The O Family

And then she was ONE

2012-01-25T15:21:00.002-07:00

It seems like just yesterday my beautiful niece Brielle was born.

Yesterday she turned one year old!

I can't wait to see her this summer!

Miscellany

2012-01-11T15:30:00.001-07:00

I have been meaning to sell some of Bree's old stuff, toys, etc. on Craigslist but I really "hate" doing it because people have to come over to the house to look at it, I have to be available and being that I work all day that means they have to come look in the evenings. Anyways, I'm finally doing it.

We (I should say I) because my husband could care less about these things,
bought Bree a new loft bed with a slide because there was a fantastic deal on a loft bed on Walmart.com that I could not pass up. I have been looking for this type of bed for awhile but I have a limit as to what I will pay. Not to mention there hasn't been anything on Craigslist used. As I was coming home from work the other evening my husband and daughter were across the street talking with my neighbor Mandy and I pulled up and had a chat. She had to mention :) that she was going to IKEA and she started talking about loft beds and this is how Bree's new bed came to be. I blame Mandy. LOL!

My original plan this month was really not to spend ANY money on frivolous things as I'm working on getting my financial house in order for future plans, however I'm a sucker and bought a bed. But, we have lots of stuff that can be sold and so I will make the money back in other ways! Here are two items I just put up on Craigslist.

Little girl's princess potty $10

Leapfrog musical table $20

I just listed them on Craigslist today.

And this is the bed we got Bree. She's stoked. She's been wanting one ever since we visited my brother last year. Her cousin Jordan has a slide bed and I will admit it's pretty cool.

The big ONE

2012-01-05T14:27:00.000-07:00

Every year little girl gets one "big" gift for Christmas. This year Jon and I couldn't think what to get her then I had a bright idea. A Dollhouse! She is at that age now and a dollhouse will last her for years and years of playing. I knew eventually that she would get into Barbies (yeh, I know, those darn stereotypical dolls, but whatever) so I wanted to get her a house that fit Barbies but not one that was a cheapy plastic Barbie house that is super overpriced. Well we found her one.
This is what she asked Santa for and was she surprised to see this on Christmas morning! :)

Here's to being a little girl and having your very own dollhouse.

Adios December!

2012-01-03T13:08:00.001-07:00

Ah, the month of December. The change from autumn into winter! I've actually been enjoying winter this year. I think because we had a few snow storms that left us with a white Christmas this year, for the first time in I don't know how long? 10 years? At least that since we've had a good snow on the ground for Christmas! We had a pre-Christmas gathering the weekend before at Jon's moms house (a few photo's below) and then on Christmas day (no pics in this post) we got up, made cinnamon rolls, started a fire in the fireplace and opened presents and had a nice relaxing day before heading over to Nana's for Christmas dinner. As much as I enjoy spending the holidays with Jon's family I really miss mine during this time of the year and hope that we can start spending at least one holiday a year with my family. I don't think I've spent a Christmas with any of my family since the 1990's and the early 1990's at that!

In December we got to play in the snow, decorate the house for Christmas, put up the Christmas tree, hang Christmas lights in the front yard, build ginerbread houses and bake Christmas cookies and attend fun pre-school Christmas parties.

And Santa brought Bree that dollhouse she asked him for (pics later). But for now I'm glad it's the New Year. 2012.

And tomorrow I get this little girl registered for kindergarten! Hard to believe. We are trying to choice in to another elementary school since we've been hearing not so great things about our little neighborhood school, bummer! But there are a few others close to us that are really good schools that we are excited about! With that we bid December goodbye and welcome in the New Year and all of the new exciting things that await us this year!

Happy New Year!

Santa!

2011-12-28T15:23:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday night we went out to dinner and then headed over to the Chapel Hills Mall to let Bree see Santa. She was a little shy. She told him she wanted a dollhouse for Christmas. It was cute. Here is the one photo we got. Love that humongous chair.

A Few Stragglers

2011-12-28T15:18:00.000-07:00

From our vacation last month: Here is the "cheesy" family vacation photo with the Mayan dancers. Had to post it. The one with Bree and the bird were taken on the beach by the resort photographer. I actually purchased both pictures for family "memories". :)

Hola!

2011-12-05T12:23:00.003-07:00

We've returned from south of the border where the sun is warm, the sand is white and the people are friendly and the beaches are heavenly! We had a great vacation. Jon and Bree snorkeled (Bree was a pro!) and took a kayak out. We played on the beach, floated in the ocean, bopped around the pool, drank lots of margarita's and ate lots of food.

Bree went to the aqua park several times and took part in the Kid's Club on a few days. Jon and I ate at a Brazilian Steakhouse and we watched a movie outside. Overall it was a nice, relaxing time. I am much tanner for it. :)

The fruity drink called the "Riviera Maya", pretty isn't it?

This is the Christmas tree @ the Cancun airport. Bree is on the very left, it is a HUGE tree!

This resort was great for kids. Besides the Kid's Club & all of the activities there it also had a fantastic water park, burro's, peacocks, cats (nice, clean ones that are rescue cats that live around the resort), coati's and parrots. As you can see most of our pictures are of Bree, she had a blast!! They also had mini disco in the evening for kid's (there is a pic of her somewhere dancing with "Sandito" the kid's mascot.

Here are the OCEAN pictures:

The day at the Museum

2011-11-15T09:29:00.002-07:00

I know I said I wouldn't post until after vacation but I have to post this ridiculous picture from our TREX encounter! We spent the day in Denver yesterday. We went to the Denver Museum of Natural history. We did pretty good, hit all the exhibits. The best one, by far was the TREX encounter, real looking robotic dinosaurs! So awesome. Unfortunately they would not let us take pictures in that exhibit but they took one of us! We also got to see the Dinosaur movie on the IMAX, quite the experience for Bree, she did great! It was a long, fun and exhausting day. We didn't get home until after dark...

Halloween, Pumpkin Painting, Witches & Snow.....

2011-11-07T10:08:00.003-07:00

I'll back track a few weeks here. Halloween weekend we went up to Woodland Park to Jon's cousin Samantha and her husbands "cabin in the woods" as I call it and did some good old fashioned pumpkin painting while listening to really awesome halloween music and drinking some very creepy Sangria that Scott made. We also celebrated Scott's birthday a few days early and enjoyed a really yummy dinner of pumpkin pasta! I hiked up the side of a very steep hill in the back of the house where there is this high tree swing for the kids. Not easy to do when you are wearing flats that come off your feet easy, the hill was super steep, your holding a glass of wine in one hand and you can't set it down because the hill is too steep and you have to lift one kid into the swing because it's so high off the ground, but the view from up on that swing is probably one of the coolest! It was fun, but steep.

On Halloween evening we had Bree's cousin Anthony and his mom Nichole over to join us in some trick or treating around our neighborhood. It was spooky and fun and when we returned to our house a witch left her broom on our doorstep!! (I'm pretty sure a kid dropped their broom while grabbing candy out of the bowl)but we didn't tell the little ones that, we let them believe a witch really came buy and took some of our candy.

Then on Wednesday a small snow storm blew in and Bree and I had a "snow day" at our house. Bree wasn't feeling that great so it was sort of like a sick day but she was well enough to put on her snowpants and go play on the deck in the snow for a little while. She really wanted to make a snow Angel.

So, October is out and November is in. We leave on vacation somewhere sunny and warm after Thanksgiving. I can't wait.

Happy November all. I'll post again in December after we return from the gorgeousness that is the Mayan Riviera. :)

The creepy and delicious Sangria

The grumpy black kitty, space cowboy and Peanut the dog who is a bumblebee...

And then there was snow....

The days go by....

2011-10-27T08:40:00.001-06:00

It's really Autumn here now. Almost winter, but still autumn even though it technically snowed here yesterday. We have been busy with work, life, work, life, work, life. These days make me feel a little lazier. I don't focus on cleaning my house (so much) and I actually have been sitting down in the evening to watch a little TV (weird, I never do that except maybe really late at night). I've been trying to find scary Halloween shows to watch. The only time of the year that I like to watch scary creepy shows is Halloween, otherwise I'm not really into it. To my surprise there hasn't been diddly squat on the TV! No surprise there, I sometimes wonder why we even bother with paying for cable.

Last weekend was nice. Took Bree to the park for a mommy-daughter picnic. She wanted the full blanket spread out, so we headed over to Nancy Lewis park and had a picnic under the big tree.

These two pictures were taken from our bedroom deck. Our backyard faces the cliffs at Palmer Park, I was trying to show the brillian colors on the trees this year.

This weekend is going to be busy. Breakfast & Coffin races in Manitou on Saturday. Sunday I need to make food to bring to Bree's school for her Halloween party, I also need to make pumpkin chili to bring to work for our Halloween potluck. Not too mention I need to fit in a trip to Walmart this weekend and walk the dog? Yikes.

Free Sckater

2011-10-12T12:58:00.000-06:00

Back at the end of August I received an email from the Parent's Insight Network. They (very rarely) send me surveys to take on kids' products, ideas, etc. Since they are genuine I take the surveys. The one they sent me this time was to survey some little girl's toys for girls 4-6 years old. They said that my name would be entered into a drawing to win a Razor kid's Scooter and that 20 names would be drawn. I had a weird feeling that since not many people do these surveys that I had a chance. I never win anything, EVER.

But Guess What? I did win this time. Bree loves her scooter. She calls it a "skater". She is still trying to figure out the balance thing. She'll get the hang of it eventually.

Better late than Never

2011-10-12T12:48:00.001-06:00

I'm posting about some late September things.
In late September Bree and I had a mommy - daughter long weekend. On a Thursday we went to the Zoo. It WAS THE PERFECT cool autumn day, no tourists and we were literally the only ones there, it was great. Then, on the next day we headed up to Green Mountain falls for a late breakfast at the Pantry and then drove up to Woodland Park to FINALLY, finally, finally, bring Bree to the Dinosaur museum up there. It was a lot of fun and I am very grateful for these two special days in September.

Green Mountain Falls & Woodland Park Dinosaur Center

Joe & Sarah's Wedding

2011-09-26T10:51:00.001-06:00

My cousin Joe and his beautiful bride were married on Saturday September 17th. It was a fantastic wedding in a beautiful setting outside at the Briarhurst in the Conservatory. The reception was one big ass party, fun as hell and we danced our asses off. I paid dearly on Sunday with a mad hangover, totally WORTH IT. Let's just say martini's and wine don't go together.

Bree danced ALL night long. She found a little friend her age and they partied like rockstars. It was a brilliant night. The only regret - No pictures of Jon, Bree and I. Bummed about that.

Oh yeh, it was a fun night!!

Congrats to Joe & Sarah. :)

Labor Day Weekend Part II

2011-09-19T09:18:00.002-06:00

On Monday, Labor Day, we headed up to Denver to attend the Taste of Colorado. We met up with Jon's sister who lives near a light rail station & we rode the light rail into downtown. A first time for us and kind of fun actually....

They had lots of stuff for the kids to do and one of Bree (and Jon's) favorite things, LEGOS!

We ate lots of good food, wandered around in the searing heat and then rode the light rail back. Good times!

Also that weekend we went to the park. It was a beautiful day. Bree rode her bike around and rolled down the hill several times. Pretty awesome.

Labor Day Weekend Part I

2011-09-06T10:02:00.000-06:00

We actually did end up having some plans over the weekend.

On Saturday night we went to the Balloon Glow...very very crowded, crazy and SHORT (was really disappointed that it didn't last as long as it was supposed to) BUT it was really cool to see the balloons & let Bree experience it all.

Then on Sunday morning we woke up EARLY to the same balloons from the night before floating over the city and right by our house!! So exciting for a certain 4 year old!!!

The Weekend Part I

2011-08-18T10:04:00.001-06:00

Camping near the Royal Gorge last weekend.....

VERY warm. The low was 60 degrees at night. This is the benefit to camping at a LOWER elevation, however the day gets too hot!

It's actual quite beautiful in this area right now, they must have gotten some rain because it's greener or at least seems that way to me. Canon City is usually pretty dry.

Found a spot, set up our tent, daddy cut up some wood, the dogs ran around like crazy animals, went on various walks around the area, had a fire, dinner, smores, more fire. Fun times.

It was little girl's first camping trip. Glad we did it.

THE WEEKEND PART II

2011-08-16T09:36:00.001-06:00

On Sunday my sweet little girl and I headed up to Denver. I got a great deal on a sweet hotel and we arrived RIGHT at 3pm check in time. We headed up to our room, changed and went straight to the pool. Swam for awhile before heading back to our room. Being lazy I ordered us room service for dinner while Bree watched cartoons and while we were waiting for the cousins to come over for some evening swimming.

Monday morning we ordered room service for breakfast too. Lazy I know. More expensive, but worth it to be able to hang out and relax. After breakfast we hit the pool one more time! Then it was off to the Children's Museum for some more cousin time and fun. SO glad we had the opportunity to do these fun things and see my niece, nephew and sister in law. My family lives far away and it was a treat to see them!

10 of 20 years celebrated!

2011-08-03T12:14:00.004-06:00

ok, so our 10 year "legal" wedding anniversary is not until Aug. 18 but you have to take what you can get when you don't have a regular babysitter and Nana is leaving back to Ireland in a few days so.....

We headed up to Denver for an evening. Stayed in the Grand Hyatt downtown, walked to Maggiano's for dinner, relaxed by the pool (TWICE!), and walked to Sam's #3 on Curtis St. for breakfast the next morning.

Did you know that Sam's #3 was recently featured on a show on the Food Network called "diner's, drive-in's & dive's?. It was. Cool. But that didn't make up for the fact that their omlettes were super dry and only so-so. All in all we still enjoyed sitting on their outdoor patio, drinking our coffee and watching the world go by.

Did you know that Maggiano's is fantastic? We had never eaten there and normally do not do pasta out but decided to give it a try. It's a really classy but casual restaurant with FIVE star service! They knew it was our anniversary and treated us awesome. They even brought us champagne which was totally unexpected. Honestly we were a little blown away by their food and superior service. We'll be back for sure!

We fully intended on visiting the museum, but traffic snarls got us to our hotel 2 hours later than we wanted to and we didn't have the energy the next day to go so we kinda blew it off. Maybe next time.

It was really nice for the 2 of us to get away on our own. Love my husband of 10 years and my partner of nearly 20 years.

Dinner @ Maggiano's downtown (highly recommended)

Tiramasu

View from our room. I just love the big city buildings & staying right in the heart of downtown.

16th Street mall-early morning

Breakfast @ Sam's #3

4 F O U R f o u r

2011-07-25T13:16:00.003-06:00

When you turned 4 you were still my sweet, very sweet little girl.

You show compassion for others.

You are kind and make friends easily. I’ve seen you on several occasions (and asked you once to be a friend to a little girl who asked me if should could have a friend) be a friend to someone at the water fountain who looked like they needed a friend.

You LOVE to RUN. And run. And run. And run. Give Bree an open field or an open trail and she will RUN.

You all of a sudden love wearing dresses. So, we've bought a bunch.

You are becoming braver every day.

You have GREAT ideas. You come up with the best ones lately.

You are afraid of monsters in your closet.

You love your Nana and Bob and Nadine and Greg.

You are especially fond of your cousin Anthony.

You call your friends at school and others your “kids”., i.e., "my kids are coming over to my birthday party.”

You have a Zest for life. Which I find grand because What is life if there is no ZEST for it?

I love you little girl. Happy 4th year and here is to living the fullest life you can live with all you are given!

Random photo's from a birthday weekend for a sweet 4 year old.

Fun on 5 acres

2011-07-19T09:48:00.004-06:00

Last Saturday evening we headed up to Jon's cousin Samantha's house for dinner with her and her husband Scott, Cathy (Sam's sister) (It was Cathy's birthday) and Cathy's little boy Anthony. Anthony and Bree are best cousins. They LOVE playing together.

The Kelly's live on 5 acres up Rampart in Woodland Park. Their house is super adorable, cozy and soooo cabinesque! I love it. Scott was really nice and brought the kids for a ride on the ATV around his property. They LOVED it. They also played forever in the tall grasses among the aspen trees.

Samantha took some wonderful photo's. What a great evening.

Last Weekend

2011-07-19T09:27:00.002-06:00

Last weekend was a great weekend. Friday Jon and I didn't work and Bree didn't go to school. Instead we went and picked up Nana and headed over to Manitou Springs for a day of fun at the penny arcade and lunch at the Townhouse Lounge on the patio. SUPER fun.

OH MY!

2011-07-13T13:03:00.003-06:00

This is last weeks (meaning last Thursday's) veggie pick up from the farm.

It's all organic. Really really fresh.

Oh my.

We've gotten through most of it! Last night I sauteed collard greens, spinach, garlic, butter, green onions and tomatoes together, and put a grilled chicken breast on top with rice for dinner. It was great. My 4 year old and my 37 year old (husband) ate all of their greens! I was so proud of them.

Tomorrow is another pickup (Every Thursday for 26 weeks and we are now on the 5th week) AND fruit shares start this week as well. Exciting.

I wish I had pictures....

2011-07-12T14:01:00.003-06:00

(i just inserted this picture for "ambiance" effect) :)

I wish I had pictures of Saturday evening this past weekend. We went down to Nana and Grandpa Bob’s house downtown. We then went up to Acacia park for Saturday night music in the park. Stayed for about an hour but the thunderstorms were to “iffy”. So we then headed over to Panino’s for a family dinner. Jon’s mom, Jon, Bob, his sister Nadine, myself and Bree. It was fun. I had an EXTRA glass of wine. As we got back to Nana’s house (picture a few of the older homes downtown, heavily treed yards, old, cool), as we walked up the driveway we noticed her neighbor was having a concert in the detached garage that is set in the very back of the house. Olga's (Jon’s mom) neighbor (Liz)'s daughter lives in the garage which is semi converted into a living area.

We hear this violin music and beautiful singing. It’s dusk, there are those white Christmas lights lighting the way into the main entrance of the garage. We hear kids running around and playing. Instantly Bree wants to go over. Then Liz, Olga’s neighbor sees us and invites us over.

Well, I’m sort of anti-social, was feeling sort of tired wasn’t sure I wanted to go. Olga said no it would be fun. When Bree heard I was not going to go she got mad! “Noooooo, I want to go over, there are kids!”. Olga said, let’s pour ourselves some wine and walk over. OK I said let’s go, what do we have to lose. They are your neighbors you know them, I don’t but maybe I should crawl out of my shell.

We got our wine and headed over. It was a very intimate event. Maybe about 20 adults and 10 kids (all the kids were running around late into the evening). Harriet (Liz's daughter) played on the violin and another woman (can’t remember her name) sang and played guitar. The garage door was open and the stage was right inside . Sheer curtains flowed with the air coming through. Candles were lit. There was wine and food…

They sang a bunch of songs they wrote while in Paris….

I had no idea that Olga’s neighbor was so talented. WOW. This reminds me of life. Don’t ever say you don’t want to do things because you’re afraid, or you don’t know anybody. If I would not have gone over I would have missed out on one fabulous evening.

A private concert. Literally. It was awesome!

I only wish I had pictures!

What the Kale?

2011-07-04T11:51:00.000-06:00

I am in the 4th week of veggie deliveries from Grant Family farm. Every week we get more stuff in our bags as the crops get ready for picking. Last weeks batch included Kale. I've heard of it, know it's super good for you and watch chef's prepare kale on tv but I have never purchased it, mainly out of laziness.

The beauty of trying out the CSA with Grant Farms is that you are sort of forced to look at the veggies you get for the week and say, how can I NOT waste this? Eating seasonally is interesting but also a bit of work in preparing dishes or baking with what you have. So far I've made rhubarb oatmeal bars (twice!), spinach cheese bread and today I made kale chips.

Yes, kale chips. Strange taste. Think dry seaweed. I like it. Here are some pics from my efforts.

5 day weekend

2011-07-02T21:02:00.000-06:00

I have a 5 day holiday weekend. woo hoo! Spent Friday finally painting Bree's room with the paint I bought this past February. I had full intentions of painting her room this winter, but you know how that goes.

It took me all day Friday to paint her room. I don't know why I thought I could be done by 1:30 pm so that maybe I could go have lunch with my husband but no such luck. In the end I am happy that I finally got it done and she has a new color up on her walls.

Today we headed down to America the Beautiful park for the Arts festival going on down there. Music, bouncy houses, art, homemade rootbeer and even fresh french fries for my hubby.

This morning little girl got what we said we would go to get. A PURPLE (her fave color) beta fish and a cool fish tank. Purple beta's name is Nemo, of course!

We continue our holiday weekend tomorrow with some yard work, laundry and then heading up to Castle Rock for their Freedom Festival and evening fireworks.

Happy 4th of July all!

Big Girl Bike

2011-06-22T07:37:00.002-06:00

This was supposed to be her big birthday gift this year. But I decided to pop onto Craigslist to see if there were any kid's bikes with training wheels. And, what do you know? I got the first one I called about and at a great price. Of course we couldn't hide it until the end of next month, that would mean HALF the summer gone without being able to ride a bike!

So we gave it to her.

She hasn't stopped riding it since. Glad she loves it.

Bear Naked Picture :)

2011-06-14T10:17:00.002-06:00

When we were in Vail there are of course tons of vendors @ the Teva Games and Bear Naked Granola is a major sponsor/vendor. I didn't eat any this year but they poured Jon a bowl of cereal to try, it is really good stuff. Anyhow, there was a gal from BNG randomly snapping photo's of people (asking permission of course) and we let her take ours, she gave us a card with a code and I finally looked up the picture today. Here it is.....

Ahhh yes, great times in Vail. Do you see the "free" iced coffee's in hand? We drank these all day. I can't remember the name of the brand off hand, but it is sold at Whole Foods and it's a STRONG brew.

Mountain Town Fun-I love Colorado

2011-06-06T07:57:00.006-06:00

We spent a long weekend in the high country this past weekend. Our destination on Saturday was Vail and the Teva Games, we stayed in Frisco and ate most of our meals in Silverthorne. So really, we were not just in Vail. We had a great time, the games were fun and Bree got to do a lot of stuff from Kayaking to face painting to swimming in the pool at the hotel and playing on the "ship" playground in Vail. Went out to dinner a few times, really nice and relaxing trip.

Here are a "few" pictures from our high country adventure

Free Kayaking for the kids - she totally knew what to do and she's never done it before!

Patio dining in Vail & showing her new toy, yes there is a toy store in the heart of Vail and we found it!

Dock Dogs competitions at the Teva Mountain Games

Mother's Day Weekend (Saturday) adventure

2011-05-23T10:46:00.005-06:00

Let me first say that the weather was FABULOUS & we could not have asked for a better weekend for weather!!

Saturday on Mother's Day weekend we decided to take a drive up Gold Camp Road with full intentions on finding this camping area (about 12 miles in and about 20 miles from our house) that has free camping. We were driving up there to leisurely scope out camping areas for this summer as we want to try to get a couple of camping trips in. So I packed a picnic, and we loaded up the mini van with dogs, chairs, blankets, water, food and ourselves and headed out. What a gorgeous drive and there was hardly anyone up there at 10 AM!! Halfway up Jon drove over a pretty big rock and it hit under the car. No big deal. Has happened before on various occassions in our life. We've driven on lots and lots of mountain roads, you know being from Montana and all. So we continue our drive and we pass (I think) the camping spot and decided to turn down another road just to "explore". There are a few campers and we head down the road and find a lovely open meadow with gorgeous huge boulders. PERFECT. We'll stop here for now, take a break and have our picnic before venturing on.

I take out all of our chairs, food, etc. It's sort of windy. I had this thought run through my head, hmmmm....should have Jon move the van and park it south and it would totally block the wind. But before I could say anything, he SAID what I was thinking! He moves the van. It blocks the wind! Awesome. The dogs are running around FREE and happy as can be. It's the PERFECT day.

Bree is so Happy to have the picnic she settles in on to her blankie. Ahhhhh, I can feel the stress leaving my body.

There was even a bubbling brook right next to us. Peaceful isn't it?

Jon moves the van.

Jon spots a puddle of oil where the van WAS parked.

I stare at it in disbelief? Really? He goes over to the van and looks under. Yep. Oil pan is leaking, pretty rapidly. He says "I don't have any oil in the van to replace what is leaking, we have to leave now or we will be stuck here".

NOOOOO!!! Darnit. I felt the urgency of the situation. 12 miles back in the mountains. No cell service. Yes there are campers up the road but the last thing I want to have to do is walk for miles with 2 dogs (no leashes btw) and a toddler, no stroller....you get the picture. PLUS we had a bbq to attend at 4 that evening.

Instantly I threw everything into the van, got the dogs in. NOBODY wanted to leave. We had to literally pick up the dogs and throw them back into the van. We decided to haul ass off that mountain until the engine light came on then we would have to stop. Didn't want the engine to blow up!

Have you ever driven really really really fast down Gold Camp, on a dirt road, in a Mini Van? Yeh, not for the faint of heart!! Not too mention at this point a GAZILLION people are heading UP the mountain. So we are having to slow down to let cars squeeze by, etc. yeh, good times!!

These are the only pictures I took. Right before the discovery of leaking oil....

In that moment I could have gotten angry. I was disappointed, VERY VERY disappointed. Because I felt the release of stress, in the moment I wanted to enjoy my family and then in a SECOND all of the stress returned only to be doing this, hauling ASS down the mountain we just spent over an hour driving UP!

But I knew, EVERYTHING happens for a reason, and we don't always know the reason for it. I still don't know. Maybe we just were not meant to be in that spot that day. Who knows.

Something told me to move the mini van. It was almost as my angel whispered in my ear. If Jon had not moved the van all of the oil would have leaked out. The van would not have made it far.

End of story. AMAZINGLY we made it all the way home. With a little oil left to spare. Husband had to buy a new oil pan. That big rock put a nice little hole in the oil pan. Thankfully he likes to work on his car. :)

And that was our Saturday adventure on Mother's Day weekend.

I know that angels watch over me and my family. I just know. :)

Easter Egg Hunting...

2011-05-19T13:54:00.006-06:00

I'm so behind on the blog....

This year we did our Easter Egg hunt at the Fountain Creek Nature Center. We LOVE the Fountain Creek Nature Center!

You have to sign up for your Easter Egg Hunt. You go in a small group. It's not CRAZY. It's not packed! Very relaxing. Before the hunt the kids sat in a small room where one of the employee's talked to them about different things in nature and there was a short slide show presentation about bunny rabbits, hares, etc...When we were done with the actual easter egg hunt we were the only ones that took advantage of walking around the nature trail. Everyone else ran back to get their candy. We waited. It was quiet and very nice. Nana and Grandpa Bob came with us.

Before the easter egg hunt each child was given a picture. Bree's was of a butterfly. Each child had to look for plastic eggs (6 each) that had THEIR picture on it. Once they found all 6 they could return to the visitor center to retrieve their candy and turn their plastic eggs in. In the meantime, each plastic egg had a tidbit about nature inside each egg that you could read to your child. It was really cute. It avoided pushing. shoving. parents trying to snatch up eggs for their kids as fast as they can. (heard TERRIBLE things about the egg hunt in OCC this year!).

After we went to Applebee's for lunch. Then on to pick up Gramma and bring her back to the house for Easter dinner.

Lovely weekend.

It's May 1st ?? Really? REALLY.

2011-05-01T20:49:00.009-06:00

Haven't been in the blogosphere for awhile. It's been kind of nice, actually.
We've been trying to pass winter with some baking, walks on those really nice days, and Friday night's Redbox movie nights and we even spent an afternoon recently up at the Castle Rock Rec Center (they have a really SWEET rec center and pool).

Ahhh, but spring is here and it's getting time to do yard work and start planning weekend trips around our wonderful State!! You know I'm busy with that.

FIRST weekend trip of the season is to the Fort restaurant in Morrison for the Indian Pow Wow and Market on May 14th. We are making a weekend out of it and staying in a nice hotel with an indoor pool, SWEET. Can't wait. Sort of my Mother's Day treat to myself.

We had fun Easter Egg hunting this year down at the Fountain Creek Nature center. Very relaxing and not busy AT ALL. We even went on a nature hike. Enjoyed. (Pics of that later).

So, we haven't been up too much, really.

just coloring Easter eggs....

We had fun having dinner at Bree's pre-school and then a quick Easter egg hunt....

Easter egg hunting at school

Visited Great Gramma at her retirment home

Baked Easter cookies

Silly picture taker

Helping mommy bake Soda Bread for St. Patties day

Sweet girl

a parade & a backyard brooha!

2011-03-14T14:55:00.005-06:00

Headed down to the St. Paddie's day parade last Saturday. The weather cooperated perfectly. This little girl (Bree) enjoyed it and it's so special that her Nana is from Ireland (she lives there the majority of the year....) and she's back in town for a short period of time and we have been trying to get some Nana time in lately.

She loves flags. Always has, since she was really small. Strange. She just HAD TO have the Irish flag.

After the parade let out we headed over to Acacia park and let Bree play on some of the bouncy houses. Then we ran home, grabbed some dessert and then it was back to Nana's house.

Saturday evening after the parade it was so warm out! Nana & Bob (who live downtown by the way - they have a really cool backyard and fire pit) fed us a proper Irish dinner and we all sat around the fire pit drinking (wine for me), others were brave and drank whiskey hot toddies... it was a great time. Nana brought everyone out blankets and overall it was not too cold out. Bree played all night with her cousin Anthony and they gathered wood for the fire for hours. In the dark....it was funny how they were such concerned and serious wood gatherers. They eventually wore themselves out and they both passed out. We sat outside until 11:30pm!! Surprised the neighbors did not call us in for being loud! What fun. Oh summertime where are you?

My camera takes terrible pictures in the dark. My husband says it's the person operating the camera. I beg to differ. So anyways, here are the awesome night time pictures.

In the background you can see Bree & Anthony - they would walk to the very back part of the yard to gather wood.

Missoula-The Rest

2011-03-03T12:23:00.009-07:00

The remainder of my trip was really a good time. My brother and his wife cooked us a prime rib dinner one night and on my last night there they cooked us home made pizzas. A house full of kids and adults, it was a good time! Bree got to spend some really good quality time with all 6 of her cousins. She especially had fun with Ashley (6) and Jordan (4). Jordan by far has the COOLEST slide bunkbed ever, so much so we've been searching for one for Bree's room, possibly as a bday present this summer, but can't seem to find the exact one he has....

Our days pretty much consisted of waking up around 8 am, getting ready, heading down to the hotel lobby area for our breakfast, maybe a quick swim, then heading into town to my sisters house to hang out for awhile or over to my dad's house. We visited the Carousel downtown, the Children's Museum downtown, ate at Mackenzie River Pizza (TWICE), the Montana Club and several Chinese restaurants....I ate way way too much food, but it was great not having to cook AT ALL.

I got to spend a second day hanging out at my high school BFF friend Jen's house. We got to sit and chat for nearly 2 hours while Jack and Bree played together, just like little angels. Had lunch with our old friend Tom and just generally tried to enjoy Missoula in the wintertime.

It's good to be home though and see the sunshine. Winters up there are tough, TOUGH. Feel for them I really do.

Here are a few last random pics. Enjoy.

Missoula-the first 4 days...

2011-02-23T16:24:00.006-07:00

I wasn't going to do a post until I got back to Colorado, however, we have now checked into our hotel room after spending the past 4 nights at my sisters house and we have free wi-fi, are trying to pass some time before dinner and I figured what the heck.

Been spending some time with my sister and trying our best to get everyone together a few times while we are here. We've had a group lunch at Applebee's, dinner at the Montana Club, lunch at Mackenzie River Pizza, just to name a few. I love eating out when I'm here, cause there really isn't much else to do in the winter time in Missoula!

I spent a day with my bff from high school and her little boy Jack. We took the kiddo's to the Missoula Children's Museum and out for pizza. I got to drive across town in a blizzard (awesome). Everyone here is tired of winter, they have been getting so much snow and the sun never shines. Yeh, it's depressing and I feel it in the bones of this town. Ugh. Hoping winter ends for them soon! Here are a few pictures of the past few days of eating out, babies, cousins, dads, sisters and brothers. Good times that I don't get to have very often since my family lives in another state!

Whiteout

Her own tutti fruity drink

Ryan @ the Missoula Club. They have beer.

Leah, Brielle & Bree hanging out.

Bree excited about getting candy out of the money sucking candy game machine at Tower pizza.

Jordan and Bree playing video games at Tower Pizza

Leah and Ryan and Ashley, Tower Pizza

The gang - Lunch at Applebees...

February Sunshine

2011-02-16T08:45:00.003-07:00

We didn't have a babysitter for Valentine's day. Even if we did we don't go out on that day anyways. Don't care for the crowds. Since our little girl is our Valentine we include her in our V-Day dinner. We all went out to dinner this past Sunday evening. It was fun and she was a really good girl in the restaurant, thanks in part to her getting older and being past that crazy 2 year old stage.

This past Sunday was in the high 60's and we went for a really great hike up in Palmer Park. See pictures. It was gorgeous. I love that we live in an Alpine Desert. It's really neat. Kind of like living in the mountains but you get the cool red rock formations and cactuses you would find in Arizona.

Bree and I leave on Saturday for Montana. It's going to be a great trip I can feel it. It may be kind of chilly there and not as sun shiney as Colorado. But it will be winter's last hurrah, I hope.

sittin' by the fire

2011-01-09T12:56:00.003-07:00

snow is sputtering outside....they say we are supposed to get more overnight. If it's going to be winter it might as well snow. i've got my coffee and the fireplace is burning. come on snow!

2 weeks and then February

2011-01-06T11:53:00.003-07:00

My niece is due to be born in about 2 weeks. My sister is getting a bit freaked out about having a baby. It made me start thinking about when I was about to have a baby and yeh, it is kinda freaky, the UNKNOWING. I wish her luck and hope the baby stays in for another 2 weeks so she can enjoy her last childless days LOL!

I booked mine and Bree's flights to Montana in February, we'll be gone the last week of the month and are staying for 9 NIGHTS! We are staying with my sister for the first 4 and then getting this awesome hotel with a mini indoor waterpark for the rest of the stay. I can't wait for the trip. It will be winter in Montana but it will be fine, as long as a blizzard doesn't blow in. We'll spend a lot of time indoors, the mall, hanging out, eating out, seeing family.

Can't wait for another vacation....and to see my family.

Happy New Years!

2010-12-31T11:34:00.008-07:00

It's New Years eve. We have the day off, with pay I might add. I love paid days off!The "storm" that blew through last night didn't leave nearly as much snow as expected and it's super cold this morning, right now it's 9 degrees! Jon is downstairs playing his ps3, Bree is playing a game on the IPAD, we are still in our jammies. I managed so far today to color my hair, and fold 2 of 5 loads of laundry that are piling up. I also read a chapter in a new book I've started and I am updating my blog. Go Kim!

Luckily I did get off work around 2 pm yesterday, just as the storm was hitting. By the time I went through the drive thru at Starbucks & picked up Ms. Bree (30 minutes) the roads were getting pretty messed up. We made it home just in time and I am glad I did my grocery shopping Wednesday night!

We are heading to Jack Quinn's tonight for New Years dinner and drinks. Jon's mom has reserved a table and I guess there is going to be about 15 of us.....I think we'll have to be out of there by 9pm as that is when they boot anyone under 18 out. I'm good with that, it' s hard for me to stay up much later than that most nights anyways! The sun is out now and I hope it's melting the icy roads!

Happy New Years to everyone!

a few pics from yesterday afternoon...

stuffses

2010-12-29T20:42:00.007-07:00

did the grocery shopping this evening. child and husband are both in bed and i am eating pickled herring in sour cream (an acquired taste, thanks dad) and finally getting around to uploading some more pics.

zoo lights (electric safari) night before christmas eve.
christmas eve fondue ps3 video game party.
christmas morning.

some pictures were taken by bree, you'll notice the finger in the lense.

and if you can't tell, our camera is inept at taking photo's in the dark. oh well.

enjoy.

Bob and Greg

Aunt Nadine

Bree playing the folf game on the ps3

Fondue!

opening presents

heading out the door to Nana & Grandpa Bob's house for Christmas dinner.

More Cozumel.....

2010-12-23T09:58:00.004-07:00

Here are some more Cozumel photo's. These are from around the resort.

The Christmas tree in the hotel lobby. Looked glorious at night, plus they had the place lit up at night! and I don't mean just from the people hanging out at the lobby bar!

Conch shells hanging from a dead tree thing on the beach

Our "hut" where we stayed on the resort.

Eeyore goes with us everywhere we go. I'm thinking about making an Eeyore travel album someday....

Hanging out with the kids after mini (kids) disco one evening.

we're back!

2010-12-19T10:17:00.006-07:00

we are back! we had a nice time on our beachy vacation to the Isla de Cozumel. I am already desperately missing the warm weather, palm trees, beach and the pool. We stayed at the IBEROSTAR Cozumel Resort and overall we were really happy with our experience there.

Here are some pictures from our first few days hanging around the resort. More to come in a later post. :)

Bree playing in the sand at the very south end of the beach resort

Hanging out in the pool. See the Hut in the background? this is the swim up bar, my favorite thing was to swim over to it with bree in her floaty & order myself a margarita and her a strawberry slushy & sit on the barstools in the water, listen to music and relax.

the pier (we would snorkel off of here)

bree and daddy building sand castles

Jon and Bree watching flamingos

Hanging out at the beach

resident flamingoes

resident iguanas

breakfast (lots of food to choose from, see that freshly squeezed guava juice? yum)

Sugar Cookies, Christmas Trees & No Santa For You!

2010-12-09T08:43:00.006-07:00

The Christmas tree is up. 98% of Christmas shopping is done. Last of the boxes to be shipped out to family in Montana are on their way out by tomorrow. Started baking some Christmas cookies (see pictures). This was our sample batch, they turned out ok. Not going to make anymore until after we get back from vacation. We'll be doing a lot of baking the week of Christmas.

Last weekend we went down to Old Colorado city to have Bree's picture taken with Santa in the old historic cabin in Bancroft park. She'd been talking about Santa ALL week long. She even knew what she was going to say to him when he asked her "what do you want for Christmas". She was going to tell him that she wants a BIG coffee cup like MommyDaddy's...yep, that's right!! We think she's talking about our insulated coffee travel mugs we bring to work with us. :) As we drove by the cabin the line looked kind of long so we headed over to Bon Ton's for lunch. After lunch we went back to the cabin and the line was still long but we decided to wait it out. 40 FREEZING minutes later it was our turn. AHHHHH, finally! we were in the warm cabin and there was Santa! Well, nothing we could do would persuade her to sit on his lap! Not even like LAST YEAR when I sat on his lap with her. She wasn't having it. Sigh. So 40 minutes in the cold for nothing. NADA. Oh well, life goes on. We headed home to our warm house and naps.

Waiting in line for Santa

Rolling out the dough

Our Christmas tree in the dark....neat-o

Ok, so I'm done with the Christmas thing....for now. Ready for the beach.

Tree Swings, Autumn, Dogs & Snow Dances

2010-12-03T11:25:00.004-07:00

The start of winter. Brown grass. Cold. Down comforter. Laziness seeps in. The days meld into one another. Get up, get ready, drop Bree off at preschool, drive up Nevada Ave. then over to the Centennial hill, work. Drive home. Make dinner. Spend precious time with family. Get to bed early. So tired! It's the season I'm telling you! If it were sunny, warm and it didn't get dark by 5pm my mood would shift. I'm trying to see the beauty in Winter. Thanks Mandy. :)

So, we had a few attempts at a snow fall. One was about a week or so ago. This little girl LOVES the snow. So much so that it snowed around 4pm one day and by the time we got home it was dark out (of course, thanks daylight savings!) and she insisted she go outside and eat the snow. So we got her snow gear on and let her play in the backyard with the doggies in the dark (while I watched from the back door window). Here are a couple of those photo's and she's actually so ecstatic she is dancing.

Last weekend it was pretty mild out. We spent some time in the backyard hanging out with the doggies and Bree got some more use out of her newest tree swing.

I love this tree.

Montana People

2010-11-30T16:16:00.005-07:00

These are some of my Montana people. My brother Jason, his wife Kristen and my niece Ashley and nephew Jordan.

Don't you love the autumn leaves background? Their pics were taken on the Kim William's trail along the Clark Fork river and Missoula Montana. A place near to my heart that never leaves. Miss that darn river!! In the middle of the city!! :) How awesome would that be to have that here in this dry place that we call Colorado SPRINGS...springs you say? Ha! Not even close.

Awesome, it would be totally awesome to have the Clark Fork in my backyard. Or the Blackfoot river.

I won't even get into the wonderful lakes up there. Ah summer time at the lake.

I digress.

I get to see them in February. I don't get to see family all that often. I get to go home and see a lot of my family in February. I will get to meet a new family member too. I'm pretty excited about it.

I totally stole these pictures off of their Facebook page. I'm sure they won't mind. :)

Halloween with the Houle's

2010-11-01T10:06:00.012-06:00

We had the Houle's (our neighbors from across the street) over for a little Halloween get together last night. After appetizers and some chit chat we fired up the coffee maker (and hot cocoa), got the kiddo's ready to head out, filled up our coffee mugs and headed out for some trick or treating in our neighborhood this year.

Avery and Bree

Getting ready to head out the door for some trick or treating

Last house before it's all over

I had fun. I thought it was a perfect little evening and the girl's walking hand in hand (Mandy's got those pictures) was the sweetest thing ever. I will miss the Houle's (when they sell their house and move). Mandy, if you're reading this, next year, if/when you are in a new neighborhood we might have to join you for trick or treating next year....keep it in mind!

Oktoberfest - Air Force Academy Style

2010-11-01T09:51:00.003-06:00

Definately doing this again next year. The Air Force Academy has an Oktoberfest in the field next to Falcon Stadium. Parking is FREE. Entrance is FREE. All of the kids bounce houses, bounce slides (there are many many bounce houses, slides, bounce mazes), pony rides, petting zoo, Home Depot craft/learning center, train rides, cop cars and firetrucks on display, it's all FREE. They also have a large tent where the majority of the ski vendors from Colorado ski resorts are there giving you information on this years ski season and you get freebies too, like stickers, posters, magnets, candy....

In the tent they have German music and food (the food and beer is not free, bummer!). They also had new and used ski gear for sale inside the tent. All in all a really fun day.

Parachuters

Kids train

Petting zoo, pony rides and bounce houses

The cookie post

2010-11-01T06:00:00.002-06:00

A couple of weeks ago I bought some Halloween cookie cutters. Bree and I set out to make some cookies.

It was fun.

The cookies didn't come out like they were supposed to. That's ok. I set 2 trays of cookies outside to cool off so we could frost them. When I went back outside to retrieve them there were only 4 cookies left on one of the trays.

There were about 12 cookies on one tray and several on another. Our dog Skylar took it upon herself to jump into the chair and get the cookies and eat them all. I could have been furious, but I wasn't. We frosted the 4 cookies that were left and that was the end of our cookie adventure for Halloween this year!

Life

2010-10-15T08:03:00.003-06:00

Nothing really exciting going on around here lately. Just waiting for fall. I mean it's here, but doesn't always feel like it. I love these 70 degree full sunshine days, aren't they the best?

We did some pumpkin painting. We will carve these out when it gets closer to Halloween and put candles in them on All Hallows Night....

Bree is really into the "scary" aspect of this, I think this Halloween is going to be her funnest yet.

Last weekend was my grandmothers 83rd birthday! Since she lives in Colorado Springs now we went and took her out to lunch for her Birthday. She LOVED getting out for the day (she's in a nursing home).

They have this great patio area and we sit outside and chat while Bree plays in the water fountain, hangs out with the little statues and rolls around in the grass.

If you love old historic hotels (picture heavy) the REST of Leadville

2010-10-08T09:02:00.009-06:00

If you like to look at pictures you'll love this post! There are a few pictures of us up at Turquoise Lake outside of Leadville and a couple of shots from Twin Lakes.

Most of the pictures are of the Delaware Hotel where we stayed. I've stayed in many, many hotels. Some hotels you don't always remember but there are those you'll remember forever. Historic hotels are like that for me. The Delaware hotel is crammed full of antique furniture in the hallways, strange I know. It felt "cluttered", like they were moving out of the building. But, that is not the case, all of the furniture are antiques and it is all for sale. The lobby (which I did not take pictures of) is even more so like that, except it is kind of like a store. They even have antique clothes for sale, stuffed goats, bison and moose heads hanging on the walls. This hotel was definately the strangest, creepiest and most unique hotel I've stayed in thus far.

The morning before we left Bree and I wandered the hallways taking pictures and here are the majority of them! Enjoy.

View from the Twin Lakes

Of course we found the playground....

Twin Lakes

Our "attempt" at a family picture at Turquoise Lake

Trying to find a sandy beach area at Turquoise Lake

Bree playing in the "cold" water, very cold water at 9,000+ feet in elevation

The door to room 17....where we stayed at the historic Delaware Hotel

Another "large" doll

Misc. antique furniture in the hallway

Masquerade costume on display (in the hallway of course)

View from hotel room of the old Tabor hotel (now houses apartments and businesses)

View of the main street in Leadville from our hotel room window

The "library" in the hotel, more like a storage area for dining room tables....

Some more pictures of the inside of the hotel room

Walking the antique "cluttered" hallways

Raggedy Ann in a very very old pram

The antique dressers in our room

The very Large and very Creepy Santa!

All Aboard!!

2010-09-29T08:23:00.010-06:00

We had a really nice time in Leadville this past weekend. The weather, wow, the weather! Fantastic and HOT, maybe too hot but who's complaining! I took a ton of pictures. Many of the large aspen groves had already dropped their leaves. However, there were many aspens right along the train route and as the train would whiz by the colors were so neat!! In this post I'm putting up pictures of the train ride. Our hotel, the historic Delaware hotel was very interesting....I will expand on that in another post. But for now, here are the train photo's!

The train was very comfortable, I was surprised. There are several open air seating areas, a couple of open air, but with a roof seating cars and several covered cars. We were very comfortable (and thankful) in the open air car with a roof (the sun was beating on our legs, I can't imagine how it would have been beating on our heads the entire time). The train has concessions with food, coffee, snacks, etc. and is fully equipped with several restrooms. The entire journey is 2 1/2 hours and I think the round trip is about 18 miles.

What I found most interesting as we were traveling were the white mile markers. I think they start at like 151 and go down all the way into Denver. This train and the route used to take people from Leadville into Denver back in the late 1800's. The train ride into Denver took anywhere from 9 to 12 hours!! To go 150 miles! Since I love history this is fascinating to me to think about the people, women, children who made this journey so many years ago. Maybe they lived in Leadville and wanted to get out of town for a week or two, who knows. So interesting!

What a beautiful Day for a train ride!

Waiting for the train to depart

Leadville Train Station

Views from the train

Bree wanted her picture taken outside by the statue

These are some pictures Bree took of us in the restautant the Golden Burro (in operation since 1938!) but current owners need to take down all the signs!! Note, the sign behind me and the one behind Jon are posted in every booth about "children must behave, stay seated, blah blah"....there were signs everywhere in this place telling you what you should or should not do, so annoying. They even had this "kid's warning" in the menu's!!" UNBELIEVABLE. If I'm EVER in Leadville again I will not be stopping at this hole in the wall!!

Wegos

2010-09-21T15:05:00.003-06:00

Hey, look what I did during naptime....

When Jon was a young lad living in Ireland he spent a lot of time indoors. Partly because of the crappy weather and partly because he was an asthmatic and didn't go out and run and play all the time with the other kids. During his time indoors he would play with his Legos. Years ago Jon's mom gave his bags and bags of legos back to him. She had always kept them after all these years! We stuck the bags in the crawl space where they have been stored for about 10 or 11 years.

A few weeks back I took Bree to get her hair cut and on the way out she wanted to play with the Legos they had stashed in the corner for kids to play with. A light went off! Let's drag out daddy's old legos and see if she's old enough to start playing with the small ones.

They played for hours building stuff. Cars. Airplanes. Towers.

During what was supposed to be nap time last Sunday Jon laid down for a nap and I put Bree down for hers and then I left for the grocery store (that's right, I NEVER sleep). When I came back Bree was up and running around. I asked Jon if she had slept at all and he said "No, but look at what she did while she was supposed to be napping..."

That's right. She builds things out of her Lego's and her Tinkertoy's.

I think she's going to be an engineer, just like daddy.

Oktoberfest 2010 Denver Style

2010-09-21T07:59:00.007-06:00

Last Saturday we headed up to Denver for Oktoberfest. We first stopped at the Mariott downtown to do some swimming in their pool (Jon's mom and stepdad were staying here for the weekend. Bob is SUPPOSED to be retired, but is STILL working and they were up here on business). After swimming we went up to the hotel room to change and Aunt Nadine and Bree got into quite the pillow fight.

After we were all done we headed down to Larimer for Oktoberfest. It was fun, but not as big as I was expecting. Actually it was quite small! Only a few blocks long. There was music and beer. I didn't drink any beer. I did however have the SPICIEST bloody Mary of my entire life, a bratwurst and a turkey leg.

swimming, for free, yay!

Aunt Nadine

The pillow fight of ALL pillow fights.

Free samples of energy drinks....

Love those balloon animals!

Summer's End

2010-09-16T20:43:00.004-06:00

Our summer started out with a bang. We were ready for summer after the long seemingly endless cold of this past winter. As summer moved along we didn't seem to do as much as we had done the previous summer. The city cancelled Wednesday night concerts in the park downtown. That really bummed me out. Those were my mid week breaks from work and another chance to get outside and enjoy time with the family.
We only went on one bike ride. We had a few bbq's at the house and went to a few bbq's at other people's houses.

For some reason this summer didn't feel like other summers. I felt a lack of motivation. Maybe it's the year I'm in. My 36th year. It's like I crossed that line, the line of 35. I'm now that much closer to 40. I feel like life sometimes pulls you down. While I was able to see my dad when he came down to visit and I was able to bring my mom, sister and niece down as well. I miss my family in Montana. My brother Jason, his wife and kids moved back to Montana. My sister is soon going to have a baby and she lives there. My dad lives there. My niece Alyssa lives there. I feel like everyone is THERE. And we're HERE. And sometimes, Honestly, it's depressing. It would be nice to be able to call them up and say 'why don't you and the kids come over to the house for dinner tonight'....

Summer, once again has come and gone, with what little of it is left to enjoy.
I loved this summer because Bree is 3 this year. She will never be this age again. It's a sweet, precious age. I love to hear her stumble through her speech. Things sound so adorable, like "do you want to play wif my wegos mommy daddy?" (legos).

It seems like from here on out it's big girl time. Soon she'll be 4 years old. Not a "baby" or "toddler" anymore, but a "kid".

She loves us more than anything in the world and I wonder if she'll love us like this forever? I'll love her like this forever.

Summer. How sweet it is.

Please Proceed

2010-09-10T12:17:00.001-06:00

I just ate my first pumpkin cream cheese muffin of the season from Starbuck's today!

It's official.

Autumn can begin!!

Montana folks

2010-09-06T08:26:00.005-06:00

Several Tuesdays ago (The Tuesday I started to get sick actually) my sister in law drove down from Montana with the kids and her mom to assist her sister in moving to Parker, Co. While they were here I had a chance to meet them at the Chuck e Cheese in Lonetree. We spent 3 hours eating and taking the kids on the rides. It was a treat to see them. I love my niece & nephew!!

Jordan, Myself and Ashley

Bree with her cousins

Stephanie (Kristen's sister) at left, the kids and Kristen (right)

Last of the Winter Park pictures

2010-09-06T08:06:00.002-06:00

We left Winter Park on my birthday. But before leaving we drove up to Grand Lake. We had never been up this way (Jon swears we rode the motorcycle past this area but I don't remember). Anyhoo, I wanted to go see the lake, so we did.

Bree started out in her clothes but since there were other kids at the beach in their swimsuits she had us change us into her swimsuit and get her floatie out of the car.

After Grand Lake we drove back to WP for my birthday lunch and then headed over to this really cool playground called Hideaway Park in the middle of downtown. It's a brand new playground and it's really nice.

Rx

2010-09-03T13:32:00.004-06:00

My oh my. How tired am I of this hacking phlem filled cough. Coughing until I see stars. One time I was coughing so hard in the car I got dizzy and felt like I was going to pass out. My chest hurts. I AM TIRED OF COUGHING. I went back to the dr. today. 2nd time back to my dr. in the same week. RIDICULOUS.

Bless Dr. Astor's heart. She's like the sweetest doctor ever.

I was going to wait to go back til' next week. Soooo glad I did not wait.

She put me back on the nebulizer. TWICE.

My oxygen levels were very LOW. Supposed to be a minimum of 93% for this altitude. Mine were at 85%. After the nebulizer treatments they went back up.

Her diagnosis? She thinks I have a lung inflammation. Not bronchitis. Not pneumonia. Not a cold. She's going to read the notes from my allergist. But it's possible the inflammation is a cross between allergies and asthma.

WONDERFUL.

So no antibiotics she said. She doesn't feel I need them nor would they be useful. Instead?

I get my own brand new nebulizer to take home and keep! Woo hoo.

and and Rx for a weeks full of step down steroids. Yay!!

Pray they work.

What did people do in the old days? You know, before we had doctors and fancy medicines? They suffered. Many died. I am grateful I live in the 21st century, if for that reason alone!

Enjoy your labor day weekend. I will if all of this Rx stuff works.

Guess who's Pregnant?

2010-09-01T15:02:00.002-06:00

Not ME!!! scared you didn't I?

My little sister is due January 23rd (give or take a few days)! She will find out on September 7th if she is having a boy or a girl!

So VERY excited for her. She is a bit freaked out but she'll be fine.

Congrats Leah!!

Quinoa Primavera Recipe w/Chicken

2010-09-01T08:37:00.003-06:00

So my "grain of the month" for August is Quinoa. I have been ILL the last week and half and still have not gotten around to making the second recipe. I plan to use the remainder of the Quinoa I have in the next day or so, here is the recipe:

Quinoa Primavera with Chicken, Spring Peas and Asparagus
Serves 4
Secret Ingredient: Quinoa

Roasted or rotisserie chicken works perfectly in this recipe. Any leftover quinoa primavera can be chilled and tossed with vinaigrette to make a lively salad. To learn how to make this recipe, watch the Secret Ingredient cooking show.

Ingredients
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
1/2 pound (about 1/2 bunch) asparagus, woody ends snapped off and discarded, spears cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup fresh peas or frozen petite peas, thawed
1 cup shredded cooked chicken
1 cup thinly sliced baby spinach leaves
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Method
Rinse quinoa under cold running water and drain. Combine water and quinoa in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook until quinoa is tender and all the water is absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and asparagus. Cook, stirring often, until asparagus is tender and bright green, 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic and peas and continue cooking for another minute. Stir in chicken and cooked quinoa. Add the spinach and stir until it wilts, 3 to 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Nutrition
Per serving (about 11oz/325g-wt.): 310 calories (80 from fat), 9g total fat, 1.5g saturated fat, 30mg cholesterol, 370mg sodium, 39g total carbohydrate (7g dietary fiber, 4g sugar), 20g protein.

This is a recipe from the Whole Foods website.

Can't wait to try it!

Fun in Winter Park in the summer time....

2010-08-21T15:59:00.006-06:00

fun on the bounce house slide

Ice cream for lunch, if you insist...

jon and i

playing mini golf with a toddler who steals my ball?

Fun! on the bungee

walking to the village from the condo (on a ski run) i was trying to imagine it with snow and pretending i was skiing....ahhh the days of old!

Me & Bree

got up to Winter Park yesterday afternoon. had time yesterday after checking into the condo to do a little swimming in the pool before it got too cool out. a bit over ambitious today on what we intended to do. we intended to go down to the village and do all the fun kid things (which we did do), the bouncy house, the bungee jump thing, mini golf. did not do the alpine slide. as the day progressed the lines got really long so we decided to nix that for now. we also planned to drive up to Grand lake today and spend some time hanging out on the lake.

i should know better. you can only do so much in one day. especially up here with the elevation and the sun does really get to you. i should know as i lived at a ski resort....

so we did some fun stuff as seen in the pictures. going to go out to dinner tonight in downtown Winter Park. plan is to check out of the condo early tomorrow and head up to either Grand lake or Lake Granby, it all depends on how far we feel like driving.

bree is totally wiped out. on her 2nd nap right now.

9

2010-08-18T10:54:00.006-06:00

Us. (and Bree in utero).

Today Jon and I celebrate our 9 year wedding anniversary. This day 9 years ago at 3:00 PM at Mother's Chapel we had our little wedding. Nothing big. Nothing fancy. It was nerve wracking. Not that I getting married made me nervous because we had already been together for 10 years before getting married. I did not like standing in front of a group of people with attention focused on me. It was a HOT day in August. For some reason the air conditioner in that little chapel was not really working. Afterwards we all went to Antonio's for dinner and drinks. Cake. Some Irish singers. Then on to our house where we had a big party until about midnight.

It was a nice day. Full of memories. Lots of family. Fairly simple. How life should be.

The best daddy.

This past weekend Nana watched Bree overnight for us. Jon and I went to see the movie Inception and had dinner out. We were going to go out of town but didn't bother. We slept in on Sunday (well I did) until 8:30!!

I am leaving work in a few minutes to meet my husband for our "anniversary" lunch. Time out without the kiddo. Hey, you do what you gotta do right? We NEVER leave work to meet each other for lunch. He works on one end of Austin Bluffs and I work on the other end (Garden of the Gods side). So it's not always feasible.

Happy 9 year Anniversary to my dear husband and the love of my life. I love you very very very much.

Ok...enough sappiness for the blog for one day!

Grain of the Month Club-AUGUST: QUINOA

2010-08-17T08:32:00.005-06:00

I'm on a mission, a mission to learn about my Whole Grains. This is something that I've been seriously slacking on. Don't have the time to research, prepare, find recipes for, yada yada yada. My husband doesn't normally like the "too healthy" stuff so how do I make it taste good for him to like it? Maybe I'll just make it for me to eat and make him something else to eat? Decisions Decisions.

My husband could live off of cereal and chips. And the occasional Chili's burger. Men are kind of funny like that.

Not I.

I'm starting. I don't want to just go buy some grains and cook something that tastes awful. You probably DON'T know that I love to LEARN about the food I cook. I LOVE to watch cooking shows. I LOVE to see what the food looks like and smell it while I'm cutting up herbs, etc. I LOVE to eat. So, with that said in order for me to learn about, process, make recipes that taste good I'm picking one grain a month. I mean, I wouldn't want to overwhelm myself or anything.

This month's grain is Quinoa (keen-wah).

I found Quinoa in bulk at the Sunflower Market. I didn't go overboard on buying it either. Bought 2 lbs. So far I've cooked 1 lb. of it (makes a TON). I made a really good Quinoa, tomato, cilantro & black bean salad. It took me all week to eat. It was really good. I didn't feel crappy after eating it either (like when you eat too many processed type foods, you feel yucky and bloated).

Anyways. I have a lb. of it left. I plan to make a chicken dinner dish with it. I'm hoping my husband will like this dish, he didn't like the salad so much.

Here is a little bit of what I've learned about the Quinoa grain so far:

Quinoa History

This whole grain has been an important crop for the people of South America for 6,000 years. It was revered by the Inca civilization. The Incas had such reverence for this crop that the Emperor would sow the first seeds of the season using golden implements. They also used it in their religious ceremonies. However, Spanish colonists disapproved of these rituals and in an effort to stop them, forbade anyone from growing it. For many years it was grown in secret in the remote mountains of Peru until its glorious past was forgotten.

It was considered "Indian food" for hundreds of years until recently when it started to make a comeback. With its easy cultivation and highly nutritious crop, it has gotten the attention of organic farmers and health conscious consumers. It is now a popular item in health food stores.

*********************

Like other ancient grains, it is extremely nutritious. Its protein, though less than some whole grains, is 90% digestible, meaning its protein quality is as good or better than that found in milk. In fact, it contains every essential amino-acid.

As if this healthy, whole food didn't have enough going for it, it is also incredibly easy to grow. It has a natural ability to fend off pests and yield large nutritious crops from poor soil. Many people believe this whole grain food will be the key to feeding the large populations in our future.

*********************
It has a light, smokey, nutty flavor that many people find pleasing, which has helped it to gain recent popularity in North America.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Quinoa Crop

Bree turns 3!

2010-08-09T13:43:00.004-06:00

Our sweet sweet little Bree. Happy 3rd birthday to you!

This year we had a "balloon party backyard bbq" to celebrate Bree's 3rd bday. It was actually a lot of fun. Thanks to everyone who came.

I won't bore you with "I can't believe another year has gone by" or "it seems like just yesterday you were born".

B-Beautiful
R-Restless
E-Entertaining
E-Eager

She

LOVES life.
LOVES her mommy & daddy.
Is compassionate towards others.
Has a GREAT memory.

She changes day to day.

Happy Birthday little Girl.

Balloon Girl

The organizer, decorator and cook. :) What can I say except that I am a multi-taskin' control freak.

Ashton, Avery and Bree

We played Pin the Tail on the Donkey

Michele, Mark and Ciara O'Donoghue (Jon's brother, wife and niece)drove all the way down from Red Feather Lakes to spend some time with the Fam.

Getting ready to blow out the candle

Yay! You're 3!

They're Gone :(

2010-08-09T11:14:00.005-06:00

My mom left last Friday. My sister left last Wednesday and my niece left this past Saturday. Kind of sad, having them leave one by one. However, I am glad for the time I was able to spend with them. We did a LOT of stuff in one week.

The zoo, Manitou Springs, Garden of the Gods, Waterworld (pictures on a different cheap-o camera I bought so not posted here), Seven Falls, The Outlet stores and the malls - shopping galore. Dinner at Bambino's and Outback. Yum. Really wanted to take them to Fargo's. 7 PM on a Tuesday night, a 40 minute wait and a line out the door. RIDICULOUS so we went across the street to Bambino's instead. It was a much enjoyed dinner, much more than busy Fargo's would have been.

Anyways, the remainder of the GAZILLION or so pictures I took are here on this post. Enjoy.

Alyssa riding the pony

Bree & Alyssa waiting for their turn to ride the ponies

Alyssa and I by the Moose

Alyssa did a GREAT job of documenting all the animals. My fave of the day was the Grizzly bears. They put on quite the show for us.

Thank goodness this kitty is not real!

Bree riding the train at the zoo..

Alyssa and her favorites, the Giraffes.

Leah and Bree coloring at the restaurant

Visiting our grandma (Bree's and Alyssa's Great Grandma) at her retirement home.

The 3 of us at Seven Falls

Ever the teenager....Alyssa and my netbook were hard to tear apart.

Alyssa at Seven Falls

Leah and Bree in Manitou Springs

what we've been up too....

2010-08-04T07:38:00.006-06:00

Lunch at Rockbottom

Lots of time in the car going to and fro'

Visiting mine and Leah's grandma & niece Alyssa & Bree's great grandma

and of course...shopping. Lots of it.

Seven Falls

Breakfasts on the Patio

Manitou

Garden of the Gods

really been enjoying spending precious time with my mom, sister and niece. More pictures later!!

2010-08-04T07:31:00.003-06:00

2010-08-04T07:31:00.002-06:00

2010-08-04T07:31:00.001-06:00

2010-08-04T07:31:00.000-06:00

The Zoo!

2010-07-28T08:36:00.004-06:00

We started out Bree's birthday weekend by spending some really fun quality time at the zoo with our neighbors the Houles. We had so much fun hanging out with Mandy, Avery and Ashton and Mandy's mom Sandi. The zoo is so beautiful this time of year. Wildflowers everywhere. The otters were out. We saw a LOT of the animals this time around, it was fab.

Her favorite thing lately is riding the ponies.

And, if you can't tell, I took tons of pictures this time.

I think both Mandy & I disapproved of this picture (sort of). It was kind of muggy out & we were sweaty & our faces were shiny. But I'm posting it anyways.

Fun at the playground

Coming soon to a blog near you....

2010-07-27T08:27:00.002-06:00

I have a bit of updating to do on here. Been slacking.

Still have a few 4th of July pictures to post.

Have to finish my post on my dad's visit from June!

The Zoo & the birthday bash for a special 3 year old from this past weekend....

My mom is arriving this Friday & my niece and sister will be here on Saturday, for a week. Trying to get the house ready for guests.

Not enough time to get things done!

the drive-in

2010-07-18T16:26:00.002-06:00

4th of July weekend we went down to Pueblo Saturday evening to watch Toy Story 3 at the Mesa drive in movie theater. Bree was a little weirded out at first with all the cars and actually trying to understand why we were sitting in the back of the mini-van watching a movie. It was fun and since it was a new experience for her sometimes it was hard for her to sit still (picture her constantly climbing in and out of the back of the van, etc.) but overall still fun and something we'd definately do again!

Bree got a hold of the camera and took all of these pictures (except the one of her and Jon I took).

Dad's visit Part dos

2010-07-18T16:14:00.005-06:00

Saturday morning we left early & got on the shuttle van and headed over the the VFW post in Littleton Co for donuts, coffee and to remember a soldier, Pat Hannon, who was killed in Vietnam. He was the first soldier from the town of Littleton to die in that war. The VFW post in Littleton were very welcoming and I will say this, they had the best donuts I've tasted!

Anyways, here are some pictures from the weekend in Lakewood & Littleton

My dad (middle) and two of his friends (can't remember their names but the man on the left fought in the South Pacific during WWII, he is 86 years old! He is a ball of energy and I get the best vibes from him. He is just a very good soul and still super ecstatic about life. It's amazing. This picture was taken at the WWII Memorial in Littleton.

At the Memorial for Pat Hannon, Littleton cemetary

VFW Post 4666 - Littleton, Colorado

This particular VFW post is a very small house and since there were so many of us they had the backyard set up to accomodate everyone. Some people talked about memories of Pat Hannon, some talked about the VFW post itself, how it came to be, etc. We were there to honor Pat's life and meet his family.

I really liked this VFW post, it was so cozy and welcoming.

So Friday night, June 25th was the banquet dinner. These are the two pictures I took. Pathetic I know. There was a military photographer there who took pictures for purchase. I think my dad is going to buy some of those.

Dad's visit Part Uno

2010-07-12T18:26:00.009-06:00

I drove up to Lakewood on a Friday afternoon at the end of June to spend the weekend with my dad. My wonderful husband watched the little girl so I could get away. It was a nice weekend.

Every 2 years the company the Flaming I or I39 India Company Marines get together for a reunion. Some come alone, many bring family and friends along. I have gone to a few of these now with my dad and really enjoy going and getting to know the different men in this great group of Marines. This reunion was definately a lot more mellow than the San Antonio reunion of 2005 but it was still lots of fun.

so the Fort restaurant in Morrison is pretty cool. it was built to resemble Ft. Bent. they cook all kinds of game meat. i even sampled rattlesnake. yes, rattlesnake!

it did taste like chicken.

spectacular views from the back of the restaurant as the restaurant is sort of on a bluff overlooking nothing but land. beautiful evening.

we had our "reception" area outside by the fire pit and the teepee. we ate rocky mountain oysters, rattlesnake cake and buffalo sausage. delicious. all while drinking wine, mojito's and more wine. oh wait, that was what I was drinking, not sure about everyone else.

getting ready for chow time at the Fort in Morrison

One of the "older" gentlemen -and I say older because he reminded me of my grandpa-took an alcohol shot with gunpowder in it with one of the younger guys. I passed. I am fully aware that you should not drink gun powder. I also am not a Marine!

dad and i

Saturday afternoon (after the VFW & cemetary & WWII memorial visit we went to eat at Jose's Mexican restaurant in Littleton. Jose's mother always said that if a man in a military uniform comes to eat at the restaurant he eats for free. When Jose (who I believe was a former Marine and his brother was in the Air Force) heard that the India company was having their reunion in Denver he said he would open his door and feed everyone for free, all we had to do was stop by. We stopped by. What a great family. If you are ever in Littleton Colorado stop by Jose's!

eric thanking jose for feeding all of us - 'Jose's Mexican Restaurant in downtown Littleton'

some of the group in jose's

BRUNCH at the Fresh Fish Company in Denver - Sunday - If you get a chance GO! Delicious.

Rob from Arizona - joined us for brunch on Sunday before heading back to Phoenix

dad and myself at The Fresh Fish Co. Sunday brunch in Denver

one month

2010-07-01T21:44:00.003-06:00

Bree has been in her new preschool one month now. Jon & I are both happy with the decision to start her in preschool. I think we both feel she is a sponge & it is important for her to learn and do as much as she can at this age. Yeah, I know, they will be in school for many years once they start kindergarten why start them so early? I believe in learning socialization skills early, being creative & having a structured environment is really important. Also, Bree is an only child, she does not have siblings to play with on a regular basis, to share with, to fight with, etc. so being around other kids is helpful to her learning and experiences.

It's been a full month of activities, crafts, water play, learning social skills, field trips. Most days she comes home tired but in a good way.

Her favorite field trip this month was the one to Artsports. Seriously considering gymnastics class for her this winter. She LOVED it & would not stop talking about it.

Now, on to July!

Father's Day Weekend

2010-06-26T21:54:00.008-06:00

So I am realizing that I have been slacking on the blog post & I have still not posted about Fathers Day. We had a GREAT weekend. The weather was perfect. Saturday night we went over to Jon's parents house and had a bbq and stayed there until 10pm! Amazing I know.

Fathers day morning I made omlettes and we ate breakfast on the patio in the backyard. It was the Perfect morning weather wise. I then packed a picnic and we head down to the America the Beautiful park for a picnic, some frisbee & splashing in the O fountain. Back home for some naps and then we ordered pizza for Fathers day dinner.

BBQ @ Nana's house

Nadine & Greg sittin' on the porch.

Thank you to my dear husband for being a wonderful dad and a great husband. I love you very much dear. :)

friday

2010-06-25T22:44:00.007-06:00

So I made it to the hotel in Lakewood, Colorado. whew. looonng day. after dropping Bree off at preschool I promptly ran to Target & then to the grocery store to grab some food so that not only would Jon & Bree have something to eat while I am gone for a few days but so that we might have something to eat when I return from Denver with dad in tow.

It is about 10:45pm and I am back in my hotel room. I got into Lakewood around 230PM & I am proud to say sans gps. I could not find a new adapter so I left with my mapquest instructions. Not too hard really, Lakewood is just off c470, big whoop.

Just returned from a nice banquet dinner with my dad and the I9 India Company Marines. Great time but also always so hard to really think about what these men have sacrificed for sake of country, their life long struggles with the memories and the injuries. What they as all soldiers are willing to fight for, to die for you, for me and for freedom. I am always truly thankful.

I only had three glasses of wine and have promptly returned to my hotel room since we have to meet the shuttle out front at 830 in the morning for a ride to the VFW for donuts, coffee and rememberance of a soldier who was killed in action, then off to the cemetary to visit this soldiers grave (his name escapes me at the moment, too many names in one evening, i'm bad i know), then after the cemetary we are stopping for lunch and then back to the hotel, then off to the Fort in Morrison for dinner....

For now I will leave you with a few pics of the beautiful deer (bucks?) that were roaming our neighborhood at around 1030 am this friday morning. I think if you click on the pictures it will make them bigger. Mandy, they were in your backyard (slipped thru your open gate) for a looonnng time! I hope they didn't eat up your garden!

Weekend in Vail

2010-06-19T13:07:00.008-06:00

alright, i am finally taking a few minutes to post about our Vail weekend...2 or 3 weekends ago. as always the high country in June is heaven. green. flowers blooming. sun is shining. weather is usually perfect. rivers are raging though, so much snow melt the weekend we were there. here are a few pics from the Teva Mountain games and Vail, Colorado.

We enjoyed watching the fly fishing competitions, dock dog competitions (bree loved these), the bouldering (wall climbing) world cup competitions, and some bmx/bike jumping type competitions. Lots of vendors and freebies. Free granola, free iced coffee, free bumper stickers, free bags...cool.

We missed the kayak competition because they cancelled it due to the rivers being too dangerous. I'm telling you, the rivers were ragin'!

super super cool wind decorations, have no idea how much they cost and was afraid to look....cause i kind of wanted one!

The dock dog competitons

watching the dogs...check out the peaks in the background!

the "ship" plaground in the middle of the ski resort, near the mountain plaza, who knew?

mmmm....ice cream

view of the wall climbing area

bree's new friend the doberman "gary", sweetest dog ever & just looking for some shade.

this girlie has been on more trips in her short, not even 3 years and she has this vacation thing down!

I hope to see....

2010-06-15T08:58:00.001-06:00

My brother, his wife and kids this summer. Really hope they can make it down here in August.

Jordan & Ashley at Disneyworld in May

It is so wonderful...

2010-06-12T18:27:00.002-06:00

to have grass again in the backyard. you have no idea. i'm giddy. it's pretty much all underneath our big ol' tree. i feel like i have a park in my backyard. lovin' it. heading to Lowe's now to look for edging. weather bummed out our plans for a drive-in movie....maybe next weekend.

WaCkY wEDneSdAy

2010-06-09T21:31:00.003-06:00

Did a little bit of cloud watching this evening & read Bree her nightime story on the deck outside tonight. It was a warm evening and it is still warm this late at night.

Big Yellow Bus

2010-06-02T14:46:00.002-06:00

Today is Bree's 2nd day of pre-school & her 1st field trip day. Since it was her first field trip & I know she is overwhelmed with the change into a new school, new friends and new surroundings I thought it would be best if I go with her on her first trip.

Unfortunately I forgot my camera. So no pictures for now unless I get some emailed to me from the staff who were taking some.

The field trip was to America The Beautiful Park (like we NEVER go there right?). I met Bree at school (boy was she excited to see me, I hope she loves me this much when she's 12!) where we boarded the Big Yellow Bus.

I haven't been on a school bus since, well, high school!

While waiting to board the bus it became meltdown city, especially amongst her class (2 & 3 year olds). The older kids boarded the bus first and Bree's class boarded last because they are the smallest and get to sit up front. The 2 & 3 year olds began crying (including Bree). I think they thought the bus was going to leave them. Once we finally got on the bus all was good. Bree just looked out the window the ENTIRE time watching as we drove downtown & to the park.

Fascinating. Watching people walking downtown. Cars zooming by. Life.

They played in the park for a good hour and a half. I had a chance to talk with & get to know the staff members. I was the only parent there. After playground time we ate our "sack" lunches. I don't know why but I LOVE to pack lunch for Bree. After lunch it warmed up enough for some time in the big "O" fountain.

Meltdown city again after the kids were told it was time to go.

Of course nobody wanted to leave. They were ALL SO TIRED, including Bree, kind of sad really.

We boarded the big yellow bus for the preschool and drove back down Nevada street. Went inside where their little beds were ready for naptime. I told ms. Bree I had to go back to work. She laid down on her bed and didn't even fight me.

I think she was asleep by the time I walked out the door.

Bits & Pieces

2010-05-30T21:44:00.005-06:00

Thursday night, dinner & ice cream on the patio...

Then off to Lowe's to get paint, flowers & look at screen doors...

Let the weekend begin!

_________________________
Jon's work area, fixin' that darn ceiling!

I found a neat-o picture frame to hang on the skinny orange wall

Friday I was painting or prepping for painting ALL day. I stopped for lunch. Seriously exhausting.

A house torn apart. Hey that sounds like the title to a novel or a movie.

Ambitious

2010-05-26T22:00:00.003-06:00

4 day weekend ambition list:

1. FINISH painting inside (all but one wall. one wall has to wait for the ceiling repair in kitchen).

2. Spray spider killer spray all over outside. I'm telling you...SPIDERS! beware.

3. Preparing the backyard for SOD. Daddy's #1 job. I'm going to try to help him.

4. Stain the deck. Daddy's #2 job. I'm going to try to help him. Maybe.

5. Some weed pullin', maybe even some juniper bush trimming. stinky bushes.

6. Clean off the back patio & get it ready for summer. Which means a good power spray, a few pots of flowers and some cool outdoor lights strung up.

7. Shampoo the carpet in Bree's room.

8. Swim lessons.

9. Visit my grandma who just moved into a retirement home here. She came ALL THE WAY from Kiester Minnesota. She is my only grandparent left (meaning still alive) and Bree's only Great Grandma (still alive) on my side of the family. I heard she is sooooo excited to see me. She's been here a week and I haven't had the chance to go down to see her yet. She doesn't know we are coming on Saturday....

10. and of course we will be grillin' some food on the BBQ.

I think that's it. Probably won't finish the entire list but kudo points if we try.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend all. I'll try to take lots & lots of pictures for a later blog post.

aka the O fountain

2010-05-23T21:26:00.004-06:00

rode the bikes down to the America the Beautiful park today for the opening (turning on) of the Julie Penrose Continuum fountain. perfect day for a bike ride, a picnic, ice cream, music, splashing in a fountain & playing on the playground.

Yay for the start of summertime!!

swimming saturdays

2010-05-23T18:16:00.004-06:00

Some photogs from this past Saturday swim lessons.
Bree was super clingy & at first didn't want to swim. She REALLY did not want anything to do with the teachers. When they came around she got upset (remember last class they made her go under water).
Then we did another stint off the diving board. Bree was kicking and screaming the whole way and then I threw her off. After that, she was fine. Came up from under the water and didn't even cry.
Went outside to the kiddie pools where she was able to touch the bottom of the pool and from there she built some confidence up to finally let go of mommy.

oh and this picture is of saturday evening. this is what happens when you get to bed late on friday night, have a busy busy saturday and don't take your nap!!

Jared Matthew

2010-05-18T21:14:00.002-06:00

My younger brother Jared would have turned 34 years old today.

L to R: My dad Ken, Me, Jared & Grandma (dad's mom) at a Lake in Butte, Montana summer of 2000.

Can't believe the above photo was taken a decade ago! I was 25! Jared was 23! wow. Seems like forever ago. I hate that every year I don't get to call my brother and wish him a happy birthday. I hate that on his last birthday in 2003, a month before he died, I didn't call & wish him a happy birthday. I hate that he had to die.

However, he lives on in my heart.

A few things about my brother:

He loved sports. He was a fantastic football player. He loved basketball, and wasn't too bad for short guy.

He was pretty hardcore on the outside, tattoos, attitude, etc. but he had a kind heart and was actually shy.

I think he wanted to do things right, but maybe didn't always know how, the world always seemed to throw him curve balls, some he created for himself.

His time in prison, I believe, brought him closer to God and he relied on the Bible to get him through the hell that is prison.

Happy Birthday Jared. I love and miss you more than you could ever know.

one wall down...

2010-05-17T21:13:00.002-06:00

finished one of the walls in the living room and painted the tiny part around the entry way closet door in the light tan w/a hint of green color. i am happy with the way it has turned out. the upper (tan) color looks SO different depending on the lighting and time of day! sweet.

Saturday Mornings In May

2010-05-15T12:21:00.002-06:00

Every Saturday morning this month Bree has swim lessons down at the Widefield Community center. I know, WAY down there. Actually it's not that far really and considering that the city of Colorado Springs is run by un saavy financial hillbilly's, well that sort of leaves us to look at other communities that can seem to manage to keep their public swimming pools open!

I digress.

These are Bree's first lessons. Today she jumped off the diving board. Ok, so I had to throw her in, but I'm a hardcore mommy, you gotta do what you gotta do to learn how to swim!!

Here are some photo's on our way down to lessons today. Daddy did not come with us this time so I have no actual pool photo's. :(

Ice cream after swimming

workin' on it

2010-05-15T12:05:00.002-06:00

I've never actually painted in "stages" before but it is another way to work on a project while you have a small child and actually get something done and still spend time with your kid. :)
Not quite finished yet. I still have to do the entire top part of the wall the lighter tannish color and buy a few accessories and wall decor to pull everything together but I will say that I LOVE the orange color, it reminds me of one of the resorts we go to in Mexico. It's like a breath of fresh air and it's lively, but not tacky or overwhelming.

Stay tuned for the finished project photogs.