Pumpkin Patches, Faires and Fall Fun

Greetings from sunny and still warm New Mexico! What a wild ride we've had these past few weeks. We've been to pumpkin patches, the Renaissance Faire, enjoyed the fall weather, LOVED having Dan home, played with our friends new and old, ignored the 'non-specific fall holiday' without having to explain our aversion to it to anyone (that's a first) earned a few new nicknames and lived to tell the tale. Here I am armed with some great pics and some entertaining stories. Who's got a few minutes? Cozy up with your favorite warm beverage and let me regale you with some of our favorite stories from the past few weeks.

~Well, starting with Dan getting back 3 weeks ago, we've been on the run. Dan went back to work, and we immediately fell back into the familiar groove. Chores got done, schooling got learned, errands were run, work was accomplished and life was good. Game night the first week he was back was just great! Everyone was so happy to see him, we had homemade pizza all together again (even though we have it each week as a family, it's just not the same, ya know?) and we laughed and laughed and LAUGHED together. It was special. I went back to work, much to my bosses' pleasure and my team's delight since they had apparently been suffering through whoever the management team could find to fill my place. It's nice to feel like you belong. They even had ordered pizza the first night I went back to welcome me. Awww!

~The pumpkin patch was such a great day that I'm going to save it for it's own post, I think. Suffice it to say that we had a BALL!

~The party at Mike and Myra Eorio's (think OREO) house was super fun. Not only did Dan and I get to enjoy a night with no kids (thanks Jo!) but we enjoyed the company of other adults as well. Whee! Most of them were either neighbors of theirs' or people that Mike and Dan work with so he immediately knew people, but once I met a few people, I had a great time too. My banana cream brownie squares won rave reviews and I met a lady who was interesting in homeschooling so I had a ball filling her in the fun that homeschoolers have. Dan was being silly that night and so everyone was having a good time. We met some really great people, and a few really strange people that left us saying that we were REALLY glad we homeschooled since they have kids in our district...LOL! Anywho, we were one of the last ones to leave and we had such fun visiting with just Mike and Myra once most of the crowd had left. They are so fun, and interesting, and fun. Did I mention how FUN they are? Good times, and let me just say that I had almost forgotten how stunning Dan looks in his oilskin duster and hat. Phew! I got several remarks about how lucky I was...hee hee! (we even found out later that one of the other guests at the party "took a fancy' to him~LOL)

~The weather here has been just fantastic! It's nice and cool overnight, like in the 40s and then by lunchtime, the sun was warmed the air to a lovely mid 70s-low 80s range. Now that's my kind of weather! We've had a few rain showers, but mostly, sun sun and more sun : ) I love NM! And, so pretty!

~The boys are sometimes disappointed that we don't 'DO' Halloween so we generally buy them a bag of candy so they don't feel cheated and that's that. This year, the church we are attending hosted a huge fall festival so we took the boys to that. We didn't dress up or anything, but the kids had a ball. They got PLENTY of candy, played lots of games and even took a hayride. It was great fun and I'm glad that they got to do SOMETHING fun during a weekend that we normally stay home and avoid any activities.

~The Renaissance Faire was just this last weekend and it was great! Over 120 vendors, artisans and crafters come with their wares to help support the Dona Ana Arts Council that provides all the wonderful entertainment here in Cruces. Like the free concerts in the park that we enjoyed this summer, some of the kids programs, craft/art/music classes and much more. So we spent 2 days wandering about, examining crafts, enjoying the Robert the Ratcatcher show, joining in some amtguard boffer word fighting, tasty local honey, eating things like Rat on a Stick (teriyaki chicken on a stick) and looking at some of the most exquisite jewelry ever crafted. Dan spoiled my by purchasing me some fancy hair doodads called the 'mystic flower' which is the working model of the mathematical equation of PI. Coooooolio! : ) David and I worked in the soup booth that the gym had at the faire, making some money towards his upcoming competitions. Dan and the boys purchased boffer swords, and then decided that they could improve upon the design, so they spent the better part of yesterday creating sword and such. Oiy! Today was spent making shields to protect themselves...LOL!

~The 'Hot Tomato'~Have I ever mentioned that Dan seems to have universal appeal to everyone? Young women, old women, dogs, babies, cats, other men...doesn't seem to matter, they all love him. LOL! Well, on Friday, I asked him to accompany me to the Sam's Club for the weekly trip for the gym. He reluctantly agreed and off we all went. The boys and I have been going on our own for some time now while Dan was in Washington and the boys love to go right at lunchtime so we can taste all the samples and we've made friends with the 'sample ladies' We got a late start Friday so there weren't many still passing out samples so we were just hurrying through. One of them stopped me and asked where my biggest boy was, since David was around the corner. I pointed to Dan and she said that she wasn't talking about him, but since now we were....WHO was he?? (eybrows wagging) I said that it was Hercules, the hubbs...and she seemed quite impressed. So after she stared a bit longer, she waved a few times and told me that I was one lucky lady, then she declared LOUDLY that he was one HOT TOMATO and started winking and waving all the more. Dan's face turned about 3 shades of purple and he looked quite uncomfortable. Oh my word...I haven't laughed that hard in along time. WooHoo...I'm married to a HOT TOMATO~ I'm a lucky girl : )

So, all in all, a fabulous few weeks. Thank you Lord, for getting Dan back home to us where we can all live, laugh and love at home.