First Day of School

Fifth and third grade: here we come!

Daniel's Birthday Weekend

This year, we surprised Daniel with a weekend at a cabin on Lake Granby, just outside Rocky Mountain National Park. The first night we saw the Supermoon blood moon. It looked HUGE!

The second night I woke up in the middle of the night and went outside to see a partial eclipse. Crazy.

Everyone got to do some of their favorite things. Fishing was high on the boys' list. Check out the huge fish Jack caught the first day--right off the dock in a net! It must have been beginner's luck because the boys didn't catch anything else the rest of the weekend.

We paddled, read, and relaxed in the hot tub.

A cute boy decided to brave the icy water.

For his birthday cake, Daniel asked for eclairs. I had to get all fancy and make a croquembouche--which is basically a pyramid tower of cream puffs glued together with caramel and wound with decorative spun sugar. It is traditionally served at French weddings.

Here's a very unflattering picture of me sweating bullets. I made the cream puffs, pastry cream, and a chocolate ganache dipping sauce at home, and I piped them at the cabin. The caramel should have taken 15 minutes to make. An hour later, it was still crystallizing every five minutes. You can see the thick layer of crystallization in the pot in this photo. I forgot that I always have problems making caramel in Denver (at 5,000 feet). The cabin sits at 8,000 feet. Daniel broke the rule book and kept adding water which seemed to stop the crystallization but it took over an hour to make. I was pretty worked up but Owen, my loyal sous chef, stayed by my side, and Daniel had to help assemble his own birthday cake.

It was delicious but the caramel was so hard it kept getting stuck in our teeth. We were laughing hysterically. This video gives a sense of the party ambiance. My apologies for the operatic attempts.

It's rare to get to canoe on a lake in Colorado. Our morning canoe ride was such a treat. It doesn't hurt that Lake Granby backs up onto Rocky Mountain National Park so most of the shoreline is national forest.

We paddled across the lake to a small island.

My dudes. I love them desperately.

Birthday breakfast for the (very loved) birthday boy. We adore you, Daniel!

And away we go!

Here they are headed off for their first day of school. We have a 4th grader and a 2nd grader. Wow!

Owen is showing off his bus card. He was pretty nervous about riding the bus. (He has to take a shuttle from one campus to another this year.) When he came home, he told me the bus was "outragingly hot." Later in the week, he came home with a big smile and said, "My teacher is so nice. He understands that it's hard for us to come back to school. We don't even have to work!" I said, "Well, what do you do?" He replied, "Well, we are getting to know each other and learning about our new building because it is very serious. There are babies in our school." (Our school, along with a daycare and several other schools, is renting space in a large church.) Today he told me, "I love school!" This is a new enthusiasm from Owen, so we're happy to hear that.

Jack was thrilled to see all his friends and go back to school. He's been counting down the days for weeks. A few days into the first week, his teacher told me he was talking too much in class. He cried all the way home. Poor guy. It's a big transition, getting back into a school routine. I don't take this reprimand too seriously because every teacher Jack has ever had tells me the same thing the first week of school. This kid is just like his mom! He loves to talk with his friends.

First time for everything!

15-year Anniversary

With family to hold down the fort, Daniel and I sneaked away to a cabin in Leadville for an early anniversary weekend getaway. Fifteen years on June 24!

This is not the cabin where we stayed. It's cute though, isn't it? There are all sorts of abandoned 19th-c. houses and schoolhouses in the mountains, relics of pioneer days.

The next day we decided to drive over the pass down to Aspen for lunch. This is Twin Lakes. Where do we live? This is just over two hours from our house.

A little barre3 in the old ghost town of Independence, at 10,830 feet. Once a thriving town built around a gold mine discovered on July 4, 1879 (hence the name), it was abandoned by 1912. How on earth did people survive in such a harsh climate? I stripped off two jackets to take this photo.

The trusty Pathfinder.

On the roof of the Rockies, at Independence Pass. At 12,095 feet, it is the highest paved crossing of the Continental Divide in the U.S.

On the way home on Monday, we stopped for a hike on the side of the road.

Blessed.

Last day of school

Birthday party for the summer birthday kids.


Singing Happy Birthday to the summer kids.

Crazy moms on the loose! My partner in fun.

Owen's wonderful teachers. Sra. Diva, on the right, has been his lead teacher for two years and she was such a blessing to Owen. We are so grateful for her!


What a treat to have my parents and Aunt Katie in town! I always get so jealous of the families who casually bring grandparents and aunts and uncles to school events. It was wonderful to have family there to celebrate this milestone.

Jack and his assistant teacher, Sra. Nicole.

Jack with his lead teacher Sra. Tracy.

Congratulations to my boys! On to fourth grade and second grade!

Chickens in print

It's happened! I have published my very first magazine essay! "Diary of a Hen Owner" chronicles the joys and trials of raising backyard chickens. It appears as part of a big feature on urban homesteading, called "Backyard Bounty." It was so fun to write. Plus they used Daniel's photography. Enjoy!

birthday mayhem

39 years old. Now where did all those years go? I almost didn't post this photo because I can't stand the way I look in it. When have I become a puffy-faced, gray-haired wrinkle-fest? (I know, I might have a teeny, teeny problem with vanity.) But then I decided, you know what? Who cares? I am blessed. Here I am, healthy and alive and holding my beautiful boys. Every line on my face tells a story of the laughter that's crinkled my eyes, the tears I've cried, the real life I've lived. Here it is--happening right now--the full, messy, complicated, wonderful life I've been fortunate to live thus far.

They were determined to bake me a cake. There was much banging and crashing of pots. For hours. 

So proud of themselves! (Meanwhile, Daniel was ready to keel over.)

Coconut vanilla cake with raspberry filling and coconut cream cheese frosting. Mmm. 

What a great birthday! So thankful for my sweet little family, and for all the friends and family who make life so rich and beautiful.