Breakfast prep

We're very fortunate that Tim's job allows him to leave a lot later in the mornings than many other husbands we know. This means that more often than not, we have breakfast together as a family. For me, it also has the added blessing that if I am on the ball enough to get up early enough, I am able to get out of the house to workout or run in the mornings before Tim leaves for work. Sometimes, when this happens, I am not back before the kids are ready to get out of bed. Without complaint, Tim gets them up and going and started on breakfast before I get home. This was the case the other day, and when I finally did get home, Tim had some pictures of the breakfast preparations to share with me. So I thought I would include them all for your viewing pleasure. Needless to say, they are not quite what I was expecting! But it did explain why there was Tupperware all over my kitchen floor when I came in!

Apparently Noah wanted to help with breakfast this morning. So he climbed himself all the way INSIDE the cupboard, and proceeded to kick out ALL of the Tupperware and containers he found inside!

He was very proud of his accomplishment! And it was all fun and games until Sophia decided to shut Noah in the cupboard, and then he came tumbling out once he managed to push the door open from the inside!

Chalk one more up for the obvious differences between boys and girls! Although Sophia loved playing with these kinds of containers when she was Noah's age, she would have never thought to actually climb into the cupboard. Somehow, I think this kid's going to be into everything once he figures out how to walk!

New Addition to the Family

We did it. We bit the bullet and became the true "All American Family." A girl, a boy and a mini-van. What more could you dream of? Tim and I always said that we would NEVER drive a mini van. Well folks, never has become now! And as much as we wanted to fight it, there was no way around it. Once we opened the door to the possibility of becoming a van family, there was really just no way around it. If we had enough money to buy a big SUV upfront, it would have done nothing more than sit in our driveway. At nearly $4.00 a gallon, a trip to the grocery store might have broke our bank! And once we got over that, we started realizing that really, a mini van is the most practical. They have the most storage space behind the backseat for all the junk the kids insist on hauling back to the Midwest when we go visit. They are the easiest to get multiple kids in and out of. Etc, etc, etc. the reasons were too many to ignore, and so here we are. Proud owners of our first mini van! Yes, I did even say proud owners. We LOVE our van! And I do mean WE- everyone of us. I think the kids would be happy to say in there all day and night. They love to climb around and explore in it. We don't even have to go anywhere; they're just happy to have it in our driveway with the doors open, climbing around. Sophia especially talks about the van all the time. Her famous, definitive quote on the subject:
"This is NOT a car. This is a BAN!" (Which she very definitely corrected me on at one point when I said something about putting my seatbelt on in the car. Oops, silly me!)

2006 Honda Odyssey

Off for a ride in the new "ban".

P.S. Let me just dispel any rumors before they even begin. One of our friends, upon learning of our new acquisition promptly asked, "When are you expecting?" The answer, my friends and family, is WE'RE NOT! The van truly is the new addition to the family!

The Bolder Boulder

Bolder, Colorado, which is about 45 miles northwest of where we live, is home to one of the largest running races in the world. I am not a runner, and I certainly wasn't in any hopes of winning the purse for this race (which happens to be one of the largest non-marathon purses for runners), but every year since we've lived here, I've talked about doing the race and seeing what all the hype is about. EVERYONE in Colorado knows about the Bolder, Boulder. It takes place every Memorial Day (since 1979), and it's up to about 50,000 participants each year!

So this year was finally my year. I decided to bite the bullet, pay a ridiculous entry fee to run 6.2 miles, and join in the fun. There were something like 29 bands along the route, people with the slip n slides out on the front lawn if you wanted a brief detour, and even people with a "kegs and eggs" stand on the front lawn! The last short leg of the race takes you into Folsom Field (where the CU Buffaloes play), and it's a great way to finish up a race. There is a stadium full of strangers there to cheer you on and give you that last little bit of adrenaline. What a great way to finish. Needless to say, this "race" is much more of an event than a run! It was fun, it was definitely worth it to experience it myself finally, and I learned a few things. Running with that many people is more of a constant game of dodging the people slower than you! Next time, I'll make sure I'm placed in a wave that starts earlier so that most of the people around me are actually running!

This is our one very lame shot of me in the "action"!

Sophia waiting very patiently to see Mommy running

After the race

I'm pretty sure she was more tired than me!

Castlewood Canyon

By now, you would think we would know that our hiking adventures NEVER go as planned. It's just a general, customary rule that Tim and Amy should always have a plan B if the days activity involves hiking. After 6 years of living in Colorado, and adding two children to our adventures, I think we are just finally beginning to accept this! In our latest hiking adventure, we had planned to conquer Devil's Head, which is a favorite, well known, local hike. Amazingly enough, we had never been there before. But because it's so well-known, we didn't realize quite what we were getting into, and that popularity doesn't always mean simplicity. Neither Tim or I realized the elevation of this hike (which wasn't much for Colorado). But, given the amount of snow we've had and the earliness of the season, it should have occurred to us to check out the conditions before we left home. We're not that smart. Our second clue should have been the road closed sign that we passed approximately 10 miles before the trail head. Unfortunately, neither of us realized this was a one way road to nowhere with no other options. So we continued to drive the 10 mile mountain-like pass, and reach the trail head only to confirm that yes, indeed the trail was closed because of SNOW!!! Silly us. So plan B, this time, involved driving 25 miles in the opposite direction to Franktown and one of Colorado's many state parks: Castlewood Canyon.

Turns out, Castlewood Canyon was a great place for the kids. Sophia loved riding in the backpack, Noah loved everyone else's dogs, and we even got to splash a little bit in the "river" that runs through the canyon. The only problem was that there really wasn't that much hiking involved! It was paved trails most of the way into the park!

Sophia's got her baby in the "pack-pack" for to go "biking"! (Sophia's ridden in here before, but it's been so long that she doesn't remember. She was fascinated with the thing and couldn't wait to get in and try it out. We kept telling her we were going hiking, and I'm still not sure she ever distinguished that we were saying HIKING-not biking!)

Riding with Daddy

Riding with Mommy- we need a pack pack for this kid, too!

Sophia was dying to get her feet in the water- until her toes touched
and she realized how cold it was !

Looking for rocks to splash.

Mother's Day Pictures

You'll probably look at these pictures and think that I had a brainstorm for some great kind of Father's Day gift for Tim (if you know Tim at all and know about his love for baseball, that is). But just to prove that Tim's mind really can be one-tracked sometimes, the truth of the matter is that HE is the one who took these pictures to use for a Mother's Day card for me! And, some of them are pretty cute, especially for the guy who is NOT the photographer of this family!

"Play Ball!"

"Are we done yet, Daddy?"

"Do we HAVE to do this?"

Don't let her fool you, she may be cute, but she has NO idea what she's doing
with that bat in her hands!

Proof of the real culprit behind this photo shoot!

Meeting Titus

We finally made it to Minnesota to meet the newest addition to the Ulferts family! Our trip was short, but it was so much fun to see everyone. The older our kids get, the more fun our family visits get to be. Sophia especially talks about her uncles all the time and always wants to know where they are and what they are doing. And she is fascinated with Oma's house and Opa's car. She always wants to know about Opa's car!!

This was the first time Sophia had her own seat on the plane, and thank GOODNESS!!! We are so grateful it's such a short flight. Sophia is still awed at the whole idea of flying and "going in the sky", so it wasn't hard to keep her entertained. Three days later, she is still talking about the man putting the "green stuff" on the plane for de-icing. Noah, however, is not quite as interested in airplanes-yet. Right, he is more concerned about the lack of mobility that comes with airplanes! Keeping him contained and occupied was exhausting! And we weren't even in the air for two full hours! This does NOT make me look forward to road trips with this kid.

Sophia with Aunt Gretchen and Uncle Eric

Noah playing with Uncle Ryan

The cousins! Sophia, Noah and Titus

The rapidly growing Ulferts family

Sophia has talked about Uncle Ryan's three legged cat for months- I think she might have been just as excited to meet him as she was Baby Titus!

Todd's fiancee Ashley, Sophia, and Uncle Todd coloring Easter eggs

Snuggling with Titus

Noah's First Birthday

So I've discovered that I'm terrible at keeping this blog updated! I have no idea how some people find time to do it daily. I'm just not that way! But I'm promising to try and do better!

So Noah's 1st birthday came and went so fast. I can't believe it's been a whole year! People ALWAYS tell me, as a parent of very young children, how fast time goes and how fast they grow. Mine may be little, but I'm learning that already.

Noah continues to be our happy, "Sweet Boy" as he is dubbed by many friends. He is content most of the time and always has huge smiles of greeting, of pride, of accomplishment, and of just plain good-naturedness! the kid is almost always happy. Especially now that he has learned how to move; he's all over the place. His favorite this are to open and close, open and close, and open and close any kinds of drawers and cupboards. And now that he's really mobile, he has just discovered "getting into stuff". He loves the bathroom cabinets, the bookshelves, the dishwasher, etc.

His birthday party ended up being more work than I intended, but it was a pretty big hit. We went to a local bounce house with just a few of his closest friends. Here are a few select sneak peaks:

The cake

Playing with one of his favorite gifts. The boy now finally owns some distinctly "boy" toys!

Ready for cake!

Eating- one of Noah's favorite activities!

Playing at the bounce house with mom.