Happy Halloween! Part 1

Alex was having a very difficult time choosing a halloween costume this year. He has never enjoyed the "scary" part of halloween. He's been a duck, Mickey Mouse (grandma's favorite), Tigger, a race car driver, a power ranger and a penguin (twice). After several trips to two different "Halloween" stores and 2-3 trips to Party city we were getting discouraged. Monday evening as we sat at the kitchen table pondering this, Alex getting discouraged thinking he wasn't going to have a costume for the halloween festivities at school on Friday I decided to browse the internet. What a concept!

You have to understand that up until this point EVERY idea I came up with was shot down by both boys.. by eye rolling, my personal favorite....blank stares (like you must be from another planet Mom). I had the most idiotic ideas according to them. I thought when I suggested he be an 80's rocker, pointing to a costume that included a blond wig and bandana head band I was really on to something. Alex said dryly... "Mom, I don't want to look like Bret Michaels." I answered in an honestly surprised tone "You don't"?? To which Connor took me aside and said "Mom, I don't think you should make any more suggestions, just let me help him."

Okay so back to Monday night... I had one more chance to redeem myself. I have to say by this point I'm a little gun shy. I google "home made Halloween costumes" and scroll down a bit when............ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I see the Rubics cube! 1. Alex loves Rubics cubes and 2. He loves props. I'm still a little apprehensive because I also thought being a nerd, mummy, rocker...etc were excellent ideas. Obviously I have no clue! I'm so excited I'm bursting at the seams. I shout as I'm running down the stairs... I got it!!! As I enter the kitchen Mark looks at me like "oh no what's she going to say" and Alex looking at me a little curious but maybe just a little nervous that I'm going to totally let him down again. I say "A RUBICS CUBE!!" I watch cautiously as I see his wheels turning.... he brightens a little... here it comes... "I like that Mom." shewwwwww I turn to Mark and he has an expression of relief that quickly turns a look of.. I see a bubble above his head that say's "I'm going to have to create this aren't I ??" I'm just relieved we have a plan. Now Mark, Grandpa and Alex can execute it, right? I'm just the brains of this operation, they are the brawn... heehee

I didn't get a picture of Alex wearing the finished product but I will tonight. Oh and of course for Mark nothing less than absolutely mathematically correct would do. Alex picked a pattern and Mark followed it to a tee. He did such a great job, always puts everything into everything he does.Never ever does anything halfway. Thank you grandpa, you are always such a good sport and always ready with helpful suggestions. I love watching you and Mark "collaborate." Alex you did a good job of helping too, as always.

Part 2 coming soon...

"F" is for Frolicking in Fall leaves

I am participating in Jenny Matlock's Alphabe Thursday.

Last weekend the boys decided to rake some leaves..... they had the best time raking leaves into a big pile and then skakeboarding through the pile.... then rollerblading... then jumping. They would rake a big pile and then scatter it as they "rode" through it. Then they would start all over again, raking (actually using a big brush broom) them all into a big pile and starting all over again. The best part was seeing them work together. Skylar and Max loved it, they just couldn't stay away.

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Happy Fall

Happy Fall from our house to yours

"E" is for exercise!

I am participating in Jenny Matlocks Alphabe Thursday!



"E" is for Exercise!

Through the years I have tried many kinds of exercise. I've pretty much loved them all..... for a while anyway.

In the 80's I did aerobics classes. I woke up early to do Jane Fonda in my living room.


In the 90's I did Jazzercise! I have to admit I loved Jazzercise. Mom (Susie) got me started. Remember that Mom? It's the one time in my life I actually felt like I could dance!
It's so fun to do the dance steps along with the music with a big group of women (and the occasional man). Also do you remember those cute leotards we wore... so many colors, prints and styles......


I was also a runner for a while. I have to say it was the most effective as far as weight loss goes....

I have spent many early morning hours at the rec center doing the treadmill or Elliptical machine while enjoying my "workout" playlist on my ipod.

Lately though the only exercise I get is walking the dogs a few times a week. I know walking is good but probably not when you stop every five seconds because there is something so interesting for them to sniff... like the trail of a bunny, an old food wrapper or my personal favorite.... another dogs poop :(
I recently read a book titled "Perfectly Imperfect" by Lee Woodruff. She is the wife of ABC News reporter Bob Woodruff. He's the one that was hit by an (IED) in Iraq a few years ago. They wrote a book together titled "In An Instant" about the experience. I really enjoy her writing style. While reading her book "Perfectly Imperfect." I found myself tearing up one minute and laughing out loud the next. She write in one chapter about how swimming has always been a part of her routine. She described her morning swims in a lap pool as very therapeutic. She described how when she's under water it's so quiet and peaceful.You can be alone with your thoughts. Even have a good cry and who would notice? She spoke about how as she swam the rhythm of her strokes were almost meditative. I thought "I want to be a swimmer!" It sounded so perfect. Only problem is I'm not. Much of a swimmer that is. I've always admired those who could languidly glide through the water from one end of the pool to the other. Don't get me wrong I can get from one end to the other also, it just isn't pretty. It's kind of a mixture of dog paddling and a few sporadic jerky kicks here and there. Also as I discovered this summer as Alex was challenging me to touch the bottom of the pool in the deep end and bounce back up before him, I'm very "buoyant!" :) I could only get down a little ways and I would float back up to the top. Even after Alex explained to me - "Mom you have to let all your air out of your lungs so you will sink" I don't think too much air in my lungs was the problem if you know what I mean.




One last thing I have to share about exercise... When I was several months pregnant with Connor I decided I should be exercising. You know how you try to do everything perfect with your first pregnancy or your convinced permanent damage will be done and you will feel guilty for the rest of your life. Like every time your child does something wrong you think... If only I had stuck with my "no caffeine" rule?? Well I was home alone one day. I had rented an aerobics tape for expecting mothers. It had been sitting on the shelf for several days. I finally worked up enough gumption to actually put it in the VCR (yes that was back when we only had VHS tapes). Anyway I started watching it and just couldn't get myself to get up and do it. Pregnancy makes you tired in case you didn't know... which the exercise would probably have helped if I had done it. Anyway I convinced myself that maybe I should just watch it through the first time while sitting down. Mark and Tamara (my sis in law) happened to come home while I was sitting there watching the tape. I looked at them and they looked at me and Tamara burst out laughing.... (Do you remember that Tam?). I guess it did look pretty comical. Me, this big pregnant person (probably with a snack of some sort in my lap) Sitting all comfy in a nice big comfy chair watching pregnant women to aerobics!

By the way, that is far as it ever went... :-)

Anyway... I will continue to ponder exercise and hopefully get motivated enough to actually do it.

What exercise routines have you done in the past. Do you have one now?

A Quote

I've just finished reading a book called "The Gift of an Ordinary Day, A Mothers Memoir." You can check it out HERE. The author (Katrina Kenison) just happens to have 2 boys (like me) and she talks about them going through adolescence and the process of letting go. She also talks about change in their lives... how their life was turned up side down and the road "back." The similarities to my life were pretty amazing. It gave me a lot of food for thought about holding on and letting go at the same time when it comes to our kids growing up. I think adolescence starts this journey.... for both the parent and the child. Anyway she had some great quotes so I thought instead of wordless Wednesday (partially because I came up with nothing..haha) I would share one of her quotes.

"When all's said and done, all roads lead to the same end.

So it's not so much which road you take, as how you take it."

- Charles De Lint

Botanic Gardens

We visited the Botanical Gardens a couple of weeks ago with some friends and I've been using some of the pictures on Wordless Wednesdays so I thought I would go ahead and share the rest. It was free day so a little crowded but not bad once we found parking. It was a beautiful fall day.

Wordless Wednesday - Denver Botanical Gardens