Swingin' around

Theo finally had a day off yesterday and although he was consumed with trying to take care of some of our personal business, he still squeezed some time in to play outside with the kids. I know I keep saying this but I truly do LOVE the summers here. The weather, when it's not raining, is perfect! Maybe we could retire in Florida and have a summer home here! A girl can dream, right?

Carter spent some time upside down on the monkey bars.


He tried to fly his kite that Leslie gave him while we were in Louisiana but it wasn't quite windy enough for that. It didn't stop him from trying though.



This little baby girl just hung out in the grass and sucked on her toes. And I finally got a picture of all 5 (plus one on it's way) teeth!



Last night I had a girls night out and ate dinner at PF Changs with some friends. It was so much fun. I haven't been out with a group of girls I know without our kids since we moved here. Man, I had forgotten how much I need that. So we plan on doing it more regularly...we hope at least!

As for the rest of the week, I'm just trying to get ready for the kids party and for Omaw's visit. The hot air balloon festival is also this weekend and I really hope we get to go to that this year. Last year I was due with Olivia and Carter was terrifed of all the balloons so we ended up not going! I think this year will be different.

Today is grandpa's birthday. Happy Birthday Dad! We love you :)

Candy Lions

Our weekend

We took the kids swimming Friday morning and they had a blast! Both of them just love the water. I forgot to bring my camera though :( Theo had to work late every night this week and Friday was no exception. So Friday afternoon, I took the kids to Castlerock. I had a 25% off coupon for Carter's so I went and racked up on Olivia some cold weather clothes. I'm not finding a whole lot of sweaters out yet so I guess I will have to wait on those. I did however get her Halloween costume. She's going to be a ladybug! I got the costume for $15! Can't beat that. The traffic on the way home was awful and it took an hour and a half to get home when it's usually a 45 minute drive. But the kids did really well which made it better.

Friday night Theo found out he unexpectedly had to work Saturday and Sunday night. Ugh! We had plans to go to a party at some friend's house. Unfortunately, Theo didn't get to go but I decided to take the kids anyway. This was our first time at their house. They have an almost 6 year old and so baby stuff was hard to come by! I will admit it was a lot of work for me to have both kids there by myself. Carter was good but wanted to stay inside and play. That was fine but now that Olivia is mobile, she was into EVERYthing! We sat on the floor to eat and I was trying to feed all 3 of us at the same time. The food was excellent though! By 8:00, I was exhausted so we headed home.

This morning, I got up, got the kids ready and we went to church. Olivia was pretty fussy this morning so I was not surprised at all when I had to go pick her up from the nursery. The poor ladies tried but Olivia was not having it. We hung out for a little while. Our church is so huge that they have couches, leather chairs, big flat screen tvs all over the place so we parked it in a chair and I watched most of the sermon from outside the sanctuary. But then she got too fidgety so we left. She fell asleep in the car, surprise! I may have to start going to the second service so I can put her down for a nap before church. She has been so tired in the mornings that she almost always needs a nap by 10:00.

Hopefully tomorrow Theo will be off since he's worked the past 7 days. Carter will go back to school and I'm going to try and finish up everything for their party this weekend. Grandpa's birthday is this week too! Carter keeps asking if he's having a party :) Omaw is coming on Friday! We can't wait!!! I can't believe we are celebrating Carter's 4th and Olivia's 1st birthday in a few short days! I'm probably going to cry like a baby :)

Looks like September is going to be every bit as busy as July and August were. I enjoy being busy though for the most part but need some down time every now and then. Theo is taking Olivia to New York soon...for 8 WHOLE DAYS!!! I can't think about it without crying. I haven't been away from either on my kids for that long ever and I am NOT going to like it at all. But I will have Carter to keep me company.

And because I didn't take any pictures of our weekend, you'll have to settle for some from during the week! :)

Concert at the park

Every Wednesday night, our neighborhood hosts a concert. Last night was the final one and the first one I actually managed to make it to! Theo had to work late (again!) and so the kids and I tagged along with Jeff, Amy and their boys.


It was such a fun night. They had free hamburgers, hot dogs, chips and drinks for everyone. Carter had fun playing and falling down on the ground dancing with Caden and Carson.




Momma and her favorite girl!


Olivia enjoyed just hanging out in the stroller.

I regret now not going to more but hopefully we'll be around next summer to go to the concerts next year.

Don King called.....

....he wants his hair back!




When I got Olivia out of her crib this morning, this is what her hair looked like. I couldn't stop laughing! It's straight, well at least for the most part! Theo said "What did you do to her hair??" :) That girl and her hair have a mind of their own!

Carter's second day of preschool is today. He was running to his classroom all excited! It's good to see him so happy. Preschool must have worn him out Monday because he slept until almost 8:15 yesterday morning.

Olivia and I made it back to the Y this week. I took a break last week because I had too much other stuff going on but now we are back in the swing of things and she's doing pretty well. Now if only I could leave her at MOPS, all would be well. I'm also going to start a women's Bible study at church next month. It's every Thursday from 12:00 until 1:00 and childcare is provided. I'll only go every other week since I also have MOPS on Thursdays twice a month. But I've been looking forward to the Bible study all summer and to meeting some young moms at church.

We have a crawler!

Finally, after 11 1/2 months, Olivia is crawling! She started yesterday afternoon. She decided there was so much of a fus about Carter's first day of school that she demanded some attention as well! :)

She is not crawling all over the house or anything....yet. But she can finally do it! The baby gate is up. My life as I once knew it is over :) Just kidding. There is just going to be a lot more supervision in the near future. I have a feeling I won't be able to keep my eyes off of her. But I'm thankful. She's finally crawling! And because I don't have any pictures of this yet, I'll post these instead. (Notice the spit up all over her shirt, which I didn't see until after I took these pictures! Oh well!)

Carter's 1st day of preschool

I can't believe it's time for Carter to start preschool already! We met his teacher last week which was good. I knew today he'd do fine. And he did! I'm so thankful his little friend Caden is in his class. I think they are the only two boys. This could definitely be trouble!

We went school supply shopping yesterday. This morning I made blueberry muffins from scratch a bag. He was so excited and ready to go. Theo was able to go with us which made it so special. Carter walked right in and didn't look back! My baby is growing up too fast.



I came home and did some sewing and watched a little food network. I'll pick him up in a few minutes and I can't wait to hear about his first day of school!

Divin' Guy

Carter comes up with the funniest things. The other day, he dressed up one of Olivia's baby toys (the cookie jar) and turned him into a "diving guy". Notice the straw that is now a "snorkel". I thought it was so funny and clever that I had to take a picture of it. That boy comes up with some stuff I tell ya'!

The view from the top

Saturday, we ventured out to Pike's Peak! Theo planned this for us to do and it's something I've been wanting to see since we moved here. I went here as a kid but wanted to see it again as an adult.

The pictures don't do it justice. I will admit, the car ride up there (an hour to go 19 miles) was difficult. I was sitting in the backseat with a cranky Olivia and felt very carsick. I kept my eyes closed much of the time so I couldn't appreciate all the view had to offer on the way up.



Whoooooaaa! Don't look down!!





Taking a break, and warming up, in the shop. We drank hot chocolate and ate french fries.






Once we got to the top, it was breathtaking! And cold. Theo assured me we should bring coats. I said, "It's August and hot out here!" to which he replied "It's 40 degrees at the peak." And he was right! So here I am in my winter coat and shorts! What a sight I'm sure :)

I sat in the front seat on the way back down and it was much nicer! Olivia slept the whole way down and Carter enjoyed looking out the window. Definitely a must see if you are ever here.

Our little rasta girl

Orange Scones with orange butter

This past Saturday, I got up early (along with Carter) and made these yummy orange sonces. I've made them before but only once. They are really good if you like scones, which I do...obviously! I can't say they are as good as Starbucks but they're definitely cheaper :)

Here is the recipe:

Scones:
2 cups all purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons grated orange peel
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup mandarin orange segments chopped and drained
1/4 cup milk
1 egg slightly beaten
1 tablespoon sugar

1-Heat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly spray cookie sheet with cooking spray.
2-In large bowl, mix flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, and orange peel. Cut in the 1/3 cup butter, using pastry blender or fork, until mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Add orange segments, milk, and egg; stir with fork until mixture leaves side of bowl and soft dough forms.
3-Place dough on floured surface. Knead lightly 10 times. On cookie sheet, roll or pat dough into 7-inch round. Sprinkly with 1 tablespoon sugar. Cute into 8 wedges and separate slightly (I used a pizza cutter for this part)
4-Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden rown.

Orange butter:
Beat 1/2 cup butter until fluffy and then stir in 2 tablespoons orange marmalade

Scrumptious! There are high altitude directions but I won't include them since most of you leave below sea level!! :)

Mommy's little helper

I should preface this with the reason Carter is helping me mop the kitchen floor is because he dumped an entire glass of orange juice on it. I was trying to swat a fly and he thought by dumping juice on the floor, it would help kill the fly! That boy!

He is Mr. Independent these days.....wants to help with everything, including hanging curtain rods. Sorry, you're not quite tall enough yet buddy! He loves helping me cook but is mostly limited to helping me mix things in bowls since he obviously can't get near the stove.

We went to meet his pre-school teacher today!

I was so nervous although I couldn't quite articulate why. I am super excited because Carter's little friend Caden is going to be in the same class. I think that will really help him adjust. The teacher seems nice. The classroom is HUGE and filled with all kinds of things Carter likes. His official first day is Monday! I almost cried today thinking about how big he's getting. Where has the time gone?

In unrelated news, I wanted to show you what a steal of a deal on clothes I got from Gymboree. I spent $100 and got 11 things!


I had a 20% off coupon which helped. I also now have $50 in gymbucks to use next month! You know I love a deal. All of the clothes except one shirt are all for next summer. It's so much better to buy off season. That is definitely where the deals are. Okay, good night!

Weekend Wrap-Up

Despite Theo actually having to work Sunday, we had a great weekend! Saturday, I had originally wanted to go to the Royal Gorge since we didn't make it while Theo was on vacation. But Saturday morning rolled around, I got up early and made orange scones for breakfast, and then we just decided to hang out at home. It was so nice and very much needed. Theo and Carter played outside for a few hours. I actually got to do some scrapbooking and blog surfing! I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend a Saturday.

Carter played in his pool and loved it despite the freezing cold water. He kept asking me to come in. I told him no. And he said "But mom, on the swimming pool box, it says some mommy's can come in". Then he brought me the box and showed me the picture and there was a family in the pool. It was so funny!





Pre-dinner pictures:



That night we tried out a new Jamaican restaurant.




Theo's favorite food is Jamaican food and the only time he usually eats real Carribean cuisine is when his parents are in town. So I was thankful we found this place and he got a "fix". There is another Jamaican place downtown that we will also try soon.

I got jerk chicken, rice and peas and cabbage. I shared my chicken with Carter. Olivia had a little bit of everything. That girl truly will eat ANYthing!!


Theo had oxtail. For the first time in the 8 years we've known each other, I actually tried oxtail. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, it's beef. And it was delicious! I now know why he loves it so much. I don't think I'll be cooking it but I will definitely eat it next time his mom comes.


We were originally supposed to have a game night with our friends and neighbors Jeff and Amy. Our baby monitors work in each other's yards so we were going to sit outside and play scrabble after the kids went to bed. Amy called yesterday afternoon and said her kids haven't been going to bed before 10:00 this week so we would have to postpone. But 9:30 rolled around and someone knocked on our back door. I was furious thinking it was those dagum neighborhood kids. But no, it was Jeff! He asked if we were still up for game night! We were excited. So we hung out over there, had wine and cheese (sparkling white grape juice for me....Amy thinks of everything!) and played scrabble for 2 hours. It was so much fun. We should have been doing this all summer! It was like a double date without having to pay a babysitter! We have always been blessed to have great neighbors. I hope when we finally do leave Colorado, we'll be blessed with great neighbors again.

Sunday Theo worked so the kids and I hung out. I cleaned. We played. We went to the park. It was a lazy day. I hate to miss church but it's so much work taking both kids by myself. I think God understands and knows my heart. Speaking of God, He is so good! He even cares about us enough to answer the smallest and most insignificant prayers. For instance, I checked out a movie for Carter at the library a couple of weeks ago. I couldn't for the life of me find the box. The movie itself was accounted for but the box was MIA. Well it was due and I didn't know what would happen if I couldn't find it. I didn't want to have to pay for a movie...especially since Carter didn't care much about it. So I sat down and prayed before I started looking for it and it was in the first place I looked (which I know I had looked in before)! I was saying "Thank you Jesus!" and Carter was repeating me. It was so cute! God listens.

I hope you all had a good weekend. We have a few things planned for this week but nothing that will keep us too busy!