Ring of Fire: Eclipse 2012

We've been pretty busy lately.  Logan has had lots of activities and is finishing up his last week of Kindergarten.  He goes on a field trip to the zoo on Wednesday and there's a small graduation ceremony on Thursday for his class.  Megan keeps us busy the rest of the time.  She has become a very chatty, active little toddler. 

Last night we took some time to head to the park and watch the Eclipse.  Albuquerque was in a prime viewing spot for the Ring of Fire Eclipse.  The moon didn't completely cover the sun, there was a bright ring left around the moon.  We took some welding goggles, borrowed from my parents, and headed to the park.  There was plenty of time to play before and during the eclipse.  From start to finish it was about an hour.  The kids were more interested in playing with Daddy. 

Here's some pictures of the eclipse.  It was very cool and Logan really like it.

Busy.....

We've been busy!  That's for sure!  Logan's Explora class started this semester, he and Dan build something at Lowes every other weekend.  Megan started walking which opens a whole new world of trouble, Dan's busy at work, and I've taken on the role of Co Director for our church's art gallery.  Busy-yep that's us.  Here's a quick recap of the past month or so. 

 Sometimes when Megan and I have time, we got to story time or we head to the aquarium to check on the fish while Logan is in school.  Once the mornings get a little warmer we'll go to the zoo too. 

 Yep it is cold in the mornings, on one of our trips to the botanical gardens we spotted 2 ducks standing on the frozen pond with the fish swimming below.  They walked a little further and eventually fell through the ice. 

 We've made time for reading.....

 .....for grooming....

 .....and more reading.

 There were Valentine's Day balloons.....

 ......

 ...and afternoon walks.....

...and time for just being silly in sunglasses Daddy brings home from work.

Christmas Vacation

Logan had a little over 2 weeks off for Christmas vacation.  It started with freezing temperatures, fevers, colds and snow.  At least everyone got sick and got it out of the way before Christmas.  By the time Christmas Eve rolled around we were all better, mostly.  We went to church on Christmas Eve.  Logan and Megan participated in the pageant as sheep this year. 

 Ready for church on Christmas Eve. 

 Logan as a sheep. 

 Megan was a wandering sheep and didn't stay put well, she heard there were cookies after the pageant.

 Later that night, we hung up our stockings.

 Christmas morning, Santa had come. 

 This was the only gift Megan opened on her own.  She wasn't interested in other gifts after this one. 

 A Cinderella doll.

Logan asked Santa for a stuffed Lightning McQueen and Mater. 

 Logan opening his other big gift.  He asked for Lightning McQueen luggage. 

---------

The rest of our vacation was spent at home or doing things close to home.  

 We did some reading......

 ....made messes.....

 .....went indoor/glow in the dark mini golfing with cousins.  Logan won with 79 strokes for an 18 hole mini golf course.  Probably won't go pro anytime soon.......

 ....more reading.....

...trips to the Zoo and Aquarium.

Logan returns to school tomorrow, Dan and I will celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary and Megan will play.  Sounds fun!

Catching Up

It's been October since the last post so there's lots to catch up on.  I'll do a quick run down.  Logan has been doing very well in school.  We had our first parent/teacher conference and were told Logan was doing very well and was one of the best students.  Logan's done for the year and will return on January 4.  It should be a busy couple of weeks.  In the meantime though, Dan's parents came for Thanksgiving and we celebrated an early Christmas with them as well.  Logan got lots of bike riding time, took them to his Explora class and had a great time.  

Other events from the past few months:  

 Logan attended his first on stage performance when we went to see Blast!  It was a long night but he had a great time and got to meet the musicians after the show and even got to play on their drums. 

 We took advantage of the wonderful fall colors from some trees at church and took some pictures.  They really do adore each other. 

 Megan has become very vocal and will carry on a conversation with anyone (or anything that will listen).  She had an intense conversation with Logan's Pooh Bear one afternoon, maybe he knew what she was saying.

Logan got 3 awards at school during the Kindergarten 1st Semester Awards Ceremony.  He got an award for Perfect Attendance, Excelling in Language Arts and Excelling in Math.  He was the only one in his class to earn all 3! 

 We attended the church's cookie bake off, dressed in our best Christmas 'ears'.

 Megan stands on her own now, but won't walk.  Though fearless in every other way, walking doesn't seem to be something she wants to do now.  But we're getting close. 

 Logan won first place in the Children's Candy Category at the Cookie bake off.  He made Oreo Truffles and they were a huge hit!  Ruth also won 2nd in the Adult Bar Candy Category for Pecan Chocolate Chip Bars and 2nd in the Adult Candy Category for her Turtles. 

With only 9 days until Christmas, Logan is bursting with excitement.  Logan and Megan will both be sheep this year in the pageant at church.  Until next time, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Birthday's and Halloween

Megan celebrated her first birthday this month.  Other than a trip to the doctor for her check up, we didn't do much.  We had a few gifts and cupcakes.  Here's some pictures from her big day. 

This was taken while we were singing 'Happy Birthday'.  She only laughed at us for a few minutes. 

 Enjoying her cupcake. We got cupcakes with chocolate filling. We thought those would be less messy than lots of icing. And they were slightly less messy. Still lots of sugar and chocolate. Dan and Logan enjoyed them as well.

 Licking every last bit off.  No wasted cupcake here. 

Meanwhile, we've been getting ready for Halloween.  Logan wanted to be a firefighter this year and Megan was a pink bunny.  We had the hat and goodness knows she has plenty of pink clothes so it was an easy choice.  The kids dressed up for the Zoo Boo and for church.  Logan and Dan will go 'Trick or Treating' tomorrow night. 

The weather is getting cool here and Logan is preparing his list to Santa, I guess the holidays aren't far away.  Megan still isn't walking.  She has become a very fast crawler though and figures she can get anywhere she needs to faster crawling than wasting time walking.  She is very adventurous and will get into anything and everything she can.  Logan continues to do well in kindergarten.  He'll take his first field trip tomorrow to a pumpkin patch in Los Lunas. 

Finally a fun video showing Megan with some possible musical talents.  Who knows!

Balloon Fiesta 2011

It's October in NM that means it's Balloon Fiesta time.  We decided to go this year in the morning.  We were up by 4:45AM and out the door by 5:15AM.  It wasn't too cold, in the 50's and it warmed up by 9AM and was really nice.  The kids had a really good time.  There were lots of new special shapes, some of our new favorites are Spider Pig and the Shark.  Of course they still had the old favorites too, the cow, the stagecoach, the bees just to name a few.  I think they had almost 600 balloons take off on Sunday.  Here's some pictures from the field.  

Logan is still really enjoying school.  Megan is more and more mischievous everyday.  Logan wants to be a firefighter for Halloween, so we'll be looking for that costume in the next few weeks.  We're all doing good and looking forward to some cooler weather.