Ingrid Michaelson, David Ford and Newton Faulkner.

I got to see these three live last night and they were AMAZING! If you don't know who they are, look them up and buy their music and be their fan. David Ford has this amazing voice and some cool youtube videos. Newton is a riot!!! One of the best stage personalities I've seen and he should do his rendition of You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) song every show. Ingrid is sooo cute and I want to be her friend. Hear that Ingrid, I'm cool and I think you would have fun at the game nights I host!

Uber tired, so this post is short. Listen to this music.

P.S. Had my skiing lesson today, and pretty much I'm a pro. (Did you have doubts?!)

Happy Saturday!

Fort Wars.

My husband won. That's all I have to say about that. Check out the work, Maybe I'll even post some close up pictures later on so you can see his handy work using my Bobby Pins as the key ingredient to holding this fine piece of construction together...



Too bad though the best part of the whole thing, I couldn't take a picture of, or blog about. Really, who am I kidding, I have no shame and share way too much. I will say it involved a Christmas Tree Skirt which minutes later worked mighty fine as a cape when I threw it over my shoulders, and ran around the room like Santa's TRUE number one helper. Oh I love my husband... and Christmas... and forts. Ho. Ho. Ho.

I really need to grow up.

I have so much stuff to do. Really a ton. Basically today is the last day before we leave for Turks and Caicos. Really, we don't leave until Monday, but tomorrow my day is packed until the wee morning hours. Saturday and Sunday I'll be skiing, so today is pack day. Pack and clean and get whatever else we need from the store like... sunscreen, lots and lots of sunscreen. While packing I couldn't just put my bathing suit in the suitcase like a big girl. No, I had to try it on and now refuse to take it off. It's about to snow outside and I'm running around in my bathing suit out of sheer excitement for our vacation AND I can bet you ANYTHING I will forget this most important piece of clothing because taking it off means I'm not really somewhere warm, I'm not near the beach, I'm not five seconds away from a sunburn... but when I do change out of it, something will distract me from putting in my suitcase because EVERYTHING distracts me and I will be that girl wearing shorts and a shirt in the ocean. I hate that girl.

Made from Love!

I'm a little sick of ground turkey but it always end up in my shopping cart via ME. Really, can I stop myself? Can I control my own actions? Am I really a creature of habit. Yes, yes I am. There will ALWAYS be ground turkey in my freezer ready to be defrosted and I'm sick of trying to be creative in terms of it's uses. Turkey burgers, tacos, stuffed peppers. Geoff pulled out the ground turkey and said he was making some spaghetti. Ugh. If there is one thing I don't like, it's spaghetti... and bananas, and coconut and... Anyway, by the look on my face he knew spaghetti wasn't a great idea. I started my internet recipe search. Don't fail me, I need something to do with ground turkey. I was at a loss, it's all the same... except I found a meat loaf recipe. I don't remember ever having meat loaf. I'm sure I have, I just don't remember. Meat loaf doesn't sound appealing, but I thought if I did my own thing to it, I would like it and Geoff would go for the whole meat loaf idea. Meat loaf it was and just like any other recipe, I didn't follow it... at all. I did my own thing, added my own ingredients, adjusted the cooking time and viola, meatloaf. I don't think it smelled like meatloaf or even looked like meatloaf, but I was game and excited for Geoff to try it. After one bit, he looks at me and says he wasn't hungry. Hmmm. I ate it, I loved it, I thought it was consumable, but realized what my problem was. When you tell someone you are going to make something and give it a title, they will expect that. I told Geoff I was going to make meatloaf, ignored the recipe and went with my instinct which happened to be a pretty close twin to my turkey burger recipe. What I had in front of me was the largest baked turkey burger patty this house has ever seen and really, I thought it turned out great.

Since dinner didn't turn out like he hoped I decided I was going to make a little something special for my Lovey Love LOVE. I was tired and headed to bed, but instead of crawling inside the covers, I transformed them into a lovely and wonderful... take a guess... FORT!. Who doesn't like forts? Who didn't like transforming their couches into sprawling fort cities as a child?! Hell, who wouldn't like doing that now? I closed the curtains and the door so he wouldn't walk by and see what was going on. I scoured the living room for anything that could serve as a wall to my fort made from love. I had to pull the bed out, push the bed in, creatively use pillows as an extension to our headboard, use the suitcase for a wall post, get extra blankets from the linen closet and bam, a fort with a grand entrance on Geoff's side of the bed! Geoff walked in and rolled his eyes... crawled in, took one look at me and destroyed the fort. I'm not going to lie, I was a little sad. I worked hard on the fort and now it's walls were in shambles all around me. I threw the walls around my shoulders and said I was sleeping on the couch. He end up picking me up and thowing me back on the bed, apologized for my lack of fort building abilities and declared that his could top mine. So, it's on. Let this day mark the day my husband and I are in Fort War. Fort War, made from love of course.

I'll let you know how he does.

Pictures.

Alright, I'm still new at this posting pictures stuff. I notice that the pictures don't automatically center themselves in the space given meaning that I cut myself out of my own posted pictures. What year are we in? Do I have to do all the thinking for you internet blog page?! UGH!

Stand by while I figure this all out.

(You might be standing for a while...)

Ski Bunny Through and Through!

My husband skis, I do not... I mean, I did, I mean I DO! Uhhh, I kind of do. Umm, I grew up skiing just haven't done it in forever so I thought it was in my best interest to schedule myself some lessons. I start Saturday. I'm nervous, I'm excited, I'm... uhhhh, I'm going to rock it!

In honor of my first lesson in THIS century, I thought I would post some pictures of my last few trips skiing. Damn I'm good...



Just heading out the door...






You can't tell here, but this was pretty much a black diamond mountain...





Pizza anyone?





Notice how I'm in the FRONT of my class, AKA- the LEADER, AKA- the BEST in my class!





Before digital cameras preview screen to see you blinked...





AND, my last time on the slopes...




See, it wasn't THAT long ago... I've got skiing in the bag! Watch out Breck, here I come!!!

To my FIVE month old!

Dear Sawyer,

I can get lost going anywhere! I can get lost going around the block! I’m best at getting lost going places I have been to about a hundred times before. I think I get too cocky about knowing where I am going; you think I would have learned already. Today I promised you that you would get to play with other babies. Mommy had her first playgroup date with the Moms club she joined, and guess what, I got lost. I promise you this address does not exist. I drove around for 40 minutes and, of course, forgot my phone at home so I couldn’t call anyone. What have we learned here? Mommy can’t keep her promises, especially if it involves me getting you somewhere. Deal with it kid.



What has gone on this month now that you are five months old?! Not too much since last month. I worked really hard on getting you on a sleep schedule. Really hard! It was no walk in the park. Since about three months old, I knew I had to wean you from falling asleep in my arms and transferring you into the crib. I knew soon you would have to soothe yourself and that you are old enough to do so. I feel like being a parent is constantly walking a fine line. It’s a line between wanting to keep you my baby forever and cuddle you and cradle you and have you forever be my newborn Sawyer or step onto the other side of the line where you are growing up and learning and becoming more independent every day. It’s so amazing to see you grow and mature and learn what life is all about, but that leaning is a letting go process on my (and Geoff’s) behalf. Without letting go, you can’t learn to your full potential. Teaching you to go to bed on your own is just another way I have to let go. You protested a bit (AKA- cried) and tested us to see if you would be the boss or if we were still in charge, and we had to stay strong. Daddy didn’t understand why it was so easy to put you to bed before and all of a sudden it becomes a chore. Well, simple, before we were tricking you into bed. We put you to bed sleeping and you just woke up there. Now, we are teaching you what bedtime is, what winding down is, what your schedule is and at this point I can now say you are pretty awesome at it. Once the routine starts, you know it’s about that time. There are a few times I think you might cry when I walk away because when I am there, reading to you, turning on your bedtime music or kissing you goodnight you are fussing, but when I’m am done, you lay there for a few minutes and then pass out. What a big boy. You wake up an average of once a night now and it’s during that time that I forget what all the books say, what all the websites say, what all the experts say and I cuddle you like the baby I brought you home from the hospital. It doesn’t matter how tired I am when I first wake, when I have you in my arms I feel like the luckiest person on the planet. I love those times!

You are also eating now. Due to a carrot mishap, Daddy bought me a baby food maker and we are making all your baby food; organic, freshly made baby food. You are treated like a king sometimes! You don’t seem to care as much about the new food though as I do. I am sooo excited every time I get to see your face with a new taste, but all the faces are the same, it’s a GIVE ME MORE FOOD AND GIVE IT TO ME NOW kind of face. Real nice Sawyer.

Other things…

We have a new president and history was made. Barrack Obama is now President of the United States of America and now all these babies are being named Barrack. This year, this presidential election is the reason there are a bunch of Barracks in your kindergarten class, haha. Now mommy can say she saw IN PERSON, the president of the United States…working out on one of the wimpiest machines in the gym. I should have challenged him to a cycling class.

In one week we will be on vacation! You are five months old and have a passport! Can you believe it?! We are all spending six nights in Turks and Caicos. I used to live there and can’t wait to show daddy one of the places I consider home. I love it there and now get to spend time in one of my favorite places with my all time favorite people, you and daddy. Too bad you are too young to drink because the resort we are going to makes some pretty wicked margaritas.

You spent opening day at A-Basin with Mommy and Daddy. That was really important to him. He is a big time skier. I hear he is AMAZING. I CAN’T wait to ski with him. I grew up skiing but have not done it in years. I’m pretty sure I am going to sneak up to the resort and get some lessons in before I go with Daddy. I am insanely in love with your father and always want to impress him. I want to impress him with my skiing skills and am in no shape to do that now. We have to be sneaky!

That is about all I have for you. I know this is a boring one, but whose fault is that?! I challenge you to do something before next month. Crawl? Roll over more? Roll over at all because you have seemed to forget how to do that. Change the oil in the car? Make daddy and me dinner for a change?! Come on, you are made from the insides of two smart, beautiful, amazing people, I know you got more in ya!



I love your guts to outer space and back! Happy five months!

Mommy

Our Weekend.

Sawyer dancing...



Isn't my husband handsome?

Sing It!

My husband likes techno, I do not. The beat sounds the same, it echos in my ears and pounds on my chest, the glow sticks scare me, especially when those little dancers put them on strings and swing them around. ( It's like, uhhh, you know the glow stick swinging operators had drinks and possibly some other substances and now they are swinging around glowing chemicals in plastic tied to a sting... that is a WEAPON if you ask me!!!) The weird hand movements in other peoples faces, the dress up in weird outfits; the whole culture in general is just not one I ever got into or even experimented with. But like I said, my husband likes techno, he likes it a lot. Date night last night and we went to some club to meet up with some friends in town where the DJ who is friends with my friend (Sorry for all the friend's friend's friend stuff! ) played some bump-bump, techno stuff. I soon got pulled into the DJ booth with her and another friend, I was sooo out of my element. I danced like a girl in a body cast would... awkwardly. I tried to be cool but realize I am not. More importantly, I realized just another reason and possibly, one of the stronger reasons I don't like that techno remixed stuff. When I sing to the words to a song and the DJ decides to 'mix it up' and I sing what comes next, but there isn't a next, just the last word played over and over again 80 times leaving me there without my facade, revealing to myself and others that no, it wass not me that was responsible for the vocals. That I did NOT sing that song. That I am NOT the lead vocalist in that band. I have worked too hard memorizing songs and choreographing dance routines on my runs to have my fantasy world shot down by MY song remixed by a DJ. So, you won't see my 'performances' at any club any time soon, but I will be featured on the Cherry Creek Running Path... yes, that is me running and singing and dancing, and yes, I'm pretty good.