A Little Trim ...

I love Makenna’s long hair and so does Makenna. But … her long hair does not love me. It really is a lot of work to take care. Combing out the tangles is a daily challenge. I finally convinced Makenna it was time for a little trim. We cut off 6 inches and it is still LONG but a little bit more manageable.

~ Ready for a trim ~

~ What we left behind ~

~ All done but not ready to get out of the fire truck ~

Painting Pots ...

Last Sunday the kids and I spent the afternoon painting pots. They each painted a pot for their teacher, one for Bobbye and one for Grandma Sharon. What a fun and super cheap project. We bought the pots at Walmart for $1.00 and used acrylic paints.

~ Both of them were so careful when painting their pots ~

~ Justin painting his teacher pot ... he decided to paint it like a flag ~

~ Makenna painting her teacher pot all the colors in the rainbow ~


~ They turned out so cute that I think we will have to have another painting pot afternoon and make some for the front porch ~

~ Justin's teacher pot for "Teacher Appreciation Day" ... Justin did all the painting I helped him add "Star" stickers and wording that says "inspire" ... then we packed if full of a bunch of gardening stuff, tile desk plate, gift card and a sign that said "Thanks for helping me GROW!" ~

~ Justin ready for school with his teacher's pot ... Justin really does have a FABULOUS teacher ... we have really been blessed!! ~

Easter Hoppenings Part 1 ...

Easter has always been a special holiday for me. It is much more than bunnies, baskets and colored eggs. For me it is the a day to reflect upon the true meaning of Easter. … Jesus Christ's victory over death!! Today we celebrate Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead and His glorious promise of eternal life. For this I KNOW I will someday be reunited with MOM and all our other family and friends who have departed from our heavenly earth to live eternally in God‘s kingdom. For me this IS a reason to Celebrate!!

This year Our Easter was glorious. We had a wonderful family day! We awoke to find the Easter Bunny had dropped off goodies for the kids. The Easter Bunny must really be watching Justin and Makenna cause he knew just what to get. Elmo stuff for Makenna and Star Wars for Justin.

~ Makenna's Easter Basket ~

~ Justin's Easter Basket ~

Then it was off to church as a family. We usually go to Timberline but decided to try First Presbyterian Church (the church I attend MOPS at). Dwight’s parents and my sister joined us for church. If I’m honest … I must say I wasn’t crazy about the traditional service … I’m very fond of the contemporary laidback style of Timberline and having to sit in the overflow room with a video sermon just wasn’t making it any better but the kids both loved Sunday school and Dwight said he was thrilled to have the hour of peace and thought we should do it every Sunday!!

~ Our Family Ready for Church ~

After church we got lattés at The Human Bean and took Blown Eggs to Grandma H. at the cemetery. Justin has always been so diligent in making sure we continue to celebrate special events with Grandma H. … truly it melts my heart ever time we are at the cemetery. And what is even more heart warming is how he has taught Makenna to value these special moments as well. Makenna never had the chance to meet Grandma H. but she sure does know that she is a very special part of our family.

Usually it is Justin bringing tears to my eyes when we visit the cemetery today it was Makenna. As we started towards the car Makenna looked back and yelled “Happy Easter Grandma H.” … I know mom was yelling back “Happy Easter to you too”.

A hunting we will go ...

Last Friday Makenna had a bunch of friends over for our annual Easter Egg Hunt Party. The weather was COLD and WINDY but that didn’t stop the 17 egg hunters! They all bundled up and found all 250+ treat filled eggs! It was so much fun that Makenna is already talking about next years party.

Scrapbooking design customized with Smilebox

Here today ~ gone tomorrow ...

Colorado weather has always been a mystery but this winter Mother Nature has really kept us on our toes! It’s almost April and I can proclaim “I’m sick of SNOW”. For the second time this year Poudre School District called a SNOW DAY. Justin was thrilled and I must admit so was I. We all slept-in … had a pancake breakfast … and then went outside to play in the snow.

~ Justin and I built this wall to protect us from the snowballs being throw by daddy ~

~ Makenna found the beach umbrella under all the snow ~

~ Snowball fight with daddy ~

Even though I’ve seen enough snow for this winter and am VERY ready for SPRING WEATHER … this is Colorado. The snow will be “here today and gone tomorrow”.

What do you see ...

Justin was out of school for a week for Spring Break. We had intended on going to Iowa to visit my sister Lori and her family for the week but were afraid of the Iowa weather. Instead we spent the week doing some fun stuff with the kids. On Wednesday … Saint Paddy’s Day … we took the kids to The Denver Zoo.

~ The 1st animal we saw when we walked into the zoo ~


~ Riding the Zoo Train ~




~ Makenna showing Elmo the Big Turtle ~

~ Justin excited to be at the Zoo ~

~ Seriously fascinated with the primates ... had never seen one standing up like this ~

What a beautiful day it was!!! We weren’t the only ones in Colorado taking advantage of our beautiful 70 degree March day. It was a ZOO at the ZOO!

Lots and lots of people + lots and lots of animals = lots and lots of FUN!!

Easter Egg-citement ...

Dwight was out of town for the day so Justin, Makenna and I decided to make a colorful mess. We spent the afternoon dying Easter Eggs. I have a special cartoon of “blown eggs” I made with my sisters when we were little. Each Easter I get them out for decorations. So this year Justin wanted to dye both boiled and blown eggs.

We got everything ready …

and had a blast dying 2 dozen eggs!!

Makenna really had fun this year with her eggs!

Justin was all about adding a special touch to each egg! He even got creative and made multi-color eggs dipped in two different colors.

Our Beautiful Eggs!

Makenna was fascinated with the eggs!

Fire Station 4 ....

My sister Sheri and I took the kids to see the new Fire Station 4 today. After being located in a converted neighborhood house for years they built a HUGE new Fire Station about a mile from our house. It’s fun to watch the station “go up”. Today they had an open house celebration … with the opportunity to tour the entire station!

We started off with a personal tour of a Fire Engine and all the compartments, equipment, controls and even the inside… great fun for the kids and extremely educational. Justin and Makenna were fasinated!!



Just upon completing the Engine tour the alarm sounded and off went the truck and 3 Fireman on a call. We watched as the Fireman jumped into the Engine and raced off on a call. It was pretty exciting to see them in action.



While the Engine was gone we continued the tour of their living quarters … they live very basic Justin was quick to ask “why their TV was so small” … they have a sweet exercise room and fabulous porch/outside patio area! I guess that makes up for the small TV and Twin Beds :)

~ Ah Yes ... Elmo had to come with us ~

What a fun way to start our Saturday!!

Stressed Out ...

Oh I truly hate this time of the year. TAX TIME!! UGHHHH … Honestly I have no one to blame but myself. I do this every year. Sadly I really thought I was a lot more organized then I was. My blog is so behind … my house needs cleaned … I’ve had no time to exercise … needless to say I’m STRESSED OUT!!

I’ve been buried in papers for days. Receipts, files and spreadsheets are taking over our house! The good news is once this is done I don’t have to think or worry about this again for another 12 months. Unless I try to really impress our accountant and be super organized for next year. Thought or challenge … ???? … we’ll have to wait and see. For now it’s back to focusing on this paper mess that I so badly want to ignore. UGH … :)