Peck Pops

Today Andrew asked me if I can "Pop my Pecks"...

What would you say?

Pogo Powah!

Apparently my daughter learned how to ride a Pogo Stick while I wasn't looking.  I dont know why, but this is really amusing to me.  Pogo-stick-riding ranks right up there with spinning around in circles... it's one of those totally pointless activities that is all about just having fun.  Congrats Katie.

PS  Thanks Maddie and Lexi, I think...

PSS  Andrew, hopping on one foot doesn't count

That's a 2-Page Dragon

Clever solution from my son. Here's what you do when you paint your big dragon a little bigger than your big piece of paper. Just add more paper!

Today

Was levelling Hammerhoof, Saphire, and Hix

Waffles and eggs

A really hot shower

Buying Andy his first real sunglasses

Listening to Tom Sawyer with the windows rolled down and the warm spring sun

Making wooden weapons of medieval mayhem

Catch with my son

A bike ride with my daughter

Painting clever canvass

Some guitar

Flying a kite

Chasing an escaped kite across the neighborhood

Loving a reclaimed kite

Some more guitar

Playing magic vs Andy

Talking about which things are best in life

Thinking I am very lucky to have days like this

Spring Vacation 2012

Spent the past few days up at Copper Mountain for spring break.  Ski trips are really something special for us as a family right now.  Its something everyone loves, and we can all do together.  We are able to get away from the craziness of everyday life, get to a beautiful place, and just have fun.  It's something  healthy too.

It's amazing how fast the kids are getting.  Yesterday I figgured I would take off ahead of the pack and wait for them down the hill -- so I turned on the burners and hit it hard for about 30 seconds.  I stop and look back, and her the WHOLE family is right behind me still!  The kids have big grins on their faces and Jen comes in last looking harried and concerned...  I can only imagine that by next year we are going to have a hard time keeping up.  My dad once told me that there is a magic day when you are skiing with you kids when you all go the same speed...  the day after you are never able to keep up with them again.  I fear that time is coming soon.

Cant wait to get up there again and to try and find a way to get more days on the mountain next year.

PS - For my dedicated blog followers (if I have any) I have been spending more time posting on Facebook lately, so please follow me there and or on Instagram if you want to get the daily doings on us.

Flat Stanley

Flat Stanley entry by Andrew.

Katie-tine

Total Awesomeness.

Cabo

We spent the weekend in Cabo, no kids!  What a blast.  Almost missed the flight out due to a forgotten passport, so I was ready for mucho cervezas when we got there.  The place was beautiful, and the weather was perfect.  It all went so fast and now its back to the grind.  Many thanks to the Grandma and Grandpa for the babysitting and everything else.

Getting Ready for Valentines

With Valentine's Day approaching quickly, the kids are tasked with making boxes that will hold the Valentines they receive from their classmates.  For most people this is kind-of a hassle because you have to go find a bunch of supplies.  But most people don't have Grandma Kari...   She showed up with a massive amount of cool things that the kids were able to use for their project!  Thanks Kari for the supplies and for the help ;)

Sledding and Superbowls

Before settling down with the rest of you to watch the big game, we decided to do some sledding at the hill across the street.  This video has me, Katie, Andrew, and our neighbor-girl all in ONE sled.  We were cruising pretty fast toward a tree and I had to plant a foot to slow us down and change course, which is what causes all the snow to drench us (and the camera).

(And yes, that ridiculous groaning is me)

More Snow

Dumped on today.  Andy was an enthusiastic shoveler.

Lots of snow and Secondteen

We got ourselves a good-ol-fashioned blizzard today.  I'd say its about a 4 on a scale of 1-10 but it still qualifies.  School is closed.  Kids are home.  Unfortunately I still have to work.

Andy woke me up this morning with this:

*Andy crawls into bed with me*

Andy:  Dad, are you awake?

Me:  Ughhh, what time is it?

Andy:  Mmmmm, abouuuut...  6:29

Me:  Awesome, what's up?

Andy:  I just named a new number!

Me:  Really, what's it called?

Andy:  Secondteen!

Me:  Cool, where does it go, what is it's value?

Andy:  It comes in place of twelve.  And I want to rename eleven to Firstteen too.

Me: Excellent, can I go back to sleep now?

Andy:  OK

While I was unable to really appreciate the value (no pun intended) of these new number names at the time, I think they make a lot of sense now.  I mean, who was the donkey that invented eleven and twelve...? They make no sense when compared to all the other 1s and 2s in the rest of the number system.

Guess what

I'm kinda desperate for blog topics this week.  Maybe I've just been working too hard.  So I took this picture, wondering if anyone can guess what it is...?

B.I.P.

This week Andrew was BIP (Berry Important Person) in his class.  Essentially, he gets to have a bunch of special  privileges throughout the week, like always being first in line, picked first, and stuff like that.  On the last day of the week (today) he gets to have a parent come to class and read a book.  I did the best "Sneeches" reading I could muster.  The kids were great and asked a ton of questions.  After the reading, mommy showed up with some McDonalds!  We pulled Katie from her class and had a family lunch in the cafeteria.   Good stuff.

Slideshow

Here are the pics from 2011...

(Tip:  you can view the slideshow in LARGE fullscreen by pressing:  in the bottom right corner of the YouTube window.)