cars booooo

I don't even know where to begin in retelling our amazing turn of events surrounding our vehicles. We had the craziest day yesterday! I guess it all began with Ben's never ending obsession with wanting a different car.....

I was almost catapulted into soccer-momville yesterday at the ripe old age of 24. Ben decided we need a van. And although I have swore up and down I would never, ever drive a van, good sense took control of my brain for a while and agreed that a van would indeed be practical and I could swallow my pride and drive one. So off he went to procure a van he saw online.

Didn't work out (thankfully!) but the guy at the dealership mentioned that the power steering fix we've been putting off for months would probably be covered under warranty. Warranty? No one had ever mentioned a warranty when we bought the car, and indeed they tried their very best to get us to purchase a warranty to cover the car after the 60 days we got for free expired. Hmmmm....

So we called the dealership and, surprise(!) we have a 5 year warranty on our car!

Fast forward to all of us at the dealership, Endeavor and 94 Sentra waiting patiently to go home. Here is where Ben tells me the story of his drive there:

Ben: So I'm sitting at the light and this Hispanic guy is motioning like crazy for me to roll down my window. So I do (gasping from me here... why would you do that!?) and he is shouting something at me. Eventually I gather that he is shouting, "How much?" (this is said with an Abu from Quickie Mart accent because Ben is terrible with accents, even though the guy was Hispanic) He wanted to buy my car! hahaha

Obviously we didn't sell the car at the light, but if we had the story would have happily ended here. After this Howard tells us that we can either take our Endeavor (which works perfectly fine) home now or leave it here until the part comes in on Wednesday and we all agree we don't want to drive back tomorrow to drop the car off so we'll leave it there. Fine.

So now, we are all 4 of us packed into the 94 Sentra (jokingly called our security system because when someone sees this car in our driveway they have to know that we have nothing of value to steal in our house) and coming up the offramp of I 40 and .......... no pulse. The car is dead, Jim. Kids are crying, it's hot, and pretty soon it starts to rain. We start laughing at how funny it would have been had we sold it to the man at the intersection. Ben gets the car started again but apparently the gas is useless so we are rocking the car at 3 miles an hour towards the intersection (and subsequently the gas station) with cars barreling past us in the same terrifying lane at 40 miles an hour. We've made it to the light... OH NO! It's turning red! Well there's no stopping now so we are smiling and waving and praying that everyone will realize that we are in the middle of the intersection on accident and not kill us. One car almost does, kill us I mean.... she was on her cell phone.

We (barely) make it to the gas station after Ben pushed part of the way, until the hill, when a kind van (is that ironic?) bumps us to a parking spot. We call my friend Sara, who is on a date with her husband, and they come and we pile in the rain into their van.

This is more or less the end of the craziness because we had good friends to rescue us and a hero in Tim, Sara's husband, who noticed we were missing an alternator belt and was so nice to help us fix it. Thanks to Sara and Tim for donating their date to help us (we owe you), and to all of you who made it to the end of this post. You all deserve a prize. So here it is; i'm pregnant.















just kidding. :)

silkies

Benson LOVES his silkies. Normally he just holds them when he is going to sleep but he's started something new with them this week. He has a sleeping bag (a sock) for each of his silkies according to their sizes and a cup for the sleeping bag, also according to size. While he's at home the silkies stay in their sleeping bags in their cups and stay by his side while he plays. And when it's time to go somewhere the silkies get put in the suitcases (the pink things in the photo--- you can blame his Nana for buying him pink suitcases but they didn't have another color when she bought them) and they come with us to wherever we are going. At night he now sleeps with a big pile of socks and a couple of metal containers. He is so funny!

i have a secret

I have stumbled upon an amazing discovery. I know how to get your children to eat vegetables. Benson normally will not eat vegetables (except the occasional carrot in Ranch) and the other day for dinner we had his (and ben's) worst nightmare; zucchini casserole. I almost feel badly serving it to them because I know how much they both hate zucchini but I wouldn't be much of a mom if I didn't serve some foods that they can talk to their friends about how disgusting they are. So I put a little of the green stuff (which incidentally is one of my favorites) on Benson's plate and this is what happened:

Benson: (pushing plate away) That is NASTY. I'm not going to eat it.

Me: Benson you need to try just a bite and then you can have some bread instead.

Benson: Mom, I can't. It's tooooo NASTY.

Ben: Hey Benson, you should just try it because those are the zucchinis you picked from the garden today.

Benson: (big eyes and silence. he puts a little in his mouth and we are waiting eagerly for the verdict) Mmmmm, this is actually pretty good.

Benson then continues to shovel in what is on his plate and ask for seconds. This child will not even eat corn and yet he will eat zucchini as long as he picked it. He will also eat carrots straight from the ground and peas by the handful as long as he is standing there harvesting them himself.

So the moral of the story is: If you want your kids to eat vegetables, plant a garden.

new look

For those of you very confused by the new color choices, look to the widget on the right. One more week until the new twilight series book comes out and I'm waaay more excited than I should be. If you didn't realize what a nerd I was before, I guess you will now.

robot boy

There is nothing better than unexpected mail. Yesterday my mom sent the boys a package and they were so excited to find out what was inside. Banks is very happy to have a new animal book, and the timing couldn't have been better, as the one he's been lugging around fell apart at the seams the day before. And Benson loved his dinosaur flash cards and "homework book."

And then he saw the bubble wrap.

As soon as he saw that bubble wrap he found some tape and had me tape it around his arms and legs so he could be a robot. After that he talked like a robot and ate like a robot and only responded to me if I called him robot. Eventually I got him to take it off so he could go to bed but today the first thing he asked for was his "robot wrapping."

It is times like this that I realize I am living with an actual person on miniature scale. He has as many thoughts in his tiny head as I do and it is such a fun experience to see his great ideas come out more often as he gets older. As time goes on Benson is becoming less a baby, in need of constant care, and more a friend, someone with whom I can have a real conversation and I am really enjoying the change. Well, as long as I still have a Banksy baby to snuggle with me.

now and then

Benson attended his first real birthday party this morning This day last year

Banks being abused by his brother this day last year

So I have nothing to blog about! And obviously I haven't for days because you have all been staring at the same photo of Benson and the lizard. Life has been very low key around here, and although we don't have exciting stories to share we have been enjoying just hanging out with friends and family. I decided that maybe when I have nothing to blog about I'll put some older random photos up, because I always love a chance to reminisce. So here are some photos from today and yesteryear for all to enjoy.

lizard visitor

This is random but we were so excited to find a lizard in our living room the other day. It was a devil to catch but we did it and Benson sat for a long time staring at his "new pet." After it pooped Benson became a little disenchanted and we let it go.

ode to little mikey

My brother is touring Europe right now with his band and I just wanted to brag because I am living vicariously through him. hahha just kidding but he really is amazing and I'm so proud to be related to such a talented young man. GOOOOO MIKEY! Keep playing so I can come tour Europe with you when I get more moola.

Sorry the photo is blurry... it's a still of a camera phone video on youtube. He would be the one with the trumpet in his mouth. Oh and they are playing at sweet rhythm in Greenwich Village in NYC. Yes, i know that is not in Europe, but they stopped in NYC on their way to yonder country and I don't have any pics from overseas.

for those of you not familiar

My friend Steph has a link on her blog to this american life. I had sadly not heard of it before, but i just want to say thank you to Stephanie because I love it! I've actually been listening for months now but I thought it was time for me to share the love with my faithful readers. I realize some of you will think it is soooo boring but I absolutely love to do my laundry to their free podcasts. I hope the rest of you enjoy the radio program as much as I do, and if not, well at least I tried.

harvest time

Against all the odds, we have coaxed plants into producing something we can eat! This is our first harvest and although it's meager, I am thrilled to have something to show for the work that has been done on the garden's behalf. We are one step closer to zucchini bread and tomato tarts. mmmmmm.

the old man is snoring

Right now it's monsoon season in New Mexico, and with this season comes the most interesting New Mexico tradition; rain dancing. Here in New Mexico we watch the skies for rain and when it comes we run outside, turn our faces upward, and enjoy the shower. The thing that's funny to me is that no one had to tell us that's what you do here, it's just instinctual, and everyone does it. I guess when rain is such a commodity it truly becomes something to be enjoyed fully, dancing and clapping and laughing while we get soaked. I have to admit, I've never appreciated rain the way I do now and I'm sure if I move somewhere greener it will go back to being a nuisance, something that interrupts our parade, but for now there is little that brings out such pure, childlike joy as a rainstorm, and we are all relishing each drop.

fourth festivities

making ice cream


banksie loved the ice cream


and so did ben and benson


benson had an awesome crash on his bike


festive shirts on the kids but ben wasn't so patriotic



Our Fourth was pretty lame. We made ice cream (my family's tradition) and grilled hamburgers and that's about it. Ben and I watched fireworks from our backyard swing and the kids went to bed early. Happy Fourth of July.

apron times four

Latest project, done in less straight forward format because it has yet to make it to it's recipient. Apparently I like to do crafty things.