Mountain Mahogany

Violet goes to this amazing, loving, nurturing school.  And I'm so happy that it has been such a good fit for her.  She loves her teacher, her classmates, and best of all they get to play all day long!  

Each Friday, weather permitting, the kids get to go to the Rio Grande State Park, and play with water and mud by the river.  

 This particular Friday, the kids all worked together to build a giant puddle!

 Muddy kids = happy kids!

 This is Tavish, one of Violet's favorite people!  These kids are hilarious together!

 Violet in a tree at school.  There is an orchard behind the kindergarten class, and the kinders spend each Wed and Thurs afternoon in the orchard with middle schoolers helping facilitate the activities.

Grandma and Grandpa visit!

We were fortunate enough to have grandma and grandpa come visit in early November!  We spent more time relaxing at home and eating good food than sight seeing this year.  We went to the Pueblo Cultural Center and Old Town in Albuquerque.  And we all spent one evening at a pool hall!  I'm working on taking more pictures to put into the blog, but I'm so busy being in the moment that I forget!  

Violet had an amazing time with grandma.  She and grandma would go everywhere together and do everything together.  When they left, Violet said, "Who am I going to brush my teeth with now?"

Halloween festivities

October fabulousness!  October is one of my favorite months with the hot New Mexican air cooling and crisping, aspen leaves transforming into gold and fire, and all the fun festivities Albuquerque has to offer!  Not to mention it's my birth month!   

First, we went to the Rio Grande Farm, where there is a corn maze (large and small), pumpkins to paint, music, and popsicles!  Violet and Sumi had a blast, especially when it's warm enough to eat popsicles in October!  

Then we headed to the Dino Theater in the Natural History Museum to watch Spookley the pumpkin in 3-D!  Violet and Aradia enjoyed the show, but refused all pictures.

 Pumpkin Carving Night:  Violet wasn't into carving pumpkins so much, but she really enjoyed burying her feet in all the pumpkin guts!  What a cool mom to let her do that!   ;)

 Happy Halloween little mermaid!

 And Pirate!

 Dia de Los Muertos Parade in the South Valley!

 Face painting at school!

Balloon Fiesta 2014

Waseem, Violet and I woke up very very early to head to the balloon fiesta for the dawn patrol.  We went to bed in our clothes and woke up at 5am!!  So early!  Luckily, my child like love of balloons, YIPEE FOR GIANT BALLOONS IN THE SKY, and coffee make it so worth it!   It's one of the biggest balloon fiesta's in the world, and I feel so lucky to have it located in Albuquerque.  

 Today was Special Shapes!

 Dawn

 Violet's favorite part were the, "Walk on Water" ball!  So adventurous.