PSA: The Great Slime Fiasco of 2011

For those of you that don't know, my daughter is THAT kid.  

I decided after this particular incident that I should post about it, because after all, one of you might have one of these kids as well!

OK, first off, what do you get when you mix this...

with this?

ONE BIG FREAKIN' NIGHTMARE!

"Look Mommy!  I have a hat made of slime!"  Oh joy!  In case you're wondering what slime is, it is a mixture made of water, borax and GLUE.  And does it easily come out of soft, fine, little girl hair?  NO.  No it does not.  I have to say, I felt so sorry for her.  My first reaction was, of course, to be angry, then all of a sudden this rush of giggling came over me and I howled like a damn hyena with tears streaming down my face.

This was not helpful.

It was also not helpful that her big brother was laughing himself into tears as well.  So I had to chase the child around the house (with slime drooping from her head) to try and explain that it wasn't HER I was laughing at but the SITUATION.  Needless to say, she did NOT think this shit was funny in the least.

First instinct, call mother-in-law.  She used to be a hairdresser, she HAD to know how to remove slime.  She suggested putting on tons of thick conditioner to hopefully help the goop slide out.  Made perfect sense so we tried it.

I was able to start slowing scratching some of the top layer off, but the stuff underneath was so stuck in the hair it was unbelievable and the conditioner wasn't even touching that.  At this point I was almost certain that a shaver and a buzz cut were in the child's future.  I called Big Daddy to get him surfing the web to see if he could find a solution.  He is the King of Google.  Seriously, that man can find anything, anytime on Google!  I hopped back in the shower with the girl to try to work some more of this stuff out.  Shortly, the Monkey Man came upstairs with news.  So what did Big Daddy discover on the internet?

That's right, Baby!  MAYONNAISE!  Turns out vinegar can break up some the bonds of the glue, but I was too scared I'd get it in her eyes.  Mayo has vinegar and oil, double whammy!  And although it's gross, it's manageable.  So I slopped it on and started working it in.  I was able to start pulling big chunks out after a few minutes, then I started in with the fine tooth comb.  Slowly but surely, the slime started loosening up and I was able to comb the majority of it out.  Then I shampooed a couple of times and conditioned really well and this was the end result...

Slime FREE!!!!  I don't think I've ever loved a condiment so much in my entire life!  GO MAYO!  So remember, if you have one of THOSE kids and they get slime in their hair, it's all about the mayonnaise!

Escape to the Mountains: Evening at White Sands

OK, I admit it, I love White Sands.  Seriously.  LOVE.  IT.  And I had the most grandiose plans of taking the Piglet's 5 y.o. pics at White Sands in a sweet little sherbet colored dress with her hand-painted Japanese parasol.  Oh the pics were beyond amazing... in my head.  Mother Nature, as it turns out, had different plans!  We arrived late afternoon and it was still too hot and too bright to take good photos.  White Sands is one of those places that you have to get early morning or sunset pics or everyone is over-exposed and squinty.  It really is very bright there in full sun!  So we just pulled out the saucers and let the kids and dogs run free and wild, hoping that the sunset would be awesome and I'd get some great pics of a little freckle-nosed girl.  As things started to cool down, I set off with the camera to just shoot scenery.  The big, puffy white clouds were awesome!

My feet are always happy and well-exfoliated at White Sands!  ;)

The kids were enjoying sledding the dunes.

In case you're wondering, they heavier the saucer is, the faster it sleds down the dunes, hence the bucketful of sand all over my kid!  Big Daddy snapped a quick pic with my girlie!  I kinda love her!

It was the dogs, however, that REALLY enjoyed White Sands with the complete and total reckless abandon that only a dog can understand!   And they're off!

Well hello Roddy!

And yes, Nigel too!

He got hot though, and Big Daddy had discovered that the sand under the surface was damp and cool.  I have NEVER seen a dog that was even remotely OK with getting buried in the sand.  But he LOVED it!

Roddy got hot too, but he wouldn't let us bury him, so he just panted...

and PANTED!

They finally mellowed out just as the storm started rolling in.

Can you see the rain in the background?  So awesome!  I have to admit, it was a bit of a pisser to have our evening cut short, not to mention the fact that glorious photos of the girl were not to be, but hey, New Mexico has been hit by this drought as bad as Texas and I was beyond thrilled to see the lightning and smell the rain!  It finally started raining, COLD, life giving rain right as we were piling in the car.  It was beautiful!  So I forgave Mother Nature for screwing up my photo shoot!  Besides, we all had fun playing in the sand and that's really what it was all about anyway!  I hear that October is the best time to visit White Sands, so I think next year we'll plan a dual trip to take in Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque then head to Ruidoso for a week to enjoy fall in the mountains!  Counting the days baby, counting the days!

Escape to the Mountains: Little Hummers

Those of you that have been following along with my blog for awhile know that I like to travel!  And I also like to post full-blown trip logs of my adventures.  Well, the fact is, now that the kids are a bit bigger and we have so many commitments, it is really hard to sit down and knock out a full trip log chronicling an entire week in one sitting.  SO... I have decided to break things down in smaller more do-able increments!  I hope you still enjoy reading them!

Our family doesn't have the cash flow to travel to wonderful, exotic locations.  It's hard to save up for big trips on a single income!  But we are so lucky to have our little cabin in the mountains of New Mexico!  It's strange, we've been going there for years (and by that I mean close to 20 years!) and we have done everything there is to do in and around Ruidoso, but you know what?  I have NEVER grown tired of this place.  I mean really, how could you?  Fresh, pine-scented air, cool mountain temps (20* less than the hell we call home in Central Texas) and abundant wildlife.  Not to mention a deck that just cannot be rivaled!  We spend most of our time sitting on the deck waiting and watching and RELAXING.

Some of our favorite cabin visitors are the hummingbirds!  As soon as we arrive, we make up fresh nectar and hang out the feeders and within an hour we have hummingbirds out the wazoo!  Big Daddy took it upon himself to try to get some great pics of the little beasties, and I can say from experience, it is WAY harder than it looks!  But I think he did a great job, check it out!

 

If you ever wondered what a hummingbird tongue looks like, click on this pic!

 

Can you get any sweeter?

And then came the fattest little hummer we've ever seen!  This little thing was beyond plump!  Not sure if it was just well fed or maybe a female with eggs?  Either way, too cute!

Coming in for a landing!

 

Our second morning we had the fortune/misfortune of finding a hummingbird on the ground.  My mom found the little thing flopping around in the driveway.  We picked her up and my mom tried to warm her while I mixed up some fresh nectar.

She ate well and started trying to flap her little wings.  She just couldn't seem to take off though.  We think her wing may have been broken.  We allowed the kids to hold her gently, I mean after all, how often does a kid get to hold something that small and delicate.  It was like holding a cotton puff in your hand.

After a bit, we fed her some more and I settled her in the lower branches of a tree.

We're not sure what became of her.  I went back to the spot and walked around the area about an hour later and there was no sign of her.  Not sure if she died or if something got her, or if by some chance her wing wasn't broken and whatever the problem was, she was able to work it out and fly off.  We are all hoping it was the latter, and honestly, as far as my kids are concerned it was.  The Piggy was in tears over our little guest and I was in tears seeing my sweet girl broken hearted.  All she wanted was for this sweet little bird to fly away "to be with her Mama and Daddy and her friends".  Both of the kids were terribly concerned about her and although I know death is a part of life, I figured optimism was the best choice in this case.  So we are hoping "Little Hummer" is flying around Ruidoso visiting every flower and feeder in the upper canyon! 

But on a happy note, the rest of our time at the cabin was spent observing and enjoying probably a hundred of these little beauties!  They swooped around, buzzed our heads when we got too close to the feeders and spent endless hours chasing each other around and away from the feeders!  Those little Rufous Hummingbirds are quite the territorial little farts!  Stay tuned for more adventures!