Author: pazmeyer

gwyneth dance pics

Today was Gwyneth’s last dance class before recital. It’s been a great class for her and she has learned so much. I love the class, the teacher, the studio and I especially love that it is walking distance from our house. The last class was rehearsal and picture day. All the kids look absolutely adorable in their costumes and I can’t wait for their show. 
Sleeping in curlers for picture day.
Freakin’. Adorable. 
She poses herself like this: 
With her buddy Brady:
With her sweet pal Lily. Believe it or not they are the same age. In fact I do believe Lily is a few months older. Gwyneth is so flippin’ tall. 
I can’t wait to see these kids perform. Absolutely adorable. 

Don’t worry, Gwyneth’s hair will be properly pulled back in a bun for the recital like all the other girls. I wanted it curly for her pictures. I’m rebellious like that….and I’m certain you were worried she wasn’t conforming to the rest of the group so I wanted to put your mind at ease…

macaroni

We hosted some friends for dinner and movie night. I made homemade mac and cheese. Yes, that happened. And it was YUMMY! I won’t pretend to take any credit for this fabulous creation. My friend Kristen gave me the recipe and although I am no chef, I can combine ingredients fabulously in a crock pot. Yep, that is delicious, fabulous, cheesy goodness!!

Are you tired of seeing my baking pictures? Too bad, because here’s more. Orange creamsicle cupcakes. B told me they are my best yet and that’s saying a lot because he’s a chef in training AND because he doesn’t even usually like cupcakes AND because he’s not afraid to tell me when my food sucks. 
The movie night evolved into craft night:

When you buys a 2 lb bag of macaroni for dinner the craft ideas just create themselves: 

hello summer

Welcome to summer vacation at our casa! It’s a horrific attempt at time management. Gwyneth will continue to go to preschool half day 4 days a week, Annabelle will hang out at the pool with a nanny for 2 hours each morning 4 days a week, and I will attempt to squeeze all my work in during those 2 hours and then finish when they go to bed at night and not lose a minute of this precious time with them….or more importantly not  lose my mind. It’s a delicate balance. I recently read a book that sad the busiest people are the happiest people and I intend on being the very happiest momma in town this summer!
I’m not doing this alone, not at all. B is working his tail off at school. He’s gone most days at 6 am for school and then afterwards he’s usually volunteering or studying or a combination of both. I’m pretty sure I will look back at this year as one of the best of our lives. We are exhausted (and maybe a touch cranky from lack of sleep) but we are focused and happy. 
If you are looking for Annabelle this summer here’s where you can find her. This girl has never found a pool she doesn’t like. 

Gwyneth’s playgroup meets every Tuesday afternoon and it doubled in size with the siblings out of school for the summer. It’s a big, fabulous group of kids and women who I adore. This week was our turn to host and we set up the sprinkler and pulled out the sidewalk chalk in the backyard. The kids played so well together and I loved chatting with the moms and making some fun plans for the summer.

Not a bad way to spend a Tuesday afternoon. Not bad at all. 

B had a very, very long day. He left before 6 am for school and then went straight to the governor’s mansion to cater dinner for Governor Hickenlooper. He didn’t get home until almost 10 p.m. and we really missed him. We are very proud of him (and only slightly envious). Check out the menu, food, and mansion here.

mermaid

I’m a sucker for Gwyneth. I’m a sucker for both my girls really. I asked Gwyneth if she wanted to ditch school and she said “NO!!!! It’s show and share day!”. She really wanted to take in her personalized lady bug. I’d like to say I’m happy to see her so happy to go to school, but I think she’s really driven by showing off her stuffed animals!

We dropped Gwyneth off at school and planned to meet some friends at the zoo. The weather did not appreciate our plan and it poured rain. I was ready to put my pj’s back on and call it a movie day, but Annabelle thought lunch with the mermaids was a much better idea. We have an aquarium membership so I agreed and given the crappy weather it wasn’t even that crowded.

We made our way quickly through the exhibits. It’s a pricey museum in Denver, but with the membership we definitely get our money’s worth. I’m a big fan and I’m pretty sure the mermaids keep my girls coming back again and again.

Nap time for the tigers: 

All tatted up: 

I packed our lunches, but I was coerced into having lunch in the restaurant where Annabelle had a front seat for the mermaid show. I also made the mistake of ordering soup and salad. My girls LOVE soup. Love it. Let’s just say I had salad for lunch and I’ll never waste any money on a kids meal for them again. 
Annabelle told me completely unprompted in the car ride on the way home “You’re the best mom ever.” I took her to see mermaids so it was a pretty loaded comment, but I’ll take it. A mom will take what she can get!  

memorial day

We had a pretty quiet day to celebrate the holiday.  B had a special catering event tomorrow so he spent most of the day preparing. The girls and I went to the pool and swam all morning. These girls could spend the entire day at the pool — especially Annabelle. She absolutely loves to swim. Gwyneth loves the lazy river…that’s my girl! We had lunch in the backyard and then the girls took some much needed naps. 
Summer vacation is hard work:

We had planned to head to a BBQ at a friend’s house, but B got home after prepping all day and we needed some family time. We headed to the Orchards for some ice cream and then let the girls run through the fountains. The girls said the water was “FREEZING” and I believe ’em. Their little teeth were chattering.

dessert bar

Since Kristen started teaching me to bake, I’ve been a cupcake making fool. We had a few friends over for a bbq today and I made LOTS of cupcakes. I also baked a pineapple upside down cake for good measure. Then I proceeded to not take a single picture of the festivities. Hmmmm…perhaps my priorities are a bit out of whack!

kindergarten grads

Emma and Annabelle had their last day of kindergarten today. We got the girls together for a playdate and then Darron and Kristen joined us for a delicious dinner. We celebrate the beginning of summer for our oldest daughters (everyday is summer vacation for the younger sisters right?) and then played Mexican train. Darron crushed us!

Bring on the greek food:

bus

Today is Annabelle’s last day of kindergarten. Wow…wow, wow, wow. What more can I say? 
The neighborhood moms and dads organized a last day of school breakfast at the bus stop. Everyone pitched in and brought treats for the kids. I got tasked with apple sauce and yogurt which was easy peacy perfect since the fiesta started at 6:40 a.m. For an anti-morning person that is so early to be in public and functioning, but we made it, we celebrated, and I think the early hours saved me from shedding tears about my sweet girl Annabelle’s last day of kindergarten. 
I sewed a tote bag for the bus driver: 

All the kiddos signed it and we included a Target gift card: 
 Her haul to the bus stop:  

farmers market

B worked the Boulder Farmer’s market this afternoon so I packed up the girls (and Gwyneth’s friend Grace) and headed up to visit him. It was a great time and we were so glad we could see him. He even snuck away from his booth to have dinner with us. 
The girls really enjoyed the afternoon. We sampled lots of tastey food and the girls danced to the live band. Pretty perfect outing. 

Check out the size of that pretzel!
After dinner we went home and put on pj’s and watched a movie.

kindie grad

Annabelle is a kindergarten graduate! She has grown up and learned so much over the year. We are so proud of her. 
Her school hosted a continuation celebration. The three kindergarten classes sang several songs together and had a slide show and a speech from the principal. I was ok for most of it, but the songs made me cry. They were just so darn cute. Annabelle was watching me threw the songs and came running after saying “I saw you crying while I was singing!”. Thanks for ratting me out little girl. 
Look out 1st grade — here comes Annabelle!!

Annabelle & Sofia

The girls (missing two from her class)
Reagan and Annabelle

Mrs. Cain, the principal
Payton and Annabelle
Annabelle and Tyson. She says she’s going to marry him someday. Oh my!
Annabelle and Natalie

Sofia, Annabelle, and Ava

Mrs. Pries has been a fabulous teacher. We couldn’t have asked for more for our little gal.