Colorado Wilsons

Ladybugs

2011-11-04T08:08:00.003-06:00

Isabella, Halloween 2003

Sabrina, Halloween 2007

Cousin Allison, Halloween 2011

Halloween

2011-11-01T06:56:00.002-06:00

We dressed as Hogwarts wizards for our church's Trunk or Treat on Saturday.

Dressed for Trick or Treating. The pumpkin is Brett's handiwork.

Post Trick or Treating picture from 2007. Weren't they so cute, sweet and innocent? :-)

Butterly Pavilion

2011-10-24T22:36:00.001-06:00

We visited the Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster (between Denver & Boulder) with our cousins from North Carolina. It was a great way to spend the day!!

She's reading!!

2011-10-19T09:30:00.002-06:00

I have known it was coming. I was trying to delay it, but I couldn't stop her. Yesterday Sabrina read Go, Dog Go! to me, to Isabella and to her Dad. Some of her reading is purely memorization of the words, but some of it she actually sounds out the words. I have warned her possible Kindergarten teacher for next year that she is going to be trouble ;-)

Webelo Scout

2011-10-17T11:37:00.001-06:00

Cousins

2011-10-10T07:53:00.000-06:00

My children are blessed to be part of a family with lots of cousins. They love being with their cousins!!

Quick Trip to Indiana

2011-10-03T10:15:00.002-06:00

The kids found themselves "beds" in the airport in case we missed our flight.

Hunter found this salamander in the woods. We weren't allowed to let it go until we took a picture.

Tubing at the Rocky Grass Bluegrass Festival

2011-09-29T11:49:00.002-06:00

Late August Camping trip

2011-09-28T13:44:00.002-06:00

We snuck the kids out of school for a day to go camping and to follow the USA Pro Cycling Challenge. My brother flew out for the week. We camped and chased the cycling race around Colorado. It was an awesome experience that we plan to repeat.

Volleyball

2011-09-27T17:35:00.002-06:00

Isabella asked to try volleyball this fall. I think it is a pretty challenging sport for 8 year olds, but she is giving it her best shot. I realize that her eyes are closed in the second picture, but at least she was trying to hit the ball and not running from it.

Hunter, the Tiger Scout

2011-09-27T17:33:00.001-06:00

Cross Country

2011-09-26T14:39:00.003-06:00

Hunter is just left of center in the burgandy shirt.

He runs hard at each race. He like the race, but would like it better if he

every race got a ribbon for finishing in the top 10 runners :-)

Orion is at the left in front. Check out his tongue. He is concentrating hard, but one day he's going to bite through his tongue. Having done this myself, I try to convince to keep his tongue in his mouth.

Isabella's 8th Birthday (July)

2011-09-26T14:30:00.002-06:00

My camera broke while we were in Indiana. My mother-in-law let me use her camera, but instead of having the pictures on our hard drive, they are uploaded to Shutterfly. I can't get the application from Shutterfly to upload the pictures to my blog - even though it says it is an option. I'll work on it. If anyone has any suggestions on how to get this feature of Shutterfly to work, please let me know. Until then you will have to wait for pictures of my 8 year old girl!

Hunter's 6th Birthday (In June)

2011-09-25T11:36:00.000-06:00

Sabrina's 4th Birthday (May)

2011-09-24T07:51:00.001-06:00

On Sabrina's actual birthday we took cupcakes to preschool

This completes the Chuck E Cheese parties for our family.

All of our children have had their 4th birthday parties at Chuck E Cheese.

Orion's 9th Birthday (in March :-)

2011-09-23T06:17:00.001-06:00

On his actual birthday we took cupcakes into his classroom.

Over spring break we had a birthday party at a local swimming pool.

Mt Rushmore - Day 3 & Day 4

2011-09-22T06:21:00.002-06:00

Mt. Rushmore - Day 1 & Day 2

2011-09-21T06:33:00.001-06:00

I think the stripes on this tree look really cool!

Other people took this picture because they thought

it was cool to have the kids mimicking the presidents.

These burros were so crazy. They walked right up to us begging for
food. We fed them peanut butter pretzels.
Check out Hunter's smile.

Sabrina freaked out a little because this burro put its head right inside the van.

First Day of School

2011-09-20T06:27:00.001-06:00

Orion - 4th grade; Isabella - 3rd grade;
Hunter - 1st grade; Sabrina Pre-K

The Many Faces of Isabella Rae

2011-09-19T14:58:00.001-06:00

During her younger siblings T-ball games she read Harry Potter!

Cooper Mountain over Thanksgiving

2010-12-02T06:11:00.002-07:00

ISABELLA, ORION, BRETT, HUNTER & SABRINA

ISABELLA

HUNTER

ORION

HUNTER, ME & SABRINA

My kids and the animals

2010-09-25T08:36:00.001-06:00

Showing their goats

2010-09-25T08:30:00.003-06:00

My nieces and nephew did a great job this year at the fair showing their goats. It is so much work throughout the year and we blow into town and get to enjoy the best part - the county fair.
Thanks for sharing with us.

Visiting with family

2010-09-22T17:18:00.001-06:00

We drove to Brett's brother & sister-in-law's house on my father-in-law's birthday. Orion had purchased a special birthday present for his grandpa. My father-in-law collects unique egg-shapes. Back in March when I took the kids to the Museum of Natural History in Denver each kid was allowed to pick out one (reasonably priced) souvenir. Orion picked out this egg to give his grandpa for his birthday. We saw my in-laws' three times between March and this day. Each time Orion debated giving the egg to his grandpa and then decided to wait until his birthday. Then . . . we forgot the egg in Colorado when we drove to Indiana, so Brett saved the moment and mailed it to us. Orion was SO excited to give my father-in-law this present. It was really cool.
Sabrina and Isabella love playing with my sister-in-law's dachschunds. Brett has a dachschund growing up.

Hunter talked my brother-in-law into a game Uno.

At the county fair

2010-09-21T11:46:00.002-06:00

The kids really enjoyed the county fair. They liked going to the free-tent (tent full of merchants giving samples away), the rides, the junk food and running around more than they liked watching the animal showings. But we did watch their cousins show their goats and walk through all of the other animal barns.

Bad picture, but funny

2010-09-21T11:45:00.001-06:00

You can't really tell from this picture because of the shadow, but the sheep is being bathed with . . . Woolite. I just thought this was really funny. It could be used for a commercial.

Putnam country 4H parade

2010-09-21T06:20:00.003-06:00

Swimming & Jumping

2010-09-21T06:17:00.003-06:00

We spent this afternoon at Aunt Marla & Uncle Mike's house. We swam in their pool and jumped on the trampoline. And no one fell off the trampoline. I was surprised.

We lived in or near the pond for two weeks!

2010-09-03T11:29:00.001-06:00

Mass of kids

2010-09-02T06:27:00.001-06:00

The kids love playing in the pond when we visit Brett's parents.

Isabella's 7th birthday

2010-08-30T10:28:00.003-06:00

We arrived in Indiana (from North Carolina) the day before Isabella's birthday. She was given the opportunity to pick what she wanted for her birthday. My mother-in-law very graciously took care of all of the plans!! Isabella chose to swim in my in-laws' pond with her cousins and have a family birthday dinner. It was really fun! She had a great time!

2010-08-28T14:55:00.000-06:00

Hunter and the Beach

2010-08-27T07:41:00.004-06:00

It is so much fun to see complete and total joy in my children! Hunter so completely loved the ocean that I think he may have to move close one day.

My four beach bums!

2010-08-25T06:33:00.000-06:00

Trying for a group shot

2010-08-24T14:06:00.001-06:00

Any of you who have tried to get a "nice" photo of your kids can probably identify with these pictures. But . . . there is more to the story. Hunter was running around like a crazy man, playing in the surf. I asked Isabella to carry him over to where I wanted them to sit. When Isabella picked Hunter up, HE BIT HER - right on the chest. The top picture is right after Hunter bit, hence the crying from Isabella. So then I suggested to Hunter that he needed to apologize to Isabella which led to the bottom picture. At least Orion and Sabrina look sort of happy. I know the song is "Two out of Three Ain't Bad", but I only got 2 out of 4.

WakeMed Hospital

2010-08-23T08:41:00.003-06:00

This summer we had the opportunity to take Hunter to the hospital where he was born. We drive by the hospital where the other three kids were born at least weekly, so it was really cool to be able to make an event of seeing Hunter's hospital. He was very cute about it!! Hunter grinned from ear to ear. It was a little strange because the hospital has built an additional building - right on top of where the old entrance used to be, but the inside looks the same. In the bottom picture, the kids are sitting at the edge of a koi pond that I used visit almost daily. Next time we're in North Carolina, I really hope we can visit some of the friends that made a huge difference in my stay there, but seeing the hospital was pretty cool - especially for Hunter!

Our "house" of kids

2010-08-21T11:36:00.002-06:00

We shared a rental house at the beach with my uncle & his wife, my cousin, his wife and their toddler. The kids got along really well. My girls hovered over Taylor's EVERY move ;-)

The First Day of school

2010-08-18T08:53:00.005-06:00

Today is the first day of school for three of our kids. Orion started 3rd grade; Isabella started 2nd grade and Hunter started kindergarten. They were all very excited to go to school this morning. I thought for sure Hunter would cry, but he didn't. He has Isabella's Girl Scout leader as his kindergarten teacher, so I think because he already knew his teacher, he wasn't nervous - just very excited!! I cried though. Sabrina has been very jealous of the school stuff the kids have done this week. She insisted that we take pictures of her. She starts preschool next week, so she'll get the spotlight then.

Fishing and the Aquarium

2010-08-17T22:06:00.001-06:00

Time in the surf

2010-08-17T11:57:00.002-06:00

Venus Fly Traps

2010-08-16T21:06:00.004-06:00

Last Christmas we gave Hunter a terrarium of carnivorous plants. One of the plants is a Venus fly trap. The only place in the United States that Venus fly traps grow in the wild is within 60 miles of Wilmington, NC. North Carolina has a great state park, Carolina Beach State Park, where we went hiking to find a Venus fly trap in the wild. I'm glad we did this, but . . . it was painful. I hate humidity. I am not cut out to live or function in humid places any more. The day we picked to go to the state park, it was 99% humidity and we went at NOON. So I got a little grumpy about traipsing through the woods while dripping with sweat to find a plant. I ended up sitting in the van with most of the kids and my parents while Brett and Orion searched for the Venus fly trap. As you can see from our pictures, they did find one - about 30 seconds before I left them at the park.

My Birthday!

2010-08-16T07:05:00.005-06:00

I'm not much for big parties with lots of people, so for my birthday the six of us went out to dinner with my cousin, his wife and their toddler. (We were sharing a house together.) Orion and Brett shared the king crab legs and the fisherman's sampler platter. The waiter was surprised at the amount of food they ordered, and equally surprised when they ate it all.

Group Photos

2010-08-11T07:08:00.002-06:00

Here is our group photo. We had a wonderful turn out for our family reunion this year - 35 people. We missed those who couldn't join us and hope they will in 2013.

Our family has a history of the group photos taking a LONG time and being a painful process. The past few reunions I have tried to take charge and make it less painful - limiting the family to one good digital camera with the promise of providing the digital picture to everyone. I think it has worked pretty well. But this year was still a little painful because the morning for pictures was sweltering hot and humid. All's well that ends.

Here is our family photo which was close to the very end and my kids were not cooperative. We had family pictures taken three times this summer and didn't get one decent shot of the family. I guess we have to try again this fall.

Little Helper and Siblings

2010-08-10T06:53:00.003-06:00

My dad is on the far right. He is with his two siblings. It is rare to get a picture of just the three of them together.
My kids are used to being the youngest kids at family gatherings, but no more. My cousins have started having kids. At my family reunion in North Carolina there were four little ones younger than Sabrina. Isabella was in heaven. She spent many hours playing with and walking with these toddlers. She actually left the beach early a couple of times to go help with these cute toddlers.

Carrollton, Georgia

2010-08-08T19:21:00.003-06:00

Another bonus of traveling the southern route was our accomodations the second night. Brett's cousin and wife live in Carrollton, Georgia - just 15 miles south of I-20. Brett has taken a number of camping trips with Dan. The first time I met Brooke was during one of those trips. Brett and Dan went camping for a week and Brooke stayed at our townhouse with me - good thing we get along fabulously!!

We arrived at their house late in the day (or early in the night ;-). Brooke & Dan still had an awesome dinner waiting for us. Their house is so filled with toys that the kids, given the choice of anywhere, have declared that they want to go to Brooke & Dan's house for vacation next summer. It was so awesome to visit them and see where they live. Normally, we only get to hang out with Brooke & Dan if our trips to Indiana coincide. Thanks for putting us up for the night!

Ft Smith Arkansas

2010-08-05T06:57:00.003-06:00

After lunch in Amarillo, we drove to Fort Smith, Arkansas. The kids only have one requirement for a hotel - a POOL! The first hotel we went to in Fort Smith (at 9pm) had an outdoor pool. We drove a couple of blocks and found a sweet deal. A Courtyard by Marriot with an indoor pool and an awesome military rate. The kids had a fabulous time in the pool and jumping on the beds. At this point, I think they would have been happy to stay at the hotel for a few more days.

Day #1 of the road trip

2010-08-04T06:37:00.003-06:00

Brett asked to drive a more southern route to North Carolina. He has driven I-70 many, many times between Indiana and Colorado and Brett got to check off two states that he had never stepped foot into.

I was happy to oblige. The first reason I was agreeable is because the southern route meant we would drive through Amarillo, Texas where my good friend lives. We met my friend and her family for lunch at a cool bar-b-que place. This is a picture of all of our kids. I was SO thrilled to get to meet her younger daughter for the first time and see my friend . . . if only it could have been a longer visit!

"normal" evening by the pond

2010-08-03T11:03:00.005-06:00

We were gone for so long and I'm overwhelmed with the number of pictures I took. I'm going to simply post one picture a day to cover most of what we did.

Here is how the kids were occupied our last night in Indiana. The snake was swimming across the pond. Then it was shot by one of my nephews and my father-in-law. Then they proceeded to dissect it.

Last Day of 2009 - 2010 School Year

2010-05-21T14:01:00.005-06:00

First Day
Last Day

First Day

Last Day

First Day

Day after his last day, but he's wearing the same clothes as he wore to the last day of school. He likes to sleep in his clothes these days.

Taken around the first day of school for the other kids.

Taken on the last day of school. She was reading Green Eggs and Ham which happens to be her FAVORITE book. I tried to video tape her reading it, but she saw me and stopped reading.

Saturday morning at the Wilsons'

2010-05-15T09:21:00.003-06:00

We have had really cruddy weather this spring. Pretty much EVERY weekend it has been cold, foggy, rainy (if we're lucky), snowy and generally not good for playing outside. This morning was exactly like that, so all four kids lined themselves up on the couch to watch a marathon of Sponge Bob Square Pants. Brett took note of this on his way to swim at the YMCA and commented that when the kids all end up as delinquents we will know why. :-)

2010-05-11T22:12:00.002-06:00

How is it that a cardboard box can entertain kids for hours?

I wish I remembered the whole conversation that they had on the stairs this morning. They were sitting there looking at two different children's Bibles. At one point Hunter told Sabrina that her's wasn't the REAL Bible. It was a fake Bible. Then they flipped through all of the stories commenting on the pictures. I really do wish I had my video camera so that it would have all been captured.

Mother's Day 2010

2010-05-10T14:54:00.004-06:00

I could say something sentimental about motherhood, but I'm not really the sentimental, cheesy type. So instead I will say that being a Mom is the best job I've ever had. I love being a mom so much more than I ever thought possible, must be because I have the best kids in the world. ;-)

Sabrina made this hand-print card in the church nursery.
Hunter made both of these at preschool. He insisted on having the gun in the picture with us.
Isabella made me a coupon book at school, but she couldn't find it at this point in the day. The beautiful roses are from my parents. They are opening up so beautifully.
Orion made the flower bouquet at school and the vase of flowers at church.

Bowling

2010-05-05T22:57:00.005-06:00

My friend and I took our younger kids bowling a couple of weeks ago. It was really so much fun and much easier than I thought. The kids had a lane with the bumpers up. They just got up there and rolled it down. Sabrina dropped the bowling ball on the ground a couple of times and luckily she didn't get anyone's toes!

April snapshots

2010-05-05T22:54:00.002-06:00

We alternate reading to the kids at bedtime. Sabrina is in a phase were she wants the SAME books read to her every night, so it is nice to alternate. I snapped this picture and got a little "sass" from Hunter.
"Hear no evil, Speak no evil, See no evil"
I don't know the "proper" order for those monkeys, but this was the best I could do. I may have to have this picture framed and put on the wall.

We all had a good time dyeing eggs, but Orion was especially proud of his gold and black egg (Purdue colors).

Getting ready to hunt eggs!

This two-some is crazy. They play SO well together. I swear they wouldn't even noticed if I left the house. Ahh - that's an idea. ;-)

Sabrina is 3 years old!!

2010-05-05T22:37:00.004-06:00

Sabrina had the choice of any restaurant she wanted to celebrate her birthday. She picked La Casita which is a pink stucco semi-fast food Mexican place. She was SO thrilled to celebrate there. She and I went (just the two of us) to pick out her ice cream cake from Baskin-Robbins. It had a light-up crown which is a big hit. She is very excited to be three years old. I think Sabrina is convinced that she is "big" like her siblings since she is now three.

Spring Pictures

2010-04-27T21:44:00.004-06:00

My parents were here visiting the last weekend of April. My grandma wanted to spend some money on the kids, so we went to Target shopping. The kids each picked out a new swimsuit and flip-flops. We tried to get them to take a picture in their new suits, but they would NOT cooperate, especially Hunter. On the way to church, I bribed them to take one nice picture after church. They cooperated nicely . . . for three minutes.

Spring Break Day #5 - Haircuts

2010-03-31T17:31:00.003-06:00

Spring Break Day #4 - Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

2010-03-25T14:06:00.004-06:00

two day old giraffe
gotta love the meerkats

Orion was afraid the peacock was going to attack him

All the kids sitting at the last stop of the day.

Spring Break Day #3 - Day at home

2010-03-24T09:59:00.002-06:00

I love it when my plan works out. I looked at the weather, planned some spring break activities based on the weather. Today's plan was to stay home and chill and with 8 inches of fresh, heavy, wet spring snow that is what we will do today. Just hope it melts a bunch this afternoon because we're supposed to go to the zoo tomorrow.

Spring Break Day #2 - Denver Museum of Nature and Science

2010-03-24T09:45:00.003-06:00

Ice Cream at the end of the adventure.

learning about how water running on the surface creates patterns - like the patterns on the planet Mars

crystals found in a cave in northern Mexico

this picture cracks me up - she looks so grumpy, but really I think she had a good time with this magnetic maze and at the museum

mixing and matching animal parts

Isabella has posed for this goofy picture every time at this picture. I tried to find the picture from last year, but I haven't categorized pictures from the past two years and it takes too long to search through them all. One day . . . I will have my life organized.

Spring Break Day #1 - Cottonwood Creek Park

2010-03-24T09:41:00.003-06:00

Carrying her babies back to the car after a fun time at the park. Sabrina loves to swing.
on a funky teeter totter - Isabella stood up and it bounces off of old tires

spinning around, getting dizzy. Why is this so fun for kids?

Climbing like a monkey

Projects made at School

2010-03-03T08:16:00.004-07:00

Updated on 24 March

Hunter insisted on taping this one to his wall in his room. Not sure why he liked this one so much.

February

2010-03-01T20:14:00.004-07:00

Not much time these days for words, but here are some pictures.

Isabella's Art

2010-01-26T06:54:00.003-07:00

Isabella's art teacher called me the day before the students went back to school from Christmas break. Her teacher called to share with us that one of Isabella's pieces of art had been picked to represent her elementary school in a school-aged art show. Her teacher ranted and raved about how creative Isabella is, how he has enjoyed having Isabella in class and how each of her art works have been creative. It was really cool to hear, especially since Brett and I are both such left-brained people ;-)

After church this past Sunday we went to one of the local shopping malls where Isabella's art work is on display with other art from school-aged kids. Isabella was picked as one of 12 students (out of 670) from her elementary school. I realize that I'm bragging, but that is part of my job as her mom! We are both really proud of her and her creativity.

Christmas in January

2010-01-22T14:48:00.003-07:00

Orion giving his Grandma a box that he decorated himself. I helped him fill the box with chocolates. Orion is wearing his new super hero cape that Grandma made him for Christmas.
Sabrina sitting in between her Grandma and Grandpa. She thought she was the queen sitting there. Sabrina is holding her new baby doll and crawls and cries.

Isabella was very excited to get new make-up. She has had on blue eye-shadow every day since.

Hunter proudly wearing his new super hero cape that his Grandma made him for Christmas.

Creativeness

2010-01-20T22:47:00.003-07:00

Orion was proud of the multi-colored mustache he made for the playdough guy. He insisted on saving it to show Brett when he got home from work.
The pictures is hard to see, but Isabella and her friend made an eloborate pictures out of Wiki sticks on her door.

Even though Brett and I are both mathematically minded, our kids appear to have some creative genes.

Wordless Sunday ;-)

2010-01-17T18:52:00.002-07:00

Cousins

2010-01-15T14:43:00.002-07:00

My kids are really lucky; they have 11 cousins and they love spending time with them.

Isabella, Kelsey and Maelynn dancing with the Wii game, Just Dance.
Brad (one of Brett's brothers), Jake (Brett's sister's son), Nancy (Brett's sister), Brett, Sabrina and Hunter - hanging out on New Year's Eve.

More cousins dancing to the Wii - Orion, Isabella, Maelynn and Sam

Steven flying Sabrina on his legs like she's an airplane. She could not get enough of this.

Presents

2010-01-15T14:26:00.002-07:00

Christmas this year was a little different for us. We flew to Indiana on Christmas Day. Most of the shopping that Brett and I did, we did online and had things shipped directly to Indiana. My mother-in-law wrapped EVERYTHING for us. (I could kiss her feet.) And then . . . we didn't actually open our gifts amongst our immediate family until Decmeber 27th after dinner. I think we did a decent job of getting the kids meaningful, fun gifts and not an overwhelming amount of them. We did not have the opportunity for the kids to shop for their siblings like years past, but there's always next year. Here are a few highlights of gifts:

I found a chapter book series for Isabella who has recently started reading like gangbusters. The series is Ivy & Bean and is about two younger girls who become friends - even though they don't want to. Isabella devoured these books.
The kids received a Wii which is hands-down Orion's favorite present. We are ALL enjoying it.

Hunter with his new golf clubs. I have mixed feelings about this present. I picked it out and the kids love golf clubs, but they also provide so many opportunities to agitate or injure a sibling.

We got Sabrina a Touch LeapPad. I actually got this books, cartridges and all for free through Freecycle. Pretty good deal and Sabrina really enjoys it.

One of Isabella's art drawings (a self-portrait) was put onto a mousepad for Brett to take to work. Isabella is quite proud of her artwork - more about in another post.

Puppies!

2010-01-12T16:09:00.004-07:00

My sister-in-law has a dachshund named Lillie. She is very cute and reminds Brett of his childhood dachshund named Lucky. The kids love playing with Lillie, but during our visit to Indiana over Christmas the kids were even more overjoyed. Lillie had with her four puppies; the puppies were about four weeks old. They were SO cute and cuddly that I might have considered bringing one home.

Isabella, Sabrina and Kelsey (their cousin) with two of the puppies.
Kelsey holding Sabrina while Sabrina held a puppy.

Orion and Ashley (their cousin) holding a puppy.

Sabrina and I cuddling with a napping puppy.

Christmas Morning

2010-01-07T08:16:00.005-07:00

Orion wishing his grandparents a Merry Christmas while we waited to board our airplane.
Hunter was excited about the Hungry Hippos game he got in his stocking from Santa.

Isabella brought all FOUR of her new coloring books she received from her aunt & uncle for Christmas.

Santa was smart and brought Sabrina Color Wonder markers for the airplane.

The kids dig into the presents that Santa left for them at Grandma and Papaw's house in Indiana.

Isabella received a my Little Pony.

Orion recevied a watch and a remote controled flyer, but he is playing with Hunter's disc shooters in this picture.

Hunter is crazy about his disc shooters. Grandma's house was covered with discs.

Sabrina received pretend kitchen appliances - toaster, blender, mixer and a coffee maker.

Christmas Eve

2010-01-07T08:04:00.003-07:00

Isabella's note to Santa.

The stockings were hung . . .

Isabella and Sabrina in their Christmas dresses made by Grandma Linda.

Special Moments

2010-01-02T08:24:00.003-07:00

These rare moments make me really happy. One morning before Christmas the kids all sat and played a game TOGETHER. They played for probably 30 minutes. It was really cool to watch and listen to them.

Can't help but share these

2009-11-30T10:13:00.003-07:00

While my Grandma was visiting for Thanksgiving, I decided to spend my Grandma's Christmas money on matching shirts for a family picture. My Grandma was able to help me pick out the shirts and be with us for the picture taking.

I know Brett wants to play with the pictures in his photo software, clean them up and enhance colors and stuff, but I am SO excited with how well they turned out that I want to share a couple now. As you've seen before it is really challenging to get a good picture of our kids. And below we managed to get at least three that are pretty good - to include two pictures with our first "child" Barley-dog. Enjoy!!

Thanksgiving

2009-11-27T21:19:00.002-07:00

Isabella dressed as a pilgram for her school Thanksgiving Feast. I couldn't convince her that pilgrams didn't have such bright colors.
Brett and my brother, Mike, in the foreground. My grandma and Orioin in the background. We had a huge delicious feast. I made sure everyone helped make the meal.

Hunter, my Mom, Sabrina, Isabella, and my Dad.

Self Portraits

2009-11-18T11:05:00.002-07:00

Aren't digital cameras wonderful? No worries about how much film the kids waste. They took about 200 pictures in two days, most of which I have since deleted.

Random November Pictures

2009-11-18T10:48:00.001-07:00

Trick or Treating

2009-11-09T14:30:00.003-07:00

Isabella as Ariel the mermaid, Hunter as a power ranger and our neighbor as Ironman. I don't think Hunter even knows who or what a power ranger is.

Sabrina as Tigger. She really enjoyed trick-or-treating this year. Because the weather was so warm we were out for a long time. After awhile, I was tired of walking up to every house with her, so I offered her a tootsie pop from her basket. She didn't go to a single house after that; she just wanted to eat her sucker.

Mommey with Tigger and the Power Ranger.

Tigger, Ariel and G.I. Joe

In typical Hunter-fashion, he took his costume off when we got home and refused to put it back on. I took a picture of him anyway.

Tigger was fascinated with all of her "loot".

The Finished Products

2009-11-07T17:24:00.003-07:00

Pumkpin Carving, Wilson-style

2009-11-07T17:13:00.002-07:00

Isabella and her friend carved this pumpin all by themselves. Brett enjoys carving pumpins a lot. He pulls his designs off the internet.

I was a bit surprised that Brett let Hunter carve his own pumpkin. I was also surprised that Hunter carved the pumpkin without loosing any fingers.

Orion cleaned out all of the pumpkins. He got way too much fun out of playing in the pumpkin guts.

Sabrina just walked around blowing bubbles and looking cute while everyone else carved pumpkins. She is really good at looking cute.

A momentous occasion for the Wilsons

2009-10-10T20:01:00.004-06:00

For the first time EVER, we went to the movies as a family. We aren't big movie go-ers, but this is still an event to mark. We went to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. I have always loved that book and have read it to the kids for years. As well, Orion's class went on a field trip to see this movie while we were in Indiana. Everyone was excited to go today - including Sabrina.

The kids making funny faces.

Sabrina looks so little sitting in the movie theater seat. She was very excited to be there ... for about the first 10 minutes. Then she started asking me if we could go downstairs. (We climbed a few stairs to our seats.) Then as each preview ended Sabrina asked if it was over. Overall Sabrina did really well.
About halfway through the movie Sabrina fell asleep. We did go to see a movie right during her nap time, so it worked out nicely for everyone. One more "growing up" hurdle passed for the Wilson family.

No words are necessary

2009-10-09T18:53:00.002-06:00

Look what I found in the kitchen ...

2009-10-07T16:16:00.005-06:00

Sabrina's First Race

2009-10-06T08:47:00.006-06:00

This past weekend was the first fall series race. I was sad because it was also reserve duty weekend, so I missed Sabrina's first race. What I am sharing is therefore a second-hand report of what Sabrina thought of the race. I think the pictures validate this story. Sabrina was very excited to get her race number and excited talking to her siblings about racing.

As Daddy and Sabrina walked towards the starting line, Sabrina started to get nervous. Brett said as they got closer, Sabrina got quieter.

Sabrina walked the entire race, but didn't cry or stop. She was very shy when she received her ribbon. Once the family was back at the car, Sabrina was restored to her excited state, like before the race. Brett reported that Sabrina asked for and clung to her ribbon.

Fall Series #1

2009-10-06T08:14:00.005-06:00

Our kids have participated in the Pikes Peak Road Runners Kids' Fall Series for many years. This past Sunday kicked off the series with the first race at Monument Valley Park. This is Orion and Isabella at the starting line. Just FYI - Hunter refused to race. We can't figure out why, but he seems to get really unnerved by the crowd at the starting line.

Orion is somewhere in the middle of this picture.

My kids LOVE their cousins!!

2009-10-04T18:45:00.003-06:00

The third weekend of September we traveled to Indiana. This picture is of Hunter and Isabella playing in the back of their uncle's truck with their cousins, Kelsey and Maelyn during Rick's Roast. Literally Isabella, Kelsey and Maelyn were together for 48 hours straight.

Took me four kids!

2009-10-04T18:39:00.002-06:00

That's me on the right. I was about three years old - probably six months older than Sabrina in the picture below.

I realize that Sabrina does not look exactly like me, but at least with Sabrina strangers don't ask me who her mother is.

Like Father, Like Son

2009-10-04T18:24:00.003-06:00

I certainly can't relate to this, but ... for the past month or so Orion has asked Brett if he could run with Brett. I was really surprised at first because running is not one of my favorite things to do. This picture was taken in Indiana. Brett and Orion were running down Brett's parents' driveway - for a little run in the country.

Jealousy!

2009-09-26T14:16:00.002-06:00

I am so happy for (and jealous of) my daughters. They have something I always wanted ... a sister. It is so cool to see their relationship as sisters develop and grow. They really seem connected. I realize that they don't and won't always get along, but at least they have each other for life.

Hut Trip

2009-08-27T14:14:00.005-06:00

Hunter's first day of preschool

2009-08-26T15:50:00.002-06:00

Isabella lost her first tooth!!

2009-08-26T14:22:00.004-06:00

On the way home from camping this past weekend, Isabella wiggled her tooth right out of her mouth! I think she surprised herself that it actually came out of her mouth.

All four kids never smile at the same time

2009-08-26T14:13:00.004-06:00

Getting a picture of all four looking at the camera and smiling is virtually impossible. I have tried bribery on many occasions. I will cut them a little slack with these pictures because they were taken at 7:30 in the morning. I'm not much in the mood for pictures at that hour of the day either.

Orion and Isabella are pointing at Brett who had just driven into the driveway. I was trying to get them all to look at the camera; Brett was behind me.

I think this picture is the best of the bunch.

First Day of School

2009-08-18T20:31:00.005-06:00

The first day of school would not be complete without pictures. I'm sure my kids will be totally sick of their mom taking pictures of their entire life!! Just like last year - today was a dreary, misty, chilly morning. Brett is working swings (evening shifts) this week, so he was home and all six of us went to school together this morning. The parking is horrible around the kids' school, so we were walking up to the building as the first bell rang. I don't feel like I really got to send the kids off with my desired well-wishes, but off to school they went none-the-less.

Orion started 2nd grade.

Isabella started 1st grade.

I have friends who are sending their oldest child off to kindergarten for the first time this month. I have been reflecting on the momentous occasion of the first day of kindergarten. I don't think it has gotten any easier. This is my third year to have one of my kids in school full time. It was just as hard to drop them off this morning as it was two years ago. I miss my kids so much when they are at school.

Boulder Kids Triathlon

2009-08-18T14:07:00.005-06:00

Orion and Isabella participated in a Kids Triathlon in Boulder on August 8th. It was a short race, but they really seemed to enjoy themselves. If it doesn't look like enjoyment in this picture, take into consideration that it was 7 am and a little chilly.

Isabella walking through the Boulder Reservoir. They weren't required to actually swim until the 8 year olds.

Brett just barely caught a picture of Isabella on the run. She finished very closely behind Orion.

Orion started out swimming, but then when everyone else was running he switched to running.
Orion was very focused on his bike and run.

Look at those long strides he is taking at the end.

Camping at St.Vrain State Park

2009-08-13T08:55:00.004-06:00

Watering the garden

2009-08-06T07:09:00.004-06:00

For the past five years we have had two spots in the community garden that is just down the hill from our house. I love our garden. It is a great adventure for our family and we get fresh food out of the garden. The kids like going to the garden because they are free to play in the dirt and run around. We don't always plan well. Sometimes going to the garden on our way to somewhere else. We really should keep a spare pair of clothes in the van for the kids.

Isabella

2009-07-23T06:47:00.002-06:00

I have been working evenings for two weeks. It is a great situation for our family overall - the kids are being watched at our house, they are only with a babysitter for five hours a day (instead of 10 hours), Brett and I don't have to spend extra time tranporting them, and they get to nap at home. BUT ... I miss my family a lot. I'm not used to being away from them. Our family hasn't been together at all since I get home after the kids are asleep.

While I'm not home to tuck the kids into bed, I do go kiss them good-night when I get home. This is a picture of how Isabella was sleeping when I went to kiss her. She looked so sweet sleeping with all of those animals gathered around her.

Camping - Part 2

2009-07-21T07:21:00.005-06:00

Camping in Rocky Mountain NP (part 1)

2009-07-21T07:03:00.004-06:00