Summer Fun with the Kids

This summer there are so many things I have yet to experience since I have moved here 2 or so years ago.  My kiddos, Tyler, Novalee and Luna are going to be exhausted.  We always go to the zoo, the aquarium and hike in the Petroglyphs (with the kids saying every five seconds, “Ew!  There is another centipede!!!!!!!!).  My two oldest live in the Northwest so they aren’t used to all the icky bugs that dwell here.  Quite frankly neither am I.  Yikes…New Mexico…centipedes are super creepy.

Amusement Park

 Anywho, This year we are going to Cliff’s amusement park.  i have heard it is so small that it really isn’t worth going, but I say c’mon!  I have been here this long and haven’t been to a cute little thing like that yet?  So we will go get wet at the water side, spin on rides until we are sick and eat all kinds of kid spoiling food.  Yep.  I don’t care.  We are going to have fun.  Then we are going to the foothills to hike.  They love to go hiking and Tyler has his own gear.  I never knew about hiking up there until one of my friends told me about it.  So i went and had a perfect moment of peace in so much chaos as of late.  A giant grey, red moss covered wall rose behind me, the city was splayed out in all its tiny glory before me and I could hear perfectly the conversations that were happening.  i could see the stride of people as the walked together.  The uneven pace that lined up for a moment in time.  It was perfect.  So I am going to take my kids there.  There are some amazing caves as well!  So fun!

Summer Fun

 Well I know so many people are going to blog about the things are going to do this summer, but I am super excited about it, so I hope you finish reading since you are so far into it anyway!  =)  Well we will be doing so much that this disorganized,, messy  momma always needs a way to keep track of not only what the kids want to do but to keep a record of what has been done.  So we always begin with a list.  Since my kids are older now, they can write it out themselves and I sit there and play referee as they duke it out in silliness and overall strange ideas of both reality and physics.  It is a sight to see actually- a sweet nine year old realizing he has met his match in his fiery 6 year old sister.  But I have the last two years’ worth of lists and it is cute to see the evolution of their writing and maturity…or amazing strangeness really.

Tyler, Novalee and me 

But we will also be embarking upon all the holidays during the summer.  Because of life circumstances and Universal teachings so to speak, my oldest two children live with their father instead of me.  It is very hard for me to be away from them as you could imagine, but i swear it is only because of finances and that is all. =)  So when they are here, we always celebrate the holidays during the summer…literally as many as we can fit into it.  Our Halloween potluck last years was fun =)  The children made their own costumes as we remember Halloween being…  Cardboardclothing/microphones/weapons/etc. and lots of Mom’s costume jewelry and shoes.  Even the adults dressed up and put on their silly kid mentality and a great time was had by all!  The kids still remember it.

This is my baby girl Luna!

 We will be doing a number of crafts this summer as well.  The kids made amazing art on the easel we found for them…literally they filled my walls with their beautiful paintings.  Of course i am a proud mom so it is right where everyone can see as soon as they walk in.  I love the artistic ability of my children.  It makes me smile so much.  So for you to share with your children this summer I have this idea for you to try.  It not only includes literacy in your child’s summer- which we all would love if we could tie them down for two seconds- and art.

Purchase a pack of construction paper for each of your children.  At the end of every day, as a wind down from day’s events, have each one reflect verbally what they love the most about the day they spent together.  After a short time of each one having a moment to have the floor, ask each one to take out a piece of their paper and write, draw, doodle…however they wish to express themselves and have them write the date at the top/bottom…whatever.  Do this for each day of the summer and at the end, take a moment as a family to make them into books.  Let the children bind them how they will- tarn through punched holes, combs like back in the day, or even glue…however they will stay together.  These are in essence your child’s art journal from the summer.  Because when you allow your children to express themselves freely, so much will come out.  And  you will have a document of the wonderful times you all have shared.

Make your own Doggie Treats

The kiddos will also make doggie treats for Coco and Mouse…the chihuahua dad/brothers.  Two summers ago they did this and loved being kind to the puppies.  Here is the recipe…

• Preheat the oven to 300°F. Lightly grease a couple of baking sheets, or line them with parchment.

Put the following in a mixing bowl:

• 2 cups King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour or Premium Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 cup rolled oats, regular or quick
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley or 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 cup Baker’s Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Stir to combine.

• Add 2 large eggs and
• 1 cup (9 1/4 ounces) peanut butter, crunchy or plain.

Stir to combine; the mixture will be crumbly. Add 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon cold water, or enough to make a cohesive dough. Depending on the season, you may need to add a bit more (winter), or a bit less (summer). To make dog cookies, drop the dough in walnut-sized balls onto a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Flatten to about 1/4” thick.

How to Cut Out Dogbone Busicuits

To cut out dogbone biscuits, roll the dough about 1/4” thick. No, it’s not pretty; it’ll develop cracks all over, and very ragged edges. No worries; trust me, your dog won’t care about looks.

• Cut with a 3 1/2” cutter (or the size of your choice). Gather and re-roll the scraps, and continue to cut biscuits until you’ve used all the dough.
• Lay the biscuits close together on the prepared baking sheets. Since the biscuits don’t include any leavening (baking powder, yeast, etc.), they won’t spread much.
• Bake the biscuits for about 40 to 60 minutes, baking the smaller cookies for the shorter amount of time, the larger biscuits for the longer amount of time.
• When finished, the biscuits will be dark golden brown, and will be dry and crisp all the way through.

This came from the website:  http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2010/12/13/puppy-love-our-biscuit-taste-test/

Novalee making doggie treats…she is quite the stirring lady!

Tyler taking a break from his part to cheese it up for his momma

…so these are a few things we will be doing this summer.  There are so many other things but I think the recipe for the doggie treats is so fun to do that we will probably do it for a week before they get tired of it.  I don’t know many other places to go that cost little amounts of money, so suggestions would be great!  As a teacher I know that if one has a question there will be others who do as well.  Well I will leave you with a small piece of writing that I penned in one of my growing moments as of late.  Next time I will be talking about the awesoeness of henna and the fun way I get to do my art…full of pics and tips and fun!  So if you have any art ready to share, next time would be the time to do so.  Also will let you in on something huge I am excited to try…

     Until then, folks, enjoy the writing, give me some feedback on what you would like to see because I am newish ya know…in case you couldn’t tell…   =)

Acey May

MMMMHMMMMM……

Playing in the road like a rebel toddler
Looking behind me with the twinkle of fear and excitement
The scornful look given makes no never mind
I leap into the traffic of this life
Dodging the Judge as it sways in my direction
Laughing when it narrowly misses
The fearful yells try to bring me back
But it only makes me go farther
I step over the entrails of the less fortunate
Taken out by their own hate and lust
And I selfishly thank God it isn’t me
The Judge comes back and I jump onto its hood as it barrels
I fear not the one who looks at me from behind the wheel
I have seen that face before
And it was conquered
The Judge sees the fire in my ice blue eyes
And the engine rumbles to nothingness
It dies under my stare
Applause from the scornful one
She looks at me and smiles
And she speaks in a melody only I can understand
And she says “I knew you could do it.”
So I run to the safety of the sidewalk 
“Then why did you yell at me to return”
And her music says
“Because I knew if I told you to go, you would have never ventured on your own.”
Laughter shrieks from my still excited throat
And I hug the mirror I am looking into

---

Acey May is an Illustrator and Creative Collaborator at Community Publishing.She has contributed illustrations to the bilingual multimedia eBook, Fiona the Funkadelic Freckle Fairy. Additionally she is the primary illustrator on the forthcoming bilingual multimedia children’s book, Bella the Caterpillar.

Community Publishing brings local artists of all mediums together in creative collaborations for distribution as multimedia eBooks while promoting literacy in our communities.
#JoinOurCommunity at http://communitypublishing.org

Community Publishing is a proud partner and programmer at the Rail Yards Market.

 

Acey’s Doodley Adventures

Whew! What an amazing, difficult, lovely life this is. After finding myself on my own with the beautiful Luna, my little munchkin face, I have acquired an amazing job at a daycare, my Henna business is picking up, new and wonderful friends are popping up everywhere and best of all I am an officially published illustrator! I was so super excited when Community Publishing offered me a job that, honestly, I cried. A.J Roche’, author of Fiona the Funkadelic Freckle Fairy is one of my best friends and asked if I would do two illustrations for her book – this was prior to the soon to be released Bella the Caterpillar, written by seven year old Marisol Paramo with music by Concepto Tambor’s Christian Orellana.

From Fiona the Funkadelic Freckle Fairy

Any old who, this is my first blogging experience so please bare with me as I ramble. While I was at work today basking in the sun playing momma kitten to one of our kids, so many things were happening to the people I love. A broken phone transmuted into a free, better one. Healing took place for another who revisited her traumatized home, and another chose to face her stress head on and came out smiling on the other end. I personally am glad I was playing momma cat! But on the down side I got kicked in the face by a 5 year old built like a 7 year old so I don’t know how I feel about it actually.

OK so i guess I should tell you about myself now that I’ve stopped the nervous rambling. My name is Acey May and im starting my life over again. I have three gorgeous kiddos. Tyler who we lovingly call Bubba, is only nine and less than a head shorter than me. He earned his nickname. Novalee is 6 and she is an angle face, but don’t you believe it for a minute! (Well not totally anyway) she is a fire cracker down deep…well not so deep anyway. And finally there is Luna. She is only one but she is the most independent of them all. I am a licensed teacher, a henna artist , an illustrator and mother. I love this life and wouldn’t trade a moment of it for anything. Next week I will share some of my fave recipes and crafts my kiddos are going to enjoy this summer! Until then, please read, comment , or whatev…just make sure you have a good one folks!