Archive for the 'Life in Longmont' Category

Once a month, local unschooling moms gather for a night out. I am so grateful for this lively and beautiful group of women…we shared a lovely meal and thoughtful conversations.

And now have a new favorite restaurant in Longmont!

We celebrated two birthdays…

And one of the mamas baked two pies for the birthday girls…yum yum! It was a great night. Thankful to have a support network full of amazing women…and also for a night out before this babe makes an appearance.

We have been scouring Craigslist for the past month…looking for the perfect play structure for the girls. We’ve found many…but the prices were anywhere from $200 to $5,000. We knew we didn’t want to spend much, so we just kept on the hunt.

However, this weekend we found one in Lyons that was in pretty rough shape, but they were only asking $60 for it. We offered $40 and they accepted!

Matt had to disassemble the entire thing, cut it in half, and bring it home to re-build it.

That same day, he found some scrap Trex decking to re-do the main deck of the playhouse. Score! It’s times like this that I am REALLY in awe of my husband’s amazing skills. He reconfigured the structure to fit around the existing trees and made it fit perfectly in our little backyard…which was no small task.

This is how the girls feel about their new playground! Thank you Daddy!

Endless hours of fun…a trapeze bar, 2 swings, a rope climb, a slide, and a fort. Even more fun will be had when we add the sand to the lower sandbox area! Praising God for this blessing.

And now from the back patio! One of the things that sold us on this house was the great patio off the back and the big french doors that opened to it from the kitchen. We LOVE eating outside and have thoroughly enjoyed our time spent with friends and family out there so far. Now that we’re back in Longmont, we’re just minutes away from our good friends Kris and Natalie…which makes us very happy!

We’ve had fun with my family…and we look forward to Matt’s mom and my sister coming out in June after Baby J is born! More deck fun to be had…

We have a nice little yard with a firepit…it’s already been used several times and we love it. You can see Bella using the Sky View app…it’s our new favorite thing to outside at night.

A light weekend lunch in the sunshine…

And some hammock time with Daddy!

We love having the space to run and play…

…and kick the soccer ball! Bella is starting soccer next week and she couldn’t be more thrilled. In my next post, I’ll show you another addition to our backyard that the girls are crazy about Happy Spring everyone!

 

I have such happy memories of sitting on the patio at my grandparent’s house. Lunches with Grandma…while listening to the mourning doves sing and admiring her beautiful gardens. Wind chimes blowing in the breeze.

My grandparents have since passed away…but I was able to bring these two pieces of happy into our home. A little part of my history. My sweet Matthew sanded them down and re-painted them for me and I couldn’t love them more. Grandpa would be so proud…he always took such good care of everything he owned. They are the perfect shape and they have the nicest rocking motion. And they match my rug

I have a little crush on front porches. I love driving through lovely neighborhoods and checking out their chairs. And the flower pots. And the twinkly lights. And now we finally have own very own. I love sitting out here, sipping kombucha, and watching the world go by. The girls gleefully ride their bikes up and down the sidewalk, stopping to draw with their chalks and blow bubbles.

I have big plans for our  little porch. A quirky side table. Hanging flowers. I can’t wait until the leaves come out and we’re surrounded by green! More delights. But it takes time to layer all of this love. A work in progress…starting with two blue chairs.

This week we spent a few hours at Clementine Studio in Boulder. They recently offered a Living Social coupon for 5 sessions and I thought it looked like fun!

It’s an open space art studio where the kids can pick and choose their creative adventures with all the supplies accessible and everything at their fingertips. They also offer art technique classes for 5-10 year olds…I think Bella would really enjoy that, so next time we’ll check out that option.

I loved the paint wall…and so did Lucy.

The printmaking station was also a favorite. I got lots of ideas for our art time at home!

Lucy LOVED to wash her hands in the wash bucket.

Bright.

Bella was in her element…creating over 10 pieces of art to take home! I loved seeing her so focused on whatever she was creating.

More printmaking…so great!

Little sweetie.

Sisters creating together.

At the end of their session, Lisa read them several stories and handed out pretzels to the hungry artists. A fun way to end our time there! The girls can’t wait to go back.

 

 

:: nebraska ::

Today we spent 13 hours on the open road…en route from Colorado to Minneapolis for my brother’s wedding. We stopped in Des Moines to crash for the night, and let me just say that sleep will be SO WELCOMED!

Let me also just say that SUMMER + LIVING REAL LIFE = LESS BLOGGING.

At the end of the day, I’ve been crashing onto the couch for some quick online catch up time…but haven’t felt motivated to blog at all. This isn’t an apology or a promise for more blogging…just keepin’ it real. I tend to blog a lot more when life isn’t moving so fast and when the sun goes down at 6pm.

I have a backlog of ideas and drafts of blogs that are half written, but haven’t had the time (because wow, blogging takes a lot of time yo!)…or the energy to complete. I tend to be a perfectionist in all things, so if I don’t have time to write a perfectly well-thought out post, then I won’t post at all.

However, I really like what my friend Olya at Life Inspired said about her new goal in blogging:

I am going to embrace the randomness of our daily life and not be afraid to be random here as well. Because in reality, our life consists of a myriad of random moments that happen throughout the day, every day. Trying to tie them together into one post with some deep meaningful title to go along with it is what often overwhelms me, takes too much time and causes me to not document those things after all.

And in that spirit, here are a few of my favorite moments from the last couple of weeks:

I have received several lovely letters in the mail from treasured friends. I SAVORED their every word and soaked it all in…with a delicious hot beverage in hand.

We had friends over for taco night and we enjoyed a beautiful evening on the patio.

After supper, we listened to some live music in downtown Longmont.

Bella spent 3 days at Sun Pony Ranch for horse camp! She had a BLAST and can’t wait to go back next year.

Shortly after that, she got her cast off! She will still wear a splint for playing for 2 more weeks, but she is enjoying the freedom!

I rode my cruiser and met Natalie on the front porch of Caffe Luna early one morning. It was a really fun time of connection and laughter and I cannot wait to do it again.

We spent time in southern Colorado at Monument Lake…what beauty! God’s creation is truly incredible.

We had a slumber party with our cousins in Castle Rock. A sweet time of fellowship by adults and kiddos alike.

We spent time with Ellen and her family in Lyons for the Outdoor Games. Fun!

Matt and I celebrated 11 years of marriage on June 17! He still makes my heart skip a beat with that killer smile and his sweet sense of humor.

We had some hard days after saying goodbye to Bella’s best friends in the neighborhood…they are moving on July 1, before we return from the wedding. She has spent so much time with them over the last couple of months…up to 6-7 hours a day between the park and in the backyards. It will take some time to adjust…luckily, they just moved an hour away and we plan to see them again!

And lastly…I’ve been hanging out these two amazing daughters of mine who teach me daily what it means to truly live life in the moment. To see beauty in the small things and remain in awe of airplanes and birds in flight. They make me smile. They make me crazy. They are the best gift I’ve ever been given.

And now I must get to bed, so I can be rested for the amazing wedding weekend of family, feasting, and fun!

 

 

Do you remember my friend Ellen? I told you about her awhile ago. We hung out last week in Denver at her place and had a blast. And then she came over again today and we hung out in Lyons with the kiddos at Meadow Park (the most beautiful park EVER). We will definitely be going back. Like tomorrow. Our kids play together splendidly and we plan to get together a lot more in the coming months!

The crew!

Bella surveys the rapids. This park has awesome little “still water” inlets for the kiddos to splash around in and have fun. Of course, the water is ICE cold (because it’s melting off the mountains), but they didn’t seem to mind.

Ellen and Lucy have a moment.

I fell completely head over heels in love with the little coffee shop in town…The Stone Cup. Super kid friendly and beautiful views.
She was asleep before we even hit the city limits…which means it was a good day!

And lastly…an awesome magnet I saw today. Such a wonderful reminder! Say YES! to your life this weekend…look for the little blessings in all things and be happy!

*Note: The filter on these photos is done with Instagram, which is an iPhone app. For those of you without iPhones, you can still follow my feed here. I post a lot of photos there that I don’t post anywhere else. If you do have an iPhone, download the Instagram app and follow “livelightly”!

I can’t believe it’s only been a year since this photo was taken! Lucy’s legs are so chubby…and my hoops are so new and shiny! We spent Memorial Day weekend in Minneapolis last year with family…and this year we’ll be with family again, but this time in Colorado!

My parents are driving out from Iowa as I type this, so we’re looking forward to seeing them again. Dan, Jess, and Scotty will be here too.  I’m guessing there will be lots of good food and sunshine involved. Bella is ready and rarin’ to go with her new cast too.

I have been dreaming of the veggie pot stickers with spicy peanut sauce since Monica and I had them at the Boulder Farmer’s Market. Oh.my.word. Amazing. Or how about some iced Bhakti Chai from Laughing Goat? Yes please. As a recovering Boulder-hater, I am working on finding my bliss there again. I’ve been less than thrilled about the traffic and gaggles of people in the past…but I am embracing it now. It will be extra nuts because the Boulder Creek Festival is happening. Bring on the crazy!

Lucy’s birthday is on the 29th…so I’m sure we’ll do a little something fun for that. We had a celebration in Iowa with everyone…but she’s too cute not to celebrate again.

There are summer breezes pouring in every window and pretty birdie songs floating through the air. In the distance I can hear Bella playing with her besties and the wind chimes I took from my Grandma’s patio are joining in the song. The RV “guest suite” needs clean sheets and fresh flowers…so I need to sign off and get busy on that.

I hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend…I have lots of good stuff planned for the blog (and for you!) this summer. Can’t wait!!

God is good. Life is good. Cherish each moment. Much love…

 

 

 

 

Life has been full and wonderful…and I wanted to share some of our most recent fun with you! This weekend Bella took a tree climbing class (part of the Longmont Parks and Rec Program) and she had SO much fun. This isn’t your regular ‘ol “tree climbing” though…

Once you get your harness on, you use your arms to pull yourself all the way to the top of the tree and then you release the knot to come back down.

She was a natural…and loved every  moment. Matt is even talking about getting our own tree climbing gear.

On a rainy day this week, we met our unschooling group at Bounce Town! It’s a big warehouse with 6 large bounce houses in it for the kids to go wild. I like to crawl in there with them and bounce bounce bounce, but it doesn’t take long before I get sick and dizzy!

I’m getting to know some really fun local mamas…it’s so nice to build a connection here.

Another day, while we were cleaning up a bouquet of purple irises on the table, we decided to see if we could dye paper with them! They were wilting and we were going to throw them away…but instead, we threw them into the Vita-Mix with a little water and soaked our paper in it.

It turned out to be a beautiful shade of blue/violet. We had some good discussions about how people used to use plants, seeds, and flowers to make dyes all the time (and still do). I told Bella that’s how they did it in the “olden days”, and she said, “…you mean like in 1984?”. Oh my.

Bella has been asking to set up a lemonade stand…so on the first sunny day this week, we brought out all the supplies and set up shop. She did well…but she did have to pay her “employees” their wages, so her profit was a little down. She was still happy with her results…she has such an entrepreneurial spirit!

Yesterday morning we decided to scope out a new breakfast spot in town and we settled on Two Dog Diner. It’s a sweet little cafe tucked away in the Prospect area of Longmont. They have Bhakti chai there (which I am quite obsessed with right now) and even veggie sausage! We enjoyed some sweet family time together and we will definitely be going back!

Other activities from this weekend: I painted our TV-less corner and have a few little decorations in it. It’s not quite done, but I will share it with you when it is! I picked up the supplies to paint our bedroom (finally!!). I’m SO excited to start it. Bella had a sleepover last night at her friend’s house, which went splendidly. Today we enjoyed meeting with our house church family and had a relaxing afternoon.

We’re looking forward to another lovely week.

Monday and Tuesday we’re *hoping* to paint and hang curtains in our bedroom. We’re having guests over for tacos on Wed. night. Thursday is Bella’s last day of Raccoon Clan for the season and there will be a family potluck out on the land. Right after that we will leave for Iowa and drive back for my Grandma’s estate sale. If you recall, she died just a few days before Lucy was born and I wasn’t able to attend her funeral or have closure…so I am looking forward to getting back there. My entire family will be there, as well as Matt’s parents who are driving down to see us.  We’ll be there through Sunday.

Whew! Life speeds by so fast…I have to remind myself to stay in the moment so often! I love taking time throughout the day to stop and really WATCH the girls faces and see what they are feeling. I also like to list all the things I am grateful for in that particular day…and that helps me too.

How do you stay “present” and in the moment when life is rushing by? I would love to hear your thoughts…

 

 

It’s been a little crazy ’round here! and now my computer is at Apple for repairs until next week…so no “real” blogging for me. WordPress iPhone blogging is enough to drive a girl insane!

We said goodbye to Rachel (above) Chad, and Oliver on Tue…had a wonderful time (photos coming!).

I pick up Monica at the airport this afternoon and it’s going to be an amazing, 80 degrees and sunny weekend with Farmer’s Markets, hooping, Pearl St, tea, and good food!

See you all next week!