It's beginning to look a lot like.....

....a big huge mess, that what.

This morning I finally got our family room organized and cleaned up. This afternoon, we made a visit to storage and hauled over about 8 big boxes of Christmas "stuff" and now it is sitting in my clean family room.  Lights and ornaments and angels, oh my!

We made a really good effort to cut down our Christmas tree today but that didn't work out.  Hopefully we can get the tree next weekend or else we may have to visit the dreaded Christmas tree lot.  Scott's least favorite place during the holidays :)  He REALLY enjoys cutting his own tree.  And it is a lot cheaper.  A lot.

The three older kids all got a couple hours on their skis this weekend.  Scott took Sam and Alice yesterday and Paige got her turn this afternoon.  It was perfect weather for hitting the slopes, sunny and warm.  Hopefully one of us will be able to ski with Mason sometime this week.

Sewing has been on my mind a lot lately and I am hoping to get to it this week.  All that fabric, so little time.  I have a couple projects started that really need to be finished.  I could really use a couple more hours in my day.

I haven't taken any pics in the last couple days so I thought that I would find some on the old hard drive that I didn't get a chance to post.  Actually, these are some that I took for my mom as a birthday gift. This was on one our last days in Colorado Springs before moving on up to the mountains.  It was a gorgeous day and I could have stayed out all day snapping pics of the kids.  Not sure if they were equally as excited as me :)

Happy Sunday night!  Have a great Monday!
Jennifer

Happy Belated Thanksgiving

We have been blessed with the love of family and great friends and we have so much in which to be thankful.
Yesterday, we had a wonderful day with our family in Colorado Springs.  The weather was beautiful and the kids had a blast playing with their cousins outside.  Many thanks to my sister (in-law) and brother for such an awesome Thanksgiving dinner and also to my parents for putting us up at their home for part of the week.

Now we move on to Christmas.  It's the happiest season of all, for goodness sake.  

Jennifer

You know you live in a ski town when.....

.....a winter hat with tassels is stylish year round.

....you can wear snow boots anywhere anytime with any outfit.

....you can wear snow pants anywhere anytime with any tasseled hat.

....the check-out guy at Target greets you with a What's Up, Dude?


....your vocabulary starts to include words such as shred, fatty, avie, to name a few.  Let's just say shredding has nothing to do with cheese.

....you have to pick up your mail up at the post office because there is too much snow for home delivery.

.....you go to pick up your sick kid from school and the last child to be signed out before yours was signed out to go shredding (again, nothing to do with cheese).

....the amount of SUVs totally outnumbers the amount of mini-vans in the school pick-up line.

....long underwear is just referred to as underwear.



We are getting some serious snow today.  We have has pretty nice weather and awesome blue skies but that came to a screeching halt this morning.  I love the nice days but snow is really good for business.  So, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.  This morning Scott and I had our first of many live spots on the local news channel.   I don't think that a career in television is in my future.  Probably because I sat frozen for four minutes and didn't utter a sound except for a tiny thank you at the end of the interview.  Scott did great and he will definitely be back on next week.

Have a great Saturday!
Jennifer

Mason's first day....

Today Mason started preschool at the elementary school.  He was so excited all morning and could hardly wait to eat lunch and head out to school.  When we arrived, he quickly hung up his coat, put his snack in the fridge and got busy learning.  He didn't even look back at me. For a split second I was a bit sad that he just skipped off without so much as a kiss or wave.  And then I was thrilled.  He knows that he can go to school just like Sam, Alice and Paige and that I will be there at the end of the day.

When I asked him what he had done at school, this was his response.  Let's see, I had a nack, lurned, behaved and haved and haved, even I did an obstacle course, just stuff.  It was super fun.

Well, that sounds like it was a good day. At least he haved.  Good havior is very important.

Jennifer

P.S.  While Mason was at preschool, Scott and I took a break from work to get out for a short trail run.  We got some exercise and enjoyed the beautiful views of Lake Dillon.  Now that is very good.

Tied up

Every night at the dinner table we take turns giving our highs and lows of our day.  We go around the table and everyone gets a chance to speak.  Today, Paige's high was that she figured out how to tie her shoes. She said that her new friend Ivy was getting pretty tired of tying her shoes so she decided that she would tie them herself. And she did.  After dinner she continued to practice and practice and practice.....  After she had mastered her own shoes, she tied Mason's....over and over again.

Way to go Paige!

I guess that when you have to do the shoe/boot exchange a bazillion times a day, you figure out how to tie your shoes pretty quick.

It probably helped that she found out that her slightly younger cousin could tie his shoes first.  Immediate encouragement.

A Little Bit of Life

Really, a week?!!?!?! It's been one week since I have blogged. I am trying here, people.  Really.



We have had a crazy week. I know you get tired of hearing it, but seriously.  The good news is.....we found the snow pants in storage.  Well, it might not be too exciting to you but it was fantastic news to my kiddos who have been asking for their snow pants since their first day of school.  See, the kids have to wear snow pants to recess.  If they don't wear them, they are restricted from the playground field.  So, they are thrilled and even though there wasn't much precipitation last week, they wore them every day.

Now, let's talk precipitation.  Yesterday we had to go make the two hour trek to Colorado Springs for one more load of garage stuff.  Can we get a collective UGH? Where does this stuff come from????? The weather in COS was beautiful.  It was super windy but really really warm.  I like warm.  Today we were under a weather storm warning in Frisco and since we were hauling a trailer full of stuff, a long ladder and a bike, we wanted to beat the storm.  We resembled a traveling band of gypsies.  We did beat the storm, just barely :)  There was that one spot when we were coming down the pass and the Cruiser started sliding toward a cliff.....but we made it safe and sound.   Luckily, we are now a settled inside our warm house while snow is falling and accumulating quickly.   Winter in the mountains.  Only six more months of snow. Oh boy.

The kids are good.  Sam was a bit emotional as we were leaving today.  It is hard for him to see the house empty.  He is adjusting so well to his new surrounding but leaving home is tough.  We went around the house once more and took pics with our murals in the basement.

I don't think I have opened another box since the last time I blogged.  That is the bad news.  I am really getting too old for this moving thing.

On a positive note (my running partner will appreciate this) I did get out for a run this week.  It wasn't as much fun by myself but I had fun exploring some of the paved trails around town. I am going to definitely have to update my Ipod tunes.  I don't think that I need to post my mileage.  It was pretty measly.

Scott and I are good too.  Really good.  We are adjusting well and loving this new place.  We miss our friends and family terribly but really feel like ultimately it will be a great fit for our fam.  Scott has already skinned up/skied down at Keystone and he is in heaven.  I am looking forward to getting out on my snowshoes very soon. Hopefully this week.

I know that I promised house pics but my camera battery is dead and I have no idea where that silly charger is hiding.  Probably in one of those boxes that I have yet to open.  Guess I better get busy.  I know you don't want to read my drivel for much longer.

Have a great weekend.  We are thinking that we will try out a new church tomorrow.  Please say a little prayer that we can find a home to worship that fits all our needs.

Snow snakes and ski bunnies,
Jennifer

Visitors

Saturday (and Sunday due to weather) our friends, the Young's, came up to visit.  We had an awesome visit and can 't wait for them to get snowed in again sometime soon :)

Wordless Wednesday {scarves}

Okay so almost wordless...

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for the fun belly-dancing scarves.  They work really well on our heads too!
Love, Alice and Paige

Halloween

Yesterday we celebrated Halloween, Frisco style.  The kids celebrated in their classrooms during school and then we walked downtown for trick or treating.  Downtown Frisco closes down for two hours and all the Main Street stores passed out candy.  Who knew that every kid in the county would head to Frisco for the good stuff.  We passed out candy from our store and we went through 5 huge bags of candy.  There were little kids (and big ones too) everywhere!  Our kids had a blast running from store to store and Mason and I just trailed behind them. Once their bags were overflowing, we headed back to our store to check and sample the loot.  Usually we combine all the candy and then eat a piece a day for about a week and then I start throwing it out. This year we are going to pick out a few of our favorite pieces and then send the rest to Uncle Mick in Afghanistan.  All the kids thought that was a grand idea.  This year we had a Christmas elf, Hermione Granger, a skeleton and a hooded knight.  I might be a bit biased but they were the cutest trick or treaters around town.

We hope you all had a safe Halloween!  Now we move on to Thanksgiving. Oh my!!! Love to all from Scott, Jennifer, Samuel, Alice, Paige and Mason!