St. Patrick's Day

How did Monday get here so fast?  I'm pretty sure it was just Friday.  I guess that's what you get when you clean like a fiend all day Saturday and stay at church until late afternoon on Sunday.  Your days just fly by!

Since St. Patrick's Day was on a Sunday, we didn't get to do any crafts but we did enjoy some good 'ole Irish food!  We began with a very nutritious breakfast of Lucky Charms with green milk (colored with food coloring).  Did you know that Honey Nut Cherrios has the same nutritional value as Lucky Charms?  And here I thought Honey Nut Cherrios were (sorta) nutritious.  Might as well eat those little crunchy marshmallows.

While we were at church, a few families decided to pool our resources and spend the afternoon / evening together.  I had a pot roast with potatoes, carrots and onions cooking in the stove and had ice cream in the freezer to make Shamrock Shakes.  Another friend had salad works while the other had drinks.  All together it makes for a fun and delicious St. Patrick's Day lunch!

Happy St. Patrick's Day from a lucky dog!

School Letter Update

It's been awhile since I've posted the letters and their corresponding craft that we have done so far.  We did skip a few letters (H, I and J) but have made it through M.  Elianna enjoys learning but I do believe I enjoy doing these letter crafts the most!

E is for Elephant

F is for Fish

This letter craft is based off the book "The Rainbow Fish"

G is for Giraffe

K is for Kangaroo

L is for Lamb

M is for Moose and Muffin

This letter craft is based off the book "If You Give a Moose a Muffin"

Advent Calendar 2012

You will be happy to know that the procrastination of posting all the Advent Calendar activities has come to a close.  They are all now done and 2-1/2 months after Christmas, you can now view them.  

Day #1 - Georgetown CO

Day #2 - Advent Wreath & Elf Gift #1

Day #3 - Buy Christmas Tree

Day #4 - Christmas Puzzle

Day #5 - A Charlie Brown Christmas w/ Popcorn

Day #6 - Candy Cane Milkshakes

Day #7 - Candy Cane Festival

Day #8 - Ladies Tea & Cousin's Play

Day #9 - Advent Wreath & Elf Gift #2

Day #10 - Decorate Christmas Tree

Day #11 - Elianna's Preschool Party

Day #12 - Elf w/ Hot Chocolate

Day #13 & #14 - Miscellaneous

Day #15 - Babysitting Co-op

Day #16 - Advent Wreath & Elf Gift #3

Day #17 - Make Caramel Popcorn

Day #18 - Christmas Puzzle

Day #19 - The Best Christmas Pageant Ever w/ Egg Nog

Day #20 - Indoor "Snowball" Fight

Day #21 - Christmas Lights

Day #22 - Carriage Ride in Boulder

Day #23 - Advent Wreath & Elf Gift #4

Day #24 - Snacky Meal & Christmas Eve Service

Day #25 - Merry Christmas!

Valentine's Day 2013

Apparently it's becoming "the thing to do" and posting events way after they happened.  Such is the fate of Valentine's Day 2013.

Just like last year, on the 14 days leading up to Valentine's Day, I gave Elianna little gifts.  This year I gave Chris "Love Coupons."  I noticed it was a teensy bit harder to buy things for Elianna that cost about $1 (and that would fit inside her Valentine's box).  A couple of times, I had to hide them behind my back and then give them to her when she opened the box and found nothing.  Some of the items I gave her were:  nail polish, a body-less doll (it's for hair styling I believe), socks, Valentine's Day shirt, nail accessories (file, toe dividers for painting toes, etc), a craft, lip gloss and hair clips.  She loved them all!

Chris had to work Valentine's Day morning, so Elianna and I surprised him at work by bringing him a donut.  Weird thing about the donut store:  it is open from 5:30 am - 2 pm.  When we got there at 9 am, there was only 1 tray of plain glazed donuts left.  It must have been a super busy morning for them!  All that donut love!

Dinner was unfortunately delayed a bit with Chris working on counseling a family, but it was well worth the wait!  We had Kaytucky Chicken, roasted asparagus, and homemade chocolate pudding.  

Chris surprised us both with flowers - tulips for me and bright and colorful daisy along with a balloon for Elianna.

Wedding Story - Part 2 {Rehearsal}

It's only been a year since Part 1 of our Wedding Story.  Yesterday we celebrated 8 years since that day so there is no time like the present to share Part 2 of our Wedding Story.  Part 2 actually backs us up one night to the Rehearsal and Rehearsal Dinner.  I guess technically I have to back up to the day before.  

The day before the wedding, we had family pictures taken in the park that we would have our reception in the very next day.  Very fitting and very pretty!  These are just some of those pictures.

Caleb was so little!

We planned our rehearsal for before dinner hoping that people wouldn't mess around since they would be hungry.  Worked like a charm!  We practiced what needed to be done for the ceremony the next day and boogied on out the door to dinner.  

Chris' brother John and my friend Lisa

Chris' friend Todd and Chris' sister-in-law Rhonda

Chris' friend Nate and Chris' sister Tracy

Chris' brother Mark and Sissy

Caleb as "The Herald"

Chris's mom did a wonderful job orchestrating and planning the rehearsal dinner.  Originally it was going to be held at the Officer's Club on base but with the hurricane and such, it ended being held at Landry's Seafood where it overlooks the bay.  Honestly I don't remember what we had to eat but I'm sure it was good!

Unfortunately, I don't remember much more from this day except I was trying to be calm and soak it all in.  Obviously, it didn't work too well.  Coming next year sometime, Part 3!

Weekend Recap

Because I couldn't think of a more exciting title than that.... Weekend Recap {boorrinng!} Chris miraculously had off all day Saturday!  Can you even imagine?!?  All day {sorta}!  To start our day off right, we meet some friends at Chick-fil-a for a free breakfast.  What is better than free food and good friends?  {Well a couple things do come to mind like a day long massage with delicious delicate food and soothing music.  And that's just off the top of my head.}  To top it off after they handed us our free breakfast food, we were then handed coupons for more free breakfast food for another day.  I could get used to this.

Chris ducked out early to go to Camp Gladiator and Elianna and I headed home to watch Stuart Little 3 while we waited for Chris to get home.  Why must they make movies where children lie to their parents and don't get in "big" trouble because they saved the world in the process?  Thanks for teaching my 3 year old it's ok to lie to me if in the end everything turns out just fine.  {And down off the soap box I step}

We spent the afternoon at the Z Ultimate karate tournament.  We wanted to give Elianna a taste of what she could achieve if she puts her mind to it.  She is still quite young I know but just wanted to let her see the amazing talent displayed at the tournament.  The tournament began early in the morning and was scheduled until later the evening but we only stayed for the instructor tournament.  Her Sensei did not place this year but the Sensei from a karate school closely associated with Elianna's swept the instructor tournament.  1st in kata (form). 1st in weapons.  1st in sparing.  3rd degree black belt Sensei Lee rocked the instructor tournament!

Probably the most intriguing part was the taiko drummers.  The Denver taiko drummer is a "community based organization committed to honoring and sharing Japanese drumming through performance and providing an engaging creative outlet for those with interest in the art of taiko."  And that's the official definition.  In basic words, the taiko drummers are Japanese drummers with very loud drums!  As in so loud one of the lights above the drummers, blew and the entire light casing fell onto the flour.  That's loud!  The neatest part was that the instructors teamed up with the drummers this year and performed during one of their "songs."  {Are they called songs?  I guess so.  I honestly don't know.}

PS:  Elianna's Sensei is the female instructor that is in the middle at the end (she also does the elbow to the guy at one point).  Sorry for it being so small at the end too - you get the point.  And believe me, the sound volume does not do this justice.  The drums were loud!!!

After a nap and some dinner, we ended our weekend with some Menchie's yogurt.  Best way to end the weekend {except for, of course, a day long massage blah blah blah}!  Seriously, it was nice to have a weekend that we spent together.  Oh but wait!  I forgot the very very best part - spring forward!  This is my most favorite time of the year!  Long evening that still have light and the thought of a warm summer ahead!  Glorious!

Happy 70th Birthday!

Monday Chris' Uncle Royce turned 70!  To celebrate, Aunt Bobbi bought him a ride in a glider for Saturday morning.  I guess technically it's called a sailplane.  You know the plane that has 1 wheel and no engine?  Scary!  So a "regular" plane (aka the kind with landing gear and an engine) is hooked to the glider with a tow wire and takes you up into the sky and at some point detaches from you.  The glider plane is left to glide around and eventually land on that 1 wheel.

Uncle Royce absolutely loved it!  They went all above Boulder and to the foothills just looking at the beautiful scenery.  The rest of the family stayed below and were mainly entertained by Elianna.  She tied up Shawn and Cameron and put them in "jail."  I think there were a few jail break attempts but she would not have it!

After Uncle Royce was safely back on ground, we headed to Famous Dave's for some good barbecue. Sweet tea, pulled pork and baked beans - nothing gets better than that.  Happy Birthday Uncle Royce!

I love how Elianna adores Cameron (left bottom picture) and Kylie (right bottom picture).  They are her "best buddies" (her words).  I also love that they adore her right back.

Sickness

Even after buying an arsenal of anti-sickness drugs, we all are now officially sick.  I even made my own Vicks shower discs hoping they would help.  Chris paid a co-pay last week to be diagnosed with "the crud" {thank you doc for that scientific diagnosis}  Elianna was next to be hit while I was relieved to not have gotten it.  My reveling was shot down yesterday morning when I woke up with a sore throat.  Boo!  Praying we all feel better soon.  At least we're all in it together.

The White Stuff {aka Snow}

In additional to the Laura Ingalls Wilder "blizzard" this weekend, we had also gotten some white stuff the week before and then we got a bit Tuesday also.  I love the snow when it is still white and fluffy and fun to walk around in, but once it starts melting, I'm not at all fond of it.  It turns our backyard into one giant mud puddle that Harley romps around and gets all muddy.  In order to avoid a carpet crisis, his feet have to be washed and dried off before he comes inside.  It's not a big deal to do .... unless it's still super cold outside and then there you are washing paws off in freezing cold water.  Then it becomes a process.  Ah!  The joys of living in Colorado!  

We did get a chance to play in some of the snow and go sledding before Elianna came down with the crud.  She and Chris went down the sledding hill first and got a little freaked out with the snow flying up into her face.  The second time down, I tied my scarf around her face making the experience a bit better.  However, by the third time she was done and wanted no part of sledding down the hill.  In order to get down, her and I had to walk/slide down on our hindquarters.  Not so fun.  Maybe by next year she will have forgotten the snow in the face part and enjoy it a bit more.