Canon City's Time to Shine

Early November

Matt took another trip to North Dakota to go waterfowl hunting from November 5-9. His out of state license is good for 14 days broken up into two 7-day stretches, so when he bought his license, he had to declare the second weekend that he wanted to hunt. He did the same thing last year but by the time the date rolled around, everything was frozen (not good for duck hunting). This year, the wetlands were still open so he was able to take a second trip! We sent Matt off for a few days of duck hunting fun while we did things like Alanna's birthday party and a playdate with Winter McIntyre. Because of my recent close contact status and consequent quarantine from school, I was able to pick up Hattie from preschool and hold down the fort pretty easily while Matt was away. The girls are playing with a huge bucket of slime that Alanna got for her birthday - it's so much slime! They had fun making bubbles and fart noises with it. 

Matt and I both had Veteran's day off from school and work, but MVCKS still had school. While the kids were at school, Matt and I took a walk on Tunnel Drive. It was the only thing I wanted to do on Veteran's day! We enjoyed the crisp fall air and even saw a ram on the bluff. That afternoon, Matt and I spent some time in the kitchen making lefse together. I prepped the dough a few days prior so we could grill it on Veteran's day afternoon. Hattie was in and out of the kitchen as proven by the time lapse video I took. It's hilarious! She was an eager taste-tester toward the end of all the grilling. Matt and I discussed different toppings for lefse, and he wanted to try to make a piece that was savory with onion powder, garlic powder, and some other spices. Matt didn't think it was too bad but I thought it was horrible - and that's saying something since there's not much that I don't like. Yeesh. I'll stick to the more traditional butter and white sugar, thankyouverymuch! 

In typical Charlie fashion, he pulled out a tooth without me even knowing that it was loose. :) This was his last baby tooth to be lost! There shouldn't be any more teeth coming out of his mouth at this point. If there are, I will be very alarmed! It probably wasn't even that loose but he just works and works on teeth until they're just out and done. I appreciate his 'I don't have time for this' no-nonsense attitude about the whole thing. Or maybe he's after the dollar bill that the tooth fairy usually brings??! Either way, this chapter of childhood is closed!

I took this little love muffin to the park and met a friend there one afternoon during my quarantine. Larissa and Theia are regularly at our house for small group (and other stuff) so I consider her part of my circle. It's always fun to play at the park on beautiful days with friends!! This is my favorite time to live in Canon City - extended fall weather, mild temps, and beautifully sunny skies!!!

 

Happy Birthday, Alanna!

11-2

Happy 9th birthday to our sweet Alanna Faye! Her birthday landed on a Monday this year to she spent a majority of the day at school. She wanted to bring birthday treats so we bought some sugar cookies with frosting on top. After school, we snapped some pictures and then she opened her gifts. Instead of a birthday cake, Alanna chose a giant cookie cake this year. I decorated the top with M&M's for a cute yet simple "cake". I don't remember what I made for her birthday meal, but I do remember that she requested monkey bread but Walmart was out of biscuits so we chose canned cinnamon rolls instead. I think it was a fun day for her! Happy birthday to a special girl! We are so proud to be your parents!

We had Alanna's birthday party on Friday the 6th, so after her actual birthday this year. I finally used my whole brain to figure out that squeezing in a birthday party before her birthday (yet after Halloween?) was incredibly stupid unwise. Alanna wanted to have a baking birthday party, so she invited five friends to come and bake with her. Actually, what she wanted to do was decorate cookies! I made a batch of rollout sugar cookies the morning of the party and then just set out lots of sprinkles, tubs of frosting, and tubes of the colored squeezable frosting. It was a pretty easy birthday party to pull off! The girls were scheduled to come from 1-3, but about 45 minutes before the party started, I got a call from the high school principal saying that I was to quarantine because I had been exposed to a positive COVID case. :( I quickly called the parents of the girls invited just to let them know. I didn't want anyone to have to make a hasty decision on my doorstep as to whether to come or not. Out of the five girls, only one didn't come due to my close contact status, and that's completely understandable. I tried to keep my distance which was pretty easy to do with a group of 8- and 9-year-olds. The girls were pretty self sufficient! I didn't make a cake because the girls just ate a few cookies that they decorated. After about an hour of chatting and decorating, Alanna opened her gifts from her friends. Then the girls spent some time playing in Alanna's room before the party was over. I think Alanna had a fun time; four girls was just the right number of friends where they could all play together. 

From left to right: Alex Piquette, Zoe Malebranche, Alanna, and Karoline Reed

(Alanna's friend Stephanie Ortega came about half hour late so she got in on some decorating but I didn't get any pictures of Stephanie with the group. She is in the gift opening pictures though!)

 

End of October

10/23

The library put on a little pumpkin event for kids with story time, picking out a pumpkin, a station to paint said pumpkins (hard pass!), cider, goodie bags, and a free book. We braved the 30-degree temps, some threw on a costume, and headed down to Macon plaza. See the little garden gnome in the group shot of story time? That's Hattie's friend Teigan! Haha! We brought home little pumpkins, new books, and a bag with a few pieces of candy in it. Win! 

After the pumpkin event, we went to Jared and Michelle's for a birthday party for Kinsley who turned 4 on the 23rd. Earlier that morning, Matt packed up and headed out to northwest Colorado to elk hunt. He pulled the camper and packed up to be gone for the whole week, or as long as it took him to shoot an elk before the season ended 9 days later. 

On Sunday, I harvested my sweet potatoes!! I was pleasantly surprised at how well they did. I hoped and hoped all summer long that they were growing, but since they grow underground, I couldn't tell at all how they were actually doing. I had a grand ol' time digging them up!! I got a lot for my first year growing them! Some of them were quite sizeable, as big or bigger than the ones I buy in the grocery store. Some of them are little, but that's ok. I was happy that I got something at all! 

Holding Michelle's youngest daughter Avery... and she fell right asleep in my arms. She is squishy and darling!

A welcome sight in the fall!

The kids worked on their own posters for Fictional Character day at school on the 29th. Hattie was there for moral support!

So apparently elk hunting isn't hard... hahaha! Matt shot one on opening day and was headed home the next morning. We spent the next few days processing right around 100 pounds (maybe a little more) of wrapped meat for the freezer. Sweet!!!

Fictional Character day! Charlie is Charlie Brown, Alanna is Nancy Drew, Hattie is the butterfly from the Very Hungry Caterpillar, and Molly is Curious George. 

Pumpkin carving time with Daddy!

On Halloween, Larissa and I went to this food distribution in Canon together. It was $40 for well over $300 worth of food. We got there super early to get in line which left us with a few hours of time together to talk and walk and talk some more. AND we got to come home with several boxes of food! It was a wonderful morning with a dear friend. 

Ready to trick or treat! Molly and Charlie stuck with their fictional character costumes while Hattie chose to don a super hero cape (leftover from her sister so it has a big 'A' on the back - ha!) and Alanna decided to be a baker. Easy peasy! 

 

Happy 5th Birthday, Hattie!!

Happy 5th Birthday, Hattie Elizabeth!!

Hattie got to spend her birthday at preschool with her friends. She wanted to bring a special snack so we brought Lucky Charms breakfast bars for the class to match with Hattie's rainbow birthday cake. Plot twist - I was actually home with Hattie on her birthday since two days prior, all of CCHS was moved to virtual learning due to the first student COVID case of the year. I wasn't sad at all to be home with Hattie on her special day, that's for sure!!! 

How in the world is this baby of mine five years old?!? Sheesh. Time flies. She is a precious little thing! I can't imagine life without her; she is joy-filled and sweet, hilarious and imaginative, and we are so glad to be her parents!! We love you, Hattie Liz!