The latest phase...

Both children are going through a dress up phase. Nick wears his Robin Hood costume 24 hours a day, although we do have a rule about not going to school wearing it. Ellie lives in her pink fairy costume during the day. She would love to sleep in it at night but we are fairly certain that the wand and wings will get in the way. My biggest challenge is getting both costumes washed and dried in time for the kids to wear the next day....

Our Big Girl!

Ellie spent her first night in a "big girl bed"! She loved being able to climb in and out all by herself and spent two hours exercising that option. We chased her back to her room several times after finding her running the hallway. Then she discovered the fun of opening her door and talking to her brother across the hallway. Nick thought she was hysterical, and unfortunately that didn't help us encourage her back to bed. Next she discovered she could drag every toy she owns into bed and play. Finally at 9:30 she passed out. Yeah!! One last picture of her actually sleeping and Paul and I were off to bed. We're keeping our fingers crossed for naptime....

Howdy Cowboys and Girls!

Nick and Ellie picked out new cowboy hats and boots while we were out in frontier country and wore them for the rest of the trip. Nick kept busy "shooting" at cow rustlers (or birds, cows, insects, small animals, etc.) while Ellie preferred to dance in her new attire.

The Tucson Zoo

We decided to forgo the crowded shopping malls the day after Christmas and seek out some wildlife instead.

Merry Christmas!

Santa was very generous to the kids this year! Nick received everything he had asked Santa for and then some! The Shake and Go racetrack with Lightning McQueen cars and assorted other "Lightning" paraphenelia were the big hits! Ellie only had eyes for her two favorite toys, the Lucky Ducks game and an Ariel doll.

Playing Rudolph with Grande

The kids had fun singing "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" with Grande on Christmas Eve. Made all the more real by the actual red nose! Nick even knows the hand gestures to accompany the song, courtesy of his school Christmas recital!

My Loving Children

It was refreshing to see the kids celebrating this season of peace and love by not only getting along but actually embracing spontaneously! A true Christmas sight, and luckily I had the camera!

Photography Studio, Take 2...

Nick has finally recovered from all of his ear and sinus infections and strep throat, yeah! So it is his turn to play willing subject for Mommy's photography studio. Merry Christmas!

The Blizzard, Day Two.....

The snow continued through the night, we ended up with between 24 and 28 inches depending on which source you believe. Due to the wind, we have snow drifts that are 4 or 5 feet high. Especially in front of all the doors for some reason. We are hoping to be plowed out sometime on Saturday. It will definitely be a white Christmas around here! When we moved here this summer there were record breaking high temperatures not seen since the early 1900's, and now this winter we have a record breaking blizzard to rival the one in 1913. We are truly honored that the Coloradans are welcoming us to their great state by sharing such "amazing" weather with us Michiganders!

Blizzard!!!

Well, we are halfway through our first Denver blizzard today. As of dinnertime, 17 inches had fallen and we are expecting 8- 10 more before we see the sun again! Paul spent an hour in a futile effort to clear the driveway despite the 35 mile per hour winds and 6 foot snowdrifts. This is the view from our front door, a snow drift up to Paul's chest!

What to do with stickers.

The kids were having fun creating masterpieces today. Unfortunately the art project continued onto their faces.

Nick's Christmas Concert

Nicholas' preschool had a Christmas concert for the parents. Halfway through singing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town", Santa himself walked in! Nick's eyes were as big as saucers! All the kids had a chance to sit on Santa's lap. Our little chatterbox kept talking, and talking, and talking to Santa until his teacher came to get him off of Santa's lap. Then Nick came to find us in the audience and reassure me that Santa can in fact find all of the toys he asked for this year. So he's not worried anymore.

Mommy Plays Photographer...

I discovered a new feature on our camera and Ellie was a willing (for once) subject for my photos. Merry Christmas!

One Big Chicken

We had lunch at Wisdom's on our last day in Arizona. The kids had a blast riding the "big chicken" out front!

A Pooh and a Puppy

Nonie and Grande had costumes for the kids to play with. They looked so cute watching a movie on the couch!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ellie looked like a little angel for Thanksgiving in her Polly Flinders dress. Despite 6 adults in the house we weren't able to convince Nick to dress up in anything more than shorts and a T-shirt!

Playing at Nonie and Grande's

The kids loved the sunny, 80 degree weather of Arizona! They spent much of their time outside on the patio playing and swimming. We're having a hard time now that we're back in Colorado convincing them to wear winter clothing....

Wagon Train

We were delighted to visit Nonie and Grande for Thanksgiving for the first time this year. The kids were real troupers on the 14 hour car ride. We let them out in the deserts of New Mexico to run around a couple of times, and they did great. The last hour that Nick was awake we did hear a lot of "Are we there yet?", "How about now?", "Now?", "Now?", "Mom, I'm not talking to you; Dad are we there yet?"..... Then he mercifully fell asleep.

Children's Museum

Nick and Ellie had a great time at the Children's Museum in Lafayette with their Playgroup. The enormous pirate ship was a big hit with both of them. Ellie liked it so much she didn't want to leave, and Nick and I had to climb up to the deck and haul her out...