Really? Already? (Sigh)

My baby started Kindergarten on Monday - Eva, not Bryce ;)

Doesnt' she look grown up in her uniform? She was up and ready to go to school by like 7:05am (Eva is NOT my morning girl) and said she couldn't wait around for the bus to come at 7:35 - they would have to walk :) So we all walked to school on Monday.

Isobel started school last Wednesday - isn't she cute?The pigtails were just a coincidence - but the backpacks I got last fall on clearance at Target for like $3.75 - wahoo! They were happy to have matching packs.


I don't know about you guys, but have you noticed how ornery kids are after the first few days of school? Eva went from hanging out with Daddy ALL Day to Class ALL day - she is pretty grumpy. She came into my office and put on my graduation cap and made this face when I wanted to take a picture:
Notice how she had to get those tights and shoes off as soon as she got home?

So we walked the girls to school and as we got in the kindergarten hallway - I told Eva where we were and she said, "Bye, Mom!" and let go of my hand. :) I told her I was walking her to class. (We took this picture in the morning and she was waving to Bryce who was making faces at her thru the window.)
Oh, that little face! She can't be so grown up yet.

I have to admit, as Bryce and I left Eva and school and started walking back home, I did get a few tears in my eyes (and held back the rest). I wasn't sad for Isobel to start school - she was just SO ready and I was excited for her. I am excited for Eva, but I'm not ready for her to be that old yet. I guess I am a "normal" mom ;) People have told me how they cried when their kids went to school or whatever and I just couldn't imagine it. Now I get it. It's hard to let your baby go. I won't get a chance to do this again - or have her home again - or be more in charge of the kinds of things she is exposed to. I'm trusting her to the school for most of the day. I am not ready for her to be so grown up. I thought I was a year ago when we were talking about it - but now I want to hold on to her longer.

I love my little girls.

Very Large Array and Pie Town, NM

I am sure some of you have seen Katie's blog posts about the Very Large Array. Well, when Bryce and Polly came to visit, we drove down to southern NM near Silver City and we stopped at the Very Large Array on the way. (We also went to the Catwalk that Katie talks about.) Anyway, it was cool and I took a few pictures.

We also stopped in Pie Town, NM to eat lunch and PIE. When we saw the signs for it, we decided that we could make that stop "on the way" down south. I ate almond creme pie, Bryce had NM apple (which had green chili and pinon in it, of course), Polly had pinon pie, and I think Bryce Sr had triple berry or something. It was worth the stop, but I have to say that my strawberry rhubarb pie is better. ;)

Random Santa Fe Pics

My phone is broken and I have to get a replacement - it should come in the mail next week. However, I don't have a memory card and had to email my pics to myself. Therefore, I have a new group of random pics to share :)

This picture is of an old machine they used to use to give "permanents" - you know, the crazy curly hair. This machine has all these wires and you clamp them onto the curlers and send electricity down to your hair and basically fry it into curling. Looks like a torture device. (I found this in the Clayton, NM museum - who says you can't find treasure everywhere:) These next few pictures I took while I was training in February. I have to say, I love this trail and I love New Mexico clouds! Beautiful!

Anyone wanna come visit and go for a run?

Another favorite place of ours is the kids museum. I took this picture just the other day when my friend LeAnn came to visit. I love this girl.
Here is a couple of super cute pics of the girls with Bryce. It was just a couple days after Bryce's birthday - I'm sure they wanted to remind them how much they love him.

Hope you enjoyed your random tour of my phone pictures and have a superb day!

Absolutely ZERO Desire...

Share tagged me to list ten things that I have absolutely ZERO desire to do/be/try. Here goes:

1) Run a Marathon (Don't get me wrong, I had zero desire to even run a year ago, but a marathon still seems overkill. Nope, no desire here.)

2) Try alcohol, tobacco, drugs, or even coffee (I know some people like the smell of coffee or think it might be fun to try this stuff, not me. Never been appealing.)

3) Make quilts (I like to sew and Share makes some killer quilts, but I just am not drawn to it.)

4) Eat Onions (I know, people tease me for not really being allergic to onions, but they give me killer stomach issues AND they are gross. No thank you.)

5) Eat Donuts (Maybe I'm reaching here, but I really am not tempted by donuts. They smell pretty good, but they always make me feel awful. So fatty and so yeasty. I'll pass.)

6) Get a Manicure (I like pedicures - I have cute feet - but I don't care to have fancy nails. And fake nails - yikes. I like my nails the way they are and I can do them myself.)

7) Eat Sushi (I don't care for fish - in any form - but I'll try it if pressed. Raw fish - GAG!)

8) Be in the Army (I am glad that people are willing to do it, but I don't see why anyone would want to.)

9) Watch any of the Spiderman movies (Bryce and several of his family members went to see the first movie and HATED it - a very diverse group of people and tastes I might add. They were all shocked that so many people liked them. I'm opting out of that experience.)

10) Own a dog or cat (I have a good excuse - I'm allergic - but I really don't care for them anyway. Isobel told us a while back that she wanted to move to Idaho so she can get a driver's license when she is 15 and move out and get a dog. Hmmm)

I tag anyone who wants to play - you can leave the list in the comments. Come on, you know you want to come up with a list ;)

Missing My Cute Girls

The other day I missed a phone call from my mom. I got a call a little bit later from my husband telling me the jist of why she called. Isobel wanted to buy some glasses like mine at the dollar store and my mom wanted to get them for her. They were the lowest power possible for reading glasses and so Bryce said it was fine. When I had a minute between appointments, I called my mom to ask her why she called. She said, "Oh, well, I talked to Bryce and we got it all worked out." Obviously my mom is afraid of me. So I let her off the hook and told her that I already talked to Bryce. I told her that although the glasses themselves are fine, I would prefer her to not use the lenses. Bryce has perfect vision and he doesn't understand what it's like for those of us who don't. I very nicely asked her to take out the lenses. When my dad got home, he took them out...and emailed me this picture:

What do you think? Does she look like me?

When I called Isobel that night, she said, "Do you have $35?" I asked her why. She said, "To put some plain glass lenses in these frames." I had to tell her that if she needed glasses, our insurance would pay for most of it, so I couldn't spend $35 on plain glass. I'm so not fun.

When I talked to Eva, I asked her about her day and was getting a little motherly. I said, "Eva, It's almost 10 o'clock, shouldn't you be getting ready for bed?"

Then I (teasingly) asked, "Did you eat all your vegetables today?"

"No. Grammy doesn't have any vegetables."

"Oh, no! I guess she'll have to go buy some at the grocery store."

"No. She only has $2."

Poor mom felt like she really had to explain herself for that! (Mom's been out of town for a couple weeks) But I just thought it was so funny! I'm sure Mom told the girls she only had $2 because they went to the dollar store and they could only each get one thing :)

Thanks, Mom for having fun with my kids! I sure miss those girls.

(Please check out Share's blog for a cute story about Eva and her "birthmarks".)

...now it is our favorite time...

Signing Time! Rachel Coleman came to NMSD last week and Isobel and I got to go see her. She talked about her experiences: being a mom to Leah and Lucy, how Signing Time got started and why, and she performed some songs. She asked for kids to volunteer to sign with her -- you guessed it - Isobel's hand went up each time. Isobel even got to sign on stage with her for 2 songs! Isobel was so happy that she got to use some of her signs and she got to hug Rachel. She even said she wanted to move to wherever Rachel lives because she is so nice.

Is anyone else amazed at how short she is? :)

Sweet Prayer

Ok - I don't know about you, but I tend to have a very negative memory. I need to work on remembering more of the good moments with my kids instead of the blaringly-loud bad moments. Here is my attempt to remember one such moment that just happened.

Isobel and I were having a discussion about thinking possitively and also trying not to feel isolated when surrounded by people who have different standards. Then I asked her to say the prayer. She didn't feel like she could. So I told her how much I appreciate her prayers and how thoughtful they are. Eva piped in, "Me? You like my prayers?"
"I love your prayers, too."
"But you were talking to Isobel, right?"
"That's right. Would you like to say the prayer tonight?"
"Ya!"
She then proceeded to be thankful for the day and that she wouldn't have any bad dreams...
"And if I do have bad dreams, let me run to my mom's room. And bless that we can be a good family. And that we can be nice. ..."

It was a very sweet prayer.

(I might add that last night she had a bad dream and ran into my room. After about an hour of me not sleeping anymore and her very much asleep on me, Bryce took her back to her room.)

I will miss moments like that. The prayers, the snuggles in the middle of the night (although rather annoying in the half-asleep state), the well wishes as they drop me off at work, the hug requests, the story requests...

Yesterday I was home with just Isobel for a few hours until Bryce and Eva got back from the campgrounds. She said, "I love having time with just you."

Remind me to take more of that time when I get rushed and busy with work and all the other distractions. I want to remember the sweet (and silly) things my children do and say.