Nana's Visit

My mom flew in on Good Friday and spent about six days with us. It was so fun to have her celebrate Easter with our family and have fun together. When she visited us in October, she came down with the H1N1 flu, so having everyone healthy this time made our visit so much more enjoyable. We went to Fox Run Park on Saturday, to the outlet malls on Tuesday, and to the play area at Focus on the Family on Wednesday after we woke up to snow! Not exactly the perfect spring break weather, but I don't think Nana minded too much.
We had some great talks, played Yahtzee by the fire, and watched old home videos of the kids. Also, my sweet mom fixed my bedroom curtains that had been folded in the closet for almost two years. The pocket was too small for my curtain rod and I had no inspiration for fixing them. My mom spent a few hours ripping out the seam and re-sewing it to fit the rod. Now my bedroom looks so much prettier and more "finished."
Here are a few of my favorite pictures of Nana with her Colorado grandkids.

Rylan and Nana reading books on her first night here. Since we picked her up just before bedtime, the kids took their baths and wore their pajamas to the airport. Rylan thought that was super fun! During her visit, he kept asking when we had to "give Nana back to the airport." Caroline was a little slow to warm up the first night, but it wasn't long the next morning before she and Nana were great buddies. Nana gave her pony rides on her knee and sang a special song, "Ride that pony", which Caroline loved. The rest of the week, she would say "ride, ride" and beg for us to sing and bounce.

Our egg hunt after naps on Easter Sunday. Nana helps Caroline break into her chocolate cheerios.

Caroline isn't too sure about her giraffe feeding experience. We went to zoo on Nana's last day here because it was the best weather day. It was still cool and breezy, but comfortable in the sunshine. We had a wonderful time and the kids were totally worn out. It was Caroline's first visit since she could walk and it was fun to see her be able to really interact with all the exhibits and activities for the first time. Last year she just had to ride in the stroller most of the time; this summer is going to be much more fun for her.

Some of the incredible views to be found at a zoo built literally on the side of the mountain.

Picnic at the zoo.

Everything is bigger out here in the wild, wild west!

Nana and Caroline try out the giant chair.

Rylan tackling a giant mushroom in the playground.

It was really hard to say good-bye to Nana. My only consolation is that we are planning a drive to KY to see everyone at the end of June. Summer will be here before we know it...

Easter morning

This was actually the Saturday before Easter. Rylan had fun dyeing eggs again although it wasn't quite as magical as last year and we still cracked all the eggs.

I saw these adorable pillows on this crafting blog a few weeks ago,

http://www.purlbee.com/little-lamb-pillows/2010/3/12/mollys-sketchbook-little-lamb-pillows.html but didn't think I could possibly find the time to make them before Easter. On Good Friday, the kids took wonderful long naps and I was able to sew them up. I used ivory fleece and good quality felt for the faces and legs and they turned out so soft and cute.

Easter eve. The baskets are filled with treats and all ready for the morning.

I hadn't built up too much hype about Easter morning, because I wanted Rylan to be able to sleep well the night before. He is definitely old enough to be able to anticipate fun events and the count-down can be exhausting for everyone. He was excited to see his small etch-a-sketch, movie, bouncy balls, kaleidoscope, foam rockets, balls and stickers from Nana. Thanks to Grammy also for Rylan's bat-mobile and Caroline's toy phone. They were a big hit. I am glad we decided to go to the late service for church so we didn't have to rush getting ready, playing with the toys,and eating breakfast.

We had the most beautiful sunny day with temps in the 60's. What a difference from last year which was beautiful also, but snowing like crazy! It really felt like spring and we didn't have to cover our nice Easter clothes with heavy winter coats. We ate a delicious breakfast of homemade cinnamon rolls, eggs, bacon, and fruit and headed off to church. Caroline had a runny nose, so I couldn't put her in the nursery and had to walk the halls with her during the sermon, but the worship was great.

It was next to impossible to get a picture of me and both kids on Easter morning. This was our best shot.

A great picture of Nana and Rylan. Caroline wouldn't cooperate. It was so special to have my mom visit, especially to celebrate Easter with us. I will share more pictures and stories from her visit in a later post.

She did smile nicely when she was alone.

Glad she liked her lamb.

The best shot of both kids together all Easter.

Rylan, worn out from all the Easter fun, testing out his pillow.

Backyard Easter Egg Hunt

On the Tuesday before Easter, we had record high temps in the 70's. We decided to take advantage of the beautiful warm day to have an egg hunt in the backyard. While the kids napped, I hid the eggs and we started searching when they woke up. We told Rylan all the pink and purple eggs were for Caroline and he could have the rest. Rylan was so excited, he kept exclaiming how much he loved us and how this was so much fun! It was sweet to experience his joy, especially because I don't think he could remember having an egg hunt before. Last year, we had snow on Easter and the weather was so cold/wet we never were able to have a real egg hunt outside. I learned my lesson and decided we wouldn't miss out this year. Caroline wasn't sure what all the excitement was about, at first. Then Rylan handed her a few eggs, we showed her the chocolate cheerios inside, and she was hooked! She figured out how to crack the eggs open all by herself and would literally squeal with delight whenever she found a new egg.

Rylan finds a few eggs in our apple tree.

He spies the egg on the fence.

Once she figured out there were chocolate cheerios inside her eggs, Caroline was super excited about the hunt. Here she is squealing with delight when she discovered an egg.

Rylan shows off his full basket.


Both kids digging in to their baskets.

Both kids enthralled with their baskets. I couldn't get both to look at the camera at the same time, so here Rylan is looking up.....

And Caroline cooperated in this one.

Sweetly offering to share a cheerio with Mama.

Such a serious face! Caroline shows me one of her "prizes".

Spring is so windy here in Colorado and Caroline's hair shows it.

Charlton went to the NCAA tournament over Easter, so this was a great time for him to spend with the kids before his trip.

Bath circus

It took me a while to figure out a system with two kids, but usually I have my bathtime routine down to a science and everything runs like clockwork. Last night I felt like I was in a 3-ring circus. While I was bathing Caroline, Rylan snuck upstairs in his Batman costume and stealthily climbed into Caroline's crib, something he is not allowed to do. He never made a sound and I was shocked to find him in her crib when I heard one of her musical toys playing. I had taken a few steps away from the tub to check on Rylan, so when I turned back around, I nearly ran into Caroline, completely naked and dripping wet! Since Rylan was being so calm, I decided just to leave him in the crib and focus on my bathtub escapee. Once she was lotioned, diapered, dressed, and her hair was brushed, I started to undress Rylan. As I passed the bathroom to put his dirty clothes in his room, I was totally shocked to see Caroline happily splashing in the bathtub, still clutching her beloved tube of diaper cream. So at this point I had one naked pre-schooler in his sister's crib, and one fully dressed toddler in the tub. All I could do was laugh. Amazing how two kids can keep their mom spinning in circles sometimes.

Playing in the snow

Waving at mom. What a change from last year. Rylan now loves playing in the snow.

Caroline checks out a rock. She had a hard time walking in the 8" of heavy wet snow and after falling multiple times, finally gave up and crawled instead through the white stuff.


"Can you believe my mom was too cheap to buy me snow boots and makes me wear these ghetto plastic bags over my shoes?" And she is wearing Rylan's hand me down nylon pants. Poor girl! I wasn't sure she would even be walking this winter or interested in playing outside in the cold and snow even if she was walking, so I didn't splurge on all the snow gear for her this year. Next year we will do better.

Looking up at his creation. Charlton helped the kids build this great-looking snowman.

A big smile from Rylan and a snowman smirk.

Spring Break Storm 2010

On Tuesday night a strong storm dumped about 8" of snow overnight. It came down so fast and the winds were blowing so fiercely, we got about 3-4" in just an hour. Charlton was at work that night and it took him almost twice as long as normal to drive home with all the snow-covered roads. I was especially glad to have him arrive home safely that night.

My favorite picture. The snow on the pine tree started melting and formed icicles.
The view from our front porch.

Drifts against the fence in our back yard.

More drifts.
Our front yard.

A taste of spring

Last Thursday was so beautiful and we played outside most of the morning. Here are a few shots of my girl enjoying the backyard.






I just had to throw in this random cute picture of Caroline making a scarf out of Rylan's bib.