Catching up!

Geez - it's been a while. Part of the reason:

I've been working for the US Census since mid-April. That's my official credential - I'm a federal employee! Actually, it's been perfect - I can go work after Jason gets home and on weekends. It likely won't last too much longer, but it's been nice!

On Mother's Day we took the boat out to Standley Lake again - and pulled up on the other side of the lake to relax and fish from the shore. Kids had a blast playing in the MUD as you can see. Andrew is in his element when he's outdoors - he's a master skipper (of rocks) (seriously, he's really good) and just loves digging, throwing ANYTHING in the water (the bigger the better), etc. We think he'd be great on Survivor someday. Maybe even replace Bear Grylls!

May 1 - First day at Standley Lake!

We've been waiting for May 1, the day Standley Lake (the one right behind our house) opens up for boating...boys had the day memorized. We didn't make it out until the afternoon due to baseball and soccer, but we did it! You can see by the clothing it was pretty chilly, and it was windy - but still awesome to be out there on our own boat! So many times we've been at the shoreline fishing, or even just throwing rocks in, collecting shells, watching the other boats launch - this time it was us. : ) We are so very blessed! Didn't fish yet, but the fish finder found a few!

We saw parts of the lake we'd never seen or known about - a small "island" with tons of pelicans, trees absolutely full of nests, too many bird species to list.

Sports and more sports

We finally got back into baseball and soccer this week, after a week and a half of rain, rain, some snow, more rain. It's not supposed to rain in Colorado!
Brendan has been catcher almost every game lately - could not have predicted it but it's really working for him and the team. Some of those games can get pretty stressful when there's always someone on 3rd just waiting to steal home! But he's doing a great job.






Andrew is playing soccer in addition to baseball, but the soccer season is almost over. A video of him in action!! You get to listen to the famous Colorado spring winds....and some cheering for Andrew.

Play Ball!

This day had been long awaited at our house...American West Little League opening day - April 10! The day started at 7:15am as the teams gathered in the parking lot of the high school, to get ready to parade to the ball fields for opening day ceremonies. Donuts were EVERYWHERE...so many we had to throw some away. (Please note the Little Caesar guy - PizzaPizza!)

Brendan is a Fireball - he's on a Minors team this year for the first time. Jason has been his coach for a couple years now so it's a big change for him to have a new coach! And boy, does one year make a difference - we now keep score (not that we didn't before, but now it's official) and the whole feel is a bunch more "serious." Brendan loves it though. This is the first time that kids are pitching (vs coaches or machines) so the innings are looooooooonnnnnggg...lots of balls, walks. But when there is a hit - very exciting.



Andrew is a Tiger for the 2nd year. Jason (along with 2 other dads/friends) is coaching, and pitching most games. Andrew lives and breathes this sport - he got 2 outs his first game!

For opening day, we told both of them that if they got a home run, we'd give them $20. Didn't happen : ) so we've extended this offer for the whole season. They each had a list of "what if's..." What if it lands half an inch from the fence? What if it hits a bird and then falls but it would have been a home run?

Somehow, I've grown to love baseball. Seeing my little guys all done up in their baseball gear is just the best. I'm truly excited for the season starting, and am dying to get to a Rockies game. How lucky are we to live so close to a MLB team? And one that might even go to the World Series again this year?! (by the way, it's official this year - we rooted for the Rockies over the Mets!)

All About CC

CC searching for her Easter basket, with a little help from Brendan. It does go a little long...warning. And in case you didn't catch it, "Izzy fawted"....Izzy is our new-ish cat and often gets blamed for such things. (Andrew was in the room also, so we'll never know...)

This is CC's choice of outfit for Easter morning - got herself dressed from head to toe, including combat helmet. Not sure why the binoculars were not out during the basket search. The antler behind is coincidental placement - it's actually on the waterfall.

Then the princess picture...This is CC's best little bud, Megan. They take turns wearing the dresses, shoes, and then put on singing and dancing shows, and generally wave their arms about in a princess-like manner. The voices get higher. Too funny.

Last but not least, we had a scissor incident at the Baker house. Made it through 9 years without this particular action - but CC had 2 minutes in front of a mirror and chopped off a hunk of her ponytail! I think I was more traumatized than anyone. Her hair is fabulous! How could she! : )

Easter

The last few years I've had these big ideas of how to make really amazing, Martha-Stewart style Easter eggs (well, they aren't MY ideas - I read them or see on TV)...and each year they fail miserably. (This year - put small leaves on the egg, secure with pantyhose, dip in dye. Turned out looking like...just a regular dyed egg, no leaves visible.) What I REALLY should learn is - buy more eggs. A LOT more. There are never enough, especially as J and I both like doing a few. (J's alien egg is below.)

The Easter Bunny hides the baskets in our house (sounds familiar to the Bruns side) and this year, the boys woke up early, found ALL of them, put them all back, then came upstairs to wake us up. Since CC loves candy above all else, this was a great morning for her!

We had an awesome day. After STANDING at mass (when, when will I learn to get there early enough?) and enjoying the beauty and happiness of the morning - we had some friends over in the afternoon for a late lunch and egg hunt. Not organized enough to have pictures of the egg hunt - but one note is that the boys (had 13 kids total here, 1/2 of them boys) had to give the girls a minute head start because of some peeking/cheating that went on while the adults were hiding the eggs. Jason made Papa's famous Gin Fizz recipe, and we sat outside on the patio in the 70degree sunshine enjoying them. We so wish we could be with our families on these special holidays - hope yours was fantastic!

So, Tuesday it was 78 degrees. Gorgeous, made me want to go to the garden store and plant seeds. One week ago? Foot and a half of snow - and a snow day on Wednesday for the kids. A crazy, all-of-a-sudden storm - the kind you don't want to be driving in. Our power went out quite a few times. (Brendan was baking brownies for the first time - did it start-to-finish. Poor guy freaked out a bit when the power kept going out. Brownies actually turned out perfect!)

CC really wanted to go sledding (her favorite) but settled for some snow sculpting in the front yard. It was PERFECT snow for it - heavy, wet, and packable, not the fluffy stuff we get before spring. In addition to the snowguy, we made snowcat. CC put the buttons on his back. Boys built a fort with some neighbor kiddos that they were actually able to slide through.

Brendan entered the Science Fair at school for the first time this year. Topic: Conductive properties of Wood, Metal, and Citrus Fruit. Kermit is there to draw in the audience. : ) (actually, this was Brendan's idea - he is promoting "Go Green - and holding a CFL lightbulb) J and I helped quite a bit (J more than I) but B sure was proud of his finished product. It was very cool to walk around the gym and see all the cool things these elementary kids put together- non-mandatory! B has to work on the scientific method a bit - for him it's not so much a hypothesis, it's more like "the right/only answer."

The last picture is just one I really like...CC showing Daddy some love.