Kristen!

My girls are experiencing the opportunity of helping with more chores around the house while on summer vacation. Misha cleaned the tv screen yesterday and this morning I heard, "Kristen! (said in three syllable) I just cleaned that yesterday." It made me smile.

Last Days of Vacation

We drove back to Phoenix on Friday morning, stopping midway to shop at the Outlets at Anthem. It is an up and coming area, but not quite there yet. Our girls rediscovered the joy of coloring and amusing themselves in a car--when they weren't bugging each other. They've become desensitized to long trips with the DVD player in the van, and so have we as parents.

It was close to 100* in Phoenix. Shortly after we returned to Grandpa's house, the girls were spraying on the sunscreen (I love spray on sunscreen) and jumping in the pool. I never once agreed that the pool water was that warm and never fully immersed myself in the pool--the hot tub, yes. By August, the water will be a wonderful 90 some degrees. My kids were jumping in and out of the pool non-stop having a super time. I took a small tea set for Kristen and she sat by the edge of the pool and poured "tea" for hours on end--herbal of course.



We met up with our great friends, the Wilcox family, on Friday evening. We wish that we had been able to spend more time with them. They have three girls. We have three girls. And those that walk get along pretty well. The picture of all of us came out rather fuzzy, but here it is anyway.



We said goodbye to Grandpa and Grandma Sunday morning. My girls always have a hard time with goodbye. They miss family a lot and enjoy the time they spend with grandparents especially.

Here's a beautiful shot from the back patio of Grandpa's house on Saturday night and a last photo opportunity Sunday morning.

Montezuma Castle

On our way back to Phoenix from Sedona, we stopped at the sister site to Tuzigoot--Montezuma Castle. It was amazing. Visitors to the monument used to be able to actually climb up into the cliff dwellings to explore.



We listened to one of the volunteer guides talk about the Sinagua people who once populated these cliff dwellings. They created a 20 room high-rise apartment, farmed, and fished in nearby Beaver Creek. I thought it was fascinating.

Vacation within a vacation

Christine a.k.a. Grandma was gracious enough to use some of her timeshare points for us in Sedona, Arizona. We took off on our vacation within a vacation on Wednesday, and arrived in Clarkdale (about 20 mintues from Sedona) midafternoon. In our exploration of this little town, we passed through tons of construction but finally ended up at a town park complete with a gazebo in the center. The girls were thrilled to pile out of the car and headed straight for the playground toys (Chris also let us use her Nissan while we visited). A quick snack after playing and we were on our way again.




On a side note, we gleaned a valuable piece of information on this trip. A sedan is not a good idea for our family. Oh, we fit well enough, it's just that our children were close enough to touch each other. That caused problems.

We had a little extra time before checking in at 4 pm and decided to visit Tuzigoot National Monument ruins in Camp Verde, AZ. The ruins were built on a hill and were surrounded by valley on all sides. We had fun exploring the small museum and ruins. Amazing to think about living in such primitive conditions. From the website:

"Tuzigoot is an ancient village or pueblo built by a culture known as the Sinagua. The pueblo consisted of 110 rooms including second and third story structures. The first buildings were built around A.D. 1000. The Sinagua were agriculturalists with trade connections that spanned hundreds of miles. The people left the area around 1400. The site is currently comprised of 42 acres."









As we drove in to the Sedona valley, we were awed by the beautiful mountains and land forms. Kristen had finally fallen asleep and we decided to drive around to give her ample time to rest. We headed up one of the mountain passes and enjoyed the wonderful scenery. Kristen only slept for maybe 40 minutes (she has never been a good car sleeper), so we decided to stop at a little Dairy Queen on the side of the road for a cookie dough blizzard and check out the Indian jewelry being sold. I found the cutest little bracelet for Kristen.

Our kids were tired of all the time in the car and were ready to be done. They also knew that there was a heated swimming pool at the resort and were anxious to try it out.

Our favorite time of the day...

More Vacation Highlights

Much to our girls' delight (NOT!), we hiked on Thursday morning. Our first stop was the Overlook. They called it a hike, but really it was just climbing up rocks to a mesa with a beautiful view.









We hiked along the Brewers trail and then later up Soldiers Pass. Kristen had the cushy ride but wasn't quite as appreciative as she should have been. We passed the Seven Pools, and I had hoped to find the arches, but my kids pooped out.





We spent time shopping and, of course, swimming on Thursday afternoon. Chris was pretty ticked off that a lunch of sandwiches on Wonderbread came to almost $40 in the tourist mecca of Sedona--especially when certain children ordered something and then decided that they didn't want it. The whole "eat it or you get it for breakfast" spiel worked pretty well.

Hiking the Pass

Grandpa is an avid hiker/exerciser and was thrilled to take us up Telegraph Pass. It was the third climb up the pass for Chris and I, but a new experience for the people in our house with shorter legs. Misha was a little energizer bunny and hiked right on up, Amy and I kept pace with Chris who had the added bonus of 40 extra pounds called "Kristen in a back pack" to carry.





It was a fun, busy day as the girls also got to go for rides on Grandpa's motorcycle. The helmet was so huge on their little bodies, if they had leaned too far in any direction, they would've fallen right over.





Monday afternoon we headed south for a little glider time. Grandpa thought for sure Amy would be big enough to go up in the glider but it was a little iffy on Misha. Sadly, the owner of the small airport determined that neither Amy nor Misha were big enough for the seatbelts to give adequate support. Talk about some disappointed little chicas. Grandpa had to recertify with two solo flights and then it was my turn. There weren't enough thermal air pockets to keep the glider afloat for too long and my ride was over pretty quickly. Chris then climbed into the passenger seat. His first ride was short and sweet, but Larry a.k.a. Grandpa decided to go for one more time. They flew a little more south and were able to stay aloft for quite some time.









Meanwhile on the ground, all of us girls (Amy, Misha, Me, Kristen and Grandma) were getting hot and tired. We finally retreated to the shade and Amy took advantage of my MP3 player to pass the time. She danced and sang (quite off tune I must say) and was oblivious to the workers trying to stow the gliders in the hangar. I called her three times, each time a little louder and still she didn't hear. I finally had to grab her by the arm to get her attention and move her out of the way.

Skipper on my Shoulder Makes Me Happy

I am sure many of you have heard and sung along to the John Denver classic "Sunshine on my Shoulder Makes Me Happy" Every time I saw Misha and her new best friend Skipper, I thought of that song but changed the words slightly to '[Skipper] on my shoulder makes my happy.' To be honest, Amy and Kristen wanted little to do with Skipper, and I wasn't all that keen on him climbing through my hair either. But Misha was happy to walk around with Skipper as her new BFF and Skipper was rather content to hang around Misha.




Sadly, that all changed on Wednesday. Amy and Kristen were trying to go upstairs and big, ferocious Skipper was on the stairs. They tried to pass and came running in to the living room, "He's pecking me. He's pecking me." They got riled up, Skipper got riled up and when Misha came to rescue them all, Skipper took a little chomp on her face. The next line of the song says, "Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry" but was changed to "Skipper peckin' my face can make me cry."

Misha was soooooo disappointed. When I asked her what happened to her face, she replied, "I don't want to talk about it." By the end of the week, and after a few days apart, they began to be friends again, but Misha was pretty heartbroken.

Fun in the Sun

Much to my girls' disappointment, it was too cold to swim on Saturday afternoon. All they had dreamed of over the past couple of weeks was swimming in Grandpa's pool, and the weather wasn't cooperating. Fortunately, Grandpa has a hot tub. It hadn't been used in awhile, and it took some time for the bubbles to recede, but my kids enjoyed those too!

The 4:00 am wake up call caught up to us mid-afternoon.

 

Family Vacation

Our flight to Arizona last Saturday left at 6:50 am. The girls were so excited that they bounded out of bed at 4:15 am with smiles on their faces. Kristen was especially excited to go on an airplane but everyday for two weeks prior to leaving we had to explain that we weren't leaving the next day. Chris finally made countdown loops for her and then he headed off to New York. He arrived home at 10 pm Friday evening and we were up and out of the house before 5 am Saturday morning.

We arrived at the airport with a few minutes to spare (here we are happily standing in line), but sadly the people in front of us were not airport savvy and stood in front of their check-in kiosk for probably 15 minutes waiting for help. We were stuck in the middle of a line and couldn't move! So frustrating. By the time we tried to check-in, we were past the one hour check-in window and told that we would not make our flight. Our luggage was sent on the next flight and we were on stand-by. The likelihood of all of us getting on the next flight was nil.

Chris, my airport warrior, decided that we were going to try for our original flight anyway even though the people at the check-in counter adamantly told us we wouldn't make it. Oh me of little faith wasn't "booking it" through the airport quite as quickly as he and the excitement-filled girls were when he turned around and rather rudely said, "Hustle!" Rude. However, we did get on our original flight with minutes to spare. I should never doubt Chris in an airport.

From there our flight was smooth, and I have concluded that the employees at DIA could use some friendly lessons. We arrived in Phoenix ahead of our luggage, and since we had a little time to spare, Grandpa and Grandma treated us to breakfast at IHOP. I know this will be hard to believe, but I was really grateful that I had brought my jacket. It was chilly!

DIA

We were discussing the unique look of the Denver International Airport, and Amy commented that it looked like a circus tent. She then asked, "Do you think there are any clowns that work there." My comeback was snappy, "Yes, they're called the TSA."

Garden Gloves

I need some better work gloves. I have garden gloves that work fine for weeding and such, but they don't do a good job of protecting my hand. I have been shoveling and then transporting a lot of dirt via a wheelbarrow lately, and it definitely shows... and hurts. It isn't so much the shoveling but the grabbing of a heavy, dirt-laden wheelbarrow that rubs my hand the wrong way. I even tried some of Chris' gloves but they are so loose that it just exacerbates the problem.

Tornadoes

For those of you not in the area, tornadoes have been touching down in various places of Colorado this afternoon. Our girls were sent home from school around noon, though I've heard that many schools were on lock down originally.

I was just hanging out with the fireplace guy. He had come to change out a piece on the outside vent for our basement fireplace. We have had problems with the fire extinguishing itself on windy days. Today was a perfect day to test the vent. And...it works perfectly. Mike, the fireplace guy, had come from Fort Collins and wasn't too anxious to return in that direction since a major tornado touched down in Windsor which is 5 to 10 miles from Fort Collins. We stood on the back patio and watched the clouds rumbling around in the sky, and there was no mistaking the circular motion they were making. The fact that we live a half a block away from a trailer court does not help us! You can see the roofs of all of the trailers in the bottom of the picture.


Misha came upstairs a bit ago asking if it was safe now. I said that the first storm had passed but that we needed to continue watching the clouds and listening to the news. Her response was, "Whew, my prayer worked." A little girl's prayer in the midst of a storm humbles my heart. Thanks, Misha.

Dyslexic Tongue

Many of Kristen's consonants are mixed up in her speech. If you are around her long enough, you begin to understand her language. Otherwise, you might just look at her and say, "Huh?" Kristen watched "Finding Nemo" the other day, and when she was finished I asked her what the fish's name was.

First, let me offer a little background. Her sister's name is Misha. Kristen calls her Nisha. I can say to her, "Ma ma ma Misha," and she'll repeat back, "Ma ma ma Nisha." Another funny one is salami. Kristen calls it "sanami". So I'll say to her "Sa sa sa lami, " and she'll repeat back to me, "Sa sa sa lanami." Kind of frustrating.

Back to Nemo. "What was the fish's name?"

Kristen's reply, "Memo." (long e)

"Can you say Nemo?" Heavy emphasis on the "N".

"Memo.

Okay, I'm thinking, let's try this. "What is Misha's name?" Her response, "Nisha."

Now we're getting somewhere. What's the fish's name?" Her response, "Memo."

Silly child. And this could go on for awhile (it did, but it would get monotous to both type and read.) I think she must have a dyslexic tongue.

Violin

I am looking for a 1/2 (changed from the 3/4 size) violin for Misha. If anybody has one they aren't using anymore, let me know. I am happy to buy it from you, but I don't want to spend a lot of money on a smaller size one--especially since I don't know what her commitment level will be.

Not for the faint of heart

Kristen isn't much of a nose picker. Whew. Others in the family (who will remain unnamed) have taken the opportunity to do a little exploring in their nasal cavities. Sadly, that is a bad habit to break. The other day, Kristen had stopped her descent down the stairs and said, "Poop."

"What?! Nooooo. Hold still." She's potty trained so this is a setback. I start climbing the stairs to see her holding out her pointer finger with a goober stuck to it.

"Poop, Mom." she expresses again and obviously wants me to remove it. I run to the kitchen to retrieve a tissue and remove the offending object. Ugghh.

"That's a goobie, not poop. There's a difference." I'd rather it not be poop any day!

How sad is it when you think about taking a picture for your blog? You should be grateful I didn't.

Summer Camps

I was showing Misha some summer camps sponsored by Carbon Valley Academy (open to any student). One of the options was a Community Service camp where students would participate in three community service projects throughout the summer. I asked her if she thought she might want to do it. She kind of hummed and hawed then said, "You already know what my answer is going to be don't you?" "Uh, no, I don't. What is it?" She looked at me as if to say "Duh, Mom." and then replied, "I don't even like doing my own chores...!" shaking her hands for added emphasis.

Fingernail Polish and Forgiveness

Last night I was doing the "Saturday is a special day, it's the day we get ready for Sunday..." deal with my girls. They had showered, I had clipped 30 toenails and 30 fingernails, and it was required of Amy and Misha to remove the nasty, chipped, red and silver-streaked fingernail polish that had been on their nails for weeks. I then gave in and applied pink fingernail polish to those 30 toenails and 30 fingernails. Amy's comment as she was working to remove the old fingernail polish was pretty profound. "Mom, making the choice to put on the fingernail polish is like sinning and taking the fingernail polish off with the remover makes them clean again just like baptism."

Be Free Chihuahua

We were driving home from getting groceries at King Soopers this afternoon on Firestone Boulevard. As we were turning on to Birch Street, we spy a teenage boy chasing a little dog all over the road, onto the side of the road, in front of cars, back to the side, and then zipping around the corner. Fortunately, most of the cars had stopped for the boy and his dog. From the back seat of our car, we hear Amy cry, "Run, Chihuahua, run. Be free. Be free." It was hilarious.

Hold On

There's something about someone else using the bathroom that inspires Kristen to have an urgent need to be in there as well. You learn pretty quickly to lock the door behind you. Yesterday, Misha was in the bathroom and Kristen decided she need to go. "I'll be just a minute." Misha yells as Kristen bangs on the door. Kristen then comes to me, "Mom, I need to go potty." I explain that Misha will be finished soon and that she needs to "just hold on." I had to laugh when she grabbed the arm rest on my chair, "I hold on."

Gourmet BBQ

I was surprised when Amy walked out to the back patio, asked what we were going to have for dinner, and gave a positive answer to my response of "fish." Five minutes later she passed by the BBQ and saw the tilapia cooking and said, "Oh, I thought you meant those fish sticks." I have never been a fish fan, but I decided that my children need more exposure to new things (that won't ever include liver though). So for dinner tonight, I BBQed tilapia, potato bites, asparagus, and corn on the cob. With a little advice from Chris' dad and a lot of attentiveness to the grill, the food turned out quite tasty. Good timing Grandpa! Kristen dug in to the potatoes even before the rest of us sat down at the table. "Yummy tatoes," she declared.

No broken anythings

I was organizing and tidying the storage room this morning. All of a sudden I saw Kristen and her marshmallows go flying onto the carpet at the bottom of the stairs. I think she must have skipped a step coming down the stairs. I sat and held her asking somewhat jokingly if she had broken her arm. "No, my xxxxx." I thought she said feet. "You broke your feet?" "No," she replied, "my cheek." I looked and sure enough it was rosy pink--but not broken. Whew.

I think she must be growing because she is falling down a lot more than normal. I measured her yesterday and she has grown three inches since last July.

Congratulations!

It isn't every day that you get a new Grandma; however, my kids are excited to welcome Grandma Chris to the family. Chris' Dad and Chris (yeah that could be confusing) were married April 20th. Welcome to the family and congratulations!

Horoscopes

I don't live my life by horoscopes, yet sometimes I find them rather humorous, especially when they are spot on. This was my horoscope a couple of years ago.

If January 22nd is your birthday: You prefer things "just so." Also, once you have your ideas set, you seldom change your mind. These traits can make you stubborn to a fault. You are a very persevering person and always complete what you start. An organizer extraordinaire, you know how to get things done. People always know they can count on you to follow through. You have a nontraditional outlook and win people over with your combination of uniqueness and dependability.

So, this was Kristen's horoscope on her birthday:

If April 19 is your birthday: Big dreams require big efforts, but this year you don't need to worry about having enough stamina and determination to see any major ambition through to the end. Past mistakes could spoil your efforts in June. (Doesn't that pretty much say you can be lazy all year long?")

Her actual horoscope for the day said in part: You may feel the need to be argumentative and bossy, but you should pay attention to your own business rather than others.... (her sisters would second that idea).

I think since Kristen has mastered the whole potty training gig (my big dream), she's pretty much in for smooth sailing this year. Not bad when you're three...except for June. Something's up there.

Magnificent

This is a wonderful video clip that my brother sent to me.

http://www.reflectionsofchrist.org/

This second link is from the blog for this website. Scroll about a 1/4 of the way down the page, enlarge the screen and play. It will play the same video but with the song "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing". The arrangement is beautiful.

http://mabrystudios.typepad.com/reflections_of_christ

Happy Birthday Kristen!

Kristen Nicole turned 3 today. What a sweet little angel to bless our home. She's feisty and tempermental but has the sweetest heart. When her sister is sad, Kristen runs to get a kleenex to wipe away tears. She loves to dress-up, willingly shares her toys, and patiently sits as I brush the knots out of her hair. Her hair...I used to say she won the baby hair lottery.

To her Daddy, she's been "Baby Cakes"; when she gets in trouble, I call her "Kristen Cole". Here's a look over the past three years...




We love you Kristen.