coffee talk

there's alot of background noise, but hopefully you can hear a little of our coffee talk!

saturday morning treat

we decided to go out to breakfast this morning, spur of the moment, to a little place in town that supposidely opened up some patio seating. now this may seem like no biggie to most of you, but when you live in a teeny tiny town, a good restuarant with something new to offer is a big deal! so off we went.

we should preface by saying that isa is in "not the greatest for going out to eat stage" so it's always a bit of a crap shoot. could be a lovely, relaxing meal or it could be a big pain for all involved. but isa was in a good mood this morning and loving her new books, so we were treated to a nice breakfast in perfect mountain weather. being outside made it even easier for her, as she is almost always in a better (read: more agreeable for those around us) mood when she is outdoors. add some crayons and paper to the mix and it was even more fun. now, before anyone asks... that paper cup isa is sipping on is actually water, even though she refers to it as her "coffee" throughout the meal and even took it to go! cute video to come...

water girl

a big highlight of isa's day is going out and helping with the watering. we spend alot of the afternoon and evening out in the yard and garden, so this a good way to keep her occupied (and from hauling down the sidewalk). good thing none of our plants are sensitive to over-watering... because isa has some that she really likes to water! the garden proves to be a little more complicated though, as isa doesn't appreciate that plants don't like to be intentionally stepped on! oops.

speaking of the garden, we had the most fabulous homemade pesto last night with basil from the garden! it was really stinkin' good, and made even more delicious by the fact that it came out of our backyard. at the moment the spinach is also growing by leaps and bounds, and while we eat alot of fresh spinach, there is more and more every day! yuummmmm.

flashback friday

the goose, and her goose, a little over a year ago.

eclectic tastes

it's no surprise to most of you that miss isa is a good eater-- meaning she can really put away the food! that's pretty nice, being that she's always been a little peanut, as there is never a concern that she is actually getting enough to eat! and while she's not quite the spectacular vegetable eater she once was, she still has pretty good taste when it comes to food (pun intended). she really likes strong flavors: raw onions, garlic, feta cheese, balsalmic vinegar, limes, etc. there are stories of some parents using honey as an incentive to get their kids to eat certain food-- a little sweetness can go a long way! but miss isa? no thanks, she'd prefer mommy's homemade vinegarette, which has been used more than once to get her to eat her dinner!

bets anyone?

ok, now all four molars are breaking the skin-- after receeding yet again over the past few days. any bets on when even *one* of them might come through for real? anyone?

the video...

here's isa enjoying all the outside time. this is what she was doing when she wasn't running full force down the sidewalk. let's just say that playing in the water was much more fun for mommy and daddy than continually chasing her down. and having her scream the whole way home!

finally!

who would've thought making a humongous rock bed would be so much work? ok, whatever, we knew. but still. we are SO glad to be (almost) done. 99.9% of it is finished and that's good enough for now! we still need some bigger river rocks to edge it all out and flat paver stones to make a walkway between the flower bed and the rocks (hence that dirt strip you see in the last photo). isa's little swing will also be hung from the tree, so that she can still enjoy it when it's really hot out. but we'll call it good for today, so that phil can ice his aching back!

sidenote: we're transplanting a big rose bush into that front bed... in the neglected looking corner by the steps. just in case anyone was wondering if we ran out of plants or something ;-)

little landscaper

HAPPY TWENTY TWO MONTHS ISA!

Here are some pictures from Isa "helping" with the gravel this afternoon. Video to come! In the meantime, take a look at her expression in the first and third photos... someone has learned to supervise!

new york, new york

guess who's going on a vacation? alone. that would be me! the mommy! the one who has not had a day away in, oh two years now! fabulous phil and our good friend andrea, who now lives in manhattan, have been scheming to get me to new york for a while now. and until recently, it just never came together. until they let me in on their proposed plan, that is! and now it's official. the mommy will be flying from denver, to spend a glorious long weekend (five days including travel, what will i do with myself?!) in new york city. ahhh, what to do with all that free time? rest assured i have a few things on my list.

the timing worked out impeccably, as we will already be in colorado and phil can visit with friends and family while i'm away. so isa will be readily entertained, phil will have extra help, and we don't have to schlep down to the denver airport just for me! then they'll pick me up on the way out of town and we'll be headed back home. utterly fantastic, i tell you. fantastic!

isa says:

So much for the college fund!

(guess who figured out how to get the money OUT of the piggy bank?)

this ole house: landscaping

the term "landscaping" is taken rather loosely around here. last year, it entailed motivating to cut the yard every now and then. maybe do a little watering (a futile effort during a high desert summer-- the idea of green grass here is pretty silly. but that's another post altogether). but this year we tried to put some time and energy into the yard, being that eventually we will sell this place and buyers like green yards, whether we care much about them or not.

as many of you know, one of the ginormous spruce trees in front had to be cut down last fall *sniff sniff* but removing all that shade meant that alot of native plants came back in the front beds! bonus! we like native plants so it was good motivation to do even more. so we weeded and replanted the side beds and they came bouncing back as well. double bonus. we've got one more front bed to go before we call it good, but for now we are pretty pleased. now i realize that this photos might not look that spectacular to many of you, but if you had seen this yard in previous years (ahem, no thanks to the last owner) you would be atleast slightly impressed!

but the question still remained-- what to do with all that space under the spruce tree? nothing will grow there and it looks pretty blah. so we are in the process of graveling underneath it (a technique that works well here), doing a little rock garden if you will, as well as planting a burm of aspens to replace the space from the one we cut down.

**and we should add that isa is a big help too these days. the word "help" being another loose term around here!**

backpack!

isa was getting awfully frustrated this afternoon... she was trying to do something with the dvd player case. she was actually sitting on it and i thought she was trying to use it as a seat. or maybe zip herself up in it. but none of my efforts were helping, until she started yelling, "backpack! backpack!" ah ha. she wanted to wear it as a backpack. of course she did, i mean why not? granted, the dvd player case doesn't make the best backpack, so i guess this means she might need a real one soon!

the infamous molars

i have decided that for some children, teething is a cruel, cruel trick. and it just so happens that one of those poor souls is living in this house. as many of you know, isa is a slow teether and didn't get her first tooth until fourteen months. now, at almost 22 months, she still only has six of the pearly whites. fine by me, as they say this ensures more healthy teeth since they have more time to hang out in the shelter of her little gums. but the problem is that each tooth takes an eternity to actually complete it's journey out of the gums completely. at the moment, she has four molars that are bulging and red and clearly painful. two of these have been breaking the skin and then receeding back into her gums for over a WEEK. what gives? do the gods of teeth think this is funny? or character building? we certainly do not. enough is enough.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!

A very special daddy around here is celebrating his birthday today! So we thought we'd do a little photo tribute. WE LOVE YOU DADDY AND HOPE YOU HAVE A VERY SPECIAL BIRTHDAY!

love, your girls

the sandbox!

we decided that it was a good time for a sandbox! and it just so happened that someone else around here was ready to get rid of one-- so it worked out well for everyone, particularly isa. today was the first day that it was up and ready for action, and while the weather is still a little dreary (50F, overcast, and windy), we decided to play anyway. so far she really likes it, though she is having to learn that throwing sand is a no no. guess you gotta learn that lesson sometime huh?

whirlwind!

it's been mayhem around here-- but good mayhem, as we are adjusting to summer schedules, new chores to do in the yard, same ole same ole work in the sweatshop, etc. phil is gearing up for being out of town more and we are scrambling for childcare as our beloved mrs. peggy is moving (we are very, very sad to see her go).

yesterday the daddy and mommy actually got to go on a date! well, kind of. to home depot-- does that count? we left isa with a sitter friend (whom she LOVED) and drove to rock springs to get a ton of stuff for the upcoming house projects. we're gutting the bathroom (dear god.) and putting saltillo tile in the kitchen/bath/front entry. and hopefully getting new kitchen cabinets. whoa. so it was pure luxury to walk around home depot and spend g.w.'s money (the ole stimulus check) on stuff for the house. we got SEVEN whole hours to ourselves. what a treat!

animal talk

isa was in rare form this morning! she woke up chattering away, about this and that and everything in between. while we were getting ready to go to the sitter's house, and the mommy was having some breakfast, isa found her wooden animals and started jabbering away. she was putting the "kiraffe and wepard" (aka: giraffe and leopard) and the "lion roar" down for a nap. of course as soon as i turned on the camera, she stopped speaking their secret language and became more interested in the camera itself. but you still get a little taste of it in the video. of course you also get some commentary between mommy and isa as she comes around to look in the viewfinder. enjoy!

el jardin de isa

it's garden time around here! and the goose is definately getting in on the action. she's actually quite helpful at times, and atleast amusing at other times! we are later than most getting our garden in, but being that the temperatures have yet to get into the 70s and it's still freezing regularly at night, we figured there wasn't much rush. we are actually sharing a garden this year with our neighbors lee and sam. being that we basically share a backyard, it made alot of sense. we have the yard, they have the time (and no kids!)-- a good combo for everyone.

so, that's what we've spent most of our time doing this weekend. enjoying being outside and getting the garden planted. so far we have tomatoes, several kinds of peppers, eggplants, melons, onions, spinach, salad mix, basil, and cilantro in the ground. tomorrow will be pumpkins, carrots, green onions, peas, beans, corn, squash, and some more herbs. not too shabby, assuming we can keep it all alive!

buenos dias!

Isa says good morning. We thought that since we all finally got a decent night's sleep last night, we should have a little goosey shoot this morning. And Isa wanted to show off her new summer jammies. I heard her in her crib this morning, pointing out all the animals. "Monkey, monkey. Elphant. Lion. Roar." I guess the arrival of short jammies means summer is officially here then right? Well kind of. It hasn't gotten above 75F yet and that's a-ok with us!

equation of bliss

pregnant lady + new ceiling fan + coming summer = *bliss*

here's to you... coxsackie.

well, it's official. isa has coxsackie virus, as we suspected. as we were mumbling over it this morning we discovered the first few rashy spots. so i guess it's nice to know huh? it would explain the fever and mouth sores. and all of the popsicles that will be consumed until this passes! so here's to coxsackie. and dreyer's fruit pops. blah.

finger paints!

just a quick weekend post... isa is sick with some sort of virus. we are hoping that it isn't Coxsackie virus, but we'll have to wait and see if she gets a rash. in the meantime, we've been sleeping alot and taking it easy. here are some pictures from Friday's finger painting adventure with Rene and Charlotte. isa seemed to enjoy it, but she got a little annoyed with her feet getting stuck to the paper-- she wanted to use her toes as well it seems!