Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Summer Fun With Friends…

I don’t have a lot to write about, big surprise I know, but I do have lots of fun pictures of the kids having some summer fun with their cousin Abigail and their Friends. With fall right around the corner, which we are all anticipating very much, we have been trying to soak up every last minute of summer before it comes to an end. And what better way to do that than in the water??

Monday

On Monday afternoon I was babysitting Abigail while my sister went to a dentist appointment. When she got back and all the kids woke up from their naps we decided to set the pools up and let the kids have some fun in the water. Owen’s best friend Olivia also came over and they all had so much fun.

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Cousins!

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Okay, I realize I may get some very nasty comments about this picture of Abi, but I could not resist putting it up. Lol. So funny. The girls had so much fun in the water.

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These two are finally starting to play together. I think they will be BFF’s very soon!

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And Autumn makes sure she is never left out. She insisted on getting in the big pool once Olivia got there. She is the perfect little sister who is always right up in Owen’s business. Always!

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And a play day is never complete without a yummy snack! Thanks livie for bringing the delicious cookies!

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My Niece and Sister. I love them so much and am so thankful we get to raise our babies together. So so blessed! Aren’t they beautiful!

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Hangin’ out after the pool.

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And when we walked Olivia & Kaitlyn out to their car, Owen saw Linkin playing in his front yard. I told him we had to go inside because Autumn needed to take a nap and he was really sad because he wanted to play with Linkin. So we decided to just bring him home with us so the two could play. The boys had a blast together. I love them so much!

Tuesday

Tuesday was a special day for Owen at preschool. It was his day to bring snack. Every month each child is responsible for bringing snack for the class. On their snack day they get to be the teachers special helper. Owen got to be in charge of the calendar, he got to be line leader and he got to hand out snack to the class. He LOVED it and was so excited to tell me all about it when I picked him up. Here is what he brought.

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Dixie Cups filled with grapes & blueberries, Colby Jack snack cheese squares

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and Berry Banana Fruitables Juice Boxes. Owen picked out snack all by himself.

Wednesday

This morning was a fun morning for the kids. We drove across town to the ABQ Uptown shopping center to meet some of Owen’s Best Friends. In ABQ Uptown, they have an area of fountains that squirt up water out of the ground. It is free and kids can run around like crazy and get nice and wet. O my goodness the kids had so much fun. They didn’t play in the water all that much, which was pretty surprising, but that didn’t stop them from running around and having fun.

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Here is part of the crew. Piper, Owen, Olivia & Autumn.

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Olivia seriously cracks me up. She was either trying to lick the water popping up out of the ground or she was busy being a ballerina. The girls LOVES to dance. The second the music outside came on she was a dancing queen!

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From left to right we have: Kaitlyn & Sydnee, Jess & Isaac, Abby.

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Here is sweetie pie Piper. The kids had so much fun walking along this wall and getting off under the railing. They are so silly.

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Isaac and his Blankie.

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Us Mommies are getting to this crazy point where we are out numbered by kiddos. They are so fun but can be quite the handful.

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Olivia & Abby. So sweet.

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Left: Autumn drinking her juice . And on the Right is Hailee, Piper & Sydnee. Love these girls.

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Ring Around the Rosies.

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After the fun outside a few of us CRAZY mommies decided to attempt to go look around Gymboree before heading home. I say crazy because shopping with 5 kids is almost impossible. Here are the kids holding hands walking to the store.

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Luckily, Gymboree has a cute little set up for kids to watch cartoon’s while the parents shop around. They did pretty well considering they get so hyped up around each other.

I can not be more Thankful for the group of Friends I have. They are all amazing and I can’t imagine where I would be without them. It’s even better that all our kids get along so well and have grown up since day one together. I will continue to say, I am blessed beyond belief!!!

Sunday, August 28, 2011

It’s that time of year again…

For those of you who do not live in New Mexico you probably have no clue what I am talking about, for those that do then you know, the smell is in the air….Annual Green Chili Roasting! Yay. My absolute favorite time of the year and also the biggest thing I will miss if we ever move from this state, okay second to my wonderful amazing family. Anyway,  my family has a tradition every year to go buy a sack of chili, or two, and get together to peel it. Brandon went golfing on Friday so I packed the kids up and headed to Wagner Farms in Corrales, NM to go get our chili. I have never gone without my Dad so I was a bit out of my element but luckily I figured it all out. I was instructed to get a sack, not a bushel, of Hot Big Jim chilies. I did it. I purchased a sack (40 lbs. of chili), had it roasted and headed home. I have to add, loading a 40 lb. bag of chili into my trunk with no help was pretty comical but I managed to do it with a minor burn to my leg. Lol. Yesterday my parents came over, we ordered pizza for dinner, and once the kids went to bed we all started the annual chili peeling. So much fun and a wonderful tradition. Here are some pictures of our adventure…

Friday:

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Here are the kids hanging out while we were waiting for the chili to get roasted.

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And here you have it. Green Chili being roasted. Yum Yum Yum. I can not explain how wonderful it smells. Owen wanted to stand right next to this giant roaster, but it was 100 degrees out and standing next to this for 15 min I am sure it was about 120 degrees. We were all exhausted afterwards and had to chug water when we got home. Owen had a blast though.

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We were also able to snag a couple lbs. of Green Tomatoes at the farm too. They are so hard to find but absolutely delicious.

Saturday:

After we ate pizza, there was about 45 min. until it was the kids bedtime. What did we do? Well, we fried green tomatoes my friends. If you have never had Fried Green Tomatoes before I highly recommend you have some. My Dad and I LOVE THEM!!!!

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So here is what you do. Slice the Tomatoes…

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Ingredients needed: Veggie Oil, Flour, Eggs, Salt & Pepper…

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Dip Tomatoes in Egg, Coat well with Flour, Salt & Pepper Mixture…

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And then fry them in oil. Okay, I get it not the healthiest, but O’ my goodness they are AMAZING!!!!! Once a year is not gonna kill you, I promise.

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And there you have it. Fried Green Tomatoes. Yummy!!!!

O yea, if your wondering where Brandon and Autumn were during this whole cooking time…

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They were busy watching the Broncos preseason game against the Seahawks. Boo Seahawks! (That’s for you Papa Bruce)Chili Peeling 2001 040

And Pampo & Owen were busy doing the usual….wrestling! Crazy boys.

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Keeping Pampo young and active. Lol.

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The Cutest Little Broncos Fans I have EVER seen!

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And after the kids were put to bed, the Chili came out!

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If you have never peeled chili before, let me just tell you…it is not easy work, but it’s very rewarding when you get to eat it.

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Brandon LOVES peeling chili. Weirdo!

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Somehow, I was the only one to make a complete mess out of myself.

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A portion of our peeled Chili. Yum Yum Yum. I see some Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas in our near future!

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My new creation, Fried Green Tomatoes topped with Green Chili. Indescribable!

Happy Chili Roasting all you New Mexicans!