Another year older.

Whew... guess I got some catching up to do?? 

Well I had a birthday

Yep, I'm the big 2-3. 

Ha!! I know I'm like disgustingly young. I honestly have a hard time believing I'm that young. I feel like I'm 30!!! I got to thinkin about it the other day and I told Nat I can't wait to be 30.... cuz then I'll feel like I actually fit my age.

 Married, with 3 kids in school. Yep, bring on  30. 

 This first year in NM and having to spend all these "firsts"(b-days and holidays) away from our family's is always in the back of my mind on a special day that we usually would be spending with them so I was bummed about that....  Plus Nat wasn't able to take that day off so it was like any 'ol day. Madelynn, now understanding birthdays and how fun and exciting they are, made me feel extra special that day. :) 


Nat did get up and make breakfast for me. My favorite!!! Then he surprised me with a little candle in the english muffin. ;) He's cute like that. 

He did everything for me when he was home. It was a nice morning if I do say so myself... he even made our bed... which is kinda  REALLY a big deal. Nat doesn't believe in making beds... I know, INSANE! I'm like a -roll outta bed and make it- type of girl. I can't stand to walk by my room and see an unmade bed. Nat thinks... --eh, I'll be sleepin in it tonight... why waste the time making it??? So ya, it really IS a big deal.

BUT................. then the day got better!!!!!

He told me he had a surprise for me later when he got home from work. I figured, maybe just dinner out.... or a picnic. Something small and fun that I would still love. So I waited and waited for him to get home. Then he knocked on the door..... which is not un -common, as I always have the door locked when Im home alone, and he never brings his keys to unlock the door. Then I opened the door and saw..............

My mom, sister and nephew. 

I was COMPLETELY shocked and speechless. 

It was a great, fun little birthday surprise!! We enjoyed a nice weekend with them!!!

This week,  Nat is taking me on a surprise trip. I am beside myself excited to go on a little get away alone!!! Can't wait to see what he's got up his sleeve!!!

It was a very memorable birthday!! 

For the G-parents.

Not much goin on in our neck of the woods. Just thought I would post a few pics for the grandparents in our life that we haven't seen in what seems like a year!!!!!!!! Its really only been a few weeks. But, I'm sure that they can relate when I say it feels like its been                F O R E V E R!!! 

We moved the kids swing set, slide and sand box over between the house and the shop and its been way more pleasant as that area is shady and cool most of the day. I was kinda sad that our outside stuff has not been played with this summer because its all just simply too hot to play on. 

Anywho..... here's a few pics.

I have to laugh at the fact that the girls always go out in their "Princess" shoes. 

Madelynn on the right, Payton on the left.

AussBoss laying in her favorite position.... in the DIRT!

Bubba chasing the ball after he kicked it.

Nat started the sprinkler over by the shop and Stetson kept walking over there with his back to it and he would shiver and shake... I bet it was cold!!!

 .... and then he climbed in the sandbox.

 (blurry) Axel.

 Payton throwin her little Payton fits. ;)

Madelynn usually gets frustrated when the dogs lick her, but we've made a game out of it telling her they're giving her kisses and now she loves it!!!

(Payton would NOT let me take her picture.)

Taking a walk to look at the cows. 

Miss and Love Ya'll!! Can't wait to see everyone next week.

We did it!

Although both of our girls were pretty much forced into the situation by another sibling needing to take over the crib (BTW.... I'd like to make an announcement that our son, our youngest child is officially well past 13 months and we officially do NOT have another baby in our house.) I've always kinda had the opinion that cribs really aren't all that much fun... Its kinda like prison.... and I'm all for moving our kids outta crib when they can successfully climb on, and off a bed/couch. Thats just my personal opinion. I also like for another thing to "happen" before we plunge into the big boy (kid) bed. Limbs getting stuck in between the rails. ... and, well that was happening A Lot. 

We moved our little man to a big boy bed!!! 

Oh, another big factor in the matter. The crib. The one that all 3 of our children have slept in. The crib thats been in non stop use for 3 years looks a lil something like this:

nope, your eyes aren't messing with you. Nope, didn't have my camera sideways a bit. It literally is so used that it is all sortsa lopsided and funky and FUN! Its a shakin fun time! So its definitely seen better days and is potentially deemed unsafe in my eyes!!! 

Daddy settin' it up.

He just looked oh so comfy... and I know that he's gonna love it. He just loves beds. When he's on ours, or the girls bed, he's in heaven!! 

 Goodnight kisses from sissy. The girls sooo wanted to sleep with him. I told them once we get him used to this, and get him on a good routine then we can have sleepovers. 

Oh Lordy me..... that oughta be interesting.

I can only imagine... 

Those 3 + a sleepover = NO SLEEP!!!! 

Oh but I can't wait. Some of the fondest memories I have as a child is sleepovers with my siblings.

Family time!

I know I probably sound like a broken record when I say this... but by time Nat's days off roll around we are in desperate need for some family time. Just the 5 of us. Just some time to hang out at home, and just be together! Soooo Im excited that the past few days, we had nothing to do, as we've been going to Angelo the past several day's off he's had.

Ever since we've moved here, I've always wanted to explore what NM has to offer. We've seen lots of TX... several times. But one place that I've never really seen a whole lot of is NM. So I was thrilled when Nat suggested we just take a day trip and just d r i v e. I know what you're thinking.... take off and drive with 3 children under the age of 3??? Yes, we did! 

I'm pretty sure we live in the ugliest part of the country. Ya'll think San Angelo is bad.... here it is just plain 'ol ugly. Its flatter than San Angelo. Its browner than San Angelo.... and the tree's are non existent. The mesquite trees in angelo are amazing compared to the trees that aren't here. Basically, If someone didn't take the time out to plant, nurture, and BABY a tree... it doesn't exist. (Shout out to the previous home owners of our house who took the time to plant, nurture and baby so many trees!!!!)

Anyways. So that we did, we took off towards the mountains!! ... and I must brag on my 3 little seasoned travelers who make traveling rather simple given the circumstances.

It was fun to watch as more hills would appear and things growing out of the ground got a little taller. Our goal was either Alamogordo, or Ruidoso.

 Literally, I could drive through the mountains and the trees and the beautiful scenery for DAYS!!! Well, not drive, but ride. ;) Some people want the beach, some people want the city, some people want good 'ol TX... but give me mountains. Cold weather, beautiful scenery, huge trees on huge mountains and I'm a happy girl!

about 4 seconds after Nat said "how cool would it be to see an elk??"  He spotted one. A calf. (I was instructed to not call it a baby elk...  but a calf. So there ya go.) So we turned around.... cuz I don't ever see anything cool like this while driving down the road.... its a curse I tell you.

 Can you tell I'm obsessed??? I took about 500 pictures of just the scenery!!!

As we were driving through Cloudcroft and desperately needing to stop and eat some lunch and let the kids run around I saw this tiny little road up the mountain, with a tiny little sign that said "Picnic Area" so we turned around and made our way to a beautiful picnic area. Ohhh take me back! I could have drove the 2 hours just to have a picnic at this place. It was very well kept. Very friendly and did I mention beautiful??

The kids were in awe and they loved to explore. Can't wait to take them camping!!

After we ate and let the kids run around a little, we went on a little hike. It was just an 1/8 of a mile... but it was perfect to wear the kids out.

About halfway up, there was a scenic overlook and it was breathtaking. See the whiteness (not the clouds) behind the mountains??? Those are the White Sands... our next destination.

Of course, no trip would be complete without a meltdown. The second Nat opened the truck door, it was so silent and peaceful and he says "wow, its so quite"...... about 5 minutes later he said..... "until the Roses show up" It was quite hilarious and quite truthful as we are not a quite bunch. ;) We had to laugh at the fact that the park "host" who was sitting outside her trailer reading a book and eventually made her way into her trailer, and away from all the noise.

Madelynn was begging to get off the trail so as I sat up on the trail with fuss pot ^ while her and daddy went on their own little hike,

and this guy was with us too.

Next, we headed to Alamogordo. As much as I wanted to, and can't wait to go to Ruidoso, I wanna go on a trip with Nat sometime by ourselves. Plus Alamogordo had a little more to offer for the kids.

We ended up at the White Sands National Monument. It was amazing. Hills and hills of beautiful white sand.

We got some sleds and spent a good amount of time sledding down hills. and Oh boy, was it FUN! We all had a blast. Lots of smiles. Lots of laughter.

Although these next series of photos are blurry, I can't help but to share them with you! Her facial expressions are priceless!

Seems that ever since we made Payton get in the pool and face her fears, she has been scared of NOTHING!!! She was so fearless as a baby so we were kinda taken back by her fear that all sudden came about several months ago. I was a little worried that it would freak her out, but it seems all fear is gone, and she just loves life.

Climbing the hill of sand was rather strenuous so after awhile Daddy got smart and found a stick to pull them with.

Stetson had sooo much fun! He had a smile on his face the whole time! 

yep.. even I went. But to spare you the details. I'll leave the picture small. ;)

Madelynn kept asking to build a snowman.. but since that wasn't possible. Daddy found the next best thing to do.

 

They loved it.

and this little dude.... loved eating the sand.

 Nat dared me to run and jump on the sled and ski down the hill.... and I did. 

Well, I ran and jumped and fell.... several times... and I will definitely spare you those pics. 

Then he gave it a try and he did slightly better than I did.

We had such an awesome day!! and Its definitely something that we'll be doing again, but I hope at some point we can go and stay the night!! I also can't wait to go in winter and let the kids experience snow. We got some good bonding time as a family. 

The past few days we've been cleaning up around the outside of the house. Nat being gone so much, I do all that I can to keep up the outside. But its definitely just not enough! So me and him have been knocking out the outside and getting it looking a little better. We took the pool down for winter, mowed, pulled weeds, took "junk" to the "junk" pile that will someday be burned and Nat poured the beginnings of more concrete slab for the kids to play in. Our goal is to concrete in the area between the house and the driveway just so the kids can have that much more room to play and ride bikes on. The first part is done and I can't wait to get the rest done!!