For Posterity, part deux

Thomas has been doing spectacular things in his weekly therapy. Really. I am such a proud mommy. Our wonderful therapist Lisa sings his praises, too. He's starting to stand up at stationary furniture (when we place him there), he's rolling like a stone, and just today in physical therapy showed us that he's actually been paying attention to the millions of times we've song this song:

Tommy is 9 1/2 months old. He's breakin' the scale at 17 pounds and he's our little rock star.

Speaking of rock stars....

Joshua had his first preschool program today. The little kids were supposed to go and dazzle the "grandmas and grandpas" at a local retirement center, but the center was put under quarantine for an outbreak of the flu. Yikes. Needless to say, we didn't send the children there. After a standby show to the special needs class at the high school, the group met at the church to watch the production. Joshy and his friends sure have a flare for entertaining:) Thanks Miss Jenn and Miss Angie for all your hard work!

Thanksgiving Roll Sale, take 2

I did my Thanksgiving roll sale again this year. Last year was so great staying up late, working my little fingers to the bone for the 35 dozen rolls I had orders for, I just had to do it again.

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Ok, ok, I truly did a have a great time doing it last year. But with all the new dynamics in my life this year (Hello? I have 3 children! Who has time to do anything?), I was still in the "should I subject myself to it again" phase two weeks ago. Well, then a customer from last year asked if I'd be doing the roll sale again because she wanted to order 8 dozen this year. Huh. Ok. Sure. I guess the decision was made for me.

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I sent around an email announcing the sale and within 24 hours I had received orders for 35 dozen, matching my total from last year. By the end of the ordering window, I had orders for 63 dozen. Whoa. That was a little more than I had anticipated.

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So I made up my spreadsheet of who wanted how many dozen when, worked out a timeline for mixing, rising, cutting, rolling, rising, and baking, and set up my bakery in my mother's kitchen. Behold, my saving grace:

Double Ovens

(can you hear the choirs of angels singing?)

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I also happened upon a Bosch mixer at a yard sale this summer. It only had the dough hook attachment, but it was a great $10 investment in my "business" to have two mixers crankin' out batches of dough. (I'll spare you the paragraph of why I love my kitchenaid mixer only because I've written about the beaut so many times before. Please don't misunderstand. I only used the Bosch under these extreme circumstances. My loyalties lie with KitchenAid.)

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I had another "proofing oven" at my disposal. My rolls rose in half the time! I can't imagine how long it would have taken without it.

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Here are a few of the batches after coming out of the oven. Robin made a batch of cinnamon rolls for Thanksgiving morning--we didn't sell those :) You'll have to contact Robin to order her cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning. Rob, do you want me to post your phone number here?

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Here are most of those soft, chewy and delicious rolls, all bagged and ready to be delivered or picked up. I had about 20 dozen orders that I filled before Thanksgiving day. This was "only" 45 dozen.

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And here I am. Can you see the bleariness in my eyes? Someone snapped this photo for me just before we ate our own delicious Thanksgiving dinner, accompanied by my rolls (the only thing I was responsible for this year. Yesssss!).

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So, if you missed out this year, I think I might do an Easter roll sale. Watch your inbox:)

Plums, peaches, and peppers

We've processed a lot of food this fall. After our harvest at Miller Farms, we spent days processing potatoes, onions, and peppers.

I love stocking my freezer and food storage shelves with things I've bottled myself. It's pretty fulfilling.

Amongst other things I've bottled this year (jam out the wazoo and peaches), my wonderful father got some plums from a neighbor. I've never worked with plums before, so it was a surprise to see how beautiful they turned out. Thanks for sharing, Dad! Check out the before and after:

Things keeping me busy...

When the family came for Brenda and Darren's sealing to Stacy and Autumn, I took advantage of my sister Robin being intown and had her do our family photos. They turned out perfectly. Just exactly as I had imagined--the clothes, the kids, the colors, the background, the sunshine. Perfect.

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So I redid the family photos and frame arrangement above the mantel. Here's the before. Remember? I just made the ottoman cover and pillows.And here's the after. It looks better in person. Shoot.

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We also had our friends' annual Halloween party last weekend. I start thinking about costume ideas months in advance. This costume was surprisingly easy to make. Can you tell what we are? What's keeping you busy these days?

Adding a few more redheads does a family good

Brenda and Darren were sealed as a Forever Family to their beautiful daughters on Saturday. It was a wonderful day and our family was so lucky to be a part of it all.

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I volunteered to make the girls' dresses for the temple. I was pleased with how the dresses turned out, but their beauty paled in comparison to the beauty of my nieces.

It was a lovely, peaceful, eternal family day. Congratulations, Brenda and Darren, Stacy and Autumn!

Softening things up a little bit

I have a small home. It's perfect for our family right now. Three bedrooms, two baths, a family room, kitchen, etc. There's enough space for us to get messy and clean up all in one day. But since it's small, I sometimes feel like the space I do have is not used to it's fullest potential, or rather that it is passively decorated with what's leftover instead of me decorating it how I want it.

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Before Thomas was born the third bedroom was occupied by my sewing machines and sewing table. I gladly gave up the space to welcome my beautiful son, but I have sorely missed having a space of my own--to close myself in and create beautiful things. In fact, the creating of beautiful things has been in short supply in my house since Thomas was born. Right now it's all about getting the essentials done--dishes, vacuuming, picking up toys, cleaning bathrooms, making milk, changing diapers. No extra time for creativity.

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Brenda and Darren adopted two beautiful daughters last week. They'll be sealed as a Forever Family this week and I asked Brenny for the privilege of making the girls' temple dresses. So I set up an impromptu sewing room downstairs in my family room. It necessitated moving the furniture around, but the reallocated space has been worth it. Making clothes for girls is so much more fun than making clothes for boys! I've loved exercising my dusty sewing neurons as I've changed patterns and made some special dresses for these special little ladies.

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So I was bit by the sewing bug.

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Last week I went to Brenda's and helped her make a slip cover for her ottoman. (Brenny, you really should have smoothed out those wrinkles before taking a photo...). This project got the creativity juices flowing and I decided to spend a little of my birthday money redecorating my sewing/family room. I made a slip cover for our ottoman and a few throw pillows. I picked up the fuzzy blanket at Ross. Here are the before and after:

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Th couch is not normally in front of the fireplace, but adding my huge sewing table to the room meant that I had to move it.

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Ok, it looks awfully florally in the photo, but it actually goes very nicely with the painting I have on the wall behind the sewing table. I also cleaned off the mantel. That's been bugging me for about 2 months. I bought new lamps (at a yard sale for $6). Now all I need is new family photos that include Thomas.

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So, does anyone else need some sewing done? I'm all out of projects and I don't want to put my machines away.

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PS. I'll post photos of the temple dresses next week!

Tommy's Buddies--Year One

Does it sound like the start of a long-series novel?
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We had a fantastic day today celebrating Thomas, Down syndrome, our family and friends, and the entire Down syndrome community here in Denver. My heart joyed as I watched children and adults of all ages with DS. I felt glimpses of Thomas' future as I looked at these others: The tender, caring, cuddly six year old, clinging to her parent's hand through the throngs of people walking. The handsome, muscular teenager sporting his football jersey and surrounded by his teammates and cheerleaders. And this ambitious young man who brought tears to my eyes as he honored our great country.

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I have an overflow of love in my heart for our dear family and friends who love our Thomas and who show it with such a generous outpouring. My cup runneth over.

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Here are a few photos to help each of you share in the joy of our day.

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If you haven't guessed it yet, our team's name is "Tommy's Buddies." This sign was an "11th hour" addition to our awning--Kraig and I finally got it finished around 10pm last night. We had all this year's walkers on Tommy's Buddies sign so we'll have a record year by year of all the people who love our son.

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Tommy's best friend Gavin (being held by my dear friend Nicole). I have a feeling these two will have all their major milestone photos taken together...

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This year's team. All totaled we had over 30 walkers (thank you, all you wonderful virtual and live walkers!) and raised over $1,300 for the Mile High Down Syndrome Association.

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Is it possible for us all to be looking at the camera at the same time? I love my family!

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Finished! It was hard to keep our group together, but I'm pretty sure everyone crossed the finish line ;)

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Some random team mascot. Any guesses as to which team?

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And one last question. Which port-a-potty is Joshy using? I don't know why I can't get the photo the correct way.

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Thanks again, Friends! See you again next year!

They say 30 is the new 20

Today's my birthday. I started the day with a 3 mile (*cough* walk) run just to prove to myself that I've still got it at 30 years old.

I knew this day was coming, and since I've teased my siblings mercilessly about each of them turning 30 (or 40, as the case may be), I knew the retribution would be bad. Thankfully, I was wrong. Brenny's written a lovely birthday post for those of you who want to know a little bit more about me :)

Now I'm going out to celebrate some more. I'll write details tomorrow.

What about the fast turtles?

Who's been to Mt. Rushmore? Raise your hands. Ooo! Ooo! Me! Me! I've been there!

So in the 12 day break between Kraig's old job and his new job (oh yes, he planned it that way), we decided it was a perfect time for a little family vacation. We've been wanting to visit the Black Hills in South Dakota for about 18 months, and this seemed as good of a time as any.

One condition of the trip was that I didn't have to sleep/nurse/take kids potty within the confines of a tent. I didn't find any great rates at hotels in the area, but in looking at campsites (was it really all we could afford?!?), discovered that at Custer State Park in the southern end of the Black Hills they have cabins to reserve! Alas, Kraig got his cooking outside on a Coleman and over the fire, and I got real beds, a solid roof and walls, electricity, air conditioning, heat, with flushing toilets and showers just down the road. I do believe it was the best of both worlds.

Where to begin? We took over 150 photos. Don't worry. I'll just give you a brief synopsis of the highlights of our trip and "Must sees" of South Dakota.

1. Packing was a challenge. We had to remove the second seat from the van and put all three kids on the back row to leave room for all the coolers and luggage (Thankfully no tents!). Tommy was left to the devices of his brothers and more than once I used the phrase, "Take the ____ off of Tommy's face, guys!" ( please insert pillow, blanket, wet wipe, seat belt, water bottle.) This was all we could see of Thomas--his darling little tuft of hair--as the three of them played and laughed (mostly) way back in the back of the car.




2. We stayed at Gordon Stockade Lake. Stockade South campground, to be specific. I'm telling you this because it was really that beautiful and if any of you ever get the notion to go, you have to see it for yourselves.




3. Another requirement of this trip was that it had to be a vacation for me too. All too often it seems that everyone else has a relaxing time while the mommy works her hiney off making it so. Kraig was very obliging and let me take as many naps as I wanted. He would gladly skirt the kids away for a mid-morning hike/adventure while I caught a couple of zzz's. This is them getting back from one of their hikes. Thomas is trying to grab Andy's hair. I think it's hilarious.




4. Like I mentioned before, our cabin was really nice. Super clean. All of the interiors of the cabins were the same in the campground, but each had a different porch. Ours was the smallest. Most others were bigger with railings and built-in benches. We've already scoped out the cabin we'll request next time we go (it's SS3, fyi).




5. Thomas hasn't started solids yet (it's on my agenda for this week), but we just laughed and laughed as he gummed this carrot during dinner one night.




6. Yup. There they are. Seen it. Done. Check! At Mt. Rushmore. He didn't actually drop Thomas.




7. My pyros. We made a fire each night and the kids roasted marshmallows. I can't even being to estimate how many marshmallows Andy consumed.




8. Thursday we took advantage of beautiful Custer State Park and our week long pass and took a hike around Center Lake. It was more of a leisurely stroll than a hike, but the kids and Kraig had a great time throwing rocks into the lake. PS--Brenny, I brought home a few rock samples to quiz you. :)




9. One of the family activities offered in the state park was Gold Panning. The park ranger did a short explanation of all the treasures we might find in the river--quartz, rose quartz, feldspar, gold, and garnet. We were all really excited. And then she informed us that because it's a state park we couldn't take any of it with us, but that they would be so pleased to add it to the park's collection. Phooey. This photo was take right before Joshua fell completely in the river. We had no change of clothes for him, so be sure to check out Tommy's pants that he's wearing at the next stop :)


10. Our next stop was down to Hot Springs, SD, to do a little trout fishing. Kraig and the kids all caught some (Joshy caught 2!), but they made Kraig throw his back. It was too small. I took about 35 photos of the kids fishing. It was so fun. A definite must do of South Dakota.


11. So of course Kraig grilled the freshly caught trout over the fire when we got home that evening. SO delicious. My mouth is watering just remembering it. I love that Kraig is such a great chef!


12. Friday brought a trip up to Rapid City to visit Bear Country. It's a wildlife preserve where the animals are not in cages, but actually walking around by the cars. Also a must see of South Dakota. It was SO neat. No animals attacked us (thank heavens), and we got some up-close-and-personal encounters with reindeer and bears. Yes, this is an albino buffalo. As Joshy was always so kind to remind us "Buffalo are dangerous. Please do not approach."


13. Next stop was Wall Drug in Wall, SD. It took way too long to get there and it was not great. It was just a tourist trap. The best part was Kraig running through the fountains with Thomas on his back.


14. My most favorite part of the trip was this: After putting the kids to bed, Kraig and I would sit on the porch, watch the moon rise, and play Uno and read to each other. Best. Time. Ever. I think this was the final game to determine the World Champion Uno Player. I can't remember who won. It was probable me :)

Well. That's it. That was our trip. Kraig starts his new job today and the kids will be starting preschool and sports in the next few weeks. I'm glad for the little reprieve we had while we were there. It was a good recharge.

I just have one question: Why don't the fast turtles get a sign?

A whole lot of wonderfullness

We are officially unemployed. Kraig's last day of work at Classic Residence by Hyatt was yesterday. In two weeks he'll start his new job as sous chef at Medical Center of Aurora. I'm so proud of him. He really gave 110% at Classic, even though we knew the job wasn't going anywhere. He left after giving his two weeks and working just as hard those two weeks as he has the last two years. So, we're starting a new chapter in the Webb family book. But before all of that, I have some catching up to do...


As much as I wanted to buy that cute loft fort bed, we decided to just buy a used crib mattress for Tommy's crib until we could get the exact beds we wanted for Andy and Joshy. I sent Kraig out yard saling one Friday morning with the assignment to find a pristine crib mattress for less than $15. He called after a few stops to tell me he'd found a pristine twin trundle bed, with mattress included. So, the decision was made for us--we bought a second twin bed for Andy and Joshy's room. Joshua loves his new bed. Unfortunately the new arrangement of beds and toy box threw the kids for a loop the first couple of nights. Andy had a hard time finding the bedroom door and almost didn't make it to the bathroom in time. But I'm happy to report that he did not pee in the closet. That would have been a whole other post.

Therefore, Thomas got a "new" bed too. He loves it. I find him on a different end each morning when I go in to get him. So much room to move around, he's in heaven.

Across the street from our home is a huge bouncy ball-eating storm drain. I can't even count the footballs, tennis balls and wiffle balls that have been eaten by the drain. Last week Andy was playing with his favorite blue kickball and lost it down the storm drain. Bless my son (he is his father's child), he decided to go in after it. First his head got stuck. "Dad, I can't go any further. My head's stuck." Great. This was right around the time a neighbor drove by asking if he should call the fire department. Uh, no. thank you. We've got this under control.

He did retrieve the ball, but then couldn't climb out because he couldn't get a foot hold on anything. Kraig had to drag him out.

Scary. Since he crawled down there, I keep having horrible flash backs to It, by Stephen King. Remember the clown in the storm drain? I had to make the picture small so that I wouldn't be as scared. Shudder, shudder. Brenda, why did mom and dad let us watch that horrible movie?

We've discovered how much fun it is to play Twister with the kids. And p.s. Twister is a really good work out, especially when you have a 3 year old calling the moves, "Mom, which hand is this?" "That's the left hand, Joshy" "Ok, left hand....um....Blue!" "No, Joshy, that's green." "Oh. Ok. Left hand green!" Ahh! Ohmygosh! Just tell me where to go! Good family time.

I came back from my run one morning to find this sweetness. Yes, Tom, that's mommy's favorite spot to fall asleep too.

And last, but certainly not least, Tommy reached a HUGE milestone this week--He sat independently! (That's Ms. Lisa, Tommy's pediatric physical therapist, in the background. She comes to our house every week to work with Thomas). We all cheered and applauded. He's done it multiple times since. He's a rock star, for sure!

Thanks for sticking around long enough to hear about our doings.