Our home’s crime scene

We’re the lazy people on our newspaper carrier’s route who request that he delivers our paper to our porch.

It’s our nice way of not flashing our neighbors in our skivvies every morning by walking out to the driveway.

Either our carrier has been slacking the last couple of weeks or we have a rookie because our newspaper has not be porched, but rather “sidewalked.” Meaning, he only makes it as far as the sidewalk in front of our porch. This has only resulted in minor public exhibitions but didn’t seem like a big enough issue to complain about.

Until the dude took out our pathway light.

Jamie: “Amber, please come outside.”
Me: “OK, what?”
Jamie: “Did you or the children do this (pointing to the broken light).”
Me: “Nope.”
Sherlock Jamie: “Just as I suspected.”

He then started taking photographs.

Me: “What are you doing?”
Jamie: “Taking pictures to send to the newspaper’s circulation department as evidence. You will notice that the angle which the light was broken off corresponds perfectly with where the newspaper landed behind the rose bush. We have our man.”


C.S.I., watch out.

Or at least poor, lazy newspaper carrier.

How to do the mega resort, Dominican Republic-style!

For months, Jamie has been so overworked and burned out he has complained, “I JUST WANT TO BE BORED!”

Boredom is not a common occurrence at our house and some quality R&R was our primary goal for our trip to the Dominican Republic.

My mother-in-law Linda generously watched the kids (A BIG THANK YOU TO HER!) as Jamie and I spent five days having fun under the sun at the 1,366 room mega resort Barcelo Bavaro Palace Deluxe, our compensation for battling it out over The Great Pumpkin on the Marriage Ref.

We flew in on Wednesday afternoon and after a couple of hours of lounging on the white-sand beach the very next morning, Jamie proclaimed, “I am bored.”

Apparently we don’t do boredom well.

But we were just swell at a lot of other things:

1) Sea kayaking, paddle boating, snorkeling, long beach walks, swimming and lots of eating at the resort’s nine restaurants. All activities were inclusive so we didn’t spend a dime.

2) I become bilingual. At least I like to think I did. The other patrons at Barcelo were primarily Europeans and South Americans so we were in the minority.

While most of the staff spoke at least some broken English, we occasionally had to crank out our espanol. We were frequently asked our room number–1323–and imagine my excitement when I realized THAT was something I could say in Spanish!

“Uno…..tres………dos….tres!!!!”I carefully exclaimed.
“You sound like a 4-year-old,” Jamie retorted.

I credit Dora the Explorer for my prowess.

3) I made some observations about our fellow patrons, who were so very different from our American neighbors.
a) I don’t care how perfect your body is. Th0ngs are offensive and Speedos on men are even less flattering. I won’t talk about the 60-year-old grandma who opted to go topless. #StillRecovering
b) No one there had tattoos. After going to Water World this summer, I realized just how pervasive American’s views of body art really are. It was strangely refreshing to see people’s bodies devoid of them.

4) We hung out a lot in our hotel room. All the rooms at the Palace Deluxe were recently remodeled and we scored a junior suite, which had a generous sitting room, comfy king-sized bed with a pillow top mattress and even a hot tub on the deck. In the afternoons, we had a Harry Potter marathon. After nap time, of course. #Priorities.

5) The weather was agreeable. I wasn’t thrilled for this trip because Denver’s weather is finally to my liking (read: brisk) and the thought of returning to my dreaded heat was depressing. Though the Domincan Republic was hot and humid, we had reprieves with rain and clouds. I only complained about the heat 12 times (a new record for me over a 5-day period).

5) I achieved my life’s goal. On one rainy afternoon, we ambled over to the thatched-hut activity center overlooking the ocean and played games. We started with ping pong (Jamie killed me), then checkers (another win) but then victory was mine. Much to Jamie’s chagrin, the staffer passed out BINGO cards.

Now, here’s my history with BINGO. Since we started taking cruises almost seven years ago, I’ve been dying to play BINGO and Jamie has turned me down. “It’s for a bunch of old people.”

Now, he had no choice and begrudgingly played. And do you know what?

I WON!!!!!!!!!!!!

I could go pro.

In the end, we had a fabulous, restful vacation as we reconnected in a meaningful way. This trip was such a departure from our regular action-packed experiences (in fact, my first trip to the Dominican Republic you can read about here was an adventure tour where we mountain biked, hiked and white water rafted).

But our latest trip was just what the doctor ordered.

And I have The Great Pumpkin to thank for it.

Validation and the cutest little American ever

It’s no secret I was hesitant to enroll Bode in kindergarten because of the pressure I felt from my peers to hold him back.

One of the reasons was I felt he was small for his age but at a recent pediatric appointment, I learned he’s actually in the 50th percentile (average) but he only seems smaller because he’s lumped with boys who should be in first grade but were held back.

Go figure.

The New York Times article about how delaying school could be a detriment to your child was definitely a validation for our decision to enroll him but it wasn’t until I volunteered in his class that I was pleased to see he’s in the advanced group with a bunch of girls.

But then I got the biggest validation of all: his teacher called to say he’s the best reader in the class and will join the first graders for their reading time so he can be more challenged.

My reaction was not pride but rather, relief. We had made the correct decision. I’ve fastidiously worked with him daily on his reading for over a year and our efforts have paid off. Lest you think I’ve gone all Tiger Mom on him, that is not the case.

I’m much too lazy for that.

Several of his classmates have made comments about his reading and we found out why at his parent-teacher conference. As an explanation for Bode going with the “bigger kids,” the teacher told the class it wasn’t fair for him to always give them the answers and that they need to work harder to catch up to him. Now, a lot of the kids want to go to the “big-kid class” and Bode has become the benchmark for reading literacy.

In any other class, this strategy could significantly backfire with mean kids bullying him but it’s had the opposite effect and the kids think he’s cool. His buddy Timmie stopped us and admiringly said, “You know how to read, Bode?”

If only brainiacs were always deemed popular.

Now, lest you think Bode is some kind of child prodigy he’s not. But this whole experience has confirmed that as parent, we should regularly work with our kids and in the end, don’t push them too much (but just enough) and always listen to our gut.

The gut that tells you to do the right thing. Not the one that tells you to eat that third chocolate cookie.

There is, however, one problem. His teacher says she sometimes has a difficult time understanding him.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrJwwzRP5RY]

I’m cutting my losses on this one. In his defense, this Canuck can’t pronounce half those words, either.

Down for the count (and a killer Windex giveaway)

If the world seems unusually peaceful and quiet today, it is because I’ve lost my voice.

Because I somehow manage to get sick 99 percent of the time I travel.

Details of our Dominican Republic trip are forthcoming but this pic I took pretty much sums it up.
Also, I don’t ever do giveaways on my personal blog but I just have to share a killer one we’re doing at Mile High Mamas. I teamed up with Windex to celebrate their 75th anniversary and we’re giving away oodles of Windex products, a video camera, $50 gift card and a photo album. Go here to enter!

My ’50s tranformation to pin-up: revealed!

A couple of weeks ago, I had the most killer mom’s afternoon out with some of my fellow Mile High Mamas: we were transformed into ’50s pin-up girls by Iman Woods!

I’m talking about our hilarious, empowering and FUN experience at Mile High Mamas so be sure to check out the behind-the-scenes action.

No lie: the stylist SEWED victory rolls into my hair.

And if you’re in Denver: GO.

For details, go here.

What a difference a week makes

Last week started out with mountain biking in glorious 80-degree temperatures at Community Ditch in Boulder.
Trust Boulder to have a ditch that looks this gorgeous.

The next day, it was upper-50s biking Standley Lake.And then came the big cooldown–a 50-degree drop since Monday.

Hiking a much different scene at Standley Lake.

To this place today while Denver has yet another snowstorm.


Goal: R&R.

See you next week!

Halloween defined chez nous

It was a pumpkin carvin’





Jell-o competition eatin’

White Witch and dinosaur posin’


Fire station partying

Neighborhood parade strolling

And candy dreamin’ kind of Halloween.
Hope you had a happy one!

Halloween partying, popularity, horror & my insanity

Halloween Partying

I did double-duty at the school on Friday that started with the costume parade and class parties.
I’ll have better pictures of the kiddos later but we opted on a dinosaur costume for Bode and Hadley went as the White Witch (Narnia is her favorite movie).

Jamie would like me to add he was not a part of the dinosaur choice because he said it was too “cutesy.”

I say what is a KINDERGARTNER if not cute?!

My horror

As I was waiting for the kids’ costume parade in the gym, I struck up a conversation to the gal next to me whom I swear I’ve never seen before. A few minutes into talking, she mentioned her twins–one boy and one girl.

And then it slowly started coming to me. You know the one: the dreadful feeling when you realize you somehow know that person but had forgotten them. I tried to cover my tracks by saying, “Wait a minute. You live in my neighborhood and our kids were at the same bus stop last year.” Nice.

But it got worse. The woman knew everything about me. “I saw you on The Marriage Ref and you totally should have won etc. etc. etc.”

My bad memory and Jamie’s pumpkin are ruining my life.

Norm

And the most popular kid in second grade is…

Bode.

You know. My kindergartner.

Going to school with that kid is like going to school with Norm from Cheers. His besties in kindergarten adore him and after volunteering in Haddie’s class, he and I eat in the lunchroom with her. This time, I kid you not, the second grade boys fought over who got to sit with him. Then, afterward, they begged me to let him stay and play Yoshi on the playground. As they were lining up, they insisted Bode give them all high-fives.

I guess sometimes, nice guys do finish first.

My Insanity

My friend posted a fabulous tutorial on how to make Halloween cake pops. If you’ve never heard of them, allow me to enlighten you: these little cakes on a stick are nothing short of moist and amazing (this, from a non-cake eater). And so I thought they’d be fun to make for the kids’ Halloween party.

There was nothing fun about making them.

Really, it was my fault. Between the kids’ two classes, there were 50 pops. And then my ward’s trunk-or-treat was that night and I’d signed up to bring a treat. Add in the women I visit teach and I was well over a hundred.

And so I made three different cakes: red velvet, vanilla and spice and spent the entire day slaving in the kitchen. I’m not exaggerating: THESE LITTLE GHOSTS TOOK ME SEVEN HOURS TO MAKE.
The positive: They were met with many rave reviews.
The negative: Some kids took them but didn’t bother eating them. I wanted to grab their little sugar-stuffed cheeks and scream,”DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG THOSE TOOK ME TO MAKE?”

Perhaps becoming emotionally invested in a treat is dangerous on many levels.

After spending seven hours on my still-recovering knee, I could barely walk. But the caveat came when I was carrying the laundry down the stairs later that day. Workers had been there cleaning our carpet and the floors were still damp. I slipped. I slammed. I slid. I threw out my back and injured my arm.

I’m going as myself for Halloween this year.

Because that is scary enough.

Food Bank of the Rockies’ Celebrity Council (who me?)

I think everyone should have a “cause” close to their heart and combating child hunger is mine. I was first really exposed to it during my mission in Switzerland and France where I was privileged to provide service in the local food banks. As I worked with those wonderful people–so humble and grateful–something inside me was ignited.

Years later, I’ve been fortunate to work with the Food Bank of the Rockies on some local campaigns and have felt that same spark. So when I was asked to be a part of their new Celebrity Council (that includes famous professional athletes, media personalities and actors), I was honored.

And then I laughed. A lot.

I certainly don’t consider myself a celebrity but feel privileged to contribute to an organization that services 1,100 hunger-relief programs throughout Northern Colorado and Wyoming.

Last week, I attended a soiree to kick-off the council and was blown away to see my smiling face on the celebrity wall (top right-hand corner).

Note to self: Get a real head shot.

Of course, this isn’t my first brush with celebrity.

There was the time at the 2010 Vancouver Games at the USA House when I insulted a living legend.

Also, when I lived in Salt Lake City, I was the Travel Editor for Sports Guide Magazine for a number of years. I must have had a pretty good following because every year, Sports Guide published a “Best Of” list based on reader’s nominations and votes.

I won the “Best All-around Female” award, along with Picabo Street (who was a really big deal at the time after winning a gold medal in super G at the 1998 Winter Olympics.)

When Jamie and I were dating, he Googled my name and found that article.

I’m sure it was the clincher for him. 🙂

I’d love your support! For every Facebook “like” the Food Bank of the Rockies receives through October, Vitamin Cottage is donating $1. And here’s the amazing thing: A $1 donation provides 4 meals for kids in need so please take a moment to click!

The Beauty of a Beautiful Heartbreak

I mentioned my admiration for musician Hilary Weeks but when I saw the video for her newest release, Beautiful Heartbreak, I just had to share.

She gave the back-story of writing it at Time Out for Women. There were four babies in her congregation at church who were born to different families. All four had severe medical challenges but friends and neighbors banded together in amazing ways to support these families as they tried to nurse their babies back to health.

All four of them died within the year.

Hilary mourned with them but was so inspired to see how they dealt with the loss and wrote this song. While it’s not inherently religious, I love it because it is human. No one goes through life without heartbreak of some kind–whether it’s depression or unemployment, loneliness, illness or death.

Be sure to watch the video until the end…that’s when my big, ugly cry broke out.

No worries. I’m not featured in the video blubbering away.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyX-I-um5Kk]
Hilary Weeks Video

This song is such a great reminder to take the good with the bad and that life is sometimes a beautiful heartbreak.

But we can still make it beautiful.

Buy her new CD “Every Step” on iTunes here. And no, this is not a sponsored post. I just think she’s pretty darn great.