Library day (11.19)

It had been awhile since we'd been to the library (and one of our books had been requested by another patron and needed to be returned), so we headed to the library this afternoon. As always, the boys picked out a ton of books, and got right to work on devouring them when we got home. It was late and I had to make dinner, so they were a great distraction while I prepared our food. I love how focused they are, and that they love to read!

Cooking (11.18)

Again following with his fading interest in cars and traditional toys, today Jack broke out the play kitchen gadgets and got to "cooking" on the kitchen table. I'm not sure what he was making, but he needed to add two cups of something! Clearly, it was very serious business!

Sports (11.17)

Jack has a new obsession: Sports. The days of cars and trains are fading away. All he wants to do is play pretend (or real!) baseball, football, soccer, etc. Kind of hard given that it's winter and our living room is small. The games often get out of control and rough (given the limited space) and the balls have to go into timeout on the stairs. I never really expected him to deveop into such a sports fan and have such a desire to be athletic!

Dinnertime (11.16)

Dinnertime... is not my favorite time of day. In fact all meals are a battle right now with Brayden. He always says he's not hungry or he's full after just a couple of bites. I know he'll eat if he's hungry, but it's still frustrating! Tonight, trying to get him to eat one little piece of quesadilla too probably half an hour with all of his storytelling, complaining, and avoiding tactics!

Broncos Fans (11.15)

The boys have become quite the avid football fans this season, especially Jack. They are all about the celebration dances, yelling at the TV, and rooting on their favorite team, the Broncos. Sadly we lost this week's game (this makes 3 in a row), but these three fans are still adorable!

Basketball (11.14)

Jack has been playing basketball for almost a month now, and he loves it! I think his favorite part is that Daddy is the coach. It's been fun for Rob too, but controlling a group of 20 kids ages 4 to 6 is a handful for anyone! It's fun to watch how much the kids improve from week to week... during the first practice they would just grab the ball and run for the basket, but as time has progressed, they've gotten better at things like passing and dribbling during their scrimmages!

McD's (11.13)

Jack didn't have school today, so we were able to spend our first lazy morning at home for several weeks. Eventually I decided we'd head out to run some errands at Kohl's, and we went to lunch and play at McDonald's afterwards. Jack was very serious about his chicken nuggets.

Bradyen in the box (11.12)

Not sure why, but Brayden decided to climb into a toy box this evening (the hot wheels - which were all IN the box!) and play guitar. There's no logical explanation for why Brayden did this, but there often is no logical explanation for the things Brayden does! He's just a crazy boy! He was mostly giving me goofy faces when I tried to take a picture of it, but I managed one "normal" one!

Mike (11.11)

My very good, old friend, Mike, was in Denver today (literally for one day) for work. He came over to our house for dinner and to meet Rob and the boys, who he'd seen in pictures but never met. We literally have not seen each other for 10 years. It was so good tos ee him, and the boys all loved him too. Didn't hurt that he works for the boys' favorite radio station, K-Love, and brought them goodie bags!

Moo Moo (11.10)

Brayden absolutely loves everything about preschool. Right now they are learning about farms, and he reminds of these things over and over again. Today at school, he made a cow puppet named "Moo Moo." Moo Moo has gotten so much love in one day, he's already all wrinkled and falling apart!

Toy catalogues (11.09)

And... the toy catalogues are beginning to arrive! We received two Target toy catalogues in the mail today and the boys were more than ready to sit down and start reading... and contemplating their Christmas lists! (I think maybe Brayden should ask for new socks......)

Family photos part two (11.08)

I didn't take today's picture, Farrah did! Our families got together today for another picture exchange, hoping for some variety to add to the shots from two weekends ago. I think we were able to get some great shots fore ach other, and this one may very well end up being our Christmas card photo this year! Too bad the boys made super goofy faces in almost all of the other pictures!

Pea meet-ups (11.07)

One of the 2peas photographers I met over the summer, Amy, was in town for the weekend. So a group of the local photographers got together for lunch while she was here. We met at the Olive Garden in Westminster: Becky, Janett, Amy, Farrah and myself, as well as a few of the kids. We're getting together again tomorrow night (minus Amy) because another Pea, Jami, is going to be here!

Weekend Pal (11.06)

Jack came home from school today with the class stuffed animal, "Taffy," the Weekend Pal. Taffy is supposed to hang out with us and be part of the family for the weekend, doing whatever we do! Jack gets to tell his class about our weekend together on Monday. So far today he has watched the boys play cards, and he's going to watch Jack's basketball practice tomorrow!

Spelling (11.05)

New to Jack's already rigorous homework schedule this week is spelling! He came home with his first spelling list on Monday, complete with spelling activities and plans for practice tests. He has two weeks to learn the list before his actual test. Today he had his first practice test. It seems so intense for a kindergartener, but I guess he is ready for it. He got 11 out of 12 words right today on his first practice test!

Bored (11.04)

The boys are in kind of a rut lately. As I mentioned, they like to play cards. But we can't play cards ALL OF THE TIME. We just can't. They hardly ever play with their toys anymore. That, and they won't play at all unless they can play with each other. One of them will decide to play cars, ask the other to play too, and if the other says no, neither of them plays at all. And they both just sit there, bored. They just don't want to do much of anything. A lot of time is spent like this - sitting around, bored.

Gloves (11.03)

Last week I got my desk. A day or two later, I got a REAL mouse! It's been wonderful! But now... my hands (especially my mousing hand!) are always FREEZING when I'm working on the computer! I thought maybe some fingerless gloves would help keep them warm while working on the computer, and I found and picked up a cute pair at Target's today while funning a million errands. I'm hoping they'll be good for taking pictures outside on cold days, too!

(Edited to add: I wrote this post last night and didn't publish it till today. Earlier today, I tried out the gloves. No luck with keeping my hands warm at the computer - bummer!)

Card Shark (11.02)

Earlier in the year, Jack was the card shark in our family. Well, he's getting some competition from Brayden now! In the past several months, he's learning how to play all the games he didn't quite understand then. He loves to play Crazy 8's, Go Fish, War (his favorite), and even Texas Hold 'Em. That's right, the boys both know how to play basic poker. (No betting though!) So now there are two kids always wanting to play cards around the house!

Week 44 Layout

Phew! Caught up on layouts again! Now I can focus on some other things in anticipation of the crazy photo session weekend coming up!

Week 44 - click to see bigger

Credits: Kit is Crazy Beautiful by Fei-fei Stuff; Template is by Andrea Gold; Font is Too Much Paper!

Week 43 Layout

One more to go! (Not counting this week - LOL!) Here's Week 43...

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Credits: Kit is Daditude by Miss Mint at Peppermint Creative; Template is by Simply Yin; Font is SBC Courtneys Journal; Stitching is by Christine Nash; Ribbons are by Ellie Lash (recolored)

Week 42 Layout

Two weeks to go, here's Week 42! Only 10 weeks to go in the project - can't believe I've managed to stick with it!

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Credits: Kit is Harvest Spice by Shabby Princess; Font is SP You've Got Mail; Template is by M Originals

Week 41 Layout

And week 41... three weeks to go! (Not counting this week, ha ha!)

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Credits: Kit is Life Captured by Julie Marie Designs; Template is by M Originals; Font is Pea Gemma

Week 40 Layout

Here goes week 40!

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Credits: Kit is Chilled Wine by mgl Scraps and Sugarplum Paperie; Template is by Simply Yin; Fonts are Attic and Pea Felicia

Week 39 Layout

And now begins the process of catching up on the layouts... I'm several weeks behind. Here's Week 39:

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Credits: Kit is Andrea Burns Sample; Font is Berlin Sans FB; Template is by Red Leaf Digiscrapping

On the move! (11.01)

Look who is on the movie! Since taking the Martin Family's pictures last weekend, Carter has picked up a new skill - crawling! We got together at Mom's house for Ryan's birthday and Carter was more than happy to show off his newfound mobility! Here he's attempting to crawl across the slippery kitchen floor to his Daddy, the birthday boy!

Happy Halloween! (10.31)

Happy Halloween! We spent our Halloween night at the Easter Family's annual Halloween party. This year, since Halloween fell on a Saturday, we went trick-or-treating with them in their neighborhood as well! A great time was had by all. Rob and I also opted to dress up this yaer. Someone at the party took a family picture of us - Princess Mommy, Woody, Monkey, and Crybaby Cutler!

Snow day #3 (10.30)

Finally the storm subsided, the sun sort of started to come out, the wind stopped, and it warmed up enough to go play in the snow. The boys were so excited! It's a heavy wet snow and there is so much of it! The boys didn't really want to be bothered to take a picture, but I made them stop for a minute anyway! And as always, after some fun time playing in the snow, they were more than happy to come into the warm houes and drink warm chocolate!

Snow day #2 (10.29)

We definitely got quite a bit more snow overnight, and I was curious just how much. Popped a ruler into the snow-covered chair showing nearly a foot of snow! Not 100% accurate, but still, a huge storm for Colorado in October! Other areas got as much as 2 feet! Craziness! The boys have been itching to go out and play in it, until we walked to our neighbor's house - the wind is a bit strong for playing outside just yet! All this snow, and Rob's office stayed open! Lame!

Snow day #1 (10.28)

Today it snowed... a lot! It was one of those storms the weather people avoided putting a number on because they didn't know what was going to happen. We moved the pumpkins under the awning just in case. They got snowed on anyway. By the end of teh day we had 6-7 inches, at least... and now the forecasters weren't afraid to say it was going to keep going through tomorrow!

Puppy dogs (10.27)

Week 2 of fall break, and the boys have definitely become my little puppy dogs, following me around everywhere I go! Today I just wanted to run upstairs for a quick shower, and they said, "we'll come too!" I can't get away! Ultimately, I decided to turn on the bedroom TV and let them hop up on the bed and watch some cartoons while I stole a few minutes by myself to shower. Win-win! So here's me and my puppy dogs just before I showered!

My Office (10.26)

Well, I officially have an "office." No longer do I do my work on the end table at the end of the couch. Over the weekend we bought, and Rob assembled, a small desk to set up in the living room. It's not ideal, but it's way better than the previous set-up! It'll be even better when I get a real chair! The metal folding chair is not the most comfortable! Overall though, I think it's going to work out very well!

Family Photo Exchange (10.25)

At the end of the 2peas photography get together in August, another Pea and I thought it would be fun to get together with the locals for a family photo exchange! Well that day was today! We met at the DU campus and took some pictures despite it being a super cold day and ultimately despite big fat snowflakes falling around us! I think everyone got some great family pictures though, and I especially loved the ones I got of my two boys together!

The Martin Family (10.24)

Right now, weekends mean family pictures for our friends and family! Today I got to play with Ryan, Pam and Carter. All I can say is, we're related to some seriously good looking people. Once again, I had so much fun with the three of them - Carter especially is such a joyful and fun little guy! Also, I officially have a new favorite place to take pictures - the Westlands Park on Quebec and Orchard - awesome!

Pumpkin Patch (10.23)

Rob took the day off today so that we could drive up to the Rock Creek Farm pumpkin patch in Broomfield. Sadly, the early freeze this year meant the pumpkins weren't great, but we still found some keepers. The boys also had fun in the hay-bale maze, looking at the farm animals, and of course in the bouncy castle. We even found someone to take a family picture of all four of us together! It was a fun family day.

Basketball (10.22)

This weekend Jack's kinder-basketball season begins, and Rob is coaching. Or as the boys call him, "Coach Daddy." We now have a big bag of basketballs in the back of the van, which the boys like to take out and practice dribbling with. With our carpeted floor it's hard, but they've adopted a small corner of tile by the front door for their dribbling. They are both getting pretty good already! (Not sure why Brayden was so grouchy in this picture, though!)

The five kids (10.21)

Before my Dad and Lezel's trip ended, they wanted to get a picture together with the five grandkids. Getting the picture was much harder than it looks! The boys were all cooperating pretty well, but Kate just DID NOT want to be in a picture! Solution? Chris popped her up on his shoulders, then ducked down behind everyone for the picture. You can't even tell! It's not perfect, but given the group, it turned out pretty great!

Chocolate (10.20)

Today my Dad and I spent most of the day together, talking while he made lasagna. Well, two lasagnas. We were supposed to have the whole family over here for dinner, but schedules and illnesses meant it was just our little family and my Dad and Lezel. Dinner was great, and as promised, Granpda brought a treat over for the boys - chocolate! They couldn't wait to dig in. Bonus: They got a 2nd piece after letting Lezel give them haircuts!

Grandpa visits (10.19)

Last night Grandpa came into town for a brief visit. Jack and Brayden always LOOOOVE when Grandpa visits, he is just so great with them. And so far they have kept him plenty busy playing cards and just generally talking his ear off! The part part for me, though, is that I can't tell who is having more fun - the boys, or Grandpa himself!

The (other) Roe Family

Another day, another adorable family to photograph! This time it was my brother- and sister-in-law and family, at the Regis University campus! They did not disappoint! Once again I had a great time with a great family, and got some (I think!) awesome pictures! It always helps to have such photogenic subject matter! Can you believe how blue PK's eyes are? And that's all real! He is such a cutie, as are big sisters Corinne and Josephine!

The Johnson Family (10.17)

Today kind of marked the kick-off of what looks to be a busy few weeks for taking pictures for other people (by me!). It was supposed to start last weekend, but the weather did not cooperate! So first us was our wonderful neighbors, the Johnson's! We went to the University of Denver campus where there are so many fun spots for pictures, and the leaves right now are just gorgeous! And the best part, I think we got some great family pictures for them! I had so much fun with such a great family! Had to believe they are even nicer than they are cute, because they are a darn cute bunch!

Sick Jack (10.16)

And here we go with another round of catch up blogging........

Sadly, Jack was still sick with a low-grade fever today. It's always so sad when the kids are sick. He mostly just laid around and rested all day, but never really slept. Well after lunchtime (which he didn't eat), I told him he should really try and close his eyes and get some rest. I think prior to that time, Brayden must have been really distracting him, because as soon as Brayden was gone for his nap, and I told him to rest, he was out like a light! He even stayed asleep for a couple of hours. Poor guy really did need the rest!