11-27, Plugged In

As a rule, we try to limit electronics for the kids-- tv, nintendo, Wii, etc, etc.  But there are times when  it has been earned and the kids relish in the stimulation of it all.  Here are two adorable samples......

Emalie loves to be near Nikolas when he's playing his games.  Notice that the only child who even notices I'm in the room is the one without an electronic game glued to her hand!

We haven't really exposed Emalie to the wonders of children's television....well, until this moment.  I was working on a complex financial activity (ironically accounting for and copying receipts for the adoption in preparation for next year's taxes) when I decided that it was worth it to both of us to give it a try.  Thankfully, I found Sesame Street on PBS-- this is Emalie's very first encounter with the Cookie Monster.  On a side note, she was much more impressed with Barney (who cane on afterwards).  It's easy to get sucked into the abyss of shows available for kids these days, and I'm hoping not to return any time soon! 

11-23, Tree Lighting

The town of Parker decided to celebrate dad's birthday, I mean celebrate the holiday kick-off, with the tree lighting at the town center.  I kept asking Sven -- "where's the Christmas tree???".  He explained, that the tree lighting is not for lighting A Christmas tree, it's for lighting ALL the trees in the park.    I guess I hadn't really thought about it until we arrived at the park and I didn't see the traditional decorated Christmas tree.  Who knows, maybe it's there, but with all the people we couldn't tell!  It was a brisk evening-- perfect for the festivities.  No snow, but that's ok-- we didn't need to be cold and wet!  We took a wagon ride around the town.  We would have liked to have taken a carriage ride around the town, but as newbies you learn things the hard way:   don't stand in the first line you come across because each line is for a different mode of transportation.  Really-- we hopped in the wagon line without knowing it and soon began to wonder why we were being herded into a wagon.  Oh well, being from Montana it's only appropriate it was a wagon.  However, I was thinking NY and was wishing for a carriage ride (and Central Park too......).  After the ride, there was some down time before the tree lighting.  We had hoped to enjoy the festive concert, but with all the people and crying kids we didn't hear much of the music.  Funny how as parents you partake in activities such as this for the kids, but when you actually do it all the kids seem to not be  enjoying it!  Oh well, 'A' for effort, I suppose.  Just when Nikolas was really starting to wish he had dressed more appropriately for the weather (hmm, hmm.....dare we say 'I told you so!') the countdown began (Emalie's favorite part-- she loves counting-- up, down, it doesn't matter to her.....).  When they reached "1", the whole park illuminated.  It was beautiful!!  So much more dramatic than a single tree, I must admit.  Even though we're on the outskirts of a big city, our little town of Parker is just that-- "little".  It's just our speed and we love it!

Bundled up and ready for the festivities.

Main Street, Parker

Carriage ride!  Oh, I mean WAGON RIDE!

This is just a small sampling of the lights-- really, very pretty!

11-22, Thanksgiving

Sometimes the best laid plans are the ones that get side-railed.  That's what happened to our Thanksgiving.  Last year we spent Thanksgiving alone and this year we didn't want a repeat of the small Thanksgiving table. We invited our friends from across the street to spend Thanksgiving with us.  We were all so excited and we had the menu pegged down to the last pie.  The week before Thanksgiving, Emalie got quite sick with a high temperature.  In the next few days, our friends' kids got the flu.  Fast-forward a few days and the mom got the flu.  Fast forward two more days and the Krauss family is again sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner alone.  Nope, not like we had planned at all!    We already had all the groceries for a big dinner, so Sven cooked as planned and we delivered the dinner to their doorstep.  I'm sure the day didn't turn out as planned for our friends either!  My poor friend couldn't get out of bed and is probably the only person I know how  lost  weight over Thanksgiving!!  We had a quiet day-- just the four of us.  But, that's even better than last year when it was just the three of us!  As we went around the table saying what we were thankful for, it was unanimous-- we are thankful for Emalie joining our family.  We couldn't love and cherish her more.  The ironic part, as we were all acknowledging our blessing, is that she was upstairs sleeping!  Dinner was ready early and we didn't want to wake her, so we saved it for her-- and she didn't try one bite!  Maybe next year.......

11-18, Private Karate Class

Nikolas has been pretty obsessed with his karate lately.  He's now taken this obsession to a whole new level:  teaching Emalie the basics.  Emalie is a pretty quick learner with her knowledgable teacher!

11-17, Watching Big Brother

Boys.  Snakes.  Shovels.  Work boots.  Yep, those are the makings of good Saturday afternoon entertainment if you're under 3' tall.  Emalie has figured out how to open the hall closet.  This wouldn't be a problem if we didn't have a 'no shoe policy' in the house and if the hall closet wasn't where we store our shoes.  As you can see here, Em has found Nikolas' boots (dirty, muddy boots, I might add).  Ironically, these are the boots that Nikolas should have been wearing.  He was outside digging a hole for his new-found snakes (quite a hole actually-- about 2' deep).  A friend of Nik's came along so they took turns digging this hole -- outdoor play area, I suppose-- for these snakes.  Emalie was drawn to the activity outside.  It was adorable to watch her watch them.  And so, the fascination of having an older sibling begins......

10-19, Pinery Sunset

I love our house.  I love Colorado.  I love the amazing, autumn sunsets viewed from our kitchen and back deck.  No photoshop, just pure nature.  Beautiful, isn't it?