silly hat

Madrigal painted and was assisted by Jason in designing this lovely hat--modeled first by the beautiful Ruby Claire and here by the artist herself!

a drawer full o' matchbox

Madrigal styling Ruby's locks

Da girls

Here is another cute (color) shot of same!

Shan holding Riley, Sash holding Mads, Me and conked-out Ruby on right . . . .

Here are some fun sepia pics from our "lucky" weekend a while back (taken by my best buddy Sasha). Maddie, Oliver, Riley, Jack, Dylan, Jason, Diane, and Shannon were off having a blast at the playground during Ruby's photo shoot :-)
Bottom photo is the old broad (me) at the bar (!) with pals Shannon, of course Sasha, Jimmy, Joe and Chuck (in the shadows).

June in Sepia

Sasha and Oliver's visit 2

So, many thanks to Sasha and Oliver for giving the boys THE NOISIEST toy ever created! (But as you can tell from Jack's expressions, it is clearly also THE MOST FUN toy ever created, as well!) For those of you unfamiliar with this toy, you feed the lightweight plastic balls into the hole and the incredibly loud fan blows them back out the same hole. The more balls you get in, the higher the pressure (or something) and the faster/higher the balls shoot out all over the room! There are also loud sound effects. Or is it music? I have blocked it from my memory . . . .

ball popper

Sasha and Oliver's visit

If you come visit us, this might happen to you!

pile 'em on

Lucky, lucky, lucky

So. How lucky are we?
I mean, not to brag or anything, but we have so much love in our lives! Even if we are dirt poor :-) We had the most wonderful weekend! We got to see my beloved best friend Sasha and her sweetie-boy Oliver (almost 5 and hating the whole obligatry clothing thing!), her mommy Diane (my "second mom"), another beloved friend from high school--Shannon--and her ADORABLE daughter Riley at Congress Park on Saturday. Whoosh! What a GREAT time! Fun to do the urban park scene and see so many colors of people :-) Sandwiches from the Spicy Pickle! Yum! Then "home" to see Grandma Coffee and Poppa Dave for some much needed naps/cuddles in a comfy space. Dropped in after naps to see old boss/good friends Fred and Edie --who live across from the 'rents (missed Fred who was at BEA--duh Kim!), and then to the providers-of-delicious-produce Garland and Betty next door! Then mommy got to go OUT to the BAR to see more pals from high school and ostensibly discuss the big, up-coming 20 YEAR REUNION. (Eeek!) Mommy had a Guinness and had to call it quits by 10:30, but hey, not bad for an old broad who hasn't even been to a bonafide bar in, dunno. . . 3 years? Then we got to visit Sunday morn with mommy's de-facto god-parents Mike and Caroline. Mikey got to do his thing--hamming it up for Madrigal who can finally appreciate his particular brand of humor, and he hers! They had fun singing "three mellow mice," which I personally like much better than the more-violent "blind mice" version! And as if that weren't enough--THEN we got to cruise back to Greeley for the big Meet-The-Baby party for miss Claire bear at our dearest pals Shawn and Chris's house! Dios mio, talk about reunions! Matthew and Andrea and sweet little Simon from Chicago! Our much-missed-since-October friends Scott, Emily, Greta and baby Piper from Denver! The One--the ONLY--Deanna! And even Amy Joe venturing out from her potter's wheel and knitting needles to pay her respects--woohoo! Not to mention Dave and the lovely Dyana from right here in G-town (who--every time I turned around were feeding/holding/playing with my kids--everyone, could we please petition them to have some of their own too? They are just such freakin NATURALS!) and Kate, Steve, Ian and James (who thoughtfully brought gifts for all of our monkeys!), and Ron, Linde, Maggie and Jane (who keep us employed and in health care, AND help me out at the pool--again this year, I hope!), and Woody, Sandy, Griffin, Kendra, and Emerson (again with the helping out with the kids every time I turned around--and such GORGEOUS sunflowers they brought us!), OH! and TOM and JULIE from Denver too! Whose wedding we regretfully missed last summer because we just had too many little monkeys :-( And BETSY, REINA, SIRAH, and . . . the BELOVED IRIS! (Wouldn't be a party without them!). We missed our Hannah, but know she is having the time of her life somewhere in China right now! And, of course, we always love seeing Slaid (and checking out what color this future rock-star's hair happens to be this week!). SO missed the other Folded Jeans members: Aquena, Dacote, and the lovely Delaney (who must have been with mom) . . . . Also missed our good pals Barb, Andy, Gabe, Drew, and Ian who have now moved on to Saint Louey. Boo. AND missed David and Heather (who have to be the most beautiful young couple in Greeley). Could I possibly forgotten anyone we saw this weekend in this one-handed typing frenzy of thankfulness? I surely hope not :-)
Ain't we lucky though?

Dilly-bopper-noodle-flakes

sooooooo sleepy . . . .