Tarin Tarin Bo-Barin...

This morning, I thought I was being such a good mom (oh, watch out!). I was making muffins, bread and cinnamon roles for the weekend. Keeping up that supermom facade by baking :)
Little did I know....my Tarin Bo-Barin was upstairs shaving his hair. Yes, you read correctly. My 4 year old got Josiah's electric razor and shaved one half of his head. As he came in the kitchen to show me, I freaked. In a loud voice, I asked (for the love of Mike...) what on earth he was thinking. He answered, very calm and matter of fact, "Mom. I am being a soldier." Oh. Is that all? Well duh, I should have known. It makes perfect sense! You are being a soldier.

It was just physically painful to shave the remainder of his hair. I mean. his hair is pretty! Thick, curly and blonde....no longer. He looks like a poor little cancer-wrought child. Tarin is, of course, thrilled with the new look. He saw himself in the mirror and exclaimed, "Am I a soldier...or am I Bretton?!" (Bretton is my friends son who gets the "high and tight" Air Force haircut from his daddy. I cannot believe Tarin remembered that!!) Needless to say, I am upset, Tarin is happy and Ethan and Kellen are traumatized by their "new" brother.

Below is a picture diary of the events as they unfolded. Enjoy my pain! :)



Tarin, Just a few days ago.

One half of his hair (or lack of)

Shaving the remainder of his hair.

Almost done.....you can see that my razor does not even cut as close as Josiah's did!!!

Just had to show off those baby blues :)

Tarin, very happy with the outcome. (sniff sniff)

Sand Castles

Today we went on our walk to the park to do some experiments for school. We have been talking about Noah and the Flood, buildings, density, soil, cities and planning ahead. So we wanted to see if it was easier to build a sand castle with water or without water (density!) and whether we should build on a solid foundation or on sand. Below are pictures of the outcomes.


We proved that building on a hard surface is better than building on sand....we just did not put Presley into the equation!

Here is Ethan showing us that building a sand castle on sand is not very smart. Once the sand shifts, the castle falls.

This is Tarin looking cute. He wanted me to take a picture of him in his "heel-met"

Aaaahhhh, using water to build a castle IS better!!

The castles built with no water....crumble.

The Weekend Adventures

Breckenridge

Daddy and Pres reading the Encyclopedias....what fun!
Admiring the view in Breck

My Kello-Mellow :)

My little Pres :)

Ethan Bo-Ethan :)

the Three Musketeers :)

Partners in Crime :)

This weekend we all went up to Breckenridge! Josiah and I took a tour for a time-share, and in return, got a $100 gift certificate to the Spa on site!!!! Oh Yeah!!! So while Josiah and the kiddies ran around town (and did a little off-road 4-wheeling) I was getting pampered. It was very nice :)

It was also time for the boys monthly bath (ha ha, just kidding!) and a perfect "photo opp."

I was cooking dinner this evening and Tarin and Pres decided to get a few rolls of toilet paper and paper our living room. So here is Pres wrapped up in Charmin. He had a blast :)

Garden of the Gods

Yesterday after church we headed down to the Springs (Colorado Springs) to see the Garden of the Gods. The whole place is spectacular! Huge rock formations jut out of the ground everywhere (caused, of course, by millions of years of shifting plates in the earth.....riiiiiight). The rocks are in neat shapes...some balancing in what seems like a few inches of small rocks.
The kids had a blast climbing all over the place. When you come visit, we will take you there!!

Our Outing

Today when Josiah got home we loaded up the kids and went about 2 miles down the road for a walk. The point was to pick up all kinds of rocks for our schoolwork today. We parked the truck and headed down a trail near our home. The trail was muddy from the melted snow, so I told the kids to walk on the grass. (smarrrrrrt) They asked if there were any snakes, and I said "of course not! They are gone for the winter"! Not two minutes later, I froze when I heard the rattling. A few feet ahead, RIGHT where we were walking, a rattlesnake was curled up and quite agitated. It was probably the biggest snake I have seen alive in real life...not behind glass.

At the top of the trail is a lookout area with pictures of all the wildlife in the area and maps of all the surrounding mountains. We got to label all the "14 ers" for the kids and collect lots of rocks. Of the wildlife listed, we saw the rattlesnake, hawk, antelope and tracks from a bobcat!!

What an exciting day....I need to go to Target and unwind. :) Pictures to follow......

The Beauty of God's Creation

These are a few of the pictures from our Breckenridge day trip. The sky is mostly cloudy, but every now and again you could see some blue sky peaking out; and a glimpse of the tall mountains would appear. It was breathtaking.

Breckenridge!!!!!!

By the consensus of 2 adults and 4 children, Breckenridge has been named the most favorite Paradise spot so far. (a close second would be the Rocky Mountain National Forrest...wow)
We decided to load up the kiddies and go to Breck right after lunch, to see if we could find some good sledding. We found what we were looking for! The ski slopes are not open yet, so there was really no one there; and it snowed 30 inches yesterday (not a typo....30!!!) so the powder was fabulous. We had the run of the place. Josiah took the 3 older boys a good way up the mountain and they took turns sledding down. These are some of the pictures. The picture of Kellen was taken when he decided he needed to warm up in the truck because it was so cold "I can't even smile". You can also see how deep the snow is on the kids. They were practically jumping to try and walk! Needless to say, they all fell asleep on the way home. Breck has got to be the best little place in Colorado :)

Snow, take #5

Yes, there are more snow pictures! Here is the snow fort (or "igloo", as I like to call it) that Josiah and the boys made in our backyard. The fort has since succumbed to gravity and sunshine.

Snow, take #4

Almost 10 inches so far!!!! This has been a fantastic day. We will all sleep well tonight.

Snow, take #3

Snowman big enough for ya?!
Yes, those are golf clubs as arms. We southerners have to get creative since we have not done this much. Josiah was the brains and braun behind this project. I got about 1/3 of the way through Frosty's bottom role and was unable to continue, so Josiah took over. The neighbor kids loved our snowman and asked their daddy if he could build one just as big. :) He was excited about that, let me tell ya.

Cutie Pie

Ummmm.....he is just about pretty enough to be a girl! :) I cannot believe he is almost 2. Aaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Snow, take #2

Well, we have spent alllll morning playing in the snow. The kids have LOVED every second of it!!! No complaining at all, believe it or not. It is not very cold outside, so staying out for a long time is not a big deal. Heck, it really isn't unpleasant at all. The only thing that deters me is my little Sketchers shoes are NOT made to handle knee deep snow...and rapidly fill with slush...thus causing a numbing effect on the toes and ankles. (Note to self: SNOWBOOTS are kinda an asset in Colorado....and I do accept donations *Land's End 400 Gram Zip Front Boot in brown, size 7.5*)
SO, enjoy the pictures!!! :)

Snow, take #1