HELLO

Hi. I'm Amanda...a happy wife and mom to three awesome guys. We've lived here in Fort Collins for more than 20 years and are proud to call it home. Before moving to CO, I worked at a city attorney's office, making use of my law and Master's degrees from Duke. After settling in Fort Collins, I homeschooled my three (now teenage and older) sons and was delighted to experience music classes, soccer, karate, swim team, archery, Science Olympiad, First Lego League, parkour, and climbing (not all at the same time!). From 2005-10, I was also a contributing editor for a national scrapbooking magazine, authoring a book and a couple of monthly columns. From 2009-10, I founded and ran the Good Grief Blog. I enjoy learning new things, spending time with my family, volunteering with The Matthews House, traveling and indoor rock climbing.

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Entries from December 1, 2010 - December 31, 2010

Friday
Dec312010

14 years ago today...

...there was a giant snowstorm (with more snow than we've gotten in the past 24 hours but without quite the bitterly cold temperatures that we have today)...I was wearing long johns...I was sick and drugged (and hence don't have very clear memories of the day)...and I was getting married. :)

Fortunately, the marriage has been considerably better than the wedding day was, LOL! I'm so very blessed. Happy anniversary to my sweet husband...

Tuesday
Dec282010

Belated Merry Christmas!

Went missing there for a bit. ;) It's okay. I have a good excuse. My baby sister and her new hubby came to visit and we were out having fun, not blogging. :) So. On the 23rd, they got here and we hit Old Town and painted ornaments:

The next day, Christmas Eve, we were out early to try some ice skating...something we'd been promising the boys for months (before Asher's broken arm). Asher and I sat and watched while Noah worked on his balance (loving the wall quite a bit...takes after me, lol):

Micah was short enough that the upside down trash cans they offered came in quite handy. Soon he was zipping around the rink:


And he even tried a few loops without the can:


After the ice skating, we stopped by a giant gingerbread house:


We'd seen the initial version the year before. They'd added the dog house this year. ;) Inspired, we came home (and were joined by my brother Zach and his wife and daughter) and tried our own gingerbread projects...simplifying by using graham crackers instead of actual gingerbread. The boys and their new uncle Charlie, though, soon ditched the idea of a measly gingerbread house, aiming, instead, to build a Nimitz class aircraft carrier. Because apparently that's what boys do. :) In the end, they settled for a destroyer:


It's sitting next to uncle Zach's gingerbread doll house (and you can't see aunt Cassy's gingerbread castle). And, yes, they resorted to hot glue for the main structure. Priorities, you know. ;) 

Later that night, after a full and yummy dinner and some gift opening and all, the adults played some couples Pictionary...me & Nathan, Cas & Charlie, and Zach & Marcy. Nathan and I, obviously, dominated. ;) Then, we took a group picture:

And that, in a very abbreviated version, was that. ;)

Christmas morning brought roughly 4900 new lego pieces...1141 of which were in the Clone Turbo Tank that Santa brought Asher. Determined, and with a little help here and there, he actually managed, with just the one hand, to put the whole thing together by the next day.

And now, Nathan's parents are here (Cas & Charlie flew home on Christmas Day) and we're taking more pictures and making more memories and will have to update more later. ;)

So. How was your Christmas?

Tuesday
Dec212010

Ooooh. Aaaaah.

Boys are finally in bed (okay, a bit ago), but it was worth letting them stay up late to see this:

Yup. Total lunar eclipse. It was cool! This picture doesn't do it justice. It was fascinating to watch it become shadowed and then turn red (this is actually taken before it was at its peak). But. It's pretty good for having been taken with Nathan's iPhone through the viewfinder on our (inexpensive) telescope. ;) What a nice way to officially start winter...

Monday
Dec202010

What the heck?

Okay, someone please tell me what the designers were thinking when they added this as one of the days for the Lego City Advent calendar:

This is one of the days that the boys opened over the weekend. It's Santa taking a shower (apparently wearing a black thong)! While I find it hilarious (and think that they should have given Santa a bigger belly, lol)...I really do have to wonder what was going through their minds... ;)  

Saturday
Dec182010

And a partridge in a pear tree...

Whew. Almost done. ;) 14 packages mailed off...13 gifts hand delivered...99 gifts wrapped so far (now I can do the ones for our immediate family)...decision made to send New Year's cards instead of Christmas cards...schoolwork for the calendar year finished up...and 8 strands of lights hung outside (plus two pre-lit wreaths, but no light up Christmas Hippo at Target that Micah adores, lol).

Course, there's also the fact that there are zero rooms cleaned, 1 gift left to finish, 2 gifts completely misplaced (ahem, lost in the course of me having hidden them, lol) and 9 gifts left to deliver...with four houseguests coming over the course of the next two weeks. 

Still. Doing pretty well. :) Yay!