Bode | Life Elevated Mom

Our debut as professional pie contest eaters at Four Mile Historic Park

October 9, 2013 by Amber

Four years ago when Jamie was in Portland visiting his buddy at a pumpkin weigh-off, the kids and I fell in love with Four Mile History Park’s annual Great Pumpkin Harvest Festival. This rustic 12-acre historic oasis and the site of Denver’s oldest house is a charming throwback to yesteryear. Scarecrow making. Caramel apples and apple cider. Pioneer games. Horse-drawn wagon rides. Museum tours. Wood-burning stove cookie baking and Native American fry bread. Mountain man encampment. Gold panning. Historic blacksmithing demonstrations.

I loved it all and have been dying to go back but last weekend was our first opportunity while Jamie was at another weigh-off.

Pumpkin ring toss

Very heated musical chairs cakewalk

New obsession: stilt walking

Apple cider doughnuts I’ve dreamed about for four years

Four Mile Historic Park had pumpkins for purchase in a cute little pumpkin patch but we couldn’t be bothered.

“We don’t need to stop there, Hadley. We’re pumpkin snobs.”

“What’s a snob?”

“Someone who thinks they’re better than someone else.”

“Why yes, yes we are pumpkin snobs.”

But there’s nothing better than pie-eating contests and darn it if Hadley and Bode didn’t hit the jackpot by being two of the lucky 15 kids who signed up.

There was some stiff competition: a lot of hungry-looking teenagers. Bode looks like he’s praying in this picture. It worked. At least it did when he figured out it’s better not to lick the berry pie…

and just jump right on it. Little dude never looked back.

Hadley, on the other hand, started strong by smashing her face in her apple pie and ingesting it. About a minute later, she came up for air.
“Mom, I can’t breathe! I have pie up my nose”

“Breathe later, eat now.”

I have a future as a competitive pie-eating coach. My first rule: do not slurp the apples like a straw.

Or look at your competition. Bode lost precious seconds here.

But he needn’t have worried because he totally beat Hadley who ended up looking like this.

I don’t think she’ll want apple pie anytime soon.

But we had a blast and you’d better believe we’ll be training for next year.

Filed Under: Bode, Colorado, Foodie, Hadley, Humor, pumpkins Tagged With: Colorado, events

Stanley the Pumpkin Does Colorado and the Fun Run!

October 2, 2013 by Amber

Before we move the Great Pumpkin onto our driveway where it stays until Halloween, both the kids beg for us to bring it to school. On Monday, Jamie and I showed it to Bode’s second grade class and it was a hoot. Bode talked about how much the pumpkins weigh, how he grew them and then announced. “OK, I will take nine questions” and then pointed to various kids with their hands raised. At the end of our Q&A, he brusquely said, “OK, I will take two more comments,” and then wrapped it up.

Little dude has a future as a teacher. Or a dictator.

For the second year in a row, we were able to take the pumpkins to Hadley’s school’s fun run. Last year, I hung out eating bonbons cheering for Hadley while she ran by as I talked to my friend Aime. This year, I volunteered to run it with her, not realizing exactly what I was committing to. I mean, it was a fun run so surely it was just that, right?

Warm-up!

Turns out it wasn’t just a few laps around the park but the challenge was to get in as many laps as you could during the hour-long run. Back in the day, I was Miss Long Distance. My elementary school would have Run for Your Life where we’d race around the fields collecting Popsicle sticks for each lap and every year, Paul MacEachern and I dominated.

Those days are long, long over.

This was the longest I’ve run on my knee since my surgery but I have to tell you how impressed I was with Hadley. The first several laps she didn’t stop at all and as we got deeper and deeper into the hour, we’d do brief walking and water breaks but she kept plugging along while many of her classmates stopped. If I hadn’t been there with her, I would have quit after about a half hour when my knee started bugging me but I kept going and she later said she wouldn’t have done as many laps if I hadn’t been there. Ever since her field trip last week, she’s been much more appreciative of me and commented, “you’re one of the only moms who’s running. That’s really cool!”

And how I know she’s mine: Every time we’d run up to a boy, she’d very sweetly rub it in by saying “good job!” and then blow past him.

In the end, she did 19 laps–the most of any girl in her grade and more than most of the boys. We ran just short of five miles and she blazed ahead of me on our final lap. Though she’s really athletic, she does more solo sports like skiing and hiking so having a measurable success was a huge ego boost for her.

Having a giant pumpkin to show off to all her friends at school didn’t hurt the ego, either.

Filed Under: Bode, Hadley, Humor, pumpkins

(Drumroll) And The Great Pumpkin’s Weight Is….

October 1, 2013 by Amber

After a thoroughly exhausting, fun and wet pumpkin party, the day of the weigh-off was even more chaotic as we juggled Bode’s soccer and my volleyball game (thanks to Aunt Lisa for coming to the rescue with rides!)

Jamie says he loves driving the Great Pumpkin to the weigh-off because of all the stares and cheers he receives.

And who can blame them with this cargo?

The festivities are at Jared’s Nursery in Littleton and have grown from a little podunk weigh-off to a veritable harvest festival with a haunted house, face painting, mazes, bouncy castles, games and food trucks.

But still, the highlight is always checking out the giant gourds.

It feels a bit like you’re wandering around the Land of the Lost with these 100-pound pears. And of course, all those pumpkins.

I felt really happy for Jamie because, for the first time, his pumpkin was among the largest and was the one people singled out for pictures.

Of course, we had to pose for our requisite family photo with the other woman. Though in this case, she’s a man named Stanley in honor of my dad and Jamie’s best friend. My friend Fiona called us the “Mannings of the pumpkin growing world.”

I’m sure that means we must be millionaires.

The kids’ division was first. Early in the season, Hadley lost her pumpkin so they both grew Bode’s pumpkin, which is just a nice way of saying he did most of the work but she wants part of the credit.

Regardless, they blew away the other kids and won with their biggest pumpkin ever: 429.5 pounds! It went 15 percent heavier than its measurements.

Up next was the adult division. Jamie’s pumpkin developed a small crack five weeks prior, which automatically disqualified it from competition but he still wanted to weigh it. It was measuring out to be over 1,400 pounds, which would have beat the 1,308-pound Colorado state record.

But it wasn’t to be so. Though Stanley was a beast, he went “light,” which in pumpkin terms means he wasn’t as thick on the inside so turned out to be about 200 pounds lighter than Jamie had hoped.

A man and his giant pumpkin

But 1,220 pounds is nothing to be sad about. Stanley was a few hundred pounds heavier than Jamie’s personal best and was one of the biggest grown in Colorado this year. His friend Joe ended up growing a 1,478-pound pumpkin and won the competition. Which just means there’s an even bigger goal for next year.

Congrats to my cute family on a job well grown!

Filed Under: Bode, Family, Hadley, Humor, Jamie, pumpkins Tagged With: Colorado, pumpkin

Nintendo 2DS: Coming to an Excited Kid Near You

September 19, 2013 by Amber

Every year, our friends at Nintendo swing by Denver to show us the latest and greatest on the market. Last year, it was the WiiU, and this year it’s the 2DS handheld, which will be released on Oct. 19. We got one of the first looks and they had enough security there to make sure we didn’t keep on looking by walking out with if afterward. 🙂

The Lobby’s lovely back patio

We congregated at The Lobby, a welcome reprieve after all of our flooding and rain. But forget the charming courtyard with flowers, ivy and delicious food (caramel-bacon ice cream Sammies, anyone?) When we pulled up to the restaurant and saw a huge Nintendo-theme trailer, the kids went wild.Seeing is doing with Nintendo so after a brief overview, the kiddos and adults were set loose to try out all the new games and devices on the back deck and also in the decked-out trailer. Both kiddos fell in love with Pitkin 3 (can you say Christmas present?) and we all really, really liked the new 2DS. In fact, while the kids eventually gravitated back to what they were familiar with (the 3DS), the adults and I universally agreed we preferred the 2DS. Not only is it a more light, affordable ($129.99), family-friendly unit but I prefer its flat, tablet-like design because it’s easier to hold and navigate…the perfect starter device. All the capabilities seem to be the same so I think it will be a winner in the family market.

Nintendo 2DS

There’s nothing quite like a Nintendo event.

The best way to describe it: an anti-social, social bonding experience.

When Bode first entered the Nintendo-themed trailer, he marveled at all the technology and peppered the PR rep with questions.

Q:”Where do you drive this?”
A: “All around the country showing people the games.”
Q: “This is your job?”
A: “Yup.”

Let’s just say Bode has new career aspirations.

Bode is my Nintendo guy and I can get him to do pretty much anything in exchange for some highly-coveted Wii time (how do you think I potty trained him?)

Hadley, on the other hand, can take it or leave it but I think she found her game, Animal Crossing. You essentially design your own world with the perfect house, outfits and animals while learning life skills with in-game currencies but with a lot more depth than in your average Webkinz or phone app. The interactivity is mind-blogging; when you play it adapts your scene to whether it’s night or day and as the seasons change in real life, so do your scenes. That’s only the tip of the iceberg, of course.

I knew she was having fun when I brought her an extra-gooey brownie (her favorite) and instead of inhaling it like she usually does, she reprimanded me, “No dessert, I’m busy right now.”

The 2DS may be my new diet technique.

Filed Under: Bode, Hadley Tagged With: Nintendo

Lessons learned at 5 a.m. and 5:10 a.m. and 5:20 a.m….

September 17, 2013 by Amber

We learned a couple of things when our fire alarm falsely went off starting at 5 a.m. this morning:

1) Bode can sleep through anything.

2) Fat Kitty (who’s still MIA) is a “save yourself” kinda cat.

Filed Under: Bode, Humor Tagged With: Fat Kitty

Back-to-school: oh, how “special” it is

August 29, 2013 by Amber

I talked a little bit about our frenzied first day and why I went back to bed but (horrors) I didn’t show my requisite first-day pictures. Hadley started on a Monday and Bode on Wednesday, which meant each of them could have the breakfast of their choice on our “You Are Special Today” plate.

Trust me, that plate doesn’t work at all when you have to share it on the same day. Kinda defeats the purpose.

Then, of course, their new outfits.

Is is just me or does Hadley look waaaaaaay too grown-up?

I’m feeling only OK about this school year. Hadley is in fourth grade and has looped with her same teacher (a Waldorf tradition). There’s good and bad in that. Good that we got a lot of kinks worked out last year and the teacher knows her strengths and weaknesses. Bad that I wish she had someone who knew how up to play to her weaknesses better. But best is this teacher loves experiential, multi-day field trips and that is what Hadley lives for.

As for Bode, welp, let’s just say he is rumored to have the worst teacher at his public school. I’m trying to keep an open mind about it because he’s a great student, a pleaser and highly adaptable in the classroom. Second grade is a mess with only one great teacher (whom Hadley had), the one Bode got and the third teacher isn’t great but she now has a grades 1 and 2 split class, which I’m glad we didn’t get.

His teacher’s first letter home didn’t exactly endear me to her, either. No, “welcome back!” or “I’m excited to get to know your kids!” It was:

“Attached is the S.T.A.R.S. rules matrix which outlines expected behavior in the classroom. We have gone over these together in class. PLEASE REVIEW THESE RULES WITH YOUR CHILD to ensure that you both know the expected behavior in the classroom at school.”

Doesn’t she sound like a lot of fun? Strict, I can deal with. It’s her rumored meanness, lack of competence and dislike of teaching that worry me. I hope to be pleasantly surprised. Anyone can change, right?

We had our most fun summer yet–these kids of mine are such adventurous souls and the older they get, the more I enjoy them. It helps that they got along marvelously and fought very minimally. When I kicked ’em to the curb dropped them off at school, I felt a wave of sadness wash over me because I loved spending so much time together.

But then I had six glorious hours to myself where I worked, biked Bear Creek State Park, made peach pies and had a lunch meeting….

Hidden pond at Bear Creek State Park

….and I got over it.

Filed Under: Bode, Hadley, Humor Tagged With: back-to-school

A final glimpse at summer 2013 (in pictures)

August 26, 2013 by Amber

I purposefully planned our summer to be busy in the beginning and middle and then to just take it easy the final few weeks before school. It turned out marvelously.

June was crazy with trips to The Broadmoor, Chautauqua in Boulder, Breckenridge and Frisco in the mountains, not to mention Hadley’s overnight camp, Bode’s first solo flight to visit Grandma in Utah, our hailed-out camping trip, a Sunday drive to 14,265-foot Mt. Evans, summer hiking group and two weeks of swim lessons.

The Broadmoor, soaring at Chautauqua, first solo flight & atop 14,265 ft Mt. Evans

Camp Chief Ouray, YMCA of the Rockies & at Camp Dick. Not pictured: Avid4Adventure Survival Camp

Breckenridge

Frisco BBQ Challenge

Summer hiking group

In a word, whew!!

And then, of course glorious July was dedicated unto Independence Day and then a three-week-long road trip to the Motherland where great times were had with my family in Calgary and then on Okanogan Lake in British Columbia. On our way back we stayed with my former mission companion in Boise and Jamie’s wonderful family in Utah.

Independence Day

Mom’s birthday dinner in Calgary

British Columbia

Idaho and Utah

Then, we were home for some R&R! Or not.

Think: Annual hike to St. Mary’s Glacier, Water World, Elitch Gardens, pool parties, tennis, the 9News back-to-school fashion show and many glorious bike rides.

Hiking St. Mary’s glacier

Water World

Elitch Gardens

Multiple pool parties

Tennis

9News fashion show

Farewell to summer sunset

Summer 2014: you’ve got a tough act to follow.

Filed Under: Bode, Colorado, Family, Family travel, Hadley, Jamie, travel

Our son: Age seven going on 70

August 16, 2013 by Amber

We bought both the kids new mountain bikes this summer (well, new-to-us from Craigslist). We’ve done a ton of hiking and adventuring but not much biking these days. One night, we decided to take them out for a spin and Hadley proposed we take the boys to our secret swamp in an Open Space park near our house.

Actually when we got there, she was mad about revealing our secret spot. Though she said “swamp,” she didn’t mean swamp and had intended for us to go on a secret trail and “why aren’t you a mind reader, Mom?”

Girl drama aside, she quickly recovered from our misunderstanding and took us on on an adventure that wound over dirt, rocks and plenty of bumps. It was Bode’s first off-piste trail on his new bike and he was not. Happy. About. It. Over and over again, he shouted out:

“I AM GOING TO REGRET 60 PERCENT OF THIS!”

And my favorite: “CURSE YOU!”

Good thing the other 40 percent of him had a great time.

Filed Under: biking, Bode, Humor, outdoors

Getting wired on 9News’ back-to-school fashion segment

August 12, 2013 by Amber

I’ve fallen into a routine of appearing on 9News every month, usually around the time my column in the Denver Post is published. Though the experience still has a measure of stress, I’ve filed it under the “this is good for you to get out of your comfort zone so suck it up” file.

What I was not expecting when my kids appeared in last year’s 9News fashion show is how much they would love it. In fact, all year long whenever I filmed a segment, they would get all huffy with me. “Why aren’t we doing it with you?”–like the show couldn’t possibly go on without them.

So when back-to-school rolled around again, I figured I’d get them off my back and do the segment again, though it is a colossal undertaking to work with the clothing stores, figure out the styles and then present it all like I’m some sort of fashion aficionado. One thing I had going for me was my models from last year were all game for Round 2: my kids and two great teens from church, Stephanie and Bennett.

My kids had a blast getting outfitted at The Children’s Place. OK, Hadley has a blast; Bode was appeased when I told him he could pick one of their Angry Birds shirts as a reward.We did a few dry runs prior to The Big Day while I told Stage Dad Jamie to watch Tom Hanks’ eloquent performance in the spoof Toddlers & Tiaras for inspiration.

Our segment went live at 8:40 a.m. and we had to be at the studio by 8:20 a.m. so I told the teens to be at my house by 7:20 a.m. Bennett planned to follow us there in his car while Stephanie asked if her mom could drop her off at 7 a.m. on the way to work.

Unlike last year’s chaos with sick Hadley throwing up in the parking lot, I just knew this would would be different. The day dawned bright, beautiful and early. When 7 a.m. rolled around, I waited for Stephanie. Then 7:05 a.m. No problem. They were running a bit late. By 7:15 a.m. I started to panic. She’s a responsible kid and maybe something had happened. When Bennett rang the doorbell at 7:20 a.m., I was in full panic mode as I texted and called Stephanie. No response. By some stroke of luck, she had left her mom’s cell phone number on her voice mail so I called immediately.

“Where is Stephanie?” I choked out.
“Who is this?” she asked.
“Amber. She’s supposed to be here. We need to leave right now for the fashion show.”
“No, it’s not until Thursday.”
“Nope, it’s today.” Today being Monday.

Then it was her mom’s turn to freak out. “She’s at home sleeping. She thinks it’s Thursday. Don’t worry. WE WILL BE THERE.”

I didn’t know how. Her mom was at work and she’d have to race home, drag her teen out of bed and be at the studio in less than an hour but I didn’t question it.

I white-knuckled the 30-minute drive, at one point telling the kids, “why don’t you sing me a nice song to alleviate my stress?” upon which Hadley belted out, “Make it… Stephanie. You will make it!”

Not exactly the distraction I was hoping for.

We arrived at the studio shortly after 8 a.m. and much to my shock, Stephanie arrived a few minutes later with her mom apologizing profusely. My blood pressure levels started to go back down until, at 8:15 a.m., 9News’ sports reporter Suzie Wargin spotted us and said, “You’re late. We’re going live in five minutes.” And then those stress levels shot up yet again. Late? Late for what and why was she the one doing the interview?

She quickly realized she wasn’t looking for us (whew!) so we hung out in the Pit (newsroom) until it was our turn. Jamie had arrived by that time and we were soon ushered in. Kyle, one of my favorite reporters, was to do the segment with us and I got wired. With a microphone, that is. Believe me, my adrenaline levels were plenty wired on their own.

We hoped to do a quick run-through so the kids could see where they needed to stand when Kyle suddenly learned over to me and whispered, “we’re up next.” Problem was the cameras were suddenly on me and I had no way of telling Stage Dad Jamie we were live and not just practicing. Good thing the kiddos performed like champs, eventually figuring out this was no rehearsal. (See the segment here).

As for me? Good thing I have a year to recover before the next back-to-school fashion segment drama.

Filed Under: 9News, Bode, Hadley, Humor, Jamie Tagged With: 9News, Denver, fashion, humor

Oh Canada Part IV: Jumping Into the Abyss

August 8, 2013 by Amber

This was my kids’ first extended trip on the water so I wasn’t sure how they’d react to our week of boating Okanagan Lake in British Columbia. I suspected Hadley would love it because she’s a fish but Bode only recently started really swimming after we had to pay for private lessons last year.

Judging from some of his dock jumps, the dude is finally enjoying the water.

He wasn’t the only one to try new things. Because my brother Pat’s new boat is weighed down by fat sacs when we surf, it creates a huuuge rooster tail at the back of the boat. One of their favorite activities is jumping into it. Water Adverse Amber of yesteryear would’ve said NO FREAKING WAY but Water Loving Amber gave it a try. It’s a scary sensation when you first get sucked under, almost like you’re in a swirling toilet. But then it shoots you waaay back like a cannon and you pop out behind the wake. We went one right after the other so there was minimal distance for my brother to come retrieve us after.

This picture of Hadley launching into the rooster tail for the first time is my favorite picture I took on the entire trip.

Taking flight

Not only does it represent boldly trying new things but if you look closely you can see a line of heads bobbing up in the background, representing our supportive family who had gone before.

Speaking of trying new things, both kiddos enjoyed kneeboarding.

But no one was more accomplished than dear ol’ Dad. Not only is it tough getting up from your stomach but his kneeboard somehow got turned sideways during his run so he was fighting the current the entire time. The dude is strong!

I tried to convince Hadley to wakeboard but she had no interest. We called Jamie and he tried to up the ante: “Tell her I’ll buy something special for her when she gets home.” I relayed the message, to which she responded, “Unless it’s a pony, I’m not doing it.” And. She. Meant. It. Welcome to our world of having the most unbribable kid out there (and a glimpse at why potty training her was such a nightmare).

My niece Emily just graduated from high school and Ashton is a mama of two in her 20s. I never thought my kiddos would be the same age as hers but that’s how it worked out.

Mom with gorgeous deck views

Our daily schedule (if you want to call it that) was the same. Each morning, I’d get up early and go kayaking while Pat and Co. went for a morning wakeboard while all the kids slept. Around 10:30 a.m., we’d have Jane’s huge ‘n delicious breakfast and then everyone would load up on the boat for several hours. We’d head in mid-afternoon, grab some snacks, play on our beach and off the dock and then have a huge dinner. In the evening, we’d sometimes head back out or have a great time playing on the lawn of our cabin. Soccer got pretty heated as Ashton’s husband Fred and I battled out the glory days while pretending to teach our kids how to play. 🙂

But nothing was more fun than disco soccer by strobe light.

Hands down, my favorite day was when my brother took us all to the more cossetted west side of Okanagan Lake. Not only were the houses bigger but the water was warmer. Pat cut the engine and we played all afternoon–from diving contests (Ashton beat Pat, a huge upset; or rather, he was hugely upset) to splashing around to races around the boat.