Four Years Old!

Well, our Georgie boy is four years old.  What a fantastic kid he is... we're so lucky to have spent these four years with him and we look forward to a lifetime of adventures to come.  On Thursday, his actual birthday, George and Gus were finally well enough to go back to school (after staying home for almost a week with a never-ending cold).  Before school, George woke up and got to open presents from us, his Nana and Pa, the Gerharts, and Laura.  He loved it all!

 

His favorite of the morning: a Captain America costume.  George has been very into superheroes the past few months, mostly from books we've gotten from the library.

We took George and Gus to Chuck E. Cheese on Thursday night for pizza and games, and this afternoon we had a party with the Emersons, Crists, Merciers, and our new friends two doors down :)

George picked out a football theme, so here we go:

Our bartender:

The green frosting got very, very messy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GEORGE!  It's still amazes me how much I love you.  What a wonderful little boy you are!

Welcome September!

Today we headed up to the mountains to enjoy the beautiful fall colors of the aspens.  It was a gorgeous day so we got to take the new jeep out to try it out on a four-wheeling road outside Fairplay.  Sean took off the roof and the windows, and off we went.

 

I even got to drive - Sean was a little nervous about that, but I showed him that I was pretty awesome at four-wheeling :)

The day started off pretty great for the boys...

.... and then it went downhill pretty quickly.  George stayed home from school yesterday because he had a pretty nasty sounding cough.  I guess he wasn't 100% today so he was pretty tired and wasn't really interested in the short hike we had planned. 

Gus' sweet demeanor spiraled pretty quickly as well.  He did not like the bumpy road at all and cried at the top of his lungs the whole way back down to the paved road.  Sean thinks it had a lot to do with the fact that he's still rear facing in his car seat and that probably was pretty uncomfortable to be jostled around while facing backwards.  We eventually tried to just tune him out, get down the hill, and enjoy our surroundings.

Today is also our fifth wedding anniversary!  We take a picture every year on the porch swing, so here's our family pic from this morning. 

 These past five years have been good to us all - I love you, Sean!

Busy, busy, busy

Well, I have officially entered the world of working moms.  I've been back at work for about a month now, and things have started better than I could have wished.  Besides the "minor" hiccup of a lunatic parent the first week of school, I really like my new job.  My class is very smart and sweet and the other teachers have all been very welcoming. 

Even more important, the boys are as happy as can be at their preschool.  Sean and I are so relieved and feel so incredibly lucky that we found St. John's.  Everyone there is so loving and all the teachers know our boys and are always so eager to hug them and make them feel loved.  It is wonderful!  Gus is called the St. John's welcoming committee because he says hello to everyone and loves to give hugs.  Three days a week, Gus has only had one other little girl in his class with him (now there are four total) and he and his little girlfriend have gotten to go for stroller rides around Wash Park, visit the fire station, and get some great one-on-one time with their teacher.  George's teacher told Sean that he is an "exceptional" kid and is very polite to all his teachers.

 

George has also hit a pretty big milestone: he can ride a two wheeler bike!

 

Here's the video proof :)

 

 

Now that I'm back at work, Sean was able to finally upgrade to a Jeep that isn't on the verge of breaking down all the time :)  He's been talking about this exact Jeep for about six years - now he finally has it!

 

As I try to figure out how on Earth to work, grade papers, make dinner, go grocery shopping, and spend as much time with my kids as possible, I have to remember to take pictures (and not just with my phone!)  How cute is this one?!

 

Sean and I ran the Warrior Dash last month, a 5K obstacle race in Copper Mountain that ends with a nice mud puddle - it was so much fun!!