Almost Gypsy Soul

When a 6 year old wants "Aunt Jen" to have her Halloween party because it was fun, who is Aunt Jen to say NO? That's right, not allowed. So thanks to Little Boy, we had a 2nd Annual Boos & Brews Costume party. I changed the name a little, but it was essentially the looked like the same party. All those decorations that I bought last year, well they needed dusted off and re-used. I wanted to be Ursula from The Little Mermaid this year so I hopped on my faithful Amazon account to score a sweet deal, only there weren't any. The going price for Ursula costumes....about $120+. um.no. So I thought I'd settle for Ariel. Amazon didn't disappoint there, except my mermaid skirt didn't make it from China before the party so I had to do a little improvising, as in I changed the sheets on my guest bed. And I give you, The Little Mermaid 2016. While she doesn't sing to well, she sure likes those Dirty Hippies, complements of a mountain bike trip to Fruita. ...

Rock Springs and Green River have a summer run series each year, every Monday evening. And since Colorado Transplant Friend is in charge of half of those races, I go.....and for Popsicles. ok, ok I go for Popsicles. They usually have a 5K route and a mini mile route. Of course, each run has a theme because themes are just more fun than running with no theme. This year's series was: Storybook Run (no pictures taken) Zombie Run (didn't attend) Mustache Dash (didn't attend) Color Run Twinkie Trot Slip N' Slide Run (no pictures taken) Watermelon Walk Poker Run (didn't attend) Glow Run (didn't attend) I didn't get to attend as many this year as I have in the past because this is what my summer life looks like every month ends up looking like this Little Boys showing off their muscles after the Color Run Watermelon Walk 5K Little Boy and I after the Twinkie Trot Mini Mile. He ran the whole thing in 12:50.

My second date with myself wasn't technically all by myself, but these two are just too cute and since they call me Aunt they can totally be included on a date with myself....you follow? Little Boy, Miller Baby and I ran the Frostbite 5K last year. We had so much fun that we decided to do it again this year! Little Boy had his tonsils out last week and wasn't quite up for 3.1 miles, so Miller Baby and I represented the Team this year. We did awesome! We ran the whole thing and besides for earning a banana and a hot chocolate mug, we also won a $25 gift certificate in the "predict your time" contest. I think my favorite quote of the race this year was (about halfway through) "Aunt Jen, I'm tired of running"......."Me too, girl, me too". To finish out the weekend (read truth: I just didn't want to stay home and do laundry and the next showing was still at the matinee price) I went to see How to Be Single.      Appropriate for...

and my first thought was "how about for 0 kids because these 2 call me Aunt.....do I look good for 0 kids?" These 2 and I spent Valentine's Day at the Crystal Classic in Green River, WY. We had a super busy day and its safe to say we were all worn out! The only difference is they got a nap, Aunt Jen did not. Miller Baby was asleep before we hit the Green River city limit sign and Little Boy made it about 7 miles. The Crystal Classic is a winter festival centered around an ice sculpting competition. This year the weather was amazing for the festival goers....not so much for the competitors. It was 55 degrees! We need winter to return! The Crystal Classic has so many activities that are good for the big kids and little kids alike. We started out the day with a little physical activity....the Frostbite 5K! I ran, pushing Miller Baby in the stroller while Little Boy rode his Strider bike. We did have to stop halfway for snack time, but we made the whole 3.1 miles in a l...

'The Big Boy', one of the largest steam locomotives in the world made its way across the western United States, coming from California to its final destination in Cheyenne, Wyoming and Rock Springs just happened to be one of the depots it stopped at on its journey. 'Big Boy 4014' is going to Cheyenne where it will be restored to its original operating condition. 25 'Big Boys' were built for Union Pacific Railroad, starting in the 1940. Each steam locomotive is 132 feet long and weighs in at 1.2 million lbs....that's a dang big train! And since this sort of thing doesn't happen that often, I headed down to the railroad depot to see the big guy for myself. I was really hoping they would pull it up so we could see it move, but it stayed on the edge of the depot. Little Boy and I were able to get pretty close though.

Tylie hates change, she hates packing and I'm starting to agree with her. I have yet to find a place to live so I'm moving into Colorado Transplant Friend and her hubby's basement for a little while. It's going to be a full house, but I am so thankful they are willing to take on a homeless person and her dog. Anyway, packing is hard enough, but when its more or less the equivalent to living in a hotel for a few months....just the downsizing of shoes and clothes is a feat! And seriously....what am I supposed to do with my ketchup and jelly jars, nobody wants to throw that stuff away! Music Man's garage fridge to the rescue! By the way, did I mention that I have some pretty great friends? They loan me trailers, they let me store stuff at their houses, they give me a warm place to sleep, they lift my heavy furniture, they pack boxes.....they even use their small children to pack boxes. Yay for child labor!  I'll tell you what a 3 year old and 1 year old can pa...

They say catchy titles is one of the most important parts of blogging, so even though I do not even begin to pretend that my little large sewing project is anywhere near the same ballpark as Betsy Ross's accomplishment, it is still pretty darn good for this non-sewer. Catchy title? or no? Did you want to find out what in the heck I did to think I might be Betsy Ross? Do you know who Betsy Ross is? Colorado Transplant Friend has two of the most adorable kiddos ever, Little Boy and Miller Baby. Oh and those cute Bronco outfits, yeah I picked those out. Little Boy and Miller Baby Colorado Transplant Friend wanted to make them quiet books for quite a while. She decided that she just didn't have time to spend on sewing so I got this great idea that I would make quiet books  for Christmas . Luckily, I started in plenty of time because even though I have a sewing machine, I'm a sewing disaster and this project is way out of my league. I figure they are kids, they won...

Saturday  I played "Mommy" for a day. Colorado Transplant Friend and Little Boy were scheduled for some "intensive potty training". I think I got the better end of the deal, although I'm sure Little Boy did great. My plan of attack against a 9 month old? Wear her out! (so we Aunt Jen can take a nap). I'll hand it over to Miller Baby for the rest of the story. First things first, we did a little volunteer work at the National High School Finals Rodeo. Aunt Jen and I were at horse check-in where we were responsible for chatting with contestants and their parents, make them feel welcome in Rock Springs ya know!? While I checked health papers, Coggins papers and stall assignments before sending them on to the brand inspector, Aunt Jen put the mane tags in. I was a pretty big deal at horse check-in! Aunt Jen completely screwed up my schedule and I took a nap before we ate lunch at......1:30! But since its kinda her first day, I didn't even cry. We stopped ...