blah.dee.blah

Who gives breath to the people on it
And spirit to those who walk in it,

Behold, the former things have come to pass,
Now I declare new things;
Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
Sing His praise from the end of the earth!

I will lead the blind by a way they do not know,
In paths they do not know I will guide them
I will make darkness into light before them
And rugged places into plains
These are the things I will do,
And I will not leave them undone."

Do not call to mind the former things, Or ponder things of the past.
"Behold, I will do something new,
Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it?

Monday was a monster house cleaning, afternoon dance for the girls, and evening cell group.
Tuesday a morning library story time, collecting reading program prizes, then some afternoon picnicing and swimming at our neighborhood pool.
Wednesday some light house cleaning, sorting out of the JUNK DRAWER, an afternoon library event, grocery shopping, and relaxing evening.
Today, 'Summer Bug Safari' at the Smiley Branch, collection of reading program prizes (including a free pass to Elitch's for Rebecca), and playing at Berkeley Park. Also sorted through a couple toy bins and some of Sam's room.

We'd be at the pool again if I hadn't gotten my legs sunburned (forgot to sunscreen my legs!).

Jogged two miles this morning - a light run after a longer run on Tuesday morning, gearing up for a 5 mile again Saturday morning. Hopefully I'll be in good shape going into the Race For the Cure in October - and possibly Denver's Half-Marathon.

I'm truly enjoying this summer!

Finally, I'm getting around to posting these! The past few days have been full of church, cleaning, cell group, library fun & swimming, and more cleaning.

The Fourth was pretty quiet. I took Rebecca on a coffee date & to the craft store in the morning. Spent part of the day sorting and rearranging in the loft. Nick and Jason did the shopping and bbq-ing of yummy foods. J made a tasty batch of salsa and guacamole. A little later in the evening we walked to the Broomfield Commons Park for the fireworks. We found our spot to lay down our blanket and listened to some live music til it got dark. A fun evening.

(more pictures if you click through the one above)

Not often do I post a picture of myself on here, but here it is. If you click through you'll see a few more photos from a 3rd of July block party we went to last night. Lots of our peeps from church were there. It was a good time to hang out, chat, and play. Then we settled in for some snacks and fireworks.

Today has been a mix of relaxed and productive. I took Rebecca out for coffee this morning. Then we visited the craft store. More sorting, organizing, cleaning up the loft. I replaced three large pictures on the wall with a couple smaller ones to make things look simpler, cleaner. And also I can see the floor all around my desk and in front of the bookcase!

We bbq-ed some brats and burgers...in just a bit we'll head to the Broomfield fireworks, in walking distance. Huzzah!

Today I'm celebrating a bit more freedom from clutter. Hopefully over the next few weeks that will travel to more areas of the house. Baby steps.

Happy 4th!

( Read more... )

* a coffee date with Sam at Caribou

* Smiley, Tennyson Park, and cool afternoon thunderstorm showers

* mini-cartons of Ben & Jerry's ice cream on the porch with the kiddos

* thinking it would be fun to train for the Denver half-marathon in October

The goodness of this week...

Jason taught Sunday morning - from Abraham's story, which has been such an important part of our story. He also got to share our story, which I love to hear him tell.

We needed to return a library book at the Smiley branch Monday which meant a drive into the city (yay!). The kiddos and I made the trip and stopped to play at Berkeley Park for a time. Love!

Also yesterday, we bought dance shoes for summer classes + Zoe had her first tap dance class. She loved it. Unfortunately the combo class which Rebecca wanted to sign up for will probably be canceled because no one signed up. She's still trying to decide which class she wants to take in it's place (maybe tap, maybe ballet).

Today I took Rebecca to a birthday party for her friend - a Build-a-Bear party. This gave me some time to spend a birthday gift card at Old Navy. Clothes shopping: part fun, part harrowing experience; but I got a fun new swimsuit and two summery tops.

This evening I took a 'date' with Zoe - we had drinks at Caribou Coffee, read some books together there, then visited the craft store. I bought a picture to hang on our living room wall with the last of my birthday cash. We looked at fabrics and yarn (Zoe chose some yarn which I'm going to use to try to teach the girls how to crochet).

Just over two years since we moved here and we finally have some decor - something colorful in the living room, another new print in the kitchen, something to spruce the main floor bathroom up a bit, and a couple canvas paintings the kids collaborated on for the loft. (Hobby Lobby had prints and frames 50% off) Photos here

I also did some sorting and rearranging of books and papers around my desk and bookshelf. Miles to go! But baby steps in that department.

Lovin the freedom and change of pace that summer brings!

aka 'How do I love thee Colorado, let me count the ways!'

We went hiking at Rabbit Mountain - the Little Thompson Overlook Trail. It's 3 miles round trip to the end of the trail and back down again. It was rough with Sam. Snacks and sunscreen would have been worthwhile additions to the trip.:) It's beautiful land though - rocky trail, the valleys, and in the near distance to the west the snow-covered peaks, some interesting flowers along the way - flowering cacti and wild sunflowers, and small white blossoms. (I need to work on my flower identification skills.)

Tired out and sunburned we headed into Lyons to get lunch and catch some of the Good Old Days Festival. We found a little Mexican restaurant that claimed to have handmade Mexican food. We had green chili stew which was quite hot but tasty. Then we walked through the outdoor market (arts and crafts) and caught a little live music (Liz & Dave) before heading home - sun-soaked, sunburned, and tired, but content.





(click through the pictures above for more)

Thoughts of curtain making are shelved for now in favor of adding other forms of decoration. I went to look at fabrics yesterday and ended up buying some discounted prints - wall hangings not curtain fabrics and a couple canvases (canvi?). One picture was for the kitchen, one for the downstairs bathroom. The canvases were an experiment in commissioning Zoe's artwork. They ended up being a collaboration of all the kiddos and not quite the right color scheme for the living room. SO now we have a couple of lovely paintings for the loft/school/play room. And so our living room wall is left to be filled, still. It's humongous because it rises to the loft. One larger print or painting would be excellent - but alas, could prove costly.

Today we're off on another adventure...some possible hiking, acquisition of caffeinated things and descending upon the mountain town of Lyons, smack in the middle of the Good Old Days Festival.

Today was our first official day out of school! I feel so free! It was fun to relax and play with the kiddos today. We went to a clown show at the library - picked up our tickets early and played in front of the Auditorium until the show. Abby the Clown showed us how she gets her 'mask' on - a piece of her show (getting tangled up in an easel), and then how she gets her mask off when she's done. Her silliness got some great giggles out of Sam and entertained us. At the end of her show she painted red noses on everyone (that's why you'll see red noses on the girls later on in the pictures).

After the show we visited a new (to us) park with a sculpture/mosaic tile to scale depiction of the planets, called 'The Planets: Myth or Matter'. The kiddos enjoyed climbing on the sun and we checked out all the planets and walked to the distant ones before going to play on the little playground nearby.

The weather was perfect today! Lovin summer this year! Our third summer in Colorado - the first year I'm not grieving something - two years ago, it was the craziness of moving across states and leaving family and friends behind; last year, grieving the loss of a best friend. This year - joy in life - playing with my kids, hanging out as a family, enjoying the city and state we live in.

(more pictures if you click through the one above)

Last Saturday we decided to go to the Rockies game - part of the Father's Day celebration. We got Rock Pile seats. It was a little wet to start, the game was delayed by 40 minutes. It was a pretty good game - tied at 7 in the 9th inning. Bottom of the 9th, Seth Smith got on base, Todd Helton hit the game-winning home run. Very exciting!

(more pictures if you click through the one above)

We have a library that has some really great programs; and they pack a lot of fun stuff into the Summer Reading Program. Like this event the girls and I went to Saturday. Manea is a chalk artist and she came to do a presentation about her artwork at the library. The kids helped her choose a picture to do at the end of the presentation. Then everyone went outside to try their hand at using some of the techniques she taught us. Or to just have fun drawing with sidewalk chalk. Manea worked on the picture they all came up with together; while the kids all did their own. And at the end she took some pictures with the group. Good fun!

She told us about a festival they have in the city beginning June called La Piazza dell Arte, in Larimer Square - she won 'Best Use of Color' in this year's competition. It sounds like a really cool event - with space for kids, a high school, and adult competition.

(click through any of the pictures above for larger and more pics)

Zoe spent quite a lot of independent time, and much of it doodling. She drew our fish and our neighbor and her dog. Zoe seems to play the free-spirited, artist-type pretty well. And this is a taste of her creativity.

(a few more pictures if you click through the one above)

Summery goodness....homeschooling in the front yard, eating lunch on the front porch, reading on a blanket on the front lawn, riding bikes and scooters, drawing the longest hopscotch ever with sidewalk chalk, home-baked strawberry-rhubarb pie, and final Summer Reading Program prizes.

(click through the picture above for a few more pictures)

Saturday, the 13th we went to our first Rockies game this season. Special for us because the Rockies played the Mariners. It was cool to see our two favorite teams playing one another. We had to root for the Rockies (it didn't take but a couple years of living in Colorado to become fans of the home team, of course, there was the whole world series thing the first season. :) that sort of got us hooked. and they've been on a winning streak lately)...but it was fun to see Ken Griffey, Jr. and Ichiro play. It was also cool to have J's brother, Matt visiting. So the brothers were together again, and united in their baldness. :) We also hung out with his cousin, Sarah, and her 'new' baby (now 6ish months old) a bit. The start of the game was delayed a little because of threatening thundershowers (which was kind of cool). It was a good game. And the Rockies won! Woohoo!






(lots more pictures in the gallery if you click through either of these above)

exciting I know!
at the bottom of what's in cupboards and fridge
I found the goods to make this for dinner tonight -

an can of high sodium chili, half a bag of egg noodles, a couple fresh tomatoes, a bit of fresh cilantro, some shredded cheddar, and sour cream

It was tasty. I don't think I can hold out any longer before I go to the store though.

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We have just 7 days of homeschool left! (Slightly) Better discipline than last year when we finished mid-July. I'm looking forward to two full months' break. As are the girls I'm sure.

Rebecca: finishing up Mark, reading aloud Ramona the Pest with me, vocab and some text book activities, poetry by Robert Louis Stevenson, reviewing music and art, various math areas, reviewing geography/ history, studying some weather lately (tornadoes the last couple days as we've been confronted with the potential in real life the last couple weeks).

Zoe: lessons in 'being a good friend' (from a biblical perspective, like Zoe needs it!:)), reading outloud from various books, vocab, this and that in language arts, this and that in math, reviewing in history/geography/science now.

We're in the home stretch and it feels so good. We'll have to have some sort of celebratory event when we're all done (the 25th).

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Goals for the summer break - organizing, selling, throwing away, giving away, decorating and rearranging.
Playing outside with the kiddos. often.
Reading - I have a chapter and 1/2 left in Route 66: The Mother Road, a collection of Flannery O'Conner, Sometimes I Dream in Italian, and The Tangible Kingdom on my nightstand. (The kids are also signed up for summer reading program and already Rebecca has collected the first two prizes.)
Craft projects: sewing? scrapbooking and photo developing? I haven't decided exactly what yet.
Exercise - Saturday I jogged 2.6 miles + jog/walked 1.4 miles - running/walking 2 miles consistently with one longer run per week. Had a good pilates/yoga workout yesterday and still a bit sore.
Spiritually: praying daily - 'Jesus, help me to love You more than anything else!' and often 'Lord, have mercy on me a sinner!' daily journaling(on paper) and reading through the Bible (actually, continuing on my quest to...).
Being active - seeking to spend time with others, building relationships, spending time in the community, sign the girls up for a summer dance session, lots of swimming, hiking,
AND...
last but not least - a trip to the NW in August!

I took the kiddos to the Nature & Science Museum yesterday for a little field trip. We were most excited to check out the new Expedition Health exhibit. It's free but necessary to pick up tickets. We got ours as soon as we entered and got a time a couple hours later. We had time to take in Space Odyssey and Gems & Minerals; and eat an earlyish lunch before heading upstairs. We spent a good couple hours in the health exhibit. The science experiment area and the video shown in the 'Bodytek Theatre' are great. It was fun to run into some friends there too! We meandered a bit after that - dinosaurs, animals, Indian cultures before we were DONE. With so many people and so many things to do we were sufficiently over-stimulated and headed home at 4. Being summer, school's out and there were crowds and crowds except for a couple quiet corners. Which I have a love/hate thing for - love: that so many people come out for something like that and to be all mixed up in the crowd in a singular focus; hate: that adept social skills don't correspond with that (in others) and I slipped up a few times in that department my self. :/

Still, it was a fun day - doing something interesting and fun for all the kiddos and tooling around the city a bit.

[photo gallery if you click through the picture above]

a gallery of photos from my birthday yesterday if you click on the photo above.

Yesterday was a great birthday - it started like a normal day - school for the girls and I, a bit of work for Jason. Later in the afternoon we went bowling at Elitch Lanes (they have 'bowl your butt of Mondays - $7 for 3 hours of bowling - shoe rental included + unlimited games for those 3 hours). We played a couple rounds (playing for Sam and Zoe where they didn't want to play). Great fun! Rebecca has surprisingly good form, Zoe and Sam needed some help hauling the ball down to the lane and letting it go. But I think we all had a good time. (and in our adopted, for now, hood).
Afterward we went to Old Chicago for dinner - yummy drinks and calzone...free meals for the kiddos (summer reading program coupons). Then home for Ghiradelli dark chocolate, Andes mint, YUM Brownies! Dude. Did I mention the mint moose tracks and chocolate syrup on top? Woah. It was a yummy treat to top off the evening.
Some great play time with my family - a perfect birthday celebration.

Genesis 9:12-17

12God said, "This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations;
13I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.
14"It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud,
15and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh.
16"When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth."
17And God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth."

Sunday afternoon was a bit thunderstormy - we kind of enjoyed the rain and cloudiness. But it created some havoc in the southeastern corner of the city - a couple tornadoes touched down - one somewhat near our neighborhood (3 miles away), one in Thornton, and the more intense one in Aurora at Southlands Mall. Our power went out for about an hour - and we had a relaxing sleepy afternoon. [A little later on in the afternoon we also enjoyed a family coffee date at Forza with a Phase 10 dice game, some dominoes and cards.] Anyhow, I spotted the rainbow at lunch time Sunday and it made me think of those verses in Genesis. God promised not to cover the earth with water again, but He didn't say anything about mussing up a mall and neighborhood a little bit. (hrm...maybe that's a little more amusing in my head than in real life.)

Some skirt patterns:

http://angrychicken.typepad.com/angry_chicken/2008/07/5-minute-skirt.html

http://www.oliverands.com/blog/2008/08/lazy-days-skirt-free-pattern.html

http://www.thimble.ca/?p=750

curtains:

http://www.alternative-windows.com/tabtop-curtains.htm

been interested in buying a sewing machine lately to feed my creative bent - two projects I'd like to complete this summer: skirts and curtains. I might have found one on Craigslist which might be just right for a newbie like me.