Thursday Thirteen

We had quite a weather system move through last night. At our house we only had a little rain, but I talked to family members nearby that had golf ball size hail and saw funnel clouds. YIKES!
I had so many pictures of the clouds that I thought I'd use them for my TT, but it turns out I only have 11 worth publishing. Oh well - close enough.





















Do you see the moon in the upper right-hand corner?

Wordless Wednesday - The Tower

First day of "School" for Julia

I don't know what I was thinking signing the babies up for a 9:00 Early Childhood class.
Grant was able to squeeze in a morning snooze because he woke up at 5:30, but Julia slept until 7:00. She was very good during class - stealing everyone's hearts as usual. I didn't realize it was a separating class where we left the room completely. I didn't leave Sam until he was almost 2! Both babies did great though, but were happy to see me return. Julia was asleep in her carseat before I even had Sam buckled in.

Julia's new friend Aaron. He really liked her.


The Bang-Bang song! We know that one!

Catching up

Not blogging during the day has put me behind in my posts. In an effort to catch up quickly I'm going to lump our weekend together rather than break stuff up. I also still have two more days in Denver to write about when I can find the time. You can read about why I'm not blogging as much in the comments of this post. I am also busy cleaning out our house. The clutter is overtaking our home and with some "new" furniture coming in it's a good time to purge of extra things to make room for the upgrades. We have already switched out the entertainment center and my desk. Now I get to blog from my Grandfather's desk. It's huge and for the moment not littered with papers. The only reason it isn't buried under eight inches of clutter is that the stuff from my old desk is "neatly" sorted into various grocery bags scattered around the house. I'm definitely in the stage where I'm making more of a mess before I make any noticeable progress.

While we were moving furniture we put Sam in the pack-n-play. From the garage I could a distinct noise coming from the living room directly above us. Sure enough, Sam wasn't coloring on the easel where he discovered the crayon. No, he was coloring all over our wall.


The while we were rearranging furniture in the living room to accommodate our "new" entertainment center Sam managed to hit Julia in the eye with the corner of a Lego mat.
It was time to get out of the house for a bit (and let Daddy clean up) so we packed up and went to the splash pad.

Julia thought it was pretty fun to splash and wash out her wound.



Sam's sun hat got lost during our vacation so he had to borrow mine. It looks like it'll be a while before it's practical for him to wear it regularly.


Saturday I went to my cousin's house for their garage sale. I used to drive there everyday as their nanny so it's always surreal to make that drive now. I cannot believe how big the kids are getting! Elsie and Porter were newborns when I started watching them and now Elsie is 7 and Porter is 4. Elsie's lemonade stand was a big hit with Sam.

Cool Slideshows!

I swear Julia is changing every day. I just can't get enough of her!


Getting a nice picture of the kids with Brian was a challenge. It seems I wasn't the only one with kids who didn't want to cooperate. Jennisa's girls were just as squirmy in her Father's Day post.


Brian's favorite out-to-eat-food is Buffalo Wild Wings. Unfortunately until October when Minnesota's smoking ban goes into effect, the kids and I can't join him there. I think he was happy to get away for an hour or so though on Father's Day. He stopped and got me flowers on the way home. Thanks Sweetie!

Julia's new game - Peek-a-boo

She especially likes to play this when she's eating. The result - food smeared from ear to ear and from her chin to her curls.

Do you see what I see?

First Fruit

This is the first strawberry Sam grew in his garden this summer. He was kind enough to let me have a taste. It was soooooo juicy and very yummy!!! All this heat and wind is drying out our container garden very quickly. It takes Sam 4 trips with his little watering can 2 times a day to drench his thirsty plants.



Maybe I shouldn't have sold my watering can at the garage sale.

I am in awe of how fast everything is growing. The pumpkin in the 5 gallon bucket has doubled in size just since we left for vacation. The lettuce that Sam planted has already been used in a few BLTs.

Happy Father's Day!

I had envisioned doing a slide show of some of my best Brian -with-the-kids shots, but that would keep me away from my family even longer so I'm keeping this short and sweet. This Indian legend give me goosebumps every time and hits home what a loving heavenly Father we all have.


The legend of the Cherokee Indian youth's rite of passage
His father takes him into the forest.... blindfolded....and leaves him....alone. He is required to sit on a stump the whole night, and not take off the blindfold until the sun shines through it. He is all by himself. He cannot cry out for help to anyone. Once he survives the night, he is a MAN. He cannot tell the other boys of this experience. Each lad must come into his own manhood. The boy was terrified...could hear all kinds of noise...Beasts were all around him. Maybe even some human would hurt him. The
wind blew the grass and earth...and it shook his stump. But he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold. It would be the only way he could be a man. Finally, after a horrific night, the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold. It was then that he saw his father sitting on the stump next to him...at watch the entire night. We are never alone. Even when we do not know it, our Father is protecting us...He is sitting on the stump beside us. All we have to do is reach out to HIM.





Happy Father's Day Brian!!!! The kids adore you and so do I.

Denver Day 3

What a way to start the day!!! Our hotel had waffle irons available for guests to make themselves fresh waffles every morning. Yum!



Julia's safe from her brother in here.


Her happy place or has Sharon calls it -
JoJo Jail.


"Now THIS is my happy place. Thanks for springing me from my jail Sharon!"

It was too nice out to sit in the hotel waiting for the reception to start so we drove around until we found a park.

Lisa and Olen got married in St. Thomas back in March. Then on June 9th in Arvada, Colorado they hosted the most family friendly wedding reception I've ever been to.

Julia went to bed as soon as we got back to the hotel, but Sam still had enough energy left in him to take a dip in the hotel's heated pool.


Brrrrr! It was cold when we got out!
Better get to bed Sam! There's more fun in store for Day 4.

Good morning - I think

This is the site I was greeted with when I went into Julia's room this morning. How could I not smile back? It's a good thing she's cute because she kept us up from 3-5 early this morning. I've heard that when babies learn something new they sometimes won't sleep well because they want to keep practicing that new skill. Julia is proving that to be true.
I caught Julia sitting up on her knees with the video monitor yesterday. Two seconds later I was upstairs retrieving her from this dangerous situation and making a mental note to lower her crib before bedtime.

She's one determined little girl! Why do kids want the dog food anyway???


Things on my to-do list for today:
1. Julia-proof the house
2. Order mesh crib bumper so Julia's legs won't get stuck anymore

Denver Day 2

This is how day two of our vacation started - with a long car ride to Colorado Springs. We took full advantage though, and for the first three days all the kids naps were taken in the car.


See that snow capped mountain in the distance? That's where Brian's parents and sister were headed. They rode a cogwheel train to the top of Pike's Peak. If you look at their website and scroll down a ways you'll see in bold letters BE CAREFUL! ESPECIALLY WITH SMALL CHILDREN.

That is why Brian and I skipped that attraction and spent the morning at Garden of the Gods instead.

After a quick stop back at the hotel we were off to the Bride and Groom's house for dinner.




We tucked the kids in by 9 (a full two hours later than normal) and got some much needed rest ourselves. (I love staying in hotels and getting a bed all to myself!)
The whole point of the trip - the wedding reception - was scheduled for the next day.....