Corey-isms...

Corey is seriously the sweetest boy I know. I love how kind and affectionate he is and I feel bad he hasn't made any close friends yet at his new school. We do have a playdate set up for this week, which he's so excited about. Poor boy is around mostly girls at our house and I know it frustrates him sometimes. He & Claire play well together, since she'd rather play with Legos and roughhouse with him than do girly things anyway! He's said some really funny things lately:

•  Today he was unloading his backpack after school and asked me:  "Mom, did you know that female Monarch butterflies release a smell so the males know where they are?"  Me: "Really?"  Corey: "Yeah, but you and Dad just have cell phones."

• Last week I got a call from the school nurse about an hour before school was out. She said he had a fever. I went to get him and he said, "Mom, I have a fever, but I'm also just sick of school."

• Ashlyn was teasing Corey and he blurted out: "Ashlyn, stop tolerating me."  I think he meant "irritating!"

I'm incredibly grateful to have a boy and am sad Corey's only brother is not around to do boy things with him. It would've been so nice to have 2 girls and 2 boys... We sure tried! I hope I'm raising Corey to be a thoughtful and sweet son that will make his brother proud:-)

At the mercy of my 3 year old...

Oh, Claire. How I adore her, but potty-training her is driving me crazy! By my 3rd child, I'd think this would all be easier, but NO. I've tried it all... setting a timer and having her try every 1/2 hour, rewards, charts, Pull Ups, panties. We're making progress, but she still has a long way to go. It's humbling to realize that you are at the mercy of a 3 year old, but until she's on board, that's where I am. She'll get there... Hopefully soon! It's not me, wanting to hold on to my last baby a little longer. I can't wait to say farewell to her diaper bag and at long last, carry a purse again. I will not miss buying Huggies!

For now, we're doing swimming lessons, casual weekly play dates, Kids' Club at the gym while I workout, a music class and park days with ward friends. She's so easygoing and enjoys being with friends. I took these pictures of Claire and Peyton at a recent play date at our home. Who knew 3 year old girls liked Bakugan, Legos and train sets as well as dressing up and baby dolls? 

On Friday Ashlyn & Corey had school off for a Teacher Work Day, so they were here when Peyton came over to play. Ashlyn went to the basement and brought up 2 big boxes of dress up clothes for Claire & Peyton. Ashlyn laughed as she recognized her old princess dresses, plastic shoes and costume jewelry. Some she remembered. Some, only I did. Seeing these cute girls dressing up reminded me of Ashlyn at that age. It wasn't even that long ago! 8 years ago Ashlyn had just potty-trained herself in a matter of days. She wanted to be just like her friend Annika, who was a year older and that's all it took. She was out of diapers at 17 months. Now Ashlyn's 10 and her days of dressing up like a princess are just memories for me. Thank goodness I have pictures! 

Claire will be potty-trained someday...Hopefully before she's 10 and I will all-out celebrate when she's out of diapers. I'm just trying to enjoy the ride... and not cry when she pees on the floor!

The Zoo and some miraculous ice cream...

The kids had been in school for 3 weeks, then had a whole week off, due to the Labor Day holiday and Assessment testing at school. It was sort of strange, but it was a fun excuse to go play with my favorite kids. Ashlyn had wanted to go to a little café South of Denver called The Crushery that she'd seen featured on her favorite science website: stevespangler.com/  The video is on Steve Spangler's website: HERE. It was a good 25 minutes from the Zoo, so it was a bit of a detour.

The Crushery uses a simple milk, cream, egg and vanilla base then adds the flavors, spices or fruit you'd like, adds liquid nitrogen and mixes it all up in a Kitchen Aid mixer. It took less than 2 minutes to freeze at -321〫F and voilà... Some of the best homemade ice cream I'd ever tasted.  The guy who helped us was so sweet to the kids and let them play with the smoke from the nitrogen and explained it all as he was mixing it. Ashlyn ordered raspberry-lime, Corey had lemon and Claire and I had caramel-toffee. Leave it to Ashlyn to lead us on a new adventure to somewhere I'd never go if it weren't for her!

Spur-of-the-moment-almost-chased-by-police-photoshoot...

Ashlyn has always needed a lot to do to keep her busy and happy. She's never content to just sit. It's been interesting lately what she chooses to do when she has a friend over. Recently, she & a friend unwrapped and broke a bunch of crayons, put them in a small custard dish and melted them into a giant crayon disc. They make up dances, do lip syncs, play piano and create board games. She's also really into science experiments, which is why I have a blown-out eggshell dissolving in vinegar on my kitchen counter right now!

I'm extremely grateful for her new friend Rachel, who lives a few houses away. She's such a sweet and easygoing girl and she & Ashlyn always have fun together. A few weeks ago Rachel was sleeping over and the girls decided they'd like to do a photoshoot. I was game since it's been a while and Dan was gone at Boy Scouts. The girls disappeared and returned in coordinating t-shirts and shorts and we were off. We headed to the entrance to the Anthem Ranch neighborhood because they have a nice waterfall I thought would make a perfect backdrop. When we arrived, there were 2 other small groups taking pictures, but there was plenty of room so I began taking pictures. The sun was setting, so we worked fast. After the others left, we moved over to another spot and I noticed a sign that said, "No trespassing... No climbing on water feature." Ooops! We were almost finished and the kids were standing in front of the waterfall when a cop pulled up and asked us to leave. My heart was racing, but we'd got some great shots. Now every time we drive by, the kids remind me, "Mom, that's where you got in trouble with the police officer." I'd rather remember these fun pictures...

Yes, Ashlyn's shirt says "Only a vampire will be your BFF forever." She got it at a birthday party and she's 10...what can I say?

Twinners...

One of the nice things about having 4 sisters is through the years we've shared a lot...  Clothes, cars, friends, boyfriends:-)  Now that we all have kids, we share our kids' clothes. We've got a good system down. My Ashlyn is the oldest cousin, Andrea's Jane is 14 months younger, and Lisa's Anna is 14 months younger. Since I've lived away since Ashlyn was just 6 months old, I send boxes of clothes to my sisters several times a year. My parents have a spot in the attic where Andrea has organized the clothes, so when I go to visit, it's like shopping! I get so sentimental seeing Claire in clothes that Ashlyn or her cousins have worn.... So many memories!

A few Sundays ago I dressed Claire in this Gymboree dress that Ashlyn had worn. I remembered that I'd taken a picture of Ashlyn wearing the same dress, so I took a few of Claire. When I looked at my computer, I realized that Claire was just a month older than Ashlyn when I photographed her.  I don't see too much resemblance, but it's fun to see side-by-side pictures of these cute sisters!

This is my adorable niece Hailey (left) in a dress that Ashlyn wore (right)...

 

Sunday sunsets...

I'm loving this nice weather that cools off at night. We've been going to the park by our home Sunday nights after dinner and we take the beach wagon (which, sadly may never see the beach again), soccer and volleyball and play until we're all wiped out. I love this time of day because the sunsets here are incredible. Here are a few pictures I've taken recently with my cell phone...

Suite Broncos' game!

August 21st Dan's boss invited us to the first Denver Broncos game in his suite. We'd never been to a Broncos game before and I tell you, this was the way to see a game! It was mostly Dan's coworkers and spouses and the suite had a full bar and buffet dinner. NOT bad! The Broncos lost 20-25 (in the last few minutes) but we have high hopes that they'll have a great season. I enjoyed having a night out with Dan and we even got him his first NFL jersey... #46: Spencer Larsen. He's the brother-in-law of our friends Jill & Cheryl from Gilbert, Arizona, so we thought we'd support an AZ boy!  

I took this picture (above, left) as we were driving into the stadium parking lot. $40 for parking... Seriously?!? Thankfully, Dan's boss gave him a free parking pass for the game as well!

 

Denver Zoo with Claire

It's strange just having Claire home with me during the day now that the older 2 have started school. Some ladies in our ward celebrated by going to the Denver Zoo the day after school began. It was nice to have some one on one time with Claire and the Zoo was fairly quiet. I was glad Claire's best buddy Peyton was there (pictured above with Claire and the elephant).

One of the most unusual animals at this Zoo is the Okapi (above). If you've read The Poisonwood Bible, you might remember mention of this strange animal. I think it looks like a mix between a giraffe and a zebra. Claire got grumpy after about 2 hours at the Zoo and fell asleep immediately on the drive home...

Welcome back...

We got home from Salt Lake the evening of August 16th and missed Back-to-school night. We went in the next morning and met Ashlyn & Corey's teachers and my first impression was that both teachers were just perfect for them! Ashlyn was so thrilled to have her best friend Rachel in her class and a teacher that plays piano each morning as the kids are coming in. Corey's teacher seems like a good fit for him and has been wonderful for Corey so far. Whew! You never know what you're going to get when going to a new school. I honestly couldn't sleep the night before school started because I was so nervous for them!  Thankfully, Ashlyn & Corey were more confident than me and were looking forward to a new school year. School started BRIGHT & EARLY the morning of August 18th. The tardy bell rings at 7:45 AM...YIKES! It's going to be a big adjustment for us, since we're not morning people and school last year started at 9 AM...

Here are my brave kids on the first day of school...

As I pulled away from the school after dropping Ashlyn & Corey off that morning, I heard Claire crying in the back seat. She's not the only one who's going to miss them!

Summer's last hurrah!

Well, in the interest of packing every last bit of fun possible into our Summer, the kids and I flew to Salt Lake the week before school started to visit my family. I really appreciate my family for making it such a party when we're there. We arrived Monday night, August the 9th and went straight from the airport to Café Rio for dinner, then to Temple Square. The kids were so excited to be together! I had the opportunity to meet my new nephew Luke for the first time, though he slept peacefully through the whole night in his stroller! I had to wait until the next day to get my cuddles with him...

The next morning we met at Thanksgiving Point for what happened to be Bargain Tuesday...and it was a Zoo! Nothing brings in hoards of people like a good time at a reduced price. We still managed to have fun, though it was more crowded than I've ever seen it. I was so impressed with my nephew Tyler for being Claire's buddy all day. We saw the animals, took a hayride and let the kids play until lunchtime. 

My niece Hailey kept sticking her hands near the animals mouths and got some big wet kisses in return!

When we'd had our fair share of animals and the crowd, we headed to lunch, then spent the afternoon swimming at Andrea & Paul's new home, which is absolutely incredible. The kids all jumped in their deep Japanese soaking tub after, which seems custom-made for a bunch of kids!

Wednesday, August 11th was Ashlyn's 10th birthday! We celebrated by spending the morning up at my Grandparents' Millcreek cabin. We hadn't been there for a few years, so it was nice to go back. We spent quite a lot of time there when I was a kid and I have so many fun memories of the cabin. My Mom got a cute cake for Ashlyn. I can't believe I have a 10 year old!!!

My sister Natalie had to work that morning, so Monica brought my niece Hailey. Hailey entertained us all during lunch with her hilarious giggling. I'm filming with my cellphone and I'm laughing so hard, at some point, the camera is moving up and down. Make sure you have your speakers on so you can hear her silly laugh. Monica's laughing so hard, she's crying! Hope it makes you giggle too...

After lunch and birthday cake, we walked down to the river and let the kids play in the water. It's so cold, I don't know how they could stand to stick their feet in, but Claire especially loved playing in the water.

That night we met at Fat Cats for Ashlyn's birthday dinner. We had pizza, then the whole family went bowling! My Mom beat us all (no surprise) and my 5 year old niece Kate surprised up all and came in second place!!! 

Jane slept over with Ashlyn at my parents' that night. These 2 have such different temperaments, but are such good friends. Thanks to my Mom for the cute matching jammies!

Thursday morning we met at the Hogle Zoo. They have a new baby elephant that is adorable! We got about half way through the Zoo and all the kids were hot, tired and hungry for lunch. 5 adults and 13 kids is a big group at the Zoo!

Riding the Zoo Carousel...

On Thursday night we headed up to my family's cabin in Wyoming...a.k.a. "The High Life." It had been a whole year since we'd been. I love this cabin because there's no phone, no TV and it's so beautiful and peaceful. It's amazing that we can all be up there at the same time... All 26 of us (Dan was the only one not there:-0)  

C.J., Brooke, Anna, Ellie, Corey & I took a nice 4 wheeler ride Friday morning before most of the family arrived. We stopped at the "fishing hole" and saw a few good-sized fish. C.J. thought it would be fun to give the fish an easy lunch, so he started catching grasshoppers, shaking them up, and throwing them down to the fish! We spent about an hour feeding the fish and if possible, C.J. became even cooler in the eyes of Anna, Ellie & Corey! Here's a video I took...

We have a Snowcat for getting up the big hill in the snow. Sadly, our family has never been up to the cabin in the Winter, but the kids all had fun playing in the Snowcat, which was in the garage...

Our favorite thing to do at the cabin is 4 Wheeling. I love it when Dan's there too and we can go do some more technical terrain, but we take it easy when we have kids with us. After our fish feeding, C.J., Brooke, Anna, Corey, Ellie & I took a nice long ride and saw some deer, a sandhill crane and some big hawks. 

The next day, my parents and I took some of the kids down the logging road and out to the Overlook, which is one of the most amazing views. Dave & Anna were racing us and it was hilarious to see shy little Anna get her competition on! 

In the afternoons, we like to walk down to the lakes. It's not a bad little hike and we often see animal tracks and catch frogs at the big lake. Brooke caught a tiny little frog with a strange hump on his back that the kids all thought was pretty cool! Claire got tired on the walk back and I decided it's a workout to carry her! 

Saturday afternoon, we walked down the back side of the property, which is one of my favorite areas because it still has so many trees. Unfortunately, pine beetles have destroyed many of the pine trees, but there are lots of aspen trees here. It's so green, shaded and quiet. Meg was being a ham and posed for Monica to take her picture in her pink cowboy hat. The Fredricks carved Luke's initial into their tree in the grove.

Claire was being grumpy again and I was really missing Dan after a long week of fun without him. On the walk back to the cabin, I was thinking about how much we miss by not living near my family. They tell me they don't get together as much unless we're here, but it makes me sad that we don't live close. I knew we'd return home to Colorado and immediately the kids would start school and we'd be crazy busy. Dan had a rough week at work and I felt bad that I wasn't home to support him.... I just had so many emotions running through me and walking through the forrest that night with Claire, the tears just started rolling down my face. 

This past year has been full of unexpected changes... A new state, 2 moves, 2 new schools and wards. I can usually handle all the changes, but being with my family this week has made me long for the familiarity of home and for their company. 

My parents, my kids and I were the last to leave on Saturday night. All 3 kids fell asleep on the drive home so my parents and I had a good chance to talk. 
P.S...A HUGE thanks to my sister Monica for sharing her pictures with me! She took lot of these:-)