...a day is as a thousand years...

Quick January Recap

2011-02-27T18:28:00.004-07:00

Hello there! I haven't dropped off the face of the earth-I've just been taking a little break from editing photos/blogging so as to fully enjoy my evenings. Erik and I have gotten sucked into this- it's so good!- and I finally read this- which I highly recommend. This was also a great book.

So here's a quick catch-up of January in pictures- tomorrow I'll post our February doings so that I'll be all caught up as March begins.

So this January-

Nora did some accordion playing

Some crafting- one day she wanted to make a duck

and one day she made a Princess wand with her Grandma

and she did a lot of her own "decorating" with stickers (eg, sticking them to every available surface)

She had pajama day at preschool- her favorite day of the year so far. They played Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed and ate cinnamon toast for a snack.

She started sleeping with most of her stuffed animals- copying a character in this book (I am ashamed to say this isn't all she has- they seem to multiply weekly. Anyone have any good techniques for narrowing them down?!- all of hers have names and many have distinct personalities so I feel they're like family members and I have a hard time getting rid of any of them...plus she always seems to notice when one is missing)

And we all spent a lovely day in Rocky Mt National park

for a winter hike

and some time in the national park gift shop

Luckily she did not ask to take either of the giant stuffed moose (mooses?) home with us-

Back tomorrow!

Honey

2011-01-31T21:54:00.003-07:00

After several days of Nora having pink eye, a bad cold, constant night coughing (and consequent vomiting) we're just getting back to good health here. I'll post more pics of our January doings later this week.

Nora drew this today- it is a picture of me giving her honey to stop her coughing. I'm on the right and she's on the left- you can see the "honey" around her mouth. We're both wearing lovely little hats.

Preschool- as well as all the other schools in our area- is canceled because of the predicted extreme cold temperatures. In true Colorado fashion it was 65 degrees this past weekend!

Nora's Christmas Adventures

2011-01-23T19:27:00.004-07:00

At Christmas time, Nora:

Played Santa and visited Daddy at work, where she was spoiled with toys from the nurses and many princess stickers from Daddy

Visited Zoo Lights with her cousin Sina

Wrote a letter to Santa, leaving carrots for his reindeer (except for Blitzen, who doesn't like carrots, so he got celery) and got a thank you chocolate (and a lot of crumbs) from Santa

Got really excited Christmas morning about everything Santa brought her

as well as what Santa Mouse brought her

She got to share Christmas dinner with Sina and her friend Dylan

After Christmas she got to go skiing,

spend lots of time with Sina goofing off together in the mountains,

and then they even did some dancing to celebrate the New Year!

Now that I'm caught up from Christmas I can resume regular postings!

Making Lefse

2011-01-10T18:55:00.006-07:00

Lefse is a traditional Norwegian dish that is eaten over the holidays- you can read all about it here. The best way to describe it is to say it's a tortilla made out of potato. Nora learned how to make it this year with the help of Grandma and Grandpa (Erik's parents) and she did a great job-I think the lefse making tradition in the family will need to pass straight to her, as I still trying to master my mom's amazing pie crust.

Working the chilled dough

Rolling out the dough on the pastry board

It requires a special rolling grooved rolling pin that is covered by a sock like material

Grandpa waiting with the lefse turning stick

Cooking it on the lefse griddle

When it's all cooked it gets wrapped up and put in the fridge

And here's Nora's little taste of the final product- you slather it with butter and sprinkle sugar on that and then roll it up.

Christmas Lights

2011-01-09T19:55:00.003-07:00

I am so behind with blogging photos- but each day this week I'm going to post some of our holiday pictures from last month so I can get fully caught up!

One December night before all our guests arrived we got Nora into her PJs, wrapped her in a blanket and drove around town to see Christmas lights. Luckily the paper listed the best light displays so we didn't have to drive too aimlessly. I'll spare you much of the lovely shimmering tackiness that we saw but just to give you an idea--

These people had theirs synched to a radio station- so you turned your radio to that station when you drove up and then all the lights and the light display on the screen moved in synch with that music.

Nora was transfixed with it all-

This family had about 50 different inflatables set up. My favorite was this Santa in an airstream, as I have fantasies about traveling the country in an Airstream trailer one day...

On the way home we stopped at a local church that had a living nativity set up. This was nice, but it was oddly a drive-by-nativity- I took this picture from our car window. I think the church hosting it didn't have a very large parking lot so they figured it would be easier to have people just pull up to the scene and then drive away, or maybe they figured more people would come if they didn't have to get out of their cars?! One of those "only in America" moments.

It was really fun and I'll think we'll definitely make this an annual tradition!

Happy New Year-- and looking back at December

2011-01-01T20:48:00.003-07:00

Happy New Year to all! Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We had a great, busy holiday with lots of family here and I am looking forward to getting back into a normal routine. I'll have some holiday photos to share over the next week or so to get myself caught up.

And of course one of my new year's resolutions is to take more photos. I personally think that should be everybody's resolution. Or at least to make sure that you are regularly recording little bits of your life in a way that is meaningful to you. And perhaps "more photos" is not the right way to say it; I should say that my resolution is to take more "meaningful" photos. Sometimes this means taking more photos- and remembering to bring the camera along to even some of the mundane things we do- and sometimes this just means being more thoughtful about what to capture.

Here a few random pics of things I don't want to forget from this past December.

Nora's adorable holiday performance at preschool

The performance was followed by her eating her weight in cookies and treats during the preschool Christmas party. She sure can clear through a buffet table!

Her final ballet class of the season-

She was proud to get her certificate-

Nora's sudden obsession with soup. She wants chicken noodle soup for breakfast, lunch and dinner

Our neighbor's singing Christmas tree. We drove around to see some dramatic holiday light displays (pictures to come) but Nora loved this little tree whose lights danced in tune with a tinny sounding Christmas carol from a little speaker- we had to go see it every time we went outside.

Nora helping me wrap presents- uncombed and unclothed as usual-

In the car-

2010-12-19T20:37:00.003-07:00

Digital photo, but I think it looks a bit like film

Festival of Lights

2010-12-15T19:39:00.000-07:00

I am behind on posting pictures because we've been fully enjoying the holiday season! I'll try to catch up a bit here these next couple days before family arrives and then I might not post again until the new year...

This past Friday night our town had a light festival at the local park and community center

A couple of Santa's reindeers were there.

And there were lots of fun inflatables inside the community center

Nora got her nose painted like a reindeer by one of Santa's elves (and she's been using my lipstick to do this to herself ever since)

Outside the water splash park was all decorated and there were warming stations with hot chocolate carts throughout the park

And an ice skating show at the ice rink

The evening was capped off with a night sky-diving show which was really impressive. We first saw the light of the plane circling above and then two sparks of light appeared in the sky as the two jumpers came out of the plane

(Erik doesn't have some weird skin condition- I think this is just a shadow on his face)

Then they landed with showers of sparks and lots of cheering from everyone watching- I can't imagine jumping from a plane in the pitch dark!-

Then last Saturday we went to the annual Parade of Lights down Main Street- it was cold, but fun- next year I am going with folding chairs, blankets and lots of hot chocolate!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful December and holiday season. I know it has been crazy weather for a lot of people around the country but we haven't had a drop of any moisture in days- I hope it starts snowing right after our family all arrive safely to our house this week.

Driving Home

2010-12-12T20:10:00.001-07:00

Good Things

2010-12-10T21:27:00.003-07:00

Finding the perfect Christmas tree

and decorating it-

keeping all the ornaments close together and on your eye level-

Getting a donut that is both pink AND has Christmas sprinkles

Reading in your pjs on the couch

Decorating a gingerbread house

Downtown Tree Lighting

2010-12-06T19:55:00.003-07:00

Our town kicked off their annual Festival of Lights this past Friday with a tree lighting and some other fun events on Main Street.

Rudolf was there-

Which some little ones were really excited about

Father Christmas, a Toy Soldier and a Penguin attended as well

as did some dancing Christmas trees

Nora liked the candy canes that were handed out and the 3D glasses that made all the tree lights look like giant multicolored snowflakes

Main St was all decorated-

as were some of the store windows

But the highlight of the evening was getting to see Santa (and his elf) read stories at the local bookstore.

Nora was brave enough to get on his lap, but she didn't know how to answer when he asked her what she wanted for Christmas- and she's been telling me that ever since: "Mama, I didn't know what to say to Santa!"

Advent Season

2010-12-04T20:27:00.004-07:00

The first signs of Christmas around here are the Christmas sheets on Nora's bed---

And then the advent calenders come out (as you can see, the Christmas tree one is already completed- and redone daily)

And then the Christmas books and various knick-knacks come down from the attic--

The tree goes up this week- and I'll try to catch up with some more posts; I have been unmotivated to blog lately but I feel inspiration returning with all the Christmas events and decor!

Things I am Thankful for

2010-11-27T20:18:00.003-07:00

My family- (this is Nora's family portrait of her extended family)

God's amazing creation (Nora and Mor-Mor watching the full moon rise)

Giving to others- and having a daughter who gets truly excited about giving

That ski season is almost here

That we had a delicious Thanksgiving meal and a wonderful holiday week. (Nora was especially thankful for the sparkling apple cider)

A November Walk

2010-11-21T19:45:00.002-07:00

The Death of Autumn

by Edna St. Vincent Millay

When reeds are dead and straw to thatch the marshes,
And feathered pampas-grass rides into the wind
Like agèd warriors westward, tragic, thinned
Of half their tribe; and over the flattened rushes,
Stripped of its secret, open, stark and bleak,
Blackens afar the half-forgotten creek,––
Then leans on me the weight of the year, and crushes
My heart. I know that beauty must ail and die,
And will be born again,––but ah, to see
Beauty stiffened, staring up at the sky!
Oh, Autumn! Autumn!––What is the Spring to me?

Good Things

2010-11-15T20:49:00.002-07:00

A fire on a snowy day
(I took this at a funny angle so that you could also see the beautiful bookshelves Erik recently built- we have one on each side of the fireplace and they look great- I am still figuring out how to best fill them)

Wearing ALL your pairs of clean underwear at once

Making a marker "forest for Chicken"

Folding laundry for Mama without being asked- Nora has always loved to help me out with everything I do around the house- and lately she has started to be truly helpful in the sense that I don't have to go back and redo everything she "helped" me with.

Nora has been requesting a nice, hot shower every night. Erik and I both hate baths and never take them- so I guess it makes sense that she would love showers so much- I just didn't expect that she would give up her baths so young. It seems to relax her more for bedtime- maybe from all the steam. She likes the water HOT!

And when she's done she loves to clean the door with the squeegee.

Haircut

2010-11-11T20:20:00.002-07:00

I took these a couple weeks ago but I wanted to share them. I took Nora to get her hair cut at a barber shop on our Main St that is one of the oldest existing barber shops in the country. It has been there since our town's founding in 1872.

It has the striped poles out front-

beautiful tile work around the sinks

old fashioned barber chairs and even a wood stove in the back of the store-

I wish I had gotten a better picture of the little seat that they clipped on for her to sit on- but you can see a bit of it poking out under her in that picture above.

Nora was very focused on what lollipop flavor to pick when it was over, so I am not sure she appreciated the charm of the place as much as I did, but she seemed happy with her haircut. What a great place this would be for first haircut pictures- especially of a little boy! I sent Erik to try it out after we went but he wasn't thrilled with the cut so I think he'll be back the chain in a nearby strip mall. He's not quite as enamored with everything vintage as is his wife ;) Oh well!

Tiny Tutus Class

2010-11-09T20:15:00.006-07:00

Nora started ballet this past friday. She's in a "Tiny Tutus" class of 3 year old girls. It was so fun to watch them all and Nora seemed to really enjoy herself.

They started off with a song where they pretended to sleep and then wake up

They were instructed to hold hands to form a circle. It was quite sweet as Nora and this little girl grabbed each others hands and held on long past the ending of the circle dance.

Then the "princess walk" where they walked across the room balancing a crown on their heads. I love the two thumb suckers in the background of this picture- I didn't notice them when I was taking it!

Admiring herself in the mirror

The grand finale scarf dance

Nora's Office

2010-11-04T21:49:00.002-06:00

This week Nora has been on a drawing binge- literally filling sketchpads with drawings of "happy tigers" "happy ghosts" "mama when she was a little girl" "scarecrows" and various other things. She likes to draw in her "office"- which is a cozy little spot right on the living room couch:

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Erik and I are going to Denver for a little get-away by ourselves, which we are so looking forward to.

Halloween Weekend

2010-11-01T19:48:00.002-06:00

We had a fun filled weekend of Halloween activities, starting on Saturday with our town's annual Halloween Parade down Main Street.

Here is my Angelina Ballerina in her costume,showing off some dance moves while she is waiting for the parade to begin.

I was happy to find an Angelina Ballerina doll at the thrift shop last week whose outfit just happened to match Nora's costume perfectly (we added the little pumpkin :)

We were both mice this year!

Waiting with Daddy for the parade to begin

There were some really creative and fun costumes in the parade. I am not the most creative person when it comes to costumes so I am always impressed with what people come up with. All the high school bands marched in the parade and afterward the kids could trick or treat from the stores along Main Street.

After the parade my little mouse had some bouncy castle fun

And then on sunday, after church- a short afternoon snooze-

and some watching to see if other kids were out and about-

then we headed out- for candy! (I guess we should have waited to put our coats on til after pictures!)

It was a beautiful evening- the sunset was incredible-

and Nora had a lovely time trick or treating!

Twas the night before Halloween weekend...

2010-10-29T20:52:00.004-06:00

and all through our house, the pumpkins are carved, painted, be-jewelled, glued, wrapped and chalked- awaiting the arrival of little trick-or-treaters!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Good Things

2010-10-26T21:30:00.003-06:00

A Halloween dessert

"Decorating" for Halloween- with spider pictures- they had a spider themed day at preschool and that seemed to inspire Nora- she's been drawing spiders all week.

My very favorite spider that she drew was this one- unfortunately on her little doodle board from which it will get erased--so I took a picture-

Mastering the scissors so you can make collages yourself- only PINK ones of course-

The baby maple tree in our yard going from dressed to undressed in just about a week -

Falling asleep while reading before bed. I love that she fell asleep reading that page specifically- I wish I had a hidden camera so I could watch her nodding off as she reads!
The book she was reading is a lovely one- she has loved it since she was very little-

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-24T21:17:00.003-06:00

Nora and I went to the pumpkin patch this weekend.

Erik was working and it always seems that friends are busy with family stuff on weekends so it was just the two of us.

Obviously I take a lot of pictures of Nora; when she was younger she went through a period where she would never look at my camera- I think that was partly her age and partly that at that time I was taking SO many pictures to try to master focus, exposure, etc, that she was just done with me (and rightly so). Now I rarely take any pictures of her when we're at home, other than just a funny moment or costume, so that has helped and she now understands that she will enjoy looking at the pictures of a fun event later so she usually poses and smiles. But for some reason on this trip, she was not interested in looking at the camera. As we are both stubborn, strong willed persons- I persisted in trying to get her to look- and she persisted in refusing to look directly at me or to smile. So we had a fun battle of the wills over photos the entire trip.

We actually did have a lot fun; maybe all her powers of resistance were channeled into refusing the pictures, as there were no battles when I capped the number of rides and the amounts of treats and pumpkins and games, etc. She has matured enough lately to very sweetly deal with disappointment by saying "maybe next time." So- (as long as she is not over tired!)- when told she can't do something or eat something, she will say "maybe we can do that next time Mama" or "maybe I can eat that next time" Her sweet little voice is always so hopeful when she says this that I always tell her, yes, of course we can next time!

And of course if she is super tired, this is not what happens. But I will spare you the details of all that.

"Ooh this is a cute sign- we'll come back each year and take a picture here!

Smile Nora!"

Nope.

"OK I might smile- but I wont look at you Mom!"

I think she was telling me to go away here. Or else asking for a treat

Which she got- but didn't like- she thought the caramel made the popcorn taste funny. I ate it all.

These kids watching her made me laugh- I hope their mom got a good picture from the other side!

"I'm not going to look at you Mom- especially when you wave and call to me while I'm on a ride"

"I'll grit my teeth and give a grin here"

Checking out the hay maze

Really giving me the stink eye here-

Picking out pumpkins-

Day at the Farm

2010-10-21T19:31:00.004-06:00

This past Wednesday we went with some friends to a farm near our house that has been turned into a child's paradise. They have multiple swings, animals to feed and pet, tractors and bulldozers (that you can climb all over), a giant tree house, hammocks, sandboxes, climbing trees, tricycles and a zipline.

Nora has the best time there- she likes the multiple choices of swings best of all. They are mounted to very high branches so they swing out in wonderful wide arcs - so much more fun than playground swings.

Nora got really into feeding the goats on this visit, when previously she was a little scared about doing it. I think the sheep and goats here have one of the best views in the county from their house. I liked this little guy's super long goatee.

There are many lovely places to sit and relax throughout the farm

and trees to climb

and places to hang.

(Photo note here: We were here on a beautiful day, but it was absolutely the worst for picture taking since the sun was super bright and if there if there was any shade it was very patchy. I rarely, if ever, use my flash- and I have no clue about how to use it well- but I did turn it on here for some pictures- like this one on the right- and it really helped even the light out. It's a good trick if you are taking snapshots on a super bright sunny day- especially if you are shooting in full auto mode.)

Nothing like spending a beautiful fall morning on a tire swing...

Zoo

2010-10-18T19:23:00.003-06:00

We went to the zoo today with good friends.

Nora and Jett had a great time. The highlights were definitely the carousel and the train.

They thought the animals were pretty neat too-

Some of them even had pumpkins for Halloween

A post zoo lollipop on the way home-

Wedding in Estes Park

2010-10-17T21:11:00.004-06:00

Nora and I went to Estes Park this weekend- to the supposedly haunted Stanley Hotel. Legend has it that Stephen King wrote the Shining while staying there.

However, much to Nora's relief we weren't there to ghost hunt, but rather to celebrate- and photograph- the wedding of a very old and dear friend- Kevi. Our connection is a long story that goes way back, and in the midst of it all we lost contact for too many years but I am so happy that she is back in my life, as is a new friend- her fiance, Matt. Her story is an incredible one- and hers to tell- but here she is as a stunning bride, just 20 weeks post heart transplant.

I am no wedding photographer- and even though the wedding was small and relaxed, I was pretty nervous going into the whole thing. Kevi and Matt were so kind and brave to trust me and I hope they are happy with some of the pictures I got-- I have a lot more to edit but this is one of my favorites.

Nora was a rock-star assistant- I was also nervous about having her along and having to divide myself between her needs and taking photos since Erik couldn't come- but with some help from Kevi's mom, she did great. And she served as impromptu flower girl as well since her outfit matched the flowers so well. She's been asking me to tell her about the wedding the entire rest of the weekend.

And of course she got ice cream on the way home.

Good Things

2010-10-15T19:51:00.003-06:00

A random piece of packaging from a Costco box- that instantly became a robot costume-- Erik and I were in hysterics watching her dance around.

A pear pancake- so easy and good if you have a couple ripe pears lying around- recipe here

Getting our screen doors painted and installed this week- thanks to Erik's parents- on both the front and back doors. I love them- they are wood and make that nice summer banging sound when they close.

A trip to the local flower store to see Colorado's biggest pumpkin. Nora was pleased that there was a nice scarecrow there as well.

"Planting" a fall garden in the backyard

Nora and Grandpa take a Nap

2010-10-13T10:23:00.001-06:00

I was making dinner and heard Grandpa's reading voice get slower and softer and I looked over to see this--

Circus

2010-10-10T22:03:00.002-06:00

We had a wonderful time at the circus yesterday.

Heading into the collesium with Daddy and Grandma

They had a pre-show where you could watch some of the animals and performers up close. Nora watched from Daddy's shoulders.

There were a lot of great acrobatic acts, definitely more in the Cirque du Soleil style than I remember Barnum and Bailey having in the past. Nora stayed pretty transfixed the whole time.

There were animals acts too of course, and Nora was happy because there was a baby elephant, just like in her "Circus Baby" book. His name was Barack, as he was born on Obama's inauguration day.

I ate a ton of popcorn and Nora polished off an enormous bag of cotton candy and had a sticky face for the rest of the day. She asked for more cotton candy this morning of course...and I explained it was only for very special occasions! All in all a great day!

Grandma and Grandpa are here...

2010-10-08T19:50:00.002-06:00

and as usual they came bearing gifts...

a friend for chicken

new books for Nora (I love how Erik and his dad are sitting so alike here)

lots and lots of freshly canned veggies and fruit

our pantry is wonderfully full for the winter!

We are off to the circus tomorrow- Nora is so excited- she is certain that she'll see the actual Circus Baby...I do hope there is a baby elephant there for her to see.

Fall Good Things

2010-10-04T19:52:00.003-06:00

Decorating Pumpkins

Making "soup"

Nutella on toast

Mastering the zip line at Rope World

Decorating "Uni" for the fall. This is the first real project where I saw Nora really interested in the outcome rather than just the process of making something; she seemed to have a specific idea of how she wanted him to look when she started.

Collecting fall things

Other good things that I don't have pictures of: Nora and I watched the Babies movie together last week. I loved it as it touched on so many of my favorite things in one package: babies, cultural anthropology, beautiful photography and exotic locations. Nora found it funny in parts- especially when the goat drank the bathwater of the Mongolian baby, and she liked seeing the babies, but she only stayed focused through half of the movie. Not much happens and there is no dialogue, so if you like drama, action, adventure, etc in your movies- I don't recommend it.

And for Erik and me, it was a great thing to have a child free night out this weekend. We had a wonderful dinner with friends and went to see Inception. Interesting movie. I am still thinking about it; thinking about what ideas shape my thinking- and where they came from. It's one of those films that definitely needs to be seen more than once.

Tumbling Class

2010-10-01T19:49:00.002-06:00

This week was Nora's last day of Tumbling class for tots- she will move up to the Jumping Joeys preschool class from now on- and she'll do those by herself without me along. We've taken many sessions of these tumbling classes as she loves them, they're cheap, they tire her out (somewhat- that is a difficult task) and super close to our house.

Here she is back in February when all she wanted to do was jump on the trampoline- and could barely hang from the hanging bar:

(She has certainly got a lot of wear out of these pants!)

And here she is this week- a longer limbed tumbling pro-

Fall Doings

2010-09-27T20:08:00.007-06:00

I have been enjoying fall here in Colorado so much this past month. Last year we were just moving into our house so I feel I missed the entire season in the blur of unpacking. Before that we were in California where it never felt like fall to me as it was such a late summer and there was never much of a discernible seasonal change (and I heard from friends in Long Beach that it was 114 degrees there today!) So this month I've been hitting Starbucks for their Pumpkin Spice Lattes, ordered fresh cider from our dairy (who deliver lemonade in the summer, cider in the fall and eggnog in the winter), I am planning my fall menus since I always love to cook at this time of year and I've already hauled out the Halloween decorations- pictures when they are all in place.

Nora has been obsessed with scarecrows for a long time now- she always wants me to draw her a picture of a scarecrow and she likes to look at pictures of them in books- but only "nice" ones- not scary ones. So we went to Micheals to get some supplies to make a scarecrow, only to find a large bin of already-made-in-China scarecrows at $3.99 a piece- and of course Nora wanted a couple of these, and I was only too happy to give in as I wasn't sure how in the world to make a "nice" and not-at-all scary scarecrow from scratch anyway. I'll reserve the creative juices for making her Halloween costume...
So we came home and I stuck them out on our front porch in a old milk can that I had found at the thrift shop- it's a more cutesy country display than my usual tastes- but she was quite happy with her "nice" scarecrows, especially after being completely terrified by a large witch figurine she saw at Michaels. And when I came out this afternoon I found she had added her stuffed unicorn head to the display, going for a "fantasy world meets harvest festival" look.

The wood thing you see behind there it is our new screen door, which it appears will be installed just in time for the cold weather :)

Other than that we've been settling into the back to school routine and nesting at home; today we were truly in hibernation mode as we're having work done on our downstairs shower which involved sledgehammers and Nora hated all the noise so we spent the afternoon reading and hanging out upstairs on my bed. She likes to read to her horse Joe- and use him as a back rest.

And with back to school comes Rope World- it's a program that one of the elementary schools here sets up for a two weeks every four months. It's an amazing setup of swings, bridges, zip lines, ropes, monkey bars, a climbing wall and mats where kids can come and play after school. We went twice last week and I'm sure we'll go at least that much this next week- the only part I am worried about is having to break the news to Nora that it closes at the end of this week until January- as she has been asking every day if she can go back to Rope World. Fitting for a girl who states she wants to be a mountain climber whenever she's asked what she wants to be when she grows up- boy does she like to climb!

A Zen Moment in the Laundry Room

2010-09-22T20:51:00.002-06:00

A Day in Denver

2010-09-21T19:57:00.003-06:00

Sorry for my extended absence; after just getting back to normal after my fall, the stomach flu hit our house this weekend and I got the brunt of it. Ugh. I am still recovering.

Before I got sick we got to spend a wonderful Friday in Denver with Erik's cousin Amanda, who was like a sister to him growing up. We are keeping our fingers crossed that things will work out for her to be able to move to Colorado next fall...

Just a couple collages of our lovely day together- taken with the tiny "spy camera" that I love using in the bright sun because of the unpredictable results with sun flare and because it's so portable.

We had lunch at a pub downtown, a trip to the zoo, dinner at an Argentinian restaurant and then a stop off at a playground so Nora could get in her daily climbing/hanging quotient.

And one from the regular camera, just because I really like this pic of these two animal lovers watching the tapir at the zoo-

Be back tomorrow!

Happy Birthday Nora!

2010-09-15T20:37:00.002-06:00

Today was Nora's 3rd birthday. Unfortunately I had to spend the morning getting a root canal on the tooth I damaged in my fall and I feel I am just getting caught up in general after my arm injury, etc, so we didn't have any big celebration for her- we'll have a little party when family comes to visit in a few weeks. She did pick out a baby doll at Target that cries and drinks milk and she was excited by that as well as by her birthday brownie sundae; I know I need to treasure these days when simple birthday pleasures are welcomed and nothing more is requested or expected!

I always think of yesterday as her true 'birth' day- since I spent all day of that day three years ago wondering if I was in labor, going to the hospital to be told that I wasn't and then going into full labor at 5PM (after a large tuna melt from Bob's Big Boy Restaurant- I will never forget that!), back to the hospital at 10PM and then she was born at 1AM.

This one was no sleepy newborn-

Practicing her walking at her first birthday party-

Her pretend cake at 2 years old (she practiced blowing the candles out on that cake many, many, many times- she had a birthday pie for the actual celebration)

And today we went out for a little birthday photo shoot. She thought the apples were a fantastic photo prop- I have about 50 photos of her pretending to eat a rotten apple-

And not the best photo technically- but my favorite of the day-

Happy Birthday to my sweet Button Boo! I thank God for the privilege of getting to be your Mama and watching you grow and mature every day. I pray that I will have the wisdom to give you both secure roots and strong wings to fly independently one day.

Good Things

2010-09-13T21:38:00.005-06:00

After much debate and many trips to the paint store, finally deciding on the right gray paint color for our living room walls

We ended up choosing "Beach" by Eddie Bauer paints- which looked warmer on the swatch than it came out on the wall but I still like it.

Here's a before shot from moving day last year- I HATED this green and am so glad to see it gone- I can't believe I lived with it for almost an entire year. A lot of visitors liked it (or said they did :), but for me it just didn't work

Here it is freshly painted- before we put the room back together- much better.

Playing Doctor. I think this was spurred by our recent visit to the pediatrician- lately Nora has been giving her animals shot after shot- assuring them afterward, "that wasn't so bad!"

Dancing. "I am an octopus", "I am a dancing animal at the zoo", "I am a beautiful dancing princess animal"

And the rap star pose at the end of her routine

Getting a stack of packages in the mail for someone's upcoming birthday...

Nora's First Day of Preschool

2010-09-08T13:11:00.004-06:00

Yesterday was Nora's first day of preschool.

She wore purple from head to toe except for her pink tote. (The preschool wants the kids to bring a tote bag rather than a backpack.)

I love the general philosophy of her preschool and they did the first day beautifully. She went for an hour yesterday, and then over the next two weeks they will gradually extend the time until they are going for the full two and a half hours. We waited in the entrance hall and each child was greeted personally and given a short tour by one of the three teachers of her class- they helped her pick out a cubbyhole and a coat hook.

Then we went into the classroom and they were free to play and explore as they wanted.

There was no immediate circle time or structured activity or forced game or teacher hovering over them which I thought was so great, as it let them start to feel comfortable on their own time schedule. Parents were welcome to stay with them, (and are welcome to attend with them for the next couple weeks if we want to) but if our child was comfortable for us to leave, we could go downstairs and get coffee and visit with the other parents. I stayed for a few minutes, but Nora was so taken with the baby dolls and the loft play area that she barely registered me saying goodbye.

She had a great time and can't wait to go back tomorrow. I can't believe my little girl is already in school!

Last Summer Weekend

2010-09-06T19:50:00.003-06:00

The last weekend of summer-

Nora made several grand messes

Climbed in a giant tree house

swang in a tire swing

and relaxed in a hammock

Went shopping for new school clothes (the jeans and shirt came home with us, the overalls did not)

Called Mor-Mor to tell her all about the new school clothes; she was most excited about the new tutu skirt and the Dance, Dance, Dance shirt (I suspect that she's not going to take this outfit off very often)

Made chocolate chip cookies with daddy

And tonight she took a nice hot bubble bath so as to be all clean for the first day of school tomorrow!

Not-so-Normal Wednesday

2010-09-03T20:10:00.005-06:00

Nora had her 3 year check-up this past Wednesday. The Dr declared her "beautifully healthy"- which I never take for granted- and she did great at the visit. She did have to get a shot at the end which she was not happy about. When the nurse came to give it she started yelling "Chicken is getting a shot too!" and I had to explain to the nurse about imaginary Chicken, but I don't think she knew much about kids as she just sort of looked as me as if both Nora and I were crazy.

Nora at the Drs, trying to show me how many fingers old she is going to be in two weeks- (she'll be three- not four as she is showing)

Then we went to the last day of summer swimming lessons. This was the first class series that Nora has done without my participation and she did wonderfully. She really liked her teacher- Miss Faith-and she was excited to go to every class. Her favorite part was some sort of alligator game they played and ring-around-the-rosy. She was told she can move up to the turtle swim class now which she was quite pleased about.

I love our local outdoor pool- the view is incredible. It has been there since 1915 when it was just a sand bottomed pool. The dressing rooms are getting redone this fall which should be nice. I suspect we'll be here many a summer day in the future.

It was a fairly normal morning, but then when we got home I slipped on some wet floor, knocked a couple of my teeth out and banged my elbow pretty badly. The rest of the day was spent at the ER and the dentist and the past couple days I have been recovering and dealing with limited right arm function as I've had it in a splint/sling get-up. They suspected my elbow was broken when we went to the ER, and treated it as such (I guess elbow fractures don't always show up on x-rays right away) but tonight the pain and swelling have really diminished, (which is why I can type this blog post) so I am thinking that it was just sprained- thank God! I do have to get a root canal and a new crown next week which is unfortunate.

I have been trying to "give thanks in all circumstances" and to delight in the small joys that have arisen from my situation- like getting visits and sympathy from lovely friends, a wonderful dinner brought over and lots of reading and relaxed cuddle time with Nora. And, as with any physical ailment, comes the appreciation of how great it is to function normally, and how it is truly a gift that most days I can do my regular routine without a second thought and make dinner, clean house, do the laundry, etc, for my family.

And my hugely swollen upper lip makes me swear to never get collagen injections in my lip- it's not a good look for me. I can't lift my camera- so no pictures to share!

Have a wonderful holiday weekend everyone. I know I will be giving thanks for being able to labor for my family and that most of our days are normal, quiet days.

Stomach flu and Chicken

2010-08-31T20:53:00.005-06:00

Erik, Nora and I have all had low grade tummy and cold viruses this week so we've been laying low, trying to get all rested up and ready for the start of preschool next week.

The positive part of this is that Nora is now completely competent with using the potty, getting there quickly, independent hand washing, etc, etc, having had an unfortunate number of opportunities to practice over the past couple days of stomach bug.

She's quite proud of herself. And we are very proud of her. I've laid on the praise for all her potty mastery, so much so that now she's been praising me regularly every time I use the bathroom.

"Good job Mama- I so proud of you!" with hand clapping and all. And she usually pats my back as well and then flushes for me. And she seems sincerely happy for me and truly excited by my ability.

I suspect that God has blessed this one with the gift of encouragement.

I am so enjoying watching her independence and self confidence bloom; she takes on new challenges and opportunities with great spirit and tenacity and is always as excited about the process of learning something new as she is with the outcome.

Sometimes I'll tell her something simple; that we're going to get a treat or going to do something she really likes- and she'll shout "Hooray!" with such great joy and gusto that it makes my heart leap.

I also love watching her imagination expand; now that she is so competent with language it is fun to hear her thought process in full detail . Tonight in the bath she took one of her floating bath books and pretended that it was a seat on a carousel animal ("a big horse")- she wanted me to give her a ticket for the ride and then she "rode" that book up and down all around the bathtub.

And then there is Chicken- her imaginary friend. From what I can make out from her descriptions, Chicken is a chicken in actual appearance, but in every other sense is a two-almost- three year old girl. He "appeared" one night about a month or so ago in a corner of her room, eating ice cream, and from then on he periodically is with us in our daily routine. Suddenly she'll say he's sitting next to her in the car, wearing blue crocs on his feet, or she'll point him out diving off the diving board at the pool. Or Erik will go to sit down on the couch and she'll yell "don't sit on Chicken!". She refers to Chicken as a "He" but he is usually wearing a dress when I ask what he has on. He likes to drink "fizzy water" (her word for seltzer) and ice cream and pb&j "swaniches".

Nora pushing Chicken in the swing- he's proven difficult to photograph :)

Retro Camera

2010-08-27T21:45:00.003-06:00

After a week of feeling creatively uninspired, my enjoyment of photography was reignited by the arrival of a package containing a digital"Retro"Zuni camera that Erik so kindly encouraged me to get- it has very few settings to choose from and no exposure control and I had a blast taking shots with it all day. It made me look more carefully at the light and the composition of my shots-- it has a video mode too which is very fun since it comes out looking like Super 8 film and I'll post some video from it soon. These are all straight from the camera shots- no editing at all.

Harvest Time

2010-08-25T20:06:00.006-06:00

I've been a bit uninspired in general and I haven't been feeling creative or particularly motivated so I haven't taken many pictures or posted as often as I would have liked this week.

We've basically just been enjoying our last couple weeks of Nora being home full time. I can't believe she is starting preschool already.

It has been hot, but the nights are getting cooler and the crickets chorus gets louder and louder each night.

To stay cool-

We've been swimming a lot. Nora hasn't quite gotten used to the fact that she no longer needs a swim diaper- I told her to get ready to go to the pool and came back to find her like this-

We've visited with friends- Nora got to hold a friend's little one-

whose older brother did not want to be left out of any of my picture taking.

We've pretended that we're riding our bike to school, while wearing our new school tote bag:

We've gone to see cats at the Humane Society that we might like to adopt- (although Nora's total lack of interest while we were there made us think we might delay adopting for a bit).

We've started talking about Halloween costumes already- so Nora wanted to try on her costume from last year- a penguin. Possibilities for this year's costume include a panda bear, Cinderella, Little Bo Peep (mainly because we have a catalog that features a very, very pink Little Bo Peep costume) and a "nice witch".

And we've just enjoyed August in general- the seed laden sunflowers are drooping in the fields-ready to be harvested-

'How can we honor our God with our lives,
The God who gives rain in both spring and autumn
and maintains the rhythm of the seasons,
Who sets aside time each year for harvest
and keeps everything running smoothly for us?'

Jeremiah 5:24, The Message

New House

2010-08-20T21:52:00.002-06:00

An exciting event for us this week was when papers were signed and my parents- Nora's Mor-Mor and Papa- became the official owners of a house just two houses down from ours on our same street. They are still going to keep their house in Glenwood Springs and split their time between here and there.

It's a very cute little cottage with a beautiful garden. There is a shed in the backyard that will make a perfect playhouse. It needs a little simplification and de-pinkification but it's basic lines are beautiful.

Nora trying a dance step in the living/dining room

And the best part to Nora is that there is a perfect climbing tree in the front yard.

Running back to climb the tree "just one more time!" I probably will never see her once they're down here...

Good Things

2010-08-18T20:25:00.002-06:00

Studying pictures of Mama when she was your age

An end of summer arrangement

Obsessively blowing bubbles in the bath

Finally having hair long enough to wear pig-tails

Making your own happy face band-aid

Potty Training

2010-08-16T13:45:00.003-06:00

(Warning: Boring post ahead- potty training is never interesting to read about except for parents who are in the midst of it, or parents who are about to start, so feel free to skip this one- I am just recording it mainly for memory's sake!)

Well this weekend was Nora's big potty training weekend and it was a complete success- she seems to have gotten a good start on mastering the process and most importantly she seems to feel really good about it all. She was clearly ready to train; she's been interested in the potty and all things related to it this summer and seeing a couple big girls use the potty at our house helped immensely to get her very excited about the prospect.

We've used pull-ups on and off this summer, which I now realize are a conspiracy on the part of diaper companies to sell more diapers for twice the price, while making parents think that their child is actually starting to potty train.

"Pinny" and Peter Rabbit in Pull-ups

She had no desire to ever use the potty while wearing Pull-ups- she just preferred wearing them over diapers since they were pink. We did however have distress whenever we ran out of the Pull ups that Nora deemed the pretty ones.

I took this picture a couple of weeks ago when she was teaching Pooh how to use the potty- we're now potty-seat-free as she wants to sit on the toilet like a big girl.

Training was speeded along greatly this weekend after the purchase of a pack of Dora underpants (she calls Dora "Noddy" for some reason no matter how much we correct her- I think because the one time she saw Dora on TV she saw the Noddy show at the same time and she combined the two in her mind.) She also has Disney Princess underpants with sparkles and so of course we've had to change underpants every time she uses the bathroom.

I am sure everyone is bored by now- no more potty training talk tomorrow!

Mountain Trip

2010-08-12T21:24:00.007-06:00

Erik flew to a conference in Chicago for a few days so Nora and I went to see my parents in Glenwood Springs while he was gone.

While we were there Nora got:

lots of love

Lots of homemade cookies from the special cookie jar that I had also loved as a child

lots of pancakes at the Kiwanis pancake breakfast- where a clown made her a lovely napkin flower

the chance to do a lot of bike riding

and a lot of scooter riding

and a lot of running back and forth between the two activities.

We went to the Glenwood Caverns Adventure park that overlooks the town- you take a gondola up to reach it. It was Nora's first gondola ride and she was a bit scared by it- so I didn't take any pictures of her on it since she was in my arms.

We went up to the park with my friend Kevi and her fiance and son- here we are posing with Doc Holliday (who is buried in Glenwood) and Wyatt Earp

There wasn't a ton for little kids to do up there but Nora liked the giant sandbox- although she clearly preferred twirling in her dress than playing with the trucks they had.

Kevi and I had the chance to have some great long chats while Matt and Zach got to do things like this

and this

The rest of the time I didn't take a single picture- Nora played, I read, (thanks mom!), we went to Carbondale and we just enjoyed being in the mountains. Nora did not want to leave her Mor-Mor and Papa's house (nor did she want to sleep for one minute on the three hour ride home, despite being super tired and cranky). After three hours of mountain driving, 30+ plays of her same favorite song over and over again and non stop rounds of I Spy (in which Nora very quickly reveals what she spies) I was ready for another vacation.

I will post more next week. We have ditched the diapers here and are working on mastering the potty this weekend. Wish me luck!

County Fair

2010-08-05T22:38:00.003-06:00

We had a great time at the County Fair last night.

Nora got to watch some 'big girls' do some barrel racing and then rode all by herself on a pony ride

There were rides, tractors and lots of farm animals and Nora got her first taste of cotton candy

We rode on the carousel and then Nora spotted this fire truck ride and wanted to try that out. It turned out to be a faster ride than either she or Erik had bargained for- you can see her gripping tightly in the middle picture. "It was a little bit scary Mama" she told me afterwards. But she was proud of herself for having done it.

Then she wanted me to go on this one- she called it the "zipper". She told me that I could go on it and she would take a picture of me on it!

We compromised and went on the little circus train together

A failed attempt at a family picture!

Block Party

2010-08-04T16:10:00.003-06:00

Our street had its annual block party/ice cream social last night. We missed the one last year because we hadn't moved in yet and so this year we had a good time getting to know some more of our neighbors.

Our street won some sort of raffle from the National Night Out organization and so Outback steakhouse came and served free steaks and Caesar salads at the party. Erik was pleased.

I love the vintage soda/ice chest employed for ice cream storage

Bubble table for the kids

Unfortunately a mid-party rainstorm meant that everyone ended up huddled under the tents

But the rain cleared in time for a block party pet show

Our across the street neighbor Jennifer and her chicken who lives in her backyard and lays an egg a day-

Chris and her chinchilla

A bunny and her cute little owner

Nora is getting a kitten for her birthday in September and she's excited to have a pet show entrant next year.

Weekend

2010-08-02T22:38:00.003-06:00

It is the start of the county fair here so on Saturday we went with some friends and watched the Fair's kick-off parade that ran through Main Street. Lots of horses, some small Bronco cheerleaders, tractors, cowboy boots and lots of candy given out. I'm looking forward to going to the actual fair this week.

Other than that we had an uneventful weekend. Erik had to work all weekend. My parents came down to visit. On Sunday we went to church, took long naps (both Nora and I!) and then blew bubbles and played in the rain a bit.

Camping (part 2)

2010-08-01T22:10:00.003-06:00

Up and climbing again first thing in the morning

All of the kids getting ready for our hike- Grace sweetly checking that Nora was ready to go

We didn't make it far on the hike before we found water and the shoes were off

Cade thought he'd dip his head in instead of his feet

Ann, Derek and Adina chatting while the kids played

We decided to let the rest of the group go on since it was hard for Nora to walk quickly enough to keep up with everyone. She played in the water and the rocks for a long time and then we headed back to the campsite.

My pictures end here because right after we hiked back to the campsite it proceeded to rain on and off for the rest of the day and I put the camera away. All in all we had a great time- and we can't wait to go back.

But only after we purchase an air mattress- I am done with sleeping on the ground unless I am camping in the backcountry!

Camping (part one)

2010-07-30T22:17:00.006-06:00

We went camping with some friends from church this week- it was Nora's first camping trip.

It didn't look very promising when we pulled into the campground

And despite her new pink poncho- Nora wasn't too enthused about unpacking the car in the rain

But the rain cleared just as we got to our campsite

And Nora got busy picking berries "for the bear- since he might be hungry". She was so hopefully innocent that a bear would come to visit us on this trip

Having a snack while we waited for our friends to get to the campsite. She has the berries saved for the bear in the little cup holder

The campsite was a child's paradise. Lots of space for running-

twirling-

jumping-

(you can see she doesn't always land on her feet)

Resting by the tent

And the best part- the climbing rocks. Nora has an older friend- Grace- who is holding her hand here- she is so sweet, maternal and caring of Nora. I looked up at one point and she had Nora under the arms and was trying to lift her up onto a large rock.

"I'm a scarecrow"

Grace and Ashley being scarecrows with Nora

Erik had lots of help starting the fire

Rowan and Nora were excited to cook dinner

Nora's first taste of a s'more

As expected- she liked it.

Trying out the headlamp in the tent

More camping pictures to follow--

Good Things

2010-07-28T21:24:00.003-06:00

Inventing some sort of silly game- which you find absolutely hilarious- where you make your mama yank endlessly on one end of a stretchy key chain while she pulls you towards her

Peach and tomato pasta- from here- so good with fresh peaches

Getting Pooh's hair ready to go to "Bethie's wedding"- note that he got his nails "painted"

A broom just your size

Testing out the sleeping bags as we get ready to go camping

Summer Weekend

2010-07-26T20:57:00.003-06:00

We had a nice summer weekend here. On Saturday morning Nora took her first formal swimming lesson and she did great. She wasn't ready to put her head fully under the water but she did start blowing bubbles and practiced jumping into the pool - into my arms- and she'd let me dip her up to her chin. I need to get a little waterproof camera so I can get some pictures of her.

On Saturday night we went to our town's Movie in the Park. They were showing "The Fantastic Mr Fox". This was Nora's first real movie experience and she was really excited. We had to wait quite a while for it to get dark enough for them to start the movie and the whole time we were waiting she kept asking, "Where's Mr Fox??"

Mama and Nora waiting for the movie to begin: (it's partly the evening light here- but we sure are lily white for the middle of July :)

They showed a cartoon to start things off: (I need to get one of those little folding kid's camp chairs for Nora)

Nora was pretty transfixed by the cartoon. I actually don't think she'd ever seen a classic kid's cartoon like that before. She kept loudly asking questions about it- "who's that?" "what's he doing?" "where's he going?"-- the classic almost-three-year-old thing to do- but a Road Runner cartoon is just one of those things that cannot really be explained.

I don't think she really understood any of the movie, as it's not really a kid's movie in terms of dialogue, but she seemed to like it - and she didn't want to leave- so all in all the first movie night was a success.

On Sunday we got to babysit "baby" Sophie and Nora enjoyed this. She has such a sweet, empathetic heart that every time Sophie cried, Nora's eyes would fill and then she'd start sobbing herself. At least this would then get Sophie to stop crying as she would turn to Nora and look at her as if to say "what are you getting all worked up about?"

Proud that she's helping Sophie eat lunch.

Sharing some yogurt off her finger!

We had a great Mexican dinner with Sophie's extended family and Nora had fun playing with Sophie's cousin Jackson- nothing like an older boy to follow around!

Then on the way home we saw this as we pulled off the interstate towards our town:

And this as we got closer to home:

¹ The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
The skies display his craftsmanship.
² Day after day they continue to speak;
night after night they make him known.
³ They speak without a sound or word;

their voice is never heard.

⁴ Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,
and their words to all the world.
Psalm 19

Gifts

2010-07-23T21:15:00.003-06:00

Erik's Aunt and Uncle came bearing gifts this week. Nora woke up from her nap to find a bag full of things just for her- and she was delighted.

hmm- all for me?

thrilled about finding pink dress up things!

they even look good on Daddy

what else is in there?

this is fun!

straightening the crown

the final ensemble

Later on, Joe got to wear everything

Nora's camera

2010-07-22T20:46:00.005-06:00

Nora frequently uses my old point and shoot camera to take pictures. I uploaded the memory card from it today and this is what I found. She has progressed from needing help pushing the shutter each time to being able to turn it on and shoot pictures herself. We're still working on keeping it up and pointed at something specific, rather than just taking picture of the floor, but she's getting there. I helped her with the shots of herself here, otherwise she took all the photos. She got a few lovely ones of my slippers and my backside!

Here she is in action:

Good Things

2010-07-21T22:32:00.002-06:00

A piggyback ride

Princess shoes from the thrift store

A bike rack turned climbing gym

Mastering the next difficulty level of puzzle

A new bike helmet

Getting to see the talking baby dolls at Target

Wedding

2010-07-19T22:09:00.002-06:00

Nora went to her first wedding this weekend. I was a bridesmaid in the wedding so I barely got any pictures at all myself- although there were tons of pictures taken of course- I am eager to see what the wedding photographers captured.

Erik and I went to Denver on Saturday for an amazing rehearsal dinner.

The lovely couple. I love both of them so much..they both are incredibly wonderful people.

The wedding was a brunch wedding on Sunday so we all had to be there bright and early to get our hair and makeup done. It was a HOT, HOT day and the ceremony was outside, but it was just quick enough to be bearable. This is a terrible photo but the only one I have that shows my dress at all- it was a gorgeous color. And I loved my hair-do. I wish I had one tenth the hair ability of the stylist who was able to get it all curled and swept up in about ten minutes flat!

Nora made a friend; one of the other bridesmaid's daughter's is just two weeks younger than she is. They had fun playing with princess wands

Dancing together

This is the only picture I have of the bride and groom. Beth looked gorgeous- her dress was so elegant. She had 'finger waves' in her hair which were unique and stunning. She had to do a lot of searching to find someone in Denver who knew how to do these.

I can't wait to hear all about their Mediterranean honeymoon!

Art walk

2010-07-17T21:45:00.001-06:00

Our town put on an Artwalk festival on Friday night and it was so much fun. They closed off Main Street to cars and there were artists, dancers and musicians all along the street.

And of course some treats

Nora's absolute favorite part was the dancing. She watched several of the performances for a long time, totally transfixed. They had a number of different cultural dance groups perform.

Hawaiian Hula dancers

A Mexican children's dance group. The little guy in the middle was so cute.

Watching with a little friend

Watching another Mexican dance with "twirly" skirts

Dancing with Daddy to the rock and roll bands farther down the street

Lots to see and do- tap dancing, Captain Jack Sparrow walking through, drawing with chalk in the middle of Main Street, listening to Nora's music teacher's kids perform in their band and of course some time to just hang out.

A musician performing outside one of the restaurants

Christmas in July

2010-07-15T22:16:00.006-06:00

Erik's parents are visiting us for a few days so we took them to Rocky Mountain National Park today. It was a beautiful- if very hot- day. We went on a 0.5 mile hike- which took us well over an hour since we were on toddler time. Lots of throwing things into the lake, touching the water, climbing on rocks, jumping, hanging on tree branches and just general dawdling.

Setting out with Grandpa and Grandma

Skipping stones with Grandpa

A little friend- these guys will practically eat out of your hand

I am realizing that I have no idea how to take or edit great landscape photos. I suspect it involves a tripod, which I can't see myself lugging around. But it is so beautiful up there that I tried to get a couple snaps to share.

Tonight as I was putting Nora to bed she wanted to talk all about how we saw snow on the mountains. "Maybe tomorrow it will be Christmas" she said. I hope she's not disappointed.

Nora's Good Things

2010-07-14T09:00:00.002-06:00

Sunglasses, a sundress and Peter Rabbit (wrapped in a bandanna because he was cold) on a hot day

Enjoying the same bath toys that your mom had when she was little

A mirror photoshoot

Falling asleep in your rocking chair while reading

Hanging upside down on Daddy's lap

Reading

2010-07-12T20:55:00.003-06:00

I love to read, and I am so glad that Nora seems to have inherited my love of books.

In fact, not only has she inherited a love for reading, but she also seemed to inherit the same method of reading that I used for my books when I was little: stacking them in a big pile then going through the stack, studying each one and piling them in another stack when finished.

me in 1978 (hard to see in this picture but I have a stack of books on my left side-)

And now Nora. Here I think she was piling them on the floor next to the couch when she finished them.

This shows the two piles:

Reading in the rocker

So goodnight all- I have a good summer novel waiting for me now!

Perfect Weekend

2010-07-11T20:32:00.006-06:00

I had a friend visiting from England from the weekend. We were in graduate school together in London over ten years ago...I can't believe it. It was so much fun showing her around our little corner of Colorado. She has seen much of the world but this was her first time to the Rocky Mountains.

I didn't take very many photos over the course of the weekend which I sort of regret because pictures always are what help me to cement my memories but at the same time it was nice to just be totally in the moment and to not fiddle with the camera too much.

Friday-

After a Cajun breakfast where Sarah got to try grits, biscuits and beignets for the first time, we headed to Boulder to poke around.

Music Festival on the Boulder Pearl Street Mall

Really nice to have child-free shopping time. I really need clothes but as is typical for me, I bought shoes instead.

Saturday-

Hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park

Sunday-

Today we had brunch and went exploring in Denver's Highlands Neighborhood- Nora thought this plastic dog sculpture was so funny

We sent Sarah on her way to a ranch vacation in Wyoming this afternoon. She bought this t-shirt while she was here- which made me laugh:

Cherries in the Snow

2010-07-08T22:55:00.002-06:00

The past couple weeks Nora has been obsessed with covering herself with band-aids, spraying her hair with a squirt bottle (I usually spray it in the morning before I comb it out to tame the wave- but lately she has been spraying it multiple times a day herself) and with my lipstick. She actually does a pretty good job putting it on.

Good Things

2010-07-06T22:19:00.003-06:00

Fresh berries for an indoor picnic

Bed-Head

Discovering that we could see our town's fireworks show from Nora's bedroom window after thinking we would miss it due to the rain

A Fudgesicle

Getting to meet a friend's newborn

Gearing up for fall

Pink

2010-07-05T21:14:00.002-06:00

Nora today: "Mama- I love everything pink"

4th of July

2010-07-04T13:18:00.008-06:00

I am sitting here listening to thunder and watching the trees blow in the wind and rain. Not exactly BBQ-ing or fireworks watching weather. That's OK by me- Erik has to work tonight and we had a busy weekend and so I am happy to have some time to relax at home with my favorite girl. We're about to have some popcorn for dinner.

I am so thankful for my freedom today. I love my country!

As usual, Rich Mullins sang it so well:

And the lady in the harbor
She still holds her torch out
To those huddled masses who are
Yearning for a freedom that still eludes them
The immigrant's children see their brightest dreams shattered...

But some mendicants wander off into a cathedral
And they stoop in the silence
And there their prayers are still whispered
And I'll sing their song, and I'll sing their song
In the land of my sojourn

Nobody tells you when you get born here
How much you'll come to love it
And how you'll never belong here
So I call you my country
And I'll be lonely for my home
And I wish that I could take you there with me

In the land of my sojourn
And I will sing His song
In the land of my sojourn

Happy Fourth of July!

Full house

2010-07-03T20:20:00.000-06:00

We had a great past few days with friends visiting from out of town.

Our days included:

sprinklers

long-boarding by both the young and the not-so-young

spending most of our time on the front porch

goofing around

gourmet cooking (you know it's going to be good when the chef is measuring out his cuts of salmon) and lots of good beer

all in all, a full house, and a great time

Good Things

2010-06-30T19:02:00.007-06:00

Lots of brush choices when painting

Homemade iced tea with a straw (this cup is so great.)

Picking cherries in the neighbor's yard and throwing them into the street

Finding more cute fabric for Nora's (slow) growing wall collection

Watching through the car wash window...

...while wearing your Hello Kitty shades

Wheels

2010-06-28T06:00:00.002-06:00

This has been the summer of wheels for Nora if you can't already tell from some of my previous posts. She has mastered her tricycle, has been practicing balancing on her new bigger bike and then last week our neighbor brought her a little scooter which she has been loving as well (the fact that it's pink, covered with fairy princesses and lights up when she rides it, doesn't hurt).

For Erik this has been the summer of tools- he's gradually been filling our garage with woodworking tools and Nora likes to hang out there with him out there as he putters around. She loves to ride on his longboard.

Bubble bath

2010-06-25T14:46:00.003-06:00

Nothing better than a bubble bath outside on a hot day!

Toast shapes

2010-06-24T12:02:00.003-06:00

Nora is loving having my mom- her Mor-mor- here this week. A ritual that they have long shared is to eat toast together in the morning, Nora on Mor-mor's lap. Lately Nora has been very into finding shapes in the pieces of bitten toast. It changes with each bite- a seahorse- a car- a bear- a boat- a dog.

Nora's Good Things

2010-06-23T17:20:00.016-06:00

Mastering a new skill

Dreaming of the day you'll be able to ride your pink bike (while looking as if you are about eight rather than a two year old!)

Going out for birthday cake ice cream in your Disneyland hat even when it's not your birthday

It's not a good thing to get a bump on your head, but it is a good thing that you have a loving Mor-mor who holds "icing" on your owie while telling you funny stories about what your mama did when she was young...

Planting your garden in your sand table. You clipped these weeds with your little scissors, wearing your mittens on your hands as gardening gloves, and then "planted" and watered them.

Busy day

2010-06-21T21:29:00.001-06:00

stringing beads with Mor-mor and Donkey

N: "I have a lot of things to do today"
Me: "Like what?"
N: "I have to string beads"

Daddy

2010-06-20T21:45:00.003-06:00

Happy Father's day Erik! We love you!

Pet and Doll Parade

2010-06-19T16:10:00.005-06:00

We had a great morning at the Pet and Doll parade put on by the parks and rec department (something I can imagine the Pawnee parks and rec department doing- I love that show :) . There were costumes, bubbles, music and lots of strollers. Nora pushed "Pinny" her penguin in his stroller.

And it's definitely about the journey, not the destination, for my sweet Fairy. We brought up the rear of the parade as she stopped to smell the flowers.

Bubble station at the finish line

Posing with Mor-mor and Sami-Ann the clown

A popsicle with mama

Ice Cream Truck

2010-06-17T21:32:00.009-06:00

Soon after Nora woke up from her nap we heard the gentle bells of the ice cream truck. Erik ran outside and flagged it down and I hurried her out after him. She was so stunned by the miraculous appearance of ice cream right at her front door that she just stared at her popsicle for a long time before eating it.

ETA: She was looking at this post with me later in the day, pointed to the pictures and said "that was a treat!"

Good things

2010-06-16T22:04:00.005-06:00

Raspberry meringue for dessert

Being a princess

Making plans to go to Disneyland- RIGHT NOW!- instead of taking a nap
"we have to pack!" she told me
"what are you going to bring?" I asked
"my purse"

A pillow fight on the couch

The vintage looking streetlamps on our street

Sand table

2010-06-15T17:28:00.012-06:00

My mom bought a sand/water table for Nora. It arrived this past weekend and has been a big hit. I came out the other day to find her soaking her foot in the muddy water as if she were giving herself a pedicure.

Joe's Brother

2010-06-15T16:32:00.003-06:00

I showed Nora's beloved stuffed horse Joe in an earlier post. This is "Joe's brother" who lives at the local King Soopers and costs exactly one penny to ride (thankfully there is a penny jar right next to him in case you don't have a penny). The promise of a ride on Joe's brother after we pay for the groceries has gotten us through many a shopping trip (coupled with the free cookies and cheese samples that King Soopers gives out). For several months Nora was scared to actually have Joe's Brother move so she just sat on him and refused to let me put the penny in. But lately she's been very brave. "I go so fast" she says.

It's a very small detail of life with a toddler that I never want to forget.

Weekend away

2010-06-14T18:19:00.007-06:00

I left Nora overnight for the first time this weekend.

She helped me pack; I had put my suitcase in her playroom and when I came to fill it she had already filled it with a silk scarf, one of her favorite blankets and a pair of new Danskos that I just bought (and am debating if I should keep since they rub ever-so-slightly.)

Sleep, shoes and accessories- the girl has the basics covered.

Originally Erik and I were supposed to go to the U2 concert but it was canceled when Bono hurt his back. So I ended up going to the Deeper Still woman's conference with some women from church, along with 5,000 other women:

Deeper Still - Denver CO from Rich Kalonick on Vimeo.

It was wonderful to have fellowship, time to talk without interruption, time to be "Christina" and not just "mama", time to sit and listen to great speakers, drink lots of coffee and stay up much later than usual. And it was equally wonderful to come home and have a little one run across the room with glee, saying "mama, mama- I found you! mama, mama I love you!"

Summer day

2010-06-11T19:44:00.012-06:00

After a concert at the library yesterday (and some tree climbing- climbing and hanging are Nora's favorite activities lately) we joined some friends at the park with cookies and iced coffee and enjoyed the feel of summer grass on band-aid adorned bare feet.

Yogurt

2010-06-10T19:35:00.002-06:00

Paint with water

2010-06-09T21:38:00.001-06:00

About the easiest toddler activity ever.

Sprinklers

2010-06-07T23:27:00.001-06:00

We finally figured out how to turn on the sprinklers this week and made up for some dry weeks by watering a lot. Nora was quite happy about this.

Pink Bananas

2010-06-06T21:51:00.004-06:00

I love Trader Joe's Irish Breakfast tea. Strong (I never take the tea bag out) with lots of milk, no sugar. I drink two large cups every morning. This morning Nora said to me "I no like tea mama but maybe when I get older I eat it"

Then I was slicing bananas for the top of her oatmeal as usual. "You'll have to buy me some pink bananas mama"

Fairy

2010-06-05T23:07:00.000-06:00

We had a busy morning- the farmer's market, then a dog show at the fairgrounds next to the market, then garage sale-ing. We found these fairy wings and crown for $1 and the gown for 25cents. How I love my fairy princess, crooked wings and all. She wanted me to have some wings too:

"I going to drive all by myself in the car to the store and buy mama some wings"

Peaches and cream

2010-06-03T21:03:00.001-06:00

Homemade peach popsicles taste better when eaten while wearing a purple hat.

Plump is nice

2010-06-02T20:15:00.000-06:00

Periodically a random phrase or event from a book will become HILARIOUS to Nora. For the next couple weeks we can always reference that phrase and get her to laugh no matter the situation. Sometimes it is very random; for a while a scene in The Snowman where the snowman is eating ice cubes put her into hysterics. Then it was a page in If You Give a Pig a Pancake showing the pig tap dancing. A few weeks ago it was the line "broccoli stew....eww" from Hey, Wake Up. This week it was a page from Wings, specifically the word 'plump':

"The stranger introduced himself as Mr Johnson (Mr Johnson is a fox)
"Have a raspberry tart," he said.
"I don't want to get too plump," said Winnie. (Winnie is a chicken)
"Plump is nice," said Mr Johnson."

Joe Cool

2010-06-01T20:08:00.000-06:00

Despite the warmer weather, Joe has been a little cold lately and needed some extra covers.

poised

2010-05-28T16:53:00.000-06:00

Everyday she seems to talk more, run faster and climb higher than the day before.