Grace in small things, September 28, 2016

1. Botanic gardens with the kids this morning...nice and warm and sooooooo beautiful this time of year...
2. Kids painting pretty pictures of the gardens for me at the breakfast bar after...
3. Zo is doing great with her injury...trying to keep her a little quieter than normal but she is just her normal, happy-go-lucky, adventurous self...
4. Luke, out of the blue today (but understandably): "I'm worried about some things, Mommy. I'm worried about falling and stitches and shots."
5. Kids to bed again so easily tonight...an unusual string of easy bedtimes, knock on wood...

XOXO

Grace in small things, September 19, 2016

1. Cold Springs with Luke and Zo on one of the warmest days of the summer this afternoon...they LOVED climbing on the rocks and playing in the creek...
2. Kids helped me pick out glasses today...actually, Luke communed with the gray-and-pink parrot they have in the office and Zo picked out the sparkliest frames in the store for me...and was disappointed when I didn't pick them but they were sooooo flashy, lol...really excited to be getting new glasses, though...
3. Building a lego castle for Zo with every lego in the bin...she wanted it for her lambs...
4. Speaking of lambs, Zo's 3 favorite stuffies are her 3 lambs at the moment...she told me her lambs were going to the spa...went into the bathroom with them...and when she came back out they had been brushed and had little pink bows on their ears and tails...
5. Scratchies and songs for the kids individually tonight...Zo put herself to bed while Luke was in the bath...love not having to divide my attention, to feel like everyone is getting 100% of me...

XOXO

Grace in small things: "Pink as can be!" edition (September 14, 2016)

1. Zo, showing her legos to Grammy and Papa via FaceTime: "Look! They're pink as can be!"
2. Kids wanting to work with me today, and they had some iPad time, so snuggled up next to me in the bed, they on their iPads, me on my computer...nice to have them there...
3. Loving being on the MOPS steering committee...such great women...and I wasn't really expecting to learn a lot from the experience, but no question I am...
4. Boiled shrimp for dinner...my mother-in-law is from Florida...she knows how to do it right...absolutely delicious...
5. Made some headway on my endless TO DO lists today...and also am looking at making some pretty big changes so long lists are a thing of the past...stay tuned...

XOXO

Grace in small things, September 12, 2016

1. Warm morning walk with the dog first thing...warm morning walks are definitely numbered around here. And on a related note, can I just tell you how much I LOVE how ridiculously excited my kids are for winter and skiing??
2. Dry cleaning household items...it's like getting new stuff...so satisfying...
3. Cleaning and laundry and cooking today...we've been on the go and I've been very busy with work...nice to do some house stuff for a change...
4. Painting Sissy's nails sparkle purple this morning at her request...
5. Spent time with the kids separately this evening...Luke took a bath and Zo didn't which staggered things nicely so each got some individual attention...one of the hardest things about having twins is how little alone time I get with each of them...and they crave it...it's hard...
6. Kids have been laying out clothes the night before, they like to lay them like they will look on. They call it "making a me." "Mommy, can I make a me?" they'll ask. And then one day recently Luke put his clothes out and then got into them and said, "Mommy! I made the me come to life!"

XO

Grace in small things: Osprey edition (September 11, 2016)

1. Biking and botanic gardens--and some super cool osprey watching (mommy, daddy, two getting-grown-up babies)--this afternoon with my boy...
2. Downtown earlier with my girl...Fringe, which I've never been in before (and they've got some cool stuff, definitely want to go back someday when I'm doing more than window shopping), has this great setup for kids with a white lacey tent and sheepskin rug and cloth (stuffed) logs and fire and sticks and hot dogs and marshmallows. "Mommy," said Zo from inside the tent, "Want to go camping with me?" So I crawled inside and we roasted pretend hot dogs and marshmallows and talked about how fun camping is and how soft the rug was and what a delightful place to play. (And Grammy, you'd be proud of your granddaughter, she insisted we put out the play fire before we left the campsite...)
3. Hot springs all of us earlier so Daddy could see the kids swimming...
4. Kids and I watched Footloose before bed (the original) (which was rated PG so I thought it would be fine but while watching it I though may be a little too mature for the kids... teenagers--even good teenagers--smoked in movies back then, for example...so strange...) Anyway...Luke and I were talking about how for a dance you pick a girl that you like and ask her to come with you. "Mommy, I like you," he said after thinking about it for a minute, giving me a big hug...
5. About to go out for stars on the porch...Mars is a big feature in our patch of sky at the moment...love how red it is...

XO

Grace in small things, rubber ducky race edition (September 10, 2016)

1. A great day hanging out with the kiddos, we had so much fun at the rubber ducky race (and got to see our artist friend Julia), the kids had the best time rescuing the ducks that got stuck. We all got wet and dirty but it was a beautiful warm day and the river was low so I didn't have to worry about them and the water...such a fun time...
2. Long and leisurely lunch right on the river. We saw an otter! And the kids were perfectly behaved...
3. I got to watch a game of "Ninja Football" once we got home...
4. And now the kids are playing "Crash the Alien" where one person pretends to be an alien, and the other tries to crash them over with pillows...too cute...
5. Loving the warm weather...I know it's not here for much longer...

Happy weekend!

XOXO

Grace in small things: Daddy! Check out our spider! edition (September 8, 2016)

1. We caught a great big brown spider in the "bug hotel" this morning. (He was in the upstairs bathtub. And fast. And jumpy. There was definitely some screeching on my part.) Kids could not wait to show Daddy...
2. I've been playing songs somewhat randomly from the music on my phone for the kids at bedtime. Tonight a song by Supergrass I don't even know how it is in my music, don't ever remember listening to it, but it's got the lines, "Bite me!" and "I want to pack you in my suitcase." Luke has declared it his favorite song and said, "My favorite song is so funny! They say such funny things in my favorite song!" Love that the kids listen to (and like) more than just kid music...
3. Kids are very interested in Broncos football...will be fun to watch with Grammy and Papa this fall, they are big fans...
4. Thought I had to travel tomorrow but I don't...think we're going to head over to the hot springs in the morning instead...was looking forward to my (very short) trip, but nice to have found time as well...
5. Kids have been asking to sleep together in the same room a lot lately...not sure what that's about...preschool transition maybe? Regardless, it's super cute they want to be together...

XOXO

Grace in small things: September 6, 2016

1. Starting to get some bits of color on Emerald Mountain across from us...I love fall...
2. Took a nice little hike with the dog today mid-day...super warm out...nice to be able to take a break and get out...
3. Kids seem to be loving preschool...and Zo made me a plastic rainbow bead necklace today...and Luke a painting with blue and green glitter paint circles that is just the coolest...
4. Snuggled up with the kids before bedtime, reading some great books together...
5. My husband doing the grocery shopping on the way home from work...he's so amazing...

XOXO

Grace in small things: First time ever on Cold Springs Trail edition (Labor Day, 2016)

1. Unbridled joy from Zo riding on the spinny thing at the playground this afternoon...
2. And our first hike ever on Cold Springs Trail...which I've been meaning to take the kids on all summer, so glad we snuck it in under the wire. It's great...and so close to us...and dog and bike friendly and the gentlest little creek running next to the trail and this amazing picnic structure and two cute little ponds...love...
3. Jeff bought jelly bean packs for the kids when we were out and about today...but half were yummy jelly beans and half were disgusting like "spoiled milk" and "dog food" and "moldy cheese." Hilarity ensued...those poor kids really wanted jelly beans...but weren't sure if it was worth the 50-50 risk of the grossness they might get...
4. The sound of the wind in the trees today, the aspens and the pines...and the creek burbling...
5. The kids learned Simon Says from somewhere (I think a TV show) and had a great time bossing Mommy around on the hike: "Simon says stop." "Simon says run." "Simon says spin around in circles." Etc. Pretty darn cute...
6. Talking to my brother this evening...love him...
7. Kids asking to sleep together in Zoey's room tonight...they definitely have their moments when they don't get along, but overall they are such great friends...love it...

Happy Labor Day!

XOXO

Grace in small things, weekend edition (September 4, 2016)

1. Great time all of us at the air show...such a fun event...
2. Thunder and lightening and rain over the weekend...
3. A surprise overnight visit from my cousin and her husband yesterday...lovely to see them and spend some time together...
4. Luke running with arms outstretched and flapping, pretending to be a bird...
5. Farmer's market with friends...got some peaches, yum...and the kids making a bridge/dam across the small creek, so industrious...

XOXO