Friday, December 26, 2008

We had a Happy Solstice and a Merry Christmas!

We've had a wonderful month of holidays here at home. Jennifer joined us for our Winter Solstice dinner before we exchanged handmade gifts. Jeremy was sweet and had some photos of the girl's framed, while I handed out knitted hats, mittens, and bowls. Jennifer made us a cool scrapbook that is ready for pictures! Christmas Eve, Ayla and I made cookies for Santa, leaving them on the table with a cup of milk and a note of thanks. She was SO excited to see the crumbs he left and the presents under the tree. It was fun to see her getting into "it" for the first time. The girls played with their new toys all day...

We have so many thanks to send out for the gifts and money given to us: Auntie Boo Boo, Aunt Jennifer, Nana & Pops, Grama, Aunt Debbie, Esmeralda and Family, Grandma and Grandpa Hedrick, Grandma Barnes, and I am told that there is more coming in the mail. Thank you, everyone, for your sweet generosity.

Jac's wedding was a lot of fun. It was wonderful seeing all the family again. We were thrilled to finally meet Jeff and certainly glad to have him as part of the clan. The girl's were great while in Florida, and while Tampa is on my most hated city list, I look forward to seeing my sister's again soon.
Wedding photos by Hamed 007

Wedding photos by Hamed 035

Wedding photos by Hamed 322

Wedding photos by Hamed 144

Wedding photos by Hamed 326

Here's some random pictures from this month (just 3):
This is Ayla modeling the sweater that I custom designed for her (yes, I am pretty darn proud of it!)
Ayla modeling

Ayla Modeling

Jeremy out riding in the snow. It's starting to become a common occurence! LOL
IMG_0129

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

One is Independent and One is Sick!

Miss Ayla is officially an independent potty-goer! Yea! That means she goes by herself AND wipes herself! Yea!

And little Miss Sophie is sick with pink eye. I have never had to deal with that before from any kid I have ever babysat, so its a new experience. And yucky! LOL But, she is already looking tons better from yesterday.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Found Some Pics

I dug back through our flickr page and found the pictures of the girls in the first Colorado snow of the season. Thought you might enjoy seeing them.
Denver 1st Snow

Denver 1st Snow

Denver 1st Snow

Denver 1st Snow

Jeremy has picked up snowboarding (and loving it!), so Jennifer took him out for his first run. They had a really great time falling down a lot. Tee hee
A Basin

A Basin

A Basin

Sister and me A Basin

We leave Thursday afternoon for Florida. Sunshine, here we come! Jac is getting married to her beau, Jeff. We can't wait to meet them. Ayla will be the lovely flower girl, so be prepared for beautiful pictures when I get back (which will be Sunday evening).

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Thanksgiving Snow

Well, we didn't really get snow ON Thanksgiving, but it came the next day... and the day after that. LOL I think we received a grand total of about 5-6 inches here. It was AWESOME! And then the next day it was in the 60s! Whew! Ayla LOVES the snow and as soon as she saw it, she insisted on going out to build a snowman. For some reason, though, that picture accidentally became erased. Sophie doesn't like the snow too much, preferring just to stand on the side to look at it. She screams pretty loud when it touches her hands. Haha!

Jeremy went out for his guy bike ride on Friday night and it was so clear, but then in the middle, the snow came falling FAST!
Friday Night TITS

Sophie checking out the snow aboard her sled
118_3550


Thanksgiving was wonderful. We spent the day with Vincent and Aunt Jennifer, eating lots of turkey and pie. Yum! It got exhausting pretty quickly with the kids all over the place, but it was so nice to spend a holiday with family.
Thanksgiving 2008

Thanksgiving 2008

Thanksgiving 2008

Ayla and I spent a day together recently and it was loads of fun. I took her to see "Bolt" in the theaters (her first visit to one) and then pick up her flower girl dress for Aunt Henry's (Jacqueline) wedding. She was so funny in the bridal store, running around to all the dresses and exclaiming about how fancy they were. She kept wanting to know if they were "her size."

We all went hiking out at St. Mary's Glacier not too long ago and were awed by how much snow there was on the mountain top. We weren't exactly prepared, but it was still fun!
This is the lake with at least an inch thick of ice
118_3545

118_3538

December 1 was when we pulled out the Yule Tree and began the decorations. The girls were so excited and remain captivated by the lights.

Enjoy the rest of the pictures!

Sophie says "That was one dang good cookie!"
118_3533

Sweet Smile
118_3535

118_3582

118_3575

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Ahh Growing Up

Ok, so we have slacked off for the past month with posting. What's a family to do?

There hasn't been much "news." Just the same ol' every day stuff. Wake up, eat, change diapers, play with kidlets, hubby works, hang out in the evening, eat dinner, get kids ready for bed.... We interrupt this daily activity by visiting Jennifer & Vincent, bike riding, touring the area, etc.

Ayla, in the past two days, has seemed to enter the teen years. With her comments at least. Haha. For example, we went to the grocery store and I put my grocery list in my mouth while I lifted Sophie into the cart. Ayla turns to me and says, "Mom. Why do you have your paper in your mouth. You are not awesome." Ahaha! Then today, she was playing with her toy kitty cat and she says, "Kitty is a girl, Sophie is a girl, Mulan [the movie she was watching] is a girl. Daddy is a boy. I am a boy, too." I chimed in and said, "well, what am I?" Without hesitation she replies, "You are just a mama." Sigh. Not awesome and not even a girl. Pooh.

Sophie is all over the place. She likes to make us laugh with her silly antics (like throwing herself backwards onto the floor or flipping backwards off the couch. Seriously. You should hear her squeal with laughter!!). She babbles all the time and actually just started using sign language the other day. She says "please" (rubbing her belly), "more" (pushing her fingertips together), and "all done" (flipping the hands over). She's really picking things up and expressing herself.

Today, both rotten girls drew with crayons all over their bedroom door while I was making lunch. Ugh. See, the older Sophie gets, the more trouble they both become as a team. Bah!

Here's some pictures!
Cool Sophie

Daddy and Ayla

Auntie and Ayla

Monday, October 13, 2008

Cute Kids

I thought I would post some cute pictures of the girls I took over the past two weeks. But, let's update first.

Ayla has suddenly grown taller, so today we went pants shopping (fun ... eyes rolling). A few weeks ago, I got her these preschool workbooks by Kemon and she LOVES them. She asks every day if we can do her "work." So, she can cut in straight line, can count to 20 by herself, and now she can write the letters T, L, H, I, O, and Q, as well as the numbers 1 and 0. She is expressing so much interest in learning what words say. It is fascinating watching her absorb it all, question it all, and find more to learn on her own. Ayla is really developing into her own, has become so beautiful that it takes my breath away sometimes, and blows our mind with some of the things she can do. We have begun touring some local preschools, but its been a little difficult to coordinate since some want the parents to visit without children (geez), but we are taking our time.

Sophie is still itty bitty, so everything falls off of her tiny bum. She walks and struts around like the owns the place (until Ayla runs into her, that is). She babbles and talks constantly!! She's trying to learn how to play with Ayla (who isn't keen on Sophie's manner of playing), is darned determined to express her wants, and can light up a room with her grin. She's a doll.

100_3475

100_3473

100_3445

100_3455

100_3458

Friday, October 10, 2008

At The Pumpkin Patch

The leaves are changing into shades of beautiful golds and oranges, the girls are growing too fast for comfort, and now the holidays are peaking around the corner. Seems to me that time is flying by so quickly these days.

Early this month, we had a BLAST picking pumpkins with Jennifer and Vincent. We ran around the kid's maze at Rock Creek Farm, looked at their farm animals, and cut our pumpkins straight from the vine. Warning: this is a picture heavy post!

Tab, Jennifer, and Sophie lounging on the hay bales
Pumpkin Patch 056

Jeremy carrying all three kids!
Pumpkin Patch 051

"Gimme that camera!"
Pumpkin Patch 043

Pumpkin Patch 039

pumkin patch_0099

Ayla and Vincent tripping on hay bales together
Pumpkin Patch 050

pumkin patch_0115

pumkin patch_0118

Tabetha picked a Sophie from the Patch!
pumkin patch_0116

We were too eager to wait until Halloween, so we went ahead and carved our pumpkins. Then we roasted the seeds and coated with sugar and spices... yum! Ayla totally told us what to do and where to carve.

100_3464

100_3469

100_3467

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Not Much...

Not a whole lot going on of late except, oh...

The whole "my sister is getting married" announcement. Sounds pretty exciting and now the whole family is making plans to head to Florida for the big to-do. I've never met the new fiance, Jeff, but if he can put up with her than he is tops (tee hee)!

Other than trying to make plans for the marriage shin-dig, we've been researching preschools for Ayla, gearing up for Halloween events, and enjoying the beautiful weather. I've spent time learning the area, checking out the numerous (and SO cool) Farmer's Markets, malls, metaphysical stores, bike trails, parks, etc. There is just so much here... even now, a month later, I feel overwhelmed.

Sophie is all over the place, determined to express her opinion on things in whatever manner she can get it across. She's quite clear when she says she wants more, when she wants to be read to, when she wants to nurse, or when she doesn't want something. "Sophie, are you ready for a diaper change?" Response? A vehement shake of her head "no." Haha She's got the cutest little "bye-bye" wave, too.

Ayla is impressing us more and more lately. She is developing into quite the independent girl.. umm, excuse me. She has changed her mind and she is "a boy now." She's is certainly interested in exploring the variations and questions of gender attributes and stereotypes.... Anyways, she has been working on learning to write the alphabet, cutting in straight lines, and writing/learning number concepts. She recognizes every letter and just about every number (she gets confused between 6 and 9 and has a hard time remembering 8). As of right now, when you ask her to write the letters H, T, and L and numbers 1 and 0, she can do it very well. She is also very much exploring our boundaries and how it relates to doing what she wants to do. There has been some butting of heads, but its wild to see her listen to reason (when she wants to be reasonable! Hah). She can ride a bike beautifully, loves to play at the park, is super helpful when grocery shopping, and is wildly imaginative (wildly).

This week, we are heading to one of the local farms in a hunt for the perfect pumpkin. I think we are getting a sugar one, too, so we can make some pumpkin butter (mmmmmmm). We are also checking out 3 different Montessori schools and one progressive cooperative preschool for Ayla. Should be loads of fun.

A late birthday shout out to Grandpa!! Happy Birthday!

Monday, September 22, 2008

From Lakewood to Mount Falcon

So many good choices in the area and for a self diagnosed ADD it can be a good thing and a bad.

At 1st I thought about Centennial Cone but as the Fates held destiny it was closed to bikes Sunday. Then Kenosa Pass came to mind but I needed to spend some time with my wife and little girls and that would keep me away for most of the day.

So Mount Falcon started calling me on the Map and at 6:30am I left our apartment in Lakewood headed west..

Sunrise from the Greenbelt Trail
Sunrise from the GreenBelt Trail

Finding a winding route up the eastern side of Green Mountain I pass the two water towers and made my way to Summit Trail.

Deer on Green Mtn
Deer on Green Mtn

On over to the Radio? Tower and a short look at the map to find my way down Hayden Trail.


Views to the West Views to the west from Green Mtn
Views from the west on Green mtn

A fun swoopy section of Green Mountain Brings me to the C-470 Bridge..To do Zorro and Dakota Ridge...oh so much fun...or head down the C 470 Bike Path to Morrison and explore some new to me trail???

Dakota will always be there and now knowing combining it with Mount Falcon in the future is a possibility...the Bike Path it is....

C-470 bikepath

Into Morrison
Into Morrison

Red Rocks, Dakota Ridge, Green Mtn
View of the Red Rocks, Dakota Ridge, and Green Mtn in the Distance from Castle Trail on Mount Falcon...That Radio? Tower looks so far away.

Views from Castle Trail
View to the South From Paralee Trail on Mount Falcon

Ute Trail at Mount Falcon
Ute Trail at Mount Falcon....look at that we do have trees in the Colorado front range:p


So came the ultimate decision...ride over and descend through Lair O the Bear..which I've only hiked a short bit of and descend into Morrison by way of 74 or Descend back down Castle...wanting the dirt I decided on going back down Castle but the way down Lair O the Bear may be next time's descent.

By the time I reached the bottom of Mount Falcon it was now 10:20am and I'm getting a bit hungry. I called Tabetha and ask her and the girls to meet me in Morrison for lunch. I'll just hang out at the Morrison Inn and maybe Red Rock Cyclery till they get in.

Morrison
Town of Morrison

Morrison Murals
Morrison Murals

Red Rocks cyclery and bank?
Ok...is it a bike shop...a coffee bar..or a bank? Not shown in the picture is a teller machine to the right.

MMMMM...32 ozs of Fat Tire
MMMMMM....32 ozs of Fat Tire:thumbsup: on a tummy with just a couple shots of gel and a bottle of perpetulum in it.

The Family showed up around 11:40 with a fresh set of clothes for me and a couple of growling tummies to accompany them. On over to Rigatoni's for lunch and the rest of the day to spend with my favorite ladies with somewhere around 25 to 30 miles in the legs.

Jeremy