whose kid is this?

catching butterflies!!
honestly it amazes me what little people kids are!  they have their own dreams and personalities and it is really fun to watch them grow and see how they are different (and similar!)  from you.  growing up i never caught a butterfly, i didn't even know you could catch a butterfly until mady started on this endeavor. 

i was visiting with my mother in law yesterday and she was telling me that when she was a little girl she loved hunting and catching tarantulas in the desert outside of her childhood home.  she would set out for the day with a bucket of water, looking for the tarantula holes to dump the water into to coax the spiders out.  she would catch them in a big jar and show them off all day, releasing them into the woods by nightfall.  welp apparently madelyn takes after her grandma christine when it comes to bugs, because you won't ever find me going near any creepy-crawlies on purpose.

just looking at these pictures gives me the creeps a little, but i can't deny the mommy pride seeing my mady catch her first butterfly.  i can't believe she held it long enough for me to catch a picture!  i was terrified that the butterfly would be crushed and there would likely be ensuing drama involving lots of tears and a poor dead butterfly.  despite my worry mady set it back on the flower very carefully and the gigantic yellow and black tiger swallowtail flew off and high into the mexican sky. 

we have this book about the lifecycle of monarch butterflies and we love it because we live in mexico, which is where all the north american monarch butterflies migrate to every year.  since we have read and learned about their migration and live right in the middle of the migration path it was really fun and meaningful for us to be this closely involved in a butterfly adventure, even though it wasn't a monarch this time! 
gotta go, gotta go, to mexico! 

yes, she caught a butterfly by herself.
she's kind of a big deal.

the good news

is that we had a vacation.
the bad news
is that i only took my camera to the beach for 2 hours the very first day.

we loved the beach.
i had a great time just being at the beach. i didn't want to leave! i was sunscreen patrol, and i did not shirk my duties. no sunburns!

christian loved riding the ski doos with the dolphins (really!) and making tyson a merman.

madelyn would not take her eyes off the beach for fear of missing a single seashell. she loved playing with her cousins and decorating sand castles with her beautiful shells.

olivia loved standing in the waves and digging in the sand. she spent lots of time in the shade eating chips.

i had to laugh when i got home and unpacked a full suitcase of clean clothes. the girls didn't wear a single outfit! swimsuits all day, pj's all night. it was my kind of party!

it's a. . . mule???

a quick lesson in farm animals.

horse + horse= horse
donkey + donkey= donkey
horse + donkey= mule
miniature horse + donkey = miniature mule!

we had quite a surprise when we went to see valentine's baby!
it's a miniature mule! it's a boy!
valentine is doing great and is a wonderful mom. the baby was born on mother's day.
we're waiting to see what madelyn names him.
she is currently considering: freezer, bambi, or honker.

o my.

princess valentine

i noticed the tiara appearing on the counter after madelyn's daily visits with her dad to see valentine. then one day, as she was leaving, madelyn said she forgot valentine's tiara.
this had been going on for a week before i found out!

(and yes, still no baby horse yet.)

my little pony

after the backyard funeral for her turtles, mady cried (not for the turtles,) but because she worried that she would never have a pet again. the moping continued for about a week. every time christian would leave the house, mady would ask if he was going to bring her home a pet.
on valentine's day, daddy gave mady a real my little pony. she fell madly and instantly in love with her new miniature horse. she named her valentine rainbow diamond. our new everyday routine revolves around frequent visits to see and ride and take treats to valentine. she is barely taller than madelyn, and currently is as fat as she is tall because she is expecting a baby in a month. mady plans to give the baby horse to her baby sister of course, because they're both babies!

happy halloween and parties.

theirs:

ours:

you people are stealing the wrong things.

stolen:
one of the tops of a really cute pumpkin walkway light from my gated front porch last night.

not stolen:
two really cute baby girls' jean jackets left a week ago on the side of a busy road in mexico.

yesterday, 6 o' clock

olivia found a wild gourd at the farm. (wild gourds? who knew?) i was looking around for more gourds for some free fab fall decor (after finding out wild gourds exist,) when livs took off with the little round green gourd. baby was fast; baby was running. i was clumsily trying to reset my camera settings (why o why did i buy pro i'm not ready for pro) while jogging, trying to get ahead of that baby and i finally did- and just then she saw something interesting in the dirt and s t o p p e d fast. (my ISO skills can't keep up with baby agendas.)

mady found a stick that looked like antlers,
momma wore silver ballet flats and wished for some boots,
and daddy tried for five minutes to not say, 'i wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.' (he came home sick from the roundup. he's been home now two days and i couldn't be happier. that guy is always buzzing around town. it's nice to have him home and slowed down a bit. sick and complaining and all.)

the sunset was pink and blue and beautiful.

so. campy.

yesterday i had 23 babies. aka, dora-thon.

i'm telling you, canning is just like childbirth. yesterday i labored 23 grape juice babies. whatta mess. (and the pressing, o wow. i started using both hands. i'm tired just remembering.)

in the middle of a canning day, you will find me swearing i will never do it again. the mess! the heat! the pain! the work! the whole day! ijustwannasitdownanddrinkadietcoke. in a clean kitchen.

then i forget and do it again. (it's worth it. pretty pantry. so fulfilling. the joy. the yumminess.)

i'll take another batch of these too please:
(it was a dora-thon day. a nakie dorathon day.)

wanted: new babysitter

innocently blurking my niece victoria's blog, i came across this photo, midst twilight book and kitty posts. (first know this: victoria (and riley and jordan) are my main olivia babysitters. livs loves to be at the kelly jones family home.) now we all know why.

the post title: lizard all jacked up on m&m's.

i might have died laughing. a baby chocolate coma.
thanks for all the babysitting toria~ i promise to restock your m&m's.

happy meal mexico

we have no mickey d's.
we have burger boy.

this happy meal does not come in a cute little box,

but in a ginormous brown paper bag

because the toy is bigger than your head.

happy meal mexico.

p.s. the burgers are inedible. but they do have fountain drinks. and a drive thru. and fries.

(the only fountain drinks and drive thru in town. and the fries are crinkle cut but ok.)

presidential jam

look who's famous now, mom and dad.
the President of Mexico loves my jam.
(ok, i haven't officially heard yet if Presidente Calderon loves it or not, but i am sure he and his lovely wife both will. i sent my two best flavors: apricot and blackberry!)

and just how will the Presidente get my jam? in a lovely gift basket, from his wife's intern, my niece melina, daughter of my brother in law jeff (the undersecretary of agriculture of mexico) and michelle. (michelle of course is a fabulous jam maker and canner but happens to be currently remodeling her dream kitchen and --lucky for me, because this may be my only taste of fame-- had no jam to send, per nina's request, so asked me for some to help nina out.) i used some squares of my cutest amy butler fabric and even dug out my dusty old gluegun to secure the little bows, and i translated apricot jam and blackberry jam into spanish, which was more work than i thought, because is it mermelada de chabacano or mermelada chabacano and had to call someone, and dictionaries were involved, and then i had to find the perfect ribbon, write the tags fifteen times each, and anyhoo. whew.

if you had asked me when i was slaving over my bottles of apricot and blackberry jam if i thought any world leaders would be enjoying it later, i would have laughed. hard!
now i can't help but dream of becoming the national jam-maker or something.

enjoy, Presidente and first lady!

find my presidential apricot jam recipe here. of course i changed the name!

vacation: mexico

last week my mom and sister visited. we had a great time. all t-e-n days. i wished they were here longer! really. we went poolin', ate yummy mexican food, explored casas, hit EP for a few days of shopping, laughed laughed laughed. great time. anyhoo, one day at the pool christian graced us with his presence. we had so much fun, it felt like a vacation.
and i got an idea.
how 'bout a vacation at home? we do live in mexico after all! two or three days: no work, no phones, no commitments- just like a real vacay. go to the pool all day, go golfing, play tennis, get massages and facials, go to movies, go out for tacos. i think it should be a yearly tradition.
i've got cj convinced, we should have our 'vacation' this month. anybody up for a mini vacation?
mexico here we come (are!)

apricotapalooza '08

apricotapalooza '08: 70 pounds apricots, one woman, dozens of canning jars, two days. one fat ten month old, taking little bites out of every apricot. whatever it takes to keep the baby happy during apricotapalooza. jams, dried apricots, cobblers, fruit leather, preserves await: i must get back to the kitchen!

the smell of rain

for a rancher, rain is money falling out of the sky. i always thought farmers wanted rain, but now i know farmers like to control their water through irrigation. it's the ranchers that need the rain.
christian remembers his father (the rancher) on rainy days:

"my dad would go outside and play in the rain, get in his truck and drive around all day in the rain. he was giggly, playful and happy. he loved the rain."

the 15th of may is "el dia de san isidro", and mexican legend is that it rains every year on this day. the rain came a few hours late, today we woke up to the smell of it. (isn't the smell of rain the best?) christian jumped out of bed and ran outside to look. it seems like it hasn't rained all year. this is a slow deep rain that soaks into the earth. christian couldn't be happier. i think he takes after his dad.