Moving

Just kidding....

Well, sort of . I am moving my blog.
I have obviously outgrown this little ole' blog and need to move on.  It is definitely still a work in progress so (like my house) there is still some organization to be done:)
Please come on over and check out my new space!

I won't be posting over here any longer so if you enjoy my ramblings please bookmark my new site!  Thanks.

www.coloradowescotts.wordpress.com

Jennifer

I'm Back....

Well, I survived moving (barely), kids fall activities, Halloween, Thanksgiving and a very fun (and relaxing) family vacation.  Whew.  Is it Christmas yet?

So many thanks to my parents for so generously granting us an early Christmas present, a week long vacation to Florida.  We spent most our vacation hanging out by the pool, walking on the beach and enjoying adult beverages (only me!).  We got to celebrate Thanksgiving with my brothers (and families) and my parents.  It was a great Thanksgiving holiday, for sure.
I am going to post some pictures just as soon as I figure out why I have reached my photo capacity on blog.  I am thinking about moving my blog to a different spot.  Any thoughts??

Sooo, I am glad to be back.  I missed you all :)

Jennifer

Another Day, Another Room

Nope, still no photos of the master bedroom.  It is still home to piles (and piles) of laundry.
Tonight I am giving you a tour of our mud room.  The mud room was numero uno on the must have list for a house and this mud room/laundry does not disappoint.  If I didn't like my new purple accent wall in my room so much I might have to put a cot in the mudroom and sleep there.  Just kidding, sort of. Anyway, I still have some work to do (like hanging pictures and getting baskets for hats and gloves) but I am really happy with it now that all the boxes are gone and the painting is finished.  I am not sure what the last owners were thinking with the cupboard choice. My guess was that these were the sale ones.

So, the thing is...if I commit to posting pics of the new house everyday, maybe I will get the boxes unpacked more quickly?!?!? We'll see :)

Please excuse the poor quality of my pictures.  I was taking them at night and couldn't get a decent shot without the flash.
So, I went with orange.  The painter said it might be his new favorite color.  He was probably just making me feel good about my crazy choice but I still like it.  It is not quite as bright as the pictures seem and really pulls out the rust color in the tile.
 See that small room with backpacks and coats?  I. Love. It.  With four kids, a dedicated area for all the winter parts is a must.
Okay, so I hope you haven't been bored stiff....next up, the inside of our shed.  Hahahaha!  Just kidding......

Have a great night and check back tomorrow for another riveting tour of some room that has yet to be unpacked:)

Jennifer

Moving In

We have been "moved" into the new house for a week now.
I still have 1236 boxes to unpack.
The kids are loving their new spaces.  Sam and Mason scored their own rooms and the girls are sharing a larger room in the lower level.  I am slowly getting some things put away and finding places for everything.  The master bedroom was the first room to do on my list and then kitchen.  The kids unpacked their boxes and put most of their stuff away. That was hugely helpful.  The laundry/mud room is my next project.  We are in desperate need for hooks and baskets :)  So here goes on the the picture walk of the the new house. Well, new to us :)  First in line, the kitchen.  I would have posted the master bedroom but it is currently home to stacks of clean laundry.  So it goes with 4 kids. Lots of laundry.
Bless our agent, Tony; we looked at a lot of houses.  Let's just say it was more than 10 and less than 50 :)  At the top of my list was mudroom and pantry.  I didn't even ask for a large kitchen and this was the only house we looked at with a decent sized one and updated too.  Super plus.

Happy Wednesday!  

Love, Jennifer

Samuel {11}

See, I told you that I would post about Sam's birthday before the end of the year :)
Well, this is going to be more of a post in pictures than words.  Mainly because, well, I am really tired.  Moving is exhausting.  Really exhausting.
I pleaded and begged but he went ahead and turned eleven.  As I stand back and look at my baby boy, I am amazed at what a super cool kid he has become.  He has always been such a sweet, kind, smart child (no bias here!) but I truly love the kid that he is right now.  Of course, he will always be my baby boy.  Always.

Happy Birthday Sam Man.  You rock.
Love, Momma, Daddy, Alice, Paige and Mason

Girls on the Run

I have mentioned in previous posts that Alice has been running after school with a program called Girls on the Run.  I had the privilege of being one of the coaches at her school for the last 10 weeks.  As a conclusion to the season, all the girls are invited to a 5K run in Steamboat Springs. Yesterday we headed to SS for the run.  We had 42 girls from our school run in the race and all finished!  I was one proud mom and coach.  Alice ran really well and finished (along with another classmate) first on her team (not first in the race) with a time of 33:10.  We spent the day in Steamboat and then headed back home last night.  It was a great day!!!!!  If your daughter ever has the opportunity to run with this program, I highly encourage you to get them involved.  Here are some cute pics from the day.  Enjoy!

Four Little Goblins

Once again we had a successful Halloween.  Everybody enjoyed their school parties and then we headed down to the store for Trick or Treat Street in Frisco.  It seems that every man, woman and child in Summit County came out for the annual event. While Scott's parents took our kids around town, we hung out at the store and passed out candy, coffee and cider.  This year we passed out more than 50 pounds of candy! Oh my!!!!  It was super fun and kids came home with enough candy for the whole block.

 From left to right: Shark eating a surfer, pepperoni pizza, a banana and a very yummy cookie. We must be really hungry this year:)

Not only did we have all the Halloween festivities yesterday, but we also closed on our new house. Today the painters arrive and hopefully we can move in for real next week!  Life continues to keep moving, thank the Lord!!!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween.  I am off to "hide" all the chocolate....

Jennifer

Alive, Barely.

Life has been like a whirlwind. In between working and school, we have been super busy packing and getting ready to move.  Again.  Don't worry, this time we are only moving a couple streets away.  Soooo, I am going to post some pictures of our last couple weeks and leave it at that....

Did I mention that we have company.  Oh yeah, that too.

Never a dull moment.....

Just to spice things up a bit, Sam and Alice both decided to run for school office. Sam ran for president and Alice ran for vice-president. Sam and his VP running mate won. Better luck next year, Alice!  They both gave great speeches in front of the whole school.  I was one proud mama bear.

We carved pumpkins a bit early this year.  Everybody loves this tradition...

except for Paige.

This shot may or may not give an accurate picture of how Sam really felt.

We have also been super busy sewing Halloween costumes.  Paige will (obviously) be a slice of non-vegan pizza, Alice will be going as a banana (not the easiest costume ever), Mason is stylin' as a cookie and Sam will be a swimmer being eaten by a shark.  Scott and I will be dressed as ski/bike shop owners.  Imaginative, I know.

This is the sneak peek to Sam's 11th birthday.  He was blessed to have Grandma, Papa and Uncle Tom here for his big day.  More pictures to follow and I promise that post will be before 2013.

Whew.

Jennifer

Sunday Drive

We were all (mostly all) up bright and early this morning and unanimously voted to run up to Copper for some doughnuts.  After a day of snow flurries, the mountains were breathtaking.  After eating doughnuts the size of our heads, we hopped in the car and headed out for a quick drive to see the Rockies in all their splendor.  Our first stop was Mayflower Gulch.  Let me just say that my picture does not do it any justice.  The only word I can think of was majestic.  

We left the gulch and headed toward Leadville.  While driving along, we came upon Camp Hale.  Super duper cool.  Sorry, super duper epic. Evidently, I have become so old that I am using terms that I shouldn't.  Epic is the new cool.  Gosh, it isn't like I said swell.  Anyhoo, Camp Hale is where the 10th Mountain Division trained and prepared for WWII and the difficult terrain of Italy.  There isn't a base there any longer but some remains of building and road signs.  We were super jazzed about finding this spot because the kids and I became interested in the 10 Mt. Division after a field trip to the Ski and Snowboard Museum in Vail last July.

After leaving Camp Hale, we started the drive back toward home and found ourselves in a little town outside of Vail called Minturn. Tiny, cute locals town with a river and a view to kill.  Of course, the kids spotted a park and we pulled in to play.  Next to the park were some old railroad tracks.  I had a ton of fun snapping pics of the kids and they had fun messing around on the tracks.  

Enjoy the pictures :)  I got a bit carried away.  What can I say the light was good and the subjects willing.

Hey. What can I say.  They are cute kids :)

Hope you stayed awake for all the pics.

After our drive and doughnuts we made it to Sam's last soccer game of the season and now we are making out way through the kitchen with boxes and packing tape.  

I hope you all had a fabulous Sunday.  

We sure did.  

Jennifer

Make a list

Every year, as you all know, I dread the start of school.  What I really dread the most about school starting is the morning routine.  I end up using my "ugly voice" and somebody under the age of 10 cries.  It isn't pretty.  I hate it, they hate it, and nothing gets done.  So this year, we made a morning list a couple days before the start of school.  We did a trial run and have been working to the list ever since.  The list is a great tool for all the kids.  They are constantly checking it to see where they are and what needs to get done.  One hard rule: they may not eat breakfast until the list is done.  That is a huge consideration for them.  You know how my kids love to eat.  They don't want to miss a meal.
The list has changed our lives. Too dramatic?  Okay, so at least it has changed our mornings.  We still have the occasional crier but rarely are we hearing from the ugly voice.  My kids work to a list really well.  I am not sure why we didn't do it sooner. Oh well, live and learn.  And drink.  No, just kidding....maybe.
The best things about this list?   Everything gets done and I don't do it.  They do it all and get it done earlier than later.  I don't pack snacks, start showers, make beds, throw dirty clothes into hampers or stir oatmeal.  They do it and have taken ownership of it.  It goes so smoothly (most of the time) that I think I could add in another kid.  Just checking to see if Scott is reading :) 
Anyway, we are loving our list.

Part of the list thing is that I also learn to let some things go.  Like comforters on upside down:)

BTW, Mason's bed is not shown but he always makes his bed, even on the weekends, bless his heart, before 6 o'clock in the morning.  Oh, and he does get a bath.  We just do that at night :)

Have a great day!

Jennifer

Look at me....

Look at me!

Look at me!

Look at me NOW!

It is fun to have fun

But you have to know how.

― Dr. Seuss

An A+ for effort...or maybe a C for crazy!

There is definitely not a dull moment around these parts.  We are staying super busy and having lots of fun along the way.

I am a bit tired and I don't want to bore you with too many details so I am going to keep it short :) The kids are great and Scott and I are doing our best to juggle activities, work and a bit of play time (running and biking).  

Enjoy the pics...

I love this face....contemplating the monkey bars.

I couldn't help but post this picture.  So much attitude.  Is that pink hair you might ask??  Why yes, it is.

Mason.  Always looking cute.

Sam with a friend at the park. 

Happy Mond......zzzzzzzzz.

Good night.

Jennifer

Pin It To Win It

Wild Olive Tees is giving away free t-shirts.
All you need to do is pin.
I know you all love Pinterest, right?!?!??
Well, I won't go into detail but I do spend  a tiny bit of time over there pinning all sorts of fun things.....including these awesome shirts.

Head over to Wild Olive Tees to win one of your favorite designs!  

I love, love, love these tees!

You can find all the details here.

Good Luck and Happy Pinning :)