Theme Thursday: Sandy Toes and Salty Kisses

Fall is my favorite time of year in Colorado, but this year I am dreading the end of summer. We have a Block Party planned this Sunday as the last hurrah. I am hoping the warm weather hangs on for a bit longer. Come winter, I will miss the impromptu bike rides with other families, playing in the driveway, or watching the boys go down the slide.

The picture of my eldest was taken by a dear friend of mine during his birthday party. She took some great fun photos of the kids for me. I wish that we lived closer together so that we could learn more about photography and encourage each other.

Boys are meant for kisses and hugs,
For watching rainbows and catching bugs,
For sharing all your favorite things,
For books to read and songs to sing

Sand Dunes

The Great Sand Dunes in Mosca, CO. About 40 minutes outside of Alamosa, CO. This was the last stop on our vacation. Boy was it beautiful. Breathe-taking actually. The drive into the park made you think of how amazing this place is.

The Sand Dunes was basically created from the wind draft hitting the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, and dropping all the sand it carried through the valley. I'll tell you what, seeing sand hills in the middle of no where was really cool.

When you first walk toward the sand dunes you are met with this cool stream. We had to take off our shoes to walk across. Than put them back on to continue to the long walk to the first of many hills of sand. We had heard that you should bring a sled and let the kids ride down the dunes. We carried the sled up one hill and it was NO GO. The sled just stuck to the sand.

Bear was hot and tired and was not able to continue upward on the hills. Him, Sharkbait and I walked back- but it was a LONG ways back to the stream. There was a lot of whining and bribing with food along the way. But once we got back to the stream it was a mess of fun. Seeing Sharkbait drive head first in the the shallow stream of water and sand was fun.

Moose and Commander continued on the with a quest to get as high as they could. Moose did well for a 5 year old. When he got back to us, I could tell he was tuckered out. The feel of the cold wet sand in your toes was pretty neat. This was a nice ending to our first family vacation.

BSM: Simplicity

My two older boys ran into the house, yelling about this toad. Commander was mowing the yard, so it was hard to hear. The excitement in their voice was high pitched and words were running together. They insisted I RUN out to see the wonder of the huge toad. It was quiet large and peaceful under the butterfly bush in the yard.

Moments like this make me wish that summertime would last forever. Weekends seem peaceful and full of time to play. Soon it will be winter and the four walls of the house will close in us.

I am hoping with the upcoming month of several practices a week (football), and little time for a traditional sit down dinners that the schedule will not take too much of toll. Don't get me wrong I love to have plans everyday, but need that quiet family time at night to help calm the end of day emotions.

Salt Lick

If you are ever near Driftwood, Texas stop by the Salt Lick and get some grub. The minute you pull up you can smell the yum. Surprising enough, I think I may remember the sensation from about 5 years ago. You seat pick-nic style and can order family style. Everyone can enjoy a bit of everything.

My dear friend Whit-Nit as Commander calls her moved to Austin about 7 years ago. I miss her dearly. Her and her husband gave me the pleasure of enjoying this wonderful meal about 5 years ago. Than this spring when she brought her baby out for a visit, she brought along this treat for my family.

Whit- Nit thank you so much for this deliousiness. Bear asked for seconds when the chicken plate was licked clean. If memory serves me, I think he even licked the top of the bottle prior to throwing away the empty bottle.

I tried to use some ttv textures on these photos. This great flicker site offers some free textures. I am not a photoshop wise, so there is little chance of me explaining what I created. A lot of trial and error.

My chicken dinner picture needs some help. If you are hungry you should seriously go to this site. I fore warn you, you will get so hungry. I just browsed for seconds after lunch to get a recipe and it made be want to go cook up something yummy. So I did.

Theme Thrusday: Wonder

Mine is the Calm before the Storm. How can this sweet boy be such a hand full? As he sat here coloring, I wanted to be around him for the rest of the day. 15 minutes later a fit of rage. Is it the middle child? I need to give him more attention.

My wonder is more of a ponder on when this stage will turn for the better..........

Kindergarten

Moose was so excited to start Kindergarten. He wanted me to write on small piece of paper his room number, teacher's name and his name- in case he got lost. He put the paper in his pocket- so that it could not get lost. Driving to school I turned down a different road and he even knew the way to school (he wondered why I was taking a different way).

He jumped out of the car and told his brothers to hurry up. It was like he had done all this before. We waited for the cross walk guard to come, than he crossed without hestiation. I was lagging behind with Sharkbait, Moose lead the way.

Straight to the play ground, and off he was.........

I stayed a bit far behind to see if he needed me, and not at all. Bell rang, all the kiddos lined up to follow the teacher to the room. Quick hand wave good-bye and than he left.

1/2 day of Kindergarten goes fast. Before I knew we had to be back to pick him up. Moose said he had a great time. He even told Bear- "don't you want to grow up and be like me".

I am sure that the morning toll of being at school at 7:55am will be a grind- but than we have all afternoon to play. Trying to see the up side.

BSM: Favorite Shot

This was taken about a month ago. We were able to have some alone time while the others were asleep. We were playing with bubbles in the front yard. It was quiet, relaxing and fun.

I hope I remember days like this for the rest of my life

Antique-d

I look back at this picture and can't believe that Sharkbait was just six months old. Now that a year has past it seems to have flown by. I was thinking the car today how Moose's first year of life seemed so LONG. Bear and Sharkbait's first year's went by in a blink.

It took me awhile to think about which photo I was going to use. I played with a few and think I finally like this one. Check out Land of KA for more Antique-yness. Several of her comments show some really great posts on their blogs.

Sharkbait finds BBQ

Just this last week our little Monster discovered the wonders of BBQ sauce. Bear is a lover of BBQ sauce. His personal favorite is Famous Dave's BBQ sauce- Rich and Sassy. He even knows that Devils Spit is SPICY.

Today Sharkbait, was really finding out how much he likes the sauce. I was surprised how well he cleaned his plate.

Slip and Slide party

We ended up having warm and muggy weather for the Big Event. We played many games: Duck, Duck, Goose; Spin your Head on the Bat; Water Balloon Relay; Water Balloon Toss; and of course a small Water Balloon Fight.

Next we turned on the Slip and Slide. Thanks to good friends we were able to have a triple side, along next to our Star Wars slide.

Commander and Mr. Gladiator cooked up some good dogs and burgers. We sang Happy Birthday and ate our cupcakes.

Presents is always fun. Moose was lucky to get a lot of cool things.

Slip and Slide continued for a while and than we played Freeze Tag. Clean up was easy due to all our friends helping.

After everyone left, Commander crashed on the couch and Moose was in heaven playing with all the new toys.

I need to give a special thanks to Mr Gladiator's other half for being my personal photographer at the event. She got some really great photos. I still am sorting through them all. Thanks a million.

At kids parties I feel like there needs to be several hands to get the job done:Coordinator, Crowd Control, Food Organizer, Photographer, Videographer and Clean up crew. Like a wedding but it's a kids event.

I hope that everyone had a great time. The next event will probably be the Halloween Party. So I will need to enlist some help prior to the party.

Cup Cakes

Today we prepared for the BIG event. The Party for the Birthday Boy. The day was filled with lawn care, cup cake making, moving tables, and filling up water balloons. The forecast for tomorrow is 81 with thunderstorms. That is going to make for a cold slip an slide day. I better quick think of other games for those 15 kids to do.

As I am taking pictures of the boys wolfing down the cupcakes, I notice that Moose does not have one anymore. That child is going to eat me out of my house. While Bear begs for a second and Sharkabit takes an hour to eat one.

I personally really like a good cupcake. My personal favorite is Carrot Cake.
What is yours?

You're Getting Older

Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday Dear Friend,
Happy Birthday to You.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeypOvsY91Q
(This video is a fun Birthday song)

Wishing you a great birthday today. You are a wonderful friend. I hope that you are feeling lucky. You are surrounded by an awesome family who loves you, a good husband, and great kids. Not to mention what a fabulous woman you are. Where would I be without you listening to all my issues, all your good advise and wisdom. Gal~ you have been entertaining for me and supportive through most of my life. Feeling pretty sappy about our relationship, so I will hold back. Thank You.....

Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!!

P.S. Remind me to take some photos of you. I can hardly see your face or I am in the photo. I searched for a long time to find the one of you and your family and it is missing your oldest.

Moose is 6

Wow.... That is all I have been saying for the last couple of days. My first baby is 6 years old. I remember what I was doing 6 years ago today. Laying in a hospital bed feeling hot as hell- from the magnesium sulfate medication so that I would not worsen from HELLP syndrome. I was unsure of what to name this little guy and Commander was sure of the name. He was such a proud father that day.

Looking through pictures just amazes me. Moose is turning into a great kid. He is starting to be kind and think of others. He asks politely to do things. Moose thrives off of alone time with his parents. He helps out with the other boys a lot.

So for his special day, he was greeted with donuts~ which I know he likes. He got to pick out what we did for the day. He wanted to go to the Zoo. So off we went. Moose wanted our 5 Spice Chinese Pork for dinner with Fried Cheese Wontons. For dessert chocolate cake with ice cream. And Presents...... What could be better.

Buck Skin Joe's

1860's Frontier Town outside Canon City. The authentic buildings and gun fight were really something. We pull up and hear gun fire. Our boys could hardly contain themselves. They wanted in to see all the action.

The buildings were really neat. They preserved artifacts from the town and placed them in each building. At the local store, they sold souvenirs. How could we resist getting toy guns. Especially after the gun fight.

Every couple of hours there is gun fight in the middle of the town street. The actors walk the walk and talk the talk. Theirs guns have blanks in them and are LOUD. We saw two different gun fights and both were fun.

The really show came when our older boys started to act out the gun fights. Best two bucks we spent on a toy in awhile. It was hard to tell the boys that they could not fire their weapons in the car. Well geez mom- we just got these really cool toys and now you want us to be quiet.