Welcome to our World

What wonderful weather we've had! On one of the beautiful Wednesdays in March I took my children to the zoo alone... something I've never done before... and it was absolute perfection! It wasn't crowded and we were happy, relaxed, snacked all day, super well behaved, got to see lots of animals and feedings, and stayed until 4. I couldn't have asked for a better time. The #1 thing Kaelah would tell you if she was writing is that I bought them a bag of cotton candy. Then Danny would get excited and say the polar bear was playing peek-a-boo. (He kept on going in and out of the entry way b/c we knew the zoo keeper was on the other side getting food ready for him.) Michelle would tell you that the fox and the [red] panda were hiding so we couldn't see them. (She was so excited to be wearing her purple fox shirt she had me take a picture by the exhibit even though they were in their houses. And pandas are her favorite animal now-a-days, but he was sleeping in his...

Rediscovering the back yard! Swing set, watering flowers, trying to get grass to grow, putting expired beans in the almost empty turtle sand box.... Make-up mayhem. When we took the children to see Cinderella at Jesters the step sisters were wearing hideous make-up. Why does my daughter always pick the scary people to reenact? Bubbles in camping chairs. I am super impressed with the $.99 Disney bubble necklaces we got at Target! Going to the park. Michelle gets to enjoy being pushed on the swing by mommy, sister, & brother. Spoiled! Play dates. Pictured is William, 2 weeks older than Michelle, at Chelsi W's house. We were visiting the ward co-op preschool & loved it. Kaelah & Danny are going Tues./Thurs. next year and after much thought I am switching Kaelah from my friend Stacie's at-home ps to my friend Stacey's at-home ps (for Mon./Wed.). lol. Danny & Michelle love cats (especially Danny) so I took them to the Humane Society. Here they are whe...

If you knew me in high school or college, you knew I loved Oreos. I loved them so much I could eat an entire bag, all by myself, in one sitting. I ate so many that in my late 20s I didn't eat them for years. lol. I even did a informational speech on them that lasted 10 minutes long -- and won a forensics medal for it. A friend of mine said he wouldn't recognize my wedding reception unless I had Oreos, so I bought some but forgot to bring them. (: When I heard Oreos would be celebrating their 100th birthday, I just had to buy some of those specially-marked bags. And when King Soopers gave away party hats, we just had to have a party. So, on the afternoon of March 6th, I sat my 3 darlings down with milk, wrote 100 with Oreos and promised if they smiled they could dig in. I only had to take 1 picture. Giggles & grossness ensued & the 4 of us ate the bag all gone.

We've noticed a trend:  our family gets cabin fever real bad in February.  So, one Saturday (and thanks to a post by a friend on Facebook) we traveled to Silverthorne to visit the ice castles there and go sledding at the perfect hill for our little ones.  We had a blast!  By the time we arrived at Silverthorne, Kaelah had gotten car sick and threw up on Danny's coat.  Luckily it has two parts so at least he had something.  She was fine the rest of the trip.  We ate at Wendy's for lunch, visited the castles, sledded, played at the park, ate at Chipolte, dropped by the outlet mall, and got home in time for bed.  When Dan and I realized how happy the children were it made us want to buy a condo up there but who wants 2 mortgages? I just had to include a picture of Danny and Michelle concentrating on a scripture story at lunch.  We began using the new Gospel Art book to tell stories at meal time as a way to study the scriptures as a famil...

I just had to take pictures the week of Valentine's Day because my girls already owned matching heart clothes from Gymboree's Panda Academy line. After offering them candy if they cooperated, we had some fun for a few minutes. (Yes, I have to bribe or threaten or both to get what I want around here.) After being really cheesy I gave them things to do, such as give Michelle a kiss or make a funny face and am quite pleased with the results. Someday I will look back on pictures like these and miss my little children so much! It's good to be able to write a post like this at 6am when said little ones & the dog have kept me awake since 2am.

In December Danny loved the cake Grandma Karyl made him to celebrate moving from being 2 to 2 and a half. He is totally obsessed with Buzz Lightyear & Grandma did a great job. There were so many different colors of frosting I think I might have taken an easier way out. Thanks, Mom! In January Kaelah loved her 4.5 year cake so much she didn't want us to eat it. lol. This one was from Target b/c Grandma Karyl was sick (she got bronchitis from my girls). The children were thrilled it had their 3 favorite colors on it: pink for Kaelah, blue for Danny, & purple for Michelle. Turns out $8 can buy all my children happiness at the same time. And then I'm not sure Dan would want me to tell you how old he turned on his REAL birthday in January. I was feeling very uncreative but he didn't complain. He & I went out to eat while Alex babysat the previous weekend & on his actual birthday we used the Panera Bread gift card my parents had given us for Christmas to...

Every year we love going to see the Longmont Lights & this year we added more lights when we received 2 free tickets to the Denver Zoo Lights. The children loved being able to see & high 5 & hug characters without having to wait in line! See, Disney World is a great place for learning as well as fun. The reindeer station was my favorite b/c I thought it was very clever: a dot of red lipstick for the noses. Danny & Kaelah liked decorating cookies with tons of frosting best. Before attending the Zoo Lights we went to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science with Lisa, Ethan, & Joseph again. It was nice that Dan could join us this time. He found a great, quiet, place for us to eat our sack lunch that we will definitely use all the time! Here is a picture of Ethan & Kaelah eating at their own table. I teased Lisa that we were letting our 4 & 5- year-olds go on a date. She informed me that Ethan had said he was going to marry Kaelah someday because she...