It's Aunt Julie's fault...

Yesterday, we cleaned out our laundry/mud room. We had 2 huge baskets of shoes in there that we went through to sort out what doesn't fit, what's trashed and what isn't being worn. As I organized Mattea's shoes, I realized she has quite a few. So, I decided to collect them all and just see how bad it had gotten. Weeeeeeeellllll.... I'm embarrassed to say that I found 24 pairs of shoes. I later found one unmatched shoe and another pair, so she has at least 26 pairs of shoes. A bit much for a 3 1/2 year old, don't you think? So, after I lined them all up and took pictures to make a scrapbook page, I thought back to how this could have happened. I realized it's not really my fault... it's Aunt Julie's fault!!! You see, when Mattea was just hours old, Aunt Julie started talking to Mattea about shoes, accessorizing, purses, etc. I am sure this is where this obsession came from, however, I suppose I'm partly to blame since I'm the one that keeps buying her more. : (

Joshie's new glasses

Unfortunately, our kids don't have much of a chance with having good eye sight! We found this out firsthand when Josh said he was having trouble seeing the board at school. We had his eyes examined and sure enough... he is a bit near-sighted. It's not too bad yet, but the doc prescribed glasses to help him at school. Josh picked out a cute pair of Converse frames and anxiously waited a week for the lenses to be put in. We picked them up on Friday. The kids were at VBS this week and it was Crazy Hair Day, so you'll see in the picture that his hair is spiked and GREEN! But, doesn't he look adorable with his new glasses (and a missing bottom tooth)???

A valuable lesson from a 7 year old

The kids are attending Vacation Bible School (VBS) this week. I'm not always sure that the lessons they teach each night are being heard by the kids or whether the kids are more focused on the cool crafts they got to make. Josh proved this morning that the lessons are being heard!!! Here's the story...


Picture this scene. It's 7am and the Dolan house is already busy. I'm running around helping with breakfast, locating lost homework folders and filling water bottles. The kids are eating breakfast, talking, singing (Mattea) and looking for lost homework folders! It's getting close to the time the bus picks up the boys, so I'm shuffling them out the door. Mattea is moving pretty slow, so I tell her "Mattea, let's go. Mommy needs to get you to school because I have a meeting at 8:00am and I'm really nervous about it." Joshie turns to me and says "Don't worry, Mommy. Jesus gives us the power to be brave." Oh my gosh... that was last night's lesson at VBS. I was touched and my heart got 2 sizes bigger. I turned back to Josh wanting him to know that we're never to old to "use our powers" and said "You are right, Josh. I will be brave."

I was so proud of Josh and how he related what he learned to a real life situation.

Happy 4th of July!!!

We had a fun 4th of July! We went to Town Center in Aurora to view the fireworks show. The kids played in the grassy area while we waited for it to get dark. Jeff noticed the sprinklers coming on several hundred feet away and kept an eye on them. About the time we forgot about the sprinklers, we heard squealing from the groups right next to us. Yup... the sprinklers kicked on and started to soak them. I can't believe how quickly everyone packed up their stuff to find a dry spot. We had to move back a bit, but we didn't end up getting too wet. It was actually quite comical! The fireworks show was very good... so good, in fact, that we thought we were seeing the finale at least three times! Mattea did color commentary throughout the show... "PINK! GWEEN! BWUE!" It was pretty funny! The boys kept thinking they were seeing shapes in the fireworks... mostly SpongeBob SquarePants and Crabby Patties. We feel very blessed to have a happy, healthy family. Thanks to everyone who has fought for our freedom.

A Visit from Grandpa Bob & Grandma Judie

Grandpa Bob & Grandma Judie had a previously scheduled trip to South Lake Tahoe, CA to visit Terry. Once they found out we were moving to Colorado, they altered their plans to include 2 weekend visits on either end of their trip to visit Terry. It worked out great!

The first weekend was very, very low-key. I had a major cold, Mattea got sick and Alex was doing his fair share of coughing as well. Josh got Heely's that weekend, so he kept pretty busy outside "Heelying" around... staying away from the sickies. We basically just hung around the house. Mom totally helped out with laundry and taking care of the kids' needs. We sat outside and enjoyed the wonderful weather and just enjoyed each other's company. Before we knew it, Mom & Dad were off to California.

They returned Friday night around dinner time. On Saturday, we went mini golfing. That was a treat! Both Alex and Josh got at least a hole-in-one each and Alex even won a free game on the last hole. We got some pizza and then headed home. The rest of the weekend was very relaxing. There were walks to the park, some fireworks, playing catch, etc. We just had a really nice time.

Well, Mattea is freaking out right now because she can't get her pants snapped. Of course, she won't let me help her, so I better go do something about it.

A Visit from the Bachman's

The Bachman family visited this past week. They flew in on Sunday, June 1st in the morning and were at our house by about 11:00am. We gave them a tour of the house and then had lunch. The kids had a fun time playing after being apart for several months. It was obvious they had missed each other. Kelly and I were able to sneak away for a few hours to do some shopping.



During the week, the kids played outside, played X-box, went to the park, stomped in the creek & swung from tree branches like they were Tarzan, swam at the pool and ran through the fountain. Kelly and I were able to go out for dinner Wednesday night while the boys hung out with the kids. We had a great visit.

A visit from the Dolan's

Julie, Carol & Pete came to visit us for Memorial Day weekend. We had such a nice visit. We went to Casa Bonita on Friday night. Julie hadn't been there since she was about 9 or 10. We had a great time! On Saturday, we had a nice breakfast and then took a walk to the park. It was a beautiful day and we all enjoyed the Colorado sunshine. Intermittently, through the

weekend, Josh would find someone to play catch with him. I had to take a picture of him and Grandpa playing catch. We shopped a bit at Southlands Shopping Center and then had a nice dinner at an Irish pub called McCabe's. On Sunday, we took a trip to the Red Rocks amphitheatre for brunch. Wow... what a beautiful place! We took lots of pictures and enjoyed the views and the wonderful company. We drove further west into the mountains and stopped for ice cream in Idaho Springs. When we got back to Aurora, Aunt Julie and Alex went on their "birthday date". They have been doing that since he was five. They went shopping for a birthday present and then to dinner & a movie at the Movie Tavern. Today, at Pete & Carol's insistence that they help us with a project, we got some artwork hung in the living room. I am so glad they were all around to help because it was definitely more than a 2-person job. Julie had to leave for the airport and Jeff & Pete went to the new Indiana Jones movie. Carol and I took the kids to McDonald's Play Land to burn off some of their energy. We were so glad to have visitors for the weekend.