Emma's school holiday party!

Emma had her school holiday party on the last day before break. Not only did she have Jack and I attend, she also had Clayton, Elmo & Auntie Mily! She had so many people there to show off. She was so excited to have Clayton there. She has him help make her gingerbread house, and moved a chair up next to hers so he could have a place to sit while they had their treats. After treat time, all the kids gathered for story time. After the stories were over the teachers gave each child, including Jack and Clayton a new book for Christmas! It was such a fun way to start the holiday break!! Thanks for coming and sharing in the special day Clayton, Elmo & Auntie Mily!!

Christmas breakfast with friends....

I love this time of year! I love that there are so many get togethers, with people you see a lot or people you don't see very often. It almost always includes good food, good drink and good company! This gathering was no different! Every year for awhile now, the girls get together for a holiday breakfast. This year the only time we could get together was on a Saturday, we we included the guys and all the kids. This was a lot of fun, something we don't do all that often. We had great food, great drinks and most importantly great company!

Christmas dinner....

I am very fortunate to not only work for a very fun, supportive and loving place but I also have two very good bosses. That have also become good friends! For Christmas, Brandy and Katie took me to this awesome place called the Southern Sun in Boulder. We had dinner, drinks and chatted. They surprised me with a gift certificate to get a manicure and pedicure as well as a sweatshirt. I feel so lucky to have such great bosses, friends and a place to work!

A little bit of chicken fried!!

The Zac brown band concert was amazing! Probably one of the best that I have ever been to. Jamie, Chad, Billy, Allison, Joe and myself began the night having dinner and drinks at the Irish Snug. We enjoyed the BEST buffalo waffle fries!! I have been craving them ever since!! Then we ran to the Fillmore. (It was freezing outside!) The whole thing was perfect, good music, good friends and the beer was good and cold! To top it off, the kids had an overnight with Mimi and Poppa so we got to sleep in the next day!

Craft with Grandpa Charlie

Grandpa Charlie stopped by on Thursday afternoon on his way back from hunting. I thought it was so sweet, him and Emma sat down and worked on a snowman craft. Jack supervised! I am so glad that they had some time with him, and I think he really enjoyed it too!

Our Clayton day!

Today is our Tuesday to have Clayton over to play. Both Emma & Jack were beside themselves when they woke up. Emma immediately asked me "Is it the morning that Clayton is coming over?" They have been playing hard, and since they have been playing I have been able to get some stuff done. We made Oatmeal butterscotch cookies and they all settled in on the couch to watch 101 dalmatians. I love the Tuesdays I have with all the kids. Watching them play with each other and seeing experiences through their eyes is amazing!

Holiday decorating

This year above all other years for whatever reason I was so excited to decorate for Christmas! I even asked Joe if we could decorate on Monday before Thanksgiving! He very quickly shot me down and told me I had to wait until after. I agree, you have to wait until after the Thanksgiving holiday. So on Sunday after Thanksgiving, we pulled out the tree and all the trimmings and decorated. This year we put our tree upstairs and I was a little sad it was going to be up there, but I actually am so glad we put it up there. I love this time of year, all the lights, music, parties, food....it's all so fun!

My little cowboy!

I'm not entirely sure when Jack got his love for horses and cowboys from. Maybe from my dad Grandpa Charlie and Jack being around his horses. In any event, Jack loves horses, barns, cowboy boots and hats. The other night we were putting him to bed, he had all of his horses in bed with him tucked in tight. I kissed him shut the light off, closed the door and walked out. About the time I got downstairs and sat on the couch I heard him wailing. I knew he wasn't hurt, so I thought I would wait to see if he stopped. A few minutes passed and the wailing only got worse. I went up and opened the door, with huge tears in his eyes he says "I need my cowboy hat!" Typically I wouldn't go on the search for it, but it was the sweetest thing. Not only did I go get the hat, I also got the camera. He thought that was pretty cool. Joe just shook his head at me and smiled. I then heard him on the monitor ask for his Bronco hat, I ignored the demand. Maybe it has nothing to do with the love of his hat and more about working the system to not go to bed!!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving this year began with the gift of Joe having the whole week off! We were all so thankful! On Thursday morning, we went to Elmo's for a light breakfast and visiting, we then went to the rec center and got in a pre turkey/ravioli workout, that was followed by naps. At about 4pm we headed over to Mimi & Poppa's for the delicious Thanksgiving feast! It was all so good, turkey, stuffing, the best sweet potato casserole, green mashed potatoes (which were Parmesan basil and very good!). If that doesn't sound like enough, I am so lucky I married into such a wonderful family that is full of very cool traditions. Randy & Bev made homemade Ravioli, sausage and meatballs! It was amazing! The evening concluded with the boys watching the Bronco's play and win and the girls chatting away. I have so much to be thankful for!

Tuesday night Nuggets game

I got 4 tickets to the Denver Nuggets. Joe, Uncle Chad & Poppa were planning to go. There was an extra ticket, so Joe decided to take Emma. Jack was on his way home from spending the day with Mimi and kept asking for Joe. He was feeling bad he was going to leave him again, so he called the Pepsi center to see what the age limits and tickets were. 3 and under go for free!!! Joe took both Emma and Jack to the Nuggets game, and I got a totally free night to myself! Both of the kids were so excited to go to the game. But in all actuality I think they were most excited to be with him. Emma and Jack have such a great daddy!

Date day/night!

Joe took the week of Thanksgiving off, something he has never done before. I was so excited to have him home. I didn't think we would get a date night (with a sleepover for the kids) and the whole day together the next day. Auntie Jamie took Emma on Monday night for a sleepover with Clayton. (Emma was beside herself, she was so anxious to get over there!) Mimi & Poppa kept Jack. (He too, was so excited!) Joe and I went to the Avalanche game, courtesy of the Dick's sporting goods suite. The tickets were given to the Erie Community Center, and I was lucky enough to get them. We slept in on Tuesday, and just hung out together. It was so nice to have some alone time with him. We had such a good night together, hearing him laugh is one of my most favorite sounds. I don't know how I got so lucky to marry a man like him, but I'm glad I did!

Family Movie Night

We had such a wonderful Saturday, we ran errands, went to lunch with Momo, all took naps. It was the perfect day! After dinner, we decided to pop some popcorn and make a little bed on the floor and have a movie night. We watched the Cat in the Hat! Emma sat through the whole thing, but if you can imagine 110 Jack had a hard time sitting and watching. We all enjoyed the time together. It couldn't have been a more perfect day!!

Emma's Thanksgiving School Feast!

Emma had a Thanksgiving day feast at school today. She talked about it all morning, the place mat she made, the turkey, pumpkin pie and eating with all of her friends. Jack and I went to the party, and I think Emma's favorite part of the day was that Mimi was also there. Once she finished her turkey she came over to Mimi, took her hand and asked her to come and look at her plate. She was so proud! She was also very excited to show Poppa her place mat, so she asked me to take a picture of her holding up the place mat and email it to him at work! How sweet it that!! The day was full of lots of fun!! Thanks Mimi for coming to Emma's feast!

Snow angel's & sledding oh my!!!

This wasn't the first snow, but there was sure a lot of it! On Sunday morning, we all bundled up and headed outside for some snow fun! I stayed back and shoveled while Joe took the kiddos sledding. When they returned they were so excited to tell me about their trips down the hill. It was such a nice snowy, lazy Sunday!

Happy Birthday Grandma Mimi!

On Friday Novemeber 13th, we celebrated Grandma Mimi's birthday! Auntie Jamie made the BEST chicken enchiladas! We had beans and rice to go with! It wouldn't be a birthday without a cake. On Thursday Auntie Jamie and I made Mimi's coconut cream cake. We were a little worried about how it would turn out, but it was great! It was such a nice evening celebrating! Happy Birthday Mimi, we all love you!!

Emma's school Halloween party

Emma had her first of many school Halloween parties. She was lucky enough to have both her dad and me there to celebrate with her. She was very excited to show Joe around her school. They had a parade around the school and did a lot of different crafts. The party ended with cupcakes, cookies and juice! After the school party we had Joe's annual work trick or treating, both kids loaded up on candy and loved showing everyone at Level 3 their costumes. It was a busy day, but everyone had fun!

Halloween 2009

This is hands down one of my favorite holidays! The last few years Auntie Jamie & Uncle Chad have had a Halloween party. This year was no different, except we decided we would have a sleepover so the adults could have some fun once the kids were in bed. Fun was had!! So much fun, both Joe and I were tired all day on Sunday! We began the evening with trick or treating around the neighborhood, then returned to their house for some black magic, mojitos, margaritas, appletini's and beer. We also had a fun orange kid drink! We played cards, balloon volleyball, and of course had a dance party! The kids enjoyed themselves too, they ran around and played with each and then all passed out in Auntie & Uncle's bed. It was a great night! I am already thinking of a good costume for next year!! Thanks so much Jamie & Chad for an amazing Halloween night!!