A Year of Change

I’m wake at 0’dark thirty due to my barking pal.  Apparently when she eats dinner a half an hour earlier than her normal schedule she wants..demands her breakfast an hour and a half earlier.  That math just doesn’t quite work.  Oh well being up this early gives me a little quiet time to enjoy.

I was just about to get some exercise yesterday when the phone rang and the school was calling.  The oldest was in the clinic felling very nauseous, so off I went to retrieve him from school.  He stayed in his bed reading and completing homework that his teachers gave him.  At 11:30 we had to run a few errands including the bank, the toy store, the book store and a quick return at the grocery store.  The oldest finished the Harry Potter series, so I bought him a new book…The Tales of Beedle the Bard (a character from Harry Potter).  He really wants to read War and Peace, as I remember the book..it was a bit difficult to follow and very long.  Who am I to discourage his ambition?  I think I will check that book out from the Public Library.

The boys were lounging on the couch on Sunday…all legs.  I thought I would post a picture so you all may see how they grow on a daily basis, and so daddy may see his boys just hanging out.

My Dad’s buddy…college room mate..passed away yesterday.  I can remember all the pranks they would play on each other all the way through adulthood.  The men(boys at heart) had an ongoing bet on the Cal vs.Stanford game and the winner would do something to the loser.  The first memory I have of these pranks is when I was 3.  Kenny, my Dad’s great friend T.P.’d (toilet papered) our house on Southgate road.  We had two huge oak trees in the front yard and I don’t think Kenny missed a branch.  One of the years that my Dad’s team won he took me with him to Kenny’s to return the prank.  I was really young and boy was sneaking around quietly trying not to get caught fun.  It must have been only 8’o’clock at night, so you can imagine how quiet we had to be.  I was laughing so loudly inside that had a giggle escaped we would have been doomed.  One year Kenny and his boys caught us and Kenny’s  wife, Marion was standing in the front doorway holding back a laugh of her own.  Marion is a lovely, sweet and quite “proper” as I remember her..I think they invited us in after we were “busted”.  My memories may not be exact, but I do cherish what I do remember of the rivalry that included bragging rights for an entire year. Great memories, and I am so very sad for my Dad’s loss.

I need to wake the boys…the oldest is quite ticked off at me because I called his name instead of going up to his room to wake him. Wait until he comes downstairs and realizes the time is 25 minutes later than he wanted to get up.  Boy am I in for some attitude.  The youngest was up late due to an itchy rash, so he is going to be in a pleasant mood as well.  At least the dogs are now quite happy…

Uh oh..time to go I hear stomping feet coming down the stairs.

God Bless and please keep my Dad and Mom in your prayers.  My mom was supportive of the friendship including pranks for I’m guessing 50 years. So, this is a difficult loss for her too.

Love to all,

LLF

Gazing out the window the sunrise is stunning.  Brilliant colors of pinks and golds with a dash of lavender on the horizon. The temperature outside is frightful!  I just filled the big dog’s water and when it splashed over the side the water immediately turned to ice.  Mojo seems to really enjoy these colder than cold temperatures.  He didn’t want to come back in after his breakfast, as is the norm on most mornings.  Last night was-6 when I went to bed and the temps were expected to drop to 20 and 30 below in surrounding areas with the wind chill making it 50 to 60 below.  Yikes!  I hung a heavy table cloth over one  window and a towel over another…all I need now is a mustard stain on my shirt and a missing tooth in my smile and the look will be complete.

Two days left until the youngest’s ninth birthday.  I haven’t figured out what we are doing for his party….the family party will have to be Friday after Chess Club sometime around 4:30.  The birthday boy wants to have a sleepover with 4 wild boys at our house…no way… I can’t do it!  I am hoping he decides on an ice skating party..fun, easy and the kids are worn out when the party is over.

The oldest has a birthday sleepover Friday night and baseball tryouts on Saturday morning.  He thought ha may like to play lacrosse, but now that he has been playing lacrosse in p.e. he’s decided on baseball.  A friend of ours said with his height the coaches won’t care about skill level at this age they will just want to get him on their team.  The league holds tryouts and an actual draft starting at 9years old. Wow, I feel like I am behind the 8 ball, because we took some time off of league sports.  Swim team is a given for summer, however, the winter swim team was full and we missed out.  They don’t seem any worse for missing out. The youngest wants to play ice hockey.  That is a commitment.

No one commented on the pictures I posted…what’s up?

Both boys have signed up for an after school writing program, tuesdays and thursdays from 2:45-3:30.  Our school’s principal and a few teachers are putting on this program to inspire more creative writing from students that are interested.   The first class is on the 17th..youngest guys birthday and since we don’t pick dad up from the airport until 6p.m. that should work out just fine.

I am off to take the kiddos out in the frozen cold air.  Have a great day!

God Bless,

P.S. I brushed Lacey for five minutes and look what came off…eww.

LLf

Good morning…the oldest wanted me to wake him at 6:30…I tried.  He actually made it downstairs at 6:55 and is munching on his breakfast.  The dogs are at his feet begging for scraps.  The youngest is still in dreamland.  I made a few attempts at rousting him to no avail.  He must be growing.

I took the boys to The Hobbit.  The kiddos really enjoyed the film until the end when my oldest jumped out of his seat and said, “Are you kidding me!”. There was hushed giggles from the audience.  I explained on the ride home that there are three books(journeys) in The Hobbit series and we may get the books to read before the next movie comes out.  The cinematography and graphics in the film were amazing. From the Shire(where the Hobbits Live) through the forests to the home of the Elf King all captivating images.  The home of the elves in Middle Earth reminded me of the vintage Maxfield Parrish artwork…I’ll let you all give feedback on your thoughts of the attached photos…just the artist I immediately thought of while watching this part of the movie. Actually, if one was to look through  Maxfield Parrish’s body of work inspiration for the cinematography may have been born there.

The big dog stealthily made his way upstairs and tried out the comfort of each of our beds.  He seems to have chosen Papa Bears bed as the most comfy. He has absolutely no regard for the words down, off, or no.  He just smiles…really…smiles at me and waits for me to put my weight and will against his.  Treats and food are the only motivation for him to jump down.  Now, I have three rooms…make that four rooms of bedding to wash..eventually…I have to get to the guest bed which said big dog checked out as well. Yea, me!!

The kiddos and I watched Once Upon a Time and then drifted off to sleep.

Have a great day and God Bless

Morning…Oh, the nail biting Broncos game.  I am still in shock that the defense let those guys get open for the bomb, twice. The last 31 seconds of the half to tie up the half and the last 30 seconds of the game to tie it up for Overtime. The Mr. was still up at 3a.m. listening to the bitter end.  He and his partners were invited to watch the game at a fabulous home above Sienna. He told me it look like something out of a James Bond movie. Unfortunately, no matter how beautiful your surroundings nothing can take the hurt out of a loss like that.

Grandma is also not feeling too jubilant this morning…not only did the Broncos lose…but the 49ers had a record game to beat the beloved Packers. A double dose of misery.  Only Grandpa Bob, Gram Annette, Aunt Jean and a few other Californians are doing a “Happy Dance” today.  Just think of me as  Switzerland for a while.

On the home front it is freezing!  It is so cold that there are ice crystals hanging on the inside of my bathroom window.  They are beautiful, but quite unwanted.  I hung blankets over windows in the oldest’s room.  He has the coldest room in the house.  I may have to invest in energy efficient window coverings for our rooms.  The deep set window sills don’t offer much insulation from the cold, or the heat for that matter.

Both kiddos are asleep and I hope they sleep in until at least nine.  They can use some extra zzz’s.  The youngest fell backward last night and really hurt his wrist.  It didn’t swell and I iced his wrist right away.  Hopefully he will forget about it and we wonn’t have to make a Sunday afternoon trip to the doctor.

We may try The Hobbit today..if we can all agree.  I’d like to take the kiddos to the rec center, but with the Flu epidemic I don’t dare.  Maybe I’ll have them do 30 minutes each on the eliptical.

God Bless

I can’t resist posting a picture of my niece…she is so darn cute.

Finally after two days of rain the sun is shinning. Hopefully it’ll last for a few days. i wish the misses was here to describe the colors as they are breathtaking. I tend to take them for granted as I’ve seen them so many times. I’m in between meetings right now so thought I’d start the post for the misses. i sure do miss her and the boys (who wouldn’t?) and am counting on them to make sure the broncos win in about 10 hours. We’ve arranged to go to a friend of Antonio’s sisters house to watch the game at 10:30 Italy time tonight. More to come later, the misses will continue the post when she’s up! Take care and God Bless.

Ugg! Not only was I awake until almost 1:00a.m. and the youngest wanted to come down at 5:50a.m., because he was hungry…BUT…I typed 700 words and touched the “Move to trash” icon instead of the “Update” icon, so I lost my 700plus words.

Yesterday, I met Libby and Carl at our friend Chris’s Gallery to find paintings for their office.  We found a beautiful landscape with a rust red barn, a red tractor and bare cottonwood trees in the background…snow and sage brush in the foreground and a sky of cream, yellow and peach.  The frame that it was in did not do the painting justice, so I asked Chris if she had a sample frame that was black with streaks of rusty red peaking though and a gold and red rubbed fillet to enhance the reds and golds in the art. First she brought out a sample corner and then remembered that she had a frame that was already complete that was not wrapped around it’s intended painting yet. We held the frame up to the Harold Deist landscape and the painting came to life.  Libby and Carl put a hold on it…they leave for Patagonia today for a 2 week adventure. Chris and I are hanging the Diest in the office on the 31st(Grandma’s Birthday). The painting is 41″x 55″ and I think it will look wonderful with the office remodel.  The other partner needs to approve said painting before they buy it, but as I understand it..he is a big fan of landscapes. I also need to pick up a 65 x 72 mirror to have re-framed next week and need to find some smaller pieces to create a gallery on the ever so huge southern wall.  The Gallery is hanging  a Western Art  Show(Stock Show) and we found the sweetest paining of a cow.  It is just the head of a happy  black and white cow…”Rocky”…a bit abstract…the painting just makes you smile when you see it.  Libby bought “Rocky” for one of her exam rooms…I’ll have to request that room so I can visit Rocky when I’m at her office. There was also a cat..”Jimmy” that was a pretty special painting as well. Very cool cat!

The boys were melting after chess club, because they were starving.  I always seem to forget to pack that extra snack on Fridays and they certainly need it.  After food they were much better.  I fed the boys dinner(French Dips)…fed the neighbor boy as well and then they played upstairs for an hour or so.  They all went across the street to play on the neighbors video system and of course returned home an hour later..one in tears and one really p.o.’d.  Over stimulation…electronics is the bane of my existence!

I told the oldest perhaps we would see The Hobbit today.  The youngest just informed me that he does not want to see The Hobbit…Instead maybe I’ll take them to Les Miserables to give them perspective. Just kidding for those of you that think I would take my babies to such a heart wrenching movie.  I will say my mantra today is..yes…”Divide and Conquer”.  Hopefully, one or more of their friends want a play mate.

Our neighbor just called to make sure everything was okay over here, because the garage lights are still on and the paper hasn’t been picked up.  I thanked him and told him to keep an eye on us since the Mr. is in Italy until Thursday….

Well, my first post was much, much better and actually a little funny.

God Bless

I’ve attached “Jimmy” and the Landscape…the frames make all the difference in the world.  I’ll post photos again after they are framed.  GO BRONCOS!

There is just the slightest sliver of the silver moon shining in the black morning sky.  The temperatures are dropping and the dogs are snoring at my feet. The boys are still fast asleep and I will let them remain encompassed in their slumber until the last possible minute before the big dog and I wake them from their dreams.

I picked up the kiddos from school….we were a plus one for the ride.  I drove one of their friends home, because his sister is suffering miserably from the Flu and his mom needed to stay with her.  The boys’ friend and his mom both had the Flu shot, but Dominique(the sister) hadn’t had hers yet. From what I understand everyone in the family is taking turns watching her through the night…she is really, really sick.  The Dr.s put her on Tamiflu, but if you don’t start taking the medication in the first 24 hours it does no good.  Our prayers go out to her…the flu is a huge epidemic this year, so if you haven’t had your shot…it’s not too late. Go get one!

The youngest went to a friends for an hour or so, but had to come home early.  His friend and his friend’s sister were fighting the entire time…including an “indian hand burn”  so their Mom made an executive decision to end the play date early.  I didn’t find this out until late last night.  No wonder my youngest guy was out of sorts last night.  Later in the night he asked me, “How can they(brothers and sisters) be so mean to each other?”.  Don’t misunderstand…Our guys have their share of arguments with an occasional punch involved, but nothing like the stories they come home with of other siblings we know. Yikes!

The boys were ecstatic over their T.V. dinners last night.  T.V. dinners are a rarity around these parts.  However, the kiddos are allowed one frozen dinner when Dad is out of town, thus T.V. dinner was on the menu.  I also let them indulge in Snack-pac pudding….in fact…two puddings, yum!

We went to bed and the youngest asked for another frozen dinner for his dinner tonight. I explained that the rule is one frozen dinner per Daddy’s business trip.  This did not go over well….the youngest emphatically told me never to hug him or kiss him again and he would never snuggle with me…only Dad when he returns home. Hmmm, perhaps he is missing his Dad.  Turns out that not only is he missing his Dad, but he was in and out of sleep last night feeling as if he may throw-up.  Uggh!  His little body was hot and sweaty and he tossed and turned the entire night.  He settled into deep sleep at 3:11 a.m.(I thought about phoning the Mr. to see how his day was progressing). By the way…any of you reading the post….do not tease the youngest about this information when you see, or talk with him, as that would only be cause for embarrassment for him and grief for me.  Thank you in advance for your tact.  The youngest apologized profusely this morning and told me to always know that when he says something like that he doesn’t ever mean it…he is just really mad. Good to know.

I am taking my friend down to an Art Gallery this afternoon.  We are looking for the perfect pieces for her office.  The Mr’s and my friend owns the Gallery, so she is pulling quite a few Landscapes, Sunrises, Western and a few Contemporary pieces for us to check out.  I saw one on her website that would look amazing if it is large enough for the wall space.  The painting is titled…Sunrise Through the Aspen.  I’ll post a photo. You’ll need a magnifying glass to see it.

I am off to make breakfast and lunches for the kiddos.

God Bless

Good morning.  The boys are downstairs, dressed and fed.  I am breaking the rules and letting them watch a show while I write this post.  Looking East out the window the sunrise is like gazing upon Claude Monet’s “Sunrise”.  Although, he painted Europe and this is Colorado the sky seems much the same.

The Mr. made it to Italy and is now perusing the city with Antonio looking for a twin to my favorite button up shirt. I sincerely hope he is successful.  When I spoke with him this morning he told me the first two segments of his trip weren’t bad and he actually slept for 4 hours or so.  The last segment…Germany to Italy was quite uncomfortable because the planes are not made for people taller than 5’11. I’m sure the Mr.’s knees were pressed against the seat in front of him for most of the flight.

The boys both had a great day at school and came home with little and no homework.  We took it easy…ordered a pizza(bad mommy)enjoyed a quiet afternoon and climbed into my bed at 7:00p.m. to watch a couple of sitcoms.  The oldest left for his bed…he says he gets better sleep in his own bed and the youngest stayed with me.

The dogs slept in this morning….the must understand that I would be quite upset with them if they were to wake me before 6:00.  Lacey did not try to open the pantry…I think when the Mr. caught her the other night he may have put a stop to her late night snacking.  Let’s hope so!

The big hairy pony(Mojo)climbed up on the oldest’s bed to help me roust him from his dreams…I now get to wash the bedding, as he leaves behind fur balls and dirt crumbs.  No big deal….there is no better way to wake up a boy than letting his pouch snuggle and paw at him.

We are off to school…God Bless

Here is a comment from Grandma Dixie from the 6th…

The kids go back to school today as the misses said. On top of that, the temps are supposed to drop big time. By Saturday when the Broncos play it’ll be in the teens. I’ll be in Italy hopefully watching the big game at 10:30 at night somewhere. I can’t believe I’m going to miss it. If or should I say, when they win, they’ll then play the following weekend and I’ll be there for sure. I sure hope we win!

As Mom said, the kids went downtown to hand our sandwiches and water to homeless people, quite the wake up call. here’s a couple of comments,

1. robi says:

   January 8, 2013 at 4:53 pm

   Kuddos to the kiddos!

   Reply
2. Annette says:

   January 8, 2013 at 7:18 pm

   Sounds like a fun birthday party and I’m very proud of the boys for thinking of others.

   Ty was a little scared he said as he thought they’d mob him for food. He still stood strong and handed out food to people. He told me one guy told him he just got a job and was really thankful for the ham and cheese sandwich. Lots of people told them “God Bless you”. Our friends who went along were armed as John is the commander of the RTD Police Force here in Denver so I felt ok about letting them go.

   You’re lucky as the misses will be doing the blog for the next 7 or 8 days. I thought I’d give her a break today so she could sleep in one last time. The flu is really bad everywhere. I had our doctor friend write me a couple of prescriptions for Tamiflu and a Z Pak to stick in my bag just in case. I’ll really be trying not to touch anything on all the planes I’ll be on and I always take a lot of alcohol wipes with me and wipe down my seat and everything as soon as I board. I’m waiting to see if I get upgraded, sure hope so as coach to Germany is no fun.

   Time to run as I need to finish packing and then get everyone up. My hunting and shooting buddy came by yesterday as he’s back in town for a week after working twenty nine 18 hour days in a row up in North Dakota in the oil fields. He made something like $30,000 but what a tough job. He’ll soon be getting on (he hopes) with Homeland Security as he’s ex military and they’re on a hiring spree, hmmm. We joke it’ll be good to have someone on the “inside”. Lots going on everywhere. I’m a bit worried more than usual about the economy and stuff this year as our current path is just not sustainable. Hope I’m just overly cautious here and nothing happens but all the economic signs point to a tough year. Hope everyone is ready.

   Have a great week, pray for the Bronco’s and God Bless. If anyone needs anything from Italy (my Mom wants another sweater and the misses needs some shirts), send an email or let the misses know and I’ll do my best to try to get it for you!

This is the last morning for sleeping in until the sun comes up.  The boys are back to school tomorrow so, we will waking up during the black of morning.  The Mr. leaves for his meetings in Italy tomorrow directly after we drop the kiddos at school.  Maybe I’ll organize something while he is gone…the oldest’s closet is in dire need of some attention.  The closet may be a good starting place…the mud room could also use a giant trash bag and a mop.

On to the events of yesterday….we had 12 kids dropped at our house at 1:30 to begin the oldest’s birthday excursion.  We loaded up the goodies gear and kids in three vehicles and off to Evergreen Lake we went.  We unloaded all 12 kids, their gear(snow pants, gloves and helmets and made our way to the lodge to get the details on the warming hut and which ice rink was reserved for our party.  My friend, Andrea stayed with the kids to help them with their skates while the Mr. and I carried the food and decorations to the old fishing lodge i.e. warming hut.

The warming hut was built on the bank of the lake. It was made of giant old logs with ten large windows overlooking the ice rink in front. Inside it looked like an old log cabin with two gas fire places.  I surrounded the fire place with chairs so the kids could come in to warm up if needed and enjoy cupcakes and hot cocoa.  The kids had a blast!  The temp was well above 50 degrees for the first hour and a half and then dropped a good 20 degrees when the sun went behind the mountain on the west.

The kids skated around and around..they played ice tag…had a few hard falls (thus the helmets) and had an all around good time.  Another friend from school came to the party with her mom which made it possible for the Mr. to go home early to wait for the pizzas.  Good thing he did, because I had only ordered two pizzas! He called and doubled the order(Thank you, Honey).  I made a ceasar salad to go along with the pizzas…the had some bread sticks and finally cream puffs which were still a little frozen.  I don’t think it mattered too much that the cream puffs were frozen. Some kids came in for seconds and thirds and our kiddos(being the great hosts they are) only had one slice each. (We had to order one more after everyone left)

After the kids mowed down dinner…. I attached red lights to their clothing so they could go outside under the pitch black skies and play capture the flag and tag. I think all in all the party was a great success. Their parents picked most of them up a little after 6:00p.m. and the Mr. and I were wiped out!

As you know in lieu of gifts the oldest asked for donations to our troops.  Boy was he successful.  His friends brought everything from baby wipes(much appreciated out in the sand I’m sure)to movies, protein bars, nuts, and much more. Jenn’s Grandma and Grandpa also gave him a 20 dollar bill inside a birthday card which was a bonus since he expected nothing.

Today the boys and I are going over to a friends to make sandwiches to deliver to the homeless for lunch.  Our friends took clothing down at Christmas and the homeless asked if there was any food because they only get a small breakfast and a small dinner, so Dominique asked her mom if they could make and take lunch down.  We have some very thoughtful friends and I am so glad the boys want to participate today.

The Mr. will be on the phone most of the day.  The oldest has a dentist appointment this afternoon and we need to prepare for school tomorrow. Our 19 days of vacation flew by.  I would kind of like to keep them home with me a little longer.

Have a fabulous day and God Bless!

llf

This afternoon the oldest guy and 10 of his friends will all go up to Evergreen Lake for his birthday skating party. In lieu of gifts he has asked that everyone bring something for the troops fighting over in Afghanistan. We gave everyone a list of what the soldiers need and will collect all the gifts from the party and then take them down to a place that will ship them to the men and women of our armed forces overseas. He came up with this idea on his own and of course we’re very proud of him.

Wednesday the boys head back to school and I’ll be in Italy later this week for a few days. Meanwhile on Saturday the Broncos will play the Baltimore Ravens Saturday here in Denver. Hopefully we’ll win that game and then be in the AFC Championship game the following week.

So all in all, it’s a busy week. Throw in a meeting I have at 11:30 tomorrow and one the misses and I both have at 5pm tomorrow and there’s not much time to breathe.

Yesterday the misses, as cute as she is in her new work out gear, and her friend took 5 kids in all hiking up to the top of Table Mesa where the kids all played hide and seek for a few hours. They had a blast and even though her head was killing her, off she went.

The National Western Stock Show is coming up here in Denver and we’ll for sure be going. It’s an annual event for us that we all enjoy. Lots of animals, horse, cows, sheep, goats and more, and all things associated with the western way of life.

I’m going to mostly skip politics today whichI know some of you are happy about but there’s no question that we’re still headed in the wrong direction. Both sides are digging in with the Big O throwing around ultimatums like what he says goes without any discussion. He keeps referring to his mandate from the election, well, he did get 51.1% of the vote but that means that there’s 48.9% of the country that didn’t vote for him. He seems to forget this. On the surface some people are blaming the GOP for things like not immediately passing the Superstorm Sandy Aid Bill but upon a closer look it had lots of pork added in by democratic senators such as $150 million for some fishing study in Alaska and so on. Plus the senate gave the house a mere 6 hours to read it! I applaud them for not passing it. it’s time we stop passing bills before we know what’s in them no matter what Nancy Pelosi says. (she famously said we needed to pass Obamacare so we could read it and find out what’s in it!, unbelievable) Oh well, same old, same old, you get the message.

Time to run, lots to do, hope everyone is well and Happy Monday, God Bless.