Snow, Glorious Snow

It's December 30th in Denver and we finally have some snow. It seems that all the snow this year has been everywhere - the mountains, the mid west, the east coast - except here. After several days at home, the boys were excited to do something "new". They even asked to go out and shovel the walks - yippee for us!

The only downside to the snow was that our visitors were not able to make it. D-man cried and asked if we could save the food and tape the game so we could have them over later (unfortunately, I couldn't wait to watch the Husker game). D-man gets excited when we invite guests over and we don't do it quite often enough. Like his father, he's a social guy. I'm making a New Year's resolution to invite more people over. Not only will it make my son happy, it's good for us to see our friends more often (and get the house picked up)!

Christmas

We've had a wonderful Christmas week here at the Peavy household. Marshall and I were off from work on Thursday and Friday last week which made the holiday preparations much more relaxing. We also enjoyed having Marshall's parents here with us for the week to celebrate the magic of Christmas with the boys. The boys enjoyed crafts, making cookies, playing games, and watching magic tricks. T-man didn't leave the house/yard or get out of pajamas for six days. He was loving being home and taking it all in.

We enjoyed the Karlen tradition of fish chowder and grasshoppers on Christmas Eve and had the Peavy turkey dinner on Sunday. What a wonderful Christmas. We have so much to be thankful for and being able to see the magic of Christmas in the boys' eyes is priceless.

frosting cookies

the Peavy family

Christmas Eve dinner

cookies and milk for Santa

Santa came! (D-man got up at 4:45 to check)

the most popular present - the Bronco helmet (he wore it all day)

The Peavy's wish you joy and love this holiday season and always.

Picture Joy Christmas

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Birthday Boy

It looks as if Santa has already been to our house - and yet, it is only December 19th. That's what happens when one of your children celebrates a birthday in December. This was the first year our youngest had a "big" birthday party.  We hosted several of his classmates and their siblings at the DU gymnastics arena. They enjoyed dancing, trampolines, and the foam pit. The activities were followed by pizza and cupcakes. T-man had a great time and was a great birthday boy.

I know that having a birthday in December will be difficult as he gets older, but I remember what a special Christmas we had the year he was born. It was quite magical to celebrate the season with a
 brand new baby in the house.  And now, I can hardly believe that my baby is now such a big boy.

Dancing around

with big brother

foam pit!

birthday boy!

with all his gifts under the tree

Happy birthday to my sweet, rambunctious and silly boy!

Holiday Cheer

The past two weeks have been filled with lots of holiday cheer. I love this time of year. We finished decorating the house - both inside and out. D-man had Marshall on the roof both Saturday and Sunday. D-man was definitely instrumental in getting us all decked out for the holidays this year. 

Decorating the tree

Last weekend, we also had breakfast with Santa and took in the Parade of Lights. After we saw Santa at breakfast and at the parade, D-man brought up the fact that he had seen two Santas in one day. I started down the road of Santa needing helpers because he has to be so many places at once and he is busy getting ready for Christmas. D-man followed suit and said, "Yes, the one in the float wasn't real. He was a helper. We saw the real one at breakfast."  I loved it.

Breakfast with Santa

The "real" Santa

Parade of Lights

On Thursday, we attended Drake's winter concert. As I helped him get ready for the concert, I was remembering how excited I would get when I was getting ready for my concerts. I could see the excitement in his eyes as well. He took the performance very seriously and we enjoyed the performance.

All dressed up for the concert

Last night, we attended Zoo Lights. This year was one of the best! There were more lights and the weather was great. We also got to enjoy the company of our friends this year and catch up with them as we toured the zoo. Holiday lights will definitely get you in the spirit.

Zoo Lights

Las Vegas!

Marshall. Me. Las Vegas. Doesn't get much better than this. Before I met Marshall, I had never been to Las Vegas. And then within 8 months, we went three times (ok. so one of those one was for work and he joined me). But, I still love to tell that story. So, I think it was only fitting that we celebrated Marshall's 40th birthday in Sin City. Marshall enjoyed a day with his high school friend, we enjoyed nice meals, seeing the sites, taking in a show, and a bit of gambling (poker for Marshall, video poker for me).  The weather was great and the weather back home was crappy (sorry Mom and Dad).  I couldn't have ask for a better trip and a better husband.  Here's to many more birthdays to celebrate!

the birthday boy!

Enjoying the hot tub

out on the town

The Magic of Christmas

Our Christmas Village

We arrived home from our day long travels back from California around 5:00 on Sunday evening. The boys traveled wonderfully, but it was still a long day. And yet, when we got home, my eldest wanted to decorate the house for Christmas. He was practically dragging me to the basement to start getting the decorations. Even though I was all set on relaxing after a day of travels, D-man had other plans. I was so happy he did.

It won't be long before he won't want anything to do with Christmas decorations or putting up the tree. He'll be all about getting the gifts and not giving them. Soon he will not believe in Santa. So, when he is getting me in the holiday spirit, I'm game. And, when T-man joined the fun (albeit just for a short time), I was truly feeling the magic of Christmas with my boys. We put up the Christmas village. We took turns deciding which building went on which bookcase. We carefully placed them on the shelves. T-man made a forest out of the trees (which was soon redistributed to more desirable locations by his older brother). We had fun and admired our work.

Tonight we got out the little Christmas trees that we put in their bedrooms. My eldest always takes the one with the colored lights. T-man was just happy his had lights (even though half the string is out). Both boys kissed their trees (without any prompting at all) before bed. It makes me so happy that I can build these memories with my boys. They may not remember, but I certainly will. And I'll cherish that magic forever.

Why I Never Go to the Mall

Tonight we ventured to Rock Bottom Brewery at the request of our two sons (it was the highlight of Nana and Pop's visit last week and they wanted to return). The boys were able make their own pizzas and Marshall and I got to have happy hour drinks (and reminisce about our first ever trip to Rock Bottom Brewery over 11 years ago).

Marshall left to meet friends and I decided to take the boys to the mall to make a couple returns. And yup, now I know why I love online shopping and only go to Target. After having T-man fall in the parking lot, using the opportunity to teach my eldest a lesson about listening to his Mom (he chose not to bring a coat), having to give the kids a lesson on not making fun of people (there was a very obese man at the mall), and having my eldest not make it to the bathroom in time, I have a feeling that future trips to the mall will be few and far between. And yet, we had a good time. We got cookies. We checked out the fountain. I got time with my boys, and we jammed out to the song "Dynamite" on the way home.  It wasn't the most productive trip, but after a week of being at work, hanging out with two of my favorite guys in the world, even at the mall, is alright.

Making pizzas

Another pizza master

So Much to be Thankful For

Today, Marshall and I were able to have "Thanksgiving Dinner" with our youngest at his montessori school. We were able to enjoy lunch, watch him do some yoga with his friend, and have him show us some "work". It was a nice break in the day and just some time to reflect on all we have to be thankful for.

Yoga pose

Thanksgiving "dinner"

Dinosaur "work"

San Diego 2010

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(Bitter)Sweet Halloween

It was a beautiful Halloween night here in Denver. And it was a bittersweet one for me as D-man went trick or treating with our neighbor boy. So, no family outing around the neighborhood this year. I was happy that D-man has a friend he can actually go with. After all my lamenting about the lack of neighborhood feel here, I should be so happy about this. However, it means my little boy is growing up and eventually his younger brother will be bummed that his big brother doesn't want to go with us. But, this year, T-man was just fine and only was interested in going to a couple houses.

So for now, I'll be happy that my son had a good time trick or treating with his friend. And cherish the fact that he still wanted to carve a pumpkin with his Dad.

Our little Transformer

Darth Vadar!

Sunny San Diego

the view from the Cabrillo National Monument

I don't think I can truly do our trip to San Diego justice in a blog. I don't think we could have planned it more perfectly, ordered up better weather, or had a better time to travel. Besides T-man battling some sort of illness, the trip was pretty much perfect. Here's a quick rundown of our trip.

• Flew in Wednesday, ordered tacos from a local place and hit the beach with our wonderful tour guide (and former co-worker of mine). We were actually in the water and basically had the beach to ourselves. We then hit the pool and the hot tub. We stayed two nights with my friend and her family - how lucky we were to have such great hosts and be able to catch up in person as well! 
• Thursday took us to LegoLand for the entire day. Besides the vomit in the middle of park thanks to T-man, it was a perfect day. It was in the 80's and the park felt almost empty. Once again, we barely waited in line and the boys got to ride a ton of rides. Highlights included the entire family on the dinosaur roller coaster, touring Miniland USA, and just seeing the joy in the boys' eyes.  
• SeaWorld was our destination on Friday.  We saw the Shamu (Marshall and D-man got soaked) show, touched bat rays, went through the shark encounter, fed sea lions, and enjoyed a family ride on the Journey to Atlantis (among other things). At the end of the day, we truly felt like we were the only ones in the park. We definitely were spoiled with the limited crowds and lines. 
• We checked into the hotel on Friday night, hit the hot tub, watched the sun set, and had happy hour drinks and food at the hotel bar.
• T-man slept in Saturday morning while D-man and I hung out with our coffee and hot cocoa waiting for the rain to stop. Fortunately, the sun came out and it was a beautiful day. We headed downtown to have lunch at Seaport Village.  We walked along the water and admired the boats (D-man was very impressed with the aircraft carrier). We then headed to the Cabrillo National Monument and met my friend from grad school and her family. The view was amazing and then the kids really enjoyed playing down in the sand (it was high tide so we didn't get to see the tide pools). We wrapped up the afternoon with a trip for ice cream. 
• Saturday night was lounging at the hotel with a trip to the hot tub, take out, and watching the Buff game. 

We returned Sunday in time to unpack, do laundry, have dinner, and partake in Halloween activities. What a perfect, perfect vacation.

Here are a few pics - you can view them all by clicking on this link. 

Beach on Wednesday

fun in the sand

Legoland!

made of Legos - wow!

Shamu!

Atlantis Ride

Atlantis Ride

Sunset

There are tide pools underneath that high tide

loving the water and the waves