kojo etsy stuff that you should know about

If you haven't entered the kojo blog drawing for free shoes, you can do so until midnight on October 31st. Have I mentioned that I'd love for one of y'all to win these? You can choose between black metallic ballet flats, bronze ballet flats, black ballet flats with an ugg-ish lining, brown ballet flats with an ugg-ish lining and PURPLE ballet flats. Yep, purple! Go enter! Win them!

Also, Jordi has put together some FABULOUS photo Christmas card options this year... If you usually send out photo Christmas cards, the cost of her-digital-file-plus-printing is comparable to any of the major photo-Christmas-card spots. And they're GORGEOUS... really, go check 'em out!

And, I probably shouldn't be saying this yet because we haven't even announced it over there, but head back to the kojo blog on November 1st to enter November's giveaway for a free ruffle dress (like the ones I made for Sayla Grace & Keadryn)! We don't even sell those, so it's truly a limited edition item. And what a great Christmas gift for a little girl...

Ok, those are all the etsy announcements I have for now... :)

ps- I'm sure you saw in my sidebar that we're selling the Juju shoes at our etsy shop... I should mention that friends & family get to choose 4 charms instead of 3. oh the perks of being our friends. :)

reading with papa

As I glanced through our photo files the other night, I was amazed at how many pictures I have of Burke reading with Mark. I love it that Mark will just sit with Burke and read book after book... Burke thinks this is the best news ever and totally takes advantage of this.

I know that many of you get Mark's updates from caringbridge, but in case you don't, things are pretty rough right now for him healthwise. If you'd be praying for Adam's family, we'd really appreciate it.

three loves

Can I tell you how much I love this stage? Burke is funny, vocal, dashing around my house making messes, shouting out his ever-expanding vocabulary at the top of his lungs... it's hilarious (well, sometimes I don't think the messes are that funny, but the rest of it is pretty dang comical)!

Things he loves right now:

1. Pumpkins- he calls them, 'mumkeys' which sounds an awful lot like, 'monkeys' but he gets super frustrated if I confuse the two... And, let's be honest, it's much more likely that he'll see a pumpkin than a monkey currently, so I should know better.

2. Airplanes- After hearing about his passion for planes, Aunt Jojo sent him an airplane that lights up and makes sounds and, oh goodness, Burke thinks it's the best thing that's happened to him.

3. Rabbits- For some reason, we received a whole collection of stuffed bunnies at various baby showers (I think most of them correspond to a book). Burke calls them, "hop hops," and will tote a whole cache of rabbits to various locations in our house, all the time saying, "hop hop hop hop hop."

Like I said, it's a funny life right now.

the denver marathon

Signing up for the Denver Marathon relay is a risk to be sure... the weather last year was fantastic, but the weather the year before was a MESS (our friends who ran in it recall sleet and freezing and just general misery).

Yesterday, however, was the most gorgeous October day in the history of October days. The route of the Denver marathon takes you all over downtown Denver (that was my leg), though City Park (Cody's leg), Cheeseman Park (Dave's leg) and Wash Park (mama finished us off) then back downtown. Gorgeous weather... terrific day!

glorious news

Right about now, I am regretting using the word "glorious" to describe so many things. Because then, when something is truly epic, glorious doesn't have quite the same effect.

That being said, brace yourselves, friends, for the glorious news I am about to share.

Sonic. has. coke. zero.

Awhile back, Jordi had a dream that this happened. Her dream has come true. Why are you still reading this? You should be at Sonic, ordering Cokezero with cherry or vanilla or maybe both.

Tragically, the Cokezero glory has not made itself to every Sonic (like the ones in Lubbock, for example). So maybe don't get your hopes up too high.

Also, sorry about this post's photograph. It's the one I had available and I knew y'all would understand that I'm just trying to disseminate good news in the most timely matter possible and can't be bothered with finding/taking a better picture. You get the jist, the very glorious jist.

mr. & mrs. peter allonge

You know that feeling of glee you get when you have a friend who deserves the Best. Guy. Ever. and then she finds someone perfect for her? I had that feeling yesterday watching Lindsay marry Peter... I am so thrilled for them!

And besides a fluke ice storm that made staying warm in my sleeveless dress a little challenging, the wedding was perfect. The reception was at this great place downtown with a vintage, 40s feel (I loved the exposed brick and rows of chandeliers!), the food was delicious (three kinds of meat for my carnivore husband) and everyone looked beautiful. I know this will sound silly, but one of my favorite parts of the whole night was dancing and dancing and dancing with Adam (Burke was with Evette & Mark). Just wonderful all around.

Congrats Peter & Lindsay!

trish trish trish

Happy birthday tricia! I'm so glad that you married my brother and are part of our family...
PS- I love that top picture more than I can say. :)

playgroup + popsicles = pure delight

Guess who discovered that he love love loves popsicles? As a side note, next time I'll put a bib on the little destroyer-of-all-things-clean.