Bonding

Just another gorgeous day in Colorado.

Spring Break: part II

From Wednesday on our house looked like a infirmary. Barry and the twins got the stomach flu Wed then by Fri we all had it. The twins are finally recovering from it. Nearly a week later 1 lb 5 oz lost between the two of them a trip to the ER, which was a total joke, they have some energy and a desire to eat.


Poor Liza just layed around and couldn't handle having a bucket near her. The mere thought of the bucket made her want to puke, which she was terrified of.

Payton was by far the most accurate when it came to getting "it" in the bucket.


A steady diet of Gatorade and Canada Dry, chicken soup didn't go too far though.

Sunday night I took the girls to the ER at 9pm due to them still puking and not eating or drinking anything in days. They were weak and frail looking. Good thing I went too, they gave us popsicles! What about giving these poor pathetic looking babies an IV you ask, that's absurd and would be asking way too much from our trusty medical professionals. Want some advice, wait till the morning, you'll get better care from your PCP than you ever will in an ER and it will take a fraction of the time. I was there nearly 6, yes SIX hours. Got home at 3 am and then landed myself in the doctors office in the late morning. Lovely, just lovely.

5 hours and counting and still haven't seen the doc yet.

Briley feeling better but a bit haggard.

Sienna playing around with the Pedialyte that they both loathe.

Spring Break

Only in the Rockies do you spend your Spring Break playing in the snow. We tend to accumulate the majority of our snowfall during the months of March and April. We had some great weather to which I baked out in the driveway while the kids played and then turned around the next day and the temp had dropped 50 degrees.

Yesterday I decided that it was high time Jared learned to ski. I've been skiing since I was 8 and I've loved every minute on the slopes and I wanted to pass that love on to him. We woke up early and began our 140 mile drive to Monarch Mountain. I started Jared off slow by playing "red light green light" in the snowplow. We marched on over to the bunny hill and spent our morning there working. After a battle of wills and Jared finally succumbing to my teaching he caught on. As he approached the bottom of the bunny hill, which was only about 100 yards, he would get the hang of it and then it was time to saddle up on the lift and start over. We broke for lunch and rejuvenated and went back out. One more try at the bunny hill and then I decided he was ready for the real slopes. We went up and he went down, a little too fast I might add. he wasn't getting that snowplow maneuver down and would just point down and go. A bit dangerous for everyone in the surrounding vicinity. I threatened that if he didn't get in control he'd spend the day in the truck and I'd ski by myself. That wasn't an option for Jared. Next run he went down slower and in much more control and made it to the bottom without crashing. We then decided to expand our repertoire of runs and explore some. I was so proud of him by the end of the day! He was a real shredder out there.

A storm was making it's way across the mountain so we decided that we better get packin and get home before we got caught in it. Boy was I happy we left when we did because by and hour after we got home it started with rain and then IT hit. We got so much snow, and the best part about this spring storm was that the snow was a wet snow, which makes the best igloo building snow. Jared, Payton, Liza and I geared up and went to the backyard and build "Cinderella castle" as Liza calls it. Liza quit after getting a handful of snow in the face and Payton wimped out as well. Jared and I finished it and I'm now exhausted. Not only am I a tiny bit sore from skiing yesterday now those muscles are more tired from lifting all that snow.

Next project for spring break is building a terrarium.

1st wedding cake...ever

I've gotten pretty good over the years at decorating my kids' birthday cakes but I've never tackled the daunting task of a wedding cake until now. I've always wanted to and since I'll be doing one for a good friend this summer I thought that making this one for a wedding tomorrow would give me some experience. It was beginning to be a nightmare and I was wondering what in the heck I was thinking when I volunteered not only this one but this summer's as well. I was tempted many times to call in Costco and bag the whole thing and give my apologies for a task not so well done. I'm pleased in the final product, overall. It's not the best and has a few flaws but considering it's the very first cake of this stature, I think it turned out nicely. I think it's elegant and simple. White on white is stunning and I think I pulled it off. My SIL calls it "brains" albeit gross, but somewhat accurate, although not what I'd call a great marketing term! I hope the bride and groom and their families enjoy it especially since it is filled with ganache! Mazel Tov!!

The new do!

Before= blah and frumpy

After= fresh and spunky

Love it!!! It's been a really long time since I've had hair this short and I'm super duper excited about it!

Bloom

This just made me smile today. Makes me think about the gloomy yuck of winter with bits of sunshine.

Briley walks

In the last two weeks Briley has learned how to walk. Sienna just watches and cheers from the safety of the floor, but I'm sure she won't be too far behind Briley.

Hard work really does pay off

After 6 months of neglecting our children to work in the depths of our basement, we finally have carpet and 90% of it finished. Some very long nights, blood, sweat, a few swear words, okay maybe a lot of swear words, and a few sore muscles we can continue to neglect our children and force them to play downstairs. The carpet was installed yesterday and it looks fantastic. The kids started hauling toys down and I took Liza's toys down as well. My upstairs is looking empty, with the exception of the babies toys. First thing this morning the kids wanted to play down there, but couldn't until they were completely ready for school. It's very rewarding to see it all finished and be able to enjoy it. I know the extra space will come in handy in the coming years. We can take a bit of a break for a while until we are ready to tape, mud and texture the bathroom. It will be a work in progress. It is on hold till further notice as some unexpected costs have come up. We love our new basement!!!!

Much needed post

I'll admit that since Facebook crept it's way into my life I haven't been so good at keeping up on the blog. I remember when I'd post multiple times a week. Now I'm lucky if I get two posts in a month. I thought a couple of new pictures might liven up the blog today.

Jared continues to lose teeth at steady pace. I noticed last week that he was getting another loose tooth and figured it would be a couple of weeks before it came out. Last night when Jared went to bed I came out to inform me that it was "really loose". I was sure it was one of his little games he likes to play at bedtime so that he wouldn't have to sleep right away, but sure enough it was barely hanging on and with a little tug came right out. He is currently growing in two new teeth, one on top and one on bottom, but now has three empty spaces. He does look quite funny. He's growing into that weird awkward stage of childhood, with little to no teeth and/or big teeth that don't quite fit his face. It's shocking to look at him and not see that baby boy looking back at me. Thank goodness there is a faint resemblance of that baby boy when I look at Payton.

Here's one cute story about Liza this week. One of Barry's players has a younger brother who is 11. A great young man who loves Liza and is happy to carry her around and spend money on treats for her at games. Someone was recently asking him about Liza and the twins and he said that he "just loves Liza. I'm gonna wait for her." Only 2 years old and she's got the boys wrapped around her finger! 13 more years and we're in a whole lot of trouble. Dad better get that shotgun sooner rather than later!

Sienna and Briley are great as well. They're beginning to take a couple of steps but are quick to fall. I'm not too anxious for them to walk but it is still fun to watch. They are both cutting some molars this week, which is a blast!

Life is good.

Funny kids

Jared decided that he should model my new boots. They were actually pretty close to fitting him. Nice look Jared!

While making cinnamon rolls this afternoon I turned around and this is what I found. A couple of mischevious babies. At least it wasn't sugar all over my floor.

Little momma

I found Briley cruising the house pushing a stroller. Thought is was pretty cute. Then Sienna joins in and gives a wave.

Our Christmas adventures

I'm finally getting around to posting pics of our Christmas. We've had a great break but I'm ready for the kids to go back on Tuesday. Christmas Eve we decided to take the kids to the skate rink and they had a blast. I sure was jealous of Barry's skillz on 4-wheelz! He only needed an afro and some sweet socks to complete those skillz. Obviously only one of us was born in the 70s.

The kids had fun preparing for Santa and making cookies for him. Christmas morning was a free for all and all the gifts were open within 1/2 hour of waking up. We had lots of fun. That afternoon we went to some friends for dinner and games and had tons of laughs with them as usual!

Now we can breath and focus on our upcoming family reunions this summer. Sure can't wait for warmer weather....already.