New End of Summer 2010 Pics Courtesy of my Talented Sister Erin

Gates, Scarlett (4), Jessica and Clark (6.5) on
Labor Day weekend 2010

Hi - this may be a record - two posts on our homepage in two days, but just after I finished catching up our friends and family on our goings on in the Roe family, I got some pics from my sister Erin Zahradka who is a professional photographer and who "traded" a little babysitting time last weekend while she had a VIP session at Washington Park in Denver, for a few snapshots of our family.  Here you go, up to date.  Clark is 6.5, Scarlett is 4, and yes, the ones at the bottom were meant to be cute but the little weaklings couldn't hold up the frame so she captured their "whoops" and then "oh well let's laugh about it" which was fun to see.  Enjoy.  You can reach Erin to book a session at http://www.z-pics.com/ or erin@z-pics.com or 303-808-1681.  End of summer colors are great right now but we're also on the brink of some beautiful fall pics for your holiday cards.  Thanks for browsing, and be sure to check below for the detailed update I just posted one day prior to this post of what we are up to now that we're in the Fall of 2010!

Whoa... How Time Flies!

Jessica Roe

It's been an incredibly long time since we updated our homepage and we apologize for spending more time posting pics on Facebook than tending to our own domain. Most of you who know us understand the reasons why the last few months have been hectic, and we certainly appreciate everyone who has pitched in to help us pull through following Jessica's emergency surgery on vacation in California which put her on a month of disability from work, only to be followed by a serious MRSA infection for which it took another many weeks and trips to the infectious disease control clinic to get that under control. Either alone could have been fatal, but we had such great doctors along the way that we look at the whole year - two unexpected and related emergency surgeries and one serious bout with MRSA - as something we feel lucky to have walked away from having survived, just slightly (okay, very, very, very...) in debt to a number of medical institutions and doctors who saved her life.

Clark ready to head off to the bus

Clark is back at school in a 1/2 hybrid class with his same teacher from last year, Mrs. Smith. He started kindergarten last year in a K/1 hybrid class, and as they rotate curriculum each year, they happened to be on 1st grade curriculum when he entered, so he was classified as a kindergartner but doing 1st grade work. Then, while he was supposed to be in the second year of K/1 this year, due to budget cuts, the class was eliminated and he moved on to 1/2 where this year they are studying 2nd grade curriculum. He seems to be keeping up just fine, and he has quite a few fellow boys and girls in his class from last year who are also in the same boat and doing just great. He excels at math, in fact he could beat his mom to any addition, subtraction or multiplication quiz at the dinner table, so now he is focusing on reading which he enjoys quite a bit. He was reading a Dr. Seuss book the other night for his evening reading log time and he brought it to his mom and said, "Mom, do you think Dr. Seuss knows Pluto is not a planet anymore? I mean it says so in this book, but it must be old or something..."

"Goodbye and Good Luck" hug as Scarlett got
out of the car and went into daycare on
Clark's first day of school this year.

Very cute! As his mom is taking some time off from work right now, he is really enjoying the luxury of riding the bus to and from school each day. He went from being the shy kid to one with true confidence and a real chatterbox. Speaking of chattering, he was a "late bloomer" in losing teeth, so just in the past few months (he's 6.5 yrs old) he's lost his first two teeth, and boy, that second one was quite dramatic. Yes, after the big-eyes-and-floss-trick, we got it out, and the tooth fairy indeed remembered to show up. Clark is playing fall soccer for the team Gates coaches, the Pirates (link HERE), it's a four-on-four with no goalie type team for Littleton Soccer, and he seems to be doing a lot of skipping up and down the field versus running, but when he puts that boot-kick-leg to use, he's got his father's skills hidden in those strong legs. We're going to work on focus and being a star defensive player just like Gates was, but for now, we're just happy he's having such a good time and seeing kids each week from different schools in a different environment.

Scarlett strikes a pose before
her first day of Pre-K this fall

We probably overuse the term "Scarlett is quite the GEM"... and the oxymoron is true, our little four year old is growing up so fast and her true loves are her 21 baby dolls (yes, she really has that many), breaking out in dance at a restaurant when she doesn't realize anyone is looking and a song comes on the speakers overhead, and her time each week doing ballet and tap dance. Mom is looking forward to getting to see her do this as it had been Grandma Mamie who was taking her for quite some time! Scarlett started her last year of preschool the Tuesday after Labor Day, and while she's at the same in-home-daycare as she's been since the day she was born, we tried to make her feel special and captured some great images of her on her first day back to her studies. We keep telling her this is her "Pre-K" year, and that next year she gets to ride the bus with Clark. She is so excited!

Scarlett and Jess on Scarlett's actual
4th birthday (6-16-10)

This past summer, we made it to the pool nearly every weekend that we could as Clark made huge strides in his swimming skills and he is now focusing on learning to dive. He's no longer scared of diving boards or water slides, in fact we've checked out all of the local suburban community pools for the biggest and longest slides and it's been good for us all to take time to enjoy the summer sun while it lasted and our relaxing time together.

Clark came home from one of his days at school recently with a sticker that said, "Mom and Dad, I want to be a Cub Scout, take me to a meeting tonight at 7 p.m." Seemed a little like an army recruitment scheme... but he was so darn excited, and while we already have too much on our plates, how could we say no to that? His grandpa Cliff Clark ("Papa") promises (as a lifelong scout himself) to help us get Clark to the meetings and sort of be his sponsor as a Tiger Cub. Thanks, Papa! We hope to share pictures of that soon.

Clark successfully
yanked out tooth #2

Thanks for checking in with us and we hope you and your family are doing well. We're really going to try harder to update our blog much more frequently. Promise!

~ The Roes

Happy Holidays!

This year, both Clark and Scarlett totally understand the concept of Christmas.  Make a list, and stuff will appear under the tree.  Oh, and Clark has concluded one more thing:  The only two things that are invisible are leprichans and God.  He's also pretty sure that if we leave cookies on Christmas eve, we'll likely be able to catch a glance at Santa.  We'll see about that.

Clark and Scarlett have said some pretty cute things in recent months, things that have sort of dawned on Clark now that he's in elementary school.  Right after Halloween, Clark (who is a math whiz and asires to be a bookworm) said, "Mom, did you know there are two kinds of NERDS?  The kind you get trick-or-treating, and the other kind, like me, a nerd."  We reassured him quickly that we love nerds, both the candy and smart kids.

Now that soccer has concluded and it's bone chilling freezing in Colorado, Clark is escaping early from school each Friday to attend basketball practice so that his team is fully prepared for their season debut come January.


We took a trip to see Granny "Tinker" Katharine Roe, Gates 95-year old grandmother over Thanksgiving and it was a long 15-hour drive each way from Denver to St. Paul, but it was well worth every moment in the car.  We got to spend tons of time with our beautiful and entertaining children and we savored every minute with Granny.  To top it off, we were fortunate enough to stay on Belfield Farm with Gates' aunt Kathy Roe Cross and her husband Tonny Cross, in from their place in Montana, and we just adore them. 

Just to give you a taste of how incredible Belfield Farm is, please click below and watch our fun little video.  It's an  8-minute summary of our time over Thanksgiving touring the farm.  This is where Gates' father and siblings grew up, and where his late uncle Johnny and aunt Sandra raised their now adult children (with their own children), Kip, David and Susan.  At the end of the video you get a glimpse of how our kids got to see their second cousins Haley, Liza & Ella on video doing the Nutcracker in a Nutshell in Bozeman, MT, and how they suddenly have an interest in ballet.  This could get interesting.

We look forward to the holidays and a new year.  Our thanks to you for visiting our web site and for sharing in our positive outlook for 2010!

~ The Roes

Soccer and Sushi

With K/1 elementary school for Clark and preschool for Scarlett, out week is a whirlwind with both of us parents sharing the duties of getting kids to-and-from their destinations and to our jobs on time.  We look forward to each weekend where this fall, we're squeezing in soccer and if we're lucky, some sushi! 

Clark in his team picture above                             

Clark and his big 'ole power leg above

               

Scarlett and her hand-me-down-Littleton-Lollipops-and-used-cleats outfit she so proudly wears each game!

On one recent Saturday we capped a big soccer game win off with a trip to Miyama of Colorado, a yummy and fun Japanese Teppan Yaki steakhouse in Lone Tree.  We have a some fun pics posted here from that trip, too!

Lost Valley Ranch Vacation 2009

The end of summer can be a downer, but we always have something to look forward to with our annual trip to Lost Valley Ranch!

The trip each Labor Day is basically a "plan to gain 5lbs and be really sore when you get home" type of vacation, and while that may not sound appealing, it's the most fun we have as a family all year.

Yes, we eat-eat-eat and ride-horses-all-day. Saddle sores from the 4-to-5-hours a day of riding along with tight clothes due to overeating are all a part of the deal.

A typical day starts with breakfast in the Lodge at 8am, followed by a first ride at 9:30am, at which time all kids under age six head to the kids program at the Ranch House. We're on the trails for about two hours only to return around lunch time and join our kids again.

Shortly after lunch, we do it all again, and take an afternoon ride followed by a nap, fishing, mountain bike ride, tennis, swimming, you name it. Clark (5.5) brought his bike up to the Ranch so he was eager to take it for a spin on the dirt roads. He was itching to head out on the trail rides with the 6+ year olds, and while he was size-wise big enough to do so, there were five other 5-year olds wanting to bend the rules, too, so he had to stick to riding "Dewey" or "Wendy" the two ponies that parents lead around the ranch. Next year he'll learn use reigns and head out on the trails with his cousins.


Aunt Erin Zahradka (http://www.z-pics.com/) captured some great pictures of our kiddos, including the one above of Scarlett not even noticing that a horse was trying to nuzzle in above her for a kiss. That little thing on her chest was a Sheriff's Deputy badge they made at the Ranch House.

We had two different hay rides down to "The Jail" on the vacay, and one great square dance where both Scarlett, Clark and their cousins really boogied down. They did a GREAT job listening to the square dance caller's directions!

We had an amazing time and it's always so depressing to pack up our cabin at the end of the trip and head home.

Us Roe folks think we might even all be cowgirls and cowboys for Halloween '09 so that we can give our rustic outfits one more whirl.

Thanks so much to "Mamie and Papa" for such a great vacation and such amazing generousity. we had a GREAT time!

Lost Valley Ranch 2010 - here we come!

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