ONE : Sea Creatures Birthday Party

 I'm ONE!

Our littlest one turned ONE! So hard to believe that a year has passed since her birth. I have been looking forward to this birthday all year! I knew that when it came, we would hopefully be past the hardest struggles of having a preemie. And we are! She is still slightly delayed in her gross motor development, but has come such a long way! She is crawling and pulling up now and all the weight issues of her first several months are a thing of the past. She's still a petite little thing, but not far off from where her sister was at the same age.

To celebrate her birthday, we had a joint celebration with a very good friend of mine whose son also turned one in July. The first pictures of them together are so funny. I think we took them at around 6 weeks old and Baby V looks like his doll. Now she's still smaller, but the difference isn't quite so dramatic.

It was fun throwing a birthday party with a friend. It meant that I didn't have to do all the work. LOL She handled all the food and I did the cakes and favors. We chose the theme "sea creatures." I thought it would be a fun summertime theme and perfect for a birthday party celebrating both a little girl's and boy's first birthday. My friend made yummy cream cheese and turkey or ham on tortilla sandwiches cut in the shape of fish. My husband has asked me to make these at home (minus the fish cookie cutter.) ;) Of course, we had to have goldfish crackers too. Along with that some fruit, chips for the grown ups and flavored lemonade. We had the party at a park so we tried to keep everything finger foods.

I made the cakes and cupcakes. I used this tutorial on Hungry Happenings to make marshmallow sea creatures from the sand toys I bought to give as favors. These went onto two different 6 inch round cakes frosted blue like the sea. I made vanilla wafer crumbs to resemble sand and sprinkled it around the base of the cakes. My dear friend Tina, card-maker extraordinaire, made two mini pennants with each baby's name for the top of the cakes. I think they came out pretty cute if I do say so myself.

I didn't get a good picture of the cupcakes I made for everyone else. I used these instructions on Family Fun's website. Super easy and cute! I made not only orange but also blue, yellow and green fishies.

We kept the party really low-key. We had sand pails and sand toys for the kids. I also set up a baby pool with sea creature squirters in it. Overall, it was a fun party to put together. We kept the guest list small which made it manageable, but I wished that I could have invited all the families who have been such a help to us this past year!

Yum!

LEGO Soap

We had a birthday to go to for a wonderful friend turning 9 years old. We weren't sure what kind of gift we could make and then remembered that he is crazy about LEGOs just like my boys. I had a LEGO ice cube tray I bought a few years ago for a LEGO themed birthday party. Since then I have been collecting silicone ice cube trays in fun shapes whenever I see them for my soap making. I hadn't tried making soaps in that mold yet, but thought they would come out super cute. This project was something that all the kids could help with too. We used a melt and pour soap base that I melted in the microwave. Then the kids added food coloring and a scent of their choice before we poured it in the mold. The result was a colorful assortment of yummy smelling mini soaps! I especially loved that the kids all got to be a part of the crafting this time.

I had to show off this awesome pop-up card my oldest made for the birthday boy. He used this tutorial. I thought he did great! 

Our Week : 6.18.11

Homeschooling mama is back! I'm sure everyone could hear the weeping and groaning from my house this week. No more lazy days of Netflix and Roblox. I'm kidding. The reality is that this past year has been incredibly stressful for my kids too. They've had to become very self-sufficient and learned a ton of life skills. They all help me so much and help take care of their baby sister. Thankfully, as I've gotten stronger, they've had to do less but that means it's time to get back to our studies.

I just learned about a free curriculum site, Lesson Pathways, from a new friend. I am such a huge fan of Charlotte Mason style homeschooling and this is not CM at all. But, we need something a bit different right now. So, we're giving it a try and so far are really enjoying it. It's so nice to have a bunch of links to information on the internet all together in one place. We made it to the library this week so I did get some books to supplement the online information as well.

We also squeezed in some craft time. My two middle kids have been begging to sew something on my sewing machine. We opted for some pillows for their first project. They traced a square washcloth onto their choice of fabric. Then they sewed and stuffed.

They came out great, funny faces and all! 

And the littlest one has been hard at work too. She has learned to clap this week. This is significant because it's one of the milestones that we haven't been able to check off the list. I wasn't worried because she was using both hands and passing toys back and forth, but it's good to see her figure it out. We still can't convince her to try crawling though. Here she is mid roll. That's her preferred form of transport right now. 

And I thought I'd share the poem that Boog wrote this week. He was supposed to make a list of things that bother him and he turned it into a poem. It made me chuckle just a little...

The Things that Bother Me

My brother’s a nuisance

My sister’s a pain

My dog’s a nut-brain 

And dishes are just LAME!

Bees i dislike

Whining i just hate

Spiders make me sick

And headaches make me shake.

All of these thing fill me with rage

I just wish i could make them go away!  

Dear 39,

Ate half a doughnut...what a treat!

I had a great first day, 39. We had treats, my favorite dinner, new shoes and a trip to the library. I had lots of birthday wishes that made me feel very loved. It was my kind of perfect day.

My New Vibram Five Fingers

I really have high hopes for you, 39. You see there were several doctors that thought I wouldn't make it to 39. They told my family to say goodbye...even my young kids. I don't remember that part because I was pretty out of it, but it was traumatic for the whole family. And now, here I am celebrating another year. Is it selfish to hope that 39 is better than 38? You know that 38 was not that kind to me with all the medical issues. I mean I'm incredibly grateful for my beautiful family, my kids and husband. I'm especially grateful for the birth of my sweet baby. I'm so thankful for her health and her happy demeanor. But, seriously, it was the day after 38 came into my life that all of my medical issues started - my first trip to the hospital. And those hospital trips just kept coming and the stays got longer each time.

I still have healing to do, but I feel so much stronger than a few months ago. I'm home being "mom" again. That's really all I want out of life. It seems so silly. I was so ambitious when I was younger - fancy college, fancy job. Now? The fanciest job I could ever ask for is at home with my kids.

Library Trip

I really wish I could see into the future. I really want to see if I'll get a different kind of year this year. I want a year of good health, peace and maybe even some room for me to get a little entrepreneurial. I don't want to worry about pain and sickness. I want to focus on wellness.

So 39, I'm counting on you taking me out of my thirties on a high note. I want to be able to look back at 38 and say that it was incredibly difficult but we made it through. 39, I want you to be the year that I can look back on and smile. I really like smiling. :)

Sincerely yours,

Cari

Pac-Man Cake

A couple of weeks ago, we celebrated Roni's 8th birthday. He loves homemade cakes. Well, home-decorated cakes...I still usually end up using a cake mix. I am by no means "good" at cake decorating. My mom is amazing. She hasn't done much recently, but when I was a kid she made amazing cakes. I should make her dig up a few pictures for me...hey, mom?! Anyway, my cake decorating is purely for fun and not professional at all. In the past he has had a dinosaur cake, space shuttle, a horse and a cute little teddy bear for his first birthday. This year he wanted Pac-Man which totally cracked me up because it seems so eighties. Because of our crazy year, I wasn't sure I could get it done. But, somehow we managed. It was the first time I've ever used fondant. I used this marshmallow fondant recipe. It actually didn't even taste too bad. I just made two round cakes and didn't trim the top but left the top kind of rounded. I cut out the mouth and covered it in the yellow fondant. Then I used a cup to cut two dots from the cake I had cut from Pac-Man's mouth. I covered those with white fondant. Hopefully, I can try using marshmallow fondant again. I can see where I could have cleaned it up a bit, but overall I was really pleased with the results. And my-now-8-year-old was pleased too which is what's important!

Our Story (2) : New Year's Surprises

I was thinking about where to start this story and I felt really strongly that I had to start it at the beginning -- when the news that Baby #4 was on the way rocked our world. We had just returned from Colorado after spending the 2009 holidays with my husband's family. We went to a New Year's Eve party at my wonderful friend's house to welcome 2010. It was one of those parties that just makes you happy. Good friends, good margaritas, good food and happy kids running around the house. Over the last year or so, I had been heard saying (several times actually) that I really wish we had had just one more child. But, with job loss and our three kids getting older and easier, Brad and I had pretty much decided that we were done. I remember thinking that maybe it didn't matter when I stopped having kids...I'd always wish we had just one more.

At that party my friend shocked me. She told me that she saw us with another child and when she did our numerology for the coming year, it foretold a possible child. Well, I thought that there might be a possibility that I was pregnant. But, I had tested a few days before and it was negative. (Thus the heavy consumption of margaritas.) You can imagine that that freaked me out a little. How did she know?! I continue to tease her that she scares me just a little with her psychic abilities. On January 2nd, I took another pregnancy test to make sure and it was positive. I was floored. It really wasn't probable that I could have been pregnant, if you know what I mean. I have said that this baby had to work really hard to come into this world. I was really shocked and unsure about having four kids. I mean, who has four kids??? We would be one step away from denim jumpers! But, as much as I was freaked out, I was also really excited. A new baby...my fourth. The one that I could finally bring into this world the way I wanted. We were finally confident about how we wanted to parent. So many hopes and dreams for this little one.

ETA: I just wanted to say that we have friends with 4 (or more) kids that have amazing families. I've never even thought twice about the size of their families. It was when we were faced with the reality of four kids that I took on what I believe is the prevalent attitude in our culture which is that that's too many. I think even my friends with one child would agree that there is this attitude that two children is best. Three is ok especially if your first two are the same gender. But only one or four or more? Not so accepted. I actually had a dentist say to me after finding out I was pregnant with number four, "Where I come from, we call that a litter." I didn't respond then so here's what I wanted to say, "Where I come from we learned not to say rude things to people." Ahh, that feels better. I've been holding that in for a year. :P

Fun Weekend!

My sister came to visit from California for the weekend and we had so much fun! (Well, except for the saying goodbye part when she left Sunday evening.) Saturday was filled with carting kids to activities. Try as we might, we couldn't figure out a way to see both ballet class and Boog's flag football since they were at the exact same time. That was kind of a bummer. And I missed Boog's first catch during a game. But, he was very gracious about it. That afternoon, my sister and I went to the Balloon Glow at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. We got there early and walked around the vendors. We watched as the gas balloons prepared for takeoff for the gas balloon race. Then, we got the disappointing news that the balloon events would be canceled for the evening because of wind. So, instead we went out for dinner and catching up which wasn't probably as cool as glowing balloons but still a treat.

The next morning we all got up really early for Mass Ascension at the Balloon Fiesta - all except for my husband who is not nearly so excited about hot air balloons as I am. We weren't sure if the weather would be ok. It wasn't great, lots of dark clouds, but a good number of balloons still launched. Here the kids are still looking a bit sleepy.

These two kissing bees are two of my favorites. Unfortunately, they didn't actually lift off because of the weather, but they still inflated them for all of us there.

The dead cat balloon (one of my kids favorites) also didn't launch. Here it is just after it deflated.

In the kid's area, NASA had a tent full of all kinds of neat stuff. Before, we headed home, we took the kids there to see it. There were lots of fun posters that they got to take home, a small wind tunnel (that's what the kids are looking at here), a cockpit the kids could climb into and a station where they took the kids' pictures and superimposed them in space suits for them. They came in a "passport" with lots of fun activities.

Our only really big disappointment was that once again we missed the Darth Vader balloon. It's become almost comical. My kids are huge Star Wars fans and they have been wanting to see the Darth Vader balloon up close. The first year we went to Balloon Fiesta, the Darth Vader balloon had caught on fire earlier in the week and had to go home. Then last year, we missed it because the weekend we planned on going ended up being rained out. And this year....the Darth Vader balloon is stuck in China. According to the news today, I saw that it is supposed to be officially out of China, but still not here yet. So, I've promised the boys that if it gets here and is at the Balloon Fiesta, we will try to go again later in the week. So keep your fingers crossed for me. I don't think I could bear another year of complaining that they still haven't seen the Darth Vader balloon! ;)

Take me out to the ballgame...

We had so much fun this past weekend when we got to go to a local triple A baseball game. In the three years we've lived here, we have never made it to a game. I can't believe that! We love baseball, although we are big Rockies fans.

Only in New Mexico, would you find a road runner, running around outside the stadium. I'm a little obsessed with road runners. I can admit it. I hear they are good luck...

We had wonderful seats thanks to some great friends. They had a bunch of tickets and were incredibly generous to share with their friends. It made it even more special that we got to hang out with people we like during the game!

Batter up! I was feeling a bit nostalgic for the Dodgers while watching the game. The Isotopes are now a feeder team for the Dodgers, and I used to be a big Dodgers fan before my husband converted me to a Colorado fan.

This totally cracked me up. Only in New Mexico would two chile peppers race a taco and a bottle of salsa. And the red chile pepper makes it to the finish line first!

To top it all off, there was a great fireworks show after the game. And a big congrats to the Isotopes. They clinched their division with a win that night. Fun!

Proof that Fairies are REAL!

The kids had a mission last night - to prove whether or not fairies are real. They figured out a way to set up a trap of sorts. Of course they didn't ask us grown ups. What do we know about fairies? I had an old bookshelf on the back patio that was destined for the trash. They put a ring of sandy dirt around some flower petals on the two shelves left. Their hope was that the fairies would have to walk through the sand to get to the flowers and leave footprints in the sand.

Lots of excitement this morning when all over the sand were tiny little footprints. They couldn't believe that they had in one night proved that fairies were indeed real! They made me come out and take pictures and asked me to post it on my blog. They decided that fairies must wear shoes based on the footprints. Also, somehow they came to the conclusion that fairies only come out at night and in the summer. I think maybe the fairies were trying to get out of the rain that we had early this morning.

It's Raining in the Desert

She just couldn't resist the raindrops this morning. We've actually had a couple of cloudy rainy days here. I'm sure the sunshine will be back soon, so we're enjoying the clouds while they are here. 

Brad is on his way home from Colorado right now. He had another interview there yesterday. We're hoping that we get some good news soon. He's had enough interviews over the last couple of weeks and I think a couple of more phone interviews next week. We are praying hard that he gets an offer soon. 

8 Year Old Guest Blogger

Boog finally got to go out to Galloping Grace yesterday. He wrote a little about his first time back and Michelle over at GG posted it on her awesome blog - Galloping Grace Youth Ranch. In his first draft, he wrote that his first time back was "wicked." I asked if there was anyway to come up with a different adjective. He chose "cool" instead. Oh well, I tried. ;) Other than that, they were his words with only my help with some spelling choices. Thanks Michelle for using it. You definitely made his day!

A Wild West Birthday!

Roni had very few requests for his party. He wanted a "western" theme with hot dogs, cake with ice cream and a pinata. Thankfully, I could make that happen. I used a lot of ideas from the Family Fun website like the instructions for the horse cake. The games and activities I had planned were a total bust. Oh well, you win some and you lose some. We had paper bag vests for the kids to color as well as some sheriff badges I found online. I had a game where you try to knock down cups with a squirt gun. But, the squirt gun was so pathetic that it couldn't even knock them down from about an inch away. 

But, the food was good! Grilled hot dogs with yummy salads and watermelon that my friends all brought to share. We really have the greatest friends here. One of my friends even brought goodies to stick in the pinata. 

And here is my son's happiness. This kid really believes that the only way to have a party is with a pinata. We found this pinata at Party City and thought it was too cute to pass up. All the kids went home with a bandanna and some goodies from the pinata. It really was a fun party! To make the day even better, Roni received his cards from his grandparents in the mail. He's out with Dad right now spending his birthday money. Wow, I can't believe he is six years old!

Still Hanging Out

A month ago, I posted a picture of my kids climbing our little tree in our backyard. The tree was just starting to bud. Here they are again climbing our same little tree only this time I could barely find them through the leaves. What a difference a month makes!

Finally Feeling Better and New Nicknames

I'm so glad to finally be feeling a bit better. That flu bug seriously kicked my butt. I can't remember the last time that I was sick with the flu for SEVEN days. Ugh. I'm still coughing and gunky, but feeling so much better. I actually did some laundry and dishes today. No more writhing on the couch in feverish pain. I can't tell if the kids are glad or not. I mean, I know they're glad that I'm feeling better, but I think they have kind of enjoyed having the run of the house for the last week. One of the days they spent building fences from our Keva planks all over the front room. I wish I had taken a picture, but I wasn't really thinking straight. They ran through the sprinkler in the backyard. My oldest finished the Harry Potter series. My middle guy copied words from a book to make a story and my youngest made a gigantic mess. Well, she was sick for the first couple of days with me. She just recovered much faster than I did. Now, we have to get back on our normal homeschool routine. We might just wait until Monday though.

During the last couple of days, I've been thinking that I would give the kids new nicknames on my blog. I've been using their initials, but I know it's sometimes confusing to read especially "A" since "A" is also a word. So from now on, I'm going to refer to my oldest as "Boog." When he was just a baby, his grandparents gave him the nickname "Boogie." It never really stuck at our house, but he loves it. So that's where I got "Boog." I'm going to call my middle guy "Roni." When he was really little, Brad and I started adding "roni" to the end of his first name kind of like "macaroni." And I have never had a nickname for our daughter. I'm just not very good with coming up with cute nicknames. We watched Tinkerbell a couple of times over the last week (her favorite movie at the moment) and thought I'd call her "Pixie." It seems to fit her and she liked it too. So from now on - Boog, Roni and Pixie.

Back at the Ranch

I know that I've gone on and on about how much we love Galloping Grace Youth Ranch, but well, I just can't help it. I really love that we get to be a part of such a great organization. I love what they are doing for my kids. I love that my kids are getting to experience something I wouldn't have ever been able to give them. (Here's my post about our first time out there.) May is the opening month of the 2009 season. Lucky us, we got to be there today! I only had C and A with me today as B was feeling poorly this morning. Boy, did he miss out!

The kids were so incredibly excited to see Mr. Max, Miss Trish and Miss Steph. Poor C was so excited he couldn't sit still for anything. It didn't take them long to feel comfortable on the horses again. Doesn't C look like a pro? The smile on his face was just priceless. The stress around our house lately has really been affecting him. He's been especially struggling in new situations. I wasn't sure how he would do today since it's been several months since he's been to the ranch. He did so well and he was so happy. That made me happy too. 

Before we left the house this morning, A kept talking about how she was going to ride by herself today. Brad and I tried gently to prepare her that she might not be able to since it was their first day back after several months of not riding. No, only a few minutes with Trish and she was riding alongside her brother.

A quick high five between brother and sister. Such a great morning! We can't wait to go out again and bring along big brother too!

End of Soccer

It's the end at least for this season. The boys each had their last soccer game of the season this past Saturday. They played 8 games last fall and 8 games this spring. Here are some photos from the last games.

Both boys were on such great teams - encouraging, supportive coaches and great kids. They both have made real friendships with kids we want to stay in touch with.

It was the first team sports experience for the boys. B was on some preschool teams when he was really young, but that wasn't the same. They really picked up the game quickly and gave the sport their full energy. Well, most of the time. ;)

It's been so fun to watch them gain confidence and improve their skills.

We're in the process of debating whether or not to sign up for soccer again next year. I think both boys are a bit apprehensive because they loved their teams so much. They aren't sure if they want to play with different kids next year. But, there is one firm decision about next year...the little sister who couldn't play this year is so excited about being on a soccer team next year! She did not like watching from the sidelines. She wanted to be in the game!

(If you click on the picture, you can see C up in a tree on the left side of the photo. You can tell he's really paying attention to his brother's game. LOL)

Classic Cars (a.k.a. My Husband Drooling)

Today, after our last soccer games of the season, we had a fun outing as a family. At a local park today, there was a classic car show. And it was free!!! Yay! We had so much fun looking at all the cool vintage cars and trucks.

 
Here's my daughter's favorite. Bet you can't guess why?!

Doesn't C look like he's discussing the merits of this particular engine. Notice the hand in the pocket? I kept saying over and over that we can't touch the cars. So, he just stuck his hands in his pockets and kept them there the whole time. It was pretty cute.

Flames were definitely the best paint jobs in the boys' opinions...well, kids' opinions really. The baby sister likes to be cool like her big brothers. ;)

And here's why my husband was drooling so much. He bought this 1961 Chevy truck last fall hoping he could fix it up, get it running and looking pretty. It's in our garage right now. I think he's hoping to have his truck parked out there next to all the others some day.

Hanging Out

I just love this picture that I took a couple of weeks ago. Brother and sister hanging out in the little tree in our backyard. C even has a green smoothie moustache leftover from lunch. That tree now has leaves. And our little house finches that make their home in our patio roof have had their babies. We have two robins visiting our little patch of lawn every day and a few new birds we haven't seen before this year. I love spring!

Slugs on Mars

Since October, my kids have gotten together with a group of homeschool kids once a week to create and rehearse their very own opera. It's a program sponsored by the Santa Fe Opera. They match up a group of kids with two artists-in-residence to create an original work. Here's a press release about the 2009 student produced operas. We were so privileged to be a part of the program this year. Our artists-in-residence were incredible! The husband/wife team that led our group really brought out the best in all our kids!

The theme for this year was "life by the river." All the groups were to start with that theme for inspiration and then create their own story. I believe that all of the other groups were based in schools. We were really lucky to have a group for homeschoolers so close. The kids, through brainstorming exercises ended up with Slugs on Mars. (Yes, all of our kids have great imaginations!)

Here's the basic storyline. Slugs and snakes are happily living by a lake looking for food. (My youngest was one of the snakes. Isn't she cute!!) Aliens swoop down from Mars and suck them into their spaceship. Once back on Mars, the Aliens suck the slime out of them for slug and snake shakes and have a big party. The poor slugs and snakes cry for help. Many of the aliens feel badly for what they have done and seek the help of Mr. Sand.

B was Mr. Sand. The aliens ask him a bunch of questions like "Do you have purple underwear?" That one got quite a laugh from the audience. Then they ask if he can help. He gives them magic water that creates a river to heal the snakes and slugs and take them back to Earth.

Once back on Earth, the slugs and snakes think they're safe. But, the aliens come back looking for them. The aliens can't find the slugs and snakes so they go to Mr. Sand to ask him. Mr. Sand won't talk, so they say "You're fired!" Mr. Sand says "Maybe." And the slugs and snakes peek out from their hiding place and sing, "Maybe not today!!!!" The End!

They did such an incredible job! At the very last moment, my daughter decided she couldn't go on stage. The performance was held in a really large performance hall. It probably sat a couple of hundred?? There were three groups performing their operas on the same night, so it was really full, too. I ran her back to our seats. Once we were seated and the show was about to begin, she started wailing that she wanted to be with her brother. She wanted to be in the show. So, I jumped up and ran her back just in time for her entrance. Once she was on stage, she did great! C chose to sit this activity out. He felt like he would be best suited for the audience. ;) And he was a great supporter. He knew all the songs, but performing just wasn't his idea of a good time. In addition to being Mr. Sand, B also got to add to the music with some sound effects before his part on stage. He worked something that made a ratchet sound effect and something that made a great alien "wocka wocka" sound. It was such a wonderful night and great experience. I love that they saw the creative process through from the very beginning to the end. On the ride home, B was already asking if we can do it again next year!