Popalicious

Aunt Jessie & Uncle K sent a little something different our way. It's always a fun day when a care package arrives.

Popcorn is ALWAYS a huge hit here. Whenever we return from a night out, the house smells like popcorn because the kids convince the babysitter that they each need their own bag (there are never any leftovers). 

Ready to go in the microwave.

Two minutes later.

Pretty cool stuff. The kids, of course, prefer the movie theatre style with LOTS of butter. But, I thought this was perfect - and just the thing for an Easter basket (or stocking stuffer).
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Who is Joseph Kony?

This movie is long (30 minutes) but important and interesting for two points.  First, it's saddens me that so many countries struggle with atrocious civil war & genocide in this day. We just watched the Whistleblower.

The crimes in that movie are gut wrenching for an entirely different set of reasons, but still related to the fall out of civil war that seems so unfathomable in this time.

I just finished reading Running the Rift and again I couldn't comprehend how your home could be almost instantaneously transformed into a war zone.  It seemed like struggles in Rwanda were invisible to the rest of the world community. This movie illuminates yet another civil war zone that is hard to imagine existing in current society.

Second, the video really shows the power of the younger generation. It amazes me how TRI is using the power of social media and technology to fight for the children of Uganda. Here's hoping that the movement is successful. 

But, of course, no political action or organization is without criticism. You can find numerous differing opinions regarding TRI/ Invisible Children and the scale of the problems in Uganda throughout the web.

Lady Lobos!

While I took Ella to a girl scout outing, Nick took the twins to a Lady Lobos' basketball game. They had a marvelous time. 

Nick said that Charlie was into the game & cheered loudly (for the right team!)

Greta's highlights were meeting Lucy the Lobo, winning a t-shirt, the pink pom poms and watching the cheerleaders.

In Utah, we had so much fun watching the women's gymnastics meets. Here, the Lady Lobos are the hot family ticket in town. Go Lobos!

Horsin' Around

Last year, I went crazy with Groupon purchases. For the most part, it was a great experience & it helped us learn about Albuquerque.

One purchase was 4 horseback riding lessons from Bosque Circle Ranch for Ella.

She learned how to brush & saddle her horse.

Ella fell in love with Annabelle - the 29 year old horse who looked like she was going to fall asleep with Ella on top of her. 

Annabelle was the perfect horse to learn on. Very gentle.

Ella & her friends were able to steer the horses around their corral nicely.

The only trouble was that Nick had a conflict with the lesson & I had to bring the twins. They read the sign & knew the 6 year old age limit was not real. Thanks kindergarten.

They were good sports. They are hoping we can do some riding in Colorado over Spring Break.

The lessons are done, but we are still finding Annabelle hair everywhere. She sheds like a dog.

The ranch is not offering lessons anymore. Maybe this summer we will find a new place for lessons for our little cowpokes.

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

PJ day at school today.

Stuffed animals.

Dr. Seuss books.

Green eggs & ham brunch.

School wide read-a-long.

Craft time at the kids favorite bookstore.

Topped off with movie night fundraiser at school.

Quite the birthday celebration.

A Fairy-ly Exciting Day

The Tooth Fairy has a new client!

Unlike her big sister who prefers to hang on to her teeth forever, Miss Greta would ask me to try to pull out the tooth several times a day.

She was super excited to loose this one. She smiles very broadly these days hoping that everyone notices her gap. If they don't, she's not shy about sharing her exciting news.

One gold dubloon for her troubles. So far the shine & rareness of the dollar coin has overshadowed the tooth fairy's more generous donation at other houses.

Swing Time

Nick was very excited to find a batting cage with a slow pitch machine.

With t-ball & softball around the corner, he's been trying to get the kids out to practice.

Charlie loves it & is ready to go anytime.

He's got pretty good hand-eye coordination for a 5 year old.

Miss Greta did an impressive job on her first time out. She's working on getting the timing of her swing perfected.

There is a video of her first hit. Unfortunately, the cheers were cut short since the ball also hit her finger. We knew she was really hurt when the crying stopped & she just sat looking like she was in pain. Nick was concerned it was broken or that the inflamed nail bed might need to be drained so he took her to insta-care.

I think the extra attention & TLC was just what the doctor ordered. Nothing was broken, we don't think she'll lose the nail & she got a super cool bandage that she wore for the night. Greta only wanted to play t-ball for the snacks so after this catastrophe she was ready to hang up her career, but Charlie convinced her that the ball stays still in T-ball and she should still play.

Last weekend, Nick took Ella & Charlie to the cages. He invited Greta, but she decided she would rather go read to the dogs at the library (her new favorite Saturday activity).