Well, time is flying by and it has been 4 months since I have updated! Just think, we are all 4 months older and don't even show it.
Back in October (I can hardly remember now) Shep and I did the traditional pumpkin carving just t get in the Halloween spirit of things. I made a cute smiley pumpkin with the word Boo on it. I must say it was a work of art! Took a long time to create the masterpiece. Well, Shep did a very scary fact with jagged teeth. Our neighborhood squirrels really enjoyed our pumpkin delight. They devoured the o's on my Boo the first night and I had a smile with a B left. They didn't even touch Shep's until several weeks later. It was so funny each day as I left for work to see the pumpkin diminishing. The squirrels are quite the pests - from patio furniture to pumpkins - what appetites. I did figure out how to keep them from eating the furniture, though. I put a plastic bag of nesting materials out for them. I am sure they were happy with the selection of bright colored fabrics, sticks, and pillow batting.
Back in October (I can hardly remember now) Shep and I did the traditional pumpkin carving just t get in the Halloween spirit of things. I made a cute smiley pumpkin with the word Boo on it. I must say it was a work of art! Took a long time to create the masterpiece. Well, Shep did a very scary fact with jagged teeth. Our neighborhood squirrels really enjoyed our pumpkin delight. They devoured the o's on my Boo the first night and I had a smile with a B left. They didn't even touch Shep's until several weeks later. It was so funny each day as I left for work to see the pumpkin diminishing. The squirrels are quite the pests - from patio furniture to pumpkins - what appetites. I did figure out how to keep them from eating the furniture, though. I put a plastic bag of nesting materials out for them. I am sure they were happy with the selection of bright colored fabrics, sticks, and pillow batting.
The holidays were a flood of activity with the little ones. Becky and Devin had his whole family for Thanksgiving and she cooked her first holiday meal! It was nice for them to be able to spend a holiday at home and not travel with the kiddos. Shep and I went to Ben and Brenda's for Thanksgiving, and Bree and Josh spent their time in Monument. We had a great visit as always! Cavan and Amelia are just adorable. Amelia really does like her Nana, and was oddly accepting of my attention to Cavan - we wondered if she would be jealous, but she wasn't. I read the Lorax more times than I can count. She knows most of the story by heart. If I quit reading she would fill in the rest of the sentence. She loves her babies and we did a lot of diapering and dressing of them. The visit was absolutely great.
After Thanksgiving, Shep and Becky left for a trip to Spain. Georgie stayed with Logan and Laila in Los Alamos. They did great, and the Spain trip was awesome. Becky has pictures posted. Georgie came through on her way back to Lyons and spent a night here. We had fun catching up-it has been ages since I have seen her. We had fun visiting the riverwalk, even in the icy cold weather.
After Thanksgiving, Shep and Becky left for a trip to Spain. Georgie stayed with Logan and Laila in Los Alamos. They did great, and the Spain trip was awesome. Becky has pictures posted. Georgie came through on her way back to Lyons and spent a night here. We had fun catching up-it has been ages since I have seen her. We had fun visiting the riverwalk, even in the icy cold weather.
During Christmas, I had two weeks off work. One week the university closes, and the other 3 days I took vacation/comp time. Becky and Devin stayed at our house and Ben & Brenda in Colorado Springs. Each day we would gather all of us together from 10:00 a.m until 6:00 p.m. The kids would play, we would all do lunch and dinner together. It was such a joy to see all the kids playing and having a good time. Logan and Owen were really funny together. They will be 4 years old in March & June - wow! Laila and Amelia played together well, but Amelia was coming down with a cold, so she was not her perky self. Ben and Brenda had to leave early, since Amelia and Cavan both were coming down with the crud. Wyatt and Cavan will be pretty funny when they get a little older and can interact some more. Cavan is about as big as Wyatt.The vacation was so fun. It seemed like most of the time we had two kids sleeping, 4 kids playing and some group of adults watching them. They guys got to disc golf, the girls got to take walks, and we went t the zoo one day. The weather was frigid, but we still had fun.
Devin's family came down two days after Christmas to see all of the kiddos, since we had Christmas in Pueblo. Georgie, Randy, Jenae and Anthony all visited. We had such fun! You can't imagine my house, which is not big, with 17 people in it. Fortunately at least one child was napping most of the time, and adults were coming and going as usual.
A couple of evenings we kept the kids and let the adults go to Josh and Bree's to play the new game Guitar Hero. With so many children, they don't often get together without children. It made it great for all of us. I was ready for bed early, and the adults could sleep in a little in the morning.
Devin hurt his back in January falling down their wood stairs while holding Laila, a computer and cup of coffee - Ouch! Becky had to nurse him (he was on his back for a week), and could not get to Santa Fe to shop, so I drove to Los Alamos on Saturday, helped her out, and came back on Monday. It was a quick trip, but Devin was doing lots better when I left. He is fine now, but had some therapy to help out. I never mind an excuse to visit. I took a couch with me that my grandfather had built for me in the late 40s. He had built a wood frame and upholstered it. It is the perfect size for dolls. I thought since my Mom had it and Becky never played with dolls, that Laila would enjoy it. I recovered it (to the best of my ability) and Laila loves it. Logan and I played with his space shuttle and read a lot. They are so much fun. Laila is walking like crazy. She does the splits (I hope they have a video of it) in her tutu. Logan is so happy in preschool three times a week - it gives Becky time with Laila, too.
Went to Baily a couple of weeks ago to spend the weekend and Cavan has grown like crazy! He is crawling with his little butt in the air - it is so funny. He is Mr. Happy Man - I got him to growl so much that he would just look at me and start in. We never did get a very good video of it, but it was hilarious. Amelia and I did our usual doll play and reading. She is so loveable. We went to the bounce house on our way back and it just about wore me out keeping up with Amelia - she is such a daredevil. Cavan even liked getting bounced around, too.
Last weekend I went to sit for Owen and Wyatt while Josh and Bree shopped for Owen's 4th birthday party. The boys and I had a fun time. Wyatt is crawling all over the place. His favorite spot is the tupperware cupboard and spoon drawer. He crawls clear inside the cupboard and just laughs - he has the cutest crinkled nose when he laughs. He will be quite the tease I think. Owen had a bunch of fun making up names of toys he built - he just cracked me up. He made a transformer at the Lowes class they go to on Saturdays (free) and he played with it the entire time I was there.
We got the families video cams for the computers to use Skype, so we can all have video conversations. Last weekend we did a 3 way conversation with Josh, Bree, Owen, Devin, Logan, Laila, and me. It was so funny to listen to Logan and Owen conversing. There is no video with the 3 parties, but the boys didn't care. They were pretty hilarious. On Saturday mornings it is fun to call them up and watch the kids. Laila will show me her splits and ask to see the monkey. I have this huge monkey stuffed animal that Sherry bought me when I was in Fruita. It is all of the kids' favorite. She asks for it, so I run to the room and get the monkey and she tries to touch it. One time I had 5 animals out and she got upset because she couldn't get to them. Logan always has some neat thing to show me. He is really talkative on the camera. Owen likes to talk about his latest toy, and Wyatt just wants to grab the camera. Amelia will show me dance moves and sunmersaults - pretty cute. What fun!
Work is work. After the first of the year we get really busy. We are doing a lot of events. We have had speakers like Denish D'Souza, Naomi TuTu, Dr. Sarah Weddington and Danny Glover. We sponsor a VIP reception, so I have to create invitations, VIP cards, etc, and help with the reception and signage. In addition, we do lots of huge mailings for all sorts of fundraising. We are getting into the scholarship award season, too. Two weeks ago I got to register and attend a great Jazz concert by Al Eberhardt and the Changing Times. It was remarkably good! Got some events like a Squash Court dedication, a Walk/Run event, another speaker and who knows what else. I think I am half administrative assistant and half event planner. Our biggest event will be the Gala which has turned into a 60s Happening - that one should be fun. It will be May 22 - what a lot of work. We have pre-events leading up to it. I am gathering some comp hours, which will be nice. The only drawback is the stress and working long days. The events are evenings, so I work til 7 or 9 on those nights and back to work at 8:00. I am too old to keep those hours. The work is at least interesting even if a bit disorganized.
Life in Pueblo is going great overall. The time just speeds by! I don't know where it goes.
I hope this finds you all well. Make sure you look at the kids blogs. If I wait to post pictures, I will never get this done. They have some great ones.
