Daddy's Lucky Charm...

Sofia, Meg, and I went downtown on Saturday for Denver's St. Patricks Day Parade. We joined our two neighboors Jen and Christina, who gave us VIP tickets to the main stage area (it also came with free food and beer!). They were also supplying Jameson Irish Whiskey, which was really good. As we were leaving our house we noticed our camera was out of juice. So, the pictures we got were the ones that Christina took for us (sorry for all of you parade lovers...). After the parade we went to a Irish Pub back near Meghan's school where Christina knew the owner and head bartender. They had Irish Dancers (all kids) dressed in celtic garb and dancing in their wooden clogs. It was so cute. I was amazed in how long Sofia's clover outfit lasted without a massive spit-up accident.

I know Meg and Sofia are excited to see you all this weekend. I am sorry I can be there to see you all but know that I miss you and will see you soon. My great friend Penni (Jonathan Pennington) is going to come to visit to keep me company while Meg is back in Michigan. We are going to go skiing in Vail on Friday and then to the Coors Brewery on Saturday for a tour of the second greatest place next to the home of the Denver Broncos - Invesco Field at Mile High. I promise (fingers crossed) that we will be on our best behavior and will stay out of as much trouble as possible. I am going to miss my girls so much. Take care of them!

Just Thinking...

Every once in a while, we recieve a reminder of how lucky we are to have the people in our lives that we do. Despite being so far from our dearest friends and family, the special connection between us has never been lost. We are so blessed. Thank you to all of you for always being there to support us.

A IS for Adorable!

Daddy is up at Vail skiing today with the boys. What does that mean??? Girls day! Sofia and I had a lovely morning with some of my girlfriends at a great restaurant called Lola's downtown and then it was time for pictures. :) P.S. Snowboarding was GREAT yesterday!!..of course we forgot the camera!

So Excited!!!

Tomorrow we are going up to the mountains. Yes, you read that right...WE! I have been craving the sound of the snow wisking off the edges of my snowboard for months now and tomorrow it will happen. :) We will be sure to take TONS of pictures...and don't worry...Sofia will be in them too! :)

Winter toys...

I won some tickets to a minor leauge hockey game and got another suprise in the mail...this extemely warm hat! I know its pretty awful looking, but I am going to keep it to embarass the hell out of Meg. Growning up, my dad had a purple hat with gray fur very similar to this one. Back then, we had a rabitt named Emily that my dad din't like so much. He joked that it was Emily's sister and that if Emily was bad, he would make another hat. Meg's good friend Kate Danielson got Sofia this hat, which of course is one of her favorites.


Work was good to me in '06 and I just got my year end bonus. Meghan talked me in to treating myself and getting some new skis. The pair I was on were the ones I got for Christmas back in about 1993. That made them 14 years old! The bindings were so dated, they were on a "try not to laugh at customers if they want to reuse them" list. Seriously, they wouldn't touch them due to liability issues. My boots were in such bad shape, the pads on the bottom that can be replaced, were discontinued 5 years ago. So these are the new skis, Rossignols Scatch BCs. They were demo skis and I got a really good deal on them.

A Futile Attempt

I am currently teaching a physics unit on motion, energy and forces. When introducing the topic with my students yesterday, I posed the question, "What is motion?" hoping that they would be able to figure out that it is a change in location. Instead, the overwhelming response was, "When you move!"

Hey. At least they make me laugh.

1991 called...and it wants its jacket back...

This is just one of the "totally gnarly" jackets from the Rocky Mountains I have seen this year. What really amazes me is the amount of one-piece snow suits I still see. Most of them have also been in "wickedly rad"neon colors.

Here is shot from the top of the "Imperial Bowls" from Peak 7 at Breakenridge. If you remember from last season this lift (Impereal Express) is the tallest lift in North America. This picture is from the top of the back side of this mountain. There is one more run that you have to hike up for about another 300ft to get to. I imagine this is where you hike to with a flag and stand at the top to look out over all of God's beautiful creation and the only thing to say is WOW. Hopefully next time if the snow conditions are good, I'll get up to this peak to experience it firsthand and photograph it for you all to see.

The WORST Poetry Ever!

At 1:37 what does one think to themselves?
It's the middle of the night, can't sleep
Do I grab a book from the shelves?

A baby that stares
With wide open eyes
The papasan swing...we'll give that a try.

A drippy nose
A cough that could wake the dead
I swear to God there's a vice squeezing my head.

It's 1:44 now
What do I do?
Rhyming is not easy and I pity you
who reads this midnight rant
of mindless babble.

Jack and Layla
Are up now too
What is this night turning into?

Just one person is missing
Do I dare?
I'll wake Chris up, he won't care.

It's 1:59
My poetic license has expired.
It's time to sleep. I'm tired.

DDR, Mirrors and the Hallelujah Chorus

What better way is there to blow off the stress of a crazy week than with a little DDR? For those of you who don't know, DDR stands for Dance Dance Revolution, an interactive dance game for Play Station 2. Chris and I bought it for each other for Christmas and have had a TON of fun with it. (Hey, I never claimed that Chris and I weren't nerdy.) Not only can this game make you feel totally incapable of dancing while you laugh hysterically, but it also has a workout mode that can potentially kick your butt! It's a riot and Friday night we broke the game out and even got Sofia involved. :)

Sofia has been changing so much every day! This weekend she discovered the wonderful world of mirrors and couldn't get enough of herself in them. She is also working hard on sitting up. She was trying so hard this morning that she farted! I haven't laughed that hard at her yet. She has her 4 month check-up this afternoon, so we'll see how much she's grown and what to expect in the next few months as far as her development is concerned.

I have today and tomorrow off because of President's Day and it couldn't have come at a better time. Feeling more exhausted each day, I was really looking forward to a long, 4-day weekend. I had no idea, however, that Sofia would be so willing to cooperate with my need for rest. This morning I woke up to the sound of the Hallelujah Chorus playing in my head because SOFIA FINALLY SLEPT THROUGH THE ENTIRE NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOO HOO!!!!!!!! It looks like those nightly pep talks finally paid off! :) Hopefully this becomes a trend and waking up 2 and 3 times a night will become a thing of the past. PLEASE keep your fingers crossed.

Enjoy the latest pictures!

First Dates 9 Years Later

Today marks 9 years of Chris and I being the crazy pair that we are. And, even after 9 years of love, my incredible husband still knows how to take me out on a "first date". Last night, he took me to one of our favorite restaurants downtown for a bottle of wine and some incredible Italian food to celebrate our relationship and our new life together as parents. It was our first time going out on a date alone since Sofia was born. While it was hard to leave the little bundle of love at home with our friend Matt, it was wonderful rediscovering why we do love each other so much through candlelight and conversation. He is my best friend.

Happy Valentine's Day!