Home Again!

We (the kids and my mother-in-law and I) had the chance to go back to the midwest for a week. Just a fun little road-trip to see family and friends and play! We had a great time! The kids were exceptionally good in the car(for the most part), I mean it was 3100 miles worth of driving! We made a stop over in Nauvoo,IL and left Grandma Jean there with her sister Betty for the week.

Some of the highlights were my B-day, my mom treated me to a mani-pedi! Matt spoiled me with a new camera, I shouldn't tell this part because I wasn't any better at taking pictures than I usually am. So for no reason I really don't have many pictures documenting our time away. I will rely on friends and family to send me some of their pics.
It was funny & a little sad to me how many things the older boys had forgotten in 1 short year since moving away. Of course as soon as we were in Brownsburg Evan swore he wanted to move back b/c of his favorite restaurant, BOB EVANS. And then their memories were suddenly flooded with all of their favorites that we simply cannot get in Denver like White Castle (frozen from the grocery store are not the same), Rally's, Steak N Shake, Donatos Pizza, Ritters frozen custard and Bob Evans. We tried our hardest to fit them all into our dining experience. The kids & I fell right back into playing with our friends as we scheduled play dates all week long. It was fun seeing everyone again. In one short year 6 of my friends or close acquaintances bore children. It was fun to meet these new tikes.
My family was able to take a day off work and head to Kings Island in Cincinnati Ohio. This was very reminiscent of growing up as this was the closest theme park back then. Fun and way overpriced we played at the water park during the heat of the day and then rode mostly kiddie rides in Nickelodeon Universe. The kids had a blast and were tuckered out by the end.
We spent more time with family and friends and then had to head back to Nauvoo, IL to pick up Grandma Jean and head home.
We made a stop or created a stop rather at Matt's families homes in Springfield, Missouri. We dropped Grandma off at her other sister Dorothy's home and the kids & I rove around the corner to Matt's cousin Rachel's home. She has three boys all pretty close to my boys ages. They have acres of woods! The kids were very content and thrilled to be able to explore & play with new toys for the day. It was a very short day and then we had to head back to Denver.
Again the boys did fabulous in car on the way home. Now it is back to the same old around the house. The kids decided on hour 13 of the drive that next vacation we were definitely flying!

EV, EVSKY, EVAN!

Our dear Evan is now 9 years old! Where have the last nine years gone? Oh Evan, there is so much that can be said of Evan. He is very literal, Black & White! As a child of 4 years he had a dream of his Daddy flying him on a magic carpet ride to China. But not his Matt-Daddy. I can remember the afternoon that he told me this dream. He was soo excited! Every since he has been infatuated with China & the Chinese culture. So it was no surprise when asked what he wanted for his treat to take to his class he said sushi(technically Japanese). After much convincing I was able to concede and bring candy sushi to pass out to his class on his birthday. It was a bear to make, but what mom doesn't try to bend over backwards for their child? I gave it my best shot, but my back doesn't bend, leave alone backwards! For his birthday dinner he chose he second favorite food, mashed potatoes. We took him to Golden Corral, all you can eat buffet. He stood on a chair and had the staff at the restaurant sing their version of Happy Birthday, the entire time he was embarrassed and uttering to his father that he was gonna get him for this! We finished his fun filled day at Boondocks riding go carts and playing video games! He had a good day, and that was enough for Evan! Happy Birthday Budd! A few days later he celebrated with a small family gathering where Evan iced his own Yellow Fudge Marble Bundt cake, YUM!

More Different than Ever!

Trying to keep the boys out of Evan's birthday presents all day while Ev was at school proved to be difficult.

Are you Okay? and giving luvs after beating one another happens hundreds of time a day!

Dawson laying on top of Declan.

Posing for the camera! Dawson in yellow & of course Declan in blue.

Dawson in Jail! Look at that pathetic face.

Clothes hampers! Who knew they were so fascinating? No one likes them when they have clothes clothes in them, clean or dirty!

Dawson is officially pulling ahead! At their 2 year physical Dawson is 1/4 of an inch taller and 4 ounces heavier than Declan. Otherwise they are still exactly the same!

Declan not easily defeated can be just as mean as Dawson, and then kiss and make up.

Official stats:

Weighng in at 25.6 pounds & standing 34 1/2 inches tall is Dawson.

Not far behind is Declan weighing in at 25.2 pounds, standing 34 1/4 inches tall.

What do you do in your spare time?

I just whipped together this fabulous slip cover for my ottoman. Hard telling when I will get my leather sectional, so I had to make do with my incredibly worn denim sofa. Who would make a slip-cover sofa and sew the slip-cover onto the furniture? I have no way of cleaning the stinking furniture except to spot clean it, so I decided to make a slip-cover. I am not ambitious enough to tackle the sofa so hopefully we can make do until Santa brings me my leather sectional.

Easter Morning!

The Easter Bunny found our basement and hid the baskets there! The kids really did not question this seeing as though our backyard is muddy d/t no grass. The kids all ran to find their hidden treasures and this is what they found! The babies got a bubble blowing machine and some other random treats.

Evan got something educational,lots of sugar and a new toothbrush and tooth paste.

Carter got much of the same, something educational and sugary yada yada yada

Declan with the bubble machine. He chose the this over his basket of treats until he realized how much candy was involved.

Dawson with his treats.


We neglected to do our Easter tomb cookies this year, maybe tonight for FHE. At the last minute we decided to drive to Grandma Jeans early and go to church with her & Jerry. We then went to their home for a yummy Easter dinner. Grandma had a fun Easter Egg hunt in her basement for the kids. Warmer weather would have been nice, however we made good use of our basements!
As a family we watched The Ten Commandments movie, well part of it. Matt & I watched all of it. It is a 4 hour plus movie. I think the kids got the important parts!

Random Snapshots That Say it ALL!

Dawson & Declan taking a ride in the Lazy Susan. You may also notice all of the fingerprints on the stove! Ugh, neverending!

They actually spin themselves around inside the Lazy Susan.

Carter's new look!

He asked me to take his picture and this is how he chose to pose.

Declan has such a big heart! They still sleep in the same bed, always touching!

Evan & Carter are SOOO into Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.

They babes entertaining themselves in the car on our 11 hour road trip.

Dawson's new favorite place to sit while watching TV.

Disclaimer: Evan is content playing legos & reading or playing on the computer. We love him just as much as the other kiddos even though we do not snap pictures of him as often.

Farewell Friend!

Taken this morning, Declan & Dawson watching TV with Cosmo.

We are very saddened by the sudden loss of our dear Cosmo. He had been losing weight rapidly and vomiting every since we left him for the weekend(last weekend). Prior to that we noticed his appetite dwindling. We took him to the vet, spent too much money, only to be told that there was nothing obvious wrong with him. So we put him on the famous boiled chicken & rice & cottage cheese diet, as we have had all of our boxers on at some point. This morning after a solid week of vomiting when the vet called to check on him we decided to take him in again. Matt explained to the boys that Cosmo was very sick and may not come home. Everyone said their good-byes and that was it. After doing some x-rays it was evident that he had multiple intestinal blockages requiring surgery(quite possibly cancerous tumors, we had no way of knowing w/o surgery & biopsies). Poor Matt had to make a decision, reluctantly we had to put him to sleep. We knew when we adopted Cosmo that our time with him would be limited because he was soo old, we didn't think it would only be 6 months. Just enough time for everyone to get really attached. The babies keep asking "Where Momo?" And Carter said he was "really worried about Cosmo because he really loved him". We explained that he was in 'Doggy Heaven" with Santana & Bella our other beloved boxers. We will miss our "Old Man Cosmo" dearly!