Chones Expedition (Girls beware...)

Rus Reporting here:

This Blog is being hijacked to report on the Chones Expedition.  Several months ago our ward did a fathers and sons campout at the infamous Cedro Peak,  10 miles from town.  Now I am a big fan of camping, of taking my boys out and especially of cutting few corners for times sake; however camping at Cedro Peak is almost as effective as camping in the backyard.  Most the folks show up for dinner and smores and then head home to sleep in their own beds.  I was quite disgusted with the venue, seeing how Cedro Peak was actually in my home ward growing up, and has zero draws or attractions to it.  Thus I decided that my boys needed a chance to have some adventures and grow up with some stories to tell other than "do you remember the 9th time we went to Cedro Peak for fathers and son?  No, No, No, that was the 6th time we went there for the ward campout?  You get my point.  If the boys were to have fun stories to tell I would have to create a catalyst for adventure.

An annual boys trip is born:

So we need an expedition name, a destination, and some things to do?  Chones has long been NM slang for boys underwear... What better name can be had for a boys only adventure than one that automatically exclude girls.   The Chones Expedition it is. 

Our original destination was the Gila Wilderness, then NM had record rains and flooding, muddy roads, washed out canyons, evacuations, so off to the Jemez it was.  As for what to do, that just comes naturally to the Payne boys...

Who gets invited to such an event?  Any friend of the Payne family, but there is a single qualifier: the boys say you have to have a weiner.

 

 Hiking up the East Fork of the Jemez River

 The trail has about a half a dozen different bridges that the boys just loved. 

 If you stand in the middle and jump up and down the bridge starts to bounce and makes for some happy faces.

 It actually started to rain as we were out hiking, it does that every time I am up this canyon.

 

We found this cool gnome's house, Jacob said it looked like human eating a snake while holding a rock with his feet in the air.  Can you see it?

After the rains cleared up we took some time on Saturday and went and played in the Rio Del Los Vacas.  Everyone got wet.  The dads had a rock skipping contest, I am pretty sure I won of course! (This picture is of Beau before he fell in the water.)

 The boys climbed to the top of the mountain next to camp. We had a pretty stellar view.  I think we will need to head up here when the aspens turn colors

 

 

 We explored strange new places (This wasn't our latrine, we just found it out in the woods.)

 And had to show our cousins

Roger brought his camper, it was very nice to have.  The boys would go on a hike or adventure and Roger would hold down camp.



All the boys had BB gun shooting competitions. A couple of proud hunters here.

There was a rock outcropping just above camp that entertained boys for hours.

 

Other activities included:

• The Chones Spit and Whittle club, we only had 2 cut fingers and one stabbed toe.
• Fire tending with the largest stick you could find, no injuries reported
• Fighting bad guys, no good guys were injured
• Mountain climbing
• King of the Mountain
• Soda drinking (boys would just make the rounds until one of the dads would say OK)
• And a slue of other activities that will not be admitted to in front of the mothers...

Keri made us a pretty awesome camp flag that we hung next to the road. We had no less than a half dozen folks stop just to check out the flag.  (Keri wanted to buy the biggest pair of whitey-tighties she could find, but unfortunately had to make due with a size M)

Jason, Luke and Wesley Payne

Scott, Jacob, Sam and Cameron Brooks 

Galen Pearce, Rus, Jacob, and Beau Payne 

Roger, Rus, Jacob, Beau, Russel and Jacob Payne

 

And we're already planning next year's adventure...

 

Beau the Lizard Whisperer

Beau is an amazing lizard catcher. 

The kid can deftly swipe a lizard off the exterior walls of our house or out from under a rock before the poor thing can think "Oscar!"  (That's the name of our favorite lizard-themed cartoon). He's a lizard whisperer, in fact, and will hold a contented-looking lizard in his hand for minutes at a time. Perhaps the poor thing is just petrified, but either way...

One time he got the crazy idea to freeze a lizard, reasoning that if we put the lucky chap in the freezer for a few minutes then when he came out he'd walk in slow motion. I'm sure it was an older sibling who encouraged this amateur form of torture. I decided to distance myself from any acts of cruelty, so the kids recruited Rus. They carried out the dirty deed, but luckily for all cold-blooded creatures, it didn't really work that well. The lizard just ran away when released, probably resolute in his decision to move to White Sands where only atomic weapons can hurt him. 

Beau learned this valuable trade from his older brother Jacob, who was taught by his cousin Luke. Jacob used to be the main lizard catcher, but hasn't quite gotten back in the saddle since a lizard bit him a month ago. I didn't know that lizards bit, just the same as I didn't know our old pet turtle Terdy would bite. (He did. Jacob aided in that discovery, as well.)

Marianne likes seeing the lizards, but we learned today that she is still a little squeamish about physical contact...

Lizards can provide endless hours of entertainment. Just now the boys were making two lizards have a face off,

And do goofy things like this:

Three cheers for having a backyard desert wonderland!

Monster Chops

Chops, 

Meet Chops:

Forgive me for finding this funny...

Marianne turns TWO!

The MariBug turned two yesterday!! As this is only the second time she has had a birthday, the kids spent most of the day trying to teach Marianne the wonderful and marvelous beauty of birthday magic: candles, cake, and presents. She woke up oblivious but caught on quickly to being sung to and blowing out candles. We put candles on her sprinkled pancakes and she blew them out over and over as we sang the happy birthday song to her repeatedly.
After the kids went to school she got a super bubbly bubble bath...

 Then she played outside while I tried to teach her to answer the question "How old are you?" with two fingers...

"Marianne, how old are you?"
"TWO!"

 Because it was her birthday, all of the kids were super nice to her. Bekah helped her get her diaper changed and then took her outside to play. I love the cheek hanging out. (Thank you Bekah!) And the boots. And the hat. Marianne loves her boots and her hat!

 Later we had pizza for dinner and then funfetti cupcakes for dessert. This time she blew out the candles as we lit them and sang along, "Appy Bir Day Day!!"

She got the biggest cupcake, of course...

 And loved every little bit of the frosting, but didn't really care to eat the actual cake...

She got a mini lalaloopsy playhouse for her big birthday toy and it was a hit!

I love being a mom to this opinionated little girl. Case in point:
A few days ago we were looking at fabric at Hobby Lobby. I struck up a conversation with an older woman over cute holiday fabric, and Marianne had to give her two cents worth as well. The woman was especially nice to Marianne, and Marianne decided that only She (the grandma), could help her with her buckle and only She could push her in the cart. If I tried to help her she swatted me away and pointed to the grandma. The woman was tickled and asked if she was almost three. I told her she was almost two, going on five, and the woman agreed!
Marianne is so fun, and most often quite exhausting. She is always saying, "I do it!" and doesn't want help getting in the van or getting in her car seat or putting on her pants or climbing in the tub. She loves being up at night longer than the other kids and finds it the ideal time to repeatedly pull mom or dad off of their tired bums to find her some food. She loves having her shoes put on, but kicks them off the second she gets in her car seat. (This can be annoying when we're running alot of errands). She loves music and loves to dance, and has recently started monitoring how loud I play my music in the van. She'll say "Loud!" or "Down!" until I turn it down to the proper level. She loves to draw, and as my walls will agree, has just recently started branching out to other mediums besides paper. She loves to say hi to random people and can carry on an entire conversation like this:
"Hi! What's your name?"
"Buggy!"
"Buggy? Okay. How are you Buggy?"
"Good!"
"Good! Well, have a good day!"
"Bye!"
I love that she calls herself "Buggy". For a few weeks if I asked her to say Marianne, she would only say, "Buggy!" but now she has started repeating her actual name and it is equally cute.
Rus wants to add: Marianne loves the iPad. She knows how to use it better than dad. She knows how to poop on the toilet. She loves her brothers and loves to tackle and play with them. She has a big girl bed - the bottom bunk - and sleeps really well in it.
Marianne, we are all wrapped around your little fingers! We love you!

Villanueva State Park

For Labor Day this year we decided to go on a little adventure someplace new. Together. All of us. I only emphasize this because it feels like Rus and I spent the entire summer taking separate vacations. Rus decided to take us to Villanueva State Park because he somehow had never been there before. It's northeast of Albuquerque, and we learned, quicker to get to heading east on I-40 than going north through Santa Fe.
Villanueva State Park has the Pecos river running through it, a super brown river that was maybe two feet deep (at the deepest parts) and had a steady, but not too fast current. These conditions made it perfect for the kids to play in. Rus and I knew there was a river but prepared poorly for it, instead insisting that the kids wear their hiking shoes and socks. When we arrived at the park (after about a two hour drive via Santa Fe), we ate our picnic lunch and the kids played on the playground there. Then we found the footbridge and crossed the river to the other side, where minutes later the kids had shed their shoes and socks and were stepping gingerly into the water.
What is Beau's mouth doing in this picture? I'm not sure...

Check out those super chops!! I think Rus is adding a quarter inch of sideburns per year of marriage. That's eleven years right there. When he runs out of face I'm afraid he'll go for length...Marianne loves wearing hats. She's just like her daddy.

Such brown water!!

It wasn't too cold, but it was muddy and even though it was only a foot deep in most parts, you couldn't see the bottom. The kids enjoyed playing in it, but the rocky bottom proved challenging for their bare feet, and after about ten minutes they all had their shoes back on, in the water. Rus and I enjoyed walking in it too, and sitting on the big rocks in the middle of it while soaking in the perfect pre-autumn air. Marianne liked throwing sticks in the water and dipping her toes in it, but that was enough.
Here is Bekah helping Beau cross the river. Rus and I made a bet about which kid would be the first to get soaked before the kids even stepped foot in the water. I bet Beau would be first, followed closely by Bekah...I was right. It was only Jacob's careful and slow demeanor that saved him from ever falling down.

 Marianne finally decided to try walking around right before we had to leave...

 After our short play time was over, we loaded up in the van with four wet kids and a wet dog. (I forgot to mention Colonel came. He probably enjoyed the water more than anyone else.) We headed south this time and then west on I-40 and the drive only took an hour and a half. No one really cared because we were listening to The Lightening Thief on cd and the kids were enthralled.
It was a great day! I love family adventures!

Vaqueros

Rus made me breakfast today, fashioned after his favorite breakfast meal at Vic's Daily Cafe. Hash browns on the bottom, chicken fried steak, red chile and cheese, and egg over easy. A true blue heart stopper here! Both the husband and the meal...make me a bed of hash browns any time, honey

First Day of School 2013

The first day of school came too quickly this year. It was just a few days after our return home from St. George and I felt like we were getting robbed of the laziness of summer. I knew it would mean not taking four kids shopping everywhere, and I was looking forward to that, but it also meant just me and Marianne at home. Don't get me wrong, having three kids in school sounded like a terrific thing, but I was just worried as to how we'd fill our time and if I would get anything done at all without other kids around to entertain Marianne. So I greeted the start of school with some trepidation...and then caught a stomach flu and greeted it clutching my stomach in bed with a bowl nearby, just in case...The first day of school sucked. For me. I was especially mad at feeling so crappy and wanted a redo. Luckily the first day of kindergarten was two days later and I was able to feel a little better and really enjoy sending Beau off.
I will tell you that taking Bekah and Jacob to school their first days was wonderful: I didn't shed a tear, in fact I might have cheered. But as my little Beau climbed on that big bus with his two older siblings at his side protecting and guiding him, my heart did a little painful lurch. I missed him the second he left. He had a great time and practically bounded off the bus and into my arms at the end of the day. But it made me realize that I'm officially on "the other side" of parenting with more kids at school than at home and late nights because of soccer and homework, not colic and baby feedings. It's bittersweet.
Anyway, school has been great. And my time with Marianne has been wonderful - she doesn't complain if I go to two or three stores in a row (Beau hated shopping), doesn't complain when I have to fold laundry (she tries on all the clothes before I fold them), and takes a terrific nap nearly every afternoon. Now I have time to paint and work on other projects (or nap), and my day feels much more balanced.
So here are some pictures of the first day of school for each of the kids:
Bekah is in fourth grade this year. FOURTH! I remember fourth grade - we had just moved back to Sierra Vista from Germany and I was so worried about making friends. I wound up with "the mean teacher" who I actually loved, who gave us sugar daddies when we were quiet. I can't believe Bekah is that same age...Her teacher is Mrs. Weeks and she seems to enjoy her so far.

Jacob is in second grade. I had Mrs. Skaza in second grade and loved her because she taught us how to make fried rice. Jacob has Ms. Grady, the same teacher Bekah had for second grade. I already know that I love Ms. Grady - she is incredibly energetic and helps the kids engage in and enjoy learning.

Beau, as you know, is in Kindergarten. His teacher is Ms. Rozzell, the same teacher Jacob had for kinder. I already know that I love Ms. Rozzell, as well. I am so grateful she is teaching Beau! He has loved playing at recess, doing projects, making friends, and buying school lunch. (Bekah and Jacob are terrified of school lunch, but Beau wants to buy all the time. I'm having to limit him to one time per week just to save my budget.)

And here is Buggy pretending to be Beau. She's wearing Beau's back-to-school-outfit. I told you she liked trying on their clothes...

One other fun thing about this year is that I have worked it out to volunteer at the school one day a week. I asked the art teacher if I could volunteer in her classroom and thankfully she said she'd love to have me! I have two ulterior motives here - one, I volunteer on the day Beau has art, and two, I'm hoping to see if I would enjoy being an art teacher myself. (It's on my short list of "what to do when all the kids are in school.") I've gone once so far and I can tell already that it's going to be a rewarding experience.