One of my heroes

My awesome mother-in-law came and stayed with our kids for four nights while Trav and I got away to Tahoe. For those of you who've seen our place, it is no picnic to be holed up in here for any length of time with our three children. Not only did she do that, but she swears she had a great time too! Thank you Sharon for such a tremendous gift of rest for me and Trav!
The kids were very upset when they said goodbye to her at the airport. Davey's head just dropped and they all had long faces when we pulled away. Jonah said, "I just wish she could stay for a thousand days!" Davey thought he topped it by answering, "I wanted her to stay for eighty days!" Jonah trumped both numbers with wishing for her "to stay a hundred and a thousand days". He uses this number a lot for emphasis on things that are important to him.
Until next time Nana...

Laundromat Rules

The boys and I had another successful day at the laundromat on Thursday. There was a woman there outside with her seven week old terrier/bulldog mix puppy (so cute!). She tucked the puppy under her arm and quickly came in to check her dryers, and Jonah, without hesitation, the second the woman passes him, mutters, "No smoking no pets allowed." Priceless. I quickly scanned the laundromat for the sign and couldn't even find it right away, but of course he probably has read and memorized every sign in the place!
Umm, I JUST got on the computer and Trav is blasting Madonna and Justin, AGAIN.
The insanity!

Can you say distracting?

I'm trying desperately to focus on some emails that I need to get out for my women's Bible study that I help lead and Trav is dancing around the room rocking out to Madonna and Justin Timberlake on his Ipod!! He said he's working through some thoughts for his next sermon. I'm married to a 14 yr old girl.

My "Active" day

Yesterday I bundled up, dusted off the old snowboard and headed out with my husband. It was fantastic! Apparently, if my last lift ticket still attached to my board pants is any indicator, I haven't been boarding for two whole years! It was fun to get back out there and enjoy some good snow again. I only fell twice which is not a nod to my expertise but rather to my lack of risk taking, I'm a very cautious snowboarder. The most terrifying terrain for me is not a black diamond but a long, straight, flat run that you have to keep your board flat on to maintain any speed. I have to keep in edge of some sort and when I have to go flat I always lose control and take my worst spills. I still remember knocking the wind out of myself on a baby, flat run and laying in a heap panting for breath at Mt. High. It was a very graceful time for me.

Here's one of the beautiful views of the lake. It's so pretty here! It was a warm enough that Trav was just in long sleeves and me in my light polar fleece by the end of the day. It was fun to have Trav all to myself. I often hear a whoosh and then a thump behind me which is usually Trav jumping off anything he can find to catch some air on.
Today is jammy day for me again, my books, knitting, and me have a big date.

Day to Myself

Trav and I arrived here in Tahoe mid afternoon yesterday and we celebrated by completely vegging out. Book reading, way too much TV watching (we don't have cable at home so we overindulged), watching Daniel Bishop's sermon on the internet (amazing! We're so proud of him), and simply marveling at not having a schedule was how we passed our first day. Today Trav is snowboarding. There was rumored high winds today and I am a huge baby about being cold so I opted for a day alone instead. I kicked it off by going to Starbucks in the village here at Northstar with my stack of books quite pleased that I could stay as long as I wanted and then felt like a total bum b/c everyone was there in their ski/snowboarding clothes excited to get on the slopes and there I am in my sneakers so excited to not be on the slopes. Am I getting old? I comforted myself with the thought that I was for sure going snowboarding in the next few days and I would indeed be doing something active at some point.
Whenever I'm away from my kids I always notice all the other families that are around me with their kids and think how much fun they would have if they were here with us and I miss them. Then I pass families who's kids are throwing temper tantrums and I hear tired comments from the parents like, "if you don't walk then we can't get to where we're going" or "fine, you don't like that then you don't get anything" etc etc. and then I wish I was at a resort that was for adults only or something. Seeing the difficulties other parents are having to maneuver is to close to my daily reality and that's why I'm here! To rest from my reality so I can come back energized ready for round 856, you know what I'm saying! Of course I miss my babies, Davey's sweet snuggles and constantly wanting to be held, Jonah's crazy giggle with his dimple showing, and Payton's endless energy and fountain of ideas that she's always spewing forth, but this quiet is nice, just for a few days. Then the quiet will get to me and I'll long for the crazy, challenging, love-filled days at home with my family.

Weekend with the McIntyres!

Adam and Jess rolled into town with the girls on Saturday and got to stay for a couple of nights. We had so much fun catching up and hanging out. Within hours of coming together we negotiated a boys night out for Trav and Adam and then a girls day out for me and Jess! My time with Jess downtown was a highlight, we combed the shops of Pacific Avenue for three hours, it was heaven! I had completely forgotten what a leisurely afternoon with a good friend sans children felt like. I was completely refreshed by our time together! When we got back to the house I gave Jess a moldy piece of toast with peanut butter and Adam quickly offered to take us out to dinner instead of me cooking:). Patti Ri I am not! I'll be sure to check my bread next time, but hey I got out of cooking right?

How cute is this sweet girl? I loved getting to know little Gwyneth. She has so much personality wrapped up in this petite little body. It was fun to have a baby in the house again.

Payton and Aggie were inseparable, and I mean that literally! Of course that meant having a sleep over together. Any other arrangement would have been clearly unacceptable for them.

Aggie is the little sister Payton never had. It was a crack up watching them together. They are both completely strong, want to direct, type A's, creative and yet they led and followed each other the entire weekend without incident. It was a joy to see them together and parting was such sweet sorrow. Miss you guys!

The Varied Faces of Me

This is what I look like trying to get the camera away from my giggling seven year old.

This is what I look like asking her to hand it over while she's cracking me up. It's all about the angle baby! We just had the best visit from the McIntyre's this weekend and I can't wait to post on it, but it's late, and I pretty much look like the first picture. I'll wait for happy, energetic Annette to write about our time together. Peace