Christmas Crafts

While out Christmas shopping the weekend before Christmas - again not something that helped with my Mrs. Scrooge attitude - I decided to pick up a gingerbread house which Ashtyn had been asking to do since last Christmas.  I found a really cute Barbie one at Toys-R-Us, so after a long and stressful day of shopping we did a little Christmas Craft before bed...

 I have never personally built a gingerbread house, but if you buy a kit it makes it VERY easy!

 Matt was in charge of warming up the frosting which was hard as a rock when we pulled it out of the box...

 Do you see my lovely kitchen in the background...it's a beaut!

 I did all the frosting, while Ashtyn and Eli decorated with gum drops, candy canes and skittles...

It turned out pretty cute - Next time I will buy my own frosting becuase what they give you is awful and makes decorating for a 4 year old impossible - but at least we got to do one Christmas Craft this year...

Our New Home...

 On December 10th, Matt and I closed on our new home! 

 It was such a huge relief - you have no idea!  The idea that we had our own home, that we could actually afford, located in an area we actually LOVED - was a dream come true - not to mention the simple fact that we LOVE our house!

Closing was of course long but went great and afterwards we headed home, hooked up the trailer with our first load of crap and headed over to our new home to start moving in!  We were lucky enough to borrow the cabinet trailer from my work to help with moving, which allowed us to pack up our first load that weekend before.  We still had four more loads after that, but at least we got off to a good start... 

 

The home was move-in-ready except for the bedrooms - so Matt and I spent all day and night Tuesday and all day Wednesday stripping wall paper and painting, so hopefully we could spend our first night at the house Thursday with the kids!  We were highly motivated and with the help of our family and our awesome friends - we actually got to stay Wednesday night in our freshly painted rooms and made up beds!  It was an awesome feeling to wake up Thursday morning and it just be our family of four in our new home - plus the kids slept great that first night!

We spent the rest of the week unpacking boxes and by that weekend it was pretty much put together - minus pictures on the walls!

Ashtyn and Eli definitely found ways to have fun, while we were in the midst of unpacking - I found them playing in the dirty laundry one time...

 Ashtyn was very persistent on getting the Christmas tree up and even though that was the last thing I wanted to deal with, I knew how important it was for her to get the tree up, so it felt like Christmas - never mind the stacks of boxes to unpack!

So I took a break, made some coffee and we decorated the Christmas Tree on Thursday!

I was actually happy Ashtyn was so persistent on getting it done - it made me take a much needed break and just enjoy being a family in our new home, while doing a tradition I normally LOVE!

 Eli tried helping, but after throwing several ornaments on the floor, he was removed from the tree decorating area...

 Ashtyn spent all day hanging ornaments and did such a good job decorating the tree and yes I will admit afterwards it felt like Christmas in our new home!

Its funny how among the millions of boxes to unpack, stacks of picture frames, trash bags, and just pure chaos, it felt like home - do you know how long I have been waiting for that?

We had our first Saturday Pancake Breakfast...

 And spent the rest of the weekend settling into our new home we LOVE so much...

Besides for finally having our own home again we were so excited to entertain our friends again! 

We owed alot of them drinks and food for always hosting us these past couple years, so we wasted no time in having people over...Shannon and Kole brought pizza and champagne on Thursday night, The Roddas came over for Mexican food on Saturday night,  The Ohlheiser's brought dinner over the following Friday night and Pam, Steve and Mari came over with margs and pizza the next night! 

I don't know what we would do without all the love and support from our family and friends, but it was awesome to have such great people to share this exciting time with!

It's funny, and something Matt and I comment on all the time - but I don't think I would have ever been so grateful and appreciative for my own home or for the ability to simply entertain friends if we had not sold our house and moved into my in-laws basement two years ago.  I am not going to lie - it was a rough two years, but very humbling. 

I will forever be grateful for our home - it's nothing special or grand, but its ours and I can't wait to spend the next 50 years raising my kids there with Matt, making memories with friends and family, installing a new kitchen and of course adding our personal touch to every space! 

I LOVE our new home!  Let the projects begin...

Christmas...really?

Christmas is typically my favorite time of year and not because of presents, but because of the all the traditions involved and I love recreating them every year for my own kids, while of course making our own!  But this year was a little different - with going out of town, moving into a new home, so not really having a home to decorate and with the weather feeling like spring time - I did not get into the Christmas spirit at all.  SO unfortunately our only "Christmas" outing we did this year was going to the Annal Christmas Parade in Louisville - that's it!

 Pam invited us over for drinks and apps beforehand and then decided to join us for the parade.  I always love when my Aunt Pam comes - she adds the FUN to any situation which is desperately needed at these parades!  Steve made us some Irish Creme coffees to keep us warm, so that helped a little with getting me into the Christmas Spirit!

It was a FUN night with my kids and family! 

Plus, we finally got to see Santa "Come to Town" which of course got Eli and Ashtyn all excited!  That's all that matters right - whether I am being a Scrooge or not, my kids were having fun and feeling the Christmas Spirit! 

Drums

 Eli has always been a very musical baby, but he is now fully obsessed with the CU Marching Band, or any band for that matter!  It all started this fall when we would go to the CU Stampede Pep Rallies at Pearl Street and Eli would get so excited to see the drums...

We soon started playing the Stampede on You Tube to keep him entertained and the obsession grew stronger!  He now will march around the house imitating any of the instruments - whether it be drums, trumpet or symbols he's mastered the moves and the cheers!

Its probably the cutest thing EVER to witness and my family, being the CU fans they are, are all so, so proud of him!  Even Butch finds great joy in Eli's desire to be in the marching band.

 My favorite is watching him do the symbols - he of course has to wear his hat backwards just like the drummers do in the CU marching band and then he will continue to twirl and bang the symbols along with cheering and jumping around while marching - just like the CU drummers do!

It's pretty amazing how good he is for only being two!

I really need to record it sometime...

I do think my son will do something musical with his life... 

I did name him Eli Matthew for a reason - I thought it sounded like a great Country Star name!

I guess we will just wait and see, but for now he will continue to master his drumming skills and hopefully soon we can start guitar lessons!

NASHVILLE on repeat...

I LOVE NASHVILLE - love it!

We've been telling the Ohlhesier's for some time now how much we LOVED Nashville and how much FUN it is, so we all decided to take a quick, last minute, weekend trip to Nashville the weekend after Thanksgiving, before our life moved into full CHAOS!

It couldn't have been a better weekend away - 24 hours in my favorite place EVER!

We headed out early Friday morning, got into Nashville to have lunch at our favorite BBQ place and wasted no time throwing down beers and enjoying the LIVE country music!

It helped tremendously being there before, because we knew exactly what bars to go to and what to do...so absolutely no FUN was wasted!

 We spent Friday night hanging out at The Stage, which is our most favorite Honky Tonk on Main Street!  Stacey and I got our dance moves on and met an old man named Bob!  He was "hilar" (as Jason would say) and kept buying us beers - it was awesome.  After getting our groove on there we headed over to a new bar called Honky Tonk Central and saw an amazing band, The David Ray Band - We are all in his Fan club now!  Hopefully he will make it big someday, and I can say I touched his shoulder! I did, I touched David Ray's shoulder...

 Blurry picture of The Stage - but good, good times were had there...again!

 By the end of the night Jason and Matt had made some new friends of their own...

That's as good as they can do!

We danced until the bars closed down on Friday night - Even Matt and Jason danced...

We slept in on Saturday and while Jason and Matt hung out, Stacey and I headed over to the Grand Ol' Opry hotel - Last time I was in Nashville it was closed because of the flood, so I thought while I was there again I might as well make a point to see it.  It was an amazing resort and I would love the next time we visit to see a concert there.  It was a gorgeous day too, so walking around the grounds was a great way for getting over our hangovers!

After a great lunch we headed back to get the boys for another night on the town.  We really wanted to hangout at the Wild Horse Saloon, because last time it looked like fun, but we soon found out that it is not that great and all the old timers who LOVE to line dance spend their Saturday nights there!  I never realized how serious people are about their line dancing, and how un-fun it really is!

We did however enjoy some Fried Pickles - yummy!

We hit up a couple Honky Tonks and turned in much earlier then the night before so we could catch our early flight home the next morning!

It was a very quick trip, but SO much FUN! 

It was the perfect weekend to have before starting the whole moving process...

I can't wait for our next trip to Nashville - I would leave tomorrow if I could, hell I would live there!

Until next time...



so, SO Thankful!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I started my Thanksgiving Day out by running the Turkey Trot 10K, which was hosted at the Broomfield Commons this year instead of Anthem, since its gotten so popular!

I wasn't prepared for the course change, as I didn't realize the change in location until the night before, but it ended up being much easier then the Anthem course - no BIG hill for 2 miles - yeah!

This 10K went much smoother then my last one in June, and I finished the 6.4 miles in 53 minutes!

Probably my proudest moment of the whole event was successfully unpinning my bib, removing my jacket and tying it around my waist, re-binning my bid, re-routing my ear phones through the re-pinned bib and NOT falling flat on my face!  I got VERY hot around mile 2 and HAD to shed some clothes!  Thank GOD they gave us those pumpkin colored running shirts before the race started!

I know, I know I look SO sexy when I run!  I have come to learn that I look like a Hot Mess when I do any type of athletic activity - literally a HOT MESS!

But, Yeah ME! Another 10K under my belt...

 After relaxing a bit after my race, we headed over to my mom's for our Annual Thanksgiving Day Feast!  It was the same ol' thing - lots of drinks, GREAT food, and lots of fun and laughs with the family I love so much!

 Eli LOVES Dr.Pepper and whenever he finds one laying around he will take it for himself and sneak off to drink the rest - Uncle Steve found him happily chugging a Dr.Pepper on the fireplace!

Thanksgiving was VERY low key this year - which is nothing to complain about - actually something to be VERY thankful for!  It was nice to relax before the chaos of December comes our way!

I am so, SO thankful for my awesome, sexy husband who makes life so much fun, my two adorable kids who melt my heart every day with their sweet spirits, and my family who provides all the support and love I need to make it through this crazy life!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Grandpa and Me...

The WHOLE month of November was spent packing boxes and planning the big move into our new home.  But throughout all the chaos that surrounded us I was able to capture this precious, almost forgotten, moment of Eli and his Grandpa Butch... 

I like to walk with Grandpa...

He takes his time you see

His steps are little just like mine; he stops and waits for me

He lets me ask him questions

He lets me hold his hand.

He makes me feel 10 feet tall and I think that is grand.

He says there's no one like me

and gold is what I'm worth

When I get to walk with Grandpa

I'm the luckiest kid on earth!

 When I found that poem on Pinterest I immediately thought of Eli and his relationship with his Grandpa Butch.  He is all those words in Eli's eyes...

Butch and Eli definitely share a special bond with each other - whether its banging on drums, singing in his "hut", going on long walks, or just sitting on the porch drinking a pop, looking at squirrels, Eli LOVES spending time with his Grandpa Butch.

I think Eli will miss him the MOST when we move out!