McCall's Pumpkin Patch



Paul hunted far and wide for that Big Mama!

Yesterday, our family went to the pumpkin patch in Moriarty, NM.  For those of you who aren't from around these parts, that's about 1/2 hour outside of Albuquerque.  For those of you from around these parts, you know this is the BEST place to go for pumpkins and fun!  As you can see, Ryan picked his pumpkin as did Paul and Caroline.  We don't get trick or treaters around our house, so it's just for them to have fun with.We went with our friends the Hools, we had a blast. We, of course, went on the hayride and picked pumpkins!  The kids went through the Haunted Corn Maze(Notice I didn't say "we", Mama don't do mazes), the Haunted Barn, all the fun little kid attractions(because they are little kids in bigger kids bodies:)


Rob, Caroline, and Tatiana on the hayride



"Look at mine, Mom!"


 The boys were racing around in the wheelbarrow and we tried on some funny headbands in the store:)


On your marks, get set, GO!




Bahahahahaha!

 Me and my littlest boy:)

I love this kid!

Backyard Camping

                          How can you not love camping????  Especially when it's in the backyard!

                                                   The dogs got in on the action too!                                                           Have a great weekend!

Arrow of Light Ceremony

          Last night, Ryan graduated from Cub Scouts and became a Boy Scout.  What a great thing! 

He was so excited to move on in this direction.  Rob and I are so proud of him for all his hard work and sticking with it.  Just like any sport, Scouts takes a lot of commitment and there were times he didn't want to do it anymore.  Now he can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  The next goal is for him to become an Eagle Scout.  That will take a while, but he has a renewed spirit and ready for this next challenge.  After the ceremony, Ryan asked me if Rob had gotten his Arrow of Light and I told him "No".  He was so proud that he was the 1st one in our family(immediate family) to get it.  Ryan and Paul compete like brothers do and this is one thing that Ryan owns and his brother doesn't.  A real confidence booster for him!  Most of our NM family was there for the ceremony including Rob's grandparents, John and Dorothy.  They came all the way from Yucaipa, CA for a visit and wound up getting to share the special evening with us.  Uncle Steve was there too as was Papa Paul.  Grandma Pam was working that evening at the Balloon Fiesta-never fear we took plenty of pictures so she didn't feel too left out.

We love you Ryan, I'm so lucky God made me your Mama:)

Fall....

Awwwww, Fall is here!  The NM State Fair is now over and Balloon Fiesta will be here on Saturday.  The temps are getting cooler every evening so, the dogs are starting to sleep inside at night. Apple butter, pumpkin bread, and Chicken and Dumplings....  Yep, it's Fall.


Church is already getting this year's Harvest Festival organized and yep, Children's Worship is doing a booth. I told Peggy Darlington to suprise me with what we're doing, I might regret that I said that....Oh well, it's all for the Glory of God right? I'm good with that. My kids want to dress up this year, I told them they could be ghosts, they didn't think that was a good costume idea. I did! Cheap and creative, they didn't see that. Caroline wants to design her own costume, that scares me!  It could be any one of these:



 
                                     All I can say is YIKES!
 
I'd really prefer her to wear this:
 
Think she will???? Uh......NOPE!
 
I'll have to keep you all updated:)  Happy Monday!
 

Full Moon's A Rising

That song from CCR is so true in our house right now.  Yesterday, I had all 3 kiddos arguing and fighting with each other and with Rob and myself.  Let me tell you, I DO NOT want a repeat today.  Last night when the fur started flying, I didn't realize that there really is a full moon rising over the next couple of days, talk about crazy!  Sooooo, here's the breakdown of what the kids lost because of their behavior:

-No TV ( I removed the satellite box) until further notice.  Personally, I could care less about the TV, I never get to watch what I want to anyways!

-No computer for everyone under the age of 15 until further notice.

-Paul lost his cel phone for a week(shucks!)

-Ryan's IPod, Nintendo DS, and TV have a new home-the safe.  Boy, was he mad about that! Hehehehe

-Caroline is grounded( Best punishment for her, we all know what a Social Butterfly she is)

Besides all of that, Ryan had to scrub the kitchen floor(yep, on hands and knees) last night and vaccum the downstairs because his sassy mouth couldn't keep shut.  Gosh, I love being a parent!  It's all about power and control...Mahahahahahahaaaa!

Well, hope you all survive this full moon rising, I know I'm taking NO prisioners!  Have a great day!

Yep, We're Still Around....

Sorry guys, it's been way too long!  I looked at when I posted last and was appalled by my neglect of you all! Do you feel neglected?  Yes???  I feel like dirt, yes I do....I had such great hopes that I would be able to keep up this blog and so far, I'm not do so well.  I'll try harder. I promise!

Let's see....what have we been up to?  I think the better question is, what haven't we been up to?  The list is much shorter!  Rob and I have been busy working at our day jobs and at home.  Rob's been taking advantage of the nice, warm weather we've been having and has picked up extra work on the weekends.  The extra $$$ is nicer than this weather!  I've been running at Mach speed keeping up with work, the kids' stuff, the housework, and feeding my ravenous pack of wolves.  Who, by the way, are ALWAYS hungry! 

This picture makes me think of Fall here in New Mexico.  Happy 1st Day of Fall!

~Cheryl

And The Scouts, Came Marching In....Oh Yes, The Scouts Came Marching In....

With the new school year starting....all of the other stuff the kids do during that school year pick up as well.  Ryan's getting ready to move onto Boy Scouts from Cub Scouts.  I can't express how happy that makes Rob and I. His goal is to be an Eagle Scout.  Well, ok, it ours too!  Caroline is getting ready to start up Girl Scouts again this Fall as a Cadet.  This is where the fun begins for her as well.  They get to do so much more as they get older!  Some of you already know that she wasn't going to continue on with Girl Scouts, but peer preasure can be good sometimes.  I'm looking forward to the new troop she'll be in.  Her leader seems very ambitious and enthusiatic about this year.  Anyways.....be ready to buy popcorn and magazines from Ryan soon and cookies from Caroline in January.

Freaky Friday...Well, Really Wild Week

We've had a pretty crazy week around our house.  School and all the kids' stuff are back in full-force and I have 3 very tired kids at the end of the day, not to mention CRABBY!  The heat and humidity hasn't helped matters either and considering the we had a $400 electric bill last month, we've used the air conditioning considerably less this month-thus we're all a little more crabby than the norm.  We'll survive though, Fall is only about a month away.  Awwww, cooler days and even cooler nights.  Pretty soon we'll be smelling the wood being burnt in fireplaces.  Pumpkin bread and everything apple to eat. Stews and chilis too!  Yes, I'm looking forward to cooler temps for sure!  Hope you have a great weekend, ours will be nothing less of CRAZY! But again, I'm embracing the gray hairs I continue to get from this crazy life I live. 

1st Day of School 2010

Today's the first day of 8th grade for Paul; 7th grade for Caroline; and 5th grade for Ryan.  I got a little teary when I dropped Paul and Caroline off at the bus stop today:(  As a matter of fact, I wanted to take them to school.  You know just drop them off, not get out of the car and kiss them and walk them in....I wouldn't embaress them like that, just drive them there, and drop them off, you know, nothing embaressing.  Did I say "embaress" enough?  Anyways....they'd have none of that.  They didn't even want me to drop them off at the bus stop! Well,  I put my foot down at that, at least for today, the 1st day of school... Ryan on the other hand is just fine with me taking him to school and walking in to meet his teacher(like he had a choice....), but the days of hugging and kissing before I leave are long gone.....:(  Oh how I miss the 1st days of school gone past....then I wake up:)  Happy 1st Day of School Everyone!!!!

We're Baaaaccckkk......

We had a fantaboulous time in Chama, NM this last weekend.  God-willing we'll do it again next year:)  Here are a few pictures of what we did.  It was hard to choose just a few.....oh yeah, and notice whose missing from every picture.

We're Outta Here!

This is where we're headed!
No computers, video games, or TV.


Yep, we're going away for a long weekend.  I suspect that lots of hiking and fishing will be done, oh yeah, and reading too! Ryan's going to show us how to build a campfire and cook us a meal over that fire.  Gotta love Cub Scouts!  Many more pictures to share when we get back, but until then....Siah-nara!

Bountiful Harvest

Over the last few weeks, my in-law's peach tree's fruit was ready to harvest.  They had an ENORMOUS amount of fruit this year!  Being the kind of gal I am, I couldn't let the food go to waste, it goes against my religion!  Tee-hee:)  No really, with 3 hungry kids-make that 4(Rob!), I knew we could use whatever they didn't want.  Here's a picture of what I canned and made into jam.  What I didn't take pictures of were the yummy baked goods that I made too, rest assured there's nothing left!  That's crazy.....

16 Years......

 16 years ago, I married my best friend.  We've had our peaks and valleys in those 16 years, but in the process, we've built something that is strong and wonderful.  We are so blessed with 3 healthy, happy (for the most part) children who give me glimpses of what wonderful adults they'll some day be.  Love you, Honey. I'm looking forward to the next 16 years!

Summer Fun!

This is my 1st post EVER!  I plan to make a post at least once a week.  I think that's a realistic goal considering that I work full-time and have a husband and 3 kids that keep me from posting more often. Here's a picture of my rug-rats in the pool about a month ago.  This was before Paul decided to have his hair cut.  They truely do love each other, but, shhhhhh, don't tell them!