Snow Day

Today was our first official "snow day". Yes, we've had plenty of snow days while living in Estes Park. But we've never had a day when school was cancelled while Coop was actually enrolled in school. When I broke the big news to him first thing this morning. He was very disappointed. He wanted to go to school. I had to explain to him what a big deal having a snow day actually was.

Dude, someday you'll get it. I guarantee.

Coiffed

It had to be mentioned. Our scruffy little dude finally got a hair cut. We (mainly I) had been putting it off forever and eventually his crazy little mop kind of defined him.

Everyone always commented on his crazy do (even strangers) ---not that it meant they liked it but my bias interpreted it that way.

Anytime the subject of Cruzie needing a cut came up, people actually said don't you dare (except for his Grandpa Pat and Grandma Linda).

I also kept telling myself the process would be horrible and he would never sit still. I think I subconsciously used that as an excuse.

Last Saturday Mark had the boys for the day while I took an overnight girls trip to the big city (Denver). He decided to just make things happen. Apparently, Cruz did great and sat still without any problems. (Sorry I doubted you, little buddy).

He looks like a different kid! I'm going to miss his scruffy little mullet but can't deny the fact that he looks pretty spiffy. And so grown up!!!!!!

Before

During

Viola

Freeze a Cold

It seems a bit off to be posting on the blog about our week filled with colds and coughs after hearing of the tragic event that took place in Newtown, Connecticut this morning.

As 28 mothers tragically lost their babies this morning, I was spending a peaceful morning with one of my babies. It doesn't make sense. Life is strange and scary. It sure puts things into perspective.

While Coop was at school today, Cruz and I joined some friends for a little hike to Gem Lake. I decided to try the approach of freezing a cold because if we let a little snot keep us from doing things, then I'm afraid we'll be housebound all winter.

I heard the horrible news after our hike on our way to pick Coop up from school. Coop was extra excited when I arrived and ran to give me a giant hug. He was over the moon ready to brag to me about how he did on his first day of swimming. I hugged him extra tight. Because I was proud of him and mostly just because..........

Here's our little hiker dude......

Fire Friends

One of the perks of having a fire in your back yard is the fire "eye candy" we were able look at.  I'm not referring to the typical "eye candy" one might think I'd be drooling over.  I'm talking about Cooper's idea of "eye candy"; engines, pumper trucks, tenders, ladder trucks, helicopters, sky cranes.  You name it, they were here and the boys loved seeing them everywhere we went.

The afternoon we arrived back home, Mark arranged to have an engine pull up to your driveway to surprise Coop (Cruz missed out because it was during his nap).  Cooper had noticed this particular engine throughout the week because it was WHITE and it stood out.  He felt like a Fire VIP.

The next day we drove past the engine as it was parked for a lunch break and we waved to our friends.  Coop was quick to tell Cruz that 'those were his fire friends and they didn't get to meet you because you were sleeping'.

12.1.12

December 1, 2012 will go down as the day the boys, doggies and I evacuated from our home. Hopefully it will be our last. It went a little something like this;

Friday, November 30: Mark comes home from work at about 10pm and tells me that he is going right to bed because he has to go back in at 4:00 am to gear up for the high winds that were forecasted.

Saturday, 1:00 am: Half asleep, I notice Mark answer his cell phone and say "ok". A call from the night crew on watch.

4:20 am: The phone rings and I notice Mark isn't in his bed. This isn't a surprise as I knew Mark was going in to work. He immediately says 'have you guys gotten the call to evacuate?'. Uh, no.

So the packing begins......I did a much better job packing this time compared to our evacuation scare this summer; clothes, computer, documents, kids, dogs---check.

Cooper was calm throughout the entire process. He asked if we were packing for St. George. I explained that we had to leave our house because there was too much smoke and the fire fighters needed everyone out of their way so that they could work on the fire. I didn't think he needed to worry about our house going up in flames. No child should ever have to worry about that.

Once the car was loaded, I woke Cruz up and told him we were going on an adventure. As we were getting ready to pull out of the garage, Cooper remembered something he wanted to bring with him; a dream journal he made at school the day before. He had hidden it in a safe spot so that he could show his Daddy the next time he saw him. That was the only moment where I got a little choked up. I saw it as a metaphor that the only thing my baby boy wanted to bring with him were his dreams. And then I chuckled to myself that I might be reaching a bit.

The rest is pretty much the same for the next 4 days. We stayed with 2 different families and split it up into 2 nights each. I figured we didn't want to become the analogy of houseguests and fish. I am beyond grateful for our friends and Estes Park family.

As always, we are very proud of Mark and now our town is as well. The community support was pretty amazing to witness. Mark gets to see that all the time throughout his fire season but rarely are we in the mix.

We are home. We are together. Our town still stands. Thank-you Mark, thank-you firefighters, thank-you friends, and thank-you Estes Park for taking care of our family.




----photo collage taken from Estes Park news.

Turkey Leftovers

My use of the word "leftovers" is my not so catchy way of doing a quick recap. It is within this post that I attempt to share the "leftovers" of the past little while. Here's a synopsis of what we've been up to;

Tree lighting ceremony, preschool potluck, round 1 of stomach bug for poor Cruz followed by round 2 of stomach bug----surprisingly, no one else in our household caught it (knock on wood), a quarantine away from our friends due to aforementioned stomach bug, Turkey Day, a Holiday Glow Parade and a BIG OLE FAT FIRE IN THE PARK THAT WON'T GO AWAY!!

You might sense my tone of extreme bitterness in the last tidbit of information I mentioned. That is because I am bitter. Our Thanksgiving plan of a nice 4 day weekend together was snuffed out by the fire. Ugh, the same fire that started when I was in Ireland was burning and pretty much minding its own business until right about the time I put the Turkey in the oven on Thanksgiving day (no joke). Due to unseasonably warm temperatures and high winds, the fire KICKED up and it was decided to no longer let her be.

Before I sound like a bitter fire fighter's wife, I will say that I am grateful that this fire is close to home so Mark can sleep in his own bed and come home for dinner. He is getting pulled in every direction and making a valiant effort to do as much as possible to help at home and spend time with us. He even braved the Holiday Parade crowd and met up with us halfway through. It could be worse.

I'm doing my best to do snow dance voodoo rituals so we can continue on with life in what should be the OFF SEASON.

But enough of this Debbie Downer Stuff! How about some pics of some of the good stuff instead.............




























Let The Holidays begin!

Love Notes

It all started back when we did the trial run "pre-pre school" in St. George two summers ago. In an attempt to ease Coop's nerves and let him know that I was always thinking of him, I gave him a little "love note" to put in his pocket. That way he could take it out and look at it or even reach into his pocket and feel it if he was starting to miss home.

Well it stuck. I gave him a note each day for camp this past summer and now each day for preschool. It gives him a sense of excitement to see what the note will be when I present it to him before we head out the door. The unveiling has become part of our getting-ready-for-school-morning-ritual. I had no idea until recently just how proud he was of his notes. Apparently, he shows them to his classmates and teachers. I'm glad they make him feel special. That was the goal.

Problem is, I'm running out of creativity. I doubt that I'll be able to keep this up through college.