My other two girls

These two girls surely keep me busy and provide entertainment, love and frustration.  I have had Sparky for 10 years now and her Australian Sheppard comes out as she tries to heard me around the house, chases rabbits, squirrels and birds in the back yard and barks at everything including a mother pushing her baby in a stroller along our side fence and her favorite enemy, the UPS truck.  Sparky runs and hides when you say "Bath" and sings along to a harmonica.  She is always on guard and although she can be annoying she makes me feel safe. 

Millie on the other hand is a big chicken.  She is always nervous, shy and scared.  Chelsea saved Millie from the animal shelter in Tempe about three years ago and brought her to Colorado about a year later when she decided to leave her with me.  I believe Chelsea noticed how much Millie and I bonded and how much Millie enjoyed being outside here and all the extra attention.  Sometimes I think Millie has helped to keep my spirits up.  She is so loving.  She follows me everywhere, cuddles up in a ball next to me or on my lap when I let her.  She keeps me on a schedule letting me know when it is time for her morning snack, dinner, a walk and even bedtime.  She becomes annoyed and nervous when I stay up past 11 pm, she wants to go to bed at 10:30!

These girls keep me so busy, and give plenty of love, laughs and memories!

The long Christmas weekend is coming to an end

I know I wrote a few days ago about how much I wanted Christmas to be over, but I think I was just having a moment.  I was raised the oldest of a large and wild family and went on to have my own children young always surrounded with the chaos and joy of children for as long as I can remember.  Looking back I used to dream of the day when I could have a little peace, and now that I have it I miss the chaos.  As the famous saying goes "be careful what you wish for".

Scott and I spent the past four days just hanging out, watching movies, window shopping, eating and taking the dogs on walks.  This Christmas our house was very quiet and peaceful.  No staying up late to stuff stockings and waking up early for anxious children to open presents.  We stayed up late watching movies, slept in and headed to the mall for some chaos.

The entire four days were cold but absolutely beautiful.  After living 32 years in the desert of Arizona, I can really appreciate the beauty of a white Christmas weekend (especially when I can see the snow capped Rocky Mountains everywhere I go). And I actually do not mind driving in the stuff so much any more.

FYI...we did not break out the snowshoes this weekend.

We are going to have a White Christmas!

Snow fell Wednesday all day and through the night setting the scene for a White Christmas.  Today, Thursday we woke up to a beautiful Christmas Eve day with a big blue sky and a sun so brightly reflecting off the snow sun glasses were a necessity. Supposedly there is no more snow in the forecast but the snow that fell yesterday should still be on the ground tomorrow morning.  I am so excited, does this count as a White Christmas?  It sure is beautiful.

A Beautiful Christmas Eve Day at The Outlets at Castle Rock 2009

Scott and I decided to get out of the house and go visit Sean at work and use his discount to buy Scott a new pair of Nike shoes.  Sean had to work until 7 and was heading to spend Christmas Eve with his girlfriend's family after.  What do two childless people do on Christmas Eve?  We walked around the mall window shopping and trying out gadgets (Scott loves gadgets in case you did not know).  Both of us realized we did not feel well (stomach bug) and ended up at home watching movies all night on the sofa.

Merry Christmas!

Scott and I want to wish all of our family and friends a Merry Christmas.  We love and miss you all!!!

Snowshoeing anyone?

 (Our snowshoes still bundled with tags in our backyard today waiting for snow to play in)

Since we moved to Colorado all we hear is "have you tried this, have you tried that?  Have you been here, have you been there?"  Neither of us have ever skied and we both feel kind of old and possibly a little too poor for starting such a sport however, one thing everyone raves about as so much fun and a great workout is snowshoeing (I think we can do this!).  We could do this right in our own neighborhood or the Highlands Ranch open space if we want.  So one of the great perks about snowshoeing is there is no cost of traveling, lodging or lift tickets required for getting out and enjoying the snow.  Scott and I bought a pair for each of us on a great deal (only $69 including poles) at Costco after the big October snow and we can't wait for the next big snow, so we can cut off the tags and try them out.  If you come visit us this winter you can try them too!

I'm dreaming of a White Christmas....Will it happen?

(This picture was taken last winter, however I choose it because I love the white on the trees and ground at Christmas time and I hope to see this scene again on Friday)

Right now we do not have snow on the ground and the last week or so we have been spoiled by nice weather with today's temperature reaching a warm 59 degrees.  Is a white Christmas possible?  I did not think so but tonight's weather forecast says "yes it is possible".  I hope so!

(I took this picture on October 23rd from the parking lot of Sean's Cardiologist office)

I can't believe how much snow we had so early this fall.  We had so much fun playing in the snow and taking pretty pictures of fall colors mixed with snow.  Our temperatures are always all over the place and although it is sometimes annoying, sometimes it nice to know just because one gloomy freezing day at 17 degrees below one can be followed by a clear deep blue sky 50 degree day.

(Neighborhood kids love to sled when it snows right here in our neighborhood and Christmas is a great day for having so much fun.)

I will keep you posted.

My second Christmas without my little girls

I miss picking out the adorable matching Christmas dresses, shopping for the perfect gift, staying up late to stuff the stockings and bring out the gifts and most of all the look on their faces Christmas morning.  As Christmas approaches in our childless home, there are no gifts under our partially decorated tree and no thrills, smiley faces or big messes of wrapping paper and piles of boxes to look forward to.

I miss trying to keep the Santa secret.  I loved to see those eyes light up in excitement, I always felt a flutter in my heart.  I miss using the "you better behave if you want Santa to visit you".  Answering questions like "Mom, how will Santa get into our house without a chimney?" and "Mom, how did you get the same wrapping paper Santa used last year?"

However, I often felt guilty lying as I'm sure most people do. The year "Free Willy" came out on video right before Christmas (1994?), Whitney could not wait to get the movie and I lied and told her the movie wasn't out yet but maybe Santa could get it.  And guess what?  He did.  The gift was so simple yet Whitney was so amazed.  Just like the year before when Chelsea got her red big wheel she road all around the inside and outside of the house until  she was too big and I had to break her heart and take it away.

I recently heard "White Christmas" and instantly teared up remembering Whitney performing the song in sign language with her kindergarten class during their "Teddy Bears Christmas" show.

Where did those little girls go?  Christmas will never be the same without them.

Do I have an excuse?

I have been busy trying to complete numerous projects at once and while I have made progress on many I have hardly finished any.  Partial projects are cluttering my mind and my home.  This is not like me at all, I hate clutter.  What is my excuse?

1. I wrote my yearly Christmas newsletter back in October and printed out a few that currently lay on my desk, not folded, envelopes stamped but not addressed less than two weeks until Christmas.
2. I put up my tree before Thanksgiving but only a fraction of the ornaments and no other household decorations thinking I had a great start and could finish later. Later when?  Soon it needs to come back down.

This tree says "Please help me, I feel so ugly!" (Luckily this is only a partial view)

  3. I started scanning photos of my kids from the days before I had a digital camera I made a small dent fully scanning only until about 1990 and the rest of the sad photos sit there waiting.
4. I started to clean out the garage and lets just say poor Scott lost his parking space back in October and I'm still working on that.
5. I have a long list of "to do" before student teaching and I start student teaching three weeks from tomorrow!!!!  What have I been doing?  Where has the time gone?  What is my excuse?

Please someone come visit us, so I have inspiration to finish my projects!  By the way the guest bedroom is in perfect condition, organized, dusted, clean sheets and I steam cleaned the carpet in there last weekend. I cleaned the entire basement carpets (except Sean's room, see unfinished!)

If I wanted to live in Alaska....

We came home from Phoenix a week ago Tuesday to a beautiful 60 degree day and the warning of snow and cold temperatures on the way.  Every day for the past week has been so abnormally cold and I am starting to get real tired of it.  Snow is not the problem, COLD is the problem here.  Yesterday the high was only 7 degrees which caused problems such as  frozen pipes, cars sliding and rolling off the roads, cars that won't even start and more.  A cute sixth grade boy told me yesterday that we have been colder than Alaska?  I looked it up and he is right, we are much colder!  I was driving home from school last night and could not clean my windshield because the washer fluid froze on the windshield as it hit,

This morning at 5 am woke up to let the dogs out and Millie froze literally!  She was stuck in the back yard and could not move and started to cry.  I felt so bad!  I had no idea it was -17 degrees out there.  Millie had a sweater on but I guess I need to find her some snow booties?  Negative 17 degrees, seriously?

As I write my blog and look outside to a beautiful sunny day, I think it should be a nice day today?  Then I look to the morning news reporting school closures and delay because of extreme cold as they report the temperature has warmed up to -8 degrees with a wind chill factor of -30 degrees.  Looks are deceiving.

Owyn's Christmas Gift

Scott and I are visiting Owyn in Arizona and went out to buy him an early Christmas gift.  Looks like he really likes it.  I am so sad we will not be able to come back to Arizona to share our first grandchild's first Christmas.  We will miss you Owyn!

Scott finally meets Owyn

Scott and I are in Arizona for Thanksgiving and we are having a great time with our grandson Owyn!  He is an absolute doll and a comedian as well.  He is keeping us entertained.

 

He is the typical four month old who takes a look at something and tries to get a hold of it to stick it directly in his mouth.

Way to overwhelmed to post

I am currently in an overwhelming class and busy trying to get ready for student teaching, spending time in my classroom, getting in as many doctor appointments as possible before January, helping Sean get ready for his new job he starts tomorrow and preparing for our trip to Arizona for Thanksgiving.  I am exhausted!

So much snow already?

Sunday morning we woke up to almost a foot of snow.  Scott heard this is an El Nino year so we will most likely get slammed with snow.  Last year at this time we were still waiting for the first snow and this year I'm not sure how much snow there has been already maybe close to 4 feet?  The cool thing is Scott and I have finally gotten over the fear of a heavy snow.  Every time it snows we get out to take the dogs on a walk and we make sure we drive somewhere even if only Starbucks.

The nice thing about living here is that even if a crazy snow storm comes through it passes quickly and the sun comes out and melts it all away.

Highlands Ranch "Best Place to Raise Kids in Colorado"

 I took this picture on a walk with our dogs this fall, looking towards our neighborhood. 

Today I was watching the news as they discussed the Business Week article about the Best Place to Raise Your Kids and what do you know my own "Highlands Ranch" was ranked number one in Colorado.  I am not surprised at all since I did so much research before we decided to move here.  Highlands Ranch is very family and community oriented, the crime rate is low, kids play outside year round, four huge recreation centers are free to all community residents and the schools are great.  Boulder and Fort Collins are right behind.

Small closet solutions

Today I took on my side of the master bedroom closet.  My closet is always somewhat organized but I am always looking for more organization.  I am all about color coding in my closet however I can never decide how to organize.  I always sort my tops from light to dark colors starting with white and ending with black.  I never know where to stick orange and red?  If I have a dark red and then a light green or blue, it throws the whole scheme off visually.  Then my next dilemma is do I arrange short sleeve whites the long sleeve whites or do all the short sleeve then all the long sleeves? Do I separate the casual shirts from the dressy ones?  I am getting ready for student teaching so I decided to separate so the casual shirts are on the top rack and the dressy shirts on the bottom.  Storage bins in my closet are a necessity as the closet is SUPER small and requires creative storage utilities.  My project today involved labeling all my bins for quick recognition of items I need.  Like any girl I have a dozens of shoes and all with a purpose.  I have many of these shoes stored in plastic bins so they are easy to organize and do not collect dust.  I labeled every single bin today, I feel so accomplished!  Thank you Container Store. 

Poor Millie was so bored as she laid at the foot of the bed and pouted during my project.  As soon as I finished my project I redeemed myself by taking her out for a nice walk in the park.

Today's Project: Organizing my office

(Notice the Daybed in the office...Another bed available for a visitor)

I love changing things around, moving furniture and accessories from one room to another, painting and organizing.  Right now I am in a panic because I only have until January 4th to get any unemployment projects off my list as I will begin student teaching.  My house has been an absolute mess lately as I tear things out of closets, bins and totes trying to get organized. I have been moving things between rooms and reorganizing items in storage bins and totes.  I love picking up boxes, baskets and totes at discount stores like Ross and TJ Maxx here and there for organizing.  I have been doing this for so long I have boxes and basket for almost everything.

(The office closet is full of my work clothes, they haven't been worn for over 18 months now)

The storage boxes in my office store and organize all those annoying things I could never figure out where to put.  Each box houses things I don't use everyday, however would like to locate quickly if necessary and keep the room looking uncluttered.  I have individual boxes for product warranties, coupon, pens, receipts, birthday and holiday cards, scrapbook materials, miscellaneous cords and more.  My office has been kind of the catch all room since we moved to Colorado, and now I feel everything has a place.

(The bookshelf in the office displays some of the projects my kids made for me over the years, my Disney snow globe collection, and many photo albums and framed photos of our family.) - Notice the storage boxes -

Just another day of chores

Today I am scrubbing the inside of the house and Scott is outside raking up all those darn leaves and getting his dose of Vitamin D.  He asked me to go outside and take a picture of his pile. As headed out with my camera he decided to throw my little Millie into the pile thinking it would be cute.  I think it actually scared her.  Sometimes I like to think I enjoy doing household chores (exercise and thinking time), and then there are times I look at the work to be done and have an anxiety attack (too much and so little time). Well I guess my break is over, I need to get back to scrubbing the tub.

Last week winter....... this week fall

Last week I posted all the crazy snow as over 2 feet fell in our backyard.  One week later I am out back playing with the dogs on a warm 79 degree day in a sea of fall leaves.

Doctor appointment crunch time

Scott and I feel fortunate and blessed to have raised all of our children with great medical and dental care coverage since the day they were born.  Our children were able to have braces, cavities filled wisdom teeth pulled, tonsillectomies, and more.  We did not fear emergency room visits when Whitney feel down the outdoor steps and cut her lip open at 18 months or cut her knee crawling on her bed as a metal spring popped through.  The time Chelsea was crawling on the floor with pain and I laughed at her thinking she was a drama queen only to find out she had kidney stones.  Sean's visits as he was hit over the head with a block in preschool requiring stitches, more stitches after trying to juice his finger in Scott's Jack LaLanne Juicer, then again after dropping a weight on his other finger slicing it open, and many visits for heart alerts.  We were able to take Sean specialists for his hearing loss, heart defects and migraines.  Sean and Chelsea were both able to have an endoscopy after suffering with acid reflux for so long.  We never had to worry too much about mounting medical bills as our company offered insurance plans were very reasonable. 

 Chelsea's smile before and after braces

Whitney still has the scar today between her nose and lip on her right side from the fall. Not so easy to see in pictures.

  Sean with braces

Sean after slicing open his finger by dropping a weight on it.

Things are changing rapidly in regards to great company provided medical and dental benefits and now we are faced for the first time ever with concern over getting the necessary medical care.  Our current insurance requires ridiculous deductibles that are not manageable, and tries to deny any claim for any reason (requiring hours of phone calls and faxes). I recently discovered we have paid the maximum out of pocket for the year! How crazy!! I always see that number and think I hope we never have to pay that much in medical bills.  We did!  Now we have less than eight weeks of the year left for free medical care and I want to make sure I take care of everything I always put off because of concern for cost or other reasons.  Today I have made appointments for allergy testing, full physicals, orthodics, hearing and eye exams all before the end of the year.  I am so worried about where medical coverage and cost is going for next year and the years to follow and hope my children can raise their children without the worry of cost.

Thawing Out

The sun came out today and melted more than half of the snow away.  I was really hoping it would stick around until Sean comes home from Arizona tomorrow, so we could build a snowman. The kids in our neighborhood were having the time of their lives as they did not have to go to school for the third snow day in a row.  I tried hard to get back into the groove of housecleaning and laundry after spending two days distracted and entertained by the weather.  Today was the first time since moving to Colorado I took our walk after a snowy day for various reasons.  The first winter I was too busy with my job to do anything but work.  Last winter I was just starting to get out, the winter was pretty warm and hardly snowed, and I was a too "wimpy" on the cold days to walk.    I really hope when I start working again I can continue to enjoy the little things. 

Snow Day Activities

(Click to enlarge)
We finally made our way out of the neighborhood and went to Starbucks. 

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When we returned the dogs were begging to go for a walk and we granted their wish. 

We came home from the walk at 3 pm and took another snow total measurement.

24 inches and it is still falling!

Digging Out

(Click on collages to enlarge)

Scott was out front trying to clean off all of our sidewalks, driveway and helping our neighbor while the dogs and I were playing in the backyard this morning.  I slipped down the steps in the back and luckily the snow was so deep I did not get hurt.  I told one of my neighbors Scott wants to go get a coffee and she said please get me one if you get out of here.

At noon the snow was past my knees (I'm 5'8"), we tried to measure, probably about 22-24 inches!