Grace in small things, September 7, 2015
- A pajama bike ride this morning from the end of our street to the Botanic Gardens which are so lovely right now (and crowded on Labor Day, but no matter). After peanut butter and honey sandwiches and raspberries for breakfast, the kids chased each other around the entire garden five times, then we stopped at the river and threw in big rocks, and then we barely made it back to the car before Luke was too tired go any further. Cool and misty...lovely morning...going to miss our early-ish morning outings when the weather gets too cold for them
- Clean sheet (and blanket) night. And got out our gray sheets to make things feel kind of fall-ish...
- Worked today because I'm taking Friday off...iIt's amazing how efficient I am when there are no emails or phone calls coming in...
- Great night's sleep last night...
- Jeff is making shrimp tacos from scratch and there are margaritas to be had and it's a warm and sunny and humid evening and I'll blow bubbles on the lawn for the kids after dinner and we'll sit out and watch the stars after the kids go to bed...ah, the last unofficial evening of summer...I'm closing my computer and heading out to enjoy it...
XOXO
Grace in small things, September 4, 2015
1. Story hour + crafts at the library today...the kids made the cutest little birds and had so much fun. "Mommy I love doing crafts," Zo said as she carefully glued pieces of green tissue paper to her styrofoam cup with Elmer's glue. Love it...
2. Me, seeing the kids playing with a basket of wooden eggs: "What are you guys doing?" Luke: "I'm going to eggs.com to find the perfect egg." How the heck does he know about .com anything??? Too funny. They say kids are growing up different these days...
3. Our bathrooms are spic and span thanks to my lilac surface cleaner (which smells amazing) among other things...I like to clean...who knew? I've been so busy my whole life making it in the professional world...there are these little pleasures I never knew about...
4. Reading to the kids before nap. And to Luke about an hour into nap when he couldn't sleep. (How nice to be able to take a little break and do that for him!) We've got a whole new stack of library books, and the ones I've read so far are so good...
5. Our next door neighbor came over the other day to see if we could keep the TV down at night when he's trying to sleep. We were happy to do it...we want to be good neighbors. He brought over a gift certificate yesterday to a restaurant we haven't tried yet as a thank you to us for being so nice about it...it was so nice...above and beyond...
XOXO
Grace in small things, September 3, 2015
- We went to the beach this morning and pretty much had the place to ourselves...nice and warm, too...Luke dug a deep hole, Sis spent half the time stretched out on "her" mountain lion statue...
- Pizza out for dinner. And Pac Man. And I won vs Jeff...that never happens...
- Blinds ordered for the bedrooms. They are going to be so nice
- There's a really sweet book about loss that we have from the library called "Bluebird." We read it before nap today. It's lovely...
- Luke won't nap unless he's wearing his policeman costume. This has been going on for about a week now...too cute...
Love,
Kristen
Kid Cuteness, September 3, 2015
Dress-up is big these days. Here's Sis in a railroad hat and (not shown) construction tool belt and riding a broom like a witch.
Whenever I ask the kids for anything e.g. to go to nap or bath, they say, "Mommy, we have to negotiate! How about bath in three minutes?"
Luke at the library cafe: "Mom, we need to check out the fruit snacks!"
Me: "You mean pay for them?"
Zo at playground: "I just have to go go go go go go go!"
Me: What do you want to be when you grow up?"
Luke: "A chef. A bakery chef!"
Zo: "Me too!"
Me: "That's awesome. You guys can open a bakery together. You can call it the Gemini Bakery."
Zo: "Yeah!"
Luke: "No, I want my own. I want to call it the Kawada Tua Hua Kama bakery!"
Sis, running through the bubbles I'm blowing for her: "I'm happy dancing in the bubbles!"
Luke, on my lap outside before bed: "There's one star, Mommy. That means we get to make a wish. I wish that Uncle Luke was here."
XO
Grace in small things, September 1, 2015
1. Lots of errands with the kids this morning...and they were very well behaved, which is not always the case. (I dread the grocery store especially. But today was fine...)
2. September. Fall is coming. Fall in Colorado is my favorite...
3. Luke and Zo playing in the bedroom with me while I finish up work. They've been playing "pirates" with my "disco chips" as treasure (see Zo with the treasure map above)...disco chips are sparkly poker chips we played with at an old friend of mine's grandma's house in Hawaii 10 years ago...and he gave them to me and I've kept them all these years for sentimental reasons...love that my kids now play with them...
4. Billed a good August today...working just the right amount...
5. Pears from my Dad's orchard...so delicious...
XO
Rocks into the creek beside the library
Throwing rocks into water is our new favorite past time...we had a few minutes before our nature film started at the library and the little creek beside the library was just perfect.
(The film was about animals in Borneo. Luke's comment after: "I liked it!" Sis: "There was a snake. And an alligator eating a monkey. There was NOTHING in that movie that I liked!")
Pearl lake, late summer
Great time here with the kids Sunday afternoon. The best part was Sis trying to throw rocks in the lake and throwing them up instead of out and getting frustrated...and then me teaching her and her doing in and then jumping up and down shrieking, "Yippiee!!!" so excited to have a new skill. There was the jumping up and down after every rock throw...too cute.
Next time we'll bring charcoal and hot dogs and life vests and bathing suits...maybe Labor Day...
XO
After dinner
Fun in the gravel pile, upside-down with Daddy, chasing bubbles, etc...soaking up the last of summer...
Aspen Arch
Followed the trail behind our house to the end the other day and look what I found...there's no way this is natural but also no sign of it being man-made...
Policeman-in-training takes a nap
We were in jammies 'til nap time on this lazy, rainy day, and then Bubs wanted to sleep naked, which, whatever, and then he decided he needed to nap in his police costume...
Pajama hike, early morning
Mountains are so hazy because of the fires in the northwest.
So good to be home after 10 days away...
XO
Garden + "Back 80" with Grammy
What started as watering and a garden tour ended with running up and down the "North Mountain" and an impromptu campfire in the "Back 80". (The night was cooler than normal, and what a treat to have a little fire!) Mom helped with the kids with baths after so I could pack and after the kids went to bed we played Upwords with my Dad...love being geographically closer and able to spend more time with my parents...means so much to me...
XO
Bike park picnic
Look at Miss Zo at the end of the bike balance beam, so proud of herself, as she should be! It was her idea to get on, she did it twice and once she fell and cried briefly but she got right back on her bike and rode the rest of the way. She is amazing!
And also, a few pics from the adjacent playground:
This bike park is one of my favorite things about Junction...so great for the kids here...
XOXO