Our weekend at the Cabin

We went up our our cabin in Steamboat this past weekend. It was so nice to get out of town and enjoy the summer time in the mountains. The weather was beautiful (about 85 degrees) and the scenery was even better. The wildflowers cover the mountains, the wildlife is out, and the activities are endless...I love Colorado in the Summer!

We went into town to Fish Creek Falls and hiked to the falls and then through the River. After we spent some time at the falls we headed back into town, where we spent some time at a Farmers Market and finished up the afternoon at Beau Jo's Pizza. It was a great day to spend time outside in the beautiful surroundings but more importantly with the Family!

The trip to the cabin would not have been the same without Sophia barfing in the Car! We figured out that she gets car sick. Is there Dramamine for toddlers?

"Gabe...Batman is a good guy!"

We constantly have to remind Gabe that Batman is a good guy. I explained to Gabe today that batman would save the princesses (Sophia and Ella) not harass them until they cry. He agreed with me, posed for this picture and then decided that these princesses were "bad princesses" and he needed to "fight" them! At, that time I decided we needed to get ready for the park.

YEAH!!! We have Air!

So, we had someone else come and look at our air unit today. Turns out that our air unit is not broken after all! He said everything is fine we just needed a new filter...He turned the air back on and presto we have COLD air! I learned three things in our Hot Venture...
1. You need to change your air filter once a month.
2. Never put your thermostat below 73 degrees...Your air conditioner can't keep up.
3. It SUCKS not to have air in late July...I will never take it for granted again!

The Princess and the Hulk become Friends

Ella, our Princess has finally warmed up to the thought of having the Hulk in our house...she even had enough courage to pose for a picture!

It's getting HOT in here......

As of yesterday our Air conditioning unit went out! UGHHHH! Of course, it happened during a really Hot week! We had someone come out to look at it and they gave us a quote of $2800. That price does not exactly fit in the budget right now so we are going to hold off. We are finding ways to keep cool. Today, one of my friends Emily allowed us to hang out at her house for a few hours.. it was nice to visit, the kids played, and we kept cool. Tomorrow we are going to run through the fountains, and Thursday we are going to the pool. We are doing anything to keep cool!! So, if you have air in your house don't be surprised if you get a call from the Maccarrones... it's getting hot in here!

Winnie Strikes Again...

She has moved on from pop tarts to Waffles.... less sugar....She is watching her figure!

My Water Baby

Ella absolutely loves to be in the pool! We go to the pool a few times a week, and I have to say it is the highlight of her day every time we go! She loves to float in her Duck, play with the water Dora, and swim under water.

She is actually a pretty good swimmer for her age. She will submerge her entire body including her head under water for what feels like a long time! I went running over to her today because I thought she had been under for a little too long, but she came up and said,"look at me" and went under again. Her least favorite part of going to the pool is getting out when it is time to go. I almost always have to go in to get her out!

Fortunately, she has inherited her Dad's skin tone. She is always a little bit tanner after we go to the pool!

That Hussy!

Nick has been acting a little weird lately....I had a suspicion that he might be having an affair.

Well, I caught him in bed with another woman....that Hussy!

The Temper Tantrum of the Year goes to......

Sophia!! (big surprise, right!)

One of the girls main comfort items is their "BaBa" (their bottles). We should have taken their bottles away over a year ago but, sometimes it was the only item that would make them happy and when they are happy Momma is happy!

Well, we decided this week that we would take the bottles away except for night time and naps (they get water and a little juice). The new change really did not bother Ella because she is just happy to have a drink but, Sophia threw a temper tantrum every time I handed her a cup. I actually got a kick out of it for the first three hours...after the third hour she was off to her room!

All in all, they have done really well throughout the process...The bottle fairy is coming the first week of August to whisk the bottles off for good! Say a prayer for us that week!

The Birthday Train Has Come To A Screeching Hault...

I feel like we celebrated Gabe's 5th Birthday a dozen times....Actually, it was so bad that one of his friends asked if Gabe was turning six because she had celebrated with us the day before too! Needless to say, Gabe thoroughly enjoyed all of his birthday parties! I am sure his favorite was at our pool with 8 of his favorite boyfriends and his best girlfriend (they are really just friends). They had a great time swimming, eating cupcakes, and shooting Nick with the water guns. We had lots of fun celebrating the Big #5 but we are glad the birthday train has come to a complete stop....we need time to recover and get ready for #6.

What happened? followed by "Why"

"What happened" followed by "Why" are Sophia's favorite phrases! She says them ALL of the time! For example, Nick will come home from work and this is how it goes .....

Sophia: Daddy Work

Nick: Yes, I had to work.

Sophia: What happened?

Nick: I had to work.

Sophia: Why?

Nick: Because... I had to work.

Sophia: What happened?

Nick: I had to work.

Sophia: Why?

You get the drift it could be a never ending (and very irritating) conversation. Maybe Nick needs to come up with a new response!

The Hulk

Not only does batman frequently visit our home but, The Hulk does too!

Thanks to MiMi for the great outfit!

What I learned at the lake...

I took Gabe to the "lake" this morning for a friend's birthday party. I did not know the other parents at the party since the birthday boy was a friend from school. So, since I was not doing a lot of chatting with other adults I had the time to make quite a few observations during our visit to the lake.....
1. Once you become a mother, it is time to throw out the "itty bitty" bikinis. Things just hang differently after you have kids!
2. 8 year old girls are too old to look "cute" in an "itty bitty" bikini but, are not old enough to look "cute" in them either.
3. Some Moms are way to competitive when it comes to their child, even if their child is the worst behaved kid at the "lake".
4. You should not ask a stranger (being me) to watch your child until your wife arrives, he had no idea how bad I am PMS'ing today, who knows I could have let his kid drown in one of my rages.
5.I left my two year olds at home so, I did not have to watch them. What makes you think I want to watch your random two year old? Obviously, she did not know how bad I was PMS'ing either. Did I have a sign plastered to my back that said "I want to watch your kids while you do nothing?"
6.Just because you have a tummy tuck performed, does not mean that you are automatically skinny and ready for an "itty bitty" bikini.
7.All Mom's should watch their own kids at "the lake" that way you know when your child is beating on another one with a plastic sword.
8. Pool toys and in this case "lake" toys are fair game. If you bring them your child need to share them with everyone!
9. Finally, no matter what state you live in, WT (white trash) people find a way to plop down right next to you and think you want to talk to them. Obviously, they did not know how bad I was PMS'ing either! :)

"I'm Batman"

As I was cleaning up the kitchen this morning after breakfast, I saw a flash of black out of the corner of my eye run from the family room to the dining room. I did not think much about it until a frightened little girl came running up to me screaming "I'm scared, Gabe's scary". As I turned around to see what was behind me, I was startled by my son very calmly saying "I'm Batman"! I had to say I laughed out loud when I saw Gabe in his new outfit running around the house in an effort to save the day!

Thanks to the Aunt Connie, Uncle Joe, and Amber for the gift!

Happy Birthday Gabriel!

It is hard to believe that five years ago today the Lord blessed us with our baby Gabe! Where has the time gone? I sat at the table this morning sipping my coffee and staring at my baby boy while he was watching TV. I thought over and over to myself "I can't believe that he is five"!People say to me all of the time, "Enjoy these years because they are going to go by so fast", I usually shrug them off (because I am in survival mode with my three preschoolers). But, they are right! I can not believe how fast the past five years have flown by! I am looking forward to watching Gabe grow up and I pray each day that he is happy, healthy, and follows Christ! Happy Birthday baby Gabe!

It rained AGAIN!!!

Every year our church has a 4th of July picnic and every year it rains! Well, this year no change it rained again! We have not had any rain in Aurora for weeks but, of course as soon as we head to the church picnic, it starts sprinkling. The picnic was held at the Aurora reservoir and to get into the reservoir you pay a fee of $7 per car load...so...we figured to save the money we would park at our friends house and walk there. Well, sure enough the sprinkles turned into a downpour! It rained and rained AND rained...we had no choice but to walk home (with the kids) in the rain. And, of course we did not plan ahead and bring an umbrella..so we made makeshift ponchos out of trash bags and made a stroller cover out of the picnic table cloth (picture attached). We have all vowed not to go next year....but, I am sure we will be there...side dish in hand!

Presenting Zack and Lauren Kulesz

My Cousin Zack and my NEW cousin Lauren got married on the 4th in Azel, Texas (close to Ft. Worth) and we were lucky enough to join my family for their special day. Nick and I left on Thursday and returned on Saturday to our kiddos. Janel and Tom were nice enough to keep the kids while we enjoyed our short vacation, the kids had too much fun with Nonna, PaPa, and the Hill family! We had a great time relaxing, eating "Whataburger" and Texas BBQ, and visiting with the Kulesz Family!

Popsicles in the bathtub??

Yes, I let my kids have Popsicles in the bathtub! I know that this is probably not the most sanitary thing to do but, it sure eliminates a mess for mommy to clean up! Usually after "the sisters" have a Popsicle there is a huge mess to conquer (Winnie is nice enough to help me most of the time)! The melted Popsicle that some how did not make its way into their mouth usually finds itself all over their face, clothes, and all over my back patio! In the bathtub, there is no mess to clean up.....one less mess = A HAPPY MOMMY!

Swim Lessons

Gabe started swim lessons on Monday at our neighborhood pool. He is learning how to"Monkey crawl" along the pool edge, open his eyes under the water, and float on his back. He has made a few new friends and he loves his teacher. His favorite thing about swim lessons is playing "Mr. Shark" at the end of class. I am just glad that he has learned enough skills to stay afloat in the pool by himself!