road trip!

we decided to take a drive to loveland, colorado yesterday. there is a ski resort there and we were contemplating getting season passes for the family. loveland is only about an hour / hour & 1/2 away. as we drove, we saw the temperature dropping. our expedition has the temperature thingie on the inside so we can see how cold it is outside. we left highlands ranch and it was 64. brrrrrr ... coming into loveland, the kids were counting down ... "9 degrees 'till it's freezing" ... "3 ... 2 .... 1 ... it's reached 32 degrees!" yes, it dropped over 30 degrees. the snow was falling - flurries, it wasn't sticking to the ground. but we drove higher than loveland - we're gluttons for punishment, i guess. we found snow. on the ground. like sticking to the ground. a few piles. everyone but mom got out of the car. they all threw snowballs at mom sitting in the car refusing to come out! snow? in october? egads ....

on our way back home, we stopped in a little town called idaho springs, colorado. it was so cute!! there were lots of little shops, totally rinky-dink. but so fun! we went into one shop where they had homemade soap. well, store-made soap - they made it on site there. of course, i had to buy some. a girl's gotta stink perty! they had one that smelled like wintergreen gum - i LOVE that!! the girls and i had such a good time smelling everything. joey - not so much. he tolerated it. then, we headed to a gelato store where mak, joey, michael, and i got gelato (yes, when it's cold outside - don't ask). katy and becka got these really long suckers. oh - there was also an old train that we could look at and walk around.

i think we may take the mother's to idaho springs when they come in december. it really is a cute little town! and everyone says there's a restaurant there that has the best pizza ever. so we've got to try that, right?

seasons

we had seasons in arizona. really, we did! but ... it's different in colorado. the trees change color. the leaves fall off the trees. grass goes dormant. it gets cold. really cold! when the kids first saw the changing of the color of leaves, they thought the trees were dying. oh dear ... we have sheltered them too long!

joey

this boy says the funniest things!! this morning, he was getting some hot tamales out of the fridge (he keeps them there - i don't know why!). he got all excited and ran over to me saying "look at this cute little guy!" he had a teeny tiny hot tamale in his hand. lol!! i love this guy!

sharing my secret

i was asked how i ironed fabric on the walls ... well ...

you draw the thing that you want on heat and bond (but do it backwards from the way you want it to appear). cut the item out (doesn't have to be precise - i usually cut just a square around it) and iron it to the wrong side of fabric. cut out the item precisely - cutting thru both the heat and bond and the fabric. and voila! there you have it! when you're ready to iron it on the wall, take the protective backing off of the heat and bond and iron away.

when you want to take the fabric off the walls, just peel off and wipe any leftover residue. saweeet! perfect for things you don't want to be permanent or in an apartment.

"after"

i didn't paint the walls in the girls' bedroom - but chose to accessorize with other things involving color!!

so - here's a view from the bedroom door. aren't the colors fabulous? the girls' picked them out when we were just "browsing" online. i bought them and didn't tell them - did the whole bedroom & bathroom as a surprise.

katy's bed. and see the new lamp? let there be light!! (want to know a 'secret'? the letters on the wall that spell the girls' names are fabric - i ironed them on. so cool, right?)

mak's bed - she does love green. lol.

i made a magnetic cork board for the girls' room. i purchased a cork board and painted over it with magnetic paint. THEN, i painted over that with regular spray paint. i glued ribbon on two sides of the board and some flowers. so this way, the girls can hang things via magnets OR push pins.

here are close-ups of the flower magnets i made. i love them!!

here is a little pen holder that i spray painted the same color as the cork board - although the color doesn't look the same.

pen holder, you say? those are flowers, aren't they? wrong!!

and on to the bathroom. i painted it a pretty blue that matches one of the blues on their comforters. so much nicer to look at. the little wall hanging thingie above the toilet is a clippie holder for all the flower clips that the girls love to use. note the purple trash can - i painted it and glued a cute ribbon around it. squeeee!

here's the shower area. there are 2 green towels and 2 blue towels. each girl has one of each color.

the other two towels hang on the back of the door leading to their bedroom.

in case you couldn't read the saying above the towel holder on the wall, i printed out some vinyl and attached it.

one more vinyl saying - it's in the 'hallway' leading to the door leading to the hallway that leads to the play area in the basement. clear as mud.

i love these two rooms!! i do love color and the girls just love it. it was so fun to see their faces when they saw the rooms for the first time.

now, on to becka's room. taking off the wall paper may prove to be my undoing.

"before" pics

so we redid makaela & katy's bedroom and the 3/4 bath in the basement. no, it's not THEIR bathroom, but it attaches to it, so ... they consider it theirs. here are some before pics. rather blah and ... white ... and BORING. everyone knows that i don't like boring.

the girls' beds - they like them foot to foot in an l'shape - they call it their couch-beds. lol. from this angle, it looks like there is a lot of light in their room, doesn't it?

here's the bathroom. again. white. and b-o-r-i-n-g!!

i took a picture from the opposite side of the bedroom - there was only a light right above mak's bed - nothing on the other side. poor katy was in the dark. all the time!

the bathroom door leading into the hallway that leads into the big play area in the basement.

first family visit

my cousin, michelle ... well, she's not really my cousin, per se. her mom is my dad's cousin. so, whatever that makes us, we're family! so michelle, her mom, my aunt ruthie (again, not my aunt *lol*), and michelle's 3 daughters came to denver. my mom texted me to let me know they were in town. i texted aunt ruthie - she texted me michelle's number. i texted michelle, and we FINALLY got together!!

we met at one of the community centers for swimming. all the kids (and michael) had a great time. this community center has a lazy river, a log rope thingie, and a kids' play area. it also has a hot tub, but it's a "family" one - eeeew!

my two favorite guys enjoying the lazy river.

these two had more fun snuggling together and playing the d.s. - their giggles were quite contagious!

the obligatory picture of everyone together.

of course, to get them to do a nice one, they had to do a silly one next. (except for the 'cool' 12 year old who i had to threaten to sit in a picture in the first place!)

joey got ahold of the camera. isn't he cute?

our little bookworm