Cousins

Last weekend, the cousins descended on Albuquerque. My brother Jeff and his wife Tina, their two kids, AND my aunt and cousin Tamara with her baby boy all came to visit. We had a wonderful weekend watching the cousins romp and play. (Well, baby Will didn't romp very much, but he smiled a lot -and slept very little!) About 30 seconds after they arrived, Garrett and Ryan were off in the backyard looking for sticks and rocks, and Paige and Michaela had changed into leotards. They get along so well!

On Friday we went to the Natural History Museum and had a blast looking at all the dinosaurs and artifacts. Garrett decided to be the tour guide and kept saying "come on guys, let me show you what's next." Maybe he's a future docent...although, his voice is way too loud for a museum!

On Saturday, we took the kids up to the mountains for a hike. The boys used their "stick radar" to find the biggest, pokiest sticks possible. They all caught grasshoppers (except for Paige, who was freaked out by them!) We had a little picnic and walked around some before heading back for family pictures. We got some great pictures of my grandpa with his 5 great-grandchildren!

Sunday I had the pleasure of playing music with my brother. He has started playing guitar in the last few years, and he plays for his church's praise band. Our guitarist was gone, so Jeff agreed to come play with us. It was so fun to be able to play and praise the Lord with my brother! (Plus, it's fun to brag about him...he's really good!)

I've spent the rest of my week trying to get my classroom ready...T-minus 13 days and counting! My life is going to change dramatically, but I know it will be a great opportunity. The thing I will miss the most is the ability to go grocery shopping at 8 am. Wal-Mart is a MUCH different place after 3 pm! So, in order to avoid the crazy shoppers and their screaming children, I've been going at 5:30 am. I may be the only person in the store not stocking shelves, but at least I don't have to get stuck behind the lady with 3 screaming children who is talking on her cell phone and blocking the entire aisle!

Here's some pictures from our weekend!

Cousins

Dads Just Don't Think Like Moms

So this past weekend was the Great "Fix-The-Leaky-Roof" celebration. Dave rose bright and early Saturday morning to get started. After searching around for a place that would rent us a roofing nail gun (surprisingly, out of the 8,000 tools my husband owns, this is not one of them!), I ended up having to drive across town to get one. When I returned, I was treated with this amazing sight:

In case you're wondering what is so amazing about this, did you notice the five year old boy who has a tendency to trip over his own feet standing on the pitched roof???? Daddy apparently decided Garrett was old enough to get up on the roof and "help". Mommy, however, was not so sure. I wasn't really too worried about Garrett tripping and falling, it was more that I figured he would decided to play Tarzan, or see if he could jump down, or try any one of a thousand crazy stunts he is capable of.
But, since he had already been up there for half and hour, I knew that making him come down would start World War III right in our back yard. So, I warned him to be careful and then went inside where I wouldn't have to watch and worry.
Dads just don't think like moms do. Dave thought..."well, he's going to want to watch, and he's old enough to be up here, so he might as well." I thought "he's going to get killed, or break his back and end up a paralytic, or..." Dave went about his business quite calmly and didn't seem to give it a second thought. I guess because men remember all the stupid stunts they pulled as kids and then lived to tell about, they don't worry too much about their boys. Moms, however, have no such frame of reference. There are few girls who can boast about the time they accidentally set their Science teacher on fire (an honest-to-God true story from my dear husband), or about the time they built a bomb in the cellar (another true one from my father-in-law). So, their "safety worry centers" are all out of kilter.
Needless to say, Garrett survived just fine, and he had a wonderful day asking Dave a million questions..."What's that, Daddy? Where do you put it? What are you doing with that nail gun? Can I try? Why not? Can I throw this off the roof? Why?"
After 12 straight hours of work, we now have a leak-less roof and a functioning air conditioner. Dave was planning to re-shingle the whole roof, but after Saturday decided the rest of the roof could wait awhile. He's going to patch a few spots and then take a much-needed break. I'm so blessed God sent me a man who knows how to do all this himself! Thank you Lord! (And sorry honey, I'm sure it would be easier if you could just call someone else to do it!)

When It Rains, It Pours...Into the Kitchen, That Is!

Has anyone else noticed how the month of July is practically nonexistent? When it's June, you're thinking "Oh, it's just the beginning of summer...I've still got all of July left to mess around!" Then after the fourth of July, you wake up and think "It's more than halfway through July already! Where did the summer go?" In case you didn't notice the underlying anxiety here, I woke up this morning and realized that I have only 2 and 1/2 weeks left until I have to be ready to teach school! By August 7th, I need to be ready for teacher's meetings and meeting the kiddos the next week! Yikes!
So needless to say, I have spent several days up at school cleaning out my classroom (Gross!) and moving furniture around (Heavy!). I'm beginning to feel a little better now that I have my hands on the teacher's manuals and I know what my room will look like. However, circumstances around my home have made it rather hard to concentrate on school at the moment...
On Tuesday, we got the pleasure of having our very first children's X-ray! I was dragging all of my school stuff out of the garage, and Paige decided to come outside with no clothes on. Garrett thought this was inappropriate (which it was), so he closed the door on her, not noticing that her pinky finger was in the way. He managed to actually get the door latched before she started crying, so it was a pretty squished little finger. After about 15 minutes of her screaming, I decided this was not going to be just a "kiss-it-better" boo-boo, so I called her doctor. The doctor advised me to go immediately to urgent care for an X-ray.
Naturally, she cried a river until the moment the doctor entered the room. Then she decided she was fine and started playing around. The doctor took X-rays anyway, and determined she did not have any broken bones, which we are thankful for, especially because they would have had to tape one of the fingers she likes to suck on when she sleeps! So, no broken bones and no interrupted sleep! A good day!
Wednesday, I spent the day at my classroom working my tail off. When I was ready to fall into bed that night, I heard Dave say "Uh-Oh!" from the kitchen. Something about his tone of voice was particularly ominous, so I headed back downstairs to see what was up. He had been stretching his arm, and his hand brushed the ceiling and then poked a hole in it. Now, I may not be the most talented home-improvement gal, but I do know that ceilings are NOT supposed to get holes in them when you touch them. It turns out our air conditioner has been silently leaking into our attic all summer and finally dripped its way through our kitchen ceiling. Nice.
So, long story short, our plans for the weekend include throwing the old air conditioner off the roof, re-shingling the whole roof, and then hauling a new air conditioner back up. I say "our" plans, but really I'm not good for much. I can hand out water, bring tools, and anything else that involves staying safely on the ground. Maybe I'll post a picture of our new roof, if we survive the weekend...

Independence Day

Garrett has been waiting for the 4th of July for about a month now...ever since he saw the very first fireworks tent going up. What is it about boys and the genetic quirk that makes them want to blow things up? For the last few years, we've bought a small set of fireworks and set them off in our driveway. He absolutely COULD NOT WAIT for this year's fireworks! Last week, every day was a countdown to the "buying of the fireworks"... "Dad said we could get them Tuesday. Is it Tuesday yet? How many more days?" Then it became the countdown for the "setting off of the fireworks"... "OK, so 3 more days, right?? Tomorrow, and then tomorrow, and then tomorrow, and then it's the day to set off the fireworks!!" (Garrett has a very sketchy concept of time -we're still working on figuring out whether we're eating breakfast, lunch, or dinner...trying to explain how many days is nearly impossible!)

Well, finally the big day arrived, and then he had to wait ALL THE WAY UNTIL DARK to be able to do anything. So, we consoled ourselves by going to see Wall-E, and then Paige and Garrett built their own spaceship downstairs:

Then they turned somersaults on the lawn while their personal audience watched:

And finally, FINALLY, it was dark enough to set off our fireworks.

Garrett wanted to help, but was afraid at the same time, so he ran back and forth a lot. Paige just covered her ears and giggled most of the time. All in all, it was a wonderful day! May God Bless America, and may America strive to bless God!