Today I'm Five; That Means I'm Almost Six

Have you ever had the feeling that someone was watching you while you're sleeping? If you are a mom, then your answer is likely to be yes. The other morning I opened my eyes to a bright-eyed, handsome, little birthday boy staring me down. He was patiently waiting for me to wake up so he could make his grand announcement, "MOM, TODAY I AM FIVE; THAT MEANS I AM ALMOST SIX." He tells me this with eyes so wide that you can see white all the way around his pupil. He is very animated and this is his go-to face whenever he has something interesting to tell you...for him that's almost everything. It is known among friends as, "the Jon face."

"Today I am five; that means I am almost six." I am guessing that Jon likes to live for the future. Not a bad thing, just completely opposite of his mother. I am more of a live-for-the-moment type of girl. He better be careful because statements like that are likely to put me in a very unstable emotional state. Not only do I like to live in the moment, thinking about time passing actually puts me in a bit of a depression. I don't want to think about him turning six, I am just trying to wrap my brain around the fact that he's five. Where has the time gone?

Jon is the sweetest boy you will ever meet. When I think of Jon, I think "cool." He's the kid that will give you a pointed finger and a nod when agreeing with you. I will ask him to do something and he will reply with, "Of course, my sweetie Mom." He is such a joy to be around, he always has a story to tell or a quirky one-liner to share.

We love you Jon; you're our sweetie boy!

If you don't know all the words to a song, just make them up... and then own it!

Nacho Libre At His Finest : Best Homemade Halloween Costume of All Time

If you have never seen the movie "Nacho Libre" you will not understand this post. If you have never seen the movie "Nacho Libre", go watch it now. After partaking of all the goodness, you will then have understanding of the crazy cuteness that lies below.

If you were to ask me what my boys are into, it's an easy answer... superheroes. You never know who you are going to run into around our house. 

A few months ago, I came across Matthew standing on the edge of our couch. He had the complete-focus face on.  He then began to lift his hands above his head like a diver ready to take the plunge; he bent his knees and then flew across the couch. This went on a few more times and I then realized this acrobatic move had purpose behind it. He wasn't just stretching his legs; he was in character.  I asked him, "Who are you today Matt?" In a very low voice with his chin pressed against his chest, making his answer that much more serious and genuine he replied, "I Nacho," he then proceeded to fly across the couch. If you've seen the movie you know the scene well. He had just indulged himself in a powerful eagle egg and was ready to jump into the waters below.

I would of never put Nacho in the superhero category, but Matty could not have chosen a more appropriate character to be obsessed with. He fits the mold perfectly! He is the perfect miniature embodiment of the famous wannabe Mexican wrestler.

And now, he REALLY is Nacho thanks to his amazing Nana! Matthew says (in his best Nacho voice), "you are the best!".

Nacho below has two faces, one with a stache and one without. The first photo shoot he didn't want to wear it. After staring at the DVD case for a ridiculous long time and watching the movie until it broke he decided it was time to go all in. 

Without further ado, the best Halloween costume of all time....

 "Chancho. When you are a man, sometimes you wear stretchy pants in your room. Ezz for fun." 

"You gotta be kidding me. Everything you just said, is MY favourite thing to do, every day!" 

"Precious Father, why have you given me this desire to wrestle and then made me such a stinky warrior?" 

"I was wondering if you would like to join me in my quarters this night... for some toast." 

"Do you remember when everyone was shouting my name, and I used my strength to rip my blouse." 

"These are my recreation clothes." 

"Hey. Leggo my blouse."

"Ok... Maybe I am not meant for these duties. Cooking duty. Dead guy duty. Maybe it's time for me to get a better duty!"

 "I don't want to get paid to lose. I wanna win!"

"I'm not listening to you. You're crazy."

"When the fantasy has ended/and all the children are gone/Something good inside me/helps me to carry on/I ate some bugs/I ate some grass/I used my hand to wipe my tears/To kiss your mouth/I break my vows/no no no no no no way Jose/Unless you want to/Then we break our vows together." 

 "Eagle powers... come to me! Please!"

"There is no place for me in this world. I don't belong out there, and I don't belong in here. So I'm going out into the Wilderness. Probably, to die." 

"Thank you. I mean... they might have the appearance of riches, but beneath the clothes, we find a man... and beneath the man we find... his... nucleus." 

 "My life is good. Real good." 

Wine Tasting on the French Riviera with Brad Pitt

I think of myself as a pretty low-maintenance girl. My idea of a perfect night is a back rub, a glass of red wine and a good movie...preferably starring Brad Pitt. Now, if I was requesting a back rub from Eduardo, would only drink imported wine from France and a wanted a foreign play to be performed in my living room, that would be high maintenance. I think being perfectly content with getting my wine from a box allows me to be included in the low-maintenance category!

I have a very short bucket-list. I like to think of myself as adventurous, but if I were being honest, my list looks sort of puny. Vacation to a tropical destination with my love, win a million dollars, and go wine tasting.

I was so close to crossing wine-tasting off my list, but it still remains...I am cheap. A wonderful night out with some great ladies landed us at a wine bar for a birthday celebration. A few of us have October birthdays and it was a great excuse for a girls' night out! With that said, I was too cheap to order the wine sampler; instead, when the waiter asked what I would like I said, "a glass of merlot that's around $8.00." Classy!

Now that wine tasting is being put back on my list, it will now read: Wine tasting on the French Riviera, hosted by Brad Pitt.

Do I have bucket-lists and dreams mixed up?

It was a very fun night with some awesome girlies! A lovely dinner, a very tasty $8.00 glass of wine followed by my absolute favorite; frozen yogurt!

What really made the night? Amazing friends that you can laugh and be silly with! Friends that will gladly take you up on your offer for a piece of gum that you found at the bottom of your purse. Friends that let you sing with them in the car despite your lack of vocal ability and, most important, friends that don't judge you for the massive amount of frozen yogurt that one might choose to consume!

Love you girls, it's so amazing doing life with you!

I missed the photo-op! I was busy trying to find great karaoke songs to accommodate my vocal ineptness. Karaoke girls-night is next week....hmmm, not sure if I'll post those highlights.

Okay girls, you and your tiny cups of frozen yogurt...we're going to need to work on that!

I didn't want to totally intimidate them, so I went light!

Beauty All Around Us

Sometimes I don't realize I have a massive need until I am in the midst of fulfilling it. Drinking water is a perfect example; I'm terrible at it. I don't realize I am dehydrated until I start to drink...two glasses later I tell myself that I am going to be better about drinking more water throughout the day.

This Sunday had been set aside as a family day. It wasn't until we were packing snacks, planning our route and all piling into the Burb that I realized how much I was in need of that day. I desperetaly needed a mental break from work and some quality time with the people I love the most.

The plan was simple, "get out." We are surrounded by incredible beauty and yet we don't take advantage of it often enough. Sunday the plan was to do nothing more than enjoy each others company and enjoy the beauty of Colorado in the fall with a kid friendly hike.

The Aspens right now are ridiculously beautiful. It is so nice taking pictures just for fun; just for me. I need to remember to do this a lot more often.

A few highlights of the day:

1. I got back to the car and realized my cell phone was gone; my new awesome smart phone. Erik and I started talking over our steps and realized it must have fallen out when I was using the restroom. For those that are not following me, I had it in my back pocket and now it was laying somewhere on the forest floor. Thankfully I had remembered the exact Aspen that had earlier served it's purpose and found my phone. Yay!

2. Matthew who is now potty trained (for the most part) does not get that pooping in his pants a mile away from our car is not okay. It was a long way back for him. So gross.

3. The mama bear in me came out...big time. We were walking a little ways on this dirt road the beginning of our hike. The kids are all spread out and the dog is off herding them. All of a sudden this Jeep comes screaming down the road. They see us but decide it's not important to slow down for four small kids and an unleashed dog. The kids, thankfully, know the drill and ran to the side of the road when they saw the car, but I was mad. I take a step out into the road as if I am going to somehow stop the car with my glare and make a point, I start yelling, "slow down, come on, are you kidding me." The Jeep speeds off and Erik says, "you know honey I don't think they could hear you."

4. We had a wonderful day laughing, consuming road trip snacks from the Loaf and Jug, and enjoying the beauty that surrounds us that we to often take for granted.