KLAQ Parade

I love heading back to my old stopin' grounds to visit with old neighbors and watch the parade. And see Aunt Ashley's hand print in the flagstone in the front of the the old house.
The kids enjoyed themselves and Ida of course had fun running around ensuring that my kids pumpkins had the most candy. Ida lost her husband Bob this year, so it was sad not to have him there. He was missed.

Annual Halloween Party

Our Halloween party was so much fun this year. While the boys headed out to their yearly hunting trip, some of the AZ wives drove over to El Paso for a quick weekend trip. It was fun to see family at Halloween time. It is decided, I am going to enforce that they come over every year for my annual H-Party. It was a blast, and the highlight of the night.....

the performance put on by my Aunts and cousins. They came rushing in all dressed up as nurses, pretended that my cousin Niki was in labor, but what did she give birth to you ask......

A positive pregnancy test!!!! After years of wanting, She is finally pregnant. I was totally shocked and so excited for her. Congrats Niki - We are rooting for Triplets!

Thanks Andrea and Mom for all your help!
Until Next Year, Happy Haunting!

Flood Zone

Last Tuesdays "To Do List"....

party planning
clean backyard
meal plan/grocery list
mail parade pics to Ida
removal of Halloween Decor

Not on my "To Do List"......


Wake up to the sound of a rushing waterfall
Step out of bed to find water on the carpet
Hyperventilating as I walk down the hall/pond
Find a busted pipe pushing out 90 gallons of water per second under the sink
Process to chuck out the old "To Do List" and create a much much larger one!

Things I'm grateful for....

Grandma for the connections and numbers of who to call.
John getting off work early, so I wouldn't have to deal alone.
Justin and Stacey for watching my babies so I didn't have to worry about them.
Keith and Joy for lending us there super duper water vacuum that got rid of most the water.
The El Paso Court system for canceling my Mom's jury duty so she too could help with water extraction.
And of course our rent free residence for the past week while things were drying. (Thanks Mom and Dad)

The house had so much water that it was flooding out the garage door and down the street. (And if you have been in my house the garage is no where near the kitchen) The furniture in the living room was swimming and all four bedrooms were drenched. Eight blowers and two dehumidifiers later, we have finally started to dry out. Now we just need to get new padding for the carpet, strip the tile of water calcium deposits, repaint baseboards, and reconstruct the cabinets under the sink..... Just to name a few. It is going to take a while until life gets back to normal.

(P.S. Donations will be accepted to cover our water bill this month. Please make payable to the "Shoot me now - Flood Fund" ) haha

Hey at least it wasn't a fire, Right!

Pumpkins a la Blaze

Halloween Party Number 1: Carving pumpkins

Who was in attendance...
Uncle Keith and Aunt Joy plus kiddos
Grandma and Grandpa
Me and Kids

Daddy.... not so much. He had to sleep. Boo hoo

Luke and Noah were chomping at the bit to start their pumpkins. So while we waited for Keith and Joy, they took a box of crayons to there pumpkins and colored all over them. They were a little bit more interested in carving this year. Luke enjoyed digging out the guts with the assistance of some gloves.

Noah was more of a one seed at a time kinda guy.

I love the look on Trey's face.... he is so cute.

Happy Halloween

"Mom, Count to Fourteen"

You know when children play hide-n-seek, most kids say “mom count to ten, while I go hide.” But for some reason, at our house you get four extra seconds to hide. One morning we were in the process of getting ready for school and I hear Luke yell, “Mom, count to fourteen”, proceeded by giggles from all. I went to investigate to find every one of my munchkins hiding under the console table in the entryway. I love it when my kids play together. Check out the look on Ashley’s face. You know she is always going to look up to her big bros!

(Noah's jammies are unzipped so he can get to his belly button.)

Here they are playing in the crib. At least she is happy about the boys waking her up.(This post was created about a year ago.)

Road Trip

Some of my favorite moments of vacation happen while on the side of the road.

While taking an "In & Out Burger detour" in Tucson, we came across this Diner. Luke was excited when he recognized our name lit up on this big sign.

Potty Break in the middle of no where.

Still waiting No-no.

(oh and it only took him 2 weeks to potty train, I love him)

Here's to the next random weekend trip with my family, a minivan and all those fun "side of the road" adventures!