Izzie and Zac

2009

2010-01-11T12:22:00.002-07:00

Well, here are a bunch of pictures of the last half of 09.
We have been busy. Mom is working hard on her masters degree, and working and taking care of us, so she has not had a ton of time to help me with the blog. She still has about 8 months to go....we are all hanging in ok with this busy time.
We had a lot of things go on, even with mom being so busy.....

Dad is doing great. This past spring he bought me a BMX bike, and in July we started going to a local BMX track. He has got us hooked on it. He is really enjoying taking us biking, and teaching us skills. He is just so happy at the track. AND we are really getting good. Mom is amazed to watch us now, and then look back at pictures of when we started - it is really fun.

We started school in the fall - me in first grade, Izaac in all day KG. We are both continueing with piano (Izaac started over the summer), and that is fun for me, but Izaac is a little young. He is also small - his hands can barely span 5 keys. He doesn't like practicing very much, but he doesn't want to quit.

I love school, and love my teacher. I am kind of a teacher's pet. Izaac is a little troublemaker sometimes - got a letter home saying he was standing on the chair making monkey noises. Mom couldn't stop laughing....which doesn't help him learn the right way to behave. I could tell him the right way to behave at school - mom just wishes I would behave at home the way i behave at school. I am reading really well. And Izaac has learned and matured so much. His fine dexterity is a little behind - but he is getting better at writing, and slowly reading letters.

For fun, we went to Mexico this summer with Nana, Pop, mom and dad. It was great!!!! Too bad mom was doing an online class at the same time...But later in the summer she and her friend Kate and Kate's kids Sadie and Cooper and us all went on a mom and kids RV trip too Wyoming for over a week! Hiking, biking, hot springs, camping in warm weather, camping in freezing weather, dealing with an old RV - it was great!!!! Mom's camera died half way - she still needs to get pictures from kate!

We also spent a lot of time BMXing, and continued when school started. We started doing clinics with a couple young professional BMXers so that we learn how to BMX the best we can. I won one of these guys' number plate - for being the hardest worker in the clinic.

We added a new member to the family - Sunny, the cockatiel, we adopted from nana and pop, and they brought him up from arizona when they came to visit in September.

Courtney, who will be turning 14 in march, is doing well, for almost 14. She stumbles sometimes, and wants to go out a million times a day - mom thinks she has lost her mind, and forgets that she has just gone out. But she is still frisky, and happy.

The winter has been cold this year, but we have still managed to bike and do things, although lately it has been really cold.

The holidays were fun - Grandma and Jiddo were here, and we hung out with our cousins and got to go skiing.

January has started out with a bang - the first weekend there were BMX races and I got my first 1st place! yay! It was a big race too!
Izaac would've gotten 3rd in his group, but he crashed! oh well, next time!

well, hopefully we will keep up with the blog this year.....

Skiing

2010-01-11T09:20:00.000-07:00

Izaac and Izzie

Izaac and cousin Sammer

December

2010-01-11T09:18:00.000-07:00

Winter Solstice at home

Holidays at Grandma's

7 years old!!!

2010-01-11T09:11:00.000-07:00

november

2010-01-11T09:10:00.000-07:00

my 7th birthday morning

new clothes from nana

my birthday party

November

2010-01-11T09:08:00.000-07:00

Crazy hair day at school

at the track with cooper

BMX clinic

2010-01-11T09:06:00.000-07:00

Me (and zac - not in picture) started doing BMX clinics
with deke and herm (two cool guys that we listen better to than our parents)

More wedding pics

2010-01-11T09:03:00.000-07:00

Izaac cutting it up

Family (Mom had to stay in Colorado)

Me cutting it up

To Phoenix in Oct for Niece Whitney's Wedding

2010-01-11T09:01:00.000-07:00

Izaac all dressed up

Morgan and Pappy

Me all dressed up

Danny and Whitney

Pictures from 2009

2010-01-06T09:20:00.001-07:00

Well, it was a crazy year.
We are still getting mom through school, so here are some much needed pictures of part of last year.
More Fall/Winter pictures to come.

Sept visit from Nana and Pop

2010-01-06T09:19:00.000-07:00

hiking to Hanging Lake

Izaac is 5!!!

2010-01-06T09:14:00.000-07:00

A new BMX bike - and grandma sent a helmet!

5 years old!!

BMX awards; First day of school

2010-01-06T09:13:00.000-07:00

Izzie wins 3rd and 2nd

Izaac wins 3rd -wed night ribbons

Izzie starts 1st grade, Izaac starts KG

More Wyoming

2010-01-06T09:09:00.000-07:00

Sadie demonstrating Old Faithful

Izaac, Izzie, Cooper, Sadie and Old Faithful

More Wyoming

2010-01-06T09:07:00.000-07:00

August trip to Wyoming

2010-01-06T09:05:00.000-07:00

BMXing

2010-01-06T09:03:00.000-07:00

Sadie and Izzie

Izaac

July 09, BMXing

2010-01-06T09:00:00.000-07:00

June trip to Mexico

2010-01-06T08:52:00.000-07:00

June trip to Mexico

2010-01-06T08:50:00.000-07:00

June trip to Mexico

2010-01-06T08:48:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday mama

2009-05-30T07:03:00.002-06:00

last tuesday was mom's bday. She worked, so we took a cake to her and it was huge! Shared it with all her coworkers. She turned 28, wait, that's 38 - she actually had that thought process - it is hard for her to believe she is so close to 40. She says thanks to all the birthday wishes from everywhere! It is amazing how many greetings she got since her bday is listed on facebook!!!

It has finally stopped raining!!! oh my god, it was frustrating - we went from lots of snow to lots of cold rain.....and now it is finally warming up - it better, being almost June, and all.

The veges went in to the ground - and have done well from the rain, but some died. mom has bad luck with lettuce and other "salad greens" - couldn't grow from seed last year, and didn't transplant well this year. The tomatoes, peppers and beans went in and seem to be surviving. Dad built a new bed along the back fence and mom had gone and got all the soil, but it was on hold for completion due to the rain. Mom finished it a couple days ago - today the squashes and corn (we'll try it again - complete failure last year) and other stuff will go in. Mom is researching rhubard and asparagus, and planning where those could go - she'd love to have perennial veges aswell as all these annuals.

We took a trip with mom up to rocky mnt national park for a hike - it is so beautiful up there, but you'll have to take our word for it - we forgot the camera.

We are getting excited for mexico!!!! 1 week to go.

4 months to update.....

2009-05-25T08:41:00.000-06:00

So it has been a good but busy 2009. Last entry was just as mom was starting her spring semester at school, and now she is done. We are not going to detail the last 4 months, but touch on the highlights.
It was a very busy semester for mom, she was taking four classes, working 3/4 time and taking care of us.
Dad was doing all he could to help mom, and did a great job holding her together when she felt like it was all too much.
Izaac has been keeping up in preschool, and has decided that all day kindergarten is what he wants to do in the fall - he wants to have the same teacher as I have this year, and wants to do what I've done. Mom and Dad are good with that, cause he seems so comfortable with her and in her classroom, and she is the only teaches full day - and he is bored at home, asking to go to school on the days he doesn't, so they think he is ready.
I am growing and maturing too...I am reading and writing and being bossy and I think I know everything - a very normal kindergartener. I am so good at school - got an award for being so good, and at home I think mom and dad try to stifle my development - they call it staying in line....I am still taking piano - did my performance a few weeks ago, and have a little break right now.
Zac and I both did soccer this spring, but it has felt like a bust. This past winter was balmy, and the spring brought more snow and now rain than we have ever seen. Many cancelled soccer games, many inside days.
We had a wonderful break from the weather on a trip to Arizona in march - got to spend some really good time with grandma, jiddo, and some of mom and dad's old friends....it was awesome!
We have our garden going again this year, added a bed at the back of the yard along the fence, and started growing more veges. We have also started another renovation project - slowly changing the windows in the house (but this is project we are paying someone to do - rather than do it ourselves - except we'll put in the window sills). We are also trying to paint the house - maybe that will get done this summer - if it doesn't rain all summer.
So the rest of the story is in pictures.....

may in colorado

2009-05-25T08:33:00.000-06:00

my piano recital

my spring fling

dad and izaac watching me do spring fling

our veges are bigger - going into the garden!

outside soccer

2009-05-25T08:30:00.000-06:00

girls team

boys team

April in colorado

2009-05-25T08:27:00.000-06:00

dying spring eggs

growing our veges inside, waiting for may

my front teeth are finally coming in

spring in colorado

2009-05-25T08:23:00.000-06:00

snow

and more snow

fun in tucson

2009-05-25T08:21:00.000-06:00

grandma and jiddo's pool

we actually did go in!

visiting old friends

lots of friends

fun in tucson, cont

2009-05-25T08:17:00.000-06:00

after the hike

at the cookie cabin

we love carter!

fun in tucson

2009-05-25T08:15:00.000-06:00

at grandma and jiddo's

hiking in mt lemmon with jiddo, grandma and mom

carter came hiking too, his parents and dad were cycling

at the saddle

indoor soccer in january

2009-05-25T08:11:00.000-06:00

Mom started school again

2009-01-23T13:57:00.000-07:00

Mom was a crazy woman. She has been trying to get a million things done before her school started. She did get a lot done - including rearranging the "office" in the basement - now zac and I have our own computer! And yesterday she started back at school, a full load of classes. It has been so warm that we have been using our trampoline like crazy, and riding bikes to school, and mom even rode her bike to school from a friend's house that is near her school (our house is about 25 miles from her school). Izaac is doing great in school, learning to write (something he really hasn't been interested in), but he knows all his letters, upper and lower case, even though he pretends to not know. I am still loving school (studying penguins and got to have a penguin party - wore black and white) and am finally getting more agreable about practicing the piano - mom thinks i have just taken a little step up, and am getting a little bit better, which makes it more fun!
We got to go to breckenridge for a couple days to go sledding and see the ice carving. We went with our friends, and had a great time.
It was going to be freezing again later today, so mom ran and I rode my bike to school, cause it was warmer this morning than it will be this afternoon. It might be a little while again before it warms up.

breckenridge in january

2009-01-23T13:19:00.000-07:00

at the lodge with friends sadie and cooper

watching foxes "hugging" (that's what mom called it)

The annual ice carving contests in progress (this one was a budwieser bottle and glass)

dressed in black and white for my penguin party

A great month!

2009-01-14T09:30:00.000-07:00

We have had a great holiday season!
Zac and I got out of school just around the last time we wrote (mid dec), and we had lots of stuff to do. We baked cookies, got all the gifts wrapped and ready to give, had dinner at our friend kate and steve's, went to holiday parties, went to the butterfly pavilion with some new friends from mama's school, and had lots of fun. We got to catsit our friend's cat for a week, which zac and I loved, but mom was very firm about not getting our own cat.
We celebrated winter solstice at home, santa brought us some nice gifts, and then had christmas eve with our cousins, aunts, uncles, grandma and jiddo. It warmed up enough right around christmas to go ice skating on christmas eve (forgot the camera). It was warm for the holidays, and for new years eve, when we got to spend the night at grandma's and jiddo's house, while mom and dad went out for a long awaited date.
January was all about getting back in to the swing of school after being off. I've been doing indoor soccer still, had a break from piano - today will be my first day back, and izaac hasn't done much of anything....
We finally got to go sledding on monday - it finally snowed, and it wasn't SO cold. All the other snowy days have been absolutely freezing, so finally monday we got home from picking up zac from school, got our sleds and were out the door, dressed and all in about 15 mins. Mom was so happy the days of taking 45mins to get two kids ready for playing in the snow are over. I got myself completely ready, snow pant, boots, hat, gloves - all of it. Yay! We never got to ski this year - we had such a short break, and weekends are impossible cause mom or dad is at work, so we will try again later. Mom is a little sad, so going sledding made her happy.
The good news is we will be in Tucson in march - mom and dad both have holidays approved, and it'll be a good 2week vacation! yay

2009-01-14T09:26:00.000-07:00

Catsitting Kiva (Courtney is not thrilled)

Our friends' new puppy

Christmas Eve

2009-01-14T09:23:00.000-07:00

Mama's bros

Mama's bro's wives

Jiddo

Mama's sister and her husband (and son)

2009-01-14T09:19:00.000-07:00

Christmas Eve at grandma's - all our cousins

Dante

I'm drinking already! (it's just cider, don't freak out!)

A girl taking after her mom - in chocolate fondue heaven!

December pictures

2009-01-14T09:14:00.001-07:00

Winter Solstice at home

Books from mom and dad

Mom's surprise gift -

Dad's yummy apple pie for our solstice celebration

December Pictures

2009-01-14T09:10:00.000-07:00

Mama's cute kids

loving the recliner chair

mom trying to get us to pose for holiday card pictures

I'm still in soccer (indoor) GO TSUMAMI!

Freezing, colder than cold!

2008-12-15T18:52:00.005-07:00

Well, mom finally bailed on the riding bikes to school in the cold. 20 degrees felt hard core, and she felt fine getting us out in that, -14 (MINUS 14 degrees this am!!! and that was after it had warmed a little) is not in mom's vocabulary - especially with the 4-6 inches of snow still on the roads, sidewalks, cause it has been to cold to melt any away. So, to the bus stop this morning (at least we walked, the only ones not in a warm car...), and then the bus never came, because the fuel FROZE, so into a friends car to get to school. So lazy days ahead....mom says the temp has to hit at least +15 before we go sledding. It didn't get warmer than -4 today. Can't wait to go to tucson....hopefully work schedules/vacation times are approved...

November pictures

2008-12-12T07:59:00.000-07:00

Izaac and SusieQ

SusieQ and me

one less tooth!

Thanksgiving with Nana and Pop

Already December!

2008-12-10T11:29:00.003-07:00

Wow, we have had a fast month!
November was filled with visits to the doctors, visits to the dentist, visits from Nana and Pop, Thanksgiving, mom working on lots of school work as her classes get close to being done, Winter arriving, and dad supporting everyone....
Well, mishka must have known - the snow came, winter has arrived, and we have had a couple good snow storms since the last entry. She died just in time to avoid it - the cold had really started to bother her bones. So with the snow i get to ride the bus more to school. Mom still had us ride our bikes one day when it was 24degrees - it just didn't feel that cold. But if there is snow and ice on the ground, i get to ride the bus. Dad tried to take us on the sled in the snow, but we got really wet. He's gonna try again with us wearing ski clothes.
I went to the doctor for my 6th birthday. I weigh 51 lbs and i am 47 inches tall. That is the 75th% for both! Mom and dad say I am growing like a weed, and losing the little kid look. And then I lost my first top tooth on thanksgiving day! and the other top middle tooth is loose too. My dentist has informed my parents that i need some structural work on my mouth. more about that in february, when i go back to another appt.
Izaac went to the dentist too - his teeth look good, the dentist says he'll need braces later, but mom is sceptical.
Nana and pop came for a few days around thanksgiving. They brought their 1 year old tiny dog, suzieq. We loved her! Nana was afraid we'd break her - she only weighs about 3lbs.
Mom is done with her first semester at school - and she passed all her classes! She got done yesterday, and is really happy. Gets to help me with the blog....
We set up the winter solsice tree, and are getting ready for some winter fun.
(pictures will be up as soon as the battery charges)

Mishka

2008-11-12T07:41:00.003-07:00

Yesterday afternoon, mama's first baby, mishka died. She passed on quietly and comfortably, under our peach tree in our back yard. Mom is so sad, and also so glad that mishi isn't uncomfortable anymore. She was such a good dog, and will be really really missed. We love you baby girl.

In Loving Memory

2008-11-12T07:41:00.000-07:00

Mishka (11/16/94-11/11/08)

I am 6!!!

2008-11-10T03:40:00.000-07:00

I just had my 6th birthday. I got to go to a jungle place with zip lines and rock climbing with my cousins and a friend from school/soccer. And now they are spending the night...Having a great time.

2008-11-10T03:31:00.000-07:00

ariadnee and me on the wall

more swingers (zac on rt)

zac on the wall

home again for pizza, cupcaked and icecream

my birthdays

2008-11-10T03:29:00.000-07:00

my real birthday, with mom, dad and zac

swinging on the zip line

cousins are jiving - getting ready to jump

clipped in a ready to swing

YAY barack obama!!!!

2008-11-06T03:40:00.000-07:00

Mom took us to a cyclocross race in boulder the weekend before the election. She wanted to take us door to door to support obama, but she thought we'd all have more fun at the race. We've already voted, so then we've been watching and waiting, and now obama has won!!!
YAY, OBAMA!!!

cyclocross in boulder

2008-11-06T03:26:00.000-07:00

zac with the course behind him

no, i'm not telling him where to go

the sand pit

October

2008-10-31T02:56:00.000-06:00

We have had a busy 6 weeks! It is actually getting on 8 weeks since the last entry, but i'll write about october first. Mainly have been trying to keep our heads afloat with my school, zac's school, mommy's school, mom and dad's work, my piano and soccer and zac's soccer.

October saw us take mom's friend who had a baby some dinners, my first parent-teacher conferences (I am doing SO well in school), our cousin samarah turned 2!!! mom and dad had their 10th !!! wedding anniversary and took us kids out to dinner with them, mishka is still sick, but stable now - mom calls it doggy hospice, as she is now getting yummy treats and love like never before...and of course there was halloween. Quite a lot smashed in to one month. And mom is hanging in there with all she does, but ALWAYS forgets the camera whereever we go- so here are our very few pics of the month....

trick or treating

2008-10-31T01:17:00.000-06:00

trick or treating with the cousins

Our pumpkins from the pumpkin patch

2008-10-31T01:13:00.000-06:00

October events

2008-10-12T01:15:00.000-06:00

Soccer - i'm the blond

trickortreat!

Lots of changes...

2008-09-20T07:10:00.002-06:00

Mom started school about a month ago. Lots of changes.....We have to get used to her reading/studying all the time, and she tries to keep things fun for us, and so we have gone to the dinosaur museum a couple times, visited aunt nada, tried to go fishing...but really we are spending a lot of time playing outside and with each other to stay occupied. Mom says next semester she won't take 9 units, just 6, and that might be better....
Dad has really taken over on a lot of the chores - making dinner, taking care of the yard, taking care of us in the evening so that mom can study....but mom still does this blog with me, so it might not get as much attention...we have already noticed that we hardly had any pictures for the last 3 weeks! Dad took us to breck last weekend to watch a bike race (mom was at work) it was so much fun! I took all the pictures of the cyclists!

Izaac and I are in school. I love it so much - I am busy all day, and you all know what a busy kid I am, so it fits my personality perfectly! I am in school from 745 to 230, and have no problem with the all day thing...we ride our bikes to school and home everyday, but I have taken the bus three times, I tell mom I like the bus better, but we still ride our bikes. (mom's perception is I like the bike better - cause it puts me in a good mood). Zac is riding with us everyday to take me to school and pick me up. He's getting so good on his bike that he was able to ride to his school and back - 3 miles one way!! amazing!

Izaac is not doing so great in school, he goes 3 days a week for 3 hours - having a hard time socializing, but getting interested in letters and spelling. He is just learning how to socialize with kids his own age....mom hopes the adjustment doesn't take too long.

We are both playing soccer once a week, and loving it....and I started back with piano this week - and mom says that is enough!!!!

I had some major work done on my teeth - a kid's root canal - but all is good now.

Courtney also had her teeth cleaned - the dog's have cost mom and dad a bunch of money in the last 3 months, basically blown the budget way out of the water, and along with mom's school, we are in the poor house - not to mention how the bad economy has affected us. But the dogs seem stable now - Mishka is in kidney failure (early stages), and her arthritic hips have gotten so bad that she is taking meds that helps her hips, but will eventually kill her kidneys. Mom is trying to appreciate the time she is still here - we're not sure how much longer she'll be with us. Courtney is as deaf as ever, and has just nubbins for teeth, a little heart murmer, but otherwise doing great!

The weather is turning - getting cooler nights very regularly, and beautiful days!
Our garden has treated us well - our pumpkins are growing, lots of tomatoes, beans, zucchini, and we are loving it. Our only wasted space was the corn - they just didn't make it, not sure why...
Had to move our compost pile (which is doing so good, yummy stuff for the soil) - was outside, down below the kitchen window, now it is as far away from the house as possible - the fruit flies got so bad they were flying up the two stories and into the kitchen window - still in the process of doing a fruit fly extermination!

Well, that is our update for the beginning of the year - we'll try to keep updated as much as possible....

Last weekend's trip to breckenridge

2008-09-20T07:09:00.000-06:00

Enjoying outside, watching a cyclocross race

Venga venga venga! Allez allez!

Loving time with dad

Izaac's first day at preschool

2008-09-04T07:04:00.000-06:00

Going to school in the chariot

he's getting pretty big for that chariot

Izaac's Real Birthday - 4 years old!

2008-08-29T06:57:00.000-06:00

Yes, that's pink writing - all we had in the house...

End of summer and School has started!

2008-08-20T22:30:00.000-06:00

Had some fun at the end of the summer. Lots of swimming, went to a party at my dad's friend's horse ranch, another trip to the zoo with sadie and cooper, grandma came in to town and we spent three nights and days at her house while mom and dad painted trip and did work on the house (i think they went on a couple dates too....).
Then we got ready for school. At first I was excited, then not at all interested, then yesterday morning was my first day and i was nervous, and as soon as I got there, i was happy and comfortable and really wanted to go back today. Mom cried a little, she was ok until she thought about this being an everyday thing, not just a few days. She is glad I like it so much, makes her feel better about sending me off for 7 hours a day.
Mom is getting ready for school too. Hers starts next tuesday and she is nervous about that. Already has a reading assignment.

1st day of kindergarten

2008-08-20T22:29:00.000-06:00

getting my bike to ride to school

lined up at school

Going into class

My whole family came by bike to my first day of school

Izaac is turning 4!

2008-08-20T22:27:00.000-06:00

Izaac had an early birthday party cause he wanted grandma to be there and she was in town. He picked his big boy cousins Sammer and Bridger and neighbor Kaden and me to come, along with kaden's parents and our parents and we all went bowling. It was really fun.

Izaac's party

2008-08-20T22:26:00.000-06:00

Pizza with grandma

He gets to keep a pin

Bowling

2008-08-20T22:24:00.000-06:00

Kaden

Bridger

Izaac

Me (Sammer is behind me)

2008-08-20T22:22:00.000-06:00

Izaac wanted a racetrack cake with dinosaurs watching
Mom made the cake

2008-08-20T22:15:00.000-06:00

me in swim class

Zac in swim class

feeding the horses at the ranch

I loved the horses

More pictures, the garden grows

2008-07-23T22:24:00.004-06:00

Here are more pictures of bekah and tenaya's visit, and of our growing garden. We ate all the green beans before we had a chance to get them inside. We had snap peas too, and they never made it in the house. The tomatoes are growing, still green, though, and we have watermelons about the size of a baseball. The corn is growing too, mom is not sure how many ears of corn per stalk, she is loving learning all this stuff.

2008-07-23T22:24:00.000-06:00

swimming

at the pool with bekah

lounging with bekah

and tenaya

2008-07-23T22:22:00.000-06:00

veges from the garden

picking veges while bekah watches

more zucchini

work, play, work, play

2008-07-22T15:44:00.000-06:00

Well, with mom and dad taking lots of time off in june to go on mini vacations, they had to work back to back since july 6 - first mom did a couple days, then dad did 7 days, then mom did 4 days, then dad did 7 days. Now we have had a couple days off altogether and mom's cousin Tenaya and her daughter bekah visited. Even though either mom or dad was working, they did fun things with us while the other was at work. With mom we went to the pool, and she took us up to brainerd lake with our friends sadie and cooper and their parents. We also went with sadie and cooper and their mom and our mom out to idaho springs to go gold panning and go down into an old mine (mom forgot the camera for that one...). While mom was at work dad took us swimming so many times that izaac is really getting good - so good that we can mess around in the pool with each other and neither of us drowns.
While tenaya and bekah are here we went up to rocky mountain nat'l park to go hiking - it rained! And then we went to the pool with them today and mom got to see how good zac has become in the pool. It is a pretty cool summer!

2008-07-22T15:43:00.000-06:00

Bekah, Tenaya and us in estes park

Hiking in rocky mountain nat'l park

2008-07-22T15:36:00.000-06:00

All of us (missing daddy)

bouldering

2008-07-22T15:33:00.000-06:00

up to brainerd lake with sadie

and cooper

fishing

and biking

2008-07-22T15:31:00.000-06:00

I took pictures of courtney and mishka

i am better at picture taking than my mom!

2008-07-22T15:30:00.000-06:00

Out to breakfast with Nana and Pop

mom and dad rode the motorcylce

2008-07-22T15:28:00.000-06:00

in the hot tub in breck - check out the view!

playing board games with nana in breck.

out to dinner

taking a walk with mom

Mishka

2008-06-28T23:45:00.000-06:00

a picture i took of mishi last march, we are all happy she is doing well

Lots of chores, Mishka was really sick

2008-06-28T23:12:00.005-06:00

Since our couple trips out of town, mom and dad have had a lot to do around the house. Our garden is growing great, we expect lots of zucchini and corn. The tomatoes are not flowering much but we are still hoping, and the pumpkins are shadowed by the huge zucchini plants, so we will have see about those too. Mom has been "working" in the yard - i think she just loves being out there, even though all she really seems to do is pick weeds. but she also shook about 75% of all the peaches off the tree - she says the ones that are left will grow better. Dad has been cleaning the cars, staining the deck.
What really stressed mom out was that mishka got really sick. She had to stay at the vet overnight and got a lot of medecine. she is doing better now, but mom spent about a week worried that she was dying. Dad is bummed - he didn't think the whole stimulus check from the gov should have gone to the dogs, but it did.....
More chores...they are spritzing up the guest room and our bath room, because Nana and Pop get here tomorrow! Mom likes having visitors cause it motivates dad to help her do things around the house, like hang curtains and pictures and little stuff like that.
more pictures to come....

Back to breck

2008-06-12T22:00:00.000-06:00

We had such a great time in breckenridge, we went back a week later for a couple nights. Went hiking, swimming - it snowed on our last morning, we were going to go on a bike ride, but went swimming in the snow instead!! it was FUN, snowball fights and all...

Hiking in breck

2008-06-12T21:30:00.000-06:00

Swimming in the snow

2008-06-12T21:25:00.000-06:00

Swimming in the snow

i'm making a snowball

throwing the snowball at daddy

zac making a snowball

breckenridge

2008-06-06T22:30:00.000-06:00

We had a great time in breck....went biking on our first day, and spent the next day touring a ski lodge - mom and dad are thinking of buying a vacation place... and swimming in their pool - they have an awesome pool. We got to eat out for meals, but the place we were staying at had donuts every morning - what a treat!!! we had a lot of fun.

Lake Dillon, CO

2008-06-06T22:00:00.000-06:00

at the lake

getting ready to ride

me and some stranger

izaac and dad

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2008-06-01T22:37:00.000-06:00

Today was dad's bday, he was sleeping, though, so we went hiking with mom's friend beth and her kids dillon and nataliya. They used to live in the culdesac, but now they live an hour away, so we don't get to see much of them. We had a great day hiking at lair of the bear park near morrison. We saw lots of cyclists and motorcyclists, and thought alot of dad.
We bought dad a cheesecake on the way home, but it was still early, so i went swimming with my cousins and mom and izaac went home - to cook dad dinner and hang out with him when he woke up. They went swimming at our pool - Izaac is REALLY SWIMMING!
Tomorrow we get to go to breckenridge for a couple days, mom and dad's way of celebrating their bdays together.

Hiking with Beth, Dad's bday

2008-06-01T22:00:00.001-06:00

the river was beautiful

so much fun

Izaac is swimming

Happy Birthday daddy!!!

first week of no school

2008-05-30T22:09:00.002-06:00

Had a good week this week with out school/schedules. Mom's bday was monday, but she had to work (her required holiday), so dad and izaac and i got her an icecream cake and took it to her at work - she loved seeing us, and we loved seeing her. Tuesday we had fun at the pool, and in the eve we went to my elementary school and met my kg teacher for the fall. I am so excited to be in kg. Wednesday i got to go to a friends house to play and then he came with me and mom to meet dad and zac at the park, we played basketball and played on the playground. Yesterday we had kate and sadie and cooper over for the day. We went to the pool and it was perfect! we stayed so long we all got a little burned, so mom said no pool today - played in the back yard while mom gardened, had lunch outside and went to visit my aunt nada before going to piano lessons. A nice mellow day.
I'll get more pictures soon.

Another long spell

2008-05-28T23:18:00.000-06:00

Well, mom has been having a rough time at work. A few days after the last update, she had the worst ever experience at work, and not something she wants to put in a blog, but had her struggling with some pretty down days. She sort of took a break from anything unnecessary, and then focused on getting out of town with all of us. Doing much better after a camping trip and the company of good friends and lots of chocolate and wine. So now she can get back to helping me with the blog.

We have actually been quite busy this last month....

Our old dog mishka (13.5 years and counting) got her teeth cleaned and put on pain meds for her arthritis, and now is acting like a spry 10yr old dog! Both mishka and courtney got shaved last week for the summer - will have to add those pics later.

I had my first piano recital and did very well, loved performing in front of everyone. Not one iota of my parents' shyness or performance anxiety. I also had my preschool graduation ceremony and my orientation to KG.

Zac and i started swim lessons once a week. I am learning strokes and he is getting the hang of swimming. He can jump off the side and swim back to the edge. He could go farther if he stayed calm, but he has some of that fear of performance that i was lucky enough to evade.

We went camping in the sand dunes nat. park. SO fun - although it was cold - snowed one day in short bursts. The last day warmed up and on our way home we stopped at a hotsprings - it was so relaxing and fun....

Enjoy the pics

2008-05-28T22:59:00.000-06:00

Zapata falls - FROZEN!

The hike back from zapata falls

the hot springs - these individual "rock hottubs" were in addition to the pools

The river was FREEZING, each pool was a different temp

2008-05-28T22:54:00.000-06:00

kids goofing on a hike

kate and dad

mom and dad

the view from our hike - the river around the dunes

2008-05-28T22:51:00.000-06:00

our campsite, dad and mishka hanging out

the kids table

the view from our site

another view from our campsite

2008-05-28T22:45:00.000-06:00

Izaac goofing off

My first piano recital.

Playing the piano

My instructor and me

2008-05-28T22:42:00.000-06:00

I'm climbing our tree

Zac in the tree - it is all in bloom and beautiful

Izaac worn out - asleep sitting up

Great day hiking

2008-04-20T21:09:00.002-06:00

We had a great day today - hung out at home this morning, mom cleaned up the house, and then we went on a nice little hike with our friends, Sadie and Cooper, who are mine and izaac's ages, and their parents. Once again, we are out like a light.

hiking with friends

2008-04-20T21:07:00.000-06:00

Izaac, me, sadie and cooper

Third Tooth out!

2008-04-20T08:39:00.002-06:00

Well, I lost my third tooth last night while i was brushing my teeth. I just went to the dentist on thursday and had my teeth cleaned so it was nice and clean for the tooth fairy.

We have had a busy week. My grandma was in town helping my aunt Nada with her baby since she had shoulder surgery and couldn't lift him for a few days. So we skipped school on monday and visited and again we visited on thursday and then mom had a scholarship interview on friday and mom left us with grandma and aunt nada again. On monday and tuesday we worked on our above ground garden, and then yesterday mom finished it off - it is almost ready for some vegetables - we just have to wait until mid may to plant so they don't freeze.

Yesterday we had breakfast at grandma's with all our cousins and aunts and uncles - it was so fun, we hadn't seen anybody (except aunt nada and cousin dante) for a while and had missed everybody. Then dinner was with our friends sadie and cooper - and their parents - mom and dad's friends - kate and steve. They have one of those huge trampolines and we bounced for hours - which made us fall asleep in an instant last night! Good times!

New camera has been figured out!

2008-04-20T08:37:00.001-06:00

daddy and zac

Can you see I lost my tooth?

Our first tulip from our yard

Back to school

2008-04-16T18:32:00.002-06:00

We started school again last week after two weeks off - it was pretty easy to get back in to the swing of school. Then dad finished his work week and mom started her 4 days in a row, and we just had 3 days off all together. We have had some chilly days, but mostly good weather. Yesterday was almost 80degrees and today it is snowing. gotta love spring in colorado. We got most of our raised garden built over the last three days, just need to finish up a little when the snow melts - we'll get some pictures up too, since we got our new camera.
Dad starts his work week tonight, so mom has a week left before she goes back to work. She handled the 4 12hour shifts in a row just beautifully. The new schedule is working well.

NO camera

2008-04-01T19:14:00.002-06:00

well, the camera is history, no more, drowned in the toilet water at eldora ski lodge. Mom says she would die too if she was immersed in toilet water. even clean toilet water. So this blog is going to be boring with only writing for awhile, until a new camera is purchased.

Yesterday marked a big day for mom. She has, for the last 3 months, been working on completing her application for her masters, an application for a scholarship, a nurse recognition information packet and getting our taxes together, and yesterday she turned in the last of all of it. So wish her luck on getting into school, and getting money to pay for it!

It was cold the last couple days, we didn't do much yesterday, tried to ride bikes but froze. Today we got out more, still cold, and we are acting up. Dad is giving zac a time out as we write, and I have been rebelling against mom all day. Spring is here, but warm weather would be appreciated. We did plan our garden, we hope it warms up enough to build it in time to plant stuff in it. We are baking our own bread and hope to be growing some of our own food this summer.

Springbreak

2008-03-29T19:16:00.002-06:00

We've been on spring break for a week now! The first weekend (easter wkend for all you religious folks) mom and dad were working, so we were at our neighbor's Krista, Rud, Kaden and the other 4 kids....Becky officially babysat us on saturday, but then we hung out with them on sunday too. We've been back to the pool, went to the zoo on wednesday, rode bikes to the park while mom runs, and yesterday we all went skiing, and today dad and i went skiing. We had a great day yesterday, my cousins tia, sammer, riley and bridger were all there, and i am getting the hang of the green slopes, so i skied with tia. The bigger kids went with other grownups. Izaac was with mom in the morning and had a huge melt down before he even made it to the ski lift, so mom took him back inside and fed him a ton of eggs and a pb sandwich and milk. Mom thinks the protein must have helped, cause he hung out with everyone for lunch, and then was happy to go up and ski with dad. Dad thinks is was just that he didn't want to ski with mom. Mom was just happy they didn't waste almost 75bucks, so she didn't argue.

Mom dropped the camera in the the toilet at the ski lodge, so we are waiting for it to dry out completely to see if it still works. (it fell into a "clean" toilet, yuck!!!) aunty lara had a great laugh.
So no pictures.

Tomorrow we have the day with dad - mom goes to work.

Zac rides the motorcycle

2008-03-21T08:10:00.002-06:00

Well, izaac rode the motorcycle with dad for the first time yesterday - up to now he has been too scared, especially of the noise. He rode the whole way with his hands over his ears, but he came running into the house crazy excited after he got back. I think he likes it as much as me! Especially going fast.
We spent yesterday at the indoor pool, spring whether is a tease - sunny by sooo windy it is cold and not fun to play at park - we tried! No pics, mom was on her own with us, and forgot the camera.

Springtime!!!!!!

2008-03-20T08:12:00.002-06:00

We made it!!! We made it through another winter!
We have had a change of schedule - we are no longer babysitting my cousins ariadnee and samarah, and they are no longer babysitting us. So now mom and dad alternate work days so that they watch us 100% of the time. So we get to spend the afternoons when dad wakes up all together, and when mom is working dad does fun stuff with us and when dad is working/sleeping mom does fun stuff with us. They say it is alot easier to do fun outings with two kids versus four kids. The downside is that there are no more weekends where we are all together, so all the races dad had planned to do this year are no longer possible, unless we go to a babysitter, which isn't going to happen.
So we have been riding bikes almost every day - I rode 6 miles the other day to drop zac off at school and come back, while mom ran with me, we both barely made it home.... but i am really good at riding. Zac has lost his fear of speed, so he is enjoying the bike more, slowly getting more confident. We are also going to the indoor pool - I can go down the huge slide by myself, and fling myself off the rope swing just perfectly.
We are still in school, rode to school in the chariot yesterday, we can do that now since we don't have 4 kids to juggle. It was crazy windy, mom and dad almost came to a standstill on their bikes going downhill. It helps up feel better to use more leg power than fossil fuel power.
Mom and dad got a new computer - a laptop that stays up on the main floor, and mom has downloaded all the stuff she needs to get pictures up, so now maybe we'll tend to the blog more frequently.
HAPPY SPRING!!!!

2008-03-20T08:08:00.000-06:00

izaac and daddy

Me going down the slide

dying spring (easter) eggs