Help!!!

Okay guys.

I need your help.

I am wanting some suggestions as to what books to read. 

So please, please leave me a comment with your suggestions.  (You can use the 'anonymous' option, just sign your name on your comment).

I would appreciate it sooooooooooooo much.

**smoochies**

Moon over the Kneeling Nun

Aren't these pictures great? 

I know lots of you aren't familiar with the sights around Silver City, NM.  The ridge and then that little sliver of rock that you can see is the famous (in these parts, anyway) Kneeling Nun.   There's a legend about the Kneeling Nun.  Read about it here.  The wierd looking stuff in front of the Kneeling Nun is part of the tailings pile from the Santa Rita Copper Mine.  It's one of the largest open pit copper mines in the world.  (You might remember the picture that I had on my blog for such a long time of the sunrise over the Kneeling Nun.)

This is the view from our front porch. 

Last night I was lucky to catch the moon as it rose over the Kneeling Nun.  Isn't it fabulous??   

On my own again.

Just letting ya'll know...

Aaron will be gone starting tomorrow, for the entire week.  He's not returning until next Sunday.

He is making his bazillionth trip to the top of Baldy.  But this time it's for a new and exciting (for him) reason.

There is a cabin up there where one of the lookouts live during the summer.  This cabin is an old, historic cabin.  And now it needs work.

Last time he went (during the Week From Hell) they cut down trees for logs.  There are quite a few rotten logs on the cabin that need to be replaced and this time, they are going to remove all those rotten logs and replace them with the new logs. 

He's very excited about this trip.

I'm not.  Oh, sure I don't mind what he's doing...but that's not the point.

My confidence in managing on my own is a bit shaken after my last experience.

My plate this week is not nearly as full as it was during that particular week, but you never know what catastrophies may befall our family.

A Bright Spot

On any given normal day I leave my house before 7am and don't return until after 6pm.  Several times a week we don't return until after 8pm.  So what I'm trying to say is I'm not around much during the day.

During my Week of Hell I was home during the day and noticed something I had never seen before - at our house, anyway.

Morning glories!!!

It was a pleasant surprise to see these flowers that were blooming wild.  They were all twisted up in the catclaw that grows out of control around here.  

Thank you Lord, for that bright spot in my otherwise dismal week.

Mad Skills

Curious about my new picture? 

Impressed with my mad photography skills?

Well, sorry to disappoint my fans but 'twernt my mad skills, but my dear hubs mad skills.

How many times can I say mad skills?  I bet a few times more.

This summer we went to the Albuquerque Aquarium and the Botanical Gardens.  I have been obsessed with photographing flowers lately so the Botanical Gardens were a great place to feed my latest obsession.  In the Botanical Gardens is a Butterfly Pavilion section.  There are tons and tons of different types of butterflies in there and Aaron took as many pictures as he could. 

So...photo credit goes to Aaron. 

But...Photoshop credit goes to me.  I added the text.  See?  I got mad skills too!

Beauty and the Beast

My girls, especially Krysten, just absolutely love Beauty and the Beast.  I paid big bucks to get a used copy of the DVD on Amazon (since it's in the mysterious Disney vault), and they watched it over and over and over and over.

This summer the broadway production of Beauty and the Beast came to Popejoy Hall in Albuquerque.  The girls and I attended it.  It was FABULOUS and totally worth the cost of the tickets.  If it comes to a city near you and your kids like Belle, the I highly recommend taking them to see this performance. 

This is from my favorite scene in the movie.  I love the part where all the dishes sing "Be Our Guest."

Happy 3rd Birthday Krysten

Okay, okay.  So I know this post is about 3 months late, but better late than never, right?

For Krysten's birthday (in June) we went to the Catwalk.  The Catwalk is a pretty cool place that has these bridges that are catwalks.  There used to be a mine up the canyon somewhere and the catwalk was what the workers used to get up to the mine.  Or something like that.  I don't feel like looking up the exact history of the place and it's not really the point of the post anyway :)

So, I took a 3 year old and a 4 year old hiking.  Granted part of the trail is handicapped accessible, but most of it was dirt and rocks and climbing.  Easy for an able-bodied adult, but somewhat challenging for preschoolers. 

They did fabulous.  They love being outdoors and hiking.  They love the forest and water.  So they had that all at the Catwalk. 

The only thing that freaked them out was walking over the actual catwalks, since you can see thru the expanded metal straight down to the river.  But after crossing a few, they got over their fear and were unstoppable!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Krysten!!!

My Sister's Keeper

I recently read "My Sister's Keeper,"  by Jodi Picoult for my bookclub.  Have I mentioned that I love going to my book club?  Just wondering.

I was worried about the book since it deals with such a hot topic, but surprisingly I made it all the way through the book.  Of course there were tears.  There are always tears.  I blame it on my first born.  Those pregnancy hormonal imbalances that make you all emotional and you cry at the drop of a hat...yeah, it never went away. 

Anyhoodles, I recommend this book to ya'll.  I know there were some people in our group who were unable to finish it due to the subject matter, but I still recommend it. 

Curious? 

Well, in a nutshell it's about a girl who has leukemia and the parents decide to have another child that is genetically chosen to be a perfect match in order to help her sister.  The book catches up to the youngest daughter when she is a teenager and is finally deciding to stand up for herself and not allow her parents to take advantage of her anymore. 

If you've read it leave me a comment and let me know what you think.  Did you like it?  Hate it?  Not be able to finish it?  I'd love to hear from you!!

I admit defeat.

Here is a glimpse of my schedule for this week:

Monday
daycare
Prek
work (which is a 1 hour commute)
pick up kids at daycare (which is an extra 25 minutes, in the wrong direction)
pick up Tracey from practice
Bible study

Tuesday
daycare
PreK
work
pick up girls at daycare on way to game
away game in Bayard

Wednesday
daycare
PreK
prepare for sub in the morning
Interview at 10am
pick up girls at daycare, return to Silver
(luckily Tracey will walk to church)
Awana's

Thursday
prepare for all day sub
drop off girls at friend's house at 6:30am
go to cruces for Tracey's braces
take tracey to school
Interview at 2pm
pick up girls at daycare
home game in Silver
youth night

Aaron gone.  All week.

All this craziness was amazingly doable.

Until Krysten got really sick.  High fever, throwing up, and nastiness in her throat (which means doc appt tomorrow)

I can't do all this and care for a sick little one.  The braces and the interviews are things that I cannot reschedule.

I reached my breaking point tonight.

So I called for backup.  I called my mom.  She dropped everything and is on her way right now- driving 4 hours to come help me.  She's going to take care of Krysten for me and I am forever grateful to her.

For those of you that know me, you know that I'm not one that asks for help.  It's very difficult for me to ask for, and accept help.  I know it's a pride thing, and God deals with me on it every so often :) (like now). 

Supermom fail.