The moment I've been waiting for.....

They PLAY together! It took 3 1/2 years, and we finally got here.  I thought this day would never come.  But now, after we take Halle to school, they run upstairs and start an elaborate game of pretend.  Today they built bunk beds for their baby stuffed animals. I love to stand outside their door and listen to them talk and play with each other.  It makes my heart happy.

TapInfluence

I stole this post from Rusty's blog rustinbanks.com :)  Watch the Harlem Shake video at the end.  You won't regret it.  Yep...that's my husband wearing a horse head.

 

 Last night felt like Christmas eve when I was ten years old, not much sleep and so much excitement. Today is the day that our company announces the launch of TapInfluence, cloud-based software to automate influencer marketing. To mark the launch, we have changed the company name from BlogFrog to TapInfluence. I'll miss BlogFrog, but TapInfluence is too exciting to be sad. Holly made this amazing video which captures the last four years extremely well.
When I watch this video I feel so lucky that I have been able to experience everything up to this point. The experience has been so growing, so exciting, so gratifying that I can't even describe how happy I am that we took the plunge and started this company. For those of you who are pondering Entrepreneurship, it truly is amazing. The top three ingredients in a successful startup are 1. Team 2. Team and 3. Team. It's true. The team that I get to go to work with every day is incredible. I learn so much each and every day. We also have a lot of fun. After our TapInfluence launch party we did our own version of the "Harlem Shake" (the most popular internet meme EVER). Yes, that is me dancing in the horse hat. If you want lessons you can call me ;) Finally, thanks to everyone who has been so supportive! Friends, family, community - thank you thank you. Here's to the next chapter!

Painting the office

With the rebranding of BlogFrog, Rusty (or probably his more aesthetically inclined co-workers) decided it was time to get rid of the million holes and chipped paint that riddled the office.  We spent Saturday giving TapInfluence a face lift.  The kids had fun helping, and we only had one major paint spill.  (Too bad it was orange)

Snow paint

We had a little snow storm this weekend, and the weather Sunday morning was just perfect for playing.  After the whole ordeal of finding boots, hats, gloves, etc we were ready to hit the snow!  Blake really enjoys eating the snow.  He’ll park himself in one spot and chow down.  The other two tried their hand at a snow fort, but this snow didn’t seem to want to stick together very well.  We climbed the fence and traipsed all around the winter wonderland golf course.  I’d seen a fun idea on Pinterest (yes, I get all my ideas from Pinterest) to make snow paint out of water and food coloring.  Everyone had a great time making beautiful works of art in the snow.  Next time we thought it would be fun to use kool aid and make our very own snow cones.  I just love spending these little moments together as a family.  It makes life feel complete!

  Speaking of snow, Rusty presented at Venture Capital in the Rockies again this year.  Thanks to my dear friend Jamie I got to go spend a night with him up at Beaver Creek.  I wasn’t able to see him present, but multiple people told me he was the Belle of the Ball. (not surprised)  He was the first presenter after the Governor opened the conference.  The Gov had made some comparison saying this conference was like the fashion show of the start-up world, and so when Rusty got up to present he strutted and did his little turn on the catwalk :)
We skied the next day.  Beaver Creek is just beautiful.  Long, wide open runs and tons of terrain.  Sometimes it felt like we were the only ones on the mountain.  It was an incredible, warm spring day and we enjoyed every second of it!

New additions to the family

When I came home from my weekend in Denver, I was informed that we now had 2 more family members.  Meet our pets, the Hermit crabs. 

I tried to take a picture of them out of their shells, but in true hermit fashion, whenever I come near them they dart into their shells. One of the things Rusty and the kids like to do together is go to the pet store.  Me?  I do not like that stinky place.  While I was away for the weekend they visited the pet store.  I don’t know all the details, but it ended with us being the proud owners of hermit crabs.  And I have to admit.  If there is a pet in the world I am willing to take care if, it’s probably hermit crabs.  Halle is beside herself with joy, as the crabs get to live in her room.  All we talk about these days is these two little creatures.  How long they slept, how much of their water they drank, how Hermie always bangs against the side of his cage at night.  I never knew their could be so much to talk about with animals that hardly ever poke their eyes out of their shells.  I am so glad she is so happy.  Now maybe she’ll stop asking for a cat :)

The Birds come for a visit

I love living in Colorado.  I love our home, I love our neighborhood, I love the sunshine, I love all the opportunities for Rusty’s work, and the healthy, active lifestyle that prevails here.  But a little part of my heart breaks when family comes to visit.  My kids are BEYOND excited.  Over the moon, through the roof excited.  Then I hate living in CO far from our family. It does make these little weekend trips very special though.

Nat, Michael (my kids call him Chicken-oda-soda. No one knows why) Jack and Leo made the 8 hour car ride to come visit us.  They are the first overnight guests we’ve had in the new house.  FUN!  The kids are so happy to get to spend time with their cousins.  Rusty immediately took charge of cute Leo, and Halle tucked Jack under her mothering wing.  I love visitors because I am able to check some things of my “to do with the kids” list that seem to get overlooked in the business of everyday life. 

Saturday we took off toward Morrison to see Dinosaur Ridge.  What a fun little treasure right in our own backyard.  It is so interesting to learn about the ancient history of CO.  We opted to take the guided bus tour, and we’re glad we did!  I would have had no idea what we were looking at without our paleontologist-grad student-tour guide, TJ.  The kids had a great time looking at the bones, and Blake even asked a few questions.  Their favorite part was looking at all the dinosaur footprints on the side of the mountain.  It was really neat!  Here they are sitting in a hole where someone carved out one of the footprints.  About 60 years after it was stolen out of the mountain it was retuned.  Turns out it was being used as a door stop at one of the CU frat houses for decades.  Funny.  We also went over to Red Rocks and climbed the amphitheater.  It was kinda cold and windy, and poor little Josh only had his shorts on from his basketball game earlier that morning.

Later that evening the adults headed down to Denver for dinner.  We ate a Zengo, a Latin-Asian restaurant.  Most of our food was really good!  The waiter told us that everything was served “family-style” so we opted to share a few appetizers and a main course.  Ummmm…..unless tiny bite sized portions are the new family-style these dishes were not meant to be shared.  Good thing the few bites we had tasted pretty darn good :) We then headed over to the Hyatt for a gorgeous view of the city from the 27th story lounge, and some delicious fondue for dessert.  

Sunday was a day for resting, playing at the park in the sunshine, church, and my favorite, BRUNCH.  I adore breakfast food.  The best part of 1pm church is time to make and enjoy a giant, yummy breakfast.

Monday we headed back to Denver to take a tour of Hammonds Candy.  I think this is fun and interesting!  I love watching them pull and shape the candy.  The kids thought it was great to see candy canes being made, and even more great to pick a few of their own to take home.  After the tour we headed to the Children’s Museum.  It was President’s day, and apparently every other family in Denver had the same idea we did.  The place was packed.  Luckily the kids are getting older and can handle a crowd with grace.  There were no screaming meltdowns from any little people in our care.  Favorite parts included the Fire Engine, building planes and butterflies in the recycle center, and of course BUBBLES.  Josh had a great time in the Kinetics exhibit which is described as a “life-sized marble run.”  Basically it’s the little plastic balls like in a ball pit, and you get to send them through all sorts of mazes and adventures.  At the end, when enough balls have gathered in the hanging basket, it dumps the balls onto the kids below.  We must have done this 100 times. 

We are so glad our cousins came to visit and hope more family follows their lead!  

LOVE my kids

Rusty was in NYC for Valentines Day, so I had 3 cute little Valentine’s instead of 1.  I love how excited my kids get for holidays, and I love coming up with fun, special ways to celebrate.  We did special pancakes for breakfast, and they each had a little surprise waiting at their plate.

 

The rest of the day was filled with school parties and lots and lots of SUGAR!

(Thank you Pinterest for the cute Valentine’s ideas!)

Both the Grandma’s sent them fun packages in the mail.  Books from Grandma Cornell, and Halle got the most adorable cupcake necklace from Grandma Banks.

For dinner we did “Cupids Crazy Cafe.” (Thank you Dating Divas!) It was a mixed up dinner where they had to guess what to eat from a list of valentines words.  So, for an appetizer they might choose lovin’ and squeezin’ which translated to a straw and a cookie.  Their main meal might be kissin’ and huggin’, which was a lemonade and a napkin.  And for dessert perhaps a little snugglin’, or in other words, pizza.  Josh and Halle thought this was the most fun thing we’d ever done.  It drove Blake crazy.  He did NOT think it was amusing that Halle got a cookie, and he got a napkin. 

I love my kids so much and I am so glad I get to stay home and be their mom.  I love being with them, teaching them, and learning from them.  Perfect Valentine’s day. 

Spring!

Spring is coming!  As evidenced by these adorable baby lambs we got to go visit the other day.  My friend Kara is friends with the nicest farmer, and he let all our kids come hold his newborn lambs.  Halle soaked up every minute of it.  I’m pretty sure she was devising a way to sneak one of those little lambs home with us. 

 

I hate Nemo

Storm Nemo that is.  I was set to hit NYC with a few of my best girlfriends when Nemo decided to hit the east coast.  Of all the rotten luck.  All flights where cancelled and we were stuck in CO.  We all had arranged care for our kids, so we decided to head to Denver for the weekend.  But, we were so disappointed that Amy couldn’t join us from Iowa. 

The weekend was blissful—massages, great food, Les Mis, more great food, shopping.  Did I mention great food? ;)  All the good food got to Kari and she ended up with some tummy trouble that sent her home on Sunday morning.  Amber and I had brunch at our hotel, and it was the most amazing brunch I’ve ever had.  Crab legs, sushi, prime rib, veggies galore, omelets, Belgian waffles with strawberries, breakfast potatoes, fruit.  You name it, they had it.  Plus an entire table filled with delectable desserts.  We practically had to be rolled out of the hotel.  We spent the rest of the day burning calories walking all over the enormous outlet mall in Castle Rock.  It wasn’t New York, but it was a pretty fun weekend all the same. 

Basketball

Watch out NBA!  Josh is learning to play basketball.  It has been a fun experience for Rusty to take him to and help him at practice each week.  The games are adorable to watch, and we all eagerly await the day when Josh is actually tall enough to make a basket :)