Cole's First Sleepover...

Cole had been asking to have a sleepover with a friend for weeks. I was all for it but I wanted to be sure that we choose a friend where both would be okay being with one another for 16 hours or so. At almost 6 years old, many times the kids want to do different activities and are willing to compromise for an hour or so but after that things can get dicey. Cole can be overly sensitive too when friends don't follow his "rules" or respect his toys so I wanted it to be a positive experience if I could.

Max is his long time friend and fellow kindergartner. Both Cole and Max are bright, inquisitive and relatively gentle with one another. We finally got a date on the calendar and Max came ready with his sleeping bag and hungry for pizza. They played well together and were excited to be sleeping downstairs in the basement "fort" on the air mattress. Dave hooked them up with headlamps and a movie and we let them unwind for awhile. They were laughing it up every time we ventured to check on them. Finally we had to say lights out and they drifted off. Cole off course woke up before dawn and wanted to know when Max would wake up. :-) We made chocolate chip pancakes and bacon, Max had two helpings. They were sad when it was time for Max to go home and we promised to do it again soon!

5 years and counting...

It is hard to believe that I have been regularly posting to this blog for five years! When Cole was 10 months old, I knew I wanted to find a way to capture in words more moments than I could ever find room to cram into a scrapbook or scribble in a journal. Beginning this blog allowed me to meld both the visual (photographs) with the commentary. To look back and read my earlier work is like taking a ride back in time. The things I wrote about back then seem so distant and yet so familiar. It is amazing how your mind remembers tidbits but not details so I am so grateful to know that I can peruse those adventures, emotions and awe of years ago, and not let them get tucked away to deeply in the recesses of my memory.

232 posts about motherhood, Cole's antics, growth and interests and our journey in navigating life's maze together...I look forward to the years ahead and all they hold (and the next 232 posts that tell about them).

Our Football Fanatic...

I posted back in late August about Cole's new and rapidly growing interest in football, specifically our Minnesota NFL team, the Vikings. Well, nearly seven weeks later, I am here to report that we have a full-fledged fan on our hands. I am not at all joking when I say that Cole is living and breathing football. He wants to play football in the afternoons after school and wear his Vikings helmet and jersey around the house at all times (even while brushing his teeth, see pic above). He stops mid-sentence when football highlights come on the TV. He inquires as soon as a game is over when the next game is, who are they playing, is it an away or home game and so on and so on.

He is beginning to know the players and their numbers. He is understanding more than just the basics of how the game is played. He provides a play-by-play analysis of his own which is quite spot-on. He already dislikes the Green Bay Packers, though I have no idea, seriously, why, because Dave and I are not fans or foes really of any team.

It is just beyond entertaining to see Cole embrace this sport without much previous exposure. Luckily for him, the season is long and hopefully our local team will do well this year. Stay tuned.

The Denhams...

We hadn't had any "formal" pictures taken of our family since our photo shoot during our vacation in the Outer Banks with my extended family back in September 2010. Two years later, it was time to update my frames and thus I needed someone to come and capture Dave, Cole, Tucker and I.

Cole's Montessori school had hired the talented photographer Lisa Buth the past several years to photograph the kids so we have been blessed with amazing pictures of Cole each fall. This year with Cole attending public schools, we would not have that opportunity so I coordinated with Lisa to come and photograph our family instead!

We chose Loring Park in Minneapolis as our backdrop with its gardens, towering oak and walnut trees, ponds, and cool architectural details (bridges, buildings, benches). It was a brilliant autumn afternoon, a bit breezy but with blue skies.

It was a casual hour or two of walking around and snapping photos as Lisa saw the perfect "setting" or lighting. Cole could run around and Tucker would be happy just being with us outside.

As we anticipated, Lisa's photographs came out and wowed us. Here are a few of the standouts!