Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow...

I can't imagine living anywhere else in the world, well except maybe Hawaii, but that would probably get boring looking at beautiful blue ocean all day. I love that we have seasons here, we can go from summer to winter overnight. This week we had our first big snow of the season.

The kids have had 2 snow days. Rachel caught up on movies, Mason has played endless X-Box, although did scoop the walks for us (thank you Mason), and Brady, well has anyone seen Brady? It seems that he has spent the last two days building forts, having nerf fights in the front yard, and playing with half the block. I heard from him once in the last two days asking where all of his "old snow pants" were for the other kids on the block. He of course found his in his snowboarding gear, but needed to outfit the block for endless fun.

It was nice to put yummy soups in the crockpot for the last couple of days; we had beef stew and homeade chicken noodle soup. Mmmmm!

Rachel and Mason are back in school tomorrow, although their mom is coming for the weekend so we will be without them for a couple of days.

Brady had the day off already because it is teacher in-service day, so he will end up having a 5 day weekend. Lucky kid. Because I've put in some extra hours at work this week, I get the day off tomorrow too, which I am very much looking forward to.

Today is also my 'little' sister's Birthday. She didn't end up having a very fun day to do stuff, considering the weather. So tomorrow, Brady and I will go down and take her to lunch to celebrate since we couldn't get there tonight. So Happy Birthday Julie, looks like you will get a Birthday Festival Weekend, thanks to the weather.

Happy Birthday Rachel!

Today is Rachel's 17th Birthday! I can't even believe that we are the parents of a 17 year old. It seems like yesterday that she was playing with Barbies. Now, she drives, she texts, she works, she drinks coffee, oh and she has a tattoo (see photo of Tattoo - Day 2).

She woke up this morning, and Brian took her to her favorite Donut Shop and to Starbucks, for her other addiction.

This afternoon we will have one of her favorite lunches, spiral ham and au gratin potatoes (definately not my favorite) and I made her a cake, a pretty cute one if I do say so myself.

Tonight she is going with a couple of friends to go haunted housing! She is a freak for that stuff. They are going to the Haunted Field of Screams in Thornton and The Haunted Forest in Parker. After the haunted houses, they are going to see Paranormal Activies at the movie theatre. I can't imagine that she will be able to drive home after all of that scary stuff, I wouldn't be able to, I know that.

Happy Birthday Rachel, we love you and are really proud of you. Have a great night, be safe.

I bet you are wondering...

Well, today is the day... Please view the beautiful artwork our daughter, Rachel is permanently displaying on her body.

(the redness will go down soon)

After much thought and consideration, we surprised Rachel today with her first (and maybe only?) trip to the tattoo shop. Tomorrow is Rachel's 17th Birthday and the thing she wanted most was a tattoo. We talked, we listened, we debated, we asked for advice and what it came down to is that Rachel is a very good kid and we really have had very little to worry about with her - she gets awesome grades, she stays out of trouble, she is kind to everyone around her, she is a wonderful big sister and role model... basically she has earned the priveledge of proving to us that she is deserving of us breaking the parental rules for her.

I have struggled with this so much, but in the end I left the decision up to Brian. He is after all her dad. I told him that I would support him with whatever decision he made on this topic. He finally decided a couple of days ago that he would allow her to get it. He has a good friend that has a tattoo shop in Lakewood and called and talked to him, getting more advice and information. He said that he would only allow his best guy to work on her, so we were able to make an appointment for today.

We told Rachel that we had dinner reservations and headed down there, she had no idea (at least not that she let on ). We pulled up and she was smiling ear to ear just seeing the word "TATTOO" on the store front. We headed in and she met Shawn, her new best friend. He and all of the people in the shop took the time to talk with her about this being a big decision, where she should get it, how big it should be, etc. I really appreciated all of their help. It's one thing when dad and the step-monster tell you stuff, but when it's coming from people who are living with having tattoos all over their bodies, it's another.

So, she decided on putting the tattoo on her upper back/shoulder area. She still got the stars that represent her brothers and all of her cousins - boys are black, girls are pink, and one red one for her cousin with a heart defect.

She held tough, and of course being the dorky mom that I am, I had to take pictures for the blog and her scrapbook. Hey, I'm still a mom, even if I am trying to be a semi-cool one. I would have to say that to see her smiling that beautiful smile of hers all night made it worth it. I hope she enjoys it for the rest of her life (well I guess she'll have to won't she).

Happy Birthday Grandpa Chuck

Well Grandpa and Grandma have headed back to Florida, but we were able to celebrate Grandpa Chuck's Birthday the night before they left. We had dinner with them and watched the Rockies game (boo to the score). My father-in-law loves baseball, but more importantly he loves the Dodgers. So I attempted to surprise him and made him a Dodgers Baseball Cap Birthday Cake. I don't possess many talents, but I will say that I don't think it turned out too bad considering it was my first baseball cap cake. He seemed to enjoy it.





So Happy Birthday Grandpa, it was nice to celebrate your Birthday with you.

Grandpa Chuck and Grandma Kathy

We have been fortunate enough to have Brian's parents in town for a couple of weeks to visit us. They are only able to be here for 2 weeks this time, so we try to spend as much time with them as we can. We usually have dinner with them every night and spend time as a family on the weekends. I know their days are a little long because the grandkids are in school and of course, Brian and I have to be at work, so once everybody gets home we go to their place and have dinner and hang out. The kids love spending time with them for many reasons, but they really enjoy that Grandma and Grandpa play board and card games with them almost every day after school. The kids are spoiled by grandma who "tickles" them, something that started when they were babies. She takes her fingers and lightly rubs their arms, they melt in her hands when she does that. The kids fight over who gets to sit by grandma because they know she will "tickle" who every is there.

This past weekend, after church we drove up to Estes Park to see the beautiful leaves changing colors and walk around downtown. I love going to Estes, and so does Brian's mom, so it is usually the only time I get to go up there. We did some shopping and of course had to buy some yummy taffy. After shopping, Grandpa took us out to dinner, we had a very good day. We are looking forward to a few more of those days before they head back to Florida.

Sick Day

Sunday afternoon Brady started feeling crummy with a very runny nose, a cough, and a headache. He lounged around all day and didn't really want to do much, so when Monday morning came and he was still in bed with a bright red nose and a pile of tissues, I knew he would be staying home from school. What I wasn't planning on though, was that I would wake up with a terrible sore throat and headache on Monday also. I did the usual "mom thing" and said, "oh, maybe I just slept with my mouth open". Ha ha. I called the Dr. to get us both in because you can't be too safe right now with all of the crud going around, not to mention those initials that everyone is terrified of. We both went in and Brady has a cold/ear infection - I have strep throat. We'll have amoxicillin for two please. Please enjoy this very pathetic and pitiful picture of the two of us, all cuddled up on the couch for our sick day.


I sure wish I had some of my mom's homemade potato cheese soup. Hint - Hint!