Changing Perspective

O.K., now I know that 43 degrees is actually warm, not chilly as earlier stated in a previous post. Silly California girl! Today I would more use the phrase, "I wish it would warm up to 43". It's been cold! We are being introduced to a real winter. But at least it is still sunny- I like that. We may get more snow this weekend.

Recent Situations

We have had computer issues lately- those darned wonderful, cursed, computers! I think I will be able to get this blog on and then some photos may come in a while. We just have to find the photos first! I wish I had a videocamera when I had the kids at the park the other day. There is a good sized rock that they have put foot holds on like for rock climbers. Josh was attempting the steepest part of the rock. He got halfway and then started calling to me for help. He had one foot on a foothold and one was hanging free. I decided to just sit back and watch for a moment (he was only about 1-2 feet off the ground). He kept calling and saying he was stuck and needed help. Zach had been sitting nearby digging in the sand. He saw what was going on and like a good brother (plus the fact that Josh has saved his life at least twice in the past year and thought he owed his brother) Zach goes over and puts his little plastic green shovel under Josh's free foot and says, "don't worry Josh, I got ya" to which Josh replied (in quite a frantic voice) "no you don't!" (understandable as there really was no support whatsover from that little shovel) This scenario went on for a bit while I got a good laugh- then I went to help.

I had hot rollers in my hair the other day- I don't think I have done that in oh, 3 or 4 years. This was a new and funny look for mom. All three of the kids were pretty interested. (and laughing). A few days later as we were watching a Little House on the Prairie episode (the boys like watching that- I wouldn't have guessed they would be there yet, but they are- nice to finally watch something we all enjoy- not just Winnie the Pooh and The Land Before Time.) Zach was watching Nellie, with her big barrel roll curls and says, "Mom, she is like you with the hot pinecones in her hair!"

Zach was being shocked by a blanket yesterday and says, "it keeps sparkling me"

This morning I asked Lexi, "what are you doing?" Zach answered, "She's hanging with me"

Then later in the morning we were driving around a neighborhood and saw another deer. We saw just one so I said, "where's his family?" Zach says, "I think they got washed away. We better keep him". Another note- the other night driving home we saw a fox running by just a few blocks from home. Dave was pretty jazzed about that one.

Dave is also pretty excited about going up a mountain to see and take pictures of the mountain goats. He was telling Josh about this and Josh says, "You go find the goats, then come back and tell me and I will get my shoes on". He doesn't quite get that it would be a 14,000 ft. trek up the mountain and if Dave did do that he would be in no shape to turn around and do it again- nevermind the time issue, but cute anyways.

Another thing- I found what just might be the death of me- getting three little kids (& myself)fed, dressed including shoes & jackets, diapers and bottles, Josh's lunch and backpack, and out the door by 7:45am every morning. What an exhausting, stressful way to start the day. Unfortunately, Dave usually leaves the house before that time although lately he has started dropping Josh off like once a week. This is enough to make me want to homeschool! I have actually been thinking more about doing that- although not just for the morning situation, because I would be trading that for having them all home with me all day- another exhausting thought. But I see so many benefits of homeschooling. So I will keep thinking, praying and researching. We will see.

That's it for now!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have so much to thank the Lord for. He is our provider, strength, hope and joy. God has been so faithful to us once again (He always is- it is just our limited & short sighted, selfish, impatient, sinful perspective that causes us to lose sight of that in certain days or circumstances). In the last months and year God has provided us with a wonderful job, great affordable house, beautiful city to live in, some friends in town (and great family and friends at a distance), a good school that Josh loves, a precious little girl, good health and safety, and our wonderful family of five. (who would have guessed that just 7 years after "I Do" we would have three wonderful, precious kiddos). We are so grateful to God for all He has done.
Ps. 30:4- Sing praise to the Lord, you His godly ones, And give thanks to His holy name!

Last Days with the Plasterers

This is a cute little lake/pond right off the highway coming down the mountain- I think it is a town called Green Mountain Falls. This lake freezes over in the winter- so bring your ice skates Martins & Kaspars:)

Kathy trying some of the naturally sparkling mineral water found in one of the many springs throughout Manitou Springs.

Our Thanksgiving meal last Sun. When saying what we were thankful for- Josh said the food (although he ate next to none of it) Zach said he was thankful for Thanksgiving and they both said Colorado. Only Lexi's foot made the photo.

Cripple Creek

Last Sat. we took a drive up in the mountains with Dave's parents. We first went through Woodland Park, then up to Cripple Creek, an old mining town at 95oo ft. elevation and a little over an hour from home.

Manitou Springs

Cute little town with little shops at the base of Pikes Peak. Only about 10 min. from our house.

More Snow!

It got cold yesterday for a reason! We awoke to 2 inches of snow. Ironically the last time it snowed was the 21st as well- of Oct. Josh already had today thru Fri off from school, but Dave had to go in today. The snow can be very scattered throught the springs however and it may be better or no snow in other areas of town. It is pretty and the boys have been bugging me since 6:30am to go outside. Josh said "I hope there are suckers (icecycles) out there!" He also said, "I don't think there is snow in California. It will take forever for the snow there." It is supposed to get down to 11 degrees tonight and may snow more over the next couple days. We didn't plan on a white Thanksgiving but we like it!

Temp. Drop

This morning I took Josh to school, went to the grocery and ran some errands when we got home around 10am Zach went to play in the backyard for a bit. I sat out there with him for a few minutes and it was warm- I asked Zach if he wanted to take his sweater off. We were then inside for maybe an hour and then headed out for some more errands. I was grabbing a few things when Zach stepped out the front door. He turned right around, came back in and said "it's cold out there!" I was thinking- it can't be that cold, we were just out there and it was sunny and warm. Well, when I stepped out- wow- it was windy and COLD (Lexi kept catching her breathe in the chilly wind). How does it change so quickly like that?? Crazy weather here. It is supposed to snow sometime this week. Each day it changes from Tues. to Thurs. to Wed. or Fri. So not sure when it will happen but I think we are in for some snow before too long- the boys will love it! A friend who lives here came by yesterday to bring us a welcome to Colorado gift- a snow shovel:-) Necessary and appreciated! Some other friends invited us over for Thanksgiving. So we are looking forward to sharing the afternoon and meal with them. (We had an early Thanksgiving lunch last Sunday with Dave's parents the day before they left) Can't have too many Thanksgiving meals. Dave is the master turkey cooker. He enjoys doing it and it tastes great. He always tries to do as many as he can around this season.

Lexi's on the Move

I was upstairs on the phone for a few minutes with Zach and Lexi downstairs. After a minute I hear Lexi crying and complaining. Not at all uncommon. When I get off the phone and go down the steps I find Lexi on the forth step up. she doesn't even walk yet- but she has the stairs figured out. Oh no! She already has quite a few bruises on her face from tumbles as she likes to stand and try to balance. She also likes music and bops her head to the beat when she hears music start up. And I am sure she understands more than we think. She of course has shaking her head "no" down. Why is that always the first thing they learn?! In the mornings I ask her "do you want a bottle?" and she enthusiastically shakes her head "yes". She's growing so quickly.

More Zachisms

He occasionally has trouble with going #2 and he often comments about it, the latest- "my poop is having a lot of hard problems" and a bit later- "the gummy bears made it stuck". At least he's thinking it through.

He also hates, HATES to have his hair cut. I usually try to wrestle with him myself to do it but decided I had enough stress and enough to do that I would let someone else do it. We tried one day at Great Clips- Josh did great- Zach had a fit just talking about it beforehand then a real sreaming squirmfest once he had to get in the chair- they weren't too excited about doing it (can't blame them) so we left. A couple days later I thought I'd try a kids place where he could sit in a car and watch a movie. Well, it didn't turn out too much better except that they are more willing to work with crying kids there and I didn't have Lexi to hold so I could help hold Zach's head sort of still, getting hair all over myself in the process. Afterwards he was sitting with his lollipop they had given him and says, "that wasn't so bad" Easy for him to say. I always put that fiasco off as long as possible.

The boys were being loud and rambuncious while I was giving the baby a bottle the other night so I told them to go downstairs and play. On the way down I hear Zach say, "We're not good, Joshie". Josh is quick to say, "yes, we are" and Zach replies, "we made mom mad".

I drove through Starbucks for a white chocolate mocha given to me in a cute red christmas cup and a few minutes down the road I hear Zachary crying in the back. I ask, "what's wrong, Zach?" He says, "I want a nice drink".

He was in the yard looking for a certain stick that he was sure someone had taken. I pointed out one and he says, "I can't kill a bear with that!"

He is often busy around the house or yard and always says he has "wort" (work) to do.

In the grocery store there was a sort of scary german shephard type dog. I told Zach to look at the dog. After he looks for a minute he says, "that's a coyote!"

Air Force Academy

Day at the Zoo

This is our local zoo- very cute and very hilly. It has an awesome giraffe feeding/petting/viewing exhibit. Dave's parents got us a family membership for the next year so we will get to enjoy it many more times.

A few stops around town

Garden of the Gods
Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory- how can you pass that up?
Restaurant and crazy pig in old town.

Raking & Jumping

There was lots of raking (we had never had a yard to have to do that before) and jumping in leaves to be done (the kids had a great time) and the leaves sort of got picked up.

Heather's Bday

Nov. 13th- I turned 37! Wow, really?!? I can hardly believe it- it sounds older than I feel. Well, somedays. We went to dinner at Guiseppes- a very cute italian place downtown in the old train depot. It is a charming brick building- very cute inside and the trains still roll right by.

Surgery Postponed

we just found out this afternoon at 4pm what our charges for the surgery would be. More than we had anticipated. We have a temporary insurance policy that has a very high deductible. The doctor had said it would probably be fine to wait til Jan when Dave's work insurance kicks in so that is what we plan to do at this point. So much for my 4 hour break tomorrow. But you can still pray that the lump wouldn't get too much worse over the next 6weeks and that everything would turn out fine health wise for waiting. What a stress it is to try to make all these financial/insurance/health issue decisions. Good thing God is the One in ultimate control.

Hand Surgery

Tomorrow I am going in for an outpatient surgery on my hand. I have had a lump in the palm of my hand that has been getting bigger for the past couple months. It doesn't hurt, but after seeing the doctor and then the hand specialist, he thought it best to remove it. He said it is probably just a cyst or something but because of where it is- affecting strength and use and because it has been getting larger it would be best to take it out. They will then send it to pathology to make sure it is not anything more serious. It is a 45min procedure and I will be there about 4 hours total. Your prayers would be appreciated! Dave's parents are here and will be able to watch Zach and Lexi and Dave will be able to pick me up and bring me home. Things are made more difficult without family in town! You know you have a bit of a chaotic and busy house when the thought of surgery seems like an appealing break. I did have that thought last night that it would be nice to be in recovery and just lay and rest uninterupted- no kids, no noise for a time. A lot of you moms probably know what I mean:)

9 Month Appt.

Lexi went for her 9 month Dr. appt. yesterday. The Dr. said she looked great- healthy girl. She weighed 22.5 lbs (97%) and 29.25in. (95%) Big girl- just like her brothers. Last night I was able to finally locate the boys 1st year calenders and compare all the kids stats so far- Zachary won on each check up for weight and height up to 9mo. which is amazing because now he is our thin kid and only in the 75% for weight- Josh is still in the 90%. Zach, Lexi and I all got flu shots while we were there too (a few days too late for the first bout at least). Zachary went first and was very upset/crying. He was almost as upset when they gave Lexi a shot- caring big brother. He also gets upset whenever I talk about germs (after our sick days) and says he doesn't want "worms".

Zach with Lexi

A couple things Zach often does with Lexi- he pushes her hair up on top and says, "I'm making her hair spicy!" (spikey:) And he pats her on the back and says, "throw up, baby, throw up!" (burp) He's a character! He loves to help me when I am doing things around the house and always says, "I'm a big boy, I'm a good helper" and that he is. Josh is finally back in school today and after we pick him up we are headed to the airport to pick up Dave's parents. Our forcast says possible snow next monday so they may get to experience that with us. Along with the snow they could also get some nice 70 degree days- that's how it goes here! The changes keep things interesting.

Fun at Focus on the Family

Scruggs Family Visit

Some very good, longtime friends (since 1st grade- Jen and I) were here from Texas for a few days. It was great to see them and it's not hard to tell that the kids had a blast playing together.

Our Little LuLu

Baths in the Kitchen sink
Playing (and sleeping) with Dinosaurs
Loves Puppies (at the mall) And Babies- this is our friend's newest addition- Christina Scruggs.