My life today.

I really am getting antsy for Autumn to come to New Mexico. Every year right at the end of August I get this irresistible urge to get out all my fall decorations for the house. I make myself wait until the first of September though. Ugh, this is killing me. Maybe I will just put a few out to hold me over until the first of September. These are a few things that are going on in my life right now.


making- some homemade birthday presents.

cooking- some apple muffins.

drinking- lady grey tea, with a splash of milk-no sugar.

reading- Pride and Prejudice.

wanting- my kids to keep their bathroom clean.

looking- very tired, black circles under eyes.

playing- Celtic Women, A New Journey.

wasting- time I should be organizing the house.

liking- the rain that we have had.

wondering- if I should paint my hallway and kitchen.

loving- watching my husband kiss the kids goodbye in the morning.

hoping- that I can get some projects done this week.

marveling- at my three year old's imagination.

needing- a full time cook.

smelling- Paula Deen scented candles.

wearing- what else- jeans and t-shirt.

following- Ree Drummond with the Pioneer Woman.

noticing- that I need to give myself a manicure.

knowing- how many blessing I have.

thinking- I need to take the dogs on a walk.

bookmarking- Vintage pictures of Fall.

wishing- for new couches, White slip covered ones.

opening- way to much junk mail.

feeling- tired, didn't sleep well last night.

Having some outdoor fun.

The kids trying to catch a fish. Notice a couple of things here OK? First Anna is wearing Troy's NRA hat that I absolutely hate. They wear it just to get my goat. Second, Ella is such a girly girl. Look how she is fishing with her hand on her hip. That is soooo Ella. I am surprised that Soren is not in the pool swimming with the fish.

Soren shooting a .22.

Anna taking her turn with the shotgun.

Now Logan is taking a go at it.

Ella shooting a .22.

Both the girls were learning how to tie a fly. Anna really got into it.

Ella on starting on the rock wall.

Logan is an old pro at this.

Soren was pretty excited to be doing this. Last year he was to short for the climbing wall. He was so sure he was going to be BIG enough this year.

Today was the New Mexico Outdoor Expo. Troy took Logan, Anna, Ella and Soren to have some fun shooting guns, making flies, fishing, climbing rock walls and some art projects. They came home with lots of stories for me to listen to all at once.

I had been sick so I stayed home with Olivia. She was feeling a little under the weather too. It was nice to have some quiet time and listen to some good music. Olivia took a long nap that improved her disposition greatly. I, on the other hand, tried to take a nap and was unable to. I was scared that the mouse that one of the dogs caught and brought in the house was going to crawl all over me. Molly was playing with a mouse this morning and it got loose. Every time I would close my eyes I would get the heeby jeebies. To bad my disposition did not improve.

Puppy Power.

The kids use the Build-a-Bear clothes to play dress up with Fred and Molly. They are not going to be able to fit into them for much longer.

Soren doing his best to get into the shot. Molly was trying to get Fred to wake up to play with her.

How cute is she?

Poor Fred, tired from getting dressed.

Molly's inner diva is coming out.

Olivia and Soren thought this was pretty dang funny.

Anna took this photo of Molly sleeping a few days ago. Notice Fred's butt up in the air.

Izzie playing tug of war with them.

I had to get a picture of this. Troy was on his computer tonight when Fred climbed up and snuggled up with him, his butt in the air.

The puppies have been growing so fast. It has been so much fun for our family to watch Molly and Fred's personality develope . Fred wants to be with someone all the time. If he wants inside he sits at our back door and holler at us to let him in. Just what I needed, another kid yelling at me. He is very much a snuggle bug which the kids love. It gives Izzie a break from being fought after every day. We all get a kick out of his wrinkly face.

Molly is bossy already. She definitely has an attitude and lets everyone know who she is. I was at the park today with Marissa and we were just sitting watching the kids play. Another kid on a bike came in the park and Molly started barking at him. She got right out there letting him know not to mess with us. It was so funny to watch this little puppy defending us.

Izzie has been very patient with them. If she is feeling like she is being left out she climbs right on to our laps. I swear she thinks she is a lap dog. It has been good for her to have someone to play with. One of the things she does is plays tug of war with the puppies. She will take her sock over to them to get them to play with her. When we take Izzie on her walks at the park the puppies follow right beside her.

We miss Curly so much. Little things set me off into a crying fit. I will hear Izzie's toenails clicking down the hallway at night and think it is Curly, then start to cry. Every couple of days one of the kids will start to think about him and start to sob. It has been such a blessing to have Izzie, Fred and Molly here with us. The happiness it brings into our lives is priceless. The kids all love them so much. Then there is me, I can't get enough of the little things.

Kids love fake blood.

Look at Troy in the background. Can you tell he was a little weary? Anna was pretty impressed with all the gore.

Logan making sure he looks good even with pretend wounds.

Dylan, Logan's best friend had the worst facial wounds. He thought it was all funny.

Ella ever a diva even though she is sporting a little fake blood.

Troy, Logan, Anna, Ella and their friend Dylan all participated in the Rail Runner Mock Disaster. They played the part of the victims so all the emergency personal could practice their drills on them. Troy and the girls went representing the Young Marines. Logan and Dylan went representing the Scouts. They all came home all bloodied up and excited about it. I think Troy had the most fun. He got to help out the EMT people. In January he is going to be taking a EMT course and is really excited about it. ( If you want to see what Troy is really into, go check out his blog at Emergency Scouter. There is a like on the list of my favorite blog sites.) All in all they had fun and it was a good experience for them. I got to stay home not feeling good taking care of two little busy bodies. Fun for me. Hopefully next time I will be able to get all bloody and play hurt.

Pretty in pink.

The Crepe Myrtle tree in the front of our house has started to bloom.

I will take another picture of it when it is all in bloom. It is really quite stunning.

School starts soon.

This past week Anna and Logan both got registered for Middle School. In just short while all the kids will be back a school and it will be just Olivia and me, plus the three dogs that we need to train. I am looking forward to having life get back on a good schedule. It has been a hectic summer and I am soooo wanting it to be Fall again. I know I am wishing away time but I just NEED Fall to be here with the cooler weather. Good luck to all of you that are having to get kids all prepared to start school. With 4 in school there is plenty for me to do.

Our wild crazy family.

Michael photoshoped us all together for one big happy family.

Our good friends the Knights came over the Sunday before Curly passed away and took some family pictures. The top pictures depicts our family so well. We all dressed in something that represented each of us. Olivia was in her fairy costume, Soren in his army, Ella in dress up and my shoes, Anna in a church dress and her Young Marine boots and Logan is just looking cool. Troy and I each wore our pajama pants, because that is what we would love to live in. It was a fun photo shoot. Thank you Heather and Michael!

Pagosa Springs.

Olivia who wanted to take the horse home. We could put it in our backyard Mommy.

Logan who thinks he is a cowboy. Hehehehahahaha.

Soren who probably one day will be a "real" cowboy.

Anna who loves horses the most.

Ella was a little bit giddy and making the horse nervous.

The puppies had been playing in the mud. Can you tell?

Logan even had a paw print on his chin.

This was the first time Fred and Molly got to play in the water. They had fun for a few minutes then got to cold and wanted to be held and warmed up.

My beautiful Aunt Peggy.

The girls made it to the big rock and they were very proud of themselves.

At the San Juan River.

The family packed up and headed up to Colorado for a couple of days. My wonderful Aunt lives there and we stayed with her. We all had a wonderful time exploring the river and mountains. It had rained a lot so we did not get to do any hiking. The kids got to see some deer, boy did they think that was great. They all thought that we should move to Pagosa and live in the mountains. I think we should too, but Troy has this great job here that supports our family. Drat! We had a good time visiting with Aunt Peggy. The kids kept calling her Grandma. She looks a lot like my mother plus they have a Grandma Peggie. It was just to hard for them to keep straight. We are hoping to have another visit in the fall when all the leaves are turning.