Ski Bunnies

The girls spent the last two days skiing at Eldora, and by the end of today, they were genuinely skiing really well.  They experimented with the chair lift yesterday, and they loved it.  Today, they were zipping down the hill and getting right back in line to go again.  Julia was more a fan of eating the snow (and crawling on Popos' skis).  After working so hard on the hill, the girls couldn't keep their eyes open on the drive home.

Dish Helper

Julia is super helpful when it comes to putting away dishes.  She's even better with laundry.  

Hungry Girl

Julia has decided to help herself.

Do You Want to Build a Snowman?

Growing Up

I returned to Kellogg for another week, and the girls are in the capable hands of Daddy (with great help from Nana, Popos, and Kim).  Since she keeps getting older and bigger (just ask her), Julia is now in swim lessons with the big kids.  In other big kid news, she's regularly making the sign for "more," saying rudimentary words like "all done," and mimicking everything her sisters do.

Bedtime Reading

For five nights last week, the girls asked me not to read them a story at bedtime.  Rather, they asked me to read them recipes out of a cookbook.  Then, they wanted me to leave the cookbook with them, so they could keep reading it.  Last night, Norah set aside the cookbook, and instead took to bed the mailer from the Denver Center for the Performing Arts announcing the 2016-2017 theater season.  #ISwearWeOwnBooks

A Little Drama

There was a little drama outside of the church today when people in a stolen car hit a cop and one of them ran away, jumping over a two story wall before being caught by the police who had their guns drawn.  The entire block, including the church, ended up becoming part of the crime scene.

Happy Valentine's Day

Thanks to Joma, the girls were decked out in red and pink hearts.  In spite of having matching shoes, they all refused to wear them.  Alas, it wasn't a battle worth fighting - especially since Nick is still out of town.  After a relaxing afternoon at home, we celebrated Valentine's day with dinner at Edgewater Inn and ice cream at Little Man.  It's hard for Valentine's Day to get much better than that.  

Back to the Aquarium (Gift Shop)

We all needed to get out of the house, so we returned to the aquarium today and spent most of the time in the gift shop.  All of the girls had fun playing with the toys, and none of them asked to purchase anything.  A success all the way around.  On the way home, Etta asked for Thai food, and I was easily convinced, so Julia (and the rest of us) enjoyed a little Pad Thai.

We Love You Oma!

With grief and joy, we celebrate Oma's life and grieve her death.  After a massive stroke on Monday, she was surrounded by thirty family members, including Nick, who held vigil in her hospital room until she died early this morning.  She was a strong, beautiful, resilient woman of integrity, and we will miss her.

Five Year Check-Up

I can't believe it's been five years since we took Norah to see Dr. Bryan for the first time.  On the way to the check-up, Etta encouraged Norah to bring her blanket because, in Etta's words, "my brought my blankey to see Dr. Bryan, and my didn't need a shot."  Unfortunately, her logic didn't hold up for Norah.  Other than the shots, it was a pretty uneventful.  Norah's current stats are:

Height: 43.5 inches (71%)
Weight: 40 pounds, 3 ounces (54%)

Birthday Shopping

Joma sent the girls $20 each for their birthday, and Nana and Popos took them to the Disney store to spend it.  They both decided to get figurines of various Disney characters, and they have been contentedly (and quietly) playing with them ever since.  (Before finding the figurines, Norah asked if she could buy the entire dressing room.)

Potty Time!

Carter hung out with us today, and he pooped on the potty.  We were so excited that everyone got gummies!

Go Broncos!

We celebrated Super Bowl Sunday at church and then at the Goose.  The girls LOVED that the organist played the NFL theme song during the postlude and that a couple of youth poured confetti on me from Gatorade jugs.  They also loved the cheese buffet at the Goose.  They were less into the game - especially Julia who kept crying whenever Daddy, Nana, and Deanna screamed and cheered for the game.  Norah's biggest engagement in the game was knowing that she would get cupcakes at school on Monday if the Broncos won.  

Photo Bomb

Norah wanted to see a photo of her messy bun.  Daddy ruined it.

Happy Fifth Birthday Norah!

In the blink of an eye, five years past!  Norah celebrated her birthday by bringing Broncos cupcakes to school.  I asked her how she felt as her class sang happy birthday to her, and she said, "Proud....  But I needed to fix the buckle on my boot while they were singing."  I picked her up early, so she could have a special birthday lunch at Pizza Alley and then take a field trip to the Museum of Nature and Science after naps.  The museum was deserted because of the storm rolling in, and Norah wanted to spend most of our time in the space area, playing with moon rocks and climbing craters.  Julia got a workout trying to keep up with her sisters.  After a weeks' long debate about where she wanted to go for her birthday dinner, Norah decided on thai food (her other choice was pho).  Then, we returned home to eat the chocolate chip cookies she made the night before and to open presents.  While she got a (very used) laptop for her birthday, she was most excited about the Elsa coloring sheet Etta bought her at the Dollar Store.  When I asked her what kind of person is she as a five-year-old, she said, "nice and kind-full."  So true.