Saturday, March 29, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
A Beautiful Easter
I have to say that our Easter was just about as perfect as it can get. The only thing that would have made it better was if the clouds had cleared away to let the sun shine.
On Saturday morning we went with the Boy Scouts to help out with a community egg hunt. The weather was bitterly cold for it. I was joking that the day we went out and did the compass hunt at 2 degrees was warmer then yesterdays 42. The difference you ask? Well there is a big difference of 2 degrees with sun and NO wind...compared to 42 degrees with cloud covered skies and wind cutting through you at
what feels like 100 miles an hour. The boys got to help steak out all the age group areas, and then scatter all the eggs out. After we all went back inside to warm up a bit, and then help with other stations. They had a little craft there for the kids to do as well as a coloring contest, Easter tattoos and of course 
a bunny there to get pictures with. I sat and helped out with the tattoo station. Scott was there off and on, and even Michaela came over to help out there a bit. Evin with the Boy Scouts all there to help out, they were able to come out
and hunt eggs as well. Now I need to back track a moment to us helping to "hide" the eggs. Tim in all his form started to hide the older age groups eggs up in the giant pine tree there. Well at first it
was just setting them up on the higher branches, and then it was tossing them up into the tree. Some of the boys followed suit and before you know it there was a giant
Easter Egg Pine tree in the middle of the area. I've included a few pictures of the tree here to get a small idea of it.
After we left there we did a bit of running around and then came home to prep the eggs. That evening Sam and Michaela came over to help with the decorating. Since I was little
we have done different things to get different looks to our eggs. This year, Scott and I found a style where you take rubber cement and drizzle it on the eggs, then dye it. After it drys you rub off the cement and voila you have 
a fancy decorative egg! I think that this one was a huge hit! The only draw back was when rubbing off the cement, if you pressed too hard the egg would break. Lucky for us this only happened to 2 of our eggs. As we sat there working on our eggs it began to snow outside big fluffy, it's almost the end of March and I shouldn't be here flakes. 
So 54 eggs later (Tim always teases me about the amount of eggs I do up...I go for at least a dozen per kid we have with us...and I always reply that what other activity makes the kids so happy for only spending about $2 a person, and entertains them for a couple of hours?) 
Easter morning we awoke (always way to early) to find Scott sleeping on the couch. For some reason on holidays he wakes up super early, comes down stairs to "scope" things out and then falls back asleep till the rest of the family gets up. Last year Scott found out
that the Easter Bunny likes to play tricks and hide the basket. So this morning Scott and Michaela found scrolls awiting them with a clue on it as to where to find an egg with another clue in it. This went on for several eggs before they finally got the last clue to their basket. Clues led them to such places as the fire pit out back. The flowers
growing out front, the laundry soap box...and the likes of that. What is great about plastic eggs is that they can be hid ANYWHERE! So this year Scott found his basket in the basement by the garden that we have started down there, and Michaela found hers in the upstairs linnen closet.
After our family
traditional breakfast we dropped the girls back at mom's house for thier dinner and Tim, Scott, and I drove down to Garden of the Gods. For me I love to do up the big traditional dinners, but when the girls can't be there, it just leaves the 3 of us, and knowing that they are right down the road can can't be there with us, just seems to take a lot of the fun out of
it all. So instead we drove to a national park here about an hour south of us. The weather at the house was
perfect...sunny and no wind which made the 41 degrees perfect weather to go walking around and enjoy the picnic I had packed for us. Unfortunatly though the further south we drove, the cloudier it became. By the time we got to the Garden of the 
Gods it had dropped 10 degrees outside, but that lack of sun didn't take away any of the beauty of the area. It is so amazing the majestical beauty of Mother Nature. These rocks are huge and stunning 
what has happened to them from the wind and weather. They have a driving path to take you around the main part of the park,
but there are also lots of paths to take as well. We had the dogs with us, and since it was snowing and muddy we opted to just take that one trail that was paved. It took us past some amazing rock formations, to include one that they 
call "Kissing Camels". It was a nice
walk around the area, except for Teddy. Lincoln is old and pretty calm on the leash, however Teddy being the little dog that he is has a strong
case of Napoleon Syndrom. It doesn't matter how big the dog is, Teddy thinks that he can take them on. So everytime we passed another dog we would have to fight with him to behave.
Good thing he is only like 14 pounds!!! After our walk around we decieded that while the weather was warming up a bit as the sun started to come out, everything was wet. So we drove back home to have our picnic in the living room, 
of ham sandwiches, potatoe salad and apples. We also had some Blood Orange Italian Soda to wash it all down with.
It was dry and we had the fire going for effect. I do think that I'm going to turn this into a tradition for the family. I can't think of anything better then an Easter
hike and picnic, I can only hope that next year is a bit warmer! 
Later that day Tim went
out front with Scott and Michaela to play catch. The sun was shining and it was perfect out for them. 
So all in all I would have to say that it was a fabulous day for us!!! And we will absolutly be going back to
the Garden of the Gods again on a warmer day, and probably with out the dogs next time to be able to explore a bit more.
On Saturday morning we went with the Boy Scouts to help out with a community egg hunt. The weather was bitterly cold for it. I was joking that the day we went out and did the compass hunt at 2 degrees was warmer then yesterdays 42. The difference you ask? Well there is a big difference of 2 degrees with sun and NO wind...compared to 42 degrees with cloud covered skies and wind cutting through you at
what feels like 100 miles an hour. The boys got to help steak out all the age group areas, and then scatter all the eggs out. After we all went back inside to warm up a bit, and then help with other stations. They had a little craft there for the kids to do as well as a coloring contest, Easter tattoos and of course 
a bunny there to get pictures with. I sat and helped out with the tattoo station. Scott was there off and on, and even Michaela came over to help out there a bit. Evin with the Boy Scouts all there to help out, they were able to come out
and hunt eggs as well. Now I need to back track a moment to us helping to "hide" the eggs. Tim in all his form started to hide the older age groups eggs up in the giant pine tree there. Well at first it
was just setting them up on the higher branches, and then it was tossing them up into the tree. Some of the boys followed suit and before you know it there was a giant
Easter Egg Pine tree in the middle of the area. I've included a few pictures of the tree here to get a small idea of it. After we left there we did a bit of running around and then came home to prep the eggs. That evening Sam and Michaela came over to help with the decorating. Since I was little
we have done different things to get different looks to our eggs. This year, Scott and I found a style where you take rubber cement and drizzle it on the eggs, then dye it. After it drys you rub off the cement and voila you have 
a fancy decorative egg! I think that this one was a huge hit! The only draw back was when rubbing off the cement, if you pressed too hard the egg would break. Lucky for us this only happened to 2 of our eggs. As we sat there working on our eggs it began to snow outside big fluffy, it's almost the end of March and I shouldn't be here flakes. 
So 54 eggs later (Tim always teases me about the amount of eggs I do up...I go for at least a dozen per kid we have with us...and I always reply that what other activity makes the kids so happy for only spending about $2 a person, and entertains them for a couple of hours?) 
Easter morning we awoke (always way to early) to find Scott sleeping on the couch. For some reason on holidays he wakes up super early, comes down stairs to "scope" things out and then falls back asleep till the rest of the family gets up. Last year Scott found out
that the Easter Bunny likes to play tricks and hide the basket. So this morning Scott and Michaela found scrolls awiting them with a clue on it as to where to find an egg with another clue in it. This went on for several eggs before they finally got the last clue to their basket. Clues led them to such places as the fire pit out back. The flowers
growing out front, the laundry soap box...and the likes of that. What is great about plastic eggs is that they can be hid ANYWHERE! So this year Scott found his basket in the basement by the garden that we have started down there, and Michaela found hers in the upstairs linnen closet.
After our family
traditional breakfast we dropped the girls back at mom's house for thier dinner and Tim, Scott, and I drove down to Garden of the Gods. For me I love to do up the big traditional dinners, but when the girls can't be there, it just leaves the 3 of us, and knowing that they are right down the road can can't be there with us, just seems to take a lot of the fun out of
it all. So instead we drove to a national park here about an hour south of us. The weather at the house was
perfect...sunny and no wind which made the 41 degrees perfect weather to go walking around and enjoy the picnic I had packed for us. Unfortunatly though the further south we drove, the cloudier it became. By the time we got to the Garden of the 
Gods it had dropped 10 degrees outside, but that lack of sun didn't take away any of the beauty of the area. It is so amazing the majestical beauty of Mother Nature. These rocks are huge and stunning 
what has happened to them from the wind and weather. They have a driving path to take you around the main part of the park,
but there are also lots of paths to take as well. We had the dogs with us, and since it was snowing and muddy we opted to just take that one trail that was paved. It took us past some amazing rock formations, to include one that they 
call "Kissing Camels". It was a nice
walk around the area, except for Teddy. Lincoln is old and pretty calm on the leash, however Teddy being the little dog that he is has a strong
case of Napoleon Syndrom. It doesn't matter how big the dog is, Teddy thinks that he can take them on. So everytime we passed another dog we would have to fight with him to behave.
Good thing he is only like 14 pounds!!! After our walk around we decieded that while the weather was warming up a bit as the sun started to come out, everything was wet. So we drove back home to have our picnic in the living room, 
of ham sandwiches, potatoe salad and apples. We also had some Blood Orange Italian Soda to wash it all down with.
It was dry and we had the fire going for effect. I do think that I'm going to turn this into a tradition for the family. I can't think of anything better then an Easter
hike and picnic, I can only hope that next year is a bit warmer! 
Later that day Tim went
out front with Scott and Michaela to play catch. The sun was shining and it was perfect out for them. 
So all in all I would have to say that it was a fabulous day for us!!! And we will absolutly be going back to
the Garden of the Gods again on a warmer day, and probably with out the dogs next time to be able to explore a bit more.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Young Ameritowne
One of the neat field trips that Scott and Michaela got to go on this year was to Young Ameritowne. For those that have never heard of it, as I had not, it is a minature version of a town that the kids have to run. They are given a bank account to manage, and a job within the town. There is a mayor, and police department to create and enforce rules. The students actually start getting ready for this trip 
about 5 months in advance. They are given a workbook and learn how to balance a check book, they petition for a job, then learn the responsibilities of their job. They get to work in groups of their job to creat game plans and all kinds of stuff like that. 
Their big day was last month in early Feburary. Both of the kids were so excited about it, talking about it every night. I was going along also to help out. Actually I had no idea what I was going to be doing there, but I knew that I was going to have my camera in hand! We got there and it was pretty much a minature village set up inside.
There were many different business there for the kids to run. Students were to work their jobs, then durring their break time they were to visit the other business's and shop from them. Each store offered different types of services, but they also had little toy things for their customers to buy. Kids were given Ameritown money, and a check book. They also had different rules to follow, some of them a bit silly...and if they were caught breaking the rules they would have to either pay a fine, or go to court to settle the matter. All in all it was a really neat event for the kids. One of those days that they learned a bunch, without realizing that they were learning! 
My job while I was there was to work at the TV station, helping to make sure they took care of getting commercials filmed throughout the town, and also get all their bills paid, and to collect all the advertisment fees. Michaela was working as the Collage Photographer. Her job was to go around the town and take pictures of what was happening, and to capture the swearing in cerimonies for the mayor and other officals. Scott was the Bank President. His job was to make sure his tellers did as they were supposed to,
and to balance the banks books for all the accounts. I couldn't believe how much math he had to do that day. Good thing he likes math! I've added some pictures of the kids at work. It really was a fun day for all there.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Some changes to the site....
I've had to make a few changes to the site as I have started to get some of those un wanted comments being posted...nothing bad, but nothing I want either...I'm sure that there is some way to delete them, I just haven't figured it out yet. Anyways 
for a while there will be word verification, as well as comment approval. If I know you, no matter what the comment it will get approved...if I don't know you, well sorry, but your probably going to be SOL. Sorry the the inconviences that this brings, but as the saying goes, a few ruined it for all. If I see that I'm not getting loser comments after a while, I'll lift the ban and see how it goes. In the mean time, enjoy the updates, comment away and have a great Easter!!!!!
for a while there will be word verification, as well as comment approval. If I know you, no matter what the comment it will get approved...if I don't know you, well sorry, but your probably going to be SOL. Sorry the the inconviences that this brings, but as the saying goes, a few ruined it for all. If I see that I'm not getting loser comments after a while, I'll lift the ban and see how it goes. In the mean time, enjoy the updates, comment away and have a great Easter!!!!!
Monday, March 17, 2008
New updates to come....
Keep an eye out for some new updates and pictures! I want to thank one of the soldiers at my drill site for being so awsome about computers! He is great with them (does it for a living right now......), but when he comes to drill he is more then happy to look at our computers and do what he can to help us out. Well for whatever reason I wasn't able to download pictures off my camera to the laptop, I was able to take them from all kinds of other camers, just not my Canon. Very frustrating! Well this weekend he took a look at it, and after a bit of messing 
around was able to get all the settings right and now I can put pictures straight on my computer. So now I have no more reasons not to get them on the Blog right away! So come back around the end of the week to see what pictures I have added...and their stories that go with them. Stories like the kids school trip to Ameritown, Boy Scout activities, maybe a few flowers tossed in there too, to help me think of spring...if it ever gets here!!!
around was able to get all the settings right and now I can put pictures straight on my computer. So now I have no more reasons not to get them on the Blog right away! So come back around the end of the week to see what pictures I have added...and their stories that go with them. Stories like the kids school trip to Ameritown, Boy Scout activities, maybe a few flowers tossed in there too, to help me think of spring...if it ever gets here!!!
Friday, March 07, 2008
Crush!
Last weekend we went to see the Colorado Crush play. They are one of the Arena Football teams. This is the first time we've seen a live game for it, and even though the stadium was almost empty...that might have had something to with the sub zero weather and blizzard like conditions out on the road. In fact we passed 7 accidents in less then 2 miles on the freeway. The game got kicked off with a "preformance" by Mini Kiss...this is a band of "little people" that dress up like Kiss and attempt to sing their songs. Let me just say that this "act" was pure torcher to watch. Not only did they look stupid, but they didn't even remember all the words to the songs that they were singing!!! After the opening torcher ended the game got going, and it more then made up for the horror of the opening act.
However they wern't done turning our stomaches. In between quarters they would have someone run across the field with the team flag while they were tossing out some t-shirts.
Well the first one was another little person....I swear they were doing some kind of midget blue light special..then the next 2 times we had to watch a huge fat guy that must have gotten the kabash from "Biggest Losser" or something, I swear he had to of been pushing 400, and not one ounce of that was muscle...how do you know you ask? Well for some reason they figured it would be best to have him run with no shirt on, and then play in slow motion the swinging motion of his body as he ran. Then at the end they teamed the 2 up and had them run together...aaawww. So while the game itself was a blast, the side shows that they had, left much to be desired. We have another game at the end of the month, one can only hope that they use the next few weeks to get better entertainment!
If you go to You Tube, you can find all kinds of clips of mini kiss.....
However they wern't done turning our stomaches. In between quarters they would have someone run across the field with the team flag while they were tossing out some t-shirts.
Well the first one was another little person....I swear they were doing some kind of midget blue light special..then the next 2 times we had to watch a huge fat guy that must have gotten the kabash from "Biggest Losser" or something, I swear he had to of been pushing 400, and not one ounce of that was muscle...how do you know you ask? Well for some reason they figured it would be best to have him run with no shirt on, and then play in slow motion the swinging motion of his body as he ran. Then at the end they teamed the 2 up and had them run together...aaawww. So while the game itself was a blast, the side shows that they had, left much to be desired. We have another game at the end of the month, one can only hope that they use the next few weeks to get better entertainment!If you go to You Tube, you can find all kinds of clips of mini kiss.....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)