Overlooked Cuteness

I realized there were a few photo and video gems that I neglected to post.  Feast your eyes.

Nana time from back in September.  We sure do love us some Nana.

Squirt's first go at the slip n slide.  No fear.  

The pic below is evidence of our little princess's sleepwalking habits.  We find her in various locations throughout the week.  This particular night Tim found her in our bedroom with the lights on at full capacity, sound asleep with no pillow or blanket.  We put her back in bed and if we're lucky, she stays there.  Last night she got up twice, laying in the hall and on her bedroom floor.  We're thinking this one will do really well camping.  

Uncle Bob and Aunt Gail visited us for Saturday morning breakfast last weekend.  We love these Chicago people and so so wish we could see them more often.  The kids got a total charge out of their attention.  Bob was playing the copycat dog game on the iPad with them.  There was a lot of spitting and farting noises involved.  He knew how to speak their love language.
  

We have to take advantage of the last of our balmy nights.  This troop has become like a little family of their own through the years.  Poor Duder has no idea the amount of estrogen that will start rearing its ugly head one of these years.

These video clips document Squirt's nightly routine of "putting Daddy to bed."  It involves roughly 30 entrances and exits to her bedroom, lots of firmly stated directions and a lot of warnings that she's going to work and will be back.  

Hike and Seek

The forecasters predicted a balmy 38 degrees for this morning, causing me to wake up in the middle of the night and tell Tim that we were changing our Saturday plans.  Luckily my husband is sensible and frugal.  We pre-paid $30 to take the kids on an organized nature hike by the Platte River and by golly, we were following through.  And so we did, car loaded with hats and gloves to boot.  Turns out, it was a wonderfully fall-like, perfectly comfortable, sun shiny and charming 2 mile hike.  No hat or gloves needed.  Thus why we love us some Colorado.  The best part was our Kansas City buds were in town and joined us.  Which meant Jack and Dude were together once again.  Have at it boys.

It was decided today that some day I will write a children's book about these two rascals.  They are so alike in many ways and yet so drastically different all in the same breath.  Which makes us parents laugh out loud in the midst of our deep breathing coping techniques.  They took off on their own for a majority of our hike and seek adventure. It was all about obtaining learning station stickers for their little one track minds.  The rest of us soaked in the sun beaming through the yellowing leaves, the river bubbling, the birds greeting the day and the little girls fighting, the way only 2 year old girls can do, over the baby doll.  Harper won.

Don't let this picture fool you into thinking the Squirt utilized the use of her legs during our outing.  She most certainly did not.  Some day we'll go walking without constant nagging to be held, "Uppeee me!"  You can only listen to that for so long before you cave friends.  That's the reality.  Thank goodness for Bobs.  That sucker carried her through and allowed us to enjoy the morning.
 

We loved our Saturday morning Fall festivities and ended the morning with a somewhat enjoyable lunch with the Foremans.  When dealing with 4 kids sitting at a restaurant, "somewhat enjoyable" is the best you can ask for.  We've come to terms.  Hope you're enjoying the beginning of your Fall too.     

Will There Be Trampolines In Heaven Mom?

Dude likes to talk.  A lot.  Like, a whole lot.  His little brain is constantly churning out new and intriguing questions that NEED to be answered.  One question typically leads to another.  And we're often shocked at how relevant and intelligent his questions are.  I had to pull over the other day to start writing down the questions that were being launched (like missiles) at me about heaven.  These are the moments worth pulling over for.  Our conversation (rather one sided as he didn't even give me time to answer) went a little something like this....

"Mom, can we talk about heaven?  It's so awesome and I have SO many questions about when I got there.  Does it rain in heaven?  I think the walls are covered in gold and crystals.  Will trains go over mountains?  Will it be a WHOLE Kingdom up there?  Will there be a King and Queen?  Will there be huge trampolines?  Will there be stores to buy things?  Will God be our chef?  Will my skin be white?  Will it hurt to cut my nails?  Will I get hurt when I fall?  Will God protect me?  Can I make crafts?  Will sharks be nice to us?  Will we know everything on earth?  Will there be monster trucks?  Will there be airplanes to take us to China? Where will the animals live?  Will the dogs be by us all the time?  If I jump off a cliff, will God catch me? Can God make me a blue puppy there?  Can I go to the beach?  What about daycare?  Is heaven its own planet?"

I stopped writing because we had to go home and make dinner.  That kid sure does love the thought of heaven.  He has no idea how much it scares me to think about him going there some day.  And why would he?  It's awesome.  Maybe I should start taking lessons from him.

   

Run Dude, Run

For the 6th year, I took pics and manned the Food Bank table at the Panerathon 5 & 10K for my work. This year I had the brilliant idea to drag my 6 year old out of a deep sleep and bring him with me for the 30 minute drive to join in the festivities.  Not all my ideas are good ones.  This one included.  Dude was a zombie all morning and was rather bored with all Mom's "workness."  However, he did get a real kick out of the Kids Fun Run, sporting a beaming smile from start to finish.  And, bless his little heart, he sat on the curb with two hand clappers and cheered for every last runner/walked/limper that crossed the finish line.  The very last lady, heavy set and very tired said to him, "Bless your heart little love.  Thank you for cheering for me." He said, "Wooohoooo!  You're almost there lady!"

I'm lovin the pictures I got of him that morning.  The Harry Potter face paint was a total hit.

  

Our Sky Will NOT Stop Crying

As I'm sure you've heard if you're turned on your telly, we're flooded here in Colorado.  Rain like we've never seen in our 10 years here.  I mean, come on.  A couple months ago the state was ablaze.  We just don't half ass it when it comes to drama.  The rain started falling on Tuesday night and hasn't stopped since. Well, maybe 10 minutes here and there but then BAM! It's back with vengeance.  Our hood isn't too bad as far as standing water, but the closer I got to work today, the more dramatic it all became.  It took me 2.5 hours.  3 miles per hour the entire way there.  Why didn't I turn around and go home you ask?  Well, I did that as soon as I got into my office and realized my main highway was about to close.  Awesome.  Super productive day.

Some people are evacuated and stuck in their homes.  There have been 3 deaths that I'm aware of. Schools, businesses and roads are closed.  It's crazy folks.  Simply put.  The rain isn't supposed to truly let up until Monday.  We're hoping they're wrong about those predictions.  I'll let ya know.

Before the puddles became rushing rivers, the kids and I went out puddle hopping.  Between Squirt falling on her face in puddles three times and Dude's relentless urge to poop his pants, it was a lovely time.  Sorry, that's life with kids.  Gotta keep it real.  The photos show the enjoyable times during our little gallivant in the rain.

 Oh that pony tail.  Squirt's trademark.  

 Aunt Cara bought that dress for Squirt on her first birthday.  I'm so excited she can finally wear it.  The frog boot, pink frills combo was enough to make me want to eat her right then and there.  In a non-creepy way of course.    

 I love catching him in rare moments where he's not "over-posing."   

 Like this.

 Oh little lovey girl.  How I adore that face.

 And that one too. 

 This is the state of the parking lot next to my office.  Our lot is also flooded, but cars were not submerged, thank goodness.  Can you see the guy swimming to his car in the middle?  Can't imagine he was thrilled with what he found.

 This section of highway is why I was delayed for two hours.  Can't imagine why.  That poor sun of a gun made a bad choice now didn't he?

       Ahhh....a glimmer of hope for the masses.  For 5 minutes.  Turns out it was just joking. It was at least a reminder that God promised to only take this rain stuff so far right?  

Miss Brook

2 weeks ago, on a Friday morning, I got an email from Brook's (Squirt's birth mom) mother that Brook was in town and would love to see us.  Tim was out of town and Dude was on his way out the door for school. Being that I'm the queen of planning and organizing my life, this threw me through a loop.  Well, a few loops. So much so that Dude went to school without his lunch and his photo form.  Luckily, school is 3 minutes away.  

I got in touch with Brook and we made plans to meet at a Denver park at 3:00pm.  She was in town visiting a friend at a Denver hospital and would head home that night.  I called on my girlfriend, Linsy, who was off that day, to hold my hand.  Literally.  And thank goodness she was available to do so. These visits are quite emotional for this Mama.  Tim's able to roll, but not me.  I held my diva princess close all day and just stared at her.  It was a reminder of just how blessed we are to call her ours. And what an amazing woman Brook is for making the decision she did.  It all just starts flowing back to me.

After 45 minutes of trying to find each other in a torrential down pour, we ended up at the library in Highlands Ranch.  Linsy and I picked Dude up from school so he could see her too.  We haven't had a face to face with his birth mom, so it's good for him to see Brook.  Squirt was more than charming during our visit and Brook smiled all the way through, just watching her.  She still wears the "R" necklace we gave her.  I love that we share something we wear close to our hearts.  We both love our little punky in our own ways. In only ways that a mother could.  

We hope these annual visits continue to happen.  For Squirt's sake and for Brook.    

Cuteness of all Cuteness

Using Anne's lemonade stand, I did a couple shoots for some darling little girlies.  I'm quite enchanted with these shots....

A plethora of photos can be found here.