Grace in small things: Outside after work edition
- Biking around the circle with the kids...love love love riding my bike!
- Holding my kids close...
- Work's all done so I can take 4 days off...I feel like we've planned the summer perfectly with fun little blocks of time here and there...
- We are going to Hawaii!! Not until fall, but so excited!! Great to have something to look forward to...
- Kids and I made a summer music mix the other day. I love doing that because it becomes a soundtrack for this time in our lives. And it's so fun to drive around town listening to exactly what we want...
XO
Grace in small things: "Kittens and the Weird Beast" edition
- Here's Zo in her swimsuit after swim lessons with a pillowcase on her head and another on her feet...Luke had the same and they told me they were playing "Kittens and the Weird Beast." According to Luke: "OK. So you have pillowcases. And you turn into different animals. There's only 2. OK. I don't know what the first one is...it might be a sheep or a lion...the girls turn into a sheep, the boys lions. Also you turn into a chrysalis eater...you eat the chrysalis..." Zo: "And then the bears decided to stay up in the winter and see what snow was. It was cold. So they decided to go hunting. They are hunting for something to eat in the winter-time. Now the bears are eating people. The bears love their house. Now there's some meat and some bear skin inside. Now babies are about to be born! Babies are coming so they are going to the bear doctor." ...kids run upstairs... come back down with teddy bears stuffed up their shirts. "Pop pop pop pop pop!" Zo says and the baby bears are born. :)
- Changing the subject completely...kids had swim lessons this morning and they are doing so great. Actual swimming with the crawl stroke and their faces in the water and kicking...so proud of them...
- A vacation is coming together for early November...ridiculously excited...we'll be with my parents and it's the first vacation ever that we've done with the kids...it'll be their first plane ride, first time seeing something totally new and outside their every day experience...it's going to be amazing...
- As I write this the kids are playing at my feet...toy dinosaurs are eating Zoey's superhero girls for dinner...
- And speaking of dinner, me to Zo: "Was the dinner your Daddy made you good?" Zo: "It's not just good. It was the best dinner ever!"
Happy Tuesday!
XO
Grace in small things: Strawberry ice cream edition
- Strawberry ice cream from scratch today...delicious...
- I had 5 kids this morning (3 boys over on a playdate)...what a good time we had!
- Delivered a work project today that I've been working on for a while...good to have it done (for now)...
- Carpet cleaners were here...our carpets look amazing...
- Kids snuggled up to me reading bedtime stories...love how they want our bodies touching...
Happy Monday!
XO
Fairy Tale Forest
We've been doing a hike every Sunday all summer with the kids and then something special afterwards...it's been glorious.
Today we got up early to do Soda Creek Trail and ended up on another trail altogether which was steep and hard vs the minimal-elevation-gain-meander-along-the-creek-to-a-meadow that we thought we were going to do.
But we ended up amongst these ferns that were as tall as the kids... "It's a fairy tail forest!" Zo said and she was right, it was magical. We were pretty much alone on the trail, too, which hasn't happened to me yet in Steamboat. Glad we are branching out as far as our trail choices.
And then our special thing after was a margarita and late lunch on the rooftop deck of Salt and Lime...watching as the thunderstorms we'd gone hiking early to avoid started to roll into town...
Such a lovely Sunday. So grateful for my husband and kids and summer and this beautiful place we live in...
XOXO
Grace in small things: Coloring edition
- Kids and I coloring in Sissy's bed this morning in the morning sun
- The beach (Burgess Creek) for the first time this year with some friends
- The nice lady at the dry cleaners holding the kids up to push the red switch to make the clothes rack turn
- Sis picking my outfit for she and I going out to dinner...I was soooooo overdressed for Steamboat lol
- Luke wanting his outfit to match his daddy's when they went out on their one-on-one time...shorts and superhero T shirts...
XO
Grace in small things: A bear was here! edition
- Muddy bear prints on the pavement in front of the house this morning...and serious claw marks on the cardboard in the construction dumpster...
- A My Little Pony episode (with the Cutie Crusaders) with Zo first thing...after she woke me with "Mommy! The coffee's ready!" (I make it the night before so all someone has to do in the morning is flip the switch. Still...I always feel so loved when someone "makes" me coffee...)
- Playing "Cars vs Dinosaurs" with Luke and his Hot Wheels and resin dinos...it's a pretty complex made-up game where the cars and dinosaurs take turns trying to defeat each other and there are ways to steal the other team's defenses, etc. Luke and I both played on the cars side, his imaginary fox Beeper played with the dinosaurs...
- Homemade spagetti sauce for dinner...
- Birds still singing while I tucked in the kids and they went down fairly easily...I've been singing "Taps" to them lately, after reading Trumpet of the Swan where it's played at summer camp...
XO
Grace in small things: First day of swim lessons edition
- Luke to me: "I don't know about swim lesson...that means less time with you..."
- Zo: Last year we had swim lessons with Meri and Charlotte! And then we always had a picnic after! But they moved, so the fun's over.
- Luke and Zo tying themselves together with the jump rope for swim lessons (I let them ride that way in the car but untie before we went in for lessons. Love having twins...)
- Librarian, checking Luke out: "Oh a Star Wars book. Do you like Star Wars?" Luke: "Kind of. But I'm getting this book because it's my Daddy's favorite."
- Luke: "Do you know what a low rider is? It's a car that hops like a bunny!"
Happy Tuesday!
XO
Books we love: July 2017 edition
A few of the books we've been loving lately (some pictured, some not):
- Little Apple Goat
- Trumpet of the Swan (and Charlotte's Web)
- Antoinette
- Bow-Wow Meow
- Ice Boy
- The Bathing Costume
- A Greyhound, A Groundhog
- Opulent Oceans
- The Princess in Black
- We're All Wonders
- The Big, Bad Book of Beasts
Happy Monday!
XO
Grace in small things: Portfolio edition
- I wish we could keep all the art the kids make but it's just not feasible in a home with limited storage. I've been meaning to photograph and put together a portfolio for each of the kids, and then save a few of my favorite originals but recycle the rest...got started on the process for Zoey today and here are some of my favorites of hers...I especially love the family portrait (first pic) where everyone has big smiles on their faces...
- Luke up early and me getting snuggles from both him and Jeff...the sweetest...
- Kind of a comedy of errors today trying to get out of the house to hike...we got a late start and then Buff Pass was closed to where we wanted to go and then we made another plan but by the time we got to our Plan B trailhead thunderclouds were building...but everyone was chill about all the changes in plans and we had a nice relaxing afternoon at home instead and I'm excited about the hikes we planned...next week...
- Zo and Luke and I playing superhero matching and not only did Zo assist Luke in getting matches but every time Luke or I got a match she jumped up and down and cheered. So dang cute...
- It's 9:30 PM right now and usually I'm pretty strict about bedtime but tonight I'm letting it slide that they are out of bed playing with each other...I love the relationship they have with each other...fun to listen to them...
XO