Wordless Wednesday {her thing}

lost

As you can plainly see, Paige lost the first of her two front teeth.  Like all my kids, she waited and waited for it to get loose enough.  Believe it or not, she has been wiggling it since last spring.  It finally popped out!  It is always so bittersweet to see those sweet baby teeth fall out.  Well...for this sentimental momma anyway.

Up and Down

First they go up the hill.

and then Mason rides down....

Happy almost Autumn! 

Jennifer

Run Like the Wind

The big kids had their third cross country meet today.  Lucky for us, it was at our home school this week, which makes our lives soooo much easier.  Since we pretty much sprint from cross country meets to two different soccer practices, our Tuesday afternoons are anything but relaxing.  All the kids ran really well.  There are a lot more kids running this year.  When Paige was lined up to run I counted well over 60 1st grade girls.  She finished easily in the top 20.  Alice finished 9th.  She was disappointed but we were hugely proud of her.  Sam ran really well and left nothing on the course.  We had a beautiful afternoon for races and the weather could not have been better.  The Masonator hung out, jump off everything he could find, rolled in the grass and cheered on his siblings.  He is ready for his turn to run.  I have a feeling anything that Mason sets his mind to, he will achieve. 

I am trying hard to ignore it but the laundry is calling my name.  I hope you had a great Tuesday and look forward to Wednesday.

Jennifer 

Feel the Love

Today we spent most of our day at church.  Twice a year we have a community block party at our church.  All is free, open to anyone, lots of good fun.  The kids had a blast, running around like crazy between bounce houses, crafts, balloon animals, games, food and events.  It was a gorgeous Colorado day and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  Again this year Scott had his bike repair tent and had tons of bikes stacked up for sizing, tuning and fixin' up.  He did step out of his tent to participate in the pie eating contest.  And....he won.  Now he is belly-aching about eating soooo much pie. 

Have a great Saturday evening! 

Jennifer

Lost and Found

I have been cleaning out closets this week in an effort to get rid of lots of #$%@ simplify our life.  Deep, I know.  Because I couldn't see the floor of my sewing room/spare bathroom/closet, I set my sights on that space last night and didn't give up until it was organized and "simplified".  I threw a lot of stuff away.  Under a pile of fabric, I found a picture disk, labeled Paige's birth.  Really?!?!?  I can honestly say that I did not know this disk existed.  Obviously, at some point, I must have had knowledge of it, because it was my handwriting on this mystery disk.  But I have no recollection of it.  Seriously.  My only excuse is that Paige was my third birth in less than 4 years. I had a toddler, baby and newborn. I was crazy.  Out of my mind in mommydom.  I could have made that picture disk, put it up on a shelf and never thought about it again.  Sooo, after finishing up my simplification (is that a word?) of the spare bedroom closet, I popped that disk into my computer and here is what I found.  I will admit to you that I did tear up a bit.  I had sweet, sweet babies.

Paige's birthday

do you see that they are holding hands?   

Dr. Clark delivered Sam, Alice and Paige. He rocks!

Check me out.  I am so funny!

 precious adorable Alice

 excited to be big brother and sister

 brand new baby Paige

(see I was crazy, I let a todder hold a newborn)

Anyway, I now have 75 pictures of Paige's birth that I didn't know I had when I finished her baby book.  Looks like we might we adding a few more pages. 

Aren't they cute?!?!?!

I know, I know.......

I admit it...I have been absent.  Absent from this stinking blog.  Really not here.  People are noticing.  Really noticing.

Just out of curiosity, I checked back to my posts from this time last year.  I was a bit absent last year too.  If you are a parent, you know why.  Life is crazy at this time of the year.  Driving here. Running there.  You know how it is.... Crazy.

Now that I have given my excuses and my apology.

Sorry.

Okay, now that I have really given my excuses and apology, I will update you on the end of our summer.  We traveled to Michigan at the end of the summer and arrived home 2 days before school started.  It seemed like there was no time between washing swim suits and towels and getting back to school shopping finished.  Now the kids have been back to school for three weeks.  Sports practices started this week and my head has begun to spin once again.  Sam and Paige are playing soccer, practicing on the same two nights, same time, different locations.  Go figure.  Alice is still playing piano and just started volleyball. Her practices are on a different day, thank goodness.  All three big kids are running cross country after school and will have weekly meets around town.  Mason started preschool today and loves it. Loves it. His favorite part of school is lunch :)

Scott and I are good.  We are working on some changes around here.  More to follow.  It is so awesome to have Scott working from home.  Today we ran errands and had breakfast together.  Love it, again.  He is starting to run again.  If you weren't around at the beginning of the summer, you might not have known that he ran a 50 miler and then realized that something was wrong with his leg. Oh yeah, it was a stress fracture in his fibula.  Yep, he did run a 50 miler on a fractured leg.  He is a little bit crazy in the head.  Anyhoo, he was on rest for 3 months and just started lacing up his shoes last week.  I thoroughly loved my summer with the kids.  We had a ton of fun and stayed super busy with field trips, art projects, cooking, etc. 

My pictures are a bit random but a recap of the end of summer and beginning of a busy fall. 

 Alice and friends at Girl Scout Camp

 Scott and kids volunteering at Feed My Starving Children

Mason on his first day of preschool

 Samuel reading in the tent

 Alice and Abby take a hiking break

Paige always looking cute!

Life is always busy but so good.  We are so blessed by our children and the family and friends that surround us!  Late in the summer, we lost a friend in a tragic accident.  It has really made me stop and realize the beauty and fragility of this life.  Cherish your babies, hug your friends, love with your whole heart.  Love each moment.  Life is so precious. 

Jennifer