Awyn crashes on her Bear chair

  

Sauce boy

  

Sam cooks

 
I'm hoping this picture isn't too racy, as it was a lot of fun. Sam decided to help me make spagetti, but was naked, and splashing sauce around, so I put an apron on him to protect his skin from the hot sauce. I just thought this was funny. 

Awyn as a horse

  

Super Sam can Share

  

I'm Awake!

 
Awyn gets up after a nap in her newly converted toddler bed. This was a little earlier than we'd planned, but she didn't sleep in the crib anyway, so now we have a bed she really likes. 

Music, potty training, and dancing

Sam is coming along in our potty training saga. Some may remember that a few of my original posts were about Sam and potty training, well over a year ago. So it's been an ongoing process. He wears underwear during the day, and diapers at night. We still have accidents, and while he occasionally surprises us and takes himself into the bathroom, and does whatever business he needs to, most days we have to remind him to go pee, and stop whatever game he's playing. Pooping, well, he wants to do it on the potty, but he has a few positioning issues, and is freaked out when he makes a mess, so sometimes he'll poop on a potty, and sometimes he picks a special location in the house, like his sister's bed and pillow.

Sam and Awyn both love to dance. So we blast music and rock out with the kids. Sam does some great jamming to Metallica. Eric doesn't think we're going to need to censor our music, but sometimes I worry about the lyrics being belted out by a 3 year old. We've got a great video of Sam and his dancing/singing along with his favorite heavy metal band.

Speaking of listening to music, I recently discovered a new band. Well, they're not new, but I'd never heard of them. This goes back to my signing up for a myspace account to see if any old friends/classmates were on it, and to see what the hype was about. I didn't find any friends, just a bunch of solicitations from guys who obviously didn't read my bio or age, or even look at the picture I posted. Chad and Debbie found me, but we're family, so does that count? My friend Tracy from college found me too, so there are obviously people I know there, but I can't seem to find any of the friends I was trying to look up. Well, after checking out my extremely small circle of friends, I saw a button that said music and clicked on it, expecting to see too-modern 'rock' or other not-so-good bands advertised. Instead, the first thing that comes up is a blurb on a band called Flogging Molly. The name for some reason caught my attention, so I read the description. I think it said something like L.A. hard rock band with a traditional Irish influence, an eclectic mix of accordian, electric guitar, bass, fiddle, and vocals. Well after that description I had no idea what it was, so I clicked on the play button to have a listen. The intro was only ok, and then they exploded and we ordered the album that evening. They are fantastic. My parents probably wouldn't like it, but most of my siblings probably would. So look them up and have a listen. They have a website, just google Flogging Molly. Their latest album comes with a DVD documentary about the band and the last two years of touring and it is listed on amazon.com.

Sam and his lego table

 
Sam insists on building a track on his lego table. Normally anything he drives around on it becomes a train, but he can be flexible. From helicopters that need Superman to rescue them to maurading velociraptors, he uses his imagination to play for hours. He does get pretty upset when Awyn runs over to steal a lego. 

Hat?!

  

Another new outfit

 
Awyn and her new skort outfit. Also note the shoes. Awyn is wearing Chinese squeaky shoes, a gift from the Northrip family. They are so cute, and we can now keep track of her as she walks through the house. I recommend them for any toddler that seems to be a tip-toe walker. The squeakers are in the heels. 

Before

 
Sam and Awyn play with a stuffed dog. Awyn loves this dog, probably because it can't run away from her. As Sam knows that it is really his toy, sometimes he will exert himself to keep it from his sister, mostly just to make her scream, as lately he only seems to want it if he knows we've given it to Awyn. He took it out of her crib. It used to sit on his bed, but I moved it to try to keep Awyn interested in her crib. No dice. 

After

 
Awyn really wanted her doggie. 

Sharing is fun

 
Sam shared his "peaches". Of course I didn't have any peaches to give him, so I gave him a little cup of frozen mixed veggies. Good enough, as he went through several refills, and shared with his sister and his dinosaur. Today the dinosaur had to eat all meals with his master. Right before lunch Sam insisted that his dinosaur was hungry. I offered the dinosaur a cracker. No, the dino didn't want a cracker, he wanted cheerios. So I put a handful on the table, and the dino stomped and tromped through his cheerios, biting Awyn from time to time as she tried to put the cheerios to better use (in her mind) and ate the dinosaur's lunch. 

Sweet Pea

 
Sam is sharing his frozen veggie snacks. 

Awyn's new clothes

 
Awyn received several new outfits from her grandma Debbie, and we couldn't resist throwing this on her before heading off to the playground because she put the hat on, said and signed hat, and clearly wanted to wear it. 

Moon over noisy contraption

 
We have a new well behind our house. This monster was parked outside our house for the last week, and woke us up bright and early on the first morning, at about 6:45 am. As it is right outside our bedroom window, the whole family was treated to this joy. On a normal morning, we let the kids sleep in until we've showered and dressed. Not that morning. After that they seemed to work more practical hours. 

Sam the Cinematographer

On the Fourth of July, Sam decided to make me crazy. He found the digital camera, right where I'd carelessly left it, at the computer. He took several movies, but I think this one is the best. It was also his last.



Also, I was posting pictures of the kids and their day with daddy at Tornillo Creek, but the software I was using had an error, so after a few pictures, they quit showing up on the blog. I'm stopping for the night, as it's really late.

At the Watering Hole

 
Sam loved this deep puddle! 

Yook, I fwimming!

 
Eric says that Sam found the only deep spots in the entire creek and decided to 'swim' in them. 

Tornillo Creek fun

 
Eric took the kids to Tornillo Creek today. It looks like they had a lot of fun. 

 
This was also taken at the same time as the other, while Eric was gone. Sam was falling asleep anywhere but his bed, and really wanted his daddy. 

Missing Daddy?

 
I took this picture while Eric was out of town, intending to post pictures of the kids on my blog so he could look at them, but I didn't get a lot of computer time while he was away. He's back now, had a great time at Stanford, and I'm glad to have him home again. 

Eric's on Vacation

Well, he'd tell you it isn't a vacation. I think it sounds like he's having a lot of fun hanging around Stanford and learning about the Great Depression and the politics and effects of the time period. Yesterday they had a field trip to San Francisco and toured a few different places. The original plan was that the whole family would go and the kids and I would go visit my aunts, uncles, cousins, and Grandmother who don't live all that far from there. Unfortunately we just couldn't afford it. There will be other times, though, I'm sure.

Sam fell asleep for a late nap, just as I was pulling a pizza out of the oven. I thought I needed a fast dinner, he seemed hungry, so I bought a cheap pizza when I was buying a gallon of milk at the gas station. I put his dinner in the fridge. He can have it if he wakes up, but I'm thinking he might just be down for the count. Awyn is sitting beside me causing trouble. She was just over standing on top of the toddler table by the book case. Maybe I'll post a picture.

Today we went to the play ground so Sam could play with some other kids and I could get the keys for my classroom. I'd like to go do some setting up before I start teaching on Wednesday. I officially take over summer school on the 5th of July. We're going to do a newspaper unit. I'm appointing kids to be reporters, editors, publishers, photographers, and even a cartoonist. I'm not thinking about doing this all on the computer, in fact I was actually going to make them write it out on paper, and post it in columns on the wall. My goal isn't computer literacy, it's English composition and handwriting, and maybe a little science and math worked in. Anyone can learn to type and let a computer fix the spelling and grammar. This is supposed to be an enrichment program, so I'm going to work at it. Now I just need to decide if I let the kids elect each other, or just assign them, or rotate assignments. It's only for 4 weeks, and a few of them are going on vacations and there will be some coming and going of this group. I'm looking forward to it. It's supposed to be K-8, but I think it's mostly 5th graders and a few younger kids, including one incoming kindergartner.

Could you pass?

MSNBC has an immigration quiz, based on the questions asked of those applying for US citizenship. The actual test is oral, not multiple choice, but they've taken pity on us poor slobs used to being given the answer before guessing. I missed only one, and it was #19, the one on what form you fill out to apply for citizenship. I was forced to guess on that one.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13442226/

Awyn wins!

 
I wish I'd had our picture taken together, but I didn't think of it at the time. We went to a summer solstice fair on Wednesday. Eric unfortunately had an evening program and wasn't able to go with us. Our friend Cassandra went with us too. There were too many things to do for us to do all of them, especially as chasing Sam occupied the bulk of the evening.

There was a costume contest, and Awyn won the kid's prize. I, in my mid-Victorian underwear, lost out to the Earth people. Who can top a scantily clad green-mud-daubed couple wearing some outrageous tiki-style hats with enourmous palm fronds? Not me, and I knew I didn't stand a chance once they showed up. Up until then, I think we had a mother-daughter lock on the whole thing. Awyn won chalk. I was playing for the adult-appreciated weekend at a local spa. Of course, the mud-people were perhaps more solstice-themed, besides being extremely daring and nearly naked. I merely ransacked my closet looking for my living history clothes. Yesterday I was called by a photographer who was submitting pictures to a local paper. She apparently has a nice shot of Awyn, who was chasing bubbles and dogs around the dance floor. She asked me why I chose that outfit for her. I didn't want to admit that it was chosen because it was hanging in the closet, and Sam had only worn it once, for one event, and it happened to fit Awyn. I did have to alter it a bit; I cut the long train off and hemmed it and added a tuck so she could walk. It was an infant dress that fit Sam at around 6-7 months old, pre-mobility. So I told her that I thought that I thought people in the 18th and early 19th century were more likely to celebrate a summer solstice with parties and fairs and flowers. Or something like that. I'm not sure how convinced she was. 

He can Fly!

 
Sam really liked the bouncy castle at the Solstice celebration. 

Super Sam!

  

Happy Father's Day

We've been making the Father's Day phone calls. Just in case we miss somebody, happy Father's Day to all you fathers out there. We didn't do anything special, although we did go up to the lodge for supper. Now the kids are giving us a hard time about going to sleep. Eric finally got Awyn down, but Sam is keeping himself awake just in case he was going to miss something.

Tree Correction

 
For some reason I called this tree a mesquite. It obviously is not. It is instead a desert willow. So I'm posting a second picture of the slightly duller p-bird. As I say in another post, I don't know if this one is female, immature, or just less bright. I'm not that good at identifying bird. The P-bird, or pyrrhuloxia, is one of my favorites here in the park. They fill my need for cardinals. I love cardinals, and they are the bird I miss the most from Arkansas. Yes, if I go down to Rio Grande Village, I can find a cardinal, but I remember entire flocks of bright red cardinals at Arkansas Post National Memorial. 

Playhouse envy

 
Sam really liked his friend's new playhouse. They really did a neat job in building a big play structure.