Happy Fall!

Things are gettin' sort of busy around here! Justin and I are pretty much whipped by the time Friday rolls around at the end of the week. But despite the busyness of our schedules, the boys are doing well, we're staying healthy, and life is pretty good these days. Our fall weather has been beautiful (and quite warm)--kind of hard to believe the snow might start to fly as soon as next month.

Justin's classes are keeping him on his toes. He has a couple of challenging students, but hopefully in the end he'll come out a better teacher. He's also doing a lot of reading for his dissertation proposal to make sure he's got a solid argument to make on his topic. And I'm not sure, but it's possible he's also doing some daydreaming about the upcoming ski season. Did we mention we're going to try and get both boys on skis this year? Are we a bit crazy? Probably.

I was up in Fort Collins most of today to tour meeting facilities at CSU for our board meeting next spring. It's a lovely campus and it was a great day to be up there. It sort of reminded me of my days at SPU about 100 years ago. I'm actually feeling pretty good about my meeting in Hawaii next month. There's still a lot of work to be done, but overall I don't feel like I'm about to lose my head at the moment.

Jacoby's class is finishing up the letter B this week. Today they rode the bus to Barnes & Noble for story time. His teachers have said he's quite a rock star with his letters and the in-depth study of the alphabet seems to really interest him.

And oh the things to say about Morgan! He's definitely 2.5 years old. He definitely has his own little agenda for most things in life right now. He definitely has strong opinions on a lot of matters. He's definitely the most messy eater I've ever encountered. And he's most definitely too smart for his own good.

Here are a few pics:

After haircuts they had to run to the car to brush off and get the wiggles out.

Jacoby's city

Painting

Morgan giving the camera a sly look...pretty much captures the mischievousness of his little being over the past few weeks.

Aahh. Organized bliss for Mommy. My project is complete, and now we're in training to undo old habits of coming in and flinging coats, hats, and belongings anywhere (Daddy is totally included in the training too).

And back to this child...he's recently learned to climb bookshelves to reach objects purposefully placed out of his reach. His puppy is put up on one of our taller bookshelves when Puppy needs a time-out (i.e., Mommy can't take it any more with the bickering between 2 boys over him). Tonight Morgan waltzed into the living room holding Puppy after I had just put him up on the bookshelf. When I asked how in the world he came to have Puppy in his possession, Jacoby told me in all seriousness that Morgan climbed up and got him (like, duh Mommy). Morgan offered to show me, and sure enough, the child can scale the bookshelf like nobody's business. It left me sort of speechless when he turned around, while the bookshelf swayed back and forth, and grinned at me.

Hope you all have a good week!

A Week

We enjoyed a quiet weekend at home with our usual activities like visiting the park, library, playing in the backyard, Sunday School/church, and catching up on home life. Saturday evening was movie night, so we watched "How to Train Your Dragon". I don't think the boys blinked the entire time...it is for sure their new favorite movie and I've been listening to all sorts of dragon activities ever since. Justin and I also enjoyed it (Hiccup just might be my new favorite move hero), and I'm all for movies highlighting that being different is ok and pretty special. Jacoby was the only child out of the two that ended up wounded again--this time it was his knee, and the fact that he bled all over didn't help with the hysterics. Ah, the joys of having little boys who play hard and crash hard. (:

The boys are doing great. Jacoby's class is doing an in-depth study of each letter of the alphabet this school year. They work on a letter for two weeks, doing all sorts of art, sensory, experiential stuff before moving on to the next letter. They're finishing up "A" and took the bus to the Boulder airport to watch airplanes land and take-off. Next week they start "B" and I get to share our egg-free banana bread recipe with them during a cooking session. I also volunteered to be a room parent in Jacoby's class, and so I'll sort of be the liaison between the parents and the teachers and will help coordinate some things like Teacher Appreciation Week, etc. I thought it would be a good idea since this is Jacoby's last year in preschool...sigh. I should also mention that he grew another inch over the past 3 months and gained 2 pounds. The endocrinologist is very happy and so are we.

Morgan's class is focusing on themes from "Quick as a Cricket" which is all about animal habitats and movement. He loves his new class and feels quite proud that he's getting to be a big kid. They're going on a field trip to the zoo in a few weeks.

The boys and I are also adjusting to being on our own in the evenings now that Justin is teaching four evenings during the week. I got really spoiled having Justin at home in the afternoons because he took over all of the dinner cooking and usually had a meal on the table for us when we walked in the door. I cooked dinner all by myself Sunday to make sure I still remembered how to do it. Now when I'm scrambling to get the boys fed, Morgan wanders in the kitchen to inform me that he's hungry. I explain that I'm working as fast as I can and that it will only be a few more minutes. His reply to me is "But I'm hungry right now, Mommy!" and then he asks where "his daddy is". This coming from the 2-year old who eats like a teenager.

Justin is enjoying his classes and I think is really looking forward to working with the students at Iliff this year. He's also plugging away at his dissertation proposal.

Work has been busy for me and filled with some unusual things like mice (i.e., a mouse running across the ceiling light in my office, then later peeking from underneath my door..eeww!), mediating some misunderstanding between staff members (so don't worry, the counseling skills are always at work around here), corresponding with folks from the Clinton Foundation about a former administration reunion which includes my boss, and meeting planning for our board meeting coming up in 6 weeks in Hawaii (the time zone difference and general non-hurry approach of island life is causing me grief). At home, I'm trying to stain our outdoor furniture and I also hope to create some sort of "mud" area by our entry way from the garage. I shudder to think about how much time I spent looking for hats, matching mittens, shoes, and boots last year because we just don't have a great set-up at the moment. We'll see how it goes.

So, that's some of the latest news from our neck of the woods. We hope you all are well!

Learning how to train their dragons

We had a great long weekend, despite scraped knees, elbows, and faces. Here are some highlights:

*Justin and I went on a date Friday night. The boys had a great time with our friend S. We ate at one of our favorite restaurants and then wandered through Borders looking for cheap treasures. I found a 3-D I-Spy game that we played all weekend. Jacoby and I were really into it. (:

*On Saturday, we went to the park, library, and farmer's market. We also tackled some projects at home. Morgan bit it hard running home during our walk and scraped most of the skin off of his knee. It was nothing a little Laurie Berkner band and a Lightning McQueen band aid couldn't fix.

*We took a drive to Golden Gate Canyon State Park for a hike and picnic. It was a beautiful day in the mountains.

While we were on our hike, a rock grabbed Jacoby's foot as he was running by causing him to fall hard and scrape up his elbow really good.

Momo looking so handsome

The brothers

We had to make some time for this, of course

Love this little boy -- I'm so glad we got this picture before the dreadful incident below occurred

He was being very photogenic while we were out

Alas, just when we thought we'd paid our ouchy dues, Momo took off running down a trail after our picnic, flew off of it, and literally did a handstand-cartwheel sort of thing through the air before biting it hard on his little face. There were many tears but he seems to be healing nicely. Both the knee and face incident happened on Mommy's watch...sigh. ):

We have a busy week ahead: endocrinology appointment, Back-to-School Night, and lots happening at work. This is the last week before Justin starts teaching Mon - Thurs. We're going to miss having him around in the evenings. We hope you all have a safe, band aid - free week! (:

The First 10 Years

September 1 marks a very special milestone: 10 years of marriage for Justin and me. I've been thinking a lot about the past 10 years--all of the good and all of the challenging. We've had a wonderful 10 years together and I don't think I'd change a thing. I'm so blessed to have Justin in my life and for the special family we've created together. I have nothing but hope, joy, and excitement in thinking ahead to the next 10 years and beyond. Here are some milestones throughout the past 10 years:

We were married on a beautiful day in Red Lodge, MT in front of our closest friends and family. It was lovely.

We came back from our honeymoon the day before 9/11, loaded up a U-Haul, and moved to a tiny apartment in beautiful Pasadena, CA.

Going to graduate school together was one of the best things we've ever done. Our experience at Fuller was amazing. We loved the community, the multiculturalism, our professors, and classes. These years and everything we learned were life and faith-changing.

We visited Yosemite National Park in 2003 after I graduated. California was a really fun place to be newlyweds. We loved the culture and enjoyed taking visitors to the ocean, Disney Land, the Rose Parade, and Huntington Gardens.

After Justin graduated in 2004, we loaded another U-Haul and moved to Colorado. We visited Aspen shortly after we moved. Justin began graduate school at CU and I began working by day and counseling by night.

On top of Mt. Bierstadt -- our first 14er -- 14,060 ft elev. We love Colorado.

The day that changed everything: February 23, 2007. We became parents and entered into a whole new world. I don't think we really remember life without our kids because it feels like they've always been a part of us. Jacoby Brandt took over our hearts the moment he arrived at 6:18 pm that evening. Justin received an invitation to do his PhD on a full-ride scholarship to DU just a few days after we brought Jacoby home, and I received a promotion up to the President's office. It's amazing how the pieces fall into place sometimes.

The biggest challenges we've faced in our marriage have come as parents. A combination of maxed out parents, the demanding nature of raising kids ages 0 - 5, and unique medical circumstances doesn't leave a lot of time or energy for fostering a marriage. It's so easy to lose touch with each other when you're simply trying to make it through the day. I think we've learned over the past year that despite any trouble that comes our way, we're better together than we ever would be if we were apart.

Yet another day that changed our history: March 4, 2009. Morgan Ethan arrived almost 3 weeks early and madder than all get out, which promptly landed him in the NICU for about a week. And his short fuse continues to be part of his personality today, even though his preschool teachers don't believe me (boy, does he have them fooled!).

The relationship between Jacoby and Morgan truly is special, and we're blessed by how much they love each other. They really were made for us and we were made for them. Family is a remarkable thing.

We love raising our boys in Colorado. There's much opportunity here and we couldn't be more thankful for the medical community, the outdoors, and the beauty of our surroundings.

And here we are: Justin, Erin, Jacoby, and Morgan. I couldn't have wished for a better life when we started this journey on September 1, 2001.

Summer Days

As our fall calendar starts to fill up with appointments, visitors, work/teaching commitments and the trees begin to turn (yes, it's true here in our neck of the woods!), I've been thinking about the great summer we've had. It's been awhile since we've had a leisurely, slow-paced season, and I think it's been great for us. Here are some favorite summer highlights:

**Trips to the Oregon Coast, Washington, DC, and Montana

**Growing a garden was so fun. We've learned a lot, and I've got some ideas for how we might change a few things next year.

**Jacoby finished up his Occupational and Physical therapy sessions with flying colors. The progress he's made in his gross motor and body awareness has been remarkable. We've still got work to do with fine motor development, but he's cutting with scissors now so we're making progress there as well.

**Morgan is making great progress with his potty training. He's quickly becoming a big little boy.

**We've had some great outings as a family, but we've also enjoyed several weekends with absolutely nothing to do!

**We've had fun trying out new allergy-free recipes. Yum!

**We're making progress towards simplifying our home life, trimming our budget, and becoming a little more "green".

**The new toy library has been a huge hit, and the boys love turning in an old toy and "checking out" a new toy. Mommy loves that the boys only have out things they're interested in and the problem of "toy creep" has all but disappeared!

I'm sure there's more, but these are what come to mind for the moment.

Hope you all are having a great week and enjoying your summer too!

Their curiosity about girls' dresses finally got the best of them. They called themselves "princess mans". Hilarious.

Playing in the fort

Daddy giving a double piggy-back ride