Nerd Day

This cute boy has gotten all dressed up for Nerd Day today.  He makes Nerdy look cool!

Trick-or-Treating in Downtown Littleton

While Matt and Donovan were away at a soccer game, I took the rest of the kids to the annual Downtown Littleton trick-or-treat event.  It is such a cute, community event and we try to go every year.  All the stores hand out candy to the kids, there are really cool decorated pumpkin statues on every street corner, and we always run into tons of friends.  

Cameron has about worn this Jedi costume into the ground!  He has really loved it.  The amount of stores was perfect for Rex, he was such a champ and I only had to carry him a couple of times!

Donovan's Now-Perfect Heart

When Donovan was born, the nurses took him away to clean him up and make sure his vitals looked normal.  Matt was an excited new father and he video-taped the whole thing.  It didn't take long for him to realize that something seemed wrong with Donovan.  Matt watched as nurses consulted with a doctor.  They were trying to figure out how to make Donovan's heart slow down, it was beating at such a high rate that the nurses couldn't count it.  The doctor tried putting a bag of ice over his face, but that didn't fix the problem.  Then he gave Donovan a shot that basically restarted his heart.  It wasn't until after everything was okay that Matt came in and told me about scary scene he watched.  We learned that Donovan had a heart disease called WPW and that he had experienced an episode of sub-ventricle tachycardia.  We consulted with cardiologists for years, all with differing opinions about what we should do.  The whole while, we had this fear in the back of our minds that Donovan's heart could suddenly fail him.  Well we finally decided it was time to put those fears to rest.  We scheduled an appointment to have an oblation procedure done.   

Donovan did great, he was a perfect patient and now he has a perfect heart.  We are so grateful that his heart never gave him serious problems, that he was able to live a very normal life, and that now we don't have to worry about him going through another episode of tachycardia again.  

Another of Matt's Talents

It seems like every time I turn my head, my already amazing husband shows me he's even cooler and more talented than I knew.  We went to check out his announcing skills tonight as he called the game for Littleton's varsity soccer game.  He not only looked the part, sitting there all handsome in his shirt and tie, but he is the real deal.  He seriously has some great speaking skills and just a pure passion for soccer.  He got many compliments after the game too.  I see a little more of this in his future!

Nina, Mom and the Broncos

On this beautiful sunny day, Nina and I got to spend the afternoon together cheering on the Broncos.  They must have loved our cheering, or Nina's cuteness because the Broncos won big against the Jaguars!  I love this girl and I love spending time with just her!

Rex's Field Day

There isn't a single person in the world who could have convinced Rex that this field day wasn't really for him. He really thinks he belongs at the school too, but that's a different story. So when we stepped onto the playground today and he saw all those stations set up nicely for field day, he jumped right in and started playing. And the rest is history.

Cameron's first ever field day

Cameron seemed to have such a great time participating in field day today. He was quite familiar with the routine since he's been dragged along to field days ever since he was born. But this year he could actually participate as a bonafide kindergartener. Such a milestone! This type of field day suits Cameron perfectly. There aren't any "competitions", but lots of stations with various activities. Cam just loves to have fun. That's one thing I miss about him being gone all day, we used to have so much fun playing together. He's up for any type of game. Today he got to play all kinds of games and hang out with his buddies. I don't think today could have been any better for Cameron.

Nina's 2nd Grade Field Day

I had to split my time between Nina and Cameron today. Nina was in such a happy mood the entire day. That's what I like to see. Nina doesn't care much for sports, but she still decided to participate in all of the activities. And she had her toothless smile showing the whole day.

Howie's 4th Grade Field Day

This year I got to follow the kids around more than I ever have been able to before. I loved being there watching my kids interact with their friend and having fun. Since our school doesn't have a huge pool of volunteers to draw from, I also got to rotate stations with my kids' groups and help run each activity. Howie was a lot of fun to watch. He is a funny and natural leader and he was up for trying all of the games. I was a bit surprised because Howie doesn't usually like to try new things, especially in front of his peers. But he was in such great spirits today, having a great time with all his classmates.

Some Labor Day Balloons

When I was young, I always looked forward to going to the Reno Balloon Races. Our family went every single year and it was usually followed by a trip to Denny's for breakfast. Those are very fond memories! I found out just last year that there is a balloon festival in Colorado Springs every Labor Day weekend. Looks like the tradition will live on! So very early this morning, I woke up all the kids, made a quick stop by Krispy Kreme, and headed down south to meet Kelly and Jill and their families. I was almost able to convince Matt to come along too, but sleeping in won this year. I will win next year! I love to see cousins having fun together, which they all did as soon as we found each other. It was such a beautiful morning, and not very cold. I only lost a child once, but it wasn't for very long. It probably doesn't even count as losing him. I am already excited for next year!

Cam's Turn to See the Broncos

Cameron was the only kid who didn't make it to a Bronco's game last season, so he was first in line for this new season and caught the preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals. We made the journey to the stadium with Kelly and Cohen which was even more exciting for Cameron than the actual game since Cohen is his favorite cousin and he hardly ever gets to see him. Those two had the best time watching a man on the light rail who kept falling asleep. They thought it was the funniest thing they've ever seen. After we arrived at the game, we snapped a few pictures of the boys and then went to our separate end zones. Since it was a school night, we only stayed until halftime and that was the perfect amount of time for Cameron.

I know I'm going to like this

A couple of months before Donovan turned 12, Matt got a new calling at church to be the Scout Master. This was great news to me because it meant that he would be Donovan's Scout leader for 2 years. I know that boys all over the world survive campouts without a parent there, but I just love that Matt will be there with Donovan for every one of them. And you know that whole notion that when a boy gets his Eagle, it's because his mom pretty much held his hand along the way? Well that's not going to be the case with Donovan. I know Matt will see that Donovan finishes all his requirements. Especially since Donovan will be Matt's only scout come February. And Matt was told that this calling is usually a 5 year deal, so that means Howie will get to be with Matt as well. And all of this means that I don't have to earn an Eagle, at least for the 2 older boys. I am really going to support this whole scouting thing.

And here we are, barely a month into scouts and Donovan has advanced to the rank of Scout. Whatever that means. Matt knows so I don't need to worry about it. Did I mention I'm going to like this? Now if only Matt could learn how to stick on all those merit badges.........

Another year of school begins

As usual, I'm the only one excited that school started today. It must be because I care the most about education. I'm pretty incredible that way. I have grand hopes that this year will be wonderful, organized, peaceful and productive. Matt will be teaching his IB classes again along with a couple of level 2 classes. He is teaching his assigned "extra class" for the first semester. He will also take the year off from coaching lacrosse. Last year was incredibly stressful for him and we hope that freeing up some time in the spring will help him. Donovan is starting his first year of middle school. He couldn't be more excited. He starts the year off taking Spanish as his elective and playing the french horn in band. He will be taking the bus for the first time too. I feel pretty okay with him growing up just a little bit.

These three will still be at Hopkins. Cameron is excited to join the group of school-goers.

How is starting 4th grade with Ms. Wenberg

Nina is starting 2nd grade with Mrs. Wachter

Cameron is starting kindergarten with Mrs. Shamas-Brandt

Rex and I will hold down the fort. I will fill my time with adult education, storytime, sister lunches, working out at the gym and making our household run smoothly. Easier said than done, but I'm ready for it. Wish us all good luck!

The Snowiest Soccer Game

Matt is a rather hard person to buy presents for. He is as practical as they come and doesn't ever want me to spend money on him. But I found a great present for his birthday - tickets to the World Cup qualifier between the United States and Costa Rica. He would never pass up a chance to watch the United States National team play. Especially in a World Cup Qualifying match. Matt also has a fondness for the Ticos so this was a perfect fit. I have pretty much secured my spot as his favorite wife if plural marriage ever comes back. I bought the tickets way back in November knowing the game would be in late March. The weather in March is always unpredictable. It is usually Colorado's snowiest month and boy did it snow tonight! We knew is was supposed to start snowing early in the afternoon and get worse as the night went on so we came prepared. Coats, hats, blankets and more blankets. We were ready. The first half actually resembled a soccer game and the United States managed to score a goal. The second half was a whole different story! All during halftime there were snowplows and tons of staff armed with snow shovels trying to clear the field. But the snow just kept falling. At one point we thought they were going to stop the game, but they ended up allowing it to continue. It didn't look a thing like soccer though. The ball didn't roll, the players didn't run at the ball very hard for fear of slipping and those shovel-wielding men tried to clear around the box anytime the ball was on the other side of the field. It was kind of like a wet,white circus. We had a great time and enjoyed seeing the US get a win.