Nana and Pop Visit

Mom and Dad decided to make a last minute trip to see us in Denver this weekend. Yeah! They hadn't see the boys since the end of June so it was definitely time for a visit. We had grand plans of getting to a pumpkin patch over the weekend, but the weather had other ideas.

They arrived on Friday in the early afternoon; we took a walk around the neighborhood and they both enjoyed a little nap. After we picked up both the boys from school, we headed to happy hour at The Fresh Fish Company and Marshall met us after work. Mom and I took Drake to the Fall Festival at his school where he enjoyed decorating cookies, playing games, and going through a "spooky" house. Check out Dr. Drake....




Saturday brought a lazy day watching the debacle that was the Nebraska/Iowa State game, a walk in the park for Mom and Dad (with Drake leading the way on his bike), and haircuts for the boys at Sport Clips. We wrapped up the night with a nice dinner and a birthday cake to celebrate the October birthdays of Nana and Pop.



Nana and Pop with their birthday cake



The boys helping to blow out the birthday candles

Sunday, of course, went way too quickly. We enjoyed breakfast at New York Deli News - a trip back in time and a nice place to grab a casual breakfast with kids. We played some games in the afternoon and then said good-bye to our visitors. Like Dad said before they left, these visits mean even more than they did in the past. How true that is.







WE LOVE YOU NANA AND POP!

Nebraska Wesleyan Memory Lane

The Peavy sorting project is coming along slowly, but surely. This week I uncovered a box with some items from my days at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, Nebraska - home of the Prairie Wolves (well, when I attended it was home of the Prairie Men and Women).....

My first find were my shoes for "Touch of Class" swing choir. I only had these on for 5 minutes and I'm not really sure how I danced in these shoes!!! What a great time I had in this group - such good friends I made.

Memories of road tripping across the country in a van, the always interesting home stays, the much anticipated "free night" in a hotel - on Colfax in Denver, in Amarillo, Texas on a Tuesday night (and heading out for the evening to find a 1/2 country music ; 1/2 hip hop dance club). And the enjoyment of singing and performing - I still miss it.

This actually reminds me that I still have my swing choir outfit up in the closet - if I get really brave, I'll post a picture of it.....




My second find of the night was my bright yellow "Ambassadors" jacket. The Ambassadors organization was a group of students that gave prospective students and their parents a tour of the Nebraska Wesleyan campus. I always enjoyed promoting my university - I have such good memories of this place and the life long friends I made there.

The two things I do remember about Ambassadors (neither of which have to do with giving tours).

1. Part of the process for becoming an Ambassador was a group interview. I remember answering the question about "what was the best quality in an Ambassador" with the answer of honesty (and I do have to say that I gave a pretty good answer); and then someone right after me didn't have a clue and completely copied my answer which I thought was pretty comical.
2. Trying (unsuccessfully) as President of the organization to have ramifications for Ambassadors that didn't show up to give tours. It's funny what memories stick with ya.
   

Losing Childhood Innocence

This week, we purchased Drake's Halloween costume. It was a bitter sweet moment for me. For the last 3 years, Drake has worn a firefighter costume for Halloween. Halloween would come; Drake would head downstairs to get his costume. He had no clue that he could get a new costume.

However, this year was different. I was of course happy to have him realize we could go shopping for a new costume - signally his big boy status - he's almost 6 of course. But, at the same time, I was a bit sad that he no was no longer heading down to the basement to pull out his firefighter costume one more time. Nope. It was Tanner's turn to head to the basement and pull out the firefighter costume - he didn't blink an eye when we walked out of the store with a costume for Drake and not him. I wonder if this will be the last year I'll have a firefighter or if I'll be able to celebrate Tanner's childhood innocence next year.

Red Sky at Night......

Yesterday morning when we woke up, the sun was just starting to rise. I opened Drake's shade and showed him the pretty red sky. I then told him the phrase:

Red sky at night,
Sailor's delight.
Red sky in morning,
Sailor's warning.

And proceeded to tell him the story behind this and that there was a storm moving in.

When I picked him up from school in the drizzle, he told me, "Daniel wore shorts and a short sleeve shirt. He must not have seen the red sky". Indeed Drake - Daniel must not have a cool mom like you that can "read the sky" (and watches the weather :)

Weather Extremes

Crazy Colorado weather........




FRIDAY



SATURDAY

Things I am Loving Right Now

Here are a few things I'm enjoying these days.

1. The fact that my almost 3 year old has not figured out how to crawl out of his crib yet.
   
2. Drake's bike riding skills.
3. Tanner's big, and sometimes mischievous, smile.
4. Hearing all the teachers say they enjoy having Drake in their classroom during our first parent teacher conference.
   
5. Drake doing so well in his first grade math and reading classes.
6. My wonderful husband and all he does.
7. The turning of the fall leaves.
   
8. College football - GO BIG RED!
   
9. Fantasy football - even though my teams leave something to be desired this year.
   
10. The new washer and dryer.
11. A nice glass of wine with dinner.

And a few things I am not.......

1. Tanner's complete lack of interest in potty training at home.
   
2. Boys with cabin fever on cold days.
   
3. Job uncertainty.
4. Sorting the basement. Sigh.

The good thing is the top list is much more robust than the latter list. And for that, I am very thankful.

Lobster Dinner aka Doing Our Part to Support Public Education

Marshall and I hosted our good friends for a lobster dinner on Saturday night. Drake's school held a fund raiser and we thought it would be a great opportunity to have some friends over in support of public education (ok, and have some good conversation, food, and wine).

The boys were great and now that bedtime is so early, we were able to put them to bed and enjoy a kid free dinner. What a great night!



The lobsters waiting for their fate.


Yummy dinner.



Doing our part to support public education.



Ready for dinner.



Enjoying a good night with friends.