Ski season is here!

I have to admit that I hate to put a new post up as it will bump the last one down a bit and I think that picture of Dylan is so funny!
We are having a great Thanksgiving weekend with food, family and fun. It is that time in life when Trevor and I are realizing that we will be skiing on our OLD gear while the kids get NEW gear. I never understood why my parents didn't just buy all new stuff all the time- now I get it. Colter went to Bootdoctor's today and got his first new pair of ski boots (his others had been hand me downs, and lasted three years!) He was so excited after finding a pair of black, red and white boots that look like his black, red and white "race" skiis that he and Daddy went out on the slopes. His skiis are much bigger this year, so we were afraid he would have a difficult few days at the start----not the case at all. He had a great time and only fell down twice, one of those times was because he was skiing backwards! We are looking forward to a fun year on the hill with him. Dylan will now inherit the ladybug skiis and has been carrying them around rhe house all week. He puts them on the floor and stands on them, just like his brother. Dylan was pretty bent out of shape when Daddy and Colter took off down the slopes without him, so we will get him out on the Magic Carpet in a couple of days. Tomorrow we are going Christmas Tree hunting- hopefully the weather will improve a bit from the snow we have had the past few days.
Dylan is learning animal sounds these days and now has several different grunting noises that represent everything from a cow to an elephant. Pretty funny. Colter is still very curious and inquisitive and has always "just one more question" Today ended with "How do bees make their nest?" and "How did God make God?"

Off season? Seems busy to me.....

Here are some pics from the last couple of weeks. Winter visited in a big way and then it has actually warmed up again. Colter is really excited to help me shovel the snow, hopefully he will continue to be excited for years to come! We went sledding down at Town Park with our neighbors. I had to zoom in on Dylan for you because that was so stinkin' funny. That is what I mean when I say he is not impressed with the cold and snow so far. On the two sleds is Josh, Baby Roman, Jasmine, Rocky and Colter. These past few days have been busy. On Friday we went ice skating. Dylan loved it and pushed the walker all over the place. Colter was very excited and was skating around slowly with his skates this year, no walker. He did take Dylan around with the walker a bit and told him all about the skates he would get to wear when he was three. Colter was interviewing all of the other boys there to see how old they were and if they were playing hockey yet. He can play next year and he is counting the days. After that we went to Colter's friend Lily's 5 year old dinosaur birthday party. It was so cute! They had a fossil dig with geodes(sp?), amber and shark teeth, costume dress up play with a drama teacher, cookies and so much more. It is getting harder to keep up with these cool parties. Next up, Colter and Mommy date night. We went to dinner at Fat Alley with Jill and Booker than we all went to see the African Children's Choir at the Palm. It was a great show and I am so glad we went. Colter had a hard time with the orphan concept and felt very sad about these kids having no mommy's and daddy's. It took him most of the show to ask all of his questions about war and who takes care of these kids. He is very wise and has a deep sense of social justice. It will be interesting to see what he does with that when he grows up. It was a lot of activity for one day. Saturday was another day in Ridgway trying to make hydropower. Mom and Dad's house is coming along and we spent a nice sunny day playing with dirt and rocks, riding bikes and swimming in the hot springs. Today was more outdoor play with the neighbors, mostly Roark and Colter digging for more dinosaur bones. The sun was out and most of snow has melted, atleast on the south side of things. Ski season starts next week and we are excited!

Let it snow....

So tonight I was filming the boys running around the house, jumping off things, riding their big stuffed dinosaurs and Colter decides to tell the camera a very detailed story about a trail that his daddy took him on to go four wheeling......it was fun, lots of water, on and on...then as he is looking straight into the camera he says "OK guys, The End!---true story, really" It was not a true story, but it was a good one.
We went sledding today. It is officially winter, no going back now. We had a huge storm last week and went from pleasant fall days to cold and very snowy ones. Dylan is less than impreseed with the process of getting all of his snow clothes on to go outside. I can't say that he is any happier once he gets outside. He toddles around all bundled up like the Staypuff marshmellow man and screams for someone to pick him up. I think he takes after me and likes warm weather better! He will come to love it once he discovers the fun side of winter. I think he is going to love skiing, he likes to be in fast motion! This year is so fun with Colter, have I said that I love 4? What a fun age this has been so far. Another bonus is that he can get dressed to go outside, mostly. That is a huge milestone when that alone can take me 20 minutes for the two of them. He was climbing up the sledding hill alone today and getting all the way to the top! He loved it and can't wait to go skiing. He is also excited to get his new black and red racing skiis from Kendahl and pass his little red lady bug skiis to Dylan. I am excited to take him out on the slopes and see what he can do this year! We finished last season on blue runs with his favorite one being The Enchanted Forest. I am getting very excited for ski season for the first time in a few years!

Halloween and other fall fun

We have had a busy, fun-filled last week or so. Bonnie and Mimi flew in from Austin to spend some time with us, see Mom and Dad's new land and help Rob with Eli and Gideon while Sheila and Noah were back in the hospital for a few days. Although Colter was initially disappointed that Michael didn't pop out of Bonnie's suitcase, he recovered when they started baking pumpkin pies! He is already planning our next travel adventures to Bonaire, maybe Texas or Mexico- where ever Mom, just make sure Michael comes along! We had several nice walks and fun times while Bonnie and Mimi and the boys are all big fans of Bonnie's pancakes. Mimi brought each of the boys a handmade wooden cross with a child kneeling in prayer on the front. Colter and Dylan have theirs hung on the wall and now when Colter goes in his room he says "Hold on mom, I have to pray. Ok. I love you God, Amen." One time he said "Do you know why we have to say "Amen" to God? Cause that is how he says "Good Bye". Mom, does God only speak Spanish?" Yup, he keeps us on our toes. The weather has been amazing and we have been doing our best to soak it up. Just today it is starting to feel like winter is coming for good. It is actually shooting off some thunder and lightning right now! It was so nice on Halloween that I was wearing a sleeveless costume and flip flops. Pics are of our weekend with Mimi, Bonnie, Eli and Gideon and the Halloween parade down main street with my little Ninja and Tigger. I will have more Trick or Treat pictures soon. We went to a fun party on Friday night in town, ate pumpkin lasagna (very tasty in case you are wondering) and went trick or treating to a bunch of very scary houses. Colter was excited that he is a big boy now and can go after dark. Dylan was just excited to be in the middle of the action and really enjoyed grabbing the candy and shaking it. He did manage to get a few open and in his mouth. Next day was a fall party at Finn's house. We had a great big pile of leaves, pumpkin smashing, mountain biking in the river (oh wait that was just Colter and Finn-----they are good buddies these days and love to see what they can do), Trick or Treating to every door in the house- more tricks than treats for this game, and swimming in the pond! Yes, swimming..I'm not going to lie to ya, it was cold and I didn't get in very far, but some crazy folks went all the way across the pond! It was possibly the party of the year, rivalled only by Colter's birthday party. Dylan had a bunch of his little buddies there too and it is fun to see them begin to play together. Today we spent the day in Ridgway, playing at Modee and Pappy's land, hiking through the trees and up the mountainside and trying to make some hydropower. The learning curve has been steep for Trevor so far, but he actually got the plant to start up and run for over two days now. Next up is working on holding the power levels.