina face, she knits her brows and tries to suppress a smile. It's funny and it helps to diffuse the real Oscarina.

Alanna showing off her jumping skills.

 Hanging out in the living room ottoman.

The cat in the box.

 The Alanna in the box.

 Rhys got to go to a cowboy birthday party while we were gone.

 A snakestache.

 Where's Alanna?

 There she is!

Now where have Alanna and Rhys gone?

Playing Piano With Daddy

I couldn't help but notice the similarities between these photos of our kids playing the piano with Daddy. Of course, there are differences: Rhys was not quite a year old and Alanna was days away from turning two, Daddy and Rhys were playing in what used to be the studio and is now Alanna's bedroom and Daddy and Alanna are playing at Grandma and Grandpa's house. But both kids spend time playing the piano with Daddy. And everyone loves it (including me)!

Happy Father's Day!

Ride 'Em, Cowgirl!

"Naked Baby" is one of Alanna's favorite modes of being right now. With a big, goofy smile on her face. Bouncing around the room on a blue burro. What a cutie patootie.

Our Honeymoon

Or, How After 10 Years of Marriage, We Finally Went on One...

Aaron and I traveled to the northwest a couple of weeks ago. We flew to Seattle, drove around and through Olympic National Park, along the Oregon coast a little ways, and then flew home from Portland. We ate excellent seafood, drank excellent wine, and had an excellent time.

 The hotel we stayed at in Seattle had a kitchen garden. 

The Space Needle

 Seattle's downtown as seen from the top of the Space Needle

 The ferry we took across the Sound

 The rhododendrons were in bloom

 A "rocktopus" holds on in Port Angeles

 Beach 4 in Olympic National Park

Driftwood along the beach

 A barnacled mussel shell

 Beauty on the beach

 Largest Red Cedar tree

 Hiking in the rain

 Life on top of life in the rainforest