9-7, Rockies Game

You know what kind of week it's going to be when your best friend tells you she's moving to France.  Yep, France.  And what kind of week is it, you may ask?  As I type this, Emalie is asleep upstairs, Nikolas will soon be coming home from school, Sven is at a class, and....and......our kitchen sink has fallen through the counter and is sitting in the cupboard underneath it with all of the water that was in it at the time.  And what am I doing?  Blogging.  Yep, blogging.  (Ok, in all fairness, I did get as much water out of it as I could....the rest is dripping through the basement ceiling.  Sigh....)  When all else fails, denial is a favored approach in my book.  (I'd post a picture of it here, but that wouldn't help my denial if I were sitting here staring at it, now would it?) I foresee a trip or two to Home Depot when Sven gets home.  Thad was sweet enough to tell me how to fix it, but I don't really feel this is a task I'm up for alone.  I'll wait for the reinforcements to arrive.  So, I digress, staring at my kitchen sink... no longer where it normally is..... is what it feels like when your best friend tells you news such as "I'm moving to France".  It's unsettling.  It took me back to 8th grade when this very same best friend told me her family was moving away (and only a few months before high school started at that!).  So, I'm a lot older and wiser now, right?  Not so much.  I am SO happy for her.  I am SO sad for me.  That really is the long and short of it.  And what, you ask, does this have to do with a baseball game?!  Well, because I'm really thankful that not only did we get to experience another fun family outing this last weekend, but I was so happy that my friend was able to join us.  I'm sure there were a few rows of people around us who weren't so thrilled, because we gabbed the entire time.  We really did enjoy ourselves, and I think everyone else enjoyed the game.  We weren't sure how Emalie was going to handle a baseball game given the length and missing her nap, but she was a trooper.  Nikolas brought a friend, too.  It was a good day -- a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon.  I found out the Rockies even won the game.  LOL...... sigh.....so that's one less time I get to see my friend before she leaves and my kitchen sink is still sitting in the cupboard.  Crap.  What can you do?

Emalie's first baseball game!

Nikolas and his friend.

Emalie has no idea what this 7th inning stretch is all about.

Heather, me and Emalie

8-31, Mt. Evans

In an effort to get back on track to actually doing things on the weekend (besides vacuuming, mowing, laundry, shopping, etc) and exploring the unanswered questions we have about Colorado, we set out for a day trip into the mountains.  It's pretty crazy to realize that a mere 2 hours from our house and we were standing on top of a 14,000+ foot mountain.  What was a mild day in the front range was a frigid day up there.  The temperature at the summit was in the 30s, but with the wind chill it hovered around 0 degrees.  It was SO COLD!  Nikolas didn't even want to get out of the car and Emalie wouldn't uncling (if this isn't officially a word, I'm making it one-- right here, right now....)  herself from Sven.  We drove almost to the top and climbed a short hike to the summit.  It really did look like Arctic tundra.  After surviving the elements, we headed into Idaho Springs for lunch.  You know you've crossed a line somewhere when you find a pizzeria that offers gluten-free, dairy-free pizza and you're excited.....incredibly excited.  (Honestly, I don't know the last time I ordered pizza in a restaurant.)  Nikolas was just happy that we actually WENT to a pizzeria for lunch (that rarely happens these days given the previous sentence).  When all was said and done, we thoroughly enjoyed our family outing.  Hopefully, we'll be able to have more trips like this one in the coming months!  Ironically, we timed our trip (unintentionally) during the last weekend the road to the summit of Mount Evans would be open.  I can't even imagine what that road would be like in the middle of winter.  It's scary enough during dry weather.  By the way, we saw our first snow of the season up there....yes, it was actually snowing!

I love these sweet moments between them.

8-18, Em's 1st day of Preschool

When the adoption process evolved from a 6.5 year faceless wait to the reality of bringing home a baby (a real baby!), a lot of things ran through my mind.  One of those thoughts was how my daily routine was going to change from a 10-year old in school all day to one filled with diapers and naps.  Needless to say, it was a little daunting.  As I've said before, I went from being the 'young mom' to Nikolas to the 'old mom' to this baby in the blink of an eye.  It's funny how kids can affect your perception of age.  Well, something happened, and I blinked again.....yep, blinked those tears right out of my eyes as the weeks approaching the start of preschool were upon us.  (And, yep, blinking again right now, blink, blink, blink,  as I type this).  I can't believe that wobbly baby we caught first glimpse of in Wuhan, China, is now 3 and heading off to school.  HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?!  I'm the first to admit that I'm not the best stay at home mommy of a young child;  I don't love the mommy groups or the mornings in the park.  But what I do love (and miss), are those PJ mornings cuddling with my little girl and exploring the neighborhood on our walks together (to name only two!).  Now, the time has come that I must share her with the rest of the world.  That's a difficult concept to accept.  It reminds me of when Nikolas started preschool and he came home one day and told me a story about something that had happened in school.  I cried.  I cried because it was the first time that I wasn't there with him to experience the event that sparked the story.  I used to know all of his stories.  Now, I was becoming an audience and not an active participant to the events of his day.  (blink, blink, blink......)  And here it's happening again, sending our little one out into the world to have her own experiences.  Yesterday, when I picked her up from school and was strapping her into her carseat, the school bus pulled into the parking lot.  Thinking I still had one up on her I said, "Emalie, do you know what the wheels on a school bus do?"  I then started singing that song.  Do you know what she did?  She sang with me and completed all the other verses by herself.  SIGH.  I guess she did know what those wheels (and kids, and doors....) do afterall-- and I didn't even teach her that.  And, this little girl LOVES school.  On Friday night as I was tucking her into bed, we were talking about "no school on Saturday, no school on Sunday, school on Monday".  Do you know her response?!  "That makes me sad.  I like school."  Tthat she does.  When I told her goodbye this morning in her classroom, I said, "Come give me a hug.  Aren't you going to give me a hug?"  Do you know what she said?!  "I already told you goodbye."  Sheesh.  As my dad always told me, 'the only thing constant is change.'  Isn't THAT the truth!!

Emalie is explaining to bear that she is going to go to school and he gets to stay home with mommy.

No Minnie Mouse or Dora for this girl.  Now, she has a Spiderman hoodie to finish off the ensemble. You just gotta laugh......

Emalie's very first homework assignment:  "All about ME". No dolls or princess dresses for this little girl (spoiler alert:  just wait 'til you see what she picked out for Halloween!)!

8-2, Pinery Picnic

Every year, our neighborhood hosts a neighborhood picnic and fishing derby.  Every year, our realtor sponsors free horseback rides for the kids.  Emalie is STILL talking about the 'horse she rode yesterday' from last year.  Nikolas got up early and headed to the lake with Sven and his friend to join the fishing derby.  No fishing trophies from the derby this year, and unfortunately I don't have a picture of him fishing either.  What I do have are photos from Emalie's many horseback rides though. She loved it and was fearless.  You'll see at which point mommy was fearful!

ROUND 1 

ROUND 2

ROUND 3

Is my baby falling OFF the horse?!?!  Thank goodness she didn't fall off anymore than that.  The cowboy and I were both a little shaken, but Emalie took it all in stride.  Future cowgirl?!

7-18, Arvo!

Two days after we got home from vacation, we got a phone call out of the blue.  It was Arvo!  For those of you who don't know or remember Arvo, let me introduce or remind you.  Sven, Arvo and I graduated from the same class at the academy (in our own circles of friends with separate degrees).  Arvo and I had a lot of our classes together, and we were great friends throughout our time at KP.  (It's really hard to refrain from telling story after story at this point, like "remember the time...." LOL.....).  Fast forward past graduation to Pensacola, where Sven and Arvo were both going through flight school together while I was living in New Orleans.  They became great friends.  Fast forward another few years, and who's the best man at our wedding?  Of course, Arvo!  (And, you know who Arvo marries?  The girlfriend he brought with him to our wedding, of course!) You know how life gets busy:  families, jobs, moves, etc, etc.  We don't correspond or see Arvo and his family nearly as often as we would like.  So, when Arvo calls out of the blue and asks if we have time to see him during a layover at the airport, the answer is a most definite YES!  Arvo, it was so nice spending a few hours with you.  Let's do it again soon!

9-9, Time to catch up!

As my phone has become smarter and I have become dumber, I feel like I have joined the masses who take lots of pictures with your phone....and leave them there.  I haven't yet created a system to balance all of the photos I am taking with my phone and cameras.  Therefore, my blog is falling behind and my motivation is lacking. Time to conquer the mess of 'a picture here and a picture there' and 'I know I took a picture of it....Where is it?  Was it on the phone?  The camera?  I don't know!'  Time to get organized so I can once again be on top of our memory keeping!  Heck, if I can keep track of over 1,000 photos taken on a phone and two cameras over the course of a 3+ week trip, surely I can get caught up now.....right? Ready....Set.....ORGANIZE!  I'll meet you back in a few (just a few!), I promise!  Until then, enjoy this funny photo of our quirky kids!