Monday, May 31, 2010

Memorial Day with the Ingys

Reed is still wearing his medal and telling us, "won bike race".


We made the official move outside for dinners. As JR informed us, "we eat outside until autumn". Then large platters of meat appeared on the table.


And like good little native Texans, ribs were the fan favorite of the evening.




Sunday, May 30, 2010

My Little Iron Horses

Yesterday was the day every true Durangoan lives for: The Iron Horse Bicycle Race. (They ride from Durango to Silverton going from 6,500 ft to 11,000 ft elevation. Out of the 54 miles, 37 are uphill and the goal is to beat the train-which takes about 4 hours.) This is something I have no desire to ever do. My J.Lo butt cringes just thinking about those teeny-tiny bike seats.
But since bicycling and Durango go together like Texas and BBQ, the Iron Horse has expanded to a weekend full of events. And my littlest Iron Horses raced this morning! (My biggest Iron Horse got nervous of all the competitors and bowed out before his race started.) Now Kyle and Reed can't actually ride a bike yet, (although Reed asks me about a million times a day, "Ride bike? Ride bike?") but you'd have never known it with the determination they had has they took off down Main Street this morning.


Not only were they the only ones competing on an Elmo airplane and a John Deer tractor, but they did awesome! They had to make the block and then go back. That's a long way for little 2 year-old legs to push. Here you can see the cheering crowd, and Reed getting a little distracted by the camera crew documenting his historic ride. (That's Harry telling him to keep on going.)


Kyle and Reed have loved their medals they "won". (Which are really nice, BTW) Reed is still wearing his and showing it to me saying, "Bike race! Bike race!"

Now to be honest, this is all second hand information for me. While the kids were racing I ran the Narrow Gage 10 mile run. I was seriously nervous at the starting line since everyone looked crazy in shape. (Even more so than your typical in shape Durangoan.) When I saw a group doing warm up laps around the block I was thinking I was in over my head. And although I had to walk the 2 biggest uphills, (Texans, they are total mountains...almost 1,000 ft elevation change) I still accomplished my 2 goals:
1. Finish in 2 hours (I did it in 1:54:27)
2. Not to be last (I wasn't!)
I don't have any pictures of my run, although at one point I almost got out my phone to take a picture of the ridiculousness I had just come up. (But then I figured if I dropped it, I might not have the energy to pick it up again!) But I do have a picture of us this morning before we left.

Yep, it's been a big race day for us Ingys. And I am so looking forward to eating everything I can get my hands on at dinner tonight!

Saturday, May 29, 2010

7 Year Extravaganza

The 7 year extravaganza started bright and early this morning with hugs. And no, Kyle and Reed aren't usually "allowed" to hug JR, but I guess it was okay since they were wishing him "Happy Bir-day, Jar".


I have no idea where he got the idea that he needed breakfast in bed, but it was high on the list of requests.


Mini golf was also high on the list...although it was a pretty big decision if it was going to be mini golf or bowling.


And of course, Chinese food for dinner. Does anybody else see the irony that Harry picked to eat at Serious Texas BBQ last night after graduation and JR picks to eat Chinese food for his birthday?


JR wanted to try sushi for the first time. And yes, you're right, sushi isn't Chinese food. But we live in Durango, and since there's probably only about 20 Asians in the whole town, I let it slide that it's on the menu.
The tasting went really well at first.


But then quickly took a turn for the worse....


But it was nothing a trip to Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for dessert couldn't fix.

Friday, May 28, 2010

The Graduate

Okay, so Harry didn't actually graduate from Durango High, but they let the foreign exchange students walk, so it's graduating as far as I'm concerned.




Somebody doesn't handle it so well when others are getting attention. (I have no idea where he gets it.) Getting to wear Harry's hat helped put some focus back on JR, and also slowed down questions such as, "Can I take off my shirt?"
And in case you were wondering, the balloons released at graduation were biodegradable. Oh yes. It was written right there in the program. Cause we Durangoans never graduate from being environmentally conscious.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

The Last...

day of school.
Here's the requisite first and last day pictures to compare. And I know I should have taken them in the same spot, but it was super sunny this morning, so we had to find some shade. You know how JR is about the sun and picture taking.

First Day:


Last Day


Here he is celebrating the end of 1st grade with his buddies at Dairy Queen. Of course JR's still wearing his "it's my birthday hat". What can I say, I'd have still been wearing the hat too. (His birthday is actually Saturday.)


And JR wasn't the only one celebrating. William's sister, Isabelle, was there too. And as you can see by the looks on Kyle and Reed's faces, she's one of their very favorite people...so they pretty much thought it was a party for them.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Positive Reinforcement

I was singing The Gummy Bears Song* after dinner tonight and as I finished I said: I think I'm ready for American Idol. Whadaya think, JR?
JR: Or America's Funniest Home Videos.

Yes sir-eee. I'm that good.

*The Gummy Bears Song: A song I made up to the tune of the Veggie Tales theme song. I sing it in an operatic voice as I pass out gummy bears, or at JR's request.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Super High Tech Tracking Device

Being the amazing mom that I am, I lose Kyle and Reed in the house all the time. They're little, they're fast, and don't always answer when called...it's a recipe for disaster. But thanks to free balloons from the Coke distributor, all my problems have been solved! This is just what I needed to know where they were at all times (at least for one day).

High Tech Tracking Device tells me there's a child behind the island.


Yep! It's right every time. Isn't technology great?

Monday, May 24, 2010

Fancy Pants

Jason and I put on our party clothes and headed out to a fundraiser for Music in the Mountains last night. We aren't invited to many "events", (with this pack of kids we have I just can't imagine why) so we were excited to go.
The dress code in Durango still makes me laugh, as when I called to RSVP I said: It doesn't say on the invitation, but I'm assuming the dress is 'cocktail'.
Lady on the phone: Um...um, yeah. People are supposed to dress up.
Me: Dress up? Or dress up for Durango?
Lady on the phone: (laughs) Well, I hope dress up. But you never know!
So here we are, dressed up for Durango. Cause when you think about it, I believe Jason and I would also be appropriate for grocery shopping in Texas!

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Brainwashed Part 2

Well, I do believe The Mountain People have officially gotten to JR. Here's what he looked like bright and early.



And when I tried to have a conversation with him, it went something like this:

Me: JR, What do you want for breakfast?
JR (without opening an eyeball): Don't disturb me. I'm doing my morning yoga.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Double Fistin'

I don't claim to know much about sports. (I know practically nothing about all of them.) But I'm pretty sure something's amiss here.


Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Stick it to Me

About 4:30 yesterday afternoon I "wrote" the script for JR's Bobcat badge ceremony for Cub Scouts. ("wrote": found 3 different ceremonies I liked on the Internet and merged them into 1) It was then that I realized I needed to make coup sticks for all the kids. (Coup sticks are Native American nonviolent weapons. They symbolize strength for the boys as they continue in Scouts.) I also figured the sticks had to be decorated. So after a mad dash to WalMart yesterday evening, I've been furiously hot gluing and sewing bells, feathers, and beads since last night. I'm not sure the boys even noticed the embellishments, they were just thrilled we were handing them a giant stick. I did have to laugh when they went to "play coup"...it was a bit Lord of the Flies to see boys chasing each other with sticks in hand.

And these pictures? All about the sticks, Baby! No way I'm going to make all these and not show off my handy work! (BTW, only 1 severe hot glue gun burn and 1 needle stick!)

I put each boys' name on their stick. If you look in the bottom right hand corner of this picture you can see Sam's name.


During the ceremony we tied feathers on their sticks. (I sat up last night gluing feathers together and attaching them to rope.) Each feather's color had a special meaning.

Here's a bit of a close-up of JR's. Of course he had already pulled all the beads and bells off of his during his Lord of the Flies maneuvers. Guess I'll be pulling my needle and thread out again.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Headware Malfunctions

When it comes to riding the scooter, we're working out a few kinks in the helmet department.

Monday, May 17, 2010

The Bears were Bare

The Bear Hunters returned home last night about 11:30 empty handed. After 3 hard days of hunting (leaving at 5:30 AM and returning to the hotel about 9:00 PM) I believe the closest thing they saw was a bear butt. JR is quite upset about not having a new rug for his room, but on the bright side, they get to go try again in September. And since Jason was the photographer for this little expedition, I have exactly one picture to share with you. This picture just makes me think: You know you're a red neck when you pose shirtless with the hunting dogs while enjoying your beef jerky.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

So I'm a Bit Worried About Myself

I was so excited about the new double seat carts at our WalMart that I whipped out my phone and took a picture.
Oh yes, I did.
(That's Harry pushing.)

The first step is admitting you have a problem, right?
Hello.
My name is Jan.
And I was waaay too excited about the new WalMart carts.

Friday, May 14, 2010

I Stand Corrected

I admit it.
I was wrong.
I thought Kyle was our resident fashionista, but I now have first hand experience that Reed loves him some shoes.
Before we get to Reed's shoe loving (and when I say 'shoe loving' I mean complete and total meltdown over a pair of shoes) let me tell a quick story about how not to be a saleswoman.
I was in the kids section of Famous Footwear and the saleswoman (who had introduced herself and every other employee in the store when I walked in) comes back and says something like: You have your hands full. (On a side note, this is said to me at least once every time I appear in public.)
Me: Oh yes.
At this point Reed is running around with a pair of pink tennis shoes he's found.
Crazy Saleswoman to Reed: Those will look nice on you. (I don't think she was kidding.)
Me: Um, I don't think Daddy will likes those too much.
Reed runs off leaving the shoes.
Crazy Saleswoman to Me: Will you pick those up and put them away. My back hurts.
Me: Oh (pause) kay.
(And BTW Crazy Saleswoman, these kids you see that are keeping my hands 'so full' want me to carry them all the time...my back has hurt since they were 6 months old.)
After following my putting away the shoes instructions, I start heading toward the door.
Crazy Saleswoman: So you don't want anything today?
Me (Still kinda put off that I was told to put away shoes. I would have done it without her directions.): No. I don't really want to spend $25 a piece on summer sandals. I wasn't really looking to spend $50 on shoes they can only wear a couple of months. (I actually would pay that for sandals, but not at a "discount" shoe store.)
Crazy Saleswoman: Well, these over here are only $20.
Me: Yeah, I'm not really wanting to spend $40 either.
Crazy Saleswoman following me out of the store: Whatever, it's up to you. They're your kids' feet.
(I had no comment. I know. Shocking.)
So we headed on down the mall and found a great selection of character sandals for the boys to choose from (BTW, they were $3.99 a pair). Reed immediately ran to the Diego pair, pulled off his own shoes, and started trying on. Kyle, diva that he is, had to try on Elmo, Thomas, and Diego before he selected Diego. With The Diva ready to go, I thought we were home free, but Reed started crying. He was not leaving the shoe section without Diego on his feet. I kept telling him we were buying Diego, but he couldn't put them on yet. (They had one of those alarms on them. I guess $3.99 Diego sandals are a hot item on the black market.) I literally couldn't get them on both his feet. He wouldn't go with me, he wouldn't put on his own shoes, he just sat there and wailed, "Diego shoes! Diego shoes!". Finally, I gathered up all the shoes, put barefoot Reed under my arm, and had Kyle tagging along behind me. We got to the front of the store and with tears rolling down his face, Reed was still hysterical about the shoes. (Wailing and gnashing of teeth doesn't even begin to describe it. Even Kyle was looking at him like, Dude, Mom's gettin' us the shoes...it's called shopping.)The lady in front of me was so nice and said, "Go ahead. I have 4 boys, I understand." After profusely thanking her, I plopped them both up at the cash register and have never seen a saleswoman cut alarm tags off faster. I got the shoes on them and we Go, Diego, Go-ed ourselves outta there!

Thursday, May 13, 2010

DeDe Hunt Bear

Jason, JR, and Jason's dad left a little while ago to go bear hunting. And even though they're gone, Reed is still under the impression that Hunter (AKA: DeDe) is going hunting with them. The other day Jason was telling JR that they'll hunt the bear with dogs. Reed was obviously enthralled in this conversation as he's told me all day long, "DeDe hunt bear. DeDe hunt bear."
And since Reed knows Hunter's main form of physical activity is walking to his food dish, Reed has taken it upon himself to give Hunter some pointers. He's been showing him pictures of bears and saying, "Look DeeDee. Look. Bear." As of this writing, Hunter has yet to develop an interest.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

*Cough Cough*

Dear Colorado, I think you need to revise the Crystal, Clean Air section of the Colorado is Beautiful and Fabulous Handbook.

Photo Evidence Exhibit A:


Cause if I can't actually see the mountains, they're not so fun to live in. Now, I'm sure it's wasn't really your fault, Colorado. I'm quite sure that was New Mexico or Utah dust/sand/dirt flying around all over the place. (I'm pointing the finger at you, Utah, since the grittiness in my teeth yesterday didn't have a New Mexican green chile taste.)

Photo Evidence Exhibit B: Pictures from JR's Yoga class in March, and then almost the same spots yesterday.







Now, Colorado, I do have blog evidence that this same sort of thing happened last spring. BUT, since you decided to be your normal, pretty self again today, I won't be pursuing any action...for now.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Monday, May 10, 2010

My Hair Grew Back!

JR and I have both loved his teacher this year. Her teaching style reminds me a lot of my mom's...And just like my mom always did, JR's teacher made sure he had plenty of Mother's Day gifts to give yesterday. One of my favorites was a little book titled "Mom and I", and of course, I have the best pages to share with you.

I'll show you the picture first, and then will interpret 1st grade handwriting and give my commentary below.


You probably got this one: Ride Roller coasters
What's funny is Saturday night Jason and I had gone to dinner and I was telling him, "I'm so glad you're going to Fiesta Texas with us this summer. My stomach just can't take 5 times on Tony Hawk's Big Spin." And if you look closely at the picture, JR drew himself with a big smile and me with an "Oh!" face. We're also frighteningly tan.



My Mom and I watch: Extreme Water Parks. That would be a backward "P" that was somewhat corrected.
JR and I watch a lot of Travel Channel together, but we watch way more America's Funniest Home Videos (Praise the Lord it comes on right as I'm trying to cook dinner because all the kids love it!). Obviously JR has summer vacation on the brain.
From the looks of things I believe I'm about to go down the slide, as it seems JR is the one already upside down. Unfortunately, I might also be nude. Which I can guarantee would never happen.


And my favorite...

My hair is back! I'm bald no more! Sure JR has realized that at 5'2" he might as well go ahead and draw himself as tall as me. But who cares?! I'm skinny AND have hair. Not much hair, but it's there! Maybe this summer we'll practice drawing my hair more Jennifer Anistony and less Keri Russell When She Chopped Off All her Hair and Ruined Felicity.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Why No Post?

So where's my Mother's Day post? The post that tells how amazing my mom and mother-in-law are (which they are), and how my family has showered me with love and affection (which they have, especially since I live in a house full of males). Well, I don't have one. I'm still in a post nap fog. Yes, I said nap! My head can't really wrap itself around composing a loving and heartfelt post right now. All I can think about is going back to sit on the couch and be lazy in my after nap state. NAP. Thank you, Jason!

Friday, May 7, 2010

New Sesame Street Character

Of course you know Elmo, but meet the latest addition to The Street family....Blue Elmo. It's a big decision in this house whether to wear Elmo or Blue Elmo.
.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Crossover

Back a few weeks ago at JR's Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet the 5th graders got to "crossover" and become Boy Scouts. The crossover was quite literal as they were invited to walk across a bridge (somebody had made a real bridge, like you'd see as a prop in a prom picture) by a Boy Scout who was dressed as a Native American. Between the bridge and a high school boy dressed up in full NA regalia, our kids couldn't contain themselves, and rushed the stage. I've never seen sadder little faces when they were told they needed to go sit back down. On the bright side, it did warm my heart to see that the guys are just as much into pomp and pageantry as I am, so I promised them we would have a Tiger to Wolf crossover ceremony. Last night the guys got to crossover with fire and facepaint. What could be better?


After we painted war paint on their face to help them along the Scouting Trail, we gave them the mark of the Tiger on their hand. Here I am congratulating JR on his achievement.


JR and Kelley


JR and TC (JR likes having another friend with initals for a name.)


And with the first signs of warm weather appearing, we have begun entering our season of McConaughey. JR was half shirtless by the time we got home!