Stopping to Smell the Roses

To play in water fountains (my kids favorite). Both kids were soaked afterwards :)




And then to head home for a nap

Sick

The past couple of days I have been battling mastitis, which makes you feel like you have the flu and is pretty miserable. I couldn't help but share what my sweet daughter said to me when I was sick on the couch.

"Mama, I will help you" while tenderly rubbing my arm.
"You drink da wawa!" Reminding me to drink lots of fluids (Jason has just been geting on me about that)

It was so sweet to be loved on by my babygirl!

Concert at the Museum

The other day, Jason was working at night, and the kids were giving me a really hard time. Henry wouldn't go to sleep and MM was flat out winy. Jason suggested I go for a walk to get some fresh air, so we got out the stroller and went, all in our pajamas. As soon as we left our front door, we heard music coming from the museum down the road. MM shouted "i like that music," and we headed that way. Turns out, they have a concert every Wed night during the summer. MM was so captivated.




Henry clapped his hands like crazy and then tried to eat every piece of grass he could get his hands on. I couldn't capture his intense clapping on camera, but I did get a couple of cute videos of the both of them.

Maybe Henry will prove to be a better dancing partner in the future? He dances to EVERYTHING around the house. Sometimes, MM will sing and Henry will dance to her song.

Margaret Mary's dancing style has changed a little bit. She now just runs around, jumps up and down and claps her hands. She recently watched a movie about ballet and is obsessed with everything "vallet." She tries to stand on her tip toes and spins in circles. But more on that to come...

Loving Margaret Mary

The twos have been both terrific and terrible at the same time. Margaret Mary is talking up a storm and has such sweet, funny things to day. Today, Jason looked into her eyes and said "Margaret Mary, I love you," to which she replied "I love cupcakes." :) I am never bored and really find myself enjoying time spent with her. The tantrums, on the other hand, have been intense. Most of her tantrums are thrown out of frustration. She wants to do everything herself and gets really upset when she can't do it, or we don't understand what she is asking for. One of our friends at church is really into Montessori and has been teaching me a little about it. The basic theory is that children love order and thrive when everything has a time and a place. You observe your child, and when you perceive a "sensitive period" (aka, a time when they seem really receptive to learning or really interested in something), you use that time to teach. Montessori is also really big on teaching children how to do practical things, like make their own snacks, make their beds, clean up, etc. The idea is to have a controlled environment so that children can do things themselves and succeed at doing these things, (not throwing a fit out of frustration because they cant do these things). So, I have a little pitcher and a cup, and I set the table so that Margaret Mary can pour her own milk. I also make a tray with her snack on it, unassembled, and show her how to assemble it herself. Everything is age appropriate, and therefore MM get soooo excited when she succeeds at doing something "big girl" by "herself." On days when I set her up for success at doing things by herself, she is more confident, receptive, and eager for help with other things (she has already proved to herself she's a big girl). On days when our routine is off, and I don't create opportunities to succeed, she has ALOT more tantrums and despises it when I try to help her with something. I have been really impressed with Montessori theory and am excited to learn more, and to set up my home in a way my daughter can thrive. I will keep you update on how this all goes...

Happy Father's Day!

What better day for Henry to break out his dancing skills? We love you Jason and look forward to celebrating the whole day how wonderful of a father you are!

Chatfield Lake

We are starting to implement Jason's new work/school schedule at our house. That means that two days a week, Jason stays and plays in the mornings with us and then works from lunch till late at night. We have surprisingly enjoyed it. It is like having three Saturday mornings a week! This Wednesday after Mass we drove out to Chatfield lake, which turned into quite the adventure.

Upon Arrival, we saw this sign:



If you can't read it, it basically tells you how to survive a bear or lion attack. It is pretty intense; the perfect mood setter for our nice little hike in the forest. So there we are, making loud noises (to scare away bears), keeping MM close...



...when all of a sudden we hear a large animal RUNNING through the woods RIGHT AT US. Then we hear it again on the other side of us. All of a sudden two, dark brown, deer run into the meadow behind us. We were so relieved that they were just deer, but my heart was beating like crazy. We walked for a little bit further, wading through mud, trying to get to the lake, when a pack of mosquitoes started swarming me. We turned around and headed back. Sweet Henry slept through the mosquito attack.



We finally found a more public access to the lake and walked a little bit further down the beach away from the fisherman. Jason set Margaret Mary down, threw out a line, and began to fish. I looked down at the sand to find a place to sit only to discover that it was like one giant ant mound. We packed up again and headed to the car. It was quite the adventure. Being in the mountains has defiantly brought out an adventurous side of me I didn't know I had, but I still have my animosity toward small insects, especially ones that bite me. Maybe I can hike with one of those electronic tennis rackets to electrify any insect that crosses my path?

Glendale Farm Open Space

This past Saturday we went to Glendale Farm Open Space, about a twenty minute drive from our home. It is a one and a half mile trail around rolling hills on an old farm and is very "out west" feeling. Margaret Mary walked VERY SLOWLY for about a quarter of the trail. She would stop and examine rocks and flowers, put them in her pockets, and kept on telling the wind to "go away!."



The rest of the time, she was carried by her loving Papa. Jason had to get creative.






At the end of the trail were these big, beautiful rocks. Margaret Mary, being so adventurous, wanted to walk on them. Jason sat her down at told her "Baby, you have to be careful because these rocks are dangerous." Margaret Mary looked up to Jason and said with the sweetest, most confident voice, and said "Papa will hold me." My little girl was telling us that she wasn't scared of the rocks because she knew that her Papa would be holding her. How beautiful, and what a great picture of what OUR confidence should be like, knowing that we are beloved sons and daughters of our Heavenly King.



When we told MM it was time to leave the rocks, she said in a slow, sad voice "I want to stay here." So, we stayed for a little while longer. How can we refuse our daughter anything that is just and reasonable?

What fun.



Henry fussed for a little while (the wind was kinda strong), and then went to sleep. But I bet you knew that already...

Big News!

We got an offer on our house! We are really excited but trying not to get too excited because we still have a long short-sale sale in front of us. All we know about the person buying our house is that he is male and that he is paying cash for it. Maybe he's an investor? Who knows. I am just glad that our house won't go to ruin; that there will be someone taking care of it. The closing date on the contract we signed is August 1st. I have no clue if the short sale paperwork will be done by then, but it is so exciting to have a possible end to this house madness. It still isn't a done deal, the bank has to okay the offer. I think we have pretty good leverage though: accept this offer or foreclosure. At least with the short sale they will get something for the house.

So now for the question you have all been waiting for: how much is our house worth in today's market??? $78,000. Ouch.

Horsies

Today, at the animal farm, Margaret Mary and I were talking about how much fun it would be to have a farm. Margaret Mary said that she wanted to have horses. The conversation went as follows:

Me: Do you want big horses or small horses?
MM: BIG horses (big smile)
Me: Are you going to ride them?
MM: Yes, ride them. (another big smile)
Me: Are you going to ride fast or slow?
MM: ...careful.
Me: Thats right baby, you will have to be careful!
MM: ...(says confidently) hold horsies ears!

I love what my girl comes up with! She knows nothing about riding horses, but thinks that holding onto their ears will help her to be careful!

Littleton Block Party

This Saturday, downtown Littleton was blocked off and filled with live bands and food. It was a lot of fun. First, Margaret Mary played with a little statue "friend." When I pointed out the toad the little boy was holding, she waited a minute and then yelled "my turn!" Silly girl.


(Aren't her glasses amazing?)

We got to the party early so Henry could take a nap while we ate. While we waited for the restaurant booths to open up, Margaret Mary played in a race car while her papa talked shop with the booth owners.



For supper, we ate a turkey leg and corn, and Margaret Mary couldn't have been a happier camper. She LOVED the turkey and tried to take bites off of the bone like her Papa did.




She also LOVED the corn. While we were eating the music started up, and the couldn't stop dancing as she ate her corn.




There were several music stages there and they had one specifically for kids. Margaret Mary could have cared less about the songs they were singing. She ran down to the stage where classic rock was playing and danced there. Her Papa was so proud.

Henry slept most of the time, but woke up to play with a blow up beach ball that a dentist booth was giving away. Both the kids are obsessed with this ball. Margaret Mary likes to hit her Papa with hit, roll over it and try to throw it (poor girl has her Mama's lack of throwing ability). Henry will bury his face in it, bounce up and down, scream into it, and then look up with a goofy look on his face. It is by far, the favorite and most coveted toy in the house right now.



After some snuggling with Papa...



And some final dancing in a parking lot...




It was time to leave. We came home exhausted, but played with the beach ball for another half hour before we started bed time. MM was DELIRIOUS, laughing and tripping all over herself.

Such a fun day!

Look Mama!

The other day, Margaret Mary was eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch. Suddenly, she got wide eyed, put down her sandwich and exclaimed "Look Mama! A alligator!"



I totally see it.

Just When You Think It Can't Get Any Sweeter

Henry rolls over and throws his arm around you...



...and Margaret Mary turns her head, leaving you lost in a sea of beautiful curls

Sleep in Heavenly Peace

I read an article recently that said that when adults are stressed out, one of the most relaxing things things they can do is to watch their children sleep. I agree. Even in the most chaotic days, my children look so perfect, peaceful and content when they sleep, and it rubs off on me. This is another reason why we love co-sleeping. Sometimes at night the kids look so darn cute that Jason and I wake each other up at night to show each other. We know that soon, our kids will be busy doing "big kid" things, and we will long to snuggle with our children. For now we hold them, kiss them, and admire them as they sleep beside us. Precious, precious moments.

Sibling Love

These two really love each other. It is a joy to watch them interact and play together, both giggling and screaming the whole time. This pic was taken at the park at the end of a cute interaction. They were swinging together and loving it. Taking pics of the two of them is so hard. As soon as I get the camera out they have moved on and don't want to be cute for me anymore. :)

On a different note, I wanted to share what MM always says to her new friends at the park. "I Marget Merry...two...Isa big girl!"

Our Trip To Pensacola

Memories:

* We had to wake up at 3:30 the morning of our flight to get there on time. We were all tired. During one the the flights, Margaret Mary picked her sleepy head off of Jason's shoulder and proclaimed "I need coffee!" ha! Wonder where she got that from...

* Margaret Mary learned the statement "Come here!" She said it to everything, and when I would tell her to "come here," she would say "YOU come HERE!" It was funny the first time...and maybe the second. :) Here she is yelling at the ocean "come here big wawa!"




* She is also really starting to put sentences together. "Ground hot, feet no shoes, papa carry me."

* Nursing Henry to sleep on the beach, and then watching his sweetness as he slept.



* Watching Jason and MM in the ocean. Out little girl is so adventurous! She LOVED playing in the big waves and kept on telling Jason "more! more!"



* Watching my family dig a hole and then play in it for hours.






* Learning about Henry's obsession with shovels. As soon as he woke up from his nap and saw it, he went CRAZY! He crawled right over to it and started shoveling. MM thought that the shovel was pretty cool, but not as much as Henry.




* On the last night there, we went out for some chocolate cake. When it was served to us, Henry went crazy fussing for it. When we said no, he got extremely mad. This was the first time he begged for some of our food!

More sweet pics:

How I find these two...

On the weekends, Jason loves to put Margaret Mary down for her afternoon nap. And when I say put down, I mean fall asleep holding her. It is the sweetest; they both love this time together. I love finding them in crazy cuddle positions.

Silly Henry

This little guy is SOOOO much fun! He keeps us laughing. We he laughs, he laughs on the inhale AND the exhale. It is quite the laugh.

My Loves

Sugar and Spice and everything nice...



Snips and snails and puppy dog tails...