Beautiful Colorado

We had a wonderful week in Colorado with Phil's brother & family. They gave us a gift of free lodging & a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take our kids skiing. We stayed in Vail & had fun riding the gondola our first day there. We visited the Science Center at the top of the mountain, enjoyed chicken noodle soup near an open fire pit, and later Phil, Matthew, Abbie, Grace, & Noah got to go on a snow shoe walk under the light of a full moon.

Nothing like some yummy hot chocolate on a cold, cold day!

Another day, we explored a bit of Vail & took the kids to the Colorado Ski Museum.

Unexpected

I was checking email this morning and making my list of all I hope to accomplish today. Someone sent me this link and it was an unexpected surprise, but just exactly what I needed to hear today. So I thought I would share it with you.

For every Mom who feels invisible...

I must taste good...

I was expecting yesterday to be like every other Sunday.

Get up early, enjoy the quiet house & an uninterrupted shower, wake the kids...then try to survive the mayhem of Sunday morning. The goal is just to have everyone presentable & out the door in time for church without too many tears, fits or drama. Then I get to paste a smile on my face so that during the greeting time when everyone is asking, "How are you?", I can answer, "Fine!" or "Great!", instead of snapping at them & saying, "My morning was crazy...how about yours?!?!?"

Okay, maybe that's not an accurate picture of my Sunday mornings. It is getting easier now that the kids are older. At least I no longer run the risk of getting spit-up or poop on my outfit. About 50% of the time, it's smooth sailing, but there are always those mornings...when I'm too busy getting everyone else ready that I don't realize I missed breakfast until I'm standing in front of the doughnut table & wishing there were healthier options offered.

But then I just eat the chocolate doughnut & all is right with the world again. Sort of.

I digress. Yesterday I woke up to an itchy ear...a bug bite...most likely a spider bite. A little while after I noticed the itchy bump on my ear, my chin started to feel numb. Sort of like after a visit to the dentist when the anesthesia is wearing off. By the time I rolled out of bed to check the mirror, my face was feeling hot & weird. It was a nice shade of red & swelling rapidly. Allergic reaction. Or a brown recluse. Maybe I'm dying. Great. Even if I paste a smile at church, it will be blatantly obvious that something is wrong with me.

I popped a Benadryl to manage the itching & went through the motions of getting everyone ready. By the time church started, I was getting desperate. I found my friend, who is a nurse, who conferred with another nurse; their diagnosis was that I needed a shot of cortisone. Unfortunately Urgent Care and Minor Emergency aren't open on Sunday mornings, so we headed to the ER for some much needed relief. My friend sat & waited with me until I got my shot...right in the hiney ...because that is what friends do. And they do not laugh at you while you're getting one...well, most of the time.

I made it back to church for the last 15 min. of the sermon, made it through lunch (thanks to a wonderful sister-in-law for throwing it together), and crashed for a nap. The Benadryl was finally kicking in. Good news is my ear won't fall off. The Dr. didn't think it was a brown recluse bite. Bad news is we'll be "bombing" the house & checking nooks and crannies for hungry spiders.

I know I'm sweet and all, but I'll just stick to having my husband nibble on my ears from here on out...

Happy 2010!

Here's wishing you a Happy New Year!

Tradition!!! New Year's cookies

(not really a cookie at all, but a fried doughnut with raisins

...it's a Mennonite thing)

Playing "Go Fish" with Grammie
Ticket to Ride

Wheeee...

Merry Christmas to you all!! We're enjoying time with family. Dad & Mom drove down a day early, as we were expecting snow. The 8 inches forecasted only turned out to be 1 1/2 inches, but we'll take it. It's fun to have a White Christmas. My husband took me on a "hot date" to Wal-Mart this afternoon; we spun doughnuts in the Old Navy parking lot & shared a Peppermint Mocha @ Starbucks. I am a happy woman. We put the kids to bed, filled stockings, and had fun playing the Wii we borrowed from friends.

Here's video of Mom & I were busting a gut watching Dad & Phil play tennis.

Tonight was the school Christmas program. Last Friday, I got to watch the kids preform for a local high school, so I enjoyed knowing what to expect the second time around. Nothing could have prepared me, however, for my youngest, who choose to ham it up his entire performance. It was his moment to shine, and "shine" he did through every song, his duet, and everywhere in between. I'm not sure if it was because he could see us sitting near the front, or if it was because he knew he was on camera, or if it was because he saw countless people laughing hysterically at his antics. Whatever the reason, he didn't stop. The laughter only added fuel to the fire, despite my prayers and desperate attempts at telepathy! So, although I was embarrassed for one evening, it was all caught on tape & I undoubtedly will have many occasions with which to embarrass my son with the evidence of his behavior. But something tells me...he just might be proud of himself!!

On the upside...the other three did great & behaved themselves wonderfully. :) Grace was one of the main characters (Fluffy the Lamb) and did great on her lines & her solo for "Away in the Manger". Abbie was a 50's girl & looked cute in her poodle skirt. She also had a solo; we love to hear her sing out with all her heart. Noah was disappointed to be the only one in the family without a solo, but he sang his little heart out & we were proud of his part as one of Noah's "animals". They are all glad to have that "over with" and are counting down the days to Christmas break.

Birthday boy

Here are pictures from Daniel's 5th birthday...better late than never, I guess. He requested a guitar cake, because he is "daddy's guitar buddy". It was fun to give him a kid's acoustic guitar that was a hand-me-down from some friends of ours. Abbie is becoming quite the little cook. She made supper for me while I was busy finishing decorating the cake. I'm loving having an 11 year old in the house! :)