Sesame Street Live

This afternoon the girls, Alecia and I went to see Sesame Street Live- very and good and held their attention well. Here are a few pics- more on Flickr!

Thanksgiving Feast

The girls had a Thanksgiving feast at school- more pics on Flickr!

Gracie

Lily

'New' Dresser

We (I) wanted to get the changing table out of the girls' room and put a dresser in, to hold clothes and keep them from climbing. I started looking for a dresser that could also double as a changing table- because my children refuse to use the potty! (Side note: I am convinced they understand the 'potty' concept, but just don't want to do it!) I didn't want to spend a lot on the dresser, but still wanted something that would last. We had a dresser in our guest room that wasn't being used to its fullest potential. We've had it since we got married, but I really didn't like it that much & put it in the guest room. Walt has a cousin, Jennifer, that had posted some pictures on Facebook of some furniture that she had painted. It was one-of-a-kind and really good. I thought I would measure to see if the dresser would fit in the girls' room. After measuring, I realized it wasn't that much bigger than the changing table. I talked to Jennifer about painting the dresser the next time she was in the area (she lives in Austin). She said she would be up soon and would love to paint the dresser. That's the long, drawn-out explanation of how we got this beautiful, original piece for the girls' room.

BEFORE

AFTER

SIDE VIEW

DRAWER/ BOTTOM

SIDE

TOP

She is so talented! If you like what she did and have something you want painted, I can get you in touch with her. She has done other hand-painted projects- not just furniture. Let me know what you think!

Outbreak!

Last night's bedtime routine started as usual. We brushed our teeth, read a few books, and gave goodnight kisses. The girls went down without any objections. As I was in the kitchen working on a craft project (picture at the end of the post) and Walt was on the computer, I thought I heard some noise coming from the girls' side of the house. I walked over to the hall and listened for the noise. I heard something like a muffled knocking of sorts. As I peeked into their room I noticed the room was dark (we had left the closet light on and the door cracked as we usually do). I heard the noise again and it was coming from the closet. The girls' beds were empty, and when I opened the closet door... they were both sitting there on the floor with most of their toys around them, just playing! I had to leave the room to get Walt and also take a minute to get my "serious" look on- it was too cute! We placed the 2 "escapees" back in their beds and "strictly" told them to stay in their beds- which they did. I knew this was coming, but I was hoping not to have to convert their beds to toddler beds until Christmas. I guess we'll see how the next few nights go. I am just glad they didn't hurt themselves!

Now for the craft project. I have seen some really cute bow-holders in stores and online. I always thought that I could make one for much cheaper and using colors I wanted. I gathered supplies at Hobby Lobby this week and decided to put one together. I really like how it turned out and hope it will hold all their bows and clips. Here's a picture of the finished product:

The "escapees"

New Pictures

We have had a few busy weeks. The girls started MDO on Tues, Wed and Thurs- 1/2 days. I have really been able to get alot done while they are at "school" without feeling like I am ignoring them. They really enjoy their teachers and are learning so much. I have posted a few pics on Flickr of all the activity these past weeks- enjoy!

Colorado-Day 5

It's hard to believe that we have been in Denver for 5 days. We have kept pretty busy, seen a lot of the city and eaten A LOT! When planning the trip, I kept today open so that we could rest and catch anything we hadn't seen or done earlier in the week. We both slept in- almost to 9! Walt headed out for a bike ride while I stayed at the hotel watching some tv and reading a little bit. We headed to lunch at the Wazee Supper Club. We decided on the combo appetizer and a pizza- they claimed to be the best pizza in the civilized world. Everything was very good!

Walt wanted to look for a new work hat, so we walked down the street to a local western store. As we were leaving the store, I heard a man talking and his voice made me turn around because it sounded familiar. He looked familiar and I told Walt to hurry and look at him before we left the store. We got outside and I asked Walt if the guy looked familiar to him- I tend to see people that I think are famous, but usually are not. Just yesterday I thought maybe I passed Carmelo Anthony at the mall- Walt said he didn't think that he traveled without a posse. Back to today- the guy we saw at the western store was Larry Miller- an actor who has been in several movies and tv shows. He was the dad in 10 Things I Hate About You. Who knew we would see a famous actor in Denver,CO.

We spent the rest of the afternoon chillin' back at the hotel. We called up Lauren and headed down to Littleton for dinner. We had some good Italian food at Romano's and then went to see Denver Seminary. We hung out at Lauren's condo for awhile and watched some more tv. This trip has been fun and a good chance for Walt & I to get away from the craziness of everyday life. I have missed the girls terribly and Walt says that I am stalking his mom while she keeps them. It sounds like they have also had a great week, and I'm sure that I will have to do some serious work to entertain them when we get home. Next week they start MDO, so I think they will have fun.

Colorado-Day 4

Started the day at Adagio Baking Company with yummy breakfast sandwich on challa roll. Headed to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science to check out the Expedition Health exhibit. We got there a few minutes early so we spent some time looking at the Space exhibit and the Wildlife exhibit. This is an impressive museum with great displays. They use the skeleton and hair of the animals then make the body out of plaster (taxidermy). The backdrops and the surrounding environments to the animals were very impressive also.

On to the main exhibit. We entered the exhibit and were given a plastic card (think credit card) that we would use at the various stations to keep track of our specific information. Basically you go through different stations that tell you about the different systems in the human body. There was a "Biology Lab" that you could go into and do different experiments- we didn't try it, but the kids looked like they were having fun. They had a 13 minute interactive video that tells you how your body would respond to a 14,000 foot hike up a mountain here in Denver. This was cool- they had devices at all the seats to record oxygen level and heart rate. They even had real snow blowing around at one point. Another station took your picture then showed you what you would look like at 70 years- the line was too long and it was taking forever. At the end of the exhibit you enter your card into a computer and then you get a print out of all your information that was taken. There is also a website we could go to and get even more information about ourselves.

We ended our time at the museum with the dinosaur exhibit- you can't go to a museum without looking at the dinosaurs. At the end of this exhibit there was an area were you can watch employees working on the fossils- pretty neat.

We then headed down to Cherry Creek Shopping Center ( think North Park Mall in Dallas) for some lunch and shopping. We had some great lunch at Kona Grill- I had the white pizza (alfredo sauce, spinach, mushrooms, bacon crumbs) and Walt had sushi. We spent the afternoon shopping- mainly separately. I stayed at the mall while Walt ventured off across the street to some other stores. I found cute outfits for the girls at Janie and Jack, some gifts for the girls and a birthday gift for cousin Anna. We also picked up a little pre-graduate school gift for Aunt LaLa.

For dinner we went to a local sushi bar, Sushi Sasa. I have never been to a sushi bar.. come to think of it, I haven't had sushi before. I knew Walt liked sushi so I had researched places to try on the trip. The atmosphere was very calm and a little intimidating for someone who has never done this before. The tables to either side of us had people who obviously knew what they were doing. We got everything ordered and ended up with some shrimp, Japanese-style chicken nuggets and California rolls. Did I mention that they only had chopsticks to eat with- never used them, successfully, before. Everything was good- if I had to rank from most to least favorite 1. California rolls 2. chicken 3. shrimp. We are now watching the Cowboys at the hotel. Another good day in the mountains.