What soccer ball?

S had his first soccer game on Saturday. Considering they don't hold practices, it was quite entertaining!! After switching his uniform to the right color, S spent the first few minutes running, jumping, and just generally acting goofy. Once we pointed out to him that he was on a soccer field with a soccer ball, he managed to figure out how to kick it fairly quickly. Every time he kicked it in the goal during their practice time, he would run over to me on the sidelines for a 'Hi-Five' and yell 'Woo-Hoo! I got a goal!'.

It was quite funny to watch all six players on the field during the game follow the ball as a little herd. Right before the game was over, S got a goal! He jumped up and down and then looked over at us with his thumb up and yelled 'Gig'em Aggies!' That might have something to do with the fact that he kicked it in the wrong goal, but we didn't tell him that! He was so proud of himself, and so were we!!!!

Happy Easter!

It was a very cold Easter today! Spring came and went and now we have winter again -- although I think we are supposed to hit 60 degrees tomorrow!


The kids had lots of fun hunting Easter eggs, even though it was 29 degrees outside. Somehow the Easter Bunny found a few snow piles for the white eggs. Even Sophie got into the action and sniffed out a few eggs for the kids.


As soon as the kids came in it started snowing, and it snowed all day! Yes, there is a place on Earth with weather crazier than Texas -- and we found it!!! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter!!

Spring Has Sprung (for a few days)

Thanks to our unseasonably warm weather the last couple of weeks (we have been in the 70's), the kids have been able to enjoy the outdoors! K started riding again once the three-month-old snow melted. She was so glad to see her Angel and get back in the corral!

E started soccer again on Saturday and had an awesome game. She has so much energy she moves on the sidelines just as much as she does on the field! The team decided to call themselves the Speedy Girls this year -- and they definately are!


Today we got to go to a friend's house and ride horses. K jumped some more and E got to try riding. We've decided to let her stick to soccer! I thought she was going to bounce right out of the saddle when Duchess started trotting! Even L got to ride a horse today!! I realize I left S out of this post, but he has his first-ever soccer game on Saturday, so I'm sure there will be some great pics from that!!

"I Turned into Fo Today!"

I can't believe my baby is four!! I think I need another one! It was the perfect day for a birthday. The girls had a late start day, and the weather has been sunny and in the 60's. After having cake for breakfast (this is becoming a habit with us), the kids watched Grandaddy put S's new sand and water table together. They had lots of fun playing with it!!! S even got to have cake for dessert after lunch. Happy Birthday, S!!!!

Bodacious Birthday

Today my Bodacious (her new name) girl turned 7! E has been so excited the last couple of days that she has been bouncing off the walls! After she went to bed last night, we blew up 30 pink balloons and filled her room with them. She was up bright and early at 6:30 this morning, begging to open presents. She even got to have birthday cake for breakfast, once we finally extinguished the magical relighting candles that I accidentally bought! We then sent her to school with cupcakes and blowpops for all of her friends. I think she was most excited about having her name announced during the morning announcements. I can't believe she is 7!!! Happy Birthday, E!!!!!!!

Happy Valentine's Day

It's a very cold (10 degrees) and white Valentine's Day here in Longmont! Grandma fixed heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast and the kids even had a little candy. I must tell you about the perfect card I happened upon for D for Valentine's Day. This is what it said:


On the front:
Sometimes I'll hear you
doing something and it will
remind me that we share
a life together, and I smile.

Inside:
Then I hear a thud,
a crash, and cursing.
Not quite as nice,
but I still smile.

Sometimes the perfect card just jumps out at you!! Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!!!

Nothing New

I usually don't post unless there is something new with the kids. However, there is a certain special someone (she knows who she is) who sends me messages when I don't publish a new post for a while. The only thing new here is more snow -- 49 inches so far this season -- with our snowiest months (March and April) yet to come. Between the two planned days off and the two snow days, the kids have only had three days of school each of the last two weeks. There was actually a blizzard warning from snow blowing up from the ground. It was the weirdest thing I have ever seen! We finally made it into the double digits today (first time since Thursday) and the weather guys keep talking about our 'warming trend' - up to 33 this week.
Since D broke his foot, I have discovered the downside to all of this beautiful snow (other than driving in it) -- shoveling the driveway. I did that this morning while it was -1 so I could get the trash cans to the curb! We now have a snow thrower, and I'm sure there will be some humorous stories from the first time I try to use it.
I have started to get the hang of winter driving, at least to Super Target and the kids' schools and back. If you brake in just the right spot while you are cornering your very large SUV, you don't actually have to turn the steering wheel to turn the corner-- you simply slide around! I just hope D is off of his pain meds by the time the kids' ski lessons start in February so I don't have to add mountain driving to my repertoire!

Happy New Year!!

Despite the fact that the Aggies, Cowboys, and Broncos all lost, we are still having a Happy New Year! We are still covered in snow, but the sun is shining and it is beautiful!

The kids and I went to a friend's house last night and roasted hotdogs and s'mores, sledded down a hill, and ice skated on their pond. Since it was about 13 degrees, we headed home after a couple of hours because we all felt like big popsiscles!
Our 'big' celebration last night was to gather around D's bed and pop confetti poppers when the ball dropped in New York. Grandma had hers aimed the wrong way and it shot confetti straight up the sleeve of her robe! S was very upset when they were all popped and I had a big mess to clean up -- but it was lots of fun!!

The kids have had fun in the snow, and are not really ready for school to start tomorrow. You would think after two and a half weeks off they would be ready to see their friends again!! I am dreading the end of the week when my in'laws leave. I think they should just move in!! D is starting to recover and I will send an update after we see the doctor on Wednesday. Hope you all have a wonderful New Year!!

Merry Christmas!!!!!

Thirty-five inches of snow makes a VERY white Christmas!! It was so wonderful to look outside at the snow, so quiet and peaceful, while the chaos of three kids opening gifts went on inside!


After we returned a bit of order to the house we took the kids sledding. The snow was so deep we had a hard time getting to the top of the hill. The kids had a blast! The girls decided to 'surf' down the hill and S spent most of his time sitting at the bottom eating snow. I choose not to think of all the germs on that snow!! Grandaddy and the girls even got into a snowball fight! We tried to get Grandma to sled, but she refused. D played it safe by staying in the car and watching from there. Once we were cold and wet enough we went back home and D fixed some hot chocolate. Hope you all have a Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas Lights

As most of you have probably heard by now, David fell off the roof while hanging lights and broke his heel. Emily had to write an accrostic poem for school this morning using a winter word. She chose Christmas lights. This is so priceless I have to post it for everyone to read!

Cold outside
Hot chocolate warms me up
Really snowy
Icicles hanging
Saint Nicolas is coming soon
Trim the tree
My dad hangs lights
Always be careful
Slippery roof
Look out below
If you fall, yell for help
Go to the emergency room
Have to get a cast
Take it easy
Stay off the roof from now on

Ski Dude

S skied for the first time today and absolutely loved it!! By lunch time he was already walking around on his skis in every direction possible! When he goes back next time he will be ready for level 2.


In the mean time, the rest of us were freezing in the 2 degree weather. Funny how kids don't seem to notice that! The girls did decide to take a rest when we went to watch S, though.



We were worried that he wouldn't like skiing, but we shouldn't have. He was very upset when we told him it was time to go because he had not yet been on the big lift. We tried to explain that he had to learn the bunny hill first and get back up on his own when he falls. His teacher said he could get up on his own, but he refused to do it outside in the snow. I think we'll practice in the driveway tomorrow!!

Let It Snow!

We realize that there are many of you that hate snow, but we have found it has many great uses. It makes a great afternoon snack -- and you can eat it right off the patio table!


It aslo makes a great cushion on the trampoline. However, if you are a little white dog, it can be quite cold!



We have also discovered that it can be a great form of punishment for the kids. Of course, the kids can pay you back when you aren't looking!





Snow is also great for filling up the pond when the heater makes the water evaporate (and the hose you fill it with is frozen). Not to mention it clears your patio. It's unfortunate that we only have one snow shovel!




D also learned another lesson to add to our "What not to do when you live in Colorado' list: when you have projects going on in the garage and you have to move some things outside to work, make sure one of them is NOT the snow shovel. It isn't fun to dig out from a foot of snow! We hope the county takes a lesson from this one, too. They didn't expect the snow to hit until midnight. It hit at 5. It was 9:00 before they started plowing roads! The other down side to the snow is the cold weather it brings. When I dropped the girls off this morning it was -2 with a wind chill of -15. I'm looking on the bright side, however. It's supposed to hit 20 today!! Happy winter!!!

Halloween Vandals

Halloween started out great! The kids looked so cute in their costumes. K and E got to wear theirs to school that day. S couldn't wait to put his on when he got home.

We decided since it was in the upper twenties that we would go by K's teacher's house and then head to the church. The first house is where the vandalism happened. You have to understand that this was S's first year to really understand what trick-or-treating is all about. We told him to ring the doorbell and I got set to take a picture. In his haste to get to the doorbell, he knocked over the plant stand with the potted flower in it. Boy, did I get a picture! At least it was someone we knew! As soon as they opened the door and handed out the candy, S started talking and didn't stop until he went to bed that night!




While I went inside to grab some books, Mrs. Lange sent D and the kids to her neighbors. That is all it took for S to realize what happened when you rang the doorbell! We ended up going all the way up and down a VERY long street. S literally ran the whole time! He paused to get candy and say 'thank-you' every time, but by the 5th or 6th house he was actually cutting across people's yards! He ran down the driveways so fast we thought for sure he would faceplant at the bottom, but never did. He was not happy when we headed back to the car, but we were all red-faced and couldn't feel our hands! We had great fun at the church, too. Now the daily candy battle begins!

Happy Fall!

On Saturday, we went to a Halloween party at a friend's house and had a blast! She made a haunted maze in her hayloft and we had pizza, snacks, and s'mores. It was hilarious watching the girls bob for apples, race to see who would be the first to eat her hanging donut with no hands, pretend they were horses jumping jumps in the paddock, and trying to scare each other in the dark. Sam's favorite part was the hayride behind the big tractor. He was so exhausted he fell asleep before we got out of the driveway!

K's best Day Ever

K was very dissappointed when her first horse show got cancelled because of the snow (apparently the driveway was too muddy to get the trailers in), but I think we made up for it. When she got home from school Friday, her very own saddle was waiting for her. I've never seen her so excited! We don't have a horse (yet), but we are getting close to having everything else!

We went to the barn Sunday afternoon (instead of watching the Broncos lose) and K tried her new saddle out on Dolly. She looked great! It was bittersweet, though, because that was her last ride on her sweet Dolly. Her trainer, Mary, is taking a break from training to have a baby and finish school, and she is moving Dolly close to her house. K is definately ready to move to a bigger horse, but she loves Dolly and will greatly miss her! She gave her an extra long brushing afterwards and had tears in her eyes when she left her pen. I have to admit that I got pretty attached to that pony myself!

If you don't like the weather today.......

......wait until tomorrow. That is what everyone kept telling us when we moved up here, and it is so true!! On Wednesday, we hit a beautiful, sunny 68. When we woke up Thursday morning, there was 6 inches of snow on the ground! Too bad we weren't in Colorado Springs -- they got 18! This makes for great recess tme at school and lots of fun building a snowman afterwards! There are some bad parts, however. Our 10ft aspen trees were bent to the ground, and Katelyn's first horse show on Saturday was cancelled. There is still snow on the ground this morning, so I have a feeling I will be adding to my snowman family after school today. Sam's favorite part is jumping on the trampoline full of snow! Even Sophie has fun in the snow. Anyone want to come ski?