Holiday Season

The season has started! We began it by going to the Starlighting event in Castle Rock. We went with our best friends, The Lewis Family. Again, to clarify, that is Molli's family. Everyone knows Molli is Memphis' girlfriend. It was very crowded, but fun to hang out. Castle Rock has such a small town appeal at times. I am so thankful to live here.

My dad celebrated his 65th birthday! Wow! Scott and I joined him and some of his friends, as well as my big brother, for a dinner at Perry Park Country Club. There is just no way to describe the yummy food there. It was a great time, with the exception of driving home in the snow! Luckily, we all made it safe. It took my poor brother over 3 hours to get back to Ft. Collins. Yikes! It is a really nice feeling that my dad and I have a good relationship and that we got to share in the celebration.

We did our annual Thanksgiving dinner at my dad and Jan's house. Jan's parents, Fred and Mary Anne were here from California. It is so nice to see that side of the family. Memphis and Maverick really enjoyed playing with their cousin Nina. Of course, like everyone else, we ate too much! I am always amazed at how well my dad cooks. Before dinner, we were able to see a doe and buck come into a clearing by my dad's house. And then, the excitement began. To put it in a 5 year old term, the one with the horns wanted a piggy back ride! And we all got to watch.

On Friday, Scott's big brother, Kirk, came down and stayed with us. The boys were so excited to have their Uncle Kirk and his dog, Ayla, here. They went for a hike, went to lunch, and played legos. My goodness, how they played legos. Kirk and Scott were like two little boys again. It was so cute. Poor Maverick wanted to be in on the action, but was mostly like a bull in a china shop. We were all sad to see Kirk go home. It was so great to have him here. What a blessing.

The other fantastic news is my niece, Ashlee, was here with her husband, Pete. It has been a long time since we have seen Ashlee, as she lives in Las Vegas. In fact, it was the first time she has met the boys. We met them first for dinner with my mom and Ren. The boys loved meeting her and Pete. Maverick and Pete were hilarious together. Maverick had a blast running up to Pete and Pete would turn him around in one way or another. I got to go spend some quiet time with Ashlee and Pete on Sunday. I am so lucky to have such a beautiful, well-adjusted, niece. I can't even explain how much we have missed her over the years. I wish I could have spent more time with both of them. And Pete handled this crazy family very well.

We will be so busy over the next few weeks with holiday stuff. I am always excited for Christmas, and then I am happy when all the hustle and bustle is over. But it is so beautiful this time of year. I do hope we have a white Christmas! We hope you are all doing well.

Another Month Gone By

So I guess I will begin with the huge snowstorm that hit us. We ended up having about 2 feet with a lot of drifts. Anyone who knows Scott will be shocked to learn that he was out plowing on the 4 wheeler for hours at a time! The boys had a great time playing in the snow. If you look closely, you will see them in the picture. What fun. Manny did not have as much fun, because the snow was taller than him. Poor thing. There was so much snow that even after several days of above average temperatures, we still had snow in the backyard. It was crazy. However, it didn't interfere with Halloween.

We had Darth Vader and Superman who went trick-or-treating. It was sort of weird, because Memphis has never seen Star Wars and Maverick doesn't watch any Superman. But, that is what they chose. Very cute.

We first went to a party at our dear friends, Jim and Jami Lewis. Again, you might know them as Molli's parents. (Just FYI, Memphis and Molli are still planning on getting married). I made two cakes for the party, not my best, but fun. The kids had a great time. Jami is amazing in her party planning and organization. After the party, the boys went out with some of the kids in the neighborhood, while I stayed home to pass out candy. They came home with way too much, especially considering that they don't normally eat a lot of candy. Although, I will say that Memphis has started to like chocolate more.

Memphis lost his first tooth. He was very excited. He put it in an envelope for the tooth fairy, but then asked Daddy if he could put it under Daddy's pillow this time. He didn't really want a stranger in his room. He lost a second tooth a week or so later. This time, he asked Daddy to call the Tooth Fairy Office and request a girl tooth fairy to come. He agreed

September Fun

Oh my gosh! I can't believe it is October already!! September just came and went. We have been very busy!

Memphis has started playing soccer again, after a year off. Amazing in the difference. He really makes an effort to get to the ball. He tries so hard! He has been moved into the gifted and talented reading program at school. His reading continues to amaze us, even though we are well aware of how well he does. He is pretty proud of himself when it comes to that too. He is, however, learning to say "No" to his parents, with a sound of authority. Not something we are too keen on! For the most part, he is such a great kid. And I know that I worry too much about too many things with him! One thing that has amazed us is, Memphis has decided that he wants to learn the piano. So, we asked my mom if he could borrow her keyboard just to see if he is really interested. He has learned to play "3 Blind Mice". Not perfect, but he is playing it. We are just so happy with his new hearing aids and that he is interested and enjoying music!

Maverick....oh messy, naughty Maverick. He is so adorable and so naughty. Not a bad kid....just naughty! He is always messy. You could give the kid one spaghetti noodle and he would have it everywhere. He is counting really well now to 10, and sometimes to 13. He can do his ABC song, when he wants too. And he can tell you the primary colors, if he is in the mood. It all depends on his mood. His mood, however, is happy most of the time. He walks around with a grin on his face almost all day. He does get a frown when he doesn't get his way, and he can throw a tantrum with the best of them, but it doesn't take long for the grin to come back. He laughs and laughs alot. And I love how he always asks Memphis, "How school, Brother?" and Scott, "How work, Dad?" He is definitely a social kid. He repeats everything Memphis or Scott says. He is also singing a lot! I mean, he makes up songs. If you give him some instructions, he will walk around singing it. It is hilarious. He is so funny. And if he is being naughty, he grabs my face, kisses me, and says, "I love you to the moon and back mom!" He certainly knows his audience!!

We went to see Thomas the Tank Engine again this year. The boys were so excited because we got to go with Thomas Lee. He is Bob and Lisa's son (who are the kids godparents for those who didn't know). Thomas Lee is 7 months old and so cute! Our boys had a blast there. I am pretty sure Thomas Lee didn't care one way or the other. Bob was extremely tired from working until early that morning, and Lisa didn't sleep well without her hubby! But, the Oldhams loved spending time with them! And Thomas Lee is absolutely adorable. Memphis was all over him with love. It was a good time.

Well, we shall see what October brings. So far, cooler weather. Memphis will be going on his first kindergarten field trip this week and goes off track next week. I also get to go on my annual scrapbooking weekend with my friend, Jen, next week. I am really looking forward to spending time with her and regrouping myself!

Hope all of you are doing great! We would love to hear from you!

Time for Catch Up

Wow. I thought I was better at catching up on the blog. But, it appears to have been over a month. Yikes!

So, we still have Artic Wolf (the wolf spider). Our neighbors found another one and brought it over, but we refuse to put them together in case they breed!! We also had a salamander for a few weeks. One of our neighbors found it in his window well. Of course, we took pity on it and put it in our house for all to enjoy. The boys named it Saally (that is how Memphis spelled it). However, Saally has now gone on to a better place. The boys don't know yet, as it has only been one day.

Memphis is back in kindergarten. This track thing is crazy. He was off for three weeks, but will be in school now until October 16th. The teacher told us that they will be taking him out of the classroom once or twice a week to read with 1st graders. We are pretty proud. For some reason, Memphis seems to have really matured a lot within the past month. It is very hard to explain. Don't get me wrong, he still has his moments!! He went for his first playdate without his mommy. He actually rode a different bus home with a friend and played there for 2 hours. Not a planned babysitting thing....just a playdate. Very nervewracking for me having him on a different bus than usual. But, it all went well.

Maverick.....doesn't ever stop talking. Ever. He has a wonderful vocabulary and speaks very well. He has absolutely no interest in learning his colors, and can't sit still long enough for anything else. He is counting to 10 correctly on most occasions and can identify a circle now. But he just doesn't sit still!! Ever. He always has a beautiful, sort of naughty, smile on his face. He laughs often and makes the rest of us laugh too. He is quite funny! He misses his brother when Memphis is at school, and still calls him "brother" more often than not. He is quite the cute kid. Did I mention a little naughty?

Scott is busy at work. They have started a new home in our neighborhood. So that is a good sign. Hey, if you know anyone who wants to buy a house..... Really, it is so hard and I can tell he is stressed out.

I will be starting to babysit every other Wednesday the end of October. It will provide a little extra money and help a friend out. I am sure Scott will make me use that for my Michael's fund. ha ha.

We will be busy with soccer games over the next 8 weekends. Memphis got to go to a professional game with Scott last week. It really pumped him up for playing. He is pretty excited. We hope it goes well for him.

Well, we hope you are all doing well. Thanks for visiting our blog. We love ya and would love to hear from you.

Bday Party and The Spider

We had so much fun at Evan and Raegan's birthday party on Saturday! I loved watching the cousins play together. Memphis looks up to Evan so much. And Evan is so good with the boys, it is amazing. Raegan probably thinks that they are crazy, but puts up with them anyways. Ha ha. Hard to believe that Evan is 8 already and that Raegan will be 5 soon. I still remember going to see Evan when he was just a few weeks old. And we went to see Raegan when she about 2 months old.

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Meet "Artic Wolf". This is the wolf spider that the boys found in their playroom. It is a funny story, although probably not for Scott. Let me begin by saying that I am usually the spider killer/catcher in the family. Scott has a slight fear of them and usually will call me to take care of business. And it should be known that I was at the store when this all transpired. The boys were playing in their playroom when apparently Maverick starting saying, "Spider brother, spider brother". Memphis then went over there and thought it was "pretend", but it was real. So he got his net from his game Elefun. He went to where Scott was and said, "Daddy, can you catch a spider?" Scott replied, "You catch it." Memphis has been very interested in catching bugs lately. Memphis then said something to effect of, "No, it is too big." So Scott went in, armed with the net Memphis had provided, expecting to see a small spider. He saw a spider that was quite large for being in the house. He said his first reaction was to call my name. But he realized that I was not home and that his two children were watching his every move. So that is when the spider dance ensued. Ultimately, Scott caught the spider and put it into one of Memphis' bug catcher holder things. After googling spiders, we determined it is a wolf spider. Memphis then appropriately named it "Artic Wolf". It is still living in the bug catcher and we have now bought live crickets for it, which it has eaten. We shall see where this goes. The things you do for your children!

We hope everyone is doing well. Scott is moving his office out of our house and into a central location. I am sure he will be happy to have a real office to go to again. I am sure it was hard for him to get any real work done here. But, we will miss some of the lunches and breaks with him.

Summer in Colorado

OK - being a Colorado native, I am pretty open to any weather. I will admit that I love the cool days we have been having the past few days, for the most part. My complaint is.....why when Memphis was in school did we have 90+ days, but now that he is off track we have cool days? Hard to make it to the pool on the cooler days since it is outside. Seems like since we are members for free through our association dues, that we should utilize it more.

We have been busy, as usual. Memphis finished t-ball and got a trophy for participation. He was so proud showing it to everyone. He even let his brother touch it for about 15 seconds. He was so happy about getting a trophy and put it next to his soccer trophy from a couple of years ago. He wants to play soccer again this fall. Maverick says he wants his daddy to be his coach, but he isn't old enough quite yet.

We made the trek to Estes Park with Scott's parents for a day. Such a beautiful part of Colorado. Memphis and Maverick got to see where their Gramps goes every year horseback riding with the Rooftop Riders. They also got to ride a horse. Memphis was pretty happy that his horse pooped. Wow, to be 5 again! Maverick was tough to keep out of the river. As usual, he just wanted to get wet. Everyone seemed to have a great time.

We went to Build-A-Bear with my mom. The boys got gift cards for their birthdays from our friends, Tim and Kris from Grand Junction. They had so much fun. Memphis ended up with a cat that is dressed in police clothes (for those who don't know, Memphis wants to be a police officer when he grows up). The cat's name is Officer Oldham. Maverick got a puppy and enjoyed the "bath" that you are supposed to give the animals. His dog is named Timmy, and wears pajamas and slippers.

We are staying busy so far while Memphis is off track. He goes back to school in mid-August. Maybe the weather will warm up so we can enjoy the pool. Maverick says he wants to go to preschool, but I told him that he needs to poop and potty in the toilet first. He replied, "Maverick no go school". He has no interest. Every so often he asks to go on the potty, but mostly just likes to sit down for a minute and laugh and then be done. What is annoying, is that he has gone before in the toilet and actually showed interest a few months ago. I know it will happen, but when????????

Well, hope everyone is well.

Kindergarten and the Alphabet

So, it is true....I cried when Memphis walked into kindergarten the first day. He was so excited and looked so nice. We had to convince him not to wear a tie. I can't say why it was so different than when he started preschool, but it was. Could it be that I felt guilty because I thought I was looking forward to it? Could it just be as simple as he is growing up way too fast? Either way, I cried. I thought I would get some alone time with Maverick, but he has taken to falling asleep in the car on the way home. We walk to the bus stop to get Memphis, but most of that time is filled with me huffing and puffing up the hill pushing him in the stroller. Memphis does seem to like kindergarten. He goes "off track" Friday and will be off for a few weeks. I am sure that I will be better the next time. Maverick will be happy to have "Brother" home all day. When we drop Memphis off at school, Maverick gives him a hug and kiss and then proceeds to say, "Bye Brother. Love you Brother" until the class walks into the school. Very sweet. I am still so worried about Memphis making friends. He seems to be the only one who wasn't already friends with someone else. But, he seems to be ok right now. We do like the teacher very much so far.

Meanwhile, Maverick is learning his ABC's. He knows the song tune, but not all of the letters yet. He likes to sing the Itsy Bitsy Spider as well. So very cute. He has also developed what we can only assume is an imaginary friend. When someone asks him what his friend's name is, he replies "Kelly". Well, he doesn't know a Kelly. We ask if Kelly is a boy or girl. Kelly is a boy. Apparently, Kelly lives in Castle Rock. So, if you ever run across this person, please let us know so we can be introduced!

Well, I guess not much more right now. Hope all is well with everyone.

Holy Crud....So Many Things

Seriously, we have been so busy lately. Between Father's Day, both boy's birthdays, vacation bible school, 4th of July, t-ball, and getting ready for Memphis to start kindergarten, I don't even know where to being without making this a complete novel.

So, I guess I will start with Father's Day. It was a day we were able to spend with all of them! We did our traditional things and enjoyed being with each of them. The boys got Scott a new fishing pole (luckily, the store was out of Transformer ones, and he ended up with just a black one for an adult).

Next, the boys' birthdays. I spent several days making cakes for them. Our kitchen was a mess! Memphis wanted a dinosaur cake with a volcano. We had a party for Memphis' friends at Chuck E Cheese on the 27th. Maverick joined in, too. Oh - and Daddy and his friend, Jim got into the action.

The next day we had a party at our house for mostly family and some close friends. Maverick seems to really like Mickey Mouse, so I made a cake for that day too. The boys loved showing off for their grandparents and cousins.

Then came the 4th. A nice day to start with. The neighborhood kids played in the front yard on the water slide. We had our friends, The Lewis', over. Some neighbors came over and we had burgers and brats and hot dogs. Then came the rain. A lot of rain. We ended up singing karaoke in the garage with our neighbors! The rain did stop in time for some fireworks in the cul-de-sac and the town's show. It was fun.

Today Memphis starts kindergarten. I can't even believe that he is 5 and going to be going to school every day!! I am excited and sad at the same time. I am sure that Maverick is going to be really sad. He always misses "brother" when he is gone for any time period. We are fairly sure some of the grandparents will be missing time with him as well. It was kind of funny at his goal setting meeting when he already knew all the sight words for the year and all of his upper and lower case letters. In fact, he told his teacher when she was asking him his letters, "I can read whole words".

Here is a funny Memphis story.

Memphis and Molli were neighbors for a long time, but didn't really know each other until they were in preschool together 2 years ago. That is when Molli informed Memphis that he was her boyfriend. We have since gotten close to the Lewis family and try to do stuff with them as often as possible. Well about 2 months ago, Memphis and I had this conversation:

Memphis asked if I would take Molli and him to Elitchs to get married. I said sure, but then what are you going to do? He said after they got married, they would go to 1st Bank and get some money and get their married pictures. Molli will need to buy Memphis a red and blue ring, since those are police colors and he is going to be a police officer when he grows up. After pictures, and this is probably my favorite part, they will come home and have some lunch and take a nap. After nap they will go to the hospital and get their kids, Kosmo and Memory. (Good thing they took a nap, huh?) Apparently they are going to live in Parker. Although Memphis is going to be a policeman, he is going to work with his daddy too. Molli can stay home and take care of the kids and do laundry, but she is the boss. (He has already learned that!) They will still come over for dinner and I can buy their kids expensive toys.

I loved his detailed planning on this and wanted to share it!

Hope everyone is doing well. Love - The Oldham Zoo