Big Night in the Clinton House!!

James lost his first tooth!!! Soooo exciting!!

Now James does not like anything that has to do with his body. Like if he passes gas he just goes on as if nothing has happened..he gets so embarrassed! So, I was like...hey James is 5 he should be getting loose teeth soon. I checked and not only were his two lowers loose....there are two adult teeth halfway through right behind them!! Oh my goodness he does things fast!

The only problem is that since the adult teeth didn't push the baby ones out, they had the possibility of their roots strengthening. We have an appointment set for Thursday to have both the lowers pulled. I told James this and his fingers and tongue went into overdrive trying to get these boys out! We had one of them to the point that it could bend all the way forward but we couldn't bend it back because of the tooth behind it. So, I put my nail under the front of the tooth and just popped it out. He was soooo excited (not to mention that I had promised Dairy Queen if he could get it out today! Even funnier..when we called my mom to tell her she thought James said the Fairy Queen was coming to the house!! haha).

Now we just have to get the second one out tomorrow!

The pictures are gradual throughout the day. And as I previewed the pics I saw how dirty his face has been ALL day...I will work on learning how to wash my children in the next coming weeks!!

Enjoy!

And The Winner Is.....

Kaylee Clinton!!

I love word plays and so does my darling daughter. So, when Kaylee came up with a play on words all by her eight year old self, I had to take it.

New Column Name is....drum roll please...

Brighton New World...get it? Like Bright and New World. So cute!! Yay Kaylee!!

Thanks so much to all of you for sending in your ideas. It was fun reading them all. I really appreciate all of the support I have gotten from you and all of the excitement that you've shared with me! I am one lucky girl!

Just Another Week in the LIfe of Krista

We got a new security system in the new house. I'm a bit of a freak when it comes to darkness and night time! So, the first night that Jim is not home with me when I go to bed, Monday night, the front door won't arm. I call the company and they tell me they will have someone out tomorrow and teach me how to bypass the one connection for the night.

Side note: There is a train about a mile from my home. At night time it somehow picks itself up and moves its tracks right outside my door so that it sounds like it's about to come through my bedroom!! I have learned to sleep through it though.

Back to my story. So, I have decided that I'm not sure how much I like alarm systems because you sleep lightly and listen to see if you hear the siren that could possibly go off (at least that's what I do). Not to mention on this particular night that I've pretty much convinced myself that someone has tampered with my front door and is just waiting for me to turn out the lights so that they can kill me or whatever it is that they do when they break in. Somehow between listening for my front door and waiting for my alarm to go off, I do fall asleep. And then the stupid train goes by! I almost hit the frigging ceiling!! Needless to say, I was up every hour that the train went by that night!!

Then on Wednesday I was so very very brave! I took Jimmy's truck and drove on the highway for 20 minutes to get his emissions test done. I also got my Colorado driver's license. I was so proud of myself that I found a bakery and treated Jagger and to a chocolate croissant. Yummers! Then we headed back to Brighton and I had both of the vehicles registered. Go me! From there I went straight home (this is an important part of the story.)

Since I had written such a big check at the registration place I came in the house knowing I should update my checkbook. At the same time I saw my voice mail blinking and while I listened I checked my email and was shocked to see I had 20 new emails. When I finally got through with everything I went to get my checkbook. Where is it? I am positive I put it on the counter. You know how you know you put something somewhere and you look around over and over and over for it and it puts you into a really bad mood...well, that was me! I was so annoyed.
Jagger and I went and picked James up at the bus stop in the car and decided to go back to the registration place because I must have left it there. Nope, not there. People, I am telling you, I did not go anywhere else! When Jimmy wakes up I have to tell him. And he reminds me of another Krista story.....

8 years ago I could not travel back to Canada without documentation because I was in the middle of trying to get a greencard. I was leaving for Canada in two days. Kaylee and I had picked up lunch at Cracker Barrel one day and I have a habit of throwing my wallet into whatever bag I have just gotten with my purchase. Once I got home I removed my purchase. The bag was such a sturdy bag that I used it as a garbage bag and threw Kaylee's diaper genie bag into it and put it on the curb with the rest of the garbage. Once the garbage was picked up I realized what had happened and called Jimmy crying my eyes out because of the upcoming trip. My super hero husband called the City of Baytown and found out what truck picked up our garbage. He then called the garbage truck driver and was told that he was already at the dump but that he would dump beside the big hole (because I have no idea what the technical term is) and he could come dig through if he wanted. Jimmy left work and met the truck and dug through a whole truck load of garbage looking for a Cracker Barrel bag with diapers in it...and he found it! Complete with my wallet right at the bottom like I told him it would be.

So, when I told Jim about losing the checkbook you can imagine how he felt. How can I possibly lose these things?? He made me call and cancel the last two checks and I was frustrated the rest of the day. That night I was going upstairs to put the kids to bed and noticed Jagger closing the cubby in his new bed. I saw stuff in there and was wondering what he was storing. And guess what I found?? I knew I had brought the stupid thing home!! I called Jim but he wasn't as nearly as excited as I was because the probability of me losing it again in the future is kind of high, I guess. haha!

On Wednesday I got sick too! Runny nose and cough.

All is well that ends well. This is my normal and I woudln't trade it for anything! Besides, it gives me something to talk about.

Jagger's Room

No, he isn't my favorite...he just got lucky because we had all of the stuff! haha The bed is new because Kaylee had to take her bed back because her bunk bed wouldn't fit in her room. The quilt is the one we made for James while we waited for him to come home from Russia (James is now in a full size bed and the quilt is twin). So, we just did a cowboy room because it was super cheap and easy. Notice he still has a corner of race car stuff though!!

Column Name-Need Help!

I need help! I need to name my column. My new boss, Kevin, suggested that I go to my blog readers for ideas. So, I need your ideas. And the one that comes up with the one I love the most will win a great big THANK YOU straight from me!! That's all I got...I'm not getting rich writing this column!!

Okay, so here is how the column is going to work. Very similar to my blog. I will be trying out new things in and around Brighton, CO. I have a quest to find a new hair dresser, a new babysitter, a new cake lady..I will try different activities and restaurants. And I will write about my experiences. Some will be things just Jim and I try but most will be kid-friendly places. The idea is to grab the attention of my age group. New people will have a place to look to find things to try out. Long time residents will maybe enjoy seeing what they've always seen in a different light. In the column the readers will be referred to my blog to get more in-depth with my family and me.

So....I need a name that encompasses all of that! I know a lot of you email me and that's fine..you can still do that at kristaclinton@hotmail.com. I thought it might be fun for others to see though by leaving it in the "leave a comment" section.

Thanks for your help..can't wait to see what you come up with!!

Krista

Seriously Famous Dude!

I GOT THE JOB!! Writing a bi-weekly column for the Brighton Blade. I need to go in and sign some papers and then it will be official. Oh...and I have to give them a picture. Ugh! I was telling my sister that I wish she was so here so we could have a fashion show and snap pictures all night long until we find one that we like. Just as well she isn't though...we'd probably have some margaritas to celebrate and in our drunken stupor we would pick the one where I look the most retarded! Now I will have to comb through my computer files and see if I can find one. Really though...is it even possible that there has been a picture taken of me without a child on top of me in the last 9 years?? This could take a while!

But who cares...I have a job. Yay me!

100 Things About Me

I love lists! I love paperwork. I love organization. But I especially love lists. So today when I checked Carissa's blog and saw that she had a list of 100 things about her it was only natural that I be a big fat copycat and make my own list (which you may also be a copycat and do yourself because they are so fun to read about other people! And besides, Carissa admitted to copycatting someone else!) So, here goes...

1. I have a really long name..Krista Margaret Eleanor Devine-Clinton
2. I love all of my names except the Krista (all the others have special meaning).
3. I named my daughter the same way..two middle names.
4. We named James just to mess with people's heads because everyone always asks if Jimmy's name is James (it's not).
5. I was born in Ottawa Canada.
6. When I think of home I still picture Montreal, Quebec.
7. I have had 11 surgeries.
8. I was born with a cleft palate.
9. I am blind in my right eye.
10. I used to wear a hearing aid.
11. I want to get a hearing aid again.
12. All of the people that I say "what?" to all day long want me to get a hearing aid.
13. I have the perfect husband.
14. I have three beautiful children.
15. We took fertility drugs to have Kaylee.
16. We adopted James from Saratov, Russia.
17. Jagger was a huge surprise.
18. I get upset every month that I realize I'm not pregnant.
19. I could have a house full of children.
20. Parenting is the hardest job in the world!
21. I feel guilty for how much I yell at my children.
22. I am terrified to be home alone at night.
23. I make my children sleep with me when Jimmy works nights.
24. I love to read.
25. I am 9 months and 21 days into reading the Bible in one year.
26. I am a christian.
27. I love God.
28. I am especially thankful for grace.
29. And mercy.
30. I love small groups.
31. I like to cook.
32. I like to make cookies and cakes with my kids.
33. I love to have people over for dinner.
34. I don't have a lot of friends.
35. I am very close to the friends I do have.
36. I talk to my mom everyday...usually more than once.
37. I talk to my sister Jennifer almost every day.
38. I wish I talked to my sister Catherine more often.
39. My dad committed suicide when I was 19.
40. The first funeral I ever went to was my dad's.
41. I miss my dad's laughter the most.
42. I can still hear my dad say my name "Kris" any time I want to.
43. I have a half brother named Michael.
44. I lived in Texas for 10 years.
45. Texas never became home to me.
46. I moved to Colorado a month ago.
47. I feel happier in Colorado than I have in a long time.
48. I have been married for 10 years.
49. The last four years of our marriage have been the best!
50. I love growing old with my Jimmy.
51. I am scared of dying.
52. I am terrified of heights.
53. I zip lined the first and only time this past summer at family camp.
54. I am not inclined to ever do it again.
55. I want to go white water rafting.
56. I am shy.
57. Yet I know I'm a leader.
58. I annoy myself when I talk about myself too long.
59. It makes me feel like I am boring the other person.
60. I am now wondering why I am writing this list.
61. But my love for lists is winning!
62. I have dislocated my left arm 5 times.
63. I have only dislocated my right arm once.
64. I have a horrible long term memory.
65. I have extremely vivid dreams.
66. I have been known to confuse my dreams with reality.
67. I don't remember my parents being married.
68. My parents divorced when I was 6.
69. My mom is one of my favorite people in the world.
70. I love to paint. Walls not pictures.
71. I love my hair.
72. I like how my hair changes colors all on it's own. No, seriously.
73. I love to do big projects with my husband.
74. My husband is way funnier than me.
75. Most people are way funnier than me.
76. I was born without the funny gene!
77. I love baths.
78. I hate walking.
79. I eat three meals a day.
80. I hate to drink.
81. Unless it's fountain coke.
82. I craved fountain coke and red meat in both of my pregnancies.
83. I am a jealous person.
84. I get my feelings hurt very easily.
85. I don't lie.
86. I hate being lied to.
87. What you see is what you get with me.
88. I am proud of how my life has turned out.
89. I feel very blessed with everything that has been brought into my life.
90. I am always trying to be a better wife and mom.
91. I want to be a better Christian..more knowledgeable.
92. I want my children to grow up loving God more than anything.
93. I have failed at doing daily devotions with my children.
94. I really want to go to Jamaica or Los Cabos with my family.
95. I want to be skinnier.
96. I hate brushing my teeth (but don't worry, I do!).
97. I love writing.
98. I love blogging.
99. I still love lists!
100. I wouldn't change a thing about my life except to have my friends and family closer.

Berry Patch Farms

Most of you know that I'm a chicken. Truly. And today was no exception. All week I have been talking about taking my kids to Berry Patch Farms...but this morning I woke up and feared the drive. I had no idea where the farm was and had no desire to get on the highway! So, my solution was to take my kids garage saling at 7:30am.

The truth is..the kids loved going to the garage sales. I packed up some banana chocolate chip muffins and some drinks for the car. We brought along some DS systems. Pheasant Ridge was having a community sale so we headed on over to see what we could find. It was so much fun. James found a cool USA sweater and Kaylee found three books. We took a break after the first round and went to the park in East Farms. Another great park! Then it was back to looking for garage sales on our way home. The kids even had fun trying to find the signs to tell us where the next sale would be. Who knew?!

We got home around 11 and I was feeling pretty good about our Saturday morning. Then ten minutes later the arguing began. Ugh! There was no way I was going to get out of doing something bigger with them. So, I looked up the address to Berry Patch Farms and got all the kids into the car. When I plugged the address into the GPS system I was very happy to see that the farm was only 10 minutes away and I only had to go on the highway for one and a half miles. And I survived it!

The Farm was fantastic. We got to ride a tractor that took us out to the strawberry fields and then back to the farm again. We picked raspberries. Funny...my kids swore they didn't like raspberries. Something about being able to taste a berry straight from the tree though...they are all big fans now. I'm thrilled that they tried something new and that it was something healthy! After the berry picking we went out and cut some flowers to put on the kitchen table. The price was right! For a big carton of strawberries, a medium carton of raspberries, 8 flowers and 2 HUGE zucchinis that I got from inside the store (where I also picked up a natural fruit roll up strip in strawberry rhubarb..yum!) it only cost $16. Not bad for an hour and a half of fun with my kids and half of our lunch. I am now a HUGE fan of Berry Patch Farms! I can't wait to go back and try their roasted peppers. Yummers!

Now, for the zucchini. When I was reading some blogs last night, I found one where someone raved about a chocolate zucchini bread that they found on allrecipes.com. I happened to remember it when I was at the farm and picked up the zucchini. I also have to say that I was a big fan of the recipe because it made two loaves of bread. Anything that has chocolate in it and makes double amounts is already tops in my books! The bread was soooo easy to make (especially with my Kaylee shredding the zucchini for me!). And it was sooo delicious to taste! The boys kept calling it cake. I, on the other hand, deluded myself by believing that because there was two cups of zucchini in the recipe that it was a healthy food. Said delusion allowed me to eat double amounts!

Needless to say, it was another great Saturday. I would say perfect, but it wasn't because Jimmy couldn't be with us. He is working all weekends for the next month and we missed him bunches. We were so excited to come home and feed him berries and zucchini bread though...and he appreciated both very much! I'm thinking that next weekend we might try out Brighton's movie theater. Should be fun!

Another One Bites The Dust...

My poor Jagger. I mean James is clumsy and never pays attention to where he goes so it's understandable that the child is covered in bruises. But Jagger...he has the worst luck ever! Tonight it was playing at Chick fil A (it's been a whole two weeks since the last time I was there!!). He was in the playroom with James, Kaylee and two other boys. All the boys were climbing up the steps as fast as they could and going down the slide as fast as they could. Jagger being one of the smaller ones got knocked out of the way and trampled on...and has the FAT LIP to show it! Check out these pathetic pictures. He enjoyed taking the pictures way too much and then staring at them with the saddest faces like he couldn't believe this happened to him. Now he is laid up on the couch with ice on his lips....doesn't your heart just ache for him??! My little drama king!

No Really...I Might be Famous!

So, I emailed the Brighton Blade today about blogging for them or doing a column. And they responded. I'm now in talks (emails, really) with someone about really getting a chance to do this. How fun!

I have been thinking about my quest to read through the Bible in one year (I'm actually 3 days ahead of schedule!) a lot lately because I keep wondering what I am going to pledge on New Year's this year to top the feat. I have been thinking about the comment I made in my blog about how I couldn't wait to see how much my life would change this year..because I knew it would. I expected the inside change but never could I imagine that my life would change so much physically. I mean, hello! I'm in Colorado! Talking with someone about writing a column for a newspaper! God just never ceases to amaze me. This has truly been a journey of a lifetime!

The Front Entry

Okay, this wasn't too hard to clean up so you get two today!! The first is right when you walk in the front door. The table is an old antique table of my in-law's that we never had a perfect spot for before, but do now! The sign that is on it has a bible verse that says "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength" which is a really good motto when you live in this family of mine!! The hallway is what you see when you look straight ahead coming in the front door. We made a wall of our favorite things...the American flag, a couple of Canadian paintings and drawings and a picture of us in Russia. We are proud to be a multi-country family and we like displaying it for the kids...and they like to point them out to visitors. And yes, I picked another bright color. Mustard yellow. I call these colors my "happy colors." I think my life has taken a very bright turn recently!

The Dining Room

I am going to start posting some pics of the decorating I've been doing. However, I have three kids and I can't keep more than one room clean at a time! So, today, it's the dining room. I went bright and bold with the colors and picked out a nice burnt orange. I absolutely love the color and love the contrast with the brown table. I put in the fourth picture, even though it is not such a good one, so you can really see how bright the orange is (notice I only showed you under the ledge into the kitchen...disaster area in their right now!!). Also, check out the new dishes. They are Bobby Flay dishes and my new pride and joy. Now, we just need to make lots of friends so we can have lots of dinner parties!!

A Nice Mommy

You know those flowers that you are supposed to wish on, then blow and they fly off in the wind to make all of your wishes come true? James had one on our steps yesterday. He wished out loud and his wish was "I wish I had a nice mommy." I said "James, that isn't very nice at all. Do you really think I'm a mean mommy?" He said "Well (yes, he said well), you yell at me all of the time." I said "Do I yell at you when you are being a good boy?" To which he replied no. So I said "I wish for a good son." And off he went running and brought back two wishing flowers so we could both make our wishes come true!

White Fence Farms

We have some friends from family camp, Jen and Scott, that live in Colorado Springs. We invited them to Tiny Town last weekend which they couldn't make but told us that they really wanted to try out White Fence Farms. So, being in the "trying out" mood that we've been in for the last month, we met them, along with their kids, Kyle and Sarah, up there last night.

The drive wasn't too far. I would say it's about half an hour from our house. We weren't expecting it to be in the middle of town though. It's in Lakewood, and seriously, IN Lakewood, like in the middle of it. But once you get parked and start walking around, the city really does fade away.

We got there early which was a good thing because people start lining up for dinner an hour before they even start serving! This has got to be good chicken! We fed some animals, which the kids loved. Then we found an awesome playground with a tree house in it. After making the boys take a picture of us up in the tree house we sent them off to wait in line. Turns out it didn't take long because they were giving out numbers. Once they opened the doors for seating I would say it only took us a half an hour, if that long, to be seated. Long enough to check out the pretty girl's bathroom (Kaylee found the mirror where she pretended she had a twin and then danced with her! So funny!).

The wait was worth it! The food was delicious! With the two families we just ordered two anniversary dinners (which says it serves a family of four but I'm pretty sure it could have fed a family of ten!). They bring out all of these sides to get you started...corn fritters, cole slaw, bean salad and cottage cheese (with chicken dinner? Weird. But okay.). Everyone gets a choice between mashed, baked or french fries which comes out with the chicken. And the big plate of chicken they bring out!! Jen figured out that they allotted four pieces of chicken per person! And the kids don't eat off of that, they get their own plates with two pieces of chicken on that! It was soooo scrumdidlyicious though! This is not KFC people! No grease pockets or grease sliding down your chin. This is down home mama's fried chicken. Yummy! Definitely a place to bring visitors!

After dinner we found the pig chute which is a straight down slide. The funny part is that you end up on the stage when you come out...you know Kaylee only did it one time!! Kyle and James enjoyed it a couple of times though. Jagger wasn't tall enough so he played in the barn with all of the toys and forgot all about the pig chute!

Really cute. White Fence Farms is affiliated with an Adoption Exchange program and they have a book of adoptable children by the pig chute area. I was flipping through when Kaylee came up and she immediately took it away and said she had to find herself an eight year old sister! So adorable! Wouldn't it be nice if God put another girl in our family...even out the kids and the sexes. I'm pretty sure Jimmy thinks this move to Colorado has cancelled out future children though. So sad!

Okay, so the last thing we did was wait in line for dessert. And wait we did! Jen and I couldn't believe how long we waited! So many people. And they have the same line for drinks as they do for desserts. Us big brained people think they should make it two separate lines. Too long! Oh but the first taste of fudge dulled the memory a little. And when I got home the big slice of strawberry rhubarb pie that I bought really helped!! Again...delicious!

There is pictures of all of this but the last one is the ride home. I'm sure we may get tired of these big ol' mountains one day, but I just can't imagine it! Check out what God painted last night! And you can see the area that is being snowed on...words can't describe it and a picture barely does it justice....God is awesome!!

A Super Solution

I was talking on the phone with a girl from MOPS the other night and she happened to mention a place called Supper Solutions. I was on the laptop while we were talking and looked it up and it looked pretty neat. Then when Jim and I took the kids to safety day on Saturday the event just happened to be taking place in the Supper Solutions parking lot. Jimmy and I took a look around and decided to join for three months. I went tonight for my first time.

The basic idea of Supper Solutions is to make dinner time easier at home. You can choose from about 18 meals and they have a different menu every month. When you go you prepare all of your meals (you can choose as low as 8 or as high as 18). With the three month plan that I signed up for (you get 15% off right now in Brighton if you sign onto this promotion) you are required to choose at least 12 meals. And choose we did!

When I arrived tonight a lovely girl named Leah was my helper for the evening. All of your meats are in a frozen Ziploc labelled with what meal they should go with. You take one of the bags and then go to the station that has the same label. You then follow the directions on the card. (You can choose size wise which serves 2-3 people or full size which feeds 4-6 people. You tell them what sizes you want to make when you call to reserve your appointment time.) Leah explained how to do it all and left me to it (she was only a quick hey away if I needed help though).

People...this place is awesome! I was so worried that this was going to be more for the working mom that has no time than for me who is home most of the day (trust me, I even asked about the cancellation policy while I was signing up...it's just a $25 charge for those of you that are interested). Seriously though, this was a dream. I got to make 12 meals, package them all and not one person asked me to finish their DS game, or told me that someone called them a butthead or even asked me to get them a drink...not one time!! I arrived at 6pm and was done and walking out by 7:15pm. And the variety. No more soft taco nights once per week. We are going to have so many things to choose from. And I chose full size so we will have leftovers from most of the meals. Here is a list of the 12 meals I chose:

Big Dawg Ribs (Jimmy picked that as our first meal to try out tomorrow night!)
Chicken Tetrazzini
Colorado Wraps (roast beef wrapped in tortillas)
Honey Garlic Pork Chops
Honey Mustard Chicken with Bacon and Mozerella
Isabella's Parmegiana
Memphis Pork
Mexican Chicken Skillet
Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches
Rocky Mountain Petite Roast
Skinny Minnie Tortilla Soup
Sweet Brisket
and we ordered a size of Lobster Bisque Soup

I know you want to know...our average month should be $183 but tonight I paid $200 even because I ordered a couple of the more expensive meals. The prices are based on the meal. To do a size wise plan would run you about $142 a month.

Here is a picture of one of the stations. All the ingredients are right in front of you. All I had to do was measure them and put them into a Ziploc bag so that they can be frozen until we want to eat them. Big plus..I'm not going to be making a meal and halfway through realize that I forgot to buy one of the ingredients...it's all at my fingertips! And another perk...Leah came behind me and cleaned up my messes! Tell me, how many times does the stay-at-home mom get to say that someone is cleaning HER messes??!!

And here is me all done with all of my food bagged behind me. Look at all of that! I cannot wait to get started cooking. I do have one complaint though...it was really hard not to lick my fingers while I was working! I accidentally got honey on my finger and was seriously salivating over it! And the big fresh chunks of tomatoes that I had to put into the Mexican Chicken Skillet...oh how I would have loved to pop one of those into my mouth!

So, a super solution to all of your time management and variety issues when it comes to dinner is Supper Solutions!! If you go based on my recommendation then please give them my name because I'll get a free meal, just like Kelly did for recommending it to me!!

Happy Eating!!

Tiny Town

I was surfing through blogs and found someone with pictures of Tiny Town. I didn't even know if it was in Colorado so I decided to google it and lo and behold it is only 45 minutes away. So, today after church we decided to take a trip out to Morrison, Colorado to visit Tiny Town. Again, the weather was phenomenal and the day was wonderful.

Tiny Town is a place that has been around since 1916 and it has replicas of real buildings in Colorado but they are made to 1/6th the size. Some of the houses, or buildings, you can walk into and play. Others are closed in but you can look through the windows and they are decorated inside. It is quite amazing all of the work that has gone into this place. The conductor told us that there are about 14 of the original buildings but many of the originals were wiped out when the town was flooded three years in a row (sounds like my kind of luck!). There are over 100 buildings and it's a really neat place to bring the kids. Cheap too! The whole family got in for $19 and the train rides are only $1 per person. It was a great time for the whole family.

Here is a picture of all of us on the train. You can't even see the train it's so small beneath us!


We took the first train ride when we arrived and then took another one right before we left. There is a caboose in the back that you can put the children into (it gets locked while the train is in motion). We let them do the caboose on the second trip and they thought it was pretty neat..

Okay, here's something funny. The train has to go up this little hill and it couldn't make it up. After a couple minutes of just barely inching along the conductor gets out and starts to push. Then he calls for help and all the men get out to push with him. I couldn't get my camera out fast enough for the actual pushing but here is Jimmy just as he was getting done and about to hope back in. Too funny!

A little opera anyone?

Either my bum has gotten big or.......???? Surely it has to be the or!!

The train ride is up at the entrance. Then you walk along the houses and buildings. At the end of that is this great big playground. The kids played here for about and hour and half and loved it. They even had some a log cabin (the "tiny" version, of course) that the kids really enjoyed playing in. What fun!

All in all it was another perfect weekend in Colorado! Next weekend it's off to a chicken farm that also has a restaurant....we get to pet our meal before we eat it?? This should be interesting!!

A Quick Funny

I don't have curtains on the window above my bathtub. The other night after I started running my bath, before I got in, I could see someone across the way waving their hands over the tops of their mini blinds. I thought that 9:30 was kind of an odd time to be cleaning blinds but maybe she can't sleep or has company coming in the morning. Then I picked up my magazine so I could read in the bath and put my glasses on on the way to the tub. I looked out the window again, with glasses on this time, and realized there is a tree in front of her window and it was swaying in the breeze. HAHHAHA Maybe I should wear my glasses more often! Either that or stop being a Peeping Tom!

GO ASTROS!!!

What a great surprise! The Houston Astros are in town to play the Colorado Rockies for a weekend series and we got to go see them tonight! I was a little nervous with all of the kids (James' last and only experience with a baseball game was not so good...read fell asleep and was only happy when eating junk food!) but all of the kids did great. It was such a great night. I had no idea that Coors Field was an outdoor stadium and the weather was perfect tonight! We could not have planned a better Saturday night.

Well, you know nothing is just perfect with me. I have this slight (read HUGE) fear of heights. We decided that we would buy $12 tickets since we wanted to be cheap and there are five of us. I was happy with that. And I loved walking around and taking the escalator up. It was quite nice. And then we went to our seats. We were on the lower 300s and we were only three rows up from the railing. And after the railing it's just a SHEAR DROP OFF TO A CERTAIN DEATH!! I was terrified. We still had half an hour until the game started so Jim said we could go try and walk off my fear. It was a nice stroll while I pumped my children with the new instructions of no standing, no sitting on anything but bottoms and certainly no wild jumping!! Just sit and make no sudden moves and all will be well! Poor children!

I must say I did do very well during the game. I had to look away when anyone from the front row stood up. And one time there were these teenagers that came in on the second row and had to get to the first row and they stood on the seats before they got to the ground of the first row...I felt the fear from my calves up. Yes, MY CALVES! Who knew that you could have fear in your calves? Here is a picture of how horrible the drop off is. They should really correct this, or make the railing ten feet higher! Of course, I couldn't get any closer to show you what you could possibly land on, but trust me, DEATH WOULD BE IMMINENT!!

Coors Field was gorgeous. As it got darker the mountains seem to shine brighter in the background. It was such a lovely night, a lovely view and a perfect time with my family. So very blessed I am!!