Vida & Me Time

Vida Selfie

Tuesdays & Thursdays are Freja's days to go to school...which means those are the days I get some QT with Vida. Of course I love having days with both girls, but one-on-one is so special. And a heckuva lot easier. Vida is so calm and easily entertained when it's just the two of us, compared to keyed up and desperate to mimic her sister's antics when she's with Freja. All she wants to do is keep up with her big sister.

Today we went for a cold but sunny walk around the neighborhood. We stopped at Bert & Ernie Park (the one closest to our house) to play, although Vida is still pretty unsure about walking on snow. The sidewalks were clear but playground covered...so we walked around the sidewalk loop then stopped for a snack.

Practicing walking in snow boots

This dry sidewalk is okay

Little rosy cheeks

And now we're off to pick up Freja at school! xo

...and we're back!

I could go on & on here about how I just don't have time to blog, how a few of you loyal readers have asked for updates, and I think sure I could do that, *tomorrow.* Whatever. You get the gist.

Going forward, I'm going to do my best to regularly update the blog with tidbits that are a little more detailed than I might put on Facebook. Maybe more than one picture at a time. Maybe I'll just share a link to something I like. Feel free to follow along.

Or not.

Whatever.

SNOW DAY!
It snowed here in Carbondale pretty much all day yesterday, with no snow on the ground first thing in the morning and several heavy, wet inches covering everything by late afternoon. Today the girls & I ventured outside to test our snow legs, make the first snowman of the season, and explore the neighborhood. Freja even spontaneously stopped to make a snow angel. What better day than our first real snow day to put up a few good pictures.

Freja, saying "I love snow!"

Beer bottle caps for eyes, because safety!

Impromptu angel

Ribbit, ribbit

Just to keep everyone up to speed: Freja is back at Waldkinder Adventure Preschool two full days a week, Tuesday & Thursday. Vida loves taking all of her clothes & diaper off, and throwing just about anything in the toilet. Jan is happy to be back at work at Aspen/Snowmass, even with some long snowy commutes this week. I continue to enjoy my one hour of (mostly) daily meditation at CrossFit. Due to his inability to locate the litter box, Shady now enjoys his own room (our former office). Gary makes occasional appearances between the hours of 8pm & 7am.

We look forward to hearing from all of you! Enjoy.

Guest Post: Grandma Cecilia!

Denny and I visited the Koorn family at the end of July and enjoyed staying with Freja while Kelly, Jan, and Vida went to California to attend a wedding.  We did some sightseeing along the way, visiting Colorado Springs for a few days to see Garden of the Gods and Pike's Peak, then Estes Park and the Rocky Mountain National Park for a week.  Of course, the highlight of the trip was Carbondale and the Koorn House!!!

 

Denny was happy to meet the very smiley Miss Vida.  What a sweetheart she is, happy and cooing most of the time!  She had also figured out how to sound like a motorboat, as you can see in the video!

 

Freja is a busy little girl!  I had taken several books for her, and while she loves to play outside, she is still very happy to climb into a chair with you for storytime.  We were amazed at her bicycle skills; she is certainly her Daddy's daughter!  She loves buzzing around the neighborhood on her Strider! 

 

I was determined to potty-train Freja while we were there.  She was doing pretty well, IF I asked.  I'd say, "Freja, would you like to go potty?"  Her response was usually an enthusiastic "I WOULD like to go potty!" with the  enthusiasm I might have expected if I had asked if she would like a treat...  She didn't always go, but it was a start and she knows what it's all about.

 

Denny kept pretty busy while we were there.  He jogged most days, and hiked to the top of Red Hill with Kelly one day (he said "hill" was definitely a misnomer!).  He also repaired and replaced window screens, stained the backyard playset, set the mailbox in concrete, and we pulled weeds, mulched and planted flowers. 

 

One morning, Denny discovered a HUGE leak in the corner of our bedroom!  There was about a 5' square area of soaked carpet.   A hose bib had split inside the wall.  He got the water shut off, Kelly called a plumber, and within a few hours, there was a 12-14" hole in the wall that needed patched and repainted...  It took most of the week to get the carpet dried out, and before we left, the room was back to normal; Denny did a great job of fixing the wall, and touched up some other places in the house while he was repainting the repair.

 

While Kelly, Jan and Vida were in California, we took Freja to Meeker, CO, to visit my niece and her family.  Freja enjoyed playing with 3 yr olds Elijah and Bella.

Kelly's friend Rachel visited with 3 year old Willow and 6 month old twins, Brooke and Keira while we were there.  It looked like we were starting a nursery!  Freja and Willow really enjoy each other's company, and as Vida and the twins get older, I'm sure they will all be best friends!

 

We enjoyed our visit and being able to spend some time with those precious little girls!   

Vonderschmidt's "to the rescue"

With Jan headed out of town for a long camping weekend, we were called in for assistance.  Kacee, Zack, and I arrived the evening of the 19th and were greeted with cautious looks by Miss Freja.  By the next morning though, we were all playing and at home with everyone.  Freja is very chatty and often easy-going.  She does love books; we read throughout the day (every day).  When it was Vida's feeding time, Freja would offer to help Kelly out by saying, "Feed me the baby"...cute toddler sayings (Kelly, I hope you are finally writing them down).

We spent an afternoon at Redstone - enjoyed a picnic lunch, throwing pebbles into the river, feeling the cold water, and window shopping for unique crafts/gifts in the old, coke mining village shops.  While we were there, a tour bus of about 35 stopped by.  We learned a little about local water conservation efforts - Freja was more interested in the rocks.  On Saturday, we headed to Glenwood Springs to attend the Strawberry Days Festival Parade.  While Freja enjoyed her first blue-raspberry sucker, I had Vida in the Baby Bjorn - overwhelmed by sights and sounds, she was asleep.  We hit the Basalt Farmer's Market on Sunday, as well as the library.  Love the library - games (both computer and board/puzzle options), a play area, and built-into-the-floor dioramas!  

Vida is quite a joy.  She was sleeping thru the night (12 hours +/-), but resisted a morning or afternoon siesta.  We could get her to nap either in short snatches or a total of about an hour.  She just didn't want to miss out on a thing.  She coo's and goo's a lot, loves to look at the jungle animals on her musical play mat/arches, and was fascinated by her cousins.  Freja is an active toddler - absorbing everything she sees and hears.  She loved playing with Zack - he's big enough to pick her up/carry her around.  

We headed home the day after Jan got back.  It wasn't easy to leave those bright, happy little faces.  So darn cute and bubbly.  But, it was harder to leave Kacee behind.  She's staying on to help out and so she experiences a little independence at the start of her teen years.  How quickly time flies...weeks become years become memories.  

Meow

Babies & kids love cats. Our cats don't necessarily feel the same way. These pictures were taken with great caution and in haste. Soclose!

The Koorns Come to Carbondale!

Guest blogger Grandpa Dirk here. Jeanne and I got to meet our newest granddaughter, Vida Evangeline (what a beautiful name!), and spend some time getting to know Freja better over the past two weeks. 

Freja, now two years old, is the most delightful little girl in the world. Jan and Kelly are so very fortunate to have two such wonderful daughters. Jeanne and I spent time almost every day taking Freja to the nearby park to play. In just two weeks we saw a remarkable increase in strength and coordination on the playground equipment, and a growth in self confidence in trying out new things. All the while we watched her vocabulary and language use increase by leaps and bounds. I found it interesting that she was generally more fascinated by sticks, bugs, leaves, flowers, trees, and other such marvels of nature than she was by the toys and equipment at the park. Sure, she pleased us by showing what she could do on the swings, slides, ladders and such, but then get distracted by an ant or spider or flower and run off to play with that instead, usually with a stick in her hand. Two-year-olds can be the most fun people in the world with their growing interest and awareness of the world around them.

Of course, Freja still loves her books as much as Grandma Jeanne and I love reading them to her.

Vida talks, but in a different way. She has expressive eyes that focus more and more on the people and world around her. Without getting out the photos, it's hard to remember Freja ever being this small, but she must have been. We're lucky to have lots of pictures of them both to remember the various stages of growth and development.

Attached is one of my favorite pictures of Vida, taken on my birthday, which I was fortunate to be able to spend with them.

Vida, at just two months, loves sleeping in Grandma's arms, and she is good at lulling Grandma to sleep too.

I am so proud of Jan and Kelly for what they've done to raise these beautiful girls of theirs. You couldn't find better parents than them anywhere!

Double Trouble!

We just inherited a great double jogging stroller, so I took the girls out for a walk today. How nice for me to be able to load them both up and go! We will get a lot of use out of the stroller this summer, especially now that we are in Carbondale. Lots going on here all the time!