Still in My PJ's

Happy Birthday Skylar!

2011-01-13T05:52:00.000-08:00

Skylar turned 3 in November! We had a fun party for her and she had a great time playing with her friends, eating cupcakes and opening presents!
She, of course, picked out her favorite "party" dress for the special occassion!

At this time in her life she is into a few different things. Ligloss, chapstick and lipstick round out the top three. So, naturally she has to be sure that her look is complete with an enormous amount of chapstick. The application process pretty much runs all day...

I am guessing she wished for more chapstick, lipgloss and lipstick...

The kids had lots of fun decorating their cupcakes! They had sprinkles, icing and m&ms to decorate with.

It was kind of one of those "one on the cupcake 2 in the mouth" situations with the m&ms.

The girls table had lots of fun with it!

And the princess added a few new dresses to her wardrobe which makes her very happy! She also got lots of new lipgloss, chapstick and lipstick...and gum. That rounds out her top four. She loves gum. But only for about 3 minutes. Then she spits it out and gets a new piece. Repeat steps 1-3. We go through a lot of gum around here!

November

2011-01-13T05:40:00.000-08:00

We started out November with our wives trip. Always lots of fun and a nice time to get together with all of the other football wives and talk about, well, adult things. Our kids aren't with us and it is always fun to act like adults. Most of the time we end up acting like kids though.
They had these cool picnic tables that could swing on the FIU campus, so we sat there and visited with each other while we waited for game time. THis is one side of the table.

And this was the other side. Such a great group of women. I am so happy they are all in my life!

Morgan's class decorated shirts for their Thanksgiving feast at school. Happy Fall ya'll!

I, of course, had to make Skylar a shirt to wear for the Thanksgiving feast and spent WAY too long making it. But was pretty cute, so it was worth it. And maybe it will fit her again next year, so I won't have to make another one? Here's to hoping...but I'm not holding my breath.

October

2011-01-13T05:20:00.000-08:00

Well, this is what happens when you are 3 months behind on blog posts. You have to cram a whole month into one post and do very little explaining. Sorry, but here are some of the pictures from our October adventures.

We visited the pumpkin patch with Morgan's classroom. Lots of fun! It was much warmer than it has been for us in the past, which was nice! We are usually bundled up in hats mittens, and our winter coats, so this was a nice change.

This year we were in shorts!!

Can't wait to compare her to next year and see how much she has grown!

Skylar too...

Bryan had a game on the 30th, so there was trick or treating for the kids through the tailgate area. The girls had lot of fun with all their friends dressing up and of course seeing Ace. Morgan was plenty warm in her costume! These costumes were great when we lived in the Rockies, but they are a little warm for the south. Tutu is so wonderful to make all these costumes-and she always does such a wonderful job!

We went to a Halloween party at the Athletic club that morning and got even MORE candy! Oh goody! The girls had fun!

And Morgan won 2nd place with her "Kung Fu Panda" costume!

Outer Banks Trip Part 1-Beach Babes

2010-10-10T14:38:00.000-07:00

We had such a wonderful time in North Carolina with Ryan and his family and Derek and the Applewhites. It was really spectacular and definately somewhere we would love to go again. We discovered that the girls are not only mountain, arctic, and swamp girls, but they are quite naturally beach babes as well. We wished Bryan was there to join in the fun, but this gives us an excuse to return!

We did so much while we there-we took a tour of the Currituck Sound Lighthouse, we took a wild horse tour, we had many many hours of beach time, and did lots and lots of relaxing. These are just a few pictures of the girls...I will have to make this a 2 (or 3) part series to get all these pictures uploaded...

Morgan was having the time of her life digging in the sand

Skylar and Morgan knee deep in it

Our Little Mermaid

Uncle Derek playing in the sand with Stella, Skylar and Morgan

Morgan and Uncle Derek taking Ace for his beach walk

Skylar watering...the beach

Morgan loving the waves of the ocean

SISTERS!!

Anytime, anywhere-it's naptime!

Mud girl-she got the biggest kick out of covering herself with mud.

Some of our Colorado Trip

2010-09-01T12:29:00.000-07:00

We had the best 2 1/2 weeks ever! The girls had a blast, I had a blast and I hope everyone we saw enjoyed our company too. It was a long trip, but we had so much fun the time just flew by!!
We headed up to Red Rocks one Saturday for an awesome burnin' workout with Jumpin' Joe! Whew! What a fun time and the best landscape anyone could ask for! Perfect!

After 2 hours of extreme fitness in the foothills of Colorado we still had smiles on our faces...

We spent a few days at Grandma and Papa's house and the girls LOVED riding Hugs! Skylar was ready to saddle up and ride this time. Last time she was a little more hesitant, but there was no stopping this cowgirl! She could have done this all day if Papa would have let her!

Morgan loved it too! Hugs is such a sweet horse and Cowboy Dick and Papa were so nice to let the girls ride. They haven't stopped talking about it yet and they can't wait to go back and get back up on that horse!

The girls are anxious to do their "chores." Chores were fun to them. Morgan and Skylar went out every morning and helped Papa feed the horses their hay and grain. We skipped cleaning the stalls this summer, but maybe next summer we will get them a pair of boots and let 'em loose in there to really get their hands dirty. Until then, Skylar will put on her best dress and lipstick for the occassion...

We headed up to Greeley one Saturday for the UNC alumni match. All of my former teammates were there and some of us met up early at a local park to meet all the kiddos and enjoy a little slower pace before the festivities began. What an amazing day it was! It was so much fun meeting all the kiddos, playing at the park, getting to know the husbands a little more and just all-in-all catching up on life with my girls. It was truly heartwarming and fun!

Jessica, Kelly, Teale, Me, Cara and Kara soaking in some love!

All of the alumnus after the game. What a fun experience! I hope I get to do this again some day!

The best ending to the day is that we all managed to WALK out of the gym on our own free will. No one was injured-not even our egos. We played great and had even more fun!

One of our last nights in Colorado we spent at Coors Field watching the Rockies beat the Braves 5-4. It was fun to go watch my Rockies in action and the girls loved it too!

San Antonio

2010-07-14T13:34:00.000-07:00

The girls were so excited to see the Shamu show! I am not sure they knew just how big these orcas are! They loved the show and took home their own Shamu stuffed animals. I was like a giddy little girl waiting for the show myself! I wanted to be a marinebiologist when I grew up...

waiting for the show to start

Morgan LOVED feeding the dolphins and touching their noses. She even fed the dolphin a fish!

Skylar would not touch the dead fish, but enjoyed watching the dolphins eat them.

The Applewhite homestead is located in La Vernia, TX just outside of San Antonio. We made a special trip out to see the remains of it and so we could take a picture with the girls at the historical family landmark.

Bryan and the girls at the Applewhite Homestead.

4 generations

2010-05-09T14:20:00.000-07:00

Bryan's mother and grandmother are in town visiting for Morgan's birthday and Mother's Day, so we took the opportunity to get a few pictures of the generations-you just can't pass up an opportunity like that. Here are three generations.

And four generations! Isn't that amazing!? WOW! More amazing is the fact that both of my children are smiling at the camera...at the same time. Yes, I did tie their hands behind their backs and tell them their feet were next, but hey, whatever it takes to get a good photo-sign me up!

Four generations of women-truly a Mother's Day gift! See, it can't hurt that bad...they are still smiling.And the Louisiana Applewhite's on a beautiful Louisiana Saturday Night! See what happens when you untie them-they lose sight of the goal...and the camera. Lesson learned.

Night of Champions

2010-05-02T05:53:00.000-07:00

Getting all dressed up in the name of ULM

Turned out to be a great evening and lots of $$ raised for our student athletes.

Warhawk Weekend

2010-04-26T12:07:00.000-07:00

The weather was amazing, the scrimmage was fun, the crawfish were boiling and the baseball game was great! All in all it was a jam-packed, rootin' tootin' Louisiana Saturday night!

The girls were all ready and geared up in their new ULM dresses to cheer on the Warhawks.

Bryan gettin' his game on.

Rock on Soul sister!

Not interested in the paparazzi...hmm...that's unusual.

There's Baby Gaga loving the camera!

After the scrimmage...thought we may as well take advantage of our coordinating outfits. Cheese!

And after all was said and done the girls had seen all that they could see.

Monroe Zoo Boat Ride

2010-04-08T17:55:00.000-07:00

Skylar and Morgan LOVE the new Disney movie The Princess and the Frog. They have only watched it a few times but the music is fantastic and extremely catchy. We went to the zoo the other day while Bryan had a spring vacation day and they have a little boat ride you can take at the zoo. The girls absolutely love it and Skylar sang, "Going down the Bayou" from the movie for at least the first 5 minutes. Just that line...over and over...and over.While it doesn't look as though she is having any fun at all I asure you she is. She is just thinking about what she is going to sing, say, shout, or whisper next. Chances are it won't be a whisper. Not with Skylar. And I am pretty sure after 5 minutes of "Going down the Bayou" it was 5 minutes of her own rendition of "Puff the Magic Dragon."And Morgan loves the island monkeys that put on a show for you if you clap and hoot and hollar for them! They are pretty cute!

Easter

2010-04-05T12:10:00.001-07:00

New Orleans

2010-04-05T11:56:00.000-07:00

Last week we took at trip to NOLA with my Dad, Mo and Jana and had a great time touring The French Quarter, took a boat ride down the Mighty Mississippi and our family friend Gaynell was kind enough to give us a tour of the city and give us a glimpse of all of the regrowth and past devastation in NOLA. We also stayed in Ann's cousin Teri's condo and it was fabulous. We had a great view of the Bayou right behind us and a great park that the girls enjoyed one day. We had a wonderful time!

Our new Crib!

2010-01-20T08:52:00.000-08:00

Hey Y'all! Well, I am happy to report that we have a stylin' new crib! It has been a crazy month for the Applewhites, but we are happy to say that Bryan got a new job coaching for ULM (U. of Louisiana at Monroe), we found a new house, put it under contract, and are happily packing for our cross country move down south. I have never lived outside of the Rocky Mountains and I really have never been to the south (I don't count Florida as the south and 24 hours for a football game doesn't really count either). I spent the last week in Monroe and I am totally impressed! Our realtor was amazing, the area is fantastic and we are so excited to get good and settled. Here are a few pictures of the new house.

Here is the outside of the house-front and back. And it has a screened in porch in the back-woot woot!! Killer bugs and gators can't get us in there-LOL! There are lots of trees in the back to block that HOT afternoon sun.

The living space-kitchen, nook, dining room, butler pantry and family room. I love that we have a fireplace. It kinda makes me laugh. We live in Montana where it didn't get about freezing for over a month (or above -10 for a week) and we didn't have a fireplace. Ever single house we looked at in Monroe had a fireplace.

The bedrooms. The master is nice and BIG and we will have a bathroom all to ourselves again-woot woot! Sharing a bathroom with 2 toddler girls kinda cramped my style. The girls will share a bedroom again and may even graduate to some bigger beds. We are going to have the 2 blue bedrooms painted before we get there.

A visit to see Santa

2009-12-09T08:46:00.000-08:00

What holiday season is complete without a visit to the mall to see good ol' Mr. Claus? Daddy was home for the weekend from Phoenix, so he got to join us for the big day!

There was a cute little desk by where Santa was to sit down and write your letter to Santa. We drew pictures for him...and Morgan practiced writing her name.

Then she stuck it in the Santa mailbox so he could see it after he was done visiting with all the boys and girls.

See? Pretty cute, huh?

Then Skylar drew her picture for Santa...

Skylar was pretty excited to mail her picture to Santa too!

Then we got to wait in line to see Santa. We got to the mall nice and early and there was no line, so we were right up front.

Well, Santa was a little late, but luckily one of Morgan's classmates was in line with us so they danced and played chase and did a little ring-around-the-rosy. And Skylar thought that was pretty fun too. They also got fruity Mentos while they were waiting and that was super cool!

Morgan and her new friend and classmate did lots of dancing. But it was more along the lines of Morgan pulling him around the mall. But, hey, that's what girls do-and that's what boys like. And that's what counts. And it kept them all happy until Santa arrived.

Santa called the girls up and Morgan was totally into it. Skylar took one look at him and headed for the door, but after he gave her a giant candy cane they were officially friends again. They both told Santa what they wanted: Morgan-a stationary bike and a yoga mat; Skylar-a book and a baby. It was a fun time had by all.

After the Santa sighting we continued the festivities and had some lunch at Fuddruckers with Morgan's classmate. And this is the perfect age-they get to think they are playing super cool video games-and the parents get out of there for free! Good times! Merry Christmas!

Photo op

2009-11-27T20:21:00.000-08:00

Well, we got all decked out in our "Black Friday" best and headed out for some picture taking. It was Skylar's 2nd birthday, so what better time to get a new family picture done. Bryan's parents and grandmother were here as well, so we snapped a few with them too. I think we have a few choices for this year's Christmas card!

Bobcats and Bumblebees

2009-11-02T08:03:00.000-08:00

Saturday was not only Halloween, but it was also a home game for us. So, naturally we got the girls dressed up in their costumes and headed to the game. Well, during the 4th quarter Morgan was on TV!!!!! The game was aired on Altitude TV Network and the announcers spotted a bobcat in the stands and were admiring her awesome costume! Bryan's team's mascot is the Bobcats, in case you missed that tidbit. She was a huge hit and the grandmas and grandpas and a few neighbors saw her on TV. It was definately one of the hightlights to our day!

How could you not want that adorable face on your television screen? She was pretty excited and was waving her hands around in the air.

And there is certainly not a cuter bumblebee buzzin' around this town. And the costumes were perfect for the game-the hoods kept them nice and warm.

After the game we had a little Halloween party in one of the meeting rooms at the athletic office. One of the other coaches' kids was a monkey-borrowed from our stash. Which is the costume that Morgan was last year. Grandma Tutu is one crafty lady! And famous now!

No party is complete without a pinata! All the kids had a great time swinging away at the witch's face.

Here is a great shot of all the kiddos and their daddies.

And a great group shot of all of us.

Preschool Party!

2009-11-02T07:46:00.000-08:00

Morgan had a Halloween Party at her preschool last week and it was so much fun. We did all kinds of games, the kiddos got lots of fun treats and prizes and it was a great time had by all. I was a volunteer, which meant that Skylar got to participate in the festivities as well. And as with dance class she is always on her best behavior around the older kids. It is exhausting, however, so she followed that up with a 4 hour nap!

Morgan was a bobcat for Halloween and she was a huge hit! Grandma Tutu made her costume and Morgan came up with the idea all on her own. She was especially excited to have the cute kitty nose and whiskers on. The preschool room was a little warm that day, so the hood didn't stay on long.

Skylar bug was suitably a bumblebee this year. She looked so cute! She thought she needed to have makeup on her face too, so we gave her a little nose, which wore off almost instantly. Skylar had a great time playing with all of the preschool stuff. This was a giant bucket of rice that Morgan's teacher had dyed orange for the special occassion.

Who says a bumblebee, Scooby Doo, and a poodle can't play play-doh at the same table?

Morgan's teacher had lots of fun things for the kids to do with pumpkins. They did some pumpkin investigations and this pumpkin was full of holes. The kids got to hammer golf tees into it with a hammer. They thought that was pretty cool.

Skylar LOVES babies! Real and pretend. She isn't picky. She spotted this one in one of the playrooms and immediately knew she needed to be held and fed. So she climbed up on the chair and gave her new baby a bottle and a good burping (or lashing). What a good little mommy she is.

The girls had a fun day and I had a toddler hangover. It is safe to say I would not make a very good preschool teacher. And I admire those that are!

Dancing Sisters

2009-10-29T15:38:00.001-07:00

Morgan has been in dance class for 4 weeks now and she is getting more and more comfortable with it. I took a few video clips this last time so you could see how cute they are. "They" you ask? Well, yes. Morgan did not like the fact that I was dropping her off and leaving, and how do you expect a little- almost 2 year old- like Skylar to sit still and watch while 3-5 year olds are dancing around and tumbling about. Yeah, it's not gonna happen. So, super nice dance teacher let Skylar participate this week, and I must say she is really good. For an almost 2 year old she listens very well, and participates more than some of them. One of those being Morgan. Morgan is a perfectionis. I do not know where she gets it, but that's my girl. So you will see a lot of standing around, but she is just soaking it all in. When we get home she does all the moves and tells me all about it. Not Skylar. She just puts herself out there. She's not scared!

Forgive the video. This is a reflection through the mirror. It was difficult to be discreet and if they saw me taking video it would be all over at the Alamo my friends!

Another one of them bustin' a move!

Dancing with the hobby horses. This would be Morgan's all time favorite at dance class! Notice she is not passing up the opportunity to get a good long look in the mirror. She is so her father's child. He would be so proud!

Skylar is usually completely wiped out after dance class. It is hard for her to be that good and listen for that long. Being almost 2 is a hard job. But she knows when to step it up and when to bring her 'A' game!

Morgan has decided that dance class is super cool and told me last time when I stayed to watch, "Mommy, I am just really glad that you were able to stay and watch me at dance class." Yes, my sweet, sweet child. So am I. So am I.

Duck Pond

2009-10-26T14:07:00.000-07:00

Every Sunday we get a special treat! Ok, a couple of special treats. The girls only get to see Bryan Thursday night (Friday and Saturday nights of home games) and Sunday nights. Well, okay and wee hours in the morning if they happen to make it into our bed while we aren't looking. So, we make the most out of those special times. Sundays are family night at the football office and they have dinner catered in for us. There is also a duck pond on campus that we found and there are lots of ducks and they are always hungry! So, when the weather cooperates we go feed the ducks before we go feed ourselves and see daddy.

The first time we went the girls were slightly overwhelmed, but now they are naturals and they quack back! Ducks are smart animals. When they see small children they know they will get fed. They watch poor college students walk by and they don't bat an eye (these ducks know), but they see small children and parents and they will hover and quack and sometimes peck at you for the bread. They know who has the goods and who doesn't.

The girls hear, "Quack, quack, quack," but all I hear from these ducks is, "SUCKA!"

It is always fun and the girls look forward to it all day. And seeing daddy and company is always a thrill too. The girls love to see the other assistant coaches and families. Lots of kids on the staff=good times!

And a little video for your viewing pleasure-

Crunching the Leaves

2009-10-26T13:56:00.000-07:00

We have been enjoying the beautiful fall weather here and have been playing in the leaves every chance we get. The girls love to hear them crunch and they love trying to "put the leaves back on the trees." Although I have explained the progression of the seasons, they insist, so I let them-cause it's cute.

Fall is fun!

I love fall!

And it was even nice enough to get out the slide. While it wasn't as fun when you don't get to land in the pool, it is still fun to land in the crunchy leaves!

Hope you are all out enjoying your fall foliage too!

Children's Museum

2009-10-24T19:43:00.000-07:00

It was a little cold and windy here this week so we had some fun indoors. We explored the children's museum here in town and the girls nursed some sick animals back to health. They had tons of fun and will be enjoying the membership pass!

Rocky Creek Farm

2009-10-14T14:09:00.001-07:00

Today was pumpkin patch day with Morgan's preschool and Skylar and I got to tag along and see what this farm was all about. And it was really a cool place!

We went on a hay ride and got to pick out our very own pumpkins!

We brought a few apples from out neighbors tree and got to see them make cider out of it-way super cool!!! And we got to sample it with our pumpkin cookies that Morgan's super awesome teacher baked for us-it was delicious!

They had a few tree swings the girls went on for a while. Skylar thought these were the best things ever!

And Morgan thought the Clifford swing was really somethin' special. I am pretty sure she liked the sound of the mud beneath her toes. And the fact that it spun around in circles while she pounded the mud beneath her toes. And the fact that she knew she had her mud boots on so her toes would not get dirty while she did all of this.

They had goats too. And Morgan thought they were cool. Although, you can almost hear the thoughts running through her head, "Why would you want to let yourselves get so dirty? Don't you know how dirty you are?" And Skylar thought they were cute until one of them trotted over and hopped up onto the hail bail you see next to the fence and was eye-level with her.

"How could you momma, how could you let that goat do that to me?" Ugh-tough stuff this motherhood can be sometimes. It's faces like this that just really get your goat-blah haha! I made a funny-get it-GOAT!?

And what a classic fall shot this is, right? Perfect fall day at Rocky Creek Farms.

A visit from the Applewhite's

2009-10-14T14:00:00.001-07:00

We had some company this last weekend and we had such a great time! Uncle Derek came into town from North Carolina and Grandma, GG, and Papa were also here from Colorado. We picked Derek up from the airport and aside from seeing Skylar on Skype he hasn't seen her since she was 4 weeks old. Well, it would have been the perfect commercial for Skype. Skylar saw Uncle Derek walking through the tunnel at the airport and she took off running after him and greeted him with a big Skylar hug! It was priceless.

We had big plans for showing off Montana, but the weather had plans of it's own. It was a whopping 20 (and that was pushing it) most of the weekend, so we stayed in and watched football and played with the girls-which was okay with everyone!

The girls read lots and lots of books with everyone! Morgan played lots of basketball, and Skylar just talked. And talked. And talked. And when she ran out of things to say she sang. This is what she does. And they got a peek into the everyday life of us.

We also managed to get a great 4 generation picture too! We always say we are going to and it never works out, but this time we got one and it turned out great! Truly a special moment. And truly a great weekend!

Watermelon, watermelon, watermelon

2009-10-01T15:57:00.000-07:00

Skylar loves watermelon!!!!

She loves everything about it.

She loves that it's messy and juicy. Especially that it's messy and juicy!!!

She loves that it's totally hands on. And that no one else has to help her eat it.

She loves that we love to watch her eat it.And she loves that she gets to eat as much as she wants to.

The end.

We're baaaaack!

2009-09-29T14:40:00.000-07:00

Well, we are back from our whirlwind trip through Wyoming and Colorado and finally settled back into "normal" life. Well, normal for us. And there were a few pictures from before we left that I hadn't posted yet. Morgan had a lot going on in the first weeks of September, but she has done great with all of the new transitions and activities.

One of said activities is dance/ tumbling class. Oh, it was so cute and fun and she was a little shy with it (probably because I was trying to snap pictures and watching her the whole time). Skylar, on the other hand, was loving it. She is not a terrific listener yet (she is only 21 months so I cut her a little slack), but for the most part she was very interested in what the older girls were doing and definately wanted to be a part of it.

Morgan loved pretty much every part of "interpretive" dance, as I called it. She was a little less interested in the instruction. Just wanted to look at the floor to ceiling mirrors as she twirled and hopped around in her new leotard.

And this was a "first day of school" picture. It wasn't really the first day of school. I think sometimes when I make a huge deal of something then my children sort of wonder if this is something they should be freaking out about, so I didn't take any pictures of them on the first day. We just acted as if she waited her whole life to do something this cool and the day had finally come. It was like a huge milestone. And I didn't really want to make her feel like it was. And I think I must have done a pretty good job becasue she hasn't cried yet. She loves her teacher, loves her school and loves all the fun stuff they get to do there.

I will say that Skylar is not liking it. When we went to the open house at school Skylar got to come because we had no sitter and we had no other choice. Well, I am pretty sure she was thinking it was a tryout and if she did a really good job and listened really well and did everything the teacher told her too then she could go again and stay too. She was so cute. She got in line with all the other kids and cleaned up toys with all the other kids and sat on her carpet square for story time with everyone else. And when she didn't get to stay the next day with everyone else she pretty much thought mommy was a big loser. She will someday see how cool it is hanging with mommy for some one-on-one, but for now all she does it ask where Miss Sheri and Morgan are.

A visit from the Tutus

2009-09-14T14:25:00.001-07:00

We had a visit from my mom and step-dad Dick over the long Labor Day weekend! It was such a treat to get to spend a few days with them and show them more of Bozeman (I must say I was feeling very far from home and a little homesick). The girls call them the Tutu's and they enjoyed every second with them-waking them up early to running around in the back yard playing football with them. We also took them up to Palisade Falls and did a short hike with them. The weather was great the whole time they were here.

We saw a little girl coming down the trail as we were headed up and she had found herself a little walking stick, so we found one for both Morgan and Skylar and they both enjoyed walking much much more. And so did I considering I didn't have to push 70+ pounds up the mountain!

Skylar loved her walking stick too! She's my little explorer!

We stopped to take a short little rest (and play in the dirt).

Morgan and her Tutu...

Thanks Tutu's for coming up to visit us. We had a blast!

Part 5 of...I think 5 for now

2009-08-28T20:44:00.000-07:00

This is hilarious to me. This is what having kids is all about. You can weld their little minds to do all sorts of cute funny things and you can tell them that something is and they do believe that it is! I love it! This is why I have children. Well, and for holidays and other occasions so I can do stuff like this:

And this:
And let us not forget this:
Anyway...I digress. Here is the video. Again you will have to just pump up the volume, cause it is a stretch. After you watch I will tell you what she said.

I taught her this while we were running errands this morning. I guess the car is a great learning environment for some reason, kinda like the throne is a great place to think. Anyway, anyway, back to it. She started by asking me what a bobcat DOES. And I said well, I know what they say, but I didn't really want to get into the whole predator vs. prey thing, but then I thought about a second longer and came up with "they beat the griz!" Man, pat myself on the back, I taught her a great new thing that will be a hit and just in time for this weekends Bobcat football BBQ!

Part 4 of...

2009-08-28T20:32:00.000-07:00

This one is a stretch, but if you can hear her Morgan is spelling her name! We were in the car the other day and she just randomly spit it out and I almost hit the curb and a cow. I was so excited for her to be able to spell her own name, and now we (sort of) have it on video. You have to turn up the speakers really high and listen very closely. Sorry for my arm in the way. I was trying to be subtle and the camera was just sitting on the counter. So don't mind me.

Part 3 of...

2009-08-28T20:11:00.000-07:00

Here is a little of the two of them. Skylar, you can tell, is not camera shy and thus Morgan loosened up to it too at this point in the program. Good thing Morgan starts Preschool soon. She will have a song and dance program somewhere other than the tub. Time to get these girls socialized!!!!!! And don't mind Skylar when Morgan does ABC's-she is telling Morgan to, "stop singing!"

Part 2 of ...

2009-08-28T20:01:00.000-07:00

Here is Morgan bustin' out a little Bob Marley and "3 Little Birds." I apologize for the black screen but at this point she hadn't quite opened up and was a bit camera shy. Don't you worry you will have much more with audio AND video.

Part 1 of...

2009-08-28T16:31:00.000-07:00

I will now start a series of videos of my children singing and doing otherwise cute stuff that cannot be captured on still frame lenses. This is the first one. Morgan singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." Please enjoy.

Dearest Crayola,

2009-08-28T16:19:00.001-07:00

We had lunch outside the other day after a LOOOOOOOONG morning of painting with the neighbors. Mostly because I wasn't prepared to clean up another mess. You will see why in a moment. Oh, nevermind. You can see now.

Well, the lunch mess is part of it. As you can see PB and honey all over Skylar's face. And let me say this picture doesn't do her skin justice. And that is not a mad face. That is a face full of peanut butter and honey and grapes...lots and lots of grapes. And, by her skin I am not referring to the sun reflecting the real skin tone but I am referring to this:

Paint. Thank you Crayola for making washable paints, because my 20 month old doesn't care that her shorts are Gap brand and that her shirt is Old Navy. Even if they are hand-me-downs they are still nice. But no fear! They are not ruined. As you can see she really doesn't care that her skin is slightly stained. Thank you again Crayola for leaving the lead out...I think...I should check the recalls. Goodbye for now.

Go Bobcats!!

2009-08-14T15:09:00.000-07:00

So, while Bryan's mom and Grandmother were here last week we went to the campus bookstore and loaded up on Bobcat gear for everyone. I got a sweatshirt and the girls got sweatshirts, foam cat paws, pom poms and megaphones.Well, I guess it's a really good thing we have a month to figure out what to do with these!

Air Force One

2009-08-14T14:58:00.000-07:00

We had the great pleasure of hosting our nations president this afternoon in Bozeman, Montana. We really wanted to attend and I had every intention of going down to the courthouse yesturday for my 2 free tickets, but alas...I do not make the rules. Skylar decided that she wanted to nap until 5:45pm, so we were never able to get our tickets. We made the most of it, however and watched all the helos fly over our house all morning (Morgan and Skylar waved every chance they could) and we also waved to The President onboard Air Force One. Morgan immediately said, "I want to go see him. I want to go see Barack Obama. I miss him, mommy I want him to come over and spend the night."

"Well, my sweet sweet child, he is incredibly busy fighting important issues like HelathCare reform."

"Oh, well, maybe after that then" she says.

Needless to say we watched his town hall meeting on the local new channel. It was a pleasure!

I thought it was only fitting that the helo was in perfect frame to grab the American Flag. What a shot.

Oh, man, what a sight. It literally gave me chills to see such a magnificent plane holding our nations president. And for him to be flying right over our house was awesome! Welcome to Bozeman, Montana Mr. President.

Dude, I am so old!

2009-08-05T20:09:00.000-07:00

Okay, well I feel old anyway. I am writing this on the eve of my 29th birthday and I am feeling super old. We went to the park the other day and I tried to get on the swing to show Morgan how to pump her legs and I thought my head was going to fling off my body. I got so light headed and dizzy and had motion sickness so bad I almost blew chunks. Okay, well not that bad, but kind of. Any way, so I was explaining this to my brother-in-law, Derek, via Skype and he said it is actually something that happens to you as you get older. Oh, well good then I am glad it isn't just me, but darn it if that didn't solidify my wonderings. I am getting old. So he explained to me that there is fluid between your brain and your skull and when you get older there is less fluid so your brain doesn't have as much "cushion" as it once did-or something like that I can't remember-I started day dreaming about the good ol' days when I used to talk to my girlfriends about going out to party or how hot some guy was. Now we talk about the newest novel to hit the best-sellers list and how we still have all that extra skin from where our babies stretched us out and no matter how many ab crunches we do it never seems to go away. Oh well. I think that is pretty much what Derek said.

So then, I was daydreaming about the 80's, my prime, when in walks Morgan looking like this. And man, did that bring it back for me. Could not have said it better myself. The layered headband. The Whitney Houston look she's got going on. There is so much in this picture that was so right. And so much that is so wrong. But I like the message she is getting across here-"No Boys Allowed." That is actually a door hanger. But she can use it as a necklace. Sure. Go for it. Accessorize.

Well, then, in walks Skylar. Love it. They are so my 80's girls. And they definately make the fact that my tummy still has stretched out skin that won't go away even with 1000 sit ups perfectly okay. I still have one more year of 20 somethings to get rid of it...

Grotto Falls

2009-08-01T19:54:00.000-07:00

Today we went and had a family hiking trip up at the beautiful and all inclusive Grotto Falls hidden perfectly in the Hyalite Canyon. It was spectacular! There was beauty all around us. Bryan had never been hiking-I know-WHAT!?! That is precisely what I said! He then went on to say, "It's not like I have never been on a hiking trail, I just was always on horseback." Oh, well, pardon me! Ok, well I guess that is cool. Anyway, so we had a great time-it was a 2.5 mile trail, so the girls walked a little and Bryan and I took turns pushing the 70+ pound stroller with them in it up the mountian, because as you know, it isn't like one wants to ride while the other would rather walk. Nope. So not how children work. If one wanted to ride so did the other, so we got our gleutius MAXimus' (I should only speak for myself here where MAX is concerned) in good shape today. Morgan and Skylar both really liked being in the outdoors and soaking up the great sunshine and surroundings.

We had a great lunch on the lake and the girls enjoyed throwing rocks into the water. Let me rephrase that. Morgan had fun throwing rocks half her size in the water and Skylar enjoyed tempting fate by almost throwing herself into the water. She doesn't have that down quite yet.

Bryan was pretty much in complete agony here. Can't you see the pain on his face? He had bitten his lip for about the 34th time and was bleeding and swelling as he sat there, which is why he is trying to ignore the fact that I am taking his picture. Skylar is just doing what she does-ignoring me-hey wait-it must be hereditary!

While we were down by the water after lunch these two men were canoeing past my scenery and I couldn't help but take this picture. It was too perfect. Wow, what a view!

They were both looking at the camera!! And I still had it set to take distant scenery pictures. Ahhh! One of these days the stars will be in perfect alignment and I will get a good one. If it's the last thing I do! Doesn't it even look like they are even holding hands. I assure you they are not, but cute nonetheless.

This is Grotto Falls. Isn't she lovely? I fell in love. I had to get a closer look. Bryan didn't think it was safe, especially in my new tennis shoes, but I assured him it was okay, "'case I got 'em at Ross for like $25 bucks." Then I made him go up and get a closer look and he thanked me after he did it.

I love the mossy blankets reflecting the sun's rays. Did you see how clear and beautiful the water is? Even Bryan said, "Did you get a picture of how clear the water is?" I think he liked his nature walk. I think he liked feeling like a granola eating, tree hugging hippie dude. 'Cause he also kept saying, "Your brother would really like it up here." And I agree. He really really would.

My little mountain bug with her binkie and monkey. She loved playing in the little stream running along the trail. She was kind of dirty when she pulled her hands up and actually wanted me to wipe them off, which was uncharacteristic and I was wondering if she was lacking oxygen, but then she dropped her binkie in the stream and picked it right up and put it in her mouth, so then I was ok. Whew! Close call.

My Jeremiah Johnson. Next time we're gonna leave him up there with a pocket knife and see if he can't catch us a bear.

Party!

2009-07-26T08:51:00.000-07:00

We had a party last night to get together with the new football staff here at Montana State. We had so much fun getting to know some of the coaches and their families and Morgan and Skylar made some great new friends! Morgan was excited about getting all "dolled-up" because mommy actually had on a dress for once too so I thought it was a perfect time for pictures. Skylar was still sleeping so we never did get a picture of her-you snooze you loose!

Is she not the cutest when she wants to be?

What a cheese!!

More of the Fair

2009-07-19T15:02:00.000-07:00

Okay, so pretty much, Bryan and I are gluttons for punishment. We thought it would be fun to buy the 5 day pass (which is basically 3 days), so we HAD to get our 3 days worth! So, pretty much day 3 was more of the same, but a little more heat and a lot more tired...for everyone. The girls had fun, but our luck ran out much sooner each day we went. We tried to go to the rodeo, but when we realized that it was a ranch rodeo (not that they aren't cool, just not exciting enough to keep the attention of a 3 year old and 1 1/2 year old) the fun did not last long before it was pull mommies hair, fall down 504 times and just basically whine a lot. So we stayed about an hour for that and high tailed it back to the Applewhite ranch! I did manage to snap a few pictures of the girls before we had our major meltdowns.

This was actually day 2 when Morgan realized that the goats and sheep really were kinda cool even if their barn stunk a lot.

I'm like totally slowin' Skylar down with the snapshots. Can you tell she just complies and moves on? She's still cute...and she still complies...so I keep takin' the pictures. I hope she never figures that out. I have many evil plans that I have plotted out since thier births. That's one of them. The other is that eventually Skylar can wear Morgan's clothes, but that isn't working out very well either. They were born at different times during the year, and now Skylar is ready to outgrown lots of things Morgan-one being her shoes! It's okay though. I have lots more evil comin' their way :)

Hello Miss Rodeo Teen 2012. Not that I'm in to that, but does she not fit the part?! Now she just has to get used to the smells of the barn and she'll be a sure winner!

Skylar loved these! Every time we walked by she had to go and stick her face in it. Oink Oink! Ciao!

We're Going to the County Fair!

2009-07-16T12:04:00.000-07:00

Oh, what fun it was! We thought that they would want to ride on all the rides and go to the petting zoo. Morgan only suggested it 17 times in the car on the 10 minute drive there.

Well, they only rode one ride and we never even found the petting zoo (but that's okay we bought the 5 days pass). We went through all of the barns and said hi to all of the show animals and that was a BIG hit. Who knew!? So we found the bunnies and chickens first and it was pretty quiet in there until we arrived. Let me set the scene for you...There were a few youngsters in there doing their 4H presentations (more on that) so there were quite a few people in there but it was quiet. So we looked at the bunnies first and the girls loved them. I never knew there were so many different breeds. My brother-in-law (super science) did. He tried to make up his own breed when he was in 4H-smartypants. Anywhoo...We turn the corner and see the chickens and Skylar couldn't help but let out a loud "COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!" Oh, it was priceless. Pretty much dropped Bryan and I to the floor. Everyone, of course looked over and laughed.

**4H sidenote-I had absolutely no idea what 4H was until college when all my teammates were talking about it. Boy did I look stupid when I asked what it was! I am a product of my big city environment.

Okay so then it was on to the cows. Morgan wanted nothing to do with them. Skylar was a little weary so I carried her through, and she "moo'd" at them of course but not with the excitement of the chickens.

Then we actually got to see a cow being milked. I was reminded of my own children's birth. Pretty sure a few mom's there had some flashbacks. We all had that look as he was explaining the process. Poor cows. Poor DeeDee. All out there for everyone to see.

Then it was on to the pigs. Morgan said, "No way! It's too stinky in there." And Skylar was pretty much over it after we saw the first 3 pigs laying in ick breathing heavily from the heat and trying to lick water from the hoses.

Then it was on to the sheep. Again, Morgan was out of there. But Skylar, oh Skylar. How she loved them! I never knew. She "baa'd" at every single one of them and jumped up and down and put on a little show for all the people and sheep. Those were by far her favorite. She saw one get sheered and walked right up to all of them and said hello. I think she liked that they baa'd back. I didn't take any pictures or video of her with them, but I will when we go back!

Next were to horses. Morgan could have been in there for HOURS!! She was in her element. Reminded of her Papa's ranch and all the horses there.

There was even a little baby horse that she named Baby Special Doc after Papa's horse Doc. Morgan touched every horse in the barn and just had a grin from ear to ear.
Skylar liked the baby too. We later found out this was Bee-Bop.

Now on to the good stuff. This one will forever haunt Bryan. Oh, what a man will do for his family! Yee-Haw.

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

2009-07-10T19:36:00.000-07:00

Last night we went and checked out our local ballclub and caught a few innings of baseball before lightning and rain pushed us away. It was great fun and the girls had a blast watching (a little), dancing(a lot), and being goofy(the whole time). There wasn't much of a crowd so the girls had the freedom to roam around a bit.

The team was the American Legion Belgrade Bandits. They were 14-18 year olds. They had some great hits, made some great plays and all in all it was a fun night of "America's Favorite Passtime."

Popcorn was a hit. And what's up with them taking turns looking at me? It's like they know when the other one's looking and then they switch.

S-ok now you look

M-no you

S-No I just did-now it's your turn

M-Fine, but then you're next

S-Whatever. Dont' hog the corn!

"Go Bandits," says Skylar. "Go Bandits," yells Morgan. "Where are they going, Daddy?" Oh, that is the stuff I couldn't make up in my dreams. I love that. I eat it up. And then I have to write it down so I don't forget. 'Cause someday she's gonna think she was so cute-oh wait-she already does!

Morgan and Skylar would get up to dance to the music between innings. But you have to watch closely because all Skylar wants is the popcorn and Morgan wants to dance, so Skylar obliges but then when Morgan walks away Skylar looks out of the corner of her eye as if to say, "you done. Good, now let me get back to eating my popcorn. You are such a spaz sometimes. Sheesh!"

Lookin at Myself

2009-07-08T13:27:00.000-07:00

Empty your mouth before you watch this-I'm jsut saying-I think it's funny. And if you know Bryan you know how much funnier this is because he pretty much makes the EXACT same faces! Ah, our little diva! Using a dog brush. Makin' a 'fro! This is the kind of stuff that makes a mother proud!

Well, that-and this

This was a pair of "silly glasses" we found at the dollar store that have been the best investment we've had from there. Morgan loves wearing these and they make you laugh out loud every time you see them on her!

A Look in the Mirror

2009-07-08T13:03:00.000-07:00

This is just hilarious! Not much else I need to say-you can just see for yourself!

Veggin Out!

2009-07-07T14:25:00.000-07:00

Hey ya'll! Come check out my Veggie site!
www.veggininmypjs.blogspot.com

4th of July weekend

2009-07-05T20:05:00.000-07:00

We had a blast of a weekend and we are worn out! We headed to Missoula for the weekend to spend time with some of our friends from Laramie. The girls had an absolute blast and came home with power rangers, transformers and some "cool" new tricks that the older boys taught them!

The day we got there we set up the kiddie pool and slip and slide for the kids and let them run and splash.

And Morgan couldn't get enough so after dinner we went in the back yard and her and the boys raced back and forth about 103 times. Well, okay maybe just 47, but it was a lot!

Then we had a break in the action for ice cream.

Hot stuff munchin' on hers with her legs crossed. She has always been such a lady.

Then the following day (the 4th) we went down by the river (I don't know the name of it) and took a carousel ride, played at the playground and had lunch.

We just love these guys! And what a cute family aren't they?!

So, here is when things got interesting. We finished up with dinner around 8, so we had to decide what to do until it was FIREWORKS time. Well, this picture was taken at exactly 8:50, so you can see we still have LOTS of daylight to burn, and we have to keep the kids happy, and we have to keep the kids awake until the fireworks show. So we went to the park for a while and let them run around and swing and play. Great parks there!And a little teeter totter...

until in was finally dark. So we gathered at the mall (they launch them overhead there) and brought lots of snacks and drinks to keep the peace and settled in to wait...and wait...and wait. The fireworks finally started about 10:30! Gotta love NORTH America. I have a feeling winter is gonna be somewhat...hmmm, how can I put this...dim. But summer has pretty much rocked so far.

And can you believe that both our girls made it through the whole show and loved it. We were really worried that Morgan would hate the loud booming and cry the whole time, but she saw the big boys lovin' it and she joined in. Plus there was popcorn...and licorice...and caprisun...and the boys! They crashed and slept until 8:30!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, that's right! A new record for my "up with the sun" daughter Morgan. God Bless America and God Bless 4th of July! We had a great time!

Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?

2009-07-02T08:19:00.000-07:00

The Chronicles of pulling a U-Haul trailer 700+ miles:

We left at 6:30am Monday June 22nd and arrived in Bozeman, Montana at 9:30pm that night. It was a LONG day, but the girls were wonderful in that car and Papa did a great job of pulling that trailer. Don't be scared to visit! It really doesn't normally take 15 hours but we were pulling a trailer that couldn't go over 55 and we did have to go through wyo, which we refer to fondly as "windy wyo" so that set us back as well.

On your marks, get set, GO!

It really doesn't take much to put this baby to sleep! Even with tremendous amounts of sun in her eyes and gigantic headphones on her head...this was literally less than 30 minutes after departure. And about 1 hour since she had gotten up for the day.

This is pretty much consitent with what Morgan looked like the whole way there...

Except for about an hour of this...

And an occasional little something like this! Yes that is her microphone and yes, Skylar did try to chime in but really had a hard time trying to find the beat, so she went back to reading. It was just too speratic for her to jump in!

Is this not so funny?! She had like 5 stuffed animals and about 8 books on her lap, but it made for a good pillow, I guess!

Skylar really had a great chance to catch up on all her reading-she can check that off of her "to-do" list! Thanks Nanny for all the books!

And, while the girls did great, Morgan's feet had a little bit of an episode. She informed me here that her feet were "fighting." It was really funny. I have video if this thing will let me load two. Otherwise I will post seperate.

The girls were so excited to see their Daddy again after 6 days without him and 6 months with him! And then Morgan quickly realized that the Germers (who were our neighbors in Laramie and also live in Montana now) don't live next door to us anymore. We had to explain that they were in a different town, but we would visit them. So now, pretty much everyday, she says, "I want to go to the other Montana where Nick and Alex are."

That's gonna leave a mark!

2009-07-02T08:11:00.000-07:00

Oh ouch! Skylar had a doozie of a fall last week just before we left for Montana. She was carrying a bouncy ball pretty much the size of her and she didn't see the flagstone step in front of her so she had a "rough" flagstone edge to the lip. She is one tough cookie, though. She only cried for a minute or two and was all smiles after that. Check out the damage-

This was just minutes after so it isn't even swollen yet, but you can see where her teeth entered her bottom lip-OUCH! Or "owie" as Skylar kept repeating the rest of that day. And that is a smile she has on her face.

And this was the next day. Pretty much super duper swollen, but she really didn't fuss about it at all. She has her sister to thank for that. Morgan has done her fair share of toughening Skylar up over the last 19 months!

The Water Fountian Park

2009-06-19T13:38:00.000-07:00

Well, we got to see my grammy and a couple of my cousins yesturday before the big departure. We met at the "water fountian park" which I think is actually Cornerstone Park in Englewood and we had a great time! The girls enjoyed dodging the water and playing in the sand and we actually got to enjoy our picnic. Every time we eat lunch there it seems there is a terrible wind storm while we eat, so it was quite a treat! And a great day!

A great shot of Morgan and Skylar in action! Be glad there is no audio on this! The screeching is SO high pitched and loud!

On second thought, let's take a looksie...

Just taking it all in!

Morgan was pretty much screaming the whole time. And the funny thing is she loves coming to this park, but rarely does she get a single drop of water on her! It is really entertaining! She was slightly braver this day than previously, but she MAYBE got 10 drops on her.

Is this not the best shot of all the girls? Too bad Morgan was too busy playing in the water to have her picture taken with Shammy!

This is my cousin Karen's little girl Breanna (so on the geneology chart she would qualify as my 2nd cousin)-is she not the cutest thing? She was hard at work on her experiment for quite some time! It looked good whatever it was! :) *There was a little geneology confusion on my dad's side of the family so I was just clearing that up for them-love you Dee-Dee!

And this is Rayna (also my 2nd cousin)-the cutest red head I've ever seen! She was busy climbing most of the time but I did snap this shot of her when she was in the sandbox.

Bozeman or Bust!!

2009-06-12T19:39:00.000-07:00

Well you could say that has been our moto for the last 4 days-BOZEMAN OR BUST!!!! Bryan accepted the job with the Montana State Bobcats to be the running backs coach on June 8th! Happy 7th anniversary to us! And it has been pedal to the metal ever since. Bryan and I dropped off the girls at Grandma and Grandpa Tutu's house on Tuesday night and we left at 5:15AM on Wednesday morning to Bozeman in search for dwellings!

We have had nothing but good fortune since we arrived-we found a great 4+ bedroom house and a car for Bryan to get around in-it's even Bobcat colors! We didn't realize that until after the purchase but we were both relieved it wasn't maroon or "he'd a been walkin'!"

Here are a few pics of the house that we found

okay, well maybe just one. The inside isn't very exciting yet-it's still empty, so I will post more pics when we get settled.

So in just 48 hours we found a house (I think we counted seeing over 20!), a car (we test drove 5) and then waited 2 hours at the DMV for temp plates on the one we liked), got a grand tour of the athletic offices (I say "grand" because Bryan couldn't remember where they were, so we got lost and found some other fun things to look at), and took a great scenic walk along the trail system for a great view of all of Bozeman, and our heads aren't even spinning off our shoulders yet! Okay, well mine did a couple of times, but luckily Bryan was standing right there so I didn't completely loose it.

This was a view of the south part of town-gorgeous!

And this was west...I think...now I can't remember-my head may have started spinning from the shear beauty of it all. I will give a full report when I'm stable!

Ciao!

Estes Park in a day

2009-05-24T08:39:00.000-07:00

Well we recently visited Estes Park for the day and the girls and Bryan and I had a great time! It was a little foggy on the way up which made us nervous for a nice day but by the time we got to Rocky Mountain National Park there were no clouds in the sky and it was lovely! The last time we had been to Estes was when my bro and his wife got married and Morgan was only six weeks old so we thought it was time for a visit.

A nice family shot if only Morgan wouldn't have been quite as involved in the "junior ranger" packet they gave her-oh well, take it as it comes!

And Morgan with her signature half interested half smile to make her mommy happy she got at least one photo of her for the day.

And don't even think that Skylar is actually posing so innocently for the camera. She wouldn't stand still while we were trying to get a picture, so we had to sit her down on the ground. And this would be her thinking she is just as cute as can be trying to make it impossible to get a shot of her.

This was a Big horn we saw on our way into the park. They were just walking along side the car in their pack. Um...no I don't have any food for you. I can read park signs! And Skylar, once we said sheep, "baa-ed" for about 45 minutes.

Once we were in the park there were elk everywhere! They must just know they can pretty much chill there. We had a great little picnic in the park and then headed back down to town. Morgan, all the while wondering where Estes PARK (as in playground) was.

She gave up on looking for it for a minute. Thinking Mommy and Daddy were big fat liars telling her we were going to a park all day!

So instead of Morgan thinking we were totally lame we did find a park and it was beautiful! And the girls had lots of fun. It was even right off of Lake Estes so we went down by the water and daddy showed them how to skip rocks. Skylar wanted to go in-of course!

Life on a ranch is hard sometimes...

2009-05-14T14:50:00.000-07:00

WARNING-THE FOLLOWING CONTENT MAY BE DISTURBING TO SOME READERS. READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED!!!!

Well, we had a bit of a tragedy the other day. Those cutest little baby chicks, well, they were taken last night. And by taken I mean eaten. Not sure if it was a neighbor dog or a coyote but the baby chicks are gone. Luckily Daddy was the first to arrive on the scene so he cleaned everything up and destroyed all evidence of their existence. We weren't sure if the girls would notice and for much of the morning when they were outside they didn't. Whew! We counted our blessings and thanked the lucky stars the girls are 18 months and 3. But when they went to play outside after nap time Morgan noticed right away. It was very sad and emotional and tearful...even for mommy to see her that sad.
So when she asked us where they were, natually, we lied! Right through our teeth! And if you saw Morgan's sadness you would have done the same without a second thought. We told her that they were big enough to fly away, so they are happy now flying around in the sky. Sometimes that is just what baby chicks do. And sometimes it is better to lie to your children. Times like this...

Morgan Turned Three!!!

2009-05-10T16:12:00.000-07:00

We had a great day celebrating Morgan's 3rd birthday!! We did a lot of reflecting over what the past three years have given us and what the next year will bring. We have been truly blessed with an amazing little girl!

Morgan really wanted a black puppy, so we set off to Build-a-Bear! Thank goodness they had a black puppy for her! She has been before, but as you see she is still on system overload in a place like this! So she picked out her puppy and off we went to bring that little puppy to life!

After the puppy is stuffed the way you want him stuffed (huggable, or sittable, etc.) then you have to give him a heart. So the build-a-bear lady had her rub the heart on her head so he was smart, her ears so he would be a good listener (gee if only I would have known it could have been so easy), her tummy so he was always (I can't remember full, I guess? maybe a good eater, I was more interested in the look Morgan was giving her than what she was saying), and her heart so he felt loved. Then they stuff the heart in there and sew him up.

Okay, now we're talkin'! This is the part Morgan remembers! The bathtub! She loved giving him a "fluff" bath!

Okay so then he was complete! Now on to accessorize! He had a little puppy that came with him and she got a leash and dog house for him too! And lastly, we named him-Snoopy. So after we got his birth certificate we were done. Whew!

Then, of course, the puppy wanted to get out and stretch his legs a little in the mall, so Morgan took him for a walk (or a drag, depending on how you look at it). After that he really could have used a real bath. Mall floors are nasty!

Then it was on to tradition. After dinner we went to Wendys to enjoy a frosty. This was the first thing I had after I gave birth to Morgan after not eating for almost 48 hours. So, naturally, I fell in love with the Frosty! Frosty and I were a match made in heaven. And, in all reality it could have been dog food and I would have gobbled it up, but it was a yummy chocolate Frosty. And now that I think about it was two! HAHA! Michele and Joe brought Bryan and I one and I remember asking Bryan if he was going to eat his-I must have looked desperate because he said I could have it. So, essentially, that was Morgan's first thing she ever had too! Long story longer, we now have Frosty's on Morgan's birthday!

I don't think Morgan minded-do you?

LOL! No, I don't think she minded!

Baby Chicks!!

2009-04-30T10:48:00.001-07:00

Papa brought home some baby chicks the other day! They are too cute, huh!? So their names are Nemo (the striped one, of course), George (the grey one), and Shrek and Fiona (the two black and white ones). They are growing very fast and are deathly terrified of Skylar...rightfully so! She tries to choke slam them every time she touches them. But she is just so excited to have them!

I hope we find somewhere to live soon-I think the girls will get ponies next!
***And when I first posted this it was a secret that the baby chicks started their lives with us in Grandma Happy's bathtub while she was away in Phoenix. Well, she heard it through the grapevine, so now I can blog it! It was true. Thanks Aunt Chris-glad it wasn't me to break it to her! And what a sacrafice Papa made! Can you imagine trying to sleep with 4 baby chicks a few feet away chirping all night. Brings back memories of babies by the bedside for me-NO THANKS!

The Easter Bunny came!!

2009-04-30T10:43:00.000-07:00

Daddy keeps telling the girls that all the bunnies running around outside are the Easter Bunnies, so Easter was fun this year. They have been chasing E.B. all over Zeno Ct! And he left them baskets inside and eggs to find outside. It was a typical spring morning in Colorado, so we whipped out the winter coats over the jammies and jetted outside for some egg hunting.

Morgan-show us what'cha got!

Skylar didn't really "get" it, she was kind of just "whatever-ing" us but went along getting her eggs. I have a feeling she "whatever's" us quite a bit.

Whoa! Bed head!! See, now you all know that we really do fix her hair. Have you ever seen it like this?

Then they got all dolled up in their Easter best and we went to Nanny and Pop's house for some Easter fun, cold ham (haha, love ya Pop!) and another Easter Egg hunt. How cut is this outfit? Took a few shots of them, but of course they couldn't sit still so these are the best I have.

And this was the only shot I had of the two of them together. Cute! Morgan can be such a gem!

Love your Mother...Earth

2009-04-30T10:38:00.000-07:00

Well, we celebrated Earth Day by going to Lee Martinez Farm in Ft. Collins (we love that park and farm and petting zoo a lot). We fed some of the animals, checked out the silo and barn and had lunch in the park. It was lots of fun!

Skylar is Ms. Independent these days so she had to put her hat on herself-homie!

Morgan loved sitting on the blanket and eating lunch. They both just LOVE being outside!

They are really into tractors of all shapes and sizes, so we had to try a few out ourselves...

Enter cute little baby cow-how cute is that!?!

And, yes this is my cautious one, Morgan feeding animals!!!!!!!! Sheep to be exact. And she fed the goats too.

And Skylar really liked the chickens. She was telling them a story, but I am not sure what it was about. See? THey are all lined up at attention. She's gooood!

And then later that day when we got home we pet some chicks of our very own-maybe the other chickens smelled the babies-ya know like dogs would? By the way, that is George. As in Curious George. But he is no longer curious of Skylar. He knows what she's about-trying to kill him! Every time she tries to hold him it is like death grip to the baby chick. She does not want him to fly out of her hand! Anyway, so this is why George is running from her soft angelic hand as it tries to pet him.

Especially Skylar

2009-04-30T10:30:00.001-07:00

Since I have so many random shots of Skylar I thought I would share them with you in one big post just for her. This first one was at the park. She was crawling through a tunnel and playing peek-a-boo.

And this one was just funny. The headphones are as big as her, but she actually left them on-long enough to fall asleep anyway!

Ummmm. Spaghetti dinner! The independence is shining through. Rufusing to accept help and not quite knowing how to use utensils...

Haha! She had a blast sitting on this race car!

And a MAJOR milestone-she has gone pee-pee on the potty 3 times so far. She has gotten up in the morning with dry diapers a few times so when she does we just sit her on the potty and she goes right away. And the best part, for her, is washing her hands. Which you would never think she would care about (see spaghettin dinner above).

Tool Belts

2009-04-30T10:05:00.001-07:00

Okay, so too much male influence and my little girls have on tool belts and know more tool names than I do! "Mommy that's not a wrench, that's a MONKEY wrench!" Oh well pardon me! And of course, the monkey wrench is her fav-duh! So Daddyand Papa made them tool belts so they could carry around their tools!

Does this not look like it's straight from the wild wild west!?!

And this one...she still has to have a little diva in her...

Where do I even begin?

2009-04-25T16:45:00.000-07:00

I have neglected my blog and I am sorry-to you 4 followers! HAHA! Just kidding-but I will now bomb you with countless tales of our where-abouts! Are you ready?

I will first post about our farming days. The girls have seriously LOVED ranch life and I am scared of what they are going to do to me when we have to leave. What are we going to do all day? Here are a few shots of them cleaning stalls

Okay, well first Morgan had to get her "crutches" and walk around for a little while...then they were skis.

Then Skylar wanted a kleenex-or at least I wanted her to have a kleenex, so we had to do that too.

Then we went out to do "chores." And they loved it-playing with all the fun tools and rakes and wheelbarrows-oh my!

And Morgan loved it too-but after a while I think it got the best of her. All in a days work.

The cuties!

2009-03-18T08:57:00.001-07:00

So, we have, once again taken Denver by storm and we are having a blast! Here are a few pictures of the past week or so...

Skylar has taken after her sister Morgan and LOVES dipping now! So a big pile of ketchup and some chicken nuggets and we are good to go! So her new nickname is THE BIG DIPPER! And this picture was taken only seconds before her whole arm went into the ketchup-just another outfit destined for the "play clothes" pile. You can always judge fun by how dirty you are at the end of the day!

And this picture quality is not so good, but this would be another "famous" Denver landmark-The Penny Horse. I am not sure if they are still in every King Soopers but they were at this one so we had to get the girls riding them. It was only a penny! Please disregard Morgans hair-fresh up from a nap-I really do brush it...

And of course Skylar got a turn too! And loved it. She had gone on it a week or so before, but wasn't as exctied. But this time she knew what she was doing and had a great time. THat face is worth a poor image quality!

And yesturday we went to the Zoo and met our good friends the Germers there. It was great seeing them and we had tons of fun looking at all of the animals and riding the carosel. And the weather was perfect! Almost HOT!! We usually ride the train but we rode the carosel for the first time on this trip and they got to sit in the peacock seat. THey loved looking at all of the animals on the carosel and going around and around and around (mommy got a little dizzy). And it was, of course St. Patty's Day so we were all in green. And see-I do comb her hair-I told you!

Another shot of the carosel ride. It is a rule amongst siblings that they don't look at the camera at the same time...I am convinced!

And Morgan loved standing on the fence watching the elephants. And when we walked by a second time they were getting hosed down-she thought that was pretty cool!

A Few Pictures

2009-03-11T20:12:00.000-07:00

So we have just been having a great time watching the girls grow up and getting TONS of family time-I am sure they are wondering how long we are going to keep this up! Ha! Til we have somewhere else to go-but for now we are here and we are soaking up every last second of it. Skylar has been having a few issues, but we are thinking they are possibly allergy related-dust or horses or something like that. So she is seeing an allergist next week to hopefully rule out a few things and narrow something down. The poor girl has been in and out of the Dr. office the past couple of months an nothing seems to be working.

Enough about all that boring stuff-here are some pictures...

Ok, so not the best picture, but totally worth uploading! They were seriosly precious holding hands in the back-and it wasn't even my idea! They just love each other THAT much! I know, I know, times-they are a changin', but for now-simply precious!

And what's cuter than a sleeping baby?!? All this running around and visiting with grandmas and grandpas wears a girl right out!
And this would be Morgan blowing all of you a BIG FAT KISS! We love you!!!!!!!

A day at the zoo

2009-03-03T08:37:00.000-08:00

Last week we went to the zoo and it was so much fun! We had tried to go on Tuesday but there were so many people and school buses of kids that it was a little too crazy to brave, so we went to the park and had lunch instead (it was like 70 degrees here that day)! So we tried again on Wednesday and it was perfect! The weather was great and there weren't too many people. The girls got a huge kick out of the monkeys (surprise) and enjoyed walking about and looking at all the different animals. Here are a few pictures from the day:

I don't know what Morgan's favorite animal of the day was but I think the penguins were up there on the list. She loved watching them dive into the water and then get out and shake their little butts! We watched them for a good 30 minutes!

Okay so anyone who has ever been to the Denver Zoo recognizes these! And probably has a picture with them-no matter how old you are-they have been there forever! She was brave enough to get on them and loved the covered wagon but this was the shot we got.

This picture cracked me up! I was showing her the map and explaining to her where all of the different animals were on the map, so she walked around looking at the map and pointing out where all the animals were to me the rest of the afternoon.

What's up?!!

2009-02-22T16:51:00.000-08:00

Well, we have been busy busy around here! We have been riding horses, visiting with family and friends and all together soaking in all of the time we have here while it lasts! Skylar got pretty sick last week, but is definately back to her old self. Here are few recent pictures:

Morgan was VERY unsure of the horses when we first arrived at "The Ranch" but has warmed up quite nicely and looks forward to the warm mornings so she can help feed and clean stalls with daddy. Morgan loves the horses, but she does have a line that she will not cross and the is the threshold into the barn. We finally asked her why she wouldn't go into the barn and she replied, "It's too stinky in there." So for now she does all of the outside chores...

No! We are NOT subjecting our daughter to illegal activity! HAHA! She had an ear infection and asthma or bronchitis (they are not sure until it happens again) so she had to do some nebulizer treatments for a few days but she is definately back on her feet.

Morgan and Skylar got some special new toys from Daddy for Valentines Day and they LOVE them. They got an airplane and a turtle scooter to ride around the house (and outside when its warm enough). And Skylar's new fetish is things on her head-she loves to have stuff on her head these days-even over her eyes, which typically ends in tears from running into something. As you can see she is just as happy as a clam with her new ride.

A funny thing happened...

2009-02-01T10:01:00.001-08:00

So there we were in the car on our way home from dinner. We were in the middle of nothing surrounded by dirt roads and tumbleweed when a voice from the back panics the words, "pee pee on the potty! Pee pee on the potty!" And while Morgan is potty trained (woohoo) it is not something she is particularly seasoned at. In other words-she can't hold it for long!!! So Bryan and I exchange a quick look and there is only one thing to do-pullover. So we find a quiet dirt road and throw the Burb in park. Morgan surveys the area and says, "I'm not peeing in a tree!"
After a little coaxing and calming she did it. She peed in a tree sqat and all. Our first wilderness experience. We survived and from now on we always P B 4 we go! No pictures though. I will spare you that!

Children's Museum of Denver

2009-02-01T09:45:00.000-08:00

We got to spend yesterday at the Children's Museum in Denver with our good friends Casey, Shannon and Regan. Morgan and Skylar were so glad to see their good buddy Regan and they had a great day playing together.

Casey pointed out that the girls had on the same jeans so now they are "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants."

This was after a round of ring around the rosie, they fell down-on top of each other-so then they had to console. After lunch we went to the outside park at the Museum because it was sooooo beautiful outside. Morgan loved playing in the "Goodship Lollipop."
Skylar LOVED playing outside! She ran and ran and tried climbing up the slide. Morgan on the ATV Morgan seriously enjoying the fresh air and sunshine!
This is Morgan and Regan planning their attack on the parents. Moments later the meltdown...

No photos just an update-

2009-01-24T12:44:00.000-08:00

Sorry, we are without internet and computer right now so no photos, just a post. The move went well with few bumps in the road. Closing went great and we are in Colorado now. We are enjoying the time with our family and friends but we also hope that there is something coming our way that will move us! Sad to say we want to get outta here! That would mean we have a place to live!
I will also share with you one little story that sweet little Morgan said. It was last Thursday night and we were packing up all of our stuff for the moving truck the next morning. It was crazy chaos with boxes and messes everywhere. It was a rough day for all of us. The "zero" hour growing ever so near and the thought of leaving all of our friends and the birthplace of our children was become more and more of a reality. And out from the living pops Morgan with a very overwhelmed and concerned look on her face and here is what she had to say:

"Mommy...PLEASE don't put me in a box."

My Little Baker!

2009-01-06T19:40:00.001-08:00

Well, we had fun tonight making cookies. We may just have a baker despite my inabilities!! It was fun from start to finish and we had a great time taste testing-the best part of baking them! And if you know my kids you know that peanut butter was a hit! Hello!

And I think I am spoiling her for life with the Kitchen Aid! She will never mix her own batter!
Ahhhh! The best part!
And while Skylar is not quite old enough to do the baking she made one heck of a taste tester! And of coarse looked good doing it! She is great with clean up too! Hands on! Up on top of the dishwasher she will get her hands dirty to get the job done!

Oh Christmas Tree-Oh Christmas Tree!

2008-12-18T09:18:00.000-08:00

...How lovely are these children?

And a few out takes!

Update

2008-12-18T08:57:00.000-08:00

We have been busy here! It has been so great having Bryan home to spend some time with the girls after a LONG football season. We have enjoyed having Daddy around to play and read with us.

Here are few cute pictures of Morgan:

This is one of Morgan giving her baby a bottle on the boppy!

And little miss diva with her shades on and her penguin blanket "boa!"

And Morgan doing her ""dirty work"

The first snow

2008-12-03T15:21:00.000-08:00

Well, we can say we have gotten our first substantial snow here and Morgan is ready!!! We bought her some snow boots and bibs and she was out this afternoon helping daddy shovel the driveway. She absolutely loving every minute of it!

Happy Birthday to You!

2008-11-28T11:38:00.000-08:00

What a busy day we had yesturday! Not only was it Thanksgiving but it was Skylar's 1st birthday!! We had a busy day preparing all of the usual fixins' for the big turkey day and on top of all that we had presents to open and cake to eat. But we all managed and thanks to Tutu for cooking and all of the grandparents for helping and for joining in our extra special day with us it went off without a hitch! We had a few friends stop by as well. The Germers were able to join us as well as the Glenn's stopping by for presents. Here are a few snapshots of the festivities-

Skylar opening presents with her daddy-

Skylar lovin' on her new turtle-

And one more of big sister Morgan helping with the presents-

We have a runner!

2008-11-16T07:47:00.000-08:00

So now that Skylar is a master at walking I thought I would share a few clips of that. She really just did it overnight!

We have a singer!

2008-11-16T07:40:00.001-08:00

Here is a cute video of Morgan singing ABC's!

And here she is singing Itsy Bitsy Spider!

Rockin' Rocky Top

2008-11-12T06:19:00.000-08:00

Well, we had a great weekend in Knoxville, TN. UW played Tennessee and all of the coaches wives got to go, so we had a great time! And we won so it was even better! I, of course, forgot my camera so I had to buy a disposable one. Well, I should have just bagged the whole thing. I had some great shots, but all for not. Walmart ruined my film so I only have a few pictures that were shared by some of the other wives and friends.

It was quite possibly the most beautiful autumn that I have ever seen! And I have realized why their colors are such a bright orange-that is really the color of their trees! It was gorgeous, the weather was great and we won-what more could we ask for?

Did I mention we left the kids at home? Yea, so we got to go out Friday night. We went to dinner with all the the coaches wives and then later met up with Dawn and Drew who flew in to go to the game as well. So here we are enjoying ourselves at the hotel bar.

Just after they sang the national anthem they did a fly over-it was so cool! And of course the final score board after we won 13-7! It was a once in a lifetime experience for Bryan-he met THE Johnny Majors! Legendary football coach for the University of Tennessee.

Trick or treat!

2008-10-25T12:37:00.000-07:00

We had a fun morning Downtown-they had a safe Halloween morning for the kiddies in town to come down and trick or treat with the local downtown businesses. We had a great time walking around looking at all the cute kids and visiting a few of our local business-owner frineds. Here are a few pictures of the morning.

Morgan was a monkey and LOVED her costume! Naturally-she is infatuated by monkeys and it was only fitting for Grandma Tutu to make the costume. Skylar thought she looked hilarious-she was laughing uncontrolably at her.

Skylar is a lion and has been practicing her ROAR all month long-she is one fierce lion!

Here are my little jungle animals together-are they not just so cute!!

And one more of my cute little monkey!

They were exhausted!

2008-10-19T09:16:00.001-07:00

I forgot to attach these two pictures of the girls on the way home from the farm-the fresh air and sunshine just wore them out!

A visit to the Farm

2008-10-18T19:04:00.000-07:00

Well Bryan had a day off so we got to go to a pumpkin patch/petting zoo together! I can't remember the last time we have gotten to do that, so we took the opportunity and ran with it! We ended up going to Martinez Farms in Fort Collins (boo rams!) and had a great time. They had cows, goats, sheep, chickens, ducks, pigs, ponies and a hay hill to climb-tons of fun to be had for all! And then we got to pick out a few pumpkins to bring home with us.

Morgan's highlights were feeding cutie the cow and all of the goats eating oats out of her hand. We couldn't believe that she actually did it, but I think she would have fed them all day if we let her! She had so much fun sitting on this tractor too!

Morgan loved climbing all of the hay stacks and she loved the little tractor too. She has been more and more interested in them these days-there is a house being built behind us so we hear tractors working a lot and every once in a while we go over and watch and look at the huge pile of dirt, so getting to sit on a real one was pretty cool!

And Skylar was just as curious as ever-but did not want to be held. They had the perfect fence for her to walk along and look at all of the animals. I think Cutie the cow was her favorite-that got the biggest reaction out of her, but I think she liked the little pigs too.

What a great fall day it was-we all enjoyed ourselves and the fresh air was perfect!

Skylar is taking great notes on how to be a great farmer! And look at that cute big sister showing her the ropes.

A great photo op around the tractor-too bad I have a great big wheel going through my face and Skylar looks like she is ready to bite someone's head off! Other than that it looks great!

Morgan and Skylar loved playing in the pumpkins. Skylar of course wanted to eat everything she could pick up and Morgan made a mess with the hay throwing it up in the air-but they sat still just long enough to snap a great photo of the two of them and that's all that matters-

This may have been the best photo op yet! And it may just make our Christmas card, so look out!

As the days grow cold...

2008-10-13T14:34:00.000-07:00

We have been enjoying some crisp fall days around here and the mornings remind us that winter is just around the corner. Skylar is gearing up to turn one at the end of November and has learned so many new things these past few months. She is starting to talk-her first word was "bear" and she has since added "uh-oh" and "wow" to her vocabulary. She is pointing out everything wanting to know what it is and has taken a few "first steps" from Mommy to Daddy and back. She loves walking around the house with her car and must constantly be in motion-the law of physics is with her always!!!

Morgan is breaking in the "2's" in style-defiant and bossy! I really should not complain-her worst day is still better than some toddlers on their best days-of course no one we know :) She is wondering where Santa is and when he is going to bring her a kitchen...really sparking an interest in cooking and other household duties. No complaints from Mommy.

We have put out our fall decor inside and out and the season of thanks is upon us. A time to reflect on the past year and the fond memories we have added to our lives. We have had so many great moments with family and friends and we are so thankful for all of the people in our lives. To all of you-we love you and thank you for blessing our lives with your love and laughter-HOLLA!

A Trip to the Denver Zoo

2008-10-11T08:06:00.001-07:00

We had a great time last weekend (yes I am finally getting around to posting) at the Denver Zoo. It was a quick trip and the girls were exhausted by lunch but we saw so many fun things! And there were not too many people there so it was great. Morgan and Skylar got to see a bunch of animals! They loved watching the penguins dive into the water, the orangatans swing from their ropes and the gorilla came right up to the fence to say "hi" to us! Morgan really loved that! Here are a few shots from the fun day-

This is the latest with Morgan. You ask her to smile and she gives you the half-er! Just like her daddy! More and more every day!

Morgan was tickling Skylar to get her to smile-they are so funny!

Tutu and Morgan on board the Denver Zoo Railroad-All Aboard!

And here are a couple shots of some of the cool animals we saw-

Jammin'

2008-09-28T20:32:00.000-07:00

Well, we have just been staying busy and having a great time! The girls are growing up so fast and doing so many new things.

Morgan is just sassy as ever and having fun bossing her sister around. She is discovering the "magic" making toys miraculously dissappear. She will take a toy away from Skylar and hide it in the couch and say, "It disappeared! It's magic!" And she now works out of our home. I think she is a little jealous that daddy's work is taking time away from playtime, so tonight when Bryan was getting ready to go back to the office she said, "I am going to my office, I'll be back later." It was so cute! There are so many more things, but those are the latest that I can remember right this second.

Do you remember Shera? She had gotten this sticker at the doctor and when she stuck it on her head it so reminded me of that show from the 80's!

Skylar is doing great too! She is like days away from wlaking I think. She is getting pretty brave and trying to let go of stuff to take independent steps. She is yakin' up a storm and we swear that she said "bear" the other day. She is into everything and especially loving me phone. She has now learned how to open it and "type" on the keyboard. Her and Morgan are great friends and enjoy each other's company...At least I think. Skylar is a little vulture-she will just follow Morgan around as she eats and as soon as Morgan let's something fall Skylar is off like a shot to pick it up and toss it in her mouth. Cheerios, raisins, you name it!

And they have also started practicing their duet

Now I know my ABC's

2008-09-15T12:55:00.000-07:00

Morgan has conquered the ABC's-and actually has for a few months now, but I just took a picture in front of her Leap Frog alphabet so I thought I would share with you all. For a while she would skip a letter here and there and it was "j-k-l-monkey" which was really cute, but she knows them all and loves to sing the song.

Hope you all had a nice weekend! We had a great weekend beating North Dakota State at home (celebrating with some Bison burgers Saturday night for dinner) and now it is out to BYU to meet up with the cougars.

Here are a few more pictures I thought I would share as well. This one cracks me up with her tongue hangin' out.

This one was taken a couple of weeks ago when her eye was finally starting to look better. You can kind of tell it is still swollen and puffy, but only because I just told you.
"Look Mom, a leaf! And if you don't come over here and take it from me soon you are going to be doing another fingure swipe in the back of my throat when I try and eat this!" Yeah, she is famous for that. And Morgan NEVER put stuff in her mouth, so I never think about it. Thus we do a lot of fingure swipping. And also why there is a new rule that Morgan can no longer have snacks anywhere but the kitchen table. Skylar just snatches food from Morgan and then tries to eat it. Yesturday was yogurt raisins-perfect for lodging into the back of her throat-new rule just started yesturday!

Through the years...

2008-08-25T10:27:00.000-07:00

Well, we are not in school yet, so we don't do the first day of school pictures, but we always have a new outfit for the first football game of the year so we do kickoff pictures! Here are pictures of the girls in their new outfits.

And can you believe that we haven't had a football game in over 9 months!?! Skylar was born the Tuesday after out first game and she just turned 9 months old on Wednesday so she will be participating in her first football game as a spectator too!

And here are a few pictures from the past. These are the last 2 years of Morgan's kickoff pictures! Can you believe how much she has changed? And yet she is still such a cutie pa-tootie!

Her very First Year Morgan was 4 months old-

And last year she was 16 months old-it was her first day of Twizzlers!

A Quickie

2008-08-21T12:42:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share a few pics of the kiddos. Morgan just loves her little "Skylar Bug!" It is so cute to see Morgan lovin' on her. Here is a picture from a week or so ago when she wanted to hold Skylar. Skylar, since going mobile, does not like to be held for too long, but she does love her sister too.

They have stated wrestinling too, which is quite comical! Morgan will go over and lay on top of Skylar and let her pull her hair while she tickles her and they just laugh at each other. Then I tell Morgan to lay next to Skylar and let her tackle her. Skylar will just climb all over Morgan and pull her hair and laugh! Morgan and Skylar both just love it!! It is so stinkin' cute!

We went to the second Cowboy Footabll scrimmage yesturday and it just plum tuckered Skylar out. She fell asleep in the car on the way home and she just didn't want to wake up so I laid her down in the family room to make Morgan dinner thinking she would wake up right away, but apparently it was pretty comfy there on the floor!

a "priceless" moment

2008-08-11T12:43:00.001-07:00

As I sit here at my computer listening to my daughters laugh at each other from their respective beds I am reminded of a list I made a couple of days ago.

Well, the day was Thursday August 7th. I was 28 +1 and thought I was going to very well loose my mind the day before, so Thursday I attempted to take a different approach to life and I made a list of the things that made me crazy so that I could maybe get a chuckle instead of pulling my hair out. Now that I am 28 +1 I have to think about things such as these and I do not want to loose my hair-it's bad enough I may loose my mind!

The number of wet, stinky, smelly diapers changed: 12
The number of times Morgan went pee-pee on the big potty: 6
The number of times Mommy had to dance around the house as if on hallucinagens celebrating the successes of the potty: 6
The number of accidents Morgan had on the floor: 1
The number of times Morgan asked me, "Mommy, what are you doing?": 86
Being able to stay home to participate and document these funny occassions: priceless

Now, there are a few things to be said of each of these moments. Well, okay not really each one-we don't need to talk about all of the stinky wet nasty diapers I had to change. end of discussion there. But 6 times going pee pee on the potty-not bad! And that was in a matter of about 4 hours. Only one accident in 4 hours is pretty good, but the one accident-I think she was storing that one up just for me-she's like a camel that one. And Bryan made a comment the other day about this woman on T.V. making an absolute fool of herself just to make her kids laugh at her and here was his reply, "Oh, my God-can you imagine having to do that everyday?" Much to his suprise he got quite an earfull!!! Hello! McFly...what the heck do you think I do all day? I do not very well sit around in my diamond earrings and little black dress awaiting your arrival. I am pretty sure that as the words escaped from his mouth he took a deep breath in trying to get them back, but sounds travels faster than your brain can filter sometimes. Hallucinogens...maybe, but it is definately worth a good belly laugh from your babies to act like a fool sometimes!

And, oh, my we have not gotten to the "why" phase of toddler-hood, but what we are at right now is quite possibly just as annoying-if you will. "Mommy, what are you doing?" "Mommy, what are you doing?" Anyone else experience this? Whoa! You have to just laugh and hope they grow out of it fast!

And here is a cute picture we took the other day when Morgan wanted to hold Skylar. Skylar is really busy now and did not love the fact that her sister was restraining her, but we had to act fast and snap a picture-it was too cute.

Kiddo Update

2008-08-05T08:31:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a busy few weeks here, but just wanted to share some pictures and a few updates on what we've all been up to.

Skylar is just develping every single day! And amazing us all! She has started crawling and babbling and is pulling herself up to standing in her crib-all of which happened while mommy was at a Stampin' Up! convention in Salt Lake City. But glad that daddy got to see it first since he will be missing out on all the excitment for the next few months. Skylar is wanting to do everything that Morgan is doing, much to Morgan's dismay.

Morgan is just talking up a storm and doing so well. She is just a happy little toddler girl questioning everything we do and challenging us at every opportunity. She knows a lot of new songs- "abc's"-and doesn't miss any letters, "twinkle, twinkle", "take me out to the ballgame"-daddy's favorite, and many more... she loves to sing and dance and be outside in the nice warm weather.

Bryan has gone back to work and the Cowboys had their first official practice yesturday. He is so excited for the season this year and will be on the sidelines instead of in the box, so look for him on T.V.! They have 7 home games this year, so we would love to see you all up to visit! Take a look at the schedule!

I have been adjusting to life without Bryan around and playing with the girls. I just got back from Utah where I got to spend 3 1/2 days stamping at a Stampin' Up! convention with over 6,000 demonstrators!

Here are a few pics from the last few weeks:

Oh boy, are we in trouble!

Skylar is just a busy little bee! Into everything!

Another picture of Morgan

what a sweetheart!

Oh come all ye Faithful...

2008-07-17T18:20:00.000-07:00

Well, today we took an all day trip to Yellowstone and got to see the All-Mighty Old Faithful in all its glory! And it was so cool! In Morgan's words, "WHOA!" She thought it was pretty cool. Tomorrow we are going to be taking it easy with perhaps another Nemo swimming day and then Saturday it's fasten your seatbelts-we're comin' home! Pray for us-it is a long drive! And we could very well loose our minds!

Here we are with Old Faithful behind us in slumber...

And here he is right on time for the 2:20 viewing...

NEMO!

2008-07-16T15:22:00.000-07:00

We found a Nemo pool at Kohl's before we left so we blew that bad boy up today and had a great time watching Morgan and Skylar kick and splash. Today was a relaxing day catching up on our naps-Morgan took a 3 hour nap and Skylar has been down 3 hours and counting...

This was how we spent our morning-

Gondola Ride!

2008-07-15T14:45:00.001-07:00

Today we went into Teton Village and rode the Gondola up to the top and had lunch. Morgan wanted to ride over and over-convincing her that George (a.k.a. Curious George for those that aren't familiar with the obsession) had done it. She loved it because every gondola had a great big steamboat on it (the bucking horse)! On the way down Bryan saw a moose, so he is now satisfied that he has seen every wild animal that he has ever wanted to on North America (well, except a wild boar, but he had that for lunch!).

Here we are at the top of one of the Grand Tetons looking down on Teton Village.

Checking in from Idaho

2008-07-14T15:23:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Just wanted to stop in and say hi! Our trip is going well and we are all realaxing and having a great time. The trip here to Driggs took 10 hours from door to door-Morgan and Skylar did amazingly well! Thank goodness for DVD players! So we spent Saturday driving (I really don't want to drive back. I wish I were Elizabeth Montgomery in Bewitched and I could just wiggle my nose and we would be home) and we spent Sunday relaxing and checking out the town of Driggs. We all seemed to have blinked at the same time because we missed it and had to turn around to see it again. HAHA! But it is a small little town-they do have a stop light though! We found a place for lunch that was authentic Mexican food and it was sooooo yummy. Bryan and I vote it top 5 best we have had! The weather here is really amazingly pleasant. In the mid 70's most of the day and the nights are cool-we may be retiring here...in like 50 years!

Today we headed into Jackson and spent the day perusing the shops having ice cream and playing at the park.

This is a picture of Morgan "showing us her pretty smile." Which, by the way this picture was taken during the last leg of the trip and she was actually still smiling!

Morgan enjoying the sunshine and the park in Jackson
She is actually enjoying herself...I promise!
A view of the Tetons from the car on our way through the park en route to Driggs, ID
Here is a picture of the house we are renting for the week. It is so cute and the perfect house! We love it! It is newly built 3 bedroom with a creek running through and a walking trail. Do we have to come home?

Freedom has a birthday!

2008-07-04T12:35:00.000-07:00

Freedom has a birthday and it's the 4th of July people! Happy Independence day to all of you. Here are a few pictures from this morning's extravaganza at the local park here. Free ice cream, playing in the sand and a tour of the fire truck-so much fun and just so tiring!

And as for Skylar well, she started out strong...

but in the end, neither of them knew what they were in for...

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming

2008-06-24T15:27:00.000-07:00

Well, today was the first day of swim lessons this summer...and actually Morgan's first ever organized swim lesson. While we have been swimming before it was her first lesson. And boy was it ever fun! A bit hesitant to jump off the side at first, a few times under her belt and she was a natural! It was daddy-daughter day and she had a great time! After swimming Morgan got to go to the office with daddy and hang out there. Another one of her favorite things to do. A few pictures of the pre-swim:

What we've been up to...

2008-06-04T13:02:00.000-07:00

Well, what a day we have had-all day thunderstorms as Bryan heads out to the first day of high school football camp and Morgan did it!!! She went "poopoo on the potty!" And boy, was she excited! She had to call and tell everyone all about it. And she got a whole roll of smartees! That was probably the best part! Skylar is doing great! Taking long naps sleeping great through the night with only a few wake ups and is just into everything! She is 6 months old now and weighing in at 21 pounds 1 ounce! 26 3/4 inches-she is eating good to say the least. She makes the funniest faces when she eats her fruits and veggies, but that doesn't slow her down! She is sitting up and just watching what her big sister is into. Here are a few pictures from the last couple of weeks.

Everyone must wear the cowboy hat! And Skylar is all smiles in it!

Morgan's first day out in the sun! Finally some warm weather and it was all I could do to get her to sit down and eat some lunch! She must think that the warm weather will not last...well, she may be right!

Skylar enjoying her first warm day in the sun! Gotta love that exersaucer!

Being cute has it's price...it is just not as easy as it looks!

Yay for me! Morgan claps her hands and yells for glee as she has done the big one on her potty chair!

Mr. Twister!

2008-05-24T15:22:00.000-07:00

Well, who would have thought that we would get a tornado-oh, excuse me, THREE tornadoes at 7200 feet! Certainly not me and not most people that I have talked with. We had tornadoes here on Thursday afternoon and we are just getting power back and things are getting back to normal...for us. We had no major damage to our home at all but just 2 doors down they had 4 shattered windows, serious structural damage, roof shingles ripped off and 3 blown in garage doors. It was really intense and happened so fast it was hard to make sense of it all. And the hail that came with it made it hard to even hear yourself try and think. The girls were both in bed and when I woke up Morgan to go get shelter she was absolutely terrified by the sound of the hail hitting her window. We were without power for about 20 hours, but our neighbors-Bryan's boss-put us up and made us feel safe and sound. Thanks Joe and Michele! While they were also without power Michele is an avid candle and flashlight collector and also has a gas stove so we were able to feed the girls and make bottles for Skylar. We are feeling lucky that no one was hurt. On Thursday we had quite a smorgasbord of weather! We had severe thunder and lightning, downpour rain, sleet, hail, tornado and after all was said and done we had about 2 hours of a blizzard. Here are a few shots of the aftermath:

This is a gas station just as you are pulling into town. No more roof on that one.
A new construction home that was in the framing stage. May have to start over on this one.
This is a picture of a canoe that was wrapped around a power pole.

Hey it's me...Martha!

2008-05-12T19:26:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I made my first attempt at being the baker I never was (and I am still far from it)! I am pretty proud of myself, however. I made Morgan her very own monkey cake for her monkey themed birthday party! It turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself! Well, okay, the second one. The first one was a little scary, but here is the final:

And here are a few shots from the party. Morgan had a great time. It snowed the morning of the party and I was a little nervous about all the kids in the house, but everything went really well and I think that everyone had a great time. Morgan got some really cute gifts-a couple of those being monkey things. This is a shot of Morgan looking at her friend Heath I am sure wanting to express the importance of knowing that these gifts are HERS! While we are pretty good at sharing, we are also in fact 2! Here is a shot I got of Morgan while everyone was singing "Happy Birthday" to her. She apparently starts to enjoy it after you sing it to her enough times. I believe that was about the 74th time it was sung to her that week!

And if you are wondering why there are no pictures of Skylar it is because slept the ENTIRE time of the party! Really! No one could believe it-a few people went up just to check on her a couple of times, but she must have known that Morgan needed the spotlight that day and not her! And the whole spotlight because, did I mention, she is 2! And taking on the responsibilities that go right along with it! It is really terrible-terribly wonderful most of the time.

Vacation

2008-05-07T20:04:00.001-07:00

We took a week long vacation to Colorado and visited with friends and family while Bryan was out recruiting the area a little. We had a great time and we miss everyone already. Skylar is getting so big and is starting to sit up a little-hey, whatever gets her closer to catching up with her sister she is all for it! She is expecting everything we give her to be edible and is drooling like crazy. No sign of any teeth right now, but watch out! You can't leave anything around this little one without getting it back soaked in drool. Skylar has discovered the joy of the exersaucer and has that much better of a view of Morgan-it really is all eyes on Morgan for her. And Morgan can get her laughing so hard. It is really too cute.

And Morgan had a great time with some warm weather days. She didn't know what to do with sandals on her toes and a sun hat on her head! That little girl was in hog heaven!

Can you say Spring Fever!?!

So Busy!

2008-05-07T19:50:00.000-07:00

We have quite the whirlwind couple of weeks capped off by a big number "2" birthday today! Partied like a rock star and crashed like a baby! We had a great day with lots of memorable moments. We had bacon and eggs for breakfast-Morgan's favorite, then we opened a few presents from mommy and daddy, played outside a little, got windy so we headed to the library, had lunch with Daddy (well Morgan didn't technically make it. She fell asleep in the car on the way home). Ate lunch AFTER nap then headed outside for somemore fun fun fun! Then we went to Morgan's favorite (at least it seems it is-she knows what it is when we turn down that street and she tells EVERYONE there what she wants-Corona Village). They sang a great "Happy Birthday song" to her and even put the sombrero on. She was pretty much stunned and speechless, but made for a few seconds of fab photo ops! Here are a few pictures from the day. The Curious George viewfinder is the coolest thing going in our house right now.

The Circus is in town!

2008-04-18T14:53:00.000-07:00

How cool is that! We had our very own 3 ring circus in town and it was great! No Ringling Bros. but it was really perfect for Morgan. Anything bigger and she may not have enjoyed any of it! When we got there they had a little petting area of goats and sheep. Of coarse she wanted to hug the sheep. Not gonna happen! And then they had an elephant acrobats and ponies, horses, camels and clowns. Mostly Morgan enjoyed running around during intermission. Skylar was less than impressed. Maybe a couple more years before she enjoys it. Morgan wanted to hold my hand the whole time but I think that she liked it.

Update...FINALLY!

2008-04-14T07:59:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a while since I last posted so wanted to give everyone out there a shout out from us! We have been enjoying a wet cold spring. Doesn't quite feel like spring most days but taking advantage of those that do. We got 6-8 inches last week and it is finally starting to melt.

Morgan is officially done with Binkie and it was really not so bad. Really glad we chose to accept that challenge sooner rather than later! She plays with Skylar's and tries to shove them in her mouth but never puts it in her own so I think we can say it was a success! Here are a few pictures we have taken lately.

And here is another one of Skylar. We are still doing the rice cereal. It is wuite a challenge. She always has her hands in her mouth and when the bib is on...well, even better! We definately do not have this mastered, but we are working on it! Not really even sure if she like the stuff. It seems to give her some pretty intense gas! Can't wait til she's old enough to read this. She will be so embarrased!

We've Gone No Binkie!

2008-03-31T19:52:00.000-07:00

WooHoo! Morgan hasn't had a binkie since Thursday and she is doing so well! She cried the first 15 minutes and when we put her down for bed on Thursday night and hasn't cried since! So Exciting! There are a few side effects-she has terribly chapped lips and really stinky breath! We are just hoping that sucking on the binkie for so long didn't cause that. Well, we know it caused the chapped lips because she isn't slobbering like a rabid chipmunk anymore so her lips are all dried out, but hoping that it didn't give her bad breath. Trying to brush a toddlers teeth is bad enough, try getting in there to her tongue. I don't think so-I don't care how slick you think you are!

So here's the scoop:

We were going to take the binkie away when she turned 2, but when she got up from her nap on Thursday I was telling her about it and she said, "trash...now." Being the quick thinker I am I said, "ok-grab those binkies and let's put them in the trash!" Well, how exciting it was-she loves being mommies little helper and throwing things away-until she realized that was her most prized possession! Well, I couldn't turn back now, and so, as Grandpa Tutu would say, " the life lesson of the week is be careful what you ask for." Plus it was a good time because none of the grandparents had any scheduled visits any time soon so they couldn't spoil all that hard work and cave in to her while mommy and daddy weren't looking! They would never...

The saddest thing was daddy having to listen to her that night over the monitor, "binkie...please? Binkie...PLEASE! PLEASE!" Oh, how pitiful! Glad I wasn't home! That was well planned for not having thought out any of it!

Little Bunny FooFoo...

2008-03-31T19:39:00.000-07:00

"Little Bunny Foo Foo I don't want to see you picking up the field mice and bopping them on the head!" That song just came to mind when I saw Skylar in the bunny ears!

Well, today Skylar got a go at rice ceral for the first time and really wasn't sure of any of it. By the end she was trying to get some in her tummy, but was getting more frustrated than anything so we will roll up our sleeves (literally) and try again tomorrow. We aren't too worried-as you can see we don't miss too many meals around here!

First Hair Cut!

2008-03-25T12:25:00.000-07:00

Well, Mommy took Morgan to get her very first haircut! And we did it in style and let me just say that I was quite nervous taking her as I have only heard horror stories of parents having to hold their children's heads while they scream and thrash about. Oh, no! Not Morgan. She lived it up. With licorice in hand and an animal cape she was ready to go! And Aunt Lacey got to do the honors! That definately made everything okay!

We even took time to do it right with a little gossip and laughing. Does my girl know how to go to the salon for a pampering or what? And let's not leave this without saying that she is her father's daughter! Totally checking herself out (her "booty" as she calls it) in the mirror and lovin' every minute of it!

Thanks Aunt Lacey!! We love you!

Spring Break Week

2008-03-24T20:15:00.001-07:00

Well, we took the girls to the park-the weather was much nicer in Denver then where we live-and they had lots of fun. Skylar enjoyed a bit of fresh air from the lime green stroller-and Morgan had so much fun with her Shammy swinging and going down the slide. She also had lots of fun playing with her cousins too. That stroller is seriously the coolest thing I have right now and saved us on our trip more than once. You can fit both kids in there-stadium seating-and turns on a dime! You can also see this particular color from google earth I'm certain!
We also went to the butterfly pavillion and visiting all of the grandparents too! It was a really busy week and by Saturday Morgan wanted to go home...

She kept saying, "home now. Home now." Nothing is just said once. Everything has to be repeated over and over again! Well, we finally got to come home, but not before a little Easter egg hunt!

Fortunately (or unfortunately for Morgan) she had given up on Mommy and Daddy's shenanigans (sp?) and willingly wore the bunny ears for the duration of the egg hunt. She was seriously pooped, but had a great time!

And here is just a cute shot of Morgan wanting to hold Skylar and give her a kiss. Would be a great picture, but Skylar took that precious moment to get that little air bubble out of her belly and urped all over herself. Maybe if I get a little bit more educated I can photoshop that right out of there and it will be a forever keepsake!

Hope everyone else enjoyed there Easter holiday! Back to work!