E's Special Day

We just wanted to share our joy with all of you. E was baptized this morning, and it was so wonderful to watch! We are so happy for her and, in her own words, 'It was the perfect way to end her birthday weekend.'.

Fashion Week

For E's 8th birthday, we held a fashion show. I hired 3 teenagers to come do hair and make-up for 13 little girls. Then the girls got to walk the runway, complete with music and an MC. They had a blast!! I have never seen so many sparkles! The best was watching them box and bowl on the Wii in their finery. I've been instructed to leave the runway and curtains intact for a few days for further use. Somehow the runway is going to be turned into a wall to separate my laundry area from the rest of the storage room. I'm definitely going to have to paint it! By the way, we did make it through the whole party without S following through on his threat to put on his Spiderman costume and
run down the runway slinging webs!

Birthday Girl

Our sweet, funny girl is eight years old today. Happy birthday, E!!!!!!

Shark Boy

Our little guy has made it on the ski lift and up the mountain! He was so excited to finally ride the lift. Way to go, S!!! He is of the mentality that the best way down is straight and as fast as possible. He is very good at stopping -- when he runs into the back of another kid. Actually, from what D said today, he has perfected his turns and stops and is ready to move to the bigger lifts that go higher up the mountain. Now I will have someone to ski with again! The girls' abilities have far surpassed mine. K learned to ski backwards today and is skiing black diamonds all day. She has mastered moguls, and the only thing left is the half pipe. It must be nice to be young and have no fear! E and I didn't ski today because the poor thing is just miserable with the flu. I want to leave you with S's quote of the day: He said, "Daddy, do you like Mommy?". Fortunately, D said 'yes'. S said, "OK. I guess I'll like her, too." Let me add that I was standing right there during this conversation! Boys!!

Catching Up

I guess I need to catch you guys up on a few things. First of all, the best thing a parent can experience- E is going to be baptized on the 24th. And being who she is, she 'informed' us that she had written a note to the pastor saying she was ready for baptism, and then told us. We have since met with E and the pastor, and we are so thrilled for her! When she told her teacher the other day, her teacher said that 'we will be sisters in Christ'. E frowned and said, "How can that be? You are so old and I am so young!". Lucky for her, her teacher about fell off the bleachers laughing!

Next thing on the list: The kids insisted that I introduce everyone to the newest members of our family: Gabriella, Troy, and Sharpay. Yes, we are into High School Musical. The birds have been a blast. They will sit on your finger and shoulder and are so funny to watch.

Last, I thought you might want to know that D took the girls to the Disco Daddy Daughter Dance last Friday. He managed the whole night with just his cane, and they had a blast. Though I myself am too young to remember the disco days, I'm sure it will bring back memories for some of you. :) They looked like Three's Company leaving my house!

Happy Valentine's Day

We hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day! Say a prayer for my little E. She woke up with fever and is missing her parties today. She is quite bummed!! And, yes, I did send her out in the snow to take a picture this morning. We are waiting on a lab test to tell us if it's the flu or sinus infection. Did you know that if it's the flu, they can give her medicine for it, and give some to all of us to prevent us from getting it? How cool is that? Hugs and kisses!!!

Sibling Rivalry

S has reached the ultimate in sibling torture -- and he is only 4. Today he took E's blanket -- yes, THE blanket -- and hid it. When bedtime came, E was desperately searching and S was already asleep. She found her glasses that he hid, but no blanket. I finally found it on the floor of his closet with the doors closed. He never closes his closet doors. Hm. Luckily, E found it as funny as we did, so we avoided any tears. Guess he knows which one of her buttons to push!! I am quite impressed that he did this so quietly and nonchalantly. Who knows how long it was in there!? Maybe he knows what I did with the pictures from the sofa table that I temporarily replaced with Christmas stuff.

Your E story for the week....

Last night at my volleyball game, E's teacher came in smiling and said she had something to tell me. Naturally, I just wanted to go ahead and crawl under the bleachers. Apparently, some of the kids in the class are having trouble with their multiplication facts, so they have been coming up with creative ways to remember them. E started 'Kung Fu' math (something about a karate chop with each number and crossing her arms over her chest when they say 'times'). Don't ask, I have no clue how that helps. Anyway, they were trying to come up with different rhymes and movements yesterday, and E had an idea.

Don't even try to guess. You will never come up with this one.

She said "Why don't we make grunting noises like a woman does when she is having a baby'. First of all, how on earth does she know what a woman sounds like when she is having a baby, and, second, how could that possibly help you remember math facts!? Maybe it's that 'multiplication' thing. Her teacher was laughing so hard last night she could hardly tell me the story! So were the rest of the people on the bleachers around us. Great. Now I can't go to preschool or volleyball.

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!