Block Party @ Amy's

My friend, Amy invited us to a block party at her house.... LOTS of fun! Before we left I was working on a hat & sundress for Nellie. B-Bee discovered the hat part and insisted on wearing it - everywhere. The cute one in the summer beanie on the trike is mine.

The bounce castle was a big hit and the daddies were great bouncers. The little girls just loved Nellie, following and taking her around to play. There was one that was especially good with her. Can't wait until she's old enough to babysit.

Choya enjoyed the matchbox cars.  Wish our community would have a block party, what fun!

Breastfed Baby Not Allowed In CO Court

Please let me know if you can help my friend or would like to get involved in getting this initiative passed. From my friend, Christine:

I went to the courthouse yesterday 8/24 with Charlize (now
6mos) in tow & the woman checking me in said "Mam no children
are allowed in court"  I let her know that I tried to work this
out with the commissioner but she said there was no way out so
here I am.

I waited in the juror selection waiting room praying for my #
not to be called.  Nope!  I was called.  So up to the courtroom
I go with Charlize & all the other jurors.  The Judge was SO
rude to me & when I said to her how I tried to be excused
because I breastfeed & this is my "job" she then said "because
you're breastfeeding?" and proceeded to ask the other 19 jurors
in the room "How many of you left a job to be here today, raise
your hand"  I told her that I had tried to be excused because
this is how I choose to raise my children & I am not going to
change just for one day in court.  She then said to me "Well
how will it be when I put you in jail?"  And then she was
saying things like Man, I really don't want to be the judge in
the headlines tomorrow as the judge who took a mother away from
her child & put her in jail.  She stated that twice to me,
making me scared as hell but I was still going to stand my
ground and was ready to go to jail if I had to.  She ultimately
sent me back downstairs by saying:  "Let another judge deal
with you I don't want to be in the news as putting a mom in
jail" Then she stated to the assistant she had "Put her # back
in the pool & email them that she is coming back downstairs."
The way this woman made me feel (humiliated, scared & almost
ashamed to be breastfeeding my child) made me cry the whole
ride down the elevator.  Once back in the waiting room the
announcement came that the rest of us in the waiting room were
now excused.

I felt attacked just because I chose to raise my children this
way.  So, I ask you to please help me out by putting this email
out to the group with my email address [message me for her email address] because I am embarking on a very challenging journey.  I am going to work towards getting a bill passed to change the jury
duty laws to reflect 12 other states - If you are breastfeeding
you do not serve & CA's law states that  - If you are the sole
provider for your child you do not have to serve until your
child / children are of a certain age (for California the age
is 5 yrs old).

Colorado being such a family friendly state I am surprised that
this is not an exemption yet. Anyway, I have not a clue as to
how to get this going & was wondering if anyone in our group
has had any experience in trying to put something into law??

Thank you for your help!!
Christine Kalata

T-Ball. The End.

I apologize for the 1980's 110mm-quality pics.... The lighting is so weird in this place, plus zoom - it's hard to get a nice, crisp shot.

Daddy-O encouraging B-Bee to participate at T-Ball, retelling him the instructions in a very specific manner. Okay, maybe not. I hope it wasn't just a "you can do this" pep talk. Yes, he usually has this deer-in-the-headlights look for most of practice. You know he just stood there when all the other kids ran. It was a good experience for him though. Best of all, that he got one-on-one daddy time every week. We'll try another sport next time.

Little Miss Nellie, however, we couldn't keep her off the field. She SO wants to do whatever the big kids are doing. She kept going for the balls and throwing them. This MAY be her thing. She is already showing athletic tendancies desires.

Playing the shark game. That was more fun!

Goofing off with his friends in line was the most fun. Btw, you never see so many blondes together in our neighborhood. ...and as you can see, there's Nellie again.

She took it upon herself to put the balls on the T for everyone. B-Bee's like "Okay, I'm standing here. Now what?" Just don't tell him to "keep your eye on the ball", because he will literally.

But he did bat and he did hit it and he did run the bases!   Baseball's not my thing either.

So now I'm debating what to put him in this fall: gymnastics, soccer, swimming, ice skating.... He says ice skating. He did well in swimming so I'm kind of leaning towards that - plus there's no gear to buy. We'll see.

Bounce, Splash, Busy!

B-Bee started back at school today. Does that mean the summer's over? It can't be. Maybe just a little more tame; we still have our Friday Fundays!

We hosted a "Splash & Bounce" playdate for one of our mommy groups in July! It was so much fun, that I didn't even have a chance to have the camera out until the very end. Tried to get all 4 boys (that were left at this point) to sit on the stairs with us, but the more we tried the more they moved. Note: friend not pictured is the one that stripped down to his undies with B-Bee after swimming. I wanted to host another "Splash & Bounce" this month.... but where did August go again? It will have to wait for September. Crossing fingers the hot weather holds out that long and that I figure out some way to mend the hole in the bounce castle. Naughty lawnmower.

Sat down with the calendar this morning to schedule playdates and such. I'm feeling stingy with our Fridays and picky with the rest of the week. With that said, our days still fill up fast. Promises of coffee here and playgrounds there....and I can't forget the morning workouts. Thanks, Jaq for the text to get me back in gym bright & early tomorrow. Was thinking about a Red Rocks workout, but the hike time was changed.

Oooooo-ooo, Lunch!

My first lunch with ONLY Nellie! We were waiting for B-Bee to get out of summer camp and grabbed a bite to eat at the A&W / KFC around the block. We waited forever in line because of a computer problem the registers were having. The whole time Nellie was tugging at my shirt and saying "Ooooo-ooob". I'm sure all the men in line with me (and there were only men) were wondering if I was going to feed her right there in line. ....but I knew I would need my hands available soon enough for lunch.

Church Block Party

Children's ministry was nervous that people would think the block party was rained out, but it went on rain AND shine. Expecting rain, they had most of it inside the gym and then moved it outside for awhile. Face painting, bubbles, balloon animals, bounce castle & slide, a dunk tank with our favorite pastors, and you can't forget the food. I think serving food at all celebrations is a worldwide thing, not just a midwest / Lutheran / Methodist / Catholic....whatever culture thing. A universal language for caring, love and community. B-Bee sat pretty well getting his face painted. It helped that Auntie Zaza was doing the face painting. He wanted to be a tiger, Nellie needed a lady bug and Mommy had to have a rubber ducky - which Nellie tried to grab off my cheek. You can see that B-Bee is nervous in this picture, clenching his fists while waiting for balloon animals. This is something that started after school got out in June. He also does it if his hands are even the slightest bit wet.

The bounce castle & slide were too big for Nellie to go on, with too many big kids as well. So we watched B-Bee go down the slide again and again and again and.... Nellie had fun playing with destroying B-Bee's balloon tiger and relocating everyone's shoes. Both my kids have a thing for shoes.

Don't worry, we got a new balloon animal for B-Bee after Nellie destroyed the tiger.

Swimming & Baseball, Done.

Picked up a hat to adorn with a beautiful flower. In my opinion, this is a yellow peonie - what else would be so huge? - but it could just as easily be a fully open rose. Either way, it and it's vintage pink sister are my favorites. Both are available as hair clips or on headbands. I'm not sewing my own hats yet, but can pick another one up if wanted. Anyways, was so excited about this hat that I took pictures of Nellie wearing it until she started getting into trouble. So I took pictures for about a minute. I may have been especially lucky that day and gotten 2 minutes of trouble-free Nellie.

Yes, I know swimming has been mentioned a time or two here. B-Bee's 2-week session finally came to an end, just as he was beginning to like swim lessons. The instructors brought cookies for the kids' last lesson and they got to take their animals (rubber duckies) with all the stickers home. He will have to do this level again, but he's more comfortable in the water now - will attempt a backfloat with assistance, will go underwater, and now hangs on the side of the pool....and we know he can get in and out by himself. It was a good experience for him and he got a few more lessons at summer camp later on in the month.

The T-Ball session came to a thankful end. Daddy-O enjoyed taking B-Bee, but it just wasn't his thing. It seemed to bring out all his "spectrum tendancies". We would like to put him in something this fall, but are having trouble deciding what: gymnastics, soccer, ice skating, or more swimming lessons? B-Bee's most consistent inconsistent answer has been "skating". He likes to rollerskate - but rollerskating lessons are at the same time preschool is.

Is there such thing as a "puzzle team"? Like the chess team, which I was on for 1 year. It was a middleschool "boy thing"; I can barely play chess. He's loves puzzles and is pretty good at them too. He even helped me put Nellie's birthday present together. I told him it was a puzzle.

Know we will be busy with preschool this fall and I don't want to over-schedule my kids. Now that he's old enough I would like him to be able to try one thing at a time. Perhaps find an activity that he really likes and can be passionate about. Opinions? Ideas?

Swimming Lesson, Fountains & Monsoon - Can We Get Any Wetter?

Have I mentioned swimming yet this summer? Yeah, just the thought of it his Nellie passed out on the couch next to me right now. Good thing we're taking a morning for quiet today - with B-Bee at summer camp it's just us 2 girls (and our doggies).

B-Bee also had swim lessons at summer camp this year. He was excited to see his swimming teacher, Casey everyday and now insists that all "swimming lesson teachers" are named Casey. Nellie SO wanted to join him in the water and made a beeline for the pool every chance she got. She's my little fish.



After swim lessons we headed to our favorite park (Peter Pan Park) for a picnic. Nellie was all tuckered out by then. Don't worry though, she didn't miss out on all the fun. It was our last MamaMia! meetup since the group has disbanded. As our kids get older and start going to school, mommies in the group weren't able to participate as much anymore. I'm realizing that these early years are only a phase. So glad I can stay home and enjoy them with my children.

Inspecting the soft "rocks" in the stream between the picnic tables. I love that this park has tables right by the water feature and playground. Beware though, the rubber playground surface gets very hot. I definitely recommend water shoes or flip flops - though my kids don't leave them on.

Oh the anticipation! It took B-Bee a little while to warm up to the fountains last year and earlier this summer. But, as you can see, there's no fear now...just excited anticipation. The big kid have even taught him how to put his shoes on the spout to see them fly up in the air when it goes.

I love this picture! What would you put as the caption?

Nellie made a friend. These 2 just followed each other around for awhile, babbling away to each other. We started packing up to leave just as the monsoon began falling. Had to wait it out a little and then make a run for the car.

Had to snap a picture of this. Not sure why it was "parked" there. Maybe it belongs to someone in the apartment complex? On its way to the air show? I have no clue.

2 Babies In A Tub

Swimming has, by far, been our favorite activity this summer. I couldn't let all the cute suits Nellie has this summer go unused....and they haven't. Last year I just HAD to buy an adorable one with butterflies for full price and then pulled it out of the too small clothes this spring, still on the hanger with the tags. Someone wanted to offer me $1 for it at the garage sale. I just couldn't part with it. Anyways, there have been fountains and "water features" (because we really just don't know what to call the cool water playgrounds that we wish were around 20+ years ago and are so popular now), swimming lessons, pools, pools, and more pools. It's been a great swimming summer! The kids already had the tans to prove it in early June.

I didn't know what to do with the kids on the 4th of July. I really wanted to do something with Daddy-O, but he had to work. So I put a FB out there and my friend, Audrey invited us over for lunch & more swimming. It was great to chill and get to know each other better....and then put the kids in the baby pool to chill. Short post, simple day.