Oh Mama...

Palisades State Park. The view from our camp spot...
Before the Snow.

On Mother’s Day weekend, we took our new little trailer down to a place called Palisades State Park to meet mom and dad for a weekend of camping. It was so nice to have Scott home for a Saturday – best present of all! The park is really lovely with a small lake, a golf course, a playground and lots of places to hike. We saw deer walking up the mountain just outside our trailer which was really cool. It's right near the Manti-LaSal National Forest which apparently has great hiking and ATV trails. Definitely worth heading back there again to do some more exploring when we have more time.

The boys tried their luck at fishing. They didn’t catch any fish but they did find out what a 5-year-old’s attention span for sitting still in a tiny boat waiting for something to bite. 42 minutes. And that was a stretch! Tagg really enjoyed helping Papa with the bait and hooks and getting the fishing poles set up. More than he enjoyed the fishing, actually.

I got a new camera for my birthday so I thought I'd test it out on my little supermodel. She struck this mermaid pose all on her own. Yikes?

Of course, she also makes these faces instead of rocking her "princess smile" as directed.

  Saturday was so lovely. I went for a nice run. The first 2 ½ miles were gorgeous and all downhill, which made the return trip a little rough! Gravity is my friend when I run! We went for a walk, played in the park, collected sticks for a fire. We just couldn’t figure out why so many people were heading out on a Saturday afternoon. Seemed like a lot of work for just one day of camping. But the fishing tournament was over by mid-afternoon so maybe they really did just come for some sort of fishing trophy.

And then we looked at the weather report for Sunday. It was a snowflake. Snow? In May? No way. So we played some cards and washoes, barbecued burgers and dogs, enjoyed some of mom’s famous potato salad and then lit the fire and made smores. And it kept getting colder and colder, and windier and windier.

My amazing mother. She is such an inspiration. The epitome of grace, patience, good humor
and a great cook to boot. Not to mention that she kills us all at washoes.

Of course, Scott did have a little handicap.

This one might qualify for Awkward Family Photos. It was a nice thought!

Family photo. This was cuter in my mind. Such a picturesque spot.

They love splashing and jumping in the water,
and finding and throwing skipper rocks.

Family selfie on a little hike.

By 9pm, we decided it was time to head indoors to watch a movie and get the little ones to bed. By 10:30 the wind was gusting so hard the trailer was literally rocking, and it was pouring rain. I woke up around 5am and it was so quiet. I thought, “Nice…the storm must have passed.” Or it was snowing. By the time we rolled out of bed, there was about 8 inches of snow on the ground! It was dumping! Pretty funny. I guess when the weather says “snowflake” you should take that seriously! 

Luckily we brought some winter gear for the kids.
Mom and dad did not fare as well!

Someone was really looking forward to the fire!

Smores! Finally!

After. As advertised. Snowflake.

My little snow bunnies.

The kids made me the most awesome gifts, a little frame with a gorgeous photo of Sloane and Tagg planted me some pansies and they both wrote sweet books about Mom. Apparently Wendy’s is my favorite restaurant (so not true), they both know my real age (which I’ve been trying to hide from them for years!), Tagg knows I like it when he helps with chores (and he likes earning money), and they both like it when I buy them stuff. Huh. We might need to work on that one!

Happy New Year, You Crazy Kids

Scott and I were planning a nice, quiet New Year’s Eve with our little family this year. Pizza, sweatpants, some Dick Clark - or Ryan Seacrest, I guess. And then we offered to take our niece and nephew overnight so Marc and Becky could go celebrate the new year like adults with a bunch of their friends. And then we offered to watch Alice the dog so Tiff and David could celebrate their first New Year together. It was awesome, but it was not quiet.

As far as New Year’s Eves go, this was probably one of my favorites. We had a dance party. We played princess Candyland. The girls dressed up in their princess dresses. I didn't have to put on a lick of makeup and stretchy pants and a sweatshirt replaced sequins and heels. Our neighbors shot off fireworks all night long including one epic hour-long, borderline professional show at midnight. And the kids were an absolute riot.

Princess Candyland? This party is ON!

We faked the kids into thinking that 10pm was the “real” midnight. We erroneously assumed that the local TV station would show the ball dropping in Times Square at midnight Eastern time, so 10pm here. Nope. They just cut off at 10 and saved it for midnight. So we had to scramble a little but I think we pulled it off. Of course, little Carter was long asleep but the other three had a ball. They got sparkling juice, lots of noisemakers and, of course, candy.

Shockingly, after all the excitement the girls were wound up! We tried to put them in the same room but after another hour of them giggling, trying on princess dresses, fighting, and ripping the curtain rod out of the wall while trying to watch fireworks out the front window, we finally had to separate them in the interest of our own sanity. I have a vision of future slumber parties in years to come and it's going to be ridiculous!

Luckily, by midnight, the house had quieted down and Scott and I were able to sit on the front patio, absorb the fireworks extravaganza  (thanks, mystery neighbors! You rule!) and sip on some lovely champagne. My resolutions this year are few – be healthier, enjoy every little moment, live laugh and love. My gratitudes are many – these beautiful, precious children. Love, especially this wonderful man who teaches me about how to be a better person every day. He’s the light of my life, my inspiration and my rock. My amazing family – near and far. My spectacularly gifted and loving friends. My health and the health of those I love. Our jobs which we treasure, sometimes they are challenging but they offer us the opportunity to grow and learn and work with amazing people, and generously fund the blessed life that we have. Our home, which we fall in love with more and more every day. Our sweet dog. We fear she may not be with us much longer but the loyalty, patience and joy she brings to our life and family are without compare. And all the little things. We are so truly blessed and my only New Year’s wish is that we continue to enjoy such bliss in our life.

Happy New Year toast selfie.
This may be the least make-up I have ever had on in a New Year's photo,
hence the black and white! Thanks to Amy for the highly inappropriate
champagne flutes. They crack me up every time we pull them out!

Sloane Turns 4

The pre-party festivities began with a beautiful day, a bunch of balloons and some sibling springing on the trampoline. I was convinced those balloons were going to set themselves free but Sloane managed to hang on to them no matter how high the kids jumped.

The birthday girl is the first one served. Her birthday meal request - mac n' cheese and fruit. And she insisted on wearing her "princess dress," aka her Easter dress.

The Frozen cake. I called our go-to Cake Lady three weeks before Sloane's birthday and she was booked a month out! I couldn't believe it. So we settled for grocery store cake and made reservations for both of the kids' next birthdays. Not making that mistake again! Tagg, Ashley and Kayle were ready and willing to help blow out the candles.

Little miss was so lucky to get so many lovely presents. She was completely spoiled. Lots and lots of princess dresses, shoes, and more princess dresses.

Sloane was kind enough to share her new outfits with her cousins so it was a full-on dress-up party for about an hour. It's really fun to have so many kids around the same age.

Being four is exhausting! After the festivities were over, Miss Sloane crashed out in her bed with pretty much every doll she owns. My favorite part? The feet kicked up on one of her party balloons. Hilarious, and so Sloane.

 Birthday morning photos with her Elsa balloons.

 She really couldn't be any cuter.

 Or maybe she can.

I just love these photos of my baby. She's always been so photogenic but sometimes I really think she's got supermodel potential. I mean, really. Those eyes.

And she always manages to "strike a pose."  She's just gorgeous. Can't believe she's four already.

What's Sloane like at four?
- Loves princesses - any and all of them but Elsa and Rapunzel are on the top of the list
- Adores dressing up - princess dresses, fancy dresses, jewelry (usually mine), high heels (also usually mine) and makeup (always mine) - lipstick and eyeshadow are her faves
- Prefers to have her hair down and long like Rapunzel, or in a braid like Elsa. If I'll put sparkle hairspray in it? Best day ever!
- Blue is her new favorite color (thanks, Frozen) but she still likes purple and pink
- Loves to share and hug
- Sweetest kid EVER
- Giggles like a trucker, still
- All night disco parties are still a thing - she just doesn't sleep so she is always into something
- Chews her fingernails
- Totally pigeon toed
- Great sense of balance - she's a machine at gymnastics and loves to run the balance beam, or walk it backwards. Also loves the bars.
- Still loves fruits and veggies but has started to eat more meat - even steak. Not a big fan of sweets, except Skittles. Waffles, not pancakes. Orange juice.
- Thinks she's going on 100 dates and then she's going to marry Tagg and daddy
- Loves to twirl and dance, jump on the trampoline, and swing as high as she possibly can

Merry Jingle Twinkle Star Bells...Or Whatever.

Miss Sloane loves to sing. Sometimes she just doesn't know what. But she sings with gusto! My favorite part is the "run" at the end. Watching a little too much American Idol, perhaps?

Christmas 2013

Happy holidays! They certainly were for us! Not only did we get to enjoy our first Christmas in our new house (present enough in itself!), we got to enjoy a virtually endless array of parties and get-togethers with friends and family.

Finally figured out something cool to do with that weird curtain rod in our front entry way. The garland is made out of little chalkboard pieces so we wrote Merry Christmas on it. And now I have inspiration for the non-holiday version of the space!

The kids were VERY excited to go see Santa Claus with cousins Harper and Carter. Especially Tagg who asked for 2 Blade-Blades (Beyblades, go ahead...look them up. We had to.) and a remote control airplane. Sloane wanted a princess castle, a baby, and a remote control chair. (look that one up too. Unless she was talking about a pedicure massage chair, we have no idea what she was thinking! Poor Santa was stumped.) For the parents, it was a long Sunday afternoon. The line was long. Selecting the pictures was long. The people were sooooo slow. Kids were cranky. Dads were cranky because we missed the start of the Broncos game. Moms were cranky because of all of the above. But hey! that's what Christmas is all about, right? Wait a minute...

The girls were both lucky enough to get Frozen dresses for Christmas. They were thrilled! If only we had known then that these would be worth like $1000 four months later, we might never have let them put them on!

Sloane wondering at the Christmas tree.

Christmas Eve and matching jammies. Love it.

And then there was Christmas morning. Santa did us proud! Maybe a little too much? It's a good thing we didn't have any furniture in the living at this point because there was no room for anything but Christmas! We had a bit of a rough time around Christmas. Scott got sick as a dog so I had to pretty much run the gift-buying, card writing and late-night wrapping show solo. Really makes me appreciate all those years that our parents pulled off the perfect Christmas. It's not as easy as they made it look!

Christmas Overload. I'll bet Santa was really tired.

 

Tagg with his Blade-Blades. Very happy kid!

Little Miss Boo had no problems
ripping through the wrapping paper.

Remote control car...huge hit.

Future basketball star? Get practicing, kid!

 Getting Crafty!

What would the holidays be without a few arts n' crafts projects and decorating? A helluva lot easier, probably! But not nearly as much fun...

I made my own tree topper. Quite proud of myself!
Even though I stole the idea from Pinterest.

The kids helped me make reindeer food - oatmeal and candy sparkles.
We spread it out in the yard on Christmas Eve and darned if those deer (or dogs?) didn't eat it all!

Managing the Christmas tree with kids is a challenge for my OCD.
Seriously, the things I am learning to live with!

Game Time!

We have a family tradition that we get a new game every Christmas. This year, it was Cards Against Humanity. Until you've played a game with your sweet little mom where she actually has to use the phrase "Flying sex snakes" or "Sad hand job", you really haven't lived. It was hilarious and yet so, so wrong. If you don't have this game, get it. Unless you're sensitive or have morals at all. Then you should steer clear!

Laugh till you cry, mom!
That's when we know things are getting good!

She's Got Style

Sloane has a fashion sense all her own. And lately it involves tiaras, jewelry (which is usually mine), purses (where I usually find my jewelry, including my fake 3-carat wedding ring which is exactly why my real one is in the safe until she’s older – like 25), princess dresses and high heels.  A few of my recent favorite outfits…perfect for a trip to the park or Tagg’s karate lesson.

My Little Gymnast

Sloane loves gymnastics and while I am no expert, I think she’s got some natural talent for it. Especially the balance beam. She has absolutely no fear whatsoever. She will just jump right on and go-go-go. It’s like balance beam speedwalking sometimes. And if she gets bored, she’ll go backwards or add some little jumps here and there. So it was no surprise that when the girls got to go in the “big gym” and she hopped right up on the tallest beam she could climb onto and did her thing. 

After she finished this one (and missed the landing), she tried to climb up on the even-taller beam behind her. I was all for it but the teacher had different, safer ideas. Maybe next time! I think she'd have rocked it.