Let it Snow!

I'm sure this is not the first time I've used this title for a post, but I wasn't expecting to use it in October!  I live in Colorado, I know it can snow in October.  But it's not supposed to SNOW in October.  This storm was more like something that happens in March around here.  23 inches and 2 snow days later, we have lots of fun "playing in the snow" memories, and cute pictures to boot!

We made snow angels, we shoveled, we made "real" snow cones, we shoveled again, we sledded, we drank hot chocolate, we made snow pumpkins and we shoveled some more!

What a Day!

As a school fundraiser prize Hope got to ride in a limo to lunch at a local pizza place.  And not just any limo, a HUMMER limo!  The kids thought it was the coolest thing ever!

I had the "opportunity" to go along as a chaperone.  I have to say, limos lose some of their appeal when you're riding in the middle of the day.  With a bunch of second graders. And only drinking water.  :)

The fun didn't stop there!

After school, we finally made it out to the pumpkin patch.  With Halloween just 4 days away, we knew we better get there quick!  Hope, Jared, and Justin had to search hard for good pumpkins.  So many of them were mush becuase of the freezing temps a couple of weeks ago.  They had a great time though!

And with a foot of snow on the ground today, we made it just in time!!

Restaurant Night

Tonight Hope decided that she and Ellis were going to set up their own little restaurant.  Usually this involves me sitting and having to read a fake menu and give a fake order and pretend to eat fake food.
 
One of the things I would love to change about my parenting is my desire or lack of thereof  to play "pretend" games.  So, while I would have participated out of obligation and Mommy guilt, I didn't have to! 

Hope made up a whole menu and was sure to put spaghetti as "Sunday's Special", since that was what we were having anyway.  They got out their little table and put on and I quote "a fine tablecloth", and sat and waited for dinner.  All I had to do was serve which I would have been doing anyway and they thought it was great to sit at their own table!

Brandon and I kind of enjoyed having a table to ourselves too!

It must be Fall!

We're doing things like playing in leaves . . .



and making caramel apples . . .

Getting ready!

So, we didn't make the caramel from scratch :0)

Goofy girls!

The finished product. Yummy!

. . . it must be fall!

Easy Fix

EJ just bit the wheels off a little foam police car she has:

EJ: Mommy ix it.

Me: Mommy can't fix it.

EJ: Mommy ix it, peese?

Me: Mommy can't fix it.

EJ: Yeah, Mommy ix it wit new bawees.

I want to live in a world where new batteries can fix anything . . .

Life is Rough

I got a loaner car today because our car is having some stuff done to it at the dealership. Our loaner is a cute little emphasis on the word "little" red Mazda 3. Like I said, it's a "cute" car, but definitely a very basic model. When we picked Hope up from school today she asked, "Why do you have to unlock all the doors by hand?" And as soon as we got in the car: "What's this? Oh, it rolls down the window - you have to turn it!" And as I opened the trunk at the store: "The trunk even needs a key????"

When I was exactly Hope's age my parents got divorced and I moved to Colorado with my mom and sister. I remember being amazed that a garage door could be opened without a garage door opener, and that ice cubes could be made using 'trays', rather than an electric ice maker.

Funny how our perspective can be so warped because of life's "little luxuries". I tried to explain to Hope that we should feel lucky that we have any car at all. That some people don't have the ability to buy a car and have to walk or take a bus everytime they need to go someplace.

She was quiet as we pulled into the garage and I turned off the car. I started to think that maybe my little lecture had an affect on her. Then she exclaimed, "Cool! You can roll the window up after the car is turned off! At least there's something good about this car!"

Naptime Fun

This was how I found EJ when I went to get her up from her nap on Saturday:


One arm pulled out the top of her shirt and her socks on her hands. I'm not sure how much sleeping was going on!

3 Minutes

I ran upstairs to answer a work phone call. 3 minutes later or less I came back down to this:

And she called me out on my stupid question - "Can you color on the floor?"

Um, apparently so! Duh!