Darwin the monkey.....

Why is it when we go shopping we see angry husky dog with an attitude
 But when others go shopping they see a cute macaque monkey in a shearling coat!!

This macaque monkey is sooo CUTE......

Apparently he got lost his mommy while shopping in Ikea in Canada.

Poor little guy looks like a sad lost child wondering where his family is...
My kiddos and I agree that this little guy is soooo Crazy ADORABLE and we hope he reunites with his family before Christmas.
Oh my.....a monkey in a coat!!! Isn't that just so stinkin' CUTE!!

It's Christmas time...... in Costco

After school today we decided to get ourselves in the holiday mood...... So we headed to Costco--our favorite little place. (hahahaha.... Costco is hardly considered little)

...surrounded by several hundred poinsettias, wreaths, and thousands of Christmas decor and cheer. 
...we began to see people with that certain twinkle in their eye

Call it what you may....but I'm a late holiday shopper.

I'm not one those that shop in July or even the dreaded Black Friday.
If anything I like to begin my shopping the week before Christmas sometimes a little earlier.
As we left Costco I remind my children, "Remember SANTA is watching.....his elves are everywhere."

They laugh at their insane mommy....
I said, "You don't know. Santa's elves might be disgusted as a..... HUSKY

 

 

But then, the Husky stared an icy glare.
"YOU TALKIN' TO ME?"
We laughed so hard...

We're lucky to have each udder....

We're eating dinner out tonight.
What to wear???
What to wear???

How about something black
 and white
perhaps with some spots
a cow bell and some furry ears???

Mooooo...nificent!

Sounds like appropriate attire for a meal at Chick-fil-A.

Once a year Chick-fil-A celebrates Cow Appreciation Day.
They award a FREE Meal to customers who come dressed as a cow!

So my kiddos decided it would be FUN to dress like a cow for dinner.

INTRODUCING...

Moooo-vie Star Cookie

Marilyn Moooo-nroe

Mooo-na Lisa 

Deja Mooo---wait, that's not Deja--- how about Hanna Mooo-tana

(Sweetheart's best friend joined us)

If you ask me I think black and white are a definite and appropriate fashion statement for dinner.

Yummy!!

Bammy and I were feeling far too bashful to pull off udders and spots.....so we payed for our meals.

Here are a few jokes the girls entertained us with over dinner.

Why do cows wear bells??

-----Because their horns don't work-----

What do you call a cow that just had a baby??

-----Decalfinated-----

Why does a milking stool have only three legs?

-----Because the cow has the udder-----

(click here to see what we were up to last year)

Presenting: Barbie's blogger-nouvella mini drama

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF......BARBIE!

(written by Fifi, Sweetheart and Cookie)

BARBIE lives in a mansion off the coast of Bora Bora.

Barbie asleep in her super luxurious bedroom..... 

TIME TO WAKE UP BARBIE!!

These are Barbie's five toddlers... she adopted them from five different countries!!

(Why are they on the floor?)

Getting a diaper change....of course.

This is Barbie's teenaged daughter, Baby.

Baby is sleeping in today.....she's a genius.

She graduated high school at age 12!!

She's tired because she's been attending medical school at nights.

She's going to be a pediatrician aiding in medical care for third world countries.

This is Barbie's twin sister, Barby and her five school aged children. 

Barby is a fashion designer of high end children's clothing.

She owns 59 boutiques around the world.

The Bora Bora mansion is where they come to RELAX.

 (Ooops....looks like some of the children rolled off the bed during the night)

This is Albert, a former Navy Seal, he is also the butler. 

He keeps the mansion in tip top shape.

Albert is also the cook and makes many of the best gourmet meals.

The kitchen is fully stocked and in perfect order.

Doesn't Albert do a great job??

This is Barby's mini van. 

Today is their mother/daughters day out.

The girls made excellent grades in school so they're being rewarded with lunch and a movie!!

So excited for them...

Barbie is smiling, it looks like it's going to be a fantastic day.

But....... where is Barbie going??

That's where this drama begins in this mini telenovella.....

What do you think should happen next???

space invaders

Today is the beginning of the soltice and it is an exceptionally HOT day.

Maybe its the heat but as we ran our errands this afternoon...

we saw a UFO!!!

Okay---a very eye catching billboard.
What do you think?  ...very NEW MEXICO.

We're not sure if the two fellas are part of the installment or perhaps they're getting beamed up...

HAPPY SUMMER SOLTICE!

Diego to the third power

Here we are at the party store once again.
Last time we were here we had so many laughs (click here to revisit that blog)

Once again we perused the many themes to see what might spark our imaginations....


                                                  There was the Western Cowgirl theme

                                                         The Rock and Rock 50's theme

                                                          The Roaring 40's theme

                                                       The Teen pop star theme

Then there was the 

                                            Go, Diego, Go theme...............creeeeepy!

Guess who......

fighting goose on the loose

This is what we saw on our way to the comic book store today.

Do you know what that is on the ground??

One of my kiddos said....

"Whoa, what happened here?!!"

"I think a couple of geese had a fight!

And it doesn't look like it ended well either!"

This statement made me laugh so hard I had tears running down my face.

I love it!!

This is NOT the results of a goose fight....  it's the cotton blowing around off from the cottonwood trees.

The best statement ever made...... NOW how could it be anything but two geese in a fight.

Oh....... I love being MOM to the best kiddos ever.

Now guess ...... who do you think said that.

triskaidekaphobia

What do you think of Friday the 13th??

Are you superstitious?

Don't worry about it!

At least Jason gets a balloon!! 

Hahaha or maybe muwahaha......

--Walk safely and move swiftly today--

faux

April Fool's Day is usually filled with pranks, jokes and hoaxes. 

Oh please......

Who has time for that silliness!!

Time is precious around here.

In order to keep our time running efficiently, we must be serious at all times.

After all, we have a strict schedule to keep.

This is how our day begins....

First I release our dog, Swiffer, from his kennel for his early morning run.

He's a great dog!

While the children play with him he simultaneously cleans the floor and dusts the furniture.

I usually pick up and put them away toys from the previous evening of fun. 

But first I have to look for our other dog, Stuffy.

Oh that dog is always hiding......

Then I get my children and the cat ready for school.

So glad the girls found their glasses before they leave.....

HAPPY APRIL FOOL'S DAY

stuck in the backyard...

Uh-oh.....

Now I know where the basketball went.....

....and the kickball

....and the soccer ball

Funniest thing I've seen this afternoon......hahaha

(now how am I gonna get them down??)

Shhhh----our dog is a secret agent

You remember these guys right??

This is Sir Kyle (Bichon Frise) and Lady Cholula (Xoloitzcuintli) our doggies.

Today we're spending this Spring Break Sunday playing out in the backyard with these guys.

RELAXING.....

Lady Cholula enjoying her daily sunbath while Sir Kyle takes a break from playing fetch
with the kids--Notice that he's winking at me--

I'm not sure what kind of code it could be----BUT JUST IN CASE.

**wink wink**

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz (now try that again, this time without singing it.....)

Books books and more books.......

Today we decided to stop by a library on our way home.

But not to our usual library........but that didn't stop us from taking it over.

 Bam attempting to scale the alphabet sculpture outside the library

 

No, Bam!! 

Cookie and Sweetheart are very concerned for their brother.

 Then Princess Fifi decides to distract Bam by claiming the letter "R" for herself.

 "No, my letter "R"", reclaims Bam.

Sweetheart strikes a fashionable pose on the sculpture.

Who knew the alphabet could be so fun.......

Grundsaudaag

Legend is if, on a cloudy day, groundhog should emerge from its burrow then is said spring will come early. Thus, if it is a sunny day, the groundhog will see its shadow and retreat back into its burrow and the winter weather will continue for six more weeks.

Punxsutawney Phil predicts 6 more weeks of winter.
oh geez......

turning off the heater and opening the van window........

Is it January or July???

Today is such a nice, WARM day.

Only in New Mexico can you get away with wearing a light sweater on a winter day.
Now if only.........

"Follow that truck, Mommy!!"

we come in peace.......

It's an alien nation in New Mexico---

We see these guys on our daily commute as we pass by the local outdoor garden and pottery store.

They're so funny and interesting.....truly original.

We've yet to see them displayed in a garden or yard.

What do you think of these little 4 ft. guys?

Did you know that aliens and NM have been synonymous since 1947.........

house of panic.....

This evening we had a craving for French crêpes.

The only place we know where to get them is at the

International House of Pancakes or IHOP for short.

.

Introducing the new and improved: International House of Panc.

or as they kids said: International House of Panic.

We laughed until tears streamed down our face and until our sides hurt.

Tonight the camera only wanted to take sepia tone photos........

Good times and good crêpes.

snowed in?

The big storm that went over our area has left SNOW at our house!

I know, I know, it barely covers the pine needles.

Can you believe that SCHOOL IS CANCELLED today.

?????

Most areas of the city got a significant amount of snow.

We just live in the area of town that got the least amount of SNOW.

 --Only in New Mexico--

*sigh*

A snow day means we have the day off.

Maybe we should get some.......................... ICE CREAM!!

break out the snow boots kids.......... there's SNOW!!

rudolph or clarice???

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.......

While running errands we saw this car at the stop light.
Yes, it is a rudolph the red nosed reindeer car.
Isn't it just the funniest thing you've seen!!
We laughed all the way home.
The eye lashed headlights are so "silly-cute".

dish soap art

Creating inspirational whimsical art on a whim

I love this image with the change of resolution color 

Give my children a box of dry erase markers and they can create a masterpiece.

They made some real eye catching art on the dry erase board this evening.

I like the scales and tie dye effect

I had to be certain to capture these images on my camera before it was brushed away.

uniform bobbles through a child's eye

Can you guess what sparked their imagination for these creations?

Was it the salmon we ate tonight?

Was it the oranges they snacked on afterward?

Was it the gold fish swimming in his aquarium?

No.....

In fact, it was the bubbles upon the dishes in the sink.

"What a funny place to find inspiration" I said.

"Oh silly, art is all around us." says Sweetheart.

What a great thing for a child to say!

Art is all around us.

Beauty is everywhere.

It's all how you look at the world.

I like that thought..........

 As I wash the dishes I am but a renown artist arranging and sculpting the bubbles upon my ceramic bases and vessels.

Suddenly I feel so privileged to tend my nightly tasks tonight.