finally some feathered friends

This is the last official Saturday of pheasant and quail hunting here in Kansas, and Jerry was determined to make it rain. No pun intended.

It has been a dismal hunting season here because of the incredibly hot and dry summer we had... which means not very many birds this year for the hunters.

Jerry and his buddy, Mike, left at 4 this morning to drive to northwest KS in hopes of shooting a few birdies. And let's not forget Zoe the hunting princess. She went too. The group was successful... bringing home a pheasant and a quail, and supposedly they missed a few as well. ;)

 Mike with the quail and Jerry with Zoe and the pheasant

 check out those tail feathers!

 as soon as the guys pulled in, the boys hopped in the back of Jerry's truck to check out the goods!

 Carter loved holding the quail

Surely he'll be a hunter, too, someday!!

lions, tigers, and bears...oh my!

Today was a balmy 50 degree day in Kansas... and in mid-January! Grayson did not have school, so we headed out to the zoo. It was a perfect day to be outside and enjoy the animals. There are so many babies at the zoo... I think my favorite is definitely the baby orangutan. He is a sweetie.

 the baby was all over his mama... pulling her fur and snuggling.. she looked absolutely exhausted... like most new moms!!

 watching the elephant training

 in the Australia area, the boys quickly spotted a few wallabies -- here they are with a wallaby on the right

 the little guy up close!

 the wolves were enjoying the sun, too

 this giraffe was down in the "ditch" area of their exhibit... looking for anything green to eat!

 more zoo babies!! the african hunting dogs have 7 or 8 puppies... hard to count them all!

 the sweet girl lion cub was right at the window...

(why can't I figure out pics with glass and sunlight?? oh well)

 my boys peering through the glass at the pretty lion :)

 I love the leopard... so amazing

 Grayson and the goat are BFFs

 the goat tried to give Carter a kiss... poor C had a hard day... he has a little cold and has refused to nap the past 3 days... I think he cried at least 4x at the zoo... I told Mom that HE was good birth control today ;)

they're both so stinkin' photogenic!

We love our zoo!!

carter's official big-boy room

Carter has been out of his "crib" for awhile... in the sense of not being contained. :) We took the front of his crib off, and he has been enjoying his "big-boy" bed -- which looks a lot like a crib-version of a daybed. We had started talking about getting him a real bed a few months ago, but thought we'd wait for a sale over the holidays.

Well, my Aunt Laura had a white daybed in her basement that I used to sleep at when I visited her in California. Now that she's in her new place, she didn't need the bed. (Did I mention that it even has a trundle?? Woo-hoo!) We had a fake Christmas tree and some Christmas wreaths that we weren't using, so we did a fun little trade in early December. A daybed for some Christmas goodies. :)

Thanks, Aunt Laura!!

So, Jerry and I both decided that a white daybed was too girly for Carter, but if we painted it a fun shade of brick red, it would be perfect. A few cold afternoons in December, I painted the bed out in our garage... and then Jerry put it all together. We just moved it into Carter's room, and set up his furniture, adding some shelves with cubbies.

Here are the finished results!

 painting the bed frame in the garage...

 I found his quilted bedding on clearance at Target -- yay!! And, AL had some fun green sheets to match, too.

 I can't believe he's almost THREE...

 We kept his same dresser, added the shelves with cubbies for books and toys, and found the lamp at Target to match his bedding.

 the view of his room from his doorway

my friend, Sarah, painted Carter's canvas for him before he was born... and it still matches perfectly!

Awww... brothers! They've slept together in this bed several times already :)

angel fire {video}

While out in Angel Fire, my video camera decided to stop working. Why... I have no idea. Of course, it had Christmas, Santa, piano recital, soccer, sledding, and skiing... all on that disk. (Sigh.) So, while my video camera is hopefully getting fixed (and more importantly, the data is able to be saved) I'll leave you with a short video of Grayson skiing... taken from my regular camera. For those Angel Fire fans out there, Grayson is coming down La Bajada.

Wish we were back in AF... :)

angel fire {happy 2012}

On New Year's Eve night, we all went up to the base of the slopes for three important activities: snow-cat rides, the torchlight parade, and fireworks!

 waiting in line for a snow-cat ride...

 Only two kids could ride in a snow-cat at a time, but they let Carter sit on Nana's lap for the ride. All three were soooo excited!!

 Up the mountain they go...

 They had a ball! :)

 Hanging out at the lodge, waiting for the parade to start... we came inside to warm up... it was so COLD!

 the Torchlight Parade -- the ski patrol skiied down holding torches of fire

 Happy New Year!! Fireworks over the mountain...

 Mom brought some fireworks of her own that we played with in the condo ;)

 Gramps and Grayson

Happy 2012!! (Carter has a handful of confetti...)

angel fire {sledding}

On New Year's Eve, it was so windy that the entire ski area was shut down. They said that there were 70-80 mph winds at the top of the mountain. Yeah... think I'll pass on riding a lift in that kind of weather.

So, we made the best of it by having a fun lunch out and then heading over to the Angel Fire Country Club, where they had a special hill designated for kids to sled and saucer.

 Grayson starting down the hill on his saucer

 they were going soooo fast!!

 hiking back up the hill to go again!

 Nana and Carter were cheering from the sidelines

A view from the top with Grayson headed down! :)

angel fire {skiing}

We just arrived home from a trip out to Angel Fire, NM with my parents to enjoy some skiing, snow, and a break from "normal". I loved having an excuse to get my Christmas stuff packed up quickly, and we were ready to head out just two days after the 25th.

Grayson has skiied before... learning when he was 4 1/2 years old. Carter wanted to try skiing, though at 2 1/2, he is still too young for ski school. Jerry and I decided we would teach him and see how it went!

After this trip, Grayson is now to the point where he can ski pretty much any green or blue slope that he wants. Carter skiied two half-days and was done. We wanted him to remember skiing in a positive way... not the fact that he ran into a fence on his way down the mountain on that second day. :)

 Grayson rockin' the "wedge"

 Jerry continues to be fearless, skiing every black slope that was open. I even got a few of his jumps wipeouts on video.

 Looking down at Angel Fire's village area from the top of Exhibition. This was taken on Thursday (12/29) -- the busiest day.

 Grayson and I on the lift

 Jerry and Carter were right behind us!! Love those little skis!

 I tried to get all the boys' adventures on video ;)

 Jerry and Carter skiing down!

 My favorite house... just off the ski run called Headin' Home

 Stopping for lunch one day at the Lodge

My little ski-bunny and I on the lift up to the top!!