Day 2 - 12 of our family vacation

found us in Denver. The Monday after our encounter with the "Tomato", as Jessica calls it, found Chris flying back to Phoenix to work. He returned the following weekend and we stayed there until Thursday morning. While there we visited Estes Park. A beautiful mountain community bordering Rocky Mountain National Park. There we walked the streets and enjoyed the clean, fresh air and family. Did a little shopping and took a lot of pictures. The boys (Wayne and Chris) went on a hunt for a micro brewery but were unable to find it. They did however find the New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins where enjoyed a day of beer tasting and bonding. Not to mention the small circus bike Wayne decided to try out.

While Chris and Wayne took in a Rocky's game and a theme park, I enjoyed spending time with my sister and the kids, playing, watching TV and tye dying shirts. I too took in a few baseball games as well, only the star of the ones I watched was a 7 year old little boy who often calls me Aunty Shanny. Only wished I could have seen my oldest little man in one of his games. I promise Austin, next time I'm all over your games buddy. I have to catch at least one before you graduate from High School.

How I love to visit them but wish they lived closer! It's so hard to say goodbye.

Thank you all for the wonderful time we spent with you. I can't wait until we are able to do it again!

Denver

We made it to Denver and the kids were excited to see one another. Ashylnn missed our arrival by about a half hour. Chase, who was asleep on the chair in the living room awoke with a smile to find his cousins, Aunt and Uncle standing before him. Never before have I gotten such a big hug from my little man.

Then next morning we awoke to an overcast day. Who knew what adventures would await us for that day.

That morning started as all others. Kristin and Chase played and Diane took Ashlynn to a banquet for gymnastics. Chris and Wayne went out to run errands and then grab everyone lunch. When they got home the excitement began.

Chase came running in the front door crying and Wayne followed him asking if it scared him.
"What?" I said.
"The Tornado sirens," replied Wayne in a calm collected voice
"The WHAT?"
"Tornado sirens"
"You have Tornadoes?"
"I guess."
So the tourists that we are ran to the front porch to hear the sirens.
"Holy *&^%," cried my husband
and as we turn there it is the vortex of a beginning tornado.

The mother that I am grabs the kids (and pets) and takes them to the man box in the basement. The man my husband is runs to the basement and grabs the camera. After hiding in the the man box for a few minutes I snuck out to see what is happening. I have never seen before, nor do I care to ever again seen a tornado that close!!

Lucky for us the Tornado touched down about a mile from Diane and Wayne's. There was some minor damage and minor injuries reported as well.

According to Wayne there had only been a hand full of Tornado's in the 4 years they had lived there. In the week I was there, there were at least that many.

Thank goodness for basements!!

Summer

is here and school is out. Kristin is now a third grader and I am one year closer to retirement. Not that I'm counting or anything. =)

The last week of school is always fun. Packing my room, at least this year I don't have to move rooms and our annual school softball game against the 6th graders. 4th year and we are still undefeated. This year was the closest though, 11 to 6. Not to mention classroom parties and best of all NO homework for either of us.

Friday found Kristin and Chris at the annual Girls Scout Father/Daughter. This year was a sock hop. Kristin looked so cute in her Poodle Skirt while Chris was dashing in his Blue Jeans, Van, and white t-shirt. Only wish we had made it to Flag for his class ring.

On Saturday morning we packed the Santa Fe, hooked up the trailer and headed to Denver to visit Diane and the kids. 14 hours in the car pulling is a long time. The girls did an amazing job. They watched movies, sang, played games and ate. They were happy to be there though.

Cooler weather here we come.

Peach Pickin'

Today we meet our friends from Tucson, Dawn and Greg and their kids, to pick peaches at Schnepf Farms. This was the first time we had ever done that. We had been to their for pumpkins but not peaches.

Kristin gets the prize for the most unique peach

It was great. We were able to eat the peaches right off the trees. They were delicious. Jessica and Kristin had a great time. They were sticky but happy at the end.

I thought picking peaches would take longer than it did. In fact it took us longer to drive there than to pick the peaches.

Chris, Kristin, Karsyn, Dawn and Jessica

After picking peaches we went to the restaurant for some homemade peach ice cream.

Sleep is SO over rated!

My beautiful, fun loving, energizer bunny of a daughter, Jessica, has decided that sleep is not something she needs to have in order to function. Since January, she has not been going to sleep until around 10:30 0r 11, and I don't get to work on my school work until after she is asleep so I'm not getting to bed before 12:30 or so. It's amazing what your body can get use to over time, but I love my sleep.

We have tried all kinds of things to help her sleep, warm baths before bed with lavender, she loves the water she plays and splashes and has a ball. Comes out of the bath wired.

Tried Benadryl. BIG mistake. You know how it says for some children it has the opposite reaction? Yep she was the poster child. I found her dancing on the hockey table in her diaper.

No naps. Tried it. She gets so exhausted and that is no fun for anyone.

Tried the TV just letting her watch it. Gets up every half hour to find out what I'm doing.

Tried letting her cry herself to sleep . . . Throws up because she is so upset. Have to give her a bath which wires her and she's hungry.

Best solution is to lay down with her until she goes to sleep. Only problem is I fall asleep and then I'm even farther behind in my work.

I believe she has "I Miss Mommy syndrome". I know one day I will look back on this and laugh I'm sure.

Summer will be better because I am off and can lounge around on days she doesn't sleep.

Well . . .

it's been a while and a lot has happened in the Gilbert house hold since I updated last. Where do I begin? Probably at the next major event.

I guess that would be Kristin turning 8. I would show birthday party pictures but since her birthday was right around Easter and then the school year ended and we have been on vacation we haven't exactly had her birthday party yet.

But here are pictures from her day.

For her birthday she got to pick what she wanted for dinner and she chose the ever popular Purple Chicken Alfredo. Doesn't look to appetizing?

The following slide show is of Kristin's last year.




Happy Birthday BooBear. Mommy, Daddy and Jessica love you very much and we are so proud of you. Hope you have a wonderful year!! You are growing up so fast. This past year you have grown up so much from a snaggle tooth 7 year old to a beautiful 8 year old. You continue to amaze me with your since of humor and wisdom. I can't wait to see what the next year brings.

Catching up

OK so I'm not as consistent as I should be. Life has gotten in the way and I've been busy watching my children grow as they do all to quickly.

To start the month off Chris took Kristin to the zoo with her class. He was a wonderful chaperon and the girls on the "pink team" had a great time. I think Kristin's teacher chose pink for them because of Chris's boss and his pink underwear.

This month also took us on the Lite Rail with Nana and Papa for Nana's birthday. We caught it down by the Condo and rode it to the end and then back. It's nice to have on in town but I'm not sure how many times I will ride it since it is so far from the house.

After the Lite Rail, Kristin went to Volleyball camp. She had never played before and did relatively well. She had a great time and would love to do it again, especially since her friend went with her.

Jessica got to hang out while Kristin was playing Volleyball.

The end of the week sent us to Tucson to visit Dawn, Greg and their beautiful daughters. I can't believe that Kars is 5 years old and baby Rilynn is 3 months. In Tucson we spent the day at Karsyn's 5th birthday and as all Diva's need it was a Glamour Party. Even Jessica got in the act. I think Chris is going to have his hands full with these two when they are old enough to date. I was not to be left out so I got in on the fun.

A new month has started and I'm sure new adventures await us around every bend. Until next time. . . .

She did it . . .

She really did. Jessica said "I wuv you" to me on Friday when she was taking a bath. I have been waiting so long to hear those 3 little words. She says all kinds of things to me but these are always the most precious. I remember when Kristin said them. She was about the same age and we were playing "who loves you" and she looked up at me and said "I wuv you mommy". It just melted my heart.

Jessica has also come up with a new phrase in the last week "Mama, guess what?" Now answering that opens up a whole new can of worms and giggles from the back seat. She is so precious.

I can't believe how big Jessica is getting. They both are. I was thinking the other day that Kristin is going to be in 3rd grade soon. That seems so much older than 2nd grade, and Jessica's language is just exploding and her personality shines more brightly each day. I love this age.

Thank you Kristin and Jessica for filling my bucket each day and every time I hear those words "I wuv you"!!

My Soap Box . . . Autism

Autism is something that has interested me for sometime. I come across it on a daily basis at school. It is difficult to watch children who are locked away in their own world and to be oblivious to the one around them.

Autism is the fasted growing disorder and it effects many children. Today 1 in 150 children are diagnosed with Autism or an Autism spectrum disorder compared to 1 in 10,000 in 1970. 1 in 94 children with an autism spectrum disorder are boys. A new case of autism is diagnosed every 20 minutes. There is no medical detection or cure for autism but there are treatments. The cost of treating children with autism is currently 90 billion dollars worldwide annually. That cost is expected to rise to 200-400 billion by 2014. But there is hope, lifelong care can be cut by 2/3 with early diagnosis, care, and intervention, only problem is, there are many insurance companies that do not cover the cost of care.

Autism speaks is an organization dedicated to helping parents and children dealing with autism. Autism effects more children and their families than cancer (1 in 25,000 - 300 million dollars) or muscular dystrophy (1 in 200,000 - 150 million dollars), yet autism only receives 15 million dollars in funding.

Although, autism has not effected my family, it does effect many families and friends. Maybe yours. If you would like to learn more visit http://www.autismspeaks.org/.

The following video is from http://www.whatkindofworlddoyouwant.com/ . This website was started by John Ondrasik, the lead singer of Five for Fighting. To see more videos from families dealing with autism, visit this website.

The family featured in the video is a friend of by best friends.

The question I pose to you is . . . What kind of world do you want?

Adventures in Potty Training!

So we're trying to potty train Jessica. I forgot how much work it is. Jessica loves to sit on the potty when she wants to and she doesn't always tell you when she has to go. Which means we have had out share of accidents.

Well last night she dumped water down the front of her, while cooking dinner, so I had to undress her because she was upset about it. Once in her "birthday suit" I escorted her to the potty and sat her down. I then went back to cooking dinner. When I returned this is what I found:

Yes, this is the entire roll. Pretty much brand new too!!

I couldn't help but laugh. I wanted to get her picture sitting on the porcelain throne wrapped in TP but she didn't want it taken. So all you got was the above picture.

Only later did she want her picture taken alone and with her sister.

The Bucket. . .

I am laughing so hard, I wish I had a camera. I just found Jessica sitting in the dog’s water dish crying. How might you ask did she get there? Well apparently she was playing flashlight tag with Cosmo, who loves to chase lights, and Dandy. They were in the hallway and I guess she was standing to close to the water dish and Dandy knocked her down. Splash!! Her little bottom fit so nicely in the dish. She is soaked and not happy about it at all. There is water all over my hallway. She keeps walking around saying “Dany me in water”. Boy I wish I had my camera. We might have to reenact it just for the picture. I’ll make sure to empty the water dish though before hand.

Thanks for filling my bucket today Jessica. You are a great bucket filler!!

Busy . . . The end of the road and the beginning of a new.

Ok yes I have been away for a while and I wish I had a good excuse but I don’t. All I can say is that I have been busy. The holidays are always a busy time of year and I always tell my self that this year I won’t get so rushed and I will sit back and enjoy it. Well, obviously, this was not the year. Like always there was last minute shopping and gift to get together, decorating to do, grades to finish and end of the year strings to tie up. So that is where we are at. This is the beginning of a new year and hopefully some new organizational skills.

Did you make a New Year’s resolution? I didn’t make any new ones. I’m still working on completing last years. . . less yelling, more organization, eating better and more quality time with my girls and husband. I think I will be working on these the rest of my life.

If I do this right below you will see what Our family has been up to the last few months. I know you all have been waiting with baited breath to see the exciting things we have been up to. So let’s give it a whorl.