Halloween

I have always loved the fall, and Halloween has never bothered me. It has always been a fun holiday. And as small children, it is a riot to dress them up, and see how cute they always are in their costumes. But all of a sudden, it has become about CANDY- meh! For a mama who has worked hard to put only good things in their bodies for so many years, now we have a night where they go door-to-door, and just by saying something cute like "trick or treat!" strange people, that they DONT even know, fill their little plastic buckets with candy! YIKES! It was a nightmare for their mom! I'm tried to make sure they used their manners, all the while trying to figure out what I was going to do with all the junk filling those pumpkins! But these sweet smiles show what fun they had, and I suppose that is the important part, right MOM? I LOVE the profiles of these costumes together...it makes me giggle, to barely see their faces! The sweet little friends! Sebastian is batman, and wee Atticus is an avion!

Snowday!

Not even through October, and already our first snow day! How great! It was one of those wonderful snows that we get in Colorado- you go to bed, and know it is coming, but barely an inch is covering the ground. We heard the girls coming upstairs in the morning- Maya says "MOLLY! Look at the snow!" Molly answers- "It looks like it might be Christmas. I thought it was going to be Halloween, but maybe it is going to be Christmas instead!" So out we go- a dog walk, and then sledding down our hill. Dogs chasing, girls laughing, and mama and papa more than happy to "go again," and "go faster!" And then of course, to complete a wonderful morning sledding on our snowy mountain top, it is inside, hot cocoa, and off for naps! We ended up with over 2ft when all was said and done. A great first storm!

Another first

I was tempted to title this post as Scarface...but just couldn't do it! My poor wee lass had her first trip to the ER, accompanied by her first set of stitches. Alas...We were all headed down to Santa Fe, to see Abuelita and Tia, and started the trip with a dog walk in Georgetown. about 100 ft into the trail, Molly attempted to jump up on a rock, which she promptly tripped and fell right into. I carried her screaming, and bleeding back to the trail head, where I was happy to find a kind man who helped me calm her down and clean her off. Off to the fire station, where she was checked for a concussion. Deemed okay, but needing stitches, we headed off to the Summit ER. She went back and forth with being SO brave, and then just crumbling with the scariness of the entire situation. Somehow, mama kept it together. The staff was amazing, and Papa raced up the hill from school, trying to make it to help his girls. She ended up with 5 stitches, and a swollen, beat up, and puffy forehead. The drive to Santa Fe was a long one, as the adrenaline of the morning led to getting sick in the car twice- poor sweet little girl. She tried so hard to keep being brave. Once in Santa Fe, we were on strict doctor's orders to make sure that Molly had ice cream everyday she had her stitches in. You can see how swollen her poor little head was, and without a band aid, she looked a mixture of Sloth from Goonies and Frankenstein- a bit of an early Halloween costume! Our little patient was such a trooper, so cooperative, brave, and a great listener about what things she needed to do to help it heal. Another example of how proud I am of the little girl she is. Stitches came out 5 days later, and now we hope the scar heals up, and disappears!

...And all her glory

Molly is at such a peculiar stage right now; she is all over the place with her thoughts and emotions. "Papa, how do you make cars, and what makes them different colors?" "So, if you didn't paint the metal on a car, what color is it?" Echos of "Maya, lets pretend that..." can be heard throughout the day, setting the stage for a wide variety of situations. Today, she was reduced to tears in an instant. She came to me, complaining that her back itched "SO badly mama, I just can't stand it!" When I looked at her bug-bitten back, which was slightly rubbed raw, I mentioned to her that she needed to stop itching, because she was breaking the skin. She looks at me frantically, eyes wild, and says: "Oh no mama, what will happen if my skin breaks?" I could barely stifle my giggle as you could see that her fears were mounting in her own mind of all the calamities that she was going to face, and she burst into tears. Oh my... Without a second thought, she picks up this snake at Miller Farm with Papa's guidance. It doesn't strike her that most adults cringe at these slarmy creatures, and wouldn't touch them with a ten foot pole. But when told she might have to sleep in the guest room, since she wont calm down and go to sleep while in the same room as Maya, she again is reduced to tears, terrified that the jaguars might come in the window. Jaguars? As hard as I try, she cannot be convinced that there are no jaguars in the entire state of Colorado. This afternoon she couldn't find the chapter book we were reading, that was last seen in the guest room. As she is once again fighting back tears, I convince her to go look again. "But mama, what if a spider has gotten a hold of it?" A spider? Where is she going with this one? "A spider, what would a spider want with your book my girl?" "Well, mama, a spider might want to rip it into teeny, tiny little pieces, and decorate its web with the book scraps for Halloween!" Right...it might, she has such a valid point.

Watershed

We have found several new areas to explore, right outside of our backdoor. One of the new spots is a place Brett often takes senior photos. This afternoon however, we joined some great friends for an evening walk, enjoyed the aspens changing colors, and the brisk mountain air. And of course, it wouldn't be an afternoon together if Papa didnt have his camera! Our sweet girls are growing SO very fast!

A mountain life that grows tough girls...

There is one thing about living on the glacier...for all its challenges, there is no way that these girls are not going to be tough. Now, that being said, there is always room for party shoes! It has been an insanely busy fall. One of those where I continually feel that I will feel "better" if I can cross one more thing off the list, or finish one more project we have started, and is waiting half done for us to finish. That being said, one of my favorite days was this one...an afternoon filled with back breaking, seemingly never ending work of building the wood pile that will get us through the harsh winter that seems to be right around the corner. But look at these girls...they amaze me. Without asking, without even suggesting, they both jumped right in, wanting to help. Maya repeatedly asked for "My size ones!" and Molly, much to my gentle scolding, kept trying to carry more than one log- "Mama, you do!" They smiled their way through the afternoon. They giggled, they helped each other. They used nice voices, and found kind helpful words to share with us all. They made me so proud- so proud to be their mom, so proud of the girls we are raising, and of the family that we are. I guess it would suffice to say, that life is not always easy...but I am incredibly fortunate to be part of this family- and working through it all together.