Wednesday, February 28, 2007

New Feature

I'm constantly learning new things to add to our blog...either from my own discoveries or by taking inspiration from friends...namely Shannon!

I just added several of our favorite pictures to a "Flickr Badge" on the right side of the blog. Click on "Favorite Photos" in blue at the bottom of the strip to check out all the photos if you wish. There are many more than currently show on the page. I'll add pictures periodically. Enjoy!

Jack In The Pool

Here is Jack in the pool at the recreation center. He didn't quite know what to do with the fountains. He couldn't figure out why he couldn't pick them up or eat them!

Castle Rock Recreation Center

Blake and I toured this facility on one of our trips out here to house hunt and we loved it. I took the boys yesterday and everyone had a great time!

Jack and Carter at the pool.





Carter loves this. The water slides leave the building and then come back in.

Carter running up to the slide.

And, coming out!



In the hot tub.

Gorgeous view in the back.


Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Bathtime

Bathtime never gets old at our house. Batman even shows up for the excitement!










And, after the bath, the boys play before bedtime.




Sunday, February 25, 2007

Weekend

The blizzard came and went Friday night without much excitement. We got a few inches of snow and blowing winds, but by morning, it was pretty much over. We were out and into town by noon that day.

A few people have asked me how we handle the snow here. Do stores close? Schools? Can we drive? In Texas, everything shuts down at the mention of sleet. Not here! In this record setting year of snow, Carter has had one snow day and 2 "delayed starts", which means he goes to school one hour later than normal. That is it! We get out and drive in just about anything. The roads are usually fine if you can get out of the neighborhood, as plows work non-stop to keep things moving. Our residential streets have to see 2 feet of snow in 24 hours before we qualify for a snow plow. It's happened only twice since we moved here.

We're really getting used to the weather. 45 degree days with sun bring people outside and it's actually not bad. Oh, and we saw our sidewalk for the first time in 60 days last week!!!!

Here is Carter working on another snow fort in front of the house. He's getting pretty good!




Friday, February 23, 2007

Blizzard Warning!

... BLIZZARD WARNING IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 4 PM MST
SATURDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A BLIZZARD WARNING...
WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 4 PM MST SATURDAY. THE
BLIZZARD WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.

SCATTERED RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS WILL DEVELOP THIS EVENING BEFORE
TURNING TO ALL SNOW LATER TONIGHT... WITH SNOW BECOMING HEAVY AT TIMES. TOTAL
SNOW ACCUMULATIONS BY EARLY SATURDAY AFTERNOON ARE EXPECTED TO RANGE
BETWEEN 4 AND 8 INCHES. IN ADDITION... STRONG NORTHERLY WINDS WILL
DEVELOP WITH WIND SPEEDS OF 30 TO 40 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 60 MPH POSSIBLE. THIS
WILL PRODUCE WIDESPREAD BLIZZARD CONDITIONS AND ZERO VISIBILITY.

A BLIZZARD WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE OCCURRING
OR IMMINENT. SUSTAINED WIND AND/OR FREQUENT WIND GUSTS OF 40 MPH OR
HIGHER WILL COMBINE WITH CONSIDERABLE FALLING AND BLOWING SNOW TO PRODUCE
WIDESPREAD VISIBILITIES BELOW ONE QUARTER OF A MILE. TRAVEL WILL BE
EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND IS DISCOURAGED IN THESE WHITEOUT CONDITIONS. IF
YOU MUST TRAVEL... HAVE A WINTER SURVIVAL KIT WITH YOU. IF YOU GET
STRANDED... STAY WITH YOUR VEHICLE AND WAIT FOR HELP TO ARRIVE.

Family Night

I took the boys, plus Paeton, to Family Night at the elementary school last night. We ate a spaghetti dinner and played games. The boys loved it.

Spaghetti faces.


Jack enjoying his after dinner bottle.


The boys showing each other where they're from.


Kindergarteners.


Dominoes.


Playing bingo.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Spring Flowers

Carter and I got an early start on our flowers this year by planting seedlings inside. The packages suggested planting them and keeping them indoors for 8 weeks and then moving them outdoors. Hopefully, we'll see some progress and blooms one day!






Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Spring

To combat the long winter, Carter and I are doing stuff around the house to bring more spring time in. Everyone told us February is a tough month....it's the 4th full month of snow and it starts to wear on you.

We're feeling it! Luckily, we've had some pretty weather days and have been able to get outside....but, snow is in the forecast for Friday....it never ends!

Optimism or denial?

One day!

We were in the high 40's yesterday, which sounds cold, but it's really not here as long as the sun is out. 40 here can feel like 60 in Dallas. Carter got outside with some sidewalk chalk to decorate the neighborhood.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Happy Mardi Gras!!!!

Today is Fat Tuesday and is one of our favorite family holidays. We usually decorate our house and celebrate with a big party and crawfish boil, but have failed to do so this year. Once we're really settled here in Colorado, we'll introduce the locals to what the party is all about!

Carter and I spent yesterday making some fun treats for us to eat tonight during our little Mardi Gras party here at the house. I've convinced the family to give up soft drinks for Lent (starting tomorrow), so we're going to have plenty of cokes and 7 Up tonight, too!

A few photos of Carter's preparations.....

And, to read more about Mardi Gras or to view the fun in New Orleans....Blake's and my absolute favorite city in the United States...check out this site.



Sunday, February 18, 2007

It All Makes Perfect Sense

Since Blake and I never do anything normally, it makes all the sense in the world that we would relocate to Colorado during a record year for snowfall. And, I do not mean that we got a lot of snow. What I mean is that on Sunday, Denver achieved the 60th day in a row to have at least 1 inch of snow on the ground, thus breaking the record set in 1914. The all-time record is 63 days in a row of snow on the ground, which we stand to beat on Wednesday of this week. So, stay tuned! We'll surely lose our minds by then!!!!

We really are starting to feel the affects of this long winter. By the end of February, we're usually thinking about what Spring flowers we're going to plant. There is little to no chance of another freeze at this time in Texas and snowfall is not even a consideration. I tell all of this to my good friend, Tracy, and she reminds me that March and April are the "snowiest" months in this area. NICE! At least there are milder temperatures in between the blizzards at that time.

So, we'll keep focusing on surviving the next 9 weeks or so and Spring should land sometime in early May and we may regain sanity by then. If you have the time, say a quick prayer that the groundhog may have gotten it right this year. That's our only hope at this point.

For more info on our record year, click on this link.

Sharing Toys

It's hard to tell who is going to win out when it comes to Jack and Batman sharing toys. Of course, Jack is most interested in those designated for Batman. And, in turn, Batman wants all of Jack's toys. What this amounts to is a ton of disinfecting in our house!

Jack has recently shown a new interest in his toys....instead of purely electronics, which is encouraging. We can actually find the remotes now!




Friday, February 16, 2007

Just A Few Of Jack

We stayed in on Thursday and played with Jack most of the day. He's almost 10 months old and becoming so curious and playful....knocking down blocks, cruising around everywhere. Time flies when you're raising kids!