Can he really be? 7 months already?

I can't believe Curren is now closer to being a one year old than a newborn. When did that happen?

Some highlights over the last month:

*He can roll from front to back and back to front.

*He's sitting up very well, although we still lay behind him or prop the Boppy behind him just in case he gets too excited and falls backward.

*He still loves to giggle and watch his big brothers. His best entertainment thus far.

*He's now a big baby boy and has graduated from his infant seat and moved into his convertible seat.

*He's really and truly sleeping through the night! Hallelujah!!!

*He loves to go on walks.

*He got his first taste of the swing at the park last week and loves it. He especially loves it when his big brother (Kellen so far) pushes him in the swing.

Curren is still such a joy to have around! Happy 7 months baby Curren, we love you to pieces!

Curren's favorite buddies - his big brothers!

Enjoying the outdoors

I feel like we're still living in California with the weather we've been having. Who said it snows in Colorado? Or more specifically the Denver Metro area? (For those of you wanting to hit the slopes...lots of snow in the mountains:). The only thing I dislike about this no snow deal is all the brown we've been seeing. Brown grass, brown hills, no leaves on the trees, but oh well, can't everything, right?

So, since the weather has been so nice we've tried to do lots of things outside with the kiddos. President's Day we went to The Chatfield Botanic Garden. Not much of a garden in the winter, but still nice to get out, have a little picnic and wander around the area. There are some old barn/farming sites and an old school house too.

And then last Saturday we headed up to Golden and hit the Colorado Railroad Museum. I have to admit it's nothing compared to the Sacramento Railroad Museum, but it was really pretty cool and the kids enjoyed it.

Gotta love the Prune face!

I finally caught Curren smiling on camera. Usually when the red light appears just before I take his picture his expression turns into a "deer caught in the headlights" look. So adorable if I do say so myself. Not going to love changing his diaper in a couple of days though:)

Bragging Rights!

In typical mom fashion I'm going to brag about my sweet boy Aidan! We are so proud of him.

First off, once again I am so glad we decided to wait a year before starting him in kindergarten. He really needed it, socially, emotionally, academically....And for those of you who know my boy know he's a very intense, yet shy kid who won't speak up much unless he really feels comfortable with you. That being said I'll get on to why I'm so proud of him.

At the beginning of 1st grade his teacher (who is PHENOMENAL) like most teachers gauges her students to determine their level of reading comprehension and writing ability. Aidan "tested" at the bottom of the pack. He could barely write and couldn't read even though in kindergarten he was definitely making huge progress with his reading and writing. (After talking with his teachers and me watching him over the years he has a bit of a processing issue when it comes to reading/writing.) So his teacher knowing how shy he is and knowing he needed extra help enrolled him in a program called Reading Recovery. (Not all schools in our district have this so I'm so glad we're at SHE.) For the first half of the year, Aidan would see his reading recovery teacher (who's also phenomenal) everyday for about a 1/2 hour. Lucky us and him, right? Lots of extra homework for him too. (Not so lucky for him, but it paid off.)

Well he's come a long way, baby! His reading is phenomenal (my word of the day) and his writing is awesome too! He has worked soooooo hard and we are sooooo proud of him. Poor little guy gets so nervous when being tested and he's also afraid to speak up when he's not absolutely sure of the answer. Which to most, they would think he just doesn't know the answer.

CONGRATULATIONS Aidan on a major accomplishment! We are SO PROUD OF YOU!

Buck-a-roos

The other day Rick looked out our back windows and noticed this:

I think they were looking for their mates. Gotta love the open space and hills of Colorado.

A Hidden Gem

This afternoon we headed over to the Littleton Historical Museum. What a neat place and I had no idea it existed until Aidan's class traveled there earlier in the school year for a field trip and it's only about 5 minutes from the church building I used to attend when I lived here as a kid.

It contains real working farms dated from the 1860's and 1890's, plus an old schoolhouse, old farmhouses, and a blacksmith.

Aidan in the blacksmith shop brushing a "rose"

Kellen's turn brushing the rose

Kellen petting one of the many farm cats...this one is Sasha

Inside the kitchen of an 1890's farmhouse kitchen.

We sure are lucky to have such fabulous houses in the 21st Century. This house was pretty nice by 1890's standards. It had heating (wood-burning stoves/furnaces in 2 of the 5 rooms.) The house consisted of a kitchen, dining room, 2 bedrooms and a living area. Where is the bathroom you wonder? A nice little outhouse with a wood path leading from the house. Can you imagine if you had to go to the bathroom when there was a blizzard? Yikes. Thank heavens for plumbing, right? But I have to admit it was kind've cool to see how simple life was. When people weren't working on the farm during the day I'm sure they spent their free time together. Not many other distractions we have these days...Wii, TV, computers, telephone, etc.

Notice the boys are only wearing sweatshirts and it's February? We've been enjoying great weather.

Why a peacock? And on a farm dated from the 1800's? The blacksmith told us farms during those times had lots of peacocks. They were/are the best "watch dogs". Have you ever heard one of them squawk? A lot louder and more alarming than a dog's bark, right? Pretty interesting tidbit of information we thought.

Couldn't forget our little cutie patootie. As you can tell he enjoyed the view from my back. Although he looks like he's wondering what the heck I'm doing with my camera.

Even though we've had great weather it does still get pretty cold at night.

An 1860's schoolhouse. Notice the little outhouse?

Aidan inside the schoolhouse. He doesn't want to have school there on a daily basis he told me.

Kellen with his Daddy

Preparing a typical 1860's supper

Preparing an 1860's meal. It was really cool. We learned these people helping prepare the meal actually signed up to do this. You prepare the meal as they would in the 1860's and then you get to enjoy the fruits of your labor. I would love to do this, but it's a long wait list. The lady in this picture told me she signed up last summer. So about a 6-8 month wait...yikes. It's on my to-do list one of these days.

Creating a butter mold. We had missed them actually making the butter.