Housebound

I had foot surgery last week. This is probably a good time to remind the Pauley kids that a Morton's Neuroma is probably in their future - it's a hereditary thing and so far Pop-pop, great aunt, aunt and mom have all had it removed.  As far as surgeries go, it hasn't been too bad, just a lot of couch time and staying off of your feet. I've had some sweet nurses taking care of me.  Reina offers to help me up the stairs.  Will brings me sprite a lot, which is so sweet and not at all because he wants to open up the bottle and get a few sips for himself.  Glenn brought me chocolate.  Vicky has brought me snacks and much needed company and entertainment from toddler cousins.  Friends and co-workers have stopped by which has helped break the monotony of lying on the couch for days.  

Coco has been more snuggly than I expected.  Each night I wake up to find her curled up close.  Is she being sweet or just waiting to see if I expire and she can assume her rightful throne?  

Coco has also helped me knit.  Glenn had to grab her as she made a dash for the stairs with that giant ball of yarn in her mouth.  

T & T have been sofa companions and I think they are happiest that I'm home for another day.  It's much more comfortable to watch the neighborhood from the warm living room instead of the cold backyard.  

My view. Thank goodness for George Clooney movies to pass the time.  

Christmas piano recital - a little late

Last month, last year, feels like quite a while ago, Reina played the piano at the mall to help promote the Tree of Hope ceremonies.  She played last year, too.  This year, I think she was a little less nervous, but not completely nerve-free. She played three songs as duets with her teacher.  Jingle Bells, Up on the Housetop and my favorite, Silent Night.  She did a great job!  She was very poised and serious but played beautifully.  I'm amazed at how much she's learned and she's raced by what little piano knowledge I had.  I usually have to google base clef notes to even begin to help her out.  She's working on reading notes in both base clef and treble clef, learning sharps and flats and the coolest part (to me) is that she's getting that left hand to play along.  It's not always easy to get her to practice but boy do I love to listen to her play.  

Reina and her piano teacher 

My favorite piano girl

Skiing!

The monsters and I headed up to Snowy Range Ski Area for a day of skiing on this three-day weekend.  I combined all of my birthday money (thanks parents and parents-in-law!), bought us all new ski gloves, packed some lunch and headed over the hill.  Glenn still doesn't ski but we have hopes to drag him along next time.  For the last few years, the kiddos and I have managed to squeeze in a ski day or two and Will and Reina are turning into such great skiers.  I wish we had the time and the unlimited ski passes to go more often.  Today was a little windy and chilly at times but we had a lot of fun.  Will skied down a few black runs by himself and spent a chunk of time skiing on this own because he and I had different definitions of what "meet mom at the bottom of the hill" means.  (He thinks you wait about 30 seconds and when no one appears, you take the next lift up and just ski.)  Reina and I tackled some new runs - or at least some new-to-Reina runs and we made it to the bottom of the mountain each time with no crashes and smiles on our faces. Seriously, these two are getting better each time we go and I know it won't be long before they leave me in the dust, or at least take a few easy runs with mom for old time's sake.  

Reina/mom selfie at lunch break.  

Will eating lunch and trying to watch the AFC playoff game over my shoulder.  

Will chilling (ha ha) at the end of the afternoon.  He took a hard route down to the bottom and was ready to be down.  

Reina decided to take the last lift up for one more run after Will and I were done.  

Someone keeping herself occupied on the long drive home.  

New Year and how we spent our winter break

Our Christmas break has officially come to an end.  The backpacks are sitting by the front door, kids were in bed at a relatively normal time and it's back to the grind in the morning.  We didn't take a trip or have many big adventures, truthfully there were a few days when we barely left the house, but I think I can say that we had a really nice break.  

What did we do?  We watched some movies, played "The Oregon Trail" card game and laughed and laughed, spent time with cousins and other relatives, read books, had a few playdates, cooked and cleaned, shopped, played with new toys and just hung out together.  

Coco spent most of her break in my new Broncos-themed bag from Vicky.  If it zipped on top, I could use it to carry Coco around town.  Luckily for her, it doesn't.  

We shopped and some of us found other ways to entertain ourselves while shopping.  

The temperatures were bitterly cold the past few weeks.  Luckily, the dogs sleep inside.  On fleece blankets and a couch a few feet from the pellet stove.  Trigger has a rough life.  

Will and all three pets.  The chickens were snug in their coop or I'm sure they would've found room on the couch too.  

So that about wraps it up.  Oh, we also watched a lot of football and cheered on the Wyo Cowboys in their bowl win (yah!!) and survived the end of the Broncos season.  It'll be a little tough to get back to reality tomorrow but we can't wait to see what 2018 has in store for this crazy household! 

Merry Christmas 2017!

The calm before the storm.  You can't tell but it's still dark outside.  

Merry Christmas!  I'm sitting on the couch with Reina while the guys watch Dunkirk in the den.  Reina and Will woke up crazy early this morning (5 something) and dragged us all out of bed.  Reina took a break from unwrapping presents to briefly throw up, rallied to open presents and play and then barfed again a few minutes ago.  So now we get to experience that lovely purgatory of "does my stomach hurt, does anyone else's stomach hurt, does that burp mean something" until it either does or doesn't.

Stomach issues aside, we had a great day.  Vicky and Matt and the baby/toddler cousins were over bright and early because their wakeup call was even earlier than our's.  Pop-pop and Grandma weren't too far behind them.  It was a flurry of opening presents and paper and some minor toddler meltdowns, delicious food and good company.  The morning was over with way too fast but then we all got to nap.  We had a white Christmas with bitter temperatures (I think 14 degrees was the high?) so we had good reasons to stay inside and watch movies.  Even the dogs weren't looking for a walk.  For dinner, Glenn and I cooked up an elk roast with a side of leftover Christmas candy and our stomachs are full. Well, except for Reina's.

I asked everyone about their favorite parts of the day and here are their responses:

Reina loved opening presents and being with family.  Reina's favorite present was her twin Hatchimal but she wants it known that she loved all of her presents.

Glenn is watching Dunkirk so I can't ask him his favorite part of the day but he said earlier that his favorite present was the French Press coffee maker I bought him at Target for $19.99.  Shhhh... don't tell him it wasn't more expensive.

Will is also still watching Dunkirk and he told me earlier that he couldn't decide what his favorite present was but I've been hearing him ride his skateboard around the den all afternoon when he's not playing with his new Lego's, sitting in his beanbag chair listening to Sports Jamz while wearing his new clothes.  I think that about covers it.

Coco loves her catnip and is currently sleeping off her cat high.

The two dogs loved all of Reina's leftover dinner.

I had a great time watching all of the kiddos open presents and Baby Cousin fighting Toddler Cousin over her new cash register that was suddenly the present du jour.  My nap was pretty awesome too.  My favorite present is my Rockies jacket followed closely by a new cookbook and an Outlander adult coloring book that makes me giggle every time I see the cover.

What a happy day!

Someone else is enjoying the new bean bag chair too. 

How we spent our Sunday afternoons

We took a break from holiday preparations to spend a little time watching some football.  Will and I headed to Denver for our final Broncos game of the season.  It hasn't been a banner year for Broncos football but the team showed up today and we watched a fun game.  Will and I have yet to attend a losing game together so our streak continues!  The weather was unseasonably nice - we were jacket-less until the sun fell behind the stadium.  We cheered and had some snacks and watched a shutout - Broncos won 23-0.  

We might be the Broncos good luck charm!  

 Will filled up my phone with shots of the field and the scoreboard.  He even tried taking a picture by holding up the phone to the binoculars.  Yes, certain parts of the game were less than exciting. 

Who's big kid is this?!

 While we were sitting in the sun in Denver, Glenn took Reina duck hunting.  It was a little chillier in Wyoming but they bundled up and spent the afternoon sitting near an iced-over pond.  Reina was a trooper and Glenn proudly told me that she had packed her own snacks!  The ducks won this round but a good time was had by all. 

Wearing big brother's camo... shhhhhh don't tell him!  

It's beginning to look a lot like something

So it's December and didn't we just have Thanksgiving?  This month is flying by.  Surprisingly, I'm almost finished my Christmas shopping.  I'm mailing packages on Monday, a big chunk of the baking is done, I've wrapped a few presents and it's all coming together.  My weekend projects include cranking out a Christmas card and going with Will to the Broncos game on Sunday. This blog has been short on football news mostly because there is nothing fun to report.  I'll wear my Super Bowl 50 shirt on Sunday and look forward to brighter football days.  

Back on the homefront, the house is decorated.  We brought the tree home last Friday in what is Coco's favorite day of the year.  She loves that tree.  I think she's slept under it every night since we brought it home and every day after work I have to put back up a bunch of ornaments that have mysteriously landed on the floor.  Today, she somehow unwound a couple of laps of the lights.  Luckily the lights were unplugged.  

Yes, we see you.  

Earlier in the week, I started a batch of the Spritz - a recipe from the Pauley side of the family.  The spritz has to be pushed through a cookie press and Glenn helps me because honestly, I can't ever get the dough to come out.  So we started on the first batch and the dough was too cold and lo and behold, the handle on the press snapped.  We tried to glue it back in place but the press was broken.  Here's the blog-worthy part.  Glenn hopped in the car and drove to the store to buy a new one.  Be still my heart!  AND he filled up my gas tank while he was out.  Swoon!   

Lastly, meet Brownie, our Elf on the Shelf. I've made it a decade of parenting without bringing home an Elf until this year.  Thanks to my darling aunt (who couldn't resist Reina), Brownie is visiting us for the month.  So far, she's shown up in the dollhouse, the Christmas tree, the mantel, and one night she even took a few selfies.  Coco's interest in all of the Christmas decorations has so far not included Brownie, and let's hope it stays that way.