The County Fair

The Arapahoe County Fair

Last Sunday afternoon we decided to go to the Arapahoe County Fair. The weather looked like rain, but we packed an umbrella and headed out anyways.
It never rained on us and the sun never came out, but I must admit, it was pretty nice not having to be out in the hot sun!

(Unfortunately, both fish "fell asleep" within the first 24 hours.)

The Garage Sale

So, yesterday's garage sale was a success! We made *almost* the same amount that Charlie's vet bill cost last week. We got rid of a lot of stuff and were really surprised that the hottest selling item was old clothing! You'd be surprised what people will buy for 25 cents!

Here are a few pictures!

So Much To Do ~ So Little Time!

Since my last post, we....

1. Went to a concert
A local band (The Wendy Woo Band )was playing at a nearby park so Brandon and I took the girls to the free concert. It was a beautiful summer evening! We listened to the music for a while and then took turns watching Kaitlin at the playground. We had so much fun!


2. Went to KidSpree
There is a free festival for kids each year at a park in Aurora called Kid Spree. We went last year with Kaitlin and had a blast ~ so we decided to go back again this year!

3. Went to a housewarming party
My good friend Shareatha recently bought a beautiful town home and she had a housewarming party on Saturday night. She lives in a great place! Congratulations to Shar, her girls, and her boyfriend Rusty!

4. Went to a baptism
My good friend Tara's little boy Hayden was baptized on Sunday June 19th. (Click here to see the pictures.) Kaitlin and I went to the church for the baptism and then back to Hayden's house for the reception. Congratulations, little Hayden!

5. Took Charlie to an emergency vet
Never a dull moment. Brandon spent most of Sunday doing yard work. On Sunday afternoon he was just finishing up mowing the front lawn when he walked by the garage and saw Charlie chowing down on some rat poison! He called the vet and they said Charlie needed to be seen immediately, so Brandon took him in.

Basically it is a process of making the dog throw up as much of the poison as he can and then giving the dog charcoal to soak up whatever has made it past his stomach, and then the dog has a 28-day regimen of Vitamin K to ensure that his blood clots.

6. Cleaned out the entire crawl space & garage in preparation for Saturday garage sale

We have been spending most of our nights digging through old boxes and bags looking for things to get rid of at our garage sale on Saturday. It started out as a few bags of Goodwill items and is now taking up as half of our garage. We hope to sell most of it, but of course, whatever's left over is going to charity tomorrow afternoon.

7. Went to another storytime at the library

This time I didn't take pictures but I should have as it was "dress up" night. All the kids wore costumes or dress-up clothes and listened to the librarian read stories and sing songs. (And yes, we stopped for ice cream again on the way home.)

8. Splashed around in the baby pool!

It's been pretty warm lately, so one afternoon the girls got in the baby pool.

The Legend of The Pickup Fairy

"The Pickup Fairy is sort of a grouchy sprite who lives deep in the woods. Every night, she listens carefully to the world, and if she hears any small children saying things like, "I'm not picking up my toys" (or even worse, "You pick them up, Mommy!), she telephones the mother of that child and asks if she can come over. If the mom says yes, she arrives with a big patchwork sack and takes all the toys to her house for a week."

As many of you know, a lot of my infinite wisdom comes from reading parenting magazines and doing other online "research". This particular dose of "wisdom" came straight from the August issue of Parents magazine. It came at just the right time. Earlier in the afternoon I was trying to persuade Kaitlin to begin picking up her toys and the mess she and Zoey had created while I was working. It turned into me trying to convince her WHY she should pick up her toys - which ultimately failed. Toys still on the floor, I decided I'd wait until she was older to press the issue of cleaning up.... (after all - she's only two.)
THEN, like a miracle from Heaven, this article appeared on page 92. As we sat and ate dinner, I read Kaitlin the excerpt explaining how the Pickup Fairy worked. We talked about how she likes new toys to play with and how long a week is. You should have seen the way Kaitlin's eyes lit up!
That night she agreeably picked up every single toy. The magic of the Pickup Fairy has transformed our house! All we have to do is mention the Pickup Fairy and clean-up begins. In fact, after picking up all her toys the first night, she "called" all her friends on her play phone and asked if they had already picked up their toys. (Kaitlin was pleased to announce that Hailey had already picked up her toys and Bronwyn still had toys downstairs to pick up but was on her way to get it done right now.) She even called Grandma to tell her about the fairy and ask if she had picked up all the toys at her house.

Do I feel a little guilty for lying to her? Maybe. But, then I look around at the clean floor and picked up toys and figure that we should all enjoy the "magic" of childhood for as long as we can.....

***Updates***

Hello!

Just wanted to let you know that we haven't forgotten about the blog ~

We've just been BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!

Can you see Zoey's new teeth? (The two front ones on the bottom.) You wouldn't believe how hard it is to get a "teeth" picture! I've been trying to get a good shot of her new teeth since they started coming in a month ago.

Last Saturday Zoey took her first steps! She walked from one couch to the other without being prompted. Unfortunately, I didn't get it on video, but I did get a short clip of the "walking" that she's been doing. Each day she's getting better and better. Yay Zoey!

Last weekend, we went to the Denver Zoo with some friends.

Here's a picture of Kaitlin and her friend Lilly:

Kaitlin and her friend Braden:A picture of Zoey riding the train:
And a picture of the four of us enjoying an ice cream treat:

On Monday, Kaitlin's gymnastics team had a Parent Observation night. Here's a quick video of her on the balance beam ~ ~ ~

Tonight we took the girls to Family Storytime at the library. The four of us walked to the library after dinner and stopped at Sonic for ice cream on the way home. The ice cream probably defeated the whole "walking" notion, but it was delicious nonetheless. ;)
And storytime? Yep, Kaitlin LOVED it. ♥ (she's the one in the back on the letter D)

PS. We have tons of fun things planned for this weekend, so check back soon for more pictures/videos!

4th of July Weekend

On Friday, our good friend Sonya came to visit!

Brandon grilled hot wings...

while Kaitlin soaked up all the attention.

On Saturday, we went to Grandma and Grandpa Nincey's house for a yummy BBQ and a FREEZING COLD fireworks show.

The afternoon rain cooled it down so much that we had to wear jackets and use blankets to keep warm during the fireworks show.
We left Zoey at home with Grandma because it was too cold to take her out!

On Sunday, we ate at a OH-SO-YUMMY place called Smash Burger. Mmmmmhmmmm! This place definitely gets my vote for the best cheeseburger!

And a cute lil' video of Zoey..

We hope everyone had a terrific 4th of July weekend!

"more"

MORE Vacation Pics!

after some major technical difficulties, here are the pics!

And a video to prove the girls were good on the plane!