Our Secret Life

We don't really have a secret life, but in some ways it felt like that this last week when Kylee was at preschool and Tia was home with me. Tia got royally spoiled last week while Kylee was at preschool, but maybe it will make up for this week where she doesn't as much. I sincerely doubt kids think like that (and to be honest not sure I do either), but either way last week we spoiled her and this week we kind of have to spend that time getting things done.

So we did some really fun things during our secret life last week. On Tuesday after I took Kylee to school, Gaupo and I loaded the bikes into the car and we took Tia for her very own bike ride. We put the tag-along bike on Gaupo's bike and let her ride that and she thought that it was so great.We went out to Golden Ponds, so it was pretty and peaceful and because Tia didn't have to focus on where she was going she didn't run anyone over while she was looking around at everything. Tia totally loves to observe the outdoors. Don't get me wrong she loves to experience it too, but she loves looking around at everything. That is why sometimes we almost run over or into others on bike trials.

On Thursday we have Speech and Occupational Therapy, but our speech person got sick and cancelled. I texted the OT to see if since we didn't have speech if she wanted to meet at a park. I also said we would really like to go to her farm, but I had to be back to my house by 11. Anyway, she texted back saying if we could come at like 9:30 then we could go to her farm. I said yes to that opportunity and we went to her farm. Tia for to hold a bunny, find eggs, look at chickens (she wanted to hold one, but Julie said the chickens didn't like that), scoop up pooped in hay and move it in a kids size wheelbarrow to like their compost-ish pile. Tia also got to jump on a big tramp which she LOVED. She got to do it all alone with no one else wanting a turn. She also got to go into their playroom where they had a giant swing they made into a 'horse' and while riding that she read a book. Then she got to stand and stomp in a barrel full of ball pit balls. Then she got to jump off a pretty high bench thing and land on a crash pad. Pretty much this all amounts to Tia heaven. Although, she didn't really like the scooping hay and pushing the wheelbarrow thing, but even that she didn't mind too much. However, she loved it and when we dropped Kylee off at preschool on Friday she asked if we could go to Julie's farm. It was a pretty fun place.

Friday, Kylee also has preschool and after we dropped her off we came home made a shopping list and then left Gaupo to homework, while we went grocery shopping. It was pretty nice to have just Tia. She still did some of her normal stuff like not staying in the cart and wandering around, but she was better and honestly it doesn't seem as bad with just one. However, Friday was the day after a Bronco's victory, so after all our shopping was done we went back to the store and got free donuts. Tia did not want to let those go. She held onto that bag all the way home, so she could share with her daddy. Those two thoroughly enjoyed their donuts. So not a huge adventure but free donuts is fun and she wanted to ride the pony, but then when we got up to the pony she didn't want anything to do with it. I did at least get her to pet it this time, but boy she remembers that feeling or maybe the event because once she gets close she wants nothing to do with the penny pony at King Soopers.

See it just simple stuff, and to be honest Kylee doesn't like Golden Ponds very much. She almost never wants to go. She gets board with Tia's OT because she has to wait her turn and that is pretty hard although she is really good at it. She also doesn't like donuts. However, when we told her what we did she still wanted to be there and to see things. Growing up is rough, but she loves preschool more and more every time she goes. I love hearing the new songs they learn. I love seeing the projects, and the skills they practiced that day. I love watching her love school and what she is learning and doing there. It is so fun to hear her talk about her 'secret life' that we don't get to see. Both my girls are growing and it is so amazing to watch them master new skills. It is truly amazing.

Newish Things

Lately I feel like we are doing a lot of new things. So far we have already started a new school year for Gaupo and a new job of watching kiddos for me, and now we have even more new things. This last Thursday I had my first Frisbee game in about 4 years. With some encouragement, I decided to sign-up for the Fall Ultimate Frisbee league here in Longmont. They play on Thursday nights and it is only through October. I was pretty hesitant about doing it, because it would take time away from my family, but I decided that I should. So, Thursday came and it was great. I had had kind of a rough couple of days, not that anything was different I just wasn't copping super well. Anyway, I went to Frisbee that night and it was so great to just let all of those things go away and play. It was fun to run for a purpose, be a bit competitive, meet new people, and know that my kids were having a great time with their dad. We lost both our games, but you know what I still came home feeling great. I can't explain it, but it was just really great to play again. It is definitely one of those things you don't realize how much you love it till you play again. Trust me I am pretty rusty. My throws aren't too bad, but the mental game of Frisbee is way rusty. I have a hard to reading cutters, knowing how to convince/fake-out my defenders, how to read strengths and weaknesses, etc. Oh well, what can I expect and really it went way better than I thought, so I think I will go back :)

Another new thing we have been up to is Preschool. We had Kylee's open house on Thursday morning. We went and met Teacher Wilson and her other classmates. We filled out paperwork and talked for a bit. Then we all got the tour and run down of how Preschool works and what happens there. It was so great and Kylee  was pretty excited about it. Then today was her first day. We started of the day with a great breakfast, then we made a sign so I would know this was her preschool picture. Then we took pictures. Finally, we came back inside and Gaupo gave her a Father's Blessing. It was so great to watch her get a blessing and then to watch her sister want one and actually manage to sit still till it was done. The Priesthood is real and I am so glad Gaupo holds it and can bless our children. After blessings, I got Kylee in the car and we went and picked up Ryker and went to school. You could kind of tell Kylee was nervous because she was quiet, but you know what she got there and when she came home she had crafts, and 'work' to show me. Plus she is excited to go back, so I call the day a success, especially since there were no breakdowns, not from Kylee or me.

Kylee on her first day.

Tia needed a sign and picture too.

These two sillies were worried about what or where the other one was while they were apart.

Finally, Labor Day weekend. I know that isn't a new thing. It happens every year, but we did try some new things. The weekend started of with Labor. The girls and I cleaned the house and Gaupo mowed the lawn. We got everything looking good, so that we didn't have to worry about it during the week. Then after lunch and naps we managed to sneak in the family bike ride that we missed when we had our shower mishap. The girls were troopers and enjoyed riding their bikes and playing at the different parks that we rode to. Then we came home and had a picnic dinner. We had hoggies with chips, cantaloupe, canned baked beans which are not very good in my opinion, applesauce, and special drinks. We had this picnic in our basement and the girls loved it. Then we came upstairs and did a little yoga. Yes, yoga. We have found that we all like doing yoga. We do kids versions of it and some are definitely better than others, but it helps everyone. Kylee and Tia focus and try really hard and I actually find it really relaxing. Gaupo when he does it, just does it to be with us, but hey it works. After yoga it was bed time. 

Sunday was pretty normal, but Kitt came to visit us and got up here in time for dessert and the family hangout. It was fun to do a family hangout on a pre-holiday Sunday because no one had to go to bed, so they could get up for work. So, we talked till almost 10. It was pretty fun to just talk and hangout. True it would be way better in person, but you know you can only do so much when you are all spread out. After the hangout; Kitt, Gaupo, and I talked till about 12:00AM. We talked about all kinds of stuff. It started out by talking about love languages. This stemmed from the book I have recently finished reading call "The 5 Love Languages." I really enjoyed the book and thought gave a lot of good insights into loving your spouse. Anyway, we talked about that, a smidge about boys, some about family, and then who knows what else but it was fun and late.

Taking pics with Daddy's phone while waiting for Aunt Kitt and/or dinner.

Monday morning came a little too soon, but not as bad as I thought it was going to be. We had breakfast pretty early for us and then we went on a walk/bike around Roosevelt Park. The girls rode their bikes while us adult followed on foot. We got to this park to do it, because of Pokemon Go. Gaupo and the girls play it and it is a great place to get a lot of stuff real quick. So, we did that for a bit, and then we went and played at the park. Then we went out in the field and played 'volleyball' and Frisbee for a little bit. We headed home about 10:15 and to be quite honest just kind of hung out the rest of the morning. We did play the Ogre game with the girls and had a piggy painting party, but other than that it was pretty darn chill. After painting piggies, we had lunch and then naps. During nap time I made crab dip and prepped the chicken for dinner. Kitt had to go to the store to get me some ingredients that I forgot, but it all worked out. The girls woke up kind of early, but Guapo took them for a walk in the stroller and let Kitt and I visit. That was so nice of him. When he got back we kind of lounged around some more and then the girls wanted to do some Yoga again, so we did. Then we started making dinner. We had dutch oven chicken, macaroni and cheese, and peach cobbler. Yes, Kitt is still gluten free, and yes it was all gluten free and delicious. Oh man, I was so stuffed after dinner. I didn't even want popcorn. Oh man it was so good. Gaupo cooked everything perfectly and the flavors were good, the breading stayed on the chicken. It was awesome. We finished off the night by having movie Family Home Evening. We watch the Incredibles as a family. It got a little intense for the girls, but they still enjoyed it and Tia found it in the movie cupboard this afternoon and wanted to watch it again. I was pretty amazed she really did sit through most of it and it was actually really enjoyable. So, true our celebrations were not new, but it was the only Labor Day we celebrated this year and I felt like we rocked it pretty well. Sure we could have done more stuff, but really I think everyone here need to just be here and have a little still time. Believe it or not still time is good for the soul and family.

Love my family. Love spending time with them. I love and am nervous about all the new adventures, but you know I wouldn't have it any other way. Life is an adventure that I am so glad I get to have.

Ft. Collins Temple Open House

The Fort Collins Temple is finally having its open house. We have been so excited to go and as soon as Kylee learned that she could go inside she has been dying to go. Well Saturday was our day to go. Our next door neighbors, Amy and Mark, agreed to go with us and it was so great to have them. To be honest I was kind of freaked out by the whole self-guided tour thing, and the there were so many people there when we went it was a little crazy, but it was still good. It was fun to be able to take them through and talk about the things that they had questions about and show the girls the inside of the temple. I loved walking through with Amy and Mark because I felt like they had a real respect for what we believe and were interested in what the temple was. I know we don't believe the same things, but I think it is super great when we can express an interest in those things that are important to those around us.

Kylee, Gaupo, Me, and Tia

Kylee and Tia playing in the fountain.

Kylee and Tia at the temple.

I also felt I should invite my friend Stephanie to come through the open house too. This experience was very different than the one with our neighbors. Stephanie has some issues with the church and is really struggling, so she is not as open as I would have hoped, but I am still glad I took her. It was interesting the questions that she had, and the thing she noticed. She was kind of antagonistic about the money put into temples and didn't even try to understand what things could mean or why we do it. However, when we entered the sealing room, she softened a bit and asked some real questions. I don't know why that room made such a difference especially since she wasn't even sure she wanted to be married and then to share that moment with her parents, but you know I think that there is something about families and being bound together forever that carries a special spirit. I don't know why it happened, but I am glad it did. Once we finished we took some pictures outside the temple and came home.

Stephanie and Me. Photo from Stephanie.

The temple. Photo credit goes to Stephanie.

Both tours were very short and I kind of want to take my girls again and go at a slower time when we can actually slow down and look at what they want to see. I love the temple. I love the peace it brings. I love the covenants and promises that are made there. They give me strength and hope. I can't imagine what it would be like to not know if I was going to see my family ever again. I don't know if I could have born the loss of Derek if it weren't for knowing that if I live worthy I can and will see him again. I love dreaming, because I don't actually know, about him playing or learning from my cousins, or talking to my Grandma, or what he is doing at the exact moment I am thinking about him. The gospel of Jesus Christ and the sealing power give me hope and peace about all those thing being real. I know that families can be together forever. I believe it with all my heart and I have loved sharing the temple with my friends and children. It has been so cool and scary to share one of my favorite places with some really great people. What a great gift to have to be able to have the doors opened for just a short bit. Love this special occasion.

Peaches and the Shower

Today Kylee asked, "What are you going to do while we nap?"

I replied, "I don't know. Mayabe blog."

Kylee: "What are you going to blog about?"

Me: "I don't know. What should I blog about?"

Kylee: "Maybe about when we went to the beach with Grandma and Grandpa."

Me: "But, we haven't gone to the beach with Grandma and Grandpa. I can't blog about that."

I am sure if we had gone to the beach I would blog that we had a great time and that the girls loved playing in the sand and the water and that Grandma and Grandpa thought it was the cutest thing ever. However, we have not been to the beach, or really anywhere with a whole lot of water real recently. So, maybe she is just longing for that adventure. Soon enough, but not for awhile.

Well since we haven't been to the beach, what have we been up to? Projects. Projects that have taken way longer than I or Gaupo intended them too. My project has been peaches. I bought four cases of peaches (about 80lbs). I bought that many because I was hoping to teach a friend, can some with Kitt, and do some myself. Well, I couldn't get a hold of my friend and then I found out she got a concussion, so I didn't think she would be up for much canning right now. Kitt went to Hawaii, so we will can her's either tonight or tomorrow morning, but I still have 60lbs of peaches to do. So, I figured it was time for me to try somethings I have always wanted to do, but never thought I had enough peaches to spare. So, I have done about 10 jars of peach jam, 6 quarts pie filling plus one I didn't can, and 10 bottle of peaches slices. Kitt is lucky I love her because I am kind of tired of doing peaches. 

However, I really enjoyed doing the jam, and the peach slices weren't too bad, but I am not sure I will do pie filling again. Oh man that was a mess. So, I tried to make the 7 quart recipe I found online and that thing turned out so much bigger than I thought, so it like barely maybe fit into my stock pot that supposedly hold 10qts. Anyway, because it was late and I had never done this before I didn't know exactly how things were suppose to go, so I didn't quite cook it long enough. So, when I filled the jars and tried to can it the clear jel in it decided to expand more and when I pulled the jars out they just overflowed like crazy. I was so mad. It had taken so long to do anyway and then to have it all overflow oh boy I was frustrated, so I thought I am going to bed I don't care. Problem is I do care. So, after about 1 minutes of laying in bed I got back out and went downstairs. I then opened the jars and dumped them back into the pot and cooked it again. I got all the jars washed and new lids and rings. Got things cooked right. Filled the jars and started the canning again. I pulled them out and they all looked good. I leaked a little and I am still trying to find out if that is okay or not because it did seal, but anyway it had to be be good enough because by then it was like 1:00 in the morning and I was totally not thinking anymore. Luckily it seems to have worked I made a peach pie with some extra filling I had and it tastes pretty good, but I really need some ice cream with it. It was a grand adventure, and we will see if amnesia kicks in sufficiently for me to want to try again next year. I am telling you between all these peach projects and Gaupo's project we haven't gotten to bed very early this week.

My peach jam and relish.

Gaupo has had his own project this last week. It wasn't meant to be a project, but accidents happen and just like I tell my kids that is okay as long as you clean it up and boy howdy has it been quite the clean up project. Gaupo noticed that our shower handle was leaking and so he was just going to take it off to see what kind of gasket needed to be replaced. Well while he was trying to undo the gasket, he twisted the how thing off, breaking three tiny copper pipes that were in there. Oh man, he felt so bad. Anyway, we went and talked to our neighbor Don and he came and looked at it. He said he could probably help us, but he would probably recommend a plumber. So we had our first experience calling a plumber and we will probably never do it again. It cost a bunch just to have him come look at the problem and give us a diagnostic on it. Then he wanted $250 just to cap it off, and if we wanted him to fix it fix it it would be $750.00 and he intended to cut a giant hole (12inX18in) in my bedroom wall. NOT COOL! When Gaupo heard the numbers he said I can do it for way less than that. So we paid the plumber his stupid fee and sent him on his way. Well that was just the start of the whole adventure. Gaupo got Don back over to our house and they spent the majority of the day trying to sweat copper pipes and stuff together because the plumber said not to use shark bites in a wall. Well, after sweating and soldering still left leaks, Don said to try this other fix. So, they did and that got our water back on, but I kept bugging Gaupo asking him if it really was okay. He got really annoyed, so I said I wouldn't say anything anymore, but the next morning he woke up and said he would call the inspector and just ask. So, he did and the inspector said, "No that wont work because the constant pressure causes leaks. However, shark bites are and we could use those. Also the plumber he always uses, uses shark bites." Man, that plumber we had was a JOKE! Anyway, Gaupo got the pieces we needed, caulk, tile, and stuff like that and by Thursday he had everything together except the actual fixture on. So, Friday he put that on and I haven't been satisfied with the sealing around the handle, so he had to caulk that too on Wednesday. So, hopefully by Saturday night we will be showering in our own shower again.

Our facetless shower.

Our sink. Gaupo and Don's tool bench.

More needed tools on the bed.

I know our crazy doesn't sound crazy, but it sure feels it. Between canning, and projects I feel like my house was super hard to make it feel like it was clean and functional. However,  we are now done with both and it is so great.