Last Day of Little Wranglers...

Today was our last day of Pony Camp, and we had a great time. The kids had fun painting picture frames that held photos of each one on their favorite horse. We had a treasure hunt looking for farm items, duck and egg hunts, sang farm songs, and played with water balloons at the end of the day. Kate led the kids in games on horseback, and I could see huge smiles on each child's face as they "raced" side by side to complete various tasks.

Afterwards Kate invited us to stay and enjoy lunch with her and her charming daughters. They have been so warm and welcoming to our family, and have been such a big part of our first year in Colorado. It has been such a pleasure getting to know them! Kate and her mother have written a book together, and it was so neat to hear the story of how the project began, and to learn more about their lives.

There is so much to do in preparation for our trip, but I am so glad that we had this week at Briar Gate Farm. I have been so homesick for California, but after my time with Kate, I know I truly have someone to call "friend" when we return!

Bye for now Rocky Mountains...it's time to say, "Hello again" to the Sierra Nevadas!

Little Wranglers Pony Camp

Our friend, Kate, at Briar Gate Farm is hosting a camp this week for 8 little girls ages 5-8. Ashlyn is having a wonderful time riding her horses, working with the animals, doing crafts, etc...etc...Today I was in charge of beaded bracelets, painting quilt squares and making "horse cookies" with the girls that consisted of oats, apples, molasses, etc...The horses were so happy to indulge in these treats at the end of the day! Here's all the troop along with Kate...half the kids are wet as running through the sprinklers is the best way to cool off after a full morning of games and riding! Tomorrow is our last day, and the kids are looking forward to the water balloons, but not saying goodbye to all the beloved horses! We'll be back in the fall for riding lessons, and more fun at the farm!

Happy 13th Birthday Preston!

Happy 13th Birthday Preston! We wish you an awesome birthday as you celebrate your first teenage year! Hooray! Have fun and we'll be anxious to hear all about it when we see you next week! Happy Birthday!

Mosquito Madness

The mosquitoes are biting big time this week! My poor children, look like they have chicken pox with all the red marks on their legs, arms, backs, etc...We spray and spray and yet they find skin and eat us alive! I finally realized that it is the spray we are using that is making our little dog Tara sick...I kept the kids indoors yesterday and no one sprayed, and little Tara was perfect. The kids wanted to do a mock camp out the other night so here they are ready to sleep out in the wild, well out in the Wild Kofford West that is!
S'more practice! Ashlyn is "roasting" tangerines on a stick, in lieu of a real smores in a real camp site. She is counting down until the Girl Scout Camping expedition in a few weeks, when she can make smores on a stick over a real campfire!

Today Ashlyn attended, "Pony Camp" at our friend Kate's home, and I got to work today, and the next two days there in exchange for riding lessons! We had a lot of fun at Briar Gate Farm with the kids doing crafts, playing games, taking care of the animals, etc...
You know I am a big rooster fan, and this is Kate's one lone baby Bantam rooster among a sea of hens. Isn't he handsome!

Off for now to pick up Ashlyn from her play date, Kyle from a sleep over, and begin packing! It's a little early, but I am an organizational fiend so I have to start way in advance! California here we come!

Happy Tuesday to you!

Happy Birthday Kevin and Terry!

Hey guys! We wish you both two terrific back to back birthdays! May your special days be filled with relaxation and wonderful memories! We'll be thinking about you both! Happy Birthday!!

Happy 7th Birthday Megan!

Happy Birthday Megan! We wish you a "splashin" good time at your flip flop beach party!!! Ashlyn is thinking about you and wishing she could be there to help you celebrate your special day! Have fun sweetie! We love you so much!

Sunday in Boulder

Those of you old enough to remember, will recognize this home as the "Mork and Mindy" house from the sitcom! Tom went on an organized tour of Boulder through work last week, and learned locations of interesting historical places. This was one I knew some of you would recognize!
We drove to Chautauqua City Park and hiked a bit on one of the trails leading to the base of the Flat Iron Mountains. Unfortunately, it was way too hot to go far, but it was still a pretty view! The park is the largest city park in America with 45,000 acres. As the park ranger told us, "Most cities build a park around their city, but we built a city inside our park."
Kyle taking a rest before we head back down the trail.
Beautiful view of the city of Boulder and the CU campus.
Sunflowers were blooming in the park, but ours in the garden have yet to even form a blossom!

This morning I tried out a new church, and afterwards we took a day trip into Boulder where Tom gave us a tour of all the new places he learned of on, "Banjo Billy's Bus Tour" last week! There is so much more to Boulder than I have seen, and it was fun to hear all the tales of local lore, etc...We drove into Chautauqua City Park and enjoyed a peaceful, yet hot, hike into the mountains. Afterwards we ate lunch at "Wahoo Fish Tacos" (Tom's the only one who had the fish though!) And, right now the kids are setting up tents in the yard hoping to spend the night with the coyotes we hear each evening. The mosquitoes are biting BIG this week though, so I hope we can encourage them to come back in, or stayed zipped up so intruders can't find their way in! HA HA

Jody's Sweet Tea Offer!

Thanks for your comment Jody on "School Supplies." It was great to hear from you! BIG thanks for your offer to come and sit on your porch in Georgia, and enjoy some sweet tea with you while watching the dogs play! If I could, I would hop on a plane and be down there tomorrow!! (Tara and Roscoe could come too!) Ü

Jody is the breeder that we got Tara Belle and Roscoe from, and she was so helpful in sending an action filled DVD of the dogs, and spending countless hours on the phone with me making sure I got the right dogs for our family. If you too are a Chihuahua lover, you can check out her website at www.ashlynchihuahuas.com. and see all her adorable dogs, and some photos of Tara and Roscoe too!

If you have time Jody, will you share with us your recipe for sweet tea? Jody knows how to make it the "real" way, since she's a "real" southerner, with "real" southern hospitality! Ah, be watching your front porch Jody, because one day I am going to surprise you, and I'll be asking for that glass of tea too!

Happy Birthday Patrick and Sofia!

Happy Birthday to our special friends Patrick and Sofia! Patrick, I hope your party at "Boomers" is a huge success and loads of fun! I know Kyle wishes he could be there with you to celebrate!

Sofia, I wish you a fantastic day at V'Sattui Winery! Have a glass of their signature strawberry wine for me, I'll make a toast to you today!

Enjoy friends!

Lollilocks & Cracker Barrel in Loveland, CO

What fun! Today Ashlyn needed a hair cut, and we discovered a fun store called, "Lollilocks" that does all kinds of fun styles and beauty treatments for little girls! There were four hairstyles to choose from, and this was Ashlyn's choice after her cut. Isn't it so neat!?!

What a cute shop!

My little 'celebrity' incognito behind the cool shades!
One last look!

After the fun afternoon at the salon, we enjoyed a late lunch at "Cracker Barrel." We didn't have this restaurant in California so it was fun to enjoy it first with my mom when she was with us, and now with Ashlyn. They serve fun southern things like "grits" (and no, I have no idea what they are!), biscuits and gravy, and "dumplins." We played checkers on their "porch" sitting in big rocking chairs, and I got to sip my first glass of true "sweet tea." A real southerner once said that the only restaurant that gets it right, (if it's not in the south) is Cracker Barrel. True to her words, it was delicious! One of my "Bucket List" items is to one day visit the south and sip sweet tea on a plantation porch and catch fireflies in a Mason Jar. Until then, I will just need to be content to sip tea in the "mock south" of Cracker Barrel Restaurant!

Mmmm....watermelon!

"When one has tasted watermelon, He knows what the angels eat."

"I know how a prize watermelon looks when it is sunning it's fat rotundity among pumpkin vines; I know how inviting it looks when it is cooling itself in a tub of water under the bed, waiting; I know how a boy looks behind a yard~longing for a slice of that melon, and I know how he feels; for I have been there."

~Mark Twain

If that doesn't make me want to rush out and buy the biggest watermelon I can find, I don't know what will!
Enjoy the last few weeks of summer...only 23 more days...savor it!

Quarter Collectors

Here is our United States quarter collection that we started back in 1999. We've finally made it to the year 2008 and there are only 2 more states needed to complete the set! We just filled in New Mexico and have 3 extras if anyone is looking for N.M. I'll mail one to you! Alaska and Hawaii are next...if these states have been released in your area, save us one! Next question...what do we do with this collection once it is complete? Hang it on the wall? Put in on a shelf? Pack it away? There has got to be a clever use for all the quater collections folks have been working on for the past 9 years...let me know what you will do with yours!

Missing you...

You know who you are...family and friends who have seen us in our Senior Prom clothes...who lived with us in college...friends who were at our wedding...friends who have been there through moving houses, to the birth of our babies, to Baptisms and First Communion. Friends and Family who we spent holidays with, who threw parties and celebrations, who mourned the loss of my dad, and helped us plan a funeral. Family and Friends who took us on trips, showing us new places, and loving us despite our flaws...Family who loved us with braces, who sewed costumes and dresses, and who took care of us when we were sick. For all those who ate dinners at our home, who took seconds (even when it wasn't that good), and for neighbors who stopped by when the house was messy, just to say, "Hello" or to bring cookies. Parents of students I taught who babysat my children, former students who still keep in touch, and friends we met through scrapbooking and sports...friends we met and whom we love through our children's preschool and elementary schools...from serving together at fundraisers, to throwing baby showers and graduation parties...to those who came to our "Goodbye Picnic" last June...I miss you, and I wanted you to know.

School Supply Mania Ü

Look at all this loot! School starts on Aug. 18th for our kiddos and since we had the kids' supply lists for their current grades, we decided to go shopping while things were not picked over yet. (Goodness gracious, we can't settle for the plain folders or spiral notebooks...Gasp!) So, Ashlyn went for the Hannah Montana look and found all her pencils, folders, backpack, lunchbox, etc...all in the Hannah theme. Kyle needed everything from a scientific calculator, to 7 notebooks, a $20 dictionary/thesaurus, and MORE. Let's just say, it isn't cheap to outfit a child for the year, and I'm not even talking clothes yet! ha ha So, we are officially ready with supplies for 2nd and 7th grades! And for you parents thinking you may wait until the week closer to school starting, I say, "Go now!" We got the last of the "boyish" spiral notebooks and all that is left at our Super Target is pink...shoppers beware! Ü
Today Ashlyn had piano lessons...her teacher asked if she would be interested in participating in the festival that occurs each year in March. She would need to play a duet with another student and memorize pieces, music theory, etc...It sounded a bit intimidating to me, but once she pulled out the really cool trophy she would earn for the effort, Ashlyn was sold! Ashlyn's "prancing fingers" (Thanks Aunt Beth for the story!)will be busy this year preparing!
Our little Chihuahuas went to the groomers, and came back cleaned, trimmed, and sparkling! The kids and I cleaned and did laundry today, as it was rainy and overcast all day...not the kind of day to enjoy our daily picnics like we have been doing! Speaking of overcast skies, we were happy to hear that Northern CA is seeing some blue skies once again, and that the smoke from all the fires is clearing.

Before saying goodbye....just a little message for Crystal...thanks for your comment today! My mom told me about your new job working with students, and YES, you will be an awesome teacher Crystal!!! I saw how good you were with my two kiddo's in Feb. and we would be honored if you could teach them! If there aren't many openings in CA, feel free to come to Colorado...we'll take you in a heartbeat! There is a brand new school opening in Longmont, and they are hiring for elementary teachers right now! Hint Hint... Ü

Just because I thought it was cute...

My tutoring business has sure seen it's changes over the past 15 years. I started out tutoring children during the summer time as a way to supplement my school year income many years ago. What started out as a dining room "classroom" with about 4 kids, ended as a full "classroom setting" in the bonus room of our home in California with many students. It was complete with a library, shelves and bookcases of resources, bulletin boards, a waiting area, etc...Now that we have moved, and I haven't been tutoring, my "classroom" has long since been packed away.

I took on a few students this summer, wanting to help some friends out, and to see if I wanted to get the business up and running again. Once again I am back to my dining room table...which happens to be the same one I used 15 years ago!

Here's a photo of the action...and another of my little Wal Mart fountain (aka wishing well) that has a cute story to go along with it.
I like to play educational games with the kids to connect learned skills, and today two students played a game counting coins. The board game ended with a "wishing well" picture for the last coin counted. The well was the finish line that marked the sign of the winner. After the game, I quickly came up with the idea for the kids to use their coins to throw into my 'wishing well' and see if their wishes would come true! Of course all kids love a good wishing well! So with a long pause for wishing, rubbing of the beloved pennies, and with great exuberance, the coins were tossed into the "wishing well" with big smiles to go along with it.

One little girl exclaimed afterwards, "Tutoring is the BEST place to learn, and I NEVER want to leave!" I told her she could come back anytime, and she said she would because, "I like to make wishes and learn too...at school you just get a piece of paper to do...at your house I can learn, wish and dream!" I thought that was a beautiful thing for a 7 year old to say.

Even though I no longer teach in a classroom, it's those little magical moments that make me happy to still call myself, "teacher." The Wishing Well!

Homeward Bound!

The last day of our journey we passed through Nebraska...
I loved these covered wagons on our way through the "Nebraska National Forest." What a great reminder of the long and arduous journey the pioneers took years ago.
Ashlyn is out cold on the way home!
We saw many wheat and corn fields along the way.
And lots of wildlife too!Thanks for following our journey through 5 beautiful states in our country! We had a great time, but as always, "There's no place like home!"
Just thought you'd like to see how the vegetable garden is coming along. I wish we had more beds as I was really hoping to share some of our harvest, but so far we've only been able to harvest a few zucchini, squash, lettuce and onions. As the pumpkins and more zucchini grow, I will hopefully be dropping some off on our local readers doorsteps!

Crazy Horse Mountain

You know, they say the fastest way to lose friends is by taking out your vacation photos!! Oops... I hope that is not true as I still have a few more to share with you! Ü

Here are a few photos of "Crazy Horse Mountain." It is also located in the Black Hills of South Dakota, and will be a monument honoring all Native Americans. Crazy Horse was a Lakota Indian, and the mountain is being carved out to represent him. It will be the world's largest sculpture when it is complete.

Thunderhead Falls

We walked 600 feet into the mountain to see where the falls begin...
Quartz veins along the interior walls.
This sink hole is what miners discovered in 1878 when they were digging for gold...
Pretty view of the falls as we followed the waters path.Ashlyn admires the water and how loud it was!

Bear Country, USA

Ashlyn at "Babyland" in Bear Country. After driving through the wildlife portion, there is a walking area to view all the babies being raised at the park, and of course they lead you right to the Gift Shop! We know of every gift shop in all of the Rushmroe area! hee hee

Kyle near an old stagecoach...(in the gift shop of course!)
These adorable baby bears climb the trees...
The big bears were so cute and cuddley...if only we could pet them!
A moose seeks shade on our drive...