Good Times-May

May sped by. School projects, performances, recital rehearsals, work travel, home maintenance and gardening have topped our list of things to do this month.

Harrison started drooling with a purpose this month. He's been gnawing on everything.
Madelyn with her cat Virginia. Yes, we still have the two cats.
We've spent a lot of time in the backyard this month between gardening projects and hole digging. The kids have enjoyed the company.
My garden assistants
Chloe has my corn-planting helper.
Harrison loves being one of the big kids.
Chloe and Harrison during excavation.
Our little contortionist. He is very close to crawling.
I love this expression. It reminds me of one of the other children but which one?
The HOLE, hole, hole. Dad's a man of many talents. The problem has been reset and the hole is mostly filled in.
Harrison is getting a little big for his baby toys. He likes to hang out the sides of his bouncy seat more than he likes the toys on it these days.
Chloe loved her face painting experience and her artist did quite a magnificent job.
When there are no toys to chew on, Harrison resorts to fingers and thumbs. Yum!
Here's hoping June brings lots of summer fun!

Adventure #5: Manzano Mountains

F-I-N-A-L-L-Y! After canceling two camping trips in April to deal with stuff on the homefront, we made our break for the mountains this weekend. We were surrounded by acres and acres of pines, pinons and Gambel's oak. Family camping trips are the best!
The girls wasted no time setting up a family chess tournament. Chess has become 0ur newest family pastime. The girls, Madelyn and Chloe in particular, are getting quite good at thinking through each move. The boys can set up the board and know the name of each player and Harrison will suck on any piece he can get his hands on.We took several walks in the woods. We had fabulously overcast afternoons which kept the temperature comfortable.
Daddy and Sammy are walking buddies.
Group shot number 10. The first shots are always a little posed and stiff. By the end, everyone is more natural, however sillly that may be.
Brotherly love!
I Spy a lizard. Do you?
Our family shot for the weekend. We kept forgetting the pocket tripod so we had to settle for a picture in the group camping area.
"Look Mom! I've got teeth." Our little Harrison has been busy sprouting his first two pearly whites. I felt the first one on Mother's Day and the second one the Wednesday after.
Nine more days until our biggest camping adventure yet!

Family Day 2010

Mark's employer is celebrating 30 years of manufacturing in our great state. In celebration of this event, the company organized a family day with all the trimmings.

There were bounce houses with slides,
and air-filled obstacle courses,
and face painting,
(really elaborate, time-consuming yet oh, so beautiful face painting)
and a tour of Daddy's cube,
and a visit with Mickey and Minnie in Intel's Tommorowland,
and gadgets to tinker with,
and more characters to be brave enough to hug,
and a whole lot of sugary treats and a whole lot of family fun!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

As I alluded to yesterday, we went to a baseball game Thursday night courtesy of Mark's employer. It was really nice to be included in this team-building experience as it put faces with names and allowed us to learn about each others families.

Harrison was all suited up for his first baseball game.
The kids got kind of bored after the seventh inning stretch so Madelyn and Chloe walked down to the first row just above the visitor's dugout. They leaned over too far and were given a talking to by the manager of the visiting team. As they were heading back Seth was heading down. His sisters tried to redirect him back up to our seats but he was on a mission to see what they saw so he let loose a 3-year-old tantrum. He's loud and generally inconsolable during these times. We're not even sure why he was upset but some of the local guys saw this wailing little boy being pushed reluctantly back to his seat and took pity on him. About five minutes later after the wailing had subsided but while the tears were still fresh we were signaled down to get a ball for Seth. That got a smile out it him and a groan out of Mom and Dad. This is the second time in a week that Seth has gotten rewarded by a well-intentioned stranger for a tantrum. What message our we sending our boy?
Madelyn and Chloe hanging out at the ball park.
Yum, cotton candy!
The local ball-passer-outer fellow saw during the ensuing innings that we had a second son of ball-coveting age so he waved Sam down to get his own ball too.
Ah, good times. We got to bond with Daddy's work friends, witness about 5 minutes of exciting play, eat popcorn and cotton candy, and walk away with two souvenir game balls.

Belated Flashback Friday: Ballpark

We headed out to see our local minor league baseball team Thursday night. It brought back memories of our last such outing. It was April 2007. Our boy twins were about 6 weeks old. We had moved to Texas two months earlier and were eager to take in the local sites.

Seth was all eyes. He just looked at all the patterns and took in all the sounds of the baseball park.
Look at those curls! They were enhanced by the humidity to be sure. Catherine has always been great about staying close in big crowds. Set her up with a treat and she's good to go.
Mark holding Sam. Look how little he was. Sam was our only baby who actually looked like a newborn.
We don't remember who won the game but I do remember having a good time stepping out into the community to enjoy what it had to offer.

We Love Summertime!

It's THAT time of year.
The time when school rules the family calendar.
The time when extracurriculars dictate the weekend schedule.
The time when I feel like I'm barely hanging on waiting for summer to start and this constant stream of demands to end.

Get ready, get set, GO!
Madelyn's class did a Stomp-esque performance on Monday. The kids alternated between chanting poems and playing homemade instruments. The kids did a great job and obviously had a lot of fun. It was nice to visit with all the families and just relax and play.
The teacher surprised the class with an impromptu completion ceremony. Each child was given an award with highest honors in something. Madelyn's was for math. The families also got 'Certificates of Survival'. More on that later.

Spring Harvest

The spring winds and cool temperatures are yielding a hearty selection of peas and lettuces here in the USDA's Hardiness Zone 7. Aren't they lovely? Those tidy rows of perfectly-spaced, delectable gems. Alas, they are not in my backyard. But they have provided me with some great ideas and inspiration for my next spring garden.
While our garden is not as pleasing to the eye, it has still managed to produce some succulent spinach and tasty romaine lettuce. We enjoyed our first home-grown salad last weekend and look forward to at least a handful more. Our snap peas and broccoli are also showing promise for a few rounds of nourishment.
Our summer seeds have been sown and little sprouts are popping up daily. Now, if only I can get a handle on all the elm seeds that also have seen fit to germinate, we might have a chance at another great summer garden.

Saturday Escape

We've been feeling trapped by house stuff lately. Between maintaining the yard, starting the garden and our drain woes, we haven't gotten out too much. It was so bad that we decided to head out to our local botanical gardens on Saturday.

I hate leaving the house on Saturday because that's when everyone else is out. Six small kids and crowds are not a good mix. But this weekend it was a matter of family sanity, or at least parental sanity.

We had a great time looking at all the different flowers and landscapes. We even took a few notes for our own evolving yard.
The irises were just beautiful.
Dad and two-thirds of the kiddos in the Japanese garden. Seth was asleep and Harrison was dangling joyfully from the front of me.
Such a beautiful setting. We haven't been to the gardens in over a year. It amazed us at how much the landscape has filled in since our last visit.
Sam had a great time climbing rocks along with his sisters.
Our gang...my current favorite family photo.
Catherine & Chloe took over the stroller so Sam had to hitch a ride on Dad's shoulders.
Can you see the bullfrog? We heard him before we saw him.
Last stop...the train. Unfortunately, it was on its last lap for the day. We'd love to add a train like this to our backyard but we decided that would be a better project for a pair of retirees and a flock of grandkids!
The only downside to our outing were the mosquitoes. The kids look like they have chicken pox on their legs now.