Halloween Hoard

We kicked off the Halloween season with our annual Pumpkin Carving / Costume Contest at the house. Each year it seems to get bigger and bigger, with more people and layers. This year it involved outdoor tables and heaters, a potluck and a newly added costume contest! And although I didn't win the contest (I mean, I didn't want to make any kids cry!) I thought my hauling job costume was totally tubular!

Like Gag Me With A Spoon Becky!

I know my trick or treating years are numbered. Being that Cienna is almost 13, I was pleasantly surprised that she still wanted to dress up and beg for candy from strangers. Of course this year she wanted to bring a friend and walk ahead of AJ and I, but I was happy just the same. Middle school has not broken her Halloween spirit!

Cienna as "Mermaid Man" from Spongebob Squarepants

AJ as "Dog The Bounty Hunter"

Unfortunately Tony had to work at the fire station and could not join us on our quest for the most candy ever. We ventured over to Tanoan (the ritzy gated neighborhood) where the legend of full size candy bars did not disappoint! By the time we made it back to the car my fingers were frozen straight and I could not grip the steering wheel. But it was worth it in the end. Each kid brought home at least 10 lbs of candy in their sacks!

After warming up by the fire, we capped the night with a viewing of "The Shining." It was a magically spooky Halloween 2019!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween has always been one of my very favorite holidays, and a few years ago we started the tradition of throwing a pumpkin carving party a few days before the big day. We started off simple...everyone bring a pumpkin, we order pizza, and walla! Your pumpkins are ready for the porch. Over time it has evolved into a semi-vicious competition, where everyone votes on their favorite pumpkin designs and prizes are awarded to the winners. Many of our friends have several kids but are only allowed ONE vote. You can see where it gets "fun." There have been tears from those who did not finish their design in time to be properly judged and some have even come with their pumpkin already scooped out and ready in order to be ready! Some just buy those wood designs that stick in the pumpkin because they would rather eat, drink and be spooky instead of spend all their time carving a pumpkin. While I generally do not enjoy watching children crying, I am secretly flattered that they think the prizes are good enough to cry about!

The bottom line is this: my most cherished memories of Halloween will be the way we celebrated creativity by officially judging it.

Next year I may up ante by making it a costume party as well (which of course will be judged!)

This year Cienna wanted to be a geisha (obviously she has not yet read Memoirs of a Geisha) and AJ wanted to be Chucky. I am always miffed with where he gets his costume ideas from considering he has never watched a rated R movie let alone a scary rated R movie, but his fascination with fictitious serial killers is slightly concerning to me.

One member of our family who would probably like to completely forget about Halloween is Diesel. After finally finding a costume that will fit a mammoth canine, we were so excited to parade him around the neighborhood. He on the other hand felt like a total wiener in his costume. The embarrassment was all over his face.

As we were walking around I reflected on my own childhood and remembered that 6th grade was the last year that I trick or treated as a child. I am hoping that Cienna continues as long as she can (and wants.) Halloween is one of very best things about being a child, and I hope that they have fond memories that they carry through their lives. Now Diesel on the other hand.....

Sweet & Sour

Another Halloween has come and gone and we can safely say that AJ has graduated from Disney Characters to Serial Killers in the costume department. Long gone are the days of Buzz Lightyear...hello Freddy Kruger! I am not sure where he comes up with these things since he has never watched a rated R movie, and I am praying that it is a phase. Knowing AJ, it is not. Cienna created her own character of Unicorn Girl which turned out adorable. We will call this the year of Sweet and Sour!

AJ as Freddy Kruger

Cienna as Unicorn Girl

Immediately following Halloween (and thanks to the dual language school they attend) we have to pay homage to those who have left this earth in body but not in soul with Dia de los Muertos or for you gringos The Day of the Dead. This is the day that we pack away the costumes and bust out the face paint to celebrate the dead!

Pretty Good Job If I Don't Say So Myself

The month of ghouls and ghosts is behind us and we look forward to the family holidays that we love so much. Playing dress up was fun while it lasted!

Best Birthday Party Ever!

Of all the crazy ideas we have had to celebrate our children's birthdays this by far was the EASIEST party we have ever bestowed upon ourselves! There was no noise. There was no mess. There were practically no kids! Yet we managed to make an 8 year old boy's dreams come true with a rolling video game trailer parked in our driveway.

2 hours of multi-screen gaming with all of the latest and greatest video game consoles and extra graphic and gore filled games that he can't play at home. With his best friends. I mean...not to toot my own horn...but this party was freakin' genius! As soon as the air conditioned trailer arrived AJ looked at us and said "I'll see you in 2 hours. I'm not eating, I'm not opening presents and I'm not using the bathroom." He and his friends ran off while us parents enjoyed ourselves at the first party that involved kids EVER. All I can say is #epic.

It Was As Though Jesus Himself Arrived At The Party

Completely Staged Photo Where I Drug Them Outside For 2 Seconds And They Almost Burned Me At The Stake

The Only Thing That Competes With Video Games Is Baseball

I'm Sure Wishing For The Trailer To Breakdown And Not Be Able To Be Moved From The Driveway EVER

Our baby boy AJ....Oh, AJ. At 8 years old you love:

Baseball
Video Games (Minecraft, Plants vs Zombies, Madden)
Diary of a Wimpy Kid books
Graphic Novels
Beyblades
The Green Bay Packers
Flag Football
Your Friends
New Balance Tennis Shoes (Seriously...It's The Only Brand You Will Wear)
Math
Going To Lobo Football Games With Your Papa
Bruno Mars Uptown Funk
Stranger Things on Netflix
Five Nights at Freddy's
Your Best Friend Augustine
Cheeseburgers (Meat, Cheese and Bun Only)
Hooters Wings
Smuckers PB&Js
Green Gatorade
Lottery Scratchers (Which We Won't Allow You To Have Anymore After You Showed EVERY Sign Of A Compulsive Gambler The First Time We Let You Spend Your Own Money On Some)

They broke the mold after you AJ. Anthony. Antonio. AtotheJMaz. What other kid do you know that has 4 aliases by age 8? Happy Birthday!

Independence Day Celebration

Yesterday we threw our 1st party at the new house to celebrate the 4th of July! Although the house is still in disarray, we love a good party, and a great party is was. After letting the kids almost melt in the bounce house, we let them cool off with a water balloon fight as we gorged ourselves with tons of food.

We stayed cool as well with lots of liquids...

And rounded out the night with a hike up to the top of the dam where we could see fireworks all over the city! It was an amazing way to break in the new house with old friends. It was a happy 4th indeed!

13 Years

Somewhere after the 10th anniversary, an anniversary just becomes another anniversary. I can only equate it to after you turn 21...the excitement that comes with a birthday starts to wear off, and while you are excited that you made it another year, it just doesn't have the same pizzazz that the previous years brought. You no longer stress about what you are going to do to celebrate, what outfit you are going to wear, how you are going to remember it. It's just another day that has come too fast, with hardly enough time to remember what you did the previous 364 days before.

I knew that our anniversary was approaching, but with so much on our plate there way little time to properly prepare. I'm not sure I even shaved my legs. I had not yet bought a card to write the words that become cliche year after year. The older you get, I guess less is more. So I was completely caught off guard when Tony told me the night before that I should be ready by 1pm. On a school day? Yes please! True to form, Tony walked in the door at 12:55pm after working all morning to jump in the shower. Although I was packed, I figured that I had another 20 min to get fully prepared. (BTW, "fully prepared" does not mean shave my legs. It means getting enough paperwork done to truly feel that I could relax for 24 hours!) At 1:15pm I was still typing away frantically as he walked in the office yelling "I told you to be ready at 1pm! We have to go!" I became irritated, he was stressed out, we were off to a great (and typical) start!

After speeding for an hour and a half, I realized where we were headed. A place that I had passed hundreds of times on our way to Colorado but had never been. A place that I had always wanted to go! Ojo Caliente! We arrived 25 minutes past our appointment times and begged for them to still take us. As I prepared for my massage, my heart racing from the speed of the drive up, the stress of our lives and me being completely irritated with my groom for cutting it so close, I settled in and tried to relax. Oh great, I got a talker. Just as I was anticipating the ending of my hour long massage she poured hot oil on my scalp and all my cares melted away. I started to think that I had completely lost my mind and sense of time. How could I still be in this room? This is the longest massage of my entire life! This is life! God, I love Tony! A 2 1/2 hour massage was just what the doctor ordered!

By the time I floated out of the treatment room I had forgotten all of the reasons that I wanted to be single again. As I gazed out onto the scenery, I was overcome with gratefulness. To my husband of 13 years, my mother in law for watching the kids for the night and for enough work to pay for what I could only assume was adding up to be a very expensive trip! We sat in the hot springs, covered ourselves in mud to bake in the sun, ate a fantastic dinner and told campfire stories with new friends from far away places. It was truly a magical 24 hours to celebrate 13 years!

Uncle Jay Strikes Back!

There is no one on the planet who can make me laugh harder than my big brother Jay. So when he came to visit for the first time in a couple of years, I knew that we were all in for a great time...and boy did he deliver! First off, the title of this blog is a lie. Uncle Jay NEVER strikes back. In fact, he has mastered the art of taking a WWF looking blow to the head as if you had taken a folding chair during Summer Slam, walked to the top of a 20ft A frame ladder, and magnificently swan dived your body off hitting him precisely on the top of the head. He is the best. So after taking Cienna to the mall for her bi-annual birthday / Christmas shopping spree, he allowed both of the kids to manhandle him with a giant stuffed Narwhal like an absolute pro!

Bi-Annual Shopping Spree

Narwhal Bash Fest

The gifts just came on coming. After taking AJ on his bi-yearly shopping spree, he also bestowed the gift of purging on me. In addition to his amazing talent of theatrical beat downs, he is also somewhat of a savant when it comes to baseball cards. I expressed my anxiety over having several boxes of loose baseball cards that we had collected from hauling jobs over the years and the fact that I had resolved never to go through them for fear that I would accidentally throw out a Babe Ruth rookie card. My intention was to someday die and make the boxes my kid's problem. But alas, my brother Jay saved the day by staying up for hours every single night going through each and every card. He divided them into "binder quality" which we call "The Ultimate Freestyle Collection", categorized "box quality" which just means to hold on to them for future value, and "slops pile" which means they aren't worth the card stock they are printed on. I wish I had a video of how fast he went through the cards, because then you will realize how many years of my life he saved me in just a week. He is the Rainman of baseball cards.

AJ's Shopping Spree

He also bestowed upon us a gift for our game room. Vintage 49ers pendants that I remembered hung in his room growing up. This was truly a gift from the heart, as I know it was probably painful for him to part with them knowing that he would not be able to look at them on the daily anymore. But it was much appreciated and I will treasure them forever!

Bringing the Bay Area to ABQ

I also bestowed some gifts on my brother during his trip. The first was the gift of Wienerschnitzel. Man does my brother love him some chili cheese dogs. And chili cheese burgers. And chili cheese fries. Another blast from the past of our childhood and I am happy to report that they went down quickly and without a fight.

In His Happy Place

I also gifted him the experience of country club living. We went down to ACC where we floated in the pool, cocktails in hand, living our best lives. A long way from Cape Cod Village!

Living The Dream

Lastly, I shared with him everything New Mexico that I could find in my house for one epic picture to take home and share with his friends.

#turquoiselyfe

My stomach still hurts from laughing so much. I look forward to our next reunion (hopefully in the near future!)