Our Last Visit to the Christmas Museum....

Merry Christmas!

The Pope Family

Too Much Living, Not Enough Blogging

So I've been remiss in blogging. I blog to remind myself of the awesome things that happen in my day, my life, my world. And yet I've been too busy to write these things down lately. I love to write. And more than that, I love to go back and read what has been. Soon.

Soon, I'll write all about Thanksgiving and how yummy all the food was and how we got to see so much family.  Soon I'll write about the pecan pie I made Pope for his birthday and the awesome lunch we had at Japiox drinking bloodies and eating sushi and laughing our faces off.  Soon I'll write about Eliana and her super-sweet rendition of "Santa Clause is Coming to Town," and how she is refusing to wear the crazy cute plaid dress I got her for her Christmas pageant.  Soon I'll write about how excited I am for Christmas and how all Parker wants is a set of "Spiderman Squinkies" that I had to order off Amazon two weeks ago for $42.00 as they were already sold out in stores and now they are running about $245.00. That's insane.

And soon I'll write about all of the joy and blessings and gifts I have been given in the form or friends and family and opporutnity that keeps me from a regular blog ritual.

Soon.

Date Nights & Girl Parties

As we're back to the whole school season, which I will be "going back to" for the next 20 years,  we've been crazy busy with all of the fun things that school and fall bring.

On one particular Saturday afternoon, with Ellie at a birthday party, I had the pleasure of taking Parker out to dinner. Solo. I don't think Parker and I have ever done something just for fun and just for us. It was awesome. He talked his face off, played with the other kids without the super friend big sister to pave the way for him, and drank my whole milk shake. He's a sweetheart. And an excellent date. I got lots of kisses but all in all he was a perfect gentleman. 

You're welcome future grown-up Parker girlfriends. You're welcome.

Mr. Pope aka Mr. Baby

And as Ellie now goes to school four days a week, one of those being our Monday Funday, Derrick is able to stay home and sleep in with Parker while the girls get up and go to school.  Eliana LOVES the girl time. She calls them our "Girl Parties." And she races out the door to make sure it's just us in the car and she'll get every ounce of my attention. She started a great tradition and now I love Monday mornings, too.

My Litte Miss

I love that my little buddies like each other so much, but I love my time with each of them on their own. They are big, smart, amazing people stuck in tiny little bodies. And they teach me something new everyday.

Funny

Kick It!!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Favorite Things

@ Toast for Grandma Barbie's b-day

I have to write down the things that the little Popes love so I can remember when I'm 80.

Eliana:
Puzzles! She completed her very first one ALL by herself. She says she gets "distracted" from her other activities because she just wants to work on puzzles all the time.
Her friend Danika. Seriously. She has a BFF.
School. She loves it. She can't wait to bring Spinner the class pet home for the weekend.
Picking out her own clothes. This one has been a long-time coming as she's always been picky - but now she's out-grown pretty much everything all at once and I think I am actually going to have to take her shopping for the first time. How is this happening?
The library. She wants to go all the time. And she loves picking out Dr. Seuss DVDs.
Gum. She's old enough for gum.

Parker:
He loves music! He tells me what all of his favorite songs are. He says they're "pretty cool." His favs are LMAFO "Party Rock Anthem" (the Shuffle song) and Foster the People "Pumped Up Kicks."

One of my favorite things....

Veggie Tales. Oh gosh.
Spiderman! We've left the world of Batman and ventured over to Spiderman. He's Spiderman for Halloween this year.
Comic books
His Batman slippers. Okay, so he still loves Batman.
Jellybeans
Gum. He is not old enough for gum. He immediately says, "I put it in my tubby."
Asparagus. For real.

All That Happy

Lindsey's "Making Monsters" Cake!!

Somethings are better in your head. Others end up surpassing even your most optimistic expectations.  Our trip to Missoula, MT for the premiere of "Making Monsters" fell into that latter category.  Seeing everyone who worked on the show was amazing.  As as one person summed it up so wonderfully, "everyone was so joyful."

It was true.

I am grateful for my part in the show. I'm partial to episode 103 with the Roswell Aliens. I can't wait to see it!! But all of the elements came together to make a great product. (OK, I'm partial to the entire thing, but that's what you get. This is my blog.)

For starters, I'm moderately in love with everyone on the crew. What can I say, I have a lot of love to give. I love talented people. And there are a lot of them on the crew. It was fun to see them with their families and girlfriends and lives outside the warehouse. I think I hugged everyone 10,000 times.

Ellie and Parker stayed at home with the grandparents and actually watched the show too at their own little premiere party at our house. Eliana loved it. (I'm a little worried what will come up at her Christian preschool this week....) and Parker told me it was "Pretty scary but the monsters are just pretend." Good job, little man. And thanks to all of our family who make it so easy for us to get away for a day or two.

And as always, Mr. Pope was my biggest champion. He always has been. He stood outside the room where I defended my Honors Thesis ten years ago just so he could be the first to congratulate me on being a big smarty pants and getting to publish a thesis at 21. And he's still the exact same way. That blows me away....

It all makes me "joyful."

The Customer is....big boned?

Like most folks, I spend a fair amount of time online.  I'm home ALL DAY. This is how I get big stuff done. I order the kids clothes. I buy furniture. I use all of the cooking websites. I chat with Derrick. We keep Amazon in business...let it not be said that we aren't doing our patriotic duty to stimulate the economy.

And so, since I really want a new dinning room table and chairs I've been looked at some online. I'm not actually going to buy something new - I think I'll just re-stain the one that I have (and love.)  But I've noticed that the art of buying furniture online comes with something both awesome and annoying: customer reviews.  

If I look at new chairs online I might see something like, "These chairs are cute but they are flimsy and broke the first time I sat in one. I'd like to see them have much more structural support." This is good information from some lady in New York who shops at Crate & Barrel six times a year and is a 5Star reviewer. But what's missing is something very important.  How much does she weight?

I think about this all the time and apparently I'm a jerk for wanting a little clarification.  If I weigh less than 500 lbs and you, as a reviewer, weigh more than 500 lbs, well, then we have different needs in chairs. But how am I do know this if the information is lacking in the review?!? 

In a world of information all I want is a little frame of reference, something to qualify all of said info. Everyone likes to blab about themselves all day long online, so lets make some of it useful.

If people want to review a restaurant in the neighborhood I want to know how often they eat out and how often they send food back. And if they've ever worked in the restaurant biz before I trust their judgement. 

If someone complains about a mechanic down the street I want to know how often they change their oil and if they know how to change a flat tire. That should just be a standard qualification before you start complaining about people who know things about cars.

Complaining about a company you've worked for? I want to know how many jobs you've had, how often you're late, and how many days of work you missed while employed there before I believe that the management there is unfair in their personal-leave policy.

Let's start setting some standards here people! A little information goes a long way.

"Making Monsters"

I had the amazing good fortune this year to get to work as a producer on the new Travel Channel series, "Making Monsters." I had the most fun with some of the very best, most talented people.  I'm so excited to see the show and hope you all will like it too!

"Making Monsters" premieres Sunday, October 2nd at 9PM EST on the Travel Channel. Check it out!

More videos and information here @ the Travel Channel.

True dat

Source: sawdustcityllc.com via Amy on Pinterest

And this is cool, too:
"V is for Veronica"

The Good Stuff

I come from a family that loves food. All good things include food. Good food. So it's no surprise that all of Ellie and Parker's favorite things of late are based on the quality of the food supplied at the event. Naturally the winners are 1.) The Wheat Ridge Carnation Parade (hello!?!? buckets of candy!!) and 2.) camping out in the backyard over Labor Day Weekend (S'mores!! And BBQ!! And cinnamon rolls!!)

Thanks Mom for the fun at the Parade. Thanks to Wendy & Cole for the awesome camp out. Thanks to all of our friends for taking such good care of us over the past few weeks. We needed a little love. And when the love comes in the form of Mt. Dew Cake, it's even better.

Moods

Mr. Pope feels like this.....sans binky.

And since Parker looks EXACTLY like Mr. Pope we'll just say this is Mr. Pope's recovery photo.

I feel like this: old & thoughtful.

Parker feels like a smarty-pants. He's telling us everything about everything.

Next week the Binky Fairy comes for his binkies....

Ellie feels like an awesome big sister. She's been reading lots of books.

And we all feel better having the Washington Popes here to take care of us.

Quotes of the Day:

1.) "Parker - you eat so much guacamole, I'm gonna call you 'Parkermole!!'" - Elles Bells

2.) "I wanna watch the Batman Movie!! One more time." - Parkermole

3.) "I just want a little bit of water for the water table...." - Colester

4.) "People should ask me questions. I'm drugged and brutally honest." - Mr. Pope

Energy

I'm one of those people who is both religious and not. I suppose some might see it as non-conformist and others might see it as flat-out lazy - but that's okay with me. I find faith to be an incredibly personal thing. I know lots of people have to go to church and publicly confess their beliefs or discuss them openly with anyone willing to listen - but that's not me.

But, nonetheless, I'm frequently struck by the grace of God. And I feel the energy of our lives coming together in the little moments and the in-betweens. They say you should just keep moving. Waiting for your life to happen to you will leave you empty and lonely and with little to show for your time. So we just keep going. And I just hope our energy is keeping us from having regrets, or getting caught up in self-pity, or falling into anger.

Ellie is getting ready to go back to school in the next few weeks. Four days a week! I can hardly believe it. She's four going on 22. And she's decided full on that she's an awesome big sister. She reads to Parker everyday. Sings him songs and plays with him in a mostly awesome manner. And Parker's Batman obsession is just about the funniest thing our house has ever seen. I've started a photo essay tentatively entitled, "I'm Your Batman." More to come on that...

And Mr. Pope, version 3.0, is just now out of surgery. I'm waiting to go back and see his blue eyes gleam when he first sees me, just like they've done every time he's looked at me for last 10 years.

And we'll just keep going.

Blame it on the Rain?

Something cool that happened #1: I met this guy!

I'm feeling a little gloomy - and I don't typically like to put stuff out into the universe when I'm gloomy. One - I'm usually too honest and people feel the need to set me up for emotional interventions. Two - I'm not into bad karma. It's all about positivity - baby. But I kind of feel like my summer to date has been measured by checks; by mass of amounts of money floating out the door.

Don't get me wrong - they have gone to purchase some cool stuff. Well, maybe warm stuff - a new furnace and hot water heater. And a new roof. And now a refinished and re-designed back porch for my sunset-watching and wine-drinking enjoyment. And Mr. Pope's possible ongoing and possible improving health....

All good things.

Something cool that happened #2: Tiny Town

But the process of getting all the stuff done is always so much more difficult than the process of just enjoying the stuff. Enjoying the summer. That part is easy - we've hit up Water World already this year and had THE MOST fun. We've been to the splash park, visited the dinosaurs at the mall, built sand castles, been to super-hot summer birthday parties, fun trips around the city, and had great dinners with family and old friends and new friends.

And we're trying to figure out how to get new carpet in the house before the holidays - which means I'd also love to get Mr. Parker potty-trained before we invest in pee-free carpet. And we've got two or three trips on the horizon before summer actually closes it's doors for the season. So many plans - they should lift my spirits and give me stuff to work on. I'm nothing without something to work on.

Something cool that happened #3: Parker got a haircut.

And I'm thinking of our friends and family who could probably use some thoughts and prayers - for all of the stuff that life throws at us....the happy and the sad. I'm working on being hopeful and yet, content. And wish this for all of those who need it now, too.

More to come with happier stories and irresistible pictures of my adorable children, sure to turn any frown upside down.

Drive Me Crazy....

Mr. Pope sent me this. It's pretty funny and I'm moderately convinced he wrote it himself. Plus, I think it's a sign...

A sign that we've been together for a very long time.

Please to enjoy....

6 Ways To Drive Your Partner Wild in Bed
via Aiming Low by DanielleH on 6/22/11

It seems like Cosmopolitan and other lady mags have advice on how to titillate your partner in bed every month. Try as they might, they often miss the mark.

Here’s the inside scoop on six surefire ways you can drive your partner wild in bed.

1. Be sure to wear your oldest, largest t-shirt to bed, the one with holes in it that hangs at an unflattering angle against your bloated, candy-filled belly. Nothing says “ugh, not tonight” like an improvised Homer Simpson costume. Nothing will drive them crazier!

2. Make sure their side of the bed is filled with books, headphones, newspapers, magazines and anything else that screams “I’ve been here for hours.” Your partner will go from zero to RAGE as you move things around for ten minutes, lights shining in their face as they try to sleep and you try to clean up.

3. Eat something that produces an unbelievable amount of crumbs while leaning over their side of the sheets. Watch them FREAK OUT and rip the sheets off the bed with passionate abandon!

4. If at all possible, develop a stress-induced sleep disorder that involves accidental and completely involuntary kicking and punching. Nothing says HOT like being punched in the back unexpectedly, or repeated kicks in the shins. The surprise sleep attack will keep them guessing, and add SPICE to an otherwise dull, sleep-filled evening.

5. Nothing says “let’s do this” like sleeping corner-to-corner. Take up as much room as possible by stretching your body diagonally across the center of the bed, forcing your partner into the fetal position. They’ll either sleep so soundly they’ll develop rigor mortis, or relent and roll over onto you. Hot!

6. You’re hot. You’re cold. You’re hot. You’re cold. You can’t make up your mind about the blankets because your sexy, sexy body has a mind all its own. It might be too early for perimenopause, but your partner doesn’t have to know that! Keep them guessing by throwing the blankets to the ground only to commandeer the blanket entirely moments later! Their blood will boil with excitement. You are a wild stallion!

Transitional

We've had a lot of doctor's appointments lately. Parker had his 2 year check up last month and Ellie had her 4 year check up at the beginning of this month. And yes, both of these appointments were late in comparison to when they actually turned 2 and 4. That's how I roll.

They are such good, strong, healthy kids. We know we are blessed. The docs always end up saying they are "small but mighty." I suppose it's true. Tough little guys. Emphasis on little....

But from both Eliana's (wonderful) Pre-school teacher and her (lovely) doctor we've heard that Eliana probably has a tough time with "transitions." This is another one of those, "Really?!? I hadn't noticed," moments for Mr. Pope and me. And that, my friends, is sarcasm.

It's obvious. She doesn't like to switch from one thing to the next.

But as I was scrubbing out the highly desired and overly-used gigantic bathtub in our bathroom the other day I had an epiphany. Yeah, no one really does well transitions, at all, ever, anyway. Mr. Pope had surgery and our life kind of stopped for 8 weeks. I still feel like I can't go do stuff all by myself with the kids because it's too hard when that clearly isn't the case anymore, they do great but I'm still a sissy. We've been in this house for over a year and I still feel like we just moved in.....

The list can go on and on. I guess we're not very good with transitions. Ellie came by in honestly, apparently it's genetic.

And now I'll be working for the next few weeks and we'll have to transition into that as well.

Parker will flip out and wake up all night long (like he needs an excuse). Ellie will ask every single morning, "Who's coming over today?!?" And then be sad when I come home for good and the grandma and papa visits slow down.

And then it will all be over and we'll have to transition into something else entirely...

Quotes of the Day:

"HaHa in the hole!!" ~ Parker, when he sticks the heads of all of his Batman figures into the holes in the coffee table. ("Haha" is Joker. "Hahahahaha Batman!!")
"Don't mind if I do!" ~ Elle when being offered some dip for her chicken nuggets.

Did You Ever Have a Dream?!?

Nailed It!!

Around the World

We've entered the season of a million activities. Seriously. If we have one thing to do it's because we've had to turn down five other fun things to do. This is a combination of way too many friends and family members making great invitations and our general inclination to want to do everything and nothing all at once. Making the rounds is exhausting. And so much fun.

Our Memorial Day Weekend was fantastic. The kiddos and I joined my family in Boulder for the Boulder Creek Fest on Saturday morning. We had the BEST time with Grandma & Papa Jones and "The Girls." Breakfast at Turley's where the waitress said Ellie and Park could have whatever they wanted because they were just about the best little kiddos she's ever waited on. Good job guys. Babes, you made out with a yummy breakfast and a TON of new crayons as that was her gift to you. And I got a huge delicious latte and the gift of drinking it while it was still hot.

At the festival we bought super cute hats (Parker's has green TRUCKS!! and Elle's has a super-cute flower and a bee), danced on the HipHop stage, got Kettle Korn, ran into some friends, road the train and jumped in the Jumpy Castle, and got Bubble Shooters from Papa Jim.

Sunday was park day with Aunt Wendy & Cole. The Arvada slide park is too much fun. And the fountain park and the ice cream from Old Town was my favorite part of the day. Mr. Pope was EXHAUSTED after the trip...but it's good to start getting out of the house and doing some fun stuff again. And we loved our time with the Velez family.

Monday was dinner with the family. Uncle Chris, just home from the Philippines, brought Parker a "Jeepney" and Eliana a Korean doll. And I got some cat poop coffee. Really. It's a thing in the Philippines. A story for another day....

But really, these kids get the coolest souvenirs. Philippine trucks! Race cars from Japan. Mexican art. Canadian Moose and the much coveted Roots hoodies! Russian dolls. Kazakhstan tops. Our family name carved into the same stone that built the Kremlin.

We get love from all corners of the world. We are so very lucky. It makes me think of a song...

And I've been obsessed with Daft Punk since high school...so I have to post this one too as Parker saw it started shouting, "ROBOTS!!!"Ahhh, Robots!!" That little kiddo - warms my heart. (Watch until at least the middle. It is clever....)

Girlfriends

Ellie is a little bit boy-crazy. I have no idea where she picked that one up....

Now I feel my Mom & Dad's pain when all I wanted to do was hang out with boys my whole life.

But she sure has some cute little girlfriends.

I hope we get lots of fun, girly play dates all summer long.

Quotes of the Day:

"I wanna go on the Choo-choo!" - Park @ the Boulder Creek Fest

"I'm totally soaking drenched," - Elle @ the Old Town Arvada fountain park.

"AHHHHHHHH" - Aunt Wendy @ the Slide Park

Old & New

I was counting the other day in my head - as we drove in the rain to pick the kids up from Grandma Barbara's - I was counting grandparents. We had a lazy rainy movie day at the theater down the street from our house. Two movies sandwiched around a quick lunch with my Grandma Lola had me thinking about grandparents. We've got so many grandparents you couldn't throw a stick 10 ft without hitting one...but that would be mean.

Elle & Park have eight grandparents and five great-grandparents. (Two of them they have never met as they live in Washington state but they are more than thoughtful with their long distance cards and gifts.) And three of the great-grandmas live right here in town. Eliana calls Great-Grandma Doris and Great-Grandma Lola "The Girls" as they live in the same building and generally show up together at events, go on trips with us, and she must just think they laugh like girls. And great-grandma Mary lives just up the road in Greeley. She makes Ellie laugh with her stories about me when I was a girl and I think Ellie can hardly believe that they are true. Mommies were never little girls...

In the last few weeks I inherited a bunch of Grandma Lola's linens. This is a big deal. I'm obsessed with tea towels. And real napkins. I love them. So I got to pick through baskets of tea towels she embroidered herself 60 years ago. And napkins and tablecloths she made for teas and luncheons and bridge and other things that I know nothing about. It's a little piece of history I can use everyday.

And I've been asked to write my Grandma Mary's story. Interview her - not a challenge as I could talk to her for hours - and write it down in a book for all of time and history and (okay...more realistically) our little family to enjoy forever. I only hope I can do her justice.

And then tonight, when Mr. Pope came home from getting a haircut and straight shave, Ellie told him he looked "Brand New!!" He hadn't shaved for a month. He was a hairy old beast.

And now he's new.

Geek Chic

I need to brush up on my geek knowledge. After hanging out with Mr. Pope for a couple weeks I'm afraid he's on to me and my recent lack of geeky intelligence. We took the kids to Free Comic Book Day (it's the first Saturday of May every year, y'all.) It was the first outing we'd taken as a family in over a week and was kind of Mr. P's dream come true with his "Avatar: The Last Airbender" loving little Ellie-Bellie and his little boy, Parker.

I know Pope always wanted a son. Someone to share all of his nerd stuff with. Comic books. Video games. And Star Wars. And EVERY superhero movie ever. And Parker pretty much came into the world with the same apparent loves. One of his first words was "Batman" after all.

But upon our return from our happy little outing I was asked to read said free comics. Over and over and over and over. And while Parker already knows who Batman, and The Flash, and Robin are he had a few questions about some of the other guys. And I didn't know their names. For shame, Veronica. For shame.

Parker was shocked, I'm sure, only because he thinks I'm some sort of all-knowing Madonna figure. Hehe. But Derrick - oh, he knows better. And he's not quite sure why I'm so out of the loop. He's not sure why I don't know anything about the "Thor" movie that just came out. (Or is it not out yet? See, I don't know.) And he's not too sure why I'm convinced that the name "Aqua Lad" sounds a little too funny to be taken seriously.

I need to brush up, I guess. Add some extra geeky boy knowledge to the old skill set. Both to improve my much loved comic book reading with my little man and to impress my sexy geek husband.

But really, Aqua Lad??

Flowers & Snuggles

I spend time being grateful. It's important. It's too easy to get caught up in the negative. So this week I'm grateful for my husband and his mostly speedy recovery. And getting the time with him that we've had over the past week and half...even if it's not under the best of circumstances. And I love him because he's not down-in-the-dumps about his situation either. We were laughing and making jokes just minutes before they took him into surgery. He's a brave guy. And he's stronger than I give him credit for sometimes.

And I'm grateful for our moms for helping us so much during the early days when he was just home, on tons of meds, in lots of pain...and I was bolting up to Greeley everyday trying to pretend that I wasn't totally worried about what was happening in my little home.

But we've been reunited for the past couple weeks. And things are as normal as they ever really get around here. I wanted to cry Eliana's "Mother's Tea Party" at her preschool was so cute. The kids served us cookies and punch and made us all sorts of thoughtful presents and even sang us a song that Ellie continues to sing around the house...."I like the way you look, and I like the way you cook! So I just want to say, 'Happy Mothers Day!'" She's just big all of a sudden. We have real conversations about very important things. And she tells Mr. Pope he needs to call her if he needs anything. Very important.

And I'm glad we've taken away that blasted binky as Parker is much more fun to be around without that plug shoved in his face all day and night. He's talking so much too. The other day when Derrick told me Parker said something funny "out of the blue." Parker looked at him all squinty-eyed and said, "No, Dada. It was purple." Hehe. And just today he corrected me while we were playing horses that his was "A baby horse, not a big horse, Mama." He's putting 2 and 3 sentences together at a time. It happens so quick.

And I love the sunshine (now that it's back). And I can't wait to have the family over for Mother's Day Brunch tomorrow even though it involves and evening of cooking and cleaning. But I'm grateful. (And I'm posting this late. Updates to come.)

QOD: "I wanna tell Mama bye-bye." - My little Park

"This taint supposed to be happening to me!!" - My Mister

I have issues...

Not one to shy away from my own psychotic neurosis (is this the right word? I'm suddenly unsure that what I'm saying in my head is not this actual word. Ugh, now I'm off on a whole other psychotic linguistic tangent before I even get to the one I'm blogging out...) I have some confessions to make.

I have issues.

Having suffered from a bout of "stranger danger" while in junior high school I have a thing about locking doors. It drives Mr. Pope CRAZY. I will literally lock him out of the house when he goes to check the mail. And not even realize that I'm doing it. I lay in bed at night wondering if I've checked every door and window in the house enough times. I CANNOT sit in front of the windows at night without the shades drawn. I have issues. And this is just how I deal with my particular kind of crazy on a normal, daily basis. I'm okay when Mr. P travels. I'm home all the time with the kiddos and function as a fairly capable grown-up/parent/moderately mature adult figure.

But I can not venture out of this comfort zone for any reason without significant ramifications. Ramifications mostly affecting Mr. Pope...but ramifications nonetheless. Waiting for our delayed flight back home from the beautiful oasis of Roswell, NM (complete with aliens) we watched "Law Abiding Citizen" on Pope's iPhone. And I'm pretty sure I had an aneurysm.

I remember watching a movie with my mom when I was youngish. Maybe in high school. I think it was called "Eye for an Eye" with Sally Fields. She freaked out at this terrible scene and while it was terrible and it scared me I couldn't relate to the mother/daughter aspect because obviously I was just the "daughter" part of the equation at the time. But oh gosh. I freaked out seeing it from the "mother" perspective and now I can't answer the door. Ever. At all. That poor lawn-mowing kid will just have to stand on my doorstep in the rain cuz I'm not opening that door for anything, little dude. And Mr. Pope, you're sleeping with the light on for a month and getting up to check each and every little sound I hear at night. And I don't sleep much, so good luck.

It's rough, thinking about the bad stuff. Anyone hurting your kids. Being a grown-up. Sometimes I'm not a fan.

Quotes of the Day:

"I'm Batman. You're a cheese-ball." ~ Park

"There's no way in God's underwhelmingly brown earth that we're gonna make this flight." Mr. Pope as I drove 100 mph through New Mexico from Roswell to Albuquerque. And made the flight.

Pirate Paaargh-ty!!

Happy Birthday to my sweet 4-year-old Eliana and my 2-year-old Parker.

We celebrated with all of those in our lives that make us happy and make us laugh. And make sure we always have a good time. Our best friends and ALL of our family joined us for delicious Baargh-B-Q, Grandma Judy's amazing Pirate Birthday Cakes!!, a pretty cool jumpy castle and a general good time. We are so blessed by the wonderful people in our lives.

We had about 15 little ones take turns in the jumpy castle. And then an adult jump where someone who shall remain nameless almost toppled the whole thing over. Great action shots provided by Uncle Chris and his awesome new camera.

We were so excited to have all of the uncles here for the big day. Uncle Chris was just back from India and Uncle Dan and Rylee got in from Florida the morning of the party. I was so excited to see the big guys that I apparently couldn't keep my eyes open for the pictures. This happens to me.

Mr. Pope did a great job managing the events. I'm the planner. He's the doer. I love it.

Ellie and Parker did a great job on the Pirate Pinata! They both took a few great swings before Big Micheal busted the poor thing to piece in one swoop and broke the hearts of Cole and Dylan, who had yet to take a turn, wide open as well. It was soooo funny.

Uncle Grabe (not a real uncle as we already discussed uncles. But he probably should be as he is entirely dedicated to the job) came dressed as a PIRATE. The jumpy house actually went still and silent when he walked up. It was the best entrance probably in the history of the world. And Pirate Gabe taught Parker is first joke: Q: "What does a pirate say eating beans?" A: "Arrgh! Pttttt (fart noise.) Parker will say the punch line. And laugh his little pirate face off.

And I got a little snuggle time with my niece, Rylee. She is about the cutest thing ever. And I stole these last two pictures from Wendy's blog. I should really download all the pictures we took of the party that are still stuck on our camera......

Oh, and I turned 31. I had sushi and waited with great people for a Rockies game to get officially snowed out and then ended up drinking some terrible whiskey and grenadine drink. Thanks, Nurni. Thanks. And Aunt Wendy celebrated her birthday yesterday. We missed her dinner as we've been cursed with the plague in our house this week, but we hope she had a great day.

Oh, Birthday Week!! (Or Month) I sense this whole thing will start to become more and more exhausting.

Happy Birthday Love Bugs.

Quotes of the Day:

"Dada, I wanna cheese ball." Parker (his first full sentence)

Doctor: "So, Eliana, you have a cough and a fever and runny nose. What is bugging you the most?" Eliana: "Ummmm....Parker!!"

Big Stuff

Derrick likes to sing me Micheal Buble songs. I think it's because he has a secret desire to be a lounge singer. Once, in a karaoke bar when I was pregnant with Parker, he sang me "Everything" and I cried my eyes out. I'm not a crier. I blame hormones. And Derrick's amazing eyes...

But these days I'm singing a particular Buble line myself. I think it goes something like, "It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me. And I'm feeling good." (Come on, you know you wanna sing along. Come on. Do it...)



But "irregardless" of the sing-song factor, it's true. I've been bowled over with the sentiment over the past few weeks. For one thing, I'm working a little bit on a new project and it has made me realize that my "baby days" are behind me. Don't get me wrong, our kiddos are little guys, but they're not babies anymore. It's actually possible for me to leave them for periods of time. Not so a couple of years ago. And having something that isn't directly related to their immediate needs is something I haven't experienced in four years. Even more than that, Little Miss & Mr. Big Stuff SHOW me that they're big - we're in a new part of our little family life - and that's amazing.

We went to the Zoo one weekend. And the swimming pool. And to the play land. And the park. And shopping. We can do things and go places and I don't immediately think "Why on earth did we think that was a good idea?" when we get home. It's moderately awesome.

My kids. They're big stuff. 4 and 2 in the next couple of weeks. Where has the time gone? Everyone tells you it goes by too quickly...but I'm feeling good.

Quotes of the Day:

"Okay, mama." - little P
"I need to hide these eggs from that mean old Easter Bunny! I don't want him to take them! And mom, you'd better lock the door so he can't get in" - Eggiana
"It's like 2012 inside my body," - Mr. Pope on whether or not he's dying.
"Mom, you look like a refrigerator with shoes." - Mr. Michael to his SKINNY mama Katie. ;)

Rock, Chick, Rock....

A Day at the Zoo

It's been too long since we had a trip to the Zoo. We love the Zoo. So our Monday-Fun Day trip included some running around the Denver Zoo on a particularly beautiful day. Grandma Barbie meet us downtown and walked around with us for hours. And then Parker slept for 4 hours once we got home. Gosh, I love the Zoo.

Looking at the Cheetah.

Parker kind of liked the carousel. Kind of.

Elle had to switch from the Giraffe to the Zebra mid-ride. Can't miss anything....

Quotes of the Day:
"Hi Grandma!" ~Parker
"But I don't like surprises!!!!" ~ Elle (being just like her mom....)

Play Date

Nice face, love muffin.

So cute.

Little Reece.

Play House

Danika, Reece, Elle & Park (Parker was just a wee bit excluded from the girly stuff)

The play house floral arrangements...

It was a wonderful (almost Spring!) day and we loved the chance to play outside for a bit. Can't wait for more sunshine and more playing in the Pope backyard. We're almost to March....the month I cry a little because I'm done with Winter but Winter is not done with me.

I'm Not As Bad As They Say....

I love this. The above picture is that of Sofia Vergara who plays the Step-Mom character on one of my newly adopted favorite shows, Modern Family. She is amazing. Well, she appears to be amazing, it's not like we're friends or anything and I get to bring personality into the equation. The photo of the left is here sans make up and hair and the one on the right is obviously camera-ready.

She's gorgeous. And funny. And sassy. And normal. And the above picture is proof of that. And I don't mean that in the "Haha, I want to ruin your dreams and prove that you're not as hot as you think you are" kind of way that some people get off on. I mean it in the "Oh, so you're a real person who just happens to look pretty much amazing most of the time," kind of way.

And I like it because it reminds me that we all try to put the best part of ourselves out there on a regular basis. And sometimes that's not real. Or true. Or maybe it is, but that's not the whole story. And people base envy and jealousy and probably more angry emotions than these on appearances. Like when I admitted to a friend with a job and a newborn and a three-year-old that I'm sure my kids watch more TV than they should (because I think they should watch none) and she was so relieved to learn that she's not the only one that feels bad about the TV monster. Or when I go other mom's houses and everything is so clean. I feel like my house is never clean...unless someone is coming over. So I spruce it up. But that's not really what it looks like on any normal day....

I like to be reminded of normal. It doesn't pop up that often.

Quote of the Day:
"When I'm big and Parker is big I'll take him for walks in the park. You don't have to come if you don't want to, Mom. We'll be fine." ~ Elle
"Fix Truck!!!" ~ Parker, about every truck in the house that has no tires because he has bitten them off.

In 'Da Club

It's funny how the absence of something makes you appreciate it so much more.

Like this little face:

And this one, too:

The kids stayed with pretty much all of their grandparents over the course of one weekend while we jetted off to the land of $6 Steak & Eggs, Poker Jack and Gin & Tonics. I'm pretty sure they had the best time ever with their much adored Mamas & Papas.

Elle even held a tarantula and was quick to tell me that I wouldn't get a sticker at the Butterfly Pavilion because I'm too scared to hold a tarantula. She's smart, that one.

And Parker has run around the house squealing, "Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama!" for the last 48 hours. I think he missed me. A little.

The hubz and I had such a wonderful vacation, which wasn't really a vacation. Only because at this point in my life I need SLEEP and REST and those sorts of things in order to come home refreshed and energized and those things don't really happen in Vegas. But we did dance and laugh and eat. And had a really good time. We're cool like that.


And we did get to help bestow the joy of marriage on some very good friends. It's a little club, this marriage thing. And they got in.

Marriage is kind of like the club "Marquee" at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Vegas. It helps to know someone in order to get in. All those married folks can show you the way and hold your hand if you get scared and walk you right to the front of the line without having to pay cover....

Hmmmm. Bad analogy. Okay so you don't really need an "in" to get married. But a happy, successful marriage is easier if you surround yourselves with other happy married people. It makes you feel a little less crazy when your idea of a good time is installing new shutters on your house and having everyone over on New Year's Eve to play "Life."

So, welcome to the club Mike & Erika. May your marriage be as fun as your wedding.

Quote of the Day:
"Mommy, I miss you sooo much when you're gone. You're my favorite." ~Elle
"Mommy, I want a new family...." ~ Elle, the next day, while sitting in time-out