sparkle

We had a pretty lazy Saturday afternoon just trying to get back in the swing of things around here. We went for lunch before B and Annabelle took off for the kitchen for a birthday party. Annabelle has started working the parties with B and she is an amazing host. She cleans, she cooks, she is so hopeful and she is always on her toes. She has a tremendous work ethic and we’re so grateful for that girl.

Gwyneth and I arrived home to find our entry way glowing! I recently purchased a new vase for the entry table and at just the right time of day the lights hit and our entire entire way is sparkling. We are usually at work and school so this is the first we caught it. Gwyneth is our sparkly girl and she loved it!! (don’t mind the dust on that table…just focus on the sparkle, c’mon!)

B and Annabelle were worn out after the party so we had a lovely night at home just relaxing and playing games. Gwyneth’s friend, Ella had a sleepover and the girls were happy to spend the entire night in the basement playing American Girl Dolls. I’m so grateful these two have kept in touch despite going to different schools. They are very sweet friends.

pottery painting and pool time

The girls have extended school days Monday – Thursday and then half days on Fridays. This is a new quirk that we are going to have to get use to, but in theory I love it. We can head out earlier for mountain adventures and travel or just have an early start to the weekend.

Today their friend, Kenna ( a friend from their old school who has also moved on to a new school this year also) had the day off. They don’t start back until next week so it was a great opportunity to get together! I had some work to get caught up on (like I said, I still haven’t mastered this new schedule yet) and the girls requested a trip to paint. Works for me!

They painted a few things and are mastering the silk screen painting. I love their creations and can’t wait to see them glazed and fired. Annabelle made this awesome camera plate and I even featured it on my studio instagram page. She was pretty excited about that.

After painting we headed back to our house for an evening trip to the pool. We ordered pizza and waited for B to wrap up his party. Not a shabby start to the weekend!

first day of 4th and 5th grade

Today was the first day of 4th and 5th grade.

We had the most difficult summer of decision making regarding school. I won’t go in to a ton of detail, but here’s the gist: The public school the girls attended was not great for Gwyneth; it wasn’t even ok. Broomfield Academy was great for her; but sadly it was just ok for Annabelle.

We want great for both of them. One child can’t be doing great while the other is just doing ok. Heck, they at least both need to be pretty darn good or we have to keep looking.We searched and searched and searched. I have toured nearly every school in the greater metro-area. I will admit the school search would have been easier if we split them up, but that was not going to happen. The girls were adamant that they stay together. That was truly their one request. They are so close and separating was just not an option for our family.

We really struggled with the decision but finally decided to make the move and once that choice was made we have been nothing but thrilled with it. Everything about their new school has been wonderful and we can hardly wait to see what the future holds for them. Of course there are nervous and anxieties, but these girls are fierce and are excited for the new opportunities!

4th grade here she comes!

Our 5th grader!

5th grade is the start of middle school at the new school so Annabelle is pretty excited about that.

Here they go!

I picked them up and found the biggest smiles! They are enamored with their new school. They think the world of their new teachers, they made new friends, they love their lockers and they asked me to come back in after school to show me everything! I was so relieved and my heart is happy.

We went for ice cream after school and I got to hear all about their day.

B had to work late that evening, so the girls called him to fill them in on their day.

Love this little face.

She doesn’t like to get photos taken as much anymore so I take advantage of any opportunity I can.

Looking forward to an amazing school year and many more adventures with my fabulous ladies.

aladdin and the last weeks of summer

And then just like that the summer got away from me….

The last two weeks of summer were a bit of a blur. The girls attended an Aladdin theater camp which they absolutely loved. They were gone Monday – Friday for TWO weeks from 9 am – 4 pm. It was an intense camp and they came home pretty worn out.

It was nice to be able to get caught up at work, but I really did miss having them around. It also made the end of summer feel like it just slipped away. My heart hurt a bit because I need more time with these little ladies.

We squeezed in some fun activities over the weekends and in the evenings, but I wasn’t super great about taking pictures. Here’s what I got:

A night of sushi at our favorite restaurant, Ooka. I love how adventurous these girls are with food. Annabelle has found wasabi and has become a big fan.

I was sick, sick, sick with a migraine one day last week. My family was so kind and scooped me up and took me for pizza and ice cream after a horrible day of a headache.

I wish I could innocently wonder where Annabelle gets this crazy from, but I have pictures of myself doing this (and they are from last week, not from my childhood…)

The girls immersed themselves in an emoji marker maker craft one evening. Annabelle received it as a birthday present and fell in love. She was a fab big sister and even let Gwyneth help.

Their friend, Kate joined them for Aladdin camp and had a sleepover one evening afterwards. They loved hanging out with her for the two weeks!

Another evening they made dinner all by themselves. They did all the cutting and cooking. We were quite proud of them and enjoyed their feast.

After dinner we treated them to games at Dave and Busters. Wednesday nights are half price games. We just went for games, but we decided to grab a beer and our server treated them to this sugary goodness!

Back to school night! We got to explore their school and find their lockers. The lockers are a great source of excitement and nervousness!

We attended an after hours event at Butterfly Pavilion for Members Only. It was a fun BBQ with good food and free beers. The only sad part was the girls didn’t get to hold Rosie the tarantula.

Last day of Aladdin camp.

Game night and pizza making with friends.

The day of the performances finally arrived and the girls were beside themselves with excitement! They did a great job and had such a fun time. They can’t wait to do it again!

I have several photos of Gwyneth after the performance, but Annabelle was hangry. We waited for a group photo until after lunch.

Much need lunch between shows.

All three girls did great! They did two shows and we had a wonderful time watching them perform.

Sunday was all about college friends. We had two great friends, Dan and Eric from school and Eric’s wife, who we love and their two kids who we finally got to meet over for the day. We played games and talked and talked and laughed and had the best time!!

We spent our 2nd to last day of summer running errands. We had to get new school shoes and last minute things and of course, frozen yogurt.

And then the last day of summer break was upon us. Annabelle got invited to spend the day with a friend, so Gwyneth and I had some lovely one on one time. She asked to go peddle boating and for lunch and ice cream in Louisville. We talked about the upcoming school year, what is making her nervous, what is making her excited, what is making her a bit scared. I love that one on one time.

We had planned to head downtown for dinner at Mortons because that is our place. Well, everyone was pretty worn out by dinner time. The girls requested Outback because it was closer to home and they didn’t have to get dressed up. We had a low key dinner and then just like that it was time to get ready for the big 1st day of school tomorrow…

And just like that summer break came to an end. It was a good summer indeed.

cupcake wars

We hosted an appreciation event for my Color Me Mine employees at Blue Mountain Kitchen. B was amazing, of course, and made us a delicious meal. We enjoyed gnocchi, hummus, and bacon wrapped dates…my favorites.

After dinner we had a friendly game of cupcake wars. Everyone was so creative!

I have a few employees heading off to college in a few weeks. It was a wonderful opportunity to say thank you and wish them well on their next journey.

Annabelle and Gwyneth were big helpers too!

It was a great night and I’m so appreciative of these ladies. An extra special thank you to my husband who went out of his way for us on his day off. I couldn’t ask for a better husband. He takes such good care of us. He’s a pretty darn good chef too.

emoji movie

We’ve seen lots of movies this summer, but the Emoji movie has been on the top of Annabelle’s to see list. She is an emoji lover! They are her absolute favorite thing right now.

I didn’t think the movie was terrible. Annabelle liked it. Gwyneth said it was ok. B slept. Ha!

I read the reviews afterwards and it is being called the absolute worst movie of the year. Yikes! I don’t think it was really that bad. That seems a bit harsh….I mean I saw Captain Underpants and that was a real stinker.

I chuckled along with Annabelle at poop emoji jokes, but I’d wait for video or commit to a nap like B if you are heading to the theater if you are seeing this gem.

Annabelle’s room. Emoji obsessed!

basement sleepover | casa bonita

We are in the process of upgrading our basement. Nothing too serious. No major construction. Just moving some things around, throwing out a lot (I love a good purge – I’m not a very good hoarder), and getting a new couch. B has always hated the couch in the basement and I’m almost certain that’s why we don’t spend very much time down there anymore. The basement is intended to be our comfortable place and if the couch isn’t comfy than that will never do.

We moved spaces around and now we just wait for our new couch to be delivered. I will post pics when it’s complete.

For now, we have a big open space in the basement which makes for an awesome sleepover space. The girls each had a friend over and B set up air mattresses for them and they had a pretty great movie night. That B sure is a great dad and knows how to make a sleepover extra fun. I think the girls are going to be sad when the couch arrives and they don’t have that big open space for air mattresses and cartwheels.

Annabelle’s friend Molly recently moved to Colorado and we couldn’t resist introducing her to Casa Bonita.

We had a great table with the ultimate view of the divers. They climbed right up the cliffs by our table to do the dives. It was pretty spectacular and the girls were definitely wowed.

The sopapillas are the big hit on the menu.

That face! Oh, that B. Not sure if he frowning about his obstructed view, eating at Casa Bonita, or all of the above.

We all survived and no one got sick (that is not always the case when eating here). We can cross that off our summer to do list and give our stomachs a break until next year.

adams county museum | pancake wars

I was a working fool today and my girls tagged along for many an errand. They never complained. They just took it all in stride and were pretty sweet. They read their books in the car and didn’t fight and that is a victory.

Or last stop on the errand list was to check out the Adams County Museum. I had driven by before and thought it might be a great outing for Girl Scouts. We checked it out and it will be perfect. We set up our field trip that day.

Look at that sky. What a gorgeous day.

Those precious little feet and their favorite footwear. Isn’t it funny how our shoes can define you?

That evening Gwyneth’s friend and family joined her at Blue Mountain Kitchen for a Pancake Wars party. She came up with the idea all on her own. B helped them make basic pancakes and they were able to add special ingredients to flavor them and make their pancakes unique. They came up some interesting combinations.

Gwyneth and her girls. She really does have the most wonderful group of friends. Not just these ladies, but all of them that came to celebrate with us tonight.

Instead of cake she wanted a big ol’ stack of pancakes. I love it! She got one of each pancake that each of the kiddos made. What a variety! She is definitely our breakfast lover and I can’t imagine a better party for her.

After pancakes all the kids painted donut banks.

Present time. Her friends asked her to open their gifts. She was pretty pleased.

The whole gang.

Much to her dad’s dismay, she always seems to be surrounded by some cute little boys…

Even her Godfather came our to celebrate with her.

Happiest of birthdays to our sweet little Gwyneth. We just love you so much and hope you had the best birthday celebration. Welcome to nine!

gators banquet

We made it home from Colorado Springs just in time for the Gators Banquet. The girls were so exited to receive their ribbons and trophies. They did great this season and we are so excited to see where their next journey in swimming takes us.

For the summer they ended up with the following ribbons:

SEVEN First places

THREE 2nd places

THREE 3rd places

FIVE 4th places

TWO 5th places

They managed to place in every single race. Wowsa! I’m so, so proud of these girls for working hard and pushing themselves.

happy birthday gwyneth | great wolf lodge

Gwyneth really wanted to celebrate her birthday at Great Wolf Lodge so off we went!

Thanks to a 50% coupon we were able to stay for a couple nights for a slightly reasonable price. It’s all a bit overpriced but the coupon does help.

I think this may be the girls’ happy place. They love to swim and just love everything about this place. We stayed 3 night which wasn’t enough for them. I think two is probably good for me and 1 is probably good for B. Ha!

Let’s get in the pool!

And off they went. Sunday night they shut it down. They were so happy to swim, swim, swim.

Silly sisters!

Monday we were right back at it. Bright and early. We were at the water park when it opened at 9 am. Took breaks for meals but didn’t leave until 8 pm that evening Now, that is a day of swimming!

This is one of my favorites shots of Gwyneth!

Annabelle snapped it of her dancing underwater. Fabulous!

And just like that our baby is NINE!! Love that bed head.

Gwyneth ran the show for the day and she wanted to start the day with a big breakfast. Absolutely no surprise there.

Next stop mini-golf. Miss Annabelle was pretty pleased with her hole-in-one!

And then the ropes course. G didn’t have tennis shoes but that didn’t stop her. of course she climbed in ruby slippers. That’s how this girl rolls.

And then bowling!

Gwyneth’s buddy Ruby was there for the night as well. They have been friends since kindergarten and share the same birthday. What a fun birthday coincidence to be there at the same time.

We hit the waterpark after lunch and spent a few hours. Unfortunately B had to head home and get some work done, but we had a great time all together.

After dinner the girls talked me into playing Magiquest. I didn’t know much about it, but the girls were eager to check it out. They got a wand and got right down to it. I still don’t know much about it but it involves finding clues through the resort and it kept them entertained for hours.

While they were exploring and waving those magic wands, I sat and read an entire book and had a glass of wine. I can’t complain, but I wish B would have been there to enjoy that glass of wine with me.

Our last day we hit the water park one last time. Lots of water slides and time in the wave pool. We definitely made the most of our opportunity.

We finished off the trip with pedicures and ice cream. Gwyneth’s dream. She loves the scoops spa and it was the perfect ending to a fabulous birthday trip!