Delia at 8months

This past month Delia has taken off... literally! We've got a VERY speedy crawler on our hands now. She's even starting to pull herself up to stand on anything she can get her hands on. It all seems to be happening so fast! She's a pro at eating solid food now- no favorites, she just eats up everything we give her. I think(?) she's on the verge of her first words with lots of babbling- I am anxiously awaiting a clear "Ma-Ma!" any day now. She's still fascinated with Isaac and tries to watch his every move. Mostly we are enjoying her fun-loving personality that is emerging. She loves to dance and smile with us!

These pictures are a little fuzzy, but show her great smile...

Here she is crawling...

And standing up...

World's #1 Dad!

We just finished a great Father's Day! The kids got up REALLY early to make a card for Pop and help me make cinnamon roles for Pop. Here they are in their PJ's bright and early...

After church we went mini golfing. Isaac turned out to be pretty good (no surprise here.) He developed a technique right away- set the ball on the tee, take a wack, pick it up and set it two inches from the hole, tap it in. Here's hole 11 as an example...

Here's Pop lining up a nice shot...

Delia watched every second from the stroller. She was very interested in all of it. It was a bit of challenge to play golf, take pictures, and push the stroller while keeping her in the shade the whole time, but we made it work.

This was a great outing! We will definitely be trying it again this summer (especially since this fall they are ripping out this beautiful mini golf course next to the river to build a bank. I am upset.)

For dinner we went to Oma and Grandpa's for a Fisher Family dinner. I tried to get a picture of both kids with my dad, but Isaac was a bit uncooperative. Here's the best shot...

Hot Tub Swimming

Today we went swimming for the first time this summer. It has been super windy this year, but today was calm, so we headed to Oma & Grandpa's to "swim" in their hot tub. Isaac didn't last too long, but I think Delia will be our water bug. She had a great time!

Bong Family Fun

Tonight was one of those nights that we just love being parents- we took both the kids upstairs for baths and then hung out in Delia's room until bedtime. Actually Matt and I just laid on the floor while the kids went "nuts-o!" (this phrase made Isaac laugh pretty hard.) I made Isaac do the Bong Family Dance a bunch of times, and Delia's starting to get into things now that she's crawling everywhere. The kids were sweet to each other and us, which hasn't been happening much lately (mostly due to Isaac's 2 year old-ness.) We even did headstands before the kids konked out. (Matt and I decided they were a lot easier to do when we were 7.) A fun night.

Men Who Grill

For the third year in a row Matt has participated in "Men Who Grill," a grilling competition downtown to raise money for the Women's Resource Center here in town. It's really my brother Jason's big event, but with Jason out of town this year Matt took over grill duties and added his grilled fruit to the menu. The kids and I didn't last very long this year- too hot and smoky- but Matt had a great time. The Smokin' Armadillo team won the People's Choice Award again this year- Jason's ribs are impossible to beat.

Here's Ben servin' in up...

Matt, grill-side...
Looks delicious, no?
The menu
Here's my dad sellin' it...

Like I said, we didn't last long, but we put the double stroller to use for a bit...

If everybody had an ocean....

The kids can now tell people that their very first rock-n-roll concert was... The Beach Boys! I (Sarah) have loved The Beach Boys forever, so when we heard they were coming into town we decided we had to go! We've been playing their songs in the car for months and months to get Isaac "ready." Of course when the day finally got here it was cold, rainy, and windy, but we bundled up and went anyway. It helped that Grandpa was one of the organizers, and we sat under the VIP tent out of the rain (I did miss meeting them in person w/ my dad by about 10 minutes- I was bummed). The concert was great! We danced and sang and Isaac played with wet beach balls. After heading home way, way past bedtimes both kids were out cold within minutes.

I don't have pictures of US at the concert, but here is Isaac a couple of days ago next to his car. If you say "Giddy-up, giddy-up.." he'll say "409!"

Delia's favorite BB tune? Barbara Ann. She's got the Ba-Ba-Ba's down pat.

Matt, Jason, Ben, Melissa, and my Aunt Susie worked all day at our IKE'S COFFEE HOUSE/Village Pizza booth selling pizza and coffee while bands played all afternoon. It looks really cold because it was! Let's just say the iced coffee didn't go over very well.

Here's a couple of pictures of the concert, courtesy of the Durango Herald. I was going to take my camera in, but with all the rain we skipped it.

Over the river and through the woods...

This weekend we went up to Monument to visit Matt's mom and his brother and his family. it was fun! Here we are in the car on the way there. The kids weren't too bad heading north ( the trip back was... harder.)

In Monument Isaac and Delia had fun hanging out with their cousins, Julian and Audrey. We went to a park and had fun blowing bubbles on Grandma's deck. I didn't get a picture of the girls together, but I threw in a picture of Audrey so you can see how cute she is!

my 5s

My friend Carrie "tagged" me (Sarah) to share a few of my top fives...

5 things under $5 I couldn't live without:
1. Kleenex
2. pacifiers
3. sippy cups full of juice
4. chapstick
5. chocolate

5 favorite TV shows (I just don’t watch a lot of movies, but I LOVE TV):
1. The Office
2. The Closer
3. HOUSE
4. Monk
5. Reality TV (ANTM, Survivor, Beauty & the Geek…)

5 favorite baby names (this very second anyway):
1. Owen
2. Lucy
3. Ainsley
4. Max
5. Ruby

5 songs I love:
1. Brown-eyed Girl – Van Morrison
2. God Only Knows – The Beach Boys
3. Ain’t Too Proud to Beg – Rolling Stones version
4. You Got to Me - Neil Diamond
5. Let Love Rule - Lenny Kravitz

5 positive influences:
1. my parents
2. my husband
3. Bill & Jennifer Hughes
4. Dgo friends, CU friends, staff friends

5 things always in my purse:
1. chapstick
2. cell phone
3. pen & paper
4. lotion
5. Kleenex (unless I really, really need it... then I don't have any, of course)

5 life-changing moments:
1. salvation
2. getting married
3. Isaac
4. Delia
5. moving to LA

5 current obsessions:
1. blogs
2. HOUSE, M.D.
3. our backyard
4. cupcakes
5. sunscreen

5 places I want to go:
1. back to Indonesia
2. Hawaii
3. France
4. Italy
5. Disneyland w/ my kids

5 appliances or kitchen tools I cannot live without:
1. our TV and DVR
2. santuko knife
3. dishwasher
4. All-Clad cookware
5. "What's Berning in the Kitchen" - family cookbook

Steaming Armadillos

This year's season of rec league softball is in full swing. I was hoping to get a bit of a break between basketball and softball seasons, but no such luck (Matt's basketball team did win their playoffs, though.) We (the kids and I) won't get to many games this year as they are after Isaac's bedtime, but we got to watch last weeks. Matt plays for the Steaming Armadillos and is playing left field this year. This last week was the worst hour of softball he'd ever played (according to Matt anyway.) Matt's poor performance was lost on his son apparently. When I was buckling Isaac into the car after the game he told me, "Papa is the best softball player EVER." Yes he is, bud.

Here they are at the game. I made Isaac his own little Steaming Armadillo jersey with his Pop's number "00". He wears it with pride. He loves to bring his mitt to the games, but I didn't get that in the picture.

Here is Isaac with Uncle Jason. Isaac likes his high red socks. Why do some pro baseball players wear pajama pants now? They should all wear high socks.

Walking home with Pop...

In case you were wondering where Steaming Armadillos comes from, it's the combination of The Armadillo Storage Company and Steamworks Brewing.

Uncle Ben's mural

Back in February there was a fire downtown that destroyed a building housing several businesses (one of my favorite restaurants, Le Rendezvous, included.) Since the fire what was left of the building was torn down leaving a gaping hole in our beautiful downtown. My brother, Ben, organized this art project where the building stood. We are so proud of him. I haven't been able to get down there to take pictures yet- we've had a lot of rain and then the Iron Horse Crit craziness is downtown too. Hopefully I can post some picts soon. Here is an interview with him with the local paper, The Durango Herald...

Here is one of the panels painted by my sister-in-law, Vanessa's, fifth grade class...

Magic ketchup

So we're figuring out this parenting stuff along the way. This is a conversation I had with Isaac today...

Me: Do you want chicken nuggets for lunch?
Isaac: I DON'T(!!!) want chicken nuggets!
Me: Do you want chicken nuggets with ketchup for dipping for lunch?
Isaac: I do, I do, I DO(!!) want chicken nuggets with ketchup for dipping!

...if only I had figured out the magic properties of ketchup earlier. I hope one of these magic properties is that it's a daily serving of fruit/or vegetable, because I'm pretty sure that all the peaches on Isaac's plate ended up in the dog's mouth instead of his.

2 1/2 year old Theology

As Isaac was saying his prayers the other night, he decided that he needed to make sure that God knew who he was.....really. "Thank you God for my food, for my family and for loving me. I'm Isaac, I'm not a butt." When I (Matt) asked him where Jesus lives he replied, "Jesus lives in my belly button." That's my son.

Delia at 7 months

She's almost a pro at sitting up now... on the verge of crawling...lots of babbling, but no words just yet. Loves to smile and wiggles constantly. What a cutie!

Say Cheese!

These are the faces I got last time I tried to get Isaac to smile at me. Again, just like his Pop!

I love my BUNK BED!

New milestones for the kids... we have moved Isaac into a "big boy bed"- a bunk bed! He loves it and sleeps surprisingly well in it. Well, most of the time. He loves hanging out on his bottom bunk- we are keeping the rungs off the ladder until we actually need the top bunk. For now it is Frankie's (the cat) new nap spot.

We have also moved Delia from sleeping in our bed at night to sleeping in her own crib. It took awhile to make the switch, but she is sleeping well in her crib. Well, more often than not anyway. Here she is hanging out in her crib. I wish I could get pictures of the kids sleeping, but I can't imagine risking waking them by taking pictures. They are both such light sleepers. A sleeping kid in our house is a precious, precious thing, so we just let them be.

Happy Mother's Day

Isaac is sporting a sweet new tattoo... just in time to honor his mom for Mother's Day. He's definitely taking after his Pop.

Tea Time

Delia having a spot of afternoon tea. She's turning out to be very lady-like and demure.

More hanging out around the house

Delia is sitting up now...

Isaac and Delia as super kids. Delia's cape is her bib on backwards. Isaac didn't really get into wearing a cape like I thought he would. He just wanted to play baseball...

Mommy hugs...

Reading with Papa...

Cinco De Mayo

Isaac at our Cinco de Mayo dinner. Ole!

Jingle High

Today we were driving home from getting ice cream, and we passed the Smiley Building. Isaac said, "Look at that school, Pop!" I told him, "That's where Mommy went to Junior High." He tells me, "I want to go to Jingle High, too." Some day, Bud, you can go to Jingle High.