What we are Thankful For

I am thankful for many reasons, and while we have had a lot of difficult things going on around us, we have always managed to be happy, love one another, and get through anything that comes our way, together. For that, I am very thankful that I get to love and live with, my best friend, and share everything with him. I am thankful that he loves me for everything that I am, and that we can make each other laugh, and we have fun together. I am thankful that I have known him for 29 years, and that our families are the best! I am thankful for Adam and Hallie, and for the joy and happiness they bring to our lives. I love their laugh, and how funny they are, and how sweet and loveable they are. I love how their Dad smiles when he sees them, and how they run right into his arms for hugs, and how much fun they have when they are playing. I love when Hallie wants her Dad to sing to her before bedtime, and she holds his hand and smiles while he does so, and then she rolls over and goes to sleep so happy. I love how Adam holds my arms and I tell him a little story of something funny or sweet he did that day, and he smiles and falls asleep. I am thankful that when they are with us, they are happy and content, knowing they are in a house filled with laughter and love.

Friday we decided to make "Thankful Turkeys". Adam and Dad were a team, and Hallie and I were a team. It was funny to see the kids seeing what each other was doing and trying to copy. Then we wrote down all the things we were thankful for, and now our turkey's are hanging on the wall for everyone to see. What a fun activity :) We hand drew our turkeys from construction paper, so you have to give us a little break in the fact they are funny looking turkeys :)

Trick or Treat

I love Halloween. It is one of my favorite Holiday's. I love costumes, and haunted houses, and my never ending collection of Halloween Houses from Lemax (Michaels), that I set up every year. This year, our bowling gang, and a few stragglers, had a Halloween get-together,it was so much fun! My friends Molly and Heather and I were "Seasons", and I was Spring. I made my costume, and I am now involved in a love-hate affair with tulle. And Hobby Lobby.

On Halloween, Adam had a fun filled day at school! There was a Halloween parade, followed by a party in their classrooms. Adam had so much fun, and they got to participate in a lot of fun Halloween games, and treats.

Adam and Daddy went with Adam's friend Bud and his sister and cousin, while me and little miss cozied up on the couch. Poor Hallie was so sick, so she and I stayed home and watched "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and "The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown". I felt so bad for her. Our friend had hand made her a gorgeous little Juliet (the Gnome) costume, and she didn't even get to wear it, or trick or treat. She had Croup (Croop)? bad cough, no voice, and a terrible high fever. Poor girl, she was so miserable. Adam, being the great big brother that he is, shared all his candy with Hallie. Such a good boy :)

Bit's and Pieces of October

October was busy, and I did not get a lot of time to blog. We had a really crazy month, and a lot happened, so sorry for the lack of posts. First, my Dad fell, and broke his ankle really badly. My Dad had a stroke in 1995, and is paralyzed on the right side of his body. So of course, when he fell, he breaks his good leg/ankle. Poor guy literally had no leg to stand on. He had to spend 4 nights in the hospital, and go through a pretty intense surgery to fix/reconstruct his ankle. Luckily the surgeon, anesthesiologist, nurses, and everyone else there, (cleaning, food staff, CPA, MA, labs, etc) were just amazing, and took care of him really well. Because of his condition, we could not bring him home, and he had to go to a nursing facility until his cast comes off, and he builds up strength in his ankle again. He is at a GREAT facility near all of us, and is doing so great! He gets his cast off this week, and the Dr's say he can be home before Christmas! YAY!!!
We found time for fun, and with the unseasonably warm weather, were able to get a lot more outside fun in! We took a trip to boondocks, and Hallie and Adam got to ride on little kid go-carts, and it was the funniest thing I have ever seen. I have to figure out how to upload the video of Hallie. She just did not get the hang of steering, and would just push on the gas and run right into the wall every time, we were laughing so hard. She would just sit there and wait, until the guy pulled her back and set her straight again. (Don't worry these are kid friendly courses so they really can't get hurt). Adam got the hang of it right away and was so excited to "drive" on his own.

Dirty Girl

Well, I admit it, I am a Dirty Girl. Dirty Girl is a 5K that has 12 obstacles in it, that are all entirely in MUD. And they start you off with a bang! We got 1/4 of a mile, and there was the first obstacle, army crawl your way through a tunnel of mud. It is a little freaky because it's pitch black, mud is going up your nose, you are enclosed, and you can't see where you are going. It's not something anyone claustrophobic should do. From there on out, it is nothing but more obstacles, running, squishy mud, and the most fun ever. I will admit, I banged up my knee's pretty badly. I always have to challenge myself, and there was this giant wall, that you have to scale, and then climb back down. There is a tiny tiny slat for you to try to grip on with your hands and feet, but imagine how many girls there are, with mud, and the little slats are nothing but mud piles. I made it all the way to the top, and was about to pull up the climb over, and I lost my grip and slid hands and feet scraping the wood, the entire 13 feet down. OMG. I was bleeding something fierce. However, I am determined and a little blood and pain didn't stop me, so I tried again, and made it! I wasn't as happy the next day when I literally couldn't walk, because my poor knees, but I will do it again :) I went with a group of friends, 2 who I have known since I was 5. I am lucky to have such amazing fun friends and to have shared such a fun experience with them!

(Those are my knees the next day, I was laying down, so the angle is odd).

Fall Festival

Every year in our town there is a festival, and we always go. There are rides, food vendors, games, booths, music and more. We can walk there, and a big group of us always get together to go. This year, Hallie decided she was brave enough to go on the big giant swing (you know, the one that goes so high up, you almost feel like you will go upside down). The look on her face was classic. It was a half frozen smile, and she loved the going up part, but the coming down part, not so much. So it was this hilarious mix of big grin and smile, then paralyzed fear, then smile, then fear. Everyone on the ride with her and Matt were giving her high 5's after and telling her how brave she was. She was so proud of herself! Meanwhile, Adam was literally clinging to me for dear life and hiding behind my legs, because he wanted nothing to do with that ride. He feels safer on the ground :) We had a Gyro, the Kids had hotdogs, and various other treats. Matt was happy, they had his deep fried Oreo's that he gets once a year. There was also a big huge area set up courtesy of Big Time ( a huge trampoline/jumping place) and it was FREE! The kids had a blast playing on all of the bouncy houses and obstacles.

Arvada Festival 2012

Insectival

We went to the "Insectival" at the Butterfly Pavilion. Rosie the tarantula was out of her cage for any willing participant who wanted to hold her. None of us were willing, except Hallie, who exclaimed "I am brave to hold her". Once we saw how long the line was, she changed her mind. Adam participated in cockroach racing and his cockroach won! He was pretty excited about that. There were fun little games with prizes for the kids to play. The kids loved the air tube where they could put feathers in it, and watch them fly out and all around. We stopped and had yummy Chick-Fil-A for lunch.

Someone's Starting School!

We can't believe that Adam is starting school. He is beyond excited, and just a little nervous. Matt was there to get pictures of him, and watch him line up with his class and get ready to go in for his first day. He absolutely loved it, has made a lot of friends, and loves his teacher.