day 3

September 18

Kaiden is still fascinated by Egypt and mummies. We've bought a few new books from the bookstore and Randy ordered this awesome new toy, sarcophagus and all. This morning Kaiden built a pyramid out of big Lego's in the kitchen and added a burial chamber for his mummy.

We've discovered a few games online, The Mummy Maker and The Restless Mummy, that we've enjoyed a lot. Kaiden is now in search of this treasure but we haven't been able to find it anywhere. It's an old toy from the 90's and we thought we'd be able to find it on ebay, but no luck.

Captured this sweet moment this afternoon. Starbit and Benny were curled up in a basket, cozy as can be.

This Saturday my best friend from high school, Ashley, is getting hitched! I'm a bridesmaid and Kaiden is a ring bearer in the wedding so we've been busy getting the last of our fancy clothes together and making little goodies for the party.

I discovered this neat Pinwheels for Peace project recently. We're planning on participating for the first time this year and we invite all of you to join in too!

And he brings home another.........

Yup! He's done it again folks. Randy has rescued yet ANOTHER kitten! This little girl was rescued from the same property as the last kitten. She doesn't have the same kind of sad story but needs to find a home none the less.

She is an adorable manx kitten - she has no tail! Kaiden is calling her Starbit for now and she has all the spunk to match the unique name. She loves to sit curled up on your lap and rides around on our shoulders. Benny has taken a fondness to her, filling in as mother cat, cleaning her and cuddling her when she sleeps. Let us know if anyone may be interested in giving this cute little girl a home!!! There are more pictures of her on flickr.

Santa Fe River Trip

What a wonderful trip we had!!! We have so many pictures to share because it is impossible for us to put the beauty of the river into words...

Every morning we were greeted by this magical sunrise.

We spotted this big man hanging out on one of our rafts. Not too glamorous, you might say, but we were excited to see any and all wildlife! His size was very impressive and were were very surpirsed to learn that he wasn't full grown! We found a couple durring our trip that weren't so scared of us and wanted to be friends. they would climb all the way up your arm and didn't want to get off!

Stopping for a break on a walk through the woods.

Checking out a sink hole.


Kaiden was really good at spotting alligators! Can you see him?

Oops! Crystal dropped her glasses in the river filled with alligators - very typical of her. Vee saved the day and climbed down and rescued them. What a valiant gentleman!

While on his rescue mission Vee discovered this beautiful egg.

This is called the river sink. It's where the Santa Fe River disappears underground for 3 miles and then reappears at the river rise.

The local mechanic, grocery, video rental, boat rental, gas station, bait, antique, and medical supply center. Watch out Walmart!

We found this pretty lady on one of our adventures.

1, 2, 3, JUMP!!! Kaiden learned how to jump off of a rope swing and it seemed to be the highlight of his trip!

Kaiden's clay creations.

There are so many other things we want to share!

Like, while we were tubing down the Santa Fe river spotted a pod of manatees and we floated right through the middle of them while they were coming up for air! If the current in the river wasn't so strong Randy would have hopped into the water and swam right along with them and made a new title for himself - The Manatee Whisperer!

And, during all the excitement of trying out the rope swing Vee decided to give it a shot. Wanting to outdo Randy, he became a little overzealous and wound up breaking one of his fingers!!!!! None of us knew where the nearest hospital was and no one seemed to be in a rush - Randy taking a leisurely shower, Jenn blow drying her hair, and Vee standing around waiting for someone to take some action- very politely of course!

Canoeing, snorkeling, spotting deer in the woods, fossil hunting, spiders in bed, painting, lazy day naps, arts and crafts, cookouts, board games, finding hidden treasure, soccor games... good times with great friends!!!

oh Arcadia

Taking the trip over to Arcadia always gives us a wonderful feeling of simplicity. We love the history of the old town, the beauty of its landscapes, and of course our great friends who live there! And when its time to go home we leave with a longing in our hearts!

The kids had an awesome water fight that o course ended in tears but it was so much fun to watch. I almost wanted to join in!


This cutie is Bernadette, the McManus's new baby. She is so adorable! In this picture she was desperately trying to eat the lense of my camera. And look at those short little legs, the perky little tail, and those floppy little ears!

meet our newest family members

::: Superman :::

We have 2 hermit crabs but the other, Wild Boy, wasn't being cooperative during his photo shoot. They were gifts from Nanny and Dah (Crystal's mom and sister) as a thank you for watching all of their critters while they were on vacation.

We're learning lots about them...regeneration, scavengers, tidal pool dwellers. And we're becoming very found of the little guys. At first we were really nervous to hold them fearing that their big purple pinchers would take hold and not let go but they are actually very gently - but quick! The two love to explore, run, push, and climb... sounds like another little one in the house.

::: Ungo :::

Ungo is one of two mice we got recently. The other is Jack who also wasn't up for having his picture taken today. We got them on a whim and didn't research much before the big purchase - BIG mistake. The man that sold him to us wasn't very educated on mice either.

We bought 2 male mice and one cage, thinking this was OK since the man at the pet store sold them to us this way. But it is one of the BIGGEST mistakes you can make. We learned the hard way that male mice in the U.S. are VERY territorial. Our guy Jack tore little Ungo to pieces! We had to take Ungo to the exotic vet for infection of his cuts, a broken leg, and tail. Ungo was prescribed antibiotics and vitamins for his wounds.

Ungo was recovering beautifully when one day Kaiden ran to us, looking pale, shaking, and on the verge of tears, and said "Ungo's skin is coming off - I didn't do it!!!". We take a closer look and sure enough, under Ungo's fur was a scab and the scab, slightly larger than a quarter (which is big for such a small critter) had completely flipped over. You could see his spine, and everything inside his body was yellow. A bit of panic set in for us but we soon figured out what needed to be done.

Ungo is now back to his old self again, has his own cage, and gets LOTS of love and plenty of treats. I think Jack is still in the doghouse in Kaiden's eyes but Randy and I are good at spreading the love around.

Hopefully next time I can get a picture of Jack and Wild Boy for you all to see.

adventure

This is what adventure looked like today :

"Two different times- Summer with hot air and winter with cold air. A flower in the summertime in a pretty pot and a butterfly in the wintertime searching for nectar. A meadow and an underground spring." - Kaiden

We've been inspecting our milkweed plants and counting out all of the caterpillars that are chomping away at the leaves and this has sparked an interest in learning more and more about them. So we've started our quest beginning with a magnifying glass to take a closer look at our little friends!

We've also collected a few books about butterflies and caterpillars : Waiting for Wings, The Lamb and the Butterfly, Caterpillar's Wish, From Caterpillar to Butterfly, and Inch by Inch. We even have a movie dedicated to the little guys : Little Einsteins Big Huge Adventure.

Kaiden is also getting more curious about fairy lore. Any book suggestions?

picnic celebration

He's only been gone for 2 days but jeez, it seems like he grew a foot! We had a picnic to celebrate Kaiden's return and it just wouldn't have been complete with out juicy red watermelon.

During our meal Kaiden says randomly to me:

"Mom, did you know some people come back down from heaven once they get up there?"

We spotted this little miss sneaking around our picnic blanket

Another KITTEN UPDATE: The kitten's new name is Kip and is settling in and enjoying his new home and family. Another success story!

kid free weekend

Kaiden has been at Great Aunt Jane's house for another fun weekend and Randy and I have been enjoying our kid free time! It's nice having a little break from the "Mommy! Come wipe my buuuuutt!", "Why aren't you playing with me? Can we play now? How about now?", "I don't want to go to the grocery store. It's so BOOORING!!!", and oh so many more that we hear a million times in a 24hr period.

We finally got our butterfly garden planted and we have caterpillars on our milkweed plants! Randy was amazed that the butterfly garden was actually "working". Did he think the idea was a gimmick? I have no clue, but here's a picture of one of our little visitors:

I had a fun girls day with my mom too. She NEVER buys anything for herself, as mothers tend to do, so it was nice to see her looking all pretty in spankin' new clothes. And look! She's not wearing a polo shirt! There is hope!!!

And since Kaiden wasn't home our other kids got some special treatment and some new toys. They were really excited and couldn't bother sitting still for a nice photo:

looking for a home

Randy's Lieutenant called him yesterday asking if he could find this baby a home because he needed to get away from his dogs ASAP. He found the momma and all of his brothers and sisters torn apart by his hunting dogs. This little guy is the only survivor. Randy must have "sucker" written on his forehead!!

But he is as cute as can be and has a wonderful personality. If ANY of you would love to give this sweetheart a home or know someone who would PLEASE PLEASE let us know!!!

visit to the station

We went to see Randy at the fire station today! Kaiden had such a blast sitting in all of the trucks, looking in every compartment, and asking every question imaginable!

OK, long story about the tortoises....Q, the crooked one, was missing for about 6 months. We assumed he was dead or just ran away. Then one evening Addy, our neighbor, was at our front door with him! She had found him under her trash can! A week later she was at our door again - with Chomp, the big one! She found him under her trash can too!!! We didn't even know Chomp had gotten out. So somehow the two tortoises had some sort of communication to find one another in Addy's yard under her trash can. Of all the places they could have gone! And Q being gone for so long and then popping up like that? Very strange. But we are so glad to have them home again! Randy even made them their own little house hoping they would be happier and think of staying in our yard and not running away again!