Goin' Back To Cali

I had been thinking about making a trip to California for Mothers Day but kept going back & forth. We have several trips coming up over the next month and I had no idea how Madeleine would do in the car. Late Wednesday night I decided to just do it! Packed up our clothes, made a bunch of snacks and Thursday we were off... We showed up on Auntie's doorstep at 11:15pm.

Happy Mothers Day!

It was a priceless moment.

I have lots of pictures to post. It was an amazing week. One of the best decisions I have ever made. The only bad part was coming home (and the fact that we did not get to see everyone.)

Here is one thing Julianna (and Liz) helped me get done. This was my Grandmas and she didn't have use for it any more.

Ta-Da!

Before...


After...


It was my first project like this and I learned several lessons. We've got some re-arranging to do and it will look so cute in Noelle's room!

Good Time Girls

You know those Jones girls...

they're always prowling around town for a good time.

Here's proof!

~

We went to the zoo with Savannah, her Mommy, and her two big brothers.

Poor Madeleine, it was torture for her to be in that stroller

but she's too young to do any walking on her own.

Soon!

The Albuquerque zoo was just beautiful.

So much many flowers in bloom and the grounds were so nice.

I was very impressed.

Get this! You get a family pass for the

Zoo, Aquarium & botanical gardens for $79/year.

There's a huge amphitheatre for summer concerts and special events.

There were more animals than I thought, too!

And they were really close up.

The polar bear was awesome, running back & forth, sticking out his tongue.

My favorite was that monkey wearing the t-shirt!

The giraffes even gave us an extensive biology lesson,

but I decided to spare you that photo. :)

Unfortunately, sometimes chores have to come before fun.

Look at Madeleine cleaning the floors for her Mommy!

One of our favorite games:
'Who's under that blanket?!'
They love to see who can get out the fastest.
Madeleine usually wins. Blanket head and all!


We went to on of those Jolly Jump places and had the best time.
Noelle had road rash all over her knees, elbows, and back.
Note: insist she wear pants & a shirt that doesn't ride.
And my little Miss M! NO FEAR.
Hauling her tush up those things was seriously tiring.
If should could have done it alone, no doubt she would have.


My darling ballerina.
She loves her class and Miss Sara is so sweet.


Pool time!
The weather has been nuts, one night it's pool weather
and then all of the sudden it's freezing and
you've got 2 inches of frozen hail in your backyard.


Summer is Otter pop season!
Instead of getting Madeleine her own,
Noelle suggested they just share hers.
It was priceless.

E-Mail to Unc

Noelle likes to send e-mails to Auntie & Unc. This morning she was up before Madeleine and wanted to send one. Normally, she lets me hold her fingers and we type out the keys. Not today! She wanted to do it by herself. Shocking for a pre-schooler, I know.

cake
i love unc noelle
shark eats a little rock
auntie and unc and noelle go to costco
sean shares rocket

Notes:
She insisted her name be on the same line as 'I love unc.'
She had to be pink because she's so pretty and her unc loves her.
Auntie should be pink too because she's very pretty.
Other colors were very thought out and specific to the words for various reason.
Lastly, I need to put a sticker on it! (happy face icon which would not transfer over.)

Beautiful Views

Everywhere I look, there is beauty.

Beautiful landscape and beautiful faces!

Saturday & Sunday mornings hot air balloons are all around.

Some fly directly over our roof.

I can even hear them from inside when the windows are open.

Then there is this face.

And this face.

Whom is currently obsessed with vacuuming.

You won't hear a single complaint from me!

This is the view of the Sandia Mountain Range from our driveway.

Lastly, this face again from underneath the bathroom sink.

She apparently thinks she's funny or something.

Giggles

Something that made my girls giggle:

Rio Rancho, (the city we live in) has so many great parks! Today we went with Noelle's new friend, Savannah, to a park a couple miles from our house. This place was full of all sorts of fun climbing, jumping, swinging and playing toys. But, this slide was the clear winner.

Something that made me giggle:

New appliances!!!

Put this one down in the record books folks, because I can assure you these words won't be uttered again from my mouth.

Doing laundry is kind of fun!

Then, there's this baby, It's big and it's beautiful.

My favorite feature? You can program how much water it dispenses at one time. So, no more overflowing when your little one gets her own drink of water. Or when you completely space out.

Grateful

...That's what I am.

I've been feeling a bit lonesome and completely overwhelmed the last couple of days.
Today was a doozy. Craziness from the minute my feet hit the floor.
So, tonight I am reminding myself of things I am grateful for.

• Anne of Green Gables. You read that right! Julianna gave me the first two books before leaving CA because I have never read them! Can you believe it? I just finished the first and I'm in love with Anne. Oh, how I wished I lived in Avonlea!
• My husband who picked up all the Q-tips that Madeleine left from one end of the house to the other.
• Yummy food. Although, I don't like how it makes my pants feel. :)
• Madeleine's adorable faces. You have to spend time with her to know what I am talking about. See her picture on the left side bar? At random intervals throughout the day she climb on your lap or crouch down in order to make eye contact with you and make versions of that silly face. It's beyond priceless.
• Prayer.
• Forgiveness.
• Children's story books.
• Listening to my husband sing my baby to sleep.
• Sitting down to have dinner as a family. Regardless of the mind numbing craziness that lead up to it.
• Noelle's funny mind. Examples: #1 when I picked her up from her class on Sunday she came out showing me her hand, which had a piece of paper taped to it with the emblem CTR drawn on it. I asked her what CTR meant and she very excitedly exclaimed, "Choose The Directions!" It really means: Choose The Right. #2 She loves to get the water ready for her bath. I was cleaning up after dinner and she ran into the kitchen naked as the day she was born and while patting the top of her head asked, "Can you help me with my belly button?" When she really meant to ask, "Can you help me take my hair out?" She has such a zest for life, I think it gets in the way of her brainwaves.

Nuts-O

That is life for us right now!

Unc came last week and helped us paint the house.
Oh, the craziness!
Driving all over town, making meals on the fly,
naps in the car, wiping noses,
the madness that goes along with house projects.


Friday morning was movers day.
I was up way too early getting things ready,
drove over to the house opened it up for them,
back to the apartment to get Noelle ready for her first ballet class.
Back to Rio Rancho to drop her off and meet up with the movers.

Here she is. Little Ballerina.
My heart could hardly handle it.

I made the mad dash back to the house where this was waiting for me.

I stood there with the world's largest bingo sheet,

marking off each item's number while they hauled my life into our house.

I put these poor guys on hold (again)

and I raced back to get my little ballerina.

Then we broke for lunch. Yum.

Unc was back at the apartment with a napping baby.

What a huge help that was!

I loved spending some time with my girl.

She had the time of her life!

Watching them bring all our 'stuff' out of the crates.

No time was wasted ripping boxes open

and reconnecting with her belongings.

I wasted no time getting the unpacking done.

Yikes.

We worked and worked and then, finally!

Time to pick up Auntie from her late night flight.

We missed her so much all week.

I only took a few pictures of our weekend. :(

Crashed out.

Poor Madeleine coloring on a paper towel

because I couldn't find a coloring book!

Sunday night was our first meal at home.

Good 'ol spaghetti.

Monday evening came and it was time to take them back to the airport.

I wonder how long it will take to get to the point where good-byes don't feel like your insides are being taken out?

We loved every minute of having them here.

We worked, laughed, shopped, and got so very much done.

The house is actually mostly unpacked and live able.

Most of all we just enjoyed seeing each other in person.

We love you Auntie & Unc!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lately...

We've been playing at the park...

Counting down the days until Auntie & Unc come visit!

Celebrated my birthday!

These were the only pictures we took. :(

Marin, Auntie, & Unc sent me these Shari's Berries & Cupcakes.

My, Oh, My!!! They were YUMMY!

My birthday was very low-key.

Aaron got up with the girls and let me stay in bed.

(A little girl snuck away and snuggled me in bed,

that was quite all right!)

He took them out while I got to stay home and

lounge for a couple of hours.

It was heaven.

When they came back to pick me up,

they had gotten my car detailed.

I was thrilled! It was in baaaaaaaaad shape.

The rest of the day was spent running errands for the house, etc.

We had plans to Here for dinner. But the kids were done. So, we got some soup from the deli down the street and ate it on the couch while we watched New Moon. Finally!

Getting static hair while playing on inside toys.

Making Mommy crazy because after she lotioned, diapered

and dressed her for the day, she jumped right back in!

There is more to share! And I will.

There have been lots of requests for more pictures of the house

and I will do that....I promise!

Who Am I?

Noelle: "Who am I?"

Mommy: "I don't know."

Noelle: "Snow White waiting for her kiss."

Mommy: "Oh no."

Some St. Patty's Day Highlights

After a breakfast of green pancakes and green scrambled eggs, we got ready to head out for the day. As I was drying my hair Noelle came in and announced she had dressed herself for the day.

After we were finished (for real) we headed out.

It was a gorgeous day.

This little girl cracks me up, 95% of the time

her tongue is hanging out of her mouth.

(That comes from my side of the family.)

After we ran our errands and had lunch,

I had to take care of a situation.

A Jelly Belly thief!

She made sure to get my attention before she ran off with her loot.

She ultimately decided hiding by the couch would be best.


Then she brought them out for the whole family to share.

Daddy got home early and decided to

take us on a walk to get smoothies.
We went to Keva Juice (like Jamba.) Good times.


This is a partial mountain view from our apartment.
The whole thing is breathtaking.


Noelle has been begging to go to the 'hot pool' since we got here but it's been under repair.
We checked it out on our way home and it was hot so we ran back upstairs and suited up.
No pictures of all the fun. :(

Comical moment: Last summer when she would jump into the pool I taught her to say "Cow-a-bunga!" When we walked into the pool area she said, "I don't see any stairs into the cold pool, I guess you can only do Cow-la-bunga!" So stinkin' funny.

After baths, we put Madeleine to bed, and let Noelle stay up. We ditched the corned beef & cabbage in the crock pot. Instead, we ate Golden Grahams and & microwave popcorn on our bed while we watched Biggest Loser (i.e. Pounds) on my laptop. Noelle fell asleep half-way through and Daddy scooped her up and took her to bed. I love her life.