Happy St. Patty's Day

After being surrounded by brown and white the past 5 mos in Colorado, I never knew I could be so excited about the color green

green shirts and green grass

green leaves, green grass stains and picking

green limes off the tree

(along with tangerines and lemons)

green sprinkles on yummy leprechaun cupcakes

Green Everywhere......

O' The Luck Of the Irish Family Today!

STOP in the name of love

Taylor is a daddy's girl. Despite what Steve will say, she has Steve wrapped around her little finger. She is always the one to greet him at the door and jump in his arms or happily call him during his workday to say "hi" and tell him about her exciting day at school. Taylor LOVES treats and Steve LOVES giving her treats. It's a daddy daughter thing they have going on between the 2 of them.

This past week she has anxiously been awaiting a package from Steve. Since he told her Tuesday that he mailed her a little treat, Taylor has made frequent trips to our mail box. I've been trying to explain to her that it takes a few days for the mail to travel from NJ to CO and that unfortunately the mailman only comes once a day. This has been very hard for a 5 year old to understand, especially when the anticipation of an unknown treat is on it's way just for her.

Friday I went outside to take something over to a neighbor's house. I saw that there was something stuck to our mailbox. I walked over to take it down and this is what I found



After 3 days of no package, I guess Taylor decided to take matters into her own hands. I was totally unaware that she made the sign, grabbed the tape and ventured to the mailbox to state her request.

Life was good a few hours later when her letter and treat arrived. I smiled and of course cried a few tears as I carefully took down her precious sign and tucked it away in a special place. There are somethings that are just too hard to throw away. The sign was more than just the word stop. It was a sign of love, of hope and the need of comfort from a little 5 year old girl who misses her dad!

Family Fun

Although last week could best be described as a roller coaster, especially emotionally, we really did have a lot of fun.

A great way to relieve stress and tension

It started off with a few days in Glenwood Springs, outside of Aspen.

We swam in the Hot Springs..... 92' and 104' water and 30' outside the water.

We certainly didn't have to worry about keeping tabs on the kids, no way were they getting out and running around in fear of ice forming on their wet heads.

I think I could get used to this

Steve and I got to get away for a night,
the Forester's took the kids for us......brave friends of ours.
We went to the Broadmoor Hotel. I am neither rich nor famous, but for the night I felt like both. We were greeted at the Valet, Mr and Mrs Hendricks. We were escorted to the check-in desk and introduced to the man behind the counter. After we checked in we were taken up to our room. The Bellman opened the door, turned on our lights, put the key in the snack bar, asked how we wanted our bags organized, asked if he could get us some ice, our bed was turned down, with chocolate on the pillows and robes for each of us ...you get my point.
I promised Steve I wouldn't get used to the royal treatment.

One talented Lobster
One night we played and went to dinner. Holding this Lobster brought back memories of our days in Boston. We would head to the wharf, buy lobsters and then bring them home and cook 'em up. One time I held up a 15lb lobster and it reached from the top of my head to below my waist. The lobster in this picture was holding crayons in it's claws, the kids thought it was very talented and wondered where the paper was.

Things to look forward to
Thank goodness for Mom's. The kids could hardly wait for Nani to come and neither could Steve and I. We have been so happy to have her. It's like having a best friend, the best babysitter, the best house keeper and the best cook rolled up in one! Did I mention that she is the best??

Our famalia

The Last Supper
We had a celebration dinner for Steve the night before he headed out! We celebrated St. Patrick's Day, Easter, his birthday, my birthday, Mother's Day, Father's Day, 4th of July, Taylor's birthday, our Anniversary & Preston's birthday. It was quite the party with Steve's favorites..steak & potato dinner and for dessert red velvet cake
(which I never even heard of until I met Steve)

The week was just what we needed. We made our family a priority and everything else came second. I am so glad we spent the time we did together.
And I have so much to do this week that didn't get done last week, that I will stay
busy and distracted.
A win win for us all.

Tomorrow

The day I have dreaded more than any other day in my life has almost ended. Tomorrow is a new day. Tomorrow the count down begins. Tomorrow life goes on and so will I. Tomorrow I will wake up and I will be ready to start the adventure that lies ahead of me and our family. Tomorrow I will look forward to Steve's phone call, the email, the stories of his day. Tomorrow I will be a little more stronger. Tomorrow can't come fast enough!

Finding Time To Have Fun

What have we been up to? Besides lots of odds and ends, we have had fun this past week.

Here are a few highlights

Bowling... we had a blast!

Date nights with Daddy. Steve let the kids decide where they wanted to go.
These were their ideal dates with Daddy
Taylor choose Build-A-Bear, Chinese food, the dollar store & grocery store (shopping of course)
She especially loved the rose and balloon!
Preston choose Build-A-Bear, Chinese Food, bowling and then playing basketball
at the Cadet gym
Not surprised to say the least. They came home after 10 pm with red faces and hunger pains.
Steve got to record a message for each of them in their dog/horse from Build-A-Bear
Mason's turn will be this week!

Can I just tell you how amazing Steve's colleagues are? They had a great luncheon for Steve at Old Chicago's. Steve had a "Proud Dad moment" when Mason ate 3 pieces of pizza.

Preston's school play, he was darling!

The Air Force Basketball Game. Mason LOVES the bird, they've got this non-verbal
connection thing going on!
Preston and Taylor got to sit on the court side and even performed YMCA with the cheerleaders.

Steve's brother and sister came for a few days to visit. We weren't the greatest host as we had so much to do but they were troopers to go along with us. Steve even put Keith to work cutting wood for our metal sign business. I had to include this picture because it shows Mason throwing a fit, he totally goes limp!

This week we are going away as a family for a few days. Steve and I are even getting away for a night, just the 2 of us. My mom flies in Friday and then Steve leaves way too early Sunday morning... YIKES. This week we are going to enjoy as much as we can!