Summer is in swing

We have been keeping busy this summer! First Eli did a soccer camp with Challenger Sports British Soccer. We got to host the coaches at our house for a week, which was really fun. They are from England, Joe (in the red), Miles (in the white). We had fun showing them around Fort Morgan (ok there isn't much to show), and hanging out with them. We asked them lots of questions about England, and had fun listening to their accents and the different expressions they used. Joe had never had a corn dog or a milkshake, but he liked them both.

 The last day of the camp they had a water fight, the kids loved it. Eli was on team Spain, and they won the "World Cup" match, yay!

We took a trip to Glenwood Springs to visit Uncle Chris. Of course we had to hike to Hanging Lake. The kids were real troopers, even Alice did the whole hike! And it was very hot, but there were lots of people, which meant lots of stopping for others to pass us, which was fine with us!

 Beautiful as always!
We also went to Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park and rode almost all the rides. Here is me and Alice on the Alpine Coaster.

 Eli and Rylan on the Ferris Wheel.

We saw the some of the caves, and everyone really liked the 4-D simulated roller coasters. It was not crowded and we hardly had to wait in line for anything. It was a great day! The kids also really enjoyed swimming in the pool at the hotel.

 We also celebrated Eli's birthday in June. He wanted a Lego themed party, so I made a Lego man head piñata (which turned out to be almost indestructible!).

 We played pin the head on the Lego man.

 And everyone got some Legos to build with, whatever they wanted. The kids were very creative!

 And of course the cake!

My Living Room Makeover

I said I would post about the living room makeover we did, so here are some before pictures:

 (This is how the fireplace looked 3 years ago before we painted it)

 And then this is it after it was painted. And a couple of views of the living room (I didn't take real before pictures, so I just had to find what I could)

 And here is the after pictures! It is pretty dramatic change and I love it. We got the couches and rug at American Furniture Warehouse. The big wave picture and bookcases came from Ikea, as well as the "fabric" for the curtains and pillows (it was a duvet cover I took apart).

 

I was just going to make plain covers for the pillows, but Alice got ahold of my scissors (again), and put some inconvenient holes through the fabric. I guess it ended up for the best, because I added some texture to hide the holes and I like the pillows better!

Come over and see it in person sometime. I was going for a beach feel, and it is a very relaxing room now. If I can do it, I think anyone could!

Spring time

I have been such a slacker in posting. I did get my cast off a few weeks ago. I was using crutches still, then borrowed a cane and was using that, but mostly now I just walk. Everything else is too slow. My foot is still sore and bruised feeling, but not too bad. I think it is still swollen though because I can't seem to get anything but my tennis shoes on, and some sandals. And sandals would be fine except for the days that it snows, which has been waaaaayyyy too many lately. It is the middle of April, why are we still having blizzards? I am so done with cold and ice and snow!

So other things that have been happening: Alice cut all her hair off. It was very traumatic for me. She seemed rather pleased with herself. So in the pictures you can see it is shorter. Everyone thinks it is so cute, and it is pretty cute. She used school scissors and just chopped it all off. Carissa had to take her to the barber to get it fixed since I had my cast and couldn't drive, but I don't think the barber did much, just evened it out and blended it a bit. At least Alice didn't start at the very top of her head!We had spring break and took a trip to the aquarium in Denver. It was fun and the kids really enjoyed it. Alice was quite enamored by the mermaids. Yes they had mermaids at the aquarium, we even saw them swimming in the tanks with the fish.

 Love the fish on the right!

 I just love jellyfish!

 We also went swimming during spring break- at an indoor pool of course!

  Taryn had a birthday and is 2 years old. She loved her Minnie Mouse themed party, but was terrified of the candles!

 Easter was lovely. While I was unable to do much walking around, I made matching vests for the boys (and cousins) and a skirt for Alice. Thanks to Granmama for the cute shirt and bolo ties!

And now we are redecorating our living room - new furniture, new paint, new color scheme! I will post pics when it is finished!

Yep, I have a cast on my foot

 Here are pictures of my decorated cast. I told Joe he had to make it look nice, instead of boring white. I think it's fun. Doesn't make my foot feel better, but is maybe a bit distracting.

 We had a few days of snow, so Eli and the neighbor Kendra built this snowman.

And this is what happens when you stand too close to the mixer...

A first

I live in Colorado. It snows, it gets cold. But I don't live back East where they have this thing called freezing rain. I have heard of it. I know it is slippery. I found out first hand on Wednesday just how slippery it is. We decided to have something like it on Wednesday morning. It wasn't really raining, just like moisture in the air. But it filled in enough in some places, and then was cold and froze over into these super slick patches, that just looked like wet spots on the sidewalk. I was carrying Alice and hurrying up my friend's driveway when I found such a spot. I guess I was trying not to dump Alice on her head or something. I don't know what happened, but my foot went under me, kind of sideways like, and I crushed it. I guess. I don't know. I just know it hurt. A lot. I sent Alice to the door for help, which she did, thankfully. I rather ruined the lunch with my friend, as she and my sister sat there watching me as I tried hard not to scream in pain. It felt like my foot was trying to swell to monstrous sizes within the skin. I called Joe. He left school, came and got me and took me to the doctor and for x-rays. Radiologist wasn't 100%, but thought there might be a fracture on the 3rd metatarsal. Doctor said keep it wrapped up, elevated, iced, lots of ibuprofen, tylenol, vicodin, etc. So I hopped and crawled around for a couple days. 2 nights of waking up with my foot feeling like it was on FIRE sent me back to the doctor. Percocet this time. Borrowed some crutches (yeah Relief Society email!), and trying to get it to stop being swollen. Tomorrow I am supposed to get a cast. I guess I don't have to get one, but I think it will help me be more mobile, and since I have 3 kids, I can't just put my foot up for 6 weeks. Mobility is a necessity, in some form. Hope the time goes quickly. Should be a good work out for my arms, hopping around is a good workout on my calf and glute, on one side. My hands are already sore from using the crutches for a day, but they are saving my knees from my hard floors.
My little brother pointed out that I will be the first one of the four Mecham siblings to ever have a cast. None of us ever broke anything that required a cast. A few stitches here and there. Jammed fingers, etc., but no casts. Yeah me.... :(
The pills are keeping me from being in too much pain, but it is a pain in the butt to not be able to just do things, or get up and get that thing over there. Or carry anything while using crutches. Oh I know others have it way worse than me, and I am glad I didn't mess up my ankle or do worse damage that would require surgery or something. But for now I am adjusting, feeling useless, feeling guilty that everyone has to do things for me, and whining. Here's hoping I can be better enough to not compeletly ruin spring break at the end of March!

What's going on

I have been a total slacker in posting for a couple of months now. Of course they have been kind of crazy with the holidays and traveling and visitors and I was sick for a month of it...enough excuses, right?!

 We went to Utah to spend some time with family for Christmas. We saw my Aunt Jeanne, and Uncle Chris was there too. Then we went to Joe's parent's house (first time we have seen it since they just moved there in October). It snowed 10 inches at least. We had to delay our trip home a day because we didn't want to risk driving in snow. It was rather tense anyway between Rawlins and Laramie, but we all made it. (I did wonder at a few points if we ever would considering the throwing up kids, and pants wetting, and extra stops!) And we got to bring Joe's parents home with us to ring in the New Year. It was lots of fun. I was sick through most of it, so I hope everyone else had more fun than I did! Here are some pictures showing the general splendor of it all:

Other things have been happening since Christmas and New Years too. Joe was asked to do a solo art show at the Morgan Community College CACE gallery, which opened January 18th. There was a good turn out for the opening reception, and it will be going until March 1st. Click here to see pictures of Joe's art.

Eli was invited to participate in the district spelling bee. It was mostly 5th-8th grade, with a couple of 4th graders. It was way more nerve-racking to watch than I anticipated. We had studied with him and I just hoped he would not be the first kid out, and spell one word right. He certainly exceeded that! He ended up in the top 8 and is going to the regional spelling be next month! His cousin, Jayson Marler, won the whole spelling bee! Guess we have a couple of good spellers in the Marler family! The whole thing was pretty impressive considering some of the words they had to spell (indefatigable, contemporaneous, audacious, delicatessen, etc.) Eli is also on the brain bowl team for his school and will compete in that next month too. We will have some pretty exciting days to look forward to!

Accessories, Moons, Birthday, and Ninjago Halloween!

Alice's new favorite accessory! She pushed the lenses out of sunglasses, and viola!

 

We have been enjoying the fair weather in the evenings by using the telescope-even managed to get a picture through it.

If you know the Marler Happy Birthday singing tradition, you understand! Simon insisted on a 3-layer birthday cake.

Simon got Ninjago underwear from his Auntie and cousins. He wasn't sure that was a good birthday present, but he does love to wear them!

Favorite birthday present-a ukulele! He has been asking for one for at least a month. Thanks Granmama and Grandpapa!

 

Joe decided to try his hand at pumpkin sculpting. Not bad for a first time.

Alice was Super Girl for part of Halloween...

And a Care Bear for the other part.

 

Taryn got a lot of attention as a mini Broncos Cheerleader!

 

Ayden came up with the idea of the boys all going as the Ninjago characters.....so from this to....

This. I made the costumes out of cardboard, tape, and paint. Not bad I think!

Eli as the blue Ninjago, Jay.

Eli and Simon's costumes.

 

I made some snacks for Eli's class Halloween party. Zombie toes (don't they look so gross!)

And apple bites!