Dangerfield Updates: June 2015

OK, quick rundown of happenings since my last post on the old blog in September 2014.

SEPTEMBER: Erik received his Arrow of Light in cub scouts. We are so proud of him and he worked hard to complete everything for this accomplishment.

OCTOBER: Halloween this year was fun. The kids enjoyed dressing up, but Erik was the only one who really wanted to go trick or treating on more than our street. Drew heard a dog loudly barking at one of the houses when they rang the doorbell (it actually tried to run out the door) and he was done. He wouldn't go up to any houses after that. Rose and Alex came home when Drew was dropped off and decided to stay home. Lily decided she'd rather watch tv as well. I went out a bit longer with Erik, but even he only did two more streets before calling it a night. Then he had fun just passing out the rest of the candy. Luckily, the weather wasn't too cold or windy this year. Halloween was easy this year because the kids' just chose their costumes from our dress up box. It was awesome!

Picking pumpkins at the pumpkin patch. So much fun.

The fruits of our "labors"

Finished products, which turned out pretty cool!
Alex's, Drew's, and Lily's jack-o-lanterns.

Daniel's, Erik's, and Jenn's jack-o-lanterns.

Halloween

An Egyptian princess, a Halloween princess, a boxer, Elmo, and a skeleton ninja.

NOVEMBER: We visited the Nature and Science Museum and played lots of indoor hide and seek, one of our favorite games. Thanksgiving was a low-key affair at home. Mike came over for a few days and we had a good time visiting. The kids enjoyed having grandpa here. I love Thanksgiving....it's my favorite holiday! Amazing food and visiting with family. Daniel does most of the cooking even. I help, but nothing too stressful.

Hiding in the linen closet. Drew and Erik were actually in here too, but they got out before I took my picture.

Having fun at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science

A few of our yummy Thanksgiving treats: pumpkin pie and sweet potato bake.

DECEMBER: We heard about a place up north of Fort Collins where we could cut down our own Christmas tree. We thought it sounded like fun so we decided to go on opening weekend. We went with two other families, but none of us had been before. We left a bit later than we wanted, so it was really crowded when we got up there. We took coats and gloves, but no boots or snow pants because there was no snow at home and we thought we'd be ok. I even asked Daniel and he said we would be fine. I took some snacks because I was expecting to be out of there close to lunch time and we'd just stop and eat lunch when we were done. Nothing went as planned, we didn't get up there until lunch time and we didn't finish until almost dinner time. There was almost a foot of snow on the ground in some places, and we couldn't find any trees that had branches that went down most of the way to the ground. And, we could only find ponderosa pines, which I did NOT want as a Christmas tree. We finally asked someone who had a spruce tree where they found it. They showed us, but it was a hike downhill, through snow, to a creek. By now, the three little kids were grouchy, cold, tired, and hungry. So, I stayed in the car with them and Daniel and Erik went to find a tree. They found one, and I'll admit I wasn't too happy with it at first. But, it was too late to find another one. The tree was only $10! We got it home and it was about 2 feet shorter than I wanted and I thought it looked funny in the room. However, the next day I decorated it and I was much happier with it. It looked good and the kids loved it. We will definitely do it again next year, but we'll be more prepared....and we'll know exactly where to look. We had a good, low-key Christmas with just our family. We spent the morning opening and playing with presents, eating good fun, and enjoying being together.

Our outside lights

Before...

After.... This year I want to get one a bit taller so the top can be seen out that upper window.

The kids had a blast opening presents, and it's something I enjoy watching.

The aftermath

Showing off their loot.

Erik also turned 11 at the end of December. He had cheesecake and got a few presents. He doesn't usually have a party because most people are out of town for Christmas, or have family in town. We sure are proud of him though. He works hard and has a great attitude about school. He loves learning and is awesome at reading and math. He's getting really tall and is a pretty good helper. He really enjoys scouts and loves playing sports with his friends.

JANUARY: We got a lot of snow this winter, which was good and bad. I hate shoveling but am thankful for moisture.

Rose turned two on the 15th. She has started talking a ton and is such a cute, sweet, funny little girl. She loves jumping on the trampoline, drawing with chalk, riding her "bike," chocolate milk, and babies/stuffed animals....especially her bunny (still). She is now out of her crib and in a regular bed. We didn't have any major problems moving her over. She is scared of dogs, just like her two older brothers. Well, she's really not too fond of many animals that get too close to her. She is a joy and we all love her, although she has quite a loud shriek at times.

FEBRUARY: In the middle of the month we took what was supposed to be a quick trip over to Utah to see my family. Our suburban, that we only had for a year, started to do some weird things and no one could figure out what was wrong. We guessed something electrical. It acted up a bit on the way to Utah, but no major problems and we made it ok. But, while we were there we ended up staying an extra day or two because we decided to trade in for a newer and different one. Pain in the butt, but now we're glad we did. There are things I miss about our old suburban (having two keys, two person seat adjustment buttons, multi CD player), but I also really like our new one. It's nice not having to worry about a car breaking down.

Lily and I both celebrated birthdays in February. I turned 38 and Lily turned 9. Birthdays at our house are usually a pretty low key affair....nothing elaborate or really fancy.

She chose brownies for her "cake"

What can I say about Lily?? She is strong-willed, dramatic, fiery, smart, and knows what she wants. She can be very helpful and loving, but also very bossy and has a flair for turning molehills into mountains. She very well may be the death of me. However, I love this girl to pieces. Her smile is beautiful, she's very loving, gives fantastic hugs and is brilliant!! Rose thinks the world of her, and she can be a wonderful helper with her. She is creative and still loves drawing, creating, building....anything crafty. She's doing awesome in school and loves activity days. I just hope we can control some of the drama before she becomes a teenager.....otherwise I'm in trouble.

APRIL: Daniel and I celebrated our 16 anniversary this year. Honestly though, I don't remember what we did. I'm sure we went out to dinner or a movie or something, but since I'm writing this at the end of June I can't recall what we did. I can't believe it's been 16 years! Some days it feels like it's gone by quickly, and other times it seems like forever. Daniel is a hard worker and puts up with my moods and demands like a champ. He works hard both in and out of the home. The kiddos love their daddy so much, and so do I!

Easter was fun. We decorated eggs and this was the first year the kids were able to pretty much dye their own eggs, except for Rose. Everyone had fun. Easter morning we made the kids wait upstairs until we got up. Otherwise, they would have found all the hidden eggs before 7am! They did a good job of sharing the eggs and helping each other. I wish more days were that good!

Painting and dying eggs

The hunt

MAY: We celebrated Daniel's 38th birthday.

JUNE: School is out! The kids had a great year and learned a lot. Erik finished up elementary school at West Ridge and will be going to Prairie View Middle School next year. Drew and Lily will be homeschooling and attending Brighton Options one day a week. Throughout the first half of the year we played outside a lot, visited museums, played at parks, gone roller skating and just had fun. We've also had a few injuries in the last few months. Alex fell at the grocery store with Daniel. He had his arms pulled in his coat sleeves and tripped while running. He didn't have hands to catch himself with, so he used his face and mouth instead. We went up to Children's Hospital Urgent Care to make sure he didn't need stitches....he didn't. Drew fell at the park while on roller blades and broke his arm. Back to Children's Hospital where we spent the afternoon getting a cast. A few days later Alex was unloading plates from the dishwasher and dropped a heavy Stonewear plate on his toe, edge side. It sliced through the top of his second toe, hit his bone and slid off. Of course it started bleeding everywhere. Daniel went back up to Children's Hospital where they spent a few hours to come home with stitches, bandages on his toe, and a special shoe to wear for protection. Basically, the end of his toe is like a lid and the stitches are to hold it on correctly. Back to Children's Hospital the following week for Drew's follow up visit and a new cast wrapping since they took the spacers out. So, we haven't been able to play in the water, jump on the trampoline, ride bikes, skate, or ride scooters for the past few weeks. We're hopeful that will change next week. Keep your fingers crossed that the rest of our summer isn't nearly as exciting!