Earth Hour 2009

Let's join the world in switching off our lights for an hour on Saturday, March 28th from 8:30p - 9:30p.

* This movement started in Sydney in 2007. Yet another reason Australia is SO cool.

Snow! Glorious Snow!

Well, it wasn't an ideal day to be on the road. In fact, I could barely see the cars in 50 feet in front of me, but we stuff going on. And I'm a winter driver. Or something.

The town basically shut down in the afternoon, as the sleeting now froze on the roads, and Zach's school conference was postponed because people couldn't get up the drive to the school. But that didn't keep the kids inside. Zach decided the snorkle was the way to beat the horizontal snow. Not a bad idea, really.

And then Friday came, in all its sunny glory:

Good luck, little blooms

From 9news.com: A long-awaited, much-needed spring snowstorm will impact most of the state Thursday and Friday. Heavy snow beginning in the mountains Wednesday night will spread to the Front Range and eastern plains Thursday during the day, lasting into the evening.

Denver will have its biggest snowfall of the season by far Thursday into Friday morning. 9NEWS Meteorologist Marty Coniglio says that after some wet snow in the morning, the snow will intensify in the afternoon and evening.

Around metro Denver A WINTER STORM WARNING is in effect from 6am until 6am on Friday. Total snow forecast by Friday morning:
Metro Denver: 8 to 16 inches
Front Range Foothills: 16-22 inches

Out in western Lakewood, we generally get the high end of the metro forecast amount or the low end of the foothills' forcast. 16 inches? We could sure use it, though of course tomorrow is the day I'm scheduled driving the crew all over creation like a madwoman. Wish us luck.

Love You!

Hiya!

Such cute kids.

They must get it from their mother.

Scratch that. It was certainly their dad.

Sprung?

Video for documenting tweeting birds, not bluebird sky.

Spring has sprung in Colorado! We've had a string of 70 degree days, accompanied by their signature Colorado bluebird skies. We've been worried about sunburn, and have ventured outside in shorts and shortsleeves and flip flops (oops, haven't done the pedicure yet). The buds are spouting and the crocuses are already up and gone. I've seen nests with eggs in them (does it count that it's in a bird cage in Zach's preschool?), and those little songbirds are loud in the A.M. It's so SWEET to see Spring!

(There. That should do it. We really need a snow storm.)

Opportunities Missed

Photo Ops, those were.

As many of you know, I love to have the camera on hand because life passes too quickly, and I can't remember it in my old age. (Sometimes I think I have that backward, and that I should put the camera down because life passes too quickly, and I should be living rather than documenting...it's a constant battle.)

Anyway, to err on the other side, I missed a few opportunities recently:

1) Tutu
Olivia's first piece of dress-up clothing was a purple, garage sale-find tutu. It's too, too big, so the stretched-out elastic is pinned to fit her teeny waist. There are periods when she wants to wear it all day long for several days, and then we don't see it for weeks. A few nights ago, we checked on her before our lights-out and found her all curled up, out cold, snoozing the way only kids can. Over her pink blanket sleeper, she'd pulled up the purple tutu, all the better to spin and chassé into babygirl Dreamland.

2) Lipstick
You know that lipstick I borrowed from Heather for my wedding day, and then "forgot" to give back to her (it was almost gone when she gave it to me, afterall)? Well, it's been almost gone for over 6 years now, but that hasn't convinced me to toss it because sometimes I think I'll buy one of those lipstick brushes and make sure I don't waste any of that discontinued Aveda hue. (That and the fact that I lost it.) So far, though, I haven't bought the brush and haven't gone the route of digging my pinky down into the tube to slather on the last of it. That's what daughters are for, right? Yes! Olivia at your service. Expert lip-stuff finder, finger-digger, and schmearer, front and center. In front of the computer screen, that is, and with an aim that's a little off-center. More than a little off-center, probably, like way off the lips, onto the lids, and the cheeks and the keyboard and the computer screen. No wonder she was so quiet (*alarm bells sound*) over there. Not all quiet is peaceful.

3) Toilet Bowl
We're sooooo proud of her when she uses the big girl potty! She has decided, apparently, that she's such a big girl that she prefers to use the regular toilet over the training potty we have. Unfortunately, she has yet to master some of the finer points of toilet use:
1. Girls don't lift the toilet seat before sitting down.
2. The lid is not a "bahk-pahk" to pull down after you're seated.
3. It's better if you don't fall all the way in so you resemble a napkin being pulled through its ring. "Uck, uck, uck, Ma, uck." You might think that's an appropriate comment to make in such a situation. I would say so, too, but in "Olivvy-ish" that means "stuck," which was also true. Yuck. And up to the emergency bath.

Sadly, because now the childhood photo montage at her wedding will be three slides shorter, I didn't capture any of these moments on film.

What is the world coming to?

Cupcake Tips

Colorado Days

Days like yesterday are why we love living here. Load 'em up; roll 'em out.

We did a short spin around the park before picnicking at the playground by the lake. It was a beautiful day!

You might be from Colorado if...

(have you heard this one?)

You might be from Colorado if...you carry your $3000 bike on top of your $300 car.

We spotted this Coloradoan at Bear Creek Lake Park on our family ride and picnic yesterday. It was a beautiful day, and the bikers were out! We even saw some Lance-ish riders in their space-age-looking helmets (can you tell who doesn't have the bike jargon down?) doing a time trial.

Reminiscing

Awwww...so sweet she was on 7/17/07.

And still is now, but I had to post this one. "My how you've grown..."

Sandy & Roman in the NY Times!

Roman is permed! And has raised over $3000 - No, I just checked his website, over $4000! - for his friend who's battling a potentially paralyzing disease.

Nice work, Roman!

Check out The New York Times (Really?! Isn't that amazing?!) article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/16/nyregion/16perm.html?_r=2&ref=nyregion

Happy "Valenstime" Day!

That's what Zach says, "Happy Vah-lens-time Day!
And "Sanks for da new coo shirt, Nana an Pop."

And here's our Fancy Livvy, in her new Fancy Nancy shades and purse,

wearing her party (more on that, later) dress.

Found this Valentine's "message" at the park on Wednesday.
Happy Heart Day!

A little kitchen flare

Picture this: The Kids Wish You Happy Valentine's Day!

Savor this: The kids are in bed, and the parents enjoy a crab dinner a deux. Ahhhh.

While the Dad's Away...

...the Mom will Play, and Craft, and Clean, Cook, and Change Diapers, and Shuttle, and...

And we eagerly await Dadddy's return.

Roman Needs a Perm

Some of you know my friend and jewelry-maker extraordinaire, Sandy Hyun. One of the coolest chicks I know, and she's found herself an awesome, creative BF Roman, with a big heart and lots of hair.

Their friend Jenny is beginning a battle against cancer, and Roman is up to All Good. Check it out.

The Symphony!

Olivia and Zach at the edge of the stage

Way across from us were the violins

"Our" bassist was just a step away!

Check out the accoustic ceiling, and the conductor

Olivia soaking it in

Zach and Ella getting some tips from a violinist

Thanks (so much) to Lisa, we learned of the Junior Symphony Guild's concert for kids at the Denver Performing Arts Center today. Along with maybe 500 other kids and parents and teachers, we sat on the Boettcher Concert Hall's stage surrounded by musicians who delighted us with sad music, stomping music, waking up in the morning music, quiet and loud music, cat and elephant music, and finally "The Horse Song" (the William Tell Overture). It was brilliant!

Zach has been all about the "band" (aka 'guitar') and the violin lately, so I thought this might really be up his alley. Today, he and Olivia were a little reserved, maybe because they couldn't move around as much as they wanted and probably because they were a few hours short of sleep. But even so, they gazed wide-eyed at the musicians and instruments all around us.

The conductor was a hoot, throwing in jokes (and a few sales pitches) for the adults as he livened up the kids with annecdotes about how Saturday mornings are made for...queue Looney Toons music, and teased the 5-year-old piano soloist about not spending any time practicing (right before said soloist poured out a beautiful piece).

At the end, kids could get up close and personal with some of the instruments and musicians. It's apparent that these folks love what they're doing and love the opportunity to share with little ones. This will be an annual event for us!

Bonus Points for anyone who can correctly name the tunes in the video clips while ignoring Zach's, "When are we gonna leave here, Mom?"

Click here for more pics.

Clip 1

Clip 2

Clip 3

Clip 4

And check out this news story (and video). I love the quote from the music director:
"Our purpose is to seed as many important melodies in their little ears as we can, because you know, it's just soaking into that sponge," said Tom Jensen, the music director for the guild. "Music soothes the savage toddler."

In case you're still thirsting for more, here's a little about the event, from their website:
Tiny Tots is a unique program developed by the Junior Symphony Guild to introduce children ages 6 and under to symphonic music. A unique and exciting perspective is achieved by having the children sit inside of a large circle of 30 musicians. The children are free to move with the music or to concentrate on a musician who is sitting just inches from them. With "theatre of the mind" exercises children have an opportunity to actively engage with the music.
The concerts entertain children with music from standard repertoire; TV shows, cartoons, movies and commercials. The Tiny Tots program cultivates an appreciation for symphonic music among young children by helping them to discover that symphonic music is around them every day.
Each concert lasts approximately 45 minutes. Children and adults sit on the floor, and the concerts are limited to 500 people with seating in the round. Concerts sell out quickly, so tickets should be purchased in advance.

Here is the repertoire for this season's Tiny Tots series:
* excerpts from the Opera Carmen, Bizet
* excerpts from the Marriage of Figaro Overture, Mozart
* excerpts from Hungarian Dance #5, Brahms
* excerpts from Symphony #7, Beethoven
* Waltz from Sleeping Beauty, Tchaikovsky
* Puss 'n' Boots divertissment, Sleeping Beauty with ballet dancers, Tchaikovsky
* excerpts from the 2nd Hungarian Rhapsody, Liszt
* intro: Also Sprach Zarathustra, R. Strauss
* Elephant variation, Carnival of the Animals, Saint Saens **
* Montagues and Capulets, ballet music, Prokofiev
* Finale from the Fire-bird Suite, Stravinsky
* Hall of the Mountain King, Grieg
* Morning, Grieg
* Sabre Dance, Khachaturian
* excerpts from Poet and Peasant, von Suppe
* excerpts from William Tell Overture, Rossini

** The elephants (basses) were right next to us!

The Grammys

...inspired a rockin' performance on our center stage as well!

Any Questions?

Not to take anything away from the heroic and incredibly skilled landing by Sully, but perhaps he had some help?

More Joy, Please

As we get older, so many of those stories we hear about "someone" become stories about "us" and "our friends and family." I love it when those stories are joyful. And my chest shrinks when they are not.

I'm writing about this now because I've heard another story that contains both joy and sorrow. Out of the sorrow has come joy, and I hope only that grows.

If you're one to pray, or send good thoughts, or whatever, would you send up a few for almost-four-year-old Tess and her family? She was diagnosed on Tuesday, January 20th with neuroblastoma. That Friday she had surgery to remove a tumor and a lymph node.

Joy: By Monday afternoon, Tess had recovered enough to go home with her sisters and brother.

Because cancer is also in her marrow, it's likely Tess and her parents will fly this weekend to have her marrow harvested (so it can be reintroduced later, after the bad marrow has been removed) and to begin a regimen of chemotherapy. That out-of-state stay will last several weeks.

Through all of this, Tess and her family will need all the support they can get.

It doesn't matter how Tess is connected to me, because all that matters is that hopefully now she will be connected to you, as you join the prayer chain for her recovery. (But if you're curious, she's the second daughter of one of my sister's best friends.)

After reading the Journal on Tess's Caring Bridge site, I felt compelled to spread the word of Tess' challenge. I don't believe it was just my need to type that moved me to do so.

Joy: I believe I'm part of Tess' little army now. Within the Journal, Spencer and Libby have eloquently chronicled their absolutely incredible week. Their strength and faith and graciousness are humbling.

Joy: It's amazing what we can do when put to the test, especially when we're surrounded by love and faith. I pray warmth will continue to wrap them, and to heal little Tess. And that the joy that is this warmth will continue to grow.

Read her story: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/princesstess