I don't have to dream of a white Christmas......

There are few things more wonderful than your children's smiling faces out in the snow that is falling on Christmas Day.

Merry Christmas, everyone!!!!!

Whose child IS this?!

I thought you all might want some E stories to entertain you on this Christmas Eve.

The other day we were sitting around the dinner table and S and D started messing around. D looked at S and E and said 'You want a piece of me?' E proceeded to answer, 'No, baby, I want the whole thing!'. WHAT!?!?!?! We did not carry this conversation any further (mainly because we were laughing).

Thursday, while taking S to school, I get a call from E (who was at school), and she was very upset. She told me that she gave her teacher her gift, and that there was nothing in it but tissue paper. Having wrapped the gift myself, I knew different, but E said they looked all over and couldn't find it anywhere (at my suggestion that it might have fallen out). I told her I would look when I came up to the party later. A little while later, her teacher (whom I dearly love and SO has E's number) got her out of library and said 'Come here, Dufus Girl, and let me show you something'. Apparently, E had picked up a gift that looked similar to hers but had already been opened, and gave it to her teacher. Mrs. L found E's gift and, needless to say, she and E giggled about it for the rest of the day!

Of course, I saved the best for last. On Friday, D took the girls Christmas shopping for me. The next day, while K and I were at the barn, D took S and E to Q'Doba for lunch. They ran into S's current and E's former preschool director (let me remind you that this is a CHRISTIAN preschool). After the usual pleasantries, Ms. C asked if they were out Christmas shopping. E said, and I quote: "No, we did that yesterday. Daddy took us to Victoria's Secret to buy Mommy some fancy panties". D about fell on the floor (which he deserves for taking them in that store -- yes, he really did). Ms. C (who is the most incredible Christian woman), also happens to be a mom and new grandma. After she quit laughing, she simply said, 'Out of the mouths of babes!'. I'm not showing my face at preschool anymore, due to the fact that they will all be wondering what kind of panties I'm wearing. D will just have to take him the rest of the year.

Merry Christmas!!!!!!

Still Learning......

I've decided I might should put together a book of winter advice for Texans that move to Colorado. You know, like the baby wipes freezing, don't park your car on an icy driveway because it will be in the street the next morning, turn the vent on the snow blower when you change directions so it won't cover what you've already cleared type of advice.
I have a new one to add to my list. When you go into a movie and it's snowing like crazy, make sure you turn off your wipers when you park the car. When you come out of the movie and there are 3 or 4 inches of snow on your car, you need to brush it off (which takes a while on a big gas-guzzling SUV). Of course, you want your mother-in-law and kids to be warm while you are doing this, so you reach in and start the car, which starts the wipers you left on. This, of course, means that a huge pile of snow is sent flying into the driver's seat (yes, yours) and all over the inside of the door. Not being smart enough to turn the wipers off, you slam the door fast, which sends the next swipe of snow right into your face. After brushing off the car and getting into your wet seat, you quickly have to brush off the snow and water from the electronic controls on your door before it shorts them out and makes your windows and seat heater (which is currently coming in very handy) not work. In doing so, you accidently roll down the window where your middle child is sitting. She screams because it is cold and snowing on her, so you roll the window up -- fast. As she continues to scream, your mother-in-law informs you that you have closed said child's finger in the window. It leaves a nice dent below the first knuckle. There is crying and comforting before you can actually begin the treachorous drive home. Did I mention that the whole time all of this is going on, it is 14 degrees outside? And snowing really hard? At least it was a good movie!!!!

And isn't the snow beautiful!

Feller Foot Follies

What is it with our feet!? Two days before the anniversary of D's fall from the roof, K was making 'horse jumps' in the basement with chairs on pillows. She didn't jump high enough on one of them and slammed her LEFT foot into the chair. We were pretty sure at least her toe was broken (there goes her REAL horse jumping). The doctor put her in a surgical shoe and we waited for the x-ray results. We found out yesterday that, praise God, nothing is broken!! The doctor was shocked and said it is just a very bad sprain. It sure looks nasty and is quite painful! I think from now on we are all going to sit down and not move during the month of December!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Boys Will Be Boys

OK. My children have embarrassed me before (like S yelling, every time we go in Target, "Mommy! Did you toot!?"), but this one is definitely towards the top of the list. When I picked S up from Sunday School last Sunday, one of his teachers informed me that he got in trouble for spanking the other teacher. Yes, he SPANKED HIS TEACHER!!!! Any reason it couldn't have been another kid? Not that he should be spanking anyone. To make matters worse, he refused to apologize! So he got to sit in timeout for TEN MINUTES until he decided to apologize. Can we say stubborn!? He has way too much of his daddy in him :)
Now, I realize that you are all probably finding this quite humorous, and I'm sure, once we change churches, that I will, too. How do their little boy brains come up with these ideas? He thought it was very funny when we asked him about it -- and it didn't help that E busted out laughing, too! I think that might be the source of many of his ideas, despite the fact that those two are like oil and water. If you think of a good idea but don't want to get in trouble, get little brother to do it. I wouldn't know anything about that, personally, though. I also have a feeling that as they get older, the ideas won't go away. They will just become more creative. I think I should be very afraid!

WAY too much candy!!

D got a little carried away with the kids and their pumpkin carving. They had a blast, however, and it did turn out very cool! Nothin' like encouraging the violent tendencies of your children!


It did not snow this year on Halloween, but it was quite cold (low 40's), so Spiderman, Minnie Mouse, and the Dolphin bundled up when they headed out to trick or treat. I kept running into friends while we were out. I stopped and chatted and then had to run to catch up with the fam again. I consider that my extra exercise for all the candy that I will no doubt eat!


When we returned and the kids emptied their bags, we realized that we had WAY too much candy!! The doorbell started ringing again so I just grabbed handfuls of the candy we got and gave it to other kids. Hey, I have no self-control when it comes to chocolate!



By the way, have you ever seen a dolphin play the piano? It's quite cute!!

2 Seasons Down, 1 To Go

The girls ended two of their sports seasons on a REALLY high note. E had her last soccer game and got to play goalie the first half. During the second half, she made her most amazing goal ever. Way to go E!! They got trophies and ice cream after the game (doesn't sound too pleasant to me since it was about 40 degrees outside).


K started her day on a new pony (that we were planning on buying). Pepper is adorable, but a little too much for K it turned out. He was great at the barn, but went a little nuts at the show. She stayed on, though, and finished each course -- just a little faster than most!


She rode in another division on her trusty Angel, and ended up getting Reserve Champion. Way to go K!! After the regular show was over, they had some fun classes. Pepper made the cutest Mickey Mouse you have ever seen! K got back on Angel and did the champaign, string, musical stalls, egg and spoon classes. The best, however, was watching her barrel race!! We ended our day at a friend's house in her haunted loft. S spent all his time up there jumping out and scaring people. I heard he was hanging off the hay bails like a dead person and then screaming when someone walked by! We roasted s'mores, bobbed for apples, and watched the Rockies lose (AGAIN). I'm still tired!!!!

Go Ahead and Laugh

It was a sad day today because I was unable to get tickets to the World Series (after trying for 2 days). They are a bit expensive on Craig's list!

However, all was not sad. My Fantasy Basketball team was drafted today! Yes, I did say 'fantasy basketball' and I did say 'my'. Scary, huh? I am in a league with my 3 brothers, one sister-in-law, and one of their former bosses. That makes it even scarier, doesn't it!? Just because I play volleyball and enjoy watching a lot of sports, does not mean I know squat about managing a basketball team! I mean, I can tell you the Rockies' batting order off the top of my head, but I only recognized one player on my team. Are you laughing yet? My brother, however, thought I could handle this. I'm thinking they just needed some way to laugh at me since I'm not around anymore! I'll let you know how it goes. Any advice?

Go Rockies!!!!

We must say it again..........

Go Rockies!! It was Rockies Spirit Day at E's school today, and K and S decided they would wear their purple and black as well. I am reserving my shirt for Game #4 of the World Series (I'm actually not as confident as I sound that we will actually be able to get the tickets). We'll find out Monday morning at 10:00!

I just need to say 2 things........

HAPPY FALL .....



..... and GO ROCKIES!!!!!!!!!

Volleyball Season

Volleyball season has started for K. She has an incredible coach, and I have no doubt she will learn more from this coach than all of her others combined. The team is great and they won all three of their games Saturday. What's really funny is that every time they get a kill or an ace, they all go hi-five each other. Needless to say, this makes the games last a little longer!

S's favorite part of the weekend was the airplane museum where he got to stand next to Luke Skywalker's X-Wing fighter!! He said, "That is just so cool!!". He also got to pilot his own little jet around the hanger.

And on a final note, as if we needed to add another activity to our schedule, I decided to take a riding lesson yesterday. I haven't been on a horse since I was about 10 or so. Kudos to my daughter and her friends for making English riding appear easy -- it most definately is not!! It went pretty well once I started to get the hang of posting and my friends and I quit laughing! After an hour I had bruises where I shouldn't and was quite fearful that I would not be able to move this morning. However, thanks to my weights and running, I am not as sore as I thought I would be -- as long as I don't have to sit down! I'm sure Angel was a very confused pony after my ride and was quite ready to get me off of her back! At least I knew how to tack up and untack! When I told S that I rode Angel and that it was kind of funny, he asked if I laughed. I said "yes", and he said' "It sure makes me laugh!!". Oh the support we get from our kids!

Soccer Season '07

E began soccer season with a bang! This year the girls have gone from playing 4 on 4 to playing 6 on 6 with a goalie. The field is also much bigger, but the 'Dominators' (as they voted to call themselves) have adjusted quite well. They all rotate through all of the positions, but the coach doesn't put E on defense much because she can't seem to make herself stay behind that line! She made a goal yesterday and helped her team win 4 to 1. She is loving the game more than ever and has dreams of being the next Mia Hamm (whose biography she has now read twice!). So now along with our volleyball net, we have two big soccer goals adorning our back yard. She even has a soccer skills book that she lays on the ground, and various cones she sets up for drills according to the book. This kid is serious!!! And just to keep the record straight, while playing soccer she is to be referred to as 'EmDog'. How feminine!! At least she insists on having that hot pink soccer ball, and the matching socks they are required to have are, yes, pink because of her suggestion. To her, there is no other color, and there is no other sport! You go, girl!!

Blue Cloud Horse Show

K's first non-schooling show went great!! The day before, A learned how to braid a mane for a show. This particular horse has a very full mane, so it took almost 2 hours! Afterwards, we had to put a sleezy on her to keep her from rubbing out the braids during the night. Angel didn't much care for that! After getting home at 9:00 that night, we had to polish boots, press the hunt coat and shirt, and make sure we had gloves, garter straps, helmet, etc. ready for our 5:30 trek to the barn the next morning. K rode and jumped very well and there were no crashes this time! I really would prefer for someone else to watch and tell me when it's over, but it's hard to take pics that way!! K and Angel both were awesome and they both slept very well last night.
Since I had the cameras at the show, we have no pics of E's first game of the season (which is a bummer since I hear she scored the last goal from mid-field). We will take pics this Saturday and give her her own post!

Our Crazy Life

Everyone is back in the swing of school now (after 2 weeks!). K is at the middle school and loves it and her teacher. E has K's teacher from the last 2 years and we think she is the greatest! S is going to the Pre K program 3 days a week this year and is very upset on the 2 days he doesn't go!


K started the year with her hair nine inches shorter -- which she loves. No more nasty tangles!!! She is still riding (her biggest show of the year is tomorrow), taking piano, and will start volleyball next week. Someone should have warned me that girls grow up very quickly when they hit 10. Where did my little girl go!?



E just got new glasses -- yes, they are hot pink -- and thinks she is the coolest! She is playing soccer again this season (EmDog is back on the field!) and still taking piano. She also thinks having nightly homework in third grade is really cool! I'm thinking that won't last very long.


S just keeps getting taller. He is very much into Legos right now -- and unfortunately so are all of our feet! He loves to build airplanes! The rest of in the house are just plain boring. A is still playing volleyball, and trying to figure out how to get everyone everywhere since ALL of these activities take place on Wednesdays and Thursdays!! D's company is doing very well and you would all be impressed by how he gets around on those crutches! I'm sure there will be another post after the first soccer game and the horse show this weekend. We miss you all!!

How to get your dad to buy you a pony........

.....let the pony do the kissing-up!

How to stop Mom's heart.......

K is very sore and has a scraped arm, but OK. We think she should have been given a prize for taking out the whole upright and the crossbars! There were several bad falls this week at the barn with two of her friends ending up in the emergency room, but everyone is OK. It must be the heat!! We are all so thankful that God is watching over these girls and no one was seriously injured! And as K reminded me earlier, all the horses are OK, too.

Double Digits

My sweet little girl has turned 10!!! Where did the time go? She is such a wonderful, sweet, loving little girl that seems awefully grown-up now!







She had a Luau Slumber Party last night with all of her friends -- even her friend S from Texas!! They wore themselves out on the slip'n'slide, which made bed time a breeze!


This morning we went to the barn to have cake with all of the 'barn girls'. She even shared a piece of cake with her very best friend. Happy birthday, K!!!! We love you!!!!

A wanted me to try this cool feature, so here goes. The ony thing we seem to be doing and getting pics of lately is horse shows, so here is the latest from July 7.

Summer Fun

Summer has started with a bang at our house! All three kids are taking swim lessons, K is riding and taking piano, A ran the Bolder Boulder again this year and is now getting a late start on spring cleaning (the family loves me in this mode). D spends time chasing S around the house on his knee scooter (much faster than 'crunches', as S calls them).
Saturday morning all three of the girls ran a 2 mile race called the Sunrise Stampede. E was flying and finished in 21:10! You go, E! A ran with K and they finished in 23:something. As soon as the race was over, we drove straight to K's horseshow at Triple Creek Ranch. She was exhausted last night! Despite the fact that she moved up a division and added the canter, she did even better than last time. She ended up being champion of her division, and she has not stopped smiling!! Great job, K!
Other than that, we don't have much going on this summer! Oh yeah -- there is VBS, volleyball camp, A's weekly v-ball games, multiple sleepovers, K's birthday, missing our friends and family...............