The Difference A Day Makes

I thought I would drop a few pictures of the same field that was covered in snow last week that I had previously posted. Even though I didn't get around to taking pictures until today, the snow had completely melted and we had nice warm weather by last Friday. 98% of the time this is the weather that we see around here. But I've been told to expect more snow. The spring has huge fluctuations of snow and then 70 degree weather. I'm definately not used to such extremes but at least the snow doesn't stick to the ground much and driving hasn't been a problem yet.

This is the field I've been walking around more regularly with the kids. It is nice to be out in the sun and the blue skies are just amazing.

I wasn't sure if this picture would turn out but you can kind of glimpse the mountains that we get to see every day and are a normal part of our backdrop.

Can't wait for this view to be green.

Any trees we have around here pretty much look like this. We have them, its just hard to tell sometimes because they are all leafless for the winter.

We finally got close enough to the prairie dogs to snap a picture of one.

Just a picture to prove and remind myself that yes they can get along. LOL

Spring Snow

We woke up this morning to over 6 inches of snow. Sam really really wanted to build a snowman. So I spent the time to get them dressed really warm and after half an hour or so we finally made it outside. The snow was so deep even on the sidewalk that two steps in the kids were complaining that it was too hard to walk. I forced them out to the field across the way and showed them how to make snow angels. They just sat there and grinned at me encouraging me to make more but not wanting to participate themselves. So I set to the task of trying to make a snowman. Unfortunately, the snow didn't stick together at all. It was very dry and powdery so that idea was a bust. By this time the kids were complaining the whole time about it being too deep and Sam emphatically told me he was ready to go back inside. I think it took longer to get dressed and ready to go outside than the actual time we spent outside. Oh well, I did get a chance to snap some pictures.

Prairie Dogs and Magpies

Two of the creatures that are in abundance here in the Denver area. Magpies are the local scavenger type bird beside the typical crows and ravens. Not a jay anywhere in sight. People around here take them for granted because they are everywhere but magpies really are a beautiful bird. Their black and white markings are very striking, especially when they take off for flight. I have to admit though, I kind of miss the blue jays but I am happy that we have another pretty bird to take its place. I'm sure when we eventually get to visit the mountains and more forested areas, I'll get to see the jays again.

When I think of prairie dogs I think of small chinchilla size creatures out in the Great Plains living in their colonies in the middle of nowhere. That is definately not the case. Every plot of empty land around here has a prairie dog colony in it. They are everywhere. In fact, if people decide to build on that piece of land they have to pay these specialists to come and remove the colony humanely before building. According to Dwayne's buddies at work, they plug up every hole they can find except one and then use a vaccuum type thing to suck up the prairie dogs out of the ground. I thought this was extremely funny. Dwayne then pondered how many "experiments" it took before they figured out just the right suction for the vacuum as to not cause damage to the poor prairie dogs. They are also much bigger than I expected. They are about the size of a chihuahua. Just lower to the ground and round. We live right next to a walking trail and creek which, of course, is surrounded by a couple of large open fields. Perfect prairie dog territory. The walk I routinely take with the kids always passes by this fairly large colony. We pop to the top of a hill and you can see a good 50 of the creatures scampering to the nearest holes as they are surprised by us. It is a fun thing to see and always gets the kids giggling. I'm sure there are more out there than I expect. They blend into the environment extremely well and are suited to the brown winter here in Colorado.

Exercise

I had read while researching about Denver, that it is one of the healthiest cities in the US. It is very outdoor oriented with walking trails everywhere and so family friendly. Like most things I read, I take it with a grain of salt, figuring that they will write a lot of things to make the area look good. Well, it is proving to be true. We are lucky to live in an apartment complex that butts right up to a major trail. I ventured out on a sunny day and took a walk with the kids to see where it might lead us. I found a portion of the trail that took us on a large loop and back around to our apartments. I'm estimating that round trip it is about 2 miles. Just perfect for someone needing to walk but not so overwhelming that I would quit within the first day or two. By the end of the walk, I was begging and literally dragging the kids back to the house. 2 miles is just a little far for their little bodies. My kids had outgrown the strollers I had for them so when we moved I got rid of them. I had been eyeballing a wagon for a while now that I thought would work great for pulling the kids but still allow them easy access to get in and out as they wanted. This past weekend I made it a priority to get one before the money was spent elsewhere. Monday, I went and bought some new walking shoes and yesterday I ventured out with all these tools. It worked out great! I feel so motivated to walk more often. We have more days of sunshine than not, the whole culture here is centered around outdoor life and getting out, and I now have the tools to walk as I want to. I didn't realize how much overcast skies kept me in the habit of staying inside. We have also not lived in an area that was convenient or condusive to walking. I was always afraid that someone would run me or the kids over.

I've also decided that next week I'm going to start this family on a diet and eat healthier. I'm feeling motivated and so far have been following through so I'm going to run with the motivation. Please pray that I stay committed and continue on the right path. I found a website (SparkPeople) that has weekly menus all ready to go. What is great is that if there is a food that you don't like or a meal you know you won't eat, you can easily click on it to substitue something else before printing it out. It is a healthy diet plan in that it is heavy on fruits and vegetables and good for you, lean meat options. It isn't a crash diet where you barely eat anything. It helps you stay at a healthy goal which for me is 1700-1800 calories a day. So you aren't starving yourself. Most of the foods are things that I think the kids will eat so I am going to have them join me for the most part so they get used to eating more fruits and vegetables and get them in the habit of healthy eating early in life. Being the age they are, I am definately not going to put them on a "diet", just try to change their eating habits to something more healthy. They love things like yogurt, wheat bread, and cheese anyway so I don't think it will be hard.

I'm not sure what it is, but I feel this time will be different for me. I don't think this new motivation is going to be a fad. I think God is really changing my heart to help me get off my butt and get moving. I think location has a lot to do with it too. Sunshine is really a great thing and a wonderful motivator. I love that we get all the sunshine but not the heat. (At least not yet, we'll have to see how the summer turns out.) I don't spend half as much time on the computer as I used to and my housekeeping has improved tremendously. I'll keep you all posted on my health and *crosses fingers* weight loss. Keep us in your prayers!

Denver Zoo

This past weekend was so fun. It was one of those weekends I hope to remember forever. Saturday I just had to get out of the dirty house and escape with my husband and children. We went out to breakfast, drove around a couple of new roads and ran a few errands. I've also been having pet fever really bad. Dwayne managed to curb all my instincts for wanting to bring home everything remotely cute and fuzzy and brought home some fish instead. We kept a small tank when we moved and decided it was time to set it up again. So I have a couple of guppies and neon tetras. Not quite what I had in mind but I think it will do for now.

Dwayne and I committed to serving at church that evening so we went to church and as we were swinging back home, we decided to check the mail. I saw a letter from our previous landlord and got a little excited thinking it was our $100 deposit we are expecting back from her. Instead, it was something much much better. From an email we received from her, she indicated that some renters would be moving in starting May 1st. Not ideal but we could make it work. We still had one months rent from Dwayne's company to help us get out of our lease and she still hadn't returned our deposit yet to us so we could have the next two months covered until the new renters moved in. I sent off the rent check diligently and figured we were done. When I opened the letter, my check fell out in my lap and as I read it, I started crying. Apparently, the renters moved in March 1st and the lease is signed. So we get our rent money back which we don't have to payback to Dwayne's work either. On top of that we will get our $1000 in total deposits back as well. It is such a huge relief to have that last connection severed and we can really move forward now.

So instead of putting it in savings or doing nice responsible things with it, I decided that since the weather was nice, I wanted to go to the zoo Sunday. We got up, grabbed a fast food breakfast and off to the zoo we went. It was beautiful and sunny in Parker but as soon as we drove into Denver, the fog descended and it was cold. I packed for sunshine, not cold so the first couple of hours we were pretty cold. Luckily, they had several animal houses that we could go in to so we could warm our hands and bodies. We decided to go ahead and purchase a membership so I can go as many times as I want. It will be nice to have a place to escape to if I feel housebound but don't have any extra money. Once the fog lifted though, it was warm and just perfect. The zoo also had an old-fashioned carousel and a small train ride which the kids thought was the most fun. After spending way too much money in the gift shop we went to the mall and grabbed Dwayne a few books and bought a wagon for the kids. Since we got rid of all our strollers that they had outgrown, I haven't been able to go on long walks or we have to spend the money to rent something. Now I feel like I can go on more walks and do more things while keeping the kids semi-contained. Overall, it was a fabulous weekend. Run over to Facebook if you want to see all the pictures of our zoo trip. I've posted the best ones over there.

Preschool and Snow

Not much happening right now. I'm not even sure what to write about. I've started working with Sam on preschool stuff. I'm happy to say that so far I have been consistent in doing it with him every day. He gets pretty excited when it is time to do "school" so it helps keep me motivated to work with him on it. To my surprise he asks to do math first every day. I've purchased the Primer from Math-U-See and he seems to be picking up the concepts really well. Most of what we do is reading lots of books and he likes to color or play with his cars while I read to him. I think both of the kids are figuring out that they can play while I read but it has to be done quietly. So far, just me threatening to stop reading and doing school seems to help calm them down. I know they won't always have this passion for learning so I'm trying to take adantage of it while I can.

We haven't really been doing much else. We've driven around and explored town a little bit. We have been trying to go to church consistently and we have been marveling at the change in weather here in Colorado. When the forecasters predict snow, we actually get snow. Unlike Oregon where they say it looks like we will be getting snow, oh wait, maybe a little later, maybe tomorrow, oh we won't get snow. So I buckle down, buy the groceries I need to wait out the snow storm, plan activities to keep the kids and I from going stir-crazy, expecting the world to shut down because we got snow. But that isn't what happens. Everyone gets up like usual to go to work, bring out their long-handled scrapers and snow brushes that every car seems to carry and go to work like normal. I look out my patio door and marvel at the normalcy of everyone's actions even though there is 3 inches of snow on the ground. I actually ventured out into the snow and drove around and the snow is so completely different out here it is hard to describe. It is dry and powdery, easy to drive in, and such a part of normal Coloradian life that most people don't even think about it. It doesn't leave you completely soaked either like NW snow does. I was so completely shocked when Dwayne came home with this little fact the other day. The last time people remember getting rain out here was back in August and it was only for an hour or so. Pretty much all our precipitation is in the form of snow. I've been told that March and April will be when we see the most snow. When everyone else is expecting rain for all their flowers, we get lots of snow. But get this, it melts within a day or two. For example, yesterday we got 3 inches of snow. Today, it is 50 degrees and completely melted. So people were right. We get lots of snow but there is such fluctuation in temperature from day to day that it doesn't stick around long. So life goes on normal here despite the snow and I'm trying to get out of the habit of hunkering down and hybernating any time I see white flakes fall from the sky.