It'a a bird, it's a plane, it's a BALLOON!!

Balloon Fiesta has begun!! I love living in Albuquerque for only this week. No matter how many times I see the balloons, I am always in awe and amazement. I would go everyday to see them if I could. Friday morning a balloon was launching from Porter's school, so we got up a little earlier to see it. It's reall cool to see how the balloon is layed out, then blown up, then how they use the torch to heat the air to get it to stand up, then to heat up the air enough that it will take off. Amazing...

Rhett went to Salt Lake this weekend, so it was just the boys and I all weekend. Zach had his first soccer game on Saturday and he played great! It took him a minute to get warmed up, and then he was in there with the rest of the gang! Andrew is the best fan - he was cheering for Zach as much and as loud I was!

We had plans to hang out with our neighbors at the house Saturday night, but when Katie got handed a corporate parking pass to the balloon glow that night, we couldn't resist. We loaded up all the kids in our car and headed down to Balloon Fiesta Park. A Balloo Glow was scheduled for the night, but with the weather threatening rain, it was cancelled. We had a great time regardless - going through the kids' balloon tent where they were able to color their own wooden balloons and fix them with a light to make them "glow". We ate "carnival" food, junk food and the kids ran around on the grass. They had an amazing fireworks show. It was tons of fun. We are planning on going to the balloons Friday morning - I can't wait!

My Special Day

Happy Birthday to me! It seems like I was just blogging last month celebrating reaching the big 3-0; and now it's been a year and my birthday is here again. I have no idea where the last year has gone - I think it's the fastest year I've ever had. And I just have a feeling that they're going to go by faster and faster.

In celebration of my big day, we had a birthday party for preschool. The intention was to celebrate everyone's birthday (or un-birthday) since they have either already passed or don't fall on preschool days. The kids were excited about it from the first time I mentioned on Monday and they all came today ready to party. We decorated party hats, played limbo, pass the hot balloon, pin the tail on the donkey, red light green light, and danced around. Snack was chocolate cupcakes with sprinkles. I had everyone bring a small gift for a white elephant exchange. We exchanged gifts and had a great time! I'm partying like that from now on. :)

Rhett and the boys have been good to me today. Rhett came home after seminary this morning and fixed me cinnamon rolls and orange slices for breakfast. He then brought home flowers, pizza and me a delicious sub for dinner. He had to leave with Zach for Zach's soccer practice, but I have a feeling he's bringing birthday cake home. YUM!

The Latest

Sometimes I feel like my life is running away from me. I get to the end of the day, thankful that it's over because I'm exhausted, but also wondering what I did that made me so busy during the day that I can't even remember what I did or if I accomplished anything. Yet I feel like nothing ever gets done. I still have all my uncompeted projects that I never seem to have time for. And I never feel like I do enough with the kids. Is life supposed to be like this??

Anyways, Here's the latest. Our PTO election ended last week and I lost. However, Katie won the position of President and the others we were hoping would get voted in won as well.

Rhett and I spent last weekend in Santa Fe for his boss' wedding. We dropped the kids off at the neighbors (thanks Giras'!!!) and went up Friday for the wedding the evening, then stayed the night and toured around the various churches, art galleries, and places Saturday. That night Rhett's boss and new wife invited everyone to a dinner where we ate great food while the waiters and waitresses sang us show tunes! It was a wonderful evening.

Porter and especially Zach spend all of their free time with their Legos. They build cars, spaceships, airplanes and Transformers (transforming Transformers). Their creations are so cool - cooler than anything you'd find on any instructions. Rhett and I are always amazed at what they come up with.

The other night the boys were playing in the family room while I took pictures. Porter wanted his picture taken with this pose:

Then it was Andrew's turn:

And Zach had his own:

The Ugly Bush

We have this bush in our front yard that I hate. For 51 out of the 52 weeks of the year, it is brown (like everything else in Albuquerque), ugly and so big it's threatening to take over our driveway. Rhett and I have talked about pulling it for quite a while now; but it's gotten so big that I'm afraid it would be an all day project. But it really needs to go.

The one week that I don't mind the bush is when it's in bloom. It has bright yellow flowers; it smells a little funky, but is somewhat pretty, none-the-less. And for the past few days, it has been filled with Monarch Butterflies! I have never seen so many butterflies in one place in my life! It's been amazing - when we walk by the plant, they all fly up, then settle down back on the flowers to continue their feasting. I had to get my camera and get a few shots!

Less is More

I was at the computer today when Zach walked in.

"Mom, is less more?" He asked.

"No, less is less." I repied.

He asked again, "Is less more?"

I repeated his question (mainly to make sure I was understanding him correctly). "No, less is less." I said again.

"But on the commercial, she says less is more." he added.

Maybe we need to start watching less TV...

My Life in Pictures

I have so much fun with my new camera. And my most favorite subjects, other than flowers, are my boys. I could take pictures of them all day and I have come to realize that a picture is truly worth a thousand words. I love getting pictures of them doing their everyday things. I'm not the best at journaling - I don't keep a journal of my own, and I'm so behind on my scrapbooking that my journaling in them gets done sometimes a year after the fact. But I'm loving taking pictures and trying to create in them a story or reminder of what the boys are like; what their personality is at that time, what they love to do, accomplishments, and even just what they look like (since the change so much every day). I downloaded another 150 pictures today and here are my favorites:

The other day Zach decided that he wanted a sandwich for lunch. I told him to get everything out; I had to do something really quick, then I would fix it for him. When I came back into the kitchen, he commented, "Look mom! I got all the stuff and I'm making my sandwich by myself!" Feeling immediately lost and useless, I figured I could take part in his moment by taking some pictures. He needed no help; although I did show him the trick of wiping his knife clean after the peanut butter so he didn't get any in the jelly. He talked the whole time about how cool it was that he fixed his own sandwich. I loved the look of accomplishment on his face while he was eating the fruit of his hard work...

Like said in my previous post, Andrew is into anything that has to do with balls. Hockey, baseball, basketball, football, you name, he wants to play. When he first goes out to play baseball, he collects all the balls (and we have many) and lines them all up in a row on the grass. Then he grabs the bat, assumes his stance and says, "Mom! Ready!" He's quite the slugger when he does connect with the ball. When I have pitched him all the balls, he hands me the bat with a "Mom's turn!" and procedes to collect all the balls again and line them up. He then pitches to me, holloring to me to "Run!" when I hit the ball. When all the balls have been used, he takes the bat and it all continues again. When he's done with baseball, it's on to football with a "Mom! Hike!" He is truly all boy.

The next is a little ode to football. Last week, while my neighbor, Katie, and I were making our 366 cake balls for the school teachers, our kids were playing in the backyard. The girls had made this cake with sand, beanbags, and the football, and I couldn't help but laugh and take a picture of their creation.

These last ones are just some favorites of my boys. They each have such expressive faces. They are so handsome!

Busy, Busy, Busy

I know it's been way too long since I last posted, but I have been so busy lately. However, as I sit here and try to remember what I have done and what has happened in the past two weeks, I'm drawing a blank. Let me think...

Preschool is still going wonderful. We have learned about why we have letters and numbers, that A is for Apples, the color red and the story of Little Red Riding Hood, the primary colors, a few songs and much more. I am always amazed at how much the kids know and how smart they are. And I love that they help me have fun.

I have been going in twice a week to Porter's first grade class to help with his reading groups. Porter is in the highest reading group along with two other students and I love to listen to him read. He also got tested for the gifted program this week and we are awaiting the results.

Zachary has started playing soccer with some of the kids from church. He has had practice the past two Thursdays, so he and Rhett go and play. According to Rhett, he's really good and Zach comes home very excited. He has his first game on the 20th.

Andrew is following in his brother's footsteps and loves to play baseball. His favorite thing is to hit the ball with the bat - and he does pretty well considering he's only two. So he doesn't have to rely on us all the time to pitch the ball to him, Rhett built him a T; so he is constantly outside hitting on his own. His other favorite thing is to play hockey with the little hockey ball and sticks we found at the Dollar Store. Really, he loves anything that involves a ball.

I am running for PTO Treaurer at Porter's school. Katie (my neighbor) is running for President and between the two of us, have been very busy getting the word out and getting the staff's support. We decided that bribary was the best way to do that, so she and I made 366 cake balls (involving baking 6 cakes, mixing each with a can frosting, rolling them into 1" balls and dipping them in chocolate), then bagged them and added a little flyer with information about our school book fair (which the two of us also put on) and our PTO election information. We spent all day at the school on Friday between helping sell popcorn to the students as well as going around to each teacher to hand out our goodies. (Luckily we had a few extras so we could actually taste our hard work... YUM!!)

And I do have to mention Rhett - who has been a great support through all my craziness. He knew of the importance of me being at the school on Friday, so when Andrew woke up sick, he kindly took the day off work so he could stay home to take care of the kids! Aren't I so lucky to have such a wonderful husband?!?!

Anyways, that's my week in a nutshell. Hopefully it won't be another two weeks before I post again...