Our Thanksgiving!

We spent our Thanksgiving in FL with the Gregov side of the family!

I am back to visiting one of my favorite places (my mother-in law Carolyn and Anna Maria Island)
It could have been a bit warmer but was just what the doctor ordered...a vacation!!!

My crew!

That's us!

We all had such a great time. We always do!

We also took our great friends with us...Debbie and Kenzie!

It was so fun to share one of our favorite places with friends!

The water was a bit chilly if you were above the age of 13...otherwise perfect swimming conditions!!

My loves!

Gotta love that white sand!

So much fun!!!  Thanks Carolyn for having us!!

Now it time to get ready for the holidays...I have been busy already!!!

Simple but nice!

 "It's the North Pole!,  "No it's not!",  "Yes it is!",  "Then where's the snow?"!!!!

Happy Bday Lili!!!

My youngest is now 9!!!!!  Oh my goodness...it's hard to believe it's possible.  She is such a joy.  She is such a sweet daughter.  She is such a wonderful friend.  Her family is very proud of her!

Goofball!

Just Dance...very fun!

Such a nice bunch!

Thanks to all Lili's generous friends...she loves everything!

Smile...it increases your face value my dear!!!  Love the hat!

Giddy-Up Cowgirl!!

Lili's girl scout troop had organized some riding lessons for the each of the girls and our group headed out Sunday morning for a nice little ride in the country.
It was such a gorgeous day here in St. L...the leaves are all changing and the weather perfect for some cowgirling! 

This was right before she was to get on...maybe just a little nervous.  

Pleased to meet you Jack! 

What a pretty boy!

And they're off!   I so wanted to go with them.

"That was cool Mom!"

"They said after we rode we would want to take lessons mom...they were right!"

Fun was had by all and lessons just might be in the future though she didn't mention it again the rest of the day.  I think I won't mention it either!

Ohhh and I also listened (ugh, not having cable bites sometimes) to KState football become #4 in the country!!!  So excited that I will actually get to see the game this weekend though...!  Go Cats!

My boy!!

He is now 11...that just floors me. 
He is most always happy.
He makes me smile everyday. 

He loves big hugs.
He loves to wrestle.
He is such a sweet guy. 
He is an amazing brother to his sisters.
He is a good friend.

He has such nice friends (especially when they aren't trying to drown each other!).

I am a bit late on this (dang computer!!!) but Happy 11th Birthday to my sweet guy! 

I can't wait to watch the way you will change over the years.  I know for sure that you will grow up to be such a nice young man...you already are!  I am so thankful for that day 11 years ago that you came into this world and into my arms. 
I loved you from that first second and I always will! 
You have a big part of my heart! 
Love you Buddy!

Mom

Whatcha been doing?!

So far, here's what we have been up to!!!

The St. Louis Zoo!  The zoo is free so its easy to go for a whole day or just an hour...really nice when you just can't seem to find anything else to do that day.  

The petting zoo

Hanging with friends...lots of this going on!

Wii

chit chatting

nice shades Lil!

 I have been busy playing with my new camera.  I hope these pictures look much better to all of you, they sure look better to me!

So many hostas...love their colors

Daylillies

Tiger-striped ornamental grass

 Oh and our perennial favorite summer activity...climbing trees!

Yesterday they even headed out to the tree in our front yard with iPod and speakers (the twenty-first century version of the boom box!) so they could hang and listen to their favorite music...Fun! 

Side Note:
Do you have an "I'M BORED" rule?
The one major annoyance of summer is when my kiddos come to me an say this.  I am thinking of putting in place a rule that whenever you say it you have to add .25 cents to the snow cone fund...what do you think?!

A beautiful weekend and an update!

I hope you all had a lovely Easter weekend and celebrated it in your own special way!  We had great weather and enjoyed an egg hunt and bbq with our neighbors...it was really nice.
Our ideal way of celebrating Spring and the renewal of life! 

Now for my reading goal update...I made it...pretty much.

One of my kiddos says I didn't but I say I did really good.  I made it a week and spent most of my free time with the TV off and a book in my hand.

She thinks not because I watched a bit of The Masters (golf tournament).  Does it count that I watched it with a book in my hand?  It's golf...you can read at the same time.

Details, details...at least I did work on my bad habit of always turning on the TV and got 2 books completely read and started a third.  It felt good and I didn't miss it too much.

So I think I will follow 2 rules...the one for my kids (I can hear myself say it right now) "it's been an hour, TV time is over" and my sister's rule of TV on after 8pm.
That will really limit my TV time as I go to bed at 9-9:30 every night. 

That works! 

The differences...

Just today the differences between where we live now and where we used to live are vast...
Colorado-40 degrees, Florida- 75 degrees
Colorado- freeze warning, Florida- sweat warning (aka-high humidity)
Colorado-bags and bags of raked leaves by the curb, Florida-nothing (yet if you have seen the large oak that looms over our house in some of the pics I have put on the blog, you know our time is coming...I hear it's December-January though)
Colorado-gardens are long gone, Florida-gardens just getting started
Colorado-no mangoes, Florida-mangoes in droves and oranges are just around the corner
BUT...
Colorado-my family and the best friends my kiddos and I could ever ask for, FL.......

Eldora!

The Fam at Siesta Key Beach!  That is not snow but it is the whitest, most powdery sand that you can imagine.

We are enjoying Florida a lot but we miss you all back home so much and know that you are all invited for a visit!  We would love it!!!

Summer, family and bbq's!!!!

I have been anxiously waiting and trying to be patient...it's finally summer and I am the happiest person around!! 

This weekend was very exciting for many reasons...

School is out, friends/family visiting and the annual BolderBoulder 10K race!!!

Kids and I are really enjoying our freedom from any and all routine.  I have some stuff planned out but we are taking a week off and just flying by the seats of our pants.  So fun!

Friends/Family...in this case they are one and the same.  My best friend from college came into town to run the BB with her fam.  She is truly a sister to me and I love her dearly.  We bbq'd and talked while the kiddos played and played.  A completely perfect summer evening!

 

Now for the BolderBoulder...the largest 10k race in the country!  I have run it twice before but I didn't run this year.  Bestie, her hubby and their son did and they LOVED it!  I am not surprised...it's a fun, fun race and It was an incredibly beautiful day.  I drove them into town as the other kiddos and hubby slept and it really couldn't have been a better morning.

  

Here they are...6:55am...all set and ready to fun their tails off!  

Our view on the way to the race...can it really get any better???!!!

Happy Memorial Day!  I send many thoughts and prayers to Grandpa in Heaven...one of the many brave veterans our country is so proud of.