Coen Quip

I supposed I should keep track of at least a few of the funny things that Coen says for the future. I have a terrible memory.

Today Coen was looking for his Angry Bird (“angeee buwds”) bandages. We both knew where the box was last night (in an orange bag). This morning I asked him to look downstairs and he, quite exasperated, told me “Mom, I look EVERYWHERE!”.

I couldn’t help but laugh (a lot), then I helped them find the Angry Bird-aids, which were above his eyesight level on a counter.

Today he also used the Xbox controller to go to the next episode of Diego. That child…

Gigi’s Visit

 

Coen’s great grandma Ide came to visit the day that Tia left! It was a fun time and she made me (Veronica) rest since I was getting a cold. What a good grammy I have.

Coen loved playing with Gigi and wanted to help her with everything. We hit up some good Kohls sales and just took it easy.

“This is the way we brush our teeth, brush our teeth, brush our teeth…” (You can see Coen’s mouth open wide from singing.)

Making sugar cookies! We found out that my Better Homes & Garden recipe is extra delicious. Love you, Grandma/Gigi!

Tia Comes! & Longmont Parade

Tia Jessica (my sis) came to visit! The first day she and I toured the New Belgium brewery and then that night we had a faculty Christmas dinner.

The next evening we went to the Longmont parade. We met up with Titus (Coen’s BFF) and his family. It was a great time, although our toes were quite frozen by the time the parade started. It was also the longest parade ever, of which we will be a part (as Our Savior’s Lutheran School) next year.

Playing with Tia is the best!

Our whole gang saving our place on the sidewalk. Even though it was partially taken from us by a gang of elderly ladies with walkers….so cruel.

Coen and Titus finally got a semi-decent photo at the parade. And Justin was in between their ferocious car-playing at Applebee’s. He survived.

Lyons Christmas Parade & Fireworks

Coen decided to go out in the snow without a jacket. The second photo is seconds before he slipped and whitewashed in the snow. Then he blamed it on me….right.

Coen’s (early) big Christmas present is this carseat. It goes from 5-pt harness to a back booster to a backless booster. He’ll probably need it until he’s 18 the way the carseat laws are going. Hopefully he doesn’t weigh more than 100 pounds at that point… just kidding. He better weight more than 100 at 18 years old. Especially since his height estimation is 6 feet tall.

 

We went to the Lyons Christmas Parade and fireworks with some friends and their two girls, Emma and Sadie. We met for a delicious dinner at Oskar Blues and watched the parade from the patio out back with some delicious microbrews from the restaurant/microbrewery. I’ve decided that Christmastime fireworks are the BEST!!! They start early (7:30 PM), and we are home afterwards in time for Coen’s normal bedtime.

These were Coen’s first fireworks and he loved them. He couldn’t choose between watching the lights on the ground that were set to Manheim Steamroller Christmas music, or the fireworks in the air. There was free hot cocoa (which Coen found amusing since we call him “Coco”) and we had a great time getting to know friends better. Merry Christmas!

Happy 28th Birthday, Justin!

For Justin’s birthday he got a recliner. I led him into the family room with his eyes shut (in front of the set-up recliner) then I told him to open his eyes. I handed him a birthday card and Coen yelled “Happy Birthday!” He first checked for a new Xbox 360*, but then found that it was his same, old one. Then I told him he should sit down (and, according to his story, forcibly shoved him backwards…) and he realized he had a new recliner! Thanks to Justin’s mom and my mom for chipping in as well!

 

*Justin and I will be getting a new Xbox360 for Christmas. Maggi and I stood in line at Best Buy on Thanksgiving/Black Friday morning for the midnight opening and got an AMAZING deal. Go us! It was a great, somewhat chilly, time!

Here was the line once people filtered out after receiving their big ticket item tickets:

Work Conference & Vilski Visit!

Gabriel and I attended the 2011 Denver ACTFL conference this year. Last year we met in Boston, MA for the conference. This year it was close to home! Our boss was so kind (*cheap*…ahem) to put us in a trashy Ramada hotel known for its high school parties and drug-doing. Hurrah.

We met another coworker, Robyn, so that makes 2 people that I have physically seen from my company! The conference went well, and Denver is a lovely city to explore. Small, but lovely.

 

Gabriel came to visit for a few days after the conference. Maggi (Justin’s mom) watched Coen while Justin had school on Thursday and Friday so they got in some great bonding time! She said that overall Coen was good, and he didn’t seem to miss me too much when I got home. He was more excited about meeting Gabriel (or, as Coen said, Gabyrel) and playing with him. We got to enjoy the school kids’ Thanksgiving meal and we played Ticket to Ride.

We took a little trip up to the mountains to find that most roads are closed for the winter. It was verrry windy, but pretty! Coen got a wolf hat from Grandma and Grandpa Vilski. He threw a huge fit in the store, but took a nap shortly thereafter. : ) So we can blame it on sleepiness, right?

Happy Halloween!

For the Longmont Halloween parade, we all dressed as the monkeys from the rhyme “No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed.” I wish I had a better photo of us all, but my friend Natasha has one and I need to get it from her.

Justin was the doctor and carried a speech bubble that said “NO MORE MONKEYS JUMPING ON THE BED!” I was the momma monkey, and Coen (obviously) was the one the jumped on the bed.

Coen was the cutest little monkey ever.

For “real” trick-or-treating, we went around in our neighborhood with our good friends and their son, Titus. Titus was Batboy and Coen decided to skip the monkey costume and be Bob the Builder. The candy was a smashing hit for the boys and it was fun to meet more neighbors and get to know our friends better.

Coen’s first house! He yelled “Happy Halloween!” instead of “trick or treat” at first, but he got the hang of it once the candy started rolling in.

Day-to-day October

Coen helped out with the Goomba Grape Crush at a church member’s party. He thought it was fun for all of 3 minutes and then he just wanted to eat the food and follow the big kids around.

Gangie (Grandma Ide) got Coen his big boy bed from Ikea! He was very excited.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our first snow came in October, while leaves were still on the trees. This created much excitement for Coen, many broken branches for Longmont, and a day off of school due to lowing electricity for us! We “swam” (sat in the hot tub) and showered at the Rec Center, had lunch at Perkins, and then got Buster to hang out at the Noltes' house for Coen’s nap and the rest of the day. Our power came back on around 4:00 PM and we went home for dinner.

The picnic table the night the snow started and in the morning.

 

Buster loves to run and play in the snow! He especially likes to run super fast and skid while taking bites of the snow. Must be an Oklahoma thing. (His previous state.)