Periodically the boys could be cajoled off the trampoline so the little girls could have a turn. Petticoats and ribbons everywhere.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Auntie Gilly's Wedding
Gillian and Colt publically married on the 10th of October. The kids helped with her processional. I convinced Bel to do Juniper's hair. Juney wasn't thrilled with the process but she sure did look cute.
Juniper had already seen her dress but Bruce hadn't seen his shirt. The first thing he did when we got to their house was trot off in desperate search for Gilly so he could get his fancy shirt.
There were three flower girls including Juniper, Kaiya, and Kaiya's cousin Alice. Gillian, as usual, looked absolutely gorgeous. Her dress was amazing.
The processional began at the top of the hill. We kept seeing little faces pop around the corner.
Deedee holding a pink puff of meringue.
The girls on the trampoline were so funny. Pink puffs of petticoats floating up and everywhere. What different energy from the boys who perferred wrestling and leaping over each other (with numerous reminders about the safety rules from 4-6 adults watching at any one time).
Static girl....
Legos ... one of the most brilliant inventions of all times. Bruce was thrilled when he discovered Kaiya's box. BTW, Kaiya dumped them all over the floor not Bruce.
A satellite or so I was informed.
After the wedding we stopped for buffalo gourds along the side of the road. Bel has a plan for them. Of course, Deedee saw us on the side of the road and slammed on the breaks to fix the Jeep ... So they got to help us collect gourds.
And we learned that Deedee could juggle ... I had no idea and you know how old I am.
Juniper had already seen her dress but Bruce hadn't seen his shirt. The first thing he did when we got to their house was trot off in desperate search for Gilly so he could get his fancy shirt.
There were three flower girls including Juniper, Kaiya, and Kaiya's cousin Alice. Gillian, as usual, looked absolutely gorgeous. Her dress was amazing.
The processional began at the top of the hill. We kept seeing little faces pop around the corner.
Deedee holding a pink puff of meringue.
The girls on the trampoline were so funny. Pink puffs of petticoats floating up and everywhere. What different energy from the boys who perferred wrestling and leaping over each other (with numerous reminders about the safety rules from 4-6 adults watching at any one time).
Static girl....
Legos ... one of the most brilliant inventions of all times. Bruce was thrilled when he discovered Kaiya's box. BTW, Kaiya dumped them all over the floor not Bruce.
A satellite or so I was informed.
After the wedding we stopped for buffalo gourds along the side of the road. Bel has a plan for them. Of course, Deedee saw us on the side of the road and slammed on the breaks to fix the Jeep ... So they got to help us collect gourds.
And we learned that Deedee could juggle ... I had no idea and you know how old I am.
Brother does hair
Can you believe Big Brother wanted to do his sister's hair. Did a pretty good job too... good enough to wear to school.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Horny Toads ... Horned Lizard
Horny toad, horny lizard, horned lizard ... it's all semantics to a kid who just loves catching and holding. We found this tiny guy while hiking through 4th of July Canyon. Leaves hadn't started changing yet but probably have by now.
2010 NM State Fair
Made the annual pilgrimage to the State Fair after school (half day) with our girlfriends A & G. Loads of fun as usual. We stayed away from the Midway which helped. Bruce's two favorite things were the Sheep to Shawl exhibits and the blacksmith. Every year we spend hours looking at those two things. Bruce got to try his hand at weaving and was very excited by that. We've been reading The Goat in the Rug almost nonstop now. I got him a little cardboard loom to try his hand at home.
Kid's tried to pose for the picture. Juniper was a bit short alas. A is so photogenic! Who could look good in one of those but her (& my youngest sister).
A very sweet teenage girl let the kids all sit on her horse after she'd shown it. The kids were all so ecstatic. I don't think she expected so many kids to line up for this treat though. One kid did it and then, like they had homing beacons, children started to descend on her asking to ride her horse too.
Believe it or not but I think this is the first time I've let the kids have cotton candy. One bag split between four children. Went well and was well enjoyed.
The Bird Guy did a really good show. Because he had some larger birds, like an Andean condor, I think the kids had an easier time focusing on what he was doing plus we sat in the grass and they could squirm to their hearts' content. At the end, the guy had trained lorakeets (or some little showy bird) to take dollar bills and put them into a box. It's a fundraiser for Andean condor rescue. Bruce and A were very tickled to have the pajaritos take the bills from their hands. Hard to see Bruce though ... but he's there. Look for the curls.
Kid's tried to pose for the picture. Juniper was a bit short alas. A is so photogenic! Who could look good in one of those but her (& my youngest sister).
A very sweet teenage girl let the kids all sit on her horse after she'd shown it. The kids were all so ecstatic. I don't think she expected so many kids to line up for this treat though. One kid did it and then, like they had homing beacons, children started to descend on her asking to ride her horse too.
Believe it or not but I think this is the first time I've let the kids have cotton candy. One bag split between four children. Went well and was well enjoyed.
The Bird Guy did a really good show. Because he had some larger birds, like an Andean condor, I think the kids had an easier time focusing on what he was doing plus we sat in the grass and they could squirm to their hearts' content. At the end, the guy had trained lorakeets (or some little showy bird) to take dollar bills and put them into a box. It's a fundraiser for Andean condor rescue. Bruce and A were very tickled to have the pajaritos take the bills from their hands. Hard to see Bruce though ... but he's there. Look for the curls.
Go Green Pythons
We have joined the ranks of soccer parents. Bruce is modeling his AYSO Green Pythons uniform.
Juniper had to wear her pink socks & shin guards and she hauled around her pink ball. Letting the pink fest work its magic was the only peaceful way to get Bruce decked out with his soccer gear.
Bruce's first game. I've only gotten to go to one since I have Saturday classes. At the one I went to I was pleased to see him stay in game, mostly focus on the ball, and not deck anyone in his dash to get the ball. He does tend to skirt the group but seems to do well if the ball comes to the edge. If we could get him to dart down the side of the field toward the goal when this happens he might be able to get a goal. He's not the absolutely fastest kid on the team but he's probably 2nd or 3rd for speed.
Juniper had to wear her pink socks & shin guards and she hauled around her pink ball. Letting the pink fest work its magic was the only peaceful way to get Bruce decked out with his soccer gear.
Bruce's first game. I've only gotten to go to one since I have Saturday classes. At the one I went to I was pleased to see him stay in game, mostly focus on the ball, and not deck anyone in his dash to get the ball. He does tend to skirt the group but seems to do well if the ball comes to the edge. If we could get him to dart down the side of the field toward the goal when this happens he might be able to get a goal. He's not the absolutely fastest kid on the team but he's probably 2nd or 3rd for speed.
Legos
Bruce's first lego kit ... Star Wars theme of course. He did an amazing job putting it together. He stayed focused, followed the pictorial instructions. He did it mostly by himself with me pushing together a tricky piece and reminding him which picture was next. He found the pieces himself ... mostly put then together himself. I was amazed at how well it went.
Bruce has gone on to complete another kit and is saving his hairbrushing money up to buy another one. He's taken the original two creations apart and created new vehicles and droids.
I recently read an article on autism stating that many evaluators comment that, as a quick and dirty non-scientific test, if a kid (usually boys) could follow the instructions on a legos kit that they probably were not autistic.
Bruce has gone on to complete another kit and is saving his hairbrushing money up to buy another one. He's taken the original two creations apart and created new vehicles and droids.
I recently read an article on autism stating that many evaluators comment that, as a quick and dirty non-scientific test, if a kid (usually boys) could follow the instructions on a legos kit that they probably were not autistic.
Facepainting Mayhem
In a desperate attempt to get Juniper to let me cook dinner in peace I gave her a box of facepaints and set her in front of the mirror in my bedroom. She went to town.
Bruce eventually discovered what she was doing and joined in. Interesting how Juney focused on the pink and Bruce on the black. I suppose if there had been a red stick he would have used that preferentially.
He was very proud of the sun on his chest. Got very upset when I scrubbed it off in the tub that evening.
Juniper is very lucky to have such a gifted Auntie to paint pretty pictures on her legs. You know they got $2-3 a kid at the State Fair for face painting. Wonder if that is a 2nd career option ... might get annoying after awhile.
After the painting extravganza & dinner the kids went into the tub for some vigorous scrubbing. Remember the book The Cat in the Hat Comes Back and the scary pink ring in the tub scene? That was my tub afterwards but in many colors. Bon Ami (old fashioned Comet) did not cut it.
Bruce eventually discovered what she was doing and joined in. Interesting how Juney focused on the pink and Bruce on the black. I suppose if there had been a red stick he would have used that preferentially.
He was very proud of the sun on his chest. Got very upset when I scrubbed it off in the tub that evening.
Juniper is very lucky to have such a gifted Auntie to paint pretty pictures on her legs. You know they got $2-3 a kid at the State Fair for face painting. Wonder if that is a 2nd career option ... might get annoying after awhile.
After the painting extravganza & dinner the kids went into the tub for some vigorous scrubbing. Remember the book The Cat in the Hat Comes Back and the scary pink ring in the tub scene? That was my tub afterwards but in many colors. Bon Ami (old fashioned Comet) did not cut it.
OMG... moment of mommy insanity
We got a dog! We were actually looking around with Auntie Bel because she's been thinking of getting a dog and training it as a therapy dog in her classroom. We took Bruce because we thought he would give us an idea of the dog's temperatment. Well he bonded with one. Didn't think it would happen. He mostly ignored the other dogs. But something clicked with this one. He had dreams about this dog and told me about it the next morning ... Bruce never recalls his dreams. After thinking about it for a few days, me and Bel worked out a caretaking agreement and Bruce and I went to Animal Humane and picked up our poochito. He's a 2yr old red heeler. He came with a name but Bruce changed it to "Heroe." Heroe is a pretty good dog and has gotten better with training although he still has a tendency to bolt after other dogs (doesn't fight ... wants to play). We're still working with the fact that red heelers are very smart dogs with strong herding instincts which is another reason why a training program became very important.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)