The last few months in photographs...

School has taken a priority for me so unfortunately my time is very rare with the kids these days. However, we had a GREAT summer together. Here is a look at the last few months I spent with the kids. Starting from the kids exploring the excavator, a dream come true for Nicholas (taken last week) and catching up to the kids playing in the sprinklers (taken a fews months back) and EVERYTHING in between! Not a bad summer if you ask me!

Time to get hosed!

So Boulder has been gorgeous for the past few days and the kids and I have taken full advantage of it. We did a few visits to various parks earlier in the week, but unfortunately I wasn't able to take any pictures cause Grace became ungraceful and wound up with a fat lip. Ooops! Oh well we had to cut our visit to the park short but made it feel "all better" with some smoothies. Today the kids had camp in the morning, at an awesome little farm out in Longmont, then a quick visit from their cousins in the afternoon, and then played in the sprinklers. All in all I'd say a great day.

- Camden the curious -

- Nicholas the notorious -

- Grace the goof -

- Munchkin Mania -

Thats all for now....

WOW! What a week!

Due to the gloomy weather, the kids and I fighting off colds, and us being too busy to take photos and document our adventures, we have been out of Blog commission for a few weeks. This week the kids and I spent 3 days and almost 40 hrs together doing all sorts of fun things. About half was caught on film but the rest was just as fun. Monday dreary indoor day, Thursday bike gym, school and errands day, Friday breakfast, park, errands and toy store day, and Saturday WOW Museum day.

On Thursday the kids had Bike Gym and Grace decided that she wanted to try a strider bike for the second time. She was much more successful this round and was able to walk around and steer the bike to an extent. Not bad for a 20 lb. 2 year old :)

Friday the kids and I went out to breakfast at The Buff with Steve and my mom. I'd never been there with the kids before so I wasn't sure how kid friendly it was going to be. I was pleasantly surprised that it was very kid accommodating and we enjoyed ourselves immensely. Nick, who turned 4 on Tuesday of last week, brought a jack to play with and created a very self entertaining game of spinning the jack on the table. I am still so surprised by how independent, and thought through so many of Nick's ideas are. Camden was exhausted that morning and had a hard time being her cheery self. As was Grace, who still managed to get oohs and awes from

the surrounding public, for being so well behaved in a restaurant. The delicious breakfast ended with a sunglasses fashion show and a quick visit to the park before school.

Saturday was spent at the WOW Museum in Lafayette where the kids enjoyed things such as wind vortexes, ball mazes, pipe building, chair pulleys, trains, and magic mirrors. We had a blast!

Grace's new phrase: "Nana look it!" If I don't respond right away it gets louder and changes to "NA-NA look at me!" (Apparently I've said this phrase to her a lot :) )

That's all for now... until next week...

Stunner Shades...

Tonight the kids and I went on a nice long bike ride to downtown Boulder/Pearl Street. Nicholas can now stand up while he's riding, huge deal, he was stoked. Also Grace wore a sweet looking pair of glasses for about 5 minutes before she lost interest. I believe the munchkins and I are both equally excited that the weathers getting nice. Keep it coming Mr. Sun.

3 R's

I spent all day Thursday and Friday with the kids and let me tell you the combination of rainy weather and three energetic children is a bad mix. Thursday was a tired day. The kids exerted almost all their energy at The Bike Gym (aka Boulder Indoor Cycling) and school. When the late afternoon rolled around they were exhausted. Friday was more of the same, however due to the crumby weather we did indoor activities.

About 6 months ago Cam and Nick started taking weekly bike classes at BIC. Their skills quickly progressed from "okay" bike riders to really confident riders. Nicholas, who isn't even 4 yet, can ride the easiest structures on their mountain bike courses and Camden is progressing to a harder course each week. This week she conquered a course that required her to ride across a 15 ft or longer log. Cam tried this over a handful of times and only failed once or twice.

While Camden and Nicholas were at school Grace and I ran some errands. However, she was just as tired as the rest of the kids so she didn't last that long :)

One thing that the munchkins and I do is make deals. Such as on Thursday I made a deal with them that if they were good for me all day we would borrow my friends video game system, buy a kid appropriate video game and play it on Friday. They were exceptional so we went out and bought a Mario game and Nicholas and Camden had their first real Nintendo experience. It is truly surprising how quickly the new generations of children catch on to modern technology. I think in the course of the time each kid was playing they only asked 2-3 questions about what to do. They played the game very well too. Grace and I weren't as into it so we had a tea party instead.

Other random events that happened over the course of the two days: The older two decided it was necessary to listen to Jack Johnson's 3 Rs song on repeat every time we rode in the car (I officially have that song permanently stuck in my head), Camden requested that I take a photo of here gap smile, Grace started to learn to skateboard, Nicholas was so tired that he requested a nap, and Grace gave her stuffed animal "Ralfy" a time out on the time out stairs.

Now for a kid free three days...

Also Grace's new phrase: she says "I'll get it!" when my phone rings.

27 hours in a flash

I had my kids for the last 27 hours straight. Minus the time they were at school and when they were asleep. Now I would say that it felt no longer than 6 hours if it wasn't for the exhaustion I am currently feeling. The saying time flies when you are having fun is very overused but, nonetheless it is very true. In the course of our time together we went on a bike ride, visited the toy store, went out to dinner, had a run in with the tickle monster, got visited by the tooth fairy, woke up to a human projectile water fountain, ate chocolate chip banana pancakes, took a bath, watched a movie, practiced our balancing on a new toy, and made patterns with blocks.

"LOOK, LOOK! (hand goes in mouth and proceeds to wiggle a new loose tooth) can you please pull it out?" Camden asks me as I walk in to their house half asleep. Yesterday morning Camden lost her second tooth, less than a week after she lost her first. She was probably half as excited as she was the first time. Her response to the whole event was, "I am going to loose 1 tooth a week now!" Oh the mind of a 5 year old. The kids had plenty of energy so we decided to go on a nice long bike ride through the neighborhood. I have a big Golden Retriever/Great Pyrenees dog, Balou, who Grace loves and insisted we take on our walk with us. She walked him, or shall I say he walked her, while Nick and Cam rode in front of us.

Next we went to the toy store with one of my good friends Steve, who adores and is adored by the kids. It would be wrong to say that I went for them but there's a pretty good chance the adults enjoyed the store as much if not more than the kids. Two hours or so later we left due to the grumble in our stomachs telling us we were starving. Following a delicious dinner at Proto's we had a fun run in with the Tickle Monster (aka Steve).

Today began at 7am, a lot earlier than I would have liked, but Nick was ready to go. Camden woke up about the same time, turned into the human water fountain about 5 minutes later, and then went back to sleep. Apparently she drank her water TOO fast. Lesson learned... hopefully. While half the household slept, Nick and I enjoyed the scrumptious breakfast I made of chocolate chip banana pancakes. Grace finally woke up and in a fantastic mood. She focused for 30+ minutes constructing a creation with tinker toys. Two weeks ago she couldn't do this, apparently she wanted to prove to everyone that she is 2 now and growing up!

Just like that 27 hours had passed, Camden was at school again, Grace was asleep back home with Nick and mom and I was suddenly childless. All of a sudden I was supposed to go from being pulled 10 different directions and responsible for 3 children to being a carefree college student. Yeah right! It's hard for me to realize sometimes but it's becoming easier to go into "mom" mode then leave that mode and enter "carefree" mode. I love them.

Oh and Grace's new phrase: No way. She uses it in the context of me saying "Let's go!" and her replying "No way!"

Brief intro to my world.

So here's the deal: I am a nanny for 3 beautiful, loving, sweet, smart and funny children. I have know them and helped raise them for over 8 months now and feel it is time to start documenting and sharing some of the milestones/comedic things that the kids say or do on a daily basis.

A brief intro about the munchkins.

The oldest is Camden, she will be 6 in June, and she's a smarty pants. She cracks me up with how much she is ALWAYS taking in everything that is going on around her. Cam is brilliant, she tries and excels at almost everything she does. She started bike riding less than a year ago and already she is a HIGH level mountain bike rider. She'll only be in first grade next year but that doesn't stop her from eagerly jumping out of the car each day to go greet her "6 grader friends"! Camden lost her first tooth last Thursday and boy did she make sure everyone she ran into knew about it. Camden summed up in one

sentence: She is stunning, brilliant, eager, enthusiastic, loving and kind.

Next comes Nicholas. He will be 4 in May and he can hardly wait. Nick is very small and tough, but boy is he sensitive. He is always thinking about something or doing it. However, he may seem like he's not listening but he is ALWAYS absorbing everything. Not only does he listen but he'll remind you a few weeks later by bringing it up in random conversation and surprising the heck out of you. He is extremely independent and can entertain himself with almost anything. When he does something he puts his whole heart and soul into it. Nicko learned how to ride a 2 wheel bicycle when he was only 3 1/2 just a month after his 5 year old sister Camden learned. Nicholas summed up in one sentence: He is smart, mighty, sensitive, sweet, athletic and spirited.

Then there is Grace. Her full names Gracie but you can ask anyone in the family and they'll all tell you that I never call her that. To me she is Grace or Goose. She is the youngest and most stubborn of the three. Grace just turned 2 last Wednesday, I'm not really sure if she quite understood what was going on, but I think she enjoyed the extra attention non the less. The older 2 go to school almost every time I take care of them so naturally I have spent the most time and become the closest to Grace. She is extremely intelligent, just like her sibling, and with a little push and some encouragement she excels. Grace has amazing speech and understanding for her age. In the last 6 months she gone from saying a few words to forming sentences. Not only does she talk A LOT, but she also understands an incredible amount of what people tell her. Grace is a crack up. Little things make her laugh and it is impossible to not smile from her adorable grin. She is also very hard headed! If you want her to do something and it's not on her time frame she'll fight you to the end about it. However, Grace is a love. She loves to be held, give snuggles and kisses and have little sweet one on one conversations. Grace summed up in one sentence: She is loving, stubborn, happy, sweet, smart, considerate and enthusiastic.

Anyways those are my kids. I'll post when I have them next because they will without a doubt do something that makes me laugh and is worth sharing :)