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.

Ahoy matey...

We have a new member of our family! It lives in our garage, and is patiently waiting for spring and summer, as are we.

We have a fishing boat! We have talked so often about how we'd love to have a boat, we wish Colorado had more lakes, etc. - a love of water is something that our whole family shares. So we took the plunge, leap of faith, etc. and here she is! J has been spending a lot of time in the garage/man cave and getting her ready to go on the water as soon as possible (when the ice melts!) She's a 15hp, 14' 1983 SmokerCraft - and needs a new name! Kids love hanging out inside her, particularly CC, who has "caught" several pieces of candy already!

The O'Bakers

I (we) love St. Patty's Day. Probably started with our honeymoon in Ireland (how cool were we to go there?) and the 10 days of driving around that gorgeous, relaxed, pub-rich country. Now it's more of a passage into spring (which I can't wait for) from winter (which I dislike a little more each year.)

Denver has a St. Patrick's Day parade the Saturday before the 17th. We first went when Brendan was a baby and have been hooked ever since. It's looooooonnnngggg...nearly 5 hours. We've never made it to the end (who would?). But EVERYONE is in such a good mood, all dorked out in green, wearing necklaces, hats, you name it. We had a party a few years ago on that day, and have since decided that we'll do the party every other year, and go to the parade on 0ff-years. This year was a parade year. 250,000 folks lined the streets of downtown Denver to watch the parade.

The Baker kids made their way to the front of the line for one reason only - not the bagpipes, or the longhorn steer, or even the gaggle of Star Wars characters. These 3 hear "parade" and think it's like trick-or-treating. They want the candy! Well, and the other free stuff they hand out, but mostly the candy. They know where to stand to increase their chances of getting the big Tootsie Roll, they know to appeal to the adults handing out goodies vs. the kids (adults know you can't give to one out of three siblings - have to catch all 3.) This was our first year without a stroller to haul all the stuff in - we had to sacrifice one of our big green hats to hold the loot!

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

Bought the tickets back in November, and finally in March went to see Mary Poppins at the Buell Theater downtown. Note: we got preview night tickets which are an absolutely amazing bargain - this is the 2nd time I've done this and will do again any chance I get. It's the night before the "official" opening night, so officially mistakes can happen - but have had no issues.

It was just the boys and I - on a Wednesday night at 7:30pm. They wanted to dress up and "get handsome" so wore their ties and dress shoes. Andrew's suit that we bought for Stephanie's wedding in September completely did not fit! So we made do with some of Brendan's clothes. We went out to dinner first, at a restaurant a couple of blocks from the theater. Just walking downtown with the boys was fun - sometimes I forget what a city girl I really am. Restaurant was Italian and the boys ordered pizza - love my Andrew but a sloppier eater you never saw. Together we put 5 napkins to cover every inch of his white shirt (with sleeves rolled up to his biceps.)

The theater even has "booster seats" for kiddos - a fat cushion they sit on to raise them up and see better. We had orchestra seats - right in the center. The show was wonderful - the boys really loved it. (they started to get a little nervous about "so many girls!!" in the theater and the area around it, but got over it once the show started) They changed the story a little bit (no Suffragettes!) but the songs were all there. Andrew during Feed the Birds - "Mom, whats a top end?" I could never figure that out as a kid! You could hear people singing during some of the songs (not me...I would have been told very sternly to be quiet)

All in all, a truly special night - loved going on a date with my boys. Even if they did fall asleep on the drive home!