President's Day

President's Day, typically, is just another Monday, but this year it was special. 

 It was the first day in a month that we were all home as a family! We decided to make it a special day for the kids and do some things Ashtyn has been asking to do for awhile now...

Ashtyn and Eli LOVE pancakes, as well as Matt, so we are started our "Day of Fun" out to breakfast at IHOP!  We thought for sure the kids would die over IHOP's pancakes - they are the best right? 

But, NO! - after two bites both kids said they didn't like them and would have preferred to go to McDonald's - seriously?  Well now we know, but IHOP's pancakes versus McDonald's, didn't see that coming at all...Matt enjoyed his though!

After pancakes we headed to the Denver Museum of Natural History, which I haven't been too since my St. Louis days - and that was a LONG time ago!  Every time we visit the Zoo we park at the Museum and Ashtyn always says she wants to go there, so we thought it would be a good time to make the trip.  It of course was very crowded, being a holiday, and this time we had to actually park at the Zoo and walk up to the Museum!  Museums are not usually my thing, but I did have fun watching Ashtyn get so excited about every exhibit - she loves to learn!  She also likes to read all the signs on every exhibit - all the signs and all the words...

We started with the Dinosaurs which were my favorite.  Eli was definitely a little overwhelmed and scared at first, but warmed up...

 We also visited the Hall of Life, which I remember being way cooler then it is now, but Ashtyn and Eli still had fun running around to all the activities...

 We spent sometime at the Discovery Zone, which again I was not all that impressed with - the WOW museum in Lafayette is way better - but again the kids had fun with puzzles, science projects and digging for dinosaur bones...

Ashtyn's most favorite exhibit of the day was the "Rare Gems of the World"!

She has always loved rocks, even since she was a little one, so this exhibit just made her eyes light right up!  She so wanted to take them all home with her and store them in her boxes...

I am not sure where our daughter gets her love for history and desire to learn, because Matt and I are not like that, but she absolutely LOVED the museum and wants to go back over and over again! 

Hopefully, schools still take field trips there...not sure I need to go back for another twenty years or so!

The museum wiped us all out, so we headed home and laid around watching movies and eating popcorn the rest of the day.

  It was a great family day - A much needed "Day of Fun" for our family!



Valentines

Valentines day has come and gone, but I recently needed to clear some pictures off my phone which then reminded me - I need to blog...

The Valentine traditions stayed true this year with Nana taking the kids to Build-A-Bear, so Ashtyn could get the highly anticipated Hello Kitty (note: her fifth Hello Kitty, and yes she is spoiled) and Eli got another puppy!  Nana then took us out to lunch and we ended the day playing at the dinosaurs...Ashtyn was the most popluar kid there with every little girl wanting to play with her Hello Kitty - you can imagine how well that was recieved!

 We also made Valentine cookies over at Nana's which Ashtyn looks forward to every holiday, and although Eli could careless about making or decorating the cookies, he LOVED eating them and licking every bit of frosting off of them...

 "Cheese!"

- Eli will now say "cheese" when I ask him to take a picture...

To round out the holiday Matt took us to dinner at Outback - our family favorite!

We got there right as they were opening along with all the other families and old people - hoping to avoid the long waits and it worked out perfectly! 

It was a low key Valentines day for sure, but how lucky am I to spend it with two sweet kids and a hot husband - LUCKY in love I am! 



a Spa Party

Ever since moving into our new house, Ashtyn has been begging me to have play dates with her friends.  Since I am finally feeling some what settled in I decided to invite some of Ashtyn friends over for a Spa Party!  Lately, Ashtyn has loved painting her nails as well as mine, so I thought it would be the perfect way to entertain four little girls and enjoy the afternoon!

We invited over Sienna, Cate and Chole!

The girls played in Ashtyn's room until we started the official party!

 Princess Sienna...

 Princess Cate!

 I set up a little pedicure station, so they could soak their feet in some warm water with lavender!

It made their little feet and little toes feel so soft!

 Of course the mommies came too!  Which was great to gossip with them while the girls played!

Julie brought the most amazing chocolate covered Oreo balls - she is a fantastic baker!

They were enjoyed by all!

 Sienna is about the cutest little girl ever - she is the complete definition of GIRLY!

She would hold her hands out perfectly so they could dry!

 Sienna, Ashtyn, Chole and Cate...

These girls are so, SO cute together and get along so well!

 The finished product!

Their fingers and toes were soaked, mositurized, decorated with stickers, and topped with polish and sparkles!  They looked adorable!

Ashtyn has been so lucky to meet such awesome friends in Preschool!  They are all so sweet, kind and down to earth - with very little drama!  How great is that!

It was so fun to have a such a GIRLY day and I hope she enjoyed the fun with her friends...

Hopefully we will have many more afternoons like this!



Stock Show

It's that time of year again - The Stock Show!

We had so much FUN last year we couldn't wait for the Stock Show to come back to town.

This year we decided to take the kids to the Rodeo instead of just walking around the exhibits...

They love watching bull riding on You Tube, so I thought for sure they would love a LIVE version...

 Matt and I LOVED the Rodeo, but the kids didn't really get into it that much.  Ashtyn did like when the dancing horses came out, but other then that all she wanted to do was eat cotton candy and go walk around the exhibts to play games...

 Eli did watch most of it, but got restless and tired near the end...

 My most favorite part was watching the Mutton Bustin - it was the cutest and most hiliarious thing I have ever seen!  Watching a little kid strapped to the top of a sheep running full speed down the arena is CRAZY and so funny! Hopefully Eli will do it when he gets old enough!

I will have to deck him out in little chaps too...

 My little cowgirl!

I guess next year we will just go to the exhibits and play games, and when the kids get older try the Rodeo again! 

I had a fun time though...learning all about bucking horses, roping calves and mutton bustin! 

Until next year - Yee Ha!



Registered

 This week I registered Ashtyn for Kindergarten.

I really can't believe I just typed that...

It's just CRAZY to think that next year I will be that parent - a parent of a kindergartner!

Oh, how life will change - but we are ALL very excited for it!  Especially Ashtyn!

We live just around the corner from her new school, Birch Elementary, so we took advantage of the nice weather and walked to the school to drop off her paperwork...

 What is probably a ten minute walk, took us an hour...

Ashtyn and Eli had to explore, take breaks, pick up rocks, find short cuts, and of course no trip is complete without a couple wipe outs, tears and scrapes on the knees!

But we made it...

 While we were dropping off her paperwork, the principal actually came out to greet us and gave Ashtyn a welcome hug - I was very impressed! 

Not knowing much about the school or anyone around this area, it was very comforting having the Principal welcome us with such open arms. 

I am hoping Ashtyn's kindergarten year goes well and we can settle into the many years following at Birch Elementary and becoming a faithful Bulldog!

The best part is how close the school is! 

With driving Ashtyn to Lafayette still for preschool, I will gladly welcome the quick trip to school next year with no traffic!

Still can't believe my baby girl starts school next year, but how exciting it is!



Hot Tubin'

 Probably our most favorite thing of our new house is by far the HOT TUB!  Not only is it enjoyed by us, the kids have fallen in love with Hot Tubin!

 They would love to swim in it everyday if we would let them, but we limit them to a couple times a week as a treat!  Eli wasn't sure about it at first but has quickly gotten aboard to keep up with his sister, who may be part fish...

 Ashtyn LOVES to practice her swimming skills in the hot tub, which means Matt has to fill the Hot Tub back up with water after she exits!  She's constantly coming up with games to play and her favorite is diving to the bottom to find "Lost Things!"

Matt and I of course enjoy the Hot Tub almost every night - Perfect way to relax and wind down after a busy day - and complimented with a beer we fall right to sleep when we get into bed!

  Matt has become quite the "Pool Boy" - we never realized how much care and maintenance goes into having a hot tub, but with it being a luxury we very much enjoy, Matt has learned how to keep it running in perfect condition.  Of course when we get our first XCEL bill, we may turn it off and drain it, but until then we SO enjoy Hot Tubin'!

Paci GONE!

We all know how much I love the paci! 

Not really...

Its my own fault really for giving it to them, but when you are overly tired and just want them to stop crying when they are newborns it works - right? 

But by the time they turn two you just want to pull your hair out dealing with the paci...

Where's the paci?  Do you have a paci?  Eli take your paci out to talk!  Eli, don't throw your paci!

Where's the #$%& paci!

I was so dreading breaking Eli of the paci and kept pushing it to the bottom of my to do list.

With Ashtyn, it was so easy because when the doctor told her she was a big girl and they don't use pacifiers, she never thought twice and dropped it, but Eli - Eli could care less what the doctor or anybody else thought for that matter. 

The paci is his best friend...until we moved!

Matt and I decided moving was the perfect time to break him of the paci.  Basically we would just say we left it at Grandmas...and hopefully he would get over it.  Up until that point he actually would get through most days not even using it...

So we tried it and it worked! 

 We have been Paci free since we moved in!  Oh, what a great feeling it is!  I could careless where a paci is and hopefully I will never have to again!

Eli still asks all the time for it and we just respond by saying

"Oh, we left it at Grandmas"

and he will say back

"We get it later..." and then he moves on with his day!

With no more pacis in our life we have a sense of peace - now if we could just get the boy potty trained I could get rid of the diaper bag!

That is our goal this coming year - 2013 potty trained!

Bye Bye Paci - I will not miss you.