Hadley | Life Elevated Mom

The Santa Reveal & End of an Imaginary Era

April 29, 2013 By Amber

I’ve always believed it’s important to instill magic in my kids’ childhood and my husband and I have played along with the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, Santa et. al. We’ve been careful to never put too much credence into them but my kids’ overactive imaginations have taken care of that.

End of an era: moments after finding out.

For Christmas, we’ve kept the Santa presents to a minimum and he only brings them a couple of their requested gifts and stuffs their stockings. Mostly because I want the credit to go to me, not some plump dude sporting fur.

Months ago, my 8-year-old daughter started building a leprechaun trap and I had forgotten about it until I heard her setting it up the night before St. Patrick’s Day. My first thought: Crap, now I have to do something so made up a few mischievous leprechaun tricks.

Last year, my daughter’s second-grade teacher introduced Elf on the Shelf (likely to ensure they behaved) and the children were delighted when, each day, their elf dreamed up a new caper.

Last month, we were at the airport on Easter waiting for our flight home from Utah when my daughter, while eating her stash of candy she’d collected earlier that day, asked,

“Mom, are you the Easter Bunny?”

“What do you think?”
“I think you are. No, wait, I think he’s real. Oh, I don’t know.”
“Do you want to know?”
“Maybe, I’m not sure. OK, yes I want to know.”
My husband had previously agreed we wanted to tell her everything this summer so the timing was perfect.
“Mommy and Daddy are the Easter Bunny.”

Disappointment, then relief flooded her face. She grabbed another handful of candy as she contemplated this new revelation. After a minute, she handed me a Reese’s chocolate egg (sharing is something she never does) and asked:

“What about Santa?”
“Do you really want to know?”
“Yes, no, maybe not.”

Learning the truth about Santa was exponentially tougher because there’s a lot more build-up and excitement surrounding him. Ultimately, she confessed,

“Yes, I want to know.”
“It’s Mommy and Daddy.”

There was a flash of sadness but then an appreciative look as she reflected back upon all the gifts we’ve bought her that have been attributed to Kris Kringle.

She grabbed another stash of candy, shoved it in my hand and queried.

“So, the Tooth Fairy and leprechauns. Not real, either?”

By now, my mouth was busting with her bribery chocolate and I merely nodded.

Once she had digested the new information, she got a twinkle in her eye and started calling me out.

“So, when the Tooth Fairy came when we were evacuated for Hurricane Earl, that was you?”
“Yep, and it was really tough one because we didn’t have any cash and had to borrow from Grandma and Grandpa.”

“And when I leave out those cookies and milk for Santa?”
“Daddy devoured them.”

“What about all those pistachios Elphina ate?” (Elphina was her Elf on the Shelf and one morning, my daughter found her bent over in a drunken-like stupor surrounded by shells).
“Daddy and I ate them.”

“But what about when we found her in the kitchen with all those sugar cookie crumbs? WERE YOU AND DADDY RESPONSIBLE FOR EATING THEM ALL?”
“Yep.”

Apparently, our imaginary friends have an eating problem we’ll need to come up with another scapegoat.

Filed Under: Hadley, Humor

Let’s NOT Go Fly A Kite

April 16, 2013 By Amber

I have frequently documented my dislike for all-things kites, particularly when it comes to flying the blasted things. Which, I hear, is kind of the point. Though I wouldn’t know because I’ve never gotten one airborne.

And yet every year when the Arvada Kite Festival rolls around I think, “Oh, let’s go see the kites! It’s a perfect spring activity!” Call it early-onset dementia.

We had a 2.5-hour window between Bode’s soccer game and a baptism so we high-tailed it over. We should have kept on driving because we drove around for ages trying to find a parking spot. Hey, Arvada Festivals Commission–let’s maybe rethink holding an event in a neighborhood with zero parking.

Knowing it’s a huge problem, they tried to shuttle people in from the community swimming pool a mile away but hey, Arvada Festivals Commission–when you say the shuttles are going to run every 10 minutes, make sure we don’t wait there for a half-hour before finally deciding to just walk out of sheer frustration. Oh, and it might help if your poor volunteer’s Walkie Talkies work.

We were ticked off by the time we got to the park almost an hour later but our spirits were elevated when we saw all the kites! We collapsed, exhausted, and watched them battle it out with the clouds. When the wind was calm, people lounged on the grass but the moment the wind picked up, it was sheer magic as all the kites fought for air space.

We grabbed some of our favorite treats from Granny’s…

Granny’s

…sat in front of the loudspeaker and when Billie Jean and Footloose came on, darnit if that Bode didn’t start break dancing for the crowd.

We should have left while the gettin’ was good.

The Arvada Kite Festival has grown over years and there was a petting zoo, vendors, food trucks, bouncy castles, hamster balls and much more. Bode wanted to go jump but then we passed the Booth of Doom: they were selling kites for $4.

“Mommy, can we pulllllease buy a kite?” Hadley begged.

Since it was a kite festival, after all, I said “yes,” forgetting that my relationship with those flying temptresses is much better at a distance.

Hadley ripped the packaging open and within moments, a gust of wind swept it away, dive-bombing a guy from a neighboring booth.

After apologizing profusely, we made our way out to the field but Hadley couldn’t get it to fly. We sought the guidance of a spectator who informed us our kite was missing the crossbar on the back. So, I headed back over to the Booth of Death, informed the nice sales guy, he tossed our kite behind him and gave us another one. Swell, right? Mere moments later, Hadley saw the wooden crossbar she had likely dropped from Kite No. 1.

“Oh no, we found it.”
“Don’t worry about it. I already trashed the other kite.” And he tossed it in the garbage.

So we took our new kite out for another try. Almost immediately, a gust of wind swept it up, up, up, up and then down, down, down. It crashed in a marvelous belly flop, completely obliterating the back of the cheap kite. And guess what was busted? The crossbar.

Back to the Booth of Death we trudged. The man bristled when he saw me.

“Sir, do you remember that wooden crossbar we found from the kite you threw away?”
“Yes.”
“May we have that back?”

Without speaking another word, he handed it to me. I didn’t make eye contacted for fear of the daggers.

Hadley and Bode kept trying and failing. Hadley kept yelling at me I wasn’t tossing it upwards the right way, I was complaining right back to her that she wasn’t letting out the line quick enough and Bode kept getting tangled up in it all.

Our unflyable kite

You know all those nice images of how peaceful and soul-filling kite-flying is? LIES, ALL LIES.

As we were about ready to wrap things up, our line got ensnared with someone else’s and I. Was. Done. As the nice man tried to untangle it, I said, “Just cut ours off.” He protested, obviously not seeing the veins that were bulging out of my head or that we were going to be late for the baptism and still had to combat the transportation nightmares back to our car. “No, seriously,” I told him. “We need to leave so just cut our line.” He reluctantly did so and we were free!

As we dejectedly trudged back to the car, I taught the children a new word: “boycott.” And that, my friends, is exactly what we’re going to do the next time the Arvada Kite Festival rolls around.

Unless I have early-onset dementia again.

Filed Under: Bode, Colorado, Hadley, Humor

Utah: How I Love Thee (Mostly) and our Park City Family Vacation

April 4, 2013 By Amber

My complicated relationship with Utah was reconfirmed during our latest visit for spring break. I wouldn’t go are far as to say it’s a love-hate dynamic but I always struggle between “I want to move back here” and “I’m so glad I got out of here,” the former attributed to the mountains and family and the later, to cultural idiosyncrasies.

But what could be better than hanging out reading books with Grandma in her beautiful, new finished basement?
Not to mention dying eggs and a fun Easter egg hunt with our darling cousins?And sneaking off to do this memorable hike on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail behind Red Butte Gardens wasn’t too bad, either.
Our spring break was about two things: Skiing at Park City Mountain Resort and family. Fortunately, we were able to combine them both by staying at Silver Star, a gorgeous three-bedroom town home at the base. The gift basket is courtesy of Resorts West. The Cheese Balls, thanks to us.
We like to keep it classy.

For four days, we hot tubbed, watched The Hobbit, grilled burgers, ate and hung out.

Ski School

That was just the indoor fun. The kids did ski school for a few days and Bode rocked his “Superstar” class.

Attempting Mary Katherine Gallagher’s “Superstar” pose

And Hadley graduated to an intermediate-advanced class. Her instructor told us she used to train the U.S. Ski Team, gave us her card and said that she “could work with her.”
Some parents would sell their soul if their kid had an iota of Olympic potential. We’re underachievers who said “that’s nice” and went back to eating our Cheese Balls.

Jamie had a stellar time on the mountain, with the exception of the day I got really ill from an allergy-induced sinus infection.

I, of course, have to get sick on every vacation.

Tubing for a Bruising

Then, there was Gorgoza Park. On our final night in Park City, Jamie’s sister and her family joined us for some fun at this adventure park outside of Park City. Our kiddos tore up the mini snowmobiles.Our 3-year-old twinnies are darling and sweet but oh-so fearful. They’re under 42-inches tall so had to tube the Lower Lanes, which is a good thing because they were sufficiently traumatized. For the first run, Ada went down with her dad without a problem while Berkley was HAVING NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. Jamie’s sister Tammy soothed her fears and even Ada’s pep talk about “being brave” didn’t help. After several motivational speeches, they eventually went down with Berkley screaming the whole way.

Then came the final attempt. The staffer at the top complimented Tammy saying “Most parents just throw their kids in the tube but you handled that just right by talking it out with her.” But this time, it was Ada who decided to freak out and refuse to go down the hill. After trying to calm her down, they all loaded up and had the staffer push them down the hill with Ada screaming the whole way.

“You mean, the parents do it like this?” Tammy joked to him.

I always knew I liked her.

For Fear Factor, Edition 2 we dragged Jamie’s mom up and down The Big Hill.

She initially wasn’t very happy but unlike Ada and Berkley, Adventure Grandma didn’t cry even once.

Family Ski Day

There are few things that bring me more joy than skiing with my little family and though we hope to keep them in ski school as long as possible, I love when we can ski together. A tradition at many resorts is to throw bead necklaces in the trees as you’re passing them on the chair lift. We purchased eight necklaces from the Dollar Store prior to our trip and were so excited to try it.

The problem: Bode lost two of them before we even left the condo. We also hadn’t calculated the exact moment we would need to toss them, taking into account the velocity of the chair lift, the angle of the trees and our sheer incompetence.

Translation: We failed at physics and I think only two actually made it into the trees.

There were many, many other adventures including skiing down the Adventure Alleys designed for kids, doing the jumps at the terrain park, the alpine coaster and Flying Eagle zipline.And then my very favorite moment of the entire trip: summiting the top of the McConkey Lift. Perched at the top of the ski resort, only intermediate and advanced skiers can access it and this was our first as a family.

Bode squealed, “I’m the king of the world” as he gazed out upon the endless sea of mountains. Then as he peered over the edge as he skied and he confessed, “I’m kinda freaking out” but went on to ski it like a champ.

His wasn’t the only breakdown. The day before, Jamie had taken me down double-black expert terrain at Jupiter Bowl when I was still recovering from the plague. There are no pictures of his indiscretion, which is probably a good thing because the less evidence, the better.

Hopefully, Ada, Berkley, Bode , Grandma and I will have forgotten those freakout moments by the time we return to have the time of our lives at Park City Mountain Resort next year.

Filed Under: Bode, Family travel, Hadley, Humor, Jamie, skiing, travel, Utah

The wizarding world of siblings

April 2, 2013 By Amber

Not to discount parents who have only one child but I firmly believe some of life’s most important relationships are learned through sibling relationships–the good and the bad. As I watch my kids play, struggle, fight, make-up, sacrifice and love I can’t help but be grateful they have each other, even if they don’t always appreciate it.

When we are traveling and adventuring, they get along marvelously 95 percent of the time. They have to–all they have is each other. When they’re home, it’s an entirely different manner. It’s about territory, competition and stuff. Hadley is entering the tween years where so many things her little brother does annoy her (I remember them well). It doesn’t help that he is thriving in areas in which she is struggling, augmenting an already complicated dynamic. Sometimes she can be downright mean.

A couple of weeks ago my friend Jenn, even though she had a house full of kids, graciously offered to watch H and B while Jamie and I went to the temple. The next morning, Jenn told me Hadley threw a fit about Bode joining in a game, stormed off, vented, got over it and later joined in. I was U-P-S-E-T and her attitude had gone too far. Jamie and I met with her to discuss the consequences for her actions and gave her a chance “to make it up” to Jenn and Bode.

That afternoon, I canceled her playdate with a friend so she could make Jenn an apology card and some Easter cookies. I then asked her to think of three day’s worth of thoughtful things she could secretly do for her brother. She decided to start by cleaning his room.

Next, Hadley carried the cookies over to Jenn, rehearsing her apology. I was proud of her–She was willingly being accountable for her actions. As she walked up to the front step, she turned and WHOOOOOSH, the cookies went flying off the plate. She looked at me, ready to cry. I looked at her. “Let’s go home,” I announced. She was deflated and I jokingly reminded her of a story we had recently read in the children’s Friend, “Three Milk Shakes for Malachi.” She started to perk up. “Hopefully it won’t take me that many times!”

This time, she loaded up our personal stash of cookies, took them over, rang the doorbell and Jenn answered. Only she wasn’t alone. Jenn is the Bishops’ wive and our kindly Bishop joined her as well. Hadley faltered a bit before sputtering out her apology. They graciously thanked her and she raced away, beaming.

She tried really hard the rest of the day to be nice to him (no small feat for her). That evening as we were getting ready for bed, Bode entered his room for the first time.

“Wow, look at how clean it is!”

“Did you do it, Mommy?”

“No.”

“Did Daddy do it?”

“No, Hadley did it.”

“Was it Fat Kitty?

“It was your sister!”

“Or maybe it was a wizard?”

Something tells me this sibling dynamic will be a long, hard road.

Filed Under: Bode, Hadley, Humor

How to get your kids to appreciate you

March 25, 2013 By Amber

Ingratitude. It’s the age-old battle all parents wage with their kids. But I have found the solution for instilling gratitude:

Leave them for a week.

I recently spent a week in Canada for some family matters. I arrived home to jubilant children who pelted me with their stuffed animals and doused me with hugs and kisses. Their excitement was augmented when I brought them their very favorite food in the entire world: Tim Hortons Timbits (thanks to Dad for enduring a 4 a.m. doughnut run before my early flight).

But with time, the children started whispering.

“Do you see that pile of dishes? It got to be this high!”

“I have no clean underwear. Have you seen all the dirty clothes in my laundry basket?”

And the worst one of all:

“THERE HAVE BEEN NO HOMEMADE COOKIES IN THE COOKIE JAR!”

Though I left a fridge and freezer full of healthy food, McDonald’s and pizza became the staples (though you didn’t see the kids tattling about that).

I won’t mention when I called 40 minutes after bedtime on a school night and they were waging a mixed-martial arts competition after watching Here Comes the Boom. In the background, I could hear Bode saying, “Daddy said we could have three cookies!”

Sounds like he coped just fine with his store-bought Oreos.

This is not a knock on Jamie…far from it. The dude was a single dad for a week while he juggled a demanding work schedule, Bishopric, homework, poor health and shuttling the kids to their various activities while making sure they were fed. I couldn’t have gone home if my wonderful husband hadn’t generously stepped up.

But it was a wake-up for all of them that clean clothes don’t just magically appear, delicious, homemade food doesn’t make itself, and darn it, those dishes don’t wash themselves. Maybe that lady we call Mom does more around here than nag us to keep a schedule, do our chores and to make our beds.

Though apparently they got a bye on all those things last week.

They don’t know how really good they had it.

Filed Under: Bode, Hadley, Humor, Jamie

Colorado Life According to Instagram

March 23, 2013 By Amber

It only takes a quick glance of the onslaught of pictures I’ve taken on my phone to realize I’m so far behind on documenting my life I’ll never get caught up. I’ve been wrapping up a couple of big campaigns and took on an additional freelance assignment in addition to everything else I’m juggling. But no complaints here. Whenever I start to feel grumpy about my lack of free time, I’m filled with gratitude that so many doors have been opened for me at Denver’s biggest media outlets and that the kiddos are happy and healthy.

That said, I told Jamie when much of it wraps mid-April, I’m hitting the trail. A lot. At the beginning of the school year, I declared this to be my “Princess Year.” with the kids finally in school full-day. Welp, it never happened; I’ve just been too busy. But I’ve decided those final weeks before school lets will be my Princess Month. I’ll take whatever I can squeak out at this point.

What we’ve been up to lately:

Threw a going-away party for Bode’s teacher Mrs. Davenport who has been substituting for the last few months for his beloved teacher who was out on personal leave.I got choked up during my good-bye speech to her, even though I’d barely met the woman. Because I’m an emotional wreck like that.

One day when I met my deadlines early, I rewarded myself with a hike at Chautauqua, my favorite area on the Front Range.

Because I’m nice to myself like that.

Took this girl to the great outdoors to collect sticks for a class project we’ll reveal later.

I didn’t complain when I was left to do the compiling while this girl explored across Clear Creek on her own.

We kicked off Spring Break with Bode’s friend Nicky’s party at Mid-air Adventures, which was a ziplining and high-flying adventure. I was proud of both kiddos for doing the giant swing, which terrified them.Better them than me.

Though we thought winter was behind us, we got a big dump of snow this weekend so we, of course, had to play. I was impressed when Hadley proactively started clearing off Jamie’s car and Bode shoveled our neighbor’s driveway.

Though I ended up finishing both jobs, we’ll count this as “It’s the thought that counts.”

And finally, sweet Bode brought home the numerous projects he has been working on this term. He has been learning about goods/services and needs/wants in his economics class.
I don’t know if I’m more charmed that he has Heavenly Father under “My Needs” or homework under “My Wants.” #SpiritualGeek

Filed Under: Bode, Hadley

A sickly, fabulous birthday in the mountains

March 7, 2013 By Amber

A couple of weeks ago, I turned really old. At least that’s how I felt when I woke up at Copper Mountain, sicker than a dog (I had previously felt just as sick as a canine but three days on the mountain had left me worse off than when I began).

But really, it was tough to feel sorry for myself because it was the final day of my mother-daughter getaway with Hadley, we were at Copper Mountain and this was what it looked like from my bed. I called it my “sick view.” Pun intended.

Despite how I felt, there was no way I was wasting my birthday so dragged myself out of bed, had a leisurely bath and we headed downstairs from our condo to Belgian Bean Waffles & Coffee. I was disappointed there wasn’t a bigger selection of waffles and toppings beyond strawberries, mixed berries, caramel, chocolate and whipped cream. But that stopped the moment we sunk our teeth into our unbelievably delicious Belgian-style waffle with mixed berries and whipped cream. We then ordered a magic cookie bar (my favorite) for dessert.

Don’t judge. It was my birthday.

Snowshoeing

We went back to our condo where we packed up our gear and checked out. We had originally intended to stay at Copper Mountain for one of their Free Ambassador Snowshoe Tours (which they offer two times a day) but the more moderate, family-friendly tour wasn’t until after lunch. I did some research of the area and decided we should go snowshoeing at the Frisco Nordic Center, just 10 minutes down the road from Copper Mountain.

I’m a longtime fan of Frisco and am moderately obsessed with having a cabin in the Frisco/Breckenridge area someday (OK, really obsessed). We have spent a lot of time biking the more than 80-mile network of paved, non-motorized paths that originate in Frisco and wind through Breckenridge, Dillon, Keystone, Copper Mountain and Vail.

Set on a peninsula overlooking Lake Dillon, The Frisco Nordic Center is one of the most scenic areas along the route and that’s why I’d recommend forking over the wintertime trail fees: $20 for adults, youth ages 7-17 are $15.

Snowshoeing at the Frisco Nordic Center

I bought the kids snowshoes on clearance at REI last year but this was Hadley’s first time using them. The 1,800-acre playground overlooking Lake Dillon’s glistening white panorama was the perfect place to break them in. Another advantage of “paying to play” were the 15 km of well-marked snowshoe trails. I’m not a fan of getting lost in the mountains, which is really easy to do with snow covering the trail. We had markers at every turn, which made our 1.5-hour loop that skirted the edge of the reservoir that much more fun and stress-free.

Frisco Adventure Park

By the end of our outing, we were happy, exhausted and ready for more so we walked across the street to the Frisco Adventure Park, which offers a tubing hill, beginner ski and ride hill and dinner sleigh rides. It was Wednesday and I expected the place to be a ghost town. I was wrong. We joined legions of other snow enthusiasts to watch a short safety video, grab our tubes, head up the magic carpet and then careen down the lengthy, FAST 1,200-foot tubing lanes.We had a blast together but I almost lost my breakfast as we caught air on each of the bumps.

Getting older has its benefits but a weak stomach isn’t one of them.

Filed Under: birthday, Family travel, Hadley, outdoors

Skiing, zipling and extreme sportin’ at Copper Mountain

February 27, 2013 By Amber

I’ve decided winter is exhausting. Not only do we usually come down with The Plague (Jamie is on week four) but we have a short few months to cram in as much outdoor fun as we can. With Denver’s dismal snow year, it has been that much more mandatory for us to head to the hills.

And yes, I said mandatory. As in HAS TO HAPPEN.

Copper Mountain was our latest destination to host us. A favorite among the locals because it’s an easy 75-mile drive west of Denver up the I-70 corridor, it remained a glaring omission in my must-ski list (though we had a stellar time there in Oct. 2011).

Hadley had a five-day weekend and Bode had three days off so we drove up after church on Sunday, skied as a family on President’s Day and then the boys drove home early Tuesday morning for work and school. That left two glorious days for Haddie and me to play, and one of them was my birthday.

X-Treme Sports

Upon arrival, we did a tour of Woodward at Copper. I’ll admit this 19,400-square-foot year-round ski and snowboard camp half-amazes, half-terrifies me. Nicknamed “The Barn,” Woodward is an all-steps progression program to help ages 8 and older learn aerial tricks and skills in a safe environment that you can translate on the mountain. See those ramps? My kids thought they were the coolest things ever.And I guess they are if you’re inclined to catch more than 1 inch of air on the slopes (which I am not).

The Barn offers drop-in day sessions, summer camps, SuperTramps and will undergo a big makeover this spring and improvements will include a new progressive foam pit designed for development of beginner park skills. The street area will double in size allowing for full access by BMX, mountain bike, skateboards and park skis and snowboards.

As a nervous parent, I was impressed with the capable staff’s emphasis on safety. Helmets are mandatory on the ramps and to even jump into the foam pit, my kids had to fill out some waivers and receive instruction.And Bode is counting down until he’s 8 so he, too play.

Copper Mountain

We’ve traveled to a number of mountain resorts around the country and what my family loved most about 2,465-acre Copper Mountain is that it was so easy. Easy to get to and the 140 trails across three mountains are easy to navigate. In fact, Hadley marveled about how wonderfully contained the base village is. “We don’t even have to get in the car!” she raved. “We can walk to skiing, dinner, tubing, zipling, skating and dinner.”

I didn’t correct her when she said dinner twice. It is, after all, very important.

On President’s Day, the kids went to ski school while Jamie and I hit the slopes. It is one of the few Colorado ski schools that has incorporated the FLAIK global positioning system, which tracks the kids’ on-mountain location, skier stats, and runs skied. Their instructors simply attached the GPS device around their leg and at the end of the day, we went online to see all their logistics. Turned out, they skied a lot harder than Jamie and me but we didn’t tell them that, of course.

Good thing there’s no tracking devices for parents who opt for an extra-long, leisurely lunch by the fire at Copper Station.

At first, I was disgruntled The Schoolhouse is located in the West Village, a shuttle stop away from the Center Village. But after dropping off the kids, Jamie and I rode Union Creek, followed by Timberline Express and that is where we found the best snow conditions that day.By day’s end, we were happy and tired. This was our first major outing since getting sick, which took quite a toll. In fact, sweet Bode fell asleep on the two-minute shuttle ride back to our condo.

How to Get an Alpine Rush

We vacillated on our plans. We had hoped to try out the new Alpine Rush Zip Line in the Center Village and then head over to the East Village for the Tubing Hill but remember the exhaustion thing? We opted to swing by the zip line since it was close to our condo, go back, chill out and then see if the kids were up for tubing.

The latter didn’t happen but the former did…in a big way.

Poor Bode practically sleepwalked through Center Village and I honestly wasn’t expecting him to even try. But the second he spotted the zip line soaring over skating rink at West Lake, there was no holding him back. (Note: You must be at least 50 pounds and each ride only costs $10),

Jamie got outfitted in his harness and went first, racing across the sky. Hadley freaked out, “That’s too fast,” she wailed. A couple of summers ago, the zip line at Vail’s Adventure Race traumatized her and she’s been gun shy (terrified) ever since.

“I’ll go!” Bode boldly volunteered and he was off.The more you weigh, the faster you soar so Bode was considerably slower than Jamie.

“Maybe that wasn’t so bad,” Hadley faltered.

“You’ll go as slow as Bode. Let’s give it a try,” I encouraged her. The staffer soothed her fears and before she knew it, she was flying.In fact, the next day she begged to do it two more times. I’m not sure if she’s cured but her fears were definitely calmed.

Now, I just need to follow her example and tackle the ramps at The Barn the next time we’re at Copper Mountain.

Stay tuned next time for our memorable mom-daughter adventures the next two days!

Filed Under: Bode, Colorado, Family, Family travel, Hadley, Humor, Jamie, outdoors, skiing

On being amazing

February 26, 2013 By Amber

We have a lot of transitions going on Chez Johnson. With winter winding down next month, B will be starting back up with his third year of soccer. We’ve finally decided it’s in H’s best interest to hire her a tutor and have subsequently dropped her from the YMCA and swim team to pay for it (so crazy expensive but thanks to my dad for generously offering to chip in every month). Hopefully she’ll be able to try tennis or volleyball in the spring once we get caught back up.

I’ve held fast to the creed I only want my kids in one sport and activity (like music lessons) at a time–both for them and me. We have some friends who are literally running every night from activity to activity and while that’s swell for them, I’m a firm believer kids need a lot of imaginative, creative down time by themselves and to be together as a family; over-scheduling them is not the answer.

We’re busy enough as it is with our many adventures.

We are sharing a tutor with my friend Lori, who has seen great improvements in her daughter’s math. The only day that would work for them is Monday after school at the exact same time H had piano. She hasn’t exactly been enthusiastic about practicing and though it’s a priority for me to keep her in long enough that she is proficient enough to play the hymns at church, I was fine with her temporarily dropping it and letting B take her place.

My Competitive Miss would have none of it. Suddenly, piano became the most important thing in the world to her and so we ultimately switched her to Fridays and let B take her time slot on Monday.

Yesterday was a day of firsts for both of them: H’s first day with her tutor and B’s first day of piano. She was grateful for the extra help and hopefully this will help her regain her confidence.

B (short for Beethoven, not Bode) was stoked. I wasn’t going to have him start lessons until next year but he is always plunking away at the piano and has taught himself to read music and play by ear. At this rate (and intensity) it won’t be long before he’s surpassing H which, as you can imagine, will go over marvelously.

The night before, I asked him “Are you excited for your lesson?”

Referring to his teacher, he humbly said, “She may be amazed.”

Filed Under: Bode, Hadley, Humor

How to spend the perfect Denver snow day: In pictures

February 24, 2013 By Amber

It’s no secret I’ve been disgruntled over Denver’s shameful lack of snow. It doesn’t help that my Utah friends have been slammed and have been posting about it on Facebook all winter. But we finally got our fill in Denver today.

I’ve been bedridden with the silly plague since my birthday on Wednesday. Saturday, I developed some kind of funky ear infection that led to vertigo so bad that I could barely walk. This led to a certain unsupervised person becoming a wee bit mischievous by writing “No boys allowed” on her brother’s window, and then TPing my bedroom.Though Fat Kitty looks pretty guilty, too.

By Sunday, I wasn’t 100 percent better but ready to be DONE with the house. And then Said Storm blew in, church was canceled and we had a glorious snow day. And so we played games, watched movies and baked, starting with popovers.Followed by sweet ‘n spicy shredded pork sandwiches we roasted for seven hours along with steak fries.

Late in the day, the snow finally stopped blowing so we bundled up and went out to play. I found Jamie and the kiddos shoveling our neighbor’s driveway.Every year during our big snow storms, it is our tradition to build a snow fort.I also highly recommend jumping off the swings. Think: soft landing. Snow angels aren’t too bad, either.
Fat Kitty thinks we’re pretty crazy during the best of times. Just think of the looks he was giving us when we went to help another neighbor shovel and the kids played in the snow with their enthusiastic dog. A couple of hours later, I dragged the reluctant kids back inside for white chocolate hot cocoa and Haddie’s homemade peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. It was pretty much the perfect snow day.