Who wouldn't want to live here?

So yesterday (Saturday) it reached 73 and so we went to the zoo with Sara Josh and Elinor. Apparently everyone in Denver was outside! Wash Park was the busiest I have ever seen it and the Zoo was extremely crowded. Once we parked and got inside it was fine but finding the parking space now that was tricky! We had a great time and afterwards went to Lil Ollie's for dinner. Thanks Sara and Josh it was great spending time with you guys!



And then this morning this is what my back yard looked like! Can you believe it?! All of the snow had finally melted and now everything is covered again! It is also a very wet sloppy snow not the good kind to go play in. The temp is 25 and it is still snowing! Huge change from yesterday!

Beautiful Friday Afternoon

Friday afternoon Marc took the kids down to the park. I cleaned up around the house a little bit and realized that this was Kate's first trip to the park not being an infant so I grabbed my camera and met them just as the sun was starting to set. She loved the rocks and the swings, and all the dogs that she could watch play. So I have found out how to upload more than 5 pictures which is fun for me but now you have a lot more to scroll through-sorry!

I love in this one that you have mine and Marc's shadows in the background

What a handsome husband and Daddy!

And Their Cousins...

Well after a very busy day Thursday I came home to a message from Tutu telling me that my cousin Bobby (always be Bobby to me) was in town so of course I had to track him down to say hi. I went to pick him up from his hotel and called cousin Brian to come over and say Hi. We had a good time catching up and just enjoying each others company. SO it brings me to a thought I have quite frequently especially when I get to be near family whether they are close or far away or we are brought together by something wonderful like a wedding or new baby or by something sad like a funeral or supporting someone who needs us. Anyway my "thought" or "daydream" is that my entire family (that means everybody!) Muglestons, Schafers, Stones (you know you are lumped into one of those categories) lived in the same neighborhood! I know I am crazy it would be like my own little cult but think about how much fun we would have and how much support we would have from each other. When my dear Anne lived here they were building a huge mansion near my house that we would drive by frequently and we would joke about how wonderful it would be to move both of our little families in together every time I drive by that place I always reminisce- thank you Anne! SO deep down in writing this and seeing the picture I hope you are all jealous because I wish everyone could have run to my house to see Bobby for even just a few minutes. I love my family so much and each and every one of you mean so much to me, lets try to be better at staying in touch so I can feel like you are just around the corner?!

Enchanted

This movie came out a while ago and I have wanted to take Dylan to see it, so finally on Tuesday Wendy and I took our kids to the dollar theater (because it was Tuesday it was only .50 bonus)! It was just as good if not better than I thought it was going to be. I LOL many times! When we left Dylan said he wanted to buy that movie! I absolutely loved it and the music was sooo cute! In a way it made me more excited about having a little girl, I want Kate to stay my tiny baby but on the other hand I am so excited to see you grow up and get into all the princess stuff! If you have not seen it yet I highly recommend it! I am pretty sure Amy Adams went to high school here in Colorado in the Douglas County school district. Pretty neat!

Photos from Utah

Their dog Duncan- we loved having a big dog around again! Kate especially!

Gymnastics class

All these kids put on a show for us-it was very cute! Dylan fits in with the girls just great!



Kate Elizabeth

Paige Alyse

Trip to Utah

Wow it has been a very busy but fun past week! We have access to buddy passes and they expire the end of February so we decided to try and go to Utah to visit our good friends Tracie and Paige. We left bright and early Saturday the 16th and made it right on and in first class! Kate did great (she is a lot more antsy than her big brother!) and of course Dylan did wonderful! The plan was to just take it easy maybe do a little shopping and just enjoy each other's company.

On Sat we just hung out at their house, let Kate take a nap and then we went out to dinner. We got to Cheesecake factory at 5:30 and there was a 3 1/2 hr wait! In Denver we would have maybe waited 30 min. especially since we were so early! We ended up at Macaroni Grill and it was delicious but still had to wait about 1 1/2 hr! Do you people from Utah have nothing better else to do? That night we got the kids in bed and Dylan and I called Marc to tell him good night. While Dylan was listening to his dad he started frantically wiping his eyes trying not to cry. I asked him what was wrong and he said he missed his dad! Dylan is a very sweet boy but has not really gotten emotional like this before! It was very sweet and I think it made Marc feel good!

Sunday I felt horrible so Tracie took care of me and all the kiddos so I could sleep more. That afternoon we did a photo shoot of Paige in her Easter outfit and Kate in her 1st birthday dress. Tracie has the best house for pictures! Huge windows with the dark wood paneling all the way around and really thick- I was in heaven! Paige did wonderful she loves having her picture taken! Quite a poser! At one point my battery went dead and I went to switch it and she said very seriously "are all the others saved?" She did not want to loose any! Kate did OK she wanted to find the dog so she liked looking out the window and playing with the drapes!

Monday we got a babysitter for a little bit and went to a fun clothing store for women called Whimsy. We also went to a couple gift shops over by Babinskis (if any of you know where that is). I always have to go to Babinskis it is a wonderful baby boutique store. The other stores were great too. I learned about a new book that every little girl has to own, they are called Fancy Nancy. There are three and they are just wonderful to read and the illustrations are beautiful. When we got home I went to Sam's club and they had two of them for $11.00 instead of $16. I think the Easter bunny might give them to Kate! That night Tracie's parents came over and had dinner with us. It was a wonderful evening with pot roast potatoes carrots and homemade huckleberry muffins!

Tuesday morning Paige had gymnastics and we went to watch and Dylan was able to join her class! He was very excited and had a ton of fun! After Kate's nap we ran a few errands to Barnes and Noble a new children's clothing store called Tiara in Sugarloaf it was very cute, two doors down from there is Pipers a quilt/knitting store I always like to check out. That night Paige went to spend the night at her dads house and Drew invited Dylan to come, I did not know how he would do only because of his crying with his dad a few nights earlier but he was excited to go and I think he had a fun time!

Wednesday Paige had school in the morning and than in the afternoon Tracie's mom came over and watched the kids and we went and got our hair done. I love how it turned out I was way over due! That night we made pizza and some of Tracie's wonderful friends and their kids came over for dinner and to play.

Thursday we just hung out packed and got ready to go to the airport. On the flight home Dylan said to me very quietly mom I want to go back to Utah and stay with Tracie and Paige again. I told him we would and then a couple minutes later he was fighting back the tears and said no mom I want to go real soon! I think he is feeling some different emotions and is having a hard time understanding them. It is very hard for me to see him sad and watching him get so big and grown up acting! I love you so much my little Dill!

OK so something is wrong with my pictures- it says windows photo gallery is not responding, I swear if something happens to my pictures I will scream!!!! Hopefully I can fix it and do another post of just pictures later!

Happy Valentines Day

Here is my Valentines day card. Some got mailed on Valentines day so you should get them soon!
For Dylan's Valentines we made lollipops and he wrote his friends names on the front of the card decorated them and we taped the lollis to the front. Turned out pretty cute!

Receipe for Lollipops:1/2 tsp cream of tarter, 2 cups sugar, 2/3 cup light corn syrup, 3/4 cups water, about 1 T oil flavors (I used LorAnn Gourmet one bottle per batch, each bottle has .125fl oz. I got mine at a cake supply store but then I saw them at Hobby lobby), color ( I used AmeriColor soft gel paste and again I got it at the cake store but I think I saw them at hobby lobby as well) In a saucepan, blend sugar, corn syrup, water and cream of tarter. Bring to a boil over high heat until mixture reaches 290. Remove pan from heat, let the bubbles simmer down and then add the flavor and color. You have to work fast to pour into your molds and if it gets too cold and thick you can warm in the microwave for a few seconds.
Now before you start you need a good candy thermometer, pam and the correct molds. To tell if it is the right mold it can not be see through. Michaels only had see through ones and those are for chocolate they can not handle the heat! I found mine again at hobby lobby and the cake store. It was very easy and yummy! We made 2 batches one with watermelon and one with fruit punch.

Dylan showing off his name. He was having a hard time sitting still so picture is blurry!

Hope you all had a wonderful Valentines Day! I made a cheese fondue, salad, and a spicy chicken artichoke fettucinie. Kate loved the pasta I never got to it I had to much salad and fondue! Marc has a lot of leftovers! We love you all so much! XOXOXO

Ellinor- my God daughter!

I did not have my blog when our dear friends Sara and Josh asked ME to be Ellinor's god mother! I was so honored and exicited! Ellinor was born July 7th 2007 and we do not get to see each other very often so I was so happy to watch her the other day while Sara was at work! ( Even though it was only for a couple hours and she slept most of the time and I all of a sudden did not feel so good that day) I had to take a couple pictures of her and Kate in their matching outfits!

I think she looks like a perfect doll!
It was very difficult to get them together Kate just wanted to crawl away!
Hopefully they can be BFF like Sara and I! We have been friends since middle school! Her and Susan are my only friends from childhood that I still keep in touch with! I am so grateful for such wonderful friends!

Mail

Ok so I have a lot of thoughts in my head and I can not decide where to start, so if I ramble I am so sorry! SO I was on this blog http://morganmoore.typepad.com/ and she asked if anyone wanted to be her little boy's valentine. I emailed her and we are going to swap Valentines for our kids! Then yesterday for Dylan's field trip he went to the post office and now he is even more exicited about mail than ever soooo does anyone want to be Dylan's and Kate's valentine? If you want to participate email me your address and all your kiddos names and we will send them their own personal Valentines! h.schafer@comcast.net Our goal should be to get them in the mail by Monday or Tuesday and maybe the moms will get their own Valentine from me! Who dosen't like to get mail?! Lots of love!