Luke drives the snow cat

At Ski Haus, returning the skis we rented for the season. Luke cried when he heard we had to return his skis...but we promised him a new pair next year. 

Can't believe ski season is over...

XOXO

Birthday party

So blessed to have met Julia and Enya...

XOXO

35/50

Got in line at 8:27 AM and onto the very first gondola at 8:30 AM...I thought I was the luckiest girl in the world, but turns out everyone else knew better than me...perfect corduroy ice is what I found...I did have the runs all to myself, though...and spent a lot of my hour and a half this morning getting all hippy-ed out, stretched out on my back, whole body pressed to the cold earth, then sitting and listening and watching, thinking that I won't see these views again until next December...saying thank you to the mountain for such a phenomenal season...

Snowboarding and surfing and backpacking...no question those are my happy places...oh, and there was Sublime on the radio this morning which of course made me think of Luke...he should be there on the mountain with me...at least a few days a season like I got with Ben...I don't know though...maybe he is...

XOXO

Grace in small things, April 6, 2016

1. Luke: "Look, Mommy, I made you a Lego flower because I love you! You can put it on your bedside table and it will make you happy!"
2. Watching the sky turn pink early this morning...and the kids up super early to watch it turn with me...
3. Mama and two baby moose on our Core Trail walk this morning...we are seeing moose absolutely everywhere these days...
4. Zo's sweet kisses...and her picking out her (very girly) next-day outfit the night before...
5. Kids putting little sand buckets of snow on the pavement, watching it melt into little "rivers" and then playing in the rivuleting water...

XOXO

Grace in small things, April 5, 2016

1. Stories on the couch with the kids twice today
2. Hot springs with kids and friends (and a pretty heavy springs snow, which, although we are all anxious for spring, was pretty darn magical...)
3. My mother-in-law cooking dinner...so appreciated...
4. Knee, minority tweaked snowboarding this weekend, feeling much better
5. Watching the stars come out snuggled under warm blankets on the porch with my loves...daylight felt so long today...stars emerged so fast once they started...

Grace in small things, April 4, 2016

1. A warm walk on the core trail this morning with my husband...so nice to have that time together...and simultaneously get a workout in...and we saw 2 moose in the river...so cool...
2. Lunch on the porch...ah, spring...
3. Working from home and thus able to hold Luke tight and fix things when he got a split lip...
4. Luke and Zo playing flashcards with each other...Zo holding up a card to Luke over and over and saying, "Luke, what's THIS one?"
5. Kids using the hamper as a rocket ship and taking turns flying to the moon while I worked (pictured above, discussing their moon maps)...they are getting really good at entertaining themselves while I work as a replacement for napping (although they still nap great for Daddy...just not for me...)

34/50

Spring skiing with Bailee and Bodie and Jaimie...great day...

XO

Library Books We Love, April 2016

• Big Bear, Little Chair—The pictures here are so graphic and cool. And we use this book to start discussions about what is big and little in our world...
• The Find-It Book—Each page has new things to find and also things from previous pages. I love books like this that can be read quickly or stretched into half an hour...
• Interstellar Cinderella—A Cinderella who wants to be a mechanic. Her dreams come true in a cool way...love this pictures in this one as well...
• Where's Walrus and Penguin?—Best read after Where's Walrus? A great sequel...
• Mummy Cat—A current favorite that keeps getting re-checked out, about a cat and her queen owner, whom she misses...
• Cock-a-doodle Do-bop—A chicken who doesn't want to do cockadoodledoo any longer...
• Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?—Different artists provide different answers...
• I Dreamt I Was a Dinosaur—This is where the famed "sparkle-cano" (a volcano made of sparkles) was found...
• Swap!—Great pictures and a cool story about how a button turned into everything needed for a new boat...
• The Wolf-Birds—An un-sugar-coated story about life and death in the wild, but done in a really beautiful way...love the illustrations here too...
• Rude Cakes—Another favorite these days, so funny and original...
• Cockatoo, Too—Cute pictures and great tricks with language, which I love and makes the kids laugh...
• Oskar and the Eight Blessings—Oh, I love this story about a boy who loses his parents in WW II and gets sent alone to America...his father says people can be good you just have to look for it and so many touching and good things happen to this boy...we've been reading this and talking about blessings in our own lives...love...

XOXO

Kid cuteness, March 2016

Zo, when I do something she likes: "Yes, that's perfect! Good!"

Zo, to me after an afternoon date with Daddy: "Daddy and I had hot chocolate. And we didn't have a cookie." (Daddy had told her to keep the cookie a secret.)

Luke, bringing a broom up to Daddy: "Daddy, we work as a team!"

Luke to Sis: "Sissy, you can count on me!"

Luke: "Sissy took the play milk! She needs to give it back or have consequences!"

Zo: "I need some water." Luke: "I'll get it for you! Happy to help!"

Me: "You can't say you hate people. You can hate things if you want though." Zo: "I hate cars, I hate trucks, I hate books, I hate Paw Patrol, I hate bunnies, I hate Star Wars! That's what I hate!"

Me: "Who made this mess?" Luke and Zo: "A mysterious somebody!" Or: "Gizmo." (Gizmo apparently is a robot that's been living with us. The other day, after Gizmo did one too many naughty things, I told the kids he needed to go live somewhere else. And it appears that he has...)

Zo: "The whales [she and Luke] love you!"

Zo, giving me a hug: "We are hug monsters!"

Zo: "How do we play that game? Let's take a look at the constructions."

Luke, sliding down a snowbank on his belly head first after seeing a show on volcanos: "I'm hot lava!"

Luke, peeling the paper off a crayon: "Look! A naked crayon!"

Me: "Luke, can you pick up?" Luke: "I'm on it!"

Zo to Daddy after a shuttle van cut us off: "Daddy, is that driver an idiot?"

Luke, watching a Broncos football game: "The Panthers are naughty. They don't share the ball."

Zo: "I'm picking up my room! I've got the eye of the tiger!"

Luke: "I don't like this dinner. It's un-licious."

Zo: "I like hot pink. I don't like cold pink."

Luke: "I like it when I ride my bike really fast and the wind rushes out of me." (This child is a poet, I swear...)

Luke, driving home with me after getting takeout the other night: "Mommy, Me-Ma says God is in my heart, so that means he's driving home right now to eat a corn dog and watch a movie!"

XO

33/50 and grace in small things, March 31, 2016

1. Another crazy-good super-fluffy powder day...untouched lines every single run...if this isn't the best day of the season it's certainly close...and I must have gone extra hard because I am tired, my legs are tired, they haven't been like this all season. And also, I did Twilight trees today for the very first time which is so different from anything I've ever done, there wasn't a soul anywhere around me and oh, it was just magical...love, love, love...
2. Extra help from my mother-in-law today...which I really needed, just couldn't seem to get everything together...
3. My latest web project is live and it looks soooooo cool...I've been wanting to do a website like this for a while...super happy with how it turned out...
4. Lots of sweet hugs and snuggles and love from Luke and Zo today...
5. Kids put on their own jammies tonight...yay...makes this tired mama happy...

XOXO

32/50 and grace in small things, March 30, 2016

1. Sis has this adorable habit of sending little stuffies with me when I go up to the mountain...today it was "Lambie 2"...who had a great time riding up the gondola and snowboarding in some awesome powder, lol...
2. We've got a library book about blessings right now, and it was lovely early this morning reading to the kids and finding the blessings big and small in the pages of the book, talking about the blessing we have, while Luke stroked my forearm and Zo snuggled up close...and then I though of all the blessings we have all the rest of the day...
3. Takeout and a movie with my loves tonight..which was the perfect speed...tired from snowboarding and chilled (one of the only times all winter I can't seem to get warm...ahhh, I'm ready for spring!) and in such a mellow mood...
4. Got kids' shots scheduled for Friday and had a talk with them about it...Luke especially doesn't want to do it because it hurts...but the plan is for them to wear their doctor and nurse costumes and bring their play syringes and give the nurse a play shot...somehow that all seems to make it more bearable...and then I told them after we could go out for lunch wherever they wanted...I think they are on board...we will see...shots are tough when you're little...
5. First tracks on tap for tomorrow morning...yay... :)

XOXO

Grace in small things, March 29, 2016

1. A full-on crazy blizzard going on right now...with the biggest, clumpiest snowflakes I have ever seen...and I've got snowboarding in my schedule for the rest of the week...
2. A lovely (non-snowy) walk with my husband early this morning...so great to be able to get outside vs going to the gym
3. Zo playing restaurant with me as a customer up in her room this morning...she's so cute with menus and then whipping something up in her play kitchen, serving it to me using her pink rabbit rocking horse as a table...
4. Luke and Zo dancing with delight on the porch as the snow started (even though Luke especially is sooooo anxious for some warmer weather)
5. FaceTime today with my mom and dad...who have internet back up...yay...

Confetti eggs

One of my favorite things about being in New Mexico was their Easter tradition of confetti eggs, which are--as you would expect--brightly dyed eggs filled with confetti. I found some up here...yay...and the kids and their sweet friend Enya had a blast with them yesterday after Easter dinner...Zo even made confetti angels, lol...

XOXO

Easter Chicks

Courtesy of our library's story/craft hour...

XO

Moose

On Fox Creek Trail, which goes right by our house. Yikes...this pic was taken from the car...but a little unnerving seeing them so close to home...

Easter Eggstravaganza

The first thing we did in Steamboat as a family was last year's Easter Eggstravaganza. Going for a second time this year was really special. We've agreed that this event will mark our anniversary of moving here. 

Last year, the weather was warm...60s...and everything happened in the grass. This year the temp was 12 degrees when we got up, but we bundled the kids up and went out anyway, and it really wasn't all that cold in the sun. The grass was covered in snow, so hay got laid out in the parking lot, which worked out just fine. 

They divide the egg hunts up by age...this is the 4-5-year-olds right before the start, and Sis patiently waiting:

And here is the mayhem that ensued once the kids were set loose...although there were plenty of eggs for everyone:

And Sis afterwards, with her basket full...and Bubs and Daddy searching for any overlooked eggs:

After the egg hunts they give away bikes. Bubs won one last year, and Sis did this year...lime green and hot pink with training wheels...so perfect...

And then the grand finale, when a helicopter flies over the crowd and drops an additional 5,000 eggs...with AC/DC on the loudspeakers...it was a thrill for the kids to see a helicopter that close...

Another fun day in Steamboat...we love it here so much...

XOXO

31/50

30/50 and grace in small things, March 24, 2016

1. Epic powder...I'm going to say best day of the season...conditions are just unreal...
2. Big white moon over Emerald Mountain this morning dodging in and out of clouds (I was up before dark to get some work done in order to get on the mountain)
3. Zo singing "Let it Go!" at the top of her lungs in the grocery store today...making everyone around us smile and chuckle...
4. I so hugely appreciate having help with the kids, so that I can get up to the mountain on days like today...
5. Making chili and chocolate chip cookies with the kids this afternoon for a new mom in my mom's group...love opportunities to show them how nice it is to do things for others...

XOXO

29/50 and grace in small things, March 23, 2016

1. Powder on the mountain (14.5 inches in the last 24 hours)...and a couple hours late in the day to enjoy it...
2. Sis making "snow pies" on the porch this morning...
3. Kids getting postcards from Papa, and birthday cards from my Aunt Judy whom I remember always getting cards from (and loving it) when I was a kid...
4. Jeff cooking a yummy dinner...
5. Snuggling with Luke before bed, with him telling me about/showing me his transformers and Paw Patrol toys, both a big deal in this boy's life at the moment...

XOXO

Grace in small things, March 22, 2016

1. New swirley juice pops are making my kids so happy...
2. Went to the "Moose Playground" today (so named because of the signs warning of moose in the area), which is under, I don't know, about 3 feet of snow, but the kids had fun playing with their sand toys, making snow castles and digging holes...
3. My Dad and I are going to watch the end of Mad Men together next time I visit...yay...we've been doing Mad Men marathons for years and it will be fun to finish the series together... :)
4. Sparkling clean bathrooms...I'm still amazed at how much I like cleaning...but it's just so satisfying...and drama-free...which is more than I can say about work and raising 4-year-olds...
5. Made the kids Monte Cristos for lunch for the first time ever, which they loved...with hot chocolate on the side because they'd been playing in the snow and that's kind of our thing...and I was going to give them carrot sticks too but I was informed in no uncertain terms that they don't eat carrots during the day, only in the evening, so, OK, carrots for dinner it is...

XOXO