Bib of the day

Well, I know I have a lot of catching up to do, but who cares, really? So, I will just start somewhere easy. We've moved, celebrated birthdays, traveled, celebrated Christmas, more birthdays, New Years, unpacked, entertained company, had an anniversary, and now about to repeat part of that list again.
These are a few of the things we've been up to the last couple of months.
Swimming, indoors of course. Only two snowy days, but we got out to enjoy what we could. Running around in our great big house! Myles has discovered the joy of accessorizing, with bibs. It cracks me up. Most everyday he gets into the bib drawer and pulls out one for me to put on him. He then proceeds to wear it, oftentimes up to a couple of hours. We've been going to story-time most Thursdays, which the girls love and gives me a break from coming up with more school stuff to do. I love that they love learning and doing school things, but it's tough keeping up with them! Thank goodness Payge gets to go to Kindergarten this Fall. I'm really going to miss her, but she is more than ready. Besides painting and setting up house, these last few months have just been about enjoying all the moments big and small. savoring this time, before the next season gets here.

Thanksgiving

 It was our turn to be with my side of the family for Thanksgiving and originally we had planned to be traveling to Tennessee. As we have learned awhile ago, we might make plans, but the Lord directs our paths.
My parents are now back in Colorado Springs, exactly where the Lord wants them.
Because their home had been trashed by renters we had to all cram in my sisters home, but we had a great time celebrating all that we are thankful for. 

 I drove out with the kids by myself and thanks to lots of prayer they actually did really awesome. Considering it took about 12 hours with stops. Myles ate pretty much the whole way there minus an hour nap. We also found our perfect stopping place in Ellis, Kansas where there was a Subway and a fantastic play place so the kids could burn off some steam.

 It was so great to be with everyone and catch up with a few friends this visit. I am so grateful that Colorado Springs can be where we can be with my whole family and a place we will get to visit often. There is nothing like the beauty of the mountains and Colorado sky.

 Mimi and Aunt Aunie did a turkey craft with the girls, after we all chowed down a fresh batch of cinnamon rolls. Yummy, need to make those again.

 Cousin Dawson is growing up so quickly! Everyone enjoyed getting to play or hold him. Myles was so gentle with him, it was really precious to watch.

Kyle took a few family photos for us before we headed back home to Kansas City.
We are so blessed!

The great hair cut

Ok, so I am a little behind, I have lots of great reasons. Here is one of the random happenings from November. 
 While fixing a late dinner on a Tuesday, we heard the girls giggling upstairs. I thought, at the time, it was so great to hear them playing so nicely. After being at the dinner table for about 10 minutes I noticed Payge's hair looked especially odd. I looked longer, closer, and a shriek of dismay escaped me. Of course, the girls start crying right away, because they know why I am horrified. We assessed the damage and from what we could gather, Haydee was the hairstylist. Payge just went along for the ride, maybe, one can't be too sure. Payge now had bangs and random large chunks of missing hair and Haydee had back and side bangs. Mostly, it looked like a mullet. I kid you not.
I didn't get any "befores" of Haydee because it was just hard to see, as a whole, she fit right into Missouri style. The cute cuts are working out nicely now, though yesterday as I was hacking away I found it depressing for some reason.
Anyway, thought you would enjoy the pictures. At least they love their new style! Though today Haydee was telling me she wished her hair would grow faster.

Pumpkin Patch

 We have this huge lawn and garden store behind our backyard and I can't believe it has taken me 2 1/2 years to get over there! It is fantastic and if we owned our home I am sure I would be there all the time, dreaming of all the beautiful things to plant and design. Last year I found out they had a free pumpkin patch, but we never made it out there. So, my goal was to try to take advantage of it this year. After a run, breakfast, haircuts, room cleaning, etc... we finally headed out there this morning.

 It was a perfect, free, family activity. Even though it felt more like early summer than a crisp Autumn day we enjoyed getting fresh air and of course pictures of the kids to show off.

 How sweet is that? Oh man, they are growing up so quickly!

What a great backdrop! Wish he could stay still....

Running the race!

 After a couple months of training race day was finally here! I am sure a few of you reading this have done much more than a 10K, but for some of us girls running anything was a huge feat! I am so blessed by this group of friends (plus two not in this picture). The Lord has brought us all together, just when we needed to help spur one another on in life in Christ, motherhood, parenting, marriage and so much more.

The morning of the race it was freezing! I was glad to get the second leg though, minus suffering through the frosty morning. I'm glad to say I ran 6.5 miles with an average of 9.5 min miles (this is my educated guess no actual data), which, for me, is really good. Anyway, I loved it and the process and am looking forward to our (hopefully) next race sometime in 2012. I did run this morning after I took a week off, but my 4 miles felt like 6. That night we had a celebration feast and these are all our beautiful kids between our 7 families. Can you believe it? So much fun and so much more to come!

Who's counting?

 Now that M buddy is past the year mark, I always have to pause and think when people ask how old he is. I could say "one", but we all know a 1 year old who is almost 2 is so different than a just turned 1 year old. Not that it matters, really.
So, here he is just 13 months, discovering the world around him, trying to rake leaves. I'm not sure why he is crying, but that lip is so dang cute!

 Now, if you are wondering why they are outside in their pj's and why the girls hair looks the way it does, let's just say daddy was on duty. I've been doing a lot of running lately to get ready for the KC Marathon Relay that is coming up this next weekend. A few of us decided to do it about 2 months ago and we've all been cramming to get ready. So, this last Sunday morning, we decided to do a 6 mile run. I've been embracing the journey, working hard on not counting how long it takes to run each mile or

 how far down the scale might go, but that is all easier said than done, sometimes.
Spencer got an awesome find at a garage sale, an old Nikon (as old as me). You know the kind where you had to buy film and pay to develop what could be all out of focus pictures? It came with several very unique lenses. They only work on the manual setting with his digital camera, but they work. So fun!

Payge has been so interested in taking pictures, so he let her play around a bit taking pictures of her pony and the others. She actually did a decent job.
How fun this 4 year old age is! I'm doing a Kindergarten homeschool curriculum with both girls this year and everyday I hear, "what's next mommy?' It is hard to keep up with them! I know they are a little young, but I needed to satisfy their desire for school with something. The joys of motherhood, yes, it really is a joy.

Tea party, apple picking, and the most amazing Ice cream ever!

 We went to Iowa last weekend so Spencer could do some tree work for a few family friends. While we were there Grammy had to take the opportunity to have a tea party with the girls and their cousin Natalie. What a hoot! They loved it, of course. Getting to dress up and eat a ridiculous amount of sweets before lunch- what 3 or 4 year old wouldn't!

 Papau took them for a ride around the yard.

 We went apple picking with all the Hansons and Grammy. Even Myles enjoyed sampling our picks! He is walking like a pro now. I think I've been a bad mom and not yet gotten a video of him walking. We may have one Spencer's phone, but I need to work on that. I love those first few days though while they hold their hands up in the air to help them balance.

 My sister in law and I squeezed in a 5 mile run, to help me get ready for the KC Marathon relay. She also had me take her Kettlebell boot camp class the next day; it was killer, but a lot of fun. I made sure to get another scoop of Whitey's Ice Cream to reward myself. Though, I made the mistake of trying 'Graham Central Station'. There are no words. It is a good thing there is nothing like that close by home! I would have to start training for a full marathon.
Another busy weekend, but full of fun!