Created on Snapfish.com

I created these super cute photo collages on snapfish.com. I love this website!

fall pictures taken at the Claiborne House in Kyle

random pictures of Eric

random pictures of Mason

The fight to end childhood cancer

Hello everyone, Today's post is a little different from the norm, I don't usually send out emails or repost about sob stories or anything asking for money but this one hits close to home for me. Below is an entry from my friend Wendy's blog. Her blog is mostly about her son Kaden, who was diagnosed in Dec. 06 with leukemia. I encourage you to check out their page: Kaden Kilburn & read more of his story. In the mean time, I'm posting this for all that read this blog to encourage those that can, to make a small donation to this fundraiser that is happening now. If you can't it is understandable, prayers are needed just as much. I've followed Kaden's blog for about a year now & in that time I have read of several children that lost their battle with cancer. Please do what you can. Hopefully they'll find a cure for this awful disease soon. Also this is a link to Kaden's team on CureSearch where you can make a one time donation: Kaden's Crusaders And remember that all donations are tax deductible & prayers are just plain free! Pass this along to friends & family, every little bit helps. Thanks, Kim

The CMN Country Cares for Kids Radio-a-thon is on all day today! To donate by phone call 1-888-499-KIDS! They are asking for pledges of $15 a month or .50 a day, but anything is appreciated. This money stays right here in Central Texas to help our kids!Tonight is Stand U 2 Cancer that will be broadcast on all three major networks ABC, CBS, and NBC at 8EST/7CST.I have heard through the grapevine (trust me that is not easy, these guys are very tight lipped about this show) that Katie Couric is going to focus on pediatric cancer, so hopefully that is a good sign that some of the funds will go to help our kids. All cancers need funding, and hopefully this effort will provide funds to researchers who do not qualify for government funds and cures can be found. It is my understanding (based on the info on their donation page) that funds will be awarded to those that have promising research in the works!Curesearch provides the funds for the trials that most of the children with cancer are on. Contrary to popular belief most kids are not treated at St. Jude (though they do great work), but rather kids like Kaden are able to be treated closer to home with a protocol funded largely by Curesearch. There are a few other independent hospitals also that treat our kiddos. My point is that Curesearch is responsible for the treatment plan that has saved my son's life. You can become a virtual walker and help Curesearch with a $10 one time donation. Their goal is to have one walker per child that is diagnosed with cancer every year, that is 12,500. http://host.curesearch.org/site/TR?fr_id=1170&pg=entry&JServSessionIdr012=nxji3g2be2.app13bThis is also Chili's month to give to St. Jude, and if you are going to eat out it might as well go for a good cause right! Our Chili's is donating proceeds from Sept. 29th to St. Jude. Check with your local Chili's to find out the date or dates for your town.Ok, I must go start school with the kiddos, but I will update on Kaden after his appt. Monday. Please pray for 'good' counts, not to low not to high. For those that need a specific number, we want the ANC between 750-1500. Have a great weekend and don't forget to do something fun with the kids!

Albuquerque Bio-Park

Okay so we'd been here 8 months & had yet to go to the zoo in Albuquerque. Well we did something about that Sunday. The Rio Grande Zoo has something for everyone. There is a botanical garden, an aquarium & a train that connects it all. We started out at the zoo then caught the train & headed over to the aquarium. Which by the way was very cool for a small place. They had a big o' shark tank & a real life shrimp boat (from Texas) on display outside. We watched the botanical garden from the train (very pretty) & then headed back to the zoo. All in all a very pleasant Sunday afternoon.

Mason is amused by the giraffes.

Eric feeds a giraffe!

waiting on the train...

the lion wants Eric for a snack

"Hey, how did you get up there?"

Animals...

These are just a few of the animals that the kids got a kick out of. I'd post more but there simply isn't enough room!

young giraffe, mom & dad were MUCH taller.

kangaroo, chillin after lunch.

emu, it was 'drummin' up a storm.

the pelican grooms himself.

his home is at the aquarium outside by the shrimp boat from Texas!

this is one big turtle. he's in the shark reef tank & poor guy only has one good eye!

Shark Reef Cafe

At the end of the aquarium tour they have this fabulous little resteraunt called Shark Reef Cafe. We decided to sit down for a bite of lunch. As luck would have it our table was right next to the glass to see the shark reef. Really great to keep the kidos entertained!

a HUGE stingray that resides in the shark reef.

we watched him make several "laps" past the window.

there he goes, look at that tail!!

a very curious fish, but which one?

pretty fish.

Mason plays pee-pie with Daddy. Yes, not a fish but way too cute to not post.

Just A Little Walk In The Park

One pretty day last week the boys & I decided to head out on foot. Well, me on foot, them in the stroller. We headed to Sonic, the ATM, Post Office drop box & to the park closest to our home. I sure hope the kids enjoyed themselves cause pushing 50+ lbs up & down hills wasn't all that fun for me!! ha ha ha

Hinkle Family Fun Center

Ya'll remember a place in South Austin called Celebration Station (gone long ago)? Well, we got a place in Albuquerque called Hinkle Family Fun Center (think C.S. but bigger & better). We decided to check it out a couple of weeks ago with a couple of friends & we all had a blast (including Mason!). They've got go-karts, bumper boats, putt-putt, climbing wall, paintball, laser tag, bumper cars & tons of arcade games. We did it all, Mason even got to ride in the bumper boats with me & a life jacket, of course. Eric had a smile on his face the whole day & really enjoyed the putt-putt & laser tag. He wanted to participate in the paintball with Daddy & Bryan but he's just not big enough or old enough yet. (Thank God, I'm sure not ready for him to do that yet!)

Danny & Eric in the bumper boats



ATTACK!! (Danny & Eric, Bryan, Robin)


Robin & Eric in the go-karts


Eric loves the bouncy house!


and the putt-putt!! (Peter Pan
here we come!)

How To Make A Homemade Tent

Supplies needed:
1 twin size sheet
2+ chairs
or
1 wall & 1 sofa

So about a month or two ago we had a scheduled power outage to repair some damage caused by a thunderstorm. Well, I somehow got the little one down to sleep before hand but the big one was too excited about the lights going out to lay down. Soooo, we built a tent. I haven't made a tent from a sheet & chairs since I was a kid, but Eric sure seemed to like it. Since then we have come up with a better version that hangs in the corner. (Tent building still has to be done while the little one is asleep or he pulls it down. Ha ha ha, I guess that's what little brothers are for!)

Tent version 1.0


finally fell asleep!!


Tent version 2.0


he's very happy with the new one!


little brother!!! (just about
to pull it down)

Kiddo Update 8/13 & 8/26

*Note: This post was started on 8/13/08, I just didn't have the pictures I wanted to use so it didn't get posted. Not much has changed except Mason is now 3 WEEKS from turning 1 year old! My,my how the time does fly!!

Since I hadn't done an update on the little ones lately I guess now would be a good time to do so. Both the boys are doing good. Mason just went to the doctor last week for his 9 month checkup (yes, he's 10 1/2 months old, long story) and got a clean bill of health. He's weighting in at a whopping 21 lbs, 6oz & is standing 30 1/4 in tall. He is in the 50th percentile for his weight & the 75th percentile for his height. Woo-hoo, maybe we have a chance of having a tall child! And it won't be long now & we are gonna have us a walker on our hands! In the last week or so, he has begun taking a single step or two and he can stand up in the middle of the room on his own for about 30 seconds or so.

8/26/08: I wanted to do an update on Eric while I was at it. So I weighed & measured him today. He weighs in at a whopping 32 lbs (11 lbs more than Mason) & is 39.5" tall (only 9.25" more than Mason)!! My poor little string bean, it won't be long & little brother is gonna be the bigger brother. I tell you what, he may be small but the boy is smart & has the memory of an elephant!! He can recite word for word almost any commercial he's heard. It's funny listening to a 4 yr. old talk about 5 hour energy!! And he's coming along quite nicely with his ABC's & 123's. He can recognize all his numbers up to 10 & most of his letters (especially the ones in his name, ha ha ha). Not much else going on right now, just hanging tight till we get ready to move back to Texas. (Eric can't wait to get back to have his & Mason's b-day party. Better late than never, I guess.) =)

as soon as he sees the camera come out, he
posses for it.


this ones after me anytime he sees the camera.

more pictures from the road trip

battleship rock & other mountains in Santa Fe National Preserve

battleship rock in Santa Fe National Preserve

(I don't see it, do you?)

Santa Fe National Preserve

he's pooped out, he couldn't even finish his dinner!

Road Trip 7-23-08

About noon on Wednesday I developed an itch to get out of the house. On impulse I decided to load up the boys & drive around and explore a bit. Well, we finally made it back home 4 hours later. And let me tell you, some of the scenery we saw was enough to take your breath away. I cannot believe some of the amazing, awesome, breath taking views we have around here. The weather was absolutely GORGEOUS and felt simply wonderful!!! Most of our trip through the mountains I had the windows down & A/C off. Enjoy the pictures.

looking back to Los Alamos, in the Jemez mountains.

still evidence of the wildfire 8 yrs ago.

looking at the south-eastern rim of the valles caldera.

(the valles caldera is a collapsed volcano, just west of los alamos)

western rim of the caldera

(a very small portion of the valles caldera preserve)

mountains in the Santa Fe National preserve

(headed north on state hwy 126)

{remind me to tell you about that hwy later}

*word of advice: If you plan on taking a drive for more than 30 minutes in the middle of no where with kids, take some snacks & drinks (and plenty of bottles/formula if need be).

pictures

before the haircut


after the haircut



playing together at the Austin Children's Museum



the car trip home

I had more pics I wanted to post but unfortunatly while I was in Texas my other camera got lost. I was hoping against all hope that it would turn up in my truck or at my mom's house but so far, no such luck! So I just have to start over with the ol' backup Samsung. More to follow.

4th of July weekend

I just realized it had been over a month since I posted anything new about the boys, so here it is. The boys & I drove home for the 4th & have been busy, busy, busy!!! On Thursday BOTH of them got haircuts! Yes, I got Mason's haircut & he looks SOOOO different. Friday we joined the rest of the gang for the fireworks in Buda. Saturday the boys spent the day in Hutto w/ Granny. And it was church for all on Sunday (our whole family {minus Danny} fills up one and a half pews just in case you wanted to know). I've got a bunch of pictures to post but I forgot the cord to connect my camera to my computer so they will just have to wait. I'll post them just as soon as I get back to New Mexico. I promise.

pictures of the boys

As my mother told me recently, "The question isn't are you gonna need a U-Haul, now it's what size are you gonna need?"


Hardy, har, har! Last week the boys & I made our weekly trip to Wal-Mart with a specific need in mind. We were going to get Mason a walker. Now, Eric never had one & did just fine but Mason is already at the point were he wants to be up & going. He also wants to be with me no matter where I am in the house, with a walker he can do just that. So, we picked out the walker & started to look around. Wasn't long & we came across the bicycles. After examining it, thinking about it & testing it out in the store, we picked one out. Eric is now the proud new owner of a red & black Rocket bicycle, complete with Lightening McQueen helmet & pads. Lucky for us our sidewalk is the perfect place for him to ride during the day. All of our neighbors on the bottom floor are at work & the sidewalk is not right next to the road making an excellent place to ride for a beginner.

proud new owner.

by golly, I think he gets it!

BUSTED!! Sorry, no pics of Mason in the walker yet, but this one was too cute to not post.

*On a side note: we (@7500 ft.) got some rain earlier this week but it snowed in the mountains (above 8000 ft). Can you imagine, snow in mid-May? Does it ever get warm enough up there NOT to snow? I don't know if I'll ever get used to this crazy weather.

snow in APRIL!!!

About a month ago we got a really strong cold front come in from Colorado & the resulting precip was SNOW!! The weather up here really does take some getting used to. Even still we have some days that it is a little too chilly to wear shorts or days that may require a light jacket. Is this what spring is supposed to be like?? Being from Texas (and MUCH further south) we don't typically have a spring season, maybe a week or two max. Don't get me wrong, I could really get used to this, no 90's yet. Anyways like I've said before, Eric loves the snow & will get out into it whenever he can. Being that this was probably the last time we were gonna see snow for a good long while, I let Eric loose outside & he enjoyed every minute of it!!