February. Mostly.

I know it's not the end of February yet, but we've only got one more week and I know this will be the only time I have to post.  The month has flown by.  Partly it's because I can't keep track of time with all the literal flying David has done traveling for work, and partly because we have been so super busy!

People keep asking me why I am so busy.  I look at other women with 4 or 5 or 6 kids, women who have jobs and careers outside the home, women who seem to have more on their plate than I do in other ways for sure, and I honestly don't have a good answer as to why I feel so busy.  This is the first time in my life I haven't worked (for a paycheck at least), or been heavily involved in volunteer work, or had little babies or toddlers, or a horse, or had a time-intensive church job, or a house that requires tons of yard work.  But, still my days are filled and full.  I like the full.  I don't always like the filled.

The girls are doing more and more in their individual schedules (more on that later), and we always seem to fill up any free time with some sort of activity or outing.  Now, I'm looking at March with all the birthdays, Grace's upcoming baptism, family visiting, and our normal schedule on top of it, and wondering how it will all come together.  I know it will, and I know it will be great.  But, I also know that I will be the one who has to make it happen the way I want it to be.  I'm a little bit intimidated.  But, I'm also trying to step back and look at the big picture and enjoy it while I'm doing it.  If I wasn't so detail oriented and OCD it would be a lot easier that's for sure.

Well, that was a long introduction to these fluffy pictures of our February outings.  With David's heavy travel, we do try to make the most of the time when he is home.

David went to the Dad lunch at Grace's school.  Here they are "enjoying" their corn dog cafeteria food.

Skiing - David has done A LOT of it.  He has also been mountain biking pretty much as often has he has been skiing.  Winter in NM is grand.  Grace has been skiing 3 times this year.  We went as a family last week with the Merrills and the Howards.  One more time and Grace will be better than I am.  She did all the green and blue runs that I did at Santa Fe.

Grace and her pal Christian on the ski lift.

Pizza, french fries, pizza, french fries:

let's just say skiing Santa Fe was a little more enjoyable than skiing Vermont - look at that sunshine!

Harriet.  sweet Harriet.  She skied for a total of about 5 minutes, I am told by the ski instructors.  I missed it.   But, she sure looks cute in those goggles with her daddy.

THIS is what we spent over $100 for Harriet to do at ski school all day?  Swing in the chair lift swing?  That's some expensive swinging Hattie...  (she's the one on the left.)

Well, whatever they did in ski school, Harriet and her little friend, Maren, sure wore themselves out.

Same weekend.  Next Day.  Another hike, another volcano:

Valentine's Day.  Harriet was SO excited.  She had her Valentines ready 2 weeks early.  She counted down the days on her hands, checked the calendar every day, and could not wait for that party.  I wanted to throw a fit when she came down with a fever the night before.  It was gone by morning, and she rallied and went.  Whew.  Check out this school.  Again - papered from ceiling to floor for the occasion. Her teachers are completely insane.  Harriet with friends Isabella and Marian:

Too much Valentine Party apparently.  Cute little aquarium Valentine box in hand (they are studying oceans right now in school.)

And... over to sister's party.  Remember the elementary school Valentine parties?  Well, they're not what they used to be.  They're not even "Valentine" parties.  Grace's class had a "friendship" party.  At least they got to have a party at all.  Someday, they will probably be gone for good.  I'm just trying to soak up as much of this kind of stuff as I can.  I am keenly aware that these years are short.

Valentines are also not what they used to be.  You should see what you can get in a $2 box these days.  They're pretty cool.  Here are 3D cards with 3 different images in them.

 Grace with friends Abby and Mikayla and little sis coming up too.

I know there were other things in the mix too - but these are the ones that seemed to make it to the camera.  Yesterday, we marked our 1 year anniversary of arriving in New Mexico to live here.  I really can't believe we've been here a whole year.  I still have things I haven't put away since moving.  I still have pictures on the floor of my bedroom with spackled holes in the walls waiting for an appropriate color of paint to go up before I hang them.  The year has just gone by way too fast.  David was commenting about our first year in MA.  Maybe it was because it was more than just moving, but the first time moving away from family that made it seem long.  Maybe it was feeling like I had moved to another planet.  Maybe it was because I was pregnant for most of that year.  I don't know, but that first year felt like a decade passed before it was over.  It felt like we lived in MA for such a very long time, but the time here just slips away before you can blink.  Maybe it has something to do with that sunshine. 

Grandpa Earl turns 80

David's Dad had his 80th birthday on Tuesday, February 1st.   David's brother, Brian, and his son Jeremiah, flew in to Albuquerque for the occasion last Friday.  

We started the weekend with some good hanging out.  The kids all opted to spend Friday night at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  This was a first.  I really didn't think they'd stay all night, but sure enough - I woke up Saturday morning to an empty house.  (On a side note - I will make a HORRIBLE empty-nester.  I hate having an empty house.  I hate it when my kids aren't here, especially overnight.  Sure, once in a while I like a few hours to myself, but I start missing them pretty quick, even when they're in school sometimes.)

Our girls really do love their cousins, each and every one.  Whomever they just saw last is their current favorite.  So, if you want to make it to the favorite list - you better visit us!  Grace and Jeremiah spent a lot of hours on the wii and tolerated poor Harriet tagging along. Hattie is the youngest Chapman cousin by quite a bit.

Saturday, well, I spent Saturday morning with the Relief Society at Super Saturday, David and Brian went on some bike rides, and the kiddos got lots more time with Grandma and Grandpa.  Finally, though, we did have the big birthday party.

Grandma hosted.  We had a really nice dinner and Grandpa's favorite - a chocolate birthday cake.

David looked up lots of info on 1931 - the year Grandpa was born.  It is amazing the things that were going on then, and that it's been 80 years since:

1931 saw the doubling of unemployment to 16.3% , and everybody realized that the stock market crash of 1929 was having far reaching effects . The US government started making some progress on the mob and a notable success was the conviction of Al Capone on tax fraud charges in 1931 which got him an 11 year prison sentence in Alcatraz. Many car manufacturers also went out of business as people did not have money to buy new cars. One of the few successes was the completion of the Empire State building , and in Las Vegas the small local community made the decision to legalize gambling . Nature even conspired to make things worse by causing a serious drought in the Midwest which in turn made food more expensive and turned some area's into dust bowls.  
"Star Spangled Banner" officially becomes US national anthem


How Much things cost in 1931
Average Cost of new house: $6,790.00 
Average wages per year: $1,850.00 
Cost of a gallon of Gas: 10 cents 
Average Cost for house rent: $18.00 per month 
A loaf of Bread: 8 cents 
A LB of Hamburger Meat: 11 cents 
Alarm Clock: $3.50 
New Car Average Price: $640.00


Brian asked Earl to name the top 5 events in his life other than births, deaths, and marriages.  I really don't know or remember most details, although I've heard the stories before.  Maybe David can fill in a little here?  Earl named 3 spiritual experiences when he was given specific instructions to get out of a serious problem at the time.  One of them, I know, is when David was 7 years old - they lost him in Yellowstone National Park - really, really, lost him.  Again, I forget all the details, and I know if I write something it won't be quite right.   But, they prayed and Earl was able to find David by looking where he was inspired to look, somewhere he never would have looked.  His 4th was meeting the prophet of the church at the time, President Kimball.  He didn't give us a 5th.  The brothers took over the conversation - just a bit.  


Grandma's tradition for birthdays has always been to play games after dinner and then choose prizes from her "prize basket."  She is pretty smooth with that prize basket.  There's always something fun in there for the kids that she knows they would like.  There's always something nice for the women.  And, quite often, there's something in there that she really wants to get rid of, and really hopes you'll take.  Either that, or there's something she really thinks you ought to take because she put it in there for you - specifically.  She's pretty funny about her suggestions.  Her prizes have ranged from a can of mandarin oranges, to new socks, gorgeous hand-made bookmarks, cute pads of paper, candy, books, pencils, well, I really couldn't list them all.  When we were poor newlyweds, she often had essential household items in there - I think she's even had toilet paper.   


By the way - you cannot win a game against a Chapman.  They have played too many games for too long.  You'll never beat them.  If you do, they don't like it either.


Sunday, we wrapped up the party with a hike after church.  Most of us had never hiked the volcanoes by our house, so we headed out to check out one of them.  It was a short, 1 hour hike, that was easy for everyone from tiny-legged Hattie, to old doggies - Velvet and Shadow, to out-of-shape Mommy, to Grandpa.   It was a good bang for the buck, with spectacular views of Albuquerque.  

Happy Birthday Earl.  We love you.

"Snow" Days

hmmmm... I thought that when we left New England, we were also leaving behind things like "snow days."   This is our front yard today - does it really look like we needed to cancel school out there?

Call me crazy, but moving to the desert where it snows like a total of 1.5 inches a year, I thought we would be set.  I guess I forgot the part where we live in a place that cold and snowy weather are not normal, so when it DOES happen, people are entirely unprepared and unaccustomed.

It DID snow, what, 3 days ago?  The roads WERE icy for about a half a day.  See the pretty snow on the mountains!  David is excited since the ski season was looking pretty desperate last weekend:

But, it's Thursday afternoon and we haven't been to school, and lots of people haven't been to work since Monday!  The Air Force Base has opened late and closed early.  The museums (ie - indoor outing options for restless kids) have all been closed.   All the kids lessons were canceled (except ballet on Wed am.)  I think it was God's way of saying "stay inside w/your family for a few days and get to know them."  

So, even though the snow hasn't really been an issue, it has been COLD - the coldest in half a century according to the news.  It just doesn't get this cold in ABQ apparently, so houses aren't built with that in mind. Pipes are run on outer walls, sprinkling systems don't get turned off for the winter, and things just aren't insulated to withstand -9 temps with wind-chills in the -20's.  And, apparently, school buses don't start, which is why school has been canceled. again.

Today, half of my friends in the neighborhood are without heat because either their heaters have broken, or because of rolling "blackouts" from the gas company - there's not enough natural gas to run this many furnaces 24/7!  We also know several people with frozen and broken pipes.   Nope, this sunny desert is not cut out for this weather.

So, what have we been doing for 3 days inside?  Many playdates.  We spent Tues and Wed inviting friends over to soften the sibling rivalry.  But, by today, I was kind of play-dated-out.  So, home together we are.  I think it's kind of funny that Grace is so negative about going to school, but what does she do when she's home all day?  Read, make about 18 giant drawings of planets and outer space, do science experiments, and make paper airplanes.  Remind me which of those things you don't do at school?

The TV has hardly been on at all - maybe one movie and an hour of wii yesterday.   (Oh, but I would really love to go sink down on the couch in front of the fire with my OWN movie...)

If you want a great website for super cool paper airplanes:  www.amazingpaperairplanes.com

We've also been using The Dangerous Book for Boys and 175 Science Experiments to Amuse and Amaze Your Yriends.

School.  Tomorrow.  Please?

Random January Thoughts

First, the gorgeous sunsets just do not get old.  Neither do the hot air balloons floating by.  Neither does 55 degree weather in January.  (I am in denial that it will only be 35 on Wednesday.)

Second, we have some pretty great puppy dogs.  I still call them puppies even though they are really old ladies.  Velvet is 12 and Shadow is 10.  They are both still very playful and mostly healthy (well, minus a tumor here and there) and seem to be quite happy.  They still go up and down the stairs with no problem, leap into the back of my pathfinder in one bound, and fetch balls and catch frisbees.  So, they're not ready for the nursing home yet.  Lately though, we are definitely seeing signs of Velvet slowing down.  It is really sad and hard to admit.  For a while we thought she might be going deaf, but then we weren't sure because she could still hear you open a bag of chips from across the street.  We thought she was just getting selective in what she responded to.  But, in the last few months, it has become clear that she hears almost nothing.  You can't even call "let's go outside" or "let's go on a walk" - both things she used to come running for.  More often than not, we find ourselves tapping her on the shoulder and see her utterly startled that we are trying to get her attention.  We are finding it hard to have her off-leash anymore because we can't keep her under voice command and she tends to wander off and we have to chase her down to tell her to come back.

Velvet was also spending most of the day upstairs where the doggie beds are in our bedroom.  I started feeling really bad that she would finish what she was doing (eating, etc.) and then head upstairs for the rest of the day.  So, Hattie and I picked up some nice dog cushions last week to keep downstairs for Shadow and Velvet.  They are both SO happy.  We are too. Now Velvet hangs out with us downstairs because she has a place to lie down.  She's not really arthritic, but she seems to crave a soft spot.  Now, she thinks her new bed is so comfy, she sometimes doesn't come upstairs at night to go to bed.  Just glad we can make her happy and cozy.

Look what the Albuquerque wind blew in!  The newly engaged Jessica and Nick literally breezed through town last week.  They were driving 24 hours from Salt Lake to Houston and stopped for dinner in Albuquerque.  We felt pretty lucky to get to spend 2.5 hours with them.  We took them out for some nice New Mexican food and Grace and Hattie made them play a game of Sorry before they hit the road. I made them stop for a picture to prove that they were actually here.  Love those funny kids.

Harriet.  Playdates.  Preschool.  These are the things that keep me busy until Grace gets home for her packed evening schedule full of homework, practicing, and lessons.  The preschool goes on at least one field trip a month.  Friday we headed to the National Hispanic Cultural Center for a concert.  I'm going to miss this little monkey when she is in kindergarten all day next year.

New Year's Resolutions

Ok, it's January 23rd, time to check in on those New Year's resolutions.  This year, I almost gave myself some New Year's resolutions.  Only, I was a total chicken about it because I knew I would likely not do them.  My excuse for not starting them right off the bat was that I had the flu, or some relation of the flu the first week of January, spent the second week of January catching up from Christmas, travel, and flu, and then spent the 3rd week being totally happy that the first 2 weeks were over and just doing as I darn well pleased.

Here's what I almost resolved to do this year:

*exercise more (ok, exercise at all)
*read my scriptures more (read them at all... is there a pattern here?)
*be nicer and not yell so much

Here's what I've done:

*zero exercise (but I DID buy some actual tenny-runners that have a rubber sole and lace up and everything, so that if I do get a bee in my bonnet, I can't use the "I don't have shoes" excuse.)
*zero scripture reading (but I DID finish my book for book club)
*a lot of yelling (in my defense, it is ALL Grace and Hattie's fault, right?)

I guess I need a revolution, not a resolution.

goodBYE 2010

We finished off the year by hopping in the car and driving to Salt Lake 2 days after Christmas.  Well, the girls and I did anyway.  Daddy stayed home for a nice "staycation."  He said he was going to get so much done... sure...

The drive up was pretty darn easy actually.  It only took me a little over 10 hours, my personal best (no dogs with us this time.)  The weather was clear, the roads were great, the kids were awesome, the scenery in Southern Utah - amazing as always.  I like driving just for that factor.  Ok, truthfully, when I get to Spanish Fork Canyon, I always wish I had 3 plane tickets in my pocket.

We pulled into Salt Lake and started our week with the Barnhisels.  Melissa and Randy are always great hosts.  Good thing too since it never got above 15 degrees the whole time we were there.  We didn't want to go anywhere and stayed inside their nice cozy house pretty much the whole time.  It started snowing the 2nd day and didn't stop until New Year's Day. I had planned to go see a bunch of friends, but the roads were so icy and the weather so miserable, I never got out to do any of it except for a breakfast with my soul-sister Adrienne.  (She and I always seem to meet up when the weather is at its worst, so it was appropriate.)    Silver lining - Grace got a good dose of snow and winter weather.  That always makes her happy.

We did get to see Great-Grandma Primmer for a day as she was wrapping up her Christmas trip and got a few good doses of Great-Grandma Pearlie - took her to breakfast on her New Year's Eve Birthday.  I didn't seem to pull out my camera too often since one day blended into the next, but here's most of what 4 kids do to entertain themselves for a week in arctic weather:

jump on Kate's bed

show your cousin how to duel with a light saber - sorry for introducing weapons into your house Aunt Lis

make your cousins (who got at least 5 sled-loads from Santa) jealous of your one cool Christmas toy that you brought so they take their Christmas money and go get their own.  scooters in the kitchen took up at least half of the trip.

wear the same jammies

look as cute as possible

play with toys that your moms used to play with at Grandma Pearlie's house

jump on the tramp in the snow

chase your cousin in a buzz lightyear car

make Grandma help you with your new lego set

have a raging New Year's Eve party at Mo-Deb's house and laugh until your side hurts

quietly watch the skating rink in Grandma's Christmas village

watch a good movie while trying to make it until midnight, or if your name is Kate, throw the temper tantrum of the decade - good thing the decade is over Kate, you can throw another one.

eat a little too much sugar?

appreciate Grandma's Christmas tree - the only one still standing at any of our houses

eat - how many times did we feed you guys?

ride around with your cousin's dolly

play the new Micheal Jackson wii game - oh yeah, we can dance like MJ

get an awesome 2 hour astronomy lesson from Uncle Randy, our resident expert on the cosmos

run around in your underwear - good thing Aunt Lis keeps her house toasty!

play with Aunt Emmie's doggie, Pip

Grace insisted on watching the ball drop at midnight on New Year's Eve, like always.  Now that we're not on the East coast, we could have faked it at 10pm, but she's too darn smart and waited until appropriate Mountain time.  She was the only one who did make it though - the rest fell asleep.

While we were waiting, we got a call just after 11pm from Aunt Jessica (in Houston an hour ahead of us) who had the most exciting New Year's Eve of anyone.  Her boyfriend Nick, gave her a big shiny diamond engagement ring at midnight while they were camping with their friends!  I am so happy for them.

The biggest, most amazing occurrence of the trip was that ALL 4 kids were completely well for the whole time.  It is really an incredible record for us.  We have never gone to Salt Lake without visiting the insta-care, and Melissa's kids have been sick since August.  As I was marveling over this detail while driving home, I was coming down with an awesome little flu bug that we picked up on our one outing over the weekend.  Thanks a lot Salt Lake for taking your sick kids to see a movie!

The drive home was not so fun.  The skies were clear, but the roads were still bad from previous storms all week.  Colorado, apparently, doesn't believe in worrying about the ice and snow on the highway, so it took us much longer to get home.  I thought we'd never get there.  But, we finally did, and made our very long Christmas break even longer so we could stay home sick.  By the time we went back to a full day of school on January 10th, it was a very long Christmas break indeed!!

I finally feel ready for the new year.  It took me all this week to clean up from Christmas and the trip and being sick.  Having a clean house with healthy people in it yesterday was such a welcome thing.  I'm ready to get lots done now and be productive this year.

2010 was quite a long year when you consider we started January by signing the offer to sell our house in Boston and coming to Albuquerque to house hunt.  It feels good to finally be settled here and have gone through all the seasons here once.  I am definitely looking forward to all the seasons this year here too!  It will be a big year for our family with Grace getting baptized and Harriet starting full-day kindergarten.  Wow, time is flying.