February 2009

Our Happy Boy showing of his two bottom teeth
He has one more tooth up top that just broke through

Did someone put my cereal on my face?

I'm having a seriously bad hair day.

Valentines Day at the New Belgium Brewery

Daddy's the best!

Sweet potatoes can get a little messy sometimes

This is the rec. center by our house that we have our play dates at

The kids love it!

Yeah for babysitters and parents who get to have dates!

Somebody found where mommy keeps her bracelets.

Yipee, it's lunch time!

Time to pray...

This is my pre-whine face, Daddy says mommy has the same one

So happy

Aaron's latest project- building a mantel and shelves- he's almost done, just needs to add doors to the bottom cabinets.

Mom- no pics, I'm eating.

Mohawk

Semester at Sea Reunion- So fun!

I guess it's time for my monthly update on the Marshalls. Things have gotten super, crazy busy the last couple of weeks. Aaron has been busy teaching, coaching the club water polo team, working on the house, and coaching baseball at Valor- and in case you didn't know baseball practices and has games all the time. As for me.... I've started coaching track at Valor and it's been great to get out there and try to run with the kids and coach the jumpers. As you can imagine our weekends have been (and will be) filled with track meets and double headers until mid May.

This last weekend, I was at a track meet and it was fairly cold- I surprisingly managed to stay warm in 3 pairs of pants, and several other layers including 3 jackets- more than i would ever wear skiing- I looked like the Marshmallow man- but that's ok i was warm. Needless to say at about 3pm they cancelled the meet because so much snow was coming down. It makes me laugh thinking back to any practices in college that I complained about the weather being too cold in Santa Barbara.

Other things we have going on include a group called Meals that Matter- every Sunday we have about 8 couples from our church over for dinner- it's a way to get to know random people and build community- it's been pretty fun so far. We also started a "Wine Club" with another group of 8 couples- Aaron's cousin is the facilitator as she is an educated connoisseur. Our first night we hit the big six grapes- don't ask me to name them off for you- my Wine journal is downstairs. Anyways it was a lot of fun and hopefully in due time we'll learn a bit about wine.

I've also started work with a writers' critique group. I got assigned to a group of five gals via a Christian Fiction writing website and we've started reading and editing each others work- 12 pages a week. This has been especially awesome and time consuming. It's been good to read others work and to see what they have to say about mine- hopefully someday I'll get published.

I've also started diving into research on this Educational Consulting Firm I'm trying to start up. Good news is... I've got my Business License and just checked out 18 books from the Library to try to read up on all the current practices. I'm getting pumped up and I'm hoping to Launch it by mid May to early June. You check the website we created at collegefitcolorado.blogspot.com

Other than all that we've been busy with a) a new Beth Moore Bible Study I started at a local church with some friends on Tuesdays, b) our standing play date at the pool on Wednesdays, and c) story time and a puppet show at the Library on Fridays. I can't believe Aricin's going to be one in a few weeks- life goes by so fast.

We've got countertops...

All Bundled up and momma let him sit in the snow- for about 5 seconds.

The Kitchen is almost done

Praise God for Countertops...
We went with Silestone in Bamboo

Hubby's done good.

At Breck... we're too cheap to ski this year

lift tix were $92 each and child care was $120 for the day...

Next year we'll get the season passes.

Breck's Ice carving contest

Aaron's favorite- the Surfer

He has two teeth now

Happy Monkey

Poor dog- he was having a bad day to begin with

The dog got a cut on his foot and had to get stiches- everytime he moved across the room he'd knock Aricin over it was pretty funny.

My sweet boy- at the park on the swings

Wild Hair

Nakey Boy- bath time

Poking his cousin in the eye for the family picture.

January flew by for us. It was nice to get back home and feel settled after the craziness of the holidays. Jeremiah cut his foot on a divider in the back yard and had to get stiches and wear a cone - poor dog. We still laugh as he runs into things not realizing how big he is with his cone on. Aaron has started to prepare for his role this spring as Assistant Baseball coach at Valor while i'm preping workouts for the track team's long, triple, and high jumpers. We managed to get away to Breckenridge for a weekend with two other couples (an hour and a half away). We stayed at a friends "cabin" and had fun exploring the town and riding the Gondolla.

A few days ago we got countertops - i can't even express to you how excited i am to have them. And i can't believe we got by for 5 months with out them. Aaron is still working on the house- his current project is the mantle- he's almost done, I'll post pics when he's finished. Aricin is growing too fast. He's into everything and starting to take steps by himself. I can't believe he's 10 months old already. Yesterday while we were at the pool on a play date with a few other kiddos and moms and he fell asleep while swimming- it's my own fault we're there during his normal nap time -this is the second time i've looked down while we were at the pool to find him fast asleep in my arms. The lifeguards think it's hilarious. We still love Denver, and the weather has been great- 70 degrees today and then snow forecasted a couple of days out - it's crazy how fast it changes.

Happy New Year

Sportin the 49er outfit in honor of Grandpa's Birthday
Hanging out with Auntie Joy and Lachlan
Playing with Kirsten and Lachlan
Mom... Kirsten is kissing me again

Riding his new Choo Choo, Faster Grandpa!

Working out with Uncle Jasun

Grandpa lets me stand while I eat and put my fingers in the food

The Golf Crew- Aaron and I didn't get last

It was my first time Golfing, not the best sport for a perfectionist

Aricin waiting for his turn to Golf

More Carrots?

Bath time at Grandmas House

Uncle Jon and Jasun teaching Aricin how to brush his first tooth

Hanging out with my Uncle Jon

Me and my Uncle Jon

I'm fussy because i have this 49er hat on

Um, mom there's someone looking at me in that box...

Good times with Grandma

Strike a pose

Everything just went black- can someone help me out here...

The messy hair look

Check out that drool

This is his Risky Business look- Watch out Tom Cruise

December flew by this year. We were able to fly back to California for 2 1/2 weeks which was great! We saw alot of family in the Valley as well as on the coast. I can't explain how refreshing it was to spend time with family and old friends. Aricin also got his first tooth while we were away and turned 9 months old- it's amazing how fast he's growing. He's into everything and has already started climbing up our stairs, he loves to explore. I just wish he slept better- but we're workin on that. It was so good and so hard to come back to Colorado. It's nice to be back in the house and hard to look around and see all the work that still lies ahead.

Aaron has jumped into the new semester teaching a new class "Acts to Revelation" he's super excited about it and is having fun creating the curriculum. He will also be one of the assistant coaches for the Baseball team, and he's still coaching club water polo on mondays and will possibly pick up a class or two to teach at Colorado Christian Univeristy this summer or fall. Not to mention all the home renovations- he's got alot on his plate right now.

As for me, I'm trying to get us unpacked, the house clean, and then there's Aricin. It's getting harder and harder to do things but yesterday i bought safety gates to keep him confined-which helps. We already have a couple of play dates set up for the next week- Meeting his friend Paul at the Pool and Maci at the Mall. I'm hoping to launch my Educational Consultant Biz in the next couple of months- I'm both excited and nervous to see how it goes as i put back on my Guidance Counselor hat and try to help kiddos as best i can.

So I've been thinking about the whole New Years Resolution thing and mine are probably the same as most people...

1. Spend more time in the word and in prayer

2. Run more often- maybe even do another half marathon this year

3. Write more and try to get some of my novels published

4. Slow down by doing less and investing in others

5. Finish the house renovations