The Weekend Before!!!

This weekend we had ton of fun and of course, I didn't have my camera to share the memories with you all.

Friday was the kids first day out of school until Jan. 7! Drew went to work with Rick where he successfully dented a brand new golf cart. I just recently found this out, but apparantly he was a little bored and decided to go take one for a spin in the tennis courts where they keep them, a pole must have jumped out in front of him and the rest is history! He did have fun regardless of the lecture he got from dad, and then I proceeded to give dad the lecture on knowing where and what your child is doing at all times! I was at home babysitting and preparing yummies for our annual friend Christmas party (which was as usual a blast... Thanks Aaron and Carrie)! Madelynn started having a fever at around 5:00, just before we were taking them all to Grandma for a sleep over, she ended up only needing a little medicine, but I was just waiting for the phone call to come and get her!

Saturday was busy with Andrew's first indoor soccer game, so much fun to watch! I could feel my soccer senses hightened again, I love that! Then out to lunch with Grandma. Rick was plowing snow all morning, we love the snow, but the bad part is missing dad all day! Then off to the grocery store for a few items (cheese for the beef log we recieved at the party), turns out I was gone for over an hour, (Kohl's was right there, I couldn't pass it up, I found some more great stocking stuffers!)
I made it home just as everyone was finishing their baths, yeah I missed that fun arguement!

Sunday comes way too early! We were up at 6:30 to get ready for church, made it on time and had a wonderful Christmas program! Afterward we vegged and then had our neighbors over for dinner. The weekends always fly by, but this time it was okay! We are so excited for tonight and tomorrow! Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Card

table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" bgcolor="#ffffff">Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

Traditions

Behold the fourth annual Woodland Park Christmas Tree! We love going up to the mountains to hunt for the perfect tree that will help us celebrate the season! Every year this tradition seems to get a little easier, the kids are bigger, this year there was hardly any snow to worry about, and it only took all of 20 minutes to spot the right one!

I of course left the camera in the car, so the actual cutting it down wasn't documented, but I'll just tell you that it is always fun to hear the Evelo family yell "TIMBER" as loud as we can! This is a Spruce tree, therefore it is quite a bit more prickly than your fir trees (I know this because my husband is a tree specialist) So hauling it back to the van was a treat! I was in the middle with all the branches around my head, I put up my hood so that my eyes wouldn't get poked out. Andrew was on the back end, and Rick was up front, at some points in our travels, I swear I was carrying that thing on my shoulder all by myself!!!! Rick was also supposed to navigate where the tree stumps were so that Drew and I wouldn't trip, he only let me down once, so picture me falling with a pokey tree on my shoulders, not pretty! Needless to say, Rick was reminded ever so gently that he had to let me know about things that could potentially break my ankles!



















We made it home and I started wrapping the 1100 lights the next morning so that we could put the ornaments up when dad came home! We always love to look at the old ornaments from years ago, the kids get so giddy when their ornaments say the year they were born or remember when they made a certain one, every year Santa brings them a new ornament that they can hang on the tree, it is something they always look forward to. Our traditions get more important every year, we love sharing this time together as a family and as our children grow we truely appreciate it more!

Happy Birthday Drew Man

Drew at the Zoo
Drew in a chair with friends everywhere

What a cute scout he is!
He is growing up to be an outstanding guy

Eleven years, my how time goes by!

Did you like the rhyme? I am such a poet, only the best work for my sweet son! Andrew is so much fun to be around, we are truely blessed to have him in our family!

Bronco Fever

Yes, we were this close!
Go Broncos!



This is a little outdated now, but I just had to post about our Monday night football experience!

Rick acquired tickets from a friend in the turf business (don't ask, all I know is they were free).

So I was honored when he actually asked if I wanted to go, I've never been a huge Bronco's fan but I promised to be on my best behavior and not whine about the weather or that I was hungry! (sounds like the talk I give my kids before taking them places) Hee



Anyway, we had a great time, the seats were by the North endzone about 8 rows up. I have to say that I enjoyed the game way more up close and in person, the crowd is crazy and the game is just so much more interesting! I loved watching the cheerleaders and yelling IN-COM-PLETE, can you tell I am easily entertained! Best of all, the Bronco's actually won!!!

Turkey Time in Wyoming!

Rick's sister Jennifer (in the back), Rick's brother Tom
Aunt Keri, Desarie, Grandma Vony, Tyler, Uncle Curt
Cassi, Madelynn, Drew & Riley


We had so much fun visiting family in Wyoming (the pictures didn't turn out so well, and then my battery was dead)
We ate, visited, four-wheeled, played pool and went to the movies and ate some more! It was great to catch up with family that we haven't seen in over a year!

LOL FUNNY!!!

I copied this from my friend Melissa, I hope you get your belly laugh in for the day!

THE NEXT SURVIVOR SERIES
Six married men will be dropped on an island with one
car and 3 kids each for six weeks.
Each kid will play two sports and either take music or
dance classes.
There is no fast food.
Each man must take care of his 3 kids; keep his
assigned house clean, correct all homework, complete
science projects, cook, do laundry, and pay a list of
'pretend' bills with not enough money.
In addition, each man will have to budget in money for
groceries each week.
Each man must remember the birthdays of all their
friends and relatives, and send cards out on time.
Each man must also take each child to a doctor's
appointment, a dentist appointment and a haircut
appointment . He must make one unscheduled and
inconvenient visit per child to the Urgent Care
(weekend, evening, on a holiday or right when they're
about to leave for vacation). He must also make
cookies or cupcakes for a social function.
Each man will be responsible for decorating his own
assigned house, planting flowers outside and keeping
it presentable at all times.
The men will only have access to television when the
kids are asleep and all chores are done.
Each father will be required to know all of the words
to every stupid song that comes on TV and the name of
each and every character on cartoons.
Each man will have to make an Indian hut model with
six toothpicks, a tortilla and one marker; and get a 4
year old to eat a serving of peas.
Each man must adorn himself with jewelry, wear
uncomfortable yet stylish shoes, keep their nails
polished and eyebrows groomed. The men must try to get
through each day without snot, spit-up or barf on
their clothing.
During one of the six weeks, the men will have to
endure severe abdominal cramps, back aches, and have
extreme, unexplained mood swings but never once
complain or slow down from other duties. They must try
to explain what a tampon is for when the 6-yr old boy
finds it in the purse.
They must attend weekly school meetings, church, and
find time at least once to spend the afternoon at the
park or a similar setting.
He will need to read a book to the children each night
without falling asleep, and then feed them, dress
them, brush their teeth and comb their hair each
morning by 7:00. They must leave the home with no food
on their face or clothes.
A test will be given at the end of the six weeks, and
each father will be required to know all of the
following information: each child's birthday, height,
weight, shoe size, clothes size and doctor's name.
Also the child's weight at birth, length, time of
birth, and length of labor, each child's favorite
color, middle name, favorite snack, favorite song,
favorite drink, favorite toy, biggest fear and what
they want to be when they grow up.
They must clean up after their sick children at 2:00
a.m. And then spend the remainder of the day tending
to that child and waiting on them hand and foot until
they are better.
They must have a loving, age appropriate reply to,
'You're not the boss of me'.
The kids vote them off the island based on
performance. The last man wins only if...he still has
enough energy to be intimate with his spouse at a
moment's notice.
After you get done laughing, send this to as many
females as you think will get a kick out of it and as
many men as you think can handle it.

Richard, Rick, Ricardo, Ricky Poo

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

(34 NEVER LOOKED SO GOOD) Typical Rick face when not really wanting

to be photographed!

Rick and I before our lovely night out!

Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa I was able to take the birthday boy out on the town! The kids got to have a sleepover and be spoiled by Grandma Mary and Grandpa Russ, it is so nice to know the kids are in such good hands when we need a little time away!

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!