Birthday shopping and Montagues.....

What do you do when you have a full day of shopping to do, birthday shopping for 3 kids and they all need clothes?


Well you start the day riding your bike to Montagues and ordering a Ham, Green Onion, Tomato and Parmesan Cheese Quiche w/fresh fruit on the side and a Vanilla Latte! Yum!




Karen introduced me to Montagues sometime back and I took David there a few months ago for the first time. Since then we've taken Olivia there for a special treat and Kaitlyn has been there, though I don't remember the occasion.
The atmosphere is relaxed and comfortable. You can order "High Tea" which we've seen people do. It is quite the spectacle. They require a 24 hour notice for this special tea and I intend to take the girls there for this special treat at some point. I think they will just love the experience.
Here is the food menu. Their food is just wonderful and a real treat to experience. The "Pumpkin Tomato" soup is to die for! I had it a couple of visits back and I'm tempted to buy it by the quart and bring it home. Makes my mouth water just thinking about it.

The "Stuffed Acorn Squash" is wonderful also. As is the "Chicken Salad", "Stuffed French Toast" and the "Bacon, Cheedar and Onion Quiche".



Here is David enjoying our seating in Montagues.
All the seating is different and most is comfortable, if you enjoying sinking into a soft comfy couch, wing back chair or settee. For those of us who require a sturdier seat there are the regular chairs that are equally comfortable with cushy cushions.
After leaving Montagues we rode up Hwy. 83 to Parker, Co and then turned west on Lincoln Ave, which took us across southern Denver to Hwy. 85. Arriving at Hwy. 85 we turned south and headed to Castle Rock and the Outlet Mall to go to OshKosh and buy clothes for birthdays! We always have such wonderful luck at OshKosh. Just like having a personal shopper meet you there and basically do all the work. This lady was just wonderful. She helped me find jeans for all the little ones and then shirts for the boys. So everyone got at least 2 pair of jeans and the boys got a couple of pairs of athletic pants and then shirts galore! Hunter is making out, clothing wise, for his birthday. After shopping and requesting special packing we stuffed it all in my saddle bags and headed for home. Perfect day.

Inner Strength.....

Inner Strength

If you can start the day without caffeine,

If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,

If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,

If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it,

If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time,

If you can take criticism and blame without resentment

If you can ignore a friend's limited education and never correct them,

If you can resist treating a rich friend better than a poor friend,

If you can conquer tension without medical help,

If you can relax without liquor,

If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,

...Then You Are Probably

The Family Dog !

Darth Vader in Colorado Springs?

Even in Colorado Springs we have our problems. Darth Vader has brought his twin with him looking for Luke Skywalker! They appear to have found him, and his little brother. What are we to do???

Oh boy I'm glad I was wrong! Its Hunter and the Birthday boy, Tristan. With Tristan's sister and little brother. Whew!

The first party of the school year for Hunter was tonight. 6-8 p.m. Hunter was tired, but happy when it was time to go home. Then, most of the way home, he asked if we were driving in circles or if we were lost. Turns out Tristan lives across town and poor Hunter is not accustomed to driving for more than a few minutes to visit a friend. A good time was had by all and I think Tristan had a glorious birthday.

I missed you this much............

Hunter was telling me today that he missed me while he was at school. I made the mistake of asking him just how much he missed me. He's showing me!

Knitting seems to be catching on..... Taos, NM?

Jen has asked to learn more about knitting and another friend, Michelle, is working on a baby blanket of her own. I'm thrilled to have someone to talk knitting or crochet with. My baby blanket is coming along and I'm about done with the 2nd skein. Yesterday I measured the length and came up with about 7". I think I have enough yarn to finish the blanket. If not! Then I have to do a trip to Taos and the

"Taos Sunflower" http://stores.taossunflower.com/StoreFront.bok or

"LaLana Wools" http://www.lalanawools.com/

to get some more yarn. :-) I just love those stores. Not to mention getting to make an overnight trip out of it. I guess I'll go ahead and mention my favorite B&B in Taos -

"Casa Benavides" http://www.taos-casabenavides.com/

and a few of my favorite restaurants -

"Apple Tree" http://www.appletreerestaurant.com/

"Graham's Grille" http://www.grahamsgrille.com/

"Joseph's Table" http://www.josephstable.com/ is supposed to be just wonderful, but we haven't tried it as yet. Next trip it is a definite must for us.

Our last trip we tried a new place called the "Hongry Gator". WOW! The food was great. Loved it so much that we ate there twice in 3 days. They've been open for a few months now and are gaining a loyal clientele.

I ran over to another of my favorite knitting shops here in Colorado Springs this morning. Knitter's Kove - http://www.knitters-kove.com/

Found a few new books that would be nice to have, along with a great selection of yarn. I'm trying to find a holder for all of my knitting needles and crochet hooks. The holder needs to be large enough to hold the longest needles and hooks along with the shortest and keep everything organized. I have a feeling that I'm going to need to make it myself. Most organizers that I find don't hold enough and are to pricey. Oh well, another thing on the list of "To Do's".

First Black Eye...

Wow! I can't believe it. Hunter got his first black eye. He lost the fight with a ladder on some play equipment at the school. At least that is what we're being told. Ask Hunter and that's the story, ask anyone else and you get 3 different accounts. Oh well....... Just barely visible now, I'm sure that his right eye will get darker and darker. There is still some swelling but for the most part, you really have to be looking to see the eye difference. My poor baby.

With the change of weather...

Now is the time of year that I really enjoy pulling out the knitting needles or crochet hook. In my mind there is nothing better than curling up on the couch at night or during a cold day and working on some form of handwork (or reading a good book if I'm taking a break from handwork). This is a baby blanket that I started on August 21st. I'm anxious to see how long it takes me to get it finished. I've been working on it for 4 days and have about 3" done. I'm a terribly slow knitter.

My older daughters and I, all do hand work and we love to e-mail completed project pictures back and forth. Last year Olivia and Jolie started learning about crochet and both completed a small project. Olivia, more than Jolie at this point, enjoyed sitting on the couch next to me and working on her project. Kaitlyn also started a couple of projects, but I don't think she completed them. Maybe this year! I'm a self taught knitter and crocheter. My preference is for knitting. I know Jessica and Bonnie both prefer crochet. I love watching them crochet as they move so fast!

Weather and Parade of Homes

To see one of these pics better just click on it to get the original full size picture.

Here in Colorado one of our motto's is, "If you don't like the weather just wait 5 minutes, it will change or just change your altitude a couple of thousand feet." Well the last two days have brought unusual weather conditions. Kaitlyn needed to view 3 Parade of Homes, homes for her Architecture class. So we headed off Saturday with camera in hand and witnessed some interesting cloud formations. This group dropped a tornado just west of us on the other side of the foothillls. Sunday another group of clouds dropped 4 more tornadoes just north of us. I wonder if this is a precursor to what kind of interesting weather we can expect this winter?

After touring the first home Kaitlyn said that you could faintly hear the sirens going off. So we quickly headed off to the next home, trying to get the 3 done before the rain/hail hit. We got in 2 houses and then had to give up on the 3rd she had picked to see. Just couldn't find the house.

This is the first home that Kaitlyn wanted to see. Its the Walt Disney "Mickey Mouse" house.

$1.7 million
The house was decorated with replica's of Walt Disney's furniture, throughout. Also each room had a "Mickey" head somewhere as a sort of nightlight as you can see in the next picture.

Wii !!!!!

Wii ........ has finally come to our house! Jolie is enjoying playing baseball with the rest of the kiddo's. I personally haven't tried it just yet, but will eventually.

Hunter swinging away!

I think Parker was bowling!

Olivia playing tennis!

End of Summer Days and School starts!

Our tomato plants that everyone has taken the time and care to water throughout the summer. All of the kids are so proud of this plant and their work to make those tomatoes that everyone enjoyed for snack time.













Olivia's self portrait





















First Day of School!







Some of us were more excited than others!


"Open, open, open...."

Ending Summer Vacation.....

Rainy days....

Building forts......

Bug Museum....

Space Museum.....

My birthday present a Engine Guard for my bike! Yeah!

The summer Olympics start here as well as in China!

Homemade Sloppy Joes, pickled okra and corn on the cob! Yum!

Beginning Summer Vacation

The last day of school was cold and foggy but quickly summer showed itself and we had nice warm temps for cooler clothing. We quickly realized that we needed some diversions for all of us. So began our summer trying to find stuff to do close by as gas prices made long trips in the Excursion to costly.

Parker's 6th Birthday!

4th of July!!!

Karen came to visit us from sunny California and we did a quick over night trip to Ouray, Co. We had a great time riding and visiting.

Blue Mesa Reservoir, Co.

Ouray, Co.

Kristina's 14th Birthday!

Getting Old...

Getting old is hard. But even harder on those watching. Max is starting to show his age (almost 11 years old now). He's not interested in even attempting the jump onto the couch any longer and I've been putting him on the bed for a while now. All of this basically started over night and though I've checked him over for injuries I can't seem to find any. So after all these years of correcting people when they comment on his "old age" due to his coloring, we're finally going to have to agree. Maxie you old guy!