First Family Motorcycle trip of the season...

We went on our first Motorcycling adventure of the season. Mark had found a new trail he wanted us to try out at Rampart Range. It was more of a road and a really nice ride. I have to admit I was a bit shaky at first. I haven't ridden in over a year but by the time we made our way back I was enjoying it.

It was a really scenic ride. We stopped a couple of times and the boys climbed around on the rocks and explored. We stopped at a beaver pond or what used to be a beaver pond. We didn't see any beavers but we saw evidence of them.

The weather couldn't have been any nice and Grandpa came along which doubled the fun!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Book Review

Happy Friday!

I wanted to share with you a book review I wrote on a book called "Goal Free Living". My friend Terra posted it on her great book review blog. You Can check it out along with other great reviews over at Tales From the Nightstand. I'd be curious to hear what you think, if you've read it or may want to in the future.

Have a great weekend!!!

Sounds like a family...

I was talking to my Dad on the phone the other day. It was after school, getting close to dinner time. He asked what the noises were in the background. I stopped to listen to see what he was talking about. I said "Oh, well, Connor is chatting with a friend. Alex has a friend over too, they are playing in the basement. I'm getting dinner ready, the dog is barking a little because she wants to play and Mark is fixing something". He was quiet for a minute and he said "Sounds like a family, that's nice". He wasn't trying to be profound but his words were so genuine it touched me. I thought about how alot of times I wish our house was a little quieter but I really do take the sounds of my family for granted. His words changed my perception... so the next time you feel like your house is little too noisy.. stop and take a listen to the sounds of "a family".

Wordless Wednesday

Everyone piling on Mom... Even the puppy. This is a common occurance at night when we all sit down to relax. Wasn't so bad when they were small. That's ok. I will take what I can get!

Check out more Wordless Wednesday Posts at Five Minutes for Mom.

Memorial Day

I hope you all had a nice Memorial Day Weekend. We went into the weekend not having any set plans but ended up driving to Wyoming for our annual fireworks shopping on Saturday. It was a nice little getaway.



On Sunday we went to see Night at the Museum, Battle at the Smithsonian . I thought it was good and the boys enjoyed it too. Mark stayed home because he wasn't feeling well.

On Monday we went for a hike with friends. We went to Castlewood Canyon State Park. We kept thinking any time we were going to get rained out but we didn't. It was actually perfect weather. Not too hot, not too cool.

From Memorial Day weekend

From Memorial Day weekend

From Memorial Day weekend

From Memorial Day weekend

From Memorial Day weekend

From Memorial Day weekend

From Memorial Day weekend

From Memorial Day weekend

From Memorial Day weekend

From Memorial Day weekend

From Memorial Day weekend

Go Nuggets...

The boys found this Nuggets Jersey in their Build a Bear stuff. They put it on Skylar. Isn't she just the cutest?

The planting of a garden

Connor has been asking for the past couple of years if we could have a vegetable garden. We've been putting it off because we have lots of bunnies and thought it would be tough keeping them out. One year we grew some vegetables in pots but it just wasn't the same. A couple of days ago Mark started building the fence and got the boys involved in the process.
We planted tomatoes, broccoli and peppers (bell and jalepeno).
Oh also some basil...Here are a few pictures..... wish us luck!

From Garden

Skylar watching...

From Garden

He really isn't sad, just looks that way

From Garden

From Garden

From Garden

From Garden

Gross food poem

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a review over at Tales From The Nightstand. I was inspired to write it after the author of the book Justin Matott visited the boys school. They both came home talking excitedly about him. Especially Connor. He thought Justin was such a funny and neat guy. He apparently told some funny stories and talks a lot about the trials of being a kid... Well, after Terra posted my review someone reading the blog actually knew the author. He is local. He commented on my review! I thought that was pretty exciting! The boys thought it was cool too. He has written some great kids books. (I think a couple of grownup books too). You can check them out at his web site http://www.justinmatott.com/. He has written many great books. The book I wrote the review on is When I was A Boy I dreamed.

THE CONTEST - GROSS FOOD POEM

Jason Matott is running a contest. To see details you can visit Jason's blog HERE. Or, visit Tales From the Nightstand here.

Basically, he's looking for poems of gross food combinations to use in Book 4 of the Gabe Series .

Here is my first poem.


I like pickles dipped in honey

I know it may sound funny

It's kind of sweet and sour

but..... I could eat them on the hour


This poem is a collaboration between Connor and I... it goes like this


There are oysters in my jello

I think I'm feeling yellow

Wait, maybe I will try it

Oh my, I may start a riot

deep down in my tummy

wait, It's kind of yummy!



One more,

There are Mushrooms in my ice cream

I think I'm having a bad dream

I will use some chocolate syrup

I hear it's popular in Europe

Let's see how it taste

It would be such a waste

ick... the mushrooms are slimey

I will leave them out next timey



To see other entries, visit HERE.

A lot of football...

Yesterday, we finally finished up Spring Flag football. It was an extended season because of a lot of cancellations due to weather. So all together we had 7 games over the weekend.

It was a real learning and growing experience for the boys and for me too. Connors team started out pretty rocky. None of the boys had ever played together and it took a few games and practices to get them to really click. It was really awesome to watch them come together. I watched Connor start out discouraged and I knew it could go either way. He could just drag through the season and be miserable, but he didn't and I am very proud of him for that. He made a conscience decision to just have fun no matter what. Now, if you know Connor he loves football and he is a competitor so it wasn't an easy decision. I watched his positive attitude rub off on the other players. He ended up playing quarter back quite a bit and really showed great leadership on the team. On Saturday his team started the play offs and they were losing by 2 touchdowns... they were all looking really down. Connor got them all together in a huddle and told them that if they would come back and win he would bring tacos for everyone at the playoff game the next day. They all got back in the game and ended up winning! It was amazing to watch them turn around............ so guess who ended up bringing the tacos?? He offered to pay for them out of his allowance, but after talking to him about asking us first next time.. we decided since his intentions were good we would buy them. They were a big hit..... Their team ended up coming in 2nd place.

From flag football Spring

From flag football Spring

Mark passing out tacos.

From flag football Spring

From flag football Spring

Trophy time

From flag football Spring

From flag football Spring

Alex was on a new team this year also. He got to learn about politics. No matter how good he played or how hard he practiced he felt like the coach had his favorites.. his son and a couple of his friends that had played together for a while. Anyway, he hung in there and hopefully learned to have a little thicker skin and life isn't always fair... and the learning is what it's all about.

From flag football Spring

From flag football Spring

Alex receiving his 3rd place medal

From flag football Spring

Alex with Garrett and Chloe (they came to watch his game) oh and the little guy is Paco.

From flag football Spring

What I learned this week...

What I learned this week hosted by Jo-Lynne over at Musings of a Housewife.

I learned that I won this cool bloggy award from Bonnie (our husbands have the same name also) over at Where did all this come from? Thank you Bonnie!! She has a great blog.. I look forward to checking for new posts every morning. Go check it out.

I have to say I just love the sparkly crown!! I wonder if I could find one of those to wear around the house?

I am supposed to list 7 things that make me Awe-Summm!! I can't think of a darn one but maybe once I finish my coffee..hmmmm Also I get to choose 7 bloggers that I think are Awe-Summ!! Tag the recipients to let them know they won and link back to the Queen that tagged me, which I did above.

7 things that make me Awe-Summm!!! (sipping my coffee) (thinking.....)


1. I love my family.

2. I endure cold, wind and rain to watch my boys play sports.

3. I ride my motorcycle with white knuckles and praying all the while to be able to spend time doing things my boys (all 3) enjoy.

4. According to Mark. I make really good Spaghetti sauce.. :-)

5. I will sign the boys up for Tackle Football.. even though it's killing me inside.. haha

6. I go on lots of field trips..........I think I've been on hundreds :-)

7. I've scrapbooked just about every little memory that has occured in the past 10 yrs.

Ok.... I'm sure there are many more (not) but there's my 7.

I'd like to award these queens of all things awe-summmm.

1. Terra over at The Emerson Family blog .
She is an awesome Mom and gives her all to her family.

2. Lindsay over at Bytes of Memory . Another awesome mom. I love reading about the adventures of Sammy her 2 yr old boy.

3. Kim over at It's a Dog and Pony Show. I always enjoy reading about her adventures and insights.

4. Shelley at Simply Persnickety . She always gives great tips and advice on organizing, cleaning..etc. She is the Queen of organization.

5. Heather over at The Extraordinary ordinary. The name says it all. She makes everyday things so interesting and fun to read.

6. Sheri over at Wild Women of the Universe. She has great spirtual insights. I look forward to Intuitive Tuesdays! She is the queen of tarot cards.

7. Last but not least. My sister in law Tamara at her family blog called Life with Lila. Lila is her first baby and she is so adorable. Tamara is a wonderful mom and I love staying up with the day to day happenings of Lila. (Her's is a private blog, so you may not be able to view it).

There are so many other wonderful blogs out there that I enjoy reading. These are just a few.

The Perfect Mother's Day

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day...

Mark took the boys out for a couple of hours, to lunch and then to Bill's sports and collectibles . It's one of their favorite places to go. Skylar and I curled up in our favorite chair and got comfy. She went to sleep and I read. I'm enjoying this book a lot. It's called
"The Help".

Then this evening we picked up "Dad/Grandpa" and headed off to our favorite Mexican food restaurant. We had a nice visit and the food was excellent!

From Mother's Day

From Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day

I lost my mom almost 9 years ago. It's hard to believe it's been that long. I sure miss her but she's still very much alive in my heart. This is a picture of her holding Connor. He was only 2 1/2 yrs old when she passed away. Alex was born 3 days after she passed away. It was such a bittersweet time. I had a Mom whos whole life revolved around her family. She had her own interests like playing the piano (beautifully) and her flower beds but we always came first. I don't remember ever not having a home cooked meal or ever coming home from school and her not being there. Miss you Mom!



My other Mom. Thank you mom for taking me under your wing all those years ago. You accepted me right away. We have sure made a lot of memories through the years.. vacations, visits, babies being born...... I could go on and on but you've been there for all of it!

and this is what's sitting on my table!!! I can't wait

to see what's inside.

Grandma's visit and a day in Estes Park

Grandma has been visiting for the past week. She left to go home this morning. Here are a few pictures from her visit. Yesterday we spent the day in Estes Park. It was a beautiful day. We walked around the shops and then drove up into Rocky Mountain National Park. We saw quite a few elk which made Connor's day. We took Skylar with us. It was her first road trip with us and she did great. She was so excited everytime we stopped and she could get out and explore but then would be so tired when we got back in the car. She slept all the way home. At one point the boys and grandma were on a hiking trail (pets were not allowed) so I was walking her around a little picnic area. I was just looking around at the scenery when I noticed she was entranced with something on the ground just sniffing away. I took a double take and realized it wasn't a branch as I first thought, it was an elk leg!!!!!! I don't know how or why it was laying there but it freaked me out a little. I showed the boys when they returned and of course they were so curious and excited, well Con was I think Alex was just grossed out.

From Estes Park with Grandma

Skylar in the car in her little bed between the seats

From Estes Park with Grandma

From Estes Park with Grandma

From Estes Park with Grandma

From Estes Park with Grandma

From Estes Park with Grandma

From Estes Park with Grandma

From Estes Park with Grandma

From Estes Park with Grandma

From Estes Park with Grandma