Summer and swimming..

Summer is HERE! Thank goodness for the warmth of the sun and the time together! I decided it was time to leave my job at our church St. Andrew and my last day was last Thursday, so I get to be home with both of my kids and just be a Mom for the summer. I am still working from home with my Dad, which will amp up a bit more now that I only have ONE job! I am sure I will look for something in the future, but for now I think I need to stay home with Punky and do what I had always planned and what I had done with Connor, be a Mom!

Connor has started swimming lessons, this is his first set of lessons. We have always done tball or baseball in the past and the swim lessons filled up SO fast- all week except Saturdays! So we decided that our little math & science wiz wasn't as into baseball as we had hoped, he loves to watch with us and to play catch with his Daddy, but isn't into being on a team. A bit sad for us, but I'd rather have him happy with what he loves to do than force the issue. So he started lessons this past Saturday and had a great time! He will take them all summer and I am so glad that he will begin to become safer in the water that he already loves to be in!

My Mom also helped me plant some flower pots for our front porch and back deck. I only had one flower pot last summer, because I knew that by the time Regan was born in late July I would never water again. I love flowers- to LOOK at flowers, but I did not get the love of gardening that my Mom and sister have. I don't like to get dirty! We also enjoyed some time outside with the kids and let Punk explore the deck until she dumped the dogs water bowl on herself! This is going to be a great summer!

Last Day of first grade!

I can't believe the school year is over already! We made it back home from Chicago just in time for the last day. Which is good considering I am (was) one of the room Moms for Connor's class! The kids had the room decorated like a rainforest and sang a few songs for all the parents. We made yearbooks for the kids and they all signed each others, we also made a memory book for Connor's wonderful teacher Mrs. Bittler. She will not be coming back to Arrowwood next year and we will miss her very much! I also got a picture of Connor with his two best buds this year, Sam & Diego. It was a fun party and Connor had a wonderful year! I can't believe I have a second grader now! WILD!

Chicago & Indiana

Here are some shots of the kids and Bill swimming at our hotel (Regan's first time!) and some shots as we drove around downtown. It was SO windy and cold we didn't dare venture out. We didn't have time to travel over to the friendly confines, but I did get a shot of Comiskey, ok US Cellular field and Soldier Field.

Homewood

Saturday night we drove into the Chicago suburbs and back to where Bill grew-up, Homewood. We also had dinner at the scared home of pizza to the Howard family- Aurelio's! We also drove around and showed Connor where Daddy used to live, where he played baseball and took the kids to a local park. We topped it off with a visit to Mitchell's ice cream, YUM! It was a really nice break and great to have some time for just the four of us.

Cousins, cousins everywhere!

On Saturday morning, we were able to meet Bill's late brother's family, whom he is very close to and one of his favorite parts of the midwest- Cracker Barrel!!! It was so great to see all of the girls and their families and to visit with Aunt Judy. It was emotional seeing them all without Uncle Jimmy, but we know his spirit lives on through all of them! We also made them our last "family" stop before we headed back to Denver Monday night. We stopped by Amy's house and Regan got to play with actual little girls toys! Her cousin Maddie loved being able to play with her. And it was very clear after looking at Amy and her youngest daughter, Macintyre's eyes, where Princess Punky gets her big blue eyes!

It was great to see all of them and wished we could have had a bit more time to stay and play!

A visit with Aunt Karen & Uncle Rick and family

On Sunday we made some time to drive north to visit with Bill's oldest brother Rick and his wife Karen. We also saw their kids Stephanie and Greg along with his VERY pregnant wife Cassie and their son Hugh. Connor loved being able to play with Hugh and Stephanie of course and they we all excited to meet Regan, who only made it part of the day in a dress! You just can't crawl in a dress!!

Connor becomes a wolf!

Yesterday the Cubscouts had the year end crossover, where the boys move up a level in "rank". So Connor moved up from being a tiger to becoming a wolf. It was fun watching him be inducted by JC Bear an "old trapper" who gave Connor a Native American name (of which I cannot remember) but he called him the white wolf- which fits considering he is a very white boy! He also gave him the title of medicine man, which did concern me a tad- either he will be a doctor or a scientist or he'll be a drug dealer! Let's hope for the former!

It was great to get out for a bit, Connor is recovering from pneumonia and seems to be doing much better and poor Regan is still croupy. But she did well for the short time we were there. And she got to see her "scout Mommy" Ali, who loves to hold her!

So onto to our next year of scouting!

Some of the pictures are a little dark, so just look hard, he's there!

Another casualty of facebook addiction- my blog!

So , that is the the sum of why I haven't posted as many pictures as I should- facebook. I am thinking I need a 12 step program to get back into blogging! But not sure I can diligently do both. Which is why I have stayed away from twitter! GEEZ! I'd never be off my "crackberry" as my brothers call it! It reached it's height last night, when Connor told me "Mommy, less texting and more listening"! You know it's bad when a seven year old points it out to you!

So what's new? Connor is about to finish up first grade and head into the summer. We are not doing baseball this summer, instead we are focusing on swimming and getting up into the mountains to explore some new hiking trails. He had a great year, made lots of friends and learned a lot. We are going to visit a nutritionist from DAN! (Defeat Autism Now) this summer. She will runs many tests on him (blood, urine, hair) to see how his body is handling toxins and how it is ridding itself of those toxins. We are also looking at how a change of diet might help his learning abilities and mostly his social abilities. A good friend of mine's son has ASD and they are in the same process of doing this as well. I am interested to see how this will work for Connor and if we can help his ASD and ADHD with some biomedical help along side his other therapies.

Regan will turn 10 months old at the end of the month and I am beginning to realize that I may have given birth to myself! She is a bit of a daredevil with much better coordination than I have. She isn't very cautious and tends to leap before she looks (a trait I am famous for). But she is a beautiful little creature and is so very happy with life!

Bill is still with Northern, passed his series 6 & 63 and is now a Northern Funds Rep. Which allows him to sell mutual funds. He taught Sunday school this past winter and spring, but I think is going to take a break and find other avenues of interest for him.

I am still pulling triple duty, working at St. Andrew, and with my Dad & brother in the insurance biz and taking care of the family. We are busy people, but really have begun to enjoy the family time we have together. I just finished a class about career changes. It was GREAT! It was a non-credit course for people either wanting to find out what they are really suited to do and people re-entering the professional world and wanting to know where to go. We took both the Myers-Briggs and the Strong Inventory and it was so eye-opening to learn my personality type and to see where my strengths in the business world lie. So my next step is to figure out what the next step actually is. It is just wonderful knowing I have options and that I can truly find my passion. I will begin volunteering with Autism Colorado in a few weeks and I am really looking forward to it. It is one area I think I could excel in. But we'll see, the future is always open!

We are very blessed with what God has given us, good employment, a nice place to live, good friends and family (even the crazy dogs) and mostly each other. Hopefully I won't wait so long before I tend to my blog again!

Below are pictures of things that have happened over that last couple of months. Enjoy!

See ya soon, Melinda

Rocky Mountain National Park

Here are some pictures from a trip I took up to the mountains with Tami and her family. These are of Sprague Lake. We had taken a week long class trip up to the area when we were in sixth grade and I don't think I have been back since! It was like a flashback once we hit the trail! It was a bit cold, but just breathtaking.

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking and shopping around Estes Park. All the while the Stanley Hotel was looking over our shoulders! If you have ever seen "The Shining" and don't know- that is where it was filmed. If you haven't seen it, especially if you are a Colorado native- you must see it!

We headed from there to a great BBQ place where Bill, Connor & Punk met up with us as well as the rest of the Eppard clan. It was a beautiful and peaceful day. Thank you Tami for letting me be a part of it!

See ya, Melinda

Another Aunt Comes to town....

Another visit from another wonderful person in our lives! Tami was in town for the past two weeks, taking a break from the renovations going on her her home I suspect! We have been friends for almost 30 years! What a wonderful thing to be able to say about a friend. This past Thursday she treated me to a spa day, including a massage, manis and pedis! Then we had a late, long lunch and she came back for a dinner "date" with Connor. It was a wonderful, relaxing and fun day for us.

Here are some beautiful pictures of Tami and the kids and probably a few of me with the kids as well. I miss having her here and can't wait for my trip across the pond to see how the Europeans live it up!

Thanks for the time Tami, it is always, always treasured!

see ya, Melinda

Aunt Brandy comes to visit!

My dear friend and sorority sister, Brandy came to visit at the end of April! It was so wonderful to see her again! I have missed her dearly and after all she has been through fighting Hodgkin's twice and beating it twice, it made the visit that much more sweet!

Connor fell instantly in love with her, which most people do! And we all had a wonderful time the 3 days she was in town. We visited downtown and she cooked up a mexican feast in my kitchen. We went out to lunches and dinners and had great long talks. We haven't seen each other in about 11 years, but it was like we had never been apart.

It was a fabulous 3 days and there were tears when she left. Mostly from Connor and I. We hope we can make it to Houston to visit her clan very soon!

Thank you for your visit Bran and thank you for your enduring friendship! Love and miss you already!

See ya, Melinda

Sweet baby who???

Here is our sweet baby who is now full on crawling and into EVERYTHING! So we have had to break out the baby gates and pick up the matchbox cars! She has started on small amounts of table foods and had some spagetti! Which she LOVED! That's my girl!

Enjoy!
See ya, Mel