Sharpies = not for kids.

My girls love to draw, color, paint, fly their art flags! 

Far too often, their canvas has been a wall or a door or the dining room table. Like last week when Brad thought it would be a good idea to give them assorted Sharpie's for coloring ornaments at the dining room table. Seriously - how did he think this was a good idea? After they had the Sharpie's in their hot little hands (unbeknownest to me), he came over and sat on the couch with me to go through digital pictures. For 30 minutes. 

Imagine MY surprise when they were finished and I went over to find the entire dining room table colored with Sharpie. There were several portraits of our family, some hearts and a lot of "H's". Brad started to yell at them...something about "you know better than that!" to which I immediately went off on him with my own version of "YOU should know better than that!"

In related news, rubbing alcohol and a soft rag rubbed gently on a table will remove Sharpie from stained wood.

Please, pass the wine. 

Yes, the whole bottle.

But...the writing and practicing is a good thing ultimately because Hayden is getting good at writing her name.

Proud of herself

She told me that's a picture of her. That's my little one eyed, spiky haired, giant eared, freckled, no body kid.

Elm trees & swing sets

Back in July, we had to bid farewell to the enormous Siberian Elm in our backyard because it was, uh, diagnosed (?) with Dutch Elm Disease. It was a sad day when we scheduled the removal because we had hoped to build the most epic tree house ever for the girls. There was going to be a suspension bridge, pulley's, a rope ladder, zip lines and even electricity. At least that had been the plan. Saying good-bye to the tree meant saying good-bye to the tree house dream as well.

That HUGE mass off branches is all Siberian Elm. It was enormous.

With the tree coming down, we opted for Plan B. A shiny new play set with a climbing wall, rope ladder, slide, swings, trapeze, and tower. After delivery, the giant boxes sat in the garage until after the tree was down (another 2-3 weeks). Poor Hayden and Lucy would go into the garage and sit on the boxes, looking at the picture of the set and saying "can we swing and slide now?". We kept telling them, "as soon as the tree is down, we will put the set up. We promise!"

The stump ~ beautiful ~ but it had to go too.

Eventually, the tree was down and the new swing set was up and all was right in toddler world.

Not quite finished - tower, rope ladder, 3rd swing and accessories had not been installed yet.

Fast forward to this afternoon. Brad and Hayden had gone for a walk through the neighborhood. We had some heavy snow last week; not a lot of it but enough to break some branches. Throughout the area there are many Siberian Elms, most of which probably need to come down as well.

As father and daughter walked along, they came to a tree that was indeed being taken down. Hayden stopped and looked at Brad and said "Are they getting a new swing set too?" 

Because when a tree comes down, it must surely be replaced with a swing set.

"Are you going running?"

The scene:

It's 7:00am.
Lucy is sitting on the kitchen floor putting her shoes on.
Brad is in the refrigerator getting his lunch ready for the day.
Hayden is carrying a pumpkin cookie around the kitchen and saying she's taking it to show "the kids" at school.
I've had a frazzled, throw my hair in a ponytail, get dressed quickly, forget my lunch kind of morning.

Until Hayden speaks.

"Momma, are you going running?"  Aw, cute! She sees my ponytail and thinks I'm going running.

"No...why?" 

"Oh. Your hair looks like crap." 

Crappy Hair.

 And then my husband pipes in to stick up for me: 

"Hayden! You can't say that to your mother!" Aw, he's so sweet ♥ "Only I can say that to your mother!" 

Ouch.


I found this really funny because yesterday, one of my favorite blogs, Parenting: Illustrated With Crappy Pictures did a collaboration post with Divine Secrets of a Domestic Diva about "Insulting Compliments"
Things like "My favorite shape is a circle because that's the same shape as you!" 

I had no example to share because my children don't do the insulting compliments. They just go for the direct hit, as they did this morning. 
 

Backpack! Backpack! Backpack!

It's been a long time since we have taken a "backpacking" trip where we actually put what we needed on our backs and went somewhere overnight. Although I'm not sure you can qualify Hornet Lookout as a true "backpacking" adventure, it was the first one we have done as a family of four. It was a great way to spend a beautiful Labor Day Weekend.

Hornet Lookout is a fire lookout in the North Fork of Flathead National Forest. You can rent the cabin for $20 per night. There's a wood stove inside, propane lanterns, stoves, pots and pans, dishes, flatware, etc. You will find any number of other items depending on who was there before you. This last trip there was a Mike's Harder Cranberry Lemonade, condoms and tobacco and rolling papers for a smoke. Those Forest Service folks think of everything!

Anyway...we left Kalispell around 1pm and started our little hike about 3pm. Both girls started off walking on their own. Hayden even wore her own backpack and was carrying all of Lucy's diapers, her Pull-up for overnight and a bunch of snacks.

Trailhead Photo Op

Since the girls think the camera self-timer is one of the best toys ever, we used the opportunity to get a pre-hike photo with all of us at the trailhead. Notice Hayden in her sunglasses and backpack with my trekking poles. She put on her sunglasses and immediately told me "Momma. I'm soooo sexy." SEXY?! Where did she get that word from?!

We set off on our 1+ mile hike that had us climbing just under 1000 feet total. To the average person, this is not a bad little climb. You might get winded or a bit tired, but it is totally doable. To my little 'Nut and Goose who have short little legs, this is an epic challenge. Lucy managed to climb the first half of the trip all by herself. She held either Brad's hand or mine, but her little legs did all the work. Hayden was carrying mini Snickers bars so she had the occasional stop at switchbacks to chow one down. Is it wrong that I taught her "switchbacks are for pansies"? Yeah...I didn't think so either.

Check out my girls:

Climb on, my little hiker chick!

GO Lucy, GO!

 After the halfway point or so, we did put Lucy in the carrier and she rode most of the way up. Brad ran up ahead to unlock the lookout and drop his pack to come back and meet us. We weren't sure that Hayden would be able to walk the whole way so he wanted to be able to carry her if need be. Turns out, that wasn't necessary. We stopped just shy of the lookout and let Lucy out to walk. Hayden was getting tired but we promised her that the "house" we were going to was just ahead. I turned into a real parent on this trip because I repeatedly uttered "We're almost there" when we really weren't even close. Ha.

Hayden is a trooper. That girl climbed the mountain and kicked it's ass. She hoofed it right up to the Lookout, plopped her butt on the stairs and then raised her hands in the air and squealed! "I DID IT, MOMMA! DADDY, I DID IT!" I truly almost cried - I was so incredibly proud of her and could tell that she was so incredibly proud of herself.

I DID IT!!!

Times the are a changing...

It's been almost two months since I've posted. I've had plenty to say, do and talk about but we were traveling the month of July. In fact, July gave us 30 days, 18 states and 6792 miles on our new Toyota Tundra. Brad and I are still happily married and we did not leave either girl on the side of the road. In fact, Brad was ready to buy BOTH of them cars after a long 15 hour day from my mom's house in VT to Elkhart, IN.

Hayden has grown up so much in the last couple of months. Her ability to speak is getting better and better as she continues to add lots of words to her vocabulary, including "dumbshit", compliments of Meg after we almost got run over by an idiot in a truck - though we convinced Hayden she said "jump ship". Now Hayden will say "You jump ship!" Yeah...oops? She has also become relatively infatuated with all things princess. Cinderella is high on the list right now as THE movie to watch. The summer was great for her and she spent a lot of time running and playing with lots of family members. Going back to work was sad for me because there is nothing like watching your children all day and seeing them learn and grow.

Ben, topless Lucy, Hayden the Princess, Kaylee & Bradan.

Contemplating life over a bottle of water - State College, PA

Exercising her right to wear what she wants on her head - Maine.

She's growing and changing so fast. She was this adorable baby and has turned into a beautiful little girl who is happy, adventurous and very sensitive. ♥

Miss Lucy, of course, has changed that much more as well. Her vocabulary sky-rocketed over the summer after spending so much time around Hayden and the other kids. It's clear that she understands virtually everything we tell her but she doesn't always admit to it. She has more facial expressions than a mood chart and I swear that Brad and I missed her calling for her to be on the big screen.

Chillin' like a villain at Eastern Point Beach, CT

Sweetness

Hiking to Glacier Lake in the Beartooths, MT

Lucy is a character...she is active and fearless and as funny as they come.

The girls have become sisters in so many ways over the summer. The crying, screaming and fighting that turns into laughing and playing instantly. They kiss, scratch, hug and pull hair but there is no question about their love for each other. Hayden will wake up and say "I need my Lucy. Where's my sister?" Lucy will wake up first and within minutes will open her arms in a shrug and say "Where Hay-en?" They are sweet.

Examining flowers in State College, PA

Beach combers in CT

"MY BALL!" fight in Maine

Settling in to watch a movie together ♥

Fishing in Red Lodge, MT

This will be a fun year...

Haylu Shelter

Both Brad and I love hiking. Brad is Highpointer which means he is hoping to summit the highest point in all 50 states. An admirable feat! He's at 27, I think. My first love is long distance hiking, in particular on the Appalachian Trail, a 2169 mile footpath that runs from Springer Mountain, GA to Mount Katahdin, ME passing through 14 states.

I attempted a thru-hike in 2006 but was forced off the trail in Central Virginia due to a fire at home. I hiked the Long Trail as a consolation prize. Not a bad option.

At any rate, the A.T. is truly my "hiking home" and will always hold my heart. I'm surrounded by the glorious peaks of the Rocky Mountains but I very much miss the rolling green hills of the Appalachians. So, when faced with what to build for our active little daughters for a playhouse, there was really only one answer. We had to build an A.T. Shelter. This is where the "Haylu" name originated in the summer of 2010.

My poor husband never argued with me. Instead, he created a beautiful little Adirondack style shelter for our girls.

The base.

Framing

Framing from the front

Getting those walls up!

Hayden & Lucy checking Daddy's work

Lucy making sure he's doing it right.

Shelter done! Chairs for the girls & Momma!

Trailhead sign and Shelter sign

closer view

YEA! A whiteblaze!!!

 I love my husband for many, many reasons and this one is definitely on the list! I am probably 10 times more excited about this project than the girls are. I'm ready to have our first overnight and sleep in the shelter. I thought this is where it would end, but we had a few more additions that made this the BEST. PLAYHOUSE. EVER.

The rocks are a dry creekbed.

TA-DA! Bridge over the creek bed. :)

Test run.

My little climber chick.

The picnic table set away from the Shelter.

Haylu Shelter

Hayden signing the Shelter Register

Lucy signing the Shelter register.

We are going to have a lot of fun playing out here this year. The girls already love it, as do I. My husband is the front runner for Husband of the Year 2011! Ha!