Colorado Crockers

Here is a video I took of Addilyn before we left for our trip. I am so sad to say none of the 6 kittens made it. They all ended up with uper respoatory infections and died. Eliana was sad but I am glad they didn't die while we had them. We have had lots of interesting conversations since then. Raksha, the mama, is back with us for the time being. Rest in peace, little kittens. I am sorry your life was so short and painful.

My sweet nephew turned 3 today. I can't believe how big he is. I made his birthday cake for him. He is really into animals right now and that was the theme of the party. Turned out ok, but it would have been nice to have a couple more hours to work on it.

Forgive the lack of posts this week, I am chillin' in California with Matt and Annabelle. It has been so nice. Our flight out was a little early on Tuesday morning. We didn't leave the house as promptly as we would have liked, hit traffic and had to hike out to the commuter terminal. By the time we got there it was 10 minutes until the flight took off. The flight attendant was shutting the door as we walked up. I told her we were on the flight and she said that the flight was closed. She wouldn't let us on. So we watched as the shut the door on the airplane, finished loading the bags, and pulled away the gate thinggy. Matt was livid. We ended up getting on the next plane, which was bigger and we got upgraded! Yesterday Matt had to work. Annabelle enjoyed a quiet day at the hotel. I never get the time to just lay on the floor and play with the baby. What did I do when I only had one kid?! I read my book and took a nap. When Matt got back we went out to Willow Street pizza. T...

Eliana so wants to know how to read. This is a clip of her "reading" a Sandra Boyton to her sister. Yes, Addilyn is naked, but that shouldn't really suprise anyone.

Elie is at Vacation Bible School every morning this week. She is bummed that Addilyn can't come yet. Here is the parting hug.

There is a fine line between bravery and sheer stupidity, a line I think I may have crossed more times than I like to admit. Lets just look at this week, for example: -I am sick of fighting Addilyn about her binky. She is always bringing it down stairs and throwing a fit when I take it away. So, while she was otherwise occupied I took the scissors to her binkys. Brave or stupid? I placed them back in her bed. At nap time she grabbed a bink and immediately took it back out of her mouth. "mama, binkys broken!". I told her she was such a big girl and she had such big teeth they must have broken her binkys. She totally bought it."Buy new ones". I wondered if she would take a nap that day. She was squirly in her bed for almost an hour but finally fell asleep. Bed time was the same. We will see if it lasts. What a great plan, lets risk Addilyn not sleeping while Matt is out of town! - My friend Georgia who runs the animal rescue called me on Sunday night. She asked if she...

It coulden't be avoided. Well, I guess it could have, but it would have required death and I wasn't quite ready to go to that extreme. On Friday, I turned 30. Oy. It even LOOKS old. My husband and some of my sweet friends helped to soften the blow by having a party to celebrate. Later that night, Kari and I went out and enjoyed a night on the town. I wore completely impractical shoes and stayed out way too late and loved every minuite of it. Saturday morning my sister was sweet enough to take the girls for a few hours so I could relax and recover. Matt and I enjoyed a quiet morning drinking coffee and watching the rain fall. That afternoon we went over to my friend Sarah's new house. It is lovely and I can't wait to see it finished. I am so glad she left the East coast to come back to Colorado! Sunday morning we considered going to church, decided it was too much work and enjoyed another morning drinking coffee together on the couch. We got supplies ready and did some p...

"So I Married an Ax Murderer" Stuart Mackenzie: Look at the size of that boy's heed. Tony Giardino : Shhh ! Stuart Mackenzie: I'm not kidding, it's like an orange on a toothpick. Tony Giardino : Shhh , you're going to give the boy a complex. Stuart Mackenzie: Well, that's a huge noggin. That's a virtual planetoid . Tony Giardino : Shh! Stuart Mackenzie: Has it's own weather system. Tony Giardino : Sh, sh, shh. Stuart Mackenzie: HEAD! MOVE! Ok , so I got the quote a little wrong. That is what I get for trying to quote a movie I haven't seen in YEARS. But the idea was still the same.

I took Annabelle to the doctor for her well baby visit. She is 13 lbs 11 oz which puts her about the 10%. She is 28.5 inches, the nurse measured her twice because that puts her in the 97%. She also has head that measures in the 90 something percent. Long and skinny "like an olive on a toothpick!" (extra credit if you can name that movie quote!)

I am in love and it isn't with just my husband (though I do love him). My new love is dark, sturdy and good for everything. Cleaning up after him is a breeze. Sigh. Isn't cast iron grand? What, you don't have a love affair with your cast iron skillet? What's wrong with you, are you just that cold hearted?! Last evening after a delicious dinner of fish and chips (cooked in my skillet) I was participating in one of my favorite pass times; reading recipes . There is some irony in this considering that for the life of me I am unable to follow a recipe without altering it to make it "better", but I digress. I came across this wonderful looking cake that was not only chocolate but it was also...wait for it...cooked in a CAST IRON SKILLET! I was beyond excited, yes folks, that is all that really takes to get me going theses day. I wanted to try out this creation then and there, but couldn't. It was over 95 degrees yesterday and our house was already hot. Our ...

"Hey, look at me! It's my first time in the pool!" "Ugh...who's ideas was it to leave me in here with the 2 year old?" "Dude, get off my towel. Your all up in my grill." "Favorite part of swimming? The snack bar!"

Summer is awesome. We spend hours outside biking, hiking, playing in the sand, swinging, gardening and all the other great things that summer brings. In the heat of the day we make like our neighbors to the (far) south and enjoy a siesta. As the evening comes and cools the heat of the day our yard is mostly in the shade and the children are well rested and ready to play. Which is a problem. Trying to convince 2 squirly kids to sit nicely and eat healthy food when they rather be running/digging/swinging/ridding is like trying to get (one of my) babies to sleep though he night...impossible. So I gave up. No, I didn't give up feeding them, though with the chicken legs those girls sport I could see why you might think that. I gave up making them sit for dinner. I simply place a plate of healthy choices in snack size bites out on the kids pic-nic table and let them eat it as they please while trying not to be icked-out by the amount of sand I know they probable ingest. They eat more foo...

I am proud to say we successfully fostered 2 kittens. By successfully I mean we didn't kill the kittens, mame them in any way or keep them. All of the above would be considered a failure. The kittens left our home fat, happy and ready to make someone a wonderful pet. Pixi and Payton were our first attempt at fostering and it was such a blast. The girls loved having them and the kittens loved (or tolerated well) our girls. I would often find Eliana reading or watching television with a kitten asleep in her arms. This was an educational experience for all. The girls had to learn that kittens are not for curling despite how well the little balls of fur slide across the hard wood floors and that you may not throw them on the couch even though it is fun to watch them bounce. Addilyn had to be reminded that tails and handles are not one in the same and that no one really likes to be picked up by the head. The kittens had to learn that it is a bad idea to play in the dishwasher or the fre...

Most days I love being a mom. My life consists of play dough, parks, an occasional trip to the zoo and lots of sticky kisses. I get to giggle and roll in the grass, poke rolly-pollies, splash in puddles and see the world I take for granted through the eyes of a child. Seasons are qualified by weather you can go sledding, roll in leaves, by ice cream from the truck or look for worms in puddles. Motherhood has it's down side, too, and it isn't what you would think. It isn't exactly a good time wiping butts and boogery noses, but you become accustomed to it. Being the nurse to a sick child is a lot of work and often a lot of laundry, but I don't really mind. I hate to see my children take a digger and come up bleeding, but those can be fixed with band-aids and kisses. What I never expected the down side of motherhood to be was the pain. I am not talking pain of child birth, though that isn't a pic-nic. I am speaking of the pain you see your child in that is pain you ca...