Ten on Ten

Today is Ten on Ten.

Ten pictures taken on the tenth day of the month in ten hours and today happened to be a Sunday.

Sundays are my favorite day. They involve sleeping in, big breakfasts, lots of coffee and pajamas till noon. Usually, we have no plans but today was an exception since Ebeth had a tea party with her Girl Scouts troop. Evan, Julia and I decided to browse an antique store for the 2 hours Elisabeth was busy sipping tea and eating cucumber sandwiches.

My ten on ten:

An update on the girls.

-Both of my girls are growing. Elisabeth has an unstoppable appetite and has out grown most of her wardrobe. Her feet are now in a child's size 3, which is just 2 sizes away from needing to shop in the women's shoe section. Julia is in a 4T now and they fit her perfectly. I need to make sure the bucket of 5T clothes is ready in the wings for when she sprouts into them. Also, Julia's been asking for naps again, which she rarely does anymore, but usually occurs during a growth time.

-Elisabeth is going to have a ginormous summer vacation this year. School ends on May 27th here but doesn't start until August 22nd in Texas. If we were still living here, she'd start school on August 3rd. That's a good 2.5 weeks of extra vacation. She's very excited, mainly because she knows that means it's extra time she'll get to hop in the car with me and explore San Antonio.
-While Ethan and Owen were visiting us last week, it occurred to me that Ethan will remember Colorado more than Julia will. That made me very sad. She's so little and she'll have barely turned 3 by the time we move to Texas. She won't remember our house or her room or the library we go to weekly or the Y or anything. Thank goodness I take so many pictures so she can at least see the things she loved to see and do and where we lived when she was ages 1-3.
-Let's have an Elisa-update. Currently, Elisabeth's favorite color is orange. She is reading chapter books left and right (so proud!!). We're reading the 3rd Harry Potter together and she loves it! I'm going to go ahead and read the whole series with her and then get her her own addition of the series so she can read them whenever she wants. She is thinking about being a music teacher or an art teacher when she grows up. She's pretty certain she wants to live in Illinois as a grown up (probably in Chicago). She still brainstorms ways to save the planet, still dances like no one's watching, still sleeps with her Doodle Bear every night. She and Evan still have their Star Wars: The Clone Wars dates on Friday nights (complete with popcorn and soda). She's been better about keeping her room clean and has really started to improve her "dealing with Julia" tactics. She is a clothes and shoes fanatic and has developed her own unique, cute style. Elisabeth is growing up and some days that is fabulous and some days I try to rewind it all to see the progression all over again.
-And then there's Julia...Julia's favorite color is pink. She has imaginary friends and is playing more and more out of my sight. Julia likes paint and markers and chalk and feels that any surface is an art outlet (including her face). Julia is funny. She has a natural ability to know what will get a laugh. She's definitely our comedian. Julia likes to read, loves her Pink Baby and considers Roosevelt her bff. Julia is wearing underwear now and is quite proud of herself. Julia is getting better about talking to people the first time she meets them, but we've still got a long way to go. Julia's almost physically outgrown her crib and we're talking about getting her a big girl bed (sob!). Julia's pretty good at riding her tricycle and no longer needs a booster seat at the dinner table. She's like to be a Mommy when she grows up. She asks for Evan as soon as she wakes up and is beyond giddy when he walks in the door.
Well, I guess I'll keep both of them. For a while at least.

Virtual Coffee

Good morning!!!

Ok. It's not morning anymore. So, I guess we'll be having some night time virtual coffee.

If you were really over here having some evening coffee with me...I'd tell you how beautiful today was. How it was in the high 60s. How my lovely friend came over to clean my house and I followed her around talking her ear off. How I immediately started cleaning more after she left because I am such a weirdo.

If you were really at my kitchen table chatting with me...I'd tell you that I finally bought Elisabeth a new bike today. That Elisabeth outgrew her bike last fall but we kept forgetting to actually purchase her a new one. That Julia fell asleep laying down in the cart at Wal-Mart and I had to place groceries around her. That a few people stopped me just to tell me how cute it was my daughter was so contentedly sleeping in a shopping cart.

As you asked me for a second cup of coffee...I'd say that I am happy today. I am trying to appreciate everything I have--good health, a fabulous home, 2 beautiful girls, a husband I adore, friends who are beyond terrific, family that is always there for us. I am trying to be more at peace with all the things I find so frustrating and not let that frustration dominate my whole mood, day, outlook. I am blessed with many wonderful things in my life and I need to learn to appreciate them more.

Before you leave for the night...I'll ask what's new with you? What are you reading now? I'm reading David Sedaris' "Naked" and loving it. I've also read quite a few Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovich. What are your plans for the week? Anything you're hoping to accomplish? Anything you're dreading?

Thank you for coming over. Sorry this had to be such a late date. I do so love when you stop by, though.

Sand Dunes

While preparing for their trip out here, Jana made a request to visit the Sand Dunes. I had no idea what she was talking about, so I googled it and found out that about 3 1/2 hours south of us were these natural sand dunes. In fact, it's called Great Sand Dunes National Park. Of course, we all wanted to go and check them out.

It was a long drive, but eventually, we saw this at the end of the road:

The kids were so excited! Elisabeth wanted to roll around and make sand angels. Ethan and Julia both wanted to dig! dig! dig! (we made a special trip to Target before we went to stock up on shovels and rakes and buckets) Owen just likes to stare at all of us and smile, so he was pretty stoked about going too.




Elisabeth led us to the "sand mountains" and we all diligently followed.
It was kind of chilly and super windy, so Kyle and Owen ended up going back to the car to nap and hang out. Owen wasn't a fan of the wind in his face. The rest of us kept on trudging up the sand dunes.
Sand dunes are deceptive and what looked pretty close was actually over half a mile away. But, once we got there, the sun got brighter and the temperatures went up. We ditched our coats and shoes (I had made a poor shoe choice anyway, so I'd ditched mine well before everyone else). Then the kiddos started rolling and sliding down the dunes.


I don't think I can adequately describe how completely awesome this place was. It was beautiful, it was mesmerizing, it was exhausting. We scaled the tiniest portion of those dunes. These are the tallest sand dunes in North America and I would have loved to have climbed the tallest one, but with 3 small kiddos, that wasn't an option that day.


Eventually, though, Jana and Elisabeth headed towards a pretty steep dune.
This is the view from the bottom. Elisabeth climbed up this 3 times!!

This picture cracks me up!



We had so much fun! We were there for probably 2.5 hours. It was definitely worth the drive out there. And, for a very brief time in the summer when the snow on the mountains have melted, there is a small lake of water and you can actually splash and swim in it! I really want to go and see that!!

On the way drive home, we had to stop so a few elk could cross the road. The kids super liked seeing them!

This was one of my favorite days here in Colorado. So glad that Jana mentioned going because I would have been very sad to have missed this opportunity while we were living here.

Nina and Papa visit and bring some extra people along

Evan's parents had planned on coming to visit us over spring break. We had some things planned and were most excited.

Then, Evan's sister, Kyle, asked if we cared if she and her boys could tag a long since her husband, Matt, would be on a work trip the whole week.

Of course, we said yes! We're not going to give up opportunities to smooch those red-headed nephews!!!

Let me tell you how thankful I am for a bench on our dining room table. Three kiddos fit perfectly on it!
Oh, and these two?
Are nothing but trouble when they get together. Lord help us when they are teenagers.
Nina and Papa came bearing gifts for the girls: Baby doll beds! Julia put her pink and purple babies in there pronto.

Kyle got to celebrate her half birthday while at our home!

Poor Ebeth was stuck in the middle of Flopsam and Jetsam.



I don't remember why this occurred...

We had a lot of fun and did a whole bunch of things. The weather was pretty cooperative for most of the week they were here. I'll share some of the trips we made soon, but for now, I have some cleaning to do and some sunshine to enjoy!!!