Grandpa Mike came this weekend to ride El Tour de Tucson, a 109 mile bicycle ride around Tucson. I took the M&M's out to meet up with Grandpa and to cheer for him, and it was great! They were a little shy about it at first (my kids shy? yep!) but warmed up when they got to ring their cow bells for him down the road a way. 
Michael tried on Grandpa's riding sleeves, jacket and gloves after we had finished cheering. I think there's a little room to grow...
We had a great Halloween night. The M&M's had friends over and we all went through the neighborhood together. This was the first time we had taken our kids out trick-or-treating and I think they had a lot of fun.
Abby Caddaby from Sesame Street
Lightning McQueen's Pit Crew (complete with socket wrench that is NOT for whacking your sister on the head!)
Miranda's hair is getting longer and staying curly. My hair is, well, not, so I'm trying to figure out how to keep the curly q's since they're so darn cute! She woke up from a sweaty nap the other day with the best ringlets...
Lately they've been racing every day, up and down the length of the house about a billion times! I can't believe how many times I've said "Ready, set, go!" over the past two years or so.
Notice the new shoes! She's very excited about them and will hardly take them off for bath time at night. :O)
For some reason Michael really wanted me to take a photo of his feet
Miranda's hair is getting fun, lots of pig tails and curly fun!
I just participated in my first knitting swap and wanted to give a shout-out to my team! It was the Dish Rag Tag, a relay race of sorts where we received a ball of yarn, a pattern and a washcloth knit by the gal before us, had to knit a new washcloth with the yarn, and then send a new ball, the newly knit cloth and pattern on to the next gal on our team, all the while hoping to get lucky with the post office and beat all other teams in returning our "baton" to the start. We didn't win but it sure was fun! Here's the box as I received it (stuffed with goodies! Lucky me!)
Washcloth for me, stamped cards made by Christy (they are awesome! I'm a scrapbooker, and these are right up my alley!), yummy tea, tootsie rolls and green yarn to knit a washcloth with (yes, I had already cast on when I took this picture ~ I could hardly wait to get started).
This was SO MUCH FUN and I can hardly wait to do it again next year. :O))))) I don't know what was the funnest part: waiting to get the box from my teammate in Nebraska and wondering about the treats she was including for me, getting the box and knitting as furiously as I could to try and get the box back out the same day (didn't happen but it sure was fun trying!) or putting together a new box for the next gal on my team and being excited to send surprises on to another knitter! I just don't know, all of it was a blast and I loved being a part of it. We were team Dishin' It Out and we'll probably come in somewhere in the middle of the teams but man, I feel like a winner. :D
The end of summer is almost here and it can't come any sooner if you ask me. It will be nice to get out more ~ right now it's "Have some water, put on your sunscreen and bug spray, more water, snacks because heat makes us tired more quickly, more water and hats for everyone, please keep your hat on honey and here, drink some more water...wait, where's your hat? Way back there? Here, drink more water while I go back and get it." Fall is so nice in Tucson ~ can you tell I'm ready for the cooler weather?
We've been having fun indoors though and venturing out in the early evening to enjoy the yard and fresh air. Gosh, I make it sound like we stay shut up inside all summer...well, it feels like that. Anyway, there has been lots of cuteness lately...
Rowing in the row boat
Michael in a rare alone moment in the tub
(not many heinie pictures lately! their little butts are so cute!)
Michael in his "catchers mask" while playing baseball with Daddy (Really? You're playing baseball inside? In front of the huge TV? Did Mommy know about this?)
(does anyone agree that he looks like a much cuter, wholesome version of the Mouth of Sauron?)
Pigtails!
Make a silly face!
Riding on the big wheel out back (They're very particular about the set-up ~ Miranda has to be facing one way, and her little feet have to be crossed before the riding can begin!)
Wheeeeee!
Dog pile!
One of my favorite things about starting a garden for the first time was the thought that the kids would be able to explore a new side of being outdoors. New bugs, growing plants, picking produce ~ it all sounded like so much fun with them and I was right! I have enjoyed showing the kids neat, new things out there just as much as I have enjoyed growing and tending the garden.
Today Miranda and I picked three whopper tomato worms off a chile plant. The little buggers have eaten almost all the leaves off it, and that wasn't enough because then the three of them ate 4 or 5 red chiles and 2 or 3 baby green chiles. Blargh! When I picked the last tomato worm off the plant, he spit red juice on me and man, his tummy must have been burning because it smelled spicy! That's the guy Miranda is holding here...
Then we found monarch butterfly caterpillars (at least I think so!) on the chives and lavendar...
(Mirand's trying to feed him a stick)
We picked two peppers that are a little green but not eaten by cardinals, which turns out to be a problem in our garden. The cardinals are great ~ fun to watch and beautiful to look at, but it turns out that our cardinals like tomatoes, peppers and tomato worms!
We tried to go to the splash playground on an early Saturday morning only to find after a major monsoon that it had broken and wasn't open. Bummer. The kids were really sad, so we walked around the rest of the largely new-to-us Brandi Fenton Memorial Park and found a really cool, fun playground to try out. I attempted to also catch some fun playground pictures, only to find that neither of the M & M's were willing to cooperate. What follows are the best shots I got (some actually pretty good!) as I tried to trick them, surprise them and catch them unawares. :O)
These pipes play like a xylophone when you bang on them hard enough!
A great shot of the Lightning McQueen shoes that Mom loathes (Dan claims they're just as ugly as my Crocs but I think they're worse!) but Michael adores them so what can I say? Someday they'll die, right?
Let's try it out together! That always makes things simpler!
King of the rock climbing wall
Not so sure about where she's gotten herself...
Maybe my favorite shot from the day
Trying to hide from Mommy's camera ~ but I found you!
RU-U-U-U-U-U-U-UNNNNNN!
Miranda was *very* interested in some tweeny girls who were braiding each other's hair, and she watched them from this perch for a long time.
A look of concern for a little boy who was very dramatic
And can I just close by saying that today I was *that mom* who wore her shirt inside out without knowing it to the grocery store because she was trying to do too much stuff on the way out the door and never noticed? My goodness!
Last June we went to Albuquerque to celebrate Rulon's third birthday ~ cousins should be together as much as possible! I left my camera in ABQ there so these pictures are a little late.
The birthday boy and Miranda getting in on the balloon action
Michael with his own balloon
Michael and Grandma Gayle
Uncle B, Michael "helping" and the birthday boy
Cutie pie with his train cakes (did Mommy match his shirt on purpose?)
Miss Mimi loves her some cake!
Three cousins in a row
Racing is a MAJOR theme in our kid's every day lives ~ Miranda has picked it up because her big brother is always racing something or somewhere and now they race together. It's been so awesome to watch them start to play together and on their own. The other day we conducted races up and down the length of the house and I caught a couple starting line shots...
Getting ready
Start your engines!
(that's Michael's racing face!)
The kid's camera is always around somewhere and often easier to grab than our "real" digital cameras that's put away from little hands. Everyone has been getting in on the fun with Michael's camera lately!
Arrrr!
Miranda takes a turn catching her brother on screen
Late night silliness
