Adventures on the Ice

Here is the ice fishing adventure to Lake Healy. The boys brought 68 fish home. They are filleted and in our freezer waiting for fish Friday.

The rope

Gabe loves to dress up. He has such a big imagination and really gets into character when he is playing. It is amazing how many different things a rope can be to Gabriel. Most days he is in his Spiderman costume climbing the furniture and shooting webs. He loves to hang his rope from the stairs and pretend it's a web. He is actually very good at tying knots and getting things to stay in place. He also ties ropes on the end of broken fishing poles and catches pretend fish with them. His fish are usually daddy's socks that he spreads all over the living room. Most days I'm yelling, "Gabe, clean up all these socks!!" Today Gabe decided to be a cowboy and took his rope and actually used it for a rope. The vest he is wearing was Bryan's when he was little. Isn't it the cutest thing! Thanks Grammy for bringing it to us. The rule is, you can't rope the dog or your little brothers. Everything else is fair game. Here is my little cowboy.

Bryan, Owen, and Gabriel are out on a big ice fishing adventure. The weather is beautiful today. 45 and lots of sunshine. The boys loaded up in the truck about 10:00 and headed to Healy for a day of ice fishing. Me and Eli are staying at home today and working on projects. I'm still in my pajamas and may not change all day. Eli is keeping me company by talking! You should hear this little boy talk. He is learning very fast that if you want to be heard around here you have to speak up. He sits in his little infant seat talking up a storm. I can't believe it.

Friends

Today at our MOPS meeting a couple came and talked to us about getting our kids ready for Kindergarden. She is a stay at home mom and he is the principle of a elementary school here in town. They talked about playing games with your kids, reading with your kids, and working on fine and gross motor skills. I left the meeting today feeling pretty good about all the things that Bryan and I do with the boys to prepare them for life. We do spend a lot of time with the boys and do many things with them.

For example...

This weekend I took the boys ice skating. I'm pretty sure that ice skating works on every muscle and motor skill that exists. I have to say my back was pretty sore after 2 hours of skating with little Owen. When we first got to the ice skating rink I was nervous because I didn't know how I was going to help both of them. Well, I shouldn't have been nervous because Gabriel put on those ice skates and started making laps around the rink. I was impressed, he is a good little ice skater. Owen was a little more difficult but between him and I we got our exercise!







My very good friend, Riley, is going to be moving to Casper this week. Her husband has a job in Casper and her and her kids are moving down there with him. I will miss her very much. Every once in a while you meet a friend that you connect with instantly. Riley and I were that way. She has two boys close to Gabe and Owen's age and I love hearing all the stories she tells about her boys because I can relate with all of them. She also lives in the house that I lived in as a teenager. It's a great little ranchette out in the country and is such a great house for a family. On Monday morning some of us girls got together to say goodbye to Riley. We will all miss her but, look forward to a road trip to Casper to see her and her boys!!

Rocking with Eli

I just want to personally thank Grammy! She has given me the best gift. She came over yesterday with lunch and then took the boys for the night. Eli and I slept in this morning and have gotten to spend all day together snuggling and rocking in the rocking chair. What a blessing. Not that I don't miss Gabriel and Owen, I just don't miss all the chaos. It's been so nice to have a whole day with Eli and to get caught up on some projects around the house.

Eli was so cute today. He is starting to laugh. When I sing him twinkle twinkle little star he just laughs and smiles at me. That probably says something about my singing but, he seems to like it. He smiles at me with those big brown eyes and my heart melts. I do think that he has missed his big brothers today. There was no one to hold his hands and talk to him all day. He kept looking around for them!

Tonight I head off to Bunco. It will be good to spend time with good friends! Bryan is going over to Buffalo to get the boys. And, it's Friday....we have all weekend to look forward to. It doesn't get any better.

Wyoming Horse Piles

My house is completely silent. Bryan is in Phoenix, the boys and Bridger are asleep. I'm not used to all this quiet! It's nice to sit and relax after such a busy day. I told myself that I needed to prioritize and slow down. It hasn't happened yet! We started our busy day going to Grandma and Pop's so that I could go to the dentist. Gabe, Owen, and Eli stayed with Grandma. Then my good friend, Cedar and her little girl, Claire, came over and had lunch with us. It was so nice to see Cedar and a delight to have a little girl running around the house. After lunch we went to swim lessons. Both Gabe and Owen did very well in the pool. It was our first day and they loved the water. After swim lessons we went over to Auntie Megan's and she made dinner for the boys. I went to a Birthday party for my friend, Karla. It was so nice to spend time with my girlfriends, have a glass or wine, and relax. I am so thankful for my friends and the time I get to spend with them! Reflecting on my day makes me realize that I wasn't able to slow down today but, I was able to spend time with all the people that I cherish so much and that made it the perfect day!!

We had a great weekend and I wanted to share some pictures of our sledding and skiing adventures. On Sunday, we went over to Grandma and Pop's with Amaya and her friend Olivia. The kids piled on the toboggan and Pop and Bryan pulled them around the horse pasture. You could just see the smiles on the kids under all their winter attire.

After the sledding, Gabe wanted to go skiing. We strapped his skis on him, gave him a rope, and away he went. I was a little unsure at first but, he skied really, really well. He surprised me. Then, the girls wanted to try. Amaya and Olivia also skied and did really well. The only part they had problems with was the large horse piles out in the pasture. When they would hit a pile they would lose their balance and fall. Well, that's what you get for skiing in a horse pasture in Wyoming!!

A Day of Love

I want to say Happy Valentines Day to everyone!! I don't particularly like the commercial aspect of Vday with all the candy and flowers but, I love the concept of celebrating a day of Love. I am surrounded by so much love and have so much to be thankful for!

Happy Valentines Day, Bryan! I can't express how much you and our life means to me. It seems amazing to me some days what we have done together. We make each other better, MUCH BETTER. The love that we share with each other and our three boys is amazing! You are an amazing person, husband, and father and I love you.

One of the most amazing things that I have ever done was to hike the Machu Picchu trail with you. I wouldn't have made it to the top without you. You always knew just the right thing to say or do to get me up to the top of that mountain! Sometimes you encouraged me gently and other times you had to poke me in the back not so gently. Whichever method you choose to use, it worked. In our life together you do the same thing. You always know just the right thing to say to me to get me through. I love that about you! And, I love you!

For the love of B Ball

The highlight of our day today was shooting hoops at the YMCA. Gabe loves to play basketball. Even though the hoop is too high for him, even though there were teenagers that were playing in the gym, even though I was ready to go home....Gabe just wanted to play and play. How can a mom say no to something like that? I didn't....we shot hoops at the Y for almost two hours. Playland didn't even detour my little basketball player. And, the teenagers thought Gabe was really cool playing for so long so, he made some friends.

We went to Grandma and Pop's for dinner. It was wonderful, I didn't have to cook. Our favorite game at Grandma and Pop's was turning out all the lights and run around scaring each other. Who thought that would be fun?

I did some prioritizing of my life today. I cut back on some things that I'm involved in and am feeling really good about my decision. I am just a little in over my head with three boys and all the activities that we do. I know that life will continue to be crazy but, I need to slow down and enjoy my kids instead of always being in such a hurry to go here and there. I need to rock Eli more, I need to read books to Gabe and Owen more, I need to just slow down and breath. Hopefully, I'm getting there and learning a lot on the way!

Here are a few moments from today: Eating a snack and playing with baby Eli. Now, I'm calling it a night and going to bed!

The Subaru

All three boys are currently asleep...I have a few quiet moments in my day to get myself together. Lately, we haven't been taking naps. But today we are having quiet time because I need it!! Bryan is in Denver this week and boy do I miss him! He keeps me grounded and is such a huge help with the boys. I miss and love him!

We have had a busy and wonderful morning. Gabriel went to Preschool this morning and was very excited because he got to take his valentine box to school. We made it last night. He choose to make a basketball box. Owen, Eli, and I went to our MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) meeting and had a good time. After our morning of activity we came home and had mac and cheese. Gabe's favorite. Gabe told me that I make the best mac and cheese in the whole world. And, I have to agree. It is pretty good even if it's straight from the blue Kraft box.

We seem to always be on the go. Little Eli spends about 50% of his day in his car seat. He's such a good little guy that he doesn't mind. Gabriel takes care of him in the backseat of the Subaru if he gets fussy. Getting ready to go anywhere takes a while but, once we are all in the car and buckled in, we are off. I took some pictures of the boys and Bridger on our way to Preschool and MOPS this morning. Yes, Bridger goes everywhere with us. He just loves to go and patiently waits for us to return in the back of the car.

Smile Big

One thing about kids is that they always make you laugh! My kids have to be the funniest kids in the whole world. There is never a dull moment. Just a few moments from today....The teeth daddy brought home for Gabe and Owen to wear. I would be in the kitchen cooking and Gabe would come in and give me that "winning smile". We would both laugh and an hour later he would do the same thing and we would laugh again (see picture). It never got old. I also laughed when Owen feel asleep right under the coffee table in the living room....with his snow boots on. That kid can fall asleep anywhere, I just cover him with a blanket and move on.





While Owen was sleeping, Gabriel and I spent some special alone time together. I told him we could do anything that he wanted. He choose to show me how to play the hunting game on the Wii. I smiled really big and said "I would love that" (shooting things on the TV is just the thing I wanted to do, ha ha). It all ended well because Gabe told me that I was a good hunter, especially when I was shooting the birds. To tell you the truth I don't know what is good or bad on that game but, it was fun to spend time with Gabe.


Gabriel put Eli's toys on his bouncer this afternoon. Eli loved them. He started batting at them and talking to them. He spent at least an hour trying to reach them. He is getting so big! He is all smiles and starting to show his personality.

Hunting for Dinner

It snowed about an inch today. I woke up to white, fluffy snowflakes fluttering to the ground. The boys loved the snow. They went outside to "hunt". Gabe said he wanted to bring us dinner. He decided to hunt birds and rabbits. Gabe and Owen spent about an hour outside hunting and playing. Eli was also busy today. He went to Gabe's basketball practice this afternoon and watched as 20 kids played basketball for an hour. Bryan came to watch Gabe this afternoon and helped T.J. (the coach) with the kids. Grandma and Pop also made an appearance. After basketball we hit Playland for a little while and then came home completely exhausted for dinner.