Townies, why didn't the reindeer fly for us? + school progress
- At Townies, my favorite little local coffee shop, today between drop-off and a cute winter celebration program the kids had a school...
- ...And, Luke got sent home with pink eye, but I'm so grateful my schedule is so flexible it's no big deal to have him home. He got antibiotic drops and can go back to school tomorrow...
- Zo was telling me last night at tuck-in how disappointed she was that the reindeer we saw on the mountain with Santa this weekend did not show off their flying skills...
- Luke is starting to sound out words and write sentences on his own...so cool the progress he is making... (and Zo is doing so great too, just in different ways...)
- At drop-off the other day the kids' Spanish teacher told me how sweet both my kids are...and especially how empathetic Luke is...always great for a mama to hear...
- Just finished "The Crown"...so good...
- Loving late-night porch time with all the neighbors having Christmas lights out...you don't see as many stars but it's super festive...
Happy Wednesday!
XOXO
Santa + 1/50
- Santa at the ski area today...so fun...Luke was so happy to talk with him, telling him all about the Hot Wheels super ultimate garage he's got his eye on...Zo wasn't so sure about Santa...although she did end up asking him for a back-in-time machine, lol...
- And...we (kids and I) finally made it out skiing! It's been pretty delayed because, you know, where is the snow?? But the conditions were actually pretty decent...
- Late lunch at the Sheraton, too...fun...
- Holiday concert with Zo last night...delightful...and after we went to Mountain Tap and had a little late snack and they had Christmas books there (The Grinch, and one about a gecko surfer who saved Santa from a shark after he--Santa--crashed into the Pacific)...we had such fun reading them...
- Practiced reading with Zo and writing with Luke this weekend...they are both doing great in those areas...look forward to working with them on it over Winter break...
- The little loop I've been walking has the most beautifully lighted huge pine with the rainbow lights...it's so beautiful...love walking past it...
Happy Sunday!
XO
Ski Mama
Any mama who skis with her kids will relate to this...the laying out of gear on the first day...gosh there's a lot of it! And this pile doesn't even include the actual skis, snowboard, snow board boots, passes, snacks, waters, etc, etc...
After the first time it's a lot easier...
XO
Gingerbread house
Our first-ever try at a gingerbread house today...with Christmas carols playing in the background, a curry in the crock pot, a gingerbread candle burning, snow flittering down. I did the icing and the kids did the candy...it's not going to win any awards but we had fun... :)
XO
Luke is reading(!), the holiday post office wasn't that bad + hoping for Geminids
- I love our tree!! Might be my favorite ever as a grown-up...I'll always have a soft spot for the beautiful trees my mom did for us as kids...
- Kids are doing tricks (summersaults, flips etc.) tonight instead of stories...they are so excited...
- Volunteered at school today and Luke is totally reading simple stories...
- Dropped my phone on the sidewalk and shattered the glass face today...ugh...but got it fixed in less than an hour when I explained it was my only phone...grateful...
- Amazingly short line at the post office today...and glad to have some time to get out and about and do my last batch of Christmas errands...
- Hoping to see some meteors tonight (Geminids) as it is clear vs the cloudy it was last night...
Happy Thursday!
XO
First time rock climbing, The Nutcracker hip-hop style + reliving Hawaii
- First ever trip to the rock climbing gym yesterday for a birthday party, and what fun the kids had! Zo carefully climbed up and down and was so persistent and thoughtful and brave. Luke sprinted to the top of climb after climb and belayed down. And the bouldering...I know in the picture Luke looks soooooo high...but the people supervising said the mats were so thick even a fall from that height the kids would be fine. We're going again tomorrow with a friend for a class, can't wait...
- The Nutcracker with Luke this weekend (because he is the kid who said he wanted to go)...I had low expectations of a small-town dance studio production but they did an absolutely PHENOMENAL job. They even mixed hip-hop in and it totally worked. Luke was on the edge of his seat the whole night. We got tickets from work friends of Jeff's and they had a daughter in the show who was one of the leads...her father teared up and was wiping his eyes the whole time she was onstage he was so proud of her...it was the sweetest...
- Big new stack of library books from the library today...
- Played dolls with Zo this afternoon...for whatever reason playing like that (just imagining things, no structure) is the hardest thing for me to do with my kids...but we had a really good time transporting the dolls and pets to the big island of Hawaii and driving to visit the volcano...
- Talked with my mom and briefly with my dad today...always makes my day...can't wait to have them up for Christmas!!
Happy Monday!
A visit to our bear friend
Daddy had a little work to do on Saturday so we went with him in order to pay a visit to our bear friend. Hello bear friend!
XO
Steamboat is beautiful, the moon as a fingerprint + "confused light"
Luke doing trash duty at Montessori...
- Everything has been so beautiful here...sunrises, sunsets, snow sparkling in the air, snow rainbows, big billowing clouds from snowmaking...alpenglow on the mountain late afternoon...really magical...
- I volunteered at school for the first time yesterday (fun!) and Zo was so excited to see me, walk me to the office for my badge, she held my hand and said, "I love you Mommy!" which she doesn't say that often...loved it...
- Zo also hand-lettered an invitation for me to come to her Christmas program...she's getting to be such a big girl!
- Zo, about the pale a little-less-than-full moon in the morning on the way to school: "The moon is like a fingerprint in the sky!"
- Our tree lights can be white or rainbow. There's one light that is white on rainbow setting and rainbow on white. The kids call it the "confused light" and love it...
- On the way to school the other day people were holding signs for Colorado Gives, a fundraising drive for nonprofits. Kids and I were talking about it and they said they wanted to give. We didn't give locally, but Jeff and I matched their allowance contributions 5-to-1 and through Heifer International (the catalog's been in our house for months...I usually throw things like that out...it's funny that I kept it) Sis bought a sheep for a family in need and Luke for the same money got six flocks of ducks. "We will change somebody's life forever," Luke keeps saying, very serious. It feels good to do that and to involve them...
Happy Friday!
XO