Meeting A New Cousin!

The girls got to meet their new cousin Mackenzie today!

 They were so excited to meet her- and she is absolutely beautiful! It's funny how easy it is to forget just how LITTLE newborns are!

 Mackenzie would stare and stare at Audra, Claire, and Ben. It was so sweet.

Both Audra and Claire asked if Aunt Beth and Uncle DJ were moving now that they had a baby. They couldn't understand how a cousin could live close to them- all their cousins live too far away! It was so innocent and precious, but we are glad to finally have a cousin that we don't have to fly in an airplane to visit!

Aspens

Today Jefferson County hosted a nature journaling activity. We drove up into the mountains and met at Meyer Creek Park (a place we need to go back to because we didn't get to do the 4 mile loop trail, but it looked absolutely beautiful).

We met our group- mostly of the over 50 crowd- and walked to some picnic tables nestled inside a grove of aspen.

 The arborist taught for a few minutes about how/why leaves change colors. She chose the cutest people in the crowd to be her helpers:

 Camille really enjoyed the watercolors- with dad's help:

The girls did a great job. It was a fantastic activity- being out in nature, learning art skills, appreciating the beautiful world we live in....we LOVE these programs that Jeffco does! Next month they are doing charcoal with skulls and bones. The girls insist they want to go... We'll see!

Pippin

For my upcoming Birthday this year, I decided I wanted Ben to take me to the theater. Actually, I wanted him to take me to an MLS Soccer game, but he wouldn't. So to the theater we went!

We started off by going out to dinner at a restaurant downtown called Pi. It was delicious.

Afterwards we went to Cheesecake Factory for dessert. I ordered the Oreo. We got it to go. Both Ben and I ate about half of our cheesecakes and then started to feel sick. I can't believe it, but I ended up throwing some of mine away! Can you believe that? I cannot. I have never done that before.

 We walked around downtown for a little bit before heading to the Buell. It was really nice to not have the kids in tow.

We saw the show "Pippin." It is the story of a man named Pippin and his search for greatness. It is set with acrobatics, music, and magic throughout.

The basic premise is that he tries desperately to find fulfillment through all the ways one might expect. Eventually, he ends up half dead at the house of a widow. He and the widow fall in love, but he doesn't feel fulfilled. So he leaves.

Eventually he realizes that family is what brings him fulfillment- the boring minutia of life and drudgery of day to day, not the flashiness of worldly pleasures.

It was very deep- there were lots of great things to think about. I recommend the show if it is coming to your town.

Overall, a great night. Especially because I got to spend it with my best buddy.

Hair Cuts

It was time for the kids yearly hair cuts. Not because of the new school year, but because I couldn't take Claire's huge rats nests' anymore. Every morning she woke up with huge snarls- I don't know what she does in her sleep, but it caused her to need a hair cut.

So on Saturday we made an impromptu hair salon in the kitchen and I cut all the girls hair.

 I think Claire's hair turned out super cute- she has this great bob that turned out really well.

I didn't get a before of Camille (because, well, getting pictures of her is tough), but she had bangs down to her nose that constantly covered her eyes and they desperately needed to be cut. I have been loathe to cut them, though, because her curls are so incredibly cute and I hated to cut them. But, it needed to be done. Thankfully, she is still cute.

 Audra just wanted her hair cut, though she didn't really need it.

10 Years Ago

Ten years ago yesterday Ben proposed to me.

We took the picture above about 3 minutes before he got down on one knee. All I can say about this picture is, "We look so young! Check out Ben's hair!"

I tried to find my journal entry from that night (I am an excellent journal writer). Sadly, I could not, so I will have to relive that night via my own memory.

I knew Ben would be proposing soon- but I thought it would be the next weekend.

Ben duped me into dressing nice by telling me we were going to a murder mystery dinner- something I had always wanted to do.

He drove me up to Lookout Mountain, then pulled over. We took this picture, and then he got down on one knee and proposed. I immediately freaked out, until I remembered that marrying Ben was a GOOD thing, and of course I said YES!

We went back to my place where Ben had to call my dad. Ben had never asked my dad for permission. Ben said he had proposed and that I had said yes, and he asked for my father's blessing. Of course, my dad (who thought I would become a spinster and was impressed I found somebody) said yes.

Then we went to The Meting Pot for dinner. No murder mystery dinner, but the night turned out pretty well, nevertheless.

It's crazy that it's been 10 years already!

Roller Skating

Claire has been begging to take roller skating lessons. I found out the local skating rink offers classes for pre-school kiddos so we decided to check it out.

Because Audra is a beginner they let her participate as well.

They did an awesome job- I can't believe the patience the teachers have! There were about 20 little kids on roller skates with lots of falls and quite a few tears, but the teachers were fantastic with the kids.

Of course, the hardest part was chasing after Camille. Oh, well- slowly and surely we will figure out how to keep her entertained.

 Claire was very scared. It took her awhile to let go of the wall.

 Audra was a trooper. She did fantastic- she fell about 10 million times but just kept getting up. When she skated off after the class, she burst into tears because of all of her falls. I am not sure why she kept going when it was upsetting her, but she never came off the rink until after the class. After a few tears she was fine.

 Yay! Claire is standing!

 But it only lasted a few seconds. For most of the time she crawled around the rink:

 Camille stared longingly at the rink, wishing she could join:

Even though both Claire and Audra shed many tears, they both said they had a good time and wanted to go back. This surprised me, but I'm pretty sure we will go back. How can we  not when apparently Claire has a great time crawling on the floor for an hour and a half?

Let's Go Fly A Kite!

Yesterday it snowed.

No joke. We woke up to snow, with both Audra and Claire scratching their heads and asking, "Why is it snowing in the summertime?"

That's how we roll here in Colorado.

Then today it was back in the upper 70's. It's crazy.

We decided to take a bike ride to a nearby park. Claire said we should bring a kite, so we did.

There wasn't any wind- because, hey, why should we have wind the day after snow rolls in?

The girls didn't mind. They decided to make their own wind by running. Awesome! The girls have fun AND completely wear themselves out!

These pictures are from my IPhone so they aren't very good. But, you can see that the girls had some fun.

Here's some video of Camille giving it a shot:

It's times like this- running around with the kids, going on bike rides, flying kites- that life seems pretty perfect. Of course it isn't. This excursion ended with yet another tantrum and then we came home to a messy house and laundry to fold. But, I'll take these "Perfect Moments"- when things just feel good and right. We have a good life- a messy, sometimes grumpy, absolutely imperfect perfect- life. And it felt good today.

I Really, REALLY Am Upset With My Sister

I have a bone to pick with my sister Melissa. She knows this full well, and she laughs at me when I talk to her about it.

Here's my beef: When I was in Seattle a couple of months ago, Melissa introduced me to Fitness Blender. This is a fitness program on-line that helps you get fit. It is a husband and wife team. They have free fitness videos on-line, or you can purchase for $10 (so basically free) a pdf that shows you an 8-week program which works different body parts every day. I think it is worth getting the pdf.

Why am I so mad at Melissa for introducing me to this program? Because it works! Dang it! I have now done this program for 8 weeks. I have gotten up early (yuck!) to do these workouts, and unfortunately they have paid off. I am starting to get some muscle- though, admittedly, when I showed Ben my biceps he laughed at me.

If the program didn't work I could just stop working out- saving me a lot of time and energy.

But, no. It is working- so I have to dread my early mornings and get up to get sore for the day.

Sigh.

It's such a rough life.

There is, however, one bright spot. While I'm working out, Camille comes over and works out with me. It is just about the cutest thing ever. She does the Downward Dog, squats, lunges, and more. Here is a video of her doing crunches with me this morning:

A Glimpse

A couple of weeks ago we got our family pictures taken (remember Ben's $1.50 shirt?). Camille was getting to a point where she could realize she wasn't in any of our family photos, so it was time.

They turned out great- but I'm only going to post a few of them- just a glimpse! I hope that you appreciate the coordinated outfits.

My wonderful friend Jenn Winder took them. Anybody who can make our family look put together and happy in picture form has great talent! You can visit her website (which Ben designed!)  HERE.