Fall Continued

A few more highlights of fall '10...

Isabel lost ANOTHER tooth. She totally planned this you know. Which is hilarious if you know her. She always has to know "what the plan is for today". She made her own calendar (with no regard for the number of days in a week or number of weeks in a month) and has been writing important upcoming events on the calendar. On November 15, she wrote "Loose a tooth". And, on November 15, she totally lost a tooth. Cue the exaggerated lisp.

Church (ward) campouts are not for the faint of heart. Or for those who have a problem with their children running wild, playing in precarious teepees, or eating dirt. Lots of dirt. We had SO much fun but it didn't even compare with the amount of fun these wild children had.

Isabel and Milo have continued their love affair with Ramona Quimby. Her antics have fueled some of Isabel's antics. Such as the stunning homemade rabbit costume seen above.

CSU's homecoming parade provided us with an afternoon of fun and a week's worth of candy. It's always entertaining to see the floats the students come up with and to see all of the animals (CSU has a vet medicine program and is an ag school so there are animals aplenty!).

We (okay, Spencer and the kids) participated in the Tavelli Elementary duathalon again. It's a 1/2 mile run followed by a 2 mile bike ride followed by another 1/2 mile run. The twins weren't quite riding on two wheels yet so Spencer pulled the locomotive. Note that he appears near death at the completion of the bike ride.

Triumphant finish! Keeler cried the ENTIRE time. He did not take kindly to being left behind.

Then there was Halloween. This guy was the cutest puppy dog ever.

Trick-or-treating with cousins. We feel so lucky to have Kiana and Mya pretty near by--especially for fun stuff like this.

This one deserves a post of its own. When Isabel decided that she wanted to be a pioneer-slash-Mary-Ingalls for Halloween, she knew just who to call: Grami Tami. You see, Grami Tami is both a seamstress extraordinaire AND a fellow lover of all things historical. She immediately volunteered to just "whip something up". This totally true-to-its-time-period costume was the result. The anticipation and the emailed/blogged pics of the work in progress were almost as fun as the actual costume.

A few things to note:

1. There are actual bloomers under that.

2. The doll has actual bloomers too.

3. There is a row of teeny tiny rose shaped buttons up the front.

4. It got more comments than any other costume at the Cornstalk Festival (also known as the Halloween carnival).

5. Isabel felt like she'd died and gone to heaven--and was so over people asking her if she was a pilgrim!!

There was also soccer--for both kids. Isabel was a soccer machine this year. She didn't even yell at me for "choosing this when I've always known she wanted to be a ballerina!". She loved it. Milo, of course, loved it. His team was undefeated (by miles and miles of goals) and took first in the tournament at the end of the season. They both scored goals and they both can't wait for spring soccer!

If you made it to the end, you are a true fan. Or you are my mother.

First Grade...so far.

My own memories of first grade are pretty basic. Mrs. Thayne. Cindy Lauper (my Halloween costume). Winning a ribbon for the obstacle course at Field Day. My mom was PTA President. I broke my arm on the monkey bars. Pretty basic. Nothing stressful. Life was good.

So, here we are. First grade for I&M. Well, it turns out that first grade is a whole other world these days. News flash for me, the mom.

Things started out hunky dory. The kids are at our neighborhood school (which, if you live in a district that does not offer the "school of choice" option or does not complicate things with charter schools then you do not know what a controversial choice we made). Spencer and I stood on our soapbox (okay, mostly me) and pontificated about the mix of students at our school, about the need for involved parents, the dangers of self-segregation etc. etc.

Then school started. And things were tough. Really tough. There are 27 students in their class and one adult. The kids are from diverse and sometimes very challenging backgrounds. Funding keeps getting cut. Their teacher is great but she is a very new teacher, still making her way and determing what works best for her. And there are 27 of them. Did I mention that?

New school clothes and new backpacks. Isabel had her outfit layed out for 24 hours before. Shocker right?

The first few weeks were loud. Make that LOUD. And chaotic. And...hard. Isabel really struggled. Going to full day was a big change. Her vision had changed--and not for the better. She came home crying almost every single day. Crying.

Then I was crying. And she was struggling. And I was calling Grami Tami (first grade teacher and literacy expert) every.single.day. And the pediatrician. And the eye doctor (who is a complete saint as far as I am concerned). And meeting with her teacher at least once a week.

Isabel has always had some difficulty with sensory stuff--too loud, too hot, too crowded etc.. Well, it turns out that the changes in her vision had made it too difficult for her to shift focus from far (the whiteboard) to near (her desk) and was causing her vision to be distorted or blurry much of the time. That combined with the noise and activity level in the class was just too much.

Milo is a total school lover. He loves every subject. He loves every teacher. He loves lunch. He loves recess. He has some cutie friends from soccer in his class. He loves to read. He wants to be in science club. And chess club. And pretty much every other club.

Things have slowly gotten better. Her teacher was very attentive and responsive. I was in the classroom twice a week. She is now in bifocals. The class is quieter. And, did I mention Grami Tami? Lifesaver.

Watching your normally super resilient child struggle that much is painful. It was a tough six weeks and I am very, very happy to be on the other side of it. It's still a work in progress but things are much improved.

This is her "Ramona" pose. Remember when Ramona's shoe got eaten by a dog on the way to school? And she had to lead the pledge? She stood like this. What a goofball.

It should be noted that having a brand new super twirly skirt made by that same Grami Tami will make the first day of school pretty darn exciting. :)

Yearly tradition: cupcakes or cake the night before school starts.

Falling

The annual pumpkin patch excursion with Sage and her boys...please note how many times my son (Keeler) looks like he is about to jump in the pig pen. Because it was pretty much the whole time.

Thunking all of the pumpkins...or as he called them, "BALLS!!!!".
These two crack me up. Biffs for sure. On the tractor ride.

Checking the tractor out from a safe distance.

About to take the plunge. Because oinking at the nasty pig from a distance just wasn't enough.

About to attempt the plunge again.

Isabel pulling some of the boys around in one of the pumpkin-hauling-wagons.

Cute. Craziest hair. He pretty much always has the craziest hair.

Recreating the pics from last year. Last year's pumpkin patch will always be the "balloon boy day" in my mind. Because that was all anyone was texting me about all day. Okay maybe all week. Balloon boy.

Cuteness.

Assessing his escape routes. No seriously. He pretty much lives to escape/run away/climb up things he shouldn't climb up.

He was totally barking at the bunnies. If all else fails, bark at it.

Some day my children will all look in the same direction for a picture.

Keeler loooooooooooooves to be restrained for pictures. :)

Coming up for air...part 1

So. First grade isn't for wimps. I bet a bunch of you already knew that right? Well not me! We've had quite the time settling (read: trying to) into our new routine. Plus, I got a new job. Well, kind of the same job. Similar really...just full time now. And, Keeler has a new daycare (which he completely loves--phew!).

Anyway. My apologies. We're starting to keep our heads above water now. I think.

For your enjoyment: Pics from a camping trip that happened quite some time ago. A monthish ago. It was fun. I promise.

Oh, and there was a half-marathon right before it. That was REALLY fun. The part where we forgot to pack tent poles (campground 2 hours from home) was not fun. Or funny. Now it's kinda funny. But still kinda stings.

Exploring the stream by our campground.

What more can you ask for as a kid? Hours were spent damming it and undamming it.
Cute.
That's all there is to say.
He's all about the "little seats" these days. Anything small that he can sit on by himself? He's in.
An attempt at all three kids in a smiley posed photo. Yeah right!

How Keeler spent most of his time at the stream.

What you can do if you get tired of damming a stream over and over again.

Isabel takes another photo.

Milo brought his "scientist notebook" and drew a bunch of his findings.

It was super cute in a semi-nerdy kinda way.

Which is what we completely love about Milo. He makes scientist notebooks look cool.

I don't even know.

This was an afternoon's worth of activity. She was mighty proud of it and mighty ticked off that Keeler kept wanting to steal rocks and throw them in the firepit.

Cuteness.

Stacy remember our little chairs when we were kids? They were identical but had our names written on them in nailpolish so as to ward off any fights (ha!). Kind of like these ones....except sitting in them was a life-risking event. Often marred by someone tipping over backwards.

Coming soon: First Grade Pics

Random Summer Fun

This little cowboy is killing us with his cuteness. Some days, I think he will kill us with his lack of useful language skills. The boy can make animal sounds with the best of them. And will sing all the livelong day. But words like more, up, down, all done, off, milk etc. are not to be found. It's coming soon, I know. But I feel sorry for the little guy in the meantime.
Eating watermelon at the river.
Isabel and Milo did 6 weeks worth of intensive swim lessons and are actual swimmers these days. It's pretty sweet and a pretty relief. AND it pretty much wore them out every day. And that was pretty sweet too.

If he could be outside all day, every day that would be great. Thank you very much.

Cute neighbor Amanda (with her own Ergo) and her cute baby, Thane, at the beautiful river with us.

Throwing giant rocks in the river. Watch out for kayakers. They were out in droves.

Isabel and her "friend since I was practically born", Maycee at the river.

Milo played in a 3v3 tournament this summer and took part in the awesome Soccer and Scouting program. He had a blast and is getting better and better. At bossing his teammates around (see above). Kind of kidding on that one. He really is getting better. And he really is a little bossy sometimes. But not usually.

Cuteness.

This guy got his first haircut. I was sweating profusely, trying to hold him steady in the little car/chair. Good thing they have dum-dums there. He held it with white knuckles and looked completely freaked out the entire time. Now, he is just cute. And all business. Get the kid a briefcase.

Colorado Springs: Take Two

Last weekend, we went camping with Grandma Kim, Grandpa Manuel, Kiana, Grandma Cathryn, and Kurt (Grandma Cathryn's booooooyyyyfriend). It was so, so, so much fun. We could spend weeks in CoSprings and not run out of things to do. Mucho memories.

Kiana and Isabel scrambling around on some rocks at Lake Manitou.
Ha ha. Funniest and most awkward situation ever. See above.
Milo: taking care of business in the outhouse FOREVER.
Spencer: standing outside the outhouse offering moral support/keeping away the knockers-who-stress Milo out FOREVER.
That Guy: standing in what he thinks is a line behind Spencer FOREVER.
That Guy: not going into the vacant-the-entire-time women's bathroom or going to one of the six other bathrooms in the campground FOREVER.
The Rest of Us: laughing hysterically at the campground, taking distance shots like this one.

Running around like a wild baby for days. Loved it. Every stinking second of it.

At the top of Pike's Peak eating one of their "world famous donuts". He medium liked them.

Again, at the top eating a "world famous donut". She did not like them and she was not pleased that she didn't get a second option.

Kiana liking her "world famous donut". A lot. The adults like them a lot too. Yum.

4/5ths of the Mestas grandchildren at the summit. A storm rolled in (not a blurry pic--a cloudy pic) just as we reached the top. Bummer but so cool to be walking around in the clouds.

Spencer ruins a cute picture. Isabel takes pretty decent pictures.

If you've camped with Spencer, you know that he spends much time perfecting (read: obsessing over) the perfect s'mores fire and the perfect s'mores. The kids had a few lessons.

Cutie. Not so cutie the next day when she was high on sugar and low on sleep. Day two of camping is always the toughest no?

Working their technique.

Hot dogs (barf), cousins, and cowgirl hats. Doesn't get much better than that. Except for maybe when the grouchy campground host comes by to tell you stories about the bear in the campground and scares your children to tears. Nice. Real nice.

Cathryn doing her Vanna as she shows off the view from Pike's Peak Highway. Does she look peaked? Because we were. That highway is no joke. Switchbacks and sheer dropoffs=nausea for many of us. The grade is also so steep that they check your brake temps on the way down to be sure they aren't going to fail on the way down.

Exploring Garden of the Gods with Grandma Cathryn.

Coming back from a hike around the lake with Grandma. That Grandma Cathryn is always up for a story and an adventure. Milo and Isabel were so sad when she left. They wanted to know if she could come back next weekend and go camping in Colorado Springs AGAIN.

On top of a big boulder with Kiana.