Keep Up With Mandie!

A new member of the family...

2009-03-12T20:07:00.003-06:00

GIOVANNI

We adopted Giovanni at the Santa Fe Animal Shelter on Saturday January 31st. He was about 8 weeks old and very shy at the time. He has since come out of his shell and turned out to be a crazy little kitty. He lets the kids carry him around and is very good with them although we all have a few scratches here and there from him running all over us.

It was a bit of a long day at the shelter and violet was definately ready for a nap but Blaise enjoyed being able to pick him out.

I mostly got him to help with the mouse control and it seems to be working so far. I am happy with that but he is keeping me up at night with all his purrring.

It is fun to have a new member of the family!

Winter photos from December

2009-02-03T06:05:00.002-07:00

Santa Clause is coming to town

2008-12-31T21:47:00.004-07:00

Santa came to the Eldorado Library. Lots of fun and all (or most) of our friends were there. Blaise even got to take some pictures (seen above)

My sweet little girl.

Fam Photo!

Blaise is all about Santa now.

Ruby and Micah with Santa.

Happy Nathan--as always.

B-man being silly and posing for the camera.

He was so excited to see Santa. Violet was scared of him and said she wanted to sit on my lap not Santa's.

Ruby Says, "Merry Christmas!"

Talkin to Santa..

2008-12-30T10:58:00.006-07:00

We went to the Eldorado Library for a pancake breakfast and to visit with Santa. I captured some good moments on film and wanted to share them!

Blaise telling him he wants a marshmallow shooter and clone helmet.

Ruby telling him she wants candy...no, two candies.

Nathan telling me how Santa arrived. (on the fire truck and the firemen helped him)

Santa's Little Helpers

2008-12-22T06:45:00.002-07:00

Mall Fun

2008-12-22T06:39:00.002-07:00

Here we are at the mall...riding the horses. We also got to see Santa.

Silly Kids

2008-12-22T06:32:00.004-07:00

Blaise looking cool..

Violet being crazy...

Skip visiting...

FREEstyle Winter Performance

2008-12-22T06:25:00.002-07:00

These are the only two pictures I got from our little performance--I was busy conducting the show and couldn't get more. The little girls were snowflakes and the older kids did a water dance (very creative on their part). The performance went well and we had a lot of interest for classes next semester.

Thanksgiving Weekend!

2008-12-14T08:51:00.008-07:00

It was quite an eventful weekend with lots of pictures. I know they are a bit out of order but you will get the idea:

First we have the wishbone--it was amazing--split right down the middle. This really made it easy for the sibling rivalry thing!

They were so cute about it and I am glad it worked out so perfectly.

We went bowling and I had to take a picture of the final score. I will not tell you who is who in order to protect some of the players' prides:)

Violet slept through the first half and then took over Blaise's turn (he hit the arcade!) She was great and quite spirited--where could she get that from?!

Blaise is a natural too, I think he gets if from Uncle Bean and maybe not Bops.

Violet was napping and I had to take photos because she never sleeps in my arms.

I truly don't believe there is anything better than a sleeping child in my arms. I love it! Precious and Priceless...I hope it wasn't the last time my babies do that!

Gotta love this photo. He was so good we could hardly even get a shot of him whizzing by. Love you dad-but stick with pool.

Super Nani!!!

She is really sleeping...Aren't I just the luckiest mom on the planet!?

This was the thanksgiving dessert. Violet's favorite part was the whipped cream and helping with the dishes. She half bathed in the sink "helping" for 30 minutes while we hand washed the good dishes.

I am ever thankful for my kids, my family, friends, good food and the wonderful life I get the pleasure to live every day.

Nikki was even able to make it...too bad it was only for 24 hours. She is always great to have around, too bad it is not more often and longer.

Pretty Violet with a messy face and snow in the background.

Alex the super masher extraordinaire-he can also carve a mean turkey. A man of many talents. This was the first full thanksgiving meal I have done. It all came off pretty well. Here is what I learned though #1 Turkey bags are good #2 Low-Fat mashed potatoes are not

Prepping the meal after a fun day of soccer in the rain followed by hot tottys!

I love this one!

Blowing up the air mattresses. We had a full house and by the way I do not like sleeping on an air mattress when it deflates and Violet tries to kick me out!

It was a great weekend and so fun to have the boys here and be active and eat tons!

Head board Project

2008-12-09T10:35:00.003-07:00

I made and installed a new headboard for myself and I thought I would show you how I did it and how it turned out. First I cut a piece of particle board to size (60x32). I used some 1x1 to frame out the entire back...this gave it a more substantial look. Then I pre-drilled some holes for the tufting later. I used spray adhesive to attach some high density foam to the entire front. I then covered that with a egg carton type foam pad and wrapped it around and stapled it to the back. Then some quilting batting covered that and finally the fabric was wrapped around. I used a silk so I had to be pretty careful not to get a run in the fabric.

Then came the tufting--I threaded the needle all the way through, attached the decorative button and threaded the needle back through. I pulled it tight and used a large button to secure it in place.

I attached some legs to the bottom and drilled the legs into the studs in the wall of my room.

This is how it turned out. I love it--especially because it is pink silk with rhinestone buttons. So girly and luxurious. Pretty easy and the whole thing cost under $100 dollars. I could have done it much cheaper with cheaper fabric and omitting the high density foam step.

Now I am working on getting some new bedding to make the whole transformation complete. Trading Spaces...eat your heart out.

My little girls

2008-12-02T14:53:00.004-07:00

This is my 3-5 year old FREEstyle class. They are adorable and very well behaved students. Their performance is coming up this Friday, December 5th. More pictures to come of their show!

Nice Shapes Dancers!!!!

Ambrosia...

2008-12-02T14:46:00.004-07:00

I am always looking for a new for new, fun and beautiful drinks so I attempted the Ambrosia. It is one part brandy, one part apple brandy, raspberry syrup, raspberries and 3 parts champagne. Well it WAS new, fun and beautiful but unfortunately not too tasty. It was pretty nasty so do not attempt at home. For future reference just have champagne with raspberries...beautiful and tasty!

My favorite place...so far...in all of Santa Fe

2008-11-18T20:49:00.004-07:00

So, We (Brittany and I) took Carey out to congratulate her on completing her exam. We took her to La Casa Sena. She had never been there before, eventhough she has been in Santa Fe for quite sometime, and we had a great time. The waiters perform broadway tunes and it just makes me smile and even cry a little. They take requests and I am usually the first to offer my opinion. This time they performed a few from "Wicked" and it made me realize I need to see that show.

We had fun eating and drinking and listening and chatting. Thanks girls for a fun evening!

And Congrats to Carey!!

Halloween!

2008-11-08T11:39:00.005-07:00

We had a great Halloween! We started at the Agora Shopping Center for Trick-or-Treating and costume parade and contest. We actually won the over all grand prize. We were the "Fairytale Family." I was a princess, Blaise was a knight, and Violet was a dragon. It may have been a little rigged (I know one of the judges) but it was fun anyway. Blaise was "Sir Talks a lot" Violet was "Dippity Do Dragon" (she said she was a "nice dragon not a mean one") and I was Princess Bailey Beautiful. My mom, Blaise and Violet came up with our names.

After the Agora fun we did the traditional Trick or Treating for the first time. We made it to 4 houses. Next year maybe we can do 6! Then we went to a Halloween party. It was a fun day filled with candy, costumes and face paint--just the way Halloween should be.

Happy Halloween 2008!!!!

San Francisco Trip Part Six

2008-11-01T20:27:00.003-06:00

We stayed at my uncle Skip's house the last night we were there. He has a great house on the top of the hill in Oakland and when we woke in the morning we looked out the window to a beautiful view of the bay. We had cappuccinos and a tour of the garden before we had to head to the airport for our flight home.

San Francisco Trip Part Five

2008-11-01T18:58:00.004-06:00

Ethan's Performance

We were so lucky to attend the "Ethan White Show" at the Paramount Theater in Oakland. Ethan had featured roles in all three of the ballets in the performance, including Romeo in Romeo and Juliette. He was fantastic and his picture was posted all over. As we shopped earlier in the day we kept running into him on signs and windows throughout Oakland. He was quite the poster boy.

Even Skip and Bonnie got into the spirit of the night. The Paramount Theater is amazing. It is an art-deco style theater and there was live music in the pit for all three of the ballets. I took shots of the theater and orchestra before I got in trouble and was told there is "no photography allowed" in the Paramount. I was such a rebel.

We attended a reception afterward where it was announced that Oakland Ballet received a 200,000 dollar grant. Wow, in the economy today this was a huge uplift for them. Maybe they will hire Ethan more and we can enjoy his dancing for years to come.

I love you Ethan and you were amazing. I am impressed with all you have accomplished and can't wait to see what you will do next!

San Francisco Part Four

2008-11-01T18:43:00.003-06:00

My turn to try paddle boarding. Alex gave me a little lesson, he is a very good and patient teacher. I stepped on--which takes a little commitment--and was off. It is harder than it looks. The water was COLD and I was hoping to not go for a swim. I did pretty well until...

I got out there and couldn't turn around. Alex maybe has one downfall as a teacher, he left! I am not sure where he went (maybe to the beer tent) but I needed a little help getting back. It took a minute but I guess I figured it out because somehow I turned around and was able to get back to shore.

I made it--and stayed warm and dry. I am not sure I am ready for the marathon of paddle boarding but actually knowing me I may give it a try someday.

For right now, I am happy with the experience and will take the lessons learned into my life.

Be Patient and you just might figure it out all on your own.

San Francisco Trip Part Three

2008-11-01T17:47:00.005-06:00

Alex's Race

Alex was the one and only racer to enter the 9+ mile paddle board race around Angel Island during the Sea Trek boat rigatta. He finished in 2 hrs and 45 min. It was the winning time, a new record and his personal best. My mom and I waited on the beach to "bring him home". It was such a pleasant and beautiful day that we had no problem soaking up the sun while we waited. There were lots of cute naked babies playing on the beach to entertain us as well as sand, sun and a beer tent.

San Francisco Trip Part Two

2008-11-01T17:26:00.005-06:00

This is a picture of our best friend on the trip, the GPS. Love her!

Here I am driving the rental car. She had good pick up so I was able to keep up with the California drivers. With the help of the GPS even the driving was great.

The best part of the traveling was the flight attendant rapper. Listen closely to the directions he gives...

San Francisco Trip Part One

2008-11-01T17:17:00.003-06:00

My mom and I went to California to see Ethan as Romeo, Nikki (my new sister in law to be) as Alice and Alex race in the first ever paddle board race. We had a quick trip and lots of fun. Here are some pictures of Alice in Wonderland the Ballet put on by Sacramento Ballet. Nikki's parents were there and we got to meet them for the first time. Ethan proposed a couple of weeks ago and we saw her new ring and were able to start talking about fun wedding plans.

This is an adorable picture of all the little girls dressed up to see the ballet.

Pumpkin Patch Take Two...

2008-10-30T08:10:00.003-06:00

After a failed attempt (due to weather) to go to the pumpkin patch we were able to make it there and enjoy some beautiful weather and fall festivities. We rode the hay ride out to the patch, picked out our pumpkins, had lunch, went down the tunnel slide, saw a cow being milked, went to bunnyville and much more.

Here is Blaise on the hayride doing his supermodel pose!

There were so many pumpkins to choose from--the only catch was I had to carry all three back. So we ended up getting fairly small pumpkins.

Here is Violet choosing her special Pumpkin.

Blaise and his friend Jaiden enjoying each other's company and the hay ride.

Here I am with baby Elyana sporting a festive cowboy look thanks to Ruby.

We had a great time and I am already looking forward to next year's trip!

Paint Out

2008-10-30T07:31:00.003-06:00

This was an event on Canyon Road in Santa Fe. Many Artists came out and painted outdoors and created some beautiful pieces right there in front of the Gallery. My dad participated and showed off his artistic skills for the tourists and clients. It was really fun to see. It was so successful that I think they will continue to do it more often.

Here you can see my dad grinding the metal before he patinas it. What an amazing process and the outcome was beautiful. The weather was perfect and even the kids enjoyed it.

We took a little time to take some photos outside and in the gallery.

Can you say "Christmas Card?"

Sara's Birthday party at Kid Zone

2008-10-28T07:57:00.004-06:00

Sara had a birthday party and it was lots of fun for the kids and adults. Kids Zone is a new place in Santa Fe with a giant climbing structure, super fast slide, craft area, food, drink, big tree house, water table, Wii and Dance Dance Revolution. We like to go and play. Violet likes the crafts and water table. Blaise likes the climbing structure and tree house. I like the hula hoops and dance dance revolution. I am working on these important life skills. Carolyn and her whole family took a turn at ddr. We, of course, all enjoyed the pizza, presents and cake too.

I am happy there is a new indoor place to play when the weather is cold or icky.

Siblings

2008-10-27T20:38:00.004-06:00

My brothers came for a visit and I am so lucky to have them in my life and my kids lives. I cherish their friendship and we ALWAYS seem to find a way to have a great time.
Here are a couple of pics of Uncle Fun playing with the kids. He is great at wrestling and leggos.

Alex (Uncle Bean) and I are riding in the back of my dad's truck. You are never too old to get a kick out of that! We joked that all we needed was a wife beater and a budweiser to make it perfectly white trash.

Uncle Bean got his name from Blaise. We thought he gave him that name because right after he got back from Costa Rica he ate a lot of rice and beans. So we asked Blaise and he said "Cuz his head looks like a bean." And the name stuck!

I love this picture of my mom with her boys: Nothing is more precious than a mother with her babies. Love you guys!

Albuquerque Aquarium

2008-10-27T20:29:00.004-06:00

We went to the Albuquerque Aquarium after a failed attempt to the Moriarty Pumpkin Patch. The weather was awful so they closed the pumpkin patch. Carey, Peter, Ruby, Blaise, Violet and I went to the aquarium instead. It was tons of fun anyway minus the two minor/major metldowns at lunch/naptime!

We did eventually make it to the pumpkin patch the next week--photos of that coming soon!

Best Guacamole Ever!

2008-10-22T19:32:00.008-06:00

I went to Gabriel's in Santa Fe, well just outside of Santa Fe, and experienced the best guac on the planet. The guy came out and scooped 4 giant, ripe, delicious avocados into the bowl and added all the fresh goodness of tomatoes, jalapenos, onions, garlic and lime. He mashed it all up and gave it to us. It only took two of us to eat it all! You wouldn't think I would still have room for dinner but I did because they had mole. The mole was great but it sure made me miss the Red Iguana in Salt Lake.

Anyone hungry?

Santa Fe High Limbo

2008-10-21T20:46:00.004-06:00

This is part of my class at Santa Fe High. I am teaching the dance portion of the musical theater class and loving it. I have great students and it has made me realize how much I miss teaching in a public high school. High School kids are great fun, a lot of work but very rewarding. We are usually very on task but on this particular day we did the limbo as a warm up.

They were totally into it and involved and supportive on each other. It was nice to see all the students cheering each other on when we all know how high school is. I was glad to give them something to feel included and accepted (even if they were not the winner).

We had a two way tie for first--and the girls totally took the trophy!

Balloon Fiesta 08!

2008-10-19T10:28:00.003-06:00

This year we were able to make it to balloon fiesta in Albuquerque.
We woke up early...but not early enough. Even though I was up at 5 am we still missed the end of mass ascension by about 10 minutes. We were lucky though because the last balloon to go up was Darth Vader and Blaise was quite excited about that. It was the special shapes day and we were able to watch all the shapes...energizer bunny, champagne bottle, bee, dinosaur, etc. Then the regular balloons flew right over and just seemed to keep coming. The movement in the sky was spectacular. I was not sure it would be this great but I was not disappointed and I am already looking forward to next year (I will get up at 4 am though).

The kids favorite part was the grass. Growing up in Santa Fe they are not used to it and loved rolling, running, playing, leaping, crawling, wrestling, and touching it. It turned out to be a beautiful day and we had soo much fun.

This is a picture of my favorite balloon. Lorissa took this picture and sent it to me because she knew how much I love this balloon--thanks lorissa. It is a beautiful picture and it made me fall in love with balloons and the whole balloon fiesta!

Someday I might just have to take a ride in the tulip balloon!

Blame

2008-10-13T20:43:00.004-06:00

Though others have faults,

Concentrate on your own.

Some people have the habit of blaming others. Perhaps all of us have this weakness. The list of scapegoats for our miseries is clever and endless. Parents, community, teachers, government and even demons and gods are all invoked when we have problems. If difficulties truly come from the outside, the problem comes from within, the soution must come from within as well. Before you blame friends, relatives, or teachers for bad habits and shortsightedness, you should remember that no one is to blame but yourself.

It is an equal mistake to lose self-esteem simply because you have some flaws. Looking at your shortcomings and taking steps to eliminate them should be viewed as a dispassionate project. You are not worthless because you undertake to rise above your faults. That description is only for those who never attempt to perfect themselves. We all have a perfect core and a special self inside.

Bops can shoot some pool!

2008-10-13T20:20:00.006-06:00

We went to dinner the other night and I became completely exposed to my dad's pool skills. The man is great. Every ball in the pocket one after another, and it has been nearly 30 years since he played. He was amazing! I want to enter a tournament with him. We will be the secret underdogs and take home the championship (I am terrible at pool but make a pretty good cheerleader for it).

After a great (kids were free) dinner and even some smores we hit the tables. Blaise and Violet had a lesson and I just had almost too much fun for a Tuesday evening!

Alice and Wonderland

2008-10-08T11:21:00.015-06:00

We are working on Alice in wonderland right now for our show in mid-November. I have completed about 8 dances with maybe just 2 or 3 to go. It is a wreck right now but we are working hard to get it ready. Here is some video of the kids doing the Macarena as a warm-up. They are funny and still need a little work at it :)

Don't you wish life was a musical?

365 Tao

2008-10-06T20:25:00.004-06:00

I have a book that I read passages from quite often. It is a great book to find tidbits of inspiration. I love to read a small amount from time to time to help me find peace in this life.
This one struck me in particular today:

Creativity

Storm breaks into pieces

Clouds charge the horizon.

Revolving of the heavens

Generates all movement.

Without movement, nothing could be created in this universe. The revolving of the heavens can generate wind, rain, thunder, lighting. The revolving of the earth enables us to have day and night, the very cycle of the weather, the seasons, and the growth of plants. Movement is responsible for creativity.

Kids in boxes and young lovers

2008-10-05T20:55:00.005-06:00

These are just cute!

Violet and Nathan (2 years old--violet is the older woman by 6 weeks)

Running on...

2008-10-03T13:24:00.007-06:00

My mom and I ran a 5K last weekend and had a blast! It made me really think why I don't do it more ofter. Is there some reason I hesitate to do it when it makes me feel so good? I deserve it and I am worth it. So...I think I will start working towards a 10K somewhere in the near future or if not at least the Eldorado 5K Fun Run again next year.

This picture is taken from a friend who had her daughter running the 1 mile race. I hope to have the kids do that with me next year. Blaise seemed excited when I asked him.

Here we are running/walking at the end of the race. I finished and came back to finish with my mom. As you can see we are working REALLY hard. Sometimes I even amaze myself with my ability to have way too much fun all the time.

Rock Painting Project

2008-09-28T20:46:00.006-06:00

So, I am working on making a more welcoming entrance to my house. I decided to have Blaise and Violet help me. We painted rocks and it was lots of fun, very messy, but turned out well. The project was promptly follow by a sink bath.

I am thinking about making a whole line of rocks for our front steps. Christmas, Spring, Winter, Summer and Fall are on my agenda. Rocks are free and I can rotate them and take them with me if I move. I also trimmed the trees/bushes and added a potted plant. Still needs some work but I am getting there.

The Party!! and pre party presents

2008-09-28T19:29:00.010-06:00

We opened his big presents before the party for two reasons. 1) they were part of the party and 2) I didn't want him asking for them any more! We hid the bouncy house in the freezer--sneaky--he had no idea and the bike was in the back of Nani's car. Thanks Ed for assembling it and taking it for a test ride! This is a real big boy bike and helmet (I found out they were giving away free ones at the fire station only AFTER I had purchased this one)

The party was a blast! The bouncy house was a big hit. No injuries either. I was planning on at least one black eye or some blood. There was hardly any crying--just jumping, laughing and lots of kids getting tired out in one small place. I look forward to having it in the garage and having the most rockin playdates! I took it for a test run the other day and it was pretty fun although my head almost hits the garage door so I will have to tone it down a little. We played "baseball" in there and are working on Blaise's form. I don't know much about baseball but I am a good observer and I think I am getting it right.

This is Blaise and his friend, Sammy. I think he was most excited about sneaking away from the party with him and discussing Transformers, weapons and other boyish stuff.

Here is a video of bouncy house wildness. We really packed them in there.

Next is a video of the batman cake and the singing. I am cracking up because Blaise and Sammy are whispering sweet nothings to each other. Adorable!

Thanks Bops for all the video, pictures and blowing up the bouncy house. Thanks Nani for the help with the food, drinks and clean up. Thanks to all who came to make Blaise's fourth birthday so special. It is hard to believe he is four and every day I am thankful to have a healthy, happy, sweet, sensitive, caring, creative boy!

Calling All Comments!

2008-09-26T10:42:00.003-06:00

I just want to hear from you if you are checking on my blog regularly. It makes me so happy to receive your comments so please do.

I also need some blogging advice. I want to be able to archive this and either print it out in hard copy (like a scrapbook) or burn it to a disk. Is that possible? I would love to be able to show it to my kids and family someday and it just being out there in cyberspace is not enough. Also, then I can feel like I am scrapbooking without having to do it.

Coming soon, a scrapbooking weekend at my house. Since I am catching up on the blogging I am going to forgo the scrapbooking and work on some fun crafting/home organization projects. We will take the weekend to scrap/craft/organize/eat/drink/watch chick flicks, HGTV, and trashy TV. Please bring your projects--I have plenty of space to spread out and I always need time with my lady friends and a good gossip magazine or two! Let me know if you want to attend and we can come up with a date. I am actually thinking January or February (That is what Ann and I have sort of come to).

Remember...post some comments and let me know you are there!

Blaise the Photographer

2008-09-22T19:04:00.004-06:00

Here are a couple of Blaise's works of art. He is pretty good at it--very artistic!

Fire House Party

2008-09-22T18:49:00.009-06:00

Blaise's birthday this year fell on the same day as the Annual Eldorado Fire House Party. We went, ate, played and got to bounce in the bouncy houses and even meet Smokey Bear. The balloon swords were perhaps the biggest hit!

Funny thing about Smokey Bear is that he needs a better belt because there was a little plumbers crack--what do you call that when a bear has it?? It cracked me up and I found myself checking out the bear,s ass way to much than is normal for a human!

The big Celebration

2008-09-22T18:37:00.007-06:00

Blaise turned four! These are the pictures and video from his party at school. All of his classmates, teachers and Violet too, made him cards and Gina read them all. They were wonderful and very creative (3 and 4 year olds say some pretty funny stuff). We played outside, ate lunch together and had cup cakes!

FIRE!!

So Many "Sleepovers"

2008-09-14T09:08:00.013-06:00

We have been having so many kids over for "sleepovers". It is in quotations because my kids call them sleep overs, but the parents have been picking the kids up after all are asleep. The first time we did it Blaise woke up and said, "Where's Sammy Davis?" I said that his mommy picked him up and took him home. Blaise said, "But I wanted to wake up with him here!!" Are we already to the point where they are going to have sleepovers just for fun--not because they need babysitting. I hope not. I know what goes on at those things. I have had too many fun sleepovers in my life to allow that:)

This one was really fun! Blaise, Violet, Ruby and Sammy all in the bath together. All Hail Carey! She shampooed all 4 with little resistance. I think we can squeeze one or two more in there so come on over.

Hula Girl

2008-09-13T14:01:00.008-06:00

Here are all the fun things the kids got from Nani and Bops' recent trip to hawaii.

Violet was a hula girl and Blaise like the costume too!

They got books, decals (that I put on the car) biting shark pinchers and more.

They also got little matching outfits...Violet is shooting me and Blaise is reading a magazine.

Next is a video of hula girl. Listen closely its toooo funny!!

My Birthday Weekend

2008-09-08T20:47:00.007-06:00

I woke up this morning and Blaise said "Mom, how old are you?" I said "I'm THIRTY." He said, "No you are not, you are 29". I said "No, today I am 30." He said, "But you haven't had any birthday cake yet!"

Yes it is true my birthday was today and I am feeling a little nostalgic. The big 3-0 is a little hard to handle. Ann said to me today, "Welcome to your thirties!" and it actually felt good. I had been fearful of how I was going to take it but I am excited for what my thirties will hold. I am sure there are many things that will surprise me. I have to let go of the planning and let life take me on the ride that it is...I am getting better...but more letting go will mean more of living in the moment which is all we have.

That said...I had a great time this weekend and relaxed, worked in the yard (yeah, I know, but I am loving it), went to the zoo, did a rock painting project (more about that later), and enjoyed a little fiesta in Santa Fe. Here is what it looked like...

Breakfast on the Plaza before the pet parade. There was a mariachi band and they serenaded Violet. She really gets attention! We actually missed the pet parade. Note to self: the pet parade is short--be there early.

ZZZOOOO!!!! Blaise, Liam, Violet, Nathan, Madelyn, and Ben. (Not pictured The MOms and Jessica!)

Blaise licking my birthday Tiramisu plate. You know you are livin life right if you have tiramisu instead of birthday cake. By the way, I am adding making perfect tiramisu to my bucket list. I think it is even better than chocolate (dare I say that?)!

Blaise Says....

2008-09-05T20:05:00.002-06:00

"Look how strong I am! Mom, are you 29 strong?"

That's right Blaise I am 29 strong and soon to be 30 strong!

RUBY and VIOLET

2008-08-31T10:41:00.004-06:00

It is amazing to watch their little personalities come out. Ruby and Violet are best friends and worst enemies all at the same time. WOW little girls are so adorable and at the same time know that they are and are constantly competing. "That's Mine!" is a constant phrase with these two as well as hugs and hitting are. Ruby's mom, Carey, and I have a much more stable relationship and we get a kick out of seeing these two little divas together. Love you girls!!!

Eldorado Ice Cream Social

2008-08-28T13:25:00.009-06:00

We had a fun time at the ice cream social. It was kind of the last summer event in Eldorado. Curious George, Clifford and Smokey Bear were there. There was a kids activity tent, live music and of course MMMmmm Ice Cream

FamJam was there and we sang songs and played with the noisy kazoos

Face Painting Was a big hit! and only 50 cents...what a deal in today's market!

Blaise and Violet were quite the trendsetters with the batman mask and butterfly--Here are their friends Ruby, Micah and Tia joining the fun with us.

and of course Violet had to have a pole dance performance (I did not teach her this, really)

Blaise says....

2008-08-27T16:07:00.002-06:00

"I love you into pieces, mom"

I reply with: "I love you into a million pieces, Blaise"

He comes back with: "No mom, I love you into a HUNDRED pieces"

too funny, I guess we better work on his numbers

Gymnastics Debut

2008-08-26T14:02:00.003-06:00

The kids took their first gymnastics class this summer and had a great time. Of course, it was my idea but they really took to it. Blaise is a natural. He is so good at following directions from the coach and will try anything. What a great student. Here is his video of his cartwheel.

I could watch them play there for hours. Violet is a natural too of course! The hardest part for her was sitting still and listening. She was always the first to try anything. She is quite the monkey and really strong. Oh yeah and the dr. says not to worry about her knock knees--there is still hope for an olympic champion in her!

Check out her cartwheel:

Last Day at the Pool

2008-08-26T13:20:00.008-06:00

I am soooo sad. It was our last day at the pool on Sunday. I will certainly miss it and all the great times we had with our friends there. I wish summer could last all year...really...I could do without being cooped up in the house.

Blaise is really making progress on the swimming thing. He can really hold his breath and swim unassisted to me for about 6 feet. He loves to be thrown in the air and land in a tuck, layout, or straddle positon. Violet on the otherhand does not want to go under. "Mommy, I don't want to go unner" she says. I will truly miss hangin at the pool, picnicing and I wont miss getting my car broken into. (yes, that was the downside of the pool this summer--some a** broke in and stole everything and broke both front doors) I will forgive but not forget:)

FREEstyle Presents...

2008-08-26T13:00:00.007-06:00

This is some of the video from the BEE dance. The kids were adorable yet completely distracted by the costumes. Note to self--rehearse with the distracting costumes before hand.

My mom and I made the costumes. Easy and cheap but cute. My mom says if she was able to retire she would volunteer to make costumes. She loves it and I sure hope she will want to continue to help in the future.

Thanks Mom!!

FREEstyle Dance Performance

2008-08-26T12:37:00.010-06:00

This was the first annual performance for FREEstyle dance. It was outside at the new bandstand in Eldorado. It was a lot of fun and a beautiful summer evening until the lightning started and we had to close down the community dance part a little early so that no one would get zapped. We performed about 6 dances including "dancing queen" which was pictured above and involved audience participation. The mommies got their groove on and I am sure everyone enjoyed watching that. I am excited about FREEstyle and hope it just continues to grow and bring everyone joy!

Okay--Will give this a try

2008-08-25T20:36:00.002-06:00

I Okay so here it is the first post. I am hoping I can figure this out and the posts will get much more glamorous. I am looking for a way to stay connected and maybe this is it. I have enjoyed checking out friends' blogs and maybe others will find this enjoyable too. Maybe? Either way...It will help me clear thoughts and show off those two wonderful things in my life. Here they are at the zoo this month. Violet is 2 and Blaise will be 4 in September.