Saturday, December 22, 2007

White Christmas




I officially kicked off my Christmas vacation last night. We went to White Christmas at the Buell Theatre in Denver. It's always been one of my favorite movies, so I was a little nervous that it wouldn't live up to my expectations, but it was wonderful! A perfect girls' night out with Lori, Shannon, and Missy.

Now Jake and I are on our way home!

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Christmas Time is Here...

We had our little family Christmas tonight, it would be just too much to take all of this to Fargo with us. It was also nice to let Belle open her presents without so much commotion going on.


Belle got a singing Hannah Montana card. (Despite the look on her face here, I think this was almost as popular as all the other presents)


And a Hannah Montana game I made her an apron to match my "Gourmet Goddess" one
AND she got her own digital camera (which meant she had to take a picture of each individual present)
One of Belle's first photos...
Can't wait to see you all next week! I don't know how I'm going to make it through 5 more days of school !?!


P.S. I finally got my KitchenAid Stand mixer (isn't it pretty?)

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Merry Christmas!



I saw this at Target and thought it was so funny that I bought it just so I could put on my bulletin board!

Sunday, December 9, 2007

The Assistant "Cheft"

Belle and I have been baking like crazy. BUT, I have cold and I'm feeling really tired, so after a while she said just write me some directions (NOT IN CURSIVE) and you can go sit in the living room with dad. So I did, with one eye on the kitchen ;). She did a really good job, after I explained that forming the cookie dough into a ball didn't mean one BIG ball, and the cookie scoop was not the ice cream scoop... It is so much fun to watch her process things!
She has been fascinated by my school since she came with me this spring, so I think she was feeling like a teacher when she was working in the kitchen "by herself" she asked us to call her Mrs. Sinkler, "I mean Miss Sinkler, cuz I'm not married!"

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!




We had a beautiful day yesterday (cold, but beautiful). I've always loved how the first snow makes everything look so clean! Jake had to take a call for work so I went with him and wandered around Boulder, it was awesome because of the falling snow and hardly any people were out.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Belle-ism

Jake and Belle were watching the news last night and a story came on about the proposed ban on spanking in Massachusetts. Of course, this kind of thing makes Jake really angry, but he turned to Belle to get her opinion. "Do you think some kids need a spanking if they are being really naughty?" he asked. She thought about it for a minute and said, "not in this house!"

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving!


Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! We miss our family very much and wish we could all be together today, hope you all have wonderful celebrations. In the wise words of Belle, the best part of Thanksgiving is being thankful for our family and friends. Keep in mind, the first part of that conversation revolved around her drooling over our pumpkin pies, she very nearly said pumpkin pie is the best part of Thanksgiving. Then I think she caught herself and realized what she should say! Love you guys.

Thirty


Jake and I are both turning 30 this week. When I found this, I thought it was just perfect!



Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Uffda

You can't have Thanksgiving without lefse...

Belle got in on the action this time, she has some work to do when it comes to rolling, but her flipping skills are right up there, and in her own words, "I'm still the number one taster!"

Monday, November 19, 2007

She Is Her Father's Daughter

Last night Belle and I were working up in the craft room before dinner. As we sat down to eat, I realized that I had forgotten my pop upstairs. This is the conversation that ensued:
Me: I don't suppose you'd go get my Diet Coke for me?
Belle: Did you leave it upstairs?
Me: Yes, ok I'll just go get it.
Belle: While you're up there will you get me my water?

She is something else!

Monday, November 12, 2007

Double Vision



Are these girls creative or what?! I thought they were up to something when they emailed to ask me, Lori, and Shannon if we'd be at school on Halloween, little did we know... It was hilarious, they had everything down, the clothes, the "Midwestern accents" for Shannon and me, and they even cut the wigs to match our haircuts . Awesome.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Whoa


Here's the loot, kinda sickening huh?! I think I may have to take some to school or something.

Happy Halloween!

Belle is out trick-or-treating with her friend Bekah (yes, very scary) so Jake and I are left to greet the goblins on our own. Here are a few pictures of our little butterfly...

Gourmet Goddess

I think this is quite possibly the coolest gift ever! One of my former students came to visit me last week and gave me this apron. LOVE. IT.
How 'bout that ruffle!

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Brrr!

It's hard to believe that it was 80 degrees yesterday... This was our view when we got up this morning (yes, that's snow). Looks like a good day to bake something!

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Pumpkin Carving





We had Dawson over for some Knephla Soup for supper tonight (yum!) Then we got down to business- carving pumpkins. After the initial "gross out" from the pumpkin guts, they got into it and had a good time. They did a very thorough job of cleaning out the pumpkins and we have lots of seeds to roast!
We are using those patterns where you poke holes in the pumpkin and then saw around it so Belle and I are quickly developing hand cramps. She asked me, "Are you going to say uff da when you are done?" Yep, she's Norwegian!

I'll post pictures of the finished product tomorrow...

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Pics



I had a chance to catch up on some scrapbooking this weekend and here are the results:


(they look kind of funny because I have to scan them in halves and "stitch" them together)


You should be able to double click on the images and get a better view of them. Hope you enjoy!

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Colorful Colorado

I had Friday off due to conferences, so Shannon and I went up to Estes and Rocky Mountain National Park to hike. We got kind of a late start, but saw so many beautiful things! I have WAY too many pictures to post here, but these are some of my favorites.

A majestic elk in Lake Estes:













Inside Rocky Mountain National Park:














Shannon and Me:















The golden aspens:




















Just some pretty stuff:
































We drove up "old fall river road" which takes you up to over 12, 000 feet in elevation! This elk was just meandering along the road all alone, he got so close we could have reached out to touch him!














Sunset at 12, 000 feet:












When we started out in Estes it was about 75 degrees, by the time we got up here it was in the 30's and there was snow on the ground. It makes your lungs burn to breathe up here too. The day was pretty incredible!