Quick....a happy post to end the night on...

So, the big winners in sports this week in Colorado...the Kiowa Warriors 9 year old football team won their last game of the season in overtime. Congrats to my nephew!

After the Rockies lost, and we were sad....Alex kept saying something...and I see he might just be my eternal optimist.... Wyatt win! Wyatt win!

Yeah, buddy, Wyatt won! :)

Stinky cheese

And maybe its just MNF, but the thing that chapped my hide the most was the stinky cheeseheads they showed all over Mile High! Hello! You cannot have tickets here! You are not welcome! Take your cheese back to the moldy pond you came from. Send your tickets to me...and I promise never to go to your state and irritate you.

but I'm not bitter or anything....

ARG

It's been a sucky week for the sports fans in Denver. The Rockies lost, the Broncos lost, and as a proud fan of my state, I just feel sad.

Congrats to Jay Cutler on his first NFL start with no interception! (pretty sure that's the stat)
Looking on the bright side here...as much as I can. Loving my city...my state...my mountains...

Looking for the Mile High Magic to come on back to town. Really...we miss you...come back soon! November is almost here...COME BACK!!!!!!

Live and In Person

A few things I'd like to do in the next few weeks:

See the David Crowder Band at the Fillmore

See Chris Tomlin at Cherry Hills

See the Denver Broncos at Mile High (have I mentioned this recently?)

And the reason I will likely not do any of them is the $$$

I like to go to these things in person...I enjoy seeing the sights, meshing with people with whom I have this in common, and seeing some of the personality that doesn't come through otherwise. Roger, on the other hand, was spoiled in high school to see so many concerts for free that it has really lost any sense of wonder for him. So, he's not anxious to go... And if we are going to drop $50 on an evening, we really have to agree on it.

We went to see Smitty last summer. I really had fun! But I look at the idea of groceries, snow boots for the kids, paying the mortgage, and I have a hard time dropping the dough on these fun things. We have limited fun money, and if I use it on the tickets then that means a month with no eating out. Can it carry me for a month?

I'm not saying this for you to feel sorry for me. I have so much! A home where I feel safe, a great family, and God challenging me to be more than I am...to be who He has made me to be. So, I still long for some of these things...and I'll still watch the Broncos, I'll still sing loud with Crowder or Tomlin in my car or at Elevation, and I'll still debate whether I should have gotten the tickets. But being home with my kids and having less is the choice I make...and someday I may work more and have more of the $$ fun options, but the years with these sweet preschoolers is priceless.

January 11th!

Not only is this the day my sweet sister entered the world...this year it has a special bonus feature!

A taste of Greality

Roger and I went up to Greeley for homecoming this last weekend. It was our fall break mini-vacation, I guess.

First, we drove to Ft. Collins to settle in at Roger's sister's home...which she graciously opened to us again this year. We met up with Tyler and Nicole after school for a quick treasure hunt and then we were off to Greeley.

In Greeley, we stopped off at rehearsal for the Pride of the Rockies--UNC's marching band. Roger and I are both Pride Alumni, but Roger marched for 5 years...2 as Outstanding Band Member, so he is obviously more well known...also, I was in the Color Guard, so we weren't always noticed despite our big flags waving in the breeze. Going to the Pride reunion last year was fun, but I didn't really know anyone, so I figured I'd mainly be watching the kids. Surprise number 1--I ran into an old friend from growing up--Kevin Kurtz! It was great to see him and hear that he and his family are moving back to Denver. Unfortunately, he didn't come for the reunion, but just showed up at practice on a whim. Very nice!

After some crazy antics climbing the fence to get out of the locked practice field, we drove around a bit and headed to Old Chicago. We figured we would be the first ones there...and yeah, we were right. But Surprise number 2--I ran into a friend from church during my Greeley years--Ryan Mayeda. Ryan was a student in the youth group while I was a leader, but he really isn't that much younger than me...we were seniors the same year. Now Ryan's a Chiropractor in town and married...although his bride was away for the weekend. It was great to hear what he is up to and about his connections with our former mentors and friends the Wootens.

Well, dinner was not well attended...only 2 other Alum showed up. So we felt silly sitting in the big room with just us, and 4 other people. Oh well! Then we headed back to Ft. Fun. We got the kids settled in and then watched the Rockies play with Renee and Tim.

Morning meant yummy pancakes and bacon for breakfast...thanks again to Renee. Then Roger and I left the kids to play and headed back to Greality. Of course, we had to hit a couple of geocaches on the way. We ended up missing the alumni tailgate and got to the stadium to find that only 2 folks had brought their instruments. Rog was bummed. We ended up watching the pregame and then Roger played in the stands with the band. The home team did not perform all that well...seems the move to Division I hasn't been especially positive at this point.

Strangely, the visiting team brought their band...only problem with that really was that it was homecoming. We ended up having to leave the game a couple of minutes early, so that was a bummer...but we had places to go and kids to pick up.

After our adventure, we dropped the kids off at Roger's folks' and went to a get together with friends from our Sunday School class. We had food and games...it was fun to spend time together.

I enjoyed the weekend. Now, we'll see what we can do to aid the alumni association with putting together a more successful band reunion next year.

The Colorado Rockies are in the World Series!

Anyone have any Broncos tickets they want to give me? Or sell me cheap? I wouldn't mind going to see the Broncos for MNF! :)

Alyce has a super secret blog....

and I found it...well, I found where it is and determined it is hers. But its on myspace (gag), so I would have to set up a profile there to even READ it. Myspace...a profile...I even started to do that once, but then wigged out about it...and then I'd have to ask her to be my friend (OK...Al...I hope we're friends already) and then wait with baited breath to see if she'd let me read it.

So, we'll see how long I can hold out knowing about her blog and not trying to read it.

Any chance my geek husband could hack into it? The world may never know.

True Orange and Blue

I've been a Denver Broncos fan from birth. And I'm raising two little Broncos fans...as well as converting my non-sports husband to watching the games with me. When Alex got a Broncos shirt, Katrina asked where hers was....that's my girl!

Now I go through seasons of life when I am die-hard watch every game, and when I'm just following the scores, but I'm true orange and blue. Right now, I've been following the team from training camp, and I watched or listened to at least part of every game.

Well, Sunday was really demoralizing, but I didn't change shirts before heading off to church. But as much as I wanted the team to at least get one touchdown before the end, I found myself leaving the TV, but listening on KOA. It was so painful that it was hard to watch. I don't blame anyone for leaving that game early...

I do blame people for booing. Now, that's just not cool! I may yell at the TV when someone misses a tackle or fumbles, but no booing, people. That's not team spirit. I was a fan before the rosy Super Bowl years, so I remember hard seasons, but if you are going to boo, than send me your tickets, and I'll go support the team.

Brandon Marshall was quoted as having harsh words for Broncos fans....and while I agree somewhat with what he said, I also think Brandon doesn't really see the whole of Broncos Country. There are a lot of us out here who love our team, win or lose...even to that magnitude. It's called loyalty...maybe a frail human try at unconditional love...but loyalty nonetheless.

Whimsical

This video came out yesterday, and I was excited enough about it that I decided not to wait until Christmas. We pulled it out and watched soon after I arrived home.

:) It was so much fun! Written by Phil Vischer, the original top tomato, it was a fun parody and wonderful way to tell the story of the Prodigal Son. Perhaps I'm wrong, but besides An Easter Carol, it is one of the first to mention Jesus specifically. It was done nicely, and the end made me cry!

My favorite minor character is a toad from Ireland. And I really liked the tinman's escape plan...it reminded me of MacGyver. At one point, bonus features were mentioned...and we were wondering if they had been listening in at our house since my daughter wanted to watch the Bonus Features before the actual show.

The silly song is definitely silly. But I think the version of Mr. Lunt singing Over the Rainbow is even better....find that in the Bonus Features.

Thanks to all who worked on this video!
Whether you have kids or not...support clean, uplifting entertainment companies like Big Idea. We need more of them out there.

Now...only a couple more months til the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything movie!!!!

a few random thoughts

I bought this Noxzema shaving lotion on a whim a few weeks ago. It claimed to slow hair growth. I didn't buy it for that particular reason, but just to try something new. And lo, and behold, it actually seems to be working. I can go an extra day between shaves, and it really seems to be living up to its promise.

It's hard to make zucchini bread without any flour.

Alex is very excited that he and I are both wearing "Loncos" shirts! Go Loncos...beat the Chargers!

I got 8 inches cut off my hair this week...and relatively few people have noticed. :P I like it though. I also got it thinned in the back...as I have very thick hair...and I don't really like how that feels. But I think it looks fine.

It just feels wrong...

to be at home on a Sunday morning. But with Alex still coughing after having had croup this week, it just isn't worth it. I would hate to get other people sick, but its hard to figure out, as a parent, when what they have is really contagious or when its just a little cold.

Thankfully, Alex seems to be on the mend. And we watched some good VeggieTales together to focus our thoughts on God. I thought it was definitely a God thing that Alex chose the Snoodle's Tale for our morning. Its amazing how God made me special and He loves me very much is still something I need to hear over and over.