Faces of Cole

1. angry, 2. excited, 3. happy, 4. monkey, 5. silly, 6. scared, 7. sad, 8. sleepy, 9. poker face

snow day...

We have about a foot of snow and another foot on the way.
(correction: we got another 6 inches...and a second snow day!)

The morning started with dinosaur pancakes (made with the fabulous dinosaur cookie cutters Cole gave me for a birthday gift).
Followed by snugly books, beautiful drawings and a little bit of knitting.
Now onto hot chocolate...




...still in our pajamas.
wonderful snow day!

i love...

the first swings in the hammock

making pizzas with the windows open


and having evening fires once again


happy spring!

the big moment

We celebrated Ryan's birthday this weekend. Instead of a party we decided to have a special day planned with a friend. We picked up her friend Ella and we were off for a girls evening on Saturday. First we went to a kid's "salon". The girls got their hair trimmed proceeded by a hair style that they each choose. Then the ladies were spritzed and sprayed with glitter and lip gloss. And then the big moment arrived...Ryan got her ears pierced! She has been asking since about Christmas time and we thought it would be a very special 6th birthday present. She was excited, nervous and a rock start. No tears and if you asked her today if it hurt, she would tell you no.
After the girls were beautiful we went out for dinner followed by a sleepover. It was a really special night full of smiles and good times.

little bitter

...is the name Jeff gave Ryan as soon as she was born. Ryan was born in a hurry and has been a bossy betty ever sense! Even as an infant Ryan "knew" what she wanted. Even Jeff's mom said in the first week of her life that she was a little girl that told you what she wanted. When Ryan arrived she was the center of our world and we have not stopped doting over her.


Ryan moved around very early...rolling, crawling and walking. She hated the car seat or anything that strapped her in and loved facing out into the world. She never wanted to miss a thing...and she got into just about everything. Very curious.

(baby powder..."I can do it!")



When her little brother arrived she gave us a run for our money. We liked to used the word willful to describe Ryan as a two year old and our challenge was to channel that in the right direction.

Ryan wanted to go to school as soon as she could and is thriving in Kindergarten this year. She is reading and writing and loves to color and paint (being an artist is one of the many professions on her list along with ambulance driver and pizza maker). She is also quite the little social butterfly and talker in school...I have no idea where she gets that!

Some of her hobbies are swimming, cooking, singing, and dancing. She has interests in many different sports and we hope to get her involved in a few different teams this summer. She loves to try new things especially when it comes to food. There are not many things Ryan is afraid of or won't try at least once. She is a wonderful helper and takes care of her little brother (most of the time).

My little girl is 6 today. My oldest, creative, sweet, strong willed little girl with a crooked smile is 6 today.


Happy birthday my darling girl.

brandywine gals

Leah, Anna and Micah came over last night for dinner with their little ones. It was wonderful to meet Layla and Brody. It was so much fun to reconnect and we plan to get together again soon. At one point of reminiscing about old camping trips and sleepovers it occurred to us that we were now the adults! The Brandywine sequel might just have to reconvene here in Colorado.
Here's to amazing and wonderful friends from your childhood.
Cheers!





(enjoying Susan's famous creme brulee made by Leah...delicious!)

you're going to hollywood!

One of Ryan and Cole's favorite things to do is audition for American Idol right now. They require judges and spend time practicing before they are ready. Introducing the future superstars...