March 18th

Hope you are all doing well....

Kristian finished taking his CSAPS this week. (achievement tests) He said that he thinks he did good on them. We won't know until next year... He was really looking forward to Thursday because they got to dissect a squid in Science class. During the first part they had certain things that they had to complete, but after that they were able to do whatever they wanted with the squid. He chose to remove the eyeballs! YUCK!! He thought the whole process was the coolest thing!

I had Bingo this week. The host, Stef, decided to have everyone dress up in the 80's. We had a great time. I ended up with a beach towel for two and the hostess gift, which consisted of banana clips, (remember those) a Pac-Man game and the movie "Better Off Dead". Here is a group picture. From left to right: Nicole, Dela (Nicole's Mom), Stef, Me, Martee and Tracy.

I have started attending an exercise class two nights a week. I haven't lost much weight, but I do feel a lot better. We workout using the exercise ball. I didn't know if I would be able to balance and do the exercises at first. But I must admit it does make it a bit easier. It isn't so hard on your back! I am hoping that I can stick with it and maybe I will see some really good results soon.

Mike went to Bryan's on Saturday to work on his car. Me and the boys just hung out at the house. It was a rainy day, which we welcomed. I would much rather have the rain than snow. Although, by the end of the afternoon, the rain switched over to snow. But luckily it wasn't cold enough to stick. It was nice to just watch the flakes hit the ground and melt away!

We spent Sunday at Garden of the Gods. We had a great time. We didn't know how long we would be able to walk around because of Dylan, but he actually outlasted us! He didn't want to leave. He took a couple of spills on the rocks, nothing too bad though. He would just jump back up and start going again. Kristian had a blast too. He brought along his first aid kit and offered it to Dylan every chance he got. Luckily we never needed it. We went into Old Colorado City for lunch and stopped by Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. (Since we worked up a huge appetite walking around) After that we went back out to walk some more, because that is what the boys wanted to do. We were pretty shocked!! But the weather was so great, we couldn't say no! Here are a few pictures from our day. The one of all four of us we took by placing the camera on a branch in a tree. It didn't turn out too bad!

Mike left this morning for California and will be back on Friday. It is going to be a very busy week for him and I know he will be so glad to get back home!

We are on Spring Break this week. It looks like the weather will be good the first couple of days, but after that it will be a little cooler and windy. Me and the boys have plans for the week, but now we will just have to play them by ear. Hopefully the weather cooperates.

Well I guess that wraps up our week. Have a great week and until next time...

March 16th-18th

Since our weekend was a busy one, I thought that I would break this week's posts into two.

On Friday me and the boys were supposed to meet Mike in town when he got off of work so we could go up to Denver. That morning the Schwan's guy came and I went out to the suburban to grab my purse to pay and realized that my keys where locked in the suburban. (Yes, that was embarrassing!) We are still trying to figure that one out. It isn't supposed to lock when the keys are in the ignition... Anyway, later in the afternoon, Dylan, keeping with his normal way of finding things out the hard way, stuck a screwdriver in an outlet. (He learned about "hot" when he stuck his hand in Nana's Peanut Brittle as she was pouring it on the sheet to cool. He learned about the correct way to jump on the trampoline when he did a flip and hit his mouth on the outer bar, almost loosing his two front teeth) He was pretty upset and it scared the you know what out of me! But within 10 minutes he was running around and playing again. Mike came on home after that, considering I had no way of going anywhere, if something else happened! We dropped Max off and headed up to Denver. We had told the boys that we would eat at Long John Silvers. To some, that may not seem like a huge deal.... But for us and just finding out that they had them here, it was. I had told Dylan all about the "Pirate Store", that's what my sister calls it and her kids love it! Anyway, we get there and it is NOTHING like the one back home, as far as the decorating. It is one of those that is an A&W and LJS. And it was decorated like the 50's. Dylan kept asking, Mom where is the pirate place. Mike thought that that was so funny, btw. Luckily Dylan was hungry and as soon as the food arrived he totally forgot about it. We took the kids back to the hotel and let them swim. Dylan did so well with just his arm wings. He didn't want anyone to hold onto him. He even jumped in a few times too. The next day we went to the Nature and Science Museum. It had a lot of things to look at. Mummies, which Dylan and Kristian couldn't wait to see, animals, space exhibits and dinosaurs. We had a good time. That night we went to Jacob's Baptism and then over to Tracy's parents house for dinner. We were only going to stay for a bit, but Mike couldn't stop talking. Big surprise I know! I didn't think we were ever going to get out of there. Then yesterday we got up, had breakfast and let the kids swim. Mike and I just sat by the pool. It was very hard for us to just sit there. We are so used to being up doing things, that to just sit there and do nothing was not an easy task, but we managed. ;) We had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and headed home. We had a great time!!

This week is a four day week and then it will be Spring Break!! Kristian is so ready, as am I! The only thing is Mike has to go to California next week, so it will just be me and the boys! But oh well. A break is a break anyway you look at it.

Well I hope you all have a great week. I will post either at the end of the week or the first of next week. Take care.

March 9th-15th

Last week went by really fast. I worked all 5 days instead of the normal 4. I had to take Max to the vet on Friday, just for his normal checkup, shots included. He did fine! She tricked him with a treat, so he didn't even realize what was happening.

Mike and Kristian have been playing A LOT of Guitar Hero II on the Playstation. So much so that they were able to unlock a new song. FREE BIRD! At first it was great, but after 4 nights of FREE BIRD several times a night, I was ready to take the guitar and smash it into the floor!

Saturday, Mike went over and worked on his '37 at his friend Bryan's house. Me and the kids ran into town to run some errands. Later that afternoon we went to a park over in Calhan called the Paint Mines. I have been wanting to check it out for a while, but the weather hasn't cooperated with us. It was a really nice place, from what we could see. I failed to realize that since it was cliffs and gulleys that there would be snow still in them! Oops. But atleast we got to get out and walk. I think we are all ready for the weather to warm up a bit.

On Saturday night we had some friends (The Bowens) come out for a visit. Brett is also a fan of Guitar Hero and plays a guitar in the "real world" too. So they 'jammed' for a while with that. The kids had a great time playing too.

Sunday was a "lay around the house" day. Mike and I watched some movies that I had rented, while the kids played Guitar Hero, did homework and just aggrevated each other. I know BIG surprise. When Dylan went down for a nap, Mike, Kristian and I watched Pirates of the Caribean II. Yep, we are just now watching it! We don't go to the movies that much unless it is a kids movie.

Since Tracy, the person I babysit for, was in Vegas, I had Monday and Tueday off. So Dylan and I got to have Mommy and Dylan days. On Monday we went to town and went shopping, had lunch and then swung by to pick up Kristian from school. On Tuesday, Dylan and I ran some errands and had another lunch together. (Have to take advantage of it just being the two of us!) Mike went over to Bryan's again to work on his car. Me and the boys took advantage of the nice warm weather and cleaned out the garage. Then we road the 4-wheelers for a bit before it got too dark.

Wednesday meant back to work. Kristian got dismissed early from school since it was Parent Teacher Conferences this week. (He got A's and B's so he doesn't have to get his hair cut, something his dad told him would happen if he got a C) I had Rebecca and Jacob late since Tracy had conferences (she is 1st grade teacher). We all rode the 4 wheelers and played outside.

And now today... the weather is COLD again! We actually saw some snowflakes this morning. I wish it would just stay warm. And not go back and forth like this.

We are going up to Denver this weekend. Jacob is being baptized on Saturday night. We are going up tomorrow and staying till Sunday. Max will be staying at a Pet Resort for the weekend. Can you believe they call it that? It is nothing more than a barn with a fence around it.

Anyway, I will see you all next week. Have a great weekend!!

March 7th, 2007

Hi to everyone who is reading this. I thought that I would give this a try. Everyone seems to be wondering how things are with us, so instead of sending out one mass e-mail or many seperate ones, I thought this would be a lot easier. I will try to post once a week, but no promises.

So here is what we have been up to... Dylan and I attended a Doodle bops show (from the Disney channel). Mike and Kristian went to Mr. Biggs family fun center instead, I can't imagine why? Dylan absolutely loved it. It was like a rock concert for preschoolers. He had so much fun. He wanted to go up on stage with them. It was rather difficult trying to explain why he couldn't go though.

Last week was Mike's 33rd birthday. We had a group of friends come out for dinner and cake on Saturday night. I was trying to keep it from him, but apparently he is

way too smart for me to do that. He said he knew all along. Whatever! I had bought a Cars themed cake, which Dylan thought was for him. He kept saying all day Saturday that everyone was going to come over and sing "Happy Birthday to Dylan". At the time, because Mike was either in the room or where he could hear, I couldn't explain to him that it was for his daddy. Dylan hasn't learned the art of keeping a secret yet!

Kristian was invited to attend Space Camp this summer. As long as he keeps his grades above a C and doesn't get sent to the office he will be eligible to go. He is very excited about it. It is located in Kansas of all places. The plan now is for all of us to go since I am just not ready to send him that far away without a family member or someone I know really well. He seems fine with it. Of course he hasn't hit that stage yet where it isn't "cool" for your parents to tag along.

We finally decided not to do baseball this summer. We like going to the games and watching Kristian play, but it takes up the whole summer and since we have done it for the past 4 summers, we need a break. There are so many things that we want to be able to do this summer and not have to worry about missing practices or games.

Max is doing great. We have had him for a month now. He seems to be potty trained, although every once in a while he gets tired of waiting by the door for someone to let him out and well you know the rest of the story. He is definitely Mike's dog! Not that the rest of us don't love him, he is just attached to him. Max fits into our family so well and we are glad we got him.

Well I guess that is it from here. Again, I hope to do this once a week. I hope that you will all remember and come back to take a look. Have a great week and until next time....