Thursday | Today I attempted to observe through the lens of gratitude. I feel pretty grateful on a daily basis, to be honest. I’m excited to write some of my thoughts here today and dive a little deeper into this.

I’m thankful for quiet morning moments where I stay in this little corner of the house for a bit. I brush my teeth, get dressed and then look for simple tasks I can accomplish before I begin the rest of the day. Today, I took a little time to put the clean duvet back on our comforter.

I find many reasons each day to be thankful for this little dude, but today I was so happy that he woke up happy and also that he was so excited that it snowed. The way he says snow is absolutely the cutest. Colin and I gush about it to each other and try to mimic it, but he’s got his own special version.

I’m thankful for books and that Kai loves them even more that I hoped he would. Before we met him or brought him home, I dreamed about reading books with him and those dreams were nowhere near as wonderful as reality. It’s pretty much the first thing he wants to do when he gets up.

I’m beyond thankful for Colin as my husband and best friend. Watching him be an amazing dad and protector to Kai makes me fall more in love him day after day. Kai always wants to see him in the mornings and sometimes he has to wait until Colin is done with phone calls, but as soon as he can he greets Kai with enthusiasm and hugs.

I think I might be the only one, but I’m thankful for crazy mountain spring snows. Even in May. I think they are magical and I love how they make our landscape bright green.

I’m thankful for this awesome car. It’s safe and has enough room for kids and dogs and groceries.

I’m thankful for a sweet little dog who just wants to be part of the adventures. She’s a true and faithful companion and she makes me feel so wanted and loved.

I’m thankful for Costco samples. They mostly drive me crazy, but they make Kai super happy and I love that.

I love Izzy so much. I’m thankful for her in more ways than I could ever count.

I’m thankful for sweet brothers who think of really cool ways to help their nephew with his physical therapy. This Nintendo Switch is so great. It requires him to use both hands and I love that he can steer it by tilting it back and forth. Jake got it for him in the hopes that they could play each other online in the future and I think that’s one of the sweetest things ever.

I’m thankful for a family who all like to be outside, even when it’s cold and wet. Breathing fresh air together is a great family activity. Also, if we hadn’t gone out this evening, we would have missed this unbelievable view. Bright green grass and snowy mountains all at once.

I’m so thankful that Colin helped prep the veggies for the chili last night so I could put it all together later. It was a perfect snowy day meal.

Also, pretty grateful that he made a special trip to get some ciders for me. I guess I must have looked like I really needed one – truth.

I’m thankful for a quiet evening with a good movie and these two men. Tonight we watched a little more of Wall-E at the request of Kai. He’s got a thing for robots right now. I forgot how cute this movie is. Looking forward to finishing it this week – I can’t remember how it ends!

Feeling thankful for a little break in the clouds just before dusk.

I’m so thankful for a comfortable home and a soft bed to sleep in. I know that many, many people in this world don’t have these things. I’m very, very blessed and I hope I can continue to count my blessings instead of my burdens, no matter where life take me.

Wednesday words and photos

Day number 3 of fog and rain and chilly temps! It’s so unusual here to have this many sunless days in a row! It’s great for our lawn though. Colin put that wire fence up around the tree to help the grass seed on the back side of the hill get started. Otherwise the dogs and the kids just trample the area and nothing will grow.

Maybe it’s the dark mornings or he’s about to start growing again, but Kai has been sleeping long and hard so far this week. I took this time to snuggle with the dogs and do some fun reading under a warm blanket. It was a really sad part of my book, so I was grateful to be able to read the whole chapter without much interruption.

Our second living room has become Colin’s office since bringing Kai home. Last year we had a beautiful sliding wood door made so that he can close the area off for privacy and quiet. It has worked pretty well so far. He also gets a lot more natural light in this room than he did in his old office and the dogs get to hang out with him most of the day!

Mr. Sleepyhead decided to join us! He asked to bring some books to the table – can’t say no to that!

Today was our first milk delivery. We used to get this milk when we lived in Boulder and now they’ve extended their delivery area so we’re going to try it again for a while. I have a feeling we’ll be going through more milk as Kai continues to grow.

I love the look of brown speckled eggs. We get a 5 dozen box from Costco and I just refill this small one as needed from that. We eat a lot of eggs around here.

One of the reasons we go through eggs so quickly is these too! Penny especially LOVES eggs. So we add it in with their dry food pretty regularly. When eggs are being made, you can bet these girls will be close by making sure we don’t forget about their share.

Since it’s gloomy out and we don’t have anywhere to be for a bit, I thought I would mix up a mask to wear while I get some chores done. Love mixing May Lindstrom’s Honey Mud and Problem Solver together. I leave it on for about 20 minutes and after it’s been rinsed off, my skin is so soft. Definitely doesn’t hurt that it smells so amazing. It definitely has a calming effect on me.

Colin let Kai tote the binoculars around. He was super proud of them. He also just rediscovered those puppy slippers a friend had given us. When he first got home from China, he was scared of all stuffed animals and these slippers were no exception. Now he’s fine with them and suddenly these are SO cool.

Kai loves vitamins so we use them as an incentive for his physical therapy. He can lift his arm just high enough to grab a vitamin and he can get it to his mouth too! This is a huge deal and we cheer him on BIG TIME for making it work. He loves the positive feedback and gets really proud.

Lunch and Mr. Rogers. Winning.

Kai wants to sit on my lap when I try to work at the table. Trying to embrace and enjoy these moments, but it can be hard when I had other hopes for these moments.

Colin had a doctor appointment this afternoon and then it was my turn to head out for a bit. I FINALLY got my hair cut. I hadn’t had it done since December and it was out. of. control. ha!

I got to know Nancy last summer when playing volleyball and I’m so grateful to have her on my team! Besides the fact that she’s a super talented stylist, she’s also funny, smart and so sweet. It was great to catch up and to leave feeling really beautiful.

I stopped at the store on the way home from Denver to grab ingredients for Chili. It is supposed to snow tonight and most of tomorrow so that sounded like a really warm and comforting meal.

When I got home it was time for dinner and a fast rinse for Kai. He can do so much on his own. It’s crazy to think of what he’s accomplished in just the four months that we’ve known him (and then it’s crazy to think that we’ve only been together for 4 months…it really does seem longer.) He likes to do all the parts of brushing his teeth on his own. And he’s getting really good at turning the faucet on and off with his right hand. Another great PT exercise for him.

After brushing teeth, Kai always goes in search of the dogs and gives them each a hug and a kiss. He’s very sweet and gentle about it and I think they are starting to like it. They certainly don’t fight it.

He also finds whichever of us isn’t putting him to bed that night and gives more hugs and kisses. He has so much love to give, I’m so happy we get to be the ones on the receiving end of it.

Week in the Life!! I look forward to this project a lot each year. Ali Edwards is the brains behind this week of documenting and I’m so grateful for her and the way she has cultivated a community around it.

I’ll be using this week to take a bunch of photos of our life as it is right now – the beautiful and the messy and the beautiful messes.

I use this blog space to keep myself honest about then pairing my photos with my words. I love to tell stories, but often I rationalize skipping that part. I love photos too, but bringing the photos and the words together is what keeps me passionate about memory keeping.

So, here I go – this was our Monday!!

7:30A

The Mondayist photo ever.

Colin’s alarm goes off. He starts reading emails right away and I get dressed before leaving the room to let the dogs out and give them some breakfast. I check the monitor and can see that Kai is awake so I make my way back to his bedroom. Getting him out of bed in the mornings is my thing. I start his day with a “Good morning, Kai-Kai!” while opening the curtain over his window. Lately, he’s almost always in a good mood.

9:30A

Tess and I have been texting and decide that we’ll meet up at a park that’s in between our homes later this morning. Before leaving, I strip our bed of the sheets and get laundry started. Colin will likely keep it going while I’m running errands today.

Kai waits and plays while I’m doing these chores. He talks to himself a lot right now, mostly gibberish, but some words and names he knows get thrown in occasionally. He has a very sweet and soft voice when he’s doing this and sometimes he sings. That’s my favorite.

10:00a

The weather looks pretty overcast and rainy for most of the week, so I wanted to get a nice shot of the yard and the view with a little sun. Also, the view looks so much sweeter with these two pretty girls in it.

12:00p

Our playground date went super well – really nice warm morning too! These two are warming up to each other a little more each time they get together. Today there was lots of hand holding (a favorite of Kai’s) and chasing one another.

Tess and I brought the boys into Costco afterwards to check out the samples – oh, the glorious samples. It was like a scavenger hunt for the boys. They would get SO excited when they spotted a sample cart!

Back in the car, Kai fell asleep for a good 20 minutes. I counted that as his nap for the day. For some reason, I feel kind of proud when he passes out in the car. Like I must have given him a positive and active experience that warrants this rest.

Taking those little wins when I can get them!

1:30p

After some lunch and an introduction to Wall-E, Kai, Penny and I made our way to Target while Colin left to get some wire fencing at the hardware store. Penny loves rides. Izzy prefers to stay home most of the time these days.

Target was fun. I hadn’t been in there in quite a while! I ran into a couple people I worked with over the Holiday season, so that was fun! Got some essentials and also a few things that weren’t on the list – of course!

4:30p

I dropped Kai off at home and Colin started him a bath. Colin also started prepping the chicken for dinner. I grabbed both of the girls and made a quick run to the grocery store for some salad fixings to go with the chicken.

I kind of forced Izzy to come along because it was so lovely out and I knew, once she was in the car, she’d love sticking her head out the window. I was right.

I thought I’d snap a picture of the self check-out kiosks at the store. It’s not a new thing, but I did suddenly wonder if this will still be the method in the years or decades to come…

5:30p

While Colin finished grilling and putting the salad together, Kai and I played a little catch. I bought this Velcro set at Target today thinking it would be good PT for him. It’s fun and requires the use of both arms and hands. He still gets so very excited about new experiences and I love it when he hops around during the really special stuff like today. When he first joined us in January, he didn’t seem to understand the concept of “cheering on.” But now he thinks it’s the best and likes to cheer himself on as well as be cheered on. It’s awesome.

6:00p

We had dinner outside for the first time this year. There was moisture in the air and it smelled and felt amazing out there.

I’m still in awe of the fact that Kai likes salads so much.

The neighbor kids popped their heads over the fence and we talked about lightening and tornadoes – ha! We all learned some fun and interesting facts on these topics thanks to Colin’s crazy memory for details like these.

6:45p

Colin put Kai to bed tonight – we mostly switch off each night. I cleaned up the kitchen and tidied other parts of the house. It had started to rain so I left the door open in order to enjoy the outside smells.

 

That’s where I’m stopping for today. It was a good start to this project and I’m already feeling more excited to document the days to come.

Today I’m taking a cue from Ali and reflecting on “real life” stuff that goes along with my photos. Real life isn’t always pretty or perfect, obviously. It is important and totally a part of my story that I want to remember!

10:14AM || I stayed up really late last night so I slept in past 9 today and then I just hung out in bed reading the internet for a while. It’s another warm and sunny day, feels so good to wake up to open windows with a warm breeze blowing through.

Real life is that I’m not a morning person. I get my energy and creativity at night, I shower at night, I love to read at night. So mornings are not my thing.

10:16AM || Celebrating 5 years living with this gorgeous view. For a year before we moved here, we rented a small apartment so we could really save up money for our down payment. Izzy was so excited when she figured out that this whole yard was hers. Tons of room for catching disks!

Real life: although we’ve done a ton of work to the yard that we’re really proud of, we consistent list of other projects that need to get done and it can feel overwhelming. It also sucks that most projects require a bunch of money, so even though we have the drive to do them, we don’t always have the funds.

10:17AM || Penny came up to me this morning and as I pet her, I realized she was covered head to toe in dandelion seeds! She is totally my flower child. Always outside and exploring, covered in something.

Real life is that the dogs need hair cuts and I’ve been putting it off. They’re starting to get really warm, too warm, during the day and I know it’s uncomfortable. It’s just so messy to shave them…sigh.

10:52AM || Quick breakfast before I head to Boulder for appointments.

Real life is that I’m not very creative with breakfast these days. I think I’m really craving berries and other summer fruits so I’m just kind of phoning it in until I can start having watermelon and blue berries and raspberries on the regular.

11:02AM || She’s been guarding and observing the yard all morning, time for a break.

Real life is that I love this sweet dog so much. She’s got some crazy quirks like always having to be on guard and being really serious about almost everything. But she LOVES to snuggle and gets so excited about walks and Greenies that she spins in circles at the mention of them.

12:19PM || Just real life. I’ve been getting unwanted hair removed from my chin since the beginning of the year. Mine is particularly stubborn (of course it is) so after 6 sessions I’m finally seeing results. It makes me feel so good about myself.

More real life: it took me a really long time to be ready to invest in this. That hair makes me feel so self-conscious but other methods of removing it would just bother my skin so much. It took a really understanding and thoughtful husband to finally convince me it was okay to find a more permanent solution and that it wasn’t vain to feel good about me.

12:43PM || After the laser appointment, I drove directly to the Chiropractor. Our old Chiropractor decided to retire and sell her practice which was really emotional for all of us as we’d become really close friends and also felt comfortable trusting her with our health. I decided I would try out the doctors she sold the practice to and so far I’m really pleased. It’s still worth the drive into Boulder to keep seeing them!

Real life is that Colin has decided not to use them. It bums me out a little because this used to be something we’d do together every other week and often then go get lunch together. Now I just go by myself, which is nice in some ways, but I do miss going together!

1:21PM || Another typical Boulder stop is at OZO coffee. We really like their Decaf so we buy a bag at time. Today, I also got an iced soy latte and a slice of gluten free pumpkin bread to fuel my trip to the airport to pick up my mom!

Real life is that even though I almost always get the exact same coffee drink, sometimes I say it wrong or forget a part. Like today, I forgot to mention that I like a little bit hazelnut flavor added in. I remembered that I’d forgot as I was standing there waiting for my drink to be done. At least I didn’t forget to say decaf, but I’ve done that before and it never turns out well!!

4:31PM || The airport pick up went just fine and my mom is now in CO with me for the weekend!! She hasn’t been here in a while so this is really exciting for me! Before coming back to the house, we called my sister and asked what wines we could pair with the steaks that Colin picked up for dinner tonight. We have a nice selection to pick from this weekend!

Real life is that I’m horrible at remembering which wines I like. I need to start some kind of list on my phone or something! But luckily I have a sommelier for a sister so I can always get a little advice when I need it!

4:31PM || Just happiness at being together!

4:59PM || Our weather here in CO is a bit ahead of what they’ve been having in WI, so Mom was all about soaking up a little sun before dinner.

Real life: I was wishing I could sit out there with her, but I got sun burned REAL bad over the weekend and feel like a total idiot for not putting sunscreen on. So, I did not join her in the sun this afternoon.

6:32PM || Dinner was amazing, as always! While Colin got the steak and asparagus ready, I made a quick bowl of guacamole to snack on. Mom and I had one of the wines that Marci suggested which was so good.

Real life – Colin and I both trying to not eat so many carbs, especially towards the end of the day. Normally we’d have made a potato dish to go with this meal, but we opted to go without this time and it was no big deal. We were all still plenty full!

8:06PM || Mom was up at 4AM to catch her flight today, so we all just chilled and watched The Halcyon. I had a feeling she’d really be into it as it is kind of like Downton Abbey but set in a London hotel during WWII. She watched 3 episodes!

This week is flying by! Today was full of people I love and spending time outside. Loved it!

9:38AM || Hard at work! This room has been his office since we moved in 5 years ago. On the walls he has Anime posters and a graphic Star Wars print, along with some other personal pieces. Over the summer, though, it will be transformed into our adopted son’s room! We have a couple options for Colin’s new office set-up that we’re going to test out to see what works best.

10:30AM || The squirrels are being extra feisty and destructive today, so we put out the trap. It didn’t take long to catch one and Izzy is totally interested. Penny hates it when we trap the squirrels and essentially she ignores the situation completely.

11:57AM || Colin helped me grill up some of the amazing chicken breasts he makes so we could have some killer salads today!! I prepped the chicken and then he mixed up the marinade and grilled them to perfection a little later.

12:09 PM || A couple of my very favorite ladies came over for lunch and scrapping today! The chicken salads were a huge hit. It was a warm, although hazy, day so we enjoyed our lunch outside. I had to use the leaf blower earlier in the morning to blow all of the dandelion seeds off the patio carpet!!

1:24PM || And then, we scrap!! Cathy and Cassie stayed for a couple hours. It was great to just chit-chat and be creative. Normally, we would get together at Cathy’s house, but she’s in between houses for a while as they look for just the right place to buy. Things here in the Denver area are CRAZY. So many people moving to the state each month and houses get snatched up super fast. They’ll find the right one, though, I know it!

3:09PM || Got some packages today, including an Amazon delivery. That means there were the big plastic packaging bubbles and the girls love to pull them out of the boxes and thrash them around until they’ve popped them all!

3:14PM || Resting up before it’s time to start pestering us to go outside and play!

4:35PM || Us girls convinced Colin to join us on a walk today. It’s always more fun when we’re all together! It was really quiet at Van Bibber today. We kind of had the place to ourselves which in unusual and also really lovely.

4:40PM || Even though it wasn’t very sunny, it was quite warm! Both dogs were kind of dragging after a while so didn’t walk as far as we typically do. Today even called for a mid walk break. If you ask Izzy “do you want to take a break?” she will almost always lay down for a bit. I think it’s so awesome that she gets what that means!

5:25PM || Decided to bring some of the outside in. The lilacs are filling the whole house up with the most intoxicating scent. My instinct is to wish that I could enjoy this fragrance all year, but then I think it’s better that is a once a year thing. I’m pretty sure that is one of the reasons it feels so special to me .

7:09PM || The weather folks are saying we might end up with a few rainy days in row later this week, so I pumped myself up to mow the lawn. Loving all the GREEN everywhere!!

7:13PM || Love this happy face and wagging tail. She loves a freshly mowed lawn. I caught her rolling around in a spot I had just cut as I rode along this evening.

7:15PM || Last bits of sunlight and last bits of apple blossoms. The yard smells of a heavenly mix of freshly cut grass, apple blossoms and lilac. Taking deep breathes.

9:39PM || Super chill evening. Catching up on some of our favorite comedies: Archer, American Dad, Mike Tyson Mysteries, Modern Family. Love to laugh together!

10:43PM || I wanted to stay up a little longer to get the WITL blogging done, so before he went to shower, Colin put on an episode of Father Brown for me to listen/watch while I worked. British murder mysteries might be my very favorite thing to watch – pretty sure!

6:57AM || Good Morning, beautiful Tuesday! Penny is ready to enjoy every bit.

10:28AM || Routine – brush teeth, wash face, moisturize, sometimes a little makeup, pearl earrings.

10:36AM || When I’m in the bathroom, she’s almost always outside the door waiting for me.

10:45AM || They were pleased to accompany me to King Soopers on this beautiful day. Heads out the window the whole way. We had a very important list that included a bag of dog food!

11:12AM || Cheetos were NOT on the list, but I couldn’t resist and I knew there were some others who would indulge with me when I got back to the car – just one or two can’t hurt!

12:21PM || Colin and I decided to make our way to the fire station to vote for our neighborhood’s Fire Chief. One of our neighbors is running so we wanted to go support him!

1:03PM || 2+ hour meeting with our wonderful social worker this afternoon. She has to meet with us multiple times and do interviews. She takes what she learns from these meetings to write up a report and recommendation on us. She let us know today that she is indeed recommending that we be permitted to adopt the little boy we’ve been matched with in China! Little by little, we’re getting closer to bringing him home.

4:27PM || One of the neighbors bunnies escaped from under the fence and into our yard. The girls chased it around for a bit before it finally got tuckered out and we could coax it back under the fence. This happens every once in a while. Our dogs love to chase them, but they never try to hurt them. I feel kind of proud about that.

 

6:19PM || We’re going to the Opera! In the car, we had a little catch-up with my brother who is starting a new job soon. Always fun to talk with him.

7:08PM || We had a later start than we planned, but we found a sandwich and coffee shop down the block from the Opera House. The food was quick and good. My favorite part was this bright yellow table on the patio, though!

7:16PM || This fiddle player was enchanting. We could hear his music from our patio table.

7:24PM || Our first Opera! It was SO FUN. The venue is really beautiful and it was a full house. We saw people from all walks of life. The performance was really fantastic! It was in Italian, but each seat had a little screen that translated the lyrics into either English or Spanish. So we knew exactly what they were singing about.

7:33PM || This guy. He set up this awesome outing. He’s always wanted to go to the Opera and he made it happen. Love spending any kind of time with him and doing special things together!

9:25PM || We had fun exploring the Opera House during the two intermissions. Also treated ourselves to Gin and Tonics and some sweet snacks!

9:27PM || Fun to dress up for an evening in the city! Polka dots and tulle for the win! Also, this Chihuly glass was giving me all the heart eyes. So cool that you could walk right up to it on one of the upper levels!

10:56PM || A typical welcome home  from our sweeties! Gives us the biggest grins every single time.

So happy to be participating in Week in the Life again this year with Ali Edwards!! Here is how Monday played out…

6:30AM || Something that has stayed the same through the years: Penny is my alarm clock. 6:30-7AM is the norm. Penny sits next to my side of the bed and sighs really loud or does a head shake to wake me up. When Izzy is sure that I’m up, she then joins us. They do their business outside before having breakfast. Then, we all go back to sleep for a couple hours.8:30AM || We’re up and Colin drops a pile of clothes to fold on the bed before he starts work. He washes, I fold. It works nicely for us!

Colin has been having Oatmeal a lot for breakfast, He prefers to cook it on the stove. Brown sugar is his favorite addition.

10:36 || We recently bought a new vanity and sinks for this bathroom at an IKEA sale. We still need to pick out new flooring, but this set-up is on its way out so thought I better document it!! Buh-bye green tiles.

11:30AM || Pretty late breakfast, just wasn’t super hungry until now. French press coffee with hazelnut creamer, Honey Nut Chex with Lactaid milk and chicken sausage!

2:16PM || Emily texted me that she and Jude were just chillin’ on the front porch, so I walked over to hang out for a bit! (Colin and I are both so incredibly grateful for our awesome neighbors.) We started admiring the humongous lilac bush in between our two yards. It smells AH-mazing.

2:25PM || Jude got his own sprayer (because his dad has one, so totally needs one too, obviously!) and asked if could come over and spray the dirt off our house – uh, yeah, please do! HA! That turned into spraying the plants I put in over the weekend. Thanks, Jude!!

3:00PM || Late lunch! Which is fine because, late breakfast! Chicken sandwiches and green chili cheese fries. We really like chatting with the Manager, he’s a fun guy!

3:43PM || Penny now gives “big hugs” upon request. It’s the cutest darn thing ever.

4:34PM || I’ve been working on adoption paperwork most of the day so we’re ready for our meeting with our Social Worker tomorrow! I think we have it all collected, just need one more thing to arrive!!

4:58PM || Asking so nicely, but persistently, to go for a walk. Her internal clock is so spot-on!

5:19PM || When they want something really bad (like a walk) Izzy starts prancing around as hard as she can with a toy. Today it’s this random rope she’s been carrying around a lot. Somehow she got it wrapped around her midsection so she’s been kind of walking herself around with it and it’s cracking us up so much!

5:59PM || Van Bibber Open Space is our go-to spot for walks. The dogs love it and I love the view! I listen to an audio book or podcast. It’s become a really important release for me during the week. I look forward to the walks as much as the dogs do!

7:27PM || After the walk, I accompanied Colin to the gym for a little running and some other exercising. There are these geese that roam the parking lot. They just plop down wherever they want and everyone just knows to drives around them. They pretty much own the lot.

9:40PM || Late dinner too! We grabbed some salmon after the gym and Colin grilled it when we got home. One of our favorite dishes is to make a mayo, mustard and baby dill sauce to put on it. Awesome light dinner that we topped off with some V8 to get our veggies!