Here, There, Everywhere

Wow! We have been busy this week with Scott's parents in town. We spent last weekend here in the Springs. Saturday morning, Scott and I spent most of the morning on the peak running up and down. More about that at a later date. Sunday, we took the kids to Santa's Workshop, a kiddie amusement park just 20 minutes from the house. Unfortunately, we were rained out after lunch, but not before the kids took the adults on plenty of twisty rides, ugh! We spent the rest of the week hanging around town. We went to the Pioneer's Museum, America the Beautiful Park, shops in Castle Rock, Manitou Springs.....The favorite of the week was the Iron Springs Chateau Melodrama. We really wanted to do something fun to celebrate Scott's mom's birthday. Scott decided that the melodrama would be fun. Fun was had by all. The best part was watching the kids reactions to the silliness of the show. With in-house babysitters, I got to have some one on one time with Sam and Alice. We got some back to school shopping done and made a trip to the library, sans Paige. If you don't know that story, read here. Thanks Mom and Dad for all your help!

So, now it is Friday. We have dropped off Scott's parents at the airport, eaten lunch, gone for a walk and now we are all enjoying some quiet time. Not much on the agenda for the weekend. Sam has two birthday parties, one Saturday, one Sunday. Scott will be running, and running, and running this weekend. This will be his last big run before the even bigger run. Check out his blog and see how his training is coming along. If you are still interested in donating to his charity run to benefit the Xinxiang SWI, it is not too late. Check out his blog for more details.

I hope you all have a great weekend. We are hoping for better weather and maybe some time at the pool. School starts on August 18th so we will be trying to squeeze in as much fun in the sun as possible.

Jennifer

Saturday Silly

Friday

Yesterday we spent most of the day in Manitou Springs and Old Colorado City. It was really hot so we stayed cool dodging in and out of stores and staying in the shade. The kids had a ball playing at the park in Manitou and then playing in the yard all afternoon.

Soda Shop

Here are some cute shots from the day. We spent part of the day at the pool. Surprised yet? After dinner we tried out the new soda shop in our neighborhood. It is a sweet little place called Squeak. Quite fun and totally adorable. Sam, Alice and Paige had a Cotton Candy Soda Float. There was no sugar in that concoction. Nope. None at all. I thoroughly enjoyed a scoop of bubble gum ice-cream. They offer ice-cream, soda floats, candy and many more goodies.

Papa and Sam enjoying the Wii at the soda shop. Sam was thrilled.

Ice-cream + soda + cotton candy = yummmmmm....

Have a great evening.

Jennifer

Scott's parents are here visiting right now. They arrived yesterday and will be here for a couple weeks. We are enjoying their visit. The kids love it when Grandma and Papa visit because they get to play every board game on the shelf. Right now they are on game #4, Sequence. Grandma is such a saint that she continued on after Candy Land....that would have been it for me.

Tomorrow, we travel to Greeley for Mason's appointment. He has been wearing his brace and shoes for about 5 weeks. I am looking forward to what the doctor has to say regarding his progress. We are continually amazed.....

Sam has his last swim meet in the morning. We have had such a blast this summer at the pool. Sam has come so far with his strokes and technique.

I am starting to get the end of summer blues. School starts on August 18th. Pretty soon we will have to purchase school supplies. Boo! Sam will be starting 2nd grade and Alice will be in 1st. Paige will be going to pre-k three days a week.

Sorry this post is all over the place. Kinda like my life :)
Jennifer

Guess what we are doing?

That's right, hanging at the pool. Because we just don't get enough time at the pool we decided to host a pool party for all our close friends and family. We actually scheduled it way back in May when the pool opened and we were all still very pale and recovering from a long cold winter. It was a blast! Our friends from Westminster came down early and we enjoyed a yummy pizza dinner with them and then we packed up coolers of soda and adult beverages and headed over to the pool for some partying. The weather was awesome and the kids stayed in the pool until 9:30, when the lifeguards so graciously kicked them out :) Everyone, adults and kiddos, enjoyed swimming, eating, drinking and volleyball. Some of the daddies even enjoyed a belly-flopping diving competition.

Today we are getting laundry done and the house spiffed up for Scott's parents arrival tomorrow. We are all really excited for them to visit. Well, you didn't think we spent every minute at the pool, did you?

Jennifer

I love it when I catch my kids doing this....

Alice spent her entire quiet time reading to Paige. I love those moment when you catch your kids doing something great!

Crazy Summer Busy

Sam and Mason playing at the school playground. We took the kids down to play tonight after dinner.
Mason taking advantage of the Popsicles and graham crackers in recovery. I believe he had four Popsicles in all.

Alice can be found on the slide or diving board. She has officially turned into a fish this summer.

I can always depend on Paige to strike a pose or flash a smile when I bring out the camera.

Sam, Alice, Paige and their friend Clare enjoying cool treats at the pool.

Too too much, tutu! Alice and Paige wore their fancy twirly skirts to church on Sunday.

Mason is really working the pink sunglasses.

I guess life doesn't slow down much when you have 4 small children, 7 and under. It seems that we continue to stay busy even during the dog days of summer. We have been at swim meets, had a slumber party, an ice-cream social, one toddler surgery and tons and tons of pool fun! Whew...making me tired just writing about it.

Last Wednesday, Sam had another swim meet and he rocked it! He swam a personal best in freestyle, breaststroke and backstroke. He will be swimming the backstroke in the city meet next week. Wednesday night, our friends Ellie and Brendan spent the night and stayed through most of the day Thursday. We decided to take the kids to the pool Wed. night as it was family night. The kids had a ball and fell into bed when we arrived home.

Thursday, I think...we stayed home. Yes, I believe we did.

Friday was Mason's surgery. The anesthesiologist told me that Mason would be numb from the waist down for 6-8 hours so I thought...hmmmm...this might be a nice break....he will sit and watch a movie all afternoon. Yea right! We arrived home, I sat him down on the carpet, turned to hit play on the baby Einstein movie I had pre-loaded in the DVD player, turned back around to make sure he was okay and he was gone. He was speeding across the kitchen floor to where his sisters were sitting.

Saturday, we hosted the neighborhood ice-cream social in our yard. The kids had a blast running around with their friends and eating, and eating, and eating. When we came inside, Sam was definitely belly-aching.

Today we spent the entire day at the pool. It was hot, hot and the kids didn't want to get out of the pool.

Have a wonderful night.

Jennifer

Parade and Such

On Tuesday night, we took the kids downtown to the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo Parade. The weather was beautiful and quite honestly....who doesn't love a rodeo parade?

Another first for Mason! I love this picture of him with the American flag. So cool!

All the kids donned their cowboy (girl) hats and boots! Really, what else would one wear to the rodeo? We saw lots of horses, and horses and more horses. We were hoping to make it to the actual rodeo this year but it didn't happen, too much stuff stacking up. Maybe next year. Wouldn't it be exciting to see rodeo pictures? We do live in Colorado after all! Oh well, this year, rodeo parade pictures will have to do.

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On another note....

Mason had his (hopefully last) surgery today. Everything went fine and he is home sleeping. Here are some cute shots while waiting in recovery. The hospital staff gave him this cute hat and a toy car.

Okay, no pictures, yet. Blogger is not letting me move pictures around like I had hoped. Maybe tomorrow.

Now I am off to herd the cats and get some dinner started. Jelly sandwiches anyone?

Love, Jennifer

4 Months Home.

Mason is doing great in his transition. We are continually seeing his personality come out!

He understands most of the things that we say but he is hasn't been too interested in talking. Tonight, Scott was trying to get him to say book. Mason say book. Mason signs book. Mason say book. Mason signs book. Finally, when Mason was really ready for me to read the book he looked at Scott and pointed out the door. He does say dadda, momma, car, more, choo-choo, tickle, Jessie and hi. He is signing all the time and has too many to count.

He loves all things that go. Planes, trains, cars, buses, tractors, etc. He also loves to point out wheels wherever we go. We love it when he goes on and on about a truck on the road or the UPS van. Sam calls it Chinese baby jabber. We have no idea what he is saying but it sure is cute:)

His favorite time of the day is when his brace/shoes come off. He raises his hands and says Yah! It is so cool to see him scoot around without the restraint of the shoes and brace. He is tolerating putting pressure on the bottom of his feet and stands for longer periods of time now. The doctor in Greeley is really happy with his progress and so are we. It really is such a miracle to see how his feet have progressed. Yah!

He has celebrated Easter, Independence Day and a birthday with his forever family. Every first is such a treasure for us.
We love you Mason!

4th of July pictures~ just 1 day late!

Every year, I try to take a kid picture on July 4th. Always a fun time for pictures! We spent most of the day at the pool yesterday so I didn't get a chance for a picture with all the kids together. This morning when we arrived home from church, everyone was still clean, the sun was shining and smiles were in abundance, soooo we snapped away. Here's what I got. The individuals are along the side. I guess I really needed to switch out the Christmas pics :)

Brotherly love

Samuel~7 Alice~6 Paige~4 Mason~2

5th of July, 2009

4th of July

Take me to the water.

Sam loving his soda pop. This doesn't happen very often.

Longtime friends, The Youngs. We always have fun together.


Scott and Alice taking a break to eat lunch.

Scott and Mason waiting for the boat races to begin.

Scott and his relay team finished 1st.

Sam and Ellie paddling through the water as fast as they could. Unfortunately, their little boat capsized (many times).

Getting ready to race!

Chips are good!


We had an awesome day hanging out at the pool. It is always fun to spend the day with friends. We ended our 4th by watching fireworks at the Air Force Academy.

Have a fantastic weekend!

Jennifer