ski afternoons with my little gal

Lucy and I have taken some ski afternoons together this winter.
I strap on some ski's when It's just the two of us because she says.
"Mom I want you to ski just like me"
I can't resist.
I'm sad because I had all these great pics and videos of her showing her stuff .
"riding up the big time lift... not the baby one"
and
cruising down like it's no big deal.
But somehow I erased all the pre-hot chocolate pics. :(
next time...next time.
She likes to go fast and dislikes turning.
that makes this mama nervous.
She says she wants to be tricky and do the big jumps.
I distract her with hot chocolate in the lodge.

It's been a treat spending sunny afternoons up on the hill with her.
Seeing her progress and say goodbye to the bunny hill
and hello to the world of skiing!
So far so good.
She has been loving it!

You know it's Valentines when...

All your dishes in the sink have glitter all over them.

I think even the clean ones in the dishwater still have a little. :)
Glittery boxes were made
school class parties attended.
heart shaped cookies baked and frosted.
Dentist appointments
{wait! that's not suppose to happen! Holiday foul...what was I thinking?}
Home-made Valentines.
Secret Valentine's at the door.
But the mr. was missing tonight.
Out of town for work.
Setting up a conference till the break of dawn.
St. Valentine needs to shoot an arrow to whomever is in charge of conference scheduling.
So the kids and I made the best of it.
We ate a heart shaped pizza
decorated some cookies.
They told me how sad they were that "Dad was gone on Valentines"
So we called him
and
wrote love letters
and then it was off to bed.
I feel pretty lucky to have three little loves to wish me a Happy Valentine
and give me a kiss and a hug.
It made my lonely heart happy tonight.

Happy Love Day everyone!

{my battery charger as been lost...but found tonight! yay! I won't have to post old pics anymore}
{like these taken in Dec 2010}

The winner is....

Congratulations Lindsay!
and happy running!


Lindsay K. said...

Hey Monica, I'm looking for some new running shoes.

So I can get practicing for the Dirty Dash.

February 3, 2011 8:35 AM

I will e-mail you your gift certificate code.

The little peanut in charge of pulling out the winning name.

She is 100% trustworthy.

LOV to the E

I felt like i was being punished by mother nature yesterday?
I would open the door then...shut it...and then give myself a pep talk to brave the cold
before I would open it again.
For rock climbing it was worth it.
It wasn't for anything else.
Okay... except maybe rescuing the kids from their walk home.
That wind was downright mean.
It made me forget it was February and that is something to celebrate.
Now it's time to pull out the sugar cookie recipe and go to town.
I love the really soft fluffy ones. yummers.
I also like this little Valentine.
I think I'll give it to someone.

{found on etsy at the love shop}


This picture I pulled up today also made my heart go boom boom.
That's a pretty good sign that I need a vacation!
Somewhere where the wind is not so mean.
A Valentine get-a-way.
Sounds like a dream.


{Bakers beach, July 2010}

CSN store $35 gift certificate give away

Have you heard of CSN stores? There are bunches and bunches of them out there in the internet shopping world. They have a large selection of items that you may need or want for your home or closet. {you can always use more shoes...right?} With 200 stores there is no shortage on selection or style. You can find the perfect items for you. Are you in the need of some shiny cookware, or some modern bar stools to spice up your kitchen? They have it and much, much more! There are even a few fancy things for the wee little ones too. Go ahead a take a look at all the great products they carry for yourself.

Give Away:
CSN stores has kindly offered a 35.00 gift certificate for readers of this little blog. Everyone likes to win something right, so I thought why not try it out. All you have to do is click on the link above and browse around at all the stuff you could put that gift certificate toward. Then don't be shy leave me a comment and tell me what you liked before midnight on Friday February 4th! If you haven't noticed I get just a little less...okay a lot less than hundreds of comments on each post so your chances of winning are pretty good. :) A random winner will be drawn and announced on Monday.

{p.s. You can use it toward any product on any of their 200 sites but the gift certificate does not include shipping and is only available to U.S. and Canadian residents only.}

all the things to do

I need this.
To get my life all straightened out and in order.
It's a bonus that it's cute to look at and it would help me remember all the little things
that always make their way to the back burner.
Boring things like getting my tires rotated.
I usually don't need to be reminded of the fun things in life.
That's where the problem starts.
You can also get it in app for your i phone
if your extra cool like that.
I think I'll go make that dentist apt. now that I have been putting off.
It' nice to accomplish at least one important boring thing a day. :)

I saw red hair coming out of his helmet

Shane and Ellie dialed my digits from their snowboard date.
Basically to brag that they saw the flying tomato showing his stuff in the PC half pipe.

We basically had the exact same conversation on the phone
that these owls had in this commercial.
So when I saw it on the tube a couple days later I laughed pretty hard.

Is this what everyone says when they see a ginger going bigger than life in the pipe?
It must be.
Canyon and I took the afternoon shift later in the day.
We were too late to see the red headed wonder.
Maybe next time.

It's her favorite spot in the house.

She makes herself a little bed with a pillow and her favorite blanket
about 10 times a day.
She reads
hangs her socks out to dry
stares at the ceiling
wants to eat every meal {but can't}
watches movies
naps
lays out every stuffed animal
does puzzles
colors
and pretty much anything possible
in this spot.
It is her absolute most favorite place in the house
and she is always warm. :)

winter weekends

We had a 4 night 4 day weekend. It kind of felt like we were back on Christmas break again. Ok...ok...a little less magical no glittery tree, fudge for breakfast, or a jolly old man but still it included the same loungy mornings, ski afternoons, and slumber party evenings. We added a little football watching in between it all. We wore our Christmas break wardrobes for 4 days straight which includes slippers, ski thermals and pajamas. A tornado went through my house and built GIANT blanket forts, strewn art supplies about, left ski paraphernalia in every place possible and ate popcorn in every.single.room. Lucy had happy glued on her face because she got to sleep in in her princess tent with Ellie for 3 nights in a row. On the 4th night they set up a movie theater in Canyons bed and slept in there like 3 peas in a pod. 4 nights! Could life get any better!?! Imagine the let down when the 5th night came around and it was back to the typical bed time routine. :( It was tragic. Sometimes to the really enjoy the cozy winter weekends you gotta let everything go and let imaginative, creative tornado's turn your house upside down while you sit on the couch watch a good movie and pretend it's not happening. If we do this for enough weekends maybe dreary January will finally come to an end. Hasn't it been January for at least 100 days already? It seems like it. Can we please start making Valentines already?

{Friend Ski day}

{Giant blanket fort}

{Weekend artwork. Ellie and Lucy were the artists. They did not leave the table until every last picture was done. I think it took them about 1,000 hours.}

{Sleeping Headquarters. With every blanket in the entire house. Blankets somehow surfaced that I didn't even know still existed, they really shouldn't, I wish they didn't}

{Daddy,Daughter Snowboard day.}
{Mother, Son day not photographed. :( }

skiing X country style.

I went cross country skiing today for the first time. Unless of course you count that one time when I had braces, a neon ski suit, and pushed myself up a partially snowy road. Did you know that cross country ski courses had black diamond trails? I didn't either but my friends are hardcore like that and took me up one called the roller coaster. When you are cross country skiing black diamonds mean extreme uphill instead of down. I was nervous I wouldn't make it up the hills in my slippery long skis or I would fall on my face on the way down. To my surprise neither occurred. I was a miracle. I'm am pretty sure I looked like a total nut in form and style sporting snowboarding pants instead of spandex but I played it cool hoping no one would notice. {thankfully there were only kids out there!} There is a reason for that spandex you know. It is quite the workout! You work up a sweat like no man's business! It was great to spend an afternoon outside in the sunshine and it was such a nice alternative to my original plan for the day which required deep cleaning. So Thankful for fun adventurous friends and living in the mountains!

into the new year 2011

We are well into the new year and here is how we wrapped up 2010.
* getting the house all holiday'd out.
* eating way to much food {were talking fudge for breakfast} it got that bad.
* holiday parties
* Sleeping in
* Tangled
* not blogging....and for that matter I wasn't very friendly with the computer at all. To much internet shopping burnt me out. I was pretty much absent from all things computer.
* hanging out with family and friends from near and far.
*Santa came!! You should have seen the look on Lucy's face when Ellie told her he was coming down our chimney. "MOM!!! santa is gonna get burned!! {with much anxiety}
* Canyon and the Mr. got the Christmas Eve stomach flu. {saddest holiday event} I had to help him open his Christmas Eve pj's. Luckily he felt better by the morning. He had a lot of helicopter flying and wii playing to do.
* baking yummy treats.
* getting really bad bowling scores.
* getting really bad Kinect scores.
* Flying remote control helicopters.
* Lots and lots of days snowboarding.
* Lucy has discovered the thrill of skiing...there is no slowing her down. {I had a slight heart attack.}
* Ellie getting her snowboarding on a little more. {She has been a skier}
* Canyon is all about it...it's his favorite sport. It's fun!
* A giant snowstorm
* Fireworks
* And then a giant ball dropped from the sky and that meant the new year was here and my holiday was over. :(



Next year.
* I will blog more. Because I look back and this and this, oh! and this and I am sort of sad I don't have a lot of those little things I'm so thankful for documented this year.

HOPE EVERYONE HAD A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

haul'n out the holley

Dragging out those dusty basement boxes and pulling out the magic always kicks up the excitement a notch or 2...maybe 3 at our house. Now we just need to get some pretty lights up trimming up our outside. Ellie will not sleep well at night until the exterior of our home is "lit up and glittery and beautiful". She reminds me every day that it is still not the case. Crossing my fingers we get it done before those giant snowflakes fill the sky again.

h.a.p.p.i.n.e.s.s.

Do something that makes you happy today.
Happiness is contagious.

It's only the happiest season of all!

yes my do

Yes my do.
Yes my did.
I don't cuz.


Are the 3 answers you get when you ask Lucy a question.

Did you have fun at school? " Yes my did"
Do you want some olives? "Yes my do"
And when you ask a why question.
Why did you hide my keys? or
Why is there lipstick all over your face?
or like this morning
Why did you go out in the snow in your underwear and boots?
you get.
" I don't cuz".
followed by.
a giant grin....and
"that was so fun"

Really?

I tell you... sometimes all you can do is wonder. :)

summer portraits

I know and love every inch of these three faces down to the last freckle.
life.is.good.

{Stanford University, Summer 2010}

the pier with some seals and ice cream

Is it possible to be walking on a pier past an ice cream shop
and not get a big yummy double scoop on a waffle cone?
yep...it is for me.
You just need some icecream to lick while strolling around looking at
quaint little shops, lovely scenery and seals.
Oh ya... and making pennies into Santa Cruz Pier souvenirs.
Ellie made her's into a necklace with a seashell she found and fishing line.
I love that she does stuff like that.
Mine is still sitting in my wallet....boring.

This is how we stroll. I love that Ellie is holding Brighton's hand while he rides. :)
She loves. LOVES babies. When they are her cousin even more!

Santa Cruz

I love this beach!
it's got a fun vibrant feel.
and the people watching is super...SUPER great.
When we were there there was a gigantic pit dug out in the middle of the beach.
Kind of like a 2 ft. shallow pool right off the beach.
Perfect for little beach lovers.
The downtown area is not to shabby either.
After being in a car for a couple days
A big breezy beach is just what we needed.
And I couldn't have little Lucy sit on the sidelines.
Just because of that giant purple cast.
She tried so hard not to get it wet....tried. :)
That's all you can ask for at a beach.

If I could own any vehicle....

I'm pretty sure it would be one of these.
I'm liking the the pretty blue.
What a dream it would be.
I am already imagining all the places it would take me.
The kids in the back, hair blowing and big smiles
and how it would get us around even in our old age.
back to all the places that hold the best memories, and new places we've never seen.
ahhhhhh. it would be perfect.

How do you know when school is back in?

When your living room isn't a giant blanket fort every morning
and you do more than 1 blog post a month.
I don't think I'm near as good of a side kick as Ellie.
Lucy misses her and her matching morning hair too.

haunted

Once upon a time

Shane told the kids stories of a haunted resort that

is right here near our little valley home.
He told them of empty pools, caves and haunted houses.
Of course they were not scared and wanted to go.
Especially Ellie she just had to see it.
Me on the other hand
I was content laying by the fire wrapped up in a blanket.
And that's when she said.
"If you were 7 you would want to go explore haunted mansions"
And there is defiantly some truth to that.
So I reluctantly went along.
And it is a good thing.
That place was rotten, dirty and down right frightening.
They needed a mother there to keep them safer {than the dad would}
and out of the real scary/gross stuff.
But the pictures turned out pretty cool and I will admit it was fun in a creepy way.
Ellie told me she knows what happened to this place.
"Ghosts came and scared all the families and guests out of the houses.
And when the people were gone they destroyed them
so know one else would come and they could live there forever."
There may be some truth to that. Bwah ha ha ha ha.
I for one would never go there in the dark....NEVER.

Happy Halloween!
{Don't worry I told them to act scared :) }

Yosemite

To get to our destination we drove on a 2 lane highway practically the whole way.
Mostly because I wanted to be in Yosemite National Park again.
The last time I was there before is when Canyon was 5 mo old.
We took a road trip to Yosemite and the coast.
It was his first big road trip.
The first time he sat in a knot hole of a giant redwood tree.
And the first time he rode in the trusty Kelty pack to hike for miles.
{Lucy still uses that pack today.}
I fell in love with this place.
And I wanted the kids to not only endure the 16 hr drive
but also be also to be amazed by it.
Both were accomplished.
They still ask if we can drive that way again next time.
The roller coaster road just before Yosemite might have something to do with that. :)

Lucy went and got herself a cast that weighed more than her the day before we left.
But that is a story for a different day.
It did not slow her down.not.at.all.

Driving....so pretty.
I had to make myself not pull over every second.
We had a long way left to go for heavens sake.
Next stop. Santa Cruz, CA.