These hands

Kaiya accomplished a huge goal in gymnastics this last week by mastering a skill called a kip on the bars. She has been working on it since summer and was so excited to finally get it (video forthcoming . . . camera is being dumb).

I was holding her hand while walking somewhere the other day and noticed that her hands felt pretty gross. Hours on the uneven bars will do that to a girl. I snapped a picture of them when we got home. Not exactly the kind of hands the boys will want to hold someday, but I think I'm OK with that. :)

She had her second meet last weekend and improved her all-around score by almost a full point. She had one little glitch on bars, but still finished fifth. She also finished sixth in the all-around. She is racking up the medals and loving every minute of it.

Guest of honor (twice!)

Sometimes, membership has its privileges. Such was the case on Friday night when Cooper got to be the guest of honor at the Chatfield High School football game in Denver. Their head coach is the husband of a wonderful gal with whom I serve on the board of Cardiac Kids (a volunteer

organization at Children's that hosts fun events for cardiac families and raises awareness about pediatric heart defects and disease). She approached me a few weeks ago and asked if Cooper would be interested in being a guest of honor at the game. That meant being on the field for the game, and going into the locker room with the players before the game and at halftime. Um, yeah . . I think we can arrange that! Chatfield was ranked #2 in the state in 5A going into the game and they beat up on Westminster in a big way winning 56-8.

Last year when Cooper had his pacemaker surgery, Tracy brought a signed football from all the players and a shirt. Coop has worn that shirt so much it almost has holes. So, he already loved this team. Not only does Chatfield have an outstanding team, they are the neatest group of kids you'll ever meet (in large part because of their head coach). These kids, along with the pom squad, have volunteered at many of our Cardiac Kids functions and fundraisers and they do it with a smile on their face.

Before the game, Doug and Cooper squeezed into the locker room with the players and coaches and the head coach, Bret, proceeded to talk about what it means to play with heart. He

introduced Cooper and told his story, including that it is hard for him that he can't play football. He talked about what really matters in life and what it means to be given a second chance at life. (OK, I get teary eyed just retelling this story). He presented Cooper with a jersey, hat and shirt. Then, at halftime, the team was so far ahead that he talked to the kids about what it means to win with class and let the JV squad finish out the game. The players were all awesome to Cooper and he certainly had a night to remember! Needless to say, we are Chatfield Charger official fans!!

Coop and I were also guests of honor of Brandon's last week when we got to attend a Rockies game and sit in the front row. This meant a nice buffet dinner in the Coors Clubhouse before the game, padded front row seats, and our own server during the game bringing us treats. Works for me! So fun to see the players up that close and be able to look into their dugout. Though we won't be sitting in these seats for the playoffs, we have tickets in hand and can't wait for some ROCKTOBER!

In the Coors Clubhouse before the game

Looking right into the Rockies dugout

Thanks, Uncle Brandon!

Ah . . the life

I can't believe the kids have been in school more than a month already. It is so good to be back into a routine, albeit a busy one. Between working 1-2 times per week and running the kids to gymnastics, dance and golf, it is nuts around here (like every other mom I talk to!).

Kaiya got to be in a Labor Day parade for her gym and she did cartwheels and back-walkovers all the way down the street. The funniest part of that day was my journey to watch her. I had worked the night before, so I was dead tired, but I wanted to see her perform. So, I went straight from work to the parade route in Louisville. I got there almost an hour early, so I found a nice shady tree, parked my car and fell asleep. I about peed myself an hour later when the Centaurus High School Marching band started warming up right next to my car. Woke up to a tuba six inches from my car window. Sheez!

Handing out frisbees at the parade

Kaiya's cheering section (and candy gatherers)

In our "spare" time, we have enjoyed following our beloved Rockies and now the Broncos. Nothing better than meaningful baseball in September! Not too many people noticed or knew why Cooper got his haircut the way he did, but it was a copycat hair do of Troy Tulowitzki's from the middle of the season. He didn't tell me he was going to have it cut that way when he left with his dad, but I certainly didn't mind!

Cooper comes by his love of sports naturally, and he has been the lucky recipient of many game opportunities. In this week alone, he will go to two Rockies games and one Bronco game thanks to my dad and brother. The poor kid gets up so early for middle school this year, but he is managing his time so well and has been such a huge help around the house.

So, the weekend rolls around and he is so pumped to have a friend over. There is only one problem--it hits 10:00 p.m. and . . . . .

The Tulo stripes

First meet jitters

Kaiya's competitive gymnastics season is back in full swing now. She worked really hard over the summer to learn new skills and now that the season is here, she is training 3 days a week. Between school, piano lessons and gym, she is a very busy girl. The fall season is much different than what she did in the spring--the judges and scoring are much harder and everyone is trying to qualify for the state meet in December.

Her coach had to inform her on Monday that her new team leotard and sweatsuit weren't going to make it on time for the first meet today and she was pretty bummed. She is the ony new kid on the team this year and she wasn't too happy about having to look different, but I'm proud of how she handled it. There was some initial pouting, but no tears. :) And, one of her teammates let her borrow their old similar team leo, so it all worked out OK.

The meet today was, of all places, it was at my old gym in Ft. Collins. Very, very strange to be there as a parent. Walked in and there was my old coach getting the gym ready. We had a good laugh together. I have so much sympathy for my parents after sitting through these long meets as a mom now. They are so long (and yet both my parents, stepdad, brother and sister-in-law all came)!! She absolutely loves having her own cheering section.

She swears she wasn't that nervous, but the look on her face said otherwise. She was happiest with her bars and vault and just had a couple goofs on beam and floor. She ended up sixth place in the all-around--not too shabby for her first one! She gets to be in a Labor Day parade on Monday for her gym, so she is looking forward to doing cartwheels down the street. She is trying to figure out if she can throw candy to the spectators in mid air. Stay tuned!

Family pics!

It is quite possible that our family is the most UNphotogenic family on earth. None of us have natural smiles and I seriously dread getting family pictures taken. Perhaps that's why I haven't done it in over 3 years.

I just kept looking at our old photo and think "someday" we should get a new one taken. I have been bugging my friend, Kris, to humor me and take some family photos of us for at least six months. She is quite talented and very good in the editing department (a big key for the unphotogenic type). It was her idea to take them at the ballfield. What a great background for us! I'm very excited to go print some of these to fill some frames with some badly needed updates!

And they're off!

What a morning. The combination of nerves and energy around here made our whole house buzz. We set our alarm for 6:20 this morning and told Cooper we would wake him up at 6:30, which still gave him an hour to do nothing more than get dressed and eat breakfast. He was in our door at 6:18 and paced for an hour. He decided it was OK to let Doug walk him in this morning, but as soon as the necessary forms were dropped off at the office, he was gone.

Middle school, here I come!

Kaiya was the least nervous. She has some of her best friends in her class and gets to use the same classroom this year for 3rd grade that she did for 2nd. She is happy about her teacher and was pretty cute helping get Kinley ready this morning.

Ready for 3rd grade

I, of course, bawled as Kinley waved goodbye this morning as she headed into her Kindergarten classroom. She was the one comforting me telling me , "It's OK mom. I will be home before you know it. Please don't bake anything or make jam or anything like that while I'm gone." She has been my buddy at home for the last 2 years. Preschool was only a couple hours, so it will be very strange having her gone all day. I think I will be able to get over it when I realize how much I can get done and how nice a little time to myself will be!!

The baby goes to Kindergarten

It's all over but the cryin'

I'm not really sure who is more depressed about school starting in two days--me or the kids. I'm usually ready for them to go back to school, but for some reason, this summer has gone too fast. I love the warm weather, the sleeping in, the lazy days at the pool, trips to the lake with my mom, sitting in the baseball bleachers and no homework!

Fun in the sun with Aunt Erika

We had a great trip to Utah and then turned around and headed to Grand Lake last weekend with my mom's side of the family for a couple nights. Both trips involved being crammed in small places with lots of people--good thing we like both families!!

Grandma's Cafe a/k/a kitchen

Hanging with Lori's kids

Ice skating in Logan with the cousins

At the end of the Grand Lake trip, we bid farewell to Bennett, who headed off to college in Tulsa, OK. It was an incredibly tearful goodbye and watching my kids cry was not much fun.

Sibling separated by 18 years

Siblings separated by 27 years (all of my mom's siblings)

Bennett and I gave the kayak a try . . . fun!

Walking to the village at Grand Lake with Hamma (grandma)

Quality time with Uncle B

Cooper played in a 3-day golf tournament last week and didn't play his best golf, but had a good time. Doug, my dad and I all took turns being his caddy. He is looking forward to playing lots this fall as time permits as he embarks on middle school. Coop also got his pacemaker "tuned up" last week. They continue to make some adjustments and we are hopeful they will last. We lost 4 kids at work in one week (none while I was there, thankfully), which always puts things in perspective for me. I love my job, but losing patients is something that never gets easy.

Reflecting on his tee shot

We have enjoyed several Rockies games this season and took some friends with us this last week to enjoy my dad's awesome season ticket seats. With any luck, we will be able to go watch them in the post-season!

Kaiya and Kinley have squeezed in several play dates with their buddies over the last week and yesterday, we spent the day on the lake with my mom. All the kids skied and rode the tube until they could do it no more.

Making brownies with friends

Kinley and Ellie--ready to start Kindergarten together

Summer memories are made at Seeley Lake

I think I can safely say that we crammed about as much as possible into this summer as we could have. I guess reality had to come back to bite us eventually.