Weekly Recap

Tyler at his preschool Haloween party.

The kids playing with dough at Rotelli's; we went there for dinner Monday after Andrew's soccer practice, Rick was out of town and that means we get to eat out!
We took Rick to the airport on Sunday, he was flying out to Alabama tocheck out a fertilizer company. They paid for him to come and see how the fertilizer is made and why it would help his course, it was so nice of them to do this even though Rick already buys their stuff! So Rick golfed and fished and ate, he had a great time and returned home just in time for the Haloween festivities.
Andrew finally decided to just use last years costume and dressed up as a skeleton pirate, he thinks he is getting too old for this holiday, but he sure loves the candy!

Madelynn was Hannah Montana, if you've ever seen the show, she looks more like Miley but both characters are the same person so she really couldn't go wrong!

Tyler was a green power ranger, he even had built in muscles!

After we went trunk or treating at the church, we were invited to a friend's for soup and dessert. It ended up being a great night, it wasn't as cold as it was last year and we went home with full bellies and full candy buckets, yeah!

Fall 4 Sure!!

Today we woke to a couple inches of snow on the ground! I love when this happens on Sunday, we have all afternoon to snuggle in blankets and eat comfort food and just stay inside and veg! We watched some fun old Haloween-type movies (Beetlejuice, Gremlins) I remember being so scared of Gremlins when I was young, but my kids thought it was great, hopefully there won't be any nightmares tonight!

After dinner we carved pumpkins. My kids love doing this, but besides Andrew, they are still to little to really do their own. Rick was helping with Madelynn's pumpkin and when he was done and in the other room I redid it a little! He wasn't to thrilled with me, I think he called me something like a control freak! I have no idea where he got that idea, apparantly it's not okay for a mom to want better for her child! I did make him some cookies to say I was sorry, I think he likes me again!

Cause for Celebration!

Saturday afternoon was Andrew's second to last soccer game in Denver, and they WON!!!! The score was 3-0, the reason for the celebration is this was their first win this season. The boys are a brand new team, meaning this is the first year they have played together and they really showed that they are going to be a force to reckon with next season! Andrew is a striker and sometimes midfield, he is such a great player! Rick said that I was practically playing the game with them on Saturday because I was so excited and getting kind of loud... hopefully Andrew wasn't too embarrased by his mom (just wait till he gets into the higher leagues, you might have to tie me to my chair)! The other picture is Rick and his cousins, Bobby and Kevin, they were so kind to come over and cheer Drew on! Rick doesn't normally dress so formal for a game, he was just at the Temple with our youth group.

So for the celebration, we went to a place called Cinzzetti's.

They have a fabulous Italian buffet, everything you could think of and more! Rick and Drew had been before, so they knew to pace themselves, but Tyler, Madelynn and I went to town! I did make everyone start out with a salad, so then I didn't feel like an aweful mother when the kids kept going back for more dessert.

Rick was cracking up that I brought my camera in, but I am trying to be a true blogger.... nothing is off limits!

T.G.I.F

Today was a day of pure fun, Mr. Biggs style!

We (meaning my kids plus the boys that I watch) met my friend Kadi and her two adorable kids at Mr. Biggs. We were a bit put off by the winter hours, they open all the attractions at noon, and we arrived all eager and rarin' to go at 11:20. So needless to say, we enjoyed almost an hour of their wonderful pizza buffet, we kept telling the kids to eat until they were beyond stuffed! Now this is where my rookie bloggerness shows, If I would have remembered my camera, I would have taken a picture of Madelynn enjoying 2 apple pie desserts and a brownie, that girl can down the sweets (I wonder where she gets that from)? When we were all sufficiently full, the older boys took there passes and went off for some unsupervised fun and the rest of us headed to the bowling alley where they stuck us in the farthest corner, they must have noticed the little angels that were running around and thought they should be corralled somehow. Here I would have taken a picture of Tyler jumping for joy when he knocked all the pins down, I do believe bowling is an underappreciated sport, I was thinking that I should get Madelynn and wrist guard to help her form along! Hee Hee

Then we go to the arcade, spend a ton of money in hopes of recieving the coveted pink tickets, because if you get 100, you could pick a prize like a little plastic ball, or a little hackey sack! What a rip off! Kadi and I discussed doing Dance, Dance Revolution, but we thought the young man that was already displaying his unique talents as a back up dancer for his own imaginary rock star wouldn't want to be shown up by a couple of moms! Last, but not least, we headed to the go carts where we drove like our lives depended on it. Madelynn and I were behind Averi and Kadi, you aren't supposed to bump, but what fun is that! The gentlemen running the ride was lost in deep thought or something because we were seriously driving in the circle for what seemed like ten minutes, I was a little nauseated when we were done! I definately would have taken a picture of Madelynn's face when I bumped into the other car, she was shocked that her mother would break the rules... priceless!

The "5 Things" Tag!

FIVE THINGS I WAS DOING TEN YEARS AGO:

I was already a mom to a one year old Andrew

I was working as a receptionist at the Country Club of Colorado. This was my favorite job ever, access to the Country Club lifestyle, great friends that I worked with, free massages, and unlimited food supply down at the restaraunt below our office (the best split pea soup)!

Rick and I spent a lot of time with his mom and stepdad, they were such a huge support to us in those early years of marriage!

Having the energy to get up at 5 a.m. to take Drew to the daycare, go to work, pick him up and then work out before we went home! I could never do that today

Going to lots of Air Force events, basketball, football, hockey! We became instant fans, Andrew's first basketball game was at 5 weeks old and he still loves going!


FIVE THINGS ON TO-DO LIST TODAY:

Get things prepared for my sharing time on Sunday

Pay a couple bills

Fold and put away clean clothes (about 5 loads worth)

Take kids to Mr. Biggs

Take Drew to soccer



FIVE THINGS I WOULD DO IF I WERE A MILLIONAIRE:

Get out of Debt

Take our whole family (both sides) on a cruise

Buy my dream house and dream car and my dream boat

Purchase land for Rick to build his own golf course

Invest for our future and live happily ever after


FIVE THINGS I WOULD NEVER WEAR AGAIN:

A bikini

Sweater Dress

Leather pants, unless Rick and I became bikers when we retire

Pegged jeans (you know when we used to fold over the cuff and roll up)

jelly shoes or anything that remotely resembles them


FIVE FAVORITE TOYS:

Computer

Ipod

DVR

Jewelry making stuff

My brothers boat (I don't know if that counts, but I so want one)


FIVE PEOPLE TO TAG:

Kadi
Allison
Shannon
Carri
Angie

This and That

This week has just flown by already, I don't recall what we have done...some days tend to be a blur if nothing mind shattering happens! We did go and hang out with my good friend Kadi and her family on Saturday. They hired Rick to finish their ginormous backyard for them. So here he is sitting on his man throne while we were raking the rock and laying down fabric and pounding in pins, somehow I think he knows he had the fun end of the job. But we had a good time catching up!

60 tons of rock, no wonder my back and legs are killing me today! We ended up going back on Tuesday to finish. My kids were so good, they had a few bouts of miscommunication (or fighting) but all in all they were awesome, so Kadi and I are treating the troopers to a day at Mr. Biggs on Friday, nothing will be off limits! Notice the red pathway, the kids took great care in smoothing out more than half of it! Rick is so amazing, he is great at everything he does and he never complains, unless there are a few tons of rock still to move and the bobcat is going to be picked up in a few minutes! We work great under pressure.



Well I must say that I have done absolutely nothing productive all day! Scratch that, I cooked mac and cheese for lunch, so that was productive right?

Madelynn was able to go hang out with Rick at work today, so the 4 boys have been keeping themselves busy with movies, pool, baseball, and football....in no particular order.
As for me, I have been sitting in my jammies, staring at the computer...first I shopped a little. I am searching for a b-day present for Rick, he is a huge Rockies fan and it just so happens that they made it to the WORLD SERIES (for those of you who have been asleep for the last couple days!)! So Rick and Andrew were able to go to one of the playoff games, and that is all that they talk about! My point I was getting at was I am looking for some cool Rockies paraphenalia for him for his birthday, I hate the stuff with huge, obnoxious logos so that only left a few things that I really liked. I am too indecisive, I will probably just wait until he can look with me, although I did find a way cute shirt for yours truely! Well tonight is soccer, the last game for Tyler, and a scrimmage for Drew. I guess Rick and I are flipping the coin to see who gets to stand out in the cold at Tyler's game, or sit in the toasty van at Drew's scrimmage! I'm pretty sure I will get the warm situation, that is just how things work around here!

Fall Favorite!

This is our way of getting ready for Halloween and fall, the kids love decorating around the house and I love baking!

Here is the recipe for these yummy pumpkin chocolate chip cookies!

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

Mix together

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. salt

Mix together and add to first four ingredients

1 tsp. soda

1 Tablespoon milk

Mix together and add

Chocolate chips (as many as you want, I use half a bag of mini chips)

Mix all together and bake at 375 degrees for 8-9 minutes, don't overcook or they will be dry.

Yummy!

Zoo Day!

Tuesday was a free day at the Denver Zoo! It turned out to be a beautiful day, I am loving our fall here in Colorado! I took the two boys that I babysit and we had a great day! I was busy trying to keep track of everyone, so the pictures kind of took a back seat, but I did get one of an Elephant that seemed to be staring at Tyler! We took the train ride and had lunch and then hurried home.

Great Pumpkin Event

This was the first official day of fall break ! I resolved myself to being a fun mom over break this year! Sometimes I can be kinda boring my kids have said in those exact words, and then I tell them back in these exact words "I didn't bring you into this world to be your personal entertainer all day every day"! I know I could have been a little less , well lets face it, MEAN!
So I set off to think of things at least every other day that would be fun and let them do things they don't normally get to do on a regular basis.

This was the Great Pumpkin Event at our local Micheals craft store. So for $5 they were able to decorate these cool craft pumpkins, they are great because they won't rot in a couple weeks.
I have to say, my kids are pretty artistic, although it was hard for me to stand there and just watch, I am somewhat of a perfectionist and I have trouble letting things be! Tyler did need a little guidance with the placement of his eyes and nose, you really need some symmentry with those things.














They had a blast and day one was under my boring old belt!

Catch up Time!!

Where do I even begin!

Well it is Fall Break for our school district and so I have some time to sit down and blog, but I am really hiding out in the office to get some peace and quiet!

I guess I should go back a couple weeks to our outing to Wyoming to watch our nephew K.C. play football. We drove up with Rick's mom and met his Sister and her boys for the game. It was a great night for football, even though the team we were cheering for got smoked! We had a good time and got to visit and the kids got to play. The most interesting part of the trip was the accomodations that the little town of Glenrock, WY had for us! We checked in to the one motel they have which was recently taken over by a bunch of crazies! Our rooms were fine to sleep in for one night, but it was one of those places where you wish you would have brought your own sheets and blankets! We did get brand new towells though, I wouldn't want to have seen the old ones! Our downstairs neighbors were quite the partiers so about 3 am K.C. took matters into his own hands and called the police. So needless to say we were quite tired the next day from the lack of sleep, and for me I just kept thinking about what was crawling around in the mattress we were on!

This is us happy to be out of the less than accomadating motel!

We did find a cute little diner with great food, a far cry from the first place we tried where the waitress didn't even look up at us or offer to seat us, so we left!

My Baby is Five!

Tyler and pals Landon, Jett and Dillon at Chick Fil A
Waiting for just the right second to blow those 5 candles out!!!

I can't believe my Tyler is 5! He is such a joy in our family. He had quite the busy Birthday, even though mom's original plan was supposed to be low key! (My friend actually kind of put together the little party for him at Chick fil A. When she heard I wasn't going to do a party this year she thought Tyler should have something! Sooo Nice)

Tyler woke up bright and early, we sang to him and he ate breakfast, then off to Target to spend his Birthday money! Then we met friends at "the chicken place" Tyler calls it for an early lunch. Then off to preschool, Andrew and Madelynn had the day off from school, but Tyler is on a different schedule, so he still went, mostly because he had to take Birthday treats and he knew Miss Amy would have a special surprise for him! Then a few hours later we were off to soccer and then home to have a pizza party with Grandma and Grandpa! Then off to bed, he is usually the last one to sleep, but after his day in the limelight, he was out pretty fast!

Tyler is one of a kind! One of Rick's cousins that we saw in Denver last weekend described Tyler as "the prize that we got from an expired box of Cracker Jacks"!??? Now I know Tyler is always rarin' to go and looking for the next crazy thing to do or say, but I wouldn't trade that for the world! We love you Tyler man!

Idle Hands!

Tyler's handy work with the spray paint can, lucky for us his choice of color was purple, not the off white that was sitting right next to it!
He couldn't stop at the grass, he continued his masterpiece on the house, window and outlet box.
Now you are probably wondering where the parents were? I get to say I was away from the house at the time of this occurance, Rick was home and of course I think there was a football game on! Tyler has never really been a trouble maker, or one to go looking for something to get into, but we have had some instances with our cute little neighbor girls (twins), only a few months younger than Tyler. They have bonded because they both don't go to kindergarten until next year, so that leaves them with afternoons that they play while all the other kids are gone. I've found that if I don't suggest something for them to do, or keep checking on them (which a parent should do anyway) they find themselves in trouble. For instance today, I was cleaning and they were outside playing hot wheels cars, and I hear Riley say, lets throw these onto the deck, then I hear a loud bang against the sliding glass door! Needless to say, I had to redirect their thoughts of fun to something a little less hazardous to my house!

As for me and my lack of focus, I really need to get going on organizing my office! I think if Tyler were there for me like I am for him, he could say"mom that room is a mess, lets go in and start doing something about that!" Maybe that is asking too much of a four year old, but a little push would be nice.

On another subject:

Rick went to play in the John Deere Golf Tournament today, he and his partner won it last year and they both came home with flat screen T.V's and a trip to Georgia to play golf for a week. I just talked with him and he said he was able to score some free golf tees this year, but the big prize went to someone else. I was sad for him, but I know he had a great time. I didn't even ask what the prize was so that I wouldn't look disappointed when he came home. Is that bad?

I am in the process of cooking dinner, so that should cheer him up, that is another area in which my hands could be less idle!

8 Random Things

I was tagged by my bosom buddy Lucy, here are some things people might not know about me because they are so Random!

1: I love free things. Although I don't consider myself to be cheap, I love when I am given something and gives me and my family joy for absolutely nothing out of my pocket!
For instance we were able to get free tickets to the Air Force/TCU game on Thursday night. Not only were the tickets free, but we got to partake in the pre-game tailgate party put on by the Coors distributers that gave us the tickets. So we get to go to the game, eat wings and ribs and steak and mashed potatoes and have drinks....FOR FREE!


2. I love spending time with my family. It seems as though this time is getting overshadowed by to many other things. My kids are getting too big, too fast and I just want to hold onto them and cherish every day! When we are all together is when I am the happiest!


3. I love this country, this month has been a really good time for me to sit back and ponder the freedoms I have and how much I am able to do just by living in the U.S.A.! I frequently take this for granted!

4. This may contradict #2 (but you moms with relate!): I love to have "me" time! This year I have three days a week that I have 2 1/2 hours of alone time, I try very hard to use that time with whatever I want to do; whether it be volunteer at school, workout, shop, eat, meet a friend, take a nap, or read a book. Everyone needs their "me" time!

5. I have never been stung by a bee~

6. When asked by one of my family: "Where is my ....."? I can 9 out of 10 times go to my mental file of where I last saw it or where I put it away! But recently Madelynn lost her recorder that she needs for music class at school. It has been killing me that it has been a week and we still haven't found it!

7. Sunshine is a staple to my well being!

8. One of my favorite past times is laughing, If you could hire a funny person to make you laugh during the day, I would!

I don't know who will respond, but I tag:

Allison

Kadi

Carrie

Shannon

FRIDAY

I love Friday! I think most people do, but as for my family, they look forward to Friday as much as mom does because it almost gaurantees a "good mood" from me! Now don't get me wrong, I am not a grouch the other six days of the week.





Take today for instance: I played pool with Tyler for almost 2 hours! We had a great time, we laughed, I tried to show him the correct way to hold the pool stick (is that correct terminology).



- The weather was beautiful, not too hot, not too cool. My friend from Mesa called and said that they were only in the 90's today! I think this is the first time that I am really appreciating the change of seasons.

Now I have to sequey into this next picture:

This summer when we were in Montana visiting my family, Andrew went on quite a few bike rides with Grandpa and Grandma or whoever happened to be up for it. One day we rode to the park and Andrew mentioned that he didn't like the particular bike he was riding because the seat hurt his "balls". O. k, if you don't have a boy you probably can't appreciate this story, and if your son isn't quite as candid with you as my 10 year old is (you are lucky)! So I relayed his comment to Grandma Linda and had a chuckle and dropped it before it became the topic of conversation between all the younger siblings and cousins (very impressionable 4 year olds)! So today Andrew recieved a letter from Grandma, and this article was inclosed:

Andrew had a good laugh and loves that his Grandparents in MT, are looking out for his 'boy problems'.

There also was a picture of a man that had put a snake through his nose and out his mouth! That was pretty cool stuff too!

Labor Day - No Joke!

Hi there friends and family,

We had a fabulous Labor Day weekend.

It all started by me being determined to clean out and get rid of EVERYTHING!

Friday morning (after a long week of going through all closets, and every nook and cranny) I finally had a nice size pile of stuff to do a garage sale!

It's not Nordstrom Rack, but my customers sure thought these things were great!

I was so excited when an hour into my sales, I already had earned a whopping $50! So I kept my door open until right after Tyler left for school, he was quiete the salesman, showing people how the toys worked and that the bikes truely did do wheelies! Then he moved onto doing skateboarding tricks.

Yes, he will be a professional dare devil one day!

So Saturday rolled around and I was just as gung-ho about selling! I talked my neighbor into pulling together some stuff the night before, and she had a ton of furniture and other big items that drew a crowd, so we joined forces and together sold almost all the big things and had a prosperous day! My family has been wanting a fire pit, so we took our hard earned money down to Lowe's and bought one, the kids each recieved $10 for helping and unselfishly giving up some toys that really they never played with. Then we loaded up the van and took the remaining items to Goodwill. Man do I love a good garage sale, how refreshing is it to purge your home of unneccesary junk, and get money for it! (just blows me away)

Saturday we also had a fun surprise with the arrival of Rick's sister and her family from Wyoming. They have their own plane and decided to fly down for a couple days. They are so much fun to hang out with, we went swimming and shopping and went out to see the Bourne Ultimatum (which I loved, but not when I was sitting in the second from the front row!) Then Monday morning they flew home.

Monday I ran in a half marathon down in the downtown area of Colorado Springs. It was a lot of fun. I ended up doing it by myself because my friend Kadi was in an accident and hurt her back. So I ran and walked it and finished in 2hours and 50 min., which isn't that great of a time, but I had a fun time just doing my own thing and enjoying the beautiful trail! Rick and the kids drove to certain spots to cheer me on, they are so kind to patiently wait for mom all morning and be my biggest fans at the end! Tyler even ran with me past the finish line, someday they will be the ones I'm cheering on in the races!

It was a beautiful day, but after the late nights with family and my run we were all ready for some R&R. After the race we went home for a nap and then got ready for a BBQ with some friends. We had a nice evening and broke in our fire pit by roasting marshmellows and making smores. I didn't take any pictures because I was too busy feeding my face, but next time we fire it up I will.

Oh, I want to give a shout out to my friend Melissa who ran her first half marathon this Labor day in DisneyLand! Way to go girl! This was at her birthday dinner the weekend before.

My kids had today off of school for a teacher work day, so we spent the day at the pool soaking up the last sun rays. They each got to bring a friend along, which made my job easier by not having to entertain. Andrew is getting so good we are thinking of putting him in a swim club next summer. Madelynn is getting good too, but is still sticking close to the edge. Tyler is just happy floating on his tube and talking to himself about whatever toy he happens to be holding.

Well I hope you all had a great weekend too!

My New Favorite Thing.....Vampires!

Yvette, me and Kadi
She wouldn't pose w/people, so I had to improvise a quick picture and try and juggle the 5 books I was getting signed for myself and friends.

Last night was the book signing for Eclipse! My friend Kadi introduced me to the Stephenie Meyer books a few months ago and I could not get enough! So when we heard she was coming to Denver to promote her latest book, we immediately bought tickets! She answered a lot of questions and talked a lot about how she came up with the story, which you can read about on her website! She also mentioned that the fourth book should be out in about a year, I don't know how I can wait that long. She has a new book coming out that has nothing to do with Vampires, I think it is called The Host? We had an amazing night although we felt a little old in the crowd of teenage girls.

Afterwards we had a fun dinner at a place that is supposed to be as good as Cafe Rio in Utah (I don't know if it was or not, but I really enjoyed my salad). If any of you need a good book to read, I highly recommend this series (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse)! I even have my mom hooked!

Well I better wrap it up, my kids have today off for reading assesment. I think we will go swimming since it will probably be the last time for them to get to go. Have a great day everyone!

Weekend Update

What a busy week it has been! Lots of homework, soccer practices, Bunko, my 1st indoor soccer game, Silpada party to get my house ready for, and church meetings. I was overjoyed when Friday rolled around! The boys were heading out for the annual Father/son campout, so that left Madelynn and I gearing up for a girls night! Madelynn is a diehard High School Musical fan, so we decided to stay home and watch the premiere of HSM 2. Madelynn invited a couple friends over and made a list of the goodies that were to be eaten. Granted I am 32 years old, but I think I was just as excited as she was, that Zack Efron is quite a looker!

Saturday was a fun day, I hosted a Silpada party for a friend that is trying desperately to get her side business off the ground before her second baby is born in October. She really wants to be able to stay at home instead of putting them both in daycare. Not many people came, but what can ya do! The boys then returned home from their night of rain soaked camping, they immediately started working on fixing up a used bike that Grandma Mary brought to Andrew. While they were doing that I went shoe shopping for some indoor soccer shoes (Andrews cleats are just a size too small, my poor toenail is black and blue from the lack of room). He also wasn't too keen on mom sporting "his" brand new cleats and stretching them all out! I found some really cute black and pink addidas! I know my glory soccer days are long past, so I figure as long as I look stylish while trying to relive those days, I will feel better about myself. (To those who have known me for a long time, this shouldn't surprise you)

This weekend was a mile marker for Rick and I. We celebrate our 12th anniversary! Saturday night we took the kids to On the Border and then went and saw Evan Almighty at the dollar theater. We debated all week about getting a babysitter or not, but I think this will be one of the most memorable anniversaries, my kids are amazing and so is Rick! We had a great family celebration!

While the kids are away, I finally have time to play!

Wow, what a hiatus I have taken from my old favorite way of communication! My kids are back in school and now I have to find things to do in order to stay sane! Of course I have taken way to long to get back into this blogging thing, so my first post you should just disregard! I could not figure out how to remove it, therefore I am just saying Don't waste your time reading it!

Before I go any further I need to give a shout out to my long lost bossom buddy! I missed your Birthday and feel like a loser! I love ya and hope you had an awesome Aug. 11th day!

We have had a fun summer, we had a baptism, a wedding, and many soccer tournaments! I kicked off the summer by running the Bolder Boulder, my adoring fans (my family) are so kind to sit and wait and cheer me on at the finish! Then we were off to the Rockies game, we were so sneaky and sat down on the bottom level under the shade of the Press boxes (our original cheap seats were on the 3rd level!

We spent half our summer break in Montana with loved ones, spent many days on the lake with my brother's new fabulous boat! My step sister and my step brother got married this summer! Madelynn was baptized! I was able to see all my brothers and their lovely wives (Pfista Sista's)! We went camping with my Dad and Linda at Seeley lake! Wow what a beautiful place, I mentioned to Rick there was a golf course there if we ever move back to MT.

Now we are back in the swing of the school year and hope you all had a terrific summer also!

I will get back to posting during the week and hope you tune in!