Awyn

 
So she's a little cheesy; she's still beautiful. She was a little upset that Daddy didn't wave back, but he didn't know she was in the window.

Cheesy faces

 

Yes, I fed my kids cheetos. Sam was reading this book to Awyn. Awyn was in the window waiving goodbye to her daddy.

Off to work we go...

 

Go, Daddy, Go!

 

Eric really does practice safe driving with the kids.

Awyn in the Cupboard

 

Scheduling Center

 

Oh the fun of non-permanence

I do enjoy my job as a VUA. I get to wear the ranger uniform, and take people's money, and work in the visitor centers. I like working in the entrance stations. I also like that I'm part-time, so most of the time I get to be home with the kids. Work is usually a welcome break from the daily home routine, for me and the kids. They get to go to someone else's house and play with other kids, and I get to go play adult. The only difficulty in this scenario is payday. As with most federal employees, I get paid every two weeks, with a slight lag between the pay period worked and the pay period I get paid for. Do you see the problem yet? I add up the babysitting hours I owe each and every pay day, and pay these women their very hard earned money. I pay them faster than I get paid. So it's very possible to pay more for babysitting than I actually earn, as is the case this pay period. It does balance out; next pay period I'll only owe for a couple of days, but I'll get paid for working for five days. It's just tough to put out the money before I actually get it. Oh, I'm sure if I explained the situation to my babysitters, they'd work out a deal for me, but then I'd get confused, and not pay them correctly. This is easier for me to keep track of.

I have an entire bulletin board dedicated to schedules. I have Eric's schedule, with code explanations, I have my schedule, and I have the kid's schedule, and right around the corner is a regular calendar where I try to write down everything else, including our social schedule. This is really something for me; I'm not a particularily organized person. I'd be lost without my wall-o-schedule. I'll go take a picture of it so you can understand how big it is. I also tack important phone numbers to it.

I like to joke that my job title is really "substitute ranger" as I look like a park ranger, and I do some of the same duties as a park ranger, but like a substitute teacher, I have no set schedule. I go when I'm called in. Sometimes they know ahead of time, and I can plan it all in advance. Some mornings I get the call and have to suit up and hit the door at a run, with two little kids in tow. Sometimes I remember to pack lunches.

When Sam finally starts school for real, lunches are something I'm going to have to work on. This won't be until Kindergarten around here. The local school does not have a cafeteria. All students must bring their own lunches, and put it in the mini-fridge with their names on it. Just before lunch, the business office manager heads over to the meeting room/library/kitchen and begins the task of heating up lunches and putting lunches out on the table. Then the kids file in and sit down and eat. She's pretty strict about table manners. I've eaten with the kids many times when I substitute. Eating by myself in the classroom is lonely, so I join the kids. This summer was the first time we held a longer day schedule and kept the kids for lunch. As it was summer, the business manager was relieved of lunch duty, although she would heat up the lunches if needed, and I sat with the kids every day. I really enjoyed teaching summer school. I'll probably do it again if I get the opportunity.

Eric's Hike

 

Eric went out for a hike with some friends. They stayed at the Toll Mountain campsite. Apparently they circumnavigated Toll Mountain. I'm posting what I think are almost opposite views. Eric took far too many pictures for me to post more than a couple. I'm not even certain I chose the best views.

This view looks to the East, showing Crown Mountain, and then all the way to La Sierra del Carmen in Mexico. Quite a view. I think you're seeing about 30 miles to the del Carmen.

There's another where you can see the 30 miles to the North boundary of the park. Maybe I'll post it later.

 

From here you can see out the Window, and the Basin developed area.

Sam reads to Awyn

 
Sam is reading a book to Awyn.

Eric went off for an overnight hike into the Chisos with some friends. I'm sure he'll bring back lots of pictures. On the household Wow! front, the icemaker spontaneously regenerated yesterday, and is now churning out ice like it was never broken. I was able, with some encouragement from Mom, to repair our broken dishwasher all by myself. That saved us about $450 for the dishwasher, and $150 for the icemaker, neither of which we were going to pay to fix or replace. We'd been washing dished by hand (hey, we haven't always had a dishwasher!), and just doing without ice. (I don't have a clue where the ice trays have got off to.)

More 1975

 
This would be my sister, Keri, me, and Mom.

1975

 
Dad, Grandma, and me, probably Spring of 1975.

Sam's Cave

 

Sam always seems to be able to find a cave when he goes hiking. He does love them!

Playing while hiking

 

Mushroom

 

Yes, we have mushrooms here in the desert! Even in my yard right now. Such a lovely rainy season!

Ceniza Season!

 

Keeping in mind that I typically butcher the spelling of that bush. Yes, the beautiful 'Texas Sage' bushes are blooming. I don't like calling that because it's not a sage at all. I love the scent, and the color. Right now the desert has been swept up in a lovely vegetative orgy. We've had an excellent rainy season so far, with a really wet hot season just prior, so things are very green and lush. This picture was taken near our house. Eric took Sam out for a quick hike up Mouse Canyon.

Super Ranger Awyn

 
Awyn gives a salute as she eats her goldfish. Note the finally finished cape. I added a red binding to the top to cover up the not-so-neat job I'd done in blue earlier. I think the red makes for a nice touch.

She doesn't hold still

 

I made Awyn her own cape. Eric wanted me to put letters on their capes, so Sam's got an addition too. Awyn moves too fast while wearing her cape to get a good picture, so this one just shows her A. Awyn had been wearing her Dad's cape. She chose the color, Blue. Even after I offered her other color choices while fabric shopping, she held firm with her blue cape.

Super Sam

 

Caterpillar

 

This one is a mystery caterpillar. Two of these decided to eat much of my mysterious tomato plant. I left them alone, simple because I hadn't planted the tomato, and I decided they had just as much right to the plant as I did. Besides, they only at some leaves - they left the tomatoes alone.

He had to play it too

 

Because it was so much fun when Awyn was doing it, Sam decided to do it too.

Surprise!

 

Sam's turn in the box. I had to put Awyn down for a nap so Sam could get his chance to play.

Awyn picks this one

 

Awyn wants me to post this picture. I like the ones where she's smiling better.

I'll Nap Here.

 

Pop-goes-the-Awyn

 

Peek-a-boo