Happy Halloween buckaroos & buckettes!

Sheriff Sammy is here and ready to report for duty!  Now, I may be a little bit biased, but I think Sammy's the cutest little cowpoke that I've ever laid eyes on.  After he hunts down some outlaws and lays down the law, Sammy and I are going off to rustle ourselves some candy.  Happy Halloween everyone!

Screen time

I love when my dad comes to visit--my to-do list always shrinks exponentially whenever he's around.  And I know for a fact that Sammy's really been enjoying having the extra company, too, especially as it often involves power tools, something he's especially fascinated with.

One of the projects that my dad decided to tackle was the seemingly impossible task of installing screens onto the French doors that lead out onto our patio; Captain Husband and I had looked into our options and most of them were incredibly cost prohibitive, especially given the fact that we're renting the place.  I did some quick research online and found a kit that seemed like it would be perfect for our situation.  Unfortunately, the kit didn't take into account the fact that our patio doors are thirty years old and were lacking a few key components (like a grooved threshold), but fortunately my dad has the kind of skills that make jerry-rigging come nearly second nature to him.

A few trips to the hardware store later and my dad had all of the parts to make a fully functional sliding screen door.  Now we can finally open up the doors and take advantage of the cooler weather that El Paso is [finally] experiencing.  Hopefully we can keep the cat from destroying the screens for at least a little while--she's been trying to climb them like Spiderman ever since my dad installed them.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Splish splash

Sammy's been showing a great deal of interest in copying my actions, like sweeping the floors and wiping off the coffee table, so I figured he might like to try his hand at "doing" the dishes.  I filled the sink up with some bubbles and then grabbed a few measuring cups and tossed them in for good measure. 

At first he wasn't sure what to do...he's never really had free reign and license to splash around to his heart's content unless he's in the tub.  But it wasn't long before Sammy warmed up to the idea.

No time spent playing in the sink would be complete without eating some bubbles, right?  And the best part about letting Sammy splash around and get water everywhere?  All I had to do was grab some paper towels to mop up the water, and voila--clean floors in the kitchen!  Nothing like a little bit of multitasking in the morning.

Wordless{ish} Wednesday: Hi-yo, Prancer!

{Sammy marks the third generation of my family to happily gallop along on Prancer; my dad put Prancer together yesterday afternoon and I gave him a thorough cleaning (he had been residing in my parent's basement for years and was definitely showing it).  My dad and I showed Sammy where to put his feet and how to hold on and then he was off--bouncing, rocking, and having a blast!}

Up, up and away

My dad flew into El Paso last Friday and will be staying with us for a little over a week. It's his first time visiting El Paso so we decided to take a special trip to the Wyler Aerial Tramway. My mom and I had looked into riding the gondolas up the mountain only to find out that the site was closed every day we were in town; Captain Husband had never gone, either, even though he had lived in El Paso for four years prior to moving to Virginia.

I was a little surprised at how tiny the gondola cars are--each car could hold six people--but the 360 degree views that each car afforded as we ascended the one thousand feet to Ranger's Peak was worth the close quarters. 

It's a long way down...but if you're feeling wild and crazy you can actually hike up to the observation decks on Ranger's Peak from the parking lot on the Directissimo Trail. 

The views from the top were absolutely amazing; the stark beauty of the southwest was on display for all to see.  We easily spent the better part of an hour up there, just drinking in the views (and trying to see if we could find our house way down below).  Soon it was time to find ourselves some lunch, but not before setting up the timer on the camera for a nice family photo in front of the Franklin Mountains:

Sixteen-month update

Sammy turned sixteen-months old yesterday--I don't know what it is about October, but this month has just flow right on by.  While I don't think his weight has increased much in the past month, I'd wager that Sammy's grown at least a half an inch since the last update.  Things that were normally out of his reach are now easily within his grasp--I'm running out of safe places to stash things like the remote control, my cell phone and ink pens.

New words/onomatopoeia:
Bubble, yellow, red, tug boat, plane, pretty, "bok bok" for chicken/rooster, daddy, bread, bear, saying "gee" for grapes, and last but not least, poop (which sound more like "boo" so at least it's seasonally appropriate).  Usually when Sammy's finished with something he says "ta da," which is rather funny and cute--unless Sammy's throwing his food on the floor to signal that he's done with his meal, then, not so much.

Sense of humor:
Delightfully silly and very much stereotypically "boy."  Thinks his farts are the funniest noise in the world and that the funniest word in the world is "penis."  (Hmmm, I suppose the apple doesn't fall from the tree here, eh?)

Likes: Coloring, eating crayons, playing with toy cars, eating carpet fuzz, eating toilet paper, eating tissues (noticing a theme here?), cucumbers, dumping things out and putting them back again, bath time and eating bubbles, helping me out with light chores, like sweeping the floor and hanging his diapers up to dry.
Dislikes: Having crayon bits, carpet fuzz, toilet paper, and/or tissues removed from his mouth.

Foto Friday: Orange

I finally managed to get the rest of my Halloween decorations set up around the house; making it's debut this year is an awesome vintage ceramic pumpkin that my great-aunt made back in the 80s.  Sammy's pretty excited about this addition to my collection of Halloween goodies:

Have a great weekend everyone!

Texture Thursday: Fluffy stuff

This week's texture is all natural, folks.  I spotted this lonely little dandelion during our trip to the La Union Maze on Sunday and it just cried out to have its picture taken.  And you know me--I couldn't help but oblige.

And just for fun--here's a little peak behind the curtain, if you will--that shows you the same shot straight out of the camera (I love when photographers share their before and after shots, so I think it's only fair that I do the same):

Pretty much all I did to this was play around with the shadows and sharpness a bit, adjust the overall color tones to make the image feel a little more dramatic, and then I cropped it to make it more of a macro shot.  Overall, I like the way it turned out although now I'm thinking it may have been more fun to do a circular crop...there's always next week!

Wordless{ish} Wednesday: From scratch

{My local mommies group got together last week to collect books to donate to Books are Gems, a volunteer organization that puts thousands of books into the hands of El Paso area children each year.  We decided to make a morning out of it complete with brunch and some adult-friendly beverages.  I didn't want to show up empty-handed, so I volunteered to make two spinach and gruyere quiches.  From scratch.  The only problem is that I had never attempted this recipe before and I probably would have opted for something a bit easier had I known how big of a PITA making homemade crusts would turn out to be--let's just say my swear jar is currently overflowing with quarters.  But that's hindsight for you!  Fortunately all of my cursing and fist shaking didn't seem to effect how the quiches turned out, because they were delicious.  In fact, they were so good I might even consider putting myself through the ordeal of making them again. It certainly wouldn't be the first time my stomach trumped my common sense.}

Sammy's first pumpkin patch

I've been itching to take Sammy to a pumpkin patch for nearly a month now, but the prospect of picking out a pumpkin in 90-degree-plus heat had no appeal to me whatsoever.  With the realization that we were quickly running out of weekends to make such a trip, Captain Husband and I decided to just deal with the sizzling temperature and headed off to New Mexico with Sammy on Sunday to check out the La Union Maze and pumpkin patch.

It was scorching hot under the afternoon sun, but Sammy didn't really seem to mind all that much--he was too busy exploring the patch, looking for pumpkins.  We found the perfect one and then headed back to the main area to have some fun (and find some shade).

There was a lot to see and do, even for the youngest of attendees.  Sammy surprised both CH and me with how much he loved going down the big slides--he couldn't get enough of them and was practically racing CH up the hill for another go.

There was even a mini maze for the little ones--Sammy raced around the course and had fun playing in the straw whenever he hit a roadblock (I don't know why, but I love this photo of Sammy--it looks like a still from a movie or something).

We then made our way over to the petting zoo where Sammy made the acquaintance of some goats, donkeys and rabbits. 

Soon the heat had taken its toll, and we were all feeling pretty beat so we made our way back to the car, a little bit dusty and ruddy from the sun, but happy that we were finally able to go to a pumpkin patch as a family.

An antiques detour

I love old stuff--can't get enough of it.  So you can imagine my excitement when I discovered the Whoopee Bowl, a large antiques mall off of I-10 just a few miles from the Texas-New Mexico border. 

While it didn't have the kind of vintage goodies that I normally go wild for, the Whoopee Bowl is definitely one of those places where you can find just about anything, like this 1940s Buick Eight:

Looking for a vintage oven or refrigerator?  I don't think I've seen so many examples of early twentieth-century appliances under one roof before (and then there are the ones that aren't under the roof).  If you are looking for the perfect piece to complete your vintage kitchen restoration, you definitely need to check out their selection:

Need some antique wagon wheels to add some southwestern flair to your decor?  Look no further:

Looking for that little bit of extra something to spruce up your yard?  How about a dinosaur?  (Yeah, they had those, too):

I'm still working on convincing Captain Husband that the only thing our new place is missing is a green brontosaurus, but I have a feeling it's going to be a while before I'm able to get him on board.