I'm 30! Woo-Hoo!

For my birthday, we are going to Colorado to stay at my parent's cabin again, which is why I am posting this a day early.

I don't know how you feel about turning 30, but for me, I am excited! My mom always said her 30's were the best years, and I believe it will be for me, too.
Now don't get me wrong, I suppose a while back there was a time when the thought of turning 30 got me slightly depressed. "Ugh, that's really old." But that has passed. Especially when I think of all that I have experienced over the past 30 years. I feel I have done a lot in my "younger" years (good and bad) and have a lot fun memories, too. Now, I am ready to take on the "older/adult" years of my life and face all my upcoming challenges head-on. It's scary, yet thrilling and exciting at the same time. Of course, I'll still be having lots of fun. I guess I'm looking at it as the "glass is half-full". I'm only 30. There is still a lot of living to be had. To quote one of my favorite movies, "I want to be thirty, flirty and thriving!" (13 going on 30)

Which also makes me think, at least I don't look like I did in Jr. High. Ugh! I'd much rather be 30, than going through that stage of life. So for this I say, celebrate life, celebrate beauty, celebrate 30! Be happy!

I spy...

Ordinary bush?



I don't think so!

Alright, so this is the scoop. Whenever my husband does the yard work, he usually finds a dog dropping or two in our lawn. This has been happening for quite sometime and it gets him very angry. He thinks he knows who it is, but doesn't want to confront the dog owner until he has accurate evidence that the poop belongs to his dog. A week ago or so, this dog pooped on our driveway, and his owner just kicked it into the gravel, leaving a dump in our rocks and a smear in our drive. And so now, Greg has installed a spy camera to catch them in the act. Now, maybe we are being too hasty. Perhaps that smear mark was the perfect "accent" to our house. How do you think we should handle this messy situation?

Canyon Lake

Greg has been taking the boys to the lake a lot lately, which has been nice because 1. I get to play with Olie without the boys constantly in his face and 2. It is a lot less noisy and I am able to take awesome naps. When they return home, Ethan would always ask why I didn't come, or will I go with them next time. I finally decided to ask my parents if they would watch Olie so I could join Greg and the older boys at the lake. So yesterday, we drove to Canyon Lake for some family fun. It was overcast all day so it wasn't terribly hot, but neither was the water. When we jumped in it was pretty chilly, but you get used to it after awhile. Ethan was so excited to have me there. He wanted to show me all his "tricks" he could do jumping off the boat. He did canon balls, belly flops, side dives and back dives (which were basically back flops & side flops, but still darn cute ;) Aidan was just excited to jump off the boat and practice his swimming. I attempted the knee-board, and was able to pull myself up for a little bit, but it was a lot harder than I remember. It made me realize just how outta shape I am, and I might need to start thinking about getting myself into a regular exercise routine. For the most part we just drove the boat around, we swam, and we ate. It was great to spend that time with the older boys...I fear they feel a little neglected since most my days are spent with Olie in my arms. I look forward to the next lake trip! (Assuming I have a sitter for Oliver)

What do you remember?

My cousin had this on her blog, and I thought it was cool. Humor me :)

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. I think it will be fun to hear what people have to say and what they remember. If you leave a memory about me, I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Oliver

Oliver turned 3 months old a little over a week ago. They always say babies grow so fast, but I always hope mine will stay "little" longer, especially at this age. This is probably my favorite age because; 1. He sleeps through the night, 2. he's still small and cuddly and will still fall asleep in my arms 3. He's not mobile 4. he is old enough to smile, coo & giggle. I love trying to communicate with Olie. He is so much fun and a great baby. I could not ask for a better third child. He is always so happy. Olie smiles all the time and I love the fact that he can recognize me from across the table and give me a big smile as if to say "I know that person!" He loves playing in his bouncer and has really got his rhythm down. It is so entertaining, watching his one foot go up and down as fast as he can to propel the bounce. He's also been doing this cute thing with his hands these days. He'll be laying in his bouncer, bouncing away, until he notices his hand. He'll stop bouncing and just stare at his hand, then close it real tight, like he is squeezing the life out of bug. (And it's always his left hand, maybe he'll be a lefty like me!) He will do that over and over, and then go back to bouncing himself.

Colorado - 4th of July Weekend

I LOVE the month of July. The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays, we tend to take our vacations in July, and to top it all off, my birthday is in July. (But there will be other posts about that.) Moving on! Our family just spent a wonderful week long vacation in Colorado at my parents newly remodeled cabin, or should I say summer home. WOW! I was not expecting what I saw. They had a great contractor. There is so much more space, enough to accommodate our entire family. Sweet! (I will have to do a separate post on the cabin, and show you before and after pictures, but I just don't have those pictures at this present time.)
Almost everyone was able to come up for the 4th of July. My brother Cole and his family were able to spend a week. Christian and his girlfriend Liz came up for a few days, but unfortunately, my brother Aaron was unable to make the trip. We missed him! :(
The weather was so nice, and we usually got cloud cover and light rain in the afternoons. The boys (and dogs) loved it! There was so much land for them to run around and play on. Of course, they didn't want to do anything unless Nana joined them. Poor mom, those kids just had too much energy for her to keep up with. They hiked up and down the hills, hunted for beaver, played in the fort. And when they needed a rest they would come inside and play video games with their cousins.
Greg enjoyed his time there too. He brought plenty of guns and ammo to shoot. He played some golf with my brothers. He took hikes down to the beaver creek with the kids, he took plenty of naps, and of course his favorite, watching the "Planet Earth" DVD's on the 72" HDTV in the theater room of the cabin, on the lazy boys, enjoying a bowl of trail mix.
After dinner and the sun went down, and the kids were either in bed or watching a movie, the adults would gather around the table for some fun and games. We played our favorite card game, progressive rummy. Followed by a late night movie and some popcorn. (Greg compared it to being on a cruise but without the midnight buffet.)
One day, we rounded up the kids and went to the neighbors house so they could ride a horse and take some various "cowboy" pictures. My mom wanted to get some cute pictures of her grandsons that she could hang them in the boys' room at the cabin. We had a lot of fun doing that. Although Ethan and Aidan were both hesitant at first, we finally got them in the saddle.

In short, we had a blast!
Thanks mom and dad for inviting us to spend the holiday with you in Colorado. See you in a few weeks!
To view more pictures of our trip click on picture below

Colorado - July 4th 2008