Late 2014 Photo Album Part 1

Dear blog readers (all 5 of you, 3 of whom are my own children):

Let's just call a spade a spade.  My blogging for the second half of 2014 was a complete fail.  Yup!  Totally blown.  I missed my goal for this method of record-keeping by a mile and then some.  My only hope for making up for this is to finish off this year with a photo album of the fall's most significant events, and then promise to do better next year.

So, herein you will find my favorite pictures from September, October, November, and some of December, with a little commentary about the highlights thrown in.  And then I'll say a little prayer that I find a way to organize my time better in 2015 so that I can keep up with it.  Ha!  Here goes!

At the end of August, Trey needed a follow-up procedure for his hypospadia surgery that he had when he was 5 months old.  Neither experience was easy for me, but this was one was a little extra challenging because Trey was old enough to be aware of what was happening and to be scared about it.  I actually let him bring his binki to the hospital for comfort while we waited and while he recovered.  The hospital staff was really great with him and very gentle and understanding of his fears (I can't say the same for the surgeon himself, but he wasn't too bad).  

 

The hardest part for me was leaving him in the OR after holding him while they administered the anesthesia and he fell asleep in 10 seconds flat.  He was just so sweet and vulnerable lying there!  I had to turn away from his face while he breathed in the mask, so that I wouldn't end up inhaling too much.  As it was, I left feeling a little dizzy.  Ha!  This picture was taken after the procedure was complete and they had called me back to the recovery area to be there when he woke up.  You can see the skin irritation along his cheek where they had taped the tubes to his face.

Here he is in the recovery room, slowly waking and sipping on a little slushy drink (he hadn't been allowed to eat a thing since the night before).  What a sport he was!

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After the whole thing was over, I wheeled him out of the hospital in a little red wagon.  He was still a little soggy and in pain here, but he gave me a brave smile!

On to September!  This picture is one of my favorites because...well...just LOOK at those faces!  Are they not the cutest?  These kids were happy that I treated them to dinner at Larkburger one evening after we dropped off Chase and Daddy for an overnight scout campout.  Things can get crazy in the hours leading up to one of their campouts because there is so much packing and preparation to do.  Therefore, it's no surprise that I didn't feel much like cooking dinner. :)

Ah, my birthday!  It's true that I have arrived at the ripe old age of 44.  Yowza!  That sounds a whole lot older than I feel, that's for sure!  To celebrate my birthday I did a little yoga in the backyard as a warm-up with my little yogi.  He's pretty awesome at doing the poses right along with me, isn't he?  These shots just crack me up. :)

 

My birthday dinner!  I was saving room for cake and ice cream by choosing a Greek salad and toasted cibatta rolls for dinner.  So yummy!  I'm trying to choose meatless dinners at least once a week in honor of an aging digestive system.  Haha!  Honestly, my numbers are getting up there in terms of birthdays, but thanks to our commitment to a healthy lifestyle, I have never felt better.  Amazing!

And speaking of a healthy lifestyle--here's an example of my willingness to indulge my sweet tooth on special occasion (in honor of maintaining sanity and fun!).  This is my birthday cake...picture taken only after we had eaten half of it...because it was THAT good!  I think I overdid it on the chocolate glaze on top of this triple chocolate bundt cake.  But, hey, it was my birthday!  So, why not? :)

This was my last birthday when I was still taller than Chase.  Trust me, my height advantage was on its way out the door and down the street and out of town when this photo was taken!  It didn't last much longer.  Notice the birthday ankle bracelet from Coco.  She made it on her rubber band loom!

And this is a picture of Avery.  Needs no explanation.  Actually, I have no explanation.  He's just funny.  And cute!

Check out this awesome birthday gift from my BFF, Jen Julian!  It's a bread slicing guide, which we use regularly since I make all of our sandwich bread.  What an excellent idea, huh?

Another photo that I love, but can't really explain.  It's been a while, so I don't remember why Trey was playing with packing peanuts, or why he looked so violent about it.  But his cute face still gives me the giggles!

Chicken, corn, feta and blueberry salad.  Delicious!  But, I'm pretty sure I just took this picture because I loved the way this colorful salad looked in my pretty bowl.  Looking beautiful is half the battle, wouldn't you agree?

A picture from our super fun, once-a-month, homeschoolers gymnastics class.  These kiddos love this fun time every month!

Harvesting carrots from our semi-successful vegetable garden this year!

Our carrot harvest inspired me to make a few batches of carrot muffins, among other things.  Wow...yummy!  My recipe also called for applesauce, which I didn't have, so I had to learn quickly how to make applesauce from the apples in my fruit bowl.  It was really a snap.  And so, so good!  My Coco's face tells it all, doesn't it?

A cute picture of my cute girl on the trail one Saturday morning.  We were training together for her very first 5k run.  That's 3.1 miles, which is a lot for an 8-year-old!  She wanted to carry her water bottle (see fanny pack) and a (barely visible in her right hand) tumbleweed she found on the trail.  "Just in case it rains," she said, explaining that we could use it as an umbrella.  But conceding, of course, "it probably won't work very well."  Ha!  What a fun little Coconut!

Oh, our Day Out with Thomas!  This was a super fun event at the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden.  We used to make this trek out to see Thomas every year when our boys were little and HUGE fans of Thomas.  But, we haven't been out for many years as their interest turned to other things.  However, Thomas the Tank Engine has made a comeback in our house, thanks to the arrival of our last Little Buddy.  He loves Thomas, but has never been as much into Thomas as they were.   I think it's because with the big kids in the house, he is exposed to more things than they were.  Regardless, he absolutely loved this trip to see Thomas and ride the train.  Who wouldn't, right?

Daddy showing the little ones how to make a Thomas puppet at the arts and crafts table.

The Imagination Station.  So fun!

Waiting on the train for Thomas to take us on a ride.

The train ride is the best part!

Posing in front of Thomas the Tank Engine.

The conductor is punching our train tickets!

This goofball loves to make funny faces to keep his siblings laughing.  Here we were just finishing up dinner (they had iPie there!) and he was keeping everyone in stitches, wearing my sunglasses and being silly.

More funny faces.

Getting even more silly!

The silliest!

Inside a real steam engine, pretending to be the engineer.

Coco pulling the rope to ring the bell.

Avery pulling the rope to ring the bell.

Chase pulling the rope to ring the bell.

More fun at the railroad museum.

Here's the crew preparing to run the Dart for the Arts 5k to support the Young Artists' Alliance (the sponsor for the TASHCO piano competition and for Courtney's choir).  This was Coco's first 5k and she ran the whole way.  Avery also got a personal best on this race.  I was so proud!

This is a much more realistic photo of this crew.  Why do we bother posing?  This is much better because it demonstrates our family "personality.".  Haha!

Pulling up one's underpants really is a tricky business for a 3-year-old.  Observing this, I offered to Trey, "Hey, do you want some help with that?  Your waistband is a little screwy."  He answered, "Nope.  I got it." Grunt. Pull. Twist, Grunt. Tug. Grunt. "Dere.  Now my 'wasteland' is perfect!"  Oh, he kills me!

Another scout campout...this one being the first one for which Avery was also invited.  A spelunking and camping activity!  They had a great time, but I missed all my guys.

A friend of mine posted a recipe for making black beans in the crock pot.  Since we eat a lot of them, I was thrilled to try it out and make it part of my regular routine (it makes a ton, so I can freeze most of it in bags for later use).   I also love making my own salsa, so this was my first time making my favorite turkey taco salad with homemade salsa and black beans. Can we say yummy?  Yes!  Yummy! 

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Proof!  And material for blackmail in the future.  Trey is a big fan of the movie "Tangled."  Who isn't?  Anyway, he discovered that Coco had an old dress-up for the character Rapunzel, and he started asking to wear it whenever he watched the movie.  And why not?  He looks so cute! :)

Homeschool activity!  Making a replica of the Title of Liberty of Captain Moroni.  Everybody got in on the fun!

The finished product.  Moroni must have been a little sloppy with his cloak, don't you think?  The best part was that Trey called it "Ramoni's Tire of Livery."  Haha!

My "I Love America" class doing a role play about Columbus' journey to America.  Such a fun group of little people!

A playdate with our sweet little friend, Hyrum.  He is the only person in the world that Trey will speak to outside of our immediate family.  Well, we can get a "hi" for a few other people here and there.  But, I'm grateful Trey has this cute little buddy from church.  And Coco is the world's best babysitter.  She's got a gift for loving the little ones!